Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-07-30


, which belonged the girl who has just
donated her Jewels for a girls orphan
age founded a boys orphanage 70 per
petuate the memory Of his SON. VINO
was cut OF iu his prime. These Petlt5
have made their millions in cotton. one
OF them erected the first spinning ana
weaving mill for India. This was over
80 years ago. 10 was a great success.
ana ~ founder added others, 50 that
he became the cotton king OF the coun-
try. a largo Inrt OF the Wadlna for
tune was made In cotton, As were also
those OF the Tatas and the Jeejeeh-
hoys. Other rich families control tho
poreoc banks in the various cities OF
India and iu other parts OF the Tar
Gust. and a big steel Industry has Just
been started by tho Tatas. But 81 this
/ shall write In the future.
A RELIGIOUS TRUST.
Before mentioning some tenets OF the
Put=ee faith I want 20 tell you about
the Punchayat cor religious trust which
manages H. This controls more prop
crty than Trinity church In Sow York
II has charge of an the church funds.
amounting 20 moro than two million
dollars. and other holdings in real cs-
tato which are Of great value. The
Puuchayat has recently figured In some
TRIMS here no bombay which have
created great excitement throughout
the parseo world. The Parscs church
Is a CLOSE corporation. It's members are
liberal 20 n fault. and give more to
their faith than any sect | know At
the same time they are conservative
and want to control what they give by
keeping out OF tho fold converts who
are not Of pure Parsee blood.
Not long ago one Of the Tatas
millionaire member Of the community
took unto himself a French wife. She
became converted to her husbands
religion. professcd the faith Of Zoroas-
ter and was taken into the church
ThereupOn the bigots u the faith oh
jected, and the trustees Of the Pun
chayat decided that they could not al
loW any interest In the church money
To 50 TO outside converts. nor would
they permit such converts TO warm
their souls at the holy fires or upon
death TO have their flesh torn from
their bodies by the vultures on the
Towers or Silence The French lady
has insisted upon her rights, and she
has now brought suit to enforce them
before the courts at Bombay. The
Judges have decided Ina her favor. and
converts arc now To- have the right TO
come into the church under certain re-
stricuous. However. there was IA mi
suggested that the aliens might have
separate temples and burial towers. and
another has protested that the verdict
might open up the church TO undesiT-
able aliens and ruin the prosperity OF
the Parsee community.
THE FAITH OF THE PARsEEs.
And this brings me to the faith Of
the Parsees. You have often heard
them called Worshipcrs Of fire. In
sense they are SO. They have 1re al
ways burning I'm their temples. but
they worship II, as one OF them told me,
only as an emblem of the sun and as
the highest visible type OF the Creator.
IL II 80 with all religions supposed to be
purely idolatrous Upon investigation
one finds that the idols are worshiped
only as the representative OF a deity
who creates and rules. and not 3 sticks
and stones endowed with supernatural
powers There is no religion upon earth
that docs not contain beautiful truths
Otherwise It could not be believed by
reasoning man nor have its followers
from generation to generation.
The parsecs believe in one God and
in the resurrection and equality OF all
beings before God. They believe that
this God created two spirits; one Of
evil and the other of good. one Of light
its are always fighting for mans soul.
and according as he favors one or the
other he ascends to heaven or desceuds
to he'll. His conduct on earth deter
mines his life after death.
THE SACRED FIRE
The Parsecs look upon fire and wa
ter and the sun, moon and stars as
the creation OF the spirit Of light. They
especially revere fire. and that used IN
the temples here at Bombay is said 10
have been burning for hundreds OF
years. IL came from Persia. whore
IL was first lighted many centuries ago,
before the Mohammedans conquered
the country and drove these people out.
II was carried by them to the town OF
Ormu2 on the Persian gulf. and brought
with them to Sanjan in India when the
FIRST Of their sect came TO Hindustan
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