mondley, which was in a work of a controversial kind with Dr. Williams, of Kotherham, On the Origin of Mor- al Evil. It liad been his intention to write a history of the Dissenters, a work for which he was well quali- fied, and for which he had made considerable prepara- tion; but a painful nervous affection coming on, his design was interrupted, and never afterwards resumed. He died in November, 1818. The death-bed of Mr. Parry was one of calm and holj' triumph ; he rested with un- shaken confidence on the rock of ages, and entered with a smile the gloomy valley which was to conduct him to the regions of everlasting day. The writings of Mr. Parry are characterized by clearness of conception, with great accuracy and felicity of expression.— Jones, Chris. Biog. s. V.
Parseeism. See Parsees; Persia.
Parsees (i. e. people of Pars, or Fars, the name of ancient Persia) are a remnant of the old inhabitants of Persia, who to this day continue faithful to the an- cient Persian religion as reformed by Zoroaster (q. v.). They are also called .4 tesh Perest, or fire-worshippers ; Majlis, from their priests the Magi; and by them- selves Beh-Din, "Those of the excellent belief;" or Mazdaasnan, worshippers of Ormuzd ; by the Turks Ghiaur or Ghaur, wliich is commonly, but against all linguistic laws, derived from the Arabic Kafir (a word applied to all non-Mohammedans, and supposed to have been first bestowed upon this sect by their Arabic con- querors in the 7th century), but which is evidently nothing more than an ancient proper name taken from some pre-eminent tribe or locality, since the Talmud {Jebam. (io b, Gift. 17 a, etc.) already knows them only by this name (Cheber) ; and Origen {Contra Cels. vi, 291) speaks oi Kabirs or Persians, asserting that Chris- tianity has adopted nothing from them.
What the pre-Zoroastrian religion of Persia was is not yet determined, and in all likelihood will not soon be definitely settled. By philological research it has been made clear that in primeval or pre-historic times the religious faith of the Persians and Hindus was identical; in other words, that Parseeism is but an outgrowth of Brahmiiiism (q. v.). It appears that in consequence of certain social and political conflicts between the Irani- ans and the Aryans, who afterwards peopled Hindostan proper, an undying feud arose, in the course of which the Iranians foreswore even the hitherto common faith, and established a counter faith (Ahura). The ancient but now hostile gods were transformed into da?mons, and the entire Deva religion was branded as the source of all mischief and wickedness. The founder and organ- izer of this new religion is reputed to be Zarathustra (Greek, '/japa(JTpuh]c, 2,wpoaarpi]c; Latin, Zoroaster; mod. Persian, Zerdosht, Zerdusht), and he is usually distinguished from his successors in the priesthood of like name by the addition of his family name, Spitama. (For a summary of what is known and speculated about the person and time of this great reformer, see the ar- ticle Zoroaster. We shall here confine ourselves to the merest essentials of Parseeism.) Zoroastrianism, as the new religion is sometimes called, is of uncertain date. The Zend-Avesta, the Parsee Bible, is ascribed to Zoro- aster, but its varieties in doctrine make it evident that it was composed in different ages. Thus the dualism, which is now a characteristic of Parseeism (see below), is not found in the most ancient sections of that book, and there are very early chapters that contain traces even of a polytheistic nature- worship, in which the gods have no personal existence, but are mere powers, such as the sunshine, the wind, the earth, and fire. Hardwick takes the ground that tlie modifications in the religion of Indo-Persian heathenism, that give it tlie shape in which we now encounter it, began in the 7th century B.C., and continued until the Sassaniaii revival in the" time of Artaxerxes, or the 3d century of the Christian xra (A.D. 22(5). He also holds that the A vesta was not given its present shape any earlier
PARSEES
703
PARSEES
than the last-iiamtd period {Christ and other Masters, ii, 374).
Whatever the date of the origin of Parseeism, the principles of Zoroaster's theology are easily accessible, and we now turn to a consideration of these. In the article Peusia we give the early religious history of its people. Taking for granted that such a prophet as Zo- roaster flourished at some time in Persian historj-, we encounter him as the reformer of the Persian religion. From the too-sensuous Aryan system the Iranians had developed a distinct recognition of deities, who are real persons, possessed of self-consciousness and intelligence. But the attempt to subordinate one power to another, in order to establish the supremacy of one God, was first conceived by the author of Zoi-oastrianism. Its espe- cial glory it'is to have established as the principle of its theology a monotheism as pure as ever the followers of the Jehovistic faith enjoined. The supposed Zoroaster first taught the existence of but one deity, the Ahura, who is called Mazda [see Orjiuzd], the Creator of all things, to whom all good things, spiritual and worldly, belong. Zoroaster's conception of the Supreme Deity is sublime. All the highest attributes, except that of Fatherhood, are assigned to him. He is the Creator of all earthly and spiritual life. He is the Holy God, the Father of all truth, -the " Best Being of all," the Master of purity. He is supremely happy, possessing every blessing, health, wealth, virtue, immortality, wisdom, and abundance of every earthly good. AH these he bestows on the good man who is pure in thought, word, and deed, while he punishes the wicked. All that is created, good or evil, fortune or misfortune, is his work. He is to be served by purity, truth, and goodness in thought, word, and deed, by prayers and offerings. The works of agriculture are especially pleasing to him. No images of him were allowed. In spite of some mixtures of physical ideas, such as the ascription to him of health, and the conception of him as in some sense light, the notion of Ahura-Mazda is trulj- spiritual. Under the Supreme Being are the genii, who stand between God and man ; Sraosha, the instructor of the prophet, the friend of God, and the protector of the faith ; and Ar- maiti, the genius of the earth and the guardian of pie- ty, and perhaps some others. The existence of evil was accounted for by the supposition of two primeval causes, which, though opposed to each other, were united in every existing being, even in Ahura-Mazda himself, and by their union was produced the world of material things and of spiritual existence. The cause of good is Yohu- Mano, the good mind, from which springs Gaj'a, or reality, to it all good, true, and perfect things belong. The evil cause is Akun-Mano, '• naughty mind," from which springs non-reality (Aj\'aiti) ; to it all evil and delusive things belong. But, as united in Ahura-Maz- da, the two principles are called Spento-Manj-us, the dark spirit. No personal existence is ascribed to these; they both exist in Ahura-jMazda, but they are opposed to one another as creators of light and darkness, of life and death, of sleep and waking. In the course of time, through the operation of the principle whereby attri- butes become personified, this primeval doctrine became corrupted into a systematic dualism. Thus the two causes appear as distinct and opposed personal beings, Ahura-Mazda or Ormuzd, of whom Spento-JIanyus is a title, and Angro-Manyus or Ahriman. These two existed separately and independently from all eternity, each ruling over a realm of his own, and constantly at war with and striving to overthrow the other. All the good and pure creations of Ormuzd are defiled and spoiled by those of Ahriman, who cannot create inde- pendently, but only brings evil into being to counter- work, ruin, and destroy the good works of Ormuzd. Under each principle is a hierarchy of ministers, per- sonal beings created by these respective lords, whom they serve and obey in every way. The first created and chief of these to Ormuzd are his six councillors, in later times made seven bv including Sraosha or Or-