tinued in general use, till the 5th or 6th century of the christian æra; all the remains of it are translations from the Zend, supposed to have been made during the life of Zoroaster, or soon after his decease. All the known writings in the Zend or Pahlavi languages are accounted sacred by the Parsees. Ferdusi, the Persian Homer, in his Shah-nameh, always supposes the kings and heroes of his country, to speak and write the Pahlavi language.

In Kerman, and the neighbourhood of the Caspian sea, the Parsees have a language peculiar to them, called the Guebri; it is a compound of the Zend, the Pahlavi, the modern Persian, and the languages of other neighbouring nations.*

5. It is said that the Code of Law promul gated by Zoroaster was divided into twentyone parts; that seven of them treated of the creation of the world, seven of morality, and of civil and religious duties, and seven

a See NOTE I.

of physic and astronomy: it is said, that it was written in letters of gold, on 12,000 skins of parchment, and deposited by Gushtasp in the great Pyræum, or fire-temple, at Persepolis: and that it was found there and destroyed by the command of a Mussulmaun chief, about the seventh century of the Christian æra. Zoroaster appears to have asserted, that it was delivered to him by the Deity: on that account, his followers called it the Avesta, or The Word; and, being written in the Zendish language, it was generally called Zend-Avesta. Later Persian and Arabic writers relate the prodigies which ushered into the world, the birth of Zoroaster, the attempts of the evil spirits to destroy him, and the miracles by which he proved his divine mission.

To the exertions of M. Anquetil du Perron, we are indebted for our first knowledge of the Zend-Avesta: his manuscripts are deposited in the national library at Paris; a similar, or perhaps a finer collection of

these works, was lately brought from Surat, and has been purchased by Sir William Ouseley.

6. The first work in the collection of M. Anquetil du Perron is the Vendidad Sadé. It contains, what is called the Vendidad, in a strict sense, and the Izeshne and Vispered. The word Vendidad, means separated from the devil; and thus intimates, that the doc- trine inculcated by the Vendidad is contrary to the doctrine of the devil. Sadé signifies pure and without mixture; and according to M. Anquetil du Perron, is a name given to those Zend works, which are not accompanied by a Pahlavi translation. The Vendidad Sadé, contains a dialogue between Zoroaster and Ormuzd: some parts of it contain a relation of the historical facts on which the religion of the Parsees is founded; the rest relates to their morals, policy, and ceremonial. The Izeshnè and Vispered are Liturgical Works; the first seems to signify a prayer in honour of him,

to whom it is addressed; the second, to denote the chiefs or first of every being,-the beginning of the Vispered containing addresses to them. The Izeshnè and Vispered were recited at the same time, and perhaps the Vendidad was recited with them, so as to form, together, an office, resembling the liturgies of the church of Rome and the church of England, which consist of lectures and prayers from the sacred writings, and prayers introduced by the churches themselves. The Izeshnè and Vispered are followed by the Jeschts, which consist of a variety of addresses, prayers, and supplications to Ormuzd, and the other celestial beings, and commemorations of them. The Jescht of Ormuzd is remarkable for the very high terms, in which, in a dialogue between himself and Zoroaster, Ormuzd describes his own power and glories. After the Jeschts, is the small and the great Sirouzè, or a collection of short prayers, addressed to the thirty heavenly spirits, who

preside over the thirty days of the month. With the Si-rouzè, the Zend-Avesta finishes. M. Anquetil du Perron has subjoined to it the Boun-dehesh, containing an account of the Cosmogony of the Parsees: he considers it to be a translation from the Zend, and to have been composed towards the seventh century of the Christian æra.

For our knowledge of these documents, we are indebted to M. Anquetil du Perron. We also owe to him much valuable information respecting several works, which throw much light on the theology of the Parsees. The first of these is the EulmaEslam, containing the answers made by a Parsee priest, to different questions put to him by some Mussulmaun doctors, about the 40th year of the Hegira; the Modjmelel-tavarikh or the summary of histories, published in the year 1126: and the Treatise of the Religions of the East by Shahristani: with the last of these works Dr. Pocock, and Dr. Hyde were acquainted. The docu