196 UNIVERSAL ERUDITION. 



great philofopher, who lived at the time that 

 Darius, the Ton of Hyftafpes, filled the throne of 

 Perfia. He was perfectly acquainted with all 

 the oriental fciences, and much verfed in the 

 religion of the Jews. He did not found a new 

 religion, but undertook to reform that of the 

 magi, which for many centuries had been the pre- 

 vailing religion among the Medes and Perfians. 

 He eftablifhed the doctrine of a frft principle, or 

 Supreme Being. He taught that fire was the 

 fymbol of the prefence of the Divinity, and that 

 God had eftablimed his throne in the fun. He 

 Ihut himfelf up, for a long time, in a cavern of 

 Media, where he compofed the book of his Reve- 

 lations. A fhort time after, he went into Bactriana, 

 and Perfia, and there caufed his doctrine to be 

 received. From thence he pafTed into India, in 

 order to learn the fciences of the Brachmans -, and 

 having acquired all they knew of phyfics and 

 metaphyfics, he returned into Perfia, and com- 

 municated his knowledge to the magi ; who 

 from that time were held in high efteem. Zo- 

 roafter, repairing to the court of Darius at Sufa, 

 prefented that monarch the book he had 

 compofed, bound in twelve volumes, each of 

 which contained a hundred fkins reduced into 

 vellum, on which it was the cuftom of the Per- 

 fians to write. This book was intitled Zenda- 

 vefta, and by contraction Zend\ a word that 

 fignifies the fre lighter. The king, his courtiers, 

 and the nobles of the land, embraced magianifm, 

 thus reformed by Zproafter; maugre the 



efforts 



