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thus to obtain the sympathies of the enlightened among the natives. I 
think that this paper will be particularly valuable to Christian teachers 
going to work in Northern and Western India, and Persia, and I hope 
that it may pass through the hands of our more enlightened fellow-subjects in 
India, I think the value of such papers as this is very great to missionaries 
going to the East, who ought to get an idea of the religions they are about 
to controvert. 
Mr. R. W. Dibdin.* 
Captain F. Petrie. — We all know that it is unfortunately too common 
a thing in these days to find people instituting such inquiries as Mr. Brown 
has, with a very small portion of those abilities which he has brought to 
the task ; such inquirers are unhappily only too eager to publish to the 
world the results of their investigations, which being imperfect, and generally 
very incorrect, naturally give false impressions ; it is amongst the writings of 
such inquirers that the advocates of infidelity find weapons ready forged for 
their use. I think we may congratulate ourselves that the subject of 
inquiry in the present paper has been taken up by Mr. Brown, for few in 
England have had the training to enable them to investigate it with such 
understanding. 
Mr. Brown. — I have to thank the meeting for the attention they have 
given to my paper, and, at the same time, to say a few words on one or two 
points which seem to require a reply. Dr. Rule has said that the Hebrew 
cry was not piteous, I did not say that it was ; but that the words were 
spoken in that piteous way in which enlightened man would speak. He 
doubted whether the conception of Zoroaster was monotheism, and remarked 
that it was mere duality ; but he did not allude to the opinions of the latest 
investigators on this point, and he quoted the Scripture, “ Canst thou by 
searching find out God 1 ” I would answer by another passage of Scripture — 
“ You shall find Me if you seek Me with your whole heart.” Mr. Jones 
followed, and seemed to hope that I had not intended to degrade Christianity. 
* Mr. Dibdin has sent the following report of part of his speech : — “ I cannot 
at all agree with the statement to be found in Section 6 of the paper, where the 
author says : — ‘ And here let me make a remark respecting the spheres of 
mythology and religion. The former corresponds with the material, the latter 
with the spiritual portion of the universe ; they rise together as twin ideas in 
the human mind, and at the same time the mental and the physical eye grasp, 
however dimly, some of the wonders of God and the Kosmos, of soul and 
body. Mythology did not spring from religion, nor religion from mythology. 
They were “ two sisters of one race,” widely differing indeed in value, but at 
first equally simple, equally pure.’ — If by religion Mr. Brown means revealed 
religion, it seems to me that the best that can be said of mythology is that it 
is a debased distortion of it, and to call it ‘ equally pure’ with it is certainly 
not the manner in which the Hebrew prophets alluded to the mythology 
of their times.” — (It seems desirable to mention that the author of the paper 
has used the word “ religion ” in its strict sense. — Ed.) “ The author strives 
very hard to show that the Gathas did not teach the existence of two spirits, 
one of good and the other of evil ; but the passages quoted by himself in 
Section 9 seem rather to confirm the popular view of the teaching of Zoroaster.” 
