L A W. 
mel; the bow, of the length of a bafou, (little more than 
a yard,) fet with itones and ornamented at each end ; the 
coat of mail; the jointed cuirafs; the penom (a piece of 
linen to cover the mouth); the cap, the girdle, and the 
long t’rowfers. 
As the fupport and heft wealth of a country depends 
upon the culture of it, tillage teems to have been an ob¬ 
ject of peculiar lolicitude with Zoroafter ; he never fpeaks 
of the cultivator but with the addition of “ the principle 
of abundance,” the “fouree of wealth,” or fome fimilar 
expretlion; indeed it appears, that from them were de¬ 
rived the foie riches of Perfia. To refufe therefore the 
domeftic animal or the villager the juft recompence of 
their labours was deemed a heavy offence, and the guilty 
refnfer was punifhed with 800 or 1000 ladies in this life, 
and as many years of hell in the next. Every attention 
appears to have been paid to the fecurity of the cultiva¬ 
tor ; the fields were guarded before harveft, and the flocks 
upon the roads. 
The value of the dog is highly celebrated ; linking 
him was a punifhable offence. The dog was on many 
accounts ufeful. According to a law of Zoroafter, the bury¬ 
ing of a dead body was prohibited under pain of death, as 
fuch an act would have rendered the earth impure; it was 
not to be burnt, for that would have fullied the purity of 
fire; nor could it be thrown into the water for the fame 
reafon; the corpl'e was therefore placed in a high walled 
cemetery at a diftance from the public roads, and was 
there left to be devoured by the birds of prey and the 
dogs. The beft dog for this purpofe is defcribed as being 
yellow or tan-eyed, with eyebrows of a fimilar colour, 
and white and tan oryellow ears. Zendavejla , tom. i. part 2, 
To low grain and herbs, to plant trees, to irrigate the 
foil, to feed flocks, and to increafe and propagate them 
and domeltic animals, gave pleafure to the earth. A fil- 
ver or golden bell, the fine for and expiation of crime, 
was hung at the neck of the labouring ox, given alfo in 
part of expiation; their utenfils are to be made with care, 
and to be hard. Agriculture and turning the land is com¬ 
pared to a man embracing his friend, a father and his 
children ; it was the purelt aft of the law ; and Zoroafter 
declared, that he who fowed the earth with good grain, 
and did it with purity, fulfilled the whole extent of it, and 
was as great in the fight of Ormuzd, as if he had given 
being to 100 creatures, 1000 productions, or repeated 
10,000 prayers. 
In a country fo poor as that of Zoroafter appears to 
have been, and where agriculture was fo much recom¬ 
mended, marriage was a principal objeft for his encou- 
ment; he declared it holy and honourable; and, in the 
prayers for thofe things which he had neareft at heart, we 
find a petition to Oromafdes for a hufband to the unmar¬ 
ried girl; he even commands that every woman fhould 
have one. Marriage among kindred was deemed the moft 
honourable, and the girl who railed up children to the 
deceafed deferved the protection and commendation of 
the fpirit of goodnefs. To render the obedience of 
wives to hufbands a greater matter of duty, Zoroafter 
particularly enjoins it to his own daughter. Multiplicity 
of children was alfo the prayer of the Perfian prophet; 
but that multiplicity could only be the offspring of one 
partner: polygamy is no-where countenanced or even 
hinted at in the Zendilh Word. Children were the glory 
of the celeltial fpirits, and helped their parents after death 
over the bridge that joined the heaven to the earth. On 
the other hand, every oppofite vice was prohibited and 
punifhed ; the unnatural crime with death, and an extra¬ 
ordinary merit attached to him who punifhed it. No par¬ 
ticular punifliment is mentioned for adultery ; but, from 
that which followed illicit commerce even with a common 
woman, rape, and feduftion, we may prefume it was not 
very mild. That of feduftion or unchaftity in the wo¬ 
man was even criminally fevere; the firft of thefe three 
was followed by 800 lathes ; the fecond by the death of 
the ravifher; the laft not only by the death of the offend¬ 
ing man and woman, but even her aunt or guardian, as 
well as the illicit offspring, if any born, were all utterly 
cut off. 
Throughout the Zendavefta nothing like civil law is to 
be met with ; there was no aftion whatever between man 
and man, and every wrong was ultimately reduced to a 
criminal offence; for every wrong was againft religion, 
and religion was identified by Zoroafter with the ftate. 
The penances enjoined rnuft be fubmitted to, however 
umneafureable ; and excommunication was denounced 
againft him who ref'ufed to abide the law', which fentence 
was followed up by a direftion to cut off the difobedient. 
Breach of word and breach of contraft w r ere punifhable 
with from 300 to 1000 lafhes, and as many years in hell. 
The refufal to pay what had been borrowed was confider- 
ed a theft, and the refufer, the magician, in almoft every 
code the victim of the ignorance of others or of his own 
pretenfions, and he who buried a corpfe, were to be fepa- 
rated from the faithful-and cut limb from limb. The 
fcaie of punifhment was far from juft or reafonable; vvhilft 
the man wiio had refufed to pay what he had borrowed 
was punifhed as a thief, the man who affaulted and ac¬ 
tually deprived another of a limb, was only liable to a 
punifliment of 90 ftripes. On the other hand, thefe pu- 
nifhments are moftly redeemable by proper offerings, and 
fines of as many derems as lafhes with ox or camel finews. 
The morality of the Zendavefta is good, if it could 
but be reconciled as always pofiible with the two princi¬ 
ples of good and evil unavoidable. Purity of thought, 
purity of word, and purity of action, is the threefold 
meafure of the conduft of man. The deteftation of a lie 
is ftrongly inculcated ; it is punifhed with 300 lafhes, and, 
as ufual, a fimilar number of years in hell. The praftice 
of charity is highly commended ; and the follower of the 
law who fhould generoufly defire only the good of others 
was promifed the dwelling of immortality. Had this cha¬ 
rity extended to all the world, it might have deferved the 
praifes of the philofopher and chriftian ; but it appears 
throughout folely to be confined to the faithful. 
The phyfician was ordered to commence praftice upon 
the followers of the deeves ; and, if three unfortunate in¬ 
fidels fuccefiively died under his hands, he was never af¬ 
ter to rifle his fkill upon the followers of the law ; if he 
did, his unlkilful praftice was vifited upon him by being 
cut in pieces. Were he thrice together fuccefsful upon 
the followers of the deeves, he was encouraged to follow 
his profeflion among the faithful ; and the fcaie of reward 
for cure, meafured by the diftinftion of the claffes, was ex¬ 
tremely liberal, but always paid in kind, except by the 
prieft, whofe prayers were deemed an ample recompence. 
The people for whom Zoroafter legiflated appear to 
have been a poor and uncivilized race. Among the pu- 
nifliable offences is that of not recompenfing the mafter 
for inftruftion, and the offending party is fubjefted to 
900 years in hell, and as many ladies ; but what fort of 
inftruftion is here meant is left to be conjectured. Cot¬ 
ton and wool or hair formed the materials for clothing in 
ufe. Pottery, the melting and purifying of lacca, and the 
knowledge of working at the forge in gold, filver, copper, 
iron, and tin, feem the only arts known among them. It 
does not appear they had any mines ; if they had, the 
law of Zoroafter, prohibiting the difturbing of the earth, 
would apparently have prevented the working of them. 
Tillage and pafture were their principal occupations, and 
certainly the moft honourable that man can follow. To 
affift thefe feems to have been his main objeft. There is 
not a Angle word in all the Zendavefta to induce us to 
fuppofe any commerce was known among them ; and the 
fea is never once mentioned by him. On the other hand, 
the name or idea of ilavery no-where dilgracesthe Zendiih 
Word. 
This is the futn of the famous code of the prophet and 
lawgiver of the Parfees : and this law, materially indeed 
improved, though Itill very imperfeft, yet fubfilts in Su¬ 
rat and its neighbourhood, among the defeendants of the 
P.crfKWs 
