1821.] Strictures on Gibbon's Roman History . 201 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine . 
SIR, 
N the VlIXth Chapter, Vol. I. of his 
History, Mr. Gibbon lias exhibited 
a very fallacious view of the Religion 
of the antient Persians, evidently with 
the design, in his insidious manner, of 
raising human reason to a level with 
divine revelation. For this purpose he 
has offered a very loose and partial ver¬ 
sion of a celebrated passage in Herodo¬ 
tus, which in tile excellent translation 
of Beloe appears as follows:— 44 The 
Persians have among them neither sta¬ 
tues, temples, nor altars; the use of 
which they censure as impious, and as 
a gross violation of reason; probably, 
because in opposition to the Greeks, 
they do not believe that the Gods par¬ 
take of our human nature. Their cus¬ 
tom is to offer on the summits of the 
highest mountains sacrifices to Jove, 
distinguishing by that appellation all the 
expanse of the firmament. They also 
adore the sun, moon, earth, fire, water, 
and the winds, which may be termed 
their original deities, &c. &c. Herod. 
L. I. c 131. 
4 * The most careless observers,” says 
Mr. G. 44 were struck with the philoso¬ 
phic simplicity of the Persian worship. 
4 That people,’ says Herodotus, 4 reject 
the use of temples, of altars, and sta¬ 
tues, and smile at the folly of those na¬ 
tions who imagine that the gods are 
sprung from, or bear any affinity with 
the human nature. The tops of the 
highest mountains are the places chosen 
for sacrifices. Hymns and prayers are 
the^ principal worship. The supreme 
Goa who fills the wide circle of Heaven , 
is the object to whom they areaddress- 
e( T Yes, at the same time, in the true 
spirit of a polytheist, Herodotus accuses 
them of adoring earth, water, fire, the 
winds and the sun and moon. But the 
Persians of every age have denied the 
charge , and. explained the equivocal 
conduct which might appear to give a 
colour to it. The elements, and more 
particularly fire, light, and the sun, 
which they called Mithras, were the 
objects of their religious reverence ; 
because they considered them as the 
purest symbols, the noblest produc¬ 
tions, and the most powerful agents of 
the divine power and nature. Every 
mode of. religion , to make a deep and 
lasting impression on the human mind, 
must exercise our obedience by enjoin¬ 
ing practices of devotion for which we 
can assign no reason; and must acquire 
our esteem by inculcating moral duties 
Monthly Mag. No. 359. 
analogous to the dictates of our own 
hearts. The religion of Zoroaster was 
abundantly provided with the former, 
and possessed a sufficient portion of the 
latter.” 
The testimony of Herodotus on this 
subject is remarkably strong and deci¬ 
sive. 44 I speak,” says that historian, 
44 from my own personal knowledge, 
when I say that the Persians observe the 
following manners and customs, &c.” 
Yet he is reproached by Mr. Gibbon, at 
the distance of more than two thousand 
years, with falsifying a plain matter of 
fact; for Herodotus must have known 
whether the Persians did, or did not, 
worship the celestial luminaries and the 
terrestrial elements, as deifies. Their 
religion was evidently pantheism ; not 
making any just distinction between 
nature and the author of nature. The 
apology which Mr. G. in his zeal for 
Magianism, lias made for this pantheis¬ 
tic worship, is mere trifling. What 
the Persians of every age have denied, 
or admitted, might be tedious to in¬ 
vestigate ; but what Mr. G. has offered 
in their behalf, is no more than the 
most bigotted idolaters may say, and 
have said, in vindication of their ido¬ 
latry. Was not Apis adored in Egypt 
as the sacred emblem of the deity? 
The worship of the sun and moon is 
probably the most antient of supersti¬ 
tions ; and an eminent personage, much 
older than Herodotus, is represented, 
in the noble record remaining of him, 
as saying, 44 If I beheld tile sun when 
it shined, or the moon w r alking in 
brightness, and my heart has been se¬ 
cretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed 
my hand ; this also were an iniquity: 
—for I should have denied the God that 
is above.” It is indeed true that 44 the 
heavens declaie the glory of God ; but 
would Mr. G. persuade us that there is 
no difference between the worship of the 
Creator, and that of the works of his 
hands ? What could be his notion or 
definition of idolatry. 
In this futile, though elaborate at¬ 
tempt, to soften the feature of Magian¬ 
ism, Mr. G. assures us, 44 there are 
some remarkable instances in which 
Zoroaster lays aside the prophet, as¬ 
sumes the legislator, and discovers a 
liberal concern for private and public 
happiness, seldom to be found among 
the grovelling or visionary schemes of 
superstition.” And he cites from the 
Zendavesta, what he stiles 44 a wise and 
benevolent maxim, which compensates 
for many an absurdity. 44 He who 
2 C sows 
