or THE ROMAN EMPIRE 487 free and equal companion of the victorious Moslems. Every sin was expiated, every engagement was dissolved : the vow of celi- bacy was superseded by the indulgence of nature ; the active spirits who slept in the cloister were awakened by the trumpet of the Saracens ; and, in the convulsion of the world, every member of a new society ascended to the natural level of his capacity and courage. The minds of the multitude were tempted by the invisible as well as temporal blessings of the Arabian prophet ; and charity will hope that many of his proselytes entertained a serious conviction of the truth and sanctity of his revelation. In the eyes of an inquisitive polytheist, it must appear worthy of the human and the divine nature. More pure than the system of Zoroaster, more liberal than the law of Moses, the religion of Mahomet might seem less inconsis- tent with reason than the creed of mystery and superstition which, in the seventh century, disgraced the simplicity of the gospel. In the extensive provinces of Persia and Africa, the national Fau of the religion has been eradicated by the Mahometan faith. The am- of Persia biguous theology of the Magi stood alone among the sects of the East : but the profane writings of Zoroaster ~"^ might, under the reverend name of Abraham, be dexterously connected with the chain of divine revelation. Their evil principle, the daemon Ahriman, might be represented as the rival, or as the creature, of the God of light. The temples of Persia were devoid of images ; but the worship of the sun and of fire might be stigmatized as a gross and criminal idolatry.^^i The milder sentiment was conse- crated by the practice of Mahomet '^^2 and the prudence of the caliphs ; the Magians, or Ghebers, were ranked with the Jews 230 The Zend or Pazend, the Bible of the Ghebers, is reckoned by themselves, or at least by the Mahometans, among the ten books which Abraham received from heaven ; and their religion is honourably styled the religion of Abraham (d'Herbe- lot, Bibliot. Orient, p. 701 ; Hyde, de Religione veterum Persarum, c. iii. p. 27, 28, &c. ). I much fear that we do not possess any pure and/n?^ description of the system of Zoroaster. Dr. Prideaux (Connection, vol. i. p. 300, octavo) adopts the opinion that he had been the slave and scholar of some Jewish prophet in the captivity of Babylon. Perhaps the Persians, who have been the masters of the Jews, would assert the honour, a poor honour, of being //^ifzr masters. 231 -pj^g Arabian Nights, a faithful and amusing picture of the Oriental world, represent, in the most odious colours, the Magians, or worshippers of fire, to whom they attribute the annual sacrifice of a Musulman. The religion of Zoroaster has not the least affinity with that of the Hindoos, yet they are often confounded by the Mahometans ; and the sword of Timour was sharpened by this mistake (Hist, de Timour Bee, par Cherefeddin Ali Yezdi, 1. v.). 232 Vie de Mahomet, par Gagnier, tom. iii. p. 114, 115.
