the old school, and
if our author had consulted the ninth Fasgard of the Vendidad (page
120, line 21, in Brockhaus's edition), he would have seen that both
the drinking and the rubbing in of the so-called Gaomaezo--i. e.
Nirang--are clearly enjoined by Zoroaster in certain purificatory
rights. The custom rests, therefore, not only on the authority of a
few priests of former days, but on the ipsissima verba of the
Zend-Avesta, the revealed word of Ormuzd; and if, as Dadabhai Naoroji
writes, the Reformers of the day will not go beyond abolishing and
disavowing the ceremonies and notions that have no authority in the
original Zend-Avesta, we are afraid that the washing with Nirang, and
even the drinking of it, will have to be maintained. A pious Parsi has
to say his prayers sixteen times at least every day--first on getting
out of bed, then during the Nirang operation, again when he takes his
bath, again when he cleanses his teeth, and when he has finished his
morning ablutions. The same prayers are repeated whenever, during the
day, a Parsi has to wash his hands. Every meal--and there are
three--begins and ends with prayer, besides the grace, and before
going to bed the work of the day is closed by a prayer. The most
extraordinary thing is that none of the Parsis--not even their
priests--understand the ancient language in which these prayers are
composed. We must quote the words of our author, who is himself of the
priestly caste, and who says:

'All prayers, on every occasion, are said, or rather
recited, in the old original Zend language, neither the
reciter nor the people around intended to be edified,
understanding a word of it. There is no pulpit among the
Parsees. On several occasions, as on the occasion of the
Ghumbars, the bimestral holidays, the third day's ceremonies
for the dead, and other religious or special holidays, there
are assemblages in the temple; prayers are repeated, in
which more or less join, but there is no discourse in the
vernacular of the people. Ordinarily, every one goes to the
fire-temple whenever he likes, or, if it is convenient to
him, recites his prayers himself, and as long as he likes,
and gives, if so inclined, something to the priests to pray
for him.'

In another passage our author says:

'Far from being the teachers of the true doctrines and
duties of their religion, the priests are generally the m