f the Manichees
was pure, and though their religion is regarded by some as a sort of
Christianity, there were but few points in which it was an improvement
on Zoroastrianism. Its Dualism was pronounced and decided; its
Trinitarianism was questionable; its teaching with respect to Christ
destroyed the doctrines of the incarnation and atonement; its "Ertang
" was a poor substitute for Holy Scripture. Even its morality, being
deeply penetrated with asceticism, was of a wrong type and inferior to
that preached by Zoroaster. Had the creed of Manes been accepted by the
Persian monarch, the progress of real Christianity in the East would,
it is probable, have been impeded rather than forwarded--the general
currency of the debased amalgam would have checked the introduction of
the pure metal.

It must have been shortly after his rejection of the teaching of Manes
that Sapor died, having reigned thirty-one years, from A.D. 240 to
A.D. 271. He was undoubtedly one of the most remarkable princes of the
Sassanian series. In military talent, indeed, he may not have equalled
his father; for though he defeated Valerian, he had to confess himself
inferior to Odenathus. But in general governmental ability he is among
the foremost of the Neo-Persian monarchs, and may compare favorably with
almost any prince of the series. He baffled Odenathus, when he was not
able to defeat him, by placing himself behind walls, and by bringing
into play those advantages which naturally belonged to the position of
a monarch attacked in his own country. He maintained, if he did not
permanently advance, the power of Persia in the west; while in the east
it is probable that he considerably extended the bounds of his dominion.
In the internal administration of his empire he united works of
usefulness with the construction of memorial which had only a
sentimental and aesthetic value. He was a liberal patron of art, and
is thought not to have confined his patronage to the encouragement of
native talent. On the subject of religion he did not suffer himself
to be permanently led away by the enthusiasm of a young and bold
freethinker. He decided to maintain the religious system that
had descended to him from his ancestors, and turned a deaf ear to
persuasions that would have led him to revolutionize the religious
opinion of the East without placing it upon a satisfactory footing. The
Orientals add to these commendable features of character, that he was a
man of re