Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 1.djvu/264

 240 THE DECLINE AND FALL CHAP, ported this exalted character, his name would deserve ^^^^' a place with those of Numa and Confucius, and his sys- tem would be justly entitled to all the applause which it has pleased some of our divines, and even some of our philosophers, to bestow on it. But in that motley composition, dictated by reason and passion, by enthu- siasm and by selfish motives, some useful and sublime truths were disgraced by a mixture of the most abject and dangerous superstition. The magi, or sacerdotal order, were extremely numerous, since, as we have al- ready seen, fourscore thousand of them were convened in a general council. Their forces were multiplied by discipline. A regular hierarchy was diffused through all the provinces of Persia ; and the archimagus, who resided at Balch, was respected as the visible head of the church, and the lawful successor of Zoroaster'. The property of the magi was very considerable. Be- sides the less invidious possession of a large tract of the most fertile lands of Medial they levied a general tax on the fortunes and the industry of the Persians *. " Though your good works," says the interested pro- phet, ** exceed in number the leaves of the trees, the drops of rain, the stars in the heaven, or the sands on the sea shore, they will all be unprofitable to you, un- less they are accepted by the destour, or priest. To obtain the acceptation of this guide to salvation, you must faithfully pay him tithes of all you possess, of your goods, of your lands, and of your money. If the destour be satisfied, your soul will escape hell tortures; you will secure praise in this world, and happiness in the next. For the destours are the teachers of reli- «■ Hyde de Religione Persarum, c. 28. Both Hyde and Prideaux affect to apply to the magian, the terms consecrated to the christian hierarchy. him) of two curious particulars; 1. That the magi derived some of their most secret doctrines from the Indian brachmans ; and, 2. That they were a tribe or family, as well as order. ' The divine institution of tithes exhibits a singular instance of confor- mity between the law of Zoroaster and that of Moses. Those who cannot otherwise account for it, may suppose, if they please, that the magi of the latter times inserted so useful an interpolation into the writings of their prophet.
 * Ammian. Marcellin. xxiii. 6. He informs us (as far as we may credit