BABYLON AND PERSIA

THE STORY OFMEDIA, BABYLON,AND PERSIA.I.A NOTABLE RELIGIOUS SURVIVAL: TIIE PARSIS.ANQUETIL DUPERRON.I. Among the so-called heathen religions whichstill claim for their own more than one half of man¬kind, there is none of greater interest and iiTiportancethan that of the ParsIS, more generally knownunder the graphic but misleading name of " Fire-Worshippers."It is certainly not from their num¬bers this sect derive that interest and importance,for in that respect they form an almost imperceptibleunit in the general sum.The entire number ofParsis now living scarcely, if at all, exceeds 100,000,which represents about one in fourteen thousand ofthe earth's population. But, small as that frag¬ment of humanity is, it isa chip from one of theworld's noblest and mightiest nations, the PERSIANSof old, a nation which, though not extinct, and stillcounted as one of the greater political powers of theEast, has degenerated beyond recognition under the