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“ 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, unless“ they are accepted by the deslour, or priest.“ To obtain the acceptation of this guide to sal-“ vation, you must faithfully pay him tythes of“ all you possess, of your goods, of your lands,“ and of your money. If the destour be satis-“ tied, your soul will escape hell tortures; you“ will secure praise in this world, and happi-“ ness in the next. For the destours are the“ teachers of religion ; they know all things,“ and they deliver all inen.” u
These convenient maxims of reverence andimplicit faith were doubtless imprinted with careon the tender minds of youth, since the magiwere the masters of education in Persia , and totheir hands the children even of the royal familywere intrusted. x The Persian priests, w ho wereof a speculative genius, preserved and investi-gated the secrets of oriental philosophy, andacquired, either by superior knowledge or su-perior art, the reputation of being well versedin some occult sciences, which have derivedtheir appellation from the magi. y Those of moreactive dispositions mixed with the world incourts and cities; and it is observed, that theadministration of Artaxerxes was in a greatmeasure directed by the counsels of the sacer-dotal order, whose dignity, either from policy
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VIII.