THE Parsees profess the religion taught by Zoroaster, who lived about the time of Cyrus the Great. They are fire worshippers. The name was given to those Persians who, on the conquest of Persia by the Arabs in the seventh century, refused to abandon the religion of their ancestors, and become followers of Mahomet. They fled to the deserts of Kerman and to Hindustan. Their number is now very small, and in Persia they are in an oppressed and degraded condition. In Bombay it is otherwise, and the Parsees bear a high character, and figure in the community as intelligent, rich, and active people.
The sun, the centre of light and heat, was the earliest object of idolatrous worship. When man, degraded by sin, and pursuing the path of universal degeneracy, refused to seek and worship the invisible God, yet felt compelled to obey the promptings of the small remains of those impressions he had received by tradition from his fathers, he sought some visible object of veneration. The most glorious and, so to speak, beneficent of all the creatures of God was the sun, whose beams shed light upon their path, warmed and cheered their spirits, and was the means of developing the fertility of the earth; men therefore prostrated themselves adoringly before him, and so "worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever."
The Parsees have ever been the most violent, obstinate, and determined opponents of Christianity. The Brahmins, even, have proved more accessible to the faith of Christ than they. In fifty-three years of missionary operations among them, only fifteen Parsees are known to have received Christ throughout the whole of India. The first of these was Hormazdji Pestonji, known in England as formerly Professor of Gujerati and Marathi in King's College, London.
Hormazdji was born in Bombay, 8th August, 1820. He first heard of Christ while attending the school of Dr. Wilson, when a youth of sixteen or seventeen. His opposition to Christianity was intense and bitter. He tore up all books which contained the name of Christ, but his opposition was chiefly directed against the Bible. However, the truths which, in the school, he unwillingly heard and read, were slowly but surely making impressions upon him, and sinking down into his mind and heart. But God, by a special providence, brought matters to a crisis, the Holy Spirit working effectively upon his soul. He thus tells us the story of his conversion. He had gone out one day to bathe, when he was carried beyond his depth by the rising tide. He tried to recover himself, but in vain, and his life was greatly imperiled. He found his strength failing. At that moment the sins of his past life came tip before him as with the rapidity of lightning. He remembered his ridicule of Christ, and his determined opposition to the truth. Hell seemed open before him. Just at this moment, words which he had heard from the missionary came into his mind, as distinctly and as suddenly as came the memory of his sins: “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." Thought he, “Why should not I come? I will trust in Jesus; I do trust in Him." And then and there, as a drowning man catches at the rope thrown out to him, he cast himself on Jesus, and an indescribable peace and joy instantly succeeded. He afterwards wrote the account of his conversion in a tract bearing the title, “Twice Saved "; for, being picked up by a boat, he was saved from drowning as well as from hell. The next step was to confess Christ as a sign and outcome of his conversion.
Not infrequently when one is converted, another follows in the same course, so in this case there was one who was helped to decision by Hormazdji's confession. This young man is the present Rev. Dhanjibhai Nowraji. His feeble steps and falling tears at the grave of the friend of his youth were a sight to be remembered when he was buried 6th July last.
The baptism of Hormazdji Pestonji took place 5th May, 1839, in the Presbyterian Church, by Dr. John Wilson.
The conversion, and especially the baptism, of Hormazdji awoke the fury of the Parsee community, who raged beyond measure that a thing hitherto unknown in their history, the conversion of one of their number to Christianity, should have broken a link in the chain of ages. Crowds surrounded his house, and the police had to be called out. After the baptism a rush was made at the carriage in which he was driven away by Dr. Wilson, but this the police promptly prevented. Then the Parsees endeavored to get possession of Hormazdji and his friend Dhanjibhai, by means foul as well as fair. They were cited before the court, when the excitement was so great that two companies of soldiers were called out, in addition to the police, to preserve the peace. The case, however, was dropped, as no decided charge could be brought against him. But for six months it was unsafe for him to go beyond the precincts of his own house, which was guarded by police day and night. Various methods were adopted to induce him to deny his profession, hut in vain. Bribes, threats, attempts to burn down his house, and even poison were resorted to to silence the voice that then, as ever since, has borne testimony to the Savior and His love.
These outward tribulations were far less bitter than the sorrows that sprang up in his own household. His wife deserted him, carrying away her baby daughter; his parents cast him off; his other relatives despised him, and he had to endure for Christ's sake that which the Savior foretold, the forsaking of all to follow Him. His enemies even went the length of getting up a great anti-conversion petition, which was signed in Bombay by Hindu, Parsee, and Mohammedan alike. Hormazdji, however, remained firm, and held on his way courageously. He continued his studies at the Wilson School, and in 1849 accepted a post in connection with the Free Church Mission.
From 1855 to 1862 he was engaged in mission work at Gujerat. He then came to England, where he remained twelve years, holding for much of the time the chair of Gujerati and Marathi in King's College, London.
He returned to India as a missionary of the Baptist Missionary Society, in connection with which he worked, chiefly in the great city of Poonah, up to the time of his death, which took place on Sunday morning, 5th of July, 1891. His illness arose from an internal malady, involving great suffering.
Though much of his time unconscious, in lucid intervals he bore testimony to the truth he had confessed fifty-three years before in the presence of an angry and excited people.
Speaking with great difficulty, and in broken utterances, his last words were: “I am in great agony, but the Master is with me, and all is well."
It is many years since the writer last saw him, but he can recall the fine, intellectual countenance, the beaming eye, the genial, Christian expression, which told on every observer, as also his gentlemanly bearing, his kindness of manner, and his winning ways and words. He had nearly reached his seventy-first year, and now he rests from his labors.
Around his grave were gathered representatives of the Church of England, Presbyterian, Baptist, and American missions, all uniting in paying the last offices of respect to one who had served God so well; while the native Christians of all parts where he had labored, mourned their loss as of one who, in their affectionate regard, was "a Prince in Israel."
By his death the voice of a faithful witness for God has been hushed in silence, but another singer has joined the company of the redeemed around the throne of the Lamb. The Lord grant that fresh voices may yet break forth who shall cry unto the millions of India and China, and to Gentiles of every race, and Jews of all ranks, as they uplift the Crucified, "Behold your God! " R. S.