History of the Parsis : including their manners, customs, religion and present position : with coloured and other illustrations : in two volumes

266 HIISTORY OF THE PARSTS. [CHAP. VI.

contributing in other ways towards the support of the starving population.” This recent evidence is amply borne out by that of an earlier period. The Rev. Mr. Ovington, who published an account of his voyage to Surat in the year 1689, has said that “the Parsis are ever ready to provide for the sustenance and comfort of such as want them. Their universal kindness, either in employing such as are needy and able to work, or bestowing a seasonable bounteous charity to such as are infirm and miserable, leave no man destitute of relief, nor suffer a beggar in all their tribe, and herein so far comply with that excellent rule of Pythagoras, to enjoy a kind of community among friends.” Major Moore, in- his narrative of the operation of Captain Little’s detachment, says: “The benevolence of the Parsis is not restricted to persons of their own sect. Their industry and extensive mercantile spirit have enabled many of them to amass considerable fortunes, which they spend with generous profusion in acts of charity and hospitality.”

We could fill pages with similar testimony from various other authors, but as this excellent trait in the Parsi character is universally known and admitted, we shall simply adduce here a few facts showing the various directions in which the charitable impulses of the Parsis have been exhibited, and how great are the benefits they have conferred upon their fellow-beings,

without reference to caste, colour, or creed.