or ill-used members of other religions. It should, however, be remembered that almost all religious systems have been tolerant while they were themselves in a minority, and that the era of persecuting intolerance has been that of power, so that the Parsis have never really been in a position to exercise intolerance. It is, however, notorious that they do not view with indifference the conversion of any members of their own body to Christianity, and that a Parsi who desires to throw in his lot with the Christians must expect as many difficulties and troubles as though he were a Mahomedan or a Hindu.
A very well-known instance of this occurred in the case of the Rev. Sorabji Kharsedji, how a missionary of the Church Missionary Society at Poona. He was brought up strictly as a Parsi, but while pursuing his school studies he became acquainted with the Bible, which he read diligently and devoutly. The pure unselfish morality which he found there greatly attracted him, and his heart answered to the idea of a mediator and a Saviour as set forth in the New Testament. In some of his own sacred books he had found a dim echo of Isaiah's prophecy that a deliverer should arise, who would subdue all evil and save his people from their sins, but the religious system of the Parsis offered him no such friend. Gladly, therefore, he accepted the truth as revealed in Christ, and with a willing and teachable heart he
