The Persians, known in India as Parsees, are worshippers of the element of fire. This fire-worship originated from an event that took place in Persia when the Hebrews were captives in that country. The King of Persia gave the Hebrews leave to sacrifice to the Lord as Moses had commanded them; and when the prophet Nehemiah had prepared the sacrifice, the priests and the Israelites offered up this prayer: “O Lord, Lord God, Creator of all things, Who art fearful and strong, and righteous and merciful, and the only and gracious King, the only giver of all things, the only just, almighty, and everlasting, Thou that deliverest Israel from all trouble, and didst choose the fathers, and sanctify them: Receive the sacrifice for Thy whole people Israel, and preserve Thine own portion, and sanctify it. Gather those together that are scattered from us, deliver them that serve among the heathen, look upon them that are despised and abhorred, and let the heathen know that Thou art our God. Punish them that oppress us, and with pride do us wrong. Plant Thy people again in Thy holy place, as Moses hath spoken.” And the priests sang psalms of thanksgiving. Now when the sacrifice was consumed, Nehemiah commanded the water that was left to be poured on the great stones. When this was done, there was kindled a flame; but it was consumed by the light that shined from the altar. So when this matter was known, it was told the King of Persia that, in the place where the priests that were led away had hid the fire, there appeared water, and that Nehemiah had purified the sacrifices therewith. Then the King, inclosing the place, made it holy, after he had tried the matter and convinced himself of the fact.[14] The Mohammedans are the followers of Mohammed, and the Koran that he gave them, he told his followers, “is not a new invented fiction, but a confirmation of those Scriptures which have been revealed to Moses before it, and a distinct explication of everything necessary in respect either to faith or practice, and a direction and mercy unto people who believe.”[15] As for the Israelites, though they are now scattered over the face of the whole earth, yet the Tabernacle, and the Altar of Incense, and the Ark containing the two Stone Tables on which were engraven the Ten Commandments given by God, by the hand of Moses, are still in Mount Abarim, hidden there by Jeremiah the prophet, before the sack and burning of the Temple of Solomon by the Babylonians. They are in a cave, wherein Jeremiah laid them and stopped the door, saying, “As for that place, it shall be unknown until the time that God gather his people again together, and receive them unto mercy. Then shall the Lord show them these things, and the glory of the Lord shall appear, and the cloud also, as it was showed under Moses, and as when Solomon desired that the place might be honourably sanctified.”[16]