'Outram & Havelock's Persian Campaign. By Capt. G. H. Hunt, 78th Highlanders. To Which Is Prefixed, a Summary of Persian History, an Account of Various Differences between England and Persia, and an Inquiry into the Origin of the Late War. By George Townsend, Author of "Russell's Modern Europe Epitomised"' [‎6] (27/390)

6 PERSIA IN
learned men fully bear out the opinion ex- t
pressed by Hales, who says, " Persia, indeed, t
or Iran, from the earliest times, seems c
to have been the great classic ground of
Oriental mythology and romance, which di- o
verged and spread from thence with its roving c
tribes, the Palli and Pelasgi, &c., to almost ^
every surrounding and distant country, both fi
of the east and of the west. The fabled wars of p
the gods and giants, which pervade the Greek d
and Latin classics, most probably originated o
from the wars of their heroes, or ancient kings, a
with the Dives, or rebellious demons, in which g
they were supposed to be assisted by the Peris, t
or fairies, the good demons and guardian angels c
of mankind ; both acting under the control of t
the Supreme Being." o
The fact of the high antiquity of Persia does v
not, however, depend upon the testimony of
profane writers, whether belonging to Persia, or d
other ancient or modern states; but is substan- a
tiated by several passages in the Bible. The t
sacred annals contain abundant evidences of a
the important position occupied by this state, t
when the Jews were a favoured people, and v