, 1860-08-03


They ara principally sect Of the Hohamme.
dana, existing only IN Syria Their name is
derived from Darazi or Dursi, who as early as
l0!9 came Is missionary to them from an
otfshoos Of the Moslem stock. 8ingu'arly
enough, The Drnses disavow any belief IN the
peculiar doctrines Of the man whose name they
bear. and do not hesitate to call him beretic,
Stigma. They themselves trace their origin as
religious sect to uamsa, wandering fanatic,
who, IN 1o2o persuaded Hakem, Caliph Of
Egypt, to declare himself manifestation of
God: Although the Caliph ws soon assasslna-
TED, llamsa continued to propagate his theory
IN syria, and with one Of his followers, Mokta-
M Dohr- -eddiD, wrote sacred book embodyicg &
h's teachings. According to his intention only
the Druse priesthood we're to see this volume,
and no revelation was to be made until Tho
second adTent Of Hakem, Who was to appear on
the earth again NTH his master Ha1nsa, this
being. probably, m idea suggested by Christian
dogmas. This secr*cy about the sacred wri.
tings Of Hamsa WAS not, however, observed,
and copies Of the works are now in the great
libraries at Paris, Fieuns, the Vatican, Ley den,
aud the Dodleian Library at Oxford. It has
been translated into French, from which it ap-
pears that the characteristic dogma Of the sect
is tie unity Of Gods being. Indeed, the Dfu-
sea call themselves Unitariaus-
They maintain that God is sincomprehensible,
ine1orable, pure, the essence Of true life, and
can be known to his accepted children through
human manifestations only. Ten times has The
Deity thus appeared in Africa ind Asia, the last
man'festaiion having been that in the person of
Hakem, in Egypt. HAkem left the caro- Of the
faithful to fire principal ministers, who are to
direct them till bis return. Chef Of these min.
isters il HaHsa, who enjoys the high title Of
Universal Intelligence And here is insert
cd in the Dfuse fai,h-to gre it the popular
name-a doctrine as much like that held bY
Christians that it can be no mere coincidence,
but rather proves the initiative powers Of the
founders Of the Druse theology. They declare
the firss.boEn Of the Deity WIS spirit Of Intel
who is the eaale rs tue Christ Of the Arian
theory. To uatusa was contided tile creation
OF the work, ,und from him comes all wisdom
and truth, while through him only does the
Lord communicate with the human family.
This is aimply the corrupted version Of tie
great Chriatisn doctrines Of incarnation and
mediation. There is complicated system Of
priesthood maintained by TIE Druses, who, like
the followers Of stohammed, embody in their
religion many Of the traditions and personuges
Of the Old Testament. There is a Satan. or
isnail, az hc j. called, who first introduced sin
into the world.
IL leya.u Id free will the Druse theology
maintains that the length Of every mans life ID
f6ta ordained, but not his individual acts. They
believe in The trans usmigration of souls. and say
that the soul OF Ismsil was cne in John tha Bsn-
tst, md still earlier in Elijah, wbi!a that Of
Ha1nsa once dwelt in the body Of Jesus. Yet
while acknowledging that Jesus once existed,
they % not think that he wasi in any way divine,
Is the Individual eoul which lived in hitu and in
many others did not receive divine power tiil il
reached the body Of Hamsa. The. Druses do
not extend their truusmiXraiion doctrine 50 fur
as TO allow that human souls eyer exist in the
forms OF animals. They think that the souls of
men 80 on, inhabiting different bodies-with
the exception of Tery few, whose excellence
permits them to exert pure spirlt-until the
resurrection day, when the faithful will be re.
tar the greater portion Of mankind will be an
nihitated.
1t the Dtuses liyed up to the seven COM
mandinents in which they express their moral
laws, they would not be 50 dreaded and 40 cruel
people, for murder, theft, covetousness ard
cruelty are prohibited as special crimes. and
chastity, honesty, meekness AMI mercy a1a re-
gardsd Us high vir.ues-so high, unfortunately.
that the present D!use generation cannot reach
them. The men hare but one wife each, the
torn OF government is patriarcha1, different
tribes having Shiek, and agriculture il care
iuliy attended to. No marriages are contracted
outside Of the sect, and the Dfuses adhere tena-
c'onsly to their religious traditions. All the
male population ID trained from youth to serve
in war, and the Druses have more than once re.
yo!ted against the Turkish government which
holds nominal sway over them. Yet. of 1ate
years, they hare been regarded as peaceful
and quiet people, and were disabusinuy their
neghbors Of the traditional opinions Us 10 their
ferbcity and cruelty, until the great Christian
massacre OF THIS summer proves That their un.
cu:'ab'e notorietJ was not without just foun-
dat1or.
With so''many featnEes iu their own approxi-
mating to the Christian religion, it appeurs
somewhat strange that the Druses should n,.u-
i'est such ficndlsh barbarity ~ they haze re-
Gently done. But to them, strong mouotheists
AZ they are, the doctrines Of polythcism are pc
cullarly rsrulslse. III the ceremonies Of The
Greek and Ramau churches they perceive what
they tn'Ik to be worship ef moro than o1e
gou; they do not comprehend the relations OF
the th:ce persons in the Trinity, and especially
fail to understand the Interpretation Of The ma
terial symbols held IN such yeneratou in those
churches. The Protestants Of Syria: whose
religion does not present these features. would
pro0ably share better if the D.uses understood
more more about th7n; but the Protcstants. Us
we'll Us the Greeks and Catholics, all come M
der the general head Of Christians, and as such
fell beneath The indiscriminating fury of these
fanatics.
!: does not appear that the Drusss a.e The
only tribes engnged in tile masaacres. Arab
cause OF the present 'troubis most rrobativ
arises from the old feuds which for centuries
hare been wa.ed between the Druses aoI the
Maronitex. The latter people are pativc Chris
tiaos, followers OF q monk called MaFon, who
lived in The sixtl. century. In l.15 they effect
cd aunoa ~ith the Church Of lome, tron, which
they have never widely differed, though their
spiritual head il called the Patriarch of Antioch
Instead OF Bishop. II is no new thing for the
Druscs 10 make war against the Maronttes, and
the attacks renewed upon the natise Chris,i7us
were but the co,nmencemen. Of general moye-
tnept to extirpate all Christians in Syria Al
ready others besides the Marunites hayt. been
involved in the terrible effects Of Ibis fanaticism.
murderers will be achieTed.-lN. y. Ete. Io,t.