Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1860-08-15

3
/ IRA, mountains, however succeeded, I'm
quite recent times in making q sword
(which seemed TO equal the best Damas-
Gus, with bsde Of rotculated lines
such rs always appeared on the finest Da-
moscus hladcs-in broad stripes and show
/ ing a bright gildCd reflection. He cut
through gau2e handkerchief in the air,
| and cleft bones and nails, ieats which can,
not be performed with the Test English
stec.." Anderson in his recent travels in
/ Siberia, states, however, that the secret
died with Anossotf, as these swords are
not now made at Damascus
Another point Of interest is the famous
| Damask stuHs. They are properly silk,
though sometimes made of other fabrics
! Large quantities of silk are still manuhc-
tured, and the Damask roses have lost
nothing Of their immemomal beauty.
There Is at Damascus a considerable
trade both with India and Europe
| From India are brought by the Persian
/ Cult, Bassora, Bagdad and Aleppo. spices,
cotton goods coarse and fine musins, and
gold stutls. English goods come through
Beyrout and Tripoli The people are
Mahommedans, Druses, Oriental Chris.
tians, Jews, &c. The population is about
one hundred thousand.
With so many features in their own ap.
'proXimating to the Christian religion, it
appears some what strange tue Dru,
ses should manifest such ticndish barbara.
ty as they have recently done But to
! them, strong monolheists as they are, doc
trines Of polytheism are peculiarly repul-
/ sive. In tho ceremonies of the Greek and
/ Roman Churches they perceive what they
think to be a worship Of more than one
God. They do not comprehend the reIas
tions of the three persons in the Trinity,
and especially fail TO understand the in
terpretation ofthe material symbols held
7 in such vencration in those churches. .--
/ The protestant Of Syria, whose religion
does not present these features, would
probably share better if the Druscs
understood more about them: but the
! Protestants as well as the Greeks and
Catholics, all come under the general head
of Lhristians, and as such fall beneath the
discriminating fury Of these fanatics.
1t does not appear, however, that the
/ Druses are the only tribes engaged in the
massacrcs. Arab MCssulmans are equally
guilty. The principal cause Of the pres
ent troubles most probably arises from
the old feuds which for centuries have
been waged between the Druses and the
Maronites. The latter people are native
Christians, followers of a monk called Ma,
ron, who lived in the sixth century.
"wHo ARE THE DRusEsp
The question "Wbo are the Druses 2"
the New ork Post answers by saving
| They are principally o sect Of the Mo-
hammedons, existing only in SYRIA
Their name is derived from parazi or
Dnrsi, who rs early rs 1919 came as "a
missionary to them from an Cfshoot Of
the Moslem stock. Singularly enough
the Druses disavow any beliefin the pecu-
liar doctrines orthe nan whose name they
bear, and do not hesitate to call him
7 hereto. and to lool, upon the title Of
"Drusc' as n stigma. The characteristics
dogma of the sect is the unity of Gods be-
ing. Indeed, the Druses call themselves
Uui!arians. they maintain that God is
incompreheRsiblc, ineXorable, pure, the
essence Of pure life, and can be known to
his accepted children through human
manifestations only. They declare the
first born of the Deity was the spirit of
Intelligence, which first imcarna'ed Hans
sa who is the Christ Of the Arion theory.
70 uamsa was confdcd the creation OF
the world, and from him comes uIl wis,
dom and truth, while through him only
does the Lord communicate with the hu.
man family. This is simply the corrected
version Of the great Christian doctrines
of incarnation and mediation There is
n complicated system Of priesthood mains
tained by the DTuseS, who like the fol.
lowers Of Mohammed, embody in their
religion many Of the traditions and per.
sonages of the Old Testament. There is
a Satan, or Ismal, as ne is called who
first introduced sin into the world.
In regard to free will, the Druse theol.
ogy maintains that the length of every
mans life is foreordained, but not his
individual acts They believe in the
TRANSPORTATION Of souls and say that the
soul of lsmail was once IN John the
Baptist, and still earlier in Elijah, while
that Of lIamso once dwelt in the body Of
Jesus. Yet while acknowledging that
Jesus once existed, they do not think |
that he was in any way divine, rs the |
individual soul which lived in him and |
in manv others did not receive divine
power till it reached the body Of Hamso. !
The Druses do not extend their trans
migration doctrines so far as to allow that |
human souls ever exist in the forms Of
animals They think that the souls Of
men 80 on, inhabiting different bodies
with the exception Of a very lew, whose
excellence permits them to exert pure
spirt-uEtil the resurrection day, when
the faithful will be resolved for eternity
into spiritual beings, but by far the
greater portion OF mankind will not be
auulhiiated
If the Druses lived up to the seven
commandments in which they express
their moral laws, they would not be so
dreaded and so cruel a people, for MUIR
der, theft, covetousness and cruelty are
prohibited as special crimea, and cnasti.
ty honesty, meekness and mercy are re.
garded as high yirtues--so high unfor,u.
nately, that the present Druse generation
cannot reach them. The men have but
one wife each the form Of Government
is patriatchal, different tribes having a