Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1860-07-19
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Character and Greed Of the pruses Of
Mount Lebanon-Their Recent Attacks
upon Christians.
The Philadelphia Ledger, Of late date, con-
tains the Fllowing information:
: Until now IL has been almost impossible TO
tell certainly what the Druses really were,
either in their origin or their belief Mos
helm classifes them with mi-Chrstian
sects, who hold the doctrines Of the Mani
cheans, that there are two eternal principles,
one of good and the other Of evil, at war
with each other, and equally powerful. They
have, however, always been esteemed
branch Of the Maronites who, in the seventh
century, sprungfrom the Monothelites, under
John Marc, their first Patriarch. They were
externally connected with the Maronites
until 184i, and were considered as q sort of
degenerate Unitarians.. They themselves
claimed TO be descended from those Franks,
who, in the eleventh century, waged war
against Mohammed, and who, with their
descendants, are known to. have retired to
Mount Lebanus, or Lebanon, in considerable
numbers. II is also known that in the
twelfth century, A. ID. 1882, the Maronites
conformed TO the Romish Church, and this
may naturally have been attributed to the
influence of the Druses. .,...... ....
Closer investigations, however, show that
while, for political reasons, the Druses may
\
and have concealed their faith, and while the
Roman Catholics may have offered them their
protection, hoping thus TO gain them over,
they are, in fact, and ever have been, sect OF
Persian Mohammedans, sprung from the fol-
lowers of Hakem, a false Mohammedan
prophet, who was born at Cairo, A. d. 9S5,
began to reign in Egypt 1885, and was assas-
sinated 1920. His character and commands
to his followers, together with their oath of
al t,NN hU 10
Lacy, and a full account of them in Jowetts
| Christian Researches in Syria. At first it
would seem that their hatred to the rest of
| the Mohammedans was so strong as to drive
| them into sort of tacit alliance with the
| Crusaders, both being prosecuted together
and driven up in the mountains of Lebanus.
But the initiated have always kept up a
| secret organization and faith of their own,
studiously concealed from the uninitiated
| even of their own body. lt-'- .it .i
| They acknowledge seven law-givers, Adam,
| Noah, Abraham, Jesus, Mohammed and
| Jaid, who is, perhaps, in their view, the
same as Hakem, who is, in point Of fact, the
embodiment of the Deity, first appearing
appearing about 400 years after Mohammed.
They openly profess a sort of Unitarianisml
but have secretly many points of belief and
practice known only to the initiated. These
initiated ones areas excessively rigid to their
creed as uninitiated are lax and accommo-
dating. They live temperately on food pc
cular to themselves, marry only in their own
order, and never take an oath, but confirm
their declarations with the words 81 have
said it." The Imam of the Druses is their
ecclesiastical head and is regarded with pro-
found veneration by all classes, initiated and
uninitiated Malte Brun estimates theii
number at 10000, but the missionaries say
they do not number over 10000, I'll,
At this moment they have suddenly at
tecked the Christian villages, with great fury
and destroyed sixty or seventy of them. The
American flag seems to prove the best pro-
lection. That the Turkish MohammedanE
have joined them is more than probable, and
the only conjecture is as to the cause. Not
improbably II is the result of some Russian
and perhaps French intrigue, thing of very
easy and common occurrence, for the sake o
demonstrating to the world the insecurity o
the Christians under the Turkish rule, and al
a plausible pretext for taking possession o
the sick mans effects. II is asserted that thu
French Consul at Beirut had declared thi
to be the end of Turkish rule over th'
Christians, and it is to be observed that
Russian frigate, of thirty guns, happened t
come along the coast just at the time Of thi
outbreak All that seems certain is tina
matters cannot we'll be worse than they are
! But England will not like French or Russian
extension in Syria. ,, t,. f.. Id ads I'D. 81