The Oxford intelligencer. (Oxford, Miss.) 1860-18??, 1860-08-15

the chief actors in those bloody scenes may
be interesting to our readers.-ED. ISr,l
I.r .9ss From the Nationsl InteIligeneer
VINO ARE THE DRusEs They are princi-
pally sect Of the Mohammedans, existing
only in Syria Their name is derived from
Darazi, OF Dursi, whe, as early as lol9, came
as missionary to them from an offshoot OF
the Moslem stock. Singularly, enough the
Druses disayow any belief in the peculiar
doctrines Of the man whose name they bear,
and do not hesitate to call him a hereto, and
look upon the title of "Druse as a stigma.
They. themselves trace their origin as relig-
ious sect to Hanisa, wandering fanatic, who,
in 1920, persuaded Hakem, a Caliph ofEgypt
TO declare himself manifestation of God
Although the Caliph was soon assassinated,
IIamsa continued to propagate his theory in
Syria, and, with one of his followers, Moktana
Bohr-eddin, wrote sacred book embodying
his teachings. According to his intention only
the Druse priesthood were to see this volume,
and no revelation was to be made until the
second advent of lIakem, who was to appear
on earth again with his master Hamsa; this
being, probably, an idea suggested by Christ
ian dogmas This secrecy about the sacred
writings was not, however, observed, and
copies of the work are now in the great libra
res at Paris, Vienna, the Vatican, Leyden,
| Al d. H., rotl pl has
been translated into French, from which it
appears that the characteristic dogma of the
sect is the unity of Gods being; indeed, the
Druses call Themselves Unitarians They
maintain that God is incomprehensible, mex
orable, pure, the essence of pure life, and
can be known to his accepted children through
human manifestations only. Ten times has
the deity thus appeared in Africa and Asia,
the last manifestation having been in the per
son of Hakem, in Egypt lIakem left the
care of the faithful to five principal ministers,
who are to direct them till his return. Chief
of these ministers is Ilamsa, who enjoys the
high title of Universal Intelligence" And
here is inserted in the Drusc faith-to give
it the popular name-a doctrine so much like
that held by the Christians that it can be no
mere coincidence, but rather proves the imi-
tative powers of the founders of the Druse
theology. They declare the first born ofthe
Deity was a spirit of Intelligence, which was
first incarnatcG in IIamsa, who is the same
as the Christ of the Arian theory. To llamsa
was confded the creation of the world, and
from him comes all wisdom and truth, while
through him only does the Lord communi-
cate with the human family This is simply
the corrupted version of the great Christian
doctrines of incarnation and mediation
There is complicated system of priesthood
maintained by the Dmses, who, like the fol-
lowers of Mohammed, embody in their relig-
ion many Of the traditions and pcrsonages of
the Old Testament. There is Satan, or
Ismail, as he is called, who first introduced
sin into the world.
In regard to free-will the Druse theology
maintains that the length of a mans life is
forcordaincd, but not his individual acts
They believe in the TRANSPORTATION of souls,
and say that the soul of Ismail was once in
John the Baptist, and still earlier in Elijah,
while that of IIamsa dwelt in the body Of
Jesus. Yet, while acknowledging that Jesus
once existed, they do not think that he was
in any way Divine, as the individual soul
which lived in him and in many Others did
not receive divine power till it reached The
body Of IIamsa. The Druscs do not extend
their transmigration doctrines so far as to al
low that human soul8.ever exist in the forms
of animals. They think that the souls of
men 90 on, nhabitng different bodies-with
the exception of very few, whose excellence
permits them to exert pure spirit-until
the resurrection day, when the faithful will be
resolved for eternity into spiritual beings, but
by far the greater portion of mankind will be
annihilated.
If the Druses lived up TO the seven com
mandments in which they express their moral
laws, they would not be so dreaded and cruel
a people, for murder, theft, covetousness and
cruelty are prohibited as special crimes, and
chastity, honesty, meekness, and mercy are
regarded as high virtues-so high, unfortn
nately, that the present Druse generation
cannot reach them. The men have but one
wife each, the form of government is patri-
| archal, different tribes have Sheik, and ag-
riculture is carefully attended to. No mar
riages are contracted outside of the sect, and
the Druses adhere tenaciously to their rclig-
ious traditions. All the male population is
trained from youth to serve in war, and the
Druses have more than once revolted against
the Turkish Government, which holds nomi-
nal sway over them. Yet, of late years, they
have been regarded as a peaceful and quiet
people, and were discussing their neighbors
of the traditional opinions as to their fcrocity
and cruelty, until the great Christian massacre
this summer proves that their unenviable no.
toriety was not without just foundation.
With so many features in their own ap-