Daily Los Angeles herald., 1884-05-23

some interesting studies for the stu
dent Of human affairs are now presented
In the far-away parts OF the Old World.
In Egypt the rch Of Nj Mahd' may
be considered epochal. Nothing like II
has happened before during this CEN
tury. His wonderful career Of progress
sive success thus far reminds enc OF the
history OF Tamerlane. of Gengis khar,
Of Mahomet, and Of other old fanat.
ical conquerors- half soldier and half
religious enthusiast-w issued mys-
teriously from the recesses of Tartary or
Arabia, and, in some cases, well-ngh
subjugated the world. III Mahdi, start
ing somo two years ago over two thous-
and miles south Of Cairo, and claiming
to be Mohammed re.incarnated, in full
fillment Of an ancient prophecy that Mo-
manned would return inte the world
about that time, has steadily advanced
northward, routing aud destroying all
opposing forces. and continually gaining
adherents to his standard, until now his
followers menace the suez canal, and
most Of the territory Of Egypt is prac.
tically under his control. The entire
valley Of the Upper Nile, with the single
exception Of Khartoum, where General
Gordon is penned up. has passed under
his sway. He Is complete master Of the
Soudan, which contains myriads Of war
like Arabs and other races. This far
distant region. about which 30 little is
accurately known, Is OF immense area
and some recent authorities place its
population rs high as two hundred mil
lions. while the lowest estimate
il twenty-five millions. SO, the
False Prophet has an extensive re-
serve force to draw from. Thus
far his success has been marvellous
and uninterrupted. II II continue, the
effect may be electrical on the whole
Mussulman world, aud the nineteenth
century may yet repeat the history of
the fourteenth and the fifteenth. In
any event, III Mahdi will prove
disturbing element in European affairs
for some time to come. unless he suffer
very sudden collapse of power, of which
there is at present not the slightest indi-
cation. Both England and France are
very jealous Of any interference with the
favorite canal route to the Indies, and
this will tend to make the Prophets flu
ture of still greater concern to the peo
pie Of other countries. He is one Of the
striking historical characters Of the cen.
tury, aud his peculiar career will he
everywhere watched with interest by
those who care to observe and speculate
upon the remarkable events in human
history.
In India another remarkable move
ment is in progress, which, thus far, has
attracted little attention in the United
States, although. strangely enough. its
protector is an American. This is the
revival or pretended revival, rather, of
0ccultism," or "White Maggie" az
some denominate it. This queer devel.
opment, which was started only some
seven years ago by Col. Olcutt, formerly
city editor OF the New York Times, who
has resided in Bombay since then. is
said to be spreading throughout India
marvelously. Its adherents are already
said TO number over two hundred thou.
sand of enthusiasts, and increasing
daily. Newspapers aud books are
printed in its interest, aud it
has assumed such proportions that
the British government treats
Mr.. Olcutt as a prince, and furnishes
him place in which TO live free of
charge, provides him numerous attend
ants. etc. Mr.. Sinnott, prominent Lon.
don editor, went to India purposely to
write book on this queer movement,
and Edwin Arnold, the noted author,
with many other well known English.
men, arc saiu 10 nave espoused IT'S doc
trines. This movement or revival, or
whatever it may be called, is said to be
exciting the greatest interest among all
classes of the thronging millions Of India,
and as it is singular compound of
religion, politics and science, such as
has never been heard Of before in this cen
tury, its progress, like that of the "False
Prophet" will be observed with curl.
osity by the students of current history.
These two movements show, If nothing
else, that the Asiatic and African races
are waking up and displaying more men
tai and physical life than has been their
wont for several generations.