Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-02-08
A ZOE no CHRIsTIANs.

Fhe following extracts from letter Of
the London Standards special eOrrespon-
dent in the Soudan will give an idea Of
the strength Of the MOhammedan power
with which Great Britain Is now coping.
The correspondent writes about this ter
ri.le organization as follows:
-'Fhou shalt be in the hands Of Sidi
Aohammed as a dead body in the hands
OF a corpse washer Such is the form Of
initiation Into the great SenOussi Secret
Society, which In point Of numbers, power
and Influence far surpasses the Society
81 Jesus. even in the pslmiest days of
that cOnfraternity. In 1855 MOhammed
AcTned, the S0udan Mahdi. was initiated
as a klOnan, or brother preacher Of the
SO el-kadeT-el-Diiiani fraternity,
which forms one Of the principal and
most direct affiliations Of the SeuOussi
society. 1t is, IN fact, at the instigation
Of the Grand Master Of the senOussi that
AsAammed Achmed commenced his revolt
with th- Bagarra tribe in 1881.
Phe Grand Master Of the SenOussi boasts
that he has. more or less, at his command
about 30,000,00O Of Mohammedans-tha
IL, over a third Of the total number of the
faithful. The greater portion of these be-
ing more OF less subject 70 Christian pow
eFs, dream Of nothing but Of the universal
empire promised BY the Koran. The feel
ing OF intense hatred against the Chris
tian is deeply engTafted in their hearts.
and, whether latent or irruptive, the
work which goes on is permanent. They
STv at any moment prepared to seize the
opportunity Of struggle with civilized
nations. Their sole aim is a holy war,
with neither truce nor mercy, against the
unbel'eyers and against all those who
gOYenant with the infidel.
Pne headquarters Of the society are at
SeThboub, latitude 80, longitude 24I[. on
ne shores Of Lake Faregda, on the
RgyptO- TripOlitan frontier. Serhboub,
fsunded IN 1861 10y Sheik SenOussi, resem-
bles an immense fortified convent. Even
ten years ago il had sixteen big guns,
purchased at Alexandra, and several
large factories where gunpOwder was
produced and small arms, obtained in
kgypt, remounted and repaired. In Feb
ruary last the number Of biz guns had
Increased TO over hundred, and there
were, besides, twenty mitrailleuses of
German manufacture. According 10
trustworthy information, two Italian ana
three Austrian vessels anchored during
the months of June and July last IN the
-ASFt Of TabTOuk-Which belongs TO the
srdeF-iaden with arms, snOt and shell,
which were Immediately forwarded over
the 2UO kIlOmeters separating the port
eronl S-rhbOub. There are also at the latter
place splendid library, transported
shitbpF from Mecca, the former head
quarters the fraternity, stables contain
ing over 1850 horses, magnificent Teser-
yoirs, p,auts.;6ns, etc. According to
tke distinguished French author DuYey-
rier The bOdyguaru of the master who re-
sides there consists of over 5000
Algerians. Fortified converts and sta
lions, but on less extensive scale. exist
near SiWah, in the oasis OF Jupiter Am
non, at the important oasis OF Faraira,
ans a. about twenty other places IN
E-ypt, mostly in the various GASES Of the
LyniaE desert, while five or six hundred
o. these centres of action are known 10 be
in gTis tence in Turkey, TripOI, TuAls.
Alberta. Morocco. the Hedj3Z, India,
Yemen. Afghauistan. the Somaii coast,
and IN fact wherever the hOhammeGan
religion has taken root, IN Central Africa
especially. at such places as TimbuctOo,
ard in the kingdom of the WGdai.
The agents OF tie order az Alexandra
are vel known. Moreover, IL has It's
representatives at COnstantnople and in
TraHre. To give one solitary instance OF
fbe activity of these agents, L may state
that during the Commune one OF the
Ss.o:sai sta..Oued at Paris managed 10
puriuu from the Ministry OF Foreign
& tTair-. in the Quai dO1s2y- document
of a compromising nature. stamped win
the seal OF the chiefs o. the IOuareg OI
R-aamcs tribe. who rank among the most
TaryeDt adhereuts of the order. Only the
0fher day the Weil-knOwn AraO news
paUer- Tue Nusref. published letter
IRON a. native doctor, in which the latter
rela,es that the Mahdi asked him
whether 70 was true that Sultan
William. Of Prussia, had sent his Grand
Vizier. Bismarck, to London TO tell
the English Ministers that Germany
Austria and Russia would not tolerate
an English occupation of Egypt" and
that he had afterwards shown him letters
from AGENTS in Cairo, Alexandria, and
Europe. The administration OF the AFFAIRS
ofthe order is cOnhded to four Nv ULCERS"
or Ministers. residing at SerhbOub, and
acting under the immediate direction Of
the Grand Master. who is supreme. The
members OF the order, whose names are
carefully registered, owe absolute and
unquestiOuing obedience to the MOkka-
dem, ]. e, the rector of the community or
Of the convent Of the district. The MOk-
kadea II, in his turn, subject TO the Agna,
a. Dean. whose immediate superior Is The
Fakii. or apostolic project Of the pro-
vince. Every member Of the order be-
comes. 1850 fdctO, kind Of missionary,
who only awaits a sign from his chief 70
become a preacher, a soldier, a bugand,
or even an assassin. For,
lust as in the case Of the
Jesuiis. so IL is with the SenOuss!-le but
iuStife les mOyenC-lEd they haYerecOurse
even to the most outrageous means 10 at
tain the object they keep in view. The
Grand Master, who styles himself, among
other things, the .'Khalifa," or lieutenant
o. Cod. corresponds with his subOrdinates
bv means Of RELAYS Of special messengers,
who in very confidential cases convey YER
bal messages only. To such perfection
are the means Of communication carried
H.-a 81 81 lfr.rnT inc OFFS no
pyramids Of Gisch announced the m2sSa-
ere Of Col. Stewards party at MeraWi
t-entr-f lur hours before the OIL .ial news
% 10 reached Cairo. Ia the same way
tire homnar6ment OF Bclber, the surrender
ofToSar and the massacre ut SInkat were
known here in the Oazars LONG before
the Official news Of it was received. The
eEder was founded only fOrty-slX years
ago. by an Algerian OF the trlpe OF MeG-
iahpr. named Mchammed Ben All-es-oen-
oussi. Al an early are be adopted the
philosophical tenets OF the Chadhehstlc
school, which has much Of the NahDl
doctrines about it. On the death at Mec-
ca Of Sheik Ahmed Ben Edris, who was
the chief Of the school in question, Sem
eussi, who had been his favorite disciple,
was appointed to succeed him, and soon
evolved, partly out Of the Koran and
partly from bis meditatiOns, purified
kind of Chadhelism, which he caused TO
be adopted by the members OF the sect as
being the true and reformed Islamism,
sleansed from all the superstitions and
unOrthodOx practices which twelve cen
centuries Of theolOgians had grated on II.
Tne OOctriue OF this most lntOlerant OF
all reformed creeds is pretty much as fol-
lows: In the arst place, the glorihcation
81 Sod, who alone is to be wOrshlpped.
Living saints may be vererated, but this
veneration must cease Immediately they
die, and no pilgrimages to their tombs
nor invOcatiOns Of their names in prayer
are permitted. The prophet Mohammed
is no exception 10 the Iule, although adj
Tnifted TO have been the most perfect Of
human kind. UnquestiOning obedience
Is strictly enjOined, and even the sultan
and al other chiefs Of Mohammedan
states mast conform to the precepts of
lsIam.sIn as interpreted by the order, at
the risk Of hostility against them being