The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1903-12-19

which may truly be said to b devoid
OF charlatanlsm. Theosophy, for e.
ample may be reokoned among the SIM
cere cults followed in America today,
although Nine, BlavatsiEy, with whose
name the term 'theosophy'' was 90 leag
associated in the public mind, did much
TO dlscredlt it The BlRvatslEy may b
regarded as one Of the most remarkable.
women of the nineteenth century. she
was born in 1881 in south Russian
town bearing the euphonious name oS
Tekaterinoslay and frat attracted at
tention by her statement that abe had
penetrated into Tibet, had met ana
communed with the mahatmas oe the
Himalayas and had been initiated into
the mysteries Of their oecultlarn. Her
fame spread speedily, and Aha was lie
onized by the most select circles Of Hu-
rope. in 1878 she came to the United
States from Europe and two years lat
er established the Theosophical society.
About four years afterward branch Of
the society was started at Bombay, In
1884, so great was the ftlrora concarn.
ing the clever Russian that the Society
For Psychical Research undertook to
investigate her claims, with the result
that her miraculous pretensions were
discredited. Undoubtedly, however, aho
contributed not a little toward popular
izing the tenets Of ;Buddhistle philoao-
ply both among foreigners and natives
Of India itself.
Vedantism is another oriental ruls
that has found It's way to the wSstarn
hemisphere, its most notable exponent
in the United States today being tho
swami Abhedananda, cultured, pol
ished Hindoo OF magnetic personality.
In this the most orthodox Of the ,six
orthodox Brahmanical PHILOSOPHERS, an
idealistic monisnl is methodically work.
ed out, the central idea being the re-
lease Of the SOUL from Its corporeRl
bondage and the escape from the naces-
sity Of rebirth, the passage Of the soul
from one bodily form to another. We
lantism is essentially esoteric, but IE
has an exoteric side Offering popular
religious explanation Of the universe
and the nature Of man. The nFst to
popularize 1t in the western world was
the swami Vivekananda, whosO lee
lures were one Of the features Of the
celebrated congress Of religions ut CHI
cago in 1898. His mental alertness and
his readiness to answer the most I'M
Rolved philosophical questions attract.
ed widespread attention. The same
qualities are to be found in Abheda-
nanda, who has made New York his
headquarters for the past few years.
OF quite another class Is that IA
naticism which results in the formation
of an aggressive religious cult. His
tory is replete with examples Of this,
the most noteworthy at the present
time being the religious war in progress
In Somaliland. where the British have
for years been vainly endeavorIng to
conquer the Mad Mollah and his fol-
lowers. The Mad Mollah's name u
Hail Mohammed Abdullah. Hail sig
miles one who has made the pilgrimage
to Mecca, Mohammed Is the name OF the
prophet and Abdullah means Servant
Of God" At one time this belligerent
African was friendly to the British, but
no sooner did he conceive the idea that
he was semIdivine, the earthly repre-
sentative Of Mohammed, than he began
TO wage a religious crusade. He II said
to be perfectly sincere in his belief
as to his divinity, and his adherents
swear by him. In 1899 he advanced
on Berbera, but the Abyssinians worst
ed him, and he fell back into British
territory. where he has since been lead
ing the British troops lively chase.
RAYMOND w. ELLIOT. :