Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1911-11-08


/ Ing away a hundred garments. He Is
4 enabled to do this by the rich pres
4 ents OF his followers, who are said
to number several million, in Persia.
Abbas Ehendi makes no claim to be
4 a healer. and he himself occasionally
needs the doctors attention. He is
\ simple In his manner of life, and has
\ steadfastly refused to take more than
one wife. despite the fact that he has
no son, and that his father before him.
1.-THE Blessed Perfection" had two
wives. His teachings permit polyg-
amy, but they counsel against It. s
Homogeneous though 1t seemed to
find a Messiah gone away; to health
resort. I followed Abbas SEnendi to
in Egypt, where ! trailed
L him by trolley car from a huge sum-
\ mer hotel to a agnificent private
house which he has rented for his
4 sojourn. There, Hospitality received,
for Abbas Enendi is fond yof visitors. I
\ had Almost interesting interview with
4 the man whom q considerable number
Il Of Americans and Britons, and mill
lions In Asia, call Master and hail
rs the latest and fullest manifestation
Of the Deity. 3ss
a New Rel lon and Its Martyrs.
B The proof of martyrdom has been
abundantly given to Babism, or Beha-
ism. The Bah himself was executed at
Tabriz in 1850, at the age Of 81, six,
years after he had enunciated his gen
tie doctrines. and had called himself
The Gate,'Sto knowledge, recalling
the prophecies Of the Bible and the
Koran, concerning a. coming one. In
the bitter prosecutions by the Mos
lens that tensued, the followers OF the
Sab met death finely. There were few
5.recantarions, and in a single year the
number Of martyrdoms amount ed to
as many as 10000. I. Z. 81 Il,
& Two years after the death OF th9
Bah, q group OF leaders lied to Bagdad,
among them Mira Hassyn All, whom
the Bah had called g Beha Ullah, 1.-THE
{ Glory OF Cod, He spent two years in
the mountains in seclusion and medi-
Etation. After time he announced to
q few Of his closest friends, that he
was the "Manifestation,,' Of whom the
Bah had been the forerunner. In
1853 the Bagdad Babists were sent
into exile at Adrianople. Five years
later Beha, who had come to be gen
orally accepted by Babists as the
Messiah (although not without rivals),
who thenceforth called themselves
"Behaists,' was sent into confinement
at Aka, few miles north of Haifa
where ne produced many writings, and
died in 1892. He was succeeded by
his sr--. Abbas Efendi, who is called
I by Bahists our Master and sour
Lord" He, too, has had rivals-and
the contentious Of aspirants for the
leadership has been blot on the his
tory of Behaism, but he seems now to
be generally accepted by nearly all
professors Of the faith His Tablets"
or messages, are regularly read in the
meetings Of the faithful.
a Picturesque Personality.
The essence OF Behaism is the doc
trine that messengers, or manifesto.
lions, of God, are sent whenever the
voice of their predecessor becomes oh.
secured. These "Messiahs'' are fire.
quently given as Moses, Zoroaster,
Buddha, Christ, Mahomet, and the
founders Of the Beha faith. OF the
Behai manifestations, the last is the
fullest -evelation OF all. So read in
the book upon Behaism which finds
most favor with the leaders Of the
cult. OF course this doctrine makes
Abbas Effendi the greatest OF all the
prophets and incarnations of God; is
1T any wonder that should want to
see him? Especially so, as all the ar
ticles have read upon him picture
him as very wonderful individual.
In an elegantly furnished modern
house i found Abbas Etrendi seated
on sofa, waiting for me. He is
q striking figure in any garb, and
when clad in white tarboosh, or
fez, with a white cloth wound around
It, Moslem Style, and long gray outer
cloak Of mohair, like motor coat,
and two white cloaks beneath 1t, he
would attract attention anywhere. He
resembles, in appearance and manner,
General Booth of the Salvation Army,
more than any other man recall. He
has the same Roman nose, the same
restless. shawk-like eye, the same silver