The Essenes Or Essenians.

state of servitude , the religion of Moses daily lost its most salient characteristics , and presented only the sad picture of a tree once vigorous , which , having exhausted all its strength , gave no further evidence of life than in certain isolated branches ready at any moment to detach

themselves from the trunk . It was divided into three principal factions , which for a long time desolated the people of Israel , and which , in the very bosom of that ancient and respectable religion , gave rise to an infinite number of

sects , which corrupted the pure and sublime morality that Moses had derived from the priests of ancient Egypt , and which he had turned to admirable account in converting a superstitious people , born in slavery , into the holiest and most intrepid of nations .

Then came those monstrous superstitions , those gross practices , those harsh tenets , which usurped the place of that holy morality , that respectable religion , which so marvellously distinguished that famous people . Exaggerated interpretations , inane ideas , had converted tradition into a

silly , incoherent , strange fable , and had so disfigured the ancient creed that the Jews of Jerusalem would have experienced some difficulty in recognising the Jews of ¦ E oypk One party brought forward charges of unbelief , while another had recourse to persecution , and regarded

their own people as their most implacable enemies . The Sadducees , rejecting all tradition , looked only to the written law . The Pharisees , on the other hand , ingrafted on the fundamental traditions and written exposition of the faith new dogmas and rites , which Moses had not laid down in

writing , and which they pretended had been revealed to him afterwards , and as a supplement to the Law which God had established on Mount Sinai . The Samaritans combined the teaching of the Pentateuch with the philosophy of the Chaldeans , and deluded the people by the illusions of

magic . These factions regarded each other with scorn , and felt towards each other that hatred which usually animates sections belonging to the same creed . The majority , wandering from one country to another , mingled

with their faith the superstitions of the people they travelled amongst , and nearly all , excited by fanaticism and eager for innovation , altered and deteriorated the holy writings , and forced on their own interpretation , calculated to develope new systems .

Such was the state of Jewry when Alexander had conquered Asia . In the general confusion of religious and moral views , a corruption of morals , and the hatreds and other strong passions which accompany the frenzy of new systems , had divided families , and promoted tumultuous

factions , as well as all those disorders to which private interests , directed by enthusiasm and favoured by fanaticism , ordinarily give rise . Some laid up in their hearts the

pernicious germ of vengeance , others , induced by that restlessness of mind which torments the ambitious man , endeavoured to excite troubles . Everywhere individual interest or hatred gave rise to terrible disorders .

In the midst of this universal hubbub the advantages of peace made themselves felt . The love of virtue awakened a desire to cultivate it in peace , and retirement seemed , to all honest people , preferable to that stormy life , so hostile to repose , and which was always requiring a continual and ill-directed activity .

Soon the world saw whole families isolate themselves , and withdraw into desert places , there to pass a life of retirement and peace . Many followed this example , and everywhere throughout Egypt there sprang into existence societies , or Lodges , of virtuous people , whom History

designates as Essenians . Greeks , Jews , Egyptians—in short , people of every nation joined these bodies . Essenian Societies already multiplied everywhere . General esteem followed close upon their heels , and their progress was rapid . Under the tyrannical and bloody reign of Physcon , the

seventh successor of Ptolemy Lagus , Egyptian and foreign families , deprived of their fortunes , and often obliged to flee for their lives , spread themselves throughout the last and only safe asylum in the deserts , where they

formed themselves into bodies , and , far removed from tyrants , sought that peace and security which they could not find in the midst of cities , which had become the scene of a debasing slavery and of all kinds of corruption .

When Syria , still stained with blood , and overborne by that carnage which followed the death of Alexander , and torn by partial dissensions , had become the prey of tyrants and barbarians , the wisest citizens abandoned the theatre of ambitious strife , and sought in the system of the Essenians for peace and tranquillity .

The Essenes Or Essenians.

Egypt , after having astonished the universe by its renown , " having become the centre of anarchy during the civil wars which darkened" the ages of the later

Ptolemies , having been subjugated , invaded by the Romans , and laid waste by an unscrupulous and insolent soldiery , saw grow up in its midst those peaceful and victorious societies which counted alreadv amongst its members such

grand philosophers of old as Democritus , Anaxagoras , and others , men who imported into Greece the consolation of virtue . All these different people , influenced by the same motive , associated by the same spirit , at first scattered without

any intercommunication , were soon brought into the closest relations by tho bonds of intercourse and friendly communication ; the uniformity of tastes and ideas only helped to make them more sensible of the advantage of accord in their political and religious system . Men praiseworthy for

their virtues , their zeal , and their knowledge , were chosen to direct them , and it was in the district of Alexandria , in the very neighbourhood of Lake Mooris , that were established those famous communities of Essenians , which were , as it were , the capitals or centres of other societies

spread over different parts of the east , of Asia , and of Africa . It was from these central points that the Essenian sodalities received the instructions that were necessary to their discipline , their happiness , and even to their existence . It was in these nurseries , so to speak , that were trained and educated those of the Essenians whom their different

Lodges destined for their domestic rule . There a pure and serene sky , a soft and temperate climate , invited them to the study of nature and the contemplation of its wonders . A fertile and joyous country , prodigal of the gifts of Ceres and Pomona , repaid with interest the

fatigues of the happy peaceful labourer . Medicinal herbs mingled their beneficent stalks with the gifts of Flora , and from that happy river sprung health and happiness in these delightful regions . Streamlets , shaded by the linden

and the palm , meandered gently , with a soft murmur , and spread everywhere the precious seeds of fertility . Nature seemed to have exhausted all its benefits , and been prodigal of all its charms , in order to render these regions worthy to become the asylum of virtue .

On the other hand tho Essenians well deserved to inhabit

this enchanted country , for their system , true picture of the early ages of the world , recalled to earth that blessed epoch which closed with the innocence of man , that golden age which poets have invented in order to celebrate virtue , and which the custom of our day has relegated to the

fictions of mythology . A life of labour spent m common , the spirit of brotherhood , that happy simplicity which diminishes the work of man the more , the closer it brings together man and his true destiny , and , above all , that love of peace which looks on war as a crime , that universal

philanthropy which insists in regarding tolerance , charity , and beneficence as duties , all these attributes made these new societies thoroughly one and the same family , devoted to the common weal . If wealth were not their lot , poverty , that terrible plague of humanity , never came to trouble

their happiness or mar their innocent pleasures . Men who had voluntarily withdrawn themselves from riches could not be otherwise than moderate ; thrift and self denial as

regarded all that was superfluous , which are the incorruptible safeguards of happiness , never ceased warding off those factitious wants which are born of luxury and indolence .

It was in this happy land and this splendid school of virtue that the chiefs of the Essenian societies trained themselves . It was from this centre , in which dwelt happiness and innocence , that went forth those mild laws which should serve them as their guide , and conduct them to and keep them in the paths of happiness and peace .

The religion and morality of the Essenians were as pure as their manners . They professed the Jewish religion , but stripped of all those superstitions and sophisms with which the Pharisees , the Sadducees , and the Samaritans had overlaid it . Here is an analysis of their faith and their morality .

1 . They honoured Moses as a legislator inspired of God , and in spite of the extreme gentleness of their manners generally , they condemned to death all those among them who spake ill of him . At the same time looking upon

this condemnation merely as an mdispensible precaution against blasphemy , they confined themselves to depriving the guilty of life , without subjecting him to the agonies of that torture which they deemed criminal and useless .