The Board Of Benevolence.

tare , has been discovered and organised in Liverpool , Manchester , and Birmingham , and we see no reason why the system , if not an improvement upon it , should not be extended to London , —whilst , at the same time , the privileges of Grand Lodge , with regard to the granting of permanent relief , are preserved , and , if needs be , extended .

The Mystical Principles Of Islamism; Or, A Lecture On The Derviches.

THE MYSTICAL PRINCIPLES OF ISLAMISM ; OR , A LECTURE ON THE DERVICHES .

Br BEO . JOHN P . BROWS , CONSTANTINOPLE . ( Continued from page 176 . ) Reverting again to the two classes of Dervickes as Sheea and Sunnee , I may add that a spirit of division is said to have existed amongst the followers of the Prophet even during his lifetimeand that it broke

, out anew at his death . Suffeeism already began to conflict with Islamism . The more mystical doctrines ofthe Koran were susceptible of many and conflicting interpretations . Already sectarianism began to exist , and various of the Arabs , learned in theolog ^ y , commenced to lead men in different Tariksor " paths "

, . This continued to grow and extend , until the commentators of the Koran , i . e ., Haneffee , Schaaft ' ee , Melikee , and Hanbeilee , were generally accepted . As , however , these did not all agree with each other ou some points of holy law , they formed a new source of division and strife , which still exists among

Mussulmans , and affects the Dervich Orders . Tet , as from the Suffees of Persia , it is not improbable , all the modern Orders derive , in giving some account of them I believe that I give the common origin of their principles . At the present time , the influence of the Dervich , or " mystical Orders , " is much greater in Persia than in Turkey ; it is considerable in Egypt , the Barbary States , and Morocco , where , however , it has degenerated into necromancy and jugglery , and

lays claim to a sanctity of character at open variance wifSi the life and conduct of the pseudo-saint ; and new ones , or branches of those already existing , frequently spring up in Persia , to shock the minds of the pious , or alarm the Sovereign . Though they all profess Mussulmanism , still some of their dogmas

approach to infidelity . This , I believe , is rarely the case in Turkey , where men are becoming more and more educated and enlightened . So as _ to secure fidelity , and , I may add , secrecy , the Murids or Novince , on entering a Dervich Order , is required to place himself under the guidance of

the Sheik ( Murchid ) of the Tekkeh—who is regarded as possessing a peculiarly holy character—in order to receive all the spiritual instruction of which he is in need ; and lie must pay implicit confidence to his tuition , as well as submit to his will , quite , to use the Dervich expression , "like a dead body in the hands of the

Imaam , who prepares it for interment . " Derviches represent themselves as being entirely devoted to the search of Hakk , or "the Truth , " and as being incessantly occupied in the adoration of Allah , —a union with whom they desire with all the ardour of a divine love . The Creator is , according to their belief , diffused over all His creatures . He exists everywhere , and in everything . They compare the emanations of His Divine Essence and Spirit to the

rays of the sun , which they conceive to be continually darted forth and re-absorbed . It is to this reabsorption into the Divine Essence , to which their immortal parts belong , that they continually aspire . This return to the Deity is fully carried out in a verse of the 2 nd chapter of the Koran , which says ' , " All

mankind are of and will return to Him ( God ) . " It is inscribed over the portal of the Turbeh , or mausoleum of Abd-ul-Hamid ( grandfather of his jiresent "Majesty ) , and on the wall of the cemetery of the Mevlevee Derviches iu Pera , as well as , doubtlessly , in many other similar laces . They believe that the

p soul of man , and the principle of life which exists throughout all nature , is not from God , but of God . Eor this reason , the Bektachee Derviches ( the most Pantheistical Order of which I have any knowledge ) are averse to the putting any living creature to death . In their sophistry , 'they use the term of AMetn i ELheal

( ' •' delusive world" ) to signify that , in this life , we are constantly in a state of delusion with regard to the Maddeh , or " matter" of which the universe is formed , thus showing their distinction between our " human sight" and our " spiritual vision ; " that the "light of God "is tlieaniniating princile which enables us to see

p the latter , or the " visible world ; " whilst it is only by the "Spirit of God" ivhich He diffused over the world at its creation ( vide Genesis , i . 2 ) that man , in a state of physical purity , ancl filled with the Divine Essence , when the " spiritual vision" commences to actis enabled to behold what is concealed from

, mortal eyes . With these is connected what they all call the Yahdet el Yujud , or " Dnifcy of Being , " i . e . the one great universal God , being everywhere , and in all things .

Their spiritual doctrine teaches that there are four stages or degrees ( called the four columns of the Tarik , or Order ) , through which living mau must pass before he can attain to the highest grade—that of Divine beatitude- —when his corporeal veil will be removed , and his emancipated soul will rejoin the

glorious Essense from which , by its connection with the body , it bad been separated , but not divided . The first of these stages is that of humanity , called the Scheryat , or that of the holy law of the Koran , which supposes the Murid , or disciple , to live in obedience to the written lawand to be an observer

, of all the established rites , customs , and principles of the religion of Islamism , which are admitted to be useful iu regulating the lives , and restraining the mass of mankind within the proper bounds , — -whose souls cannot reach the heights of Divine contemplation , and might be corrupted and misled by that very

liberty of faith which tends to enlighten and delight those of a superior intellect , or more fervent devotion . The second stage is called the Tariket , or " paths , " and which may be designated that of the " spiritual , " or " mystical rites , " in which the Murid , or disciple , attains to spiritual power or strength . He who

arrives at this stage leaves that condition in which he has only been admitted to admire ancl follow a Murchid , or teacher , and enters the pale of the mystical Suffeeism aforementioned . He may now abandon all the observances of strictly religious forms and ceremonies , because he exchanges practical for spiritual

worship ; but this cannot be attained without great piety , virtue , and fortitude , as the mind cannot be trusted in the neglect of religious or legal usages