of the bridegroom or bride, nor of the witnesses, nor in short, the time when, or the place where, their nuptials are solemnized, which shameful neglect gives a sanction to divers ill practices amongst them. Extreme unction is also omitted by them, and their sick persons who are past recovery are equally disregarded; for after they have supplied them with a cross and a little incense they let them expire without any further ceremony. They bemoan the loss of the dead, with outcries and hideous lamentations, accompanied with many contorsions; which is a demonstration, as we have before observed, that all people observe the customs peculiar to their respective countries. There are no provisions, for decency sake, dressed for some considerable time at the house of the deceased. The relations and friends bring victuals and drink with them, and there eat with, and endeavour to alleviate the sorrows of the mourners. In their funerals they have many customs, entirely heathenish, which is not much to be wondered at, when we consider how long it is since the gospel was first preached among them; for every thing, let it be ever so valuable is soon corrupted, when men introduce into it something inconsistent with it. It was owing to this, that all the innovations we meet with in the different professions, forms, systems, rites and ceremonies of the Christian religion took place. The Roman catholics have gratified ambition by policy; the Greeks by, Of the NASSERIES, KELBITES, and CHRISTIANS of St. JOHN. TH speaking, The Nasseries of whom we are are in truth neither Mahometans nor Christians. What follows is the clearest account we can find of the Nasseries: Kelbia is the name of a country inhabited by these Nasseries, a name which in Italian is Christiannaccio, that is to say, a bad Christian. The extent of the country where they reside is two days journey in length, and the same in breadth by the sea coast from Tortoza to Laodicea. These Nasseries are very much addicted to pilfering and stealing; but in other respects they are very chaste. Their women appear abroad unveiled, which is a custom observed by none of the eastern nations but themselves. If a stranger happens to pass by, and desires to be directed in his way, a courteous young damsel will sometimes accompany him for three or four miles together; but this is attended with dangerous consequences, for should the traveller cast an amorous glance upon his indulgent guide, so as to create in her the least suspicion, she will murder him if she can, or otherwise, by her cries, alarm the neighbourhood, who will assassinate him for her. The same happens when the women sit at table in a private family. They detest the Mahometans, and their Alcoran, notwithstanding they affect being called Turks, to secure them from their tyranny and oppression. The secrets of their religion are not much known; for their women and common people are absolutely enjoined not to learn it. None but the Santons, and those persons whose peculiar province it is to read prayers, to teach, the creed, &c. are entitled to that privilege. They have a gospel, which is read to them by one of their elders; and, as we are informed, they believe in the doctrine of the Holy Trinity; they observe Easter, and several other Christian festivals; the Nativity of our Blessed Saviour, the Circumcision, and the Epiphany. New Year's Day they call Istrenes, which doubtless is a corruption of the French term Etrenes, that is, a New Year's Gift, and they have a peculiar veneration likewise for St. Barbara. Their assemblies are very private; they pronounce several prayers over the wine, which is distributed amongst all that are present. They observe no fasts, and abstain from nothing but eating the females of all living creatures whatever. It is very observable, that they swear by St. Matthew and St. Simon, though they are perfect strangers to the history of either of them, and they have likewise a church, much like one of ours. This obscure people, though planted in the very centre of Syria, seem to have something of the Mahonetan, the ancient Persian and the Christian in them. They eat no swine's flesh with the first; they pay divine adoration, as some authors assure us, to the sun, according to the custom of the sccond; and in derision of the Turks abstinence, they drink wine with the third; and what is still more remarkable, they pray for the coming of Christ. Arabic is their mother-tongue. They constantly carry about them Talismanic billets for the preservation of their health; but this is a superstitious custom which prevails throughout the east. There is little or no difference, in all probability, between the Nasseries and the Kelbins, or Kelbites, which appellation signifies dogs, and was given them out of contempt. But we find likewise that they were so called, from the worship which they paid to a black dog. The reader is desired, however, to remember, that the antients have made mention of the Calbii, as inhabitants of mount Libanus. We are indebted to Hide for this observation, and the Amedians, who are described by several other historians, as a kind of Barbarians, without the least civil, or ecclesiastical government, and who reside in the forests and caverns of mount-Libanus, profess likewise an intermixture of Mahometanism and Christianity; and though they chuse rather to say they are Mahometans than Christians, are notwithstanding sworn enemies to the former: These Armedians, whom Hide calls Homeidians, may very probably be the same people as the Nasseries; and we very much question, whether the Druses, of whom we shall in the next place give some short account, differ much from either. Some are of opinion that these Druses, says father Besson very sagely, whom we have just quoted on the subject of the Nasseries, were originally natives of the city of Dreux, the ancient seat of the Druids; and there still remains amongst them, if we may rely on his veracity, abundance of that warlike temper of the English, which rendered our ancestors so formidable to the Infidels. These people, who are the remains of those Christians who went to the holy wars, entrenched themselves in mount Libanus, and Antilibanus, where for a long while they bravely maintained their rights and liberties, as well as their religion, till a false apostle, preached a new law to them, and left behind him a dissertation upon wisdom, entitled Achmé. These are the words of father Besson, but this honest missionary, in all probability, never heard, that the Druses are taken notice of in Herodotus. The Mahometans frequently call the Druses of mount Libanus, Molhedites, an Arabian term, signifying profligate wretches, or according to Herbelot's construction of it, men who have renounced Mahometanism, and turned to some other sect. This appellation, however, of Molhedites, more particu larly denoted a sect of Ismaelians, which rendered themselves formerly very famous in Asia, particularly in Persia, Assyria, and the parts adjacent, where their sovereigns for a long time were distinguished by the title of kings of the Assassins. This prince, our ancient historians call the old man of the mountain, for want of knowing, that the term Gebal, which signifies a mountain, is the name which the Arabians have given to a particular province in Persia. The Ismaelian Assassins were likewise called Bathenians. Herbelot informs us, frat that Bathen signifies the secret knowledge of mysteries, and their illumination. Now as the blind obedience of these Assassins, was grounded on a kind of illumination, or rather enthusiasm, the origin whereof was the reward of Paradise, and the promise of a state of everlasting bliss made to all such as entirely devoted themselves to death and slaughter, and were ready at all times to embrue their hands in blood where and whenever their prince shall please to command them. It is on this account, in our humble opinion, that they have been called Bathenians; as some now a-days call several sorts of enthusiasts and fanatics, men of illumination. pollution in passing through the hands of some merciless usurers. We shall here introduce the Curdes, otherwise called Turcomans, after the Druses. These Curdes are for the generality a parcel of strollers and vagabonds: And perhaps it may be said, without any manner of injustice, that their religion is as uncertain as the place of their abode. Some have observed, that the footsteps of Manicheism are plainly to be discerned amongst the Curdes-Jasidies; for they acknowledge, as we are informed, two principles, and call the devil their doctor, or head; and pay no divine adoration to the Deity, though they acknowledge his existence. This is at least a reflection cast upon them by the Christians and Mahometans, who are equally their implacable enemies. Some likewise confound these Jasidies with the Kelbins, and assert, that they have a peculiar veneration for black, as being the colour of the devil. The Christians, as we are informed, frequently divert themselves with making a circle of earth round these Jasidies, who are afraid to leap the walls of their imaginary prisons, till the circle be broken, and all the time they are thus confined; the Christians, with a sneer, bid them damn the devil. Purchas, and several other authors, give us a very infamous character of these Druses. They live, say they, in constant practice of the enormous sin of incest. At their most solemn festivals they lie together promiscuously, fathers with their daughters, and brothers with their sisters. They are of opinion, that the souls of the righteous enter into the bodies of new born infants, but that the soul of a wioked man resides in a dog. What we have further to add, with respect to the morals and religious tenets of these Druses will not be altogether so odious. Notwithstanding they call themselves Christians, none of them are baptized, on the contrary many are circumcised. However, they have some idea of Jesus Christ, and believe that there will be rewards and punishments in a future state. Father Besson reduces their creed to the seven following articles. First to be a Christian with the Christians, a Jew with the Jews, and a Turk with the Turks. Secondly, Never pray to God, 'because he knows our necessities before we ask him. Thirdly, To honour the four evangelists and read their gospels. But they have no ceremonies, nor any religious assemblies. The two churches or Mosques, which were subsisting in father Besson's time, were not made use of for the exercise of any religious duties. Fourthly, To honour our Lord and to be mindful of the law of Mahomet. FifthJesus Christ, and his Mother the Blessed Virgin, ly, To confess themselves, the men to the men, and the women to the women. Sixthly, To receive bread dipped in mulled wine. The seventh relates retired in desarts, which they notwithstanding someassures us, are very strict in their fasting, and live Mesopotamia and Chaldea. There they were untimes abandon for the promulgation of their AchThese Druses abhor and detest usury to that degree, that they wash all the money which they They reside in no city or town, but what is built receive, for fear it should have contracted a kind of upon the banks of some river, and their archbishop's mé. The Christians of St. John are, for the generality, confounded with the Sabeans. We shall not here expatiate on the religion of the latter. As for the former they derive their denomination from their baptism, and from the peculiar veneration which they have for St. John the baptist. De la Valla is of opinion, that these Christians might possibly be the remains of the ancient Jews, who received the baptism of St. John. Their religion seems to be a compound of the Jewish, Christian, and Mahometan. Tavernier, is more copious and particular in speaking of these Christians than any other traveller whatsoever, and says, that there are abundance of them at Balsara, or Bassora, and the parts adjacent. We shall therefore give the reader, in this place, an abridgment of his account of them, and of the most material facts mentioned by other travellers. The Christians of St. John, at first inhabited the country about Jordan, but sometime after the decease of Mahomet, the persecutions of the Caliphs his for refuge into der the jurisdiction of the patriarch of Babylon, but at the close of the fifteenth, or the beginning of the sixteenth century they diesented from him. say, nor have they a better notion of the third person in the sacred trinity. say, that there are near twenty five thousand fami- This is the ceremony of their baptism, which is performed, as is evident, in the name of God only; for they neither acknowledge Jesus Christ to be God, nor the Son of God, but look on him as a person far inferior to St. John the baptist. We are informed, however, that they call him, as the Mahometans do, the Spirit of God. They acknowledge, according to Tavernier, that Jesus Christ became man, to deliver us from the guilt of sin, but pretend he was conceived in the womb of the Blessed Virgin by the influence of the water of some particular fountain of which he drank, that afterwards the Jews would fain have crucified him, but that he vanished out of their sight, and left only an apparition which they crucified in his stead. In short, every thing they say, both with relation to Jesus Christ and his Mission, is all a medley of absurd and ridiculous fiction contained in their Divan, This Divan of theirs, is, as we are informed, the only book which is now extant amongst them; for their ancient sacred books, which were written in Syriac, are all lost. In this Divan, however, is comprised their doctrines, and the mysteries of their religion. God is there described as a corporeal being, and as having one son, whose name was Gabriel. Their angels and their demons are all corporeal likewise, some male and some female. They marry, and propagate, and believe that God created the world by the ministry of Gabriel, and was assisted in that operation by fifty thousand demons. They believe the world floats upon the water like a foot-ball, and the celestial spheres are surrounded with water; the sun and the moon sail round about it in their respective vessels. The earth was so fruitful at the first moment of its creation, that what was sown in the morning was fit to be gathered in the evening. Gabriel taught Adam the art of husbandry, but his first transgression made him forget the instructions which were given him, and he could recover no more of it than we know at present. The other world is infinitely more beautiful and more perfect than this, but in all other respects, much like it. The inhabitants of it eat and drink, and there are cities, houses, and churches in which the spirits perform divine service, sing, and play upon musical instruments. The demons attend a sick man at the hour of his death, and conduct his soul through a road, where there are innumerable wild beasts: If the deceased was a righteous person, his soul is admitted immediately into the presence of God, having trodden under foot those savage creatures who sought to impede his journey. On the other hand, the soul of a wicked man is almost torn in pieces by those savages before it is qualified for its admission into the divine presence. At the last day, two angels shall weigh impartially the actions of all mankind in a balance; but there shall be a general pardon for all those of their sect. They shall be one day saved after they have suffered the punishments due to their demerits. This is the whole substance of their doctrine. Some historians tell us, that they have a peculiar veneration for the cross, and that they are frequently making the sign of it. The world, according to their notion, is a cross, because it is divided into four parts. They say there are several crosses in the sun and the moon; nay, that the mast of the vessel in which the former sails is likewise a cross. St. John the baptist, is as we have already observed, their most illustrious saint: but however, not the only only one, for they acknowledge likewise the sanctity of Zacharias, Elizabeth, the Blessed Virgin, and the twelve Apostles. We shall not here introduce a tedious detail of the incredible miracles, which either proceeded, or accompanied the nativity of St. John, nor of those which are ascribed to the beforementioned Zacharias and Elizabeth, the parents of St. John, nor of the absurd romantic life of this forerunner of Jesus Christ. As to all these particulars, we shall refer the curious reader to Tavernier, for according to their traditions, the sepulchre of St. John is near Chuster in the province of Chusistan, where there are inultitudes of these Christians of St. John. The sacerdotal habit of their priests is a kind of red stole over a surplice, and they have the different degrees of priests and bishops amongst them, but they have no established rule, no ceremony, in short, no religious rites observed by any Christians to create such difference between their superior and inferior clergy. Children succeed their parents in the ministerial office, and if a priest dies without issue, the next akin. is promoted to his place. The bishop himself very frequently recommends his own. son to the people, who first elect him, and then present him in form to his father to consecrate him, This ordination consists in some particular prayers, which are said for six or seven days over the postulant or novice, who is obliged to fast all the time. The son may succeed his father if he be but sixteen or seventeen years of age; and all these ecclesiastics are obliged to marry, but then their brides must all be virgins. Neither can any one be promoted to ecclesiastical dignities, except his mother was found a virgin, when first married. All these priests wear long hair and a small cross upon their clothes. Their sacrament of the eucharist, and their mass, if they may properly be called such, consist in the observance of the following custom. They take a small cake, kneaded with wine made of raisins infused in water, and with oil: The flower and the wine represent the body and blood of our Blessed Lord; the oil, which is the emblem of that charity and grace which accompanies the sacrament, is a representation of the people. For the consecration of the whole, they pronounce several long prayers over this cake, which tend to the praise and glory of God, without making any mention of the body of our Blessed Lord, there being no absolute necessity for it, as they say, since God Almighty knows their intention. After that, they carry the cake in procession, and when that ceremony is over, the celebrant distributes it amongst the people. No. 16. Besides this grand festival of which we have been speaking, and which lasts for five days successively, they have another that holds three days, appointed for the commemoration of the creation of the world, and the parents of mankind; and another of the same duration kept in August, called the festival of St. John. We shall take no notice of their fasts, nor of their oblation of a ram, which they sacrifice in a hut, composed of palm-branches, and purified: beforehand with water, incense and sundry prayers: but one of the most important ceremonies of their religion, is the sacrifice of the hen. A. priest, known to have ke, t his chastity, and for being the son of one who was an approved virgin at her nuptials, is the only person who is intitled to the cele-bration of this sacrifice. In order to the due performance of which the priest repairs to the bank of some river, drest in all his sacerdotal ornaments which are white linen garments which he throws over him, another with which he girds his loins, and a third which is his stole. Thus equipped, he takes the chicken, plunges it in the water for its better purification, and turning his face towards the. east, he cuts its head off, holding the fowl by the neck till it has done bleeding. During the time of: the blood's trickling down on the ground, the priest repeats several times the following prayer, wish abundance of fervour and devotion, and lifting up · his eyes to heaven :-" In the name of the Lord, may this flesh be a blessing to all those who shall partake thereof." No woman, nor layman, must presume to kill any hens. The former are prohibited, because they look upon them as persons impure, and who for the same reason, according to Tavernier, are excluded from the church. They observe much the same ceremony in killing their sheep, and their fish: But they are not so punctual as to the hens. These ministers, or priests of St. John, are, it seems, butchers by profession, for as they imagine no person pure and undefiled but themselves, they will never drink out of a cup, that any one, who is not of their own sect, has before made use of: and if a stranger has used it, it is immediately broken to pieces, for fear of the faithful should be so unfortunate as any to be defiled by drinking after them. They have also an inveterate aversion to any thing that is blue, because, say they, the Jews, who were conscious by their revelation, that the baptism of St. John would abolish their law, threw a large quantity of indigo into the river Jordan, in order to defile the waters: This prophanation of them had hindered. St. John from baptizing Jesus Christ, had not God 5 C Almighty |