18838. | NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 185 
tion, and compelled to rebuild the ruined towns. Their chief 
men were exiled, and their martial spirit curbed, although not 
wholly broken. The new government of Lebanon, wisely 
sketched out by Lord Dufferin, is so just and equal, and so well 
maintained by a volunteer militia in which all sects are repre- 
sented, that there has been no uprising of the Druzes of Lebanon 
since that date. Local disturbances in the lawless district of the 
Haurdan are, however, of almost yearly occurrence. 
The origin of the sect is attributed to Ismael Darazi of Cairo, 
in 1040 A. D. This leader supported the claims of El-Hakim- 
bi-Amrillah, the sixth Fatimite caliph, who claimed to be an 
incarnation of the divine intelligence. Being driven from Egypt 
he took refuge in Lebanon, where he converted a great number 
of the inhabitants. Haurdn was taken possession of by refugees 
from this sect when worsted from time to time in its numerous 
wars in Lebanon. 
Although named from Darazi, the first authoritative expound- 
ers of this sect branded Darazi as a heretic, and the Druzes con- 
tinue to regard him as such. They regard Hamzi as a reappear- 
ance of the Messiah. 
The cardinal doctrines of the Druzes are, (a) The incarnation 
of the indefinable, incomprehensible, ineffable, passionless Deity 
ten times, last in the person of E]-Hakim-Biamrillah. The door 
of mercy stood open twenty-six years, and was then finally and for- 
ever closed. The number of Druzesisunalterable. The souls of 
the dying go into the bodies of new-born infants, and so keep 
the number of the Druzes ever the same. They believe that 
there are multitudes of Druzes in China. Mohammedans at 
death become donkeys, and Christians slaves, to serve Druze 
masters. They make no effort to convert ; on the contrary they 
keep their doctrines secret. Such as have been made known 
have been surreptitiously proclaimed. Few even of their own 
people are initiated, these being known as the "Oqqals. A Druze 
is allowed to make outward profession of any religion which he 
may fancy to be for his advantage. God knows the heart, and 
what is in it, and judges by what a man really believes, and not 
by what he seems. Obedience is required to the seven great 
‘commandments of Hamze which are, 1st, truth in words (but 
only to Druzes) ; 2d, loyalty to Druze interests ; 3d, renuncia- 
tion of every other faith ; 4th, separation from all others, they 
never intermarry with Mohammedans or Christians; 5th, the 
recognition of the unity of God; 6th, complete resignation to 
His will; 7th, complete obedience to His orders. Prayer is an 
impertinence. The freedom of the will is maintained. 
The initiated, who may be of either sex, meet in houses called 
kKhalwes, apart from the villages, often in ‘‘ high places.” The 
