The dervishes : or, Oriental spiritualism . elling about,and of entertaining an eternal hatred against the Bekta-shees and the Mevlevees. The title of Kalender^ which he himself assumed,and afterwards gave to his disciples, signifies pure gold,in allusion to the purity of the heart, to the spirit-uahty of the soul, and to the exemption from all worldly R 242 THE DERVISHES. contamination which he required of his proselytes. Therules of his Order compelled them to live wholly uponalms, to travel about mostly without shoes, and to prac-tise the severest acts of austerity, so as to merit thefavour
The dervishes : or, Oriental spiritualism . elling about,and of entertaining an eternal hatred against the Bekta-shees and the Mevlevees. The title of Kalender^ which he himself assumed,and afterwards gave to his disciples, signifies pure gold,in allusion to the purity of the heart, to the spirit-uahty of the soul, and to the exemption from all worldly R 242 THE DERVISHES. contamination which he required of his proselytes. Therules of his Order compelled them to live wholly uponalms, to travel about mostly without shoes, and to prac-tise the severest acts of austerity, so as to merit thefavour of Heaven, especially in a state of ecstacy, oflight, of perfect sanctity, which makes, he declared, theportion of every Coenobite, renders him truly worthy ofhis vocation, of the name of a Kalenderee, or that ofa Mevlevee. It is, therefore, given to all the Dervishesof the other Orders who are distinguished by their brethrenfor acts of supererogation, for revelations, and for super-natural grace. It is this class of enlightened beings of. A WANDERING DERVISH OF THE KALENDEREE ORDER. the various Orders which has produced so many fanaticsin every age of Mahommedanism. From it came theassassin of Sultan Byazid II., and of many ministersand grandees of the empire. Out of it came, undervarious reigns, so many false Me/idccs, who, under thisname, have got up the most audacious enterprises, and THE DERVISHES. 243 desolated entire countries by misleading the minds of thepublic through their impositions, their revelations, andpretended prophecies. To secure the State and public from similar calamities,the light of the age in which we live should penetrateinto this nation where vulgar prejudices have prevailed,as yet, even over the laws, and, at the same time,triumphed over all the projected reforms made from timeto time by wise, enlightened men, though, it must beadded, with feeble and tremulous hands. But, if fanati-cism has its schools, irreligion has also its , then, i
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