CHAPTER XII. Dervishes. Their character.-The Biography of a Roman Catholic priest who embraced Mohammedanism, and is considered a saint.-He wrote a refutation of Christianity. THE Mohammedans of Tunis exercise a great deal of credulity about dervishes. In this class of people are included all those who are deprived of their senses, and even down-right impostors; all of whom are more fit "for chains and compassion, than for liberty and admiration." These saints often commit the greatest outrages without receiving the proper punishment. As I was once passing the great mosque, one of them came out, and, with his stick, gave me a blow, which I felt for several days; but what could I do to him? He was a saint. A Moorish friend of mine told me of one who possessed the power to visit the tomb of the Prophet, and there offer his devotions, and within half an hour be back in Tunis! Of another I was told who made it a regular practice to go daily to Bar Nassara, the land of the Christians, there kill ever so many infidels, and return also in a very short time. To hear these monstrous stories told by a venerable-looking Arab, with an incredible gravity, must be heart-rending to every Christian. On one occasion, one of these dervishes was pointed out to me, who possessed the power to perform miracles. I was told that he once entered a coffee-house that was full of people, and ordered them all to leave it instantly, which they no sooner did than the whole place was laid in a heap of ruins! This man was always seen mounted on a very small ass. If the practices of these people were to rest here, one might overlook them; but this is not the case. Their actions, with perhaps a few exceptions, are so depraved, that a European would shudder to hear them recorded; and yet, I have since found, that the dervishes of Tunis are not half so bad as they are elsewhere.* Horrid as their characters are, yet * Locke, in his chapter of "No innate principles," quotes a passage from Baumgarten's Travels, a book to which I have no access; but as it illustrates the character of these precious saints, (as Locke calls them,) I shall avail myself of it as given by him. I must, however, remind my readers, that I do not wish to be understood to apply it altogether to the Dervishes of Tunis. The passage runs thus :-“Ibi (sc. prope Belbes in Ægypto) vidimus sanctum unum Saracenicum inter arenarum cumulos, ita ut ex utero matris prodiit nudum sedentem. Mos est, ut didicimus, Mahometistis, ut eos qui amentes et sine ratione sunt, pro Sanctis colant et venerentur. Insuper et eos qui cum diu vitam egerint inquinatissimam, voluntariam demum poenitentiam et paupertatem, sanctitate venerandos deputant. Ejusmodi verò genus hominum libertatem quandam effrænam habent, domos quas volunt intrandi, edendi, bibendi et quod majus est, concubendi; ex quo concubitu, si proles secuta fuerit, sancta similiter habetur. His ergo hominibus, dum vivunt, magnos exhibent honores; mortuis verò vel templa vel monumenta extruunt amplissima, eosque; contingere ac sepelire maximæ fortunæ ducunt loco. Audivimus hæc dicta et dicenda per interpretem a Mucrelo nostro. Insuper Sanctum illum, quem eo loco vidimus, publicitus apprime commendari, eum esse hominem sanctum, divinum ac integritate præcipuum; eo these are the persons who live upon the public charity, and, when they die, have pompous funerals, and rich monuments or chapels erected for them, "to hand down their names to posterity, and to which the people flock on certain days to implore their assistance, and pardon for their sins"! One of these personages I shall notice here more particularly. In the midst of a crooked but much frequented street in Tunis, called Ash-shu-ka-jeen, the eye of the curious and attentive observer is arrested by a tomb, which, from its outward appearance, shows it to be the tomb of a holy person. One naturally feels an anxiety to know who its inhabitant may have been, and what his merits were, for receiving such a mark of distinction, as allowing his tomb to remain in the midst of a public street. My curiosity, in passing several times through that street, was raised, and I made continual inquiries respecting this saint, but could not for some time receive any satisfactory answers, till one day, in passing the shop of one of my Moorish friends, and seeing him reading an Arabic manuscript, I asked him what it was? to which he answered, "I am reading Abd Allah's refutation of Christianity;' he had been a Roman Catholic priest, and came to this country and embraced our faith, in which he lived and died; he was beloved by all who knew him, as his life was very holy. Before his death he requested to be buried in the street called Ash-shu quod, nec fœminarum unquam esset, nec puerorum, sed tantum modo asellarum concubitur atque mularum."Peregr. Baumgarten, c. i. p. 73. ka-jeen, where you can see his tomb, which has withstood the ravages of time during 500 years." I was very glad finally to have got the information I so long had sought after. I requested my friend to lend me the manuscript, but he, on the ground that I was not holy enough,* refused. I, however, have since obtained a copy of Abd Allah's work, and as his Biography, written by himself, is attached to it, I take the trouble to translate it, and I am sure it will be read by many with interest. THE BIOGRAPHY. "Let it be known unto thee, O! Reader, that I am a native of Majorca, and that I am the only son of one of the principal inhabitants of that place. At six years of age I was put to the care of a priest, who instructed me in the rudiments of the Christian religion. When eight years old I commenced to study Greek and Logic, which I pursued till my eighteenth year, when I left my native *The Mohammedans of Tunis will never give an Arabic book into either a Christian or Jew's hand. Upon the Koran they generally write "La yamassoho illa motaheran," (Let no one touch it unless he be purified :) and this the infidels certainly are not. Both Jews and Christians are prohibited from studying the Arabic language. Hence, it is no wonder that from 30,000 Jews which inhabit Tunis, I only found Mr M. Santiliano, Sir Thomas' Secretary, and Mr Nigjar, (who is mentioned by M. De Sacy and Professor Habicht as an Arabic scholar,) who knew that language; and the latter began to study it in Paris! As the Jews speak Arabic and read Hebrew, I think it would be very advisable to send them the Holy Scriptures in Arabic with the Hebrew characters. which is a place the place, and proceeded to of great renown for literature. In students are obliged to dress in a peculiar black habit, and to conform to a very strict discipline, from which even princes are not exempted. The students form a separate body from the rest of the people, and are not subject to the same laws. The priest, who was the Principal of the College, was an old man, of long standing, and great reputation. All differences in the Christian religion were brought before him, and he never failed in his decision to satisfy all parties; his word was almost a law to the Professors of Christianity. It was under this great man that I resumed my studies, to the satisfaction of my parents. I soon gained favour in his sight, so much so that he made me lodge in his house, and entrusted to me all his property. I remained with him ten years, and the reason for my leaving him then, is the following : : "It happened just before the end of the ten years that my Master was taken ill, and therefore could not, as his custom was, come to lecture, in which cases I used to take his place. On the present occasion I did the same, and the part of Scripture which I chose for the instruction of my pupils was where the Lord speaks through his prophet, Behold I will send a Prophet after thee, whose name will be Faraklete.' * This prophet I tried very * Allusion is here made to John xiv. 16, where our Lord says, “ Και εγω ερωτησω τον πατερα, και αλλον παρακλητον δωσει υμιν, ίνα μενῃ μεθ' υμών εις τον είωνα. Here, the Mohammedan doctors say, is a prediction of their |