The Dervishes And Masonry.

THE DERVISHES AND MASONRY .

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It is a well received incidental article of belief among Masons in India , among many here , and among a great body of Mussulmans , that there is an identity between the signs and ceremonies of Masonry and those of Islam . There are plenty of

well authenticated anecdotes of the signs of Masons being recognised and responded to , and of services rendered to them in consequence of this identity . Undoubtedly the belief has been of service in promoting a feeling of respect on both

sides ; but beyond that , we are sorry to say , for the disappointment of many friends , and notwithstanding their incredulity , the relationship has no foundation in fact . This we have had occasion to assert , but now

the . evidence is accessible to the public , whicli before was little known . The Hon . John Porter Brown , Secretary and Dragoman of the Legation

of the United States of America at Constantinople , is a distinguished oriental scholar , and he is also a Freemason , having filled the offices of Past District Grand Warden of Turkey and Master of the Bulwer Lodge of Constantinople . For a long

period he has been engaged in investigating the alleged connection of Masonry and Islam , and has had peculiar opportunities of obtainining information . In the prosecution of his views he promoted the initiation of a Dervish in the Bulwer Lodge

at Constantinople ; he also delivered a lecture on the subject before the Masonic body , and he wrote in the American Masonic journals . He has now reviewed the matter in a work just published by Messrs . Trubner and Co ., which has

been under hand for many years , and which is entitled " The Dervishes and Oriental Spiritualism . "

This is a work important in many respects , because it elucidates two subjects of interest—the history and constitution of the Dervish Orders , and their relation to Spiritualism in the East . All this matter is well worthy of attention from our

readers , but we cannot go into it . We must restrict ourselves to some short notice of what the author has said on Masonry . At p . 59 he says that it has been thought by some persons that Freemasonry existed among the Mussalmans of Constantinople , under another title , and accordingly in other parts of the East . This

ae expressly affirms , he does not find to be the ckse , though , like most secret fraternities , there may be points of resemblance accidentally . He even had an indirect intercourse with a

Mussulman , who attested that Freemasonry does exist in Constantinople , and he gave a list ot the places in which lodges were held in various parts of the empire , adding that the Grand Lodge existed in the Lake of Tiberias , in Palestine , where it had

been taken after the destruction of Jerusalem . It It was consequentlstated to exist the

y among Jews . Of course Bro . Brown , notwithstanding all his researches to verify this declaration , did not find any trace of the fact on which he could rely .

As he says , his opportunities of inquiry have been very numerous , and his desire to meet with brethi * en amongst Mussulmans led him to use all proper zeal in the pursuit of this desirable object . The title by which it is said Mussulman Freer

masons are known is Melameeyoon , and on the head of these Dervishes be gives full information . Bro . Brown says there are a few Mussulmans of his acquaintance—some of them in high official positions , who have become Masons in Europe —•

mostly in France—and he might have added one of the first Turkish Masons was made in England . There are also others , he says , who belong to lodges in Constantinople and other cities of the Ottoman empire , and there are many lodges in

India , to which Mussulmans belong . It is strange he does not refer to the Persian brethren and the vicissitudes of Masonry in Persia , so well known to him . It is strange , as he says that the Dervishes of

the Bektashee Order consider themselves quite the same as the Freemasons , and are disposed to fraternise with them , the more particularly as the name of Freemasonry in the Turkish language , or Fermasen , is one of reproach . It signifies atheism of the most condemnable character- This is to be

said of the Bektiishees , that for some reason or other not quite clear to the author , they are held in small repute among other Mussulmans , even those belonging to the Dervish Orders . No one , therefore , in Constantinople need consider himself

at all complimented when he is called a " Fermason , " or a " Bektashee . " The Bektashees were allied with the seditious Janissaries , and shared in their persecutions and ruin . It appears to us that Bro . Brown has not dwelt upon certain peculiarities of Baktashee initiation described by him , and which -neither he nor we