Curious Religions

Uur cougviss isprohibited by the constitntion frcrn making laws respecting religious views and theories. This being the case, fanática of all kinds have taken the opportunity to propound their views and make an effort to spread their doctrines. Within the present centnry not less thaD a half dozen deluded mortals residing within the limits of the United States have claimed to be Christ returned to earth, and the qneer thing in connection with the ministry of snch ianatics is the fact that they can persuado persons who are supposed to have a fair araonnt of brains to believe that they are all thcy claim to be. Since 1830 five different sects have been founded ia the United States the members of wbioh ciaiined the, ability' of either themselves or fheir founder to live forever. Each of these queer communities has been known by its néigbbora as "the immortals, " and eaeh bas in the course of time come to grief, as all such visionary dreamers must. The last deluded being to found a sect on the theory that hehiruself, at least, was immortal was David Patterson, who was known to his followers as "the eye of Jebovah. " The Patterson sect were known as "thechildren of Ziou. " Their headq'uarters were mainly at Grand Rapids, Mich., although there were upward of a dozen branch organizationsin the different states of the Union. Patterson claimed that he would never die, and the great tenet of faith with the children of Zion was belief in the claims which tbeir leader made. In 1888 this self styled "eye of Jehovah" begau to grow dim - in other words, to waste away with an incurable disease. Finally he went to France, whëre he died, just as all other mortals 'have done or wil) do. This cured the delnsiou of the Michiganders at Grand Rapids, who soon awoke to the fact that their leader had either been a crazy fanatic or a blasphemer, Sects founded on claims of immortality are not at all dangerous, as it is only a question of time when the delusion will bo effectually dispelled. -