The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-05-07
A Secret Church Society at Cambridge,
 England.

The publication of an article in the Record with the above heading has at tracted good deal of notice in the un- iversity and town of Cambridge It has also been productive of some cor respondence in one of the local papers at Cambridge The allegation that secret society exists whose members are for the most part young undergrad uates, coupled with the accusation that it's primary object is to inculcate among it's members extreme high church doctrines, especially the prac- tice of confession, is serious and of suf- ficient importance to justify narra- tion of facts which have been obtained from sources which can be relied upon, and are supported by documentary and other trustworthy evidence
 The full name of the society is "The Companions of St. John. It is estima- ted that at the present time the num- Der of members is considerably in ex- cess of one thousand. It has branches at Oxford Birmingham, London and other towns. The year of its founda- tion was probably about 1886. The lead- CT of the organization at Cambridge, if not the founder, is the Rev. Ernest John Heriz-Smith, M A., fellow or Pembroke college. To his zeal and un- bounded energy the rapid growth of the society is chiefly due. Of his unselfish motives no one can entertain a doubt
 He is one of the most popular of the dons in the university, and exercises a
 ;,,a thc rtTdpr.- graduates. He is noted as an athlete, is a good musician and delights in SO cial intercourse with his juniors. But he is a pronounced high churchman,
 and the head and front of his offending is that the society of which he is the chief has for it's main object the pro- mitigation of extreme high-church doc- trines. At the same time the most viz orous of his opponents willingly admit that not the slightest imputation exists
 as to the purity of his actions or the teaching of other than the highest mor-
 al principles.
 Whatever the exact date of the for nation of the society, early in the year 1892 it's existence was brought to the
 notice of the Cambridge branch of the 1IuICIl Ol IIllSlcHll ouiie, AASii e7 N'SS'N
 ty. An inquiry was instituted by the
 latter organization, when the following facts were proved: That the society of
 the Companions of St. John had been
 In existence for some time, that the
 Rev F. J. HeriZ-Smith was the head of
 the society, that there existed univer-
 sity branch and town branch. The
 ceremony of admission to the society,
 which seems to be still adhered to, was
 that the candidate for admission
 should have his hands tied, kneel at table, have his eyes bandaged, and
 take VOW by some described as an oath to obey the head of the society in
 all things lawful and never to mention any matter relating to the society ex- cept to a member After this VOW was taken, and not until then, the rules of the society were communicated to the new member; one of these rules being that he should implicitly obey his in troducer or sponsor for sixty days, or until he introduced a new member, when such new member would in his turn be bound to obey his introducer or
 sponsor for the like period, or until he shifted the obligation by obtaining an-
 other novice. And it was further
 proved that this obligation was en- forced, a new member being compelled
 to leave a religious meeting at the bid
 ding of his sponsor. Further, it was
 shown that MT. Heriz-Smith had writ ten letter to one of the members urg-
 ing the expediency of confession. The subject of the society was then referred fn cha 11tp which rp- ported that it was proved that the soci- ety had endeavored to tamper with the religious convictions of one of its mem- bers. The effect of this inquiry was that the majority if not the entire body of townsmen withdrew, although MT.
 Heriz-Smith, in a letter addressed to them. insisted that resignation was in- operative, as once being member they
 could not withdraw from companion ship of the order.
 It ought here to be mentioned that up to 1892 the members of the order were in the habit of wearing badge with the letters L and D, signifying Love and Duty, but this custom has been discontinued The insignia of the or der is now worn concealed under the
 clothing, and it's members are now nick-named Belly Sanders.
 The action of the Ruridecanal chap ter had the effect of destroying the so- ciety as regards town membership, and
 it was not until last May that the ope-
 rations of the association again became matter of public inquiry. It was
 then discovered that its members were
 very active in obtaining proselytes. At
 one of the colleges a complaint was
 made to the tutor of an endeaVor to ob- 1 tain recruits. The matter was referred
 to the master, who expressed his disap-
 proval, and there is reason to believe that the movement as regarded that
 particular college was arrested.-Lon- don Times.