Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-11-07
ANCIENT SECRET SOCIETIES.
Tests for Egytoian Neophytes-The
Dreaded Assassins.

The earliest secret societies were
religious rather than political. In the
mysteries of Persia, India and Egypt
an inner ring Of priests formed an eN-
elusive association whose members
gradually became the repositories o.
the bulk of the learning Of the COM
munity. Severe tests of courage and
nerve were imposed upon all aspirants
for admission to the order.
Among the Egyptians the neophyte
was taken down a deep shaft in one OF
the pyramids and subjected TO a tnree-
told trial by fire, water and py ar: he
had to walk across grating OF red
hot iron bars, with narrow lnterstlces
whereon he might tread in satety; or
swim a wide and dark channel COM
municating with the Nile, and to hang
SUSPENDED by two iron rings over an
abyss in the blast of two swiftly re-
voiving wheels; even then he had 10
undergo prolonged fasting and silence
and to lake an oath of secrecy ere his
initiation was complete.
A secret brotherhood Of MOBILES,
partly religious and partly polltlcal,
which aimed at the concentration OF
knowledge and power in the hands OF
its members, says the London Glope,
was established by Pythagoras at Gro
iona, in the south Of Italy. For time
it succeeded in gaining the supreme
direction of affairs, but after the Sy-
barites had succumbed to Spartan dis
cipline of the order IT was suppressed
by a rising of discontented democrats.
During the middle ages the un-
10
countries, engendered by the weak
ness or the absence of their nominal
rulers, were especially favorable to the
growth of secret societies. Toward the
close of the eleventh century Hasan-
den Sabah, a Mahommedan fanatic,
seized the castle Of Alamut and found
ed the sect of the AsSaSSins.
1t is still a moot point whether the
word which their evil deeds have CIV
en- a permanent place in the Ian
guages Of Europe as a synonym for
murderer, be derived from the founders
name or from the hemp opiate hash
ish." wherewith they were wont to
fuddle their brains to a pitch of sullen
frenzy. The Venetian traveller, Mar
co Polo, tells of an ingenious plan
adopted by their chieftain to insure
the unquestioning devotion of his
dupes.
This was no less than the creation
of a sham paradise, with luxurious
gardens, rivers of honey and wine and
houris, all complete; thither the man
selected for any dangerous exploit
was transported in state of intoxica-
ton, and on his return was told that
he had been given a foretaste Of his
life after death. The terror Of their
name soon spread through Europe.
No potentate was safe from the
vengeance Of sect which regarded
death in the execution of thir lords
DEGREES as the gate of paradise. King
Philip Augustus Of France, the con-
temporary and foe of Richard Coeur
de Lion, having incurred their enmity,
was so afraid of them that he dared
not stir abroad without his guards
round him, and perhaps his fear ap-
peased the ruthless sheikh, for their
plans rarely miscarried. The order
was ultimately crushed in 1856 by an
irruption of Mongels under Hulaku
Kahn.
In Germany the violency and
anarchy that prevailed after the out
lawry of Henry the Lion, when every
petty baron tyranized without lie. or
hindrance over all whom his power
could reach, led to the institution Of a
functions were purely judicial. The
"Vehmgericht" was an attempt to
check the license Of the feudal lords
and to secure tn ..~e chastisement Of
crime
1t was the proud boast Of this court
that it judged in secret and punished
in secret, like the Deity. Its origin
was additionally ascribed to Charlie
magne. Every member was sworn to
reveal all crimes that came to his no.
tice, even if committed by those near
est and dearest to him; hence it be-
came a maxim of the jurists of the
time, Non frater a fratre. non hos
pes alb hospite, TITUS"
The sentence of the court involved
outlawry, degradation and death; the
condemned was declared "vehmbar"
and was relentlesSly pursued by at
least a hundred thousand daggers. To
speak i'll of the Holy Vehm was trea-
son, and ii will be remembered that
this was the charge preferred against
the eXiled LancaStrian in ANNE Of
Geirstein" at his trial in the subterra-
mean vaults of the inn of the Golden
Fleece. Such was the terror inspired
by these secret tribunals that their ci-
tations were even more feared than
that of the emperor.
Indeed the Vehmgericht actually
summoned the Emperor Frederick III
in 1770 to appear before it, and
though he ignored the summons he
seems to have pocketed the affront.
Put the institution gradually degener-
atcd until it became a common saying
that the Vehmic judges usually hang
ed the accused first and examined the
charges against him afterward They
were finally suppressed by the French
IN