The Calumet news., 1911-10-13
SECRET SOCIETIES
The Earliest Ones Had Strenuous
Initiation Rites.
SEVERE TESTS OF COURAGE.
The Egyptians Subjected Candidates
90 Threefold Trial by Fire, BY Wa
, ter and by Air-The Order Of Assas-
sins and Their Sham Paradise.

aiUe aOo l0ciF 0ndm FardQlbo.
Among primitive communities
which might is right and the tyrann
OF superstition Is absolute minoriue
have always been treated with scar
consideration. and overt dissent froI
the opinions OF the majority had
tendency 70 initiate against the SUI
vival OF the dissenter Liberty o
thought aud action. qualified only b,
the rights or others, is a comparative
ly late growth. But thought dies bar,
and when denied open expression livei
In secret impaired TO few chosen as
sociates until the times are ripe for Il
10 be divulged. Thus d few thinkers
and their disciples would band them
selves together into a secret society
and the instinct OF self preservation
would cause them 10 guard against
their secret being revealed TO the un-
initiated.
The earliest secret societies were
religious rather than political. In the
mysteries OF Persia, India and Egypt
an inner ring Of priests formed an ex-
elusive association whose members
gradually became the repositories OF
the bulk OF the learning OF the com
munity. Severe tests OF courage and
nerve were imposed upon all asplrants
for admission to the order. Among the
Egyptians the neophyte was taken
down a deep shaft in one OF the pyra-
mids and subjected 70 a threefold trial
by fire. by water and by air.
He had 20 walk across a grating OF
redhOt iron bars. with narrow inter
stices whereon he might tread In safe
~, 10 swim a wide and dark channel
communicating with the Nile and to
hang suspended by two iron rings over
an abyss In the blast OF two swiftly
revolving wheels. Even then he had 10
undergo prolonged fasting and silence
and 70 take an oath OF secrecy ere his
Initiation was complete A secret
brotherhood OF mobiles, partly religious
and partly political, which aimed az
the concentration Of knowledge and
power in the hands Of its members, was
established by Pythagoras at Crotona.
in the south OF Italy. For a time II
succeeded In gaining the supreme di- |
rection OF affairs. but after the Syba- !
rites had succumbed 20 the Spartan /
discipline Of the order Il was suppress
ed by rising Of the discontented.
During the middle ages the unset I
Ted and lawless condition Of many I.
countries engendered by the weakness
or the absence q their nominal rulers
was especially favorable 20 tie growth
% secret societies. Toward the close
q the eleventh century Hasan-ben- /
babah. a MOhammedan fanatic who
had been fellow student with Omar
khayyam az Saishapur. seized the cas-
lie OF Alamut and founded the sect OF
the assassins. II IS stul a moot point
whether the word which ieir evil
deeds have given a permanent place in /
the languages Of Europe as a synonym
Tor muTderers be derived from the
founders name or from the hemp OBJ.
ate hashish whereWith they were
wont 70 fuddlp their brains % a pitch
OF sudden frenzy. The Venetian tray-
eler Marco Polo tells Of an ingenious
plan adopted by their chieftain 10 IN
sure the unquestiouing devotion OF bis
dupes. This vas no less than the
creation of sham paradise with lux
1rious gardens. rivers OF honey and ..
wine and hOuris all complete Thlther /
.he man selected for any dangerous /
exploit was Transported I'm a state OF
ntOxication and on his return was
old that he had been given a foretaste /
n his life after death. !
The terror Of their name soon spread {
through Europe No pOtentate was 9
afe from the vengeance OF a sect
Which regarded death In the execution
u their lords decrees as the gate Of -
'aradise. King Philip Augustus Of
france. contemporary and foe Of Rich =
rd Occur de Lion. having incurred T
heir enmity, was 50 afraid OF them
hat he dared not stir abroad without
Ils guards around him, and perhaps n
rs fear appeased the ruthless sheik, u
or their plans rarely miscarried. The 2
rider was ultimately crushed in 1856
y an irruption Of Mongols under Hu. OF
lku Khan.
In Germany the violence and an y
rchy that prevailed after the outlaw
or Henry the Lion. when every pet c
baron tyrannized without let or O.
lndrance over all whom his power c
ould reach. led 10 the institution OF %
very different secret society, whose
nnctions were purely judicial. The q
vehmgericht' was an attempt 10 n
heck the license OF the feudal lords al
nd to secure the due chastiscment OF q.
rime. 1t was the proud boast OF this
ourt that II judged in secret and pun- m,
she'd In secret. Every member was o
worn 10 reveal all crimes that came ,,
bis notice, even. II committed by v
hose nearest and dearest 10 him; g
ence IL became n maxim OF the iu- a,
SITS or the time, Mon frater n fratre.
on hospes ab hospite. TITUS" The A
sntence Of the court involved outlaw I.
:, degradation and death; the con.
emned was declared "vehmbar" and -
as relentlessly pursued by nc least
1000 daggers s.-LOndOn Globe. s.