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Show THE SECRETS OF ANCIENT SOCIETIES Tha .art!. it aecret aoetetlea wer r-llrtoua r-llrtoua rath.r than political. In tha mya-tarlM mya-tarlM of Parala. India and Eaypt an Inner In-ner rinf of prlAata formed an axrmilvc aaaoclatlon whoa m.mhara gradually bocama tha rpoallorl.a of the bulk ot tha icarnlnc of the community. 4evm teeta of couraaa and n.rv. w.ra lmpoa upon ail aaptranta for ad ml salon to tha ordar. . . Amons tha Egyptian, tha neophyta wn takan down a deep ahaft In one of the pvramlda and aubjet-ted to a thraatold trial by flra. by watar and by air He had to walk arrow a (ratine of red hot Iron bara. with narrow lnleratlcea whereon where-on hemlsht tread In aafely: to awlm a wide nd dark channel communicating with the Nile, and to hanc auapended by two Iron rtnaa over an ahyaa In the blast of two wlftfy revolving wheel,; even than he had to undera-o prolonged faailnK and allenoe and to take an oath of ae-crecy ae-crecy ere hi. Initiation waa complete A aacret brotherhood of nohlt-a. partly rellaloua and partly political. which aimed at the concentration of knowledge and power In the handa of Ita memhara. aays tha London Globe, waa eerabliahed hy Pythaoraa at Crotona, In the aouth of Italy. For a time It aucceeded In gain-Inn gain-Inn the aupreme direction of affalra. but after the 8vbarltaa had auecumbed to the apartan dliclpllne of tha order It wa uppreeaed Oiy a rlalng of dlacontented democrata. ... . During the middle agea tha unaettled and lawleaa condition of many oountrlea. engendered hy the waaknesa or tha ab-aenca ab-aenca of their nominal rulera. waa aape-elallv aape-elallv favorable to tha growth of aecret eocletlee. Toward tha eloee of tha ele-enth ele-enth century Haean-den-Sahah. a hammadan fanatic, eetaed the cat:., of Alamut and founded tha aect of tha Aa-aasalna. Aa-aasalna. . It la atltt a moot point whether the word which their evil deed, have glwn a permanent plac in tha languagea of Eli-rope Eli-rope aa a aynonym for murderer ba derived de-rived from the founder', name or from tha hemp opiate "haahlah." wherewith they were wont to fuddle their nralna to a pitch of aullen frenav. The Venetian traveler Marco Polo, toll, of an Ingenloil, plan adopted V'tliMf chieftain "To tnmre the unauestlonmg devotion of hla dupea Thla waa no lea, than the creation of a aham paradl,e. with luxurious garden,, river, of honev and wine and hourla. all complete: thither the man aelacted for any dangeroua exploit waa tran, ported In a tate of Intoxication, and on hla return waa told that he had been given fore-taate fore-taate of hla life after death. Tha terror of their nama anon spread through Eu- TONo potentate waa nfe from the vengeance ven-geance of a aect which regarded death In the execution of their lord's decrees aa the gate ofaradlae. King Philip Augna-tua Augna-tua of Trance, the. contemporary and foe of Richard Coeur da Lion, having Incurred In-curred their enmity, waa so afraid of them that ha dared not atlr abroad without with-out hla guards around him. and perhapa his fear appeased the pithless sheikh, for thetr plans rarely mlncarrled. The order was ultimately crushed In IW hy an irruption of Mongola under Hulaku Khan. In Germany tha violence) and anarchv that prevailed after the outlawry of Henry th I.lon. when verv petty baron tvrannlaed without let or hindrance over all whom hla power could reach, led to the Institution of a very different aecret society, whose functions were purely Judicial. Ju-dicial. Tha "Vehmgerlcht" was an attempt at-tempt to check th license, of the feudal lords and to secure th due chastisement 0f-ltCrwaa th proud tioaat' of thl, court that It Judged In aecret and punished In secret, like the deity. Its origin waa traditionally tra-ditionally a,crlhed to Charlemagne. Every Ev-ery member waa sworn to reveal a" crime that came to hi, notice. "" onmmltted T those nearest and dearest to him: henca It became maxim of th Jurla'e of th time. .VNnn frater a f rat re. non hoapea ahhosplte. tutus." The sentence of tha court Involved outlawry, out-lawry, degradation and death: the condemned con-demned waa declared relenttesalv pursued by ar least lOO.AM daggers. To speak til of tha Holy Vehm waa treason, and It will be remembered that thla waa tha charge preferred against the exiled Incastarlan In Anne or Oetrstaln" at his trial t" th subterranean subter-ranean yaulta of th Inn of th OoMen Fleece. Buch waa the terror Inspired hy the aecret tribunals that their clta-tlona clta-tlona were even more feared than that of the emperor. Indeed, the Vehmgerlcht actually aum-monad aum-monad the Kmperor Frederick III. In 1740 to appear before It. and though he Ignored Ig-nored the summon, h seems to have pocketed th affront. But the Institution Institu-tion gradually degenerated until It became be-came a common saving that the Vehmlc Judges usually hanged th accused flrst and xamlned the chargea against him afterward. They were finally suppressed by the French In Kashvlll Banner. |