"Initiation, — From this, as well as other works,
we gather some of the ceremonies with which aspirants
were initiated into the Order. Having in nearly all
Roman Catholic countries succeeded in becoming the
educators of the young, they were able to mould the
youthful mind according to their secret aims. If then,
after a number of years, they detected in the pupil
a blind and fanatic faith, conjoined with exalted pie-
tism and indomitable courage, they proceeded to
initiate him; in the opposite case, they excluded him.
The proofs lasted twenty-four hours, for which the
candidate was prepared by long and severe fasting,
which, by prostrating his bodily strength, inflamed
his fancy, and, just before the trial, a powerful drink
was administered to him. Then the mystic seene be-
gan — diabolical apparitions, evocation of the dead,
representations of the flames of hell, skeletons, moving
skulls, artificial thunder and lightning, in fact, the
whole paraphernalia and apparatus of the ancient
mysteries. If the neophyte, who was closely watched,
showed fear or terror, he remained for ever in the
inferior degree; but if he bore the proof well, he was
advanced to a higher grade.
"At the initiation into the second degree (Scholas-
tici) the same proofs, but on a grander scale, had to
— 28 —
be undergone. The candidate, again prepared for them
by long fastings, was led with his eyes bandaged into
a large cavern, resounding with wild howlings and
roarings which he had to traverse, reciting at the same
time prayers specially appointed for that occasion.
At the end of the cave he had to crawl through a nar-
row opening, and while doing this, the bandage was
taken from his eyes by an unseen hand, and he found
himself in a square dungeon, whose floor was cov-
ered with a mortuary cloth, on which stood three
lamps, shedding a feeble light on the skulls and skele-
tons ranged around. This was the Cave of Evocation,
the Black Chamber, so famous in the annals of the
Fathers. Here, giving himself up to prayer, the neo-
phyte passed some time, during which the priests
could, without his being aware of it, watch his every
movement and gesture. If his behavior was satisfac-
tory, all at once two brethren, representing archangels,
presented themselves before him, without his being
able to tell whence they had so suddenly started up, —
a good deal can be done with properly fitted and oiled
trap-doors,- — and, observing perfect silence, bound his
forehead with a white band soaked with blood, and
covered with hieroglyphics; they then hung a small
crucifix round his neck, and a small satchel containing
relics, or what did duty for them. Finally, they took
off all his clothing, which they cast on a pyre in one
corner of the cave, and marked his body with numer-
ous crosses, drawn with blood. At this point, the hier-
ophant with his assistants entered, and, having bound
a red eloth round the middle of the candidate's body,
the brethren, clothed in bloodstained garments, placed
themselves beside him, and drawing their daggers,
formed the steel arch over his head. A carpet being
then spread on the floor, all knelt down and prayed
for about an hour, after which the pyre was secretly
set on fire; the further wall of the cave opened, the
air resounded with strains, now gay, now lugubrious,
— 29 —
and a long procession of spectres, phantoms, angels,
and demons filed past the neophyte like the 'supers'
in a pantomime. Whilst this farce was going on, the
candidate took the following oath: — 'In the name of
Christ crucified, I swear to burst the bonds that yet
\ unite me to father, mother, brothers, sisters, relations,
friends; to the King, magistrates, and any other au-
. thority, to which I may ever have sworn fealty, obe-
' dience, gratitude, or service. I renounce . . . . the
place of my birth, henceforth to exist in another sphere.
I swear to reveal to my new superior, whom I desire
to know, what I have done, thought, read, learnt, or
discovered, and to observe and watch all that comes
under my notice. I swear to yield myself up to my
superior, as if I were a corpse, deprived of life and will.
I finally swear to flee temptation, and to reveal all
I succeed in discovering, well aware that lightning is
not more rapid and ready than the dagger to reach
me wherever I may be.'
"The new member having taken this oath, was
then introduced into a neighboring cell, where he took
a bath, and was clothed in garments of new and white
linen. He finally repaired with the other brethren to
a banquet, where he could with choice food and wine
compensate himself for his long abstinence, and the
horrors and fatigues he had passed through."
Events in the history of the Jesuits seem to bear
out the supposition that both Jews and Catholics have
at times united their efforts in its ranks to bring
about destruction of Protestantism. To illustrate,
during the years 1573 to 1580, the international Gen-
eral was a Belgian Jew by the name of Eberhard Mer-
) curian. Thus we see a Jew Jesuit and a Gentile Pope
working together (a "mutual adulation society") in
. a frantic effort to put Protestantism on the gallows.
The present General is a Pole by nationality, his name
being Vladimir Ledochowski.
— 30 —
The real reason for establishing the Society of
Jesus was to check the progress of the Reformation
which broke upon the world in the little town of Wit-
tenberg, Germany, October 31, 1517. While the
Jesuits failed in their attempt to blot Protestantism
out of existence, yet they did succeed in stopping the
growth of the movement in southern Germany and
other countries of Europe,
No one has taken the trouble to deny that the Order
exists down to the present time for the same purpose
— namely a flank attack upon Protestants and their
faith. The leading principle of the Jesuits sounds good
enough, love of God and of their fellow men, but into
their constitution there was written another prin-
ciple, "the end justifies the means". In other words,
when occasion demands it, any moral law may be trans-
gressed to promote the interests of the Church. Some-
one has called this arrangement "Holy hellishness".