CHAPTER VII.

Cause of the degeneracy of the Fehm-courts — Attempts at reformation — Causes of their high reputation — Case of the Duke of WCirtemberg — Of Kerstiau Kerkerink — Causes of the Decline of the Fehm-jurisdiction . 398
t-
r SECRET SOCIETIES
THE MIDDLE AGES.
INTRODUCTION. ■
'it we had Ihe means of investigatitij; historically Ihe origin of Secret Societies, we should probably fiod that they began to he formed alinost as soon as any knowledge had been accumulated "by particular indi- viduals beyond what constituted the common stock. l^e same thing has hiippeoed to knowledge that has happened to all other human possessions, — its actual holders have striven to keep it to themselves. It is true that in this case the possessor of the advan- tage does not seem to have the same reason for being averse to share it with others whieh naturally operates in regard to many good things of a dilFerent kind ; he does not, by imparling it to those around him, diminish his own store. This is true, in so far as regards the possession of knowledge considered in it.s character of a real good ; Ihe owner of the trea- sure does not impoverish himself by giving it away, as he would by giving away his money, but remains as rich as ever, even after he has made ever so many others as ricli as himself. But still there is one thing that he loses, and a thing upon which the human mind is apt to set a very high value ; he loses the distinction which he derived from his knowledge. This distinction really serves, in many respects, the
3
2 SECKBT SOCIETIES.
same purpose that money ilself does. Like money, it brings observation and worship. Like money, it tie dearest of all things, power. Knowledge, ever held, is indeed essentially power; to Aen, ^ to know, is the same won! and the same ^ with to can, that is, to be able. But there is an additional and a different species of power con- ferred hy knowledge when it exists as the distinction of a few individuals in the midst of general ignorance.
Sit is power not only to do those things the As of doing which it teaches ; it is, besides, the of governing other men throiig^h your compa- Etrength and their weakness. So strong is the motive thus prompting the pos- sessor of knowledge to the exclusive retention of his acquisitions, that unless it had been met by another motive appealing in like manner directlj*^ our self- interest, it appears probable that scarcely any gene- ral dissemination of knowledge would ever have taken place. .The powerful counteracting motive in question is derived from the consideration that in most casesone of the most effective ways which the possessor of knowledge can take of exciting the ad- miration of others, is )o communicate what he knows. The light must give ilself forth, and illuminate the world, even'that it may be itself seen and admired. In the very darkest times, the scholar or philosopher may find his ambition sufficiently gratified by the mere reputation of superior attainments, and the stupid wonder, or it may be superstitious terror, of the unjnquiring multitude. But as soon as any thing like a spirit of iatclligence or of curiosity has sprung up in the general mind, all who aspire to fame or consideration from their learning, their dis- coveries, or their intellectual powers, address them- selves to awaken the admiration of their fellow-men, not by concealing, but by displaying their kuuw-
INTSODOCnOH. 3
ledge — not by sealinfc up the preciouB fountain, but by allowing- its waters (o flow freely forth, that all who choose may drink of ihem. From this tiina science ceaaes almost lo have any secrets; and, all the influences to which it is exposed acting in the same direction, the tendency of knowledge becomes wholly diffusive.
But in the preceding state of things the case was aliogethet the reverse. Then there was Utile or no inducement to the communication of know led [^, and every motive for those who were in possession of it to keep it to themselves. Tliere was not intellig^os enough abroad to appreciate, or even to understand, i the truths of philosophy if they had been announced ' in their simplicity, and explained according to theip ' principles ; all that was cared for, all that wascapabia i of arousing the vulgar attention, was some display, made as surprising and mysterious as possible, of their practical application. It would even have been attended nith danger in many cases to attempt to teach true philosophy openly, or to make open pro- fession of it ; it was too much in opposition to some of the strongest prejudices which everywhere held sway. 1 1 is not, then, to be wondered at, that its ml' tivators should have sought to guard and preserve it by means of secret associations, which, liesides ex- cluding the multitude from a participation in the thing thus fenced round and hidden, answered also divers other convenient purposes. They atlitrded opportunities of free conference, which could not otherwise have been obtained. There was much in the very forms of mystery and concealment thus adopted calculated to impress the popular imagina- tion, and to excite its reverence end awe. Finally, the veil which they drew around their proceedings ' enabled the members of these secret societies to combine their efforts, and arrange their plaus, in
SECRET SOCIETIES.
security and wiihout interruption, whenever they clie- riahed any desig;Lis of poUtical innovation, or other projects, the open avowal and prosecution of which the established authorities wonld not have tolerated. The facilities afforded by the system of secret asso- ciation, and it may even be said the templatious which it presents, to the pursuit of political objects forbidden by the laws, are so great as to justify all govenimenis in prohibiting; it, under whatever pre- tence it may be attempted to be introduced. It is nothing to tlie purpose to argue that under bad go- vernments valuable political reforms have sometimea been effected by such secret associations which would not otherwise have been attained. The same mode of proceeding, in the nature of the thing, is equally efficacious for tile overthrow of a good government. Bad men ore as likely to combine in the dark for their objecla as good men are for theirs. In any circumstances, a secret association is an imperium in, imperio, a. power separate from, and independent of, that which is recognized as the supreme power in the stale, and therefore something essentially dis- organizing, and which it is contrary to the first prin- ciples of all government for any state to tolerate. In the case of a had government, indeed, all means are fairly available for its overthrow which are not morally objectionable, the simple rule for their ap- plication being that it shall be directed by cousidera- tions of prudence and discretion. In such a case a secret association of the friends of reform may sometimes be found to . supply the most effective means fur accomphshing; the desired end ; but that end, however desirable it may be, is not one which the constitution of the state itself can rationally con- template. The constitution cannot be founded upon the Hupposition that even necessary alterations of it are to be brought about through agencies out of
WTRODUonoN. A
itself, and forming' no pari of its Mffular mechanism, Whenever such ageneits are successfully brought iaUi operation, there is a revolution, and the constita- tion is at an end. Even the amendment of the coa- stitutiun so effected is its destruction.
Yet most of the more remarkable secret associa- tions which have existed in different ages and coun- tries have probably eitht^r been originally formed to accomplish some political end, or have come to con- template such an object as their chief design. Even when nothing more than a reformation of tbft I national religion has been, as far as can be discovered, if the direct aim of the association, it may still be fairly considered as of a politictil character, from the man- ner in which religion has been mixed up in almost every country with the civil institutiims of the state. The effect which it was desired to produce upon the government may in many cases have been very far from extending to its complete abolition, and the substitutinn of another form of polity ; an alteration , in some one particular may have been all that was sought, or the object of the association may even have been to support some original principle of the constitution against the influence of circumstances which threatened its subversion or modification. Whether directed to the alteration or lo the main- tenance of tile existing order of things, the irregular and dangerous action of secret combinations is, as we have said, a species of force which no stale can . reasonably be expected to recognize. But it ma^^ nevertheless have happened at particular emergen* j cies, and during times of very imperfect civilization, 1 that valuable service has been rendered by such com- binations to some of the moat important interests of society, and that they have to a considerable extent 1
;^lplied the defects of the rude and imperfect ar-
' Jgements of the ordinary government.
e SECRET SOCIETIES.
The system of secret asHOciation is, indeed, the natural resource of the friends of political reform, in tiriieB when the general mind is not sufficiently en- lightened lo appreciate or to support iheir schemes for ihe improvement of the existing institutions and order of things. To proclaim their views openly in such circumstances would be of no more use than haranguing to the desert. Ttiey might even expose themselves to destruction by the attempt. But, united ina secret association, and availing themselves of all Ihe advantages at once of their superior know- ledge and intelligence, and of their opportunities of acting in concert, a very few individuals may work with an effect altogether out of proportion to their number. They may force in a wedge which in time shall even split and shiver into fragments Ihe stri:ni;th of the existing social system, no matter by how many ages of barbarism it niay be consolidated. Or, in the absence of a more regular law and police, they may maintain the empire of justice by stretching forth the arm of their own authority in substitutioa for that of the slate, which lies paralysed and power- less, and turning to account even the superstitions and terrors of the popular imagination by making these, as excited by their dark organization and mys- terious forms of procedure, the chain whereby to secure the popular obedience.
On the whole, Ihe system of secret association for political objects, even when there is no dispute about the desirableness of the ends sought lo be accom- plished, may be pronounced lo be a corrective of which good men will avail themselves only in times of general ignorance, or under governments that sin against the first principles of all good government, by endeavouring lo put a stop to the advancement of society through the prohibition of (he open expression of opiuioQ ; but, in countries where the liberty of
IKTRODCCTION. 7
discussion exists, and where ihe public mind is tolerably enlightened, as entirely uusuited to the circumstances of the case as it is opposed to the rules and maxims on which every governmeut must take its stand thut would provide for its utvn preservation. In theHe happier circumstances the course for the friends of social improvement tn follow is to come forward into the full light of day as the only place worthy of their mission, and to seek the reaUKation of their views by directly appealing to the undei^ standings of their feliow-citizeiis.
One evil to which secret societies are always ex- posed is the chance of the objects and principles of their members being misrepresented by those inte- rested in resisting their power and indnence. As the waheful eyes of the government, and of those coa- cemed in the maintenance of the actual system, will be ever upon them, they must strictly confine the knowledge of their real views and proceedings to the initiated, and as their meetings must for the same reason be held in retired places, and frequently by night, an opportunity, which is rarely neglected, is afforded to their enemies of spreading the most calumnious reports of their secret practices, which, though conscious of innocence, they may not venture openly to confute. Uy arts of this kind the sus- picions and aversion of the people are excited, and they are often thus made to persecute their best friends, and still to bow beneath the yoke of their real foes. The similarity of the accusations made against secret associatluns in all parts of the world is a suf- ficient proof of their falsehood, and we should always listen to them with the utmost suspicion, recollecting the quarter from which they proceed. Of the spot- less purity of the Christian religion when first pro- mulgated through the Roman world no one can entertain 'a doubt; yet when persecution obliged its
1
SECRET SOCIETIES.
professors to form as it were a Kecret society, the e charges of Thyestian banquets, and of the pro- miacuQiis intercourse of the sexes, were made against them, which ihey themaelvea afterwards brought, aod with probably as httle truth, against the various seels of the Gnostic heresy. Wherever there is secrecy there will be suspicion, and charges of something unable to bear the light of day will be made.
The ancient world presenis one secret society of a professedly political character — thai of the Pytbago-
. Of religious ones it might be expected to yield a rich harvest to the inquirer, when we call to mind s been written in ancient and modern times concerning the celebraled mysteries. But the origi- nal Grecian mysteries, such as those of Eleusis, appear to have been nothing more thou public services of the gods, with some peculiar ceremonies performed at the charge of the state, and presided over by the ma- gistrates, in which there were no secrets communicated to the initiated, no revelation of linowledge beyond that which was generally attainable. The private mysteries, namely, the Orphic, Isiac, and Mitbraic, which were introduced from the East, were merely modes employed by cunning and profligate impostors for taking advantage of the weakness and credulity of the sinful and the superstitious, by jMrBuading them that by secret and peculiar rites, and the in- vocation of strange deities, the apprehended punish- ment of sin might be averted. The nocturnal as- semblies for the celebration of these mysteries were but too often scenes of vice and debauchery, and they were discountenanced by all good governments. It is to these last, and not to the Elcusinian mysteries, that the severe strictures of the fathers of the church apply*.
The history of Pythagoras and his doctrines is
* See Loljeck's excellent votk " Aglaophamui."
INTRODUCTION.
extremely obscure. The accounts of this sage which have come dawn to us were not written till many centuries after his death, and but little reliance is to be placed on their details. Pythagoras was ik Samiun by birlh ; he flourished in the sixth cen- tury before Clirisl, at the time when Egypt exer- cised so much influence over Greece, and its sag«B KOiight the banks of the Nile in search of wisdom. There is, therefore, no improbability in the tradition of Pythagoras also having visited that land of mys- tery, and perhaps other parts of the East, and marked the tranquil order of things where those who were esteemed the wise ruled over ihe ignorant people. }Ie may therefore have conceived the idea of uniting this sacerdotal system with the rigid morals and aristocratic constitution of the Dorian states of Greece. His native isle, which was then under the tyranny of Polycrates, not appearing to him suited for the introduction of his new system of government, he turned his eyes to the towns of Magna Grscia, or Southern Italy, which were at that time in a highly flourishing condition, whose inhabitants were eager in the pursuit of knowledge, and some of which already possessed written codes of law. He fixed his *iew on Crolon, one of the wealthiest and most distinguished of those towns.
Aristocracy was the soul of the Dorian political constitlidona, and the towns of Magna Grscia were all Dorian colonies ; but in consequence of their ex- tensive commerce the tendency of the people that time towards democracy. To preserve the aris- tocratic principle was the object of Pythagoras ; b he wished lo make the arislocracy not merely one birth ; he desired that, like the sacerdotal castes the East, it should also have the supremacy in kno ledge. As his system whs contrary to the gene: feeling, Pythagoras saw that it was only by gaining
SECRET SOCIETIES.
the veneration of the people that he could carry it into efftct ; and by his personal advantages of beauty of form, skill in gjmnaslic exercises, eloquence, and dignity, he drew to hiinself the popular favour by casting the mantle of mystery over his dottrines. He thns at once inspired the people with awe for them, and the nobles with zeal to become Initialed in his HecretH,
Tile most perfect success, we are told, attended the project of the philosopher. A total change of manners took place in Croion ; the constitution be- came nearly Spartan ; abody of 300 nobles, rendered by the lessons of the sage as superior to the people in knowledge of every kind as they were in birth, ruled over it. The nobles of the other slates fiocked to Cro- ton to learn how to govern by wisdom ; Pythagorean missionaries went about everywhere preaching the new political creed ; they inculcated on the people religion, humility, and obedience; such of the nobles aa were deemed capable were initiated in the wisdom of the order, and taught its masicns and princi- ples ; a. golden age, in which power was milled with wisdom and virtue, seemed to have begun upon earth.
But, like every thing which slruggles against the spirii of the age, such a political system was not fated to endure. While Croton was thechief seat of Pythiigoresnism, luxury had fixed her throne in the nei^bouring city of Sybaris. The towns were rivals : one or the other must full. It was little mure than thirty years after the arrival of Pythagoras in Croton that a furious war broke out between them. Led by Milo and other Pythagoreans, who were as expert iti military a&uirs as siiilled in philosophy, the Cro- toniates utterly annihilated the power of their rivals, and Sybaris sank to rise no more. But with her sank the power of the Pythagoreans. They judged
INTHODUCTION. 1 1
it iaespedient to give a large share uf the booty to the peu|]le ; the populur liiscontent rose ; Cylon, a mau who had been refused admittaute ioto the order, took advantage of il, and urged the people on ; the Pythagoreans were all massacred, and a democracy established. All the other towas took example by C'rolon, a general persecutiou of the order com- menced, and Pythagoras himself was obliged to seek safety in flight, and died far away from the tuwn which ouce had received him bb a prophet The Pythagoreans never made any further attempts at attaining political power, but became a mere sect of mystic philosophers, distinguished by peculiarities of food and dress.
Ancient times present us with no other society of any importance to which we can properly apply the term secret.
The different sects of the Gnostics, who are by the fathers of the chm^h styled heretics, were to a certain extent secret societies, as they did not pro- pound their doctrines openly and publicly ; but their history is so scanty, and so devoid of interest, that an examination of it would offer little to detain ordi- nary readers.
The present volume is devoted to the history oi three celebrated societies which flourished during the middle ages, and of which, as far as we know, no full and satisfactory account is to be found in English literature. These are the Assassins, or Isma'ilites, of the East, whose name has become in all the lan- guages of Europe synonymous with murderer, who were a secret society, and of whom we have in gene- • ral such vague and indistinct conceptions ; the mili- tary order of the Knights Templars, who were most barbarously persecuted under the pretext of their holding a secret doctrine, and against whom the charge has been renewed at the present day ; and.
12 SECRET SOCIETIES.
finally, the Secret Tribunals of Westphalia, in Ger- many, concerning which all our information has hitherto been derived from the incorrect statements of dramatists and romancers*.
It is the simplicity of truth, and not the excitement of romance, that the reader is to expect to find in the following pages, — ^pictures of manners and modes of thinking different from our own, — ^knowledge, not mere entertainment, yet as large an infusion of the latter as is consistent with truth and instruction.
* Since the present work was prepared, a translation of Von Hammer's History of the Assassins has been published by Dr. Oswald Charles Wood.
. wiy
THE ASSASSINS*
StatH of the World in the Tth Century— Wealcm EmpitB— EoBtcru Empire — Persia — Arabia — Moliajnined — His pra- bablH Motives— Chaiacler of his Keligion— The Koran.
At the eomroencement of the 7th century of the Christian era a new character was about to be im- pressed on a lai^e portion of the world. During llie two centuries which preceded, the Goths, Vandals, HuDS, and other martial tribes of the Germanic race, had succeeded in beating' down the barriers opposed to them, and in conquering and dismember- ing the Western Empire. They brought with them and retained their love of freedom and spirit of dauntless valour, but abandoned their anciifnt and ferocious superstitions, and embraced the corrupt ajstem which then degraded the name of Christianity. This system, hardened, as it were, by ideas retained and transferred from the original faith of its new disciples, which ideas were ibstered by those passages of the boohs of the Hebrew Scriptures which accoriied wilh their natural sentiments, alter wards, when allied with feudal ism, engendered the spirit which poured the hosts of Western Europe over the mountains and plains of Asia for the conquest of the Holy Land.
' • tlammer's G»«cAicA(e dtj- Aaainaai (History gf flie AstBSBins), BQil the sttDH wtHer'a Fandi/rulien dei Orientt (Mines of ihe East), M. JourUain's Ktlrml de rOnirage de ISirMiond mr la DgHaitie del Iimotlilfi, aqd Malcolm's His- toiy of Persia, are the principal authoritiea for the followiog it of the Assassins.
I
SECRET SOCIETIES.
A diS«Teiit picture was at this time presented by the empire of the EaeL It still retained the extent assigned to it hy Theodosius ; and all the countries from the Danube, round the eust and south coasts of the Mediterranean, lo the straits of Gades, yielded a more or leas perfect obedience to the successors of Constantine. But a despotism more degradiug-, thoug'h less ferocious, than those of Asia paralyzed the patriotism and the ener^ of their subjects ; and the acuteness, the contentiousness, and the imagina- tion of the Greeks, combined with mysticism and the wild fancy of the Asiatics to transform the simplicity of the religion of Christ into a revoUing system of intricate metaphysics and gross Idolatry, which aided the influence of their political condition in chilling the martial ardour of the people. The various pro- vinces of the empire were held togelherby the loosest and leeblest connexion, and it was apparent that a vigorous shock would suffice to dissolve the union.
The mountains of Armenia and the course of the Euphrates separated the Eastern Empire from that of Persia, This country had been under the domi- nion of the people named Parthians at Ihe time when the eagles of the Roman republic first appeared ou the Euphrates, and defeat had more than once at- tended the Roman armies which attempted to enter their conhnea. Like every dominion not founded on the freedom of the people, that of the Arsacides (the Parthian royal line) grew feeble with time, and after a continuance of nearly tive centuries the sceptre of Arsaces passed from the weak hand of the last monarch of his line to that of ArdeshirBabegan (that is the son of Babec), a valiant officer of the royal * army, and a pretended descendant of tlie ancient monarchs of Persia. Ardeshir, to accomplish this revolution, availed himself of ihe religious prejudices of the Persian people. The Fuitbiau monarchs had
mtlined to the manners and the religion of the Greeks, and the Lig^ht- religion— the original faith of Persia, and one of the purest and most spiritual of those lo whith a divine origin may not be assigned — had been held in slight estimation, and its priests unvisited by royal favour. It was ihe pride and the policy of Ardeshir to restore the ancient religion lo the dignity which it hadenjoyed under the descendants of Cyrus, and Religion, in return, lent her powerful aid lo his plans of restoring the royal dignity to its pristine vigour, and of infusing into the breast of the people tlie love of country and the ardour for extending the Persian dominion to what it had been of old ; and for 400 years tlie Sassanides* were the most tbr- midable enemies of the Roman empire. But their dominion had, at the period of which we wrlle, nearly attained the greatest limit allotted to Oriental dynas- ties ; and though Noosheerwan the .Fust had attained great warlike fame, and governed with a vigour and justice that have made his name proverbial in the East, and Khoosrno Purveez displayed a magnifi- cence which is still the theme of Persian poetry and romance, and carried his victorious arms over Syria and Egypt, and further along the Alncan coast than even those of Darius I, had been able to advance, yet defeat from the gallant Emperor Heraclius clouded his latter days, and Ihe thirteenth year alter his death, by showing the Persian armies in flight, and the palladium of the empire, the jewel-set apron of the blacksmith Kawah, in the hands of ilie rovers of the deserts, revealed the secret that her strength ■ The Bame given to the dynasty Foundad by Ardestir, from Ilia pretendud ancuitoc Sansiui, a grandson ol' Isfundrar, t hiiD i^atlf celebrated in the ancient hislury of Peisio. Istuiideur was the son ot Guahtup, who is aunpuaud to be the Datiua Hjitaapes of the Greek histDiiuDs. Sic J.ihn Matratm nuied 1g identify Isfundear wilh the Xecus of the
I
SECRET SOCIETIES.
WHS departed from Persia. The brilliancy oF the early part of the reign of Khoosroo Purveez had been but the flash before death which at times is dis- played in empires as in individuals. The vigour was goue which was requisite to stem the torrent of laiialic valour about to burst forth from the wilds of Arabia.
It is the boast of Arabia Ihat it has never been conquered. Thi': immunity from subjugation has, however, been only partial, and is owing to the nature of the country ; for although the barren Bands of the Hejaz and Nejed have always baffled the efforts of hostile armies, yet the more inviting region of Yemen, the Happy Arabia of the ancients, has more than once allured a conqueror, and submitted to his sway. The inhabitants oF this country have been the same in blood and in manners from the dawn of history. Brave, but not sanguinary, rob- bers, but kind and hospitable, of lively and acute iiilellect, we find the Arabs, from the days of Abra- ham to the present times, leading the pastoral and nomadic life in the desert, agcieulturists in Yemen, traders on the coasts and on the confines of Syria and Egypt. Their foreign military operations had hitherto been confined to plundering expeditions into the last-mentioned countries, unless they were the Hycsos, or Shepherd Rings, who, according lo tradition, once made the conquest of Egypt. Arabia forming a kind of world in itself, its various tribes were in ceaseless hostility with each other ; but it was apparent that if its brave and skilfiil horsemen could be united under one head, and animated by motives which would inspire consttiney and rouse valour, they might present a force capable of giving a. fatal fihouk to the empires of Persia and of Rome.
It is impossible, on taking a survey of the history of the world, not to recognize a great predisi>osing
THF ASSASSINS. 17
which appoitils the lime and circumstances of every event which is to produce any considerable change in the state of human affairs. The agency of this overruling providence is nowhere more per- ceptible than in the preseut instance. The tirne was come for the Arabs to leave their deserts and march to the conquest of the world, and the man was born who was to inspire them with the necessary motives. Mohammed {Illustrious*) was the son of Abd- Allah (Servant of God), a noble Arab of the irihe of Koreish, which had the guardianship of the Kaaba {Square Housf. of Mecca), the Black Stons con- tained in which (probably an aerolite) had been for ages an object of religious veneration to (he tribes of Arabia. His mother was Amineh, the daughter of a chief of princely rank. He was early left an orphan, with the slender patrimony of five camels and a ftmale Ethiopian slave. His uncle, Aboo Talib, brought him up. At an early age the yonng Mohamnied accompanied his uncle lo the fair of Bozr.i, on the verge of Syria, and in his 18th year he signalized his valour in an engage- ment between the Koreish and a hostile tribe. At the age of 25 he eniered the service of Khadijah, a wealthy widow, with whose merchandise he visiled one of the great fairs of Syria. Mohammed, though poor, was noble, handsome, acute, and brave ; Khadijah, who was fifteen years his senior, was in- spired with love ; her passion was returned ; and the
' The Oriental proper names beine mostly all sigaiRcant. vra aliall trsimlatB IliBin when we first employ them. As, howevor, it ia nut always that it can be discuvured nhat Ihu original Arabic characterii am of aa eaatein word which wo meet in Roman lettera, we shall be sometimeB ubligcd tu leave names unexplained, and at othei times lu haiaid conjectural ifiUnationi- la the liurt cuci vb gball affix » muk of
I
SECRET SOCIETIES.
ffift of her hand and wealth gave the nephew of Aboo Talib affluence and consideralioD.
Mohammed's original lurn of mind appears to have been serious, and it is not unliVely that the great troth of the Unity of the Deity had been early impressed on his mind by his mother or his Jewish kindred. The Koreish and the rest of his country- idolaters; Christianity was now corrupted by the intermixture of many superstitions ; the fire- worship of" the Persians was a worshipping of the Deity under a material form ; the Mosaic religion had been debased by the dreams and absurd dis- tinctions uf the Kabbis. A simpler furm than any of these seemed wanted for man. God, moreover, was believed to have at sundry times sent prophets into the world for its reformation, and might do so again; the Jews still looked for their promised Messiah ; many Christians held that the Faradete was yet lo come. Who can take upon him to assert that Mohammed may not have believed him- self to be set apart to the service of God, and ap. pointed by the divine decree to be the preacher of a purer faith than any wliici) he then saw existing? Who will say that in his annual seclusions of fifteen days in the cave of Hira he may not have fallen into ecstatic visions, and (hat in one of these waking dreams the anp:el Gabriel may not have appeared to his distempered fancy lo descend to nominate him to the office of a prophet of God, and present to him, in a visible form, that portion of his future law whicb had probably already passed through his mind*?
" The Knlila Khan of Coleriiiffe (Poetical Works, vol. i. p. 'iG6) ii a fine mitance qC this pnv/ei a{ tht minil, withdrawn I'niin Ihe coDlemplatiun ul' material objecta. The readier will probably lecoUect the siga given Ironi heavvn to Lurtl BHCbert □f CbeibiDj, on the aceaiion of hii wotk initteii agaiuat re-
THE ASSASSINS.
portion of self-delusion is alway^i ming'led '^vith successful imposture ; the impostor, as it were, makes iiis first experiment on himself. It is much more reasonable to conclude that Mohammed had at first no other object than the dissemination of truth by persuasioD, and that he may have beguiled himself into a belief of his being the instrument selected for that purpose, than that the citizen of a town in the secluded region of Arabia beheld in ambiliouB vision from his mountain-cave his victo- rious banners waving on the banks of the Oxus anil the Ebro, and his name sainted as that of the Pro- phet of God by a fourth part of the human race. Still we must not pass fay another, and perhaps a truer supposition, namely, that, in the mind of Mohammed, as in that of so many others, the end justified the means, and thathe deemed it lawful to feign a vision and a commission from God in order to procure from men a hearing for the truth.
Whatever the ideas and projects of Mohammed may originally have been, he waited till he had attained his fortieth year (the age at which Moses siio'wed himself first to the Israelites), and then revealed his divine commission lo his wife Khadijah, his slave Zeid, his cousin Aii, tlie son of Aboo Talib, and his friend, the virtuous and wealtliyAboo Bekr. It is difficult U> conceive any motive but conviction to have operated on the minds of these
[b6 religkm. This wcitei has latelf henid m
;«ofa
was (elected as the inBtrumeut tor acco k In the handa of Qiid ; and giviag, ii9 HID niimliiic of moiiltae, iba should be ui 1 un which she wan lyiii[;. Suuhis theiioi I Iho supposed intimiLtioo in regard to Mk vff^ct; she believi^d herself tu huve a, and Iharelbra did in reality toiB it.
20 SECRET SOCIETIES.
different persons, who at once acknowledged his claim to the prophetic oRicc ; and it speaks not a little for the purity of the previous life of the new Prophet, that he could venture lo claim the faith of those who were most intimately acquainted with him. The voice of wisdom has assured hs that a prophet lias no honour in his own country and amon^ his own kindred, and the CNample of Mo- hammed testified tile truth of the declaration. During thirteen years the new religion made but slow and painful progress in the town of Mecca ; but the people of Yathreb, a town afterwards digni- fied with the appellation of the City of the Prophet iMedinat-en-Nabi), were more susceptive of faith ; and when, on tlie death of Aboo Talib, who pro- tected his nephew, though he rejected his daims, his celebrated Flight (^Hejrd) brought him to Yathreb, tlie people of that town took arms in his defence against the Koreish. It was probably now that new views opened to the mind of the Prophet. Prince of Yathreb, he might hope to extend his sway over the ungrateful Mecca; and those who had scoffed at his arguments and persuasions might be taught lessons of wisdom by the sword. These anticipa- tions were correct, and in less than ten years after the battle of Bedr (the first he fought) he saw his temporal power and his prophetic character acknow- ledged by the whole of the Arabian peninsula.
It commonly happen.s that, when a new form' of religion is proposed for the acceptance of mankind, it surpasses in purity that which it is intended to supersede. The Arabs of the days of Mohammed were idolaters ; 300 is said to have been the number of the images which claimed their adoration in the Caaba. A gross licentiousness prevailed among them; their polygamy had no limits assigned to it*. See, in Sir J. Malcolm's History pf Persia, the diiilotjuo
THE AS9ASSINS.
21
For ihis the Prophet substituted the worship of One God, and placed a check on the sensual propensities of his people. His religion contained descriptions of the future state of rewards aiid punishments, by which he allured lo obedience and tfirrified from contumacy or opposition. The jrains of hell which he menaced were such as mere most offensive lo the body and its organs, the joys of Paradise were verdant nieads, shady trees, murmuring' brooks, gentle airs, precious wmes in cujis of g^old and silver, stately tents, and splendid sofas ; the melody of the songs of angels was to ravish the souls of the blessed, the black eyed Hoories were to he the ever- blooming' brides of the faithful servants of God. Yet, though sensual bliss was to be his ultimate reward, the votary was taught that its attainment demanded self-denial on earth ; and it has been justly observed that " a devout Mussulman exhibits more of the Stoical than of the Epicurean charac- ter*." As the Prophet had resolved that the sword should be unsparingly employed for the dilfiision of the truth, the highest degree of the future bliss was pronounced to be the portion of the martyrs, i. r., of those who fell in the holy wars waged for the dissemination of the faith. " Paradise," says the Prophet, " is beneath the shadow of swords." At the
Iwtweeu the Persian king Tezdijird and tho Arab cnvov. " Whtttevet/' said tholfltttr, -'thou ha»t said repaniing tlie foimei couditiDn of the Amtn is tnie. Their fuod was green lixardBj they burietl their infont daugbfers alive ; nayi scone of them feasted on dead carcasaes and dtaiik blood, while others slew tbeir lelations, and thought themselvea great and valiant when, by snch an act, the; became possessed ot mom pfopetty. They were clothed with hair garmeuts, knew not' , good fium evil> und made nu distinction between that which s unlawful.
it God in his T
which teai-heB u!
a holy prophet a, Mcied
IB raith," S;c.
I
SECRET SOCIBTIEB.
day of judg^nent the wounds of the fallen warrior were to be resplendent lis vermilion, and odoriferous aa musk; and the wings of angels were to supply the loss of limbs. The religion of Mohammed was entitled Islam (/eaigTiaUoTt), whence its votaries were called by the Arabs Moslems, and in Persian Mussul- mans. Its articles of belief were five — behef inGod, in his angels, in his Propliet, in the lost day, and in predestinalion. Its positive duties were also five — purification, prayer, fasiing, alms, and the pilgrimag'e to Mecca, Various rites and observances which the Arabs had hitherto practised were retained by the Prophet, either out of regard for the prejadioes of his followers, or because he did not, or could not, divest his own mind of respect for uBages in which he had been reared up from infancy.
Such is a slight sketch of the religion which Mohammed substituted for the idolatry of Arabia. U contained little that was original; ^1' its details of the future state were borrowed from Judaism or from the Magian system of Persia. The book which conlsins it, entitled the Koran {reading), was com- posed in delached pieces, during a long series of years, by the illiterate Prophet, and taken down from his lips by his scribes. His own account of its origin was that each !juia, or revelation, was brought to him from heaven by the angel Gabriel. It is regarded by the Mohammedan East, and by most European Orientalists, as the masterpiece of Arabian literature; and when we make due allowance for, the difference of European and Arabian models and taste, and con- sider that the rhyme* which in prose ie insufferable to the former, may to the latter sound grateful, we may allow that the praises lavished on it are not
• The Hebrows, as appHats from the poetic parts of the ScciptuceB, had the lame delight in the clang of rhyme as the Arabs. See particularly Isaiah iu the origiuaL
THE ASSASSINS.
za
1
unmeriled. Though tedious and often childish le- gends, and long' and tiresome oivil rea^ulations, occupy the greater part of it, it is pervaded by a fine strain of fervid piety and humble resignation to the will of God, not unworthy of the inspired seers of Israel ; and the sublime doctrine of the Unity of God runs like a vein of pure gold through each portion of the mass, giving lustre and dignity to all. Migbt we not venture to say that Christianity itself has derived advantage from the imposture of Mohammed, and that the clear and open profession of the Divine Unity by their Mohammedan enemies kept the Cltfistiaua of the dark ages from smothering it be- neath the moss of superstition and fable by which they corrupted and deformed so much of the majestic aimplicitv of the Gospel ? No one, certainly, would dream of comparing the son of Abd-Allah with the Son of God, of setting darkness by the side of light ; but still we may confess him to have been an agent in the hands of the Ahnighty, and admit that his assumption of the prophetic ofRce was productive of
intimately c
The Mohammedan religion is so nected with history, law, manners, a Ihe part of the East of which we are about to n that this brief view of its origin and nature was ii penaable. We now proceed to our history.
SSCRET SOCrETTSS.
Aral
r the Khalifat— ThB firal KhaUfs— Erient of the .a Empire — Sdhium aniDag tho Mohammedans —
Suoaeea and Sheabs— Seels of the latter— The Keissanee- The ZeidilHS— The GhooUat- The Iraamee— Sects of the laiamee— Their political Character— The CarniathitBa— Origin of tlie Fatimite Khalifa— Secret Society al Cairo- Doctiines taught in it — Its DecllDC.
The civil and ecclesiastical dignities were united in the person of Mohammed, As Emir (prince) he ad- ministered justice and led his followers to battle ; as Imam {director) he on every Friday (the Moham- medan sabbath) taught the principles and^duties of religion from his pulpit. Though hia wives were numerous, the Prophet had no male issue surviving at the lime when he felt the approaches of death ; hut his daughter Fatima was married to his cousiu Ali, his early and faithful disciple, and it was natu- rally to be expected that the expiring voice of the Prophet mould nominate him as his Khalif (successor) over the followers of bis faith. But Ayesha, Ihe daughter of Aboo Bekr, Mohammed's youthful and best beloved wife, was vehemently hostile to the sou of Aboo Talib, and she may have exerted all the in- fluence of a revengeful woman over the mind of the dying Prophet. Or perhaps Mohammed, like Alex- ander, perplexed with the extent of dominion to which he had attained, and aware that only a vigour of c)iaracter similar to his own would avuil to relaiu and enlarge it, and, it may be, thinking himself an-
swerable to God for the choice be should make, deemed il the safest course to leave the matter to the free decision of his surviving followers. His ap- pointing Aboo Bekr, a few days before his death, to officiate in Itis puipit, mig^ht seem to indicate an in- tention of CDnferrin said to have at one time declared that the strength ol' character displayed by his distinguished follower, Omar, evinced hia possession of the virtues of a prophet and a khalif Tradition records no equally strong declaration respecting the mild and virtuous Ali.
At all events the Prophet expired widiout having named a successor, and the choice devolving on his companions dissension was ready to break out, when Oiuar, abandoning his own claims, gave his voice for Aboo Bekr. All opposition was thus silenced, and the fether of Ayesha reigned for two years over the faithful. Ah at first refused obedience, but he finally acknowledged the successor of the Prophet. When dying, Aboo Bekr bequeathed the sceptre to Omar, as the wortiiiest, and when, twelve years afterwards, Omar perished by the dagger of an assassin, six electors conferred the vacant dignity on Othman, who had been the secretary of the Prophet. Age liaving enfeebled the powers of Othman, the reins of autho- rity were slackened, and a spirit of discord pervaded all Arabia, illustrative of the Prophet's declaration of vigour being essential to a khalif, A numerous body of rebels besieged the aged Othman in Medina, and he was slain, holding the Koran in his lap, by a baud of murderers, headed by the brother of Ayesha, who, the firebrand of Islam, it is probable had been secretly active in exciting the rebellion.
The popular choice now fell upon Ali, but the im- plucablc Ayesha stimulated to revolt against his au-
p
t
BOCIETIES,
thority two powerful Arab chiefs, named Telhs and Zobeir, viia raised their standanb in the province of Arabian Iralt. Ayesha, mounted on a camel, ap- peared in Ihc thickest of the battle, in which the rebel chiefs were defealed and slain. The generous Ali o dwell at the tomb of the Prophet, where she passed in tranquillity the remainder of her days. The khalif himself was less fortmiute. Moawiya, the Governor of Syria, son of Ahoo Sofian, the most violent of the opponents of the Frophet, assumed the olfice of the aveuger of Othman, whose death he charged on AJi and his party, and, declaring himself lo be the rightful khalif, roused Syria lo arms against the Prophet's son-in-law. In the war success was on the side of Ali, till the superstition of his troops obliged him to agree to a treaty; and shortly after- wards he was murdered by a fanatic in the mosk of Coofa, His son Ilassanwaa induced by Moawiya to resign his claims and retire to the city of Medina ; but his more high-spirited brother, Ilussein, took arms against the khaUf Yezid, the son of Moawiya; and the narrative of his death is one of the most pa- thetic and best related incidents of Oriental history*. The sisters and children of Hussein were spared by the elenienty of ihe victorious Yezid, and from them descend a numerous race, glorjing in the blood of Ali and the Prophet.
The Arabian empire was now of immense extent. Egypt, Syria, and Persia had been conquered in the reign of Omar. Under the first klwlifs of the dynasty of Ihe Ommiades (so called from Ommiyah, the great-grandfather of Moawiya), the conquest of Africa and Spain was achieved, and the later princes of this family ruled over the most extensive empire of the world.
• Sm Ockley'a BJstiny of the Sstweni.
ftVhe great schism of the MohammcdaD church e must be permitted to employ this term, the only one our language atfords) commences with the ac- cession of the house of Ommiyah. The Moham- medans have, as is generally known, been from that time to the present day divided into two great sects, the Soonees and the She&hs, the orthodox and the disxenters, as we mi^ht venture to call them, whose opposite doctrines, like those of the Catholics and the Proteslaots of the Christian church, are each the established faith of great and independent nations. The Ottoman and the Usbeg Turks hold the Soonee faith; the Persians are violent Sheahs; and national and religions animosity concur in making them the determined and inveterate foes of each other.
The Siwnees hold that the first four khalifs were ai] legitimate successors of the Prophet; but as their order was determined by their degree of sanctity, they assign the lowest rank to Ali. The Shefiha, on the contrary, maintain that the digTiity of the Pro- phet rightl\il]y descended to the son of his uncle and the husband of his daughter. They therefore regard Aboo Bekr, Omar, and Othman, ag usurpers, and curse and revile their memory, more especially that of the rigid Omar, whose murderer they veuerale as a. saint. It must be steadily ke'|>t in mind, in every discufision respecting the Mohammedan religion, that Mohammed and his successors succeeded in establishing what the lofty and capacious mind of Gregory VII. attempted in vain— the union of the civil and ecclesiastical powers in the same person. Unlike the schisms of the eastern and western, of the Catholic and Protestant churches, which origi- nated in difference of opinion on points of discipline or matters of doctrine, that of the Mohammedans arose solely from ambition and the struggle for tem- poral power. The sceptre of the greatest empire of
SBCBET SOCIETIES.
the world was tb be the rcwaril of the party who could gain the greatest number of believers in his right to grasp the staff and ascend the pulpit of the Prophet of God. Afterwards, when the learning of the Greeks and the Persians became familiar to the Arabs, theological and metaphysical niceties and distinctions were introduced, and the two great stems of religion threw out numerous sectarian branches. The Soonees are divided into four main sects, all of which are, however, regarded as orthodox, for they agree in the main points, though they differ in subor- dinate ones. The division of the Sheahs is also into four sects, the point of agreement being the assertion of the right of Ali and his descendants to the imamat, or supreme ecclesiastical dignity; the point of differ- ence being the nature of the proof on which his rights are founded, and the order of succession among his descendants. These four sects and their opinions are as follows ; —