Father Foy On Secret Societies.

under execration and death—particular signs whereby the Brothers recognize one another at the uttermost ends of the earth , ceremonies referring to the history of a murder , and seeming to hatch and foster ideas of vengeance—what more fit to form conspirators 1 " He thought no one could

treat lightly that important testimony , coining as it did from a writer AVIIO had figured so conspicuousl y in revolution as Louis Blanc had done . Thus so fearful were these initiations , and so dangerous and great these secrets that kings and

princes could not be entrusted with them , for fear that they should turn at an inconvenient moment on those Avho Avere the depositories of these secrets . As persons advanced to higher degrees , then it Avas that they began to be informed of the real

nature of the obligations they had taken on themselves , and he Avould quote from Barruel ' e observations on the Rosicrucians , a society founded by a bad man in the 13 th century . They existed in various places on the Continent now , and Monseigneur Dupanloup mentioned them in his account . He would sum up briefly this spread of wicked , he might say , dogma respecting

Almi g hty God ; that , as a matter of fact , in one set of societies there Avas a double God—a good one and an evil one ; in another—the Hermetic—they had even practised a species of Avitchcraft and professed to transmute metals and so forth . He Avould sum the charges against the

up early societies in the Avords of the Abbe " Barruel . Having read a lengthy extract from this author , Father Foy Avent on to say that these were the secrets of those societies Avhich existed before the time of Adam Weishault . He adopted the whole

p of this wicked system and put his OAvn infamous Illuminism on it . It Avas this monster who waa the primary cause of the French Revolution , and through Avhom Europe was deluged in blood for twenty years after . His documents were

afterwards seized by the Elector of Bavaria , and published by the order of the State . The whole system of Weishaulpt Avas to find ° it candidates , not persons applying to be admitted , but individuals Avho % vonld be

v | Uajnous enough to carry out his own Vl Hainous designs . They Avere to be patched and cajoled into the society of ' hese men . to carry out then- base plots ,

That was the ultimate object Weishaulpt had in -vieAv . A number of questions were put to these young men , whether states were governed right , and if the right religion had been on the earth , and if they showed a disposition towards infidelity or revolutionbooks were placed in their

, hands to persuade them to go further . In this Avay Weishaulpt established a number of secret societies , and a list of them had been given by Avriters such as Robinson and Barruel . Weishaulpt , Avhen doing this , wrote to one or two of his friends to

say he had cajoled the whole of Germany , and that the people were delighted with the title of " Priest , " that he had invented . Even Lutheran ministers were pleased with it . Contributions Avere made to these societies to enable them to keep up their local position ; but Weishaulpt arranged for them to be purloined to a central

society , for the purpose of Avorking his evil objects on the face of the earth . He placed his agents and tools in every possible position , but more especially as librarians to kings and princes . Thus his folloAvers were Avorked in , and as they let out their secrets

they became in the power of this evil man . One particular feature in this evil doctrine was that the person preparing himself for a candidate had to make a species of confession . Upwards of 1500 questions were put to him about his lifehis motherand

, , father , and acquaintances , etc ., and , having filled up these questions , Avhen he came to be recognized aud received in the rank of priest , to his intense surprise he found another life of himself drawn up by those who had watched him , and thus from that

day forth Weishaulpt had complete control over his dupes , and held their lives and their dark secrets in his hands , and could disclose and reveal them to the world at

any moment . Thus , as they became qualified for viJlany they were made epopts or priests ( not , of course , Christian priests ) . If persons did not show themselves equal to the impious and horrible resolutions and deeds expected of them they received a sta bene to signify that they

were to remain Avhere they were . Weishaulpt Avould not alloAV any prince or sovereign to go beyond a certain stage , so that the greater and darker secrets Avere never revealed to them . It was only after someyears of espionage , and after they