...and not being a Java programmer, I have no idea if that makes sense, but here's what I'm taking about.

In VB6, I routinely use CreateObject to create activex objects on the fly that the calling application has no knowledge of--no references, no links of any kind. If the object isn't available on the machine, CreateObject errors, otherwise I have an activex object I can use.

Now, I don't care about activex--here's my question: Assuming I have some java class implemented in an external .jar file, and the calling jabaco app has no knowledge of it, then: What statements can I use to instantiate and use a class out of this external .jar?

You have described how it would be done through the IDE, when the references are known. Imagine writing an application where you prompted the user for a class name, and then instantiated that class based on the name alone. Is this possible in Java?