The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1839-12-21
CHINESE OATH

A,eass arose on Fddsy 10 he Marine Court Of New
York. which caused some lroable. Chinese brought
suit, and subpenaed lsdof h's own county 10 tes
tfy IN the rasc The queson was how he should be
sworn. The Journal OF Commerce says
The opposite party Objected has evidence being re-
ceyed. he ground that be a Christian. nor
believed IN the existence Of God. He was thea
asked by the Court IL he believed in Christianity ana
he replied Ia the negative. Hs next asked old
he believe ~ God, and he said. Il do for there arc
several Gods Ia our temples IN China Inc Soui'
then quoted section Of the Revised Statutes, WHICH
siys that Every person believing IN any other than
tlis Christian religion shall be secordng 10 me
peculiar CEREMONIES Of his religion, and asked the VII
ness what the formula OF an oath IN CHINA Inc
witness replied that person about 10 give evidence
first goe. 10 nne Of their temples where there idols,
aud that he reads there read for him. portion OF
the Chinese bibls after which the witness spts on the
ground and then takes IN his hand saucer containing
salt, aud dashes them against the ground, by doing
which the II broken 10 pieces aud the salt scat
tered along the foor, When this has been done, the
witness then goes before Mandarin and gives his evil
Jence, The Court then asked the witness by whom
had the book been written which he called the Chnese
bible OF whether Il supposed 10 have been The work
OF conucus To this the witness replied that he had
never heard OF such person. could he tell ny ~tom
the book had been written, did he know any thing
more about IT, except that II was tine sacred hook oil the
Chinese. and the only English worl that he was se-
quained With, which conveyed his idea oil u. was the
word bbis, On hearing this, the Judge said the, he
could how The statute could be complied WITH
which enacted that witness should be according
10 the peculiar ceremonies Of his religion. IL true
that the Court might. for the purpose, be considered
temple, called the Temnle Of Justice, and the
ceremonies Of splitting on the ground and throwing
down with salt IN it might also be performed;
but then there idols in the Court could the
Judge tell what the nature OF the book
which the witness called his bible Under all the cir
cumstanees of the case Judge Schien therefore de-
termined make decision whether the witness
could be at all. or his evidence received until he
further considered the question and consulted with the
other Judges Of the Court
The next day is added Z
Aryouk the Chinese Witness attended in Court
this morning. accompanied BY another native OF
China, who was the plaintiff. The lad Aryouk, who
though an Intelligent youth about sixteen years old
appeared not 10 be SO well informed In relation 10
the Chinese ceremony OF swearing an oath as his
countryman, the plaintiff who is more advanced IN
years, and from whom it appeared the young man
had, since the day before, acquired more inorma-
lion on the subject.
On being questioned this day by Judge Scott, he
said that there were various ceremonies attending
The taking Of an oath in China, some Of which might
be dispensed WITH and yet the witness considers him
self equally bound to tell the truth. La addition TO
what he said The day before, he now mentioned that
witness sometimes holdsunulighled torch in his
hand, but thai his omitl 10, or TO use some
other ceremonies, sue on the ground,
are mol necessary W 'Snu uSh pi&5nS anu va
lid.
llwould be sufficient he said, to have the oath ad-
minisered in the following ma r, which was done
accordingly The plaintiff kS and the wit
ness took in his hand what he G Chinese BIZ
BILE, and the Judge, as does thv0lNEdarin in such .
cases, told the witness 10 tell the truth The witness
then handed the bible 10 the plaintiff. The plaintiff
then took China cup in his hand, and held it while
witness read aloud small portion of the Chinese
bible. When the witness stopped reading the plain
Tiff then handed him the cup, which the latter dash
ed against the ground with much vehemence OF man
neiy and OF course broke II in pieces The witness
then shut up the book and witness and plaintiff then
kissed it, and the plaintiff stood up. The plaintiff
then required the Judge to put his Qhe plaintiffs)
in that part Of the bible which had been read,
which the Judge did, and the witness then began 10
give his evidence. Prior to the oath being admins
tered the Court had decided hat according 10 the
Revised Statutes, the oath could be legally admins
tered, as il was the form in which oalhs some
times sworn in China
The difficulty in relation to the witness being
sworn in temple was obviaed by the witness sta-
ting that their Chinese Courts held in their tenn
plies, or, he called them, churches. So that tenn
Pile and court OF justice in China is and The same
thing What he called the bible, is a small book in
The form OF pamphlet, containing portion Of the
writings of Contucius in The Chinese language, and
having M ndarins signature on The cover, 10 attest
its being genuine copy Of The work.
This ceremony OF breaking a cup in testimony
OF sincerity is like that used al Jewish wedding,
where the bridegroom or bride throws upon the floor
and brushes wine cup. 1880.