Butte record. (Bidwell, Butte County, Cal.) 1853-1858, 1855-05-19
SEcKET FOLiTrcAL SOCIETIES
STARTLING DISCLOSURES!
THE HiNDoo cATHs AND RITUALS

Lit,lejohn, in the n Y Assembly, February
9Th 1855.
No such organization as this Grand
Council, with its illegal oaths and infa-
nous scheme can lonL exist in this State.
No member who has joined it from
misapprehensIon of its character can be
bound by the oaths-oaths, which of
themselves must be heinous sins. No
sir; the sin consists in taking, and not in
breaking such an oath-in Intentionally
and wilfuIly taking such an oath, and
not in breaking it. 1t would be sin
against my country. and against my oath
to support the Constitution. Ii could
be nothing else. Whatever NAV now be
thought of this matter, the time will
come when the universal opinion will be
as my opinion is now, that the crime
consists in taking not in breaking, thrs,
illegal obi cations. 1t is an oath like to
that to commit murder 1t is a murder
of a mans rights. Will the just being
call any man to an account for breaking
IA wicked oath ? 1t is no crime to break
wicked oath, neither is there perjury
in so doing
Mr.. Speaker, | have read within the
last fifteen hours-and | state it upon
the honor of 4 man-an oath recorded
in pamphlet of this order of the Sd
degree--a degree perhaps not yet reach
ed by many of the 100, 900 members of
this order--w, ich requires a member Ito
diyulge nothing, even though arraigned
before a legal tribunal.
MIR. Lamport: | pronounce it an in
famous falsehood
The Speaker: I may be mistaken,
but Only in this; that the requirement is
in the ritual and not in the oath but bv
the oath members are bound to obey the
ritual
/ Mr.. Lamport: : You are mistaken.
The Speaker: Sir, | am not mistak-
en-. If not in the oath itself, it is in the
ritual, by which member is bound. |
aver that the member of the Sd degree
is bound not to reveal any fact connects
ed with the order, under any circum-
stances, even before a legal tribunal
L am not mistaken in this Sir, this in
famous scheme reaches to the fireside, to
the ballot box, to the jury box, and to
| the Judge on the bench The man on
trial knows not the secret influences
which may be brought 10 interfere with
his rights. An organization like this is
f-arful. 1t must sooner or later, if not
crushed, overthrow the Republic. For
sir, this organization is not limited to Il
single State 1t has a national existence,
and national convention was recently
convened in Cincinnati. If the presi
dent of that Council possesses powers
equal to those conferred upon the presi-
dent of this State convention, What may
not be his ambition and what the conse-
quences If the oaths mean what GEN
tlemen upon this floor would have us be-
licve-if to break these oaths is recog,
nized by the members as moral; perjury,
then, | say, clothe me with the power,
give me the genius and ambition of Ma
poleon, and | could, if | woald, Be your
Emperor.
Mr.. Speaker, I warn gentlemen to
pause and reflect before they proceed too
far.
Before concluding, the House took a
recess until o'clock, P. NJ.
The Speaker resumed :: Ebout the
time the House took recess, Mr..
Speaker, made statement in regard
to the oath or the obligation in the RI
tual. assumed by members Of the Sd de-
gree OF this order. | asserted that the
obligation interfered with the duty Of the
man who assumed it, before the judicial
tribunal Of the country. That state
ment was rudely denied by the gentle
man from Ontario. Sir, [ am hot in
the habit of making false or hasty tate
ments, and in order to prove that | have
not done so in this case I have obtained
the official document, which will sustain
me in all that | have said. | will read
The constructor" says:
''Instructor-MY BROTHERS The
order which has now received you as
members, may, with all propriety, be
considered secret organization 1t is
so secret, in fact, that it you were placed
before legal tribunal, and there sworn
to tell the truth, the whole truth and
nothing but the truth, you could not,
tor your Hres reveal the name of that
band OF brothers among whom your name
now stands enrolled and further than
this, when you retire from this meeting
you will retire to your families and
friends as ignorant as when YOU came.
so far as the name of this order is con-
cerned."
Now, sir, this bears me out in nv
statement, that the members of this or
ganization--not the masses, for they
know nothing of this-assume to DENY,
even in court of justice, all knowledge
of any fact connected with the existence
OF this order. That this obligation is
imposed, there can be no doubt. That
the masses are ignorant of it, [ can well
believe. If any proof were needed of
this, it could be found in fact, that even
the gentleman from On 'ario, who is
considered one of the mo. t prominent
as he is one of the most intelligent of
the order, was ignorant of the existence
of such an obligation as this. Having
this document, l will not be con cnl