Washington telegraph., 1855-06-13

OF the thlrd or Union Degree of th,
Order Of Know -Nothings. believing tha
our readers would like to see plank from
the secret platform of an organization tha
Is creating 10 little CONSERVATION among
the politicians of the country This ex
Pose. 1t appears. was first published in ,h'
Piftsburg Gazette, strong Free Soil ant
anti -knoS-NOthing paper. with a view 0
creatinga prejudice against that organiza
tion. among the Free-Soilers and Abolition
lists of the North and West.
That the Free-S Soilers and Abolitionist.
are not pleased with the expose is not al
all strange. as neither the obligation o,
address. contain anything calculated to pro-
mote the views of the agitators of the
Slavery question; but on the contrary. the
principles and creed thereby promulgated,
are highly favorable to Southern interests,
and en,inentiy conservative. national, and
patriotic Were these principles general
ly adopted. the occupation of the agitators.
like OTHELLo's. would be gone. and the
peace of the country. and the perpetuity
of the Union, would be secured
Of the genuineness of this formula, or
revelation OF the secret rites of the Order,
we have no means of Judging other than
those furnished by papers that are identi-
fed xi-I, apd ,voraJ ,Iroo,4os &c xrbo. :,
termed the American movement Once
satisfied upon this point. the Southern peo-
pie viii place no obstacle in the way of
the general adoption Of the principles set
forth, 10 matter what course wire pulling
politicians may pursue.
Of the authenticity of the obligations and
address of the Union Degree. the Amer-
ican Organ. al open and avowed advo-
cate Of the American movement. published
at Washington city. holds the following ian
guage -
We are not authorized to say, and do
not feel at liberty to say. that the obliga-
lions and address Of the Union Degree, ~
are those which Our enemies have publish
ed, but We do feel at liberty to say, and
therefore say, that the principles therein de-
vel0ped. are our principles. and our creed ::
and we say further, that we have taken no
obligation, and made no promise. iuconsist-
e';t acsth hiS platform; and we say again
further, that no man who has taken the
third or Union Degree. can be, consistently
with his obligations, an enemy of the Union.
or an advocate of tha, agitation. which would
lead to the destruction of the Union. Up
on this ground, We have over and again re-
reated. that the American party is the true
Union party Of the country, and that the
charge of Abolitionism made against us. is
al unqualified and unmitigated falSehood
and this We now again repeat: that all
charges of collusion or sympathy with Abo-
lit?onism, or with the agitation of slavery.
made against the American party are utter
ly untrue and wholly unfounded
Oar friends and the country NAV draw
their own differences from these declara-
tions, on the point, whether the published
obligations and address, are genuine or not
Oar enemies say they are genuine-we do
not deny it. yet we are not at liberty to ad-
nit it,
The ''Lynchburg Virginian." from which
paper we copy it. says-"We have reason for
believing that the formula. as published by
the Pittsburg Gazette and given below. is
the tTue and genuine ritual of the third
degree"
Still further evidence Of the gcnuineness Of
the formula, may be inferred from the Bit
ter ard acrimonious denunciations of it bv
the anti-slavery and abolition organs, as
well as the fac. that the Massachusetts
know Nothing State council, refused to ac-
cept Or adopt the third degree, but in its stead,
adopted resolutions to continue the agitation
of the slavery question
The Cleveland (Ollio) Herald. violent
abolition paper, after declaring the ritual as
published by the Pittsburg Gazette. to be
genuine says
I'VE lave often alluded to the pro-sIavery char
acter of the new degree. and now have the con-
hImation OF it in black and white before u.s. The
great Of the Know NotIngs of this CITY la We
ped it the dark 10 take an obligation stultifyins
their political sentiments, We place before them
the cath they Will be required TO take. And here
le: US ask them. and all honest mer. what cues
tiOn has ever disturbed the peace. or endangered
the Perpetuity of the Union, save the Slavery
question. Under the pretext of preserving the
/ Union,' the members are really sworn to put
/ down Anti-Slavery astation7 And as to the
descriptive adjustment of all political discomfort:
or differences which they are sworn to procure
y hat is it but npTouai-es of the Fillmore
and Fugitive Slave Law7 Every rational mar
| understands what the originators OF this degree
were after when they invented it, We all know
that the grand object was to Ignore and crush oul
I Northern opposition to Slavery aggression under
/ the old pretext of saving the Union.|
This Is only 1.-THE of the testimony Nc
have seen tending to establish the genuine
ness of the ritual as published. which. i
1t does not prove it altogether authentic
shows that the friends snd advocates of tn,
Order aeknowled &c that the principles anc