Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1855-06-06
FEARFuL PENALTY

The "know nothiugs" of Virginia, confident Of
Their power until recently, are now in terrible
qusndary AT the stampede from their lodges IN al
most every section of the State. TIE fearful PEN
atty, by which the designing hoped to keep last
hold OF all whom they enticed, under false pre-
fences into the Order fails to effect the object and
withdrawal after withdrawal by scores at time
is the current news of the day. Our democratic
readers who have so properly and so sterny re-
PEELED all advances made by the initiated to con-
meet themselves with the falsely styled Amerlcan
movement, or at least some OF them, may have
some curiosity to know what penalty IS imposed
upon those who become fractions after having
been deceived. and upon which so great reliance
is placed by the leading jugglers of the midoight
mysteries. Here it is. After having sworn to all
the requirements of the order, the following oath
is admins cred as clincher:
10 all the foregoing you bind ourselves under
the no less penalty than that of being expelled
from M's Order, and Of having your n1nle posted
and circulated throughout all the different Councils OF
the Onated States as a PERJURER and as TRAITOR TO
God and YOUR COUNTRY as being UNIT TO be EN-.
PLoYED IN any BUSINESS TRANSACTION, as a person
unworthy the confidence Of all good men, and as one
at aohom hetiager of ScoTn should ever be pointed
So help you G0dI"
The most despotic government under the SIN;
the bloodlest tyrant that ever lived could not ex-
act severer or more horrid and blasphemous PEN
atty thsn this from an enslaved subject. We ven
ture the assertion that there is not one OF every
ten men In the Southern States, who have connec-
ted themselves with this secret order, that would
have consented to subscribe to such an oath, If it
had been presented for his consideration previous
to his admission as q member or a committal of
himself to become one Every freeman, in his So
Der moments, must scorn it. An ORDER political
now, (what it may become we know mott to hold
nv lfu tha
govern their votes should be repudlated North and
South, and particularly by the Sonth should it be
| doubly denounced. We say this for more reasons
| than one. Our peculiar institutions should make
every Southern man jealous of the existence Of Sc
cret political associations in our midst. We do
| not intend TO be misunderstood when we make
this assertion We emphatically disclam any de-
sign to nsinuate that the knownothings of the
| South are iniminal to Southern institutions. On
| the contrary we are satisfied that the reverse is
true and that if their political action, in our opin-
| ion, does not promote Southern interests and
| maintain Southern Rights as we should like TO see
| them promoted and maintained, yet we cannot but
believe that they are as loyal as any to our instu-
TONS But for all this secret associations such as
we have referred to should be viewed with alousy
al the South The designing may, and can, use
them for base, corrupt, and incendiary purposes
| Bound by an oath to carry out certain objects
what viii not the religious enthusiast or fanatic
attempt? What may not be made of him by the
artfu, ambitious aspiring, and unprinciPled2
We will not pursue this part of the subject far
ther 1t was not our Intention at the outset to re-
fer to it at all, although We have long thought it
proper to do so. We intended only to call the at
tention of cur readers to that fearful penalty de-
vsed to hold on, with death like grip, to the gno-
rant aud wavering But we rejoice to see its tho.
rough exposure in the Old Dominion, and hope to
| soa oh ,ha came fat tbo SN,tb
The man who would, upon mature reflection, thus
dsfranchise himself; who will bind himself as one
obligation of the order prescrbes, to make religious
opinions test qualification for office, divests
himself first of the dearest privileges OF free
man; and in the second instance, lends to fanati
cism what he should trample upon for the preser,
walton of his country.