The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1855-11-23


nobody else TO worship God save themselves,
t and that their idea of Deity is of one who eX-
/ poets to be proptiated by acts of deceit and
/ shame. A party which excludes Catholic and
j admits Mormon, which does not hesitate 10
! follow the lead of many whose deeds and words
/ are at war with every idea of relgjon-such a
! party cannot long deudr any portion Of intel
I ligent citizens with empty professions of piety.
Nay, if there be perjury anywhere, those no
I violate obligation hke the following, in the
/ Pennsylvania Bill Of Rights, will have some
trouble to purge Themselves:
"That all men have a natural and indefeaslhle
! right 10 worship God Almighty according TO the
I dictates of their own conscience: that man
can, Of right, be compelled to attend. erect or
/ support any place OF worship, or to maintain any
ministry, against his consent; that no human
authority can, in any case whatever, control or
/ interfere with the rights of conscience. and that
no preference be given to any religious establish
ments or modes OF worship.
"ihat no person who Acknowledges the be-
! Ing of God and future state OF rewards and
/ punishmpnts shall, on account Of his religious
sentiments, be disqualified to hold any office or
| place Of trust or profit under this Common
wealth."
! beg you to contrast ;his with the oath Of the
| midnight order. We are told it is perjury in a
! knoW-nothing TO violate that oath. And here
! is an obligation more solemn, more binding.
more essential TO society, which in some of its
| parts is SET at nought by thousands of know-no-
/ things-and this, too, without complaint or con-
/ demnation from those ministers OF the Gospel
/ who belong to the order, and who themselves
! practice the evil they should condemn in others.
It has been said that, while the adopted citi-
Zen takes an oath to support the knownothiug
! takes an oath 10 violate, the Ameucan Consti-
tuition. And the fruit Of this recklpssnpss is full
of terrible significance. A direct result of the
secret obligations of the order may be louad in
the bloody tumults of Louisville, and n the ex-
cesses of the know-noihngs in other large ci-
ties To such an extent has public indignation
been excited against the proiane and familiar
Resort TO extra judicial oaths, and the nvariable
appea! to force aud fraud at the balIot-bnxeS,
that in portions of th- Union the order has de-
iiberateIy discarded alike It's secrecy and its ob-
legations This has been the case in Alabama
Georgia. Louisiana and South Corolina. The
very fact that the oath of the order tends TO
/ bring into contempt the higher obligations i'm
posed By tie Constitution and the laws proves
ii is not binding upon those who are druded
into an assumption Of il. But it is no less clear
that in many places. this oath, imposed with all
the forms of Midnight secrecy, has had a dSas-
trous effect upon those who have accepted it
So far from contributing to the strength OF the
ORDER It has been one Of the principal causes of
lis ra Did decay. Resorted to for The purpose Of
consuniating the schemes Of men who could not
obtain advancement from other parties, but who
were able TO pack maioritips in these secret So
cieties, It becomes CALLING yoke to the more
respectable members, and. as may BE- we'll con-
cpived, has ended by driving out the best and
leaving the lodges in the control of the worst
Nav, take a member of thiS order. one who is
known 10 have accepted its obligations, and sud
deaIy demand Of him whether he is attached TO
it, and observe with how much confusion and
| shame be viii attempt to deny, or indirectly adj
nit the fact. That ministers of God, should
in the oStenS5e desire of promoting the spread
OF the doctrines of Christ lanty. embark with
those who are committed to those obligations ;
that they should chreriuiy assume companion
ship with men brsotted in Intellect and led cap
tive by vice and fraud and that they should SIT
silent aud see not only their Catholic fellow
beings, but their own neIghhOrs, even those
c0nCurrino with them IN religious belief, who
do not belong to the order, stricken down or
marked out as it were, for execution, almost
passes comprehension. il cannot be doubted
that the manner in which these obligations
have been inisted upon, and the violence with
which the demands of the pledged midnight
majority have been cnnSummated, has contribu-
ted to change many o(these lodges into Pande
I moniums upon earth controlled, not by intel
lect aud virtue, bot by men who have become
skilled in the practices at first so bitterly de-
nounced by their leaders and now almost entire
" abandoned by the old parties. Oaths en-
ployed to sanction and strengthen practices
like these are null and void in the sight Of
Heaven as soon they taken and the fse-
qurney with which they are repudated by those
who have reluctantly assumed them shows con-
clusively that the idea of their binding efficacy
is being rapidly diSsiPated.