Mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado Co., Cal.) 1854-1860, 1859-04-30

fairness corrected ss soon as the matter was
bFOught to their attention. However as Lodges
now exist 10 every part of the State and as the
reason for such relaxation will soon cease to
exist, therefore the provision which I have
mentioned will only continue until the First of
January, 1860. After which time the original
rule Of membership will be in force on this
coast the same as in the other portions Of the
Union.
will not longer detain you over the stats.
tics Of our material progress. Indeed the
ground, over which have gone Is only brief
chapter in the history Of the Order. Odd
Fellowship had had an existence in the United
States, long anterior to the date at which
have commenced my account, and in Great
Britain its existence dates back to such an
tiquity that its earlier history is surrounded
only with the mists of fable. We know not,
neither does It now seem that We shall be able
to know the causes which gave to the Orders
separate existence, or the circumstances which
made it a necessity or convenience. In fact
we know not the country which gave it birth,
4 or the people which first invented its mystic
signs and set in Order its solemn ritual. Upon
no sufficient ground, for absolute assertion,
although with much TO point conjecture, ira
dition sometimes declares it's origin to have
been with the mysterious and peculiar people,
to whom We trace the origin Of our race, the
preccpts of our Holy religion, and the first
teaching even Of statesmanship and civil gov
crnmcnt; again its origin is credited to those
earlier professors Of the then despiscd religion
OF Christ, who were compelled to conceal from
vigilant and intolcrant Paganism their be-
lief in the religion of the Cross, or expiate
their adherence to the prescribed faith by
stripes and imprisonmcnts, by torture and
death.
Again VIC are told its history begins in that
era so prc.eminently surrounded by the halo
of Romance and Of Chivalry, the memory of
which is still lurid with the fires of religious
enthusiasm enkindlcd by the eloqucnce Of Pc
ter the Hermit, when Prince and Peasant,
Knight and Squire, with alike unquestioning
devotion, became the willing soldiers of the
Church, and cheerfully left houses, lands and
goods to march against the infdel, to redeem
from profane hands the possession Of Jerusa.
lem and the Holy Places Of Zion. Again, its
origin is claimed as exclusively British, and
it is said that our ceremonies are, in some de-
gree, reproduction of the Druidic Rites, eel.
cbrated under the green oaks in the open air
of Heaven, in the days before Caesar had
crossed the Channel, and before the rude
ISLANDERS had learned to trcmblc at the Roman
name. However this may be, there has been
many period in English history in which the
doctrines of Mutual Protection, Charity and
Assistance, which We teach, might, from mems
necessities, have chrystalized into the begin.
nings Of the Order. AS, when tho Saxons
were seriS under the rude and ruthless Soldiery
OF the Norman William ; when the led and
White Roses were, during thirty years, 0nly
n n nh hknR0 md III
freely fcrtilized with blood; when human bO.
dies were the fuel which fed the fires of Smith
field; when the hunted Cavaliers covered be.
fore the earnest Republican Saints and sol.
diery OF Cromwell; and when the Republi.
cans in turn fled from the vengeance Of the
Royal Charles and the exiles returning with
him when the Catholics trcmbled at the hor-
rible perjuries Of Titrs Oates, and the head
long fury Of the pOpulace, and when Protest
ants feared for their liberties, property and
faith, imperrilled by the obstinate bigotry OF
James; or when COvenanters sought in dcs-
erts or in caves secure places in which to sing
their sacred hymns and listen to the eloquencc
of their pastoral teachers, undisturbed BY the
blOOdhounds of Clave-hOusc.
But the attempt would be futile to dispel
the shadows which surround the carly history
of the Order, and were the attempt successful
yet would the result be scarcely cOmmensu-
rate with the labor, and would yield more Of
qualification for the curious than OF solid bcnc-
fits to tho Brotherhood. But although VIC
search in vain to learn the when and the where
Of the actual beginning of the particular Order
to which We belong, yet secret societies SINH
lar in character have existed among the mem.
bers Of the human family since the earliest
period to which the authentic annals of the
race go back. Not as prescribed institutions
or as the indicia, or relics of barbarism, but
among the most cnlighteAed Nations in the
most enlightened periods Of their history. II
would be useless consumption Of your time
to give you even an outline of the inTumcrable
societies which have existed In the past, some
Of them most famous, among Jews, Greeks,
Romans, Crusaders, and the Nations Of Mod.
crn Europe, or which now exist for various
purposes and with different objects in this and
other countries. But to show in some degree
to what extent tho present follows the prcce.
dent Of the past, and as further proof Of the
truth Of the we'll known saying of Solomon
"therC is nothing new under the Sum-" / may
mention the more prominent features of the
most famous Of those ancient secret associa
tons, which took its rise earlier than the ear.
liest period of Athenian history, and doubtless
was brought thither by the Egyptian founders
which AOurished during all the days Of Gre
clan liberty, glory, eloquence and letters
which existed for about eighteen hundred wears
and continued until the celebration of its mys
terics were forbidden by the Emperor Theodo
Sius.
Of all the religious festivals and ceremonies
Of Ancient Greece, those celebrated at Eleusii
in Attica, were tho most famous. So pre-
eminently was this the case, that they were
familiarly called "TME MYSTERIES, no othel
designation being required to distinguish
} them from other associations Of lesser not,
and Importance, of which there were an in
} Vulnerable number. This festival, sacred t.
Ceres and PrOserpine, was celebrated with
exceeding magnificcncc and pomp every fiitE
year, and everything connected with Il wal
considered Of the most sacred character: il.
mysteries were required to be observed with
the most inviolable secresy and the plcdg,
of reticence was always eniolned upon and IN
ken by the Neophyte with the most solemn
adjurationS The wretch who ever revealed
any Of the sacred rites was supposed to hav,
called down upon his own head the dircs
vengeance Of the gods, was driven from tn,
haunts Of men, or put to the most ignomini
GUS death. Those who witnessed the solemn
j mysteries without proper right or authority
even though by accident, were either ct once
ilily initiated, Or, If not proper petS0ns fol
initiation were ruthleasly punished will
J death. Tho initiated were believed 70 be un
def the pcolliaR care Of the deities, and object
o. their especial favor. In this world they
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