, 1862-08-26


~ further find that the different lodges are o
Eanized in military manner, having captain
leu enants and all other officers. G. ". WAL
Congress from the ninth Congressional district.
Throughout tilt I ds1rief is s. MaRsHAI iai
memb; ne @ Of Congress, is the adjutant general
~ am well acquainted with the order Of the
=. Z. IN the Soulh as vel as the North, and in
ITS OBJECT.
. "The object Of the organization is to throw ol
Etaeles IN tie way Of the government and give al
and comfort t. the rebellion in every possible wa.
l Subscribed and aworn to before me,
This Is the testimony Of an Intelligent III
noisan, member OF the order, and one thol
oughly acquainted with Its hidden mysterie
and aSoBed objects. The names which b
. gives are those of we'll known citizens r
Washington, Franklin, Jefferson and PER-
counties, and are sufficient guarantee Of th
correctness Of the disclosure 6e makes. BtIat
We give the mysteries, the signs and ceremo
Eles necessary to gain admittanee to the penc
trslia OF the Knights of the G }den Circle
Ihty are exact transcripts Of the ceremonte
as witnessed by seven persons VINO have ioine,
tie order at the instance of the provost mar
slal, and can be relied upon as strictly correct
u Is not necessary to state how they were OBJ
tained, although this information is at tn
service Of the government Whenever the, M
think proper to use it.
CHALLENGE.
When one Knight meets another. or On,
whom be thinks to be member Of lie or5s ~
~ " way OF challenge draws the fore6nre
q q Lis le1t hand twice slowly ACROSS the uupe
ny, lib one would smooth down his nloustache
RECOGNITION.
IL the PARTY Is Knight Of the Golden Cir
cie, ne answers the challenge BY drawing ths
second finger Of the lett hand from the nos
under the left eye. 1AAo no''
!hey then shake hands sqnarely, and a. the,
slLlRe hands givea sudden down gard pressnr re-
when the following conversation ens1ss:
A.-"What's tha1s'
B.-"A ssip.''
- Grip Of what 81
= Grlp Of the K. G. CO.
II" 4 Has ~ it :, 2 uamet'
A" Giye it,
mns,t y ga not 50 receive it, neither Will &c
! A.. n:-"Wbst ,t;i El Ei7l you % with it,"
e." Letter and bes,n.''
| a. 1:ou btsin."
y tcc4msnces}"S
G.-"A.'
S.L~t, st. fs'aps)'
A-"P, CP, SLAP Up. The grin ia r7oh+
greet you as worthy member OF the K. GsE,,
sIGS OF ASSISTANCE.
II. II T. t. G: is in distress from the circu m.
etahces % winch he is surronnded-as fnr in
stance, he is in the company Of Union men
ana desires to know if there are anv nj mheTa
GU o. lhe order near, or If he be in battle and de-
| elres to turn the fire of his opponerts-sha
clasps the back Of his head with both hands
ard gives single downward pressure.
an aware that the ceremonies, as hera re-.
lated, are absurd, but none tie less likely to
be true. can give the names of several ont.
s1ce1s VINO have entered these lodges in diff
1erent portions Of the State BY following +hc
ceremony as laid down above, and tneR ara
1urtGer substantiatcd By the atlidayits Of the
parties, Who have been submitted to nv in
spectlon. '' AAA
ArFID4vITs.
here are specimen bricks from individuals
VINO nave joined the order by following The
ceremony above indicated, and here is what
they swear to. Or course, I leave the namas
Of the pefsons making Tie afIldayit hlani<
me reasou is obvious. 1t is sufficient that
their names are ready to be produced when
NECESSARY. also omit tue name Of the ,Tns
Ice befere whom 1le affidavit is taken. and
the place, tor the same reason:
- COUNTY. ss.
70 me following fac1s: That l nave Visited I'll.
loege Of The su-caltd Knights Of the ildon
;a, ;,aasiE, au1 ~ lac bcst OF my knowledge and
Judgment, Lave ascertatned the objects If fha
ASSOCIATION 10 to be az fyllows:
emf ha nse every means to oppose this pres
I'D To convey to the knights Of the South br
certain signs. when Knights Of the North shaii be
4 PCT ed 10 thsm in hati ie that 1hev will sn iiis
ensfgs .ner guns that they shall prove harmless
members Of the order OF the knights Of the Goldsn
r1n f!s's; p,lion p1i,;1. MLsenhemer Peter seamon
Dtnlel Nerble, Martin Keller. Dennis Karraker'
.sworn 1a.d and subscribed before me this 18th of
august, @,J. 1soz. P. es'sned) -.
ANOTHER.
COUNTY. ss:
testify to the following facts. to Wit: "01N'' w
ca led Knights e the oldea Glrcfs and IL bsse
5Ee organization to be to oppose TIE present a1o
t,tsGn ?cur In order to assist the rtb=is when on
~ +, +G,antta al q convey the idea that the knights
they have the following signs; A'
ELt. When drawn in line Of battle, the Northern
hhn,sn.s place their g1lsthe butt npon the ground
!eL !aass up once let the barrel reet upon their
brf asts aId clasp their hands over the bacs sides
o1 a. thcl{ 5;5 head snu give downward pressure
20, h LIE Southern kniehts Aportion Of them
place Inef1 right hand upon their right shoulder
thus indicating that all members of the orgaaIza
tl2n. N9f{h and south, 2p1 octrsAoot each other
o1e. nef On buyolet charge. 70 enon as thew
c9 me in c1oEe contact, the Knights Of the NORTH
sa,h point thEir 81 bayene1s downwards towards The
sign, acA o2sfn their ranks and admit tie EHlo1ts
g tne AorfA, no aciA 60 to the rear. lay do,os
eaT Se SeT3 Kn7ahts G.1 su,T9ht ~ t as Hrtsoners
lfosts That they did rot provoke this war, ana do
not "tsna 70 aEsls1 IN putting down the rebellion
"snbeezihed and awo1n to before me this 15tb
Of August, 1861 - TpM WI
l tave mass Of testimony, from which 7
could Ee1ect, to show the objects and aims Of
tee organization, but imagine it is unugces-
sary; Enough has been said to show its tres
sonable origin and mature, and not word the
truth Ct which cannot be established 1,v the
oa'hs OF trnsty men in Illinois. The testi-
mony is before the government and the au-
tho1i1ies. Now Jet Them do their duty.
ARRESTS.
8Yone the persons arrested in the course
OF inns Investigation, which has extended over
perlod OF several weeks, and been followed
up by the provost marshal with deternaina-
[ioh, Pm IN me 1ace OF difficulties which would
dlshearfen almost any ttaer man, are ". j.
Allen, 81. c., Jndge A. D. Duff, d.. Ctemon.
Eun, Judge Jno e. Mulkey, Mr. Nelson and
F. N. fonrgoloed, all well known citizens Of
southern Illinois, Every person whose name
M galess ats ahis co3nmunicatiou cold have been
arrested, but 1t vas Thought better TO secure
the leaders, men of Influence and stant1ins in
the community, aDd let The dupes remain nm
mclested for the present.
PROVOST MARSHAL MERRILL,
The credit Of this whole affair is due to Pm.
yost Marshall J. ". Merrill, who has labored
lnds fa'igab1y for two months 10 bring the
matter TO successful conclusion. During
that time Major Merrill has visited eeyeri
lodges in person, ard thtre Is scarcely q lodre
IN the state which has not received one of his
agents as "bfother'' Of the order.
ADDITIONAL.
since the FOREGOING was written, A mass of
lestin'ofy, additional to what has been record
60 anoge has been placed at mg disposal, rom
"n1en copy the tollos ing:
Dfposif'ons taken al Cur1ondale, .ydczsnn coyn5,,
H., ARg. 70, 1862, dsfote C9atrbof73 RIrno;n'
5Nsfice n the Peace ofsaid county.
Joseph Z. Williamson. Uf Williamson conntr
GU years o.d, being duly sworn depnees and SAYS
n me month Of October, 1851, joined a |
eet5tt organ! Zaflon Known as the krirhls Of Tho
soiaSn % t1fcle, IL Williamson county. at what is
eailsQ the Harrison meeting houee Dr. Bund9 NJ
I at county Initiated nio by giving me the siens
" which would know members of that bndv
A1tr bad oeen sworn or the obligation had bean
aGMlnistefed to me. He, at the same time cv- !
l!afnea 10 NE that the object OF the society was to
IT II az me democrats TO join The South to unite
ne Nortn with the South. He SAID the reason |
VIZ they had to hold their meetings secret aud a.
~ n,eue W.. %as that government did not permit them
auts Of each member to ara himself with Whist
e,a,t,se ~ could Set. and assist any re1ell,on
" I me government. 1t was also required of
se -, nnl Il ans o1 tue members should be arrested
& sht mat we should assist tn" a=,nuess
sclnSs scE u Each alre.t and rescue them If 1asen
" 0 p,l