The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1863-02-28
THE vkNlG iACS OF THE GOr.nE.
Gle. fb"7 NIR
some Facts about the oras,

THE Asle' Hrs q eEF THE eeLpEs CIR
Some Facts about the Order ., 49,
% the l6tt, inst, the Grand jury Of ,ho r
! > District Go urt, now 10 session at Ind;snao'
lis, made prt;sentment that, on the l3tb rap''
McHenry, q witness before them, testified ,.'s
he knew of tht existence of secret .nas
called the Mutual Protectionis.s,n coTnoaas
from twoto three hundred persons. who me. VI VI
certain hall in Indianapolis, who tool nssA
themselves certain obligations, and had cer,.;n
secret grips, signs and passwords, and tina, ~
had administer ed said obligations, and had CIV
en- certain grips, signs and passwords, and a.,
there was, amo ng other signs, military sion =.
which members OF the order aforesaid NAV 70.
cognlze each other when in opposing armies
! He was then asked to state the obligations "A
ministered by him to the persons initiated, =,
GEAR as he could; and, also, to give the signs -
which the members of said order may recopn;,.
each other, and particularly the sign BY which
they nAy recognize each other IN case of be;,,
in opposing armies, or what is called the m,lits.
ry sign. -, .-
To all these questions he (NeH) refused to
make any answer,
On the 18th inst. another presentment was
made by the same Grand Jury, that on the IAN
one George Hughes was before them, and stated
in his evidence that ne knew OF the existence of
secret organization called the knights OF the
Golden Circle;" was himself member, and had
initiated.others; that an orgsaizaton existed in
his neighborhood, numbering from forty to sixty
persons, of the same kind, in johnson county:
that there were two degrees of the order. the
members Of which took separate oaths and Oh
legations, one from the other; that he had taken
the second oath. The FIRST oath obligated the
member thereof to support the Constitution of
the United States and the Constitution OF the
State OF Indiana; that the member will protect
the other members of the order when REQUIRED
to do SO, and keep secret the grips, signs and
passwords Of said order; aud will support the
Democratic platform. Hughes also testified that
the second oath is q very binding one aud re,
quires the member to keep the secrets and signs
of the order, under penalty of having his bowels
ripped open; and in addition to the obligations
before specified, further obligates the initiated
to oppose the further prosecution of the war
against the Southern States and the member is
given what is called the military sign, by which
members may recognize each other in opposing
armies. That the members composing the sec
ond degree are given different password from
those belonging to the first degree, and that
members of the first degree are not allowed to
come into the meetings of those of the second,
unless they have taken the second oath.
George Hughes was asked to give the pass
words and signs by which the members of the
Order may recognize each other, aud particular
lyshe military sign, and refused to give any of
them. .+i,ol aa-l'
The question of the legality of compelling Nc.
Henry toanswer the questions asked him, was
debated In Court on Wednesday. He contended
that he could not do so without eliminating
Ipdn Sv,.t ~. y IL
clear that the court could not compel witness
to criminate himself under the circumstances
arising in this case, it was equally clear that
when witness had partially divulged knowledge
OF societies, that he might be required to make
o fuller statement. - 80 '..... t'n'esEs!
Hughes having made partial revelation of
course, under this ruling, may be brought up to
tell all he knows. ..-s.......' .s.a'ss.
q, Our Indianapolis dispatch contains furthe,
revelations of this reasonable order. Rissaaa..l
How Gen. Mcclellan Disobeyed Gen.
D!s9 ....... Scott. .-,...... -. .args.1
{, - Correspondence Of the Cincinnati Gazette.
y g.b5 oaoesiI e9 WASHINGTON, Feb. l8.
Readers will scarcely have forgotten that
significant remark in one of Thad. Stevens late
speeches, that he only lost faith in Mcclellan
when he learned that that officer had persist.
emily: disobeyed and treated with contempt the
orders of Lieut. Gen. Scott. - -
The statement was q new one, and its basis was
not known. People who remembered the rose
colored sketches of McClellan's parting With
Scott, when the old veteran retired from the
service, or the more rose coored stories about
SCOTS solicitude at West Point for the person.
al safety of the gallant young commander, dur.
ing the Peninsuar battles, were at loss to re-
concile Mr.. Stevens declaration with the stories
OF the more than paternal affection for McCiel-
Ian which certain newspapers had constantly at.
tributed to Gen. Scott. h 7slraaa sI.4 .,r
% Before this can get into print trust that
documentary evidence will have
been given to the telegraph that as early as Oc-
to6er. 1861, Gen Mcclellan systematically and IN.
solenay siighed Gen. Scott personally, and DISC
teyed has most positire orders! Yet more THAT
IN TIE tau OF that same gear matters had gone 10
such pitch that Gen. Scott suggested The court
naartialng Of Mcclellan far fragrant diso5edianes
Of orders s..a. g :. ta.,-ri .....
These facts have been known for long time,
but have never hitherto been put in shape
that would silence the contradiction of the
swarns OF liars who throng the approaches to
every Mcclellan newspaper in the land. l re-
member very well, in the winter of l66l-'62,
the repeated declarations of this sort, made by
Gen. Lander. while lying i'll on the bed, from
which, asst afterward proved, he wa, never to
rise. The same facts have also been mentioned
by others, of their own personal knowledge,
but the documentar ~ evidence has always been
wanting; and Lieut.. Gen. Scott himself would
Of couse never supply it. s5arr ga ofafs ,-
In few days, at farthest, however, it is trust.
ed that il will now be laid before the country in
an official form ana there will no longer be
lefta possibility to doubt that Gen. Mcclellan,
almost from the very date of his entrance on
service At Washington, Systematically disobey-
ed the orders Of Lieut.. Gen. Scott, and from that
progressed into an equally systematic disobedi-
ence OF the oIdess OF the President himself.
With that light before them, the country will
no longer lack facts for understanding how the
dlsgraced and disfranchised Fitz Jshn Porter
was chief favorite of the "Young Napoleon,"
or how treachery to the flag came to faint the
higher officers of the army so deeply as to pro-
duce Burnside's defeat and retracy. Nor will
the facts be wanting for that further estimate Of
Gen. McClellan's claims to consideration as a
military man-whose conduct is asserted to
have been constantly marked by the most scru-