The weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 186?-1869, 1868-05-13
Candidate: Yes.
Captain: When brave people are tram
pied in the dust by tyrants, what is their

ing their pieces and swapping the hammers.
and the Captain then interpIets as follows
"Silcnce, darkness, and cold lead! Do
you asrre9" =
Candidate: Yes.
Captain: To be of US and not with US, is
treason, and the reward of treason is death !!
Every Southcmer belongs to us, by birth, by
education, by the love OF liberty inhaled
with the balmy breezes of the sunny South,
BY the hatred of the Northern clans imbib-
ed with his mothers milk, by the inherent
deteststion OF hypocrisy, and the myriad So
-cal and political denominations of the North !!
You are of US, you must be with us! The
REGARD of treason is death. You are prepar-
ed tn take the oath.
TThe Captain here recites the following
oath, the candidate repeating it after him j
by all the loved memories of my native
land, by all the hallowed associations of
home and family, by the memory of friends
and brothers slain, by the lurid flames OF war
and lesolation spread over our happy homes
by the Lincoln hordes, swear that by day
light and darkness. at all times and on all
occasions, the steel shall pay the debt Of steel,
the lead shall recompenSe for let1d the South
ern Cross shall get DEFY the acorld!"
The Southern Cross in the order has a
double significance. 1t represents the dag
ger of the assassin, as well as the cross.
The Captain then declares:
"Welcome the nev Brother Of the Southern
Cross"
And thcreupon the band made the chal-
longing sign of the order, by cooking and
swapping their gun locks. The Captain
then proposes the second oath, the candidate
repeating it, as follows:
"By Southern homes despoiled and bro
ken, by Southern women outraged, by the
lingering torments of Northern prisons, by
all the desolation brought on our people by
famine, pestilence, and sword, swear that
desolation shall ansacer deSolation, pestatence
shall pay for pestilemce, until the Southern
Crescent span the continent, and carry ooer
the North tile .tlries that haze desolated the
South"
The Captain then declares again:
Welcome the neao Brother Of the Southern
Crescent :"
And the band responds as before.
Then comes the third and final oath, as
follows:
by all that is sacred, swear to remem-
Der jackson, and Johnston. and the thou
sands dead the humiliation of Davis, and
Lee, and Bragg, and Beauregard; the noble
deeds of S0uthrOns on many CORY field
and by the memory of all these, swear to
be true to the Lone Star Of the South, tiUthese
and all our woes are q thousand times
auenged"
The captain again declares:
" Welcome tile ne,o Brother Of the Lone Star
Of the South i"
And the band respond as before.
The Captain then spoke the following adj
Duration:
LET the heavens be lit with the lurid
flames of worse than fratricidal war! Let
the dagger. the bullet, the flames, and the
pestilence, smite every vulnerable point J.
Let the desoation of death reign in the
Northern homes enriched by plumbers of the
South! Let the audacious minions of the
tyrants in our country be met in silence and
darkness, struck down by power they see
not Remember the oath! The Crescent
is broad enough to include all the enemies
of the South! The Lone Star shines bright
est in the darkness! The dagger is the en-
blem of the silent work! Remember the
oath Bring the consecrated how'll"
The last sentence was responded to by one
of the band, and something like a bowl was
put into my hands.
"Dip your finger in the conseerating
drink !" said the Captain.
l did as directed, and the Captain then
continued:
Nov drink it to the drcgs, to the enemies
of our cause !"
raised the bowl to my lips. and drank its
contents. 1t was like nothing had ever
tasted before. 1t was sickening, yet I'could
not tell what it was Instantly the band
closed around US, standing two or three deep
and the Captain struck match. Holding
the little blazing stick to the hand had
dipped in the bowl, he bid me look.
The. finger aoas stained as Nth blood!
He then bid Inc look at the bowl.
IT WAS HUMAN SKULL!
MAKING A NEW COMPANY.
Some weeks after my initiation, was de-
tailed with an older brother, to attend to the
formation of a new company in the neigh
boring County. As usual, the source of the
order was unknown, except that it came
from the Captain of our band. The order
and detail were announced by our Captain,
no comment made, and myself and comrade
in the duty started next night, in obedience
to the order, for the location of the new
company in the adjoining County. He
knew the mode of procedure in these cases,
and left the direction of all to him. We
reached the place in the morning, and did
nothing during the day. At night, by his
direction, notified well-known citizen in
much the same manner had been notified
myself before initiation, and we started
after dark, out of town. My comrade, with
another citizen, was with me. Reaching a
lonely spot in the country, we turned our
horses off the road into wild tract, and
being far from all habitations, at length
stopped in the woods. Here We separated,
l taking my man, and my comrade his, and
going perhaps quarter of mile apart.
We were both armed with Enfield rifles.
The two men to be initiated on this coca
sion brought no arms with them. Had they
done so they would have been required to
Law them aside before the initiation COM
menced.
The mode of initiation of these men, who
were to form the nucleus of the new compa-
ny, was substantially that already narrated,
as experienced by myself, except, of course,
that there was no attendant band, and the
final ceremony of the consecrating drink
was deferred till half dozen others had
been initiated, when it was administered to
all at the same time.
The instructions in the formation of a
new band or company, are to select two
prominent citizens at first, as we did in this
case, and, after they are initiated. they are
used to bring in Others. until the band is
strong enough to do its own business. A
special instruction to the brothers detailed
for the formation of the new band, is, that
if the persons selected for initiation refuse
any of the oaths, or falter in their devotion