The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1881-04-07
Ancient and Modern Oaths.

The earliest records we have upoI
ihls subject, is in the Bible, wner,
Abraham, swearing his eldest ser
want, requested him TO place hi
hand under the thigh of Abraham
that tie mere act should be wit
ness 10 his promise (sec Gcnesi,
XXNiv,s 2, 40; and again we have il
Genesis Xvii, where Jacob, about tC
die, calls his son Joseph TO place hi.
hand under his thigh when promis,
ing TO deal kindly with Israel anC
rot to bury him in Egypt.
pldfield tells us, in his expedition
into the interior of Africa by the
Niger, that at Iddah "placing q
naked sword or knife to the throat
Is looked upon as the strongest
| Proof of innocence and the most sol
-einn form Of oath they can admins.
I-ter. In this manner the King is
sworn, or sometimes at the point oil
a poisoned arrow"
In Egypt, IN an early time, the
P9oose was considered in high-ven-
Grafton, and the custom which pre-.
vailed at Crete of sweating by the
goose was supposed to have origi-
nal ed from such veHeration.
OF the Mennonites, we learn from
Henderson's biblical Researches
in Russia" that they refuse to con-
firm their testimony by an oath, re-
garding this as peculiar to the Old
Testament dispensation; yet these
people will affirm, the same as the
Quakers.
In Canton, "when they wish to
swear a witness, live cock and q
knife presented to him, and he is
obliged to cut of the cocks head al
the moment he takes the oath"
In Madagascar the people swear
neither by God nor their idols, bui
chiefly by their mother or their SOW.
Fereign, and the act witnessing it is
given us rs being of two forms-one
to "strikc the water" and the Other
to "spcar the calf" A further con.
sidcration is made that the one
sworn by must be alive, for upon q
Kaflir swearing by a.deceased rela-
tive, his oath was considered insult.
ficient. as inviolablc.
Another form as being in use in
Abyssinia we obtain from "Bruce's
Travels" that "they took the two
foreiingers of my right hand, one
after the other, and then kissed them
al form of swearing used there, al
least among those who call them
selves Christians"
i! "a few more illustrations upon this
point. We find that the Athenians
administered oalhs in the names OF
Jupiter, Minerva and Neptune; also
Themis, Ceres and IIelois; the Ro-
mans 10 Fides; the Germans TO the
God and by their swords and boards
the Scandinavians, besides i'll the
name of God. touched n bloody ring
in the hands Of a priest. Roman
| Catholics swear also by the saints as
well as God. The Jews swOre by
Jerusalem as well as upon broken
glass. BY the temple was another
form; also by the God of Israel. The
Hindu swears by the Veda, which is
his Bible; the Chinese at times upon
u saucer: Christian takes off his hat
and in the United States rises his
| right arm. while the Jew keeps hi;
head covered.
Many other quotations could bC
given, but enough are given TO show
| cOnclusivcly the nature of the form
| of an act witnessing an oath, and o.
the presumed generation exercised al
the time, that the thoughts of the
person making would be carried tC
a higher plane than in the ordinary
walks of life by referring to some
person or thing deemed superior
And all these things considered in
accordance with the belief of the
people and times, made by custom
became law.