The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1882-07-01

the most solemn and sacred mode of ad-
by Tyler, to have been the cutting off of
cocks head.
A very famous oath was that taken by
Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, i'll
1853, who just before going to the relief
of Coustantinople, had a pheasant brought
in, and he and all his knights and barons
took a solemn oath thereon. After that
the oath ''Snr le ,tai&an," became quite
fashionable. \ somewhat similar oath
was taken in 1906 by Edward |. of Eng
land, who swore on two swans.
In Spain the usual form is or was for
the witness to form cross by placing his
thumb across his finger, which he held
up, and at the close of the OATH kissed.
In Wales, in certain of the Baltic ports
and perhaps elsewhere, the witness places
three fingers upon the Gospels and two
underneath. The three fingers above
signify the Trinity, and the two under
hN'tNli 'tlO "uit W iilulCilC w
body and soul which will surely follow in
case the witness swears falsely. This
raising of the fingers is undoubtedly de-
rived from a similar custom among the
clergy in the Catholic Church of raising
three fingers in giving the beneGiction.
Its origin here is not perfectly clear. 1t
is thought by some to have been first
used at the time Of the Arian controversy
as to the Trinity, those of the clergy,
who desired to give an outward sign of
their dissent from the doctrines of Arius,
being accustomed to raise three fingers
as Indicative of their faith. The Council
of Nice, in a. d. 325, condemned Arius
and his doctrines, ordered his writings to
be burned, and made formal and def
mite decree as to the nature of the Trini-
ty; and thereafter the custom, although
not obligatory, was continued by those
of the clergy who cared to follow it. But
whatever it's origin, it is to some extent
prevalent III the church to-day, and is
frequently, if not invariably, used by the
Pope himself. There are pictures of Pope
Plus the Ninth. in the attitude of bene-
diction, with the three fingers of his right
hand raised. And the same thing may
be seen in images Of certain saints, and
in that of the Virgin and Infant Christ,
the child having the three fingers raised
in beuediction.
In France the form is merely to raise
the hand, but the clergy at one time here
as in Spain and Italy, instead of raising
the hand, placed it upon the breast. This
was the mode i'll which women were
sworn, and it had its origin in the custom
observed by women and priests Of carry
ing small copies of the Gospel on their
bosoms suspended from the neck, so that
when they seemed to be placing their
hands upon their bosoms, they We're re-
ally placing them upon the Gospels. An
instance of this occurred in 1856, at the
election of the King of the Romans when
the spiritual electors laid their hands
upon their breast while the temporal lee
tors touched the Gospel with their hands.
The English common law form was
and is for the witness to place his right
hand upon the Gospels, while the officer
repeats the formula, and then to kiss the
book. There were undoubtedly instances
of raising the hand, conspicuous exam
Pile occurring in 1893, when the Parlia-
ment at Shrewsbury held up their hands
prevailing custom was to place the hand
upon and to kiss the Book The Noncon-
formists revolted against this, and our
Puritan forefathers, when they came to
this country, insisted upon raising the
hand, and many bitter contest occurred
in consequence. They regarded the En-
Athanasus of old, who would never
use any other rite in swearing besides
that of lifting the hands" The latter
was in itself direct appeal to heaven,
and they found ample authority for it in
Scripture, quoting Genesis Ii: IL, Il have
lifted up my hand unto the Lord that |
will not take anything that is thine;"
Deuteronomy -: 40, For lift up my
hand to heaven. and say live forever"
and Ezekiel 20: 6, II lifted up mine hand
to them, "and many other passages. They
asserted at the same time that no author
itv whatever could be found in the Old
or New Testament for laying the hand
upon or kissing the book.
Sir Edmund Andres endeavored to
force the obnoxious form upon the Puri-
tans resorting even to fines and imprison-
ment to accomplish his purpose. Sewell
in his diary states that four men were
fined and imprisoned in one day for re-
fusing to lay their hands upen the Bible
and very many persons were thus pre-
vented from serving upon iuries and tes-
tifying in courts But the PIritans were
not tho men to submit tamely, and this,
among other grievances, led to the An
dros revolution, and the final disposal of
that worthy. In lG9a law was passed
that hereafter
No person serving as justice, juror,
witness or otherwise, shall be obliged to
use any other ceremony i'll taking of their
respective oaths than lifting up the hand
as has been accustomed.'
This was re- enacted in almost the same
words in 1901: and in 1891 it was provid-
ed that
I'm the administration of oaths in this
| Commonwealth (Mass.) the ceremony of
lifting up the hand as heretofore used
shall be practised."
This has been the law ever since.
Quakers had rather hard time among
the PuIitans and could scarcely be said
70 have had any rights which Puritan
was bound to respect. 1t can be readily
imagined, therefore, that the Puritans,
though fighting for his own right to hold
ND his hand. had no foolish scruplos in
favor of the Quaker's right to affirm.
And it was not until 1888 that Quaker
could make an affirmation in the province
of Massachusetts Bay. The present law
in that State is exceedingly liberal, even
an atheist being allowed to testify under
the pains and penalties of perjury with
out taking any oath whatever, evidence
of his disbelief i'll God being admissible
however, to affect his credibihty. But
the courts have decided that the witness
himself cannot be asked to his disbelief
the fact having to be shown by outside