The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-11-14
OATES OF VARIOUS PEOPLES
ANTIQUITY AND UNIVERSAL LITY OF
 THE PRACTICE.
Of Swearing That One Speaks Truth A Tendency in Civilized Countries to
 Substitute Affirmation.

Substitute Affirmation.
 The Kings accession oath created
 quite a political storm, owing to Its al fusion to religion. Pretty much tht same kind of oath, however, Is made in other countries. The King of Greece
 swears that he will protect the pre- | vailing religion of the Helenic nation
 The King of Portugal takes an oath | to be faithful to the Catholic, Apos- tolic, and Roman religion In most l countries the King swears to respect l the Constitution, but except in Greece | and Portugal, no reference is made to religion.
 The whole subject of paths is cu- <, rious and interesting one. They pre-
 suppose, of course, that man of every
 degree is liable to break the Ninth com mandment. And even Kings and Elm [ perors fall under suspicion. Whether 1 an oath makes a man more truthful
 or more faithful to his promise is
 questionable. In Germany oaths have l been abolished altogether. In England, l America and Australia the affirmation 1 has now as much force as the most sol emn oath. In France no oath is re- ] quired of members of the Legislature. And 1t cannot be said that German wit l nesses French legislators, or English Quakers are more untrustworthy than other people, Yet great philosopher once said that when the oath ceased to
 be binding. no country could subsist for a year.
 Anyhow, the taking of an oth Is a very ancient practice, and 1t has been
 followed by the peoples of all coun-
 tries. The Medes and Persians swore.
 The Egyptians and Assyrians swore.
 Christian and Pagan savages and civil
 ized men, all swore and still swear.
 The Bible teens with oaths. And
 probably a time will never come when
 the oath will have altogether died out
 of the world.
 There is a great variety in the meth
 cd, but. the object Is always the same,
 namely to call down on ones self the
 vengeance of God as the penalty of un-
 truth. But there is a concurrent and
 very lively sense of the vengeance Of
 the law as we'll.
 The oath of the Christian takes two
 forms In England, Spain, Italy, Au- stria and America, among other places it is taken one the Bible. But the Eng fish alone kiss the bok. In France and Belgium the Scotch method of raising the hand over the head is pract- Jed. Jews swear very much like Christians But, while the Christian swears on the Bible, the Jew swears with his head covered and on the Old Testament alone. And where Christians say, "so help me God" Jews iii this country say, "So help me Jehovah" Curiously, they do this unwillingly. To strictly re- ligious Jew the name Jehovah Is too sacred to be spoken in a law court. But our officials entertain the notion that this Is the correct form of Jewish oath.
 Parsees sometimes give rise to much perplexity in our courtsJ They strongly object to being sworn on the Bible, and clai mthe right to make the oath as in their own country-namely, by holding the tail of COW. The COW being sa- cred animal in the eyes of the Parsee, he can commit no sin while touching it. But there is fortunately an alternative. In the City of London courts, some years ago, it being impracticable to procure a COW, Parsee took sacred relic out from his bosom and, holding it aloft, swore lmpressively By God, and God Omniscient, and God Omni- present and God Almgihty"
 Mohammedans are much opposed to swearing When they do swear 1t is a very solemn ceremony, and Is perform ed by holding the Koran in the right | hand, placing the left hand on the fore ] head, and bringing the head down to { the book. A Mohammedan never com mits perjury. In India their prejudice < against swearing Is so strong that the , allows them to affirm.
 Of all oaths the Buddhist one comes nearest to what an oath should be. AL though we swear to tell the whole truth, we either do not understand what we promise to do or we evade the The Buddhist cannot fall Into the former error, SO clearly does his oath indicate what he has to do T swear. as in the presence of Buddha. hat I am unprejudiced, and if what speak prove false or if by my coloring ruth others shall be led astray then nav the three Holy Eistences Buddha, DnamTna, ana I-TU ChlSd, loSEtHel WltH he Devotees of the Twenty-two Firma- nents, punish me and also my migrat- ng soul" Hindus like the Chinese, ,ave variety of oaths, The Laws of Ianu say: Let the judge cause the ,riest to swear by his veracity; the sol- Her by his horse or weapons; the mer- hant by his cattle, grain, gold or other and the servile man by curses on his own head" When the Cfentoo swears he touches his and to the foot of a Brahmin, while he Brahmin swears b ytouching an- ther Brahmin's hand with his own. In Mexico many people still adhere to
 curious old form of oath. They wear by touching earth with the fin CT and then placing the finger on the 0ngue, which signifies, "If my tongue ( peak falsely may I be reduced to 2 ust." Until comparatively recently priest q France simply swore on the word q a priest" The Chinese have the greatest variety a nd most curious oaths of all nations. :. he well known one of taking saucer [ nd breaking it, while the clerk says, O You shal tel the truth and the whole | uth: the saucer is cracked, and if Il )u do not tell the truth you soul shall c cracked like the saucer'-se ems tn s
 c, ,1,-,,rl o ,,s P11t it ie an -vtra,,- oIyy [