The Jennings daily record., 1902-07-23
oATAs STRANGE AND MIGHTY.
Many Odd Customs Of Swearing Court
Witnesses.

Many Odd Customs Of Swearing Court
Witnesses.
GLOW very few persons know the
history and nature of the judicial oath
and attirmatiOns administered in courts
of law" said Lawyer Emanuel NJ.
Friend yesterday to an American and
Journal reporter. Mr.. Friend de-
scribed the oath as Il solemn aftirma-
ton and attestation or promise made
under an immediate sense of respon
, sibility to God. and the invoking OF
divine vengeance in case Of falsely
speaking under the same.
"Oaths are not the creation of muni-
ripal law" said Mr. Friend, ''fOr they
. have been in use from earliest ages.
and it has always been considered as
supplying the strongest hold on the
conscience of man as pledge OF
future conduct. or guarantee OF verac-
ity.
THE substance OF an oath has moth
ing to do with Christianity. and is used
in all countries: though forms differ.
the substance is the same. which IS
that the Deity is called upon TO wit
ness the truth of what iI said. as. Tor
! instance. a jew is sworn On the Pen
tareuch or Old Testament. with his
hat on, closing his oath with. so help
me Jehova': and the MOhammedan on
the Koran: IL Gentoo by touching with
his hand the foot of Brahmin or
prizes, of his religion; Il Erahmin by
touching the hand Of another such
priest: Chinaman. by breaking
china saucer.
.'rhe swearing OF 4 Ihinaman Is
done thus: On getting into the witness
box he kneels down. and a china sau-
Ger being placed i'll his hands he strikes
it against the brass rail in front OF
the box and breaks it. The oath trans
lated into English is: You shall tell
the truth. the whole truth. Then the
saucer is cracked and the officer ad-
minstering the oath continues: If you
do not tell the truth. your soul will be
cracked like the saucer.
"Cninesr are also sworn b" what is
known ~; the Joss stick burning.
which is :, ceremony of burning one
of the sticks used by their Joss in
the presence Gl tllt JOSS. iiicH SiS-
niica that their idol is called upon to
witness tho vcraciry OF what thcy
speak.
"AttirmatiOuS consist of til" raising
of the ri"h, hand above the head. and,
instead of swearing TO the truth, :he
witness atirmS. In ulden times theft
WAS punished by the burning of the
palm of the right hand of the culDrit,
and when the hand was raised if the
scar caused by the burning was there.
the testimony of the witness was not
tHk"u. Ii is also said that the INDEX
and second finger # The thief were
amnuta1Cu and THAT when. being
called upon az \ witness and the right
hand WAS raised for the pIrp ,se of
Il atfrm:nce if one or both of these lin
gers were missing the testimony could
not be taken.
1.-The urvour Hebrew. II affirming.
raises the right hand and extends the
thumb. index and second fingers,
which forms the letter Schren. mean
in. the first letter of the word Schadie
or God.
"Thr dcvout Christian attirms i'll
the same manner and it is said that
the three fingers represent. the Trim
ity The forms OF OathS vary accord
in" t. where and for the purposes
used and are regulated principally by
usage and attirnarion$ are permitted
for the reason that. in many instances
persons. by reason of religious cUnvic-
ton, ar, prevented from takin" the
oath. But us far as legal effect is
concrrupd the affirmation answers :lll
the PURPOSES Of an oath and when
false testimony il given, whore one has
affirmed, the legal crime OF perjury
exists Just the same us though an oath
were taken.