shall have first been recommended by some friend or intimate who is a
member, to the Investigating Committee (which shall be composed of the
Grand Cyclops, the Grand Magi, and the Grand Monk), and who shall have
investigated his antecedents and his past and present standing and
connections, and after such investigation, shall have pronounced him
competent and worthy to become a member. =Provided=, no one shall be
presented for admission into, or become a member of this Order, who
shall not have attained the age of eighteen years.
Sec. 2. No one shall become a member of this Order unless he shall
=voluntarily= take the following oaths or obligations, and shall
=satisfactorily= answer the following interrogatories, while kneeling,
with
=Cessante causa, cessat effectus.=
. . .
his right hand raised to heaven, and his left hand resting on the Bible.
Preliminary Obligation
"I ---- solemnly swear or affirm that I will never reveal anything that
I may this day (or night) learn concerning the Order of the * * * and
that I will true answer make to such interrogatories as may be put to me
touching my competency for admission into the same. So help me God."
Interrogatories to Be Asked
1st. Have you ever been rejected, upon application for membership in the
* * *, or have you ever been expelled from the same?
2nd. Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Radical
Republican party, or either of the organizations known as the "Loyal
League" and the "Grand Army of the Republic?"
3rd. Are you opposed to the principles and policy of the Radical party,
and to the Loyal League, and the Grand Army of the Republic, so far as
you are informed of the character and purposes of these organizations?
4th. Did you belong to the Federal army during the late war, and fight
against the South during the existence of the same?
5th. Are you opposed to negro equality, both social and political?
6th. Are you in favor of a white man's Government in this country?
=Cave quid, dicis, quando, et cui.=
. . .
7th. Are you in favor of Constitutional liberty and a Government of
equitable laws instead of a Government of violence and oppression?
8th. Are you in favor of maintaining the Constitutional rights of the
South?
9th. Are you in favor of the re-enfranchisement and emancipation of the
white men of the South, and the restitution of the Southern people to
all their rights, alike proprietary, civil, and political?
10th. Do you believe in the inalienable right of self-preservation of
the people against the exercise of arbitrary and unlicensed power?
If the foregoing interrogatories are satisfactorily answered, and the
candidate desires to go further (after something of the character and
nature of the Order has thus been indicated to him) and to be admitted
to the benefits, mysteries, secrets, and purposes of the Order, he shall
then be required to take the following final oath or obligation. But if
said interrogatories are not satisfactorily answered, or the candidate
declines to proceed further, he shall be discharged, after being
solemnly admonished by the initiating officer of the deep secrecy to
which the oath already taken has bound him, and that the extreme penalty
of the law will follow a violation of the same.
Final Obligation
"I ---- of my own free will and accord, and in the presence of Almighty
God, do solemnly swear or affirm, that I will never reveal to any one,
not even a member of the Order of the * * *, by any intimation, sign,
symbol, word or act, or in any
=Nemo tenetur seipsum accura.=
. . .
other manner whatever, any of the secrets, signs, grips, pass-words, or
mysteries of the Order of the * * *, or that I am a member of the same,
or that I know any one who is a member; and that I will abide by the
Prescript and Edicts of the Order of the * * *. So help me God."
The initiating officer will then proceed to explain to the new member
the character and objects of the Order, and introduce him to the
mysteries and secrets of the same; and shall read to him this Prescript
and the Edicts thereof, or present the same to him for personal perusal.
ARTICLE VIII.
Amendments
This Prescript or any part of the Edicts thereof shall never be changed,
except by a two-thirds vote of the Grand Dragons of the Realms, in
convention assembled, and at which convention the Grand Wizard shall
preside and be entitled to a vote. And upon the application of a
majority of the Grand Dragons for that purpose, the Grand Wizard shall
call and appoint the time and place for said convention; which, when
assembled, shall proceed to make such modifications and amendments as it
may think will promote the interest, enlarge the utility, and more
thoroughly effectuate the purposes of the Order.
ARTICLE IX.
Interdiction
The origin, mysteries, and Ritual of this Order shall never be written,
but the same shall be communicated orally.
=Deo adjuvante, non timendum.=
. . .
ARTICLE X.
Edicts
1. No one shall become a member of a distant Den, where there is a Den
established and in operation in his own immediate vicinity; nor shall
any one become a member of any Den, or of this Order in any way, after
he shall have been once rejected, upon application for membership.
2. No Den, or officer, or member, or members thereof, shall operate
beyond their prescribed limits, unless invited or ordered by the proper
authority to do so.
3. No member shall be allowed to take any intoxicating spirits to any
meeting of the Den; nor shall any member be allowed to attend a meeting
while intoxicated; and for every appearance at a meeting in such
condition he shall be fined the sum of not less than one nor more than
five dollars, to go into the revenue of the Order.
4. Any member may be expelled from the Order by a majority vote of the
Officers and Ghouls of the Den to which he belongs; and if after such
expulsion, such member shall assume any of the duties, regalia, or
insignia of the Order, or in any way claim to be a member of the same,
he shall be severely punished. His obligation of secrecy shall be as
binding upon him after his expulsion as before, and for any revelation
made by him thereafter, he shall be held accountable in the same manner
as if he were then a member.
5. Upon the expulsion of any member from the Order, the Grand Cyclops,
or the Officer acting in
=Spectemus agendo.=
. . .
his stead, shall immediately report the same to the Grand Giant of the
Province, who shall cause the fact to be made known and read in each Den
of his Province, and shall transmit the same, through the proper
channels, to the Grand Dragon of the Realm, who shall cause it to be
published to every Den in the Realm, and shall notify the Grand Dragons
of contiguous Realms of the same.
6. Every Grand Cyclops shall read, or cause to be read, this Prescript
and these Edicts to his Den, at least once in every month; and shall
read them to each new member when he is initiated, or present the same
to him for his personal perusal.
7. The initiation fee of this Order shall be one dollar, to be paid when
the candidate is initiated and received into the Order.
8. Dens may make such additional Edicts for their control and government
as they may deem requisite and necessary. =Provided=, no Edict shall be
made to conflict with any of the provisions or Edicts of this Prescript.
9. The most profound and rigid secrecy concerning any and everything
that relates to the Order, shall at all times be maintained.
10. Any member who shall reveal or betray the secrets of this Order,
shall suffer the extreme penalty of the law.
Admonition
Hush! thou art not to utter what I am; bethink thee, it was our
covenant!
=Nemo nos impune lacissit.=
. . .
REGISTER
I.
1. Dismal, 7. Painful,
2. Mystic, 8. Portentous,
3. Stormy, 9. Fading,
4. Peculiar, 10. Melancholy,
5. Blooming, 11. Glorious,
6. Brilliant, 12. Gloomy.
II.
I. White, II. Green, III. Yellow, IV. Amber, V. Purple, VI. Crimson,
VII. Emerald.
III.
1. Fearful, 7. Hideous,
2. Startling, 8. Frightful,
3. Wonderful, 9. Awful,
4. Alarming, 10. Horrible,
5. Mournful, 11. Dreadful,
6. Appalling, 12. Last.
IV.
Cumberland.
L'ENVOI
To the lovers of law and order, peace and justice, we send greeting; and
to the shades of the venerated dead we affectionately dedicate the
Order, of the * * *.
=Ad unum omnes.=
=RESURGAMUS=