you to the worthy president for admoni-1 of this or any other council to which you tion. may be attached, so long as they do not President. It has no doubt, been long conflict with the Constitution of the United apparent to you, brothers, that foreign in- States, nor that of the State in which you fluence and Roman Catholicism have been reside; that you will under all circummaking steady and alarming progress in stances, if in your power so to do, attend our country. You cannot have failed to to all regular signs or summons that may observe the significant transition of the be thrown or sent to you by a brother of foreigner and Romanist from a character this or any other degree of this order; that quiet, retiring, and even abject, to one you will support in all political matters, for bold, threatening, turbulent, and despotic all political offices, members of this order in its appearance and assumptions. You in preference to other persons; that if it must have become alarmed at the syste- may be done legally, you will, when electmatic and rapidly augmenting power of ed or appointed to any official station conthese dangerous and unnatural elements of ferring on you the power to do so remove our national condition. So it is, brothers, all foreigners, aliens, or Roman Catholics with others beside yourselves in every from office or place, and that you will in state of the Union. A sense of danger has no case appoint such to any office or place struck the great heart of the nation. In in your gift. You do also promise and every city, town, and hamlet, the danger swear that this and all other obligations has been seen and the alarm sounded. which you have previously taken in this And hence true men have devised this or-order shall ever be kept through life sacred der as a means of disseminating patriotic principles, of keeping alive the fire of national virtue, of fostering the national intelligence, and of advancing America and the American interest on the one side, and on the other of checking the strides of the foreigner or alien, or thwarting the machinations and subverting the deadly plans of the papist and Jesuit. and inviolate. All this you promise and declare, as Americans, to sustain and abide by, without any hesitation or mental reservation whatever. So help you God and keep you steadfast. (Each will answer "I do." President.-Brother Marshal, you will now present the brothers to the instructor for instructions in the second degree of the Note. The President shall impress up-order. on the initiates the importance of secrecy, the manner of proceeding in recommending candidates for initiation, and the responsibility of the duties which they have assumed. Marshal.-Brother Instructor, by direction of our worthy president, I present these brothers before you that you may instruct them in the secrets and mysteries of the second degree of the order. Instructor.-Brothers, in this degree we SECOND DEGREE COUNCIL. have an entering sign and a countersign. Marshal.-Worthy President: These At the outer door proceed (as in the first brothers have been duly elected to the sec-degree). At the inner door you will make ond degree of this order. I present them to you for obligation. President.-Brothers: You will place your left hand upon your right breast, and extend your right hand towards the flag of our country, preparatory to obligation. (Each council room should have a neat American flag festooned over the platform of the President.) OBLIGATION. You, and each of you, of your own free will and accord, in the presence of Almighty God and these witnesses, your left hand resting upon your right breast, and your right hand extended to the flag of your country, do solemnly and sincerely swear, that you will not under any circumstances disclose in any manner, nor suffer it to be done by others, if in your power to prevent it, the name, signs, passwords, or other secrets of this degree, except in open council for the purpose of instruction; that you will in all things conform to all the rules and regulations of this order, and to the constitution and by-laws (two raps), and proceed as in the first degree, giving the second degree pass-word, which is American, instead of that of the first degree. If found to be correct, you will then be admitted, and proceed (to the centre of the room), giving the countersign, which is made thus (extending the right arm to the national flag over the president, the palm of the hand being upwards). The sign of recognition in this degree is the same as in the first degree, with the addition of (the middle finger), and the response to be made in a (similar manner.) Marshal, you will now present the brothers to the worthy president for admonition. Marshal.-Worthy President, I now present these candidates to you for admonition. President.-Brothers, you are now duly initiated into the second degree of this order. Renewing the congratulations which we extended to you upon your admission to the first degree, we admonish you by every tie that may nerve patriots, to aid us in our efforts to restore the political institutions of our country to their original purity. Begin with the youth of our land. | in open council, for the purpose of instrucInstil into their minds the lessons of our tion; that you do hereby solemnly declare country's history-the glorious battles and the brilliant deeds of patriotism of our fathers, through which we received the inestimable blessings of civil and religious liberty. Point them to the example of the sages and the statesmen who founded our government. Implant in their bosoms an ardent love for the Union. Above all else, keep alive in their bosoms the memory, the maxims, and the deathless example of our illustrious WASHINGTON. Brothers, recalling to your minds the solemn obligations which you have severally taken in this and the first degree, I now pronounce you entitled to all the privileges of membership in this the second degree of our order. THIRD DEGREE COUNCIL. Marshal.-Worthy President, these brothers having been duly elected to the third degree of this order, I present them before you for obligation. your devotion to the Union of these States; that in the discharge of your duties as American citizens, you will uphold, maintain, and defend it; that you will discourage and discountenance any and every attempt, coming from any and every quarter, which you believe to be designed or calculated to destroy or subvert it, or to weaken its bonds; and that you will use your influence, so far as in your power, in endeavor. ing to procure an amicable and equitable adjustment of all political discontents or differences which may threaten its injury or overthrow. You further promise and swear [or affirm] that you will not vote for any one to fill any office of honor, profit or trust of a political character, whom you know or believe to be in favor of a dissolution of the Union of these States, or who is endeavoring to produce that result; that you will vote for and support for all political offices, third or union degree members of this order in preference to all others; that if it may be done consistently with the constitution and laws of the land, you will, when elected or appointed to any official station which may confer on you the power to do so, remove from office or place all persons whom you know or believe to be in favor of a dissolution of the Union, or who are endeavoring to produce that result; and that you will in no case appoint such person to any political office or place whatever. Note. This degree is to be conferred All this you promise and swear [or affirm]. with the national flag elevated in the cen- upon your honor as American citizens and tre of the circle, by the side of the presi- friends of the American Union, to sustain dent or instructor, and not on less than five and abide by without any hesitation or at any one time, in order to give it solem- mental reservation whatever. You also nity, and also for the formation of the cir- promise and swear [or affirm] that this and cle-except in the first instance of confer- all other obligations which you have prering it on the officers of the state and sub-viously taken in this order, shall ever be ordinate councils, that they may be em- kept sacred and inviolate. To all this you powered to progress with the work. pledge your lives, your fortunes, and your sacred honors. So help you God and keep you steadfast. President.-Brothers, you will place yourselves in a circle around me, each one crossing your arms upon your breasts, and grasping firmly each other's hands, holding the right hand of the brother on the right and the left hand of the brother on the left, so as to form a circle, symbolical of the links of an unbroken chain, and of a ring which has no end. The obligation and charge in this degree may be given by the president or instructor, as the president may prefer. OBLIGATION. You, and each of you, of your own free will and accord, in the presence of Almighty God and these witnesses, with your hands joined in token of that fraternal affection which should ever bind together the States of this Union-forming a ring, in token of your determination that, so far as your efforts can avail, this Union shall have no end-do solemnly and sincerely swear [or affirm] that you will not under any circumstances disclose in any manner, nor suffer it to be done by others if in your power to prevent it, the name, signs, passwords, or other secrets of this degree, except to those to whom you may prove on trial to be brothers of the same degree, or (Each one shall answer, "I do.") President.-Brother Marshal, you will now present the brothers to the instructor for final instruction in this third degree of the order. Marshal.-Instructor, by direction of our worthy president, I present these brothers before you that you may instruct them in the secrets and mysteries of this the third degree of our order. Instructor.-Brothers, in this degree as in the second, we have an entering password, a degree password, and a token of salutation. At the outer door (make any ordinary alarm. The outside sentinel will say U; you say ni; the sentinel will rejoin on). This will admit you to the inner door. At the inner door you will make (three) distinct (raps). Then announce your name, with the number (or name) and location of the council to which you | organization modeled after that of the Conbelong, giving the explanation to the pass-stitution of the United States, and coexword, which is (safe). If found correct, tensive with the confederacy. Its object you will then be admitted, when you will proceed to the centre of the room, and placing the (hands on the breast with the fingers interlocked), give the token of salutation, which is (by bowing to the president). You will then quietly take your seat. The sign of recognition is made by the same action as in the second degree, with the addition of (the third finger), and the response is made by (a similar action with the left hand.) and principles, in all matters of national concern, to be uniform and identical whilst in all local matters the component parts shall remain independent and sovereign within their respective limits. The great result to be attained-the only one which can secure a perfect guarantee as to our future-is UNION; permanent, enduring, fraternal UNION! Allow me, then, to impress upon your minds and memories the touching sentiments of the Father of his Country, in his Farewell Address: (The grip is given by taking hold of the hand in the usual way, and then by slipping "The unity of government which constithe finger around on the top of the thumb; tutes you one people," says Washington, then extending the little finger and pressing "is justly dear to you, for it is the main the inside of the wrist. The person chal-pillar in the edifice of your real independlenging shall say, do you know what that is?ence, the support of your tranquillity at The answer is yes. The challenging party home, of your peace abroad, of your safety, shall say, further, what is it? The answer your prosperity-even that liberty you so is, Union. [The instructor will here give the grip of this degree, with explanations, and also the true password of this degree, which is (Union.)] CHARGE. justly prize. 66 * * It is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your National Union, to your collective and individual happiness. You should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it, as the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with ever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now bind together the various parts.' To be given by the president. Brothers, it is with great pleasure that I congratulate you upon your advancement to the third degree of our order. The re-jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatsponsibilities you have now assumed, are more serious and weighty than those which preceded, and are committed to such only as have been tried and found worthy. Our obligations are intended as solemn avowals of our duty to the land that gave us birth; to the memories of our fathers; and to the happiness and welfare of our children. Let these words of paternal advice and Consecrating to your country a spirit un-warning, from the greatest man that ever selfish and a fidelity like that which dis-lived, sink deep into your hearts. Cherish tinguished the patriots of the Revolution, them, and teach your children to reverence you have pledged your aid in cementing them, as you cherish and reverence the the bonds of a Union which we trust will memory of Washington himself. The endure for ever. Your deportment since Union of these states is the great conservayour initiation has attested your devotion tor of that liberty so dear to the American to the principles we desire to establish, and heart. Without it, our greatness as a nahas inspired a confidence in your patriot- tion would disappear, and our boasted selfism, of which we can give no higher proof government prove a signal failure. The than your reception here. very name of liberty, and the hopes of The dangers which threaten American struggling freedom throughout the world, liberty arise from foes without and from must perish in the wreck of this Union. enemies within. The first degree pointed Devote yourselves, then, to its maintenance, out the source and nature of our most im- as our fathers did to the cause of independminent peril, and indicated the first mea-ence; consecrating to its support, as you sure of safety. The second degree defined have sworn to do, your lives, your fortunes, the next means by which, in coming time, and your sacred honors. such assaults may be rendered harmless. Brothers: Recalling to your minds the The third degree, which you have just re-solemn obligations which you have severceived, not only reiterates the lessons of the other two, but it is intended to avoid and provide for a more remote, but no less terrible danger, from domestic ene.nies to our free institutions. Our object is briefly this:-to perfect an ally taken in this and the preceding degrees, I now pronounce you entitled to all the privileges of membership in this organization, and take pleasure in informing you that you are now members of the order of (the American Union.) cratic Nominations of 1856. The American convention met the next day after the session of the National Council of the Order, on the 22d February, 1856. It was composed of 227 delegates; all the States being represented except Maine, Vermont, Georgia and South Carolina. Hon. Millard Fillmore was nominated for President, and Andrew J. Don elson for Vice-President. * * * American, Whig, Republican and Demo- that the spirit of our institutions, as well as the Constitution of our country, guar anties liberty of conscience and equality & rights among citizens, we oppose all legis lation impairing their security." The Democratic Convention, met t Cincinnati, in May 1856, and nominate James Buchanan for President, and John C. Breckenridge for Vice-President. } adopted a platform which contained the material portions of all its previous plat The Whig Convention met at Baltimore, forms, and also defined its position on the September, 17, 1856, and endorsed the the revenue to be raised should not exceed new issues of the day, and declared (1) that nominations made by the American par- the actual necessary expenses of the gov ty, and in its platform declared that) without adopting or referring to the pe- the public debt; (2) that the Constitution ernment, and for the gradual extinction ot culiar doctrines of the party which has does not confer upon the general governalready selected Mr. Fillmore as a candiment the power to commence and carry o date" Resolved, that in the a general system of internal improvements; present exigency of political affairs, we are not called upon to discuss the subordi- (3) for a strict construction of the power nate questions of the administration in the granted by the Constitution to the federa exercising of the constitutional powers of government; (4) that Congress has no the government. It is enough to know that civil war is raging, and that the Union is in peril; and proclaim the conviction that the restoration of Mr. Fillmore to the Presidency will furnish the best if not the only means of restoring peace.' The first National Convention of the new Republican party met at Philadelphia, June 18, 1856, and nominated John C. Fremont for President, and William L. Dayton for Vice-President. Since the previous Presidential election, a new party consisting of the disaffected former adherents of the other parties-Native and Independent Democrats, Abolitionists, and Whigs opposed to slavery-had sprung into existence, and was called by its adherents and friends, the Republican party. power to charter a national bank; (5) that and At the election which followed, in November, 1856, the Democratic candidates were elected, though by a popular minority vote, having received 1,838,160 popular votes, and 174 electoral votes, against 2,215,768 popular votes, and 122 electoral votes for John C. Fremont, the Republican candidate, and Mr. Fillmore, the Whig and American candidate. The aggregate vote cast for Mr. Fillmore, who was the nominee on both the Whig and American tickets, was 874,534, and This convention of delegates assembled his electoral vote was eight; that of the in pursuance of a call addressed to the State of Maryland. This was the last napeople of the United States, without regard tional election at which the Whigs apto past political differences or divisions, peared as a party, under that name; they who were opposed to the repeal of the having joined with the American and with Missouri Compromise. To the policy of the Republican parties, and finally united President Pierce's administration: To the with the latter after the downfall and exextension of slavery into free territory: In tinction of the former. In the State elecfavor of the admission of Kansas as a free tions of that year, (1856) the American State: Of restoring the action of the fed-party carried Rhode Island and Maryland; eral government to the principles of Washington and Jefferson. and in the 35th Congress, which met in December, 1857, the party had 15 to 20 It adopted a platform, consisting of a set Representatives and five Senators. When of resolutions, the principal one of which the 36th Congress met, in 1859, it had bewas: "That we deny the authority of come almost a border State or Southern Congress, of a territorial legislature, of any party, having two Senators; one from individual, or association of individuals, Kentucky and one from Maryland; and to give legal existence to slavery in any 23 Representatives, five from Kentucky, territory of the United States, while the seven from Tennessee, three from Marypresent Constitution shall be maintained." land, one from Virginia, four from North And closed with a resolution: "That we Carolina, two from Georgia, and one from invite the approbation and co-operation of Louisiana. The American party had none the men of all parties, however different of the elements of persistence. It made from us in other respects, in support of the another desperate effort, however, in the principles herein declared; and believing next Presidential campaign, but having failed to carry the South, disappeared | one half of the whole population of the counfinally from politics. The new Republican party polled a very large vote-1,341,234 out of a total vote of 4,053,928-and its candidates received 114 votes out of 296, in the electoral college; having secured majorities in all the free States, except Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and California. The successful candidate, Mr. James Buchanan, was duly inaugurated as President of the United States, and entered upon the discharge of his duties as such, March 4, 1857. After the election of November, 1856, the Republican Association of Washington issued an address to the people, in which the results of the election were examined, and the future policy of the party stated. It is an interesting paper, as laying the foundation of the campaign of 1860, which followed, and is here given in full: try; given to their Presidential candidate nearly three times as many electoral votes as were cast by the Whig party in 1852; and this day control the governments of fourteen of the most powerful States of the Union. "Well may our adversaries tremble in the hour of their victory. 'The Democratic and Black Republican parties,' they say, 'are nearly balanced in regard to power. The former was victorious in the recent struggle, but success was hardly won, with the aid of important accidental advantages. The latter has abated nothing of its zeal, and has suffered no pause in its preparations for another battle.' "With such numerical force, such zeal, intelligence, and harmony in counsel; with so many great States, and more than a million voters rallied to their standard by the efforts of a few months, why may not the Republicans confidently expect a victory in the next contest? The necessity for their organization still exists in all its force. Mr. Buchanan has “Republican Association of Washington. always proved true to the demands of his Address to the Republicans of the United States. "WASHINGTON, Nov. 27, 1856. "The Presidential contest is over, and at last we have some materials to enable us to form a judgment of the results. party. He fully accepted the Cincinnati platform, and pledged himself to its policy -a policy of filibustering abroad, propagandism at home. Prominent and controlling among his supporters are men committed, by word and deed, to that policy; and what is there in his character, his antecedents, the nature of his northern support, to authorize the expectation that he will disregard their will? Nothing will be so likely to restrain him and counteract their extreme measures, as a vigorous and growing Republican organization, as nothing would be more necessary to save the cause of freedom and the Union, should he, as we have every reason to believe, continue the pro-slavery policy of the present incumbent. Let us beware of folding our arms, and waiting to see what he will do. We know the ambition, the necessities, the schemes of the slave power. Its policy of extension and aggrandizement and universal empire, is the law of its being, not an accident-is settled, not fluctuating. Covert or open, moderate or extreme, according to circumstances, it never changes in spirit or aim. With Mr. Buchanan, the elect of a party controlled by this policy, administering the government, the safety of the country and of free institutions must rest in the organization of the Republican party. "Seldom have two parties emerged from a conflict with less of joy in the victors, more of hope in the vanquished. The pro-slavery party has elected its Presidential candidate, only, however, by the votes of a minority, and that of such a character as to stamp the victory as the offspring of sectionalism and temporary causes. The Republicans, wherever able to present clearly to the public the real issue of the canvass-slavery restriction or slavery extension-have carried the people with them by unprecedented majorities; almost breaking up in some States the organization of their adversaries. A sudden gathering together of the people, alarmed at the inroads of the slave power, rather than a well organized party, with but a few months to attend to the complicated details of party warfare; obstructed by a secret Order, which had pre-occupied the field, and obtained a strong hold of the national and religious prejudices of the masses; opposed to an old party, commencing the canvass with the united support of a powerful section, hardened by What, then, is the duty before us? long party drill, accustomed to victory, Organization, vigilance, action; action on wielding the whole power of the federal the rostrum, through the press, at the baladministration-a party which only four lot-box; in state, county, city, and town years ago carried all but four of the States, elections; everywhere, at all times; in every and a majority of the popular vote-still, election, making Republicanism, or loyalunder all these adverse circumstances, they ty to the policy and principles it advocates, have triumphed in eleven, if not twelve of the sole political test. No primary or the free States, pre-eminent for enterprise municipal election should be suffered to and general intelligence, and containing go by default. The party that would suc |