OATH AND THE ORIGIN.

Putaruru Press, Volume VI, Issue 264, 29 November 1928, Page 8

OATH AND THE ORIGIN.

AWAY BACK IN ANTIQUITY. Recent remarks by Australian | judges in the Criminal Court indicate a feeling that the importance of the j oath is not recognised by certain per- ] sons who come before . the court, and that they do not realise the solemnity and gravity of it (says’la writer in the Melbourne Age). Yet the giving of false evidence—the breaking of the oath—is rightly regarded as a most serious offence, and is punishable by a heavy term of imprisonment. The taking of an oath dates back to very early Biblical history. We find that God in blessing Noah after the Flood took an oath with Noah in the form of a covenant - that “Neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.” The witness to this saying was the first rainbow, the Almighty saying, “I do set My bow in the cloud and it shall be a token of a covenant between Me and the

earth. Then in Exodus the Almighty in telling Moses the various laws and ordinances for the guidance of the children of Israel speke of an oath of the Lord that should be between a man and his neighbour “that he hath not put his hands into his neighbour’s goods.” Fearful that his son Jacob would marry a daughter of the Canaanites, Abraham made the eldest servant of the house take on oath that he would see Jacob married to one of his own kindred, and in this instance we arc informed how the oath was administered. The servant jftt his hand under the thigh of Abraham and swore unto him. The desire of Abraham, was fulfilled, as Rebecca became the wife of Isaac. Jacob took on oath with Labuan, and a pyramid of stones was raised as “a pyramid of witnesses.” Right through the Old Testament we see the value of an oath reduced to its simple form and purposes. When the children of Israel embalmed the body of Joseph and put it in a coffin in Egypt it was in obedience to an oath they had made. The law about oaths is laid down by Moses in Numbers, and in Deuteronomy an oath “taken to the Lord is declared inviolable.” In the 132nd Psalm, David in his exhortation says: “The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David; He will not turn from it.” The New Testament abounds with references to oaths. St. Luke speaks of “the oath which He swore to our father Abraham,” and later again there is the oath of certain Jews not to eat anything until they had slain Paul. In l his Epistle to the Hebrews, Paul refers to God confirming His promice with an oath.

The Saxons introduced the administration of the oath into judicial proceedings in England in the year 600 A.D., while the oath was first administered to a judge in 1344. The British Parliament ratified the oath of supremacy in 1535, while 70 years later the oath of allegiance was framed. As early as 528 A.D. oaths were taken on the Bible, the oath concluding “So help me, God, and all saints.” The substitution of oaths by declarations in certain cases was provided for by acts passed by the British Parliament in 1831., and the affirmation was admitted in 1837. After a fierce contest an Act was passed in July, 1858, known as the Jews Oaths of Adjuration Act, 1858, which enabled Jews to sit in the British Parliament, and in that year Baron Rothschild took his seat as member for london. To commemorate the event he endowed a scholarship in the city of London schools. The forms of oath are different in various countries. The original oath was taken by merely laying the hand on the top of the Bible without kissing it. Amongst the Greeks oaths were frequently accompanied by sacrifice. The lifting of hands was an other form of oath. The Prophet Daniel is recorded as saying: “The man clothed in linen which was upon the waters held up his right. l hand and his left hand upto heaver, ai.u swore by Him that liveth for ever.” In Revelation we find, “and the angel which I saw stand upon the sea ana the earth lifted up his hand to heaven and swore by Him that liveth for ever.’-’

Curious forms of administering the Oath are recorded in early history. Eidwaa-d I swore an oth on two swans. It was a common thing for a man to swear by his beard, and in England at an elaq-ly period, a man commonly swore by a number of churches. He would go to the appointed number of churches, and ai each take tWc: ring of the church door in his hand and repeat the oath A Hindoo law said, “Let! a judge swear a Brahmin by his veracity; a soldier by his horses, -his elephants or his' arms; an agriculturist by his cows, his grain or his money; and d Soudra by all his crimes.” The Ro ; man military, oath was considered most sacred. The soldiers took it upon the ensigns and promised that they would not desert from the army

and not leave the ranks unless to fight against the enemy. The natives of India had one of themost curious forms of being sworn. A piece of lime and piece of betel-leaf were given to the witness to chew and swallow, and he was warned that if he spoke anything but the truth the firstf time be expectorated his heart’s blood would come up. At one time a Chinese was sworn by a live cock being brought into court raid the head cf the bird cut off, but in more modern times the Celestial does his swearing, much more cheaply, by blowing out of. a match, i In the Victorian Courts, the Chinese' repeats after the interpreter, “If I [ do not tell the. truth, the whole truth, or if I tell anything but the tkuth at this trial, may the Great God extinguish my soul hereafter, as I now extinguish this light.”