Art. 24. If at any time you think it would be policy for you to withdraw—or, in other words, retire—you will find it beneficial for you to watch for, and detect every species of fraud—done by any other clan than the Brotherhood—and convey the same to your worthy Brethren; and in all cases, do all you can to make war with what the self-styled Christians call moral principles; and whenever you see or hear of an imprudent act in a Brother, it shall be your duty to convey the fact to the Brother—if not by your own tongue, by that of some Brother of the band,—and if you see any manifestations made throughout the community of a moral, or, what is termed of a religious nature, it shall be your duty to oppose and oppress the leaders in every shape and manner possible, as we hold all such calculated to keep in darkness many who might, otherwise, be made true and faithful Brethren, and followers of Nature's God: and the moral part of the community, so termed, who will not give us an opportunity to enroll their names, watch; and if by aping them you can make inroads upon their creeds, or false views, you will add not only to the promotion of the society, but will sustain a character throughout the Brotherhood, not to be forgotten; and, furthermore, as there are many ways to find out the principles of men, it is to be the constant duty of each member of this Brotherhood, to take advantage of every opportunity of finding out the opinions of the mass—by talking as much as possible about the villanous transactions which happened at an early day, in the new settlements, and the active part which he took in detecting the band, &c.—by which means he not only learns who are friendly towards the promotion of this Brotherhood, but also who are the ones for this society to watch as their most deadly enemies;— and a Brother must, in no case, refuse to give money for the construction of the most popular churches, and must always pay great respect to the priests—for through them we hope to hide many of what might be termed, by our enemies, deeds of darkness; but such as we, as men and Christians, believe to be lawful and proper duties: and one who does not comply with the rules and regulations of this band so far as in his power, after having taken the solemn oath, shall be treated by all honourable members as unworthy of their protection, and shall be proscribed by the Brotherhood—which proscription leaves him liable to sudden and violent death, at any moment!
Art. 25. Each member who has been duly sworn in, as Grand Master, can have the privilege of withdrawing his name from the Holy Brotherhood, by recommending one whom he considers worthy, and in whom he pledges himself can be put unbounded confidence, and one who has never failed to pay his quarterage and yearly dues in advance; (as such a failure assuredly prohibits him from promotion;) and this office grants to the holder his travelling expenses, and two dollars per day, while on business of the society, and, likewise, secures him double the benefit of a private, in sickness or difficulty. Now, therefore, Brother, you have the full meaning of the foregoing, and the same chance of promotion as either of the Brethren.
Sect. II. Art. 1. The Grand Masters of this society shall consist of six, to every fifty mile square,—five of whom have no power, other than to bear the annual returns, in case of absence or sickness of the principal Grand—in which case they are entitled to his pay, for their services and expenses—said pay to be deducted from the moneys in their possession, at the meeting of the society; and in case of death or resignation, the seat or seats of the former Grand or Grands must be filled by the next Grand or Grands, in rank—said rank to be through the official age of the subordinates; whose seats, as they rise, must again be filled by some one of the private members, whose appointment must be confirmed by a petition, signed by three-fourths of the Brethren; and, in case of two or more candidates running for the same office, the one having the most names shall be considered duly elected—whereupon he must solemnly pledge himself to keep the funds intrusted to him, belonging to the Brotherhood, secure; that should he, at any time, be required to resign, by three-fourths of the Grands, he will make due returns of all moneys in his possession; and that, in all cases, he will be ready to render a correct account of all moneys received and paid out by him, which account shall, also, be duly made out and handed in at every annual meeting.
Art. 2. It shall be the duty of every Principal Grand to keep his accounts, and the Constitution of this society, written on paper, with a certain kind of acid, which cannot be read, unless held to the fire, when the heat will bring to the face of the paper the desired intelligence; and it shall, furthermore, be the duty of the Grand Master to commit to memory this Constitution and By-laws,—that he may, at any time, be able to give any passage verbatim, without the assistance of referring to the article itself, as it endangers the Brotherhood to have the documents on hand;—and it shall also be the duty of the Grand Masters, in office, to supply the five, who are not matured officers, with one article at a time, until they commit the same to memory; when it shall be their duty to instruct them the manner in which the same is written in acid; and then to demand a written Constitution from each, which, if not written correctly, must be corrected and returned every three months, until perfected.
Art. 3. It shall be the duty of the Grand Masters to examine their five subordinate officers, four times each year, until they find each capable of drafting a constitution, and of giving each article its correct No. and proper place,—with full instructions as to secrecy, in keeping all the six words, with their proper tables, from the ordinary members—as the ordinary members are not entitled to the use of the six words, which are termed Qualities;—and, furthermore, if any of the Grand Masters know of a letter of importance, which one of the members has written to a Grand Master or Subordinate Grand, it shall be the duty of the said Grand Master, if possible, to qualify the letter, either upon the inside or outside, as the case may be—for the qualities are highly essential,—and it shall still, furthermore, be the duty of all Grand Masters, to teach their Brethren the necessity of their committing as much of the language as shall be given them on their initiation; and, likewise, the great importance, for the general safety, that all letters shall contain as much of the secret language as can be made to answer the purpose,—because it will be easily read by the Grand Masters, and common members, but will be impossible for the worldly people to unravel.
Art. 4. It shall be further observed, that no Grand, if known to reveal to any common member more than the initiation prayer, and what has been specified in the foregoing—with the exception of the meaning of the figure 9, in the fourth column, to which all are entitled—can be thought worthy of the honourable Grand's station; and in no case can such an offence be forgiven—and that, as a punishment for such an offence, he shall not only be discharged from the high and honourable office of Grand Master, but shall have a vote of censure passed upon him, which shall for ever disqualify him from holding office; and he shall, thenceforth, be closely watched, and in case he shows, or in any way manifests, any sign of malicious disapprobation, he shall be tried in secret, by the Grands and members of his District; and upon three-fourths giving their opinion that he is an enemy to the Brotherhood, it shall be the duty of the Grand Master to take him on probation, six months, and apprize him of the fact, that he is, in the opinion of the Brotherhood, acting, or about to act, a treacherous part,—and that he has been granted the state of probation, and the privilege of leaving the District, or changing his treacherous principles:—if he choose the former, his name must be sent to every Grand Master in the Union; if he choose the latter, his after good works must recommend him; but in case he should refuse either, it shall be the duty of the Grand Master to put upon his head the usual reward—of a traitor, which is three hundred dollars, to whoever takes his life, with the highest approbation which can be placed upon the Brother, so doing, by his honest Brethren.
[The following qualities are known and used by the Grand Masters alone, the common members being wholly ignorant of their existence; and thus it is, that these grandees can so completely foil their followers, without the least risk of the latter being the wiser. The qualities are made for the special purpose of designating each individual, and at the same time be entirely safe from the least suspicion. When a Grand Master has had the honour of promotion conferred, he is supplied with the table of qualities; likewise the secret of correspondence is submitted to his confidence, under an oath, the penalty of which is death, if he, by word, deed, or action develop, or by any means expose, the principles of his special charge. After he has taken the solemn oath, the chief Grand gives him the secret for preparing the sympathetic ink, which is used upon all occasions where one Grand is corresponding with another; and where a Brother is about to travel, it is the duty of the Grand Master presiding, in the district where he resides, to give him a plain letter of recommendation, with the private qualities in cipher, in a definite manner, that the Grand Master who receives the same may not be deceived; and ofttimes has the poor ninny carried in his supposed letter his death warrant. As the secret of the cipher is not known to any but those of the fraternity who have been promoted above the ranks of the subordinate, it leaves the latter completely in the hands of their Grand Masters. But we would not have our readers to understand, by our explanation, that it is our belief, that the private qualities are always carried out to a letter, as laid down in their constitution and by-laws; yet we have no hesitation in saying, that we believe that the members live more closely to their profession than many of our Christian institutions; and that there are many that walk as near the line of their profession as they know how, we have every reason to believe from the daily illustrations we have of depravity among us. We therefore give you the correct qualities of the Grand Masters, which are held entirely apart from the common Brotherhood, by the preceding restrictions set forth in this note.]
Art. 5. The Grand Master shall be fully invested with power to give out the following catalogue of useful flash words. The six words of quality are highly beneficial in conversation, and must, in all cases, be used when one is present who is not known to be a member. By this means can be found out the strange Brethren, who are ever ready for any sound so familiar to their ears. The dualities, also, serve to advance the Brethren, who are made acquainted with them, to the higher seats of honour, and are as follows:
First: Huska—a flash word, signifying Good—is fully described by the subjoined numbers, the signification of which is annexed: