the whole truth in answer to questions that may be put to them, and have then been examined in reference to the order, and their connection therewith, they have not only refused to give any information in regard to its character, but have denied that they were members, or even that they knew of its existence. A conspicuous instance of this is presented in the cases of Hunt, Dunn, and Smith, the chief officers of the order in Missouri, who, upon their first examination under oath, after their arrest, denied all connection with the order, but confessed, also under oath, at a subsequent period that this denial was wholly false, although in accordance with their obligations as members. Indeed, a deliberate system of deception in regard to the details of he conspiracy is inculcated upon the members and studiously pursued; and it may be mentioned, as a similarly despicable feature of the organization, that it is held bound to injure the Administration and officers of the Government, in every possible manner, by misrepresentation and falsehood. Members are also instructed that their oath of membership is to be held paramount to an oath of allegiance, or any other oath which may impose obligations inconsistent with those which are assumed upon entering the order. Thus, if a member, when in danger or for the purpose of facilitating some traitorous design, has taken the oath of allegiance to the United States, he is held at liberty to violate it on the first occasion, his obligation to the order being deemed superior to any consideration of duty or loyalty prompted by such oath. It is to be added tat where members are threatened with the penalties of perjury, in case of their answering falsely to questions propounded to them in regard to the order before a court or grand jury, they are instructed to refuse to answer such questions, alleging, as a ground for their refusal, that their answers may criminate themselves. The testimony shows that this course has habitually been pursued by men in Indiana, when placed in such a situation. Besides the oaths and other forms and ceremonies which have been alluded to, the ritual contains what are termed "declarations of principles. " These declarations, which are most important as exhibit the creed and character of the order, as inspired by the principles of the rebellion, will be fully presented under the next branch of the subject.

The signs, signals, passwords, &c., of the order are set forth at length in the testimony, but need only be fiercely alluded to. It is a significant fact, as showing the intimate relations between the Northern and Southern sections of the secret conspiracy, that a member from a Northern State is enabled to pass without risk through the South by the use of the signs of recognition which have been established throughout the order, and by means of which members from distant points, though meeting as strangers, are at once made known to each other as "brothers. " Mary Ann Pitman expressly states in her testimony that whenever important dispatches are required to be sent by rebel generals beyond their lines members of the order are always selected to convey them. Certain passwords are also used in common in both sections, and of these none appears to be more familiar than the word Nu-of-lac, or the name Calhoun spelt backward, and which is employed upon entering a temple of the first degree of the Order of American Knights - certainly a fitting password to such dent of treason. Beside the signs of recognition there are signs of warning and danger, for use at night as well as by day, as, for instance, signs to warn members of the approach of U. S. officials seeking to make arrests. The order has also established what are called battle signals, by means of which, as it is asserted, a member serving in the army may communicate with the enemy in the filed and thus escape personal harm