owners to swear that they would support and defend the
law under color of which the theft and robbery had been accomplished.

So, in the church, creeds have been protected by oaths. Priests
and laymen solemnly swore that they would, under no circumstances,
resort to reason; that they would overcome facts by faith, and
strike down demonstrations with the "sword of the spirit." Professors
of the theological seminary at Andover, Massachusetts, swear to
defend certain dogmas and to attack others. They swear sacredly
to keep and guard the ignorance they have. With them, philosophy
leads to perjury, and reason is the road to crime. While theological
professors are not likely to make an intellectual discovery, still
it is unwise, by taking an oath, to render that certain which is
only improbable.

If all witnesses sworn to tell the truth, did so, if all members
of Parliament and of Congress, in taking the oath, became intelligent,
patriotic, and honest, I should be in favor of retaining the
ceremony; but we find that men who have taken the same oath advocate
opposite ideas, and entertain different opinions, as to the meaning
of constitutions and laws. The oath adds nothing to their
intelligence; does not even tend to increase their patriotism, and
certainly does not make the dishonest honest.

_Question_. Are not persons allowed to testify in the United States
whether they believe in future rewards and punishments or not?

_Answer_. In this country, in most of the States, witnesses are
allowed to testify whether they believe in perdition and paradise
or not. In some States they are allowed to testify even if they
deny the existence of God. We have found that religious belief
does not compel people to tell the truth, and than an utter denial
of every Christian creed does not even tend to make them dishonest.
You see, a religious belief does not affect the senses. Justice
should not shut any door that leads to truth. No one will pretend
that, because you do not believe in hell, your sight is impaired,
or your hearing dulled, or your memory rendered less retentive.
A witness in a court is called upon to tell what he has seen, what
he has heard, what he remembers, not what he believes about gods
and devils and hells and heavens. A witness substantiates not a
faith, but a fact. In order to ascertain whether a witness will
tell the truth, you might with equal propriety examine him as to
his ideas about music, pai