GENERAL HISTORY. 



[93 



tion of the temper of the times. 

 On June 29th, Mr. Williams JVi/nn 

 rose, pursuant to notice, to bring 

 before the attention of the House 

 the formation of a society which 

 existed in direct contradiction to 

 the law of the land. After refer- 

 ring to the provisions of the act of 

 1799, against secret political socie- 

 ties, he adverted to the original 

 institution of the Orange Society 

 in Ireland, concerning which, how- 

 ever, he did not choose to pro- 

 nounce; but now, for the first 

 time, he said, they were proposed 

 to be established in this country, 

 and nothing could be more mis- 

 chievous or ill-timed than such an 

 institution. Much of what he had 

 intended to say was rendered un- 

 necessary by a pamphlet which had 

 been distributed in the lobby of 

 the House, containing the rules 

 and regulations of the Orange So- 

 ciety. He quoted from it the fol- 

 lowing oath taken by the mem- 

 bers : " I, A. B., do solemnly and 

 sincerely swear, of my own free 

 will and accord, that I will, to the 

 utmost of ray power, support and 

 defend the present king George 

 the Third, his heirs and successors, 

 60 long as he or they shall support 

 the Protestant ascendancy, &c." 

 What (observed the hon. gentle- 

 man) could be thought of such an 

 oath ! Conditional allegiance ! loy- 

 alty depending upon the mainte- 

 nance of the Protestant ascend- 

 ancy ! terms hitherto unknown in 

 this country. Might not every man 

 who took it think himself dis- 

 charged from his allegiance were 

 the royal assent given to a bill /or 

 .the relief of the Irish Catholics! 

 Such would infallibly be its effect 

 upon weak and vulgar minds. He 

 proceeded to consider the oath of 



a Marchman or Marksman, the 

 name of one further initiated in 

 their secrets. He swears that he 

 •' will never reveal either part or 

 parts of what is privately commu- 

 nicated to him, until he shall be 

 duly authorized so to do by the 

 proper authority of the Orange In- 

 stitution." In this declaration no 

 salvo was made for legal examina- 

 tion in a court of justice. The 

 secretary also swears that " he will 

 not give any copy of the secret 

 articles of the lodge, nor lend them 

 out of the lodge;" ?.n oath that 

 openly sets aside the authority of 

 the law, and avows the existence 

 of further regulations than those 

 communicated to the public. He 

 next referred to the means pro- 

 vided for estabhshing these socie- 

 ties throughout the country. It 

 appeared that Orange lodges met 

 regularly in London, Manchester, 

 Birmingham, Liverpool, Norwich, 

 Sunderland, Dover, Chelmsford, 

 Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Sheffield, 

 Bury, Halifax, Exeter, Plymouth, 

 Chester, Cambridge, Coventry, 

 Oldham, and many of the smaller 

 towns. The publisher of the 

 pamphlet was to give information 

 respecting the days of meeting, 

 th.e lodges, &c. to any Orange- 

 man, or person desirous of becom- 

 ing one. Provisions were made 

 for establishing district lodges; 

 and regiments being considered as 

 districts, the masters of all regi- 

 mental lodges were to make half- 

 yearly returns of the number, 

 names, &c. of the members, to the 

 secretary of the grand lodge ; and 

 in these military lodges, in defiance 

 of all discipline, officers and pri- 

 vates were to meet on terms of 

 equality. The expenses of the so- 

 ciety were also provided for; liieir 



