Rensselaer Republican, Volume 17, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 July 1885 — The Yellow Oath. [ARTICLE]

The Yellow Oath.

A large number of Chinese had to be examined as witnesses in the case, and, as it has often been remarked that the Chinese care but little or not at all for the American form of oath, the district attorney moved that, under the provisions of the civil code which provide that a witness who does not believe in the Christian religion may be sworn in the manner which he considers most binding on his conscience, the Chinese witnesses be required, in addition to taking tho nmialbath, to take the Wong Chung, qr “yellow” oath. The motion was granigdf'and after the first Chinese witness was called, and the usual oath had been administered, the yellow oath was produced. This is a piece of paper eleven inches long by eight wide, upon which there are 123 characters. Before this was administered by the interpreter a literal translation was furnished and read for the information of the court and jury. A free translation of the same is as follows : “This is to call the spirits, both good and evil, to descend and watch over the trial of Wdng Ah Foo, who is charged with murdering Loi Ah Gow. If I swear falsely and tell one untruth, or do not make a statement according to the facts in the case, I humbly beg the celestial and terrestrial spirits to redress the wrong done to Loi Ah

Gow, and to punish m» immediately for having been a false witness, to arrest my soul in its flight, to make me perish by the Sword, or cause me to die while on the sea and before I reach One-half the distance to China. This is the true and solemn oath, uttered by my own lips, and signed by me this day of the second month in the eleventh year Quong Soy; and in proof of the earnestness of my assertion, may my soul be destroyed, as I destroy this, paper, by fire.” The witness repeated, after the interpreter, every word printed 6n the paper and the'n affixed the date and his signature to it, after which, with a match furnished by the obliging clerk of the court, <he lit the yellow oath and watched while it turned to ashes. In answer to questions by the counsel for the defense, the witness said that he felt bound to tell the truth under the American oath, and he believed that after taking the Chinese oath he would be afraid to tell an untruth— San Francisco Call. J