Doc. 107.--the Washington oath.
The following is the oath which so many of the United States clerks refused to take at Washington-60 or 70 of the number resigning in consequence of the demand that it should be administered.
Mr. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury, declined to administer the oath, upon the ground that an oath to support the Constitution of the United States was all-sufficient for a loyal citizen.
Those, he said, who would not obey that would break any other.
His purpose was much commended by another Cabinet officer--the Secretary of War, we believe-and prevented a large number of resignations.
It was particularly obnoxious to certain Union men of Maryland and Virginia, who regarded it as a doubt of their fidelity.
The oath reads thus:
I, A. B., at the present time in the United States service as a Clerk, do solemnly swear that I will support, protect, and defend the Constitution and Government of the United States against all enemies, whether domestic or foreign, and that I will bear true faith and loyalty to the same as established by the Constitution and laws; and further, that I do this with a full determination and pledge, without any mental reservation or evasion, to perform in good faith all the duties which may be legally required of me, so help me God.
County of Washington, District of Columbia.
To wit.
Sworn to and subscribed before me, this----day of April, 1861.
C. D., (J. P.)
--N. Y. Express, May 1.
