The real democracy of the Knights of Columbus was shown in the creation of the Fourth Degree. The heads of the Order saw that, though the spirit of caste should not be encouraged, a member who had done extraordinary work for the Order might, perhaps, claim, or rather might have friends to claim for him, some outward token of distinction. According to the Constitution of the Order the officers were not chosen because they were distinguished or rich or of social position — the spirit of the Knights was to regard these things as mere accidents — they were elected because of their qualifications for the work of the Knights and for their ability in utilizing these. High moral character was a sine qua non, but the position of a selected officer in the world outside gave no prestige to his work within the ranks. He must be an instrument fitted to the actual needs of the Order, and if he were not so fitted, neither intellectual ability, nor wealth, nor worldly achievements counted; but in the nature of things there must be in this Order, as in all organizations of a similar character, some method of progression. Each degree was intended to accentuate a lesson, and it was fitting that the lessons taught in the First, Second and Third Degrees of the Order should be crowned by the lesson of the Fourth Degree — Patriotism, — “Patriotism” to quote the words of Cardinal Mercier, “going hand in hand with Religion” When a member had thoroughly imbibed the teachings of devotion to his Church and his Country, so objectively shown in the other degrees, he, if he were fervently interested in the processes of the Order, might naturally desire to crown his progress by even higher and stronger accentuation of the lessons so concretely taught in the earlier days of his connection with the Order.
In the earliest years suggestions were repeatedly made for the erection of a degree for which those having seniority in the Order would qualify. In 1893 the Grand Cross of the Knights of Columbus was instituted, but the only instance of its being conferred was upon the Duke de Veragua on the occasion of his visit to the United States that year. Sentiment was strongly in favor of a new degree, and finally, about 1903 the Board of Directors, selecting the best suggestions of the hundreds offered, accepted a ritual having patriotism for its theme and awarded it the dignity of a Fourth Degree. To Mr. Charles O. Webber of Brooklyn, formerly a National Director, must be given credit for establishing this degree.
At its inception it was necessary to make an arbitrary selection of the candidates. About fourteen hundred* members were so chosen for the first grand exemplification of the Fourth Degree, which was held in New York on February 22, 1900. This was followed by similar exemplifications in other cities. The members so receiving this degree returned to their councils to form council assemblies of the Fourth Degree, with the right thereafter to choose other members. The law was afterwards broadened so that where there are several such assemblies in a district they come together and constitute what is known as a General Assembly, which passes finally upon the names of applicants and in a general way conducts the exemplification of the
degree and functions in quasi-public activities.
The Fourth Degree is entirely subject to the Board of Directors, at least to the extent that its Supreme Mister is chosen by that Board, as are also the Vice-Supreme Masters, six in number. The Fourth Degree constitution and laws must also receive its approval. The Supreme Master and Vice-Supreme Masters meet at least once in two years for the purpose of improving the Degree and promoting its efficiency. This Degree, being patriotic in its purpose, adopts only patriotic names. Thus the various provinces are known as Champlain, Cabot, Calvert, De Soto, Marquette and Junipero Serra, and the various general assemblies can adopt only such historic names as are approved by the Board of Directors.
Upon receiving the Fourth Degree the member is equipped with a baldric of red, white and blue, a sword, and the emblem of the Degree. The latter is a representation of a dove carrying the Cross to the New World which, after all, and despite the attempt of his traducers to ascribe other motives, was the underlying motive of Columbus in searching for a new world. For first of all he sought to bring Christianity to any unknown peoples, and a certain percentage of any moneys accruing to him by reason of his discoveries was by his will set aside for the purpose of redeeming the Holy Sepulchre.
The Fourth Degree is known everywhere as constituting in its local assembly the willing supporter of priest and bishop in all their public movements, and in many places no public reception of a bishop or priest, and no procession of a religious character within or without the Church, seems to be complete without the attendance of the uniformed members of the Fourth Degree of the locality. It ought to be noted that one provision regarding the Fourth Degree is proof positive of its desire to receive within its ranks only the best. This is the requirement that the candidate shall present a certificate in writing from a priest that he has received Holy Communion within two weeks prior to the date of his initiation.
In connection with the exemplification of each Degree there is held a public banquet, and to this the most distinguished men have been invited. Wherever there has been a Fourth Degree banquet there will be found an exposition of the soundest principles of patriotism and morality from the lips of Catholics as from non-Catholics, who upon investigation have become convinced of the soundness and worth of the Knights of Columbus and the efforts of the Fourth Degree to stimulate patriotism on all sides. At such a banquet held recently in Scranton, Pennsylvania, His Eminence Cardinal Mercier, graciously accepted membership in the Fourth Degree, and chose the occasion of that banquet for one of his too few public utterances while on his visit here.
It is the purpose of the Fourth Degree to stimulate public interest in the observance of Columbus Day throughout the country. Wherever possible, some sort of public celebration is held under its auspices. A few years ago, it was decided as a part of its patriotic effort to hold a meeting in every large city in the country on Washington’s Birthday. The most distinguished orators, Catholic and non-Catholic, gladly accepted the invitation to deliver the orations on that day, and from east to west and north to south, in every large city, in the largest obtainable hall or theatre, there were held on that day the patriotic exercises in memory of Washington, with addresses, and other appropriate exercises to which the public was invited and admitted without charge.
The fourth Degree has not only stirred up an interest in public speaking among members of the Order and others, but has labored to promote the study of Catholic truth and history, and to encourage the Catholic press and Catholic publications. Among other recent works, for instance, it appropriated, a large sum of money for the distribution of the Catholic Encyclopedia in the camps and the cantonments throughout the country during the war. The Fourth Degree functions in a very simple way, without any particular powers, and subject, as above stated, in all things to the Board of Directors. Its means of raising money are very strictly limited, and yet it has, within its few years of existence, made its mark and won its place as a most efficient arm of the Knights of Columbus.
The Order’s manifestations of patriotism are not, of course, restricted to the Fourth Degree, any more than Fourth Degree Assemblies are restrained from doing special works in their communities. Los Angeles Assembly has, for years, distributed large quantities of religious and other literature to hospital patients and the inmates of other institutions. Similar charitable activities are maintained by Local and General Assemblies everywhere. The Fourth Degree, too, invariably takes the initiative in commemorating historical events or persons, as when the Newark members erected, in 1912, a tablet to the memory of John Gilmary Shea, the historian.
It is a strange paradox that this degree, conceived as an essentially patriotic feature or consummation of the general ritual and ceremonial of the Order, should have been the object of bitter hostility founded upon the assumption that it was created to combat the principles of Americanism from which its inspiration is derived. Within the past six years the Fourth Degree has been the target of violent attacks by bigots where professionalism has been proved beyond question through legal action promptly taken by officers of the order. It seems almost fantastic to record that no less recent an authority than the United States Committee on Public Information felt obliged to stamp as traitorous and designed to stir up internal enmities, the circulation of a bogus oath attributed to the Fourth Degree of the Knights of Columbus. This ” oath ” has, during the last six years, been the pivot of more than one cause célèbre. Were it not for the malice behind its composition and propagation one would be inclined to laugh out of existence so grotesque an exaggeration of impotent hatred.
The “oath” made its appearance about 1912. The fact that it was not, at first, treated seriously by those Knights of Columbus who happened to see it, is readily explained by a perusal of it in all its absurdity. In reproducing it, good taste must, for the moment, defer to historical necessity. This is the form in which the ” oath ” was circulated on fly-sheets and dodgers in various parts of the country:
I, _______. now in presence of Almighty God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the blessed St. John the Baptist, the Holy Apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, and all the saints, sacred host of Heaven, and to you, my ghostly father, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, founded by Ignatius Loyola, in the pontification of Paul III, and continued to the present, do by the womb of the Virgin, the matrix of God, and the rod of Jesus Christ, declare and swear that His Holiness, the Pope, is Christ’s vice-regent and is the true and only head of the Catholic or Universal Church throughout the earth ; and that, by virtue of the keys of binding and loosing given His Holiness by my Savior, Jesus Christ, he hath power to depose heretical kings, princes, states, commonwealths and governments, and they may be safely destroyed. Therefore, to the utmost of my power, I will defend this doctrine and His Holiness’ right I, now in presence of Almighty God, the and custom against all usurpers of the heretical or Protestant authority whatever, especially the Lutheran Church of Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, and the now pretended authority and Churches of England and Scotland, and the branches of same now established in Ireland and on the continent of America and elsewhere, and all adherents, in regard that they may be usurped and heretical, opposing the sacred Mother Church of Rome.
I do now denounce and disown any allegiance due to any heretical king, prince or state, named Protestant or Liberals, or obedience to any of their laws, magistrates or officers.
I do further declare that the doctrine of the Churches of England and Scotland, of the Calvinists, Huguenots and others of the name ‘of Protestants or Masons, to be damnable, and they themselves to be damned who will not forsake the same.
I do further declare that I will help, assist and advise all or any of His Holiness’ agents, in any place where I should be, in Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Ireland or America, or in any other kingdom or territory I shall come to, and do my utmost to extirpate the heretical Protestant or Masonic doctrines, and to destroy all their pretended powers, legal or otherwise.
I do further promise and declare that, notwithstanding I am dispensed with to assume any religion heretical for the propagation of the Mother Church’s interest, to keep secret and private all her agents’ counsels from time to time, as they entrust me, and not divulge, directly or indirectly, by word, writing or circumstances whatever, but to execute all that should be proposed, given in charge, or discovered unto me, by you my Ghostly Father, or any of this sacred order.
I do further promise and declare that I will have no opinion or will of my own or any mental reservation whatsoever, even as a corpse or cadaver (perinde ac cadaver), but will unhesitatingly obey each and every command that I may receive from my superiors in the militia of the Pope and of Jesus Christ.
That I will go to any part of the world whithersoever I may be sent, to the frozen regions of the north, jungles of India, to the centers of civilization of Europe, or to the wild haunts of the barbarous savages of America without murmuring or repining, and will be submissive in all things what- soever is communicated to me.
I do further promise and declare that I will, when opportunity presents, make and wage relentless war, secretly and openly, against all heretics, Protestants and Masons, as I am directed to do, to extirpate them from the face of the whole earth; and that I will spare neither age, sex or condition, and that I will hang, burn, waste, boil, flay, strangle and bury alive those infamous heretics; rip up the stomachs and wombs of their women, and crush their infants’ heads against the walls, in order to annihilate their execrable race. That when the same cannot be done openly, I will secretly use the poison cup, the strangulation cord, the steel of the poinard, or the leaden bullet, regardless of the honor, rank, dignity or authority of the persons, whatever may be their condition in life, either public or private, as I at any time may be directed so to do, by any agents of the Pope, or Superior of the Brotherhood of the Holy Father of the Society of Jesus.
In confirmation of which I hereby dedicate my life, soul and all corporal powers, and with the dagger which I now receive I will subscribe my name, written in my blood, in testimony thereof, and should I prove false or weaken in my determination, may my brethren and fellow soldiers of the militia of the Pope cut off my hands and feet and my throat from ear to ear, my belly opened and sulphur burned therein with all the punishment that can be inflicted upon me on earth and my soul shall be tortured by demons in eternal hell forever.
That I will in voting always vote for a K. of C. in preference to a Protestant, especially a Mason, and that I will leave my party to do so; that if two Catholics are on the ticket I will satisfy myself which is the better supporter of Mother Church and vote accordingly.
That I will not deal with or employ a Protestant if in my power to deal with or employ a Catholic; that I will place Catholic girls in Protestant families that a weekly report may be made of the inner movements of the heretics.
That I will provide myself with arms and ammunition that I may be in readiness when the word is passed or I am commanded to defend the Church, either as an individual or with the militia of the Pope.
There is, as the Editor of Brann’s Iconoclast pointed out when he arraigned the circulators of the ” oath ” in 1913, ample internal evidence to justify condemnation of the composition as a foolish fiction ; but the Knights found that the ” oath ” was used not as a merely innocent experiment in comparative credulity by gentlemen who sold it in various parts of the country, but as an instrument to defame the characters of public men. The “oath” was filed as an exhibit by Mr. Eugene C. Bonniwell of Pennsylvania in his charge against Thomas S. Butler before the Committee of Elections No. 1, in Congress, when Mr. Bonniwell stated that it had been used against him as a Fourth Degree Knight of Columbus in an election contest. Mr. Butler, in his defense, stated that he had refrained from condemning the “oath”, until election day, although he did not believe it to be genuine, because he feared to give it “notoriety” Far from being disconcerted by the airing of this delectable document in Congress, those profiting by its circulation seized upon its inclusion in the Congressional Record to give it an air of authority by printing on future copies the annotation ” Copied from the Congressional Record, Washington, D. C, Vol. 49, Pt. 4, Feb. 15, 1913 P. 3216,” not pausing, however, to explain the circumstances under which it was allowed to appear in that official journal.
When two men, Charles Megonegal, a printer, and Clarence H. Stage, a barber, were charged by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with circulating the ” oath ” in February, 1913, “willfully and maliciously exposing/’ so the charge read, the Knights of Columbus as a body, Charles B. Dowds, upon whose affidavit the arrests were made, James A. Flaherty, the Supreme Knight, and Philip A. Hart, Master of the Fourth Degree, to public hatred, contempt and ridicule, to their great damage, dis- grace, scandal and infamy,” the first step was taken in a series of prosecutions which terminated the enterprise of those circulating the ” oath Supreme Knight Flaherty, on the stand testified that, ” This alleged oath is a tissue of falsehoods from the first word to the last — absolutely false. This prosecution was brought simply to vindicate the Knights of Columbus on account of the wide circulation given to this vile and scurrilous circular, the purpose of which was to breed strife and arouse religious bigotry. The alleged oath is absolutely baseless, and of such a flagrant character that it is indeed surprising that anyone would give it the slightest credence. It was so persistently circulated that the Knights of Columbus were compelled to take steps to refute it, and we thought criminal prosecution would be the best way to do it”
Megonegal pleaded guilty and Stage nolo contendere, and the prosecution expressed its willingness that sentence be suspended. But the attorney for one of the defendants, Mr. Leroy N. King, brought out interesting evidence of the source of the “oath” when he wrote the Menace Publishing Co., of Aurora, 111., reminding them that in their issue of March 1, 1913, they professed themselves as “prepared to print and distribute the complete ritual and secret work of the Knights of Columbus” He stated that the defendants in the case had no knowledge of the authenticity of the “oath,” “having received it in the first instance from your company, and they naturally rely upon you to aid them in their present difficulty.”
Mr. King, under date of March 5th, 1913, received an enlightening reply from the Menace Publishing Company. “The alleged oath,” the letter said in part, “which your clients in Philadelphia were arrested for distributing, was circulated in practically every state during the late [1912] campaign and the demand made upon us for this document was something great, and we had received copies of them from so many sources we simply printed and handled them as we would any other job [sic] of printing, to supply the demand, and while we have no apologies for so doing, we do not have any evidence that the oath is the one which is taken by the Knights of Columbus.
“We feel sure that it would be folly for you to undertake to base your defense on the authenticity of this document “
This frank statement, indited on a letter-head bearing in vivid type the words ” The Roman Catholic Machine, The Deadliest Menace to American Liberties and Civilization ” is an edifying exposition of the professional bigot’s soul. Incidentally, the reference to political malpractice in this letter, serves to emphasize the need for the Commission on Religious Prejudices which the Knights of Columbus established two years later.
On July 29, 1914, in Waterville, Minnesota, A. M. Morrison and Garfield E. Morrison, editors and publishers of the Mankato Morning Journal were brought to trial by the State for charging E. M. Lawless, editor of the Waterville Sentinel, with having taken the ” oath.” The case excited great local interest. Two Supreme Officers of the Order, Supreme Physician E. W. Buckley and Supreme Secretary William J. McGinley, were called upon to testify. Dr. Buckley had been present when Mr. Lawless took the Fourth Degree. Mr. McGinley, in his testimony, declared that the Knights of Columbus was not an oath-bound society, nor a secret society, and at this trial the pledge taken by Fourth Degrees members on initiation was inserted as a State exhibit. It read :
I swear to support the Constitution of the United States. I pledge myself, as a Catholic citizen and Knight of Columbus, to enlighten myself fully upon my duties as a citizen and to conscientiously perform such duties entirely in the interest of my country and regardless of all personal consequences. I pledge myself to do all in my power to preserve the integrity and purity of the ballot, and to promote reverence and respect for law and order. I promise to practice my religion openly and consistently, but without ostentation, and to so conduct myself in public affairs, and in the exercise of public virtue as to reflect nothing but credit upon our Holy Church, to the end that she may flourish and our country prosper to the greater honor and glory of God.
Rather an effective contrast to the bogus ” oath,” worthy of the most ardent imagining of Eugene Sue or Leo Taxil.
A gratifying result of the conviction of the two defendants was a letter sent by the Reverend Thomas Billing, a Methodist minister who served as foreman of the jury, to Mr. Fred Bierman, editor of the Decorah, la., Journal, in which Mr. Billing summarized the case under four heads: “1. The publication of the so-called oath in the defendants’ paper was proven. 2. Its diabolical character was proven. 3. Its circulation in Waterville was proven by the Reverend H; P. Chapman, Pastor of the Congregationalist Church of that city. 4. Its utter and complete falsity was proven by two witnesses of the highest standing in the Order, viz., Dr. Buckley of St. Paul and Mr. William J. McGinley of New York.” ” Such things,” Mr. Billing truly commented, after adding that a pseudo-nun had also appeared in the locality, ” exhibit the strange anomaly of a religion of love producing the keenest haters, and a gospel of peace engendering strife and animosity more bitter than the disputes and rivalries of the most profane.”
In St. John’s, Newfoundland, another case was tried, Mr. Charles O’Neill Conroy being the complainant against Mr. Charles A. Swift. The defendant pleaded guilty and apologized and the proceedings were withdrawn.
In Seattle, Washington, in 1912 the circulation of the “oath” led the local Knights to place the authentic Fourth Degree pledge and the bogus “oath” before a committee of non-Catholic gentlemen, who, in a newspaper statement, branded the bogus document as “a blasphemous and horrible travesty upon the real ‘ oath/ ” and declared that ” the obligation taken by the Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus is one of loyalty and patriotism to our flag and nation.” The gentlemen were Messrs. H. C. Henry, railroad contractor, J. D. Lowman, President of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce and J. E. Chilberg, banker. The Olympia Clericus, an organization of Episcopal clergymen, passed a resolution regretting the circulation of the “oath.”
In Los Angeles in 1914, the State Deputy of California submitted the entire work, ceremonies and pledges of the Order to a committee of Freemasons made up of Messrs. Motley Hewes Flint, 33rd Degree Past Grand Master of Masons of California; Dana Reid Weller, 32nd Degree Past Grand Master of Masons of California; William Rhodes Hervey, 33rd Degree Past Master and Master of Scottish Rite Lodge, and Samuel E. Burke, 32nd Degree Past Master and Inspector of Masonic District. These gentlemen issued the following statement:
We hereby certify that by authority of the highest officer of the Knights of Columbus in the State of California, who acted under instructions from the Supreme Officer of the Order in the United States, we were furnished a complete copy of all the work, ceremonies and pledges used by the Order, and that we carefully read, discussed and examined the same. We found that while the Order is in a sense a secret association, it is not an oath bound organization and that its ceremonies are comprised in four degrees, which are intended to teach and inculcate principles that lie at the foundation of every great religion and every free state. Our examination of these ceremonials and obligations was made primarily for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not a certain alleged oath of the Knights of Columbus, which has been printed and widely circulated, was in fact used by the Order and whether if it was not used, any oath, obligation, or pledge was used which was or would be offensive to Protestants or Masons, or those who are engaged in circulating a document of peculiar viciousness and wickedness. We find that neither the alleged oath nor any oath or pledge bearing the remotest resemblance thereto in matter, manner, spirit, or purpose is used or forms a part of the ceremonies of any degree of the Knights of Columbus. The alleged oath is scurrilous, wicked, and libelous and must be the invention of an impious and venomous mind. We find that the Order of Knights of Columbus, as shown by its rituals, is dedicated to the Catholic religion, charity, and patriotism. There is no propaganda proposed or taught against Protestants or Masons or persons not of Catholic faith. Indeed, Protestants and Masons are not referred to directly or indirectly in the ceremonials and pledges. The ceremonial of the Order teaches a high and noble patriotism, instills a love of country, inculcates a reverence for law and order, urges the conscientious and unselfish performance of civic duty and holds up the Constitution of our Country as the richest and most precious possession of a Knight of the Order. We can find nothing in the entire ceremonials of the Order that to our minds could be objected to by any person.
A committee of forty-eight prominent non-Catholic citizens of Indianapolis, in 1914, published in local newspapers the result of their examination of the facts and litigation concerning the bogus oath. ” Knowing,” they declared, after a summary of the history of the “oath” cases, “that the ‘fake oath’ is false we hold that all good citizens will join us in denouncing its circulation in Marion County and in Indiana, to the end that people of all creeds may dwell in peace and harmony as becomes the highest ideals of true and patriotic American citizenship.”
The editor of a Socialist newspaper in Santa Cruz, California, had a collision with the law when he published the “oath” in October, 1914. Since that time, there has been sporadic circulation of the “oath” as by a person named Crane in Oklahoma in 1917 and by various persons apprehended and charged with pro-German activity during the war. In all cases where the Knights of Columbus have taken part in the prosecution, they have not pressed the case once guilt was admitted by the culprits.
In an affidavit attached to a pamphlet issued by the Knights concerning the bogus oath, Supreme Knight James A. Flaherty, Supreme Secretary William J. McGinley and Supreme Advocate Joseph C. Pelletier, declared that “no oath is required, asked for, received or given directly or indirectly in any of the foregoing [rituals, ceremonials and proceedings] or otherwise in the Knights of Columbus; that the alleged Knights of Columbus or Fourth Degree oath is absolutely and unqualifiedly false.”
Amazing as it is that this puerile defamation of the Fourth Degree should have received wide circulation followed doubtless, by belief, it is still more amazing that a publication such as The Menace, confessedly unscrupulous, should be permitted to sow suspicion, lies and strife among citizens of this country. True, the paper has been expelled from certain cities and the Postmaster General of Canada barred it from the Canadian mails, although specimens of almost equally scurrilous, anti-Catholic journalism are tolerated within the borders of the Dominion.
It is difficult to reconcile the spirit of the Declaration of Independence and of the Constitution of the United States with even a mild toleration of false and malicious attacks on any group of American citizens. However, as might be expected, the campaign against the Knights of Columbus through the Fourth Degree has succeeded only in rendering the position of the Order more secure in the public mind and the degree more attractive. It is an institution known and respected; it not only serves its original purpose, by inspiring members to progress in the beneficial lessons taught by Columbianism, but is solicitous to find and industrious in pursuing special operations that augment the fraternal and civic effectiveness of the Order as a whole. There is ample reason for the declaration of the Supreme Master in one of his official messages, that “the Fourth Degree is an asset of the Nation.”
Taken from The Knights of Columbus In Peace and War, Vol. 1, Chap. VII, By Egan, Maurice Francis; Kennedy, John James Bright. (1920)