Show tho the yellow ollow I oarb one of the strangest judicial proceedings perhaps over witnessed la is that of tho the chinaman ta taking king what ho he Is to call tho the yellow oath 11 the oath or declaration is always written on a piece of sacrovil sa croil paper and is as follows this la is to call the spirits both good and evil to descend and watch over tho the trial of who is charged with murdering if I 1 swear falsely arid and tell one untruth or do not make statements according to the facts in tho the ca caw cao o I 1 humbly beg the celestial terrestrial spirits to redress the wrong done to and to punish me immediately for having been a false witness to arrest my soul in its ita light flight to mako make rno me perish by the sword or to cause canse mo me to dio die while on oil the sea tar far from homo home this ellis la Is my true and solemn oath uttered by my own lips and signed by m arl this the day of the month mon tb lit in tho the year of tho the reign of the emperor and in proof ot of tho the of my declarations may my sold bo do de strayed as I 1 now desti destroy oy this paper by tire fire immediately after the witness finishes reading his hia yellow oath a lighted 0 candle is ia handed to him bin and the paper is given as food for the flames to the writers certain knowledge this form of oath has been adminis administer tei ed but once in ili an air Amo american court of justice during the trial of wong ah foo fee who was as accused of murdering lot ah om gull at san francisco in 1883 1833 in chi ahina na the candle canalo used in ili this extraordinary ceremonial is made from the fat of criminals crim inala who havo have undergone under gono the death penalty st lows louis republic |