539


a  number  from  Ohio,  Indiana,  Michigan,  Wiscon-
sin, Iowa  and  Minnesota.  At  this  meeting  a
Committee  was  appointed  to  prepare  a  plan  of
organization  for  a  National  Grand  Council,  which
was  carried  out  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  on  the  20th
of  May  following — the  constitution,  ritual  and
signs  of  the  Illinois  organization  being  adopted
with  slight  modifications.  The  levised  obligation
— taken  upon  the  Bible,  the  Declaration  of  Inde-
pendence and  the  Constitution  of  the  United
States — bound  members  of  the  League  to  "sup-
port, protect  and  defend  the  Government  of  the
United  States  and  the  flag  thereof,  against  all
enemies,  foreign  and  domestic,"  and  to  "bear  true
faith  and  allegiance  to  the  same";  to  "defend
the  State  against  invasion  or  insurrection";  to
support  only  "true  and  reliable  men"  for  offices
of  trust  and  profit;  to  protect  and  defend
worthy  members,  and  to  preserve  inviolate  the
secrets  of  the  order.  The  address  to  new  mem-
bers was  a  model  of  impressiveness  and  a  powerful
appeal  to  their  patriotism.  The  organization
extended  rapidly,  not  only  throughout  the  North-
west, but  in  the  South  also,  especially  in  the
army.  In  1864  the  number  of  Councils  in  Illinois
was  estimated  at  1,300,  with  a  membership  of
175,000;  and  it  is  estimated  that  the  total  mem-
bership, throughout  the  Union,  was  2,000,000.
