secrecy-oaths

The chapter opens with a strict vow against revealing signs or passwords, highlighting the importance of secrecy within certain social or professional groups.

1 chapter across 1 book

Pandaemonium: The Coming of the Machine as Seen by Contemporary Observers 1660-1886 (1985)Humphrey Jennings

10. I will never make known any signs, tokens, passwords, or guess, or write them on stones, sand, wood, tin, lead, or anything visible or invisible to the eye.

This chapter presents a series of historical excerpts from the early 19th century reflecting on secrecy oaths, industrial cooperation, scientific observations, and social crises such as cholera outbreaks. It includes vivid accounts of fossil discoveries, labor reform activism, and the devastating arrival of cholera in Manchester, illustrating the intersection of emerging industrial society, scientific inquiry, and public health challenges. The texts collectively reveal tensions between technological progress, social order, and human vulnerability during the early machine age.