organized on her territory, the K. K. K. had reached its highest growth in
numbers and strength of resources, and announced itself ready and anxious
to meet the army in buckram, whom it asserted represented the cause of
misgovernment on Tennessee soil. Its plans were quickly developed, and the
destruction of a half dozen or more dark-lantern societies, which lay more
on the surface of things than was thought to be polite, alarmed the State
functionaries, and called attention to their proceedings in a form quite
as disagreeable as the most ultra of the party could have desired. The
subject first came before the legislature, and steps were taken which it
was presumed would "put a head on the monster" (to literally quote one of
the Buncombe addresses before that august body), but the indescribable
nonchalance of the proceedings, which seemed directed at a child's
toy-house rather than a nest of boa constrictors, only excited the K.'s to
new activity. A Governor's proclamation was next called for; soon
afterwards secret measures were instituted looking to the employment of a
force of detectives; and finally, the militia were summoned to assemble,
but, despite all, the crooked wonder grew, and the more industrious the
efforts put forth to curtail its existence the more it grew and the
greater the occasion it saw for this exertion.

In the summer of this year, the members of the legislature of Tennessee,
in council assembled, pronounced the State a Ku-Klux barracks, and
resolved themselves unsafe in their granite citadel at Nashville. The
League head-quarters in various parts of the State were succumbing one by
one to the new element of conquest, and, indeed, the State seemed on the
eve of a revolution, by which, if no more serious results were attained,
its territory would be rendered untenable for that class of its population
which was known to its enemies as the dark-lantern faction. In this
emergency, the leaders of the L. L. resolved to call a State council of
the Order, over whose deliberations the Governor should preside, and whose
object would be to devise ways and means for the destruction of their
troublesome enemies. Great preparations were made accordingly, and without
divulging their plans, it was resolved, at the conclusion of the secret
proceedings, to hold a mass meeting at the capital which should review the
whole subject. This body assembled at the specified date, but not before
the rival party had become fully acquainted with its plans and purposes,
and in convention assembled resolved upon counter measures.

On the very evening which the Council had set apart for its introductory
proceedings (in the city of Nashville), the indefatigable K.'s had issued
commands throughout the State requiring every member of the Order to
report at his Den head-quarters for special service. A force of spies was
dispatched to the neighborhood of the League Council, and the brief
period which was to elapse before the Solons would arrive and enter upon
the solemn business in hand was appropriated by these secret agents, and
their co-conspirators in other neighborhoods, to the work of obtaining
information from deserters, chance prisoners, etc., as to the exact
location and surroundings of the League places of rendezvous throughout
the State. Indeed, while the League had busied itself with a very red
conflagration devoted to the Ku-Klux fat, whensoever they should overtake
that slippery substance, the much persecuted "krookeds" had doubled back
on them, and only awaited a fair wind to convert their little game into a
"double reversible," quite as complicated as any that had dawned upon the
patent-machine mind previous to that date.

A war of extermination against the League had been resolved upon months
before by the leaders of the Klan, but a favorable moment for a decisive
blow, or the emergency requiring it, had not arrived, until both were
visible in the proposed State council of the Order and the objects it
would consider. Now, destiny seemed rushing upon them, and the time almost
too brief to make an intelligent feint on the enemy's front. But
promptness of stratagem, and rapid development of passing advantages, was
perhaps the strongest point in the military character of the distinguished
leader of this movement, for where others halted, awed by the proportions
of an undertaking, or the suddenness of combinations effected in their
front, he only felt an inspiration to go forward. The force which
participated in the attack on the evening of ---- 19th, 1866, did not fall
far short of one hundred thousand men, and yet, thirty-six hours previous
to this time, the occasion had not presented itself to the mind of the
veteran who planned the attack as suitable therefor. A well organized and
lightly-equipped force proved unquestionably a _sine qua non_ in rendering
the dispositions of the commander successful; but we doubt if it would be
fair to subtract this circumstance from the glory of the undertaking, if
the reader is informed that it had been developed from the same ingenious
source with special reference thereto.

In the attack which followed, each Den constituted an independent force,
and was under the immediate command of the Grand Cyclops. Indeed, no other
officer was known on the field, though it was sufficiently apparent, at
the time, that each had received his allotted task from a superior, and it
was afterwards divulged that they had acted under written orders. At ten
o'clock precisely, the commands moved (from the various points of
rendezvous selected), and were allotted one hour to each ten miles of
distance to be traversed. They were in full uniform, and though they
carried arms, were commanded not to fire, nor to return a fire, except
under orders. _En route_ they avoided public roads and dense settlements,
and on approaching their destination changed the order of march (by twos)
to close column by fours, when the command was "charge." After the
building, which formed the object of attack, came in view, no time was to
be lost, and its investment completed as rapidly as possible. Attempted
refugees were to be forced back within the walls, and in no event was an
escape to be permitted. A party of six resolute men were detached from
each squadron for special duty, in securing the papers, books, and other
written documents of the League meeting, and this movement was so far
pivotal in its character, that their comrades were commanded to keep their
proceedings in view, and be ready at a signal to render them assistance.
After a thorough search of the premises had been accomplished, the
dismounted men without were commanded to take their station within the
building, and form the hollow-square of the order.

As so much has been said concerning this feature of their drill, and so
little really known, we give the exact figure in the cut below. It may be
imitated by arranging two letters K with their backs to each other, and
doubtless originated from this device.

     [Illustration: Ku-Klux Hollow-square.]

This ghostly evolution having been performed, and the trembling Leaguers
finding themselves invested at every point, the Grand Cyclops had orders
to ascend the rostrum, and from that elevated position deliver to the
(constructive) culprits an oath whose principal features were as follows:
To forever abjure all allegiance to the secret organization known as the
Loyal League; to cease to employ the elective franchise as an instrument
of oppression against the white population of the State; to forsake the
acquaintance of all men, irrespective of party, who sought to profit by
their votes; and finally, to abstain, under pain of the severest
penalties; from all efforts to investigate or otherwise disturb the
mystical beings who stood before them, and who, at some future time, if
deemed expedient, would accord them further and more convincing proofs of
their ghostly genealogy. This command having been executed, the lights
were to be blown out at a signal, and the parties, disappearing by the
most secret routes possible, to hasten forward to a point of rendezvous
one mile distant.

Such was the plan of campaign resolved upon by the Grand Wizard and his
advisers; and that it was successful in every particular is a fact which
we need hardly repeat, in view of the numerous hints conveyed in the
written history of those times. While the State Council of the Loyal
League was guessing itself dry over the great "konundrum," and, at the
same time, making such a _sine die_ disposition of its remains as was
rendered feasible by broadsides of eloquence and sixthlies of courageous
resolve, that lively "korps(e)" had frisked from its abode, and with the
alacrity of a "monkey on a trapeze-bar" (in the language of the
oil-regions) "went through them."

CHAPTER X.

THE LOYAL LEAGUE IN COUNCIL.

     Speech of Hon. Bones Button before the State Council of the Loyal
     League--What followed--Amusing Contretemps.

Mr. Cheermon, and Gemmens: Der crisis am upon us. I repeats, surs, and
wishes dat dis obserwashun should sink down into de conclusibness ob ebery
individooal who heers me. Der Ku--crisis am upon us. As a member of dis
spectifle body, I am de las' pusson who would wish to use my perfesshun to
cover up dis sollum trufe. We is stannin', Mr. Cheermon, upon de ragged
confouns ob de bloody kazzum; and I repeats, dat de question for us to
solve dis ebenin' is: Shall we go fowards, or be pushed fowards.
[Sensation.] Fur be it frum me to "sing de song ob de sirum" when de
liberties ob de black man am inwaded, and de nasshumal honor is bein'
piled in de dust by de rabble (rebel) asstocracy. But, surs, lookin' up to
de umbragus folds ob dat spar-strangled banner, I is impressed with anoder
conclushun, and it is in dese wurds follerin, to wit: We is occupyin' de
ticklish edge ob a dillemmer, in de lite ob which de man who crossed de
Rubimcom am but a faint epistle. Yes, my spectifle feller-bredren, to use
a catephoricle flower ob de tropics, we have arriv' at a tite spot. We am
obfusticated, so to speak. [Assenting groans throughout the assembly.] Den
de riddle for us to read dis ebenin', in de light ob dese distressin'
surkumstances, is: What ar' to be did? In addressin' de collectiv' wisdum
of dis orguss resemblage, I axes, is we to go fowards? Is we to wait till
de nex' ebenin' or de nex' year? Is we to fold our hans behind our bax,
and hole our bref suspinely until de Klu-Krux animile has squatted hisself
squar' down on our liberties? Is we, I ax, to bump down in de middle ob
dat rode whar' de Klu-Krux Juggernox goes tootin' majestercally along over
de dethroned carcasses ob de black man, and whar you may holler peace!
peace! but you can't be heard; and you wouldn't be notissed if you was.

But, Mr. Cheermon, before perceedin' fudder wid de docturnal pints of dis
discusshun, I shall have sumfin to say in respex to Klu-Krux-Klam from a
scienticular pint of obserwashun. How is dis, I ax? Whar is de gettin' out
place, de tail, so to speak, of dis conundrum? [A pause, during which
several members are observed to scratch their heads meditatively.] Dar am
a proverb which says, "Ketch a Klu-Krux before you puts him to _def_," or
words to dat effec. Dat feature of de bizness I disposes to ten' to in
pusson, Mr. Cheermon, and if I can git de contention of de brilyunt
dissembly what sits in judgment upon dis and oder topics dis ebenin', I
will open de merits of dis opinyun to de verymost chile in understandin'.
Sposen dat we takes dese wurds, "Klu Krux Klam," as dey 'peers in de
original Greek, and transplants dem into de original Inglish. Take de word
Klu, dat wurd about which dare has been so much unsiantickle sputin, and
what is dare in it? Is dare an individooal under de soun' of my voice who
duzzent know de orfograthy of a wurd of three monysimples? Is dare, I
axes, in dis orguss body, a pusson who is sich a babe in understandin' dat
he duzzent know dat b-a-k-e-r spells baccer? Den I say to my spectifle
feller-sitterzens, dat if you will take de wurd Klu, and hang its ole
fashyun'd Inglish close on it, dat it will spell "clew," and if dat is so,
what fudder clew could you have to dis whole subjec'? [A member here rose
to a point of order, objecting to the "orfograthy" of the Hon. Bones'
premise, and claiming that the word under discussion was not "klu," but
"ku." There is no telling what this might have resulted in, if the
individual had been provided with documentary proof of his statement; but
as he was not, he was compelled to retire amid the jeers of the audience
and the loud taunts of the speaker, who elevated himself on a bench in
order that his rhetoric in this instance might have its full effect.] Den,
my feller-sitterzens, if de wurd "klu" means what it says it duz, de wurd
"krux" means krux, and de wurd "klam" means klam--dat is to say, if the
wurd klu means _clew_, neither of dese wurds means nuffin'. Dat pint is
suffishuntly clur to a man up a tree, and no doubt is understood by de
gemmen who spells "klu" widout a l.

But, cummin' back to de merits of de discushun, I disposes now, Mr.
Cheermon, to angeline de word klu, which, as I has before tuk occashun to
say, is de clew to dis whole mystery. Let us taik de consummant k, which
is de indecks letter, and pints to what follers. Duz dis letter have any
siggerfication apart from its connectin' links in dis wurd, or duz it hav
such a siggerfication? I beleevs dat de intellumgence of every pusson in
dis orgunce, if I may except one individooal, will bar me out dat it duz.
Dat pint bein' settled in a excloosive way, which, I may sugges', is much
de smallest part of de wurk, we must now perceed to find de siggerfication
aforesed, and de logickle delusions upon which it rests. What, may I ax,
duz de letter k stan' fur? Duz it stan' for cow? Is dare a pusson in dis
orgunce, who will lif' his head and dissert that k stans for cow? Wall, if
it duzzent stan' for cow, is it a far prejux for crow? Would a cup set on
its flatness, Mr. Cheermon, with rich a handle as k to it? Will the gemmen
who spells klu widout a l, pertend to spell cat widout a c? I persoom not.
Wall, then, my feller-sitterzens, if k duzzent stan' for cow; if it is too
crooked for cup; if it wooldn't spell crow widout bein' turned wrong side
foremos'; if it duzzent suit the gemmen's noshuns of cat; an' is too
crooked and not crooked enough for "crooked," den what, may I ax, duz dis
unekest of alfybetic frenonymongs outline wid de adumkate purpyscruity. If
it am eber used as de forefix fur knife, knot, knob, knock-under, and sich
like, it ar' bekase its crookedness let it out'n de rite paf, and not
'kase it felt called on in de way of tendin' to its own bizness.

But no diffunce if it do fail in oder respex, my feller-sitterzens, it
won't do to say dat dis consummant k am a failure, and ostrumsize it from
de langwidge. I am not one ob dose dat am committed to de beleef dat it am
a bow-legged nonjuscrip, a onaccountable freak of de English alfybet, an'
good for nuffin but to lean up agin more spectifle consummants, and thow
de lines out'n shape.

An' if dat be de sollum trufe, I pauses once more to ax whar is de stitch
in de temple of langwidge dat dis alfumbettycle beformity was made to
order to fit into, so to speak. What ar' its mishun in de worl', and how
is we to arrive at dat pint. In diggin' about de roots of dis boss
conundrum, Mr. Cheermon, we wants to have nuffin to do wid scientifficle
reductions, nor logickle abscraptions, as we understans de metumsquizzicle
bearin' ob dose terms; but, on de oder han', if the court am exquainted
wid her own diktum, and she think she do, we feels bemooved to argify
strate to de pint in hand. Now, in respex to de consummant beforesed, I
taiks de hi groun' dat if dere is any offis dat it can fill better than
any oder consummant, dat, dat am its mishun. Or to miscomterpret my
persac meanin' wid more purpyscruity, if dare is enny spot in de presinks
of de langwidge dat can't navumgate widout it, and dat it can't navumgate
widout, dat, _dat_ am de shoo fur it to war. Havin' adjostled dat pint to
de weakes' understandin', we nex' inquire if dere is enny wurd in de
dickshummary dat can't be spelt into a syllumble widout de ade of dis
consummant. I taix it upon miself to say, Mr. Cheermon, dat dere is such a
word, and widout enny furder surcumloscrution, or bein' too pertickler
about de orrytorrycal effec of mere metumsquorricle figgurs of speech, I
will perceed to denounce it in your heerin'. (Sotto voce.) Kill. (A pause,
followed by a lumbering sound and the disappearance of two woolly crowns.)

I trus', Mr. Cheermon, dat dis am considered no interbumption, an' if enny
oder brudder should feel discomposed to roll off de bench jurin de fudder
discontinuance of dese remarks, it won't be tuk as no mark of misrespex to
the gemmen who has de floor. But, to rejerk to de subjec' in ban'. De bes'
excepted, and de only excepted, siggerfication of de consummant k, am de
mistickle wurd just denounced in your hearin', and I shall ax you to
squeeze dat pint, while I maix a rapid sarch over dickshummary groun' for
de indecks belongins of de rejineder part of dis word klu, dat is, de
consummant l, and de avowal u. In respex to de consummant l, I would wish
to say in de fust place, fustly, dat the mixtur' of learned doubts
enterin' into its conjugation am not near so obfusticatin' as de las'
beforesed, an' dat havin' obtaned de persac fractional squantum of de
befogoin, we can, as it wur, look fowards to subsumquent revolutions of de
topic. Darfore, widout enterin' into de rejux system of argyfyin fudder
dan to appli de rools dat was foun' to wurk so hamboniously in respex to
de las' named, we arrives at de delusion dat de mos' acceptumble
renderation of de consummant l is to be foun' in de mistickle terms lick,
licks, and "lick 'em," or de las' beforesed in purtickler, or all three in
purpentickler. Now, if enny brudder whose sperience and obserwashun am
purtickler sensitiv on dis pint, feels cauled upon to say dat de most
pinted complication of dis consummant is to be foun' in de word "lam," or
dat it was made to order for de word "lash," or was put into de alfumbet
wid special reffermence to de wurd "larrup," or was made out'n whole clof
as a prehitch for "lambaste," I will 'low him dat privumlege, and widout
been outdone in dishonorableness, will give him de floor when I discludes.

In pointrefax, Mr. Cheermon, when we looks at all de crosses and dotses of
dis argyment, when we sees all its pros and cros, de delusion am forced
upon us, _roles bolus_ (nolens volens), so to speak, and in de langwidge
of one of our country's most illustrious poicks, "Dat do settle it."

Havin' foun' den, my feller-sitterzens, by jiggernometrical injuction, de
persac valyer of de quantitums k and l in de trombonial k-l-u, we will
now perceed to exburden our conshusness of sum thoughts havin' reffermence
to de avowal u. If dat which needs no splainin' may be made de subjec' of
splainatory logic, widout on de oder han' rejucin' de speaker to de
distressin' condishun of hyperbolus, I shall, in a brefe space of time,
more or less, egshibit to dis orgunce de close anallumgy dat exists
betwixt de avowal u, and de pussonal pronoun "you." I takes it for
granted, Mr. Cheermon, dat every individooal dat has a place in dis orguss
resemblage, am fermilliar, either by "hearsay" or "theysay," wid dat
principul of de Common Law dat purvides dat whar wurds are to be
miscomterpreted, dat de meanin' is to be fastened onto um what am neares'
at han', and dat if dey am already purvided wid a resonably far
siggerfication, dat it shall be onlawful to prowl off in sarch of one what
soots yer better. Dat pint bein' settled, I will not do enny gemmen in dis
orgunce de misrespex to persoom dat if a Klu-Krux wur to pint a six-bar'l
blunderbuss under his oil-factory of smell, and say "you," as loud and
suddint as a clap of armytillery, dat he would disclude dat he meant sum
odder feller, and fail to locomoshy in de odder direction. Takin' den, my
feller-sitterzens, de consummants k and l in de trombonial (trinomial)
k-l-u, and it will be seen dat dey have close refermence to de avowal u,
and _visum versum_, and dat in dese three alfumbettycle cosines, and de
mistickle siggerfication detached to each, ar' de whole substanshuation
of de mystiffercation of de Klu-Krux-Klam.

Den, Mr. Cheermon and feller-sitterzens, if dese be de mos' obdurous
intenshuns of dose ruffumlians, duz it not, let me ax, bemoove this loil
body to take immejit steps to surcumvalidate, deturrimerate,
homswogglemerate, and murder-r-r-- [This expression stuck in the speaker's
throat, for, being attracted from the up-stairs of his eloquence by what
he at first mistook for an outburst of enthusiasm on the part of his
hearers, but was afterwards induced to believe proceeded from some more
serious cause, he looked around him upon great waves of panic that lashed
the building from side to side--at first converting all obstacles into a
causeway for their terror, but at length flowing into currents that beat
strongest where the drifts of wrecked and storm-tossed furniture formed
artificial banks. Having the organ of comparison well developed among the
other faculties, the brain of the statesman took in the situation at once;
for, observing with what success doors and windows were swept from their
moorings at the heads of the retreating columns, he saw the twenty or more
ghostly embodiments that occupied his rear in imagination only, and,
hesitating for one instant, he joined the assault on the "imminent
breach," ballasting his flight with cries that bore a marvellous
resemblance to the changes of which the last word of the "befogoin" is
susceptible. Reaching a neighboring window at the end of two vigorous
jumps, he passed out into the night--a distance of "eighteen foot in the
clur," as he afterwards testified--and regaining his feet and the top of
his bent simultaneously, "the startled ear of outer darkness" heard
something like the report "murder," at brief intervals of time
accommodated to long intervals of space, for about the period employed by
an Erie express train in exhausting a winter horizon.]

CHAPTER XI.

EFFECTS PRODUCED. A PERIOD OF ALARM.

     Excitement throughout the State--Scenes at the Capitol--Metropolitan
     Arrests resisted--Secret Police--Government Officials Notified of the
     Extent of the Disaster--A Quorum of the Legislative or Judicial
     Bodies not Attainable--No Departures from the City--The K. K. K.
     Cabal Receiving that Attention from Caucusing Legislators which its
     Importance Demanded--What the State Judiciary Demanded--A Mob at the
     State-House--At Sunset the Situation Unchanged--A Sortie from the
     Capitol--Mobs along the Route--Seeking Refuge from the Excited
     Populace--Out of Danger--The New Situation--Governor Brownlow
     Escaping from the Temporary Fortress by an Alley-way--An Ugly
     Specimen of the Genus Ku-Klux--The Governor Recovers from the
     Attitude of a Suppliant--An Amusing Episode--"But how many suns, O
     Man, would look upon the Deed Unavenged?"--A Canard which Grew out of
     this Affair.

On the day following the grand _coup de main_ of the Klan to which we have
directed attention in the previous chapters, and which, in bringing
depression to League affairs, sent the former's mercury to a feverish
height, great excitement prevailed throughout the State; and at the
business centres, and more especially the capital, something like a
popular demonstration greeted the arrival of news from provincial
quarters. The wires had been buzzing with intelligence of the disaster
since early dawn, and yet the news and telegraph offices found it
impossible to throw off the steaming bulletins giving additional
particulars, or summing up the history of the exploit in localities
already heard from, with sufficient speed to meet the cravings of the
multitude. The streets of the capital were filled with passengers, who,
with white faces and lips compressed, seemed as firmly intent on reaching
some point of general rendezvous as it was indubitably certain that they
had nothing definite in view, but were tossed to and fro by a burning
thirst for news that must and would not be satisfied. Occasionally, as the
crowd kept this frantic pace, individuals would suffer themselves
buttonholed, and made the subjects of lengthy confidences, but rarely, as
one man's property in the commodity of the hour was something which all
might share at the bulletin-board; and so all day long the human tides
ebbed and flowed along the news-channels, never manifesting impatience,
but ever quickening their speed to keep pace with the now fairly excited
messengers. Merchants and shop-keepers stood in their doors wearing
prurient countenances, and anon, sending would-be purchasers away with
curt replies; for since the sun rose on that eventful morn, had not
traffic grown out of fashion? Women and children kept within doors without
commands to that effect, for there was something in the very air of the
crowds without that not only did not invite confidence, but positively
frowned upon all advances thereto. The Metropolitan guards, who had
special instructions, and whose force had been doubled since morning,
moved along their beats wearing grave countenances, and occasionally
scanning the faces of the crowd with furtive stare, as if in search of
some secret which they half suspected lay hidden there. Once they ventured
upon an arrest, being guided by their suspicions only, as was evident from
their embarrassed movements; but though they employed a strong guard, and
sought out the most thinly peopled avenues in making away with their
prisoner, they had not proceeded above two blocks before they were set
upon by the crowd, and compelled not only to relinquish their charge, but
to seek safety in flight. It was even whispered that there was a secret
police force abroad, deriving its authority from the opposition element in
politics; but this was industriously denied in quarters where the facts
should have been known, and after it became a rumor, every effort was made
to quell suspicion. But, however that may have been, after the
unsuccessful feint to which we have called attention, no further effort
was made to interfere with the calm-faced crowds which, looking neither to
the right nor left, persevered in that unvarying procession which led them
to and from the news centres. A K. K. K. placard, which had been posted at
a popular street corner during the previous night, and which, for
contrasted reasons, had been given a wide berth by the rival factions,
became, as the evening wore along, the one subject which seemed to
possess sufficient interest to attract the regards of passers-by, and it
is probable that its importance (like some sentient wonders that we wot
of) was derived from the circumstance of its connection with weightier
subjects.

It was probably past the hour of noon before the extent of the Ku-Klux
raid was certainly known to the State authorities, and to say that the
intelligence cast a palpable gloom over the various departments of
government, would hardly particularize the situation with that
definiteness which the curiosity of the reader may demand. After the noon
recess it was found impossible to assemble a quorum of either the
legislative or judicial functionaries, and when visitors sought
individuals belonging to these branches, with a view to conference on
private topics, they were, oftener than not, sent away with the
intelligence that they had left the city. But this was scarcely true in
any case, for not only was there no hegira of State officers from the
scene of their labors on this day, but out-bound trains flew along the
landscapes with hardly any reasonable ballast in the way of passengers.
The secret of the whole business, as revealed soon after, showed that some
very extensive caucusing was being done, and that the K. K. K. cabal, for
the first time in its history, was receiving that attention from the
government authorities which its importance demanded. It is not known with
certainty what was resolved upon at these meetings, but it may be guessed,
with tolerable assurance, that those bold measures soon afterwards
instituted in the House (though enterprised too late for any practical
use) received their inspiration from this excited period. And it was soon
after published as an item of news, that the judiciary demanded of their
law-making colleagues some immediate legislation that would enable them to
grapple with the new problem in jurisprudence which the movement
presented.

About the middle of the afternoon there was a popular demonstration in the
neighborhood of the capitol, the crowds lounging in that direction in an
objectless kind of way, but when, finding themselves under the shadow of
the great building, developing a sudden enthusiasm for something, or some
individual, they scarce knew what. For more than an hour they besieged the
State functionaries with loud huzzahs, and only when they saw that the
demonstration had been misunderstood, or that they would be given the cold
shoulder, in any event, did they relinquish the purpose of hearing some
report from their law-givers, and being heard in return. But when the
countermarch movement began, very little time was consumed by the crowd in
transporting itself out of sight and hearing--individuals, and especially
those who had been conspicuous in the movement, walking hurriedly, and
with their heads down, as if to conceal an expression of chagrin that
lurked in their countenances.

At sunset the situation was unchanged, the main streets emptying
themselves of their human currents, in obedience to some suburban
attraction at intervals, only to be filled next hour with the chaffering
multitudes, who resumed their fatuous pursuit of the unknown quantity in
the news-problem with the same heat that it had been undertaken in the
early portion of the day. It was at this precise hour that the Governor
was observed to leave the State-house, accompanied by two gentlemen of his
staff, and walk hurriedly along Cedar Street, in the direction of the
public square. The crowds seemed determined to place their own
interpretation on this movement, and having assembled in large force at
the point where College street intersects that along which the party were
passing, loud hootings were indulged in, and in forcing a passage through
the crowd, the obnoxious individuals subjected to rougher jostling than
was thought to be required by the emergency. Turning to reply to some
taunt volunteered from the crowd, one of the gentlemen lost his hat by a
blow from behind, and was deprived of the gratification which he might
otherwise have received upon relieving himself of a few sentences of
eloquent invective, by a storm of derisive cheers, which drowned every
other sound. At the next crossing the demonstration was equally as large,
if not so aggressive, and when the official trio reached a neighboring
building, and immured themselves within its walls, they doubtless looked
back upon the reminiscence with feelings of relief. But from after
developments, it may be inferred that they had no sooner felt themselves
exempt from the perils which had lately beset them, than they entered upon
a conference to devise ways and means of escape from their temporary
fortress (for such the building in which they had taken refuge proved to
be). This would not have been difficult of accomplishment, in any event,
and the tactics resolved upon by the besieged rendered it comparatively
easy of attainment.

In less than ten minutes the throngs, who had assembled with no more
serious object in view than to gratify an idle curiosity, and express
their unfriendliness to their taskmasters by the methods usually adopted,
had been taken up by the absorbent elements of the crowd flowing newsward,
and were no more. If the Governor's party had expected resistance of this
character, they were to be deceived, for by the time the lamps were
lighted, almost a calm pervaded that quarter; and when, a few moments
later, the first of the party (who proved to be Governor Brownlow) left
the building by a postern-gate in the rear, he was seen by none but the
spies who had been set to watch. Hurrying along an alleyway, the honorable
refugee had crossed two squares ere he emerged upon the broad street which
led across an unfrequented portion of the city, to the vicinity of the
mansion which he occupied. Halting here to reconnoitre and indulge a
moment of quiet reflection, after the exciting events through which he had
passed, he was suddenly encountered by a form of the peril from which he
was seeking to escape that had more than once been suggested to his fancy,
but which now presented itself in such palpable outline, and with an
attitude so positively menacing, that his courage forsook him for the
moment, and he recovered from the manner of a suppliant just in time to
save himself from a very humiliating scene. The _thing_ in question was an
ugly and even frightful embodiment of the genus Ku-Klux, which, having
been successful in its contemplated surprise, was very naturally disposed
to dictate terms to its victim. As no violence was intended, it had time,
however, for but a few tragic sentences, adopted from a repertory prepared
for the occasion, before the frightened official had recovered his wits
and his Greek.

Raising himself to his full stature, the Governor denied the assumed
ghostliness of his interlocutor in these precise words: "Do you not know,
fiend, that I possess the authority to have you shot or hung, and that I
am strongly persuaded to exercise it?"

To which the "fiend" retorted in the following laconism "But how many
suns, O man! would look upon the deed unavenged?" and realizing that they
were quits, the parties to this amusing by-comedy went their respective
ways.

The report of this transaction reaching the public ear via the
sensation-mongers, a few hours later, it was taken up in its amended form
and bandied about the coffee houses and street-corner gatherings until it
finally lost all proportions, and at nine o'clock, precisely, was guilty
of sending an old gentleman to bed, on the outskirts of the city, under
the conviction that Governor Brownlow had been murdered by the Ku-Klux.

But though for twenty hours her streets had flowed with lava tides of that
wild element of which mobs are made, and whatsoever was leonine in her
temperament had been appealed to by rumors of war, that rode past on every
breeze, somewhere in the "wee sma' hours ayont the twal," the last star
had paled in the news' firmament without witnessing anything more tragical
than may be found among the occurrences related in this chapter, and the
tired city slept.

CHAPTER XII.

KU-KLUX HORRORS IN TENNESSEE.

     The Klan Outlawed--A Price set upon the Heads of its Membership--A
     Rash Act of one of its Dens--Strong Provocations--Negro
     Insurrectionists Placed in the Jail at Trenton--Prisoners Wrested
     from the County Authorities by Two Hundred Men Disguised as
     Ku-Klux--Subsequent Massacre--Detectives in Pursuit--Members of the
     Order Indicted--Efforts to Convict the Accused--Failure of
     Prosecution--Affair in Obion--Why these Horrors are Classed as Twin
     Editions--Description of Madrid Bend--K. K. K. Transactions in this
     Remote Quarter--Planters' Jealousy--Message from Mr. J. to the
     Leaders of the Party--Cool Treatment it Received--The K.'s Declare
     their Intention of Punishing one of the Laborers on J.'s Farm--His
     Defiance--Arming the Blacks--A Fierce Skirmish--J.'s Flight--Massacre
     of Fleeing Blacks--Eight Colored Men taken from the County Jail at
     Troy--Their Fate a Mystery.

In Tennessee, where the Klan took the form of a political party, which
bitterly antagonized the Brownlow administration in every issue of
government, the principles which it supported (despite the bad qualities
inherent in its organization) gave it a success altogether unproportioned
to the means employed. Notwithstanding it was outlawed by act of the
Legislature, and a price set upon the heads of its membership, it
continued to flourish long after Brownlowism had ceased to be an element
in the politics of the State. But, after a comparatively uneventful
history during the years which intervened, in the summer of 1874 a rash
act of one of its Dens, located in Gibson county, in the western portion
of the State, operated such a loss of influence to the body throughout the
State, that it at once became ineffective; and here, in the autumn of this
year, the latest remnant of the organization on Southern soil fell into
disintegration, and ceased to exist.

A brief history of this transaction may prove not uninteresting to the
reader, as it was one of the most daring and venal of all the acts of
these regulators, and influenced national affairs as has no other local
event within the present century. In a remote settlement in the eastern
portion of this county, a party of negroes had organized themselves into a
military company, which not only conducted night drills and made
occasional raids into the surrounding settlements, but threatened that at
no distant day they would devastate the neighboring country, and prove the
heralds of an insurrection that would give the Southern country into the
hands of their race. The whites in the immediate vicinity bore their
midnight levies with tolerable resignation, and would, doubtless, have
dismissed their taunts as meaningless, if these had not been supported by
acts which left no doubt as to the warlike quality of their designs. They
had proceeded so far as to procure arms and ammunition, and nominate a day
for the threatened outbreak before any interference was attempted, and
when this was finally resolved upon, it was effected quietly by arresting
some of the more prominent conspirators at their homes. These parties were
incarcerated in the county jail at Trenton, and though the feeling of
indignation ran high in every portion of the county, it is believed that a
resolution to drop the subject here, or submit to such meagre satisfaction
as it was in the power of the courts to render in such cases, was general.
Such peaceful and eminently wise counsels were not to prevail, however,
and on the night succeeding that upon which these prisoners had been
committed to the county authorities for safe keeping, a large body of men
(estimated at from two to three hundred), disguised as Ku-Klux, rode into
the town, and laying siege to the jail, soon effected their object of
taking from thence the alleged insurrectionists. In view of the formidable
force employed, no resistance was offered, and the prisoners, being tied
securely on horses, which had been provided for that purpose, were placed
at the head of the column and conducted six miles from Trenton in an
easterly direction. Here a parley was called, and some dispute arising as
to what disposition should be made of the prisoners, they were commanded
to make their escape, and at the same instant fired upon, the volley being
repeated twice. Of the company of ten who were commended to this terrible
fate, two were killed outright, two were badly wounded, and the remainder
(disappointing the wishes of their captors, it is thought), made good
their escape. The news of this event spread rapidly, and as it met with
almost universal condemnation, a vigorous pursuit was organized, and every
effort which a thoroughly aroused and indignant community would be likely
to employ, undertaken to discover and arrest the perpetrators. Knowing
that disaffection had existed among the raiders, and a large portion, if
not a majority of their number, had refused to participate in the
massacre, this clew was adopted by the authorities, and a detective force
employed, which it was thought could not fail of success. Several days
were consumed in the pursuit and investigation, and at the end of that
time it was announced that one of the party had become "State's witness,"
and that a full expose of the affair would follow.

The faith that was reposed in this story shows how unequal was the
estimate which the State authorities placed upon the resources and
influence of their secret enemy, and how illy adapted to the ends in view
was the machinery of prosecution employed by the courts in this and
similar causes. The party who had professed a willingness to betray his
associates in this affair could only be prevailed upon to embrace a very
small number in the accusations he made, and, at the subsequent trial,
completely failed to sustain the points of the indictment which had been
founded on his sworn admissions.

The arrests were made, however, and after a long and tedious contest
between the State and Federal courts, regarding the subject of their
jurisdiction--which could not fail to prove advantageous to the
accused--the trial, or something which bore a resemblance thereto, was
proceeded with. Viewing the resources of the two parties to the
presentment, and the efforts put forth by each, it could not have been a
success on any terms, and, under the existing conditions, proved a
judicial farce of the first magnitude. The negroes who had made their
escape from the scene of the massacre, and who had held out promises that
they could identify their would-be lynchers, failed to meet the tests
which were imposed at the trial; and the State's witness, mainly relied
upon, either could not, or would not, criminate his associates beyond a
few general statements, that would not have justified even a partial
verdict. After a lengthy trial, pending which the State authorities put
forth their utmost exertions to establish the guilt of the accused, it was
announced that an _alibi_ had been proven in each case; and so ended the
Gibson county horror.

In Obion, a county adjoining Gibson on the west, the details of even a
bloodier affair than that recounted above were given to the public a few
years earlier, but which, for some reason, never found its way into the
courts. We give the outlines in this place, because these horrors, in view
of the _locus in quo_, will always be classed as twin editions in future
histories of the Ku-Klux riots.

In what is known as Madrid Bend, a peninsular territory formed by a curve
in the Mississippi River at its junction with Reelfoot Lake (which
occupies the rear of the district), are situated a number of large farms,
supporting hundreds of negro laborers, and here, as might have been
expected, that doctrine of cause and effect, inversely applied, to which
we have referred in a previous chapter, had its perfect work. On such soil
the K. K. K. vine could not fail to prosper; and accordingly, at an early
day, a Den was organized, which soon afterwards took upon itself the duty
of regulating the affairs of the little kingdom. Loyal League meetings
were broken up; carpet-baggers were requested to skip on brief notice; the
enfranchised masses were not permitted to vote too early, nor too often;
but, what is sincerely to be regretted by the honest historian, called
upon to chronicle these events, and the law-loving public at large,
matters did not stop here. The weird brotherhood went further still, in
enforcing their ideas of good government, and were wont, at those periods
of the "calm, still night" when the queen of its realm did not exercise
her beams too freely, to visit the neighboring farms, and, at the end of
the lash, administer lessons in morals, social polity, etc. The "man and
brother" was not permitted to offend in too palpable breaches of morals,
even on his own territory, and certain home duties were strictly enjoined
upon him. These _ex cathedra_ performances proceeded in fact to great
lengths, and naturally gave dissatisfaction to the controllers of the
farming interests in the Bend.

One of these, whom we shall designate as Mr. J., a large proprietor, who
felt himself particularly outraged, in view of the fact that his farm had
been several times visited in this clandestine manner, finally protested,
and signified to those whom he regarded as the leaders of the movement his
perfect ability to control his own affairs. No reply was made at the time,
but not long after this one of the negro laborers on J.'s farm had the
misfortune to commit a misdemeanor amenable to severe punishment under the
K. K. K. code, and it soon after became apparent that the neighborhood Den
would adopt the usual plan in meting out justice to the offender. Upon
receiving this intelligence, J., seeing that his authority was not only
set at nought, but defied, became enraged, and notified the parties that
they must proceed at their peril, as he would arm the negroes on his
plantation, and lead them in an effort to resist the proposed attack.
Unawed by this proclamation, the Klan made its dispositions, and at about
twelve o'clock on the night designated, appeared on the scene. A fierce
skirmish ensued, as was to have been expected. The negroes had not only
been fully equipped, as their employer had threatened, but were stationed
behind barricades, with which their wooden houses were lined, and hence
fought to the best advantage. The attacking party, on the other hand, was
compelled to occupy open ground, and so far from being shielded by the
darkness, the relative situation of the parties adjudged that circumstance
favorable to the enemy. The combat was a brief one, and under the
conditions which they were forced to accept, could not have resulted
favorably to the besiegers. They finally withdrew, having had one man
killed and three wounded in this ill-advised affair. The negroes, on their
part, suffered no loss whatever.

But the end was not yet, and while fortune favored the cause of the
resisting faction in the skirmish of which we have given brief
particulars, they must have realized, from their knowledge of their
surroundings, that the blood which had been shed would be required at
their hands. The scene, moreover, was remote from any garrisoned point
whence they might have received aid from government troops in the event
that the attack was renewed.

The news of the affair, as was to have been expected, spread rapidly, and
as great excitement ensued, J., feeling the insecurity of his position,
fled by steamer to Memphis, at the same time counselling the negroes to
place themselves under the protection of the authorities. Troy, the seat
of justice of Obion, was distant from the scene of rencontre about twenty
miles, and thither, at an early hour of the day, the negroes, adopting
by-paths and unfrequented routes, turned their steps. But despite the
precautions against discovery which they adopted, their movements were
closely spied, and before they had proceeded many miles a large force of
their enemies was in pursuit. Riding at a break-neck speed, the pursuing
party gained on them rapidly, and as they kept out flankers, in order
that none of the party might be overran and thus suffered to escape, ten
of the refugees were overtaken and put to death ere the raiders were
warned that they were trespassing too far on neutral territory.

Eight of the eighteen succeeded in reaching Troy, and at their request
were placed in jail, and a strong guard detailed for their protection.
Even these extraordinary precautions, however, proved unavailing, and on
the first night of their incarceration a large force of disguised men
invested the prison, and having intimidated the guard, carried them away
prisoners. Further than this, no report has ever been given of the affair,
but it may be guessed, with tolerable assurance, that they shared the fate
of their companions.

This affair created a profound sensation throughout the entire country,
and to it, as much as any other single deed of the night-riders, are due
those prompt measures on the part of the general and State governments
which operated as such an emphatic check on their movements. Soon after
this the Congress of the United States passed a law virtually outlawing
the body; and later, in view of certain phases of the subject which best
adapted it to the special legislation of which they were capable,
relegated the question to the State governments, reserving only the right
to adjudicate such causes where States were indisposed to afford their
citizens adequate protection.

CHAPTER XIII.

KU-KLUX LAW.

     Any person, under color of law, etc., of any State, depriving another
     of any rights, etc., secured by the Constitution of the United
     States, made liable to the party injured, 7034--Penalty for
     conspiring, by force, to put down the government of the United
     States, etc., 7035--Conspirator's doing, etc., any act in furtherance
     of the object of the conspiracy, and injuring another, liable to
     damages therefor, 7035--What to be deemed a denial by any State to
     any class of its people of their equal protection under the laws,
     7036--What unlawful combination to be deemed a rebellion against the
     government of the United States (obsolete), 7037--Certain persons not
     to be jurors in certain cases, 7038--Jurors to take oath; false
     swearing, in taking this oath, to be perjury, 7038--Any person
     knowing that certain wrongs are about to be done, and having power to
     prevent, etc., neglects so to do, and any such wrong is done, is made
     liable for all damages caused thereby, 7039.

_Act of the Congress of the United States. An Act to enforce the
provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United
States, and for other purposes._

ART. 7034. [1.] Any person, who, under color of any law, statute,
ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage of any State, shall subject, or
cause to be subjected, any person within the jurisdiction of the United
States, to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities,
secured by the Constitution of the United States, shall, any such law,
statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage of the State to the
contrary, notwithstanding, be liable to the party injured in any action at
law, suit in equity, or other proceeding for redress; such proceeding to
be prosecuted in the several district or circuit courts of the United
States, with, and subject to the same rights of appeal, review upon error,
and other remedies provided in like cases, in such courts under the
provisions of the Act of the 9th of April, eighteen hundred and sixty-six,
entitled "An Act to protect all persons in the United States in their
civil rights, and to furnish the means of their vindication," and the
other remedial laws of the United States which are, in their nature,
applicable in such cases.

ART. 7035. [2.] (1.) If two or more persons within any State or Territory
of the United States, shall conspire together to overthrow, or to put
down, or to destroy by force the government of the United States, or to
levy war against the United States, or to oppose, by force, the authority
of the government of the United States, or by force, intimidation, or
threat, to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the
United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the
United States, contrary to the authority thereof, or by force,
intimidation, or threat, to prevent any person from accepting or holding
any office of trust, or place of confidence, under the United States, or
from discharging the duties thereof, or by force, intimidation, or
threat, to induce any officer of the United States to leave any State,
district, or place where his duties, as such officer might lawfully be
performed, or to injure him in his person or property on account of his
lawful discharge of the duties of his office, or to injure his person
while engaged in the lawful discharge of the duties of his office, or to
injure his property, so as to molest, interrupt, hinder, or impede him in
the discharge of his official duty, or by force, intimidation, or threat,
to deter any party or witness in any court of the United States from
attending such court, or from testifying in any matter pending in such
court, fully, freely, and truthfully, or to injure any such party or
witness, in his person or property, on account of his so having attended
or testified, or by force, intimidation, or threat to influence the
verdict, presentment, or indictment of any juror or grand juror, in any
court of the United States, or to injure such juror in his person or
property, on account of any verdict, presentment, or indictment, lawfully
assented to by him, or on account of his being or having been such juror,
or shall conspire together, or go in disguise upon the public highway, or
upon the premises of another for the purpose, either directly or
indirectly, of depriving any person or class of persons of the equal
protection of the laws, or of equal privileges or immunities under the
laws, or for the purpose of preventing or hindering the constituted
authorities of any State from giving or securing to all persons within
such State the equal protection of the laws, or shall conspire together
for the purpose of in any manner impeding, obstructing, hindering, or
defeating the due course of justice in any State or Territory, with intent
to deny to any citizen of the United States the due and equal protection
of the laws, or to injure any person in his person or property for
lawfully enforcing the right of any person or class of persons to the
equal protection of the laws, or by force, intimidation, or threat, to
prevent any citizen of the United States lawfully entitled to vote from
giving his support or advocacy, in a lawful manner, towards or in favor of
the election of any lawfully qualified person as an elector of president
or vice-president of the United States, or as a member of the congress of
the United States, or to injure any such person in his person or property,
on account of such support or advocacy: each, and every person so
offending, shall be deemed guilty of a high crime, and upon conviction
thereof, in any district or circuit court of the United States, or
district or supreme court of any Territory of the United States, having
jurisdiction of similar offences, shall be punished by a fine not less
than five hundred nor more than five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment,
with or without hard labor, as the court may determine, for a period not
less than six months, nor more than six years, as the court may determine,
or by both such fine and imprisonment, as the court shall determine. (2.)
And if any one or more persons engaged in any such conspiracy shall do,
or cause to be done, any act in furtherance of the object of such
conspiracy, whereby any person shall be injured in his person or property,
or deprived of having and exercising any right or privilege of a citizen
of the United States, the person so injured or deprived of such rights and
privileges may have and maintain an action for the recovery of damages,
occasioned by such injury or deprivation of rights and privileges against
any one or more of the persons engaged in such conspiracy, such action to
be prosecuted in the proper district or circuit of the United States, with
and subject to the same rights of appeal, review upon error, and other
remedies provided in like cases in such courts under the provisions of the
Act of April ninth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, entitled "An Act to
protect all persons in the United States in their civil rights, and to
furnish the means of their vindication."

ART. 7036. [3.] In all cases where insurrection, domestic violence,
unlawful combinations or conspiracies in any State shall so obstruct or
hinder the execution of the laws thereof, and of the United States, so as
to deprive any portion or class of the people of such State of the rights,
privileges, immunities, or protection named in the Constitution and
secured by this act, and the constituted authorities of such State shall
either be unable to protect, or shall from any cause fail in or refuse
protection of the people in such rights, such facts shall be deemed a
denial by such State of equal protection of the laws of the United States,
to which they are entitled under the Constitution of the United States;
and in all such cases; or whenever any such insurrection, violence,
unlawful combination, or conspiracy shall oppose or obstruct the laws of
the United States, or the due execution thereof, or impede, or obstruct
the due course of justice under the same, it shall be lawful for the
President, and it shall be his duty, to take such measures, by the
employment of the militia or the land and naval forces of the United
States, or of either, or by other means, as he may deem necessary for the
suppression of such insurrection, domestic violence, or combinations; and
any person who shall be arrested under the provisions of this and the
preceding section, shall be delivered to the marshal of the proper
district, to be dealt with according to law.

ART. 7037. [4.] Whenever in any State, or part of a State, the unlawful
combinations named in the preceding section of this act shall be organized
and armed, and so numerous and powerful as to be able by violence to
either overthrow or set at defiance the constituted authorities of such
State and of the United States, within such States, or when the
constituted authorities are in complicity with or shall connive at the
unlawful purposes of such powerful and armed combinations; and whenever,
by reason of either or all of the causes aforesaid, the conviction of such
offenders and the preservation of the public safety shall become in such
district impracticable, in every such case such combinations shall be
deemed a rebellion against the government of the United States, and during
the continuance of such rebellion, and within the limits of the district
which shall be so under the sway thereof, such limits to be prescribed by
proclamation, it shall be lawful for the President of the United States,
when in his judgment the public safety shall require it, to suspend the
privileges of the writ of _habeas corpus_, to the end that such rebellion
may be overthrown. _Provided_, That all the privileges of the second
section of an act entitled "An Act relating to _habeas corpus_, and
regulating judicial proceedings in certain cases," approved March third,
eighteen hundred and sixty-three, which relates to the discharge of
prisoners other than prisoners of war, and to the penalty for refusing to
obey the orders of the court, shall be in full force, so far as the same
are applicable to the provisions of this section. _Provided, further_,
That the President shall first have made proclamation, as now provided by
law, commanding such insurgents to disperse. _And provided, also_, That
the provisions of this section shall not be enforced after the end of the
next regular session of Congress.

1872. The foregoing section was re-enacted in the Senate (1872) but it
failed in the House. Hence, by limitation, it became obsolete June 10th,
1872. Action was taken under it by President Grant in several counties in
South Carolina while the law was in force.

ART. 7038. [5.] No person shall be a grand or petit juror in any court of
the United States upon any inquiry, hearing, or trial of any suit,
proceeding, or prosecution based upon or arising under the provisions of
this act who shall, in the judgment of the court, be in complicity with
any such combination or conspiracy; and every such juror shall, before
entering upon any such inquiry, hearing, or trial, take and subscribe an
oath in open court that he has never, directly or indirectly, counselled,
advised, or voluntarily aided any such combination or conspiracy; and each
and every person who shall take this oath, and shall therein swear
falsely, shall be guilty of perjury, and shall be subject to the laws and
penalties declared against that crime; and the first section of the
article entitled "An Act defining additional causes of challenge, and
prescribing an additional oath for grand and petit juries in the United
States' courts," approved June 17th, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, be,
and the same is hereby repealed.

ART. 7039. [6.] Any person or persons having knowledge that any of the
wrongs conspired to be done and mentioned in the second section of this
act are about to be committed, and having power to prevent or aid in
preventing the same, shall neglect or refuse so to do, and such wrongful
act shall be committed, such person or persons shall be liable to the
person injured, or his legal representatives, for all damages caused by
any such wrongful act, which first-named person or persons by reasonable
diligence could have prevented; and such damages may be recovered in an
action on the case in the proper circuit court of the United States, and
any number of persons guilty of such wrongful neglect or refusal may be
joined as defendants in such action. _Provided_, That such action shall be
commenced within one year after such cause of action shall have occurred;
and if the death of any person shall be caused by any such wrongful act
and neglect, the legal representative of such deceased person shall have
such action therefor, and may recover not exceeding five thousand dollars'
damages therein, for the benefit of the widow of such deceased person, if
any there be, or if there be no widow, for the benefit of the next of kin
of such deceased person.

ART. 7040. [7.] Nothing herein contained shall be construed to supersede
or repeal any former act or law, except so far as the same may be
repugnant thereto; and any offences heretofore committed against the tenor
of any former act shall be prosecuted; and any proceeding already
commenced for the prosecution thereof, shall be continued and completed,
the same as if this act had not been passed, except so far as the
provisions of this act may go to sustain and validate such proceedings.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE K. K. K. IN LOUISIANA.

     Adventists--How they Practised on the Parasitical Blacks--A Little
     Power is a Dangerous Thing--The Political Situation in '67--Whites
     Refraining from Participation in Election Campaigns--The State
     Press--The Order of K. K. K. in Louisiana--When the Government
     Officials were first Notified of its Presence--The Feeling in Grant
     Parish, a Shire Division of the State created for Political
     Purposes--Riot Growing out of a Personal Difficulty--Blacks
     Entrenched in the Court-House at Colfax--Besieged by a Force of from
     Three Hundred to Four Hundred Men--Parley--Negroes Refuse to
     Surrender--A Second Defiance--Building Fired--Massacre and
     Termination of the Bloody Affair--Statistics of Losses in the
     Fight--Who were Responsible--The White League or Camelias--Occupied
     the K. K. K. Basis in Externals--New Orleans Riots--Their Effect on
     the Returning Boards--Coushatta--K. K. K. in Texas--Border History
     Uneventful--Texas Legislature Interferes.

In the States of Louisiana and South Carolina the war between the K.'s and
Loyal League waged fiercest, and was longest protracted, for here the
fires of political proscription were earliest lighted, and the boundaries
of party maintained with the greatest fortitude. In the former State, a
party of men, who were known in certain quarters by the derisive title of
"Adventists," had assumed to control its affairs, not so much in the
interest of, as by the use of, as a means, the negro element of its
population. Practising upon the credulity of this unenlightened class, it
is not too much to say that they effected their object; and for a period
of more than seven years around these central suns of the political
firmament the parasitical blacks fluttered. Governors, congressmen, and
legislators were created from this material without any reference whatever
to the legal attainments or other qualifications of the aspirants, and
with a view only to such class legislation as could be made available to
the negro rings, and destructive to the people's interests in that
quarter.

Placed in control of affairs, these men, having suffered under the
dispensation which the poet sought to describe in the words, "A little
learning is a dangerous thing, etc.," and suspecting, moreover, that his
meaning had not been fully brought out in that expressive stanza,
astonished even their followers with an example which said "a little power
is a dangerous thing." Legislating, mainly, with a view to continuance in
authority, and arbitrarily seizing the elective machinery of the State,
they had, independently of the League, under the existing conditions, an
unlimited lease of the State administration. Nor did they fail to realize
the advantages that came to them under the system of government which they
had adopted. Having found a precedent for the most pronounced
transgressions of a written law in the acts of their co-conspirators in
other States, and an excuse in the resistance which they inspired, they
proceeded to lengths of usurpation which those interested for the cause of
liberty on those shores viewed with surprise and dismay. The fullest use
was made of every prerogative, and in innumerable instances they were
subjected to that stretching process which has been commonly found so
destructive to the article.

So rapid was the transition from the war period to that of political
anarchy, which followed in obedience to these conditions, that as early as
the year 1867 the State was hopelessly committed to an ignorant and
unprincipled minority, and in every portion thereof the white masses
refrained from even attending the polls, so well assured were they that
the fair majorities which they could score would be displaced by the most
barefaced fictions. The opposition or conservative press, on the other
hand, never ceased to perform its whole duty, representing to the people
the true condition of affairs at the capital, the constant abuses of the
legislative functions, the enormous treasury shortages, judicial
tyrannies, etc., etc.; though, as was indicated by their course
subsequently, to the more intelligent of those whom were addressed, this
seemed but a citation of evils that were remediless; and where plans of
relief were suggested, of remedies that were placed hopelessly beyond
their reach. Even in the city of New Orleans, where these exhortations
were most frequently heard, the municipal elections not unoften went by
default to the minority representatives; and multitudes (who have since
testified their devotion to the cause of right), attracted by the
patronage of the winning power, while refusing to give them aid, tendered
them congratulations.

Others to whom these philippics came, and who in their country homes had
been subjected to the intolerable rigors of League politics, took the
appeals even more seriously than they were intended, and began that secret
warfare on the agents of oppression in their midst, which, however
effectual it may have proven in the end, must always be deprecated on the
ground of those inequalities of principle which it represented, and of
means it employed.

The first secret political organization enterprised against the Radical
power in Louisiana was unquestionably that edition of the K. K. K. which
we have been treating, and which proved so effective in disestablishing
the various isms of the party in other sections; but it is no less certain
that, at no advanced stage of its existence on Louisiana soil, it
underwent a very positive metempsychosis, and became, thereafter, the
White League, or White Camelias as sometimes addressed representatively.
But no matter by what appellative known, nor under what constitutional
emendations proceeding, the idea was nowhere more aggressively employed in
the work of uprooting the Radical succession, and rendering Southern
hospitality, as applicable to its agents, a thing of unmitigated terror.
For a year or more after its organization had been completed, little was
done apparently, but during this time the League in all its departments
had been subjected to a rigid espionage, and the communications of the
former with the transactions of government at the capital, established by
the same means.

A slight difficulty in one of the Northern parishes, growing out of an
election issue, was perhaps the first intimation conveyed to the Louisiana
State authorities that they were to encounter opposition of this
character. It, however, was local in its belongings, and though widely
published by the organs of the League at the North, was not deemed worthy
of attention by the State press. In Grant Parish, a new shire division of
the State, created with a view to political ends, the quarrel of the
factions assumed a serious shape at an early day, and here eventually
transpired one of the most fearful tragedies of this bloody epoch. A
remarkable feature of this affair was that it grew out of a purely
personal matter, if we may except the contrast of races involved. The
details of the private quarrel would of course be uninteresting, and the
bloody particulars which followed may be recited in a few words.

An issue of races having been distinctly made, the two parties assembled
in force; the blacks, after some preliminary manoeuvring, entrenching
themselves in the court-house at Colfax, and bidding defiance to their
enemies. They were at once closely besieged by a force equalling, or
possibly barely exceeding, their own (three hundred to four hundred men),
and, after some parleying, an unconditional surrender demanded. This was
resisted on the expressed condition that the entrenched force, though in
the minority, were "able to defend themselves," and would do so at every
hazard. An irregular skirmish followed, pending which no advantage
resulted to the attacking party, and seeing which, the leaders of the
movement resolved on bolder measures: The blacks were again notified that
they must vacate their quarters, or submit to the torch, as the besiegers
were fully resolved upon dispossessing them of that stronghold. This they
seem to have regarded as a mere threat, impossible of execution, and
continued to throw out defiances and fire an occasional shot into the
enemy's ranks. The whites, on the other hand, unawed by their manner, and
fully decided to adopt this measure as a _dernier ressort_, sent forward
parties commissioned for the dangerous service. It is not known what
resistance, if any, was offered to this stratagem, but very soon the
building was in flames from pillar to turret, and the terrified blacks
rushing forth in mad haste, to encounter a fate scarcely less terrible
than that of being roasted in the flames. As they emerged from the burning
building, the attacking columns threw themselves on their flanks, and
poured volley after volley into their now fairly stampeded ranks. Scores
fell under the first deadly assault, and as they passed on in their flight
they were intercepted or overtaken by their infuriated pursuers, the
massacre continuing a full hour after the terrified rout had begun to
issue from the building.

The statistics of the loss on either side in this engagement have never
been given with accuracy, and there is good reason to believe that many of
the approximations that have gone to the world have embodied intentional
errors. From those who were participating in the affair, and represented
the hostile factions in about equal proportion, we obtain the following
estimate of their respective losses: Blacks killed, ninety; wounded,
twenty-five. Whites killed, five; wounded, three. In the skirmish but few
of the whites wore masks, and this affair has generally been regarded the
fruit of a popular uprising, and not strictly chargeable to any secret
organization, or body of men banded together for political purposes. It
occurred, moreover, at a time when partisan feeling in that section had
reached a strong ebb, and men were incensed against each other as they
rarely become in the light of such incentives. That the Klan was
officially represented in the affair was generally conceded.

It was about this time, or a little previously, that the famous White
League came into existence, occupying the K. K. K. basis as to politics,
and in all essentials of its organization formulated upon the same model.
This society assumed the duty of regulating the political affairs of the
State, and that it succeeded to some extent in purifying the constitutions
of the Returning Boards, those monster instrumentalities of fraud
belonging to the Radical elective system here, there can be no doubt. It
was, however, open to many objections, and on equitable grounds must have
been defeated by the same testimony that in some instances was made
available against the Klan. It was responsible for the New Orleans riots
of December 1874, in which hundreds of lives were sacrificed, and which
subjected the party which it assumed to represent to a manifest loss of
influence. The Kellogg, or Radical faction, however, received severe
punishment at their hands, and made many valuable concessions under the
election issues, from which the troubles grew; and it was in this affair,
likewise, that the Returning Boards, above mentioned, were made to feel
their power, and "by the same sign" induced to amend their ways. A bloody
affair at Coushatta, in the Red River country, followed in the succeeding
year; but as the transactions of this body are not strictly within the
purview of the present work, we refrain from a statement of the
particulars.

The Klan, finding its services no longer available here, in obedience to
its nomadic instincts crossed the Texas border, and for a year or two
following [Davis, Radical, being at that time Governor], assisted in the
administration of Texas affairs. But while it proved a factor of no mean
consequence in almost every political measure which agitated the Border
mind, and numerous local raids were reported by the State journals, its
frontier history was made up of unimportant details, whose want of
adaptation to the plan of this volume must be our excuse for omitting
them. The following statute, referring to the subject, was enacted by the
Texas Legislature of contemporaneous date:

     _Unlawfully appearing in disguise as Ku-Klux, White Camelias, and
     other Deviltry, punished._

     ART. 6508. [1.] The penal code for the State of Texas shall be
     amended as follows, by inserting after Act 363 the following: [363]
     _a_ If the purpose of the unlawful assembly be to alarm and frighten
     any person, or persons, by appearing in disguise, so that the real
     persons so acting and assembling can not be readily known, and by
     using language or gestures calculated to produce in such person or
     persons the fear of bodily harm, all persons engaged therein shall be
     punished by fine not less than one hundred, nor more than one
     thousand dollars each; and if such unlawful assembly shall take place
     at any time of the night--that is, between sunset and sunrise--the
     fine shall be doubled; and if three or more persons are found
     together disguised and armed with deadly weapons, the same shall be
     _primâ facie_ evidence of the guilty purpose of such persons, as
     above described; and if any other unlawful assembly, mentioned in
     this chapter, consist in whole or in part of persons disguised and
     armed with deadly weapons, the fine to be assessed upon each person
     so offending shall be double the penalty hereinbefore described.

CHAPTER XV.

TALLY-HO!

     The Situation in Georgia--Bullock Usurpation--Some Things which may
     be Explained--Negro Criminals--Taking Refuge in the Ocmulgee
     Swamps--A Brutal Murder--Ku-Klux Ambushed--A Terrible Oath--Uncle
     Jack B.--A Brief Memoir--"Nigger Dogs" in the "Goober State"--Uncle
     Jack Interviewed by the Ku-Klux--What came of it--Getting Ready for
     the Chase--A Pack of "Negro Dogs" described--In the Swamps--The
     Opening Chorus--A Warm Trail--Swimming the
     Ocmulgee--Disappointment--The Lull is Past--The Cheering Notes of the
     Chase--Blood of the Martyrs! can it be?--A Last Effort--Another Crime
     added to the Calendar--A fresh Start--Baffled Again--At Bay--Tragical
     Scene.

As the K. K. K. influence was not felt in the politics of the south-west
after the events which we have narrated, and the scope of this work
forbids our entering into such details as comprised the Chicot county
affair in Arkansas, and the Vicksburg (Miss.) _emeute_, which was
unquestionably due in part to other influences, we yield to the
eccentricities of our theme, and find ourselves under the shadow of that
towering usurpation--the Bullock administration in Georgia. The
organization of the Klan in this State was perhaps more extensive and
efficient than elsewhere on Southern soil,--proving a complete offset to
the Loyal League in the important work of influencing party discipline,
and, after a time, effecting its other aim--of rendering it physically
_hors du combat_. We shall not pretend, however, to follow it through the
various stages of its development on Georgia soil, nor give what might be
deemed a correct history of its movements, as we are concerned rather with
the issues which grew out of the latter, and that which will prove far
more interesting to the reader--the _modus_ of its operations.

A single feature of the campaign in this region we will endeavor to make
prominent, without a design of saddling its individuality on this State,
or insinuating that that branch of the pet institution vulgarly known as
"nigger dogs" was not as widely diffused as its popular derivative, and
far too fossilized in its structure to submit to any merely sentimental
changes in types of government. So far as that phase of the subject may
tend to obtrude difficulties upon the reader, the writer will volunteer
the information that he was recently placed by accident at a point where
his sensorium covered three large well-trained kennels of these brutes;
and that it has been his good fortune, on more occasions than one, since
liberty resumed its old-time inheritance in the "land we love," to follow
the panting "Ketch," where none dare go before, along the redolent trail
of the criminal--black or white. Nor is there anything more remarkable
about the circumstance that the body of men known as Ku-Klux should, upon
certain contingencies, avail themselves of the services of this sagacious
brute, than that the same men, by accident or otherwise, should be
employed on a righteous mission like the following:

In the year 1862, in that portion of Telfair county where the _Elk_ river
has its confluence with the Ocmulgee, a larger stream, a negro slave of
Mr. ---- committed a brutal rape on one of his master's household, and
fled to the neighboring wilderness. He was not pursued at the time, as, in
view of the recent conscript levies and the unsettled state of the
country, there were no available means at hand; and, aided by individuals
of his own color, whose race prejudices at this time had reached a state
of savage excitement, he found safe harborage and a precarious livelihood
in the river-swamps during the entire period of the war. Pending his
exile, and soon after it began, he was joined by an only brother, a
brother-criminal likewise, who had been forced to fly the settlements;
and, having formed an alliance--_sun_ and _ek_--the predatory excursions
of this twain became thereafter the special terror of dwellers in that
exposed region. Nothing, however, particularly worthy of mention marked
their exploits until the year following the close of hostilities, when
they emerged from their fastnesses, and having made their way to a
neighboring settlement, occupied by an old gentleman and an only son, a
youth of twelve years, put them both to death with every circumstance of
horrible detail. This affair occurred in the latter part of the year
1865, and, as was to have been expected, created a wide-spread sensation.

Within a few hours after the deed had been committed, a well-equipped
party of horsemen started in pursuit, and for more than a week conducted a
thorough campaign through that division of the Ocmulgee swamps that was
supposed to have furnished a retreat to the murderers. They did not
succeed, however, further than to obtain a view of the refugees, and
salute them with a volley at long range; and seeing that their efforts
would prove fruitless, returned to their homes. Here the matter rested
until the following spring, when a party of Ku-Klux, raiding in that
vicinity, were fired upon from the brush, and one of their number killed,
by two men who were positively recognized as the swamp-ruffians. Having
buried their dead companion, in obedience to the strange ceremonies in
vogue with them, the members of the Klan assembled around his grave, and
recorded an oath "never to relent from their purpose of revenge, nor cease
the pursuit of his murderers, while the Ocmulgee contained water, and the
region fertilized by it and its tributaries supported an inch of
unexplored territory."

Not far from the scene of the last occurrence lived Uncle Jack B----, a
character in the neighborhood prior to Sherman's raid and reconstruction,
but who, since those events, in view of a somewhat disproportioned record,
had been singing exceedingly small. In _ante bellum_ times, this old
gentleman had been looked up to, by both whites and blacks of his
vicinity, as in some sense the reigning monarch of the locality, and one
between whose smiles and frowns lay considerations that might engage the
attention of much weightier personages than any whom the countryside
supported. In brief, Uncle Jack had been the proud proprietor of the
largest and best known pack of "nigger dogs" in the "Goober State," with
all that that implied in the language of the reconstructionists; and if he
did not still possess that distinction, it was altogether attributable to
the circumstance that the office which it involved had ceased to be a
sinecure, and the property in question was no longer quoted among
commercial values. But though the old man and his beasts bowed their heads
under the in _terrorem_ of the new order of things, they well knew that
this _dies iræ_ could not last always, and were, moreover, fully persuaded
of the truth of the old proverb which insures to every well-behaved canine
a "dish" in passing events. That they were not sophists in this matter
will be sufficiently demonstrated by the remaining events of this chapter.

At precisely twelve o'clock on the night succeeding that which witnessed
the tragical event last narrated above, Uncle Jack held a long conference,
at the outer gate of his premises, with three mounted men, and shortly
thereafter might have been observed to visit his stable and dog-kennel,
lingering for some time in the vicinity of each. A half-hour or more was
consumed by the details of a preparation from which it was plain to be
seen some mystery was in course of evolution, and the old man, mounted on
his now full-rigged hunter, and swept forward in a tempest of dolorous
howlings, turned an angle of the close, and joined his weird visitors.

It will hardly be necessary to inform the reader that these men were K. K.
K. emissaries, who had been dispatched to secure the hunter and his dogs
to aid them in the difficult enterprise which they had undertaken; and
looking from one to the other of the new levies, he would have no
hesitancy in making up his mind that "Barkis was willin'," and the "yaller
beauties," as he was wont to term them, "spilin'" for nigger meat. These
latter were composed of a dozen brace of the best Florida breed of the
hybrid blood- and sleuth-hound, fat and frolicsome, wearing sleek coats of
yellow, and as to size, if put to the test, the runtiest of the runts
would have kicked the beam at fifty pounds. Leashed in couples, they made
rapid circuits around the now galloping horsemen, filling the night with
the music of their weird chorus, and falling to an indiscriminate and
discordant baying whenever hog or cow or other animate thing, startled
from their covert, stood still to guess at the intrusion. Three miles from
the point of starting, the main company was reached, and soon afterwards,
passing into the edge of the bottom, the dogs were released from their
slips, and at a word from the hunter, and directing a premonitory sniff at
their surroundings, sped into the darkness. For an hour or more the
hunters pressed their way through the pitchy swamps, now following a
scarcely distinguishable stock trail, now lightened upon by a gleam of
starlight from above, and not unfrequently committed for guidance to the
instincts of the animals they bestrode, without other report from the
excited yelpers than was too timidly given to be accounted much worth, or
called forth the response from some guttural cavity of the forest, "a
lie." Reaching the banks of the river, at a point five miles below the
swamp line at which their road had intersected the bottom, a halt was
called, and the company sat peering into the darkness, for the first time
doubtful of their enterprise, when lo! within ten feet of the rearmost
file a welcome sound broke the stillness--at first low and doubtful, but
gaining in volume and flowing into blended notes--one--two--three--and
then a stunning, Wagnerian chorus, that lifted every horseman from his
stirrups, and sent the wood echoes rolling in sonorous waves along the
breast of the forest. A loud hurrah from the hunters attested their equal
joy, and hue and cry being joined, the panic of pursuit began. Straight up
the river bank the roaring pack held on their course, not once veering to
the right nor left, nor never slackening speed, and timid horsemen, that
erst had shivered if their steeds but stumbled in the darkness, now rode
abreast of the panting "leader," swelling the volume of sound with their
loud halloos, and leaping branch and inlet sound with the agility of the
frightened deer that sped before. Even the "Ketch," usually sedate and
disallowing confidences, had been momentarily thawed by the all-pervading
enthusiasm, and joining the pack just where the fun grew furious, howled a
dismal accompaniment to the cheering notes of the chase. On, on, into the
darkness beyond, sped the tempest of pursuit--now wedged into narrow
passes and involved in a hundred confused knots, now unravelling on the
open plains beyond and flowing on in currents bold and free as those that
kissed the shore beneath them, now leaping brake and fell, now skirting
hazardous banks, now hugging obtrusive shores, and hark! at a sharp signal
from the "leader" all sounds are hushed,--followed by a plunging boom,
and, churned into a thousand eddies, the bold Ocmulgee supports the rout
of panting men and beasts, who have no sooner recovered from the chilling
baptism than each bends forward in a mad struggle to reach first the
yonder shore and herald this clamorous invasion to its phantoms of
darkness. But so close on the heels of the dripping "leader" pressed the
frantic crew--who owed him fealty come life or death--that his opening
chorus was echoed by a hundred lesser sounds that were not echoes, and
with a mighty effort the panting "Ketch," leaping sheer from the waves to
the upper bank, was not too late with his base variation. And now the wild
pursuit is begun anew, for the tardiest horseman is spurring into the
depth of the forest beyond, and skurrying out of sight and hearing if that
were possible--the wailing wood notes have a story to whisper to the
deserted shore.

But "the best laid plans of mice and men aft gang aglee," and not above a
half mile from their watery exodus the puzzled yelpers vary their chorus
and slacken speed, and, warned by a ringing blast on the huntsman's horn,
the whole company of baffled pursuers double on their track, and by twos,
and threes, and then in larger squads, rejoin their river base. Here the
huntsmen consult together, and the pack renew their frenzy, frisking along
the river shore, scouring the woods, and soon afterwards, indicating by a
yelping chorus far down the stream that the stratagem of the refugees led
them that way. The impatient horsemen soon gallop at their heels, and
after one or two dissentient howls from the aged skeptics of the pack,
they one and all run full upon the warm scent, with a clamor that causes
the woods to "ring again," and sends the vital current tingling along the
veins of the coldest-blooded horseman. And now the lull is past, and the
thunder of pursuit once more greets the forest echoes. Away, away,
distancing the swamp tracts and riding into the region of the morning, for
its first beams, striking through the tree-boughs, sprinkle their forms
and play in feathered jets along the bosom of the forest. Away, away,
riding neck and neck with the fleet-footed swamp-hare, and crossing the
hurricane's track with a rush and sound that might have been its refrain.
Away, away, emerging upon the broad plateau, and yelling, yelping,
whooping, cursing, but never slackening speed. Away, away, vanishing
through lanes, disappearing over hill-tops, and clattering through the
valleys beyond, with a mighty hubbub that jars the base of the hills, and
sends the round echoes careering at their backs.

Blood of the martyrs! can it be? Just at the apex of yonder rise which the
feet of the pursuers take hold upon, lives an unprotected widow and her
daughter, and with ominous precision of stride the hue and cry points that
way.

The instincts of both men and beasts instantly acquaint them with the
situation, and, bending forward in one last despairing effort, they
emulate the rush of the tornado as they bear down the enclosures and sweep
up the incline, just in time to witness the most piteous spectacle that
men with emotions were ever invited to commiserate. The panting pack,
first on the scene, leap on the frightened and weeping women with furious
growls, licking their faces and hands, sniffing at their forms, and baying
from all quarters, until, driven from thence, they rush into the single
apartment, leap on the beds, drag them to the floor, and falling to, with
the fury of wild beasts disappointed of their prey, tear them into
shreds.[A] Being expelled from thence, the hunters hear the dolorous
narrative of the women, cross-question them as to particulars which may
aid them in the pursuit, and having lost but little time, follow the now
furious hounds in a noisy detour around the little farm. Again and again
this is repeated, and men and dogs are fairly baffled. The former dismount
and examine the ground for visible signs, but are unrewarded, and seem
ready to despair, when one of the pack, having leaped to the close fence,
follows it for some distance, and finally breaks forth into that ominous
bark which criminal never heard undaunted. Instantly he is joined by his
impatient companions, and the welkin rings with their loud acclaim. The
hunters follow, but almost too late, as the sequel proves; for having
invaded the barn, a few rods distant, and discovered there the objects of
their rage, the excited pack had well-nigh ended this series of tragedies.
The mangled remains of one of the criminals was dragged forth a lifeless
corpse, and his associate, defending himself with a clubbed gun, had
disabled half the number of his assailants when he in turn was
overpowered, and but for the intervention of his pursuers must have
suffered a like fate.

But the rescue proved ill-timed, in one sense at least, for no sooner had
the ruffian been disengaged from his dilemma and lifted from the building,
than a shot was heard from behind, and, bleeding from twenty wounds, he
rolled lifeless on the sward.

Looking in the direction whence the report came, the hunters saw the form
of the girl who, a little while ago, had engaged their attention as a pale
and woe-begone Lucrece, now expanded into a Hebe, and, still unrevenged,
levelling her smoking weapon at the form of the African.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE "SHAMS."

     The Klan in South Carolina--Officious Interference in
     Politics--Atrocious Performances of Men in Masks--The "Shams," or
     Counterfeit Editions of K. K. K.--How Organized--Purposes of the
     Organization--Their Vocabulary of Crime--South Carolina Fanatics--How
     the "Sham" Movement Affected the K. K. K.--Parodied out of the
     Field--A Resolution of _sine die_ Adjournment--K. K. K. Horrors on
     the Increase--The "Shams" were Opposed in their Movements not only by
     the Party who had formerly Upheld the K. K. K., etc.--Rotten-Egg
     Battalions--Citizens sometimes took the Execution of the Law into
     their Own Hands--A Case in Point.

While the K. K. K. influence was bad enough, in all conscience, and the K.
K. K. embodiment a trifle worse, it had imitators in both these elements
of its being who cherished even Satanic designs, and we doubt if so much
could be written of the former. That the Klan was organized on South
Carolina soil, and did much mischief to the Conservative party and
influence there by assuming to be its exponent on the most untoward
occasions, and at the moment when its services were least desired, is
something which is admitted in the former case, and its stupidity heartily
cursed with in the latter. But it is equally true that many of the
atrocious performances of men in masks which invariably fell to the K. K.
K. score were bastardies, and unless, for the sake of imaginative persons,
it is admitted that Satan was involved in the fatherhood of both, it may
be doubted if even the claim of _illegitimate_ kinship could be sustained.

The "sham," or counterfeit edition of the K. K. K., had no organized
existence in either of the remaining Southern States; but here it not only
possessed this groundwork of system, but possessed it to advantage, and in
numbers and influence (if political rank can bestow the latter) probably
excelled the body which they affected to parody, and, giving the joke a
serious turn, did injure. Their plan embodied as many of the K. K. K.
secrets as they could contrive to capture, and scorning illiberality even
in outward things, prescribed the regalia and mask feature, with an
expansiveness of detail that must have affected the cotton-market. Its
chief place of rendezvous was the capital of the State, and it is believed
by many that His Excellency, the Governor, was, if not its visible head,
at least its trusted adviser and friend. Their object was the
aggrandizement of party; and this they proposed to accomplish by rendering
the State a revolutionary hell, tenantable only for soldiers, black
militia, and that currish type of the politician then in vogue, and who
had been found, by actual experience, best adapted to these elements. If a
county, State, or general election were to be held, these men, getting
themselves up in approved Ku-Klux toilet, went forth to lay their knives
at the throats of a sufficient number of innocents to afford a text for
bloody-shirt invectives, and straightway the political sky rained soldiers
enough to garrison the polls of a small empire. Murder, arson, rape,
robbery, etc., all had a place in their vocabulary, not indeed as we would
speak of them in the abstract, but with all those horrible belongings of
sentimentality which attach to each when enterprised wilfully, cheerfully,
and with scarcely a selfish end in view. Warring against women and
children was a foible of the society, which they carried to such a state
of development that it became first an _attribute_, and then a furious
_passion_; insomuch that, if a faithful history of their exploits were
written, the noble patriots of Maine and Massachusetts would execrate
them, as they do not, could not, those secret enemies who war against
social virtue in their midst, and the book could have no other title than
"Murderers of the Innocents."

But, in exposing the _wrongs_ of this people, we do not become their
champion, nor even so much as pretend to assume that they possessed
_rights_. If fanaticism, or, to use a stronger term, transcendentalism,
morally speaking, or radicalism in politics, exists in the South (and we
leave this problem to the _Science Monthly_), it has its fullest
development on South Carolina soil. Her people have always shown
themselves jealous of individual rights, and disposed to clannishness,
where concessions affecting these have been made. They have attempted to
secede from the Union on two occasions, and the latter of these became the
political herald of the great civil war, whose incidents are remembered
with tears by every patriot. The K. K. K. found her climate congenial, and
from the first her people were mad against reconstruction; and while the
writer may express no opinion on the subject, these things are spoken of
to her disadvantage. But admitting that they were true, and that she
occupies that revolutionary extreme in politics assigned her by the most
reliable histories of the period, could that justify the course of her
domestic enemies towards her, and should it chain the expression of the
undissembling chronicler of such events?

We need hardly state that this emetic proved too much for the K. K. K.
animal, and that all its movements thereafter indicated not only a badly
disordered stomach, but moral functions so much impaired that it was
constantly ruled by a tendency to ask everybody pardon for sustaining this
relation to society, and to accuse itself of crimes for which it could
only assign somnambulistic causes. Indeed, about the year 1871, it was
completely parodied out of the field, and if Ku-Klux horrors were far more
frequent in this State after that period than previously, the reader, with
the lights before him, is asked to assume the responsibility of the
seeming paradox. It not only had no government patronage at its back, but,
on the other hand, viewed a brilliant perspective of government halters,
and seeing how unequal the rivalry must prove in more respects than one,
wisely concluded to retire from business. A resolution of _sine die_
adjournment was actually passed, and the members having exchanged sad
farewells and wept on each other's necks in view of the gloomy prospect
before them, the "Shams," as they were derisively called, became masters
of the situation. (If we except the Hamburg affair in the summer of 1876,
and one other occurrence of merely local import, the white element of
South Carolina has been guilty of no overt act since the period named
implying contumacy towards the State government or the constitutional
rights of the citizen.)

The "Shams" were opposed in their movements not only by the party who had
formerly upheld the K. K. K. idea as an alleged necessity of the times,
but by that more conservative influence which, though maintaining the same
political views as the latter, contemned the use of all secret agencies in
politics. When it was possible to anticipate their raids, rotten-egg
battalions were formed, which, in their efforts to deter them from their
purpose, employed every character of violence that did not involve the
commission of crime. Not unfrequently their places of meeting were
discovered, and when this was the case, a descent was planned, and the
subject of "unfinished business" rendered one of lively interest to its
membership. But, frequently, organized resistance, from the very nature
of the case, was out of the question, and where citizens were placed at
the mercy of their raids, they sometimes took the execution of the law
into their own hands. An instance in point, which has been given to the
public in different forms, but never correctly, has been related to the
writer.

In the western portion of the State lived a farmer who had so frequently
suffered from the incursions of these gentry, that he resolved on
retaliatory measures, and loading his shot-gun lay in waiting. The
corn-crib seemed to have been a favorite objective with them, and as he
had stationed himself where his gun commanded the approaches thereto, he
quietly bided the moments. His calculations were well taken, for in a
brief time a party of five men, gowned and otherwise disguised, rode to
the neighborhood of his concealment, and taking sacks from their saddles
proceeded to the crib. Here their movements were guided by a plan that was
unique if not original. Obtaining a rail from a neighboring fence, one end
thereof was inserted under the corner of the building, and their combined
strength applied to the other; a leverage which easily gave a sufficient
aperture to admit their bodies. One of their number was now stationed on
the end of the improvised lever as a teetering weight, and the party
proceeded to business.

While matters were progressing thus favorably for the marauders, our
hero's feelings may be better imagined than described, and observing with
what a saucy air the individual who balanced the fulcrum performed his
other duty of sentinelcy, he took steady aim and fired.

The result, as ascertained some hours afterwards, was truly wonderful, and
deserves, if it has not received, a place in the archives of the Moses'
administration. The bodies of four dead negroes were found, one pierced
with bullets, and the remainder having their necks broken. We will not
offend against good taste by giving further details, and especially desire
that the plausibility of this story may be seen in the readiness with
which the reader comprehends the mystery of their deaths respectively.

It is needless to state that this affair was heralded to the world as a
Ku-Klux murder, and as the parties wore uniforms, and affected the
characterization, some doubt touching the integrity of the announcement
may have existed in the minds of those best acquainted with the facts.

CHAPTER XVII.

A MORAL POINTED.

     A Problem for the Phrenologists--"Self-Preservation is [said to be]
     the First Law of Life"--A Mooted Question put at Rest--Experiments in
     Metaphysics--An Anecdote Dealing with the Characteristics of some
     People--Another--Peculiarities of the Caucasian--Ditto of the
     African--An "Awakening" among the Children of the New Abrahamic
     Covenant--"Brudder Jones's Preechin'"--What it Wrought--Unpleasant
     Truths--Sins of Omission and Commission--The Pale-Faced Settlers in
     Distress--An "Artifice" of Retrenchment--Eloquent
     Discourse--Nineteenthly, and what followed--K. K. K.
     _redivivus_--"Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the Boys are Marching, etc."--A
     Break for Tall Timber--The Best Time on Record.

Whether it is located in the brain, or has its seat in that sentient organ
of the body which physiologists indicate as the seat of life, we are left
to conjecture; but it is certain that there exists somewhere in the
anatomy of man an essence, or attribute, which, under certain outward
conditions, becomes the tyrant of his movements, and renders the
disposition to cultivate acquaintance with other vistas a passion too
strong to be resisted. Philosophers tell us that "self-preservation is the
first law of life," but their efforts to connect this postulate with some
rational conclusion deduced from the organism of the animal under
discussion, is so egregiously wanting in the elements of a sound
syllogism, that we are led to believe that it has no foundation in fact,
and that they only meant to say that where the emotion denominated _fear_
assumes the reigns of physical government, an open road and fair play are
all that is required to render the proposed achievement a success. It is
useless to tell us that men, adopting the improved modes of destroying
life which this Christian age has developed, stand up to explode missiles
at each other under the persuasion that they are doing something that will
tend to preserve life; or, if that were not false doctrine, who that ever
attended one of these tournaments of bad shooting is unable to testify to
the overpowering conviction that the parties thereto would have enjoyed
themselves better in a free exercise of their limbs--

  "Over the meadows and far away."

Having examined into the philosophy of this question, with a view solely
of removing certain doubts inherited from the professions of a warlike
ancestry, and, predisposed to err in the opposite direction, we have
arrived at the conclusion, _once for all_, that the "git up and git"
tendencies of mankind, when the proper incentives are at hand, are as
absolutely irresistible as the water-fall at Niagara, and as necessary to
the happiness of the subject as the barriers that separate him from his
mother-in-law. Having solved this problem, and satisfied ourselves of the
universality of its conditions, it next occurred to us to examine its
terms as applicable to the different races of men. And here we found that
while all races are equally gifted in this respect, yet its elementary
conditions are not always the same in different branches of the Adamic
tree. Taking the extremes in color as the representatives of a fair
contrast in other respects, we have confined our investigations to the
white and black races,--and with a view to our own profit, and to being
fully comprehended by the reader,--these races as they exist on our own
shores. Without any reference whatever to the vain science known as
metaphysics, our conclusions are as follows: With the white man this
element of his being is less on the surface, and he wears it uneasily, as
though it were foreign to his genius, and at the same time a curb on his
actions. With the other it is a loose-fitting garment, worn on the
outside, and he seems rather pleased than otherwise that he is thus
rendered a spectacle to his fellow-men. The white man attempts to conceal
it, and above all would persuade himself that it is an illusion of the
fancy. The black, contrariwise, has no qualms of conscience on the
subject, and if pressed for argument, might adduce it as a crowning
evidence of his homogeneity.

Two incidents have come under our notice which set forth this distinction
more forcibly than any form of words we could employ. A farmer living in
the back country, near the city of Shreveport, brought his son--a youth
whose adolescency would hardly have escaped the notice of strangers--to
that thriving burg to view the sights. The steamboat feature was down in
the programme, of course, and reaching the wharf, the youngster was
commissioned to go aboard and obtain the exact "geography" of "the thing."
This he proceeded to do with all haste, exploring the quarter-deck,
rummaging through the cabins, and finally bringing up before the engine
with a manner that said as plainly as words, "the thing is inconceivable."
The engineer, standing not far off, observed this movement, and, probably
without contemplating such serious results, stepped briskly forward and
touched the safety-valve. Startled beyond all "fancy fathoms" by the
earthquake of sound, "country" accomplished a rapid retrograde movement,
which soon involved him in conflict with the waves, whence, floundering
and spluttering, after the fashion of a porpoise, and having absorbed a
barrel or more of river water, he was with difficulty rescued. Being
dragged ashore, and before the agonies of drowning had fairly relinquished
his frame, a sympathizing bystander asked if he had been much scared. His
reply was characteristic of the Caucasian blood, "No-o-o (splutter); I've
(splutter) seen the critters afore."

Not many hundred miles north of the city of Galveston, while the Texas
Central Railroad was in course of construction, and at a little town
which formed its northern terminus for the time being, occurred the
following:

Two individuals of African lineage, hailing from the upper districts of
the State, who had never seen an "ingine," but had long promised
themselves that felicity, stood at the depôt awaiting with some impatience
the arrival of the evening train. Standing hand in hand, and conversing
excitedly on the topic uppermost in their minds, their _outre_ appearance,
coupled with the exceeding verdancy of some of their observations, became
the subject of attention, and then of amused remark from the bystanders.
This they were unable to appreciate for various reasons, and soon the
appearance of the winged monster around a neighboring curve, with
appalling and most unpreconceived suddenness, took away their breaths and
rocked their bodies with shivers of dread. Their first impulse was to
dismiss their corner of the meeting and pass to the rear; but, looking
around upon the broadly smiling crowd, they were reassured for the moment,
and each grasping the other's horny palm with a grip which evinced their
respective determinations not to be left, whatever might happen, they
stood hearkening to the thunderous echoes, and noting with special wonder
the cow-catching and other aggressive features of the steadily approaching
monster. It had now stolen by slow degrees to within twenty feet of the
spot which they occupied, and the whistle breaking into a peculiarly loud
accompaniment to the huff--huff--huff of the bellowing engine, the
expression, "Dar, she's busted!" startled even the man of iron at the
throttle-valve, and prefacing the exertion with a ten-feet leap into the
air, the panic-stricken darkies broke across the landscape with a yearning
desire for tall timber that was eloquently depicted on every motion of the
supple limbs, and in each sway of the backward leant and pendulous
cerebellums. The cheers of the crowd, and a few extra flourishes on the
big horn, served to augment their weight of conviction, and buckling to
their labor with saw-mill regularity of stroke, and a settled
determination not to be overtaken by slower time, they soon blended with
the verge of the horizon, and took that leap into space which rescues them
from all further connection with this narrative.

So thin is the partition wall that separates the real from the ideal with
these beings, that they continually advertise themselves for a scare, and
should they by any accident be deprived of their weekly supply of the
element, loss of appetite and other serious bodily symptoms would
undoubtedly ensue.

We have volunteered these remarks and illustrations, pertaining to the
philosophy of this question, with a view of introducing the following
occurrence:

In that portion of the State of Mississippi where the pumpkins grow
largest, and the mosquitoes are supplied with blood-letting apparatus at
both extremities, and at about that period of _post bellum_ history when
the K. K. K. rabies had taken strongest hold upon the chivalry of the
neighboring hills and valleys, a great "awakening" occurred among the
children of the new Abrahamic covenant. In other words, and to quote the
language of one of the communicants, "a ole fashyun'd whoopin', bumpin',
jumpin,' tumblin,' rousation of de dry bones had superseemed froo de
inscroomentality of Brudder Jones's preechin'." For a period of six weeks
the lame, halt, and blind of the neighboring plantations had been led into
the troubled waters with manifestations of relief that the most skeptical
would hardly question, and still, to quote further, "Zion was a wavin',
and de onregenerate milyums flockin' abode of de 'gospil car.'" Indeed,
the "orfumdoxeky of de new doctorin'" was having its effect everywhere,
and old soggy timber that had resisted the improvements in wedges for half
a century went to atoms under the vigorous mauling of "Brudder Jones." No
sooner had one squad of penitents been "bumped" through and converted into
stools for the sisters, than the raw material for another and larger was
at hand, and "swingin', whoopin', rollin'," the "thing" held right on its
course over the rheumatic toes of the aged and infirm, and into the
combative "buzzums" of the young, vigorous, and
"kick-him-hard-and-let-him-go."

But though nothing could be more delightful to the writer than to continue
the narrative in this strain, recording only the triumphs of "suvverin
grace," and concerning himself most with the æsthetic beauties of its
"sperimental terms," yet duty compels him to state that while Brother
Jones and his militant hosts were pressing hard upon the enemy from their
entrenched position, their campaign was far from embodying all the gospel
conditions. Though we could wish the sentence blotted out after we had
written it, it behooves us to say, in plain words, that sins both of
omission and commission soiled their robes, and wrought, or should have
done so, a languishing effect on their hosannas. The grassy cotton-fields
and rioting pumpkin vines testified to the former, while the _commission_
department of the offence, with such a paraphrase of that word as may be
effected by a slight transposition of accent, was directed with most fatal
precision of aim at the henneries and "piggeries" of the neighboring white
trash. So constant and regular were their visits to the haunts of the
feathered domestics, that the fashion of noting absentees from roll-call
became obsolete; and a full chorus of grunts was so foreign to the morning
habits of the pig-pen, that such an outburst in that quarter must have
affected the nerves of the strongest. Indeed, that division of the
pale-faced settlers whose springtime felicity depended largely on this
class of commissaries, had arrived at such a desperate strait that, in
convention assembled, it was resolved to retrench, and, if we must write
it, their "artifice" of retrenchment was levelled at Brother Jones and his
"band of robbers," as they were politely termed. The scheme "hit upon,"
and the success which followed it, may be gathered from the following
scene:

That period of the night equally removed from the departed and the coming
day, had accomplished its fiftieth revolution, and now hung fire over the
eighteenthly of the most eloquent discourse that was ever flattened out
over the crowns of an equal proportion of unsuspecting listeners for the
same number of times. The cries of the stricken arose from every quarter
of the vast audience, and hundreds of the slain had submitted to that
elongating process by which their contorted frames were made to do duty
for the greatest number of "squatter sovereigns." One brother arose to
testify, in a series of whoops, to the pungency of "de brudder's
doctorin'," and immediately went to bed to a mass of excruciating hurts on
the outskirts of the assembly. A sister, racked by the "alloverishes," and
knowing the penalty for interrupting the services at this interesting
stage, screamed out in affright, and reaching that point over a causeway
of the best Boston built brogans, was content to embrace her toes around a
neighboring sycamore. Nineteenthly stood up for duty,--arranged its
cravat,--tip-toed,--and lo! instead of a chorus of grunts, a chorus of
gasps, full-chested, deep drawn, and suffocating. There he stood, or
rather towered, just where the rays of light fell strongest, garbed in
funereal black, and full twelve feet from crown to sole.[B] Steadying
himself after an awkward, but ghostlily impressive bow, there issued from
that portion of his corporeal frame which might be supposed to represent
the mean in a mathematical estimate of his inches, the following
announcement: "I am a Ku-Klux!" and then from the upper extreme the
following confirmation of this report: "I have just forded the
Tallahatchie River, and am the advance guard of the old original whoopers,
surnamed K. K. K.;" and then from mean and extreme, in dismal chorus,
"Tramp, tramp, tramp, the boys are marching, etc."

Nothing could be further from our purpose than to injure that excellent
person, either in the eyes of his contemporaries or of that posterity
which he was wont to invoke so confidently from the more thrilling
promontories of his discourse; but a decent regard for the "proprieties"
of this narrative compels us to state that the reverend orator observing,
or fancying that he observed, something mandatory, and withal personal in
the terms of this refrain, at once inaugurated the "tramp" exercise over
the heads of the assembly, and reaching _terra firma_, one mile from the
point of embarkation, and seeing nothing in the homogeneity of a mob
particularly attractive to a man of genius, proceeded to divest himself of
his surroundings in the best executed "lonesome" since the days of
Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok. This movement, moreover, possessed a striking
appropriateness, inasmuch as it rendered him _practically_ the leader of
his flock, and perhaps on no former occasion of his extended ministry did
he ever discharge the duties of the "relation" with the same yearning
solicitude for the success of the issue, even admitting, in extenuation of
the past, that the most lukewarm of his constituency did their whole duty
on this memorable occasion. As the writer has never been successful at
equating distances since he was gobbled by the greyhound in connection
with his more legitimate prey in the good old days of "academicia," he
declines to state just how many furlongs the panic-stricken multitude had
traversed, when a gloaming of red in the east warned them that they had
nothing further to fear from the "nocturnal beasts," who had obtruded
their heathenish "doxullumgy" on the late exercises, and will not commit
himself as to the sequel, further than to say that the results of the
"great awakening" were soon after visible in a certain rejoicing tendency
of the cotton plant and pumpkin vine of that fertile region.

CHAPTER XVIII.

K. K. K. AS A FACTOR IN POLITICS.

     Late Announcement of the Earl of Beaconsfield before an Assembly of
     Englishmen--The Secret Societies of Europe--Men of Influence in the
     Southern States Disclaim the alleged Good Offices of the Klan in the
     Work of Southern Redemption--Its True Status with Regard to Current
     Politics--Combining the Offices of Regulator and _Vigilante_ with
     that of Politician--An Absolutist in all Society Matters--Many who
     advance the Idea that that Complete Renovation of the Social System
     Effected through its Means could not have been Accomplished in the
     Use of less Radical Measures--Inhuman Butcheries, etc., Figments of
     the Scalawag Imagination--Many of its Acts were Lawless, etc.--A
     Logical Presentation of the True Theory--How it Injured the Common
     Cause--Its Generical Belongings--Few Friends Unconnected with its
     Patronage--Negative Issue which it Introduced into the Great
     Campaign--Occupying a Voice in Southern Counsels--Unprincipled
     Plagiaries--Dangerous Sentimentalism Awakened at the North--What the
     Imaginative Prose of the News-Reporter was Calculated to Do--How it
     (K. K. K.) Prolonged the "Carpet-Bag" Reign of Terror.

The late announcement of the Earl of Beaconsfield (Mr. D'Israeli), before
an assembly of Englishmen, that the pending war against Turkey was the war
of the secret societies of Europe, conducted through Prince Milan, as
their agent, may induce incredulous persons to give greater heed to the
statement which we here make that the movement inaugurated by the secret
order known as the Ku-Klux-Klan was a war against radicalism as it
formerly existed in the Southern States, waged through its ... allies. If
the English premier speaks truth, there is a strong probability that the
secret purveyors to whom he refers will achieve their aim, and be crowned
with the same reflected glory that has availed to cover a multitude of
sins in the instance of the American order, though reflecting people, who
take into account the incentives to such measures, can but regard them as
intermeddlers of a very base stamp. The cause of religious liberty on the
Turkish frontier will not be benefited by this revelation; and, continuing
the analogy, there are few men of influence in the Southern States who do
not make it a point, whenever occasion offers, to disclaim the alleged
good offices of the Klan in the work of Southern redemption.

We have before intimated that, in one of these States, the cause of the
allied Democrats and Republicans did receive essential aid from this
source, and while we shall not enter into any such exegesis of the
question as would show just how far the common cause was aided or retarded
by the secret measure, we must be permitted to record a belief that its
influence was commonly hurtful.

Every secret society, enterprised with a political end in view, must, in
the nature of the case, prove unpopular with the masses of those who wield
the franchise, and in not unfrequent instances, as we have anticipated,
be deprehended by the very individuals, or parties of individuals, whom
they seek to succor. In the instance of the Klan, these conditions were
felt with peculiar weight; inasmuch as the people among whom it was
domiciled cherished, beside this common feeling, a natural aversion to
such influences in politics, derived from their _ante bellum_ experience;
and the people of the North, unacquainted with its aims, and grossly
unenlightened as to its _materiel_ and claims to social rank, wrote it
down a very monster of sedition. It was denounced in public, scoffed at in
private, declared to be an outlaw by the legislatures, interpreted as the
very essence of crookedness in morals by the courts, fulminated against by
the national and State executives, and how, under these severe conditions,
it contrived to even exist, is, and must remain, one of the unsolved
problems of the "gilded age."

But, aside from any inherited odium of the quality which we have been
discussing, the Klan had obliquities of its own, and a record compiled
therefrom which could not fail to photograph it to the world in a very
disagreeable light, and obtain for it enemies (and sometimes potential
enemies), where it would not otherwise have possessed them. Even its
interference in politics was of an illegitimate and unnatural kind, and
called forth the constant criticisms of such unprejudiced judges as those
who were to reap the benefits of their enterprises would likely prove.

But it did not stop here, and combined the offices of regulator and
_vigilante_ with that of politician. It was an absolutist in all society
matters, and those who offended in this regard could rarely base a hope of
immunity from visitation upon any well-defined precedents to be found
among its Domus Dei records. [We have seen, in the various sketches of
incidents connected with the Order, and based on its history, which have
been given in the progress of this work, the idea of its officiousness in
such details rendered prominent, and this has been done, in every
instance, with a view to subserve the intelligent aim upon which the work
is based: in a word, to render it a true reflector of the K. K. K. idea,
as it has existed in Southern society and politics.] But, leaving out of
the estimate the cruel measures sometimes resorted to in executing its
plans, there will be found many who advance the opinion that that complete
renovation of the social system accomplished through its means was a
necessity of the times which would hardly have been effected so quickly
and so thoroughly in the use of less radical measures.

And in this connection, it may not be deemed digressive to say, that the
many inhuman butcheries with which it was debited by a _not too
discriminative public_, never in reality occurred (in no instance unless
through accident or mistake), and were pure figments of the scalawag
imagination--an imperent element of Southern politics, whose acts had
provoked the reign of terror which it took this dishonest means of
deprecating.

But as nothing could be further from our purpose than to become the
champion of this secret movement--which might be inferred from a too ready
condemnation of its enemies--we hasten to add our conviction that many of
its acts were lawless, many of its correctives applied to social maladies
improportioned in severity, and its entire administration, social and
political, an incontinent abuse of usurped prerogative. We have said that
in politics its influence was hurtful to those in whose behalf it was
officiously employed, and we wish to verify this statement in a logical
manner. Assuming that our position is fully understood by the reader, the
information may be volunteered in its support, that the rank and file of
the Order comprised the radical element in Southern politics (native),
Democrats and Republicans (and not a few of the latter), a force, which it
was reasonable to presume, would enterprise radical measures only in
support of its aims. The organization, then, standing alone, and
segregated from any influences which itself may have set in motion, could
not have failed of ungracious treatment from those domestic surroundings
which it had ignored, but upon which it was confessedly dependent. The
great _party_ from which it had seceded, controlled by a rigid system of
morals in politics, viewed from habit all such movements with suspicion;
and as there was nothing in either the manners or the policy of this
departure calculated to remove the antipathies of the prejudiced, or to
win the affections of the disengaged, reflector of opinion, it failed
altogether to secure discriminations in its favor, which would have placed
it above such considerations. From this standpoint (_i. e._, its
individuality) it conciliated nobody, for even its externals were
forbidding; and the ignorant and educated classes alike--though perhaps
from diverse considerations--cherished a suppressed sentiment unfavorable
to its affectation of the supernatural, and its partiality for the shadowy
in nature.

But while it lost popularity where it should have gained it,--through
generical belongings which, possibly, could not have been rendered more in
harmony with the public fancy,--there was certainly nothing reassuring to
its fellow-citizens in the record which it put before the world. While, as
we have said, there was nothing monstrous, nor even designedly criminal in
its acts, there was so much that offended against propriety, and required
explanation withal, that those who had not been estranged before, as well
as those who had, became hopelessly so. It had not been in existence a
twelvemonth, before its name, in the localities which it frequented most,
became a by-word signifying something very forbidding and disagreeable, if
not actually criminal. In the dozen States or more whence its force was
recruited, it had not half a hundred friends unconnected with its
patronage, and these could hardly have been induced to have made a public
profession of their preference.

Its influence on Southern politics, then, could not have been favorable;
and having said so much as to the positive effect wrought, we shall
briefly examine the negative issue which it introduced into the great
campaign. And in doing this, we shall not attempt to penetrate its
motives, nor inquire how far it was responsible for acts which but
reflected an evil tendency. The reader has, doubtless, anticipated us in
the statement that it alienated the political mind of the North, reopened
the dead issues of secession and war, and licensed a political persecution
which, in extent and malignity of design, has not been equalled since the
Roman empire dictated government to its conquered dependencies.
Reconstruction, having been inaugurated under favorable auspices, was not
to be pretermitted, nor even abated, while this sage Ahithophel occupied a
voice in Southern counsels (rendering a war of races possible); and who
will affect to say that this policy had no basis of sound reason? The
society, a mystery to itself, and sorely misinterpreted by the people