The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1868-05-09
"A. ES. e.

member Of the Ku Klux Khan. in
letter to the Philadelphia Press, exposing this
midnight association OF assassins, and its OBJ
ject, thus describes the initiation ceremony:
CGPtain addressing me, the candidate
for lnltiation). When noble people are
crushed by the servile mnions Of II tyrant,
will they submit tamely and basely?
Candidate. No.
Captain. When a noble cause is lost in
the field, when its spotless banners are trail
ed in the dust by the base hordes of the OPP
pressor, when appeal to the God of Battles
is no longer possible, should the friends of
that cause fold their arms in AFFECT submis
sion?
Candidate No.
Captain. When the homes Of a noble
people are devastated by fire and pllage,
when their women are violated by q brutal
sodiery, should that people mete out the
same to the destroyers?
Landidate. Yes.
Captain. Whena brave people are tram
pied IN the dust by tyrants, what is their
remedy?
THE whole band answer this by cooking
their pieces and swapping the hammers, and
the Captain then iuterprets as follows
''Siience, darkness, and cold lead Do
you agree -
Candidate. Yes.
C0ptain To be Of us and not with us. is
treason and the reward Of treason is death
Every SOutherner belongs to us, by birth, by
education, by the love OF liberty inhaled with
the balmy breezes Of the sunny South. by
the hatred of the Northern clans imbibed
with his mothers milk, by the inherent de-
testatlon OF hypocrisy, and the myriad social
and political denominations of the North -
You are Of us, you must be with us! The
l0Ie ,,,,I f a, 4 oyI
pared to take the oath.
The Captain here rccites the following
oath, the candidate repeating it after him
:" by all the loved memories of my native
land, by all the hallowcd associations of
home and family, by the memory of friends
and brothers slain, by the lurid flames Of
war and desolation spread over the happy
homes by the Lincoln hordes, swear that
by daylight and darkness, at all times and
all occasions, the steel shall pay the debt Of
steel, the lead shalt rccompense for leaR, tile
Southeln Cross shall get dcIy the porldr'
The Southern Cross in the order has a
double significance. ltrepresents the dagger
of the assassin as well as the cross.
The Captain then declares:
9 Welcome the ne,c Brother of the South
ern CrosSr'
And thereupon the band make the chal-
longing sign of the order, by cooking and
swapping their gun locks. The Captain
then proposes the second oath, the candidate
repeating it, as follows:
by Southern homes despoiled and bro
ken, by Southern women outraged, by the
lingering torments of Nothern prisons, by all
the desolaton brought on our people by
famine, pestilence, and sword. | swear that
that DISSOLUTION shall ansccr desolation, pes
thence shalt pay for pestileRce, until the
Southern Crescent span the continent, and
carry 0cer the North the Jtries that haze des-
olated the South.n
The Captain then declares again:
lpelcome the ner Brother of the South
ern Crescentr'
And the band respond as before.
Then comes the third and final oath, as
follows:
"By all that is sacred, swear to remem-
Der jackson, and Johnston, and the thou
sands dead the humiliation of Davis, and
Lee, and Bragg, and Beauregard; the noble
deeds OF Seuthrons on many CORY field
and by the memory Of all these, | swear to
be true to the Lone Star Of the South, till
these and all oar acoeS are q thousand times
acengedr'
The Captain again declares;
g Welcome the ne,0 Brother Of The Lone
Star of the Sonthr'
And the band respond as before
The Captain then spoke the following add
duration:
- Let the heavans be lit with the lurid
flames of worse than frartcdal war! Let
the dagger, the bullet, the flames, and the pes.
thence, smite every vulnerable pointl Let
the desolation of death reign in the North
ern homes enriched by plumbers of the
South! Let the audacious minions of the
tyrants in our country be met in silence and
darkness, struck down by power they see
not Remember the oath The Crescent
is broad enough to include all the enemies
of the South The Lone Star shines bright
est in the darkness! The dagger is the em.
blem of silent work! Remember the oath
Bring the consecrating bowl"
The last sentence was responded to by one
of the band, and something like bowl was
put into my hands.
Dip Your finger in the consecrating
drink ~ said the captain.
| did as directed, and the captain then