Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-11-10
THE CLAXSMAX:
An Historical Romance OF the
Ku Klux Klan.
BY THOMAS DIXON, JR.
the Author and Published by Doubleday. Page & Co.

Il am running the commandments
Love your enemies?"
Certainly. How could one hell
loving the sweet, motherly face you
saw yesterday" -,
The president laughed heartily. y
see-of course, of courses"
THE Honorable Austin Stoneman,
suddenly announced a clerk at his ell
bow.
Elsie started in surprise and whis-
pered:
do not let my father know am
here. I will wait in the next room
You'll let nothing delay the pardon
will YOU, Mr. President?"
Mr. Lincoln warmly pressed her hand
as she disappeared through the door
leading into Major Hays room, and
turned to meet the Great Commoner
who hobbled slowly in, leaning on his
crooked cane.
At this moment he was startling
and portentous figure in the, drama OF
the Nation, the most powerful parlia-
mentary leader in American history,
not excepting Henry Clay.
No stranger ever passed this man
without a second look. His clean
shaven face, the massive chiselled fea-
lures, his grim eagle look and cold
co,orless eyes, with the frosts OF his
native Vermont sparkling in their
depths compelled attention.
His walk was a painful hobble. He
was lame in both feet, and one Of them
was deformed. The left leg ended In a
mere bunch of flesh, resembling more
closely an elephants hoof than the foot
of man.
He was absolutely bald, and wore a
heavy brown wig that seemed too small
to reach to the edge Of his enormous
forehead.
He rarely visited the White House.
He was the able, bold, unscrupulous
leader Of leaders, and men came to see
him. He rarely smiled, and when he
did 1t was the smile of the cynic and
His tongue had the lash
of a scorpion. He was greater ter
ror to the trimmers and time-servers
of his own party than to his political
foes. He had hated the president with
sullen, consistent, and unyielding We
nom from his first nomination at Chi
cago down to the last rumor of his new
proclamation.
In temperament a fanatic, In impulse
a born revolutionist, the word conser-
vatism was to him as a red rag to
bull The first clash of arms was mu-
sic to his soul. He laughed a: the call
for $4,000 volunteers, and demanded the
equipment Of an army Of a
million men. He saw 1t grow to 2,OOO,-
900. From the first his eagle eye had
seen the end and all the long, blood
marked way between. And from the
first he began to plot the most cruel
and awful vengeance in human history.
And now his time had come.
The giant figure in the White House
alone had dared to brook his anger and
block the way; for old Stoneman was
the congress of the United States. The
opposi: ion was too weak even for his
contempt. Cool, deliberate, and venom
Gus, alike in victory or defeat, the fas-
of his positive faith and rev.
programme had drawn the
rank and file Of his party in congress
to him as charmed satellites.
The president greeted him cordially,
and with his habitual Difference to age
ard physical infirmity FASTENED to
place for him an easy chair near his
desk.
He was breathing heavily and evil
IDENTIFY laboriHg under great emotion
He brought his cane to the floor with
violence, placed both hands on lis
crook, leaned his massive jaws on his
hands for a moment, and then said:
"Mr. President. I have not annoyed
you with many requests during the
past four years, nor am I here today to
ask any favors. l have come to warn
YOU that, in the course you have map
ped ou:, the executive and legislative
bra ches have come to the parting OF
the ways. and that your encroachments
on the functions of congress will be
tolerated, now that the Rebellion Is
crushed not for a single moment!"
Mr.. Lincoln listened with dignity
a"d a ripple of fun played about his
yes as he looked at his grim visitor
The two men were face to face at last
he two men above all others who had
built and were 20 build the foundations
of the new Nation-Lincoln's In love
and wisdom to endure forever, the
Great Commoner's in hate and mad
ness, to bear its harvest Of tragedy
and death for generations yet unborn
We'll. now, Stoneman," began the
good -humored voice, that puts me ir
mind"
The old Commoner lifted his hand
with a gesture of angry impatience:
Save your fables for fools. 1t Is
true that you have prepared a procla-
nation restoring the conquered prov
ince of Nor:h Carolina to its place as
a state in the Union with a provision
for negro suffrage or the exile and dis
franchisement Of its rebels?"
The president rose and walked back
a"d forth with his hands folded be-
hind him, before answering.
Il have. The constitution grants tC
he National government no power tC
regulate suffrage, and makes no pro.
vision for the control of conquered
provinces.
constitution" thundered Stoneman
II have a hundred constitutions In thu
pigeon-holes of my desk"
Il have sworn to support but one.
"A worn out rag"
Rag or silk, I've sworn to execute
l., and I'll do 1t, so help me God!' sale
the quiet voice.
you've been doing it for the pas
four years. haven't you!" sneered th'
C'ommoner What right had yol
under the constitution to declare wa
agai~st a sovereign state? To Invade
one for coercion? To blockade a port
To declare slaves free? To suspend
the writ of habeas corpus? To create
the state of West Virginia by the con
sent of two states, one Of which wa
dead, and the other one of which live(
in Ohio? BY what authority have yol
appointed military governors In tn
sovereign states of Virginia Tennes
see and Louisiana? Why trim tn
hedge and lie about it? We, too, ar
revolutionists, and you are our eXecu
tive. The constitution sustained AM
protected slavery. 1t was a leagu
with death and a covenant with hell
and our flag polluted rag!
I'm the stress of war" said tn
president. with a faraway look, lit wa
necessary that do things as comman
der-in-chief of the army and navy I
save the Union which 1 have no righ
to do now that the Union is saved am
its constitution preserved. My mrs
duty Is to re-establish the consttu
ion as our supreme law over ever,
inch of our SOIL"
1.-THE constitution be ID" hisse'
the old man. TT was the creation
both in Letter and spirit. of the slave
holders of the south"
Then the world is their debtor, an
their work Is a monument Of imper
ishable glory 10 them and to their chill
dren. l have sworn to preserve it,"
I'VE have outgrown the swaddlin
clothes of a babe We will make neN
constitutional"