The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-06-19

....r than q year before / rcae
...ufI IT,. That twelve month regu-
.. works admirably. II pre.eufs
....El reading many volumes tina
..aEIE well praised but valueIess
... Ilst live years several volume
Da-u published / would have read
|.E NY rule governing. Ey on
..- able. JudlciOua critics before
.ar ended, 1 found that il would
-. TO give \ said volumes the
......" in spite Of inflated IaudatIon
.EaZines and scores Of news
. It is only quite recently that
.. The CIansman" in hand. and
carefully and IeisurcIy. not
at any sitting more than
..'. oar twenty-five pages. And
..uIt the book?
goo late to discuss it deliberately
ualyze it either as to characters
..fE.. / mean to write Of it to
myself. and not to crafty the
......re or the enemies Of the book.
.er if 50 viii / present it. 1t is
.#...e important, Il more interesting
.#H Ihau / expected to find it to be.
..fH you, | know nothing Of the
.~......rlzrd version. 1 have not been
theatre in wei nigh or quite
r.'.-@IT years and | pray God most
....'3} and humbly to forgive me for
-. having attended one. My opinion
....4teIErIy Of the novel. and il is 4
.... a"t. 81 more artist" work than /
..# .I for IT is more dramatic. more
.. .r.YI#. tru"r to life, more faithful
FL. l.-t. more animated, more en-
...'.uH than | expected it to be. II
...|# hI+ many admirable, finely
.... H. even powerful. scenes, ana no
... Of description that is fe]licitOus.
f..#. IIu entertaining. 1t is more
H....aI realistic. guarded than Ger
r.|H uHIiri~nI% caused me to anticipate.
..r UI@l hundred or 50 pages are Re
u.', with incidents ana scenes that
.. a~e"rt-touching ana we'll finished.
IU- part devoted to Reconstruction.
BEGINNING with the assassination of
r.- dent Lincoln, and ending with the
H,.eu IF Terror in u fair Southland,
8. I.aWn with marked skill, VigOr. Iu-
t.HtE. t~rSeneSS, impreSSiVeneSS.
"U- portion that uncOverS some little
uf Guu unInitigated, calculating devil
u.. .ur appalling outrageS, the wild
|,..uI<aI of crime, is not an ~OverdraNn
picture amy more than the great dra-
matIr scenes in Hugo, Dumas, BaIzac,
Scott T~hackeray. Dickens. BIackmore.
,,.or4. Eliot, ana other great writer's
Of romance ana fiction. / met lately
g. tnuMS Northern man of collegiate
training. He had quite recently read
"THe CIanSnan," and voluntarily he
saII to me: 1T is very interesting, and
IH| U.fiit.t" II. / nat IS sane ana can
did criticism. | for one am glad that
Mr. Dixon ever wrote it. The present
atarItup1 really know Dut little of the
actual experiences n SutferingS and
u.t.agrS of the White race in the South
.u The 0ark, devilish days of DeStruc-I
fut commonly called Reconstruction.
Whcu is a wild miSnomer. for that
only came after the horrors of 1S66-72
had ceased. and life worth living be
.Etu once more in our blessed Hand
ot rr South.
10 genuine white man of intelli-
grooe and sufficient information, can
possibly object to the novel IN the
score If being dangerous and eXaS-
sr@a'rd- 1t is 4 very real picture l
haze no doubt that thrills and pene-
RATES. | learned something of passing
r.rnJs in North Carolina from 1865
" l>l2. If o would go into South
'atoIIuJ or Tennessee, and in sections
ot our wi State, and tall With gray
asu,d men of sObrietv and elevation
of character and thorough acquaint-
aHor with the Dark Days. you would
'r surprised at the revelations made
"Ihr tlansman'' is not overdraWn. /
repeat. or false or malicious. 1t can
hj be- truthfully said of it that "arti-
urlaI strife lives in these touches.
.Nelor than life" There is no occasion
for r%epinings or tears that the descrip-
mons are SO pregnant with passion and
Ht" It is false sympathy when be
@J"N"j upon scoundrels n rapiSts
u"t nturdererS. "Mercy but murders.
l"EttuIng those that kill" 1t is time
THAT The people in this country as
We'll aS i'm the world at large should
Ftth something of what happened
JOG "0r Southland as it has learned of
'i, ltrrorS and sufferings and OppreS-
SION. of ,tbA,, -r,anr1ar in nthpY, lands |
"i+j other ages. History runs over
a+1 such scenes and information, ana
history repeats itself. There is an in
'rl.~' unique, heart-Stirring power in
The book. So far from doing an in
Jury to the South, the author has per
.'Iu'@d an actual service much needed.
'" not think that any decent, Well
'iH posed. l~aW-ubiding and useful :
can really take umbrage at what is
.'"t With such clarity and VigOr, for
l based ON solid facts-oh things
.'-j happened, if not precisely as pre-
'"'rt, certainly with the foundations
' reality. | was in Tennessee Tor
'''h months in 1868. I learned much
'" '"r ku-kIuX Kan. hen in full &C
N'iN. The necessities of the Organl-
|'.I"o We're not imagined but real.
We're not e~XtempOrized Tor the
.|@iou. but We're caused by actual
.'HNouS-by the negro midnight
.''Iln&s being held under the manip-
.."a and inspiration of SoulleSS
.""IirelS from the North, aided by
.'A' FlII3lnous ~ScallaWags of South
production. The Ku-KluX was
.'1'N organized in self-defence. and
"1 potent. 1t cured the deVlllSl
."'"re and rascaIities that We're be
.tli"lrated by the negro secret or
+'"@lIons in every direction. IN
."t-N~e" ] learned that the Organlza-
. Was very strong, and thoroughly
#"'h"d ana armed. 1t was COM
Of $4,000 White men, and L
..3 the commander. the great mill
@'hidS, Gen. Bedford Forrest, say
us. IL was as brave and we'll drilled
"'H> 3S he eVer led in battle in the
war. 1t kept things very quiet,
even ~l}roWnloW himself. 1t had
''"[3IN, aWing effect where ever 1t
"r existed. IN Tennessee IT
''I"'rd mo- outrages. but punished
"- strict orders by the command
'.'Itr Forrest. Rigid discipline
..'"d everywhere and drinking was
.'' writing the above. the Sunday
. ' JHe News and Observer Of n !