The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-01-03

uAAofl ia anu eSpeclaIy the WIDOWS
and orphans OF Confederate soldiers.
Second To protect and defend the
Constitution of the United States, n
all laws passed in conformity there
to, and to protect the States and the
people thereof from all invasions from
any source whatever.
Third. To aid and assist IN the
execution of all constitutional laws.
and to protect h people from unlaw-
full seizure and from trial except by
their peers in conformity to the laws
of the land"
Such an organization naturally
found itself forced 10 entrust the carry
ing out Of its purposes to men Of only
h truest character, a fact which is
also made apparent in the Amended
Prescript" as we'll as by the deeds of
members themselves. No one under
the g of eighteen could be a mem
bers, and the rash, the impudent. the
over-so1icitious, and such as could not
meet the quiet. sane approval of their
fellows, were in the main debarred
from membership.
Tn number of members Of the or
der has been, and will continue to be
a matter of uncertainty. On account
or the tactics employed by the Ku
klux themselves in their night parades
and on account of the presence OF
other similar orders such as the
HIl1SIllS VI IL - 4hdII1CAlE1y Tx
White Brotherhood" the Pale
Faces" the Constitutional Union
Guards, etc." all Of whom patterned
after the Ku Klux and were confused
with it by those who did not kqnow
that there were a number Of organiZa-
tons working side By side for the
same general end-for these reasons,
their number was generally greatly
overestimated. A half million is prob
ably a conservative In
speaking of this point and Of the ma
ture of the work accomplished by the
order Lenter and Wilson say, on
page So Of "Ku K!u Klan:"
cit is an error to suppos that the
entire male population of the South
were Ku Klux, OF hat even a major
ity of them were privy to it's secrets
and in sympathy with it's EXTREMIST
measures. To many Of them, perhaps
to a majority, the Ku Klux Klan was
as vague, impersona1 and mysterious
as to the people Of the North. or
ute to it great good and to this day
remember with gratitude the protec-
ton it afforded them in the most try
ing and perilous period Of their his
tory, when there was no other earth
ly source to which to appeal"
OF the original Prescript. that is
the one published before 1868, but
o1IC SOpy 4S ~ 44S SOSOtA0
there are three of which the one given
to the University Library is the most
ecently discovered. It's interest, while
great for the very reason that it is
a silent witness OF the once wide
spread power Of the "Invincible En-
of view Of ITS origin u publication.
The former is not known, but the lat
ter is. Laps D. McCord, in the
American Historical Magazine, volume
s, p. 4, makes the following state
ment concerning 1t:
This is an exact copy Of the orig
ina1 Prescript (Revised and Amended
Prescript) printed in the office Of the
Pulaski, (Tennessee) Citizen. L. W.
McCord, proprietor, in 1868. I was a
printer boy, and with John n. Kirk,
the father of the Rev. Harry Kirk,
recently of Nashville, set the type. My
brother, L. w. McCord, sreceived a
him by means of a hole in the wall
the door, in which the Ku K1ux
deposited all their communications for
the paper, asking for an estimate for
printing this pamphlet, describing it.
He delivered his reply in the same
hole, and the following morning the
copy in full, the money, and minute
directions as to the disposition of the
books when completed, were in h
hole. We did it all under seal OF Sc
crecy and ~concealment, hid the galleys
of type as they we're set up, stitched
them with our own hands in a back
room over Shephard's store, and trim
med them with a shoe knife on the
floor. When finished they wer tied
into a bundle and deposited late at
night just outside the office door,
where they were Immediately taken
by unseen hands I knew personally
all the ~originators Of the Ku Klux
Khan. and the history Of its origin
it's deeds, purposes and accomplish
ments."
Printed in this secret way the Pre-
script was sent by the Grand Wizard
to various officers-such were the di-
.rections contained in the Prescript-
Cyclops of each Den being required
to purchase one for the Den at the
price of $1,000 In to read it to the