bands of regulators,
taking on many new fantastic qualities along with their new seriousness
of purpose. Some of the more ardent spirits led the Dens far in the
direction of violence and outrage. Attempts were made by the parent
Den at Pulaski to regulate the conduct of the others, but, owing to
the loose organization, the effort met with little success. Some of the
Dens, indeed, lost all connection with the original order.

A general organization of these societies was perfected at a convention
held in Nashville in May 1867, just as the Reconstruction Acts were
being put into operation. A constitution called the Prescript was
adopted which provided for a national organization. The former slave
states, except Delaware, constituted the Empire, which was ruled by
the Grand Wizard (then General Forrest) with a staff of ten Genii;
each State was a realm under a Grand Dragon and eight Hydras; the next
subdivision was a Dominion, consisting of several counties, ruled by
a Grand Titan and six Furies; the county or Province was governed by
a Grand Giant and four Goblins; the unit was the Den or community
organization, of which there might be several in each county, each under
a Grand Cyclops and two Nighthawks. The Genii, Hydras, Furies, Goblins,
and Nighthawks were staff officers. The private members were called
Ghouls. The order had no name, and at first was designated by two stars
(**), later by three (***). Sometimes it was called the Invisible Empire
of Ku Klux Klan.

Any white man over eighteen might be admitted to the Den after
nomination by a member and strict investigation by a committee. The
oath demanded obedience and secrecy. The Dens governed themselves by the
ordinary rules of deliberative bodies. The punishment for betrayal of
secrecy was "the extreme penalty of the Law." None of the secrets was to
be written, and there was a "Register" of alarming adjectives, such
as terrible, horrible, furious, doleful, bloody, appalling, frightful,
gloomy, which was used as a cipher code in dating the odd Ku Klux
orders.

The general objects of the order were thus set forth in the revised
Prescript: first, to protect the weak, the innocent, and the defenseless
from the indignities, wrongs, and outrages of the lawless, the violent,
and the brutal; to relieve the injured and oppressed; to succor the
suffering and unfortunate, and especially the widows and orphans of
Confederate soldiers; second, to protect and defend the Con