rst its strength. It
afterwards became its greatest weakness. As long as mystery was
conjoined with it, it was strength. When masks and disguises ceased to
be mysterious, secrecy was weakness.

One of the most important things done by this Nashville convention was
to make a positive and emphatic declaration of the principles of the
order. It was in the following terms:

"We recognize our relations to the United States Government; the
supremacy of the Constitution; the constitutional laws thereof; and
the union of States thereunder."

If these men were plotting treason, it puzzles us to know why they
should make such a statement as that in setting forth the principles
of the order. The statement above quoted was not intended for general
circulation and popular effect. So far as is known, it is now given to
the public for the first time. We must regard it, therefore, as
accurately describing the political attitude which the Ku Klux
proposed and desired to maintain. Every man who became a member of the
Klan really took an oath to support the Constitution of the United
States.

This Nashville convention also defined and set forth the peculiar
objects of the order, as follows:[38]

(1.) "To protect the weak, the innocent, and the defenceless, from the
indignities, wrongs and outrages of the lawless, the violent and the
brutal; to relieve the injured and the oppressed; to succor the
suffering, and especially the widows and orphans of Confederate
soldiers.

(2.) "To protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and
all laws passed in conformity thereto, and to protect the States and
people thereof from all invasion from any source whatever.

(3.) "To aid and assist in the execution of all constitutional laws,
and to protect the people from unlawful seizure, and from trial except
by their peers in conformity to the laws of the land."

This last clause was the result of the infamous and barbarous
legislation of that day. On the 3rd of June, 1865, the Thirty-fourth
General Assembly of Tennessee revived the sedition law and restricted
the right of suffrage.[39] A negro militia, ignorant and brutal, were
afterwards put over the State, and spread terror throughout its
borders. Men felt that they had no security for life, liberty, or
property. They were persecuted if they dared to complain. It was no
strange thing if they resorted to desperate measures for protection.
The emergency was desperate. Taking all the