KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE.
|§2(§N 1866 there was a secret organization in Shelby
w|l county known as "Knights of the Golden Cir-
C/rlfit cle," which drew after it much attention and fa-
^m? vorable consideration from many prominent men.
I never belonged to it, nor did I know anything of the
grips, signs, and secret work; but its design was to pro-
tect its members and society where the Order existed
from oppression and wrong during that excited and un-
settled condition of society immediately succeeding the
war. The authority it assumed to exercise in defiance of
established law was liable to great abuse if not guarded
by the greatest caution. Its membership consisted chiefly
if not entirely, of the rural population where my acquaint-
ance embraced the entire population. The Order em-
braced many discreet farmers, and they caused me to be
chosen attorney for the Order, and a committee notified
me.
My position, this relation, and the discreet men who
conferred with me as to contemplated acts, enabled
me to exert much influence over the Order, and to mini-
mize its excesses, and I have no hesitation in emphasiz-
ing- the assertion that no similar Society of six hundred
men ever acted more discreetly.
Many superficial persons, whose zeal is much more fer-
vid than their practical judgment, will condemn me for
accepting such an office, giving such service to such an
organization. But I have ever acted on my own judg-
ment in such junctures, alone anxious to satisfy my own
conscience regardless of what others might think. I
knew the organization embraced many good and misguid-
ed men, many of them the friends of my boyhood, and
I knew that if ever an association of men stood in need
of well-considered advice, these men did. I had their
confidence — to me more precious than all the gems
of the Orient — I saw an opportunity to do much g'ood,
unmingled with a shadow of evil in so far as I was con-
cerned.
Then why not stay the hand of a misguided friend be-
fore an irreparable evil was inflicted? Why " strain at a
gnat and swallow a camel?" Everything including
patriotism in time of war has its limitations and qualifi-
cations. Twenty-five men of this Order awoke me up
at the dead hour of night and called me out in the street
in front of my residence. They were on horseback, had
one poor, trembling- man pinioned with ropes and shackle.
They wanted a consultation with me as to whether that
man's life was forfeit or not. I invited the leader to
dismount and come into my house and g-ive me the details
of the crime, to which I listened with the greatest anxiety
and solicitude. I was on the judg-ment-seat — the nearest
approach of man to his God — with no commission from
man to guide, with no external responsibility to my fellow
men to censure if I went wrong, but an awful resonsibili-
ty to that accused man and to my God if I erred in judg-
ment.
What was the crime? The wife of one of these Knights
of the Golden Circle had been fearfully mistreated by a
man in the absence of her husband. This pinioned man
had been captured and accused of the crime, taken before
the injured wife for identification. She said he greatly
resembled the man, and believed he was the man, but
that she could not swear that he was the identical man.
His accusers believed he was the criminal, and certain
circumstances strongly corroborated their belief. After
hearing all the details I went out and stood on the steps
leading down to the street, called the men close up around
me so all could hear the low voice in which the surround-
ings compelled me to speak, and I said: " Gentlemen and
friends, I have heard all the details, and if such a crime
was committed against those dearest to me, and estab-
lished beyond all doubt against a certain individual, I
would take his life. But no such certainty exists in this
man's case. By the laws of God and man he is entitled
to the doubt. "Were you to take his life, you would all
be guilty of the greatest possible crime; and though man
might never detect and punish you, your own conscience
would lash you until time is no more. In the name of
your own honor, in the name of our all-seeing God, I ad-
vise you to release and let him go."
The leader pulled out a bowieknife, and leaning over
the saddle, handed it to me, saying: "John, we believe
you are right; cut him loose." And I cut the cords that
bound him. That poor, trembling man fell on his knees,
hugged my limbs, and wept, and prayed God's benedic-
tion on me.
I will not attempt to describe my own feelings, no pen
nor tongue can do it. I would not have erred on the
wrong side in that supreme hour for ten such worlds as
this. The man disappeared around the corner, and went
southeast on Alabama street. From me no human has
ever heard the name of one of these men. Ethics, law,
and morals preclude it. The minds of troubled men
must have some place where they can unbosom and lay
bare the inward sufferings of the heart, repose the de-
tails of their life with the law's protection from expos-
ure. Three such depositories exist under our law: Con-
fessions to the priesthood, details of disease to the phy-
sician, and communications to lawyers by their clients in
the line of employment. The closets uncovered in a law
office and laid bare will never be known to the world.
|§2(§N 1866 there was a secret organization in Shelby
w|l county known as "Knights of the Golden Cir-
C/rlfit cle," which drew after it much attention and fa-
^m? vorable consideration from many prominent men.
I never belonged to it, nor did I know anything of the
grips, signs, and secret work; but its design was to pro-
tect its members and society where the Order existed
from oppression and wrong during that excited and un-
settled condition of society immediately succeeding the
war. The authority it assumed to exercise in defiance of
established law was liable to great abuse if not guarded
by the greatest caution. Its membership consisted chiefly
if not entirely, of the rural population where my acquaint-
ance embraced the entire population. The Order em-
braced many discreet farmers, and they caused me to be
chosen attorney for the Order, and a committee notified
me.
My position, this relation, and the discreet men who
conferred with me as to contemplated acts, enabled
me to exert much influence over the Order, and to mini-
mize its excesses, and I have no hesitation in emphasiz-
ing- the assertion that no similar Society of six hundred
men ever acted more discreetly.
Many superficial persons, whose zeal is much more fer-
vid than their practical judgment, will condemn me for
accepting such an office, giving such service to such an
organization. But I have ever acted on my own judg-
ment in such junctures, alone anxious to satisfy my own
conscience regardless of what others might think. I
knew the organization embraced many good and misguid-
ed men, many of them the friends of my boyhood, and
I knew that if ever an association of men stood in need
of well-considered advice, these men did. I had their
confidence — to me more precious than all the gems
of the Orient — I saw an opportunity to do much g'ood,
unmingled with a shadow of evil in so far as I was con-
cerned.
Then why not stay the hand of a misguided friend be-
fore an irreparable evil was inflicted? Why " strain at a
gnat and swallow a camel?" Everything including
patriotism in time of war has its limitations and qualifi-
cations. Twenty-five men of this Order awoke me up
at the dead hour of night and called me out in the street
in front of my residence. They were on horseback, had
one poor, trembling- man pinioned with ropes and shackle.
They wanted a consultation with me as to whether that
man's life was forfeit or not. I invited the leader to
dismount and come into my house and g-ive me the details
of the crime, to which I listened with the greatest anxiety
and solicitude. I was on the judg-ment-seat — the nearest
approach of man to his God — with no commission from
man to guide, with no external responsibility to my fellow
men to censure if I went wrong, but an awful resonsibili-
ty to that accused man and to my God if I erred in judg-
ment.
What was the crime? The wife of one of these Knights
of the Golden Circle had been fearfully mistreated by a
man in the absence of her husband. This pinioned man
had been captured and accused of the crime, taken before
the injured wife for identification. She said he greatly
resembled the man, and believed he was the man, but
that she could not swear that he was the identical man.
His accusers believed he was the criminal, and certain
circumstances strongly corroborated their belief. After
hearing all the details I went out and stood on the steps
leading down to the street, called the men close up around
me so all could hear the low voice in which the surround-
ings compelled me to speak, and I said: " Gentlemen and
friends, I have heard all the details, and if such a crime
was committed against those dearest to me, and estab-
lished beyond all doubt against a certain individual, I
would take his life. But no such certainty exists in this
man's case. By the laws of God and man he is entitled
to the doubt. "Were you to take his life, you would all
be guilty of the greatest possible crime; and though man
might never detect and punish you, your own conscience
would lash you until time is no more. In the name of
your own honor, in the name of our all-seeing God, I ad-
vise you to release and let him go."
The leader pulled out a bowieknife, and leaning over
the saddle, handed it to me, saying: "John, we believe
you are right; cut him loose." And I cut the cords that
bound him. That poor, trembling man fell on his knees,
hugged my limbs, and wept, and prayed God's benedic-
tion on me.
I will not attempt to describe my own feelings, no pen
nor tongue can do it. I would not have erred on the
wrong side in that supreme hour for ten such worlds as
this. The man disappeared around the corner, and went
southeast on Alabama street. From me no human has
ever heard the name of one of these men. Ethics, law,
and morals preclude it. The minds of troubled men
must have some place where they can unbosom and lay
bare the inward sufferings of the heart, repose the de-
tails of their life with the law's protection from expos-
ure. Three such depositories exist under our law: Con-
fessions to the priesthood, details of disease to the phy-
sician, and communications to lawyers by their clients in
the line of employment. The closets uncovered in a law
office and laid bare will never be known to the world.
