"There was news of a battle, and sad souls were aching Oh, bitter the cup that the Patriot quaffed! He had tears for our flag, he had sighs for our glory, He had groans for our dead—but the 'Copperhead' laughed." A secret society was organized in the Western States, the "Mutual Protection Society," which was soon changed to "Knights of the Golden Circle."() There were orders and degrees. The first was the "O. A. K.” (Order of American Knights); the second, the "O. S. L." (Order of Sons of Liberty). To become a Knight of the Golden Circle one must enter first the Vestibule, beyond which were the Temple, the Inner Temple, the Innermost Temple. There were divisions, brigades, regiments, and companies, General Commanders, Grand Seigniors, Excellent Knights, and a score of officers with high-sounding names. The members of the order met in secret in out-of-the-way places. When a new member was to be inducted, the Knight Lecturer inside the door asked, "Who cometh?" The Warden of the Outer Court responded, "A man! We found him in the dark ways of the sons of folly, bound in chains and wellnigh crushed to death beneath the iron heel of oppression." Not till the new member-the "neophyte," as he was known in the order had taken several oaths did he find out just what were the political principles of the Knights of the Golden Circle, or what they intended to accomplish. These their principles: "The Government of the United States of America has no sovereignty, because that is an attribute belonging to the people in their respective State organizations, and with which they have not endowed that government as their common agent. . . . "The Federal Government can exercise only delegated power; hence if those who shall have been chosen to administer that government shall assume to exercise power not delegated, they should be regarded and dealt with as usurpers. "Whenever the officials to whom the people have intrusted the powers of government shall refuse to administer it in strict accordance with its Constitution; shall assume and exercise powers not delegated, it is the inherent right and imperative duty of the people to resist such officials, and, if need be, expel them by force of arms.”(®) The Knights of the Golden Circle were strongest in Indiana. Before the war, the State for many years had been controlled by the Democratic party. The officials had wasted the people's money, had enriched themselves, had organized a system of robbery in relation to the public lands. One officer fraudulently issued, in 1860, more than two million five hundred thousand dollars' worth of State stock. When the Republicans came into power in 1861, electing Oliver P. Morton governor, the men who had been plundering the State became exceedingly hostile to the new State government and to the United States. They joined the Knights of the Golden Circle, and directed all the movements of the order. They were in constant communication with the Confederates. They induced soldiers to desert from the army. They were very angry when President Lincoln, after the battle of Antietam, gave notice of the issuing of the Proclamation of Emancipation. They said that it was an Abolition war. President Lincoln, knowing that a great many people in the Northern States were doing what they could to help the Confederates, issued a proclamation to the effect that persons resisting or seeking to overthrow the authority of the United States, or giving aid to the Confederates, should have trial before military courts; and that the writ of habeas corpus, the great safeguard of personal liberty in time of peace, should be suspended. The suspension of the writ is authorized by the Constitution "when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it." The President had been very reluctant to proclaim martial law, but was compelled to do so by those who, while enjoying all the liberties of the Constitution, were treasonably at work to overthrow it. He regarded, as did all loyal men, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, an independent judiciary, trial by jury, and the writ of habeas corpus as priceless treasures. loved them, and would lay down his life, if need be, for their preservation. Only when the life of the Nation was at stake could he bring himself to exercise the authority which the Constitution had given him for the OLIVER P. MORTON. He suspension of the right of trial by jury and the suspension of the writ. Those who sympathized with the Confederates claimed the right to denounce the President's action. While doing what they could in opposition to his exercise of Constitutional authority they asserted all their rights as citizens under the Constitution. On the last day of December the Chief-justice of the Supreme Court of Indiana, who was opposed to the war, issued a writ to the high sheriff upon Captain Newman of the Eleventh United States Infantry, ordering him to produce before the court a soldier who had deserted, but who had been recovered by that officer. General Henry B. Carrington, of the United States Army, who understood his duty to the Government of the United States, was commander of the troops in Indianapolis. "I shall maintain the authority of the United States,"() he said to Chief-justice Perkins. "Perhaps General Carrington himself may not be exempt from arrest,” replied the lawyer who had been employed by the Knights of the Golden Circle to defy the authority of the Government. "If the President," said the Chief-justice, "issues the proposed procla mation to-morrow it will bring about a revolution, and end the United States Government. It will be an arbitrary act of power which should not be tolerated by the people. There is no way of redress but to disavow the authority of such a dictator. The writ must be served though the streets should flow with blood." "Can I not serve the writ without trouble?" was the question of the sheriff to General Carrington. "Possibly, provided you have a posse of two thousand men, well drilled, accustomed to act in concert, and can get them down to Captain Newman's quarters in fifteen minutes," was the reply. He made a signal to a staff-officer standing by the door, who repeated it to an officer in the A moment, and the drum-beat broke the silence, and the soldiers of the United States, with the Stars and Stripes above them, their arms gleaming in the setting sun, were marching through the streets, maintaining the authority of the President. street. A few days later the legislature of Indiana, a majority of whom were Peace Democrats, endeavored to embarrass the United States Government by transferring the control of the militia and all the arms-the muskets, cannon, and ammunition-which had been obtained from the United States, to a commission consisting of three State officers - the Auditor, Secretary, and Treasurer-all Peace Democrats-who were also to issue all commissions, and have the control of the troops-an open viola tion of the Constitution, taking the government out of the hands of Governor Morton, and giving it to the Knights of the Golden Circle. The State had in its possession eighteen thousand muskets. One branch of the legislature voted for the bill, whereupon Governor Morton, at midnight, wrote this to General Carrington: "All arms and equipments belonging to the United States in the arsenal in this city are hereby turned over to your possession and control." When morning came, the men who were gleefully looking forward to the moment when they would see the arms in the hands of the Knights of the Golden Circle were confounded when they learned that the State had no arms in its possession, and that the arsenal was guarded by a strong force of United States troops. The revolutionary bill did not become a law, for whenever the Peace Democrats attempted to pass it, the members sustaining the Government went out of the hall, leaving the House without a quorum for the lawful transaction of business. Very noble and patriotic were the closing words of President Lincoln's suspension of the right of trial by jury and the suspension of the writ. Those who sympathized with the Confederates claimed the right to denounce the President's action. While doing what they could in opposition to his exercise of Constitutional authority they asserted all their rights as citizens under the Constitution. On the last day of December the Chief-justice of the Supreme Court of Indiana, who was opposed to the war, issued a writ to the high sheriff upon Captain Newman of the Eleventh United States Infantry, ordering him to produce before the court a soldier who had deserted, but who had been recovered by that officer. General Henry B. Carrington, of the United States Army, who understood his duty to the Government of the United States, was commander of the troops in Indianapolis. "I shall maintain the authority of the United States,"() he said to Chief-justice Perkins. "Perhaps General Carrington himself may not be exempt from arrest," replied the lawyer who had been employed by the Knights of the Golden Circle to defy the authority of the Government. "If the President," said the Chief-justice, "issues the proposed proclamation to-morrow it will bring about a revolution, and end the United States Government. It will be an arbitrary act of power which should not be tolerated by the people. There is no way of redress but to disavow the authority of such a dictator. The writ must be served though the streets should flow with blood." "Can I not serve the writ without trouble?" was the question of the sheriff to General Carrington. 66 Possibly, provided you have a posse of two thousand men, well drilled, accustomed to act in concert, and can get them down to Captain Newman's quarters in fifteen minutes," was the reply. He made a signal to a staff-officer standing by the door, who repeated it to an officer in the A moment, and the drum-beat broke the silence, and the soldiers of the United States, with the Stars and Stripes above them, their arms gleaming in the setting sun, were marching through the streets, maintaining the authority of the President. street. A few days later the legislature of Indiana, a majority of whom were Peace Democrats, endeavored to embarrass the United States Government by transferring the control of the militia and all the arms-the muskets, cannon, and ammunition-which had been obtained from the United States, to a commission consisting of three State officers the Auditor, Secretary, and Treasurer-all Peace Democrats-who were also to issue all commissions, and have the control of the troops-an open viola |