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' ¥ V -, J T Courier. TERMS: $3.00 PER ANNUM. LINCOLNTON, N. C., AUGUST 9, 1867. VOL. I.-NO. 28.' LINCOLN COURIER. BY EDWARD H. BRITTON. OFFICE ON MAIN FTREET, Late Speck’i Jevellery Esiablishmeut, Lincointon, N. C. TERMS FOR PAPER. TEE WEEKLY COURIER will Se supplied at $3:00 per annutp, paya ble in advance; or $2:00 for six montha. AD VERTJSINO TERMS. 1®" Advertisemeni- will be inserted ' reni? Per son" 'or first publics *■, subsequent in- wriinp, u not coDiracteo for. Transient advertirios when tendered for publication for a short period, must be paid for i dvance. fires the inysteriius looking cup, whicit darts up a flickering blue flame, such as is represented as burning in the “Eternal Hades. With your right hand on the book, and the left in the air, you now take the “oath of allcgiaoce,” known to all, and are most particularly re- quired “to defend the Constitution of the U nited States” (unaltered), on which your hand rests, and the Con stitution of the State of Tennessee. What is the latter Constitution ? Who can tell ? to keep the “tolTvote £ You are al^ sworn Isecre'ts of the League, oppression but of human rights. You are madly grasping the law and the ballot box—the sure columns of liberty. If you bow yourselves as he did, the beautiful structure will fall, and you and your children will perish unwept under its ruins. Leaguers, beware! A day of retribution is coming. Blind guides leading the blind, how can you escape ? Every act of your owQ and of your leaders is calculated to provoke blood. You know this. Do you think to grind the Anglo-Saxon race beneath the heel of your deceived colored dupes ? for V ^*0'* tbris^t. tbe^. Qnce_ ii^ tfee, The L.eyal League. A Lcep into the Midnight Radical CoticlaHS—Iloio "Jjg Ignorant Freedman] are JInmhugged—The Oaths, Signs and Fassword Re- icoled. A TELLING EXPOSE. To Editor of the Nashville Banner : Nashville, July 9th, 1867. Many of your readers will doubtless remember my letter of June Cth, which was largely circulated by the press of this and other cities of our State. If there is one sentence therein not in accordance with law and the true principles of liberty and human rights, I don’t know what constitutes those safeguards of man and have been “raised a fool.” For writing and publishii g that letter I was at once “expelled” from “Loyal League No. 1,” where I had been sworn ‘to do even unto death,” all in my power to “keep ever burning on the altar of the American heart, the Sacred flame of Liberty.” Let the world sit in judgement on my life of sixty-five years and particu larly on the part of it embraced in the pa.*/, seven years.. I court its in vestigation and wlll'abide cheertully by its award, indifferent alike to flattery or abuse. I shall do my duty even though asses bray, and dogs soap and howl. Expelled, from the Loyal League ! Now, Gentlemen, permit me to in. troducc you into that sanctum sane torum of political humbugs. 1 promised this—I’ll do it. At the first door you give two light taps and whisper through a hole therein, “Loyal Men.” The door opens. You move on to a second door and give two taps. A loop hole is opened. You whisper “Must rule,” and are then marched around a darkened room and welcomed by the “Good Chairman,” in the fol lowing words—“The good and true are always welcome, &c.” You have now marched round the room and are placed before an altar on which is spread the American Flag. Here also lies open a Bible and a book with the old, original, unaltered Constitution of the United States, gift our Fathers, as it was, is and ever should be—unchanged. There, too, lie crossed, two com mon swords, such as are worn by army surgeons. Between the points a mysterious bronze chalicefilled with something, the smell of whieh re minds you of “Old Robertson.” C D your right, at a small altar, stands long, lank, lean ‘Forty Acres; behind you, at another desk or altar stands a once Provost Marshal.— Around this long, dark, dirty, room the “Loyal Leaguers,” some blaek and some white, and among them some of our most worthy citizens There are also a few whose “coppers’ sticks out through the white wash ^iven by this “Loyal League.” The gas is now darkened, anc ^‘Forty Acres,” with eyes upturnec like a “duck in a thunder storm, his lean hands opened out toware Heaven, mumbles out a prayer ! This done, the jolly, good -natured, kind looking Miller, not “of Mansfield, though quite as portly) steps forwarc with book and watch iuhaad, and fiery furnace of war to save your own children. You emancipated them as a military necessity. As the last hope of our tottering government, to save yourselves, you and your party laid violent hands on the “colored element,” and now you say that it was all for love of that clement. Let us look at Mr. Lincoln’s letter to A. G. Hodges, Esq., Frankfort, Kenlucky, dated April 4,1864|: “I believed the indispensable necessity foremancipation and arming the blacks, would come. It came, and I was, in my best judgment, driven to the alternative of either 8urrenderin'’"^'}*he Union and with it the Constitution, or of laying strong hands on the colored element and arming it. I chose the latter.” Further quotation is unnecessary, comment useless. And now, dear Leaguers, remember, when you tell the poor freedmen that it was your love that made him free, you speak not the truth. When you gave him the right of suffrage on the same ac' count, 'twas to save your bacon, and you care no more for the . freedman than Balaam did for the brute which refused to carry him. Finally, “Loyal League No. 1, I beg leave to say to you, when you are J about to turn a member out without There is a great deal oL other | .Gn,»fn.lerv” of the .same character „ none but loyal men,” &c. In that long, dark, dirty room, on the right side of which stood about one hun.. dred old rusty muskets, in such pres ence, before the flickering blue flame which but made “darkness visible, with the nasal twang of Forty Acre’s voice in prayer still sounding in my ears, I was with others made a Loyal Leaguer. Surrounded with such paraphernalia of humbug, we were sworn also, as before said, to do even unto death all in our power to make liberty eternal, to “vote for none but loyal men,” &c. We were next initiated into the signs and pass'words, &c. Let one suffice ; but if you wish you can have them all. To pass yourself as a Leaguer, when questioned give the “Four L.’s”—as follows, right hand raised to Heaven, thumb and third finger touching their ends over the palm, and pronounce “Lib erty.” Bringing the hand down on a line with the shou'der, pro nounce “Lincoln” Dropping the hand open at your sides, pronounce “Loyal.” With your hand and fingers downward in the chest, the thumb thrust into the vest or waist band, across the body, pronounce “League. From thi? Rileiah R gister. LETTERFROM^DAnIeL R. OOOD- LOE, ESQ The following letter from Daniel R. Gooilloe, Esq., was read before the Republican meeting in Warrenton, noticed in our last issue : R.tleigii, July 17tb, J867. Mg Dear Sir:—I learn from you, and also from our friend William Cawthron, that I am expected to be present at thedqeeting on Saturday I very much regret that the pressure of my official cngagqpaent tvl!! deprive me of that. Vi'' ore At, the recent term of the c; ’t ,^ourt, judgment was rendered nearly one hundred and fifty case.s; and it being my duty as Marshal t'j? sec that the execu tions are served, I find my attention drawn to nearly every corner of the State in rapid succession, lest some- tomfoolery” of the same character unworty of place here. Suffice it to say that sucli is the character of a combination which bids fair to re- baptise our unhappy vSouthern soil with blood—such are the willing or duped instruments ready to carryout the will of our modern Jeffreys and Dairympies. Masters of Stair Glen- lyons and Lindsleys*—.ouch are the Loyal Leagues which in darkened rooms, before blue mysterious look ing fires, cross swords and psalm sing ing humbugs, have sworn in “about forty-five thousand” simple freed- men, and taken from each a miserable half dollar fee for initiation. Those poor creatures have stood before that blue flame and all the other grim paraphernalia of this dark room humbug, with a superstitious awe, mingled with fear. To them it was the “Carlo Dithaa” of their native jungles, the “Obi Man” with his poisoued cocoanut. They will never forget that blue flame, those crossed swords, the wild upturned eye of “Forty Acres,” with ominously up lifted finger of the worthy “Miller,” as he pronounced the “Anathama, Maranatha” on all who seoeed or break the terrible pledge. 1‘oor, simple, wronged creatures ! In the wild storms of midnight, when the blue lightning thrusts its fingers through the storm tossed cloud, their imagination will bring out, clothed with horror, that darkened room, that mysterious flame, the upturned eye of “Forty Acres,” and the “so mote it be” of the mixed multitude. Gentlemen, fellow-citizens, free men—look at this mummery—this politioal huuibug, and think that men of rank, of standing, of fine intellect and kind hearts are there. How can you account for it, in this nineteenth century ? "What does it mean ? Has the Lord our God forsaken us ? Are we a people ? Has he made us blind that our ruin may be more sure ? Leaguers and madmen, be ware 1 Like blind Sampson, you now sit beneath the tower, not of one sentence in my letter which merited the act of “Expulsion.” You kicked a hole in the wa'l, and I let the wor d in, sure of the approval of honest men, and regard ess of a 11 your threats. I am, respectfully yours, W-M. Driver *3ee McCau'ay’s Massacre of Glencoe Read and tremb'e for the spirit is here. Threat f8om]a Loyal LKAaoKa.— The expose of the “Loyal League” is having its effect. TheNashvlle Banner has the following threit: Nashville, July 11,1867. The following letter was delivered by the carrier, Buckley, at my house to-day. I pronounce the author a liar, a coward and a sneak, and say to him '‘Lay on Macduff.” I keep canes lor dogs and pis tols for men. William Driver, 241 South Summer Street. Wdliam Driver, Esq., 241 South Sum mer Street. Perjured traitor, beware. The out raged and avening spirit of Liberty and Loyalty, swift as an arrow and remorse less as the grave, is on your track—the reward of your teachery will be swift and sure. Outraged loyalty will vindi cate itself. Beware. Loyal Leaocbb. to wc indeei^"* es- Advices from New Orleans, dated 28th July, state^hat the American Brig Wni Robertson-, from Havana, arrived at Pass Aloutri last evening, having on board twenty-three Coolies. Other shipments of smaller numbers have already arrived, and are at york on the plantations. By one of the laws of Pittacus, one of the seven wise men of Greece, every fault committed by a person wheifintoxioated, was deemed wor thy of a double punishment. No Spots on the Sun.—One of our correspondents calls attention to the unusual fact that|the sun presents at this time the rare apperance of being entirely free from spots. A telescope of considerable power fails, he says, to show the slightest speck OB its disc. thing may go wrong. I have, at the same time, to make out my semi-an- nul returns and Co edit the Register ; so, between these various and pres sing duties, you can imagine that I have very little leisure. It happens that I am compelled to leave here in the morning, in order to be ready for the boat on the Black-water on Fri day; and I sHduid'" feel that I had committed a s^riotls breach of duty if I were to’stop in Warreuton. I have thus frankly stated, in detail, my reasons for declining to be present on the occasion, and I hope they will be satisfactory. la a few weeks I shall be relieved from the pressure on my lime, when I propose to return to Warrenton to spend some weeks. In the mean time I shall address the people from* week to week, through the colums of the Register, so that there will be no mistaking my position. I have ^ great personal inconvenience, and with no hope of making money, undertaken to edit the paper, in order to spread before the o:^^Uc Die, prine-ples ar'>'. views ot publicj^icy wuA.. of vital importance, and sential to freedom, peace and restora tion. If I could btr present at the meeting on Saturday, and were gifted with power of utterance equal to those possessed by many gentlemen who will be there, I would say to the white people that there is no escape from the present state of things— from military rule, from disfranchise ment, and from the paralysis of in dustry, except through tho gate of reconstruction, offered by the acts of Congress. Opposition to those acts, whether active or passive, will be equailjTunavailing. Failure to form a State •|bvernment will remit the control df affairs entirely to the hands of the military, or to those of persons who can take the test oath. On tho other hand, recenstuotion under the acts of Congress will immediately re store five-sixth of the people to their rights under the Coustitution, and will repiler easy and certain the re- storatioa of the remainder. To tie people of color I would say, I rejoice that you are free. It is a consummation my heart has yearned for from my youth up. I desired that it sbouTfl come peacefully, with the consent of the white people ; and I have from my early manhood devoted all t\ ..!^^rgies of my mind to the work of oonvinoing white mon that black men have equal rights in the sight of God, and should have equal rights before human tribunals with themselves. And now that you are free, and also citizens and voters, I tako the liberty of advising you to live on the very best terms with your white neighbors, aud with those who form erly held you as slaves. Xiistcn to no man who whispers the word confis- oation in your ears, or disfranchise ment, OT injury in any form to your law-abiding white neighbors. Re member that if you were born slaves the white people were born slavehol ders, or were brought up amid pre- judips, and under unjust laws, which. existed before they were born. We j are all more or less the creature.s of fiircumstaaccs ; and as custom under the drder of things produced unjust prejudices against you, so custom, uuder the new order of things, will change prejudices and opinions, and turn them in your favor, if you are true to yourselves. For, as Shakes- paro says, he who is true to himselt will be false to no man. There are eminent men in Con gress, and in the Northern States, who have talked loosely about a gen eral confiscation of the property of the Southern people. I^ am sure Itej' have no real cpnceptlon of the fearful calamities they would piPduee if their policy were carried out. They would ruin the black people as well as the whites ; the loyal as well as the disloyal ; for they would Ue- strov all credit and confidence, all onipmrisp and cffoit, aud thus make it impossible to give employment to labor. All house servants, field hands, and laborers of every kind would lose their places if those who have property are to be deprived of it by conWation. No crops would be raised; and starvation every where would follow, as it has fol lowed in the track of the great ar mies which contended against each other in the South. If confiscation should take place, I warn the colored people against indulging in the hope that they would get any thing by it. I know the thing will never happen, and that it is morally impossible ; but if wo suppose for a moment that it is undertaken, we may be sure that it will call forth, or produce the most heartless and cor* rupt set' of officials that exer existed, find that they would steal everything, squander everyting, and leave noth ing for the government or for the colored people. But be assured that nothing of the kind is thought of by any oonsidera ble -body UODK jeee. Demgogues of men in “NOJOQUE" Helper, the author of “Nojoque,” has sent to the New York World tho following communication : Sir : 3Iay I correct, through your columns of the Yforld, a few items of the very uowarraotable misrepre sentation whieh some of the newspa pers are now making in reference to my new book ? In the first place, the designation of the work as “Black Book,” is, I contend, a positive mis nomer. An exactly opposite or con trary designation would certainly bo much more In accordance with the truth. This will be sufficiently ap parent when I tell you that the work contains two chapters .(among tithers,) one of which is headed “Black, A Thing of Ugliness, Disease and Death,” and the other “White, A Thing of Life, Health, and Beauty,’ and further, it was a part of the contract with my publisher, (hat no copy of the book should ever be bound in black. You will readily perceive, therefore, that with more correctness, perhaps, than could be used in regard to any other work that has ever been published in this or any other county, “Nojoque” might be designated or described as a White Book. It is not true that I was recalled from my Consulship in Buenos Ayres. More than two years ago I voluntarily resigned that office. Be-’ tween the party now in power and myself there is this difference: While they have degenerated from their national and constitutional char acter as Republicans, and have be come Radical.®, and are sectional, I am still a Republican—a white Re publican—and am not sectional. There is no truth whatever in the statement that I was ever an advo-' cate or champion of any black thing —certainly of no animated black thing; for the few black things that possess excellent qualtities, are all inanimate. I have always maintain ed, and still maintain, that wc shall have at the South great States, like you have here at the North, only when our States there, like yours may come amoL'g you abd tell ybu'iiitiel'Wrsw . ^ deceive you, and to secure your votes; but they are as little your friends as they are the friends of the white people. If you doubt it, ask them bow long they have been the champions of your rights ? lu ninetyiuine cases out of a hundrs'i you will find that such meq would have sold you to the sugar planters and cotton planters of the far South at any time before you were set free. To whites and blacks I would say, let us cease talking of the past. Wo can never agree as to the merits of the great controversy. But in the future there is but one course left open. We will make a coustitution as free as that of Vermont ; and under it we will have equal laws, equal advantages and opportunities in life. Then every man must ris e or fallaccordiogtohis merits. Thus, my dear sir, you have the substance of what I would like to say to the people of Warren on Saturday, if I could spare the time from my official engagements, lam, very faithfully, your friend, Dan’Ij. R. Goouloe. Prof. Jas. H. Foote, Warrenton, N. Masonic.—Hon. E. G. Reade. Grand Master of Masons in the State of North Carolina, acknowledges through the Square and Compass, the organ of the order in this State, the receipt of one hundred and fifty dollars for the relief of the distres sed Masons in North Caro’ina. This is a portion of the proceeds of an en tertainment given recently in New York. D. W. Bain, Grand Secretary, acknowledges the receipt of $100 from H. G. Reynolds, Grand Secre tary of Illinois, for the seme puapose. The Grand Lodge of Wisconsin, at its recent session, contributed $1000 for the relief of their Southern brethren. Thus it will be seen how the great Masonic heart at the North pulsates at the recital of the suffering in the South.—Rcleigh Register. here, shall be peopled exclusively, or in a manner exclusively, by white uTen* white wt^r'^en and oii.ildrpn. these subjew^'effe oTu hl ists and myself always disa^^veeu. T was qdite as strenuously opposed to negro citizenship, negro suffrage, negro testimony, negro jurors, and negro generally, in 1857 as I am in 1867. I then, in my “Impending Crisis of the South,” gave unreserved* expression to my dislike of both slavery and negroes ; and now, in my “Nojoque,” negroes and slavery have been portrayed and denounced as the chief objects of my displeasure. I believe I was right then ; and I believe I am right now. Certain it is that there has been no change in my views,and that no inconsistency of essay or statement can be pointed out or shown as existing in or be tween the two books here mentioned. Abundant evidence of this fact is fur nished in the eighth chapter of “No joque,” which is headed, and which embraces, “Thirteen Kindred Pages from “The Impending Crisis of tho South.” Bad as slavery was, it was not slavery alone that retarded the South ern States. The negro race itself, was, and is, the very basis of onr backwardnes throughout all the South. Under slavery, the negro race increased so fast as to cause, at times, serious apprebeosious that thc- gloomy and deleterious pall of black ness would soon be spread over tho entire Southern half of our continent. Under the most just and beneficial operations of fredom, the black and bi-colored inhabitants of our coun try are gradually yielding (and ought not, in any way, to be hindered or restrained from yieldiog) their un worthily-filled places to the whites, who are, in every respect, iafinitely superior and better, and therefore far more desirable. It seems to mo that; as a simple fairness and justice to the whites, and also as a matter of proper concern for the welfare of others, we ought to find for the blacks a home somewhere beyond the pres ent limits of the United States. Those who have ascribed to me the origin of the title of my new book are mistaken. 1 got the word on the Pacific coast of our possessions, at least sixteen years ago, and it is there descriptive of a thing of great ’ value. Hinton Roman Helper. New York, July 22, 1867.
The Lincoln Courier [1867-18??] (Lincolnton, N.C.)
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Aug. 9, 1867, edition 1
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