Placed in control of affairs, these men, having suffered under the dispensation which the poet sought to describe in the words, "A little learning is a dangerous thing, etc.," and suspecting, moreover, that his meaning had not been fully brought out in that expressive stanza, astonished even their followers with an example which said "a little power is a dangerous thing." Legislating, mainly, with a view to continuance in authority, and arbitrarily seizing the elective machinery of the State, they had, independently of the League, under the existing conditions, an unlimited lease of the State administration. Nor did they fail to realize the advantages that came to them under the system of government which they had adopted. Having found a precedent for the most pronounced transgressions of a written law in the acts of their co-conspirators in other States, and an excuse in the resistance which they inspired, they proceeded to lengths of usurpation which those interested for the cause of liberty on those shores viewed with surprise and dismay. The fullest use was made of every prerogative, and in innumerable instances they were subjected to that stretching process which has been commonly found so destructive to the article. So rapid was the transition from the war period to that of political anarchy, which followed in obedience to these conditions, that as early as the year 1867 the State was hopelessly committed to an ignorant and unprincipled minority, and in every portion thereof the white masses refrained from even attending the polls, so well assured were they that the fair majorities which they could score would be displaced by the most barefaced fictions. The opposition or conservative press, on the other hand, never ceased to perform its whole duty, representing to the people the true condition of affairs at the capital, the constant abuses of the legislative functions, the enormous treasury shortages, judicial tyrannies, etc., etc.; though, as was indicated by their course subsequently, to the more intelligent of those whom were addressed, this seemed but a citation of evils that were remediless; and where plans of relief were suggested, of remedies that were placed hopelessly beyond their reach. Even in the city of New Orleans, where these exhortations were most frequently heard, the municipal elections not unoften went by default to the minority representatives; and multitudes (who have since testified their devotion to the cause of right), attracted by the patronage of the winning power, while refusing to give them aid, tendered them congratulations.