"The Ku Klux machine has been stored away in the Battle Abbey of the nation as obsolete, we trust, as the causes which produced it; it will stand there for all time as a reminder of how useless is the prostitution of forms of law in an effort to do that which is essentially unlawful, but it will also remain an eternal suggestion to the vigilance committee and the regulator." CHAPTER XI THE PRESCRIPT OF THE OLD KLAN In the study of the original Ku Klux Klan, it is fortunate that there have been preserved documents which fully set forth its structure and composition, and these documents demonstrate conclusively that the modern organization has no claim whatever to recognition as the "genuine original Ku Klux." The most important of these documents is the "prescript" or constitution of the old Klan. In its early stages, the old organization adopted a "Prescript," but this was in 1867 revised and amended, and the second document became the law of the organization, under which it functioned until it was disbanded. When General Forrest issued his order disbanding the Ku Klux Klan, all copies of the revised and amended prescript were ordered destroyed. One copy escaped destruction and is now in the library of Columbia University where it is carefully preserved as a valuable historic paper. As an exhibit in the case against the present organization, I give the "Prescript" in full. It is a booklet of twenty-four pages, and at the top of each page is a Latin quotation. Without attempting to follow the typography of the original text, I am reproducing it as a continuous document, placing the quotations where they appear in the booklet, as follows: "PRESCRIPT" Exact copy of the Revised and Amended Prescript of the ORDER of the * * * "_Damnant quod intelligent_" "APPELLATION" This organization shall by styled and denominated, The Order of * * * "CREED" "We, the Order of the * * *, reverentially acknowledge the majesty and supremacy of the Divine Being, and recognize the goodness and providence of the same. And we recognize our relation to the United States Government, the supremacy of the Constitution, the Constitutional Laws thereof, and the union of States thereunder. "CHARACTER AND OBJECTS OF THE ORDER" "This is an institution of Chivalry, Humanity, Mercy, and Patriotism embodying in its genius and its principles all that is chivalric in conduct, noble in sentiment, generous in manhood, and patriotic in purpose; its object being, "First: To protect the weak, the innocent, and the defenseless from the indignities, wrongs, and outrages of the lawless, the violent, and the brutal; to relieve the injured and oppressed; to succor the suffering and unfortunate, and especially the widows and orphans of Confederate Soldiers.