Thus far, however, thanks be to God! the American people have not been deceived by the theories or the assertions of those who would tear down the fabric of our wholesome Republican Government. And far distant be the day when such attempts to overturn that government may succeed. "There is a right way for us and for our children, and the hand of God is upon all them for good, that seek him; but his wrath is against all them that forsake him."... And it is written, that "he who shunneth iniquity and oppression, and followeth after righteousness, alone findeth life, righteousness and honor." THEN AND NOW. THE NATION'S SALVATION! The outrages narrated in the preceding pages are ample for the purposes of this work, in giving such authenticated facts as show the existence of a deep-seated conspiracy against law, and the well-being of society. They have been selected at random, from hundreds of similar instances that have come under the personal observation of the writer, and that bear with them the same irrefutable evidences of the truth, and serve to enable the general reader to comprehend the awful scenes that have been enacted in various parts of the South since the close of the war of the Rebellion. In the light of these outrages, and the positive manner in which the responsibility of their authorship has been fixed upon those who had determined to ride into power, even though fraud and violence were necessary to that end, who shall say that the unfortunate South has not suffered vastly more from its pretended friends than from those whom, by corrupt means, its people had been led to suppose were their worst enemies. Under the pernicious rule of Andrew Johnson, the disturbing elements of the South gathered renewed hope for the final success of the ambitious aspirations which had been dissipated by a long and bloody war. That which had been lost to them through the unswerving integrity of our great captains in the field, they thought would be secured through the treason of the traitor in the Cabinet, and they marshalled their forces with that end in view, and initiated a reign of terror, such as had hitherto been unknown even in the darkest hours of adversity within the history of the Republic. The accession of General Grant to the presidency, caused a halt in this wild and mad career, and there was a momentary lull in the operations of the conspirators. It remained to be seen whether one, coming so fresh from the people--a plain and unassuming man, although laden with honors second to that of no military chieftain of ancient or modern time--would be indifferent to the cry for help which was coming up from all parts of the then famished land, and fail to apply the appropriate remedy, or whether he would appreciate the true situation of affairs there, and would be able to say to the disturbing elements of the South, in language which they could not well mistake: LET US HAVE PEACE.