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vilely perpetrated it. General Sherman had his army under control. The burning was by his orders, and ceased when he gave the command.

"I was now doomed to experience in person the effects of avarice and barbarous cruelty. The robbers had been informed in the neighborhood that the family which I was protecting had buried one hundred thousand dollars in gold and silver. They first demanded my watch, which I had effectually secured from their grasp. They then asked me where the money had been hid. I told them I knew nothing about it, and did not believe there was a thousand dollars worth in all, and what there was had been carried off by the owner, Colonel Cash. All this was literally true. They then concluded to try an experiment on me which had proved so successful in hundreds of other instances. Coolly and deliberately they prepared to inflict torture on a defenseless, gray-headed old man. They carried me behind a stable, and once again demanded where the money was buried, or 'I should be sent to hell in five minutes.' They cocked their pistols and held them to my head. I told them to fire away. One of them, a squarebuilt, broad-faced, large-mouthed, clumsy lieutenant, who had the face of a demon, and who did not utter five words without an awful blasphemy, now kicked me in the stomach until I fell breathless and prostrate. As soon as I was able, I rose again. He once more asked me where the silver was. I answered as before, 'I do not know.' With his heavy, elephant foot he now kicked me on my back until I fell again. Once more I arose, and he put the same question to me. I was nearly breathless, but answered as before. Thus was I either kicked or knocked down seven or eight times. I then told him it was perfectly useless for him to continue his threats or his blows. He might shoot me if he chose. I was ready and would not budge an inch, but requested him not to bruise and batter an unarmed, defenseless old man. 'Now,' said he, 'I'll try a new plan. How would you like to have both your arms cut off?' He did not wait for an answer, but, with his heavy sheathed sword, struck me on my left arm, near the shoulder. I heard it crack; it hung powerless by my side, and I supposed it was broken. He then repeated the blow on the other arm. The pain was most excruciating, and it was several days before I could carve my food or take my arm out of a sling, and it was black and blue for weeks. (I refer to Dr. Kol

lock, of Cheraw.) At that moment the ladies, headed by my daughter, who had only then been made aware of the brutality practiced upon me, rushed from the house, and came flying to my rescue. 'You dare not murder my father,' said my child; 'he has been a minister in the same church for fifty years, and God has always protected, and will protect him.' 'Do you believe in a God, miss?' said one of the brutal wretches; 'I don't believe in a God, a heaven, nor a hell.' 'Carry me,' said I, 'to your General.' I did not intend to go to General Sherman, who was at Cheraw, from whom, I was informed, no redress could be obtained, but to a general in the neighborhood, said to be a religious man. Our horses and carriages had all been taken away, and I was too much bruised to be able to walk. The other young officers came crowding around me very officiously, telling me that they would represent the case to the General, and that they would have him. shot by ten o'clock the next morning. I saw the winks and glances that were interchanged between them. Every one gave a different name to the officers. The brute remained unpunished, as I saw him on the following morning, as insolent and as profane as he had been on the preceding day.

"As yet, no punishment had fallen on the brutal hyena, and I strove to nurse my bruised body and heal my wounds, and forget the insults and injuries of the past. A few weeks after this I was sent for to perform a parochial duty at Mars Bluff, some twenty miles distant. Arriving at Florence in the vicinity, I was met by a crowd of young men connected with the militia. They were excited to the highest pitch of rage, and thirsted for revenge. They believed that among the prisoners that had just arrived on the railroad-car, on their way to Sumter, were the very men who committed such horrible outrages in the neighborhood. Many of their houses had been laid in ashes. They had been robbed of every means of support. Their horses had been seized; their cattle and hogs bayoneted; their mothers and sisters had been insulted, and robbed of their watches, ear and wedding rings. Some of their parents had been murdered in cold blood. The aged pastor, to whose voice they had so often listened, had been kicked and knocked down by repeated blows, and his hoary head had been dragged about in the sand. They entreated me to examine the prisoners and see whether I could identify the men that had inflicted such barbarities on me. I told them I would do so, pro

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vided they would remain where they were and not follow me. The prisoners saw me at a distance, held down their guilty heads, and trembled like aspen-leaves. All cruel men are cowards. One

of my arms was still in a sling. With the other I raised some of their hats. They all begged for mercy. I said to them, 'The other day you were tigers-you are sheep now.' But a hideous object soon arrested my attention. There sat my brutal enemythe vulgar, swaggering lieutenant, who had ridden up to the steps of the house, insulted the ladies, and beaten me most unmercifully. I approached him slowly, and, in a whisper asked him: 'Do you know me, sir?—the old man whose pockets you first searched, to see whether he might not have a penknife to defend himself, and then kicked and knocked him down with your fist and heavy scabbard?' He presented the picture of an arrant coward, and in a trembling voice implored me to have mercy: 'Don't let me be shot; have pity! Old man, beg for me! I won't do it again! For God's sake, save me! O God, help me!' 'Did you not tell my daughter there was no God? Why call on him now?' 'Oh, I have changed my mind; I believe in a God now.' I turned and saw the impatient, flushed, and indignant crowd approaching. 'What are they going to do with me?' said he. 'Do you hear that sound-click, click?' 'Yes,' said he, 'they are cocking their pistols.' 'True,' said I; 'and if I raise a finger you will have a dozen bullets through your brain.' 'Then I will go to hell; don't let them kill me. O Lord, have mercy!' 'Speak low,' said I, 'and don't open your lips.' The men advanced. Already one had pulled me by the coat. 'Show us the men.' I gave no clew by which the guilty could be identified. I walked slowly through the car, sprang into the waiting carriage, and drove off."

CHAPTER LVI.

Final Subjugation of the Confederate States.-Result of the Contest.-A Simple Process of Restoration.-Rejected by the United States Government.-A Forced Union. The President's Proclamation examined.-The guarantee, not to destroy. -Provisional Governors.-Their Duties.-Voters.-First Movement made in Virginia.-Government set up.-Proceedings.-Action of So-called Legislature. -Constitutional Amendment.-Case of Dr. Watson.-Civil Rights Bill.-Storm brewing. Congress refuses to admit Senators and Representatives to Seats.Committee on "Reconstruction."-Freedmen's Bureau.-Report of Committee. -Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.-Extent of Ratification.-Another Step taken by Congress.-Military Commanders appointed over Confederate States, with Unlimited Powers.-Reconstruction by the Bayonet.-Course of Proceedings required.-Two Governments for each State.-Major-Generals appointed. Further Acts of Congress.-Proceedings commenced by the MajorGeneral at Richmond.-Civil Governor appointed.-Military Districts and Subdistricts. Registration.-So-called State Convention.-So-called Legislature.— Its Action.—Measures required by Congress for the Enfranchisement of Negroes adopted by the So-called Legislature.-Assertion of Senator Garrett Davis.— State represented in Congress.

WHEN the Confederate soldiers laid down their arms and went home, all hostilities against the power of the Government of the United States ceased. The powers delegated in the compact of 1787 by these States, i. e., by the people thereof, to a central organization to promote their general welfare, had been used for their devastation and subjugation. It was conceded, as the result of the contest, that the United States Government was stronger in resources than the Confederate Government, and that the Confederate States had not achieved their independence.

Nothing remained to be done but for the sovereigns, the people of each State, to assert their authority and restore order. If the principle of the sovereignty of the people, the cornerstone of all our institutions, had survived and was still in force, it was necessary only that the people of each State should reconsider their ordinances of secession, and again recognize the Constitution of the United States as the supreme law of the land. This simple process would have placed the Union on its original basis, and have restored that which had ceased to exist, the Union by consent. Unfortunately, such was not the inten

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tion of the conqueror. The Union of free-wills and brotherly hearts, under a compact ordained by the people, was not his object. Henceforth there was to be established a Union of force. Sovereignty was to pass from the people to the Government of the United States, and to be upheld by those who had furnished the money and the soldiers for the war.

The first step required, therefore, in the process for the reconstruction of the new and forced Union, was to prepare those who had been the late champions of the sovereignty of the people to become suitable subjects under the new sovereign. Standing defenseless, stripped of their property, and exposed, as it was asserted, to the penalties of insurrection on the one hand, and that of treason on the other, the President of the United States, Mr. Andrew Johnson, who, as Vice-President, became President after the death of Mr. Lincoln, on May 29, 1865, thus addressed them:

"To the end, therefore, that the authority of the Government of the United States may be restored, and that peace, order, and freedom may be reëstablished, I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, do proclaim and declare that I hereby grant to all persons who have directly or indirectly participated in the existing rebellion, except as hereinafter excepted, amnesty and pardon, with restoration of all rights of property, except as to slaves, and except in cases where legal proceedings under the laws of the United States providing for the confiscation of property of persons engaged in the rebellion have been instituted; but on the condition, nevertheless, that every such person shall take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation, and thenceforward keep and maintain said oath inviolate; and which oath shall be registered for permanent preservation, and shall be of the tenor and effect following, to wit:

"I, do solemnly swear, or affirm, in presence of Almighty God, that I will henceforth faithfully support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Union thereunder, and that I will, in like manner, abide by and faithfully support all laws and proclamations which have been made during the existing rebellion with reference to the emancipation of slaves, so help me God."