with Southern men and localities, and well adapted to play his part for the occasion. They soon met with each other, were feted and feasted by the rebels there, and the result of their labors in Louisville, as well as Hoffman's afterward in Indiana, may be seen in their reports hereto annexed, marked N and O.

William Jones, already mentioned, having, by the 1st of May, accomplished a good work in this department, I determined to send him on a mission through Illinois. He went on to Jacksonville, thence to Springfield, thence to Chicago, and from there returned to this city. The results of his labors are disclosed in the report hereto annexed, marked P.

On the return of Forester from his mission to Louisville, I dispatched him to Quincy, Ill., and the eastern part of North Missouri, visiting Hannibal and Palmyra. I refer to his statement which is annexed, marked PP, for the information gained by him while on this tour.

I have a number of other facts and communications in regard to this secret order. Among the letters received having a bearing on this subject and confirmatory of the existence of such an order, I inclose two anonymous ones, which fix upon a person therein named as a member of it. I took the trouble to ascertain who that person was. The party employed to do so had a number of interviews and conversations with him, the character of which seems to leave no doubt that he is a member, though ne stoutly disclaims, it, and has made as yet no revelations in regard to it. These letters are marked Q.

Having thus set forth the nature of my operations in ferreting out the character, objects, and purposes of this secret organization, I may here stop with the narrative for the purpose of making a brief resume of the information gained up to this point.

The order is rigidly secret, and is known among its members as the "Order of American Kinghts," the initials of which are written thus: O. A. K. Its object and aim is the overthrow of the Federal Government, and a Northwestern Confederacy. Professing that the chosen officers of our Government have usurped authority, they claim it not only as an inherent right, but a solemn and imperative duty, to resist those functionaries, and, if need be, expel them by force. It is claimed that such resistance is not revolution, but solely the assertion of right. A part of the obligation of the order, of the highest degree, is therefore as follows:

In accordance with the principles upon which is founded the American theory, government can exercise only delegated power; hence, if those who shall have been chosen to administer the Government shall assume to exercise powers not delegated, they should be regarded and treated as usurpers. The reference to inherent power as also to existing necessity on the part of the functionary for sanction of any arbitrary exercise of power by him, we will not accept, in palliation or excuse.

I have no very definite information as to the origin of this order. From all I can ascertain, however, it may be traced to General Price, of the rebel army. The order of Knights of the Golden Circle, which at one time was so extensive among officers of the rebel army and their friends in the loyal States, having become exposed - its rituals, signs, grips, &c., made known to the public - it was no doubt the wish of General Price to unite those on whom he relied for co-operation under some the organization not known to the public. With this view he first originated the so-called order of the "Corps de Belgique. " He commissioned one William Douglas as his special agent to visit this department, and in conjunction with Charles L. Hunt, of this city, then Belgian consul, to carry out his design, which was, ostensibly, to locate