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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/17917-8.txt b/17917-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e152111 --- /dev/null +++ b/17917-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9005 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Secret Band of Brothers, by Jonathan +Harrington Green + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Secret Band of Brothers + A Full and True Exposition of All the Various Crimes, Villanies, and Misdeeds of This Powerful Organization in the United States. + + +Author: Jonathan Harrington Green + + + +Release Date: March 4, 2006 [eBook #17917] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SECRET BAND OF BROTHERS*** + + +E-text prepared by Dave Maddock, Susan Skinner, and the Project Gutenberg +Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net/) from page +images generously made available by the University of Michigan Digital +Library Production Service (http://www.hti.umich.edu/) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 17917-h.htm or 17917-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/9/1/17917/17917-h/17917-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/9/1/17917/17917-h.zip) + + Images of the original pages are available through the Making of + America collection of the University of Michigan Digital Library + Production Service. See + http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa;idno=AHK6233.0001.001 + + + + + +SECRET BAND OF BROTHERS. + +A Full and True Exposition of All the Various Crimes, Villanies, +and Misdeeds of This Powerful Organization in the United States. + +By the "Reformed Gambler," + +JONATHAN H. GREEN. + +Author of "The Gambler's Life," "Gambling Exposed," "The Reformed +Gambler; Or, Autobiography of J. H. Green," Etc. + +With Illustrative Engravings. + + + * * * * * + + + "This is a most fearful and startling exposition of crime, and + gives the true and secret history of a daring and powerful secret + association, the members of which, residing in all parts of the + country, have for a long period of years been known to one another + by signs and tokens known only to their order. This association has + been guilty of an almost incredible amount of crime. Beautifully + embellished with Illustrative Engravings, from original designs by + Darley and Croome."--_Courier._ + + + * * * * * + + + +[Illustration] + + + + + +Philadelphia: +T. B. Peterson and Brothers, +306 Chestnut Street. +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, +by T. B. PETERSON, +in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and +for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. + + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The vice of gambling is peculiarly destructive. It spares neither age +nor sex. It visits the domestic hearth with a pestilence more quiet and +stealthy, but not less deadly, than intemperance. It is at once the vice +of the gentleman, and the passion of the blackguard. With deep shame we +are forced to admit that the halls of legislation have not been free +from its influence, nor the judicial bench unstained by its pollution. + +It is against this vice, which is now spreading like a subtle poison +through all grades of society, that the present work is directed. The +author is not a mere theorist. He speaks from experience--dark and +bitter experience. The things he has seen he tells; the words he has +heard he speaks again. Some of these scenes curdle the blood in the +veins, even when remembered; some of these words, whenever whispered, +recall incidents of singular atrocity, and thrill the bosom with horror. + +The author professes to speak nothing but the plain truth. He does not +aspire to an elegant style of writing, adorned with the ornaments of the +orator and the scholar; but to one quality may lay claim, without being +thought a vain or immodest man. He speaks with an earnest sincerity. +Whatever he says comes from his heart, and is spoken with all the +sympathy of his soul. + +This work differs from all the previous works of the author. Indeed, it +is unlike any thing ever published in this country. It is not a mere +exposure of gambling, nor yet an attack on the character of particular +gamblers. It is a revelation of a wide-spread organization--pledged to +gambling, theft, and villany of all kinds. There are at the present time +existing, in our Union, certain organizations, pledged to the +performance of good works, which merit the hearty approbation of every +honest man. These are called secret societies, although their +proceedings, and the names of the officers, with minute particulars, are +published in a thousand shapes. Prominent among these beneficial orders +stand the Odd Fellows and the Sons of Temperance. But the order, whose +history is related in the following pages, differs from all these. Its +proceedings, the names of its members or its officers, and even its very +existence as a body, have hitherto been secret, and sealed from the +whole world. Besides, it is pledged to accomplish all kinds of robbery, +aye, and even worse deeds. It has, in more than one deplorable instance, +concealed its dark deeds with murder. + +This order is not confined in its operations to the dark places of life. +It numbers among its members the professional man, the "respectable +citizen," the prominent and wealthy of various towns throughout the +Union; nay, it has sometimes invaded the house of God, and secured the +services of those who are ostensibly his ministers. + +There is not a line of fiction in these pages. The solemn truth is told, +in all its strange and horrible interest. To the public, to the candid +of all classes, to the friends of reform, to the honest citizen, and to +the sincere Christian, the author makes his appeal. + +Let not his voice of warning be unheeded. Let all be up and doing, so +that the monster may be exterminated from the face of the earth, and the +youth of the present age be saved from destruction. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE SECRET BAND OF BROTHERS. + +Why this exposure is made at the present time--Who oppose reform--My +lectures--The New-Light minister--How some get rich--My opponents 9 + + +CHAPTER II. + +A DARK CONSPIRACY. + +Goodrich, the gambler--His malicious conduct--Cause of it--The +Browns--Their plan to escape punishment 16 + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE CONSPIRACY IN PROGRESS. + +The colonel takes medicine to bring on sickness--Ruse will not +take--Character of the administrators of justice in New Orleans--Colonel +Brown deserted by the Brotherhood--Dearborn county, Indiana, delegation + 22 + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE CONSPIRACY FURTHER DEVELOPED. + +The secret correspondence brought from Canada--The Brotherhood desert +Brown--How I obtained the secret writings--Not suspected--Mrs. Brown and +the landlady---Cunningham suspected of purloining them 27 + + +CHAPTER V. + +BRIBERY AND COUNTERFEIT MONEY. + +Brown's lawyer attempts to bribe me to testify falsely against +Taylor--Acquaint the deputy-marshal with the fact--Brown's ineffectual +attempts to find bail--Suspected of having removed the hid money--The +colonel's visitors 34 + + +CHAPTER VI. + +MYSTERIOUS DISCLOSURES. + +His Lawrenceburgh friends--A hypocritical lecture--Further +disclosures--A searching examination--First intimation of the existence +of The Secret Band of Brothers--Colonel Brown's narrative of the +conspiracy against Taylor 42 + + +CHAPTER VII. + +DISCLOSURES CONTINUED. + +The colonel resumes his narrative--The missing papers.--Fare advice 57 + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +DEATH OF COLONEL BROWN. + +Conspiracy against my life--Conversation with Cunningham regarding the +mysterious papers--Death of Colonel Brown 62 + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE SECRET BAND OF BROTHERS. + +Explanatory remarks--The Grand Master of The Secret Band of +Brothers--Vice-grand Masters--Ordinary members--Objects of the +Order--Colonel Brown sacrificed lest he should betray them--Taylorites +and Brownites 66 + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE MYSTERIOUS BOX. + +Anxiety about the missing papers--Cause of the hostility of the Band to +me--The papers supposed to be deposited in the United States +Court--Clerk's office broken into, and the box containing Taylor's +indictment and the spurious money stolen--Suspected--Placed in prison +for safety--The robber discovered--My release--The mysterious box--The +stranger--Conversation with Wyatt--The box opened 75 + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE PORK TRADE, OR DRIVING THE HOGS TO A WRONG MARKET. + +The trading operations of the Band--Lectures at Lawrenceburgh--The +Browns and the hog-drover 84 + + +CHAPTER XII. + +CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS OF THE SECRET BAND OF BROTHERS. + +Initiation--Penalties--The Grand Masters--The secret writing--The six +qualities, Huska, Caugh, Naugh, Maugh, Haugh, Gaugh--Vocabulary of flash +words--The post-routes.--The horse-trade explained--Allowances-- +Specimens of correspondence--The biter bit--A letter of introduction +with an important note--Subsequent inquiry into the case 90 + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +A CHAPTER OF AFFINITIES. + +Thieves and thief-catchers--A family of five--Penitence and +Penitentiaries--The chain-driver and his gang--Lawyers' fees and +Lawyers' privileges--Our representatives 139 + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +GAMBLING EXPEDITION IN THE CHOCTAW NATION. + +Character of the inhabitants on the Texas frontier in 1833--The murder +of Dr ----. Operations at Fort Towson--Edmonds and Scoggins--Robbery-- +Journey to Fort Smith--The dumb negro speaks--His character of Scoggins +and Edmonds 147 + + +CHAPTER XV. + +CORRESPONDENCE CONNECTED WITH MY VISIT TO THE AUBURN PRISON, AND +CONVERSATION WITH WYATT, THE MURDERER. + +1. Chaplain Morrill's letter commendatory of my visit--2. My own +account--3. My second visit--4. Mr. Gary's letter--5. Reply to the +accusations of Mr. Morrill--6. Mr. Merrill's charges--7. Vindication +from these charges--8. Further particulars relative to the life of Wyatt +_alias_ Newell _alias_ North, and a horrid murder committed near +Perrysburgh, Ohio-- + +Conclusion 184 + +Debate on Gambling 193 + + +LOTTERIES. + +Drawing of Lottery Tickets 267 + +Insuring Numbers, or Policy Dealing 288 + +Lottery Combinations, etc. 299 + + + + +THE + +SECRET BAND OF BROTHERS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +In perusing the following pages, the reader will learn the history of a +class of men, who, for talent, cannot be excelled. He may startle at the +horrid features which naked truth will depict--at deeds of darkness +which, though presented to an enlightened people, may require a stretch +of credulity to believe were ever perpetrated in the glorious nineteenth +century. + +It will, no doubt, elicit many a curious thought, especially with honest +men, and the "whys and wherefores" will pass from mouth to mouth in +every hamlet, village, and town, where the following recital may find a +reader or hearer. All will declare it mysterious. It is a mystery to +myself in some particulars, but in others it is not. It is strange, +passing strange, to think that such a black-hearted, treacherous band of +men, as I am about to describe, could have existed so long in a +civilized and Christian country. + +With a trembling hand do I attempt to bring to light their ruling +principles, to develop a system of organized and accomplished villany. +My reasons for assuming so daring a position may seem to require an +explanation. It may be asked why I did not make this revelation before, +as far as I had knowledge, or what is the occasion of the present +exposition? To the preceding queries I will briefly reply. + +First, There has been no period in my life, prior to 1846, when I could +dare to lay before the world what I contemplate doing at the present +time. It will be long remembered by many, that in August, 1842, I +renounced a profession, in which I had worse than squandered twelve +years, the sweet morning of my life. In doing so, I knew I must, of +necessity, experience deep mortification, in a personal exposure, which +would attend me through life. + +Gambling, with all its concomitants, had taken full possession of my +depraved nature. Thus it was that I, like all wicked men, refused to +"come to the light," and I feared to oppose a craft so numerous as the +one of which I was a professed member. Well did I know that I was +carrying out a wrong and wicked principle. Conviction produced +reflection. After a careful deliberation of the whole subject, I +declared with a solemn oath, that, by the assistance of Almighty God, I +would renounce for ever a profession so ruinous in its every feature. +Immediately I felt the band severed, and my misgivings were scattered to +the winds. My former companions laughed at me. They scouted the idea, +that one so base as I should ever think of reformation. It moved me not. +My credit, I found, failed, after it was known that I had quit gambling. +A thousand different conjectures attended so strange a proceeding on the +part of one in my circumstances. Why should I abandon card-playing, +destroy valuable card plates, and lose their still more profitable +proceeds, return moneyed obligations, which would have secured me an +independent fortune? These things were a matter of surprise with the +cool and deliberate patrons of vice, and especially with many, who, +though they were often covered with a garb of outward morality, were +full of rottenness within. Some, who pass for moral and religious +persons, have in this thing exhibited a moral obliquity that has often +astonished me. + +From a careful examination, I have learned the lamentable fact, that the +most prominent opposers of moral reforms are composed of two classes, +THE HARDENED SINNER, who makes money his god, and THE EXTREMELY +IGNORANT. Let not the reader understand, however, that I suppose there +are not ignorant rich men as well as poor--the latter have their share +of bad men, and so also have the former--but that vice and ignorance are +common to both. + +In the year 1843, I commenced lecturing against the fearful vice of +gambling, for no other reason than to stay the gambler in his ruinous +course, and save the youth of our land from his alluring wiles. For this +I received IN PUBLIC the "God speeds" of ALL classes, and the prayers of +all Christians in secret. I soon learned I had much with which to +contend--opposition from directions I little anticipated. The gambler, +unfortunate man! he carried upon his countenance an expression of open +hate, indicating a deadly hostility to my reformatory movements. The +ignorant man, I found, was disposed to make his avarice the highway to +happiness. He was unwilling to favour any reform that would invade the +territory of his contracted selfishness. His reply, if he had any, would +be that stereotyped one, "such a course will have a tendency to make +more gamblers than it will cure." If his reasons were asked for such a +statement, you could get no satisfactory answer. Perhaps he would say, +"I am satisfied of the fact from my own disposition." He might as well +give a child's reason at once, and say, "CAUSE!" Such persons have +seldom heard a lecture, or read a syllable, and yet are always prating +with a great show of wisdom, but rather, in fact, of blind conceit. +Their silence would be of far more service to the cause of virtue than +their opinions. In many cases, it will be found that such persons are +not only ignorant, but dishonest. + +Again, there is the rich, moral, or religious man, who takes another +position. He opposes with the declaration "his sons will not gamble: +they have such good and moral examples," &c. This is sometimes a want of +consideration, that prompts them thus to speak; with others, a secret +villany, driving them to such ultra positions, a mere tattered garment +to cover their own moral deformity. They must oppose the reformation, or +be held up to public disgrace. In nine cases out of ten, the opposer of +this class, is, or has been, a participant in the works of darkness +whose exposition he so much dreads. + +Finding many disposed to act thus, and to teach their children to +imitate their own pernicious examples, I have made it a study to +demolish, if possible, the foundation of their positions. The success +attending my efforts to trace them out, assures me, that I am correct +when I affirm that two-thirds of all opposers are influenced in their +conduct by the basest of principles; one-sixth act through ignorance, +united with vice, and one-sixth are wholly ignorant and cannot be +morally accountable, if their want of information is in any way +excusable. But what may be still more startling, about one-fourth of +the whole are members of the various churches, yea, even men of this +class are found in sacerdotal robes. This fact came within my knowledge +long since. I felt it my duty to publish the same, but delayed, till I +should gain experience in defending my position. I was satisfied, +however, that the efforts of a certain New Light minister to traduce my +character and hinder my influence, must have been prompted from some of +the foregoing considerations. Would the world know who this man is? It +will be necessary to go to the very town where he lives to secure the +information. I doubt whether his name would ever have appeared in print, +but for his newspaper controversy, or in case of his death. His +unwarrantable attack put me on my guard, and caused me to search out the +ground of his base and unchristian treatment. One thing is very certain, +he is no gambler. It may not be a want of disposition, but rather a +sufficient amount of sense, to make him a proficient in the business. He +may be an ignorant dupe--a mere tool of the designing, the "cats paw" of +some respectable blackleg, who thinks to cover his own crimes, by +exciting public opinion against me, through an apparently respectable +instrumentality. But I did not wish to bandy words with him, being +impressed with the propriety of a resolution I made while a gambler, +that it is only throwing away time to attempt to account for the +different actions and opinions of weak and prejudiced minds; and +therefore I dropped the whole affair. I would have remained silent, but +for the position taken by other divines from his false and garbled +statements. Many have condemned me unheard, listening willingly to my +accusers, without hearing a word in my own defence. Not satisfied with +such an expression of their EXCESSIVE CHRISTIAN CHARITY, they have even +thrust at me through the public prints, for which, no doubt, they will +have the hearty amens of all gamblers, and it may be several dollars in +their pockets. Certain editors have joined in the same "hue and cry" +with their worthy compeers. The reasons were evident in their case. They +knew I was invading their dearest worldly interests. There were others +who only knew me from hearsay. Why should they become my enemies? It was +because I held in my possession secrets, whose exposition would make +many of them tremble. It would be to them like the interpreted +handwriting upon the wall. Hence they were ready to contribute their +talents and wealth, to sustain certain individuals as honourable men. I +could not have deemed it proper to expose "THE SECRET BAND OF BROTHERS," +had not duty, and my obligations to society, urged me forward. The +allegiance I owe to God is paramount to all other. The result is yet to +be experienced, by the better part of the community. Heavily was the +oppressive hand of this notable brotherhood laid upon me. My soul was +sorely vexed by their daring villany. + +In the county where I was bred, I have numbered, in one day, thirteen +who sustained honourable places in society, nine of whom were rich, +strangely rich in view of their facilities for acquiring wealth in a +newly settled country. Not one is a professional man. Few bear the +callous badge of industry and physical exertion upon their hands. +Several are, by an outward profession, Christians,--but invariably +opposed to all the benevolent institutions of the day and works of +reform, unless their views of what is the right course are fully met, +which are generally so extravagant as to preclude all hope of +co-operation. With these I had a severe contest. Well did they know, +there was something behind the screen which, brought to light, would +expose their villanous transactions, open the eyes of honest men, and +greatly endanger, if not destroy, their craft. That I had letters, +written by themselves, they knew--nor dare they deny it--letters which +might lead to a conviction of crime, that would raise them to a position +somewhere between heaven and earth. They may rest assured that I have +documents that place more than one thousand of them in a relative +position to law and society. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +In a previous work of mine, called "GAMBLING UNMASKED," an allusion is +made to an evident conspiracy against my life, sometime before I became +a confirmed gambler. Goodrich was the name which I gave, as the chief +actor. This same doubly refined villain, it will be remembered, by all +who have read the above work, was foremost to aid in my arrest when I +made good my escape to the Pine woods, lying back of New Orleans. The +reader will likewise recollect, that I could not, at that time, account +for such manifestations of unprecedented malignity, on the part of one +from whom I might rather expect protection than persecution. But the +secret is out, and I now have the power to give clear and truthful +explanations. + +This Goodrich, who resides at the present time in or near New Orleans, +and who holds the rank of gambler-general in that city of Sodom, was an +old and advanced member of the "Secret Band of Brothers." Knowing, as he +did, that I was engaged in assisting the honest part of the community to +convict two brothers who were plotting my downfall, as a sworn member of +the above fraternity, he was solemnly bound to do all in his power to +aid in the consummation of my personal ruin. That the world might know +something of this Goodrich, (though the half cannot be told,) I gave, in +my autobiography, several incidents, in which he acted a prominent part. +What I then said will answer for an introduction. + +That he was connected with an organized association of gentlemen +blacklegs will not be denied. The proof is abundant. Nor was he an +apprentice, a mere novitiate; but long schooled in vice and ripening +year by year, he swelled quite beyond the bounds of ordinary meanness, +till he became a full-grown monster of his kind. Not content to gather +riches by common roguery, he sought out the basest instrumentalities as +more congenial to his real disposition. His chief riches were obtained +by dark and murderous transactions; and had he a score of necks, with +hempen necklaces well adjusted, I doubt whether he could pay the full +forfeiture to the law. + +From my first acquaintance with him at Louisville, with blood-thirsty +vigilance he sought my destruction. Here began the risings of his +malice, and this was the cause. In the year 1830, I gave information to +the city police in relation to Hyman, who, at that time, was the keeper +of a hotel. It was while at this house, that Goodrich became my +determined and implacable foe. I had been duped by two brothers, Daniel +and James Brown, who were then confined in the calaboose for passing +counterfeit money. Large quantities were also found in their possession. +I was their confidant, so far as prudence would allow them to make any +revelations. That they were guilty of the crime with which they had been +charged, no honest man could doubt, after being made acquainted with the +circumstances. Yet they would swear most stoutly, even in my presence, +that they were innocent, and that they had been deceived. I could not +but believe they were guilty, after having witnessed so many of their +iniquitous actions. Often have I been told by the wife of one of them, +that they could call to their assistance, if necessary, a thousand men. +Who they were and where they were, so ready to uphold these abandoned +men, I had, at that time, no knowledge. + +At length their situation became desperate. Already had they passed one +year within the walls of a gloomy prison, without the privilege of a +trial. They were required to give bail in the sum of twenty thousand +dollars each. No satisfactory bonds could be procured. The whole +community were incensed against them. They had for a long time trampled +upon private rights and warred against the best interests of the people. +They had set at defiance all laws instituted for purposes of justice and +protection, and they could not but expect a stern rebuke from all the +friends of morality and good order. The only prospect before them, upon +a fair trial, was a sentence of twenty years to the penitentiary. This +was by no means cheering, especially to those who had lived in ease and +affluence, whose bodies were enervated by voluptuousness and hands made +tender by years of idle pleasures. Crowds were gathering to witness +their trial, and waiting in anxious suspense the issue. Disgrace, public +disgrace and lasting infamy stared them in the face. They were put upon +their last resources, and necessity became the mother of invention. They +fixed upon the following plan to extricate themselves. + +Public opinion must be propitiated. An interest in their behalf must be +awakened by some manifestation that would touch the chord of sympathy. A +double part must be played. They would affect to change their +sentiments. In this they acted according to the laws of the secret +brotherhood. With them, any thing was honesty that would effect their +purposes. But to consummate their design, another object must be +secured--some innocent person must be implicated and made a scape-goat +for, at least, a part of their crimes. This game they understood well, +for they had been furnished with abundant means and instructions. It +required also deep-seated iniquity of heart, and in this there was no +lack, for they were the sublimation of depravity. They must also have +time and capital. These were easily provided, as will be seen in the +sequel. There was an individual with whom they had become acquainted in +Cleaveland, and upon whom suspicion had rested for some time. He was the +man fixed upon as their victim. Of course he was not a member of their +organized band. "Honour among thieves" forbids the selection of such a +one. It was necessary, however, that he should be somewhat of a villain. +Here also they exhibited much sagacity in the selection. It now only +remained to slip his neck into the noose that was in preparation for +themselves. All the instrumentalities being prepared to their liking, +they immediately set the infernal machinery in active operation. + +The first thing to be done was to change the direction of public opinion +as to the real perpetrator. It must be called off from the persons who +were now so hotly pursued, and put upon a different scent. The agents +were at hand--The Secret Band of Brothers. These "dogs of war" were let +loose, and simultaneously the whole pack set up their hideous yell after +the poor fellow previously mentioned. Many of them being merchants and +holding a respectable relation to society, and most of them being +connected with the different honourable professions, their fell purpose +was the more easily accomplished. A continual excitement was thus kept +up, by breathing forth calumny and denunciation against one who, +however guilty of other things, was innocent of the thing laid to his +charge. At the same time, the ears of the principal bank-officers were +filled with words of extenuation and sympathy toward the two brothers. +Their former high respectability was adduced. That they were guilty was +not denied, but they had been misled and seduced. Intimations were given +that the name of the real villain who had caused their ruin would be +given, provided they would ease off in their prosecution already in +progress. And then it would be such a glorious thing to secure the +prime-mover. + +By these fair and seemingly sincere pretensions, they soon kindled +relentings in the hearts of the prosecutors. How could it be otherwise? +for "they were all honourable men." Several of the individuals who +assisted in maturing the plan were men of commanding influence, in the +very town where I was bred. I had abundant opportunities to know them. A +proposition was finally made through them by the instructions of the +officers, that, as the brothers knew their guilt was fully established, +it would have a tendency to mitigate their sentence, if they would +expose the head man, by whose knavery many extensive property-holders +were threatened with total bankruptcy. This was the precise position at +which the secret band of brothers had been aiming. The next step was to +secure, if possible, the younger brother as "state's evidence" against +the appointed victim of Cleaveland notoriety, whom, for the sake of +convenience, I will designate by his name, Taylor. + +He was a man of extraordinary abilities and gentlemanly deportment. He +and the two brothers were mutual acquaintances. They had been +accomplices, no doubt, in many a deed of darkness. But as "the devil +should have his due," I am bound to exculpate him from any participation +in the alleged crime. That he was innocent in this affair I have the +fullest evidence. I was solicited by the pettifogger, (I will not say +lawyer,) for the brothers, to take a bribe for perjury, and swear poor +Taylor guilty of giving me five hundred dollars of counterfeit money, +which money he would place in my hands. Of this fellow, I will speak in +another chapter. The younger brother was now to declare himself and +brother as having been seduced by Taylor. It was to be done without the +apparent knowledge of the elder brother, whom we will hereafter call +Colonel Brown. It was to be communicated to one of the officers, with a +solicitation to keep it a secret from the colonel. He also had an +appointed part to play. The character he was to sustain in this drama of +well-concocted treachery, I will next present. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +The colonel's physician advised him to take medicine, to reduce his +system, and give him the appearance of one rapidly sinking under a +pulmonary affection. He consented, as such a plan was considered the +most likely to succeed. It will be readily seen, that the design was to +work upon the sympathies of the officers, and thus procure his +enlargement. Nor were they disappointed. The colonel's health began to +fail. The drugs acted their appropriate part. Some of his friends made +vigorous exertions to have him removed to the hospital, declaring it +necessary for the continuation of life. Others were actively engaged in +giving forth intimations, and expressing their fears that he would die +before his trial came on, always taking care to assert their confidence +of his innocence. This was a mere ruse, to trick the officers into a +consent for his removal. But they had mistaken the character of the men +with whom they were dealing. They were not to be moved by exhibitions of +suffering humanity. Their hearts had become insensible to human misery +and they resisted all appeals to sympathy. + +There was now but one alternative for the friends of the prisoner. They +must apply the drugs more assiduously, till they made a mere skeleton of +their subject; and then try the virtue of the "almighty dollar." This +now seemed to be the only thing that would move the hearts of +seven-eighths of the police judges, marshals, wardens, and prosecutors. +Such were the administrators of public justice, at that time, in New +Orleans. The greater part were men, who, at some period of their lives, +had been steeped chin-deep in infamy. Some were men of wealth and +liberally educated. They were men who would shrink from giving an +account of their early years. Several were verging upon three score +years and ten. All the wealth they possessed had been plundered from +another set of villains, whose misfortune was, a want of sagacity in +escaping the rapacity of their more accomplished compeers. That there +were a few honourable exceptions must be admitted, but I could not with +a good conscience assert, that one-eighth of the police was as honest as +is generally the case with those city officers, for I have facts to the +contrary. + +The whole of that Southern Sodom at an early date had been inundated +with this "secret band of brothers," or this fraternal band of land +pirates. As they became wealthy they ceased their usual occupation, and +began to speculate in a different way. Having it in their power, they +would rob even their nearest friends, thus overleaping that common law +of "honour among thieves." They would do this with the utmost impunity, +whenever they saw proper. There was no redress. The very officers were, +many of them, under fictitious names and would assume deceptive titles, +for the more successful perpetration of their villany. + +The unfortunate prisoner discovered, when it was too late, that his +supposed HONEST BROTHERHOOD were not what their profession had led him +to believe. Poor fellow! he had not taken enough degrees to learn the +full "mystery of iniquity." Every effort was made to procure a light +bail, but it could not be effected. At last an arrangement was made, and +for a stipulated sum he was placed in charge of a committee, who had him +removed to the hospital. The colonel, by this time, was, to appearance, +very dangerously ill. He was removed to his new quarters, but not +permitted to regain his health, lest the spell of their deceit should be +broken. His visitors were numerous. To his face, they appeared his most +sincere friends. They seemed deeply interested in his welfare, and made +bountiful proffers of sympathy and assistance. His true friends, who +were capable of rendering him succour, were very few. He had many of the +lower class of the brotherhood, the novitiates, who were ready to act +energetically and in good faith. But the head men--the very individuals +who had reaped the spoils of his doings--were his worst enemies. They +had received the lion's share, without leaving the poor jackall even the +scraps, but turned him over, unaided, to the tender mercies of a felon's +fate. They had filled their pockets with the richest of the spoils, and +would not now contribute a penny to reward their benefactor. + +At this time, there were one hundred of the brotherhood in the city, who +might have procured bail; but gratitude found no place in their hearts. +They had also violated their oaths. Day after day would parties of his +old friends and neighbours visit him, both in the prison and hospital. +They would tell him that arrangements were in progress to effect his +escape. The whole, however, was false, as no action had been taken. The +prisoner depended much upon a delegation from Dearborn county, Indiana, +of whom he had a right to claim assistance; but they, like the rest, +proved traitors. I have counted thirty different men from that county, +who visited him from time to time. These, at home, were men of good +standing, equally respected with other citizens. Several were leading +men in all the moral and religious enterprises of the day, and generally +individuals of wealth. Two of them, I knew, made great professions of +religious enjoyment and zeal. One was a very strict church-going man, +but with the heart of a Judas. His hypocrisy was of such a deep and +damning character, I can hardly forbear giving his name. Duty might +demand his exposure, but for the injury that would be inflicted upon an +innocent family. These men may reform. I am delaying exposure. I hope +ere long to have an evidence of their sincere repentance, but fear they +are too far gone, too much in love with the wages of iniquity. They have +too long turned a deaf ear to the pitiful cries of the widow and orphan +whose ruin they have effected, whose natural protector they may have +robbed, leaving his injured family in penury and want. Some of these, +who were comparatively poor at the time of the colonel's downfall, in +1832, have since become rich. There is reason to fear that such sudden +wealth, obtained without any visible means, was not very honourably +acquired. It is seldom that honest industry will thus accumulate. The +letters I shall publish will be accompanied with explanatory notes. The +persons concerned will recognise their own productions, and I hope to +see such a change in their future life as shall deserve a charitable +silence. But I return from my digression. + +The sworn friends of the prisoner had forsaken him in the hour of need, +and left him single-handed and alone to meet the stern rigours of the +law. There was no remedy unless in his own stratagem, which was now +being matured. It was as follows. His brother was to remain in prison as +an evidence against Taylor, mentioned in the previous chapter, while he +was to assume all the responsibility of the counterfeit money, plates, +&c., as well as all the other villanies which had been charged upon them +conjointly. + +The colonel was very sick from the action of the medicines. He supposed +every effort had been made to bail him, but was greatly deceived. His +fate was sealed. A conspiracy was formed against him. He suspected foul +play, because his former associates did not come forward and bail him. +His removal to the hospital was only a pretence set up by them, that +might give more time to carry out their treacherous designs. He was a +prisoner, and they were determined to make him such the remainder of his +life. He had his friends, however, warmhearted, and true. He was almost +worshipped by the poorer members of the brotherhood. The richer part +envied him for his superior skill in his profession and general +popularity, and feared the consequences. In this he differed widely from +his brother, who was neither loved nor feared, and was only respected +from his relationship. When the plan was devised for the younger brother +to swear the counterfeit money and plates upon Taylor, it was intended +by these professed friends, that he should be caught in his own net, and +be thus prevented from rendering the colonel any assistance. The +consummation of this plan, I will next detail. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +The younger brother was to produce various letters which had been +written to him from different parts of the Union, by different +individuals. That this could be done will be seen by what follows. The +colonel had been an extensive speculator in merchandise of almost every +kind. He was extensively known. His correspondence was wide-spread. In +his villanous communications, however, letters were never addressed to +him in his proper name, unless some one should labour under the +impression that he was an honest man. He used two fictitious names; the +one was George Sanford, and the other that of his brother. These letters +were placed in the hands of that brother for safe keeping. Thus the +colonel, to all appearance, only maintained an honourable and necessary +business correspondence. He consented that his brother should use these +letters if they could be made useful in helping him out of difficulty. +He was willing the letters should be produced and read, as the younger +brother had promised to bring forth the plates. In the mean time there +was an understanding between them, that no intimations should be given +as to the "secret band of brothers;" not a syllable was to be lisped +that would lead to exposure. + +To obtain the desired end, and give greater security, instructions were +given to the wife of one of the brothers to examine carefully all the +letters, and select out from them those of a specific character, and to +keep them sacred, subject to the order of the colonel. These letters had +been conveyed in a chest from Canada, where they had been preserved with +great secrecy. This chest was sent for in February, 1832, and arrived +the next April. Some three days after the reception of the trunk +containing these papers, information was given that the removed letters +had come, and were ready for the examination of those who were acting as +prosecutors of Taylor. By this time, public opinion had become so much +changed toward both of the prisoners, that a very little effort would +have secured their acquittal. They had acted with great skill and +prudence, and were in a fair way to succeed. This was perceived by the +leaders of the fraternity. They were unwilling such a man as the colonel +should escape. A deep plot was consequently laid and rigorously carried +out to thwart him in his efforts to escape the penalty of the law. His +trial was put off and the inducement held out that bail should be +obtained. All this was done to keep up appearances. His enemies dared +not openly provoke him. They dared not come out and proclaim their +hostility, for they well knew he had the means to expose them. To seek +his ruin by an open show of opposition would be to touch fire to the +train, that, in the explosion, would involve them all in a common ruin. +They must approach him, Joab like, and drive the dagger to his heart +while saluting him with professions of friendship. But his patience had +become wearied by a protracted sickness and continued disappointment. + +The letters above referred to were done up in packages of three hundred +each. I was present when the trunk was opened, and witnessed the +selection of many of the letters. The lady who assorted them threw +about one out of every thirty in a separate pile. I made no inquiry +respecting them, but my curiosity, as you may well imagine, was not a +little excited, especially as I observed several familiar names. The +lady finally unrolled six pieces of parchment, which were blank in +appearance. She folded them up in a square form of about six inches. She +then folded up some three hundred and seventy letters, and placed them +upon the parchment. Upon these she placed a written parchment containing +the copies of about six hundred letters, and having carefully enclosed +the whole in a sealed envelope, she placed them between two beds upon +which she usually slept. The remainder she packed up and sent to her +husband's attorney. Immediately she left the room to visit her husband +in prison. + +Scarcely had she retired, before my curiosity was intensely excited to +learn the contents of the concealed package. I ventured into the room +with the intention of satisfying myself. I no sooner placed my hand upon +the package, than I felt the blood seemingly curdling in my veins. The +thought that I was about to act the part of a dishonest man impressed me +deeply. I reflected a moment, and then dropped the package, and hastened +to leave the room. As I turned from the bedside, my desire to know the +contents of the package came upon me with a redoubled force. The passion +was too violent for resistance, for I was confident some of these +letters were written by men I had known from my infancy. Whether I acted +properly or improperly, an impartial public must determine; but after +thinking upon the subject a moment, I turned, grasped the package, and +bore it off under the keenest sensations of alarm and fear of detection. +I hastened down stairs and made my way to the house of a man by the +name of Watkins. He was a good man, and a sincere friend to me. His wife +was a kind-hearted and benevolent woman. I met her at the door, and told +her a friend of mine had given me this package to take care of, and I +would let her see the contents at another time. She took it and laid it +away; I then hastened to the prison to meet Mrs. B----, who I knew +expected me to accompany her, or to be present with her that day. Could +I get to the prison as soon, or sooner than she, suspicion of my having +taken the package would be lessened. I soon found myself at the prison +gate. The lady had not yet arrived. The prisoners were standing around +the door on the inside. I waited some ten minutes, when I heard B. say +he did not see what could detain his wife so long. I stepped to the door +and remarked that I had been waiting some time, and was expecting her +every minute. Immediately she made her appearance and remarked, + +"You have got here before me. I looked for you before I left." + +I had observed her looking into the room I occupied, when she was about +leaving the house; I, however, was in an opposite one, occupied by +another boarder. After conversing a short time with her husband, she +remarked, that she must return to the house, as she had left the package +where it might be found. She called upon me to accompany her. I did so, +and we soon arrived at the house. I remained below while she hastened up +stairs to her room. + +In a few minutes she came running to the head of the stairs and called +me; I immediately answered her. + +"Green," said she, "some person has been robbing my room." + +I felt as though I was suspected, for "a guilty conscience needs no +accusing." + +"What have you had taken?" asked I. + +"Oh! I have"----then she paused, as if studying what to say. In the mean +time, the landlady had heard her say she had been robbed, and hastened +to the place where we were standing, but being unobserved from the +excitement, was occupying a position at Mrs. B.'s back. + +"Oh! I have lost a package of letters, of no value to any person but +myself. They are family relics, but I will have them at the peril of my +life. I will swear that I have lost other things besides the papers, and +will get them back, or make this house pay well for harbouring thieves. +Mind, Green, what I have said. Keep mum, and I will have them back at +the risk of----" + +She was interrupted by the landlady, who very kindly assisted her in +finishing her sentence by adding--"at the risk of perjuring yourself!" + +Mrs. B. being startled, exclaimed, "Oh! no, madam, don't mistake me. I +only meant I would make a great stir about them--that I would offer a +reward to the servants, and at the same time let on as if something very +valuable was missing." + +"Of course I would not intimate, and do not, I pray you, understand me +as thinking that any person has taken them with the design of retaining +them. I have no idea that the individual having them, whoever he may be, +will be base enough to keep them from me. Some of them are very ancient, +and among the number are several sheets of blank parchment, which +belonged to my grandfather. I have preserved them as a memento. Their +loss would be a source of great grief." + +The landlady turned away, apparently satisfied with her statement and +forced apology. She then turned to me and said, + +"I will have those papers at the price of my life. If they are +lost"--here she made a stop and added, "I shall dislike it." + +I discovered an extreme anxiety depicted in her features--her breast was +actually heaving with emotion. + +"Green," said she, "has old Cunningham been about here to-day?" + +"I believe not," was my reply. "I have not seen him." + +"Well," she continued, "I hope he may never enter this house again, +though he appears to be the best friend that my husband and the colonel +possess. He pays strict attention to his business, at the same time, +which does not seem consistent." + +This Cunningham, so abruptly introduced, was a man quite advanced in +years, a member of the fraternity, and, considering his age, was a very +active and efficient agent. At this juncture, the old servant, who +attended to the room, entered. She (Mrs. B.) inquired "if any person had +been in her room during her absence to the prison." The servant tried to +recollect. While he delayed, my heart palpitated violently from fear, +lest he might say he had seen me enter her room. I was on the point of +confessing the whole matter. I felt that I was suspected. At this +critical moment he broke the silence--a silence burdened with anxiety to +the lady as well as myself, by remarking that he had seen the old +gentleman (meaning Cunningham) "go up stairs, and he thought enter her +room." + +"I have it!" exclaimed she. "He has got them." I need not tell the +reader I felt greatly relieved, that there was at least the shadow of +evidence, which would serve to clear me and implicate Cunningham. The +lady appeared to be intensely excited. I was in doubt what course it +would be prudent for me to pursue. Finally, I went to the house of +Watkins, and told him that the package I had given him was of no value +to any person but myself; that it was made up of various articles of +writing, containing hundreds of names, many of which were familiar to +me. He looked them over in a cursory manner, and remarked, + +"I think there must be witchcraft in these. The letters, though very +simple, bear upon their face a suspicious appearance." He, however, +agreed to preserve them with care. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +After my interview with Watkins, I felt greatly relieved. I hastened to +the hospital to see the colonel, as was my custom, often several times a +day. I found him surrounded with visitors, all of whom appeared to be +affected while in his presence. He needed sympathy. His mind was +tortured. His whole life seemed made up of successive throes of +excitement and desperation. His heart was torn by conflicting passions. +His confidence and affection for former friends were evidently waning. +If any remained, it hung like the tremulous tones of music uncertain and +discordant upon its shivered strings. After the principal visitors had +retired, the following individuals, three from Lawrenceburgh, two from +Cincinnati, one from Madison, and one from Frankfort, made their +appearance, accompanied by one of the colonel's legal advisers. They +counseled with him for some time. The legal gentleman remarked, at the +close of the mutual conversation: + +"It will do. I have conversed with your friends," calling his two +principal attorneys by name. "They say something of that kind must be +done. It will have a powerful effect. T. cannot ward off such licks as +we will give him." + +The meaning of this fellow was, that bribery could be effectually used. +This man, who thus offered to subvert, by the basest of means, the +claims of public and private justice, was so lost to shame and +self-respect, that he verily thought it an honourable and creditable +act, if he could render himself notorious for clearing the most +abandoned scoundrels. It argued the most deep-seated depravity, to +commit unblushing crime and then glory in his infamy. He heeded not the +means, so he accomplished his end. He would not hesitate to implicate +himself, for it was but a few days after this, when he offered me a +bribe, as before stated, and likewise the counterfeit money. (I here +have reference to the five hundred dollars, to which I referred in my +work called "Gambling Unmasked.") + +After the party had retired, the colonel said in a few days he would be +able to secure bail--that they were waiting for an intimate friend,--a +wholesale merchant from Philadelphia. He then conversed with me more +freely, and told me much about his enemies in Dearborn Co., Ind., and +also his intimate friends. Said he: + +"You may live to hear of my success in making some of those Dearborn +county fellows glad to leave their nests, which they have feathered at +my expense." + +It was the next day after this, that I made known to Mr. Munger the +fact, that a bribe had been proffered me to swear against T., in favour +of the brothers. Some two days after, I received the note containing the +information respecting the hidden treasure. See the work above +mentioned. + +These circumstances, with the excitement occasioned by the loss of the +package, created a great sensation, especially with the friends of the +colonel and his brother. Fear and jealousy were at work with the whole +banditti of public swindlers. They knew not on whom to fix the +imputation of purloining their valuable papers. Cunningham was +suspected, and likewise Spurlock, another old confederate, who had +frequently visited the room of the unfortunate lady. Sturtivant, one of +their principal engravers, was thought to be implicated, and even one of +their pettifoggers was on the list of the proscribed. They did not fix +upon me till several days after. The circumstances of this suspicion I +will now detail. + +The Lawrenceburgh members had not complied with their promises. One was +waiting to turn his produce into cash, and when he was ready to fulfil +his engagement, no action could be taken, because his fellow townsmen +had their excuses for delay and non-concurrence. The Philadelphia +merchant had arrived, but suddenly left, as the report says, "between +two days." Two others of the intended bail were among the missing. I +carried a letter to another, who owned a flat-boat. I went on board and +found his son, but learned that the father had gone up the coast on +business, to be absent several days. The son took the letter, broke it +open, and read it. He told me to say to the colonel that his father was +absent and had written to him that he intended starting home in a few +days, probably by the next boat. I went back and bore the message. The +lawyer who had given me the letter cursed me for permitting the son to +open it. The colonel turning over on his bed, and fastening his eyes +upon the enraged attorney, with a mingled expression of anger and +despair, said, + +"I am gone, there is no hope for me. I see, I see, they have robbed me +of my property, my papers, poisoned, and then forsaken me. I have not +much more confidence in you than in the rest." + +"My dear colonel," said the implicated sycophant, "do you think I would +ever treat so basely a client so liberal and worthy as yourself," at the +same time wiping his cheek as if a tear had been started by such an +unkind imputation. + +He then requested me to go for Mrs. B., and tell her, he requested her +presence at the hospital. I went in search of the wife, but did not meet +with her. I found some ten or fifteen of the band awaiting her return. +Night came on, and she had not yet made her appearance. I perceived they +were in great perturbation. + +This same day my room had been changed to a small apartment in close +proximity with the one occupied by Mrs. B., separated only by a thin +board partition. About two o'clock at night she came home, accompanied +by two females. One left in a few minutes, as she had company waiting +for her at the door. The other remained and entered into conversation +with Mrs. B. I laid my ear to the partition and could distinctly hear +every word which was spoken. I heard Mrs. B. say, "I have searched in a +satisfactory manner, and am convinced that some one has removed the +earth. I did not expect to find it, after my husband told me some one +had answered him in my name and taken the note." + +I was now satisfied that she had been in search of the money I had found +at the root of the tree, on the corner of Canal and Old Levee streets. I +could not hear the opinion they entertained, but the strange female +remarked, that + +"Colonel Goodrich suspects him, and will certainly catch him, provided +he has got it." + +"I do not think he can have it," said Mrs. B.; "I have never seen the +least evidence of guilt; besides, the colonel," meaning her +brother-in-law, "says he is perfectly harmless." + +I was then convinced that it was myself they were talking about. My +fears were awakened, so much so that I passed a very restless night. + +Early the next morning I hurried away to Mr. Munger's room and laid open +my fears. It may be proper to state in this connection, that this Mr. +Munger, whom I made my confidant, was the United States deputy-marshal. + +The search above referred to was for money which had been hid by +Sandford, and he, at his death, had informed Mr. B. where he had +deposited it. The particulars, together with the manner by which I came +in possession of it, are detailed in "GAMBLING UNMASKED." + +I found Mr. Munger in his room, and related the incidents of the past +night. He said he could not understand their meaning. I could, but I did +not tell him that the letters had been taken. For the want of this +information, things looked mysterious. He told me not to fear, but to +flatter those who had requested me to perjure myself, with a prospect of +compliance with their wishes. I went from his room to my boarding-house, +and from thence to the hospital. Here I found the colonel surrounded +with some twenty citizens, who resided in and about Wheeling and +Pittsburgh, all members of the fraternity. Some were men of great +respectability in the community where they lived, and doubtless remain +so to the present day. They held out flattering hopes that bail would +yet be secured, but all left the city in a few days, without rendering +any assistance whatever. + +The preliminaries for the trial were arranged. Taylor was indicted. The +younger brother being state's evidence, had an encouraging prospect of +acquittal. Unfortunately, the colonel had taken a wrong position at the +start. He had been betrayed by those of the brotherhood who had the +influence requisite for assistance. The cheat had been carried so far by +fair and continued promises, it was now too late to retrieve himself. I +felt deeply interested for him. He was a noble specimen of mankind. He +possessed abilities worthy of a more honourable application. He bore all +his misfortunes with unexampled fortitude. The night after his Wheeling +and Pittsburgh associates had betrayed his confidence, he conversed with +me for some time. The main topic of his conversation was about certain +men who resided in Lawrenceburgh and its vicinity. He gave recitals of +things which had been done by men living in and near that place, which +cannot be contemplated without a feeling of horror. I was actually +shocked and chilled, especially as I knew the actors. The whole seemed +to me like some dreadful vision of the night, and I could hardly believe +the evidence of my senses in favor of actual perpetration. The colonel +continued: + +"They fear me; they are seeking to crush me while professing the +greatest friendship." He paused after adding, "to-morrow I will give you +some advice which will be of everlasting benefit. Be careful that you do +not mention it." + +Having returned to my boarding-house, I was very closely interrogated by +Mrs. B. and the aforesaid pettifogger, in reference to my absence. + +"Where had I been all night, and what had detained me from my meals the +day before?" + +I told them, at which they eyed one another closely. Mrs. B. observed-- + +"I think the colonel must be hard run for assistance, to keep two or +three constantly waiting on him." + +To this I made no reply, but ate my breakfast fast, and returned to the +hospital. I found Colonel Brown very restless. During the day several +men, from different cities and towns at a distance, called. Three +remained about two hours with him. They were from Charleston, on the +Kanawha river, Va. After they retired, he lay in a doze for about an +hour, when he was awakened by the arrival of four visitors, accompanied +by his physician. One made a stand at the door of the colonel, three +came in, while the doctor, with the fourth, passed along the gallery, to +see some other of the inmates. I soon, learned that two of the three +present were from Nashville, Tenn.; one a merchant, the other a negro +trader. When they began conversation, I stepped to the door. They talked +very rapidly. One said his friend from Paris, Tenn., would be down in a +few days with several others, from Clarksville. The colonel listened to +them with patience, and replied: + +"They had better come, and not disappoint me." + +These three left. In a few minutes the physician, in company with the +fourth, came to the door. The doctor made a short stay, leaving the +other man in the room with the colonel. + +It was a matter of surprise to witness the liberty that was extended to +visitors, as well as the prisoner. He had a guard, it is true, but the +steward of the sick rooms had been ordered not to permit any one to +enter the apartment without a pass, signed by the Board of Trustees; yet +all who wished to visit were allowed a free ingress, and no questions +were asked. I had been taken there at first by Mrs. B., after which I +had free access. But to return. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +The man left there by the doctor, I knew. After viewing him closely, +consider my surprise, when I recognised a person I had known from my +first remembrance. It was the man who was said by his son to have gone +up the river, and, as I supposed, had returned home. It was the usual +custom of this man, not to go with his flat boats, but being ladened and +committed to skilful pilots, he took passage upon a steamboat and waited +their arrival at the place of destination. He seemed very much +disconcerted in my presence, but I said nothing to strengthen his +suspicions that I knew him. He cast several glances at me, at every +convenient opportunity. When he left, it was near night. I was requested +by the colonel to go to my supper and then return. I went away, and +being weary I laid down upon my bed, from which I did not awake till +daylight. On examining my clothes, I found some person had rifled my +pockets. My wallet was robbed of one paper, which contained a list of +names, but nothing else. Fortunately, however, I had written the same on +my hat lining. I expected to have heard something concerning the +affair--especially the record of names, but in this I was happily +disappointed. + +Having eaten my breakfast, I went to the Custom house. The United States +court was then in session. Hundreds of the colonel's acquaintances were +there every day. They were frequently giving their opinions as to the +issue of the trial. Some entertained one opinion and some +another,--their chief conversation was in reference to the two brothers, +and their connection with Taylor. One of the group I discovered was from +Lawrenceburgh, Indiana. I knew them all, and with the exception of this +one, they extended to me the hand of friendship. They seemed glad to see +me, and were in fact honest men. He, however, did not seem friendly, +though he did speak, but at the same time gave me a look of +disapprobation, as much as to say, you have no right to be in company +with such honest men. I paid no attention to his looks, as I knew him +better than any man in the crowd. He knew he had laid himself liable to +detection, and hence did not wish me to be in communication with his old +friends, lest I might become an informant. He rather desired to have +them discard me, but as they were upright, unsuspecting men, they did +not give heed to his conduct. They conversed freely, and tried in every +way to amuse me. At length he discovered there was a growing sympathy in +my favour, and assumed another attitude to secure my departure. He began +to talk somewhat in the following strain. + +"I know Green is a smart boy, but they say the Browns have him here to +run on errands, and he is strongly suspected of not being what he should +be, in regard to honesty." + +One or two of the honest countrymen spoke in my behalf, and the whole +was turned off in a jovial way, not wishing, as I suppose, to injure my +feelings; at which he, with a sigh that bespoke the consummate +hypocrite, added: + +"Well, Green, God bless you. You had a sainted mother, and I always +respected your old father, but you boys, I fear, are all in the downward +road to ruin. You had better return home and be a good boy. Beware of +the company of the Browns, as you know they are bad characters, and that +I, and many others, held them at a distance, when they were in +Lawrenceburgh." + +The rest of the company retired while he was thus lecturing me so +sanctimoniously. + +No one can imagine the feelings I then had. I was at first confounded, +then enraged, to witness the conduct of that black-hearted villain, he +little suspecting that I knew him to be the very man that was in the +room the day before, dressed in disguise. How could I feel otherwise. +There he was lecturing me about duty, as if he had been a saint. It is +true, he sustained that character at home. I had known him for many +years as a leading man in the very respectable church to which he there +belonged. Had I not been satisfied of the base part he was acting, when +I met him the day before in disguise--his hypocritical lecture might +have been beneficial. But I discovered he was an arrant knave--a real +whitewashed devil, and I could with difficulty refrain from telling him +my thoughts. I left, wondering how such a Judas could go so long +"unwhipt of justice"--how he could avoid exposure. Probably it was by a +change of dress. + +It was now time I had visited the hospital, to show reason why I had not +fulfilled my engagement on the previous evening. The colonel received me +with a welcome countenance, and remarked, he "was glad I had returned, +for," said he, "I feared you had gone away." + +I told him I was weary when I went home; that after supper I had laid +down to rest a few minutes, and slept longer than I intended, and that +was the reason I had not returned. He was satisfied with my excuse, and +introduced another subject. He inquired if I had heard any news, or seen +any of the Lawrenceburgh citizens; and if so, had his name been +mentioned? I replied, that it had been the principal topic of +conversation, some speaking well of him, and others illy. He then wished +to know, who had spoken evil of him? I told him the man's name. + +"And he talked about me, did he?" inquired the colonel. + +I replied, "He has spoken very hard things against you, alleging that he +never associated or had any dealings with you." + +"He told you, he never had any dealings with me? What did you think of +that?" + +I answered, "When you resided in Lawrenceburgh, I was too small to +notice such things." + +I answered thus designedly, for I had seen him walking arm and arm with +the colonel, time and again, but I was afraid to let the colonel know +that I had even a moderate share of sagacity. + +"Green, how often have you seen him," continued the colonel, "and where, +since you have been in the city? You know his son said, he had returned +home, a few days since, when you carried him the letter." + +I told him I had not seen him before, since I came to the city. + +"Are you certain of that?" + +"I am confident I have not seen him." + +"You are mistaken," said he, "you met him yesterday." + +I knew what he meant, but dared not let him know that I had recognised +him. Again he interrogated me: + +"Do you not recollect him?" at the same time eyeing me with an intensity +of expression. I replied that I was certain I had not seen him. + +"You are mistaken," said the colonel. "You met him here yesterday. He +was the man that remained after the doctor had left." + +"It cannot be," I rejoined. "You must be mistaken, as I was certain that +man had light hair, nearly red." + +"It was him, Green," said he. "He had a wig on, but for your life +mention not a syllable of this to your best friend. He is a villain of +the deepest dye, and I know him to be such." + +I, of course, agreed that I might have been mistaken. + +"He knew you," continued the colonel, "and was the worst frightened man +I ever saw, for fear you would recognise him. I am glad you did not, for +it might have cost you your life." + +"I suppose, then, colonel," said I, "he intends furnishing you with +bail, does he not?" + +"He did not manifest such a determination, did he, when you met him?" + +I replied: "He might have had his reasons for acting as he did; it may +be, it was to find out whether I knew him as the person I met here +yesterday. You say, colonel, then, I actually met him yesterday?" + +"Yes, he is the very villain. I know enough about him to make him +stretch hemp, if he had his dues." + +I told him he was esteemed by many, where he lived, to be a very good +man. + +"Yes, they respect him for his riches," said the colonel; "but they +would not respect either him, or many of his neighbours, if all knew +them as well as I do." + +After this, he proceeded to give me the promised advice, and addressed +me thus: + +"Green, I believe you are a good boy, but have been imposed on by the +world. I am about to give you some advice. I feel it right I should do +so. I am in bad health, and can never recover, and my only object in +procuring bail was to secure a decent burial, but I have no hope. Green, +I tell you this, that you may know the condition in which you are +placed. You are surrounded by a set of devils incarnate, and you know +them not. You are just entering upon a life of misery and crime. You can +now see, to a limited extent, what has caused me to lead a wretched and +abandoned life. As soon as you can, leave this place. You know not your +danger. You have about you some desperate enemies. I have told the most +inveterate of them, that they were mistaken as to your character." + +I here inquired what they accused me of. + +He continued, "Of being treacherous to one of the brotherhood, of which +my brother is a member." + +"I never knew before that such a society existed," said I. + +"They accuse you of three different crimes. You know whether there is +any foundation for the charges. First, that you agreed to swear against +Taylor; then, after the spurious money was placed in your hands, you +gave the facts to Taylor's lawyer, and that your evidence will now be +used in his favour. If such is the case, I advise you to abandon such a +purpose, for you will certainly lose your life if you persist in this +thing." + +I denied to him any such intention. + +"Well," said he, "what have you done then with those five +one-hundred-dollar notes given you by one of the assistant attorneys of +my brother?" + +I replied, "They are in my chest." + +"If such is the case, it will make every thing satisfactory in that +matter." + +I now left, and went to Mr. Munger, and related the substance of my late +interview. He handed me the notes that I might make good my declaration. +I took them immediately to the hospital. When I entered I found two +merchants, who resided at Memphis, in close conversation with the +colonel. He told me to call again at two o'clock. About that time, I +returned. The visitors were gone, but the colonel appeared much +distressed. Some new event must have added to his former anxiety. + +"I wish you," said he, "to bring those notes and let me see them." + +Having them in my pocket, I presented them to him. + +"I am glad you have them. You have been strongly suspected of foul +play--of giving them into the hands of the defendant." + +I was well convinced from this, that it was one of the clan who had +rummaged my trunk and pockets a few days previous. I then asked him, +what else they had laid to my charge? + +He replied: "A man by the name of Sandford gave information to my +brother, that a certain amount of money had been hidden by him. Sandford +died, and gave the money to my brother, and gave directions where he +could find it. My brother prepared a note for his wife, and told her +where she could find the money, and my brother reached the note to the +wrong person." [See GAMBLING UNMASKED.] "Some person told him you were +the receiver; that they had seen you take the note." + +I knew, however, that no one had seen me take it, that the whole was a +mere conjecture--a plan to worm a confession out of me. Hence I denied +it stoutly. + +"I do not believe it myself," affirmed the colonel, "but the whole clan, +remember, dislike you; among others, a negro trader, by the name of +Goodrich. He has marked you out as a transgressor, and is determined to +put you out of the way." I have mentioned this same Goodrich, once +before. He is well known as one accustomed to sell runaway negroes, as a +kidnapper, who lives with a wench, and has several mulatto children, and +probably does a profitable business in selling his own offspring. + +I replied, "I do not know Goodrich, and know as little about Sandford's +money." + +"Well, Green, I believe you are innocent of the two first accusations, +and hope you may be of the third." + +But now came the "tug of war." These others were only a preparatory step +for a fearful inquisition. I knew what was coming, and mustered all my +fortitude to meet the exigency. If ever there was a time when I was +called upon to summon my collected energies, to express calmness and +betoken innocence, it was on this occasion. The colonel, fixing his +eagle-eye upon me with severest scrutiny, proceeded: + +"A certain package of papers has been taken, which has produced a great +excitement, and has caused me serious injury." When he mentioned PAPERS, +there was a sensible pause, and a piercing look which exhibited a +determination to detect the slightest expression of guilt. I was enabled +to command myself, however, in such a way, that I think I satisfied him +I was not guilty. + +In reply, I asked the colonel "Why they should accuse me of acting so +base a part?" + +"Unfortunately for you," said the colonel, "you have been seen talking +with the friends of Taylor." + +I replied, "Perhaps I have, for I cannot tell who are his friends, or +who his enemies." I likewise asked him if he thought it possible I could +or would do any thing to injure him. + +"I think not," said he, "yet mankind are so base and deceitful, I have +but little confidence in any one. I will now show you how dreadful must +be my position in regard to the package, and then you can understand why +its loss will go so hard with me." + +I listened with the utmost attention, and he entered upon this part of +the subject as follows: + +"I am a member of a society called 'THE SECRET BAND OF BROTHERS.' It is +an ancient order, of a religious (?) character. The leading members +carry on an extensive correspondence with one another. All letters of +business are subject to the order of the one who indites them, allowing +the holder the privilege of retaining a copy. I had many letters written +by leading men in my possession; besides a large package of copies. +These with the original letters have been taken. Now, Green, you promise +secrecy, and I will give you the whole plan, so far as in my power, and +you can then judge how seriously I shall be affected if those papers are +not recovered. + +"At the time of my arrest, on the charges for which I am to be tried, +my friends were numerous and wealthy, and I had the utmost confidence in +all their promises. The excitement was intense, and I did not deem it +proper to call upon them until it should subside. After waiting a +suitable length of time, I wrote to many of my acquaintances, and, among +others, to several whose names are familiar to you. They were under +personal obligations to me, aside from the common claims of friendship. +They had made their thousands by plans of my own invention, and much of +the very wealth which had given them distinction and influence was the +fruit of my ingenuity. To my letters they made ready and satisfactory +replies. They made the largest promises to give me any requisite +assistance, when called upon, yet as often left me in suspense, or to +reap the bitter fruit of disappointment. This was the reason why my +trial was put off during several sessions of the court. My brother +having been indicted with me, made the prospect of both more dubious. I +had property, but not at my disposal. My wife betrayed my confidence, +for having it in her power to send me pecuniary aid, she neglected to do +it; indeed, all her conduct had a tendency to involve me in the net that +was spread for my feet. Through her, information was given that I had +friends who would assist me, which served as an excuse for her +dereliction. This awakened the suspicions of community. There was an +anxiety to know who would step forward to my rescue. Hence those from +whom I expected aid became alarmed, lest their characters, which had +hitherto been unblemished, should come into disrepute. Two of them are +merchants in Dearborn county, Indiana. Some five of the most wealthy men +of that county were driven almost to desperation when they learned that +my wife had it in her power to use their names in connection with deeply +dishonourable acts. I, however, satisfied them that she would not expose +them, and they in turn promised to assist me, writing several letters of +commendation in my behalf, giving me an untarnished character as a +merchant of high respectability in Lawrenceburgh. From time to time they +promised to secure me bail, and yet they as often failed to make good +their word. In this they violated the most solemn obligations. We were +pledged to sustain each other to the last farthing, in case either +became involved in difficulty. That pledge I had never broken, and I +looked for the same fidelity on the part of my associates. I never +before had occasion to test their sincerity, but found all their solemn +promises a mere 'rope of sand.' I found I was gone, as far as they were +concerned, and turned my efforts in another direction." + +"I now had recourse to my friends in Chillicothe, Cleaveland, Buffalo, +Detroit, Zanesville, Beaver, Lexington, Nashville, Philadelphia, New +York city, Boston, and Cincinnati. As usual, they gave me the most +liberal promises, but in no case fulfilled their engagements. I was now +driven to new measures. I found those in whom I reposed the utmost +confidence hollow-hearted and treacherous. I next entered upon the plan +of making a certain villain share in my wretchedness and disgrace. In +this I was joined by my brother, who, in perfecting the scheme, acted +somewhat imprudently. I advised him to take a different course, but he +listened to others who professed to befriends to us, and were, indeed, +members of the same fraternity,[1] but turned out the worst kind of +enemies, especially those who were wealthy. The poorer members were true +to a man, and I am confident will remain so; and if I am spared, I will +make the wealth of the others dance for their vile treatment. I have a +thousand men who but wait my call. When I say the word, though they are +of the same brotherhood, yet having also experienced the treachery and +oppression of the higher class in common with myself, they will make war +upon them whenever the signal is given." + +Here he stopped for a few minutes, and then began to state the little +trouble it would have given his friends to have aided him if they had +felt disposed. + +"But I am an invalid, and God knows I do not deserve such treatment." +(The reader may think it strange that such a man should call upon his +Maker, especially when he reads the constitution of the secret conclave, +of which he was a member. The phrase "God knows," was used often in his +private conversation.) "These persons I have always considered my +friends, and have never given them occasion to be any thing else. +Finding, however, that I had no hope from them, and that I must stand my +trial, I was willing to make use of other means. I therefore agreed to +proposals made by the most wealthy of my friends, and yielded to their +arrangements, in order, if possible, to escape punishment. There was a +man by the name of Taylor, the same whose trial is now pending, whom +they feared, and who was known to community as an accomplished villain. +He was the person selected upon whom it was designed to heap the burden +of the guilt. By that means, the attention of our prosecutors would be +diverted. The plan was set in operation, and soon the infamy of Taylor +was sounded from Maine to the confines of Texas. They had their agents +in almost every city to help on the work. From the first, I had but +little hope of success in this manoeuvre, but consented reluctantly to +the trial. I was confident he had many enemies, and not without cause. +Having been foiled in all my former plans, I now experienced the deepest +anxiety. I was especially solicitous that as long a time should elapse +as possible before he was arrested. Some time after the report of his +guilt he was arrested, and my brother promised to secure evidence to +prove him guilty, and likewise to establish my innocence. It was also +agreed by the committee of arrangements at that time, that I should take +medicine upon a feigned sickness, in order to secure a change in my +situation. In this way I could be removed to the Marine Hospital, when +reported by the committee of health as being in danger. I was to appear +ignorant of my brother's design, of which in truth I was. I took +medicine, which had the desired effect. It made me desperately sick, +producing excessive prostration. Application was made for my removal to +the place where you now see me. Being conveyed hither, arrangements were +made for my bail by my supposed friends. I was persuaded that I should +continue in this state of unnatural disease from that time till the +present. My brother carried on his treacherous part, and it required no +little effort to convince the community that Taylor was really guilty +of what was charged upon himself. Although he was known to be a +desperate man, yet the charges were of such a nature, it was most +difficult to sustain them. My brother's main dependence was in the +fraternity. He founded his hope of success upon a concert of action +among so many, apparently reputable witnesses. Some of them would be +used in behalf of the state, and consequently receive regular pay for +time and services, and at the same time could employ a false testimony +against Taylor. Two objects could be thus secured; first, they would be +detained as witnesses and used as necessity required; and, secondly, be +ready to make up my bail. My brother further gave community to +understand, that he would be able, by the production of certain papers, +to convince them of all that had been rumored against Taylor. For this +end, a quantity of papers were forwarded to this city, among which were +some bearing my name, that were mere business letters. The ordering +these letters was not approved by me. It was a plan of my brother. When +it was discovered by several of my most intimate friends, they became +alarmed, thinking I was concerned in the affair. As the fraternity +required, by their constitution, that all letters should be returned at +the request of the author, permitting the holder to take a copy, it +became my duty to comply with this requisition whenever made. There was +a great alarm. Many visited the city with whom I had held +correspondence, whose letters had never been returned. They learned as +to the disposition that was to be made of the papers, and report said we +were about to give each individual's name concerned, as we were +intending to turn state's evidence. This accounts for the many +different visiters you have seen. You also saw several from +Lawrenceburgh, and the very man you said spoke so disrespectfully of me, +and gave you the long moral lecture, is here on the same purpose--the +same individual you met two days since, whom you designated as having +light hair." + +I here found his strength would not permit him to pursue the narrative +further, and upon his promising to resume and finish the subject the +next day, I left the hospital. + + +[1] When he spoke of this fraternity, I then supposed he referred to +some of the benevolent societies of the day. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +In returning to my boarding-house I was met by the blackleg pettifogger, +who treated me with great coldness. I met him again the next morning at +the prison, and he treated me in like manner. But I was especially +anxious to hear what more the colonel had to say, and hastened to his +room. He began his account where he had left off. + +"This man, who was dressed in disguise, was greatly alarmed, lest +certain of his letters in the package should come to light, which had +not been retained. He started for home, as stated by his son, but +returned to secure his letters. You have witnessed the tremendous +excitement which exists, the running to and fro, and the many strange +visitors that frequent my room. There is a cause for all this which I +will now relate. + +"My brother sent for those papers, which, upon arrival, were submitted +to his wife that she might select the most important to be produced as +testimony in court against Taylor. In accordance with directions, she +examined them all and laid aside all the business letters, (meaning the +package lost,) which in some way have been mislaid or stolen. These, you +are accused of having taken, and also of having taken a note that was +reached through the grate by my brother, as he supposed to his wife, but +it proved to be some other person, and they suspected you as that one. +They also charge you with giving information as to the man who gave you +five hundred dollars, and also that he used my name, saying at the same +time, 'If you will swear that money on Taylor I will make you a rich +man,' and that you concerted in this thing to act a deceitful part." + +I replied: "I promised to take the money and swear according to +directions, but it was not for any respect I had for the man who offered +me a bribe, or the pecuniary compensation, but for you and your +brother." + +"Green," said he, "have no respect for my brother. He has not an honest +heart. He would betray his own father, and be sure that you refuse to do +what the pettifogger has advised." (See a full account in Gambling +Unmasked.) "Green, take care, or you will lose your life. You have +enemies that watch you closely. They also watch me, but I cannot help +myself. I wish you well and believe you innocent." + +This last was uttered in a suppressed and pathetic tone, and I perceived +his eye was intently fixed upon mine as if he would read in its +expression the secret workings of my heart. I was determined he should +not effect his purpose, and managed to evade his glances. + +"I am aware of their foul intentions," continued he, "but know not how +to evade it. Green, I have all confidence in you as an honest boy, and +do not think you would do any thing to injure me, but have thought you +might have had a curiosity to know the contents of some of those +letters, and have mislaid them with the intention of giving them back +when you had read them." + +I again protested my innocence, and solemnly declared I had no knowledge +of the package. + +"Then," exclaimed he, "I am a doomed man. There is no hope, and I will +tell you the reason why. + +"You know I have had many friends calling upon me, day by day, from all +parts of the country. You have seen among them some of the most wealthy +in the town of Lawrenceburgh. They are my sworn friends and all members +of a Secret Society, which obligates each one, under a most solemn oath, +to assist a brother member out of any difficulty, provided he has not +violated his obligations. Now my brother has acted most imprudently in +pledging himself to produce certain papers, and to bring other witnesses +besides himself against Taylor. These men were apprehensive that we had +mutually laid a trap to expose the whole band. This has involved me in +the most unjust crimination. I am subjected to the charge of conspiracy, +and hence you see how difficult it is to procure bail. It is true I have +had promises from all parts of the Union, but my brother concerted, +without reflecting upon the consequences of his conduct, to bring one +thousand men, if necessary, to this city, who would be ready to do any +thing he might direct. These men were brethren of the same band, but of +a lower order, none of whom were possessed of wealth or extended +influence. The others, who possessed both, were kept in silence, for +fear of being betrayed or proving false to the fraternity of which they +were members. That we are circumstanced as you see us at present, is not +for the want of friends. They are abundant and powerful; we have them on +sea and on land, and they are ready to assist us out of any difficulty, +and would do it in a moment if assured that all was right on our part. +You see the city is full of them--many have come to secure their +letters, which they knew were in my possession, and if exposed, would +bring upon them certain ruin,--but alas! they have come too late. You +will notice I have had no visitors while I have been giving you this +history. I told the steward to admit none but yourself. Be assured, +Green, I have many friends, but they dare not act--they dare not help me +and they dare not convict me. You may live to know the truth of what I +am stating." + +I inferred, from the last remark, that he had reference to the +judiciary. I had noticed that during his two days' conversation, no +person had visited the room but the physician and a certain judge who +lived near Florence, Alabama, and the latter remained only a few +minutes. I found out his name by seeing it written upon his hat lining, +which had been placed upon the window opening on the piazza. After the +judge had retired, the colonel resumed the conversation. + +"I am accused by my friends with treachery to the brotherhood. They +think that I, in concert with my brother, have laid a plan to clear +ourselves by their downfall. When the news was out that the papers were +lost, I saw the most marked indications of hostility. They came forward +and pledged to bail me in any amount, provided I would return their +letters, but swore that I should never go from this room alive, if I did +not produce them. I am certain to suffer death. My sentence is fixed, +and I have no hope. My brother and his advisers have ruined me. They +have had me borne hither that I might not understand their plans. I am +satisfied the papers are in the hands of the intimate friends of my +brother and those who had manifested such an interest in my removal to +this place. I have been reduced by medicine, and my inability to +exercise--so contrary to my general habits--has seated a fatal disease +upon my lungs." + +His disease had been occasioned by the constant use of medicine, which +exposed his system to cold, and this, by constant repetition, had +entirely destroyed his constitution. I have no doubt that a slow poison +was mingled in his medicine. When he had finished this tale of sorrow, +he gave me some affectionate advice in something like the following +words: + +"Green, I advise you to leave the city as soon as possible. There are +two parties of the 'secret band' that seek your life; those who are so +much enraged at the loss of the papers, because their reputation, +fortunes, and lives, are thereby in jeopardy, and those who are the +personal friends of my brother, and who support him, do or say what he +may. They take his word with the infallibility of law and gospel, and +are by profession great friends of mine, as well as of the other party, +who swear they will have those papers at all hazards, right or wrong; +meaning if you have them, they will obtain them in some way; that if I +have them they shall be returned. I therefore advise you to leave the +city immediately." + +I told him I had no funds. + +"I have not one dollar," said he, "to help you off, or I would give it +to you." + +I told him I was under great obligations for his kindness. He further +remarked: + +"Now pledge me secrecy to what I have related, for it can have no effect +in assisting you, and will ruin me." + +I did so, and bade him farewell. I hastened to see Mr. Munger, and told +him what the colonel had said about the counterfeit money and the money +I had found by Sandford's note, but not a word as to the mysterious +package. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +Shortly after the events detailed in the foregoing chapter, I had a +conversation with Mr. Munger, who told me, he was satisfied that my life +was in danger, and advised me to leave the city for a few weeks, or, at +least, to change my boarding-place, and keep myself in seclusion. +Accordingly, I changed my quarters as soon as possible. I could not well +leave the city, as Mr. Munger informed me I must be present to appear in +court when Taylor was tried, in case the younger brother acted the part +he had promised; and if not, it would be equally important for me to be +on hand, as they intended to indict him and his pettifogger, for their +wicked designs upon the man they were endeavouring to ruin. As I could +not go far out of the city, under these circumstances, I considered it +more safe to remain concealed: I waited, therefore, several days, until +the colonel's death, which occurred not long after I bade him farewell. + +I had met Cunningham--the old man at first charged with having the +package by Mrs. Brown--several times after the colonel had advised me to +leave the city, and in our last interview, he gave me to understand that +the colonel would never get out of his bed alive, or leave the hospital, +except when carried to his burial. I asked him, why. + +"There are many reasons. His health will never be any better; he cannot +recover from his present illness. I know it is hard, but there are many +who think it is preferable that one should suffer than thousands, who +consider themselves better men. He has brought this trouble upon +himself, by not living up to his oath. He and his brother are both +traitors, and have placed the fraternity, of which they are members, +entirely in the power of their enemies, but it will all come out right; +there is no mistake. You heard that Madam Brown had lost a certain +package of papers, letters, or the like, did you not?" + +I replied in the affirmative. + +"Well, they believed for a time that I had them, or would have made +others think so; but that kind of accusation would not take with men who +knew me. They next laid the charge against you: I have satisfied the +interested party, that they are not in the possession of either of us, +but that the colonel and his brother have them, and intend thereby to +slip more necks into the halter than poor Taylor's. I am of the opinion, +their own necks will pay the price of their treachery." + +I then replied, that I knew Mrs. Brown had said she had lost a package +of papers, but what they contained, I knew not. + +"Nor ever will know," said he. + +"I have no curiosity about the matter," I replied. + +"And you might as well NEVER have, for curious people will pay dearly +for reading them, especially if they undertake it in court, as evidence +against the brotherhood." + +The reader can hardly imagine the intense desire that was created, by +this time, in my heart, to learn all about this "brotherhood," and +"fraternity," so often introduced, and yet so obscurely as to give me +no certain information. + +I took this opportunity to ask Cunningham, what title this society had +assumed; whether they were Masons or Odd Fellows? He laughed, and said: + +"I thought I had explained some of the particulars to you." He then +stopped, as if to consider, when he continued: "Certainly, Masons and +Odd Fellows both, and all other good institutions--but, I can tell you, +Green, the brother who has turned state's evidence swears terrible +vengeance against you. Do you be careful. He has many who are watching +you. I belong to the party opposed to him and the colonel, and they +throw all the blame upon you. You are the victim of their suspicions and +hate, and you will do well to leave this place without delay; but tell +no one, by any means, that I have given you this information." + +I bade him good day, and we separated. + +I now thought I would call once more, and see the colonel. I hastened to +the hospital, but as I drew near, I discovered two men riot far from the +steps, and the third coming down. I walked by them, without being +recognised, and as I passed, the third man had entered into conversation +with the other two. + +He was asked, "Is it a fact, that he is dead?" + +"Yes, certainly. He has been dead about three hours." + +"I knew," said one, "that he could not stand it long." + +Two of the men, I perceived, were from Lawrenceburgh, the two who stood +remotely, one of whom was the identical person who wore the wig, and +gave me such good fatherly instruction. I passed to the room, where I +found the steward, with three assistants, laying out the corpse. + +"We do not wish any more assistance at present," said the old French +steward. I understood his meaning, and left immediately. + +The news of the colonel's death soon spread through the city, and many +gathered to witness the burial, but owing to the inclemency of the +weather, few followed to the grave. When the hearse bore the body away, +it rained very hard. I did not make my appearance on the occasion, for I +well knew that many would be present to relieve their anxious minds--to +rejoice rather than mourn over the dead, and who would sooner see my +dead body deposited by that of the colonel's, than any other on earth. I +was determined not to be mourned for in that way, by the desperate +villains. I therefore kept aloof from their society. + +Several days elapsed, during which time I remained in concealment from +all the clan, but Cunningham, who expressed a concern for my welfare. I +also had frequent conferences with my friend, the deputy-marshal. Three +days after the colonel's death, Cunningham informed me, that he was +convinced that both of the Browns deserved death. + +"But I dare not tell you why," said he, "and if I should, you would not +be able to comprehend my reasons. Be assured, if they are guilty, the +other brother will never come from that prison alive. He will find out, +that the brotherhood are wide awake." + +All his insinuations were perfect Greek to me, for some weeks after; but +when Taylor had his trial, the whole matter was explained. Their import +I will now unfold. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +From the time the plan was concocted, for making Taylor suffer the +penalty of another's crime, the utmost promptitude was required for its +execution--the machinery must be actively employed by the friends of the +colonel, and his brother. First, the colonel must be made sick, and a +sympathy thereby awakened, and hence the plea for his removal would be +the more plausible. His enlargement was important. He was a principal +man, with whom it would be necessary to have much consultation--an +intercourse more vital to the cause of his pretended than his real +friends. Besides, there were many who really desired his escape, but +being among the first class of society, as to wealth, respectability, +and influence, they were unwilling to frequent the prison to visit the +unfortunate colonel. Though interested deeply in his release, they were +not willing the public should understand that they were sworn friends. +The part the younger brother was to sustain, has already been detailed +in a former chapter. The medicine was administered with the desired +effect, and the colonel was removed to the hospital. He was now in a +situation to be consulted. Many would now visit him, who never would +have gone to the prison. If a reason was required for their familiarity +with so base a man, it could be found in the dictates of kindness, +called forth by suffering humanity. After his removal, his brother was +under obligation to do as he had promised, to produce the spurious +plates, the counterfeit money, and the correspondence, and swear them +upon Taylor, as the real agent and proprietor. As the signatures of the +letters were anonymous, other testimony was required to establish the +real author. + +It will be remembered that the plates and letters were in Canada for +safe keeping, and must be sent for, and conveyed to the city before the +trial of Taylor could proceed. In the mean time, jealousy and consequent +dread on the part of the colonel's confederates were daily receiving new +strength. Conscious were they of having acted a most dishonorable and +deceitful part with one of whom, under ordinary circumstances, they were +accustomed to stand in awe; but now they were more especially +apprehensive of danger, because there was a provocation for seeking +vengeance. They knew he had every means to involve them in a more signal +overthrow than that which awaited himself. The only alternatives were, +either to wrest the weapons of destruction from his hands, or render the +possessor incapable of wielding them. They were driven almost to +desperation, when they reflected on their deeds of wickedness reaching +through many years, the record of which was in the hands of a powerful +and justly provoked enemy, who in a day might spread out for the gaze of +the world the portraiture of their former characters, in which were +mingled the features of darkest villany and the more glaring expressions +of open violence and crime. Goaded on by an awful apprehension, they +were prepared for any thing that might save themselves and families from +exposure and disgrace. + +Colonel Brown was a Grand Master of the band of Secret Brothers. The +members of the fraternity who sought his ruin were of the same degree, +together with those holding the relation of Vice-grand Master. He had +nothing to fear from the common brotherhood, who were kept in perfect +ignorance of the transactions of those more advanced. Indeed, they were +his warmest friends, and regarded him with especial reverence, because +he commended himself to their confidence and esteem by his naturally +good disposition, and, most of all, by his relation of Grand Master, +which is always accompanied either with dread or marked respect. The +inferior order was very numerous, but seldom wealthy, generally of a +suspicious character, who had no fixed residence, but wandered from +place to place, preying upon the community in the character of +bar-keepers, pickpockets, thieves, gamblers, horse-racers, and sometimes +murderers. They may be found in all parts of the United States and +Canada. These were controlled by some two hundred Grand Masters, +conveniently located, who were generally men of wealth and +respectability, and often connected with some learned profession, yet +but seldom applying themselves to their profession sufficient to gain a +livelihood. These men, of both orders, would often confer together, +especially when one had been detected in any crime--or some dirty job +was to be done, which was likely to bring into the hands of the superior +order any considerable wealth. In fact, these so-called respectable men +would lay plans which they dared not execute for fear of detection, but +having any number of agents in readiness among the common brotherhood +who had nothing to lose in point of character, they would employ them, +and if successful, be sure to pocket all the spoils--except enough to +satisfy the immediate wants of their jackals. If they were not +successful, but detected in their villany, these unfortunate agents +could lay claim to their aid, and were permitted to make drafts of money +to procure bail in case of indictment or to defray the expenses of a +trial. We have sometimes wondered that certain felons should get clear, +when their guilt has been established beyond a doubt. We will not wonder +when we learn that there are men of wealth and influence in almost every +town, who are sworn to aid and befriend these villains. They are +sometimes lawyers, and jurors, and even judges. But their conduct and +relations will be more clearly seen, when I publish their letters and +constitution. It is only necessary to remark in this connection, that +the only persons really benefited in this organized system of land +piracy, are their Grand Masters. They lay most of the plans, and receive +and control the money,--confer among themselves, but never with a common +brother, only using him as a tool for the accomplishment of some foul +purpose. Here is policy. It would not be safe to commit their secrets to +the many hundreds under them, but only to such as are judged suitable +after years of trial, and those beneath are often looking forward for +promotion, which is a pledge of their fidelity. The reader will perceive +that if this higher order was ever to be fully exposed, it must be by +some one of their own number, for one of an inferior degree knows no +more of their proceedings than the uninitiated. + +The danger of a full exposure now threatened them in connection with +Colonel Brown; at least they apprehended it. They knew they deserved it, +and the circumstances of their accomplice pointed in that direction. He +had the means--their own letters, and a knowledge of their deeds. It +was only necessary to give information to a third person, and the work +would be done. Besides, he was a man of extensive acquaintance and +influence--a ruling spirit among his fellows. A revelation from him +would have been direful in the extreme, as, in addition, he had in his +possession the constitution and by-laws of the fraternity, which were +always lodged with the ruling Grand Master. Under these circumstances we +need not wonder that there was excitement, that every expedient was +employed to rescue the documents or make away with their possessor. He +was now in confinement. It was vital to their designs to keep him there +till they could secure the letters and constitution above referred to, +or, in case of failure, make his life pay the forfeit. They cared but +little for his brother, as he was of an inferior grade. The Grand +Masters, then in office, had but one object in view, and that they were +intent upon accomplishing. The acquittal or conviction of the two +brothers was a matter of no consequence compared with their own personal +safety. To secure this they would not scruple even to commit murder. +That this is the case, will be seen by an article in their constitution. +I may further remark in this connection, that their laws required, that +the Grand Master shall be assisted by six Vice-grand Masters, but these +latter cannot be admitted into the secrets of the former till they are +promoted, although they are obligated to do his bidding. The members who +had been advanced to the highest degree, and hold the principal secrets +of the order in connection with the colonel their leader, were about two +hundred. These were the individuals conspiring against his life, in case +they could not procure their letters and other documents. Their main +and first object was, therefore, to bring those papers to the city. + +The papers were sent for, as before stated, and all their designs, of a +public and private nature, set in active operation. Of this the colonel +had no knowledge at the time. Mrs. B. was to give them up to the +committee appointed for the purpose of inspecting them. All that would +have any tendency to injure or expose the fraternity, if brought to +light, were to be selected, and the rest brought forward for the purpose +of convicting Taylor. The intention of bringing these papers to the city +being, in the mean time, made known to the colonel, he gave directions +to his sister-in-law to reserve such papers as he specified, and hand +the balance over to the committee. The trunk in which they were +deposited having arrived, Mrs. B. acted according to directions, +reserving the notable package which she concealed between her beds, +while she conveyed the residue to the prison office for legal +purposes--to be used by the committee, who met there by consent of one +of the prison keepers--he being a Grand Master of the secret band and +one of the principal policemen. After delivering up the papers, she +returned and found her valuable deposit had been removed as previously +stated. + +The fact of their removal being made known to the brotherhood, they +thought some base person had robbed the lady of her important charge. +This opinion prevailed with the fraternity generally. Not so with the +two hundred grandees. Their opinion assumed the character of their +former suspicions, while their suspicions were converted into fact. They +were now fully convinced that the colonel contemplated the destruction +of their order, and was intent upon keeping the papers in his own +power: that he had even entered upon the act of defeating the very +purpose they had in view, in bringing those papers to the city. At this +time the city was crowded with the members of this secret society, and +private rewards were offered by the two hundred or that portion of this +band then in the city, for the recovery of the papers. These rewards +made a great stir, especially with the officers of all parties, both +those for and against the colonel. Taylor was a mark to be shot at by +about seven-eighths of the band, and the remaining one-eighth was ready +to go to the highest bidder, to do service for him who would give the +highest wages. He found means to secure the friendship of the latter, +many of whom were considered quite respectable men, and were never +suspected by the brotherhood of any thing dishonourable. The head men +constituted still another party. Thus these villains were divided into +three factions. These were the friends of Taylor, known as Taylorites, +and the supporters of Brown, called Brownites. These only were publicly +known; while the third party, embracing the royal grandees, were +actively engaged in disengaging themselves from the coils which they +supposed had been deliberately laid for their destruction. They showed, +by their efforts, they had more at stake than all the rest. Though their +movements were not publicly recognised, yet they had every influence +that would favour their cause in operation, to consummate their hellish +purposes. + +The constitution, by-laws, and about one thousand and three hundred +letters, including copies and original, were missing; and the destiny of +the whole band of Grand Masters depended upon their recovery, before +ever they fell into the hands of one who could explain them to the +brotherhood; and still more calamitous would be the condition of the +entire fraternity, if they were ever revealed to the public. Those more +immediately concerned were confirmed in the opinion that the colonel had +secreted them for future use. Finding they had not accomplished what +they intended, in bringing the papers to the city, they had recourse to +a certain clause in the constitution, to compel the colonel to produce +some of them, if in his possession. That clause required the holder of +an original letter to return the same, when requested by the writer, +after copying, if desirable. This law applied, however, only to letters +having the secret "qualities," or, in other words, the private +description of the bearer in full, which was written in acid, and could +be read only after subjection to chemical action. Three hundred and +seventy-nine of the letters in the package were of this kind; one +thousand were copies, whose original had been returned. The former had +been written to the colonel, and one bore date as far back as July 9th, +1819; the latter had been addressed to various individuals, and some +bore date as far back as 1798. + +To secure these letters was a work of great delicacy. Though the +constitution granted the right of asking the unreturned letters, yet the +writers feared to make the requisition of the colonel, lest he might +suspect them of a conspiracy, and being thus exasperated, let loose his +engines of destruction. They finally fixed upon the following plan. They +were to hold out the idea that they were ready to bail him, provided he +would leave the country. In case he consented, they were to request the +retention of the letters, feeling confident he had not destroyed them. +The plan was laid open to the colonel by the man from Dearborn county, +Indiana, the same who was dressed in disguise. He was told by the +colonel that the papers (meaning the package) had been taken, and he +could not furnish them, as he had no possible knowledge who had done the +deed. This reply, to the council of Grand Masters, was like "a clap of +thunder in a cloudless sky," so confident were they that he had them and +would produce them when thus requested. There was now only one +alternative, the life of the colonel must be taken, which they could and +did accomplish, as the sequel will show. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +From the time of the visit by the Dearborn county man till the death of +Colonel Brown, embracing about six weeks, there were constant and fierce +wranglings among the fraternity. A considerable change had been made in +the feelings of some of the colonel's former sworn friends, which of +course made those who knew him innocent more bitter against any one they +might suspect guilty of bringing such a calamity upon him. His friends +and foes were equally interested in finding the retainer of the lost +package, but all to no purpose. There was, however, but one sentiment in +the Grand Council; they still believed that the colonel had them, and +designed, as soon as he was liberated, to make a general exposure of the +whole organization to the world. But their own consciousness of personal +injury--of having acted a treacherous part against this man--was, in +reality, the ground of their conviction as to his guilt; for it was not +in the nature of the man to be false to his pledged honour. It only +remained that they should prevent his liberation; and the most effectual +way was to act in accordance with the assassin's maxim, "Dead men tell +no tales." Their hatred rose to such a pitch that they began to exhibit +their enmity toward any one that either sympathized, befriended, or was +even familiar with the colonel. Here was the ground of their deadly +animosity toward me. They supposed I was his confidant, and might be an +agent for the execution of his designs. + +These murderers,--(I ask no pardon for so harsh an epithet, for they +were such in thought and deed,)--these Grand Masters, who visited the +colonel while I waited upon him, and thus became personally known, have, +ever since that event, assumed a hostile attitude toward me. It is true +they have never attacked me publicly, yet I am confident they have hired +others to do it. From the time I drew the money put in deposit by +Sandford, and bore off that object of curiosity, so carefully concealed +in the bed, until the day I was chased as a mad dog by an infuriated mob +through the streets of New Orleans, and finally made good my escape +through a troop of less hostile cotton snakes, as recorded in my +Gambling Unmasked, I was singled out as an object of open and private +hate by the whole tribe of organized desperadoes. To recover those +papers, no steps were too desperate for the Grand Masters--they having +any amount of money to accomplish their object; and I am now about to +present the reader with another exhibition of their daring and +indefatigable perseverance. + +They now came to the conclusion that those papers had been given to the +officers of the bank, and were deposited in the clerk's office of the +United States court, to be used against them at some future day. They +offered rewards to several of the inferior grade, for the purpose of +getting possession of the box containing the plates, counterfeit money, +and, as they supposed, the lost package. Their only hope now lay in +getting that box. The time of Taylor's trial had been fixed. Mr. Munger +informed me I could leave the city for a few days, and he would let me +know when my services were wanted. I went to Bayou Sara, one hundred and +fifty miles above New Orleans. A few days after my arrival, Mr. Munger +came after me in great haste, bringing the information that a great and +daring burglary had been committed the same night I left the city. The +clerk's office had been entered, and the box, containing Taylor's +indictments, plates, and spurious money, had been taken. Taylor's jury +had not agreed, and he would get clear, in case the box could not be +recovered. He informed me that I had been suspected and accused of the +deed; but that he knew I was innocent, for he had inquired of the boat, +and found I had left on the previous night, some time before the robbery +was committed. He did not wish any one to know that he had any knowledge +of my location, but told me I had nothing to fear. Indeed, I knew I +could prove an ALIBI by more than one person, and I consented to return. +While on our way back to the city, I told Mr. Munger I did not wish to +go into the prison where the younger Brown was confined; I feared he had +some designs upon my life. + +"Do not have any apprehensions," said he, "on that account. You will not +be hurt, for you will be put into the debtor's apartment, where Brown is +not permitted to visit, and of course can have no chance to do you an +injury." + +I was placed in prison upon my return--a position of greater safety to +me than any other. Being assured by Mr. Munger of protection, I went +without hesitation--expecting to be released the next day. The next +morning I was brought out and informed, to my great surprise, that if +discharged I must furnish a very heavy bail. This was a source of alarm; +but my friend calmed my fears, by saying that all would be right when I +was examined; that the excitement was great, and it was only necessary +to wait for the return of the Lady of the Lake--which was on a trip to +Natchez, and would be back in a few days--when abundant evidence in my +favour would be secured, and I would be acquitted. + +In a few days, I was accordingly set at liberty. The plates and papers +had been found in Natchez, and a man by the name of King had been +arrested--who confessed the crime, but alleged that he had been hired by +a certain party to do the deed. This King was one of the brotherhood, +and had been employed by the committee of Grand Masters to enter the +office and secure for them the box, by which they expected to obtain the +package. In this they were mistaken, and placed in a worse dilemma than +before. + +On the day of my discharge I was visited by a man, to me unknown. He +informed me that he had procured my acquittal, and was my sincere friend +and well-wisher; that he desired always to remain the same--and would, +during life, on condition that I acted in accordance with his wishes. + +I considered him a strange person, to introduce himself in so singular a +manner. He advised me to leave the city as soon as possible. I told him +that was my intention. I likewise informed Mr. Munger of the same, and +he readily consented, as Taylor's trial had been put off. Arrangements +being made with him, I expected to leave the next day. In the mean time, +I had an interview with Cunningham, who told me I must look out, for +the brotherhood in general suspected me of foul play as to the papers. I +denied all knowledge of them--for I found it my only safety to pursue +one uniform course. + +He continued: "The party are determined to have them at all hazards, and +are now more convinced than ever that you are in the secret. All the +circumstances are against you--more especially since the custom-house +was broken open, which robbery was perpetrated for the express purpose +of finding the papers. It was thought if the colonel had disposed of +them, they would be found there; but now they will hold you responsible. +I bid you farewell." + +On the same evening I had this conversation with Cunningham, I went with +Smith to the gambling-house: the same day, too, on which I won seventy +dollars in the flat boat--the first and dearest money I ever won at +gaming, as it nearly cost me my life--the full account of which is given +in the work previously mentioned. + +On the second day after this, as I was about leaving for Mobile, I met +the gentleman who had procured my release. He advised me to depart +forthwith, promising to meet me at another time. As we were separating +he placed in my hands a box. + +"Here," said he, "is a box, containing something I wish you to keep with +great care. You must not open it till I give you permission." + +I took the same. It was a small box, made of oak, three inches high, +eight long, and five wide. Its possession gave me much uneasiness for +twelve years--during which time I remained faithful to my instructions. +I frequently met with my benefactor. The last time I saw him was in +Philadelphia, in 1841. I have received from him nine letters, in all, of +a good moral character, and always referring to the box. This +individual's name I have never been able to learn. No two letters ever +bore the same signature, but the identity of their contents convinced me +they were all from the same person. That mysterious box I have preserved +to the present day. + +It will be remembered by the reader that I confided the papers, taken +from Mrs. B., with a man by the name of Watkins. This individual died +with the cholera, in 1832. I called upon his wife for the package, who +returned the same to me at Cincinnati, in 1833. I found every thing as I +had left it, excepting the blank parchments. They were gone. Here was a +mystery I could not solve. How should a part be missing and not the +whole? I never gained any satisfactory information until last summer. +While travelling through the state of New York, I had occasion to visit +the state's prison, where I met with a certain convict who passed by the +name of Wyatt, but whose real name was Robert H. North. He gave me +information about a certain "FLASH," or comprehensive language used +among professional gamblers and blacklegs. Many of the phrases were +familiar, but I never could ascertain their origin. He was soon +convinced of my ignorance, and then informed me of the society whence +they originated. He likewise explained the reason why I was so +persecuted by the notorious Goodrich. "It is known," said he, "wherever +the fraternity exist, that you obtained the package; but they are +satisfied you destroyed the same, and it is well you did, or else you +would have been put out of the way long before this." + +I told him I had taken the package, but there was nothing in it save +letters and a few blank parchments. + +He laughed and said: + +"If you had WARMED those parchments, they would have presented an +exhibition worthy of your attention." + +This information made me restless with excitement and anxiety to peruse +those letters and notes which I still had in my possession. I may here +remark, the letters were, for the most part, unintelligible to a common +reader, because of the secret language in which they were written. I had +examined them again and again, without much satisfaction. I knew they +were penned for the purpose of clandestinely carrying on a wholesale +plunder--a deliberate imposition upon public and private rights. By +frequent perusal I had become familiar with many of the terms which were +often explained to me by those who were acquainted with their use, +though they are used by thousands, without any knowledge of their +origin. + +After I commenced an exposure of the vice of gambling, I was often +attacked by certain low, vulgar editors in a manner that indicated +deep-seated malice. I could not account for their abuse. They would +admit that society should be rid of the evil in question, but at the +same time exhibited the most bitter hostility to me as one who had dared +to expose the abominations of gaming. I was conscious there was +something that moved them in their work of calumny not yet developed. +The mystery rendered me unhappy. I was anxious to know the cause of this +public opposition, and the more so, that I might satisfy the people +that the whole arose from influences akin to the vice I was labouring to +destroy. The secret was soon discovered, and I am now prepared to +satisfy the public mind that the attacks upon my present relation to +society have arisen from something more than an ignorant prejudice. +These hireling editors knew I had the materials to draw their portraits +at full length in all their moral hideousness; and they feared society +would be thrown into spasms at the sight, and they would be hurled from +their stations of trust by an enraged and insulted people. It has only +been necessary in one or two instances to give them a few hints of the +information I possessed, and they were hushed up INSTANTER. + +A long time had elapsed since I heard from the mysterious stranger who +gave me the box,--long enough, I had supposed, to free me from +obligation of further restraint upon my curiosity. It had now been in my +possession several years, and I felt myself at liberty to examine its +contents. Having consulted with a few friends previously, I then made +known, in the fall of 1842, to Rev. John F. Wright--formerly of the +Methodist Book Concern, Cincinnati--that I had such a box, and my +intentions. I likewise gave the same information to Arthur +Vance--formerly of Lawrenceburgh, Indiana--Mr. John Norton, of +Lexington, Kentucky--Thomas M. Gallay, of Wheeling, Virginia. I informed +each of them how I came by the box, and the unaccountable conduct of the +man who placed it in my hands. Having opened it, I found the same number +of parchments I had missed from the package, all blank in appearance. In +these was a note, which read as follows: + +"THE PARCHMENTS, NOW IN THE HANDS OF THE POSSESSOR, CONTAIN MUCH SAD +INTELLIGENCE, AND CAN BE READ, PROVIDED THEY ARE HEATED. THEY ARE +EXPOSED BY A BROTHER OF THE BAND, A DOOMED MAN, ONE THE WORLD HAS KNOWN +TO ITS SORROW FOR FORTY YEARS. MAY THE OWNER AND HOLDER CONSIDER THE +DOOMED ONE A MOST KIND FRIEND FOR EVER! + +"New Orleans, May 3d, 1832." + +I soon hastened to ascertain the contents of the parchments, and found +the statement made correct. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +The contents of these papers are such as almost stagger belief, even in +the most credulous. They not only go to prove the existence of a league +of villany, but also laid open the machinery by which their wickedness +was concealed; still, from many incidents of my own life, and from what +I have learned by observing events which have transpired around me, as +well as from narratives of undoubted truth which I have heard, I am +constrained to believe that the band above alluded to does now exist, +and that it has flourished for a long time, with astonishing power. + +I have reason to suppose that many of the band settled in and about +Lawrenceburgh, Indiana; and from the year 1800 to 1827, they were very +numerous, and some of them wealthy; they were mostly close traders, who +turned every cent they got, honestly or dishonestly, into real estate. +Many of them, also, were well educated, and composed the _aristocracy_, +while the _poor honest_ man was crowded down by these _influential +members of society_. + +There are now three classes of wealthy men in that neighbourhood: the +honest, whose property was obtained fairly; the members of the band; and +some, of whom I am doubtful whether they belong to the band or not. If +they do not, they are villains by nature, and do not need their +assistance. + +In the year 1846, I delivered a lecture at Lawrenceburgh, in which I +exposed this band, and showed the manner in which their correspondence +was carried on. The old members of the band had art enough to persuade +the doubtful rogues that they were the persons alluded to, and they +believed it. Whether conscience had any thing to do with their belief or +not, I do not pretend to say; but the community generally seemed quite +ready to grant them that honour. It was very amusing to notice the +difference between the conduct of the guilty and that of the innocent, +in relation to the exposure. The "Brotherhood," all at once, were very +much concerned about the fair fame of their neighbourhood--called me a +slanderer, and in fact caused a much greater excitement against +themselves than would have occurred, had they kept still; while the +honest citizens quietly asked for the names of the "brothers," and +whether any of their relations belonged to them; they begged me to go +on, and expose every member. + +Since 1802, many robberies have been committed under circumstances which +strongly indicate that such a band existed. Public agents, and other +highly respectable citizens, have been robbed of funds which they held +in trust, and no trace of the robbers could be found, and no curiosity +seemed to be excited by the fact. Sometimes the person robbed shared in +the spoils, and sometimes they were innocent; and it has sometimes +happened that the innocent man was suspected. The honest citizens of +Lawrenceburgh have, for forty years, known what a curse it is to have +bad neighbours. + +During the excitement occasioned by my lectures above mentioned, a +resident of Lawrenceburgh related the following incident, which is only +one among many which might be named to show the nature of the +transactions in which these men engaged, and their facilities for +carrying them out. I will give it as nearly as I can recollect in his +own words: + +"During the year 1832, a stranger came into the town of Lawrenceburgh, +and for several days was noticed in the public places watching every one +who passed, as if looking for some one. At length he came to me, and +told me that he wished my assistance in the business on which he came, +but that it would be necessary to keep the matter secret. I answered, +that if it were proper, I had no objections to secrecy. He then related +the following facts as introductory to his business. + +"He resided in Ohio; some eighteen months previous a friend had been +induced to purchase a large drove of hogs for the market; he made the +purchase on credit, with a promise to pay when he returned. While he was +preparing to start, Daniel and James Brown bargained and contracted for +them, to be delivered at a certain landing on Lake Erie, at a certain +day, at which place and time they promised to meet and pay him. He +gathered his drove, and proceeded to the landing, where he arrived +several days before the time appointed. He was there met by some men, +who told him that Brown had been there, and left word for him to drive +the hogs to a landing two or three days' journey further on, where he +had made arrangements to butcher and pack them. He went as directed; he +found neither of the Browns there, but found the men who had directed +him before; they informed him that they had orders to commence killing +and packing the hogs, and that Mr. Brown would be there that day, or +the next. He consented, and the hogs were killed and packed. A merchant +at the landing advanced money to pay the man, and also furnished salt, +and barrels on credit. On the day that all was finished, the two Browns +arrived, bringing with them another large drove. They pretended to be +very much surprised to find our friend there, and much more so to find +the hogs butchered. They declared that they had not bargained for the +slaughter of the hogs, and that they contracted for them in another +place, and would have nothing to do with them here; that he had broken +his contract, and they should demand heavy damages. He sought for the +men who had directed him hither, but they had dispersed as soon as paid, +and no trace of them was to be found. He told the Browns how he had been +deceived, but they denied all knowledge of the affair, and again talked +of damages. The merchant then presented his bill for supplies, and money +advanced to butchers and packers. Our friend not having the money, he +seized on the pork. What could he do? The case was desperate. He had +bought on credit; would his pitiful story satisfy his creditors? His +character was ruined. You may imagine the state of his mind. At this +crisis, the Messrs. Brown took him aside, and told him that since he was +in difficulty, they were willing to befriend him, and to show him how he +could soon make money enough to pay off his creditors. An oath of +secrecy was required and given. They then offered to settle the +merchant's bills, which were very extravagant, and pay him for the pork +in counterfeit money, at twenty per cent., with which he was to buy +stock through the country. In his despair, he consented; a few days +after he was detected, arrested, and tried, under a false name, and +condemned to the Ohio penitentiary. His friends, remaining entirely +ignorant of his fate, began to suspect foul play. The Messrs. Brown +effected his pardon, and hurried him away; but not before he had +contrived to make known his story, and the fact that he was under +restraint among a band of bad men, and that he could not escape without +assistance. He was never heard of more. + +"The stranger gave me his address, and requested that I would keep an +eye upon the people who should come there, and if I should see the +Browns, or hear of his unfortunate friend, that I should let him know. +He had visited Lawrenceburgh, because that was the former residence of +these two men, and he hoped to see them; but being disappointed, he was +compelled to go back to the family of the lost neighbour without having +received any intelligence of his fate." + +The reader will have seen by this time, that, probably, the whole +transaction was arranged before the man bought the first hoof of that +drove of hogs. Some emissary of the Browns advised him to speculate in +pork; to use his credit, which was good, and he did not see the Browns +till he was preparing to start. They make him liberal offers, because +they never intend to pay, and it matters little what they offer. He then +sends some of the meaner members of the gang to the landing, to order +him a few days' journey further, and there they meet him again, and +butcher, and pack the hogs. They are well paid for their villany by the +job, which they take care to make a fat one. The merchant was paid for +his part of the rascality by the profit on his stores, and perhaps by a +bonus out of the money advanced. They then thought that if they could +implicate him in any unlawful business, he would tell no tales about +them; accordingly, they entice him, or rather drive him to the +counterfeit trade. But conscience makes bad men cowards, and they felt +uneasy, so, by means of some of the band, they have him arrested; the +proof is so positive that he must be convicted, and the poor fellow was +thrown into the penitentiary. But even here they did not consider him +safe, although under a false name; so, through the influence of some of +the _aristocracy_, they get him pardoned; and then the moment he is +free, they meet him, tell him of all they have done for him, and propose +a new scene of action. Poor fellow, what can he do? He goes with them to +this new scene of action, but in all probability he finds it a state of +_rest_, for "dead men tell no tales." + +Thus, for the paltry price of a drove of hogs, was an honest man ruined, +and, for fear of detection, murdered. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +Probably in no era of the world, and certainly never among a Christian +people, was there formed a more bold, daring, and, at the same time, +secret association, than the one whose constitution and by-laws we now +present to the reader. Composed of men of all classes and grades in +society, from the priest at the altar, the judge on the bench, the +lawyer at the bar, down to the most common felon and street thief or +pickpocket, all bound together by a solemn oath, they laboured for the +general cause of secret plunder, to the enriching of themselves at the +expense of the mass. But having previously shown how I procured my +information regarding these desperadoes, I shall leave farther comment +on their acts, for the present, to the public, before whose tribunal +they must be arraigned, and proceed at once to present their + + +CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS. + + _Hanging Rock, Western District of Virginia, + July 12, 1798._ + +SECTION I.--_Art. 1._ This society shall be known by the name of the +SECRET BAND OF BROTHERS. + +_Art. 2._ It shall be governed by brethren who have become prominent by +their many valiant deeds for the promotion of the society. + +_Art. 3._ The officers of this society shall be known as Grand Masters, +and shall be duly authorized, by this constitution, to initiate, as +members of this society, any male or female, who comes well and duly +recommended by a brother, in good standing, as having served the +probation which this constitution requires. + +_Art. 4._ It shall be the duty of a brother, before he gives the +applicant information who the Band of Brothers are, to take him on +probation three months, during which time he shall notify the Grand +Master, that at such a date he will introduce the person, on probation, +for initiation. + +_Art. 5._ It shall be the duty of the Grand Master to notify all the +Brotherhood, so far as he has it in his power, that such an individual +will pray for the privilege of becoming a member of the Honourable +Brotherhood, at such a date; and to likewise apprize them of the duty +set apart, so far as in the power of each member, to carefully scan the +motives of the said candidate, and, if they can ascertain by word, deed +or action, that the candidate is not a fit person to become a member, to +convey the same to the brother who recommended him, and the same must, +in all cases, apprize the Worthy Grand what has been said against, and +in favour of the said candidate;--and it must be strictly observed, that +in no case shall the Worthy Grand condescend to be introduced without +proper notice; and the same must in all cases be strictly obeyed. + +_Art. 6._ It shall be the duty of every member to make the candidate the +subject of trial, in every secret manner which he may think profitable +to test his qualities as a true believer in the virtue of the +Brotherhood; and likewise to throw every temptation in his way, which +may be likely to sour his disposition against the formalities of the +world, and thereby lead him into a closer commune with the Holy +Brotherhood, of which he is to become a member, and which he is to +believe to be true and honest in every sense of the word; and that all +other religions and creeds are base, and founded upon speculative +motives--that this is the only TRUE, by which he must stand through good +or ill, and never secede, on pain of death on earth, and punishment +eternal hereafter. + +_Art. 7._ It shall be the duty of every brother to be strictly on his +guard, concerning this brave and generous band, and give no intimation +to any mortal being of its existence, unless he is fully persuaded that +he or they are worthy by thought and act of the high and honourable +character which the honourable body will ever confer upon them, by +receiving them as men and brethren, worthy of the protection of the only +true society under Heaven. + +_Art. 8._ It shall be the duty of all, both members and Masters, to +guard against the influence of party spirit, either political or +religious, as termed by a certain class of people, who, from their weak +and shattered principles, have been led to suppose that the great and +overruling Bible, among certain classes, is the Divine inspiration of +the Deity, and was hewn from a solid rock, for the purpose of satisfying +all men of the power of God, whom this band hold sacred, as a being of +unchangeable character, who will, in the immortal state, prepare an +everlasting place of rest for all who do not by their oaths confirm the +total disapprobation of his supernatural power. + +_Art. 9._ It shall be the duty of all brethren of this benevolent band, +in their becoming members of this Christian (!) fraternity, to deny the +principles of the book called the Bible, to be other than the work of +priestcraft, got up to delude the weaker portion of mankind, and whose +principles have been carried out to the uttermost parts of the earth, +until even the heathen have suffered by the base intrigue of +missionaries, of this rascally compilation of nonsense, by being made +subservient to their most outrageous and villanous transactions. + +_Art. 10._ That we do deplore the perversion of the power of God, as men +and Christians, and believe it highly commendable to this, the only true +society of Christian principles, to associate and connect ourselves with +all churches, of every denomination, and with all societies, not for the +purpose of supporting them, but through these means to the furthering of +our own designs. + +_Art. 11._ That we labour to make proselytes of all with whom we come in +contact, when it can be done without suspicion and danger to ourselves; +that we believe this a true principle--founded upon Nature herself, our +ruler--that policy dictates to us the necessity of keeping at peace with +the world, and often appearing humble and Godlike, that we may be taken +as pious and God-serving people: at the same time, that we keep our +"lights so shining," that all who wish, may be able to understand, +appreciate, and embrace our principles. + +_Art. 12._ That we hold, as a duty to mankind, that the God of nature, +the only God, has made a benevolent donation to all his beings; and that +it is against the principles of true Christianity, to allow one man to +fare sumptuously day by day, while his neighbours, as good by nature, +and far better by practice, shall be made his servants;--and therefore, +we, the members of this honourable body, do pledge ourselves to try, by +every means in our power, to diffuse the necessaries of life throughout +the universe, that all may fare alike who live as Nature's Christians. + +_Art. 13._ We pledge ourselves to take from the rich, and give to the +poor; and, as none of the honourable body wish for more than the God of +Nature has given--which is an abundance of this world's goods--we agree +to take from the one, and give to the other; and that the wealthy, or +the enemies of this society, shall be the ones we will strive to harass, +by disapprobation of their tyrannical course; and no respect will we pay +to persons, either politically or religiously, but swear to prove true +to all the bearings which we have laid down in this our Constitution. + +_Art. 14._ We pledge ourselves to strive for the promotion of the true +principles as set apart by us, and to use every means in our power to +enlarge our institution, and to abhor--save when dictated by +policy--everything like priestcraft, (such as may be found in that book, +called the Bible, in the twentieth chapter of Exodus, and known as the +"ten commandments," which were said to have been written by the finger +of God, and which have since been the cause of nine-tenths of the crime +against the welfare of mankind,) and yet to take every means in our +power--knowing, as we do, that we are the only rightful Christians, and +few in number, in comparison with the other denominations--to carry out +our motives, as dictated by policy, by linking ourselves to them by +bonds of this same priestcraft; in other words, to be, if possible, +promoted to the charge of their flocks, as priests or ministers; and all +advancement of the like shall be duly appreciated by every worthy +member; and the industrious and honest brother, so succeeding, shall be +looked up to, and respected as one of more than ordinary talent. + +_Art. 15._ We pledge ourselves to educate our children so as, if +possible, to prevent them from becoming members of any society save that +of the Holy Band,--known as the Secret Band of Brothers--the only +correct and Christian people that strive to place all men upon an equal +footing,--and, furthermore, to destroy all principles we may from time +to time see developing in favour of that class of people whom the world +calls Christians, and that we do sincerely feel it a duty we owe to +ourselves and the God of Nature, to try, by every means in our +power--and in this case all means shall be considered justifiable--to +overthrow all institutions which take the Bible as their standard--as we +hold that the God of Nature has set apart for us three principles and no +other. + +First: That all men are made to live their time of probation on earth, +and are not answerable hereafter for any deed they may commit, so it be +sanctioned by the laws or constitution of this society. + +Second: That the course mankind in general pursues, particularly the +so-styled religious class of community, is wholly contrary to our views, +and therefore wrong; and that the God of Nature, as our God, requires +that we put down the fabulous book called the Bible, to save mankind +from priestcraft and delusion, and bring them over to our principles. + +Third: That there is but one unpardonable sin, which is, to allow +Christians, our tyrants, to progress when we can make them retard, by +leaguing ourselves with, and instilling into their minds, and more +particularly their offspring, all the noble sentiments which may tend to +overthrow former prejudice and eradicate the present false views of +moralists, until the Bible shall be looked upon by them in the light it +now is by the followers of Mahomet, and until all the present laws of +society be considered tyrannical and unjust. + +_Art. 16._ The God of Nature, we hold as our God, has in no principle +required us, through his wise construction of our component parts, to be +in any manner driven by, or subject to man,--that He, as a wise, +intelligent being, created all mankind upon an equality, and that all +men should so stand in regard to each other--that no being was ever +placed upon this earth to rule as monarch over others,--and, therefore, +that all monarchies, all governments, which are headed by rulers, such +as kings, presidents, governors, &c., are unlawful in the sight of God, +and unjust--and that we, as men and Christians of the Holy Brotherhood, +do hereby pledge ourselves, aye, do swear by all we hold sacred, that we +will use all the cunning of our natures to put down all kingdoms, all +governments which are ruled by crowned heads, presidents, or governors, +or ruled by any principle of religion other than, nature--and that all +religion, priestcraft, &c., is unholy in the sight of the Most High God, +and that He requires of us, as a paramount duty, that we labour +zealously for its final extermination, to the glory of Him and the +benefit of mankind here and hereafter. + +_Art. 17._ We hold that the foregoing articles are wholly correct, and +fully sanctioned by the God of Nature--that whoever of our fraternity +proves in anywise recreant to them is a traitor to us, to himself, and +his God;--that the candidate for membership, in view of this, does by +this article most solemnly declare and avow that all the foregoing are +according to his most unbiased views--that such, and only such, he will +ever support, nor shrink, nor waver from, nor expose the same, even in +the agonies of death, on flood, or field, in prison, on the rack, +scaffold, or feathered couch--that he understands this fully, and all +the bearings of it, with all of the foregoing, his name, which he +deliberately, without compulsion, sets to this constitution, stands as +lasting, undeniable proof--that he has come to this solemn determination +after calm, mature deliberation--that he is over twenty-two years of +age--and, finally, that he is willing to go through with all the oaths +and ceremonies which this band sees proper to impose; in proof whereof, +he now repeats the following + + + PRAYER. + + Almighty and all-merciful God! the Great Author and Disposer of all + beings! I hereby pledge myself, in thy sight, to keep sacred the + holy principles, one and all, which I this day have had set before + and disclosed to me, by the Worthy Grand Master of the most ancient + order under heaven--known by the appellation of the Secret Band of + Brothers--and I pray thee, Almighty God! to watch the workings of + my cultivated nature; and, Heavenly Father! keep me sane in mind, + that I may always know the everlasting punishment which awaits me, + if I prove recreant to the vows which I herewith do take upon me, + with my own free will, in thy holy sight--and I pray thee, Almighty + God! should I prove false to the vow or vows I now make, in + becoming a member of this Holy Brotherhood, to shut from me the + light of thy countenance--to visit the wrath of thy indignation + upon me--to let my walks here on earth be paths of desolation, at + the end of which be famine and death, and, in the world to come, + torment and more tormenting pains racking my soul for ever! But, + Almighty God! should I keep and carry out these, the only true + principles, which thou in thy wisdom hast set aside for thy + children to follow, then mayest thou be pleased to grant me a + well-spent closing life on earth, and an undying existence with + thee in thy holy kingdom of heaven!--Amen. + +_Art. 18._ The foregoing articles having been read and acceded to by the +candidate for membership, and the prayer having been repeated by him, he +shall be considered a member of this fraternity--known as the Secret +Band of Brothers--and the Grand Master shall then proceed with the +following:-- + +Most worthy Brother! You have now been initiated into some of the +secrets of the Holy Brotherhood, otherwise called the Secret Band of +Brothers; you have become a member of an Order which, I trust, you will +ever cherish--feeling it is worthy of any of God's children; and, if you +so consider it, and also consider yourself a true and lawful member, you +will now make the same manifest by an inclination of your head, in token +of assent, + +_Art. 19._ The member having bowed in assent, the Grand Master shall +again proceed, as follows:-- + +Now, Brother, you, through choice, can take one degree, which will +entitle you to a benefit in sickness or in distress; and likewise +entitle you to the use of the SCALE, which will enable you to converse +with any Brother without any possible chance of detection, by paying the +trifling sum of twenty-five cents per month, to the Worthy Grand, who is +the proper person for you to apply to for assistance, which in all +cases must be done verbally:--in token of assent that you wish this +degree conferred upon you, you will now lay your hand upon your heart +and answer in the affirmative. + +_Art. 20._ After conferring the foregoing degree, the Grand Master shall +again proceed, as follows: + +Brother, it is now my pleasant duty to inform you that the degree just +taken entitles you to a full membership of the Holy Brotherhood, and +also entitles you to a benefit of thirty-three cents per day, if +imprisoned, or confined by sickness, caused by exposure or +otherwise,--which you, in all cases, must make known to the Worthy +Grand, if possible, through a Brother, but by no other process; and you +must be careful to observe one particular point, which is, NEVER, under +any circumstance, to approach the Worthy Grand as an intimate +acquaintance, for fear of being suspected as such, and thereby bringing +mistrust upon him through some person who may have had their eye upon +you, as a man not carrying out the principles which they approve of as +being the ones best calculated to promote their priestcraft. + +_Art. 21._ The Grand Master shall thus continue: + +You being now a member of this Holy Brotherhood, it falls to my lot to +apprize you of the position which you now occupy, and some of the duties +incumbent upon you. This society claims you as a Brother, and, should +you be sick, will prepare hospitable means for your comfort--should you +be in difficulty, through misfortune, you will ever find friends ready +and willing to assist you: should you for any offence be brought to +trial, your judges, jurors, witnesses, &c., you will find composed of +men selected from this Holy Brotherhood: you have the privilege at any +time to go and come as you please, to retire or live in public life; but +you are to make known every transaction whereby certain classes may be +considered as dishonest--and if the person offending is not committed by +a Brother, you are bound, if possible, to see that the offender is +brought before the tyrannical bar, and, likewise, if it lies in your +power, to have the said offender convicted; and, if convicted, it shall +furthermore be your duty to apprize the Grand Master the length of time +he is sentenced, to what prison, and what punishment--as we, as men and +Christians, hold it a duty for each member to throw every obstacle in +the way of the people CALLED Christians, for the purpose of bringing +them to the laws which Nature's God has set apart. + +_Art. 22._ Having now informed you of some of the benefits and duties +falling upon you, as a Brother, I now come to an article of penalty, +which you will find requires your close attention, as follows: + +If you betray a Brother, this Constitution allots to you but one +punishment, which is--#DEATH BY VIOLENT MEANS!#--AND THIS SENTENCE WILL +SURELY BE CARRIED INTO EFFECT--as sure as that there is a sun at +noonday, or stars at night; and the Brother, so terminating your career, +shall receive, in compensation, the sum of THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS, which +shall be paid to him by a Grand Master, for this society. + +_Art. 23._ If you are ever true and faithful to the Brotherhood, you +shall be sustained by them, in all your undertakings, right or wrong; +and should you meet with danger, by reason of the Brotherhood, which +sometimes happens, by your making the same known to the Grand Master, he +will, if your quarterly and annual payments have been regularly made, +refund you the full amount. You will be charged, annually, five dollars +for your head, and a half cent per annum on all your common chattels and +freehold property,--which you will be required to pay in advance, +yearly, to ensure you the benefit and full privilege of the Secret Band +of Brothers' Mutual Insurance; the principle of which is adopted for the +special benefit of the Brotherhood, as we feel no interest in +befriending any, not even our own blood relations, unless with a motive +of sooner or later bringing to bear our Christian creed, and making them +true and faithful Brethren. + +_Art. 24._ If at any time you think it would be policy for you to +withdraw--or, in other words, retire--you will find it beneficial for +you to watch for, and detect every species of fraud--done by any other +clan than the Brotherhood--and convey the same to your worthy Brethren; +and in all cases, do all you can to make war with what the self-styled +Christians call moral principles; and whenever you see or hear of an +imprudent act in a Brother, it shall be your duty to convey the fact to +the Brother--if not by your own tongue, by that of some Brother of the +band,--and if you see any manifestations made throughout the community +of a moral, or, what is termed of a religious nature, it shall be your +duty to oppose and oppress the leaders in every shape and manner +possible, as we hold all such calculated to keep in darkness many who +might, otherwise, be made true and faithful Brethren, and followers of +Nature's God: and the moral part of the community, so termed, who will +not give us an opportunity to enroll their names, watch; and if by aping +them you can make inroads upon their creeds, or false views, you will +add not only to the promotion of the society, but will sustain a +character throughout the Brotherhood, not to be forgotten; and, +furthermore, as there are many ways to find out the principles of men, +it is to be the constant duty of each member of this Brotherhood, to +take advantage of every opportunity of finding out the opinions of the +mass--by talking as much as possible about the villanous transactions +which happened at an early day, in the new settlements, and the active +part which he took in detecting the band, &c.--by which means he not +only learns who are friendly towards the promotion of this Brotherhood, +but also who are the ones for this society to watch as their most deadly +enemies;--and a Brother must, in no case, refuse to give money for the +construction of the most popular churches, and must always pay great +respect to the priests--for through them we hope to hide many of what +might be termed, by our enemies, deeds of darkness; but such as we, as +men and Christians, believe to be lawful and proper duties: and one who +does not comply with the rules and regulations of this band so far as in +his power, after having taken the solemn oath, shall be treated by all +honourable members as unworthy of their protection, and shall be +proscribed by the Brotherhood--WHICH PROSCRIPTION LEAVES HIM LIABLE TO +SUDDEN AND VIOLENT DEATH, AT ANY MOMENT! + +_Art. 25._ Each member who has been duly sworn in, as Grand Master, can +have the privilege of withdrawing his name from the Holy Brotherhood, by +recommending one whom he considers worthy, and in whom he pledges +himself can be put unbounded confidence, and one who has never failed to +pay his quarterage and yearly dues in advance; (as such a failure +assuredly prohibits him from promotion;) and this office grants to the +holder his travelling expenses, and two dollars per day, while on +business of the society, and, likewise, secures him double the benefit +of a private, in sickness or difficulty. Now, therefore, Brother, you +have the full meaning of the foregoing, and the same chance of promotion +as either of the Brethren. + +SECT. II. _Art. 1._ The Grand Masters of this society shall consist of +six, to every fifty mile square,--five of whom have no power, other than +to bear the annual returns, in case of absence or sickness of the +principal Grand--in which case they are entitled to his pay, for their +services and expenses--said pay to be deducted from the moneys in their +possession, at the meeting of the society; and in case of death or +resignation, the seat or seats of the former Grand or Grands must be +filled by the next Grand or Grands, in rank--said rank to be through the +official age of the subordinates; whose seats, as THEY rise, must again +be filled by some one of the private members, whose appointment must be +confirmed by a petition, signed by three-fourths of the Brethren; and, +in case of two or more candidates running for the same office, the one +having the most names shall be considered duly elected--whereupon he +must solemnly pledge himself to keep the funds intrusted to him, +belonging to the Brotherhood, secure; that should he, at any time, be +required to resign, by three-fourths of the Grands, he will make due +returns of all moneys in his possession; and that, in all cases, he will +be ready to render a correct account of all moneys received and paid out +by him, which account shall, also, be duly made out and handed in at +every annual meeting. + +_Art. 2._ It shall be the duty of every Principal Grand to keep his +accounts, and the Constitution of this society, written on paper, with a +certain kind of acid, which cannot be read, unless held to the fire, +when the heat will bring to the face of the paper the desired +intelligence; and it shall, furthermore, be the duty of the Grand Master +to commit to memory this Constitution and By-laws,--that he may, at any +time, be able to give any passage verbatim, without the assistance of +referring to the article itself, as it endangers the Brotherhood to have +the documents on hand;--and it shall also be the duty of the Grand +Masters, in office, to supply the five, who are not matured officers, +with one article at a time, until they commit the same to memory; when +it shall be their duty to instruct them the manner in which the same is +written in acid; and then to demand a written Constitution from each, +which, if not written correctly, must be corrected and returned every +three months, until perfected. + +_Art. 3._ It shall be the duty of the Grand Masters to examine their +five subordinate officers, four times each year, until they find each +capable of drafting a constitution, and of giving each article its +correct No. and proper place,--with full instructions as to secrecy, in +keeping all the six words, with their proper tables, from the ordinary +members--as the ordinary members are not entitled to the use of the six +words, which are termed Qualities;--and, furthermore, if any of the +Grand Masters know of a letter of importance, which one of the members +has written to a Grand Master or Subordinate Grand, it shall be the duty +of the said Grand Master, if possible, to QUALIFY the letter, either +upon the inside or outside, as the case may be--for the qualities are +highly essential,--and it shall still, furthermore, be the duty of all +Grand Masters, to teach their Brethren the necessity of their committing +as much of the language as shall be given them on their initiation; and, +likewise, the great importance, for the general safety, that all letters +shall contain as much of the secret language as can be made to answer +the purpose,--because it will be easily read by the Grand Masters, and +common members, but will be impossible for the worldly people to +unravel. + +_Art. 4._ It shall be further observed, that no Grand, if known to +reveal to any common member more than the initiation prayer, and what +has been specified in the foregoing--with the exception of the meaning +of the figure 9, in the fourth column, to which all are entitled--can be +thought worthy of the honourable Grand's station; and in no case can +such an offence be forgiven--and that, as a punishment for such an +offence, he shall not only be discharged from the high and honourable +office of Grand Master, but shall have a vote of censure passed upon +him, which shall for ever disqualify him from holding office; and he +shall, thenceforth, be closely watched, and in case he shows, or in any +way manifests, any sign of malicious disapprobation, he shall be tried +in secret, by the Grands and members of his District; and upon +three-fourths giving their opinion that he is an enemy to the +Brotherhood, it shall be the duty of the Grand Master to take him on +probation, six months, and apprize him of the fact, that he is, in the +opinion of the Brotherhood, acting, or about to act, a treacherous +part,--and that he has been granted the state of probation, and the +privilege of leaving the District, or changing his treacherous +principles:--if he choose the former, his name must be sent to every +Grand Master in the Union; if he choose the latter, his after good works +must recommend him; but in case he should refuse either, it shall be the +duty of the Grand Master to put upon his head the usual reward--of a +traitor, which is three hundred dollars, to whoever takes his life, with +the highest approbation which can be placed upon the Brother, so doing, +by his honest Brethren. + +[The following qualities are known and used by the Grand Masters alone, +the common members being wholly ignorant of their existence; and thus it +is, that these grandees can so completely foil their followers, without +the least risk of the latter being the wiser. The qualities are made for +the special purpose of designating each individual, and at the same time +be entirely safe from the least suspicion. When a Grand Master has had +the honour of promotion conferred, he is supplied with the table of +qualities; likewise the secret of correspondence is submitted to his +confidence, under an oath, the penalty of which is death, if he, by +word, deed, or action develop, or by any means expose, the principles of +his special charge. After he has taken the solemn oath, the chief Grand +gives him the secret for preparing the sympathetic ink, which is used +upon all occasions where one Grand is corresponding with another; and +where a Brother is about to travel, it is the duty of the Grand Master +presiding, in the district where he resides, to give him a plain letter +of recommendation, with the private qualities in cipher, in a definite +manner, that the Grand Master who receives the same may not be deceived; +and ofttimes has the poor ninny carried in his supposed letter his death +warrant. As the secret of the cipher is not known to any but those of +the fraternity who have been promoted above the ranks of the +subordinate, it leaves the latter completely in the hands of their Grand +Masters. But we would not have our readers to understand, by our +explanation, that it is our belief, that the private qualities are +always carried out to a letter, as laid down in their constitution and +by-laws; yet we have no hesitation in saying, that we believe that the +members live more closely to their profession than many of our Christian +institutions; and that there are many that walk as near the line of +their profession as they know how, we have every reason to believe from +the daily illustrations we have of depravity among us. We therefore give +you the correct qualities of the Grand Masters, which are held entirely +apart from the common Brotherhood, by the preceding restrictions set +forth in this note.] + +_Art. 5._ The Grand Master shall be fully invested with power to give +out the following catalogue of useful flash words. The six words of +QUALITY are highly beneficial in conversation, and must, in all cases, +be used when one is present who is not known to be a member. By this +means can be found out the strange Brethren, who are ever ready for any +sound so familiar to their ears. The dualities, also, serve to advance +the Brethren, who are made acquainted with them, to the higher seats of +honour, and are as follows: + +First: HUSKA--a flash word, signifying GOOD--is fully described by the +subjoined numbers, the signification of which is annexed: + +No. 1 signifies Bold. + " 2 " Intrepid. +No. 3 signifies Artful. + " 4 " Undaunted. + " 5 " Cunning. + " 6 " Active. + " 7 " Assiduous. + " 8 " Temperate. + " 9 " A true Brother, without cultivation--meaning one who, +from infancy, has had sufficient strength of mind to carry out his +principles. This number is considered highly honourable to the Brother +bearing it, who is said to have the same conferred upon him by the God +of Nature. + +Second: CAUGH--a flash word, signifying BAD--is also described as +follows: + +No. 1 signifies Treacherous. + " 2 " Ungrateful. + " 3 " Presumptuous. + " 4 " Meddlesome. + " 5 " Quarrelsome. + " 6 " Impudent. + " 7 " Imprudent. + " 8 " Dilatory. + " 9 " Intemperate. + +This last number is one which will prohibit whoever is entitled to it, +from holding the high and honourable office of Grand Master; and whoever +is known to sell or give intoxicating liquors to a Brother, for the +purpose of making him subserve to his avaricious purpose, shall be +highly censured, and made to pay over double the amount which the victim +has lost. If a Brother sees proper to distil, or vend intoxicating +spirits, and at the same time notifies the Brethren, when they call on +him, that he does not make and sell the same for any other purpose than +to prostrate the minds of the tyrannical priestcraft, and their victims, +he shall be sustained in his noble enterprise. + +Third: NAUGH--a flash word, signifies SIZE AND COMPLEXION--and, +therefore, each number has a double meaning. + +No. 1 signifies the person to be Large and Tall. + " 2 " " Low and Heavy. + " 3 " " Tall and Slender. + " 4 " " Medium. + " 5 " " Small. + " 6 " " Sandy Complexion. + " 7 " " Light Complexion. + " 8 " " Dark Complexion, + " 9 " " Coloured. + +A person of the last-named colour is never to be admitted, unless as an +outlaw, who is to be used by the Worthy Grand, and who is to be so +educated that he will not dare to commit any daring act, without +permission from the Worthy Grand; and it shall be highly reprehensible +in any Brother to converse with any coloured Brother, upon any business +pertaining to the Brotherhood; and all such shall lay themselves liable +to a vote of censure--as the man of colour is not admitted for other +purpose, than to carry out deeds thought highly honourable, but which +many worthy Brethren dislike to execute, but for which the Worthy Grand +can always depend on his coloured Brother; and, furthermore, should he +be detected, the Brotherhood will be in no manner endangered, as the +coloured Brother's testimony cannot be used against them. + +Fourth: MAUGH--a flash word, signifying PROFESSION--is designated thus: + +No. 1 signifies a Brother of wealth and a Labourer. + " 2 " Seaman. + " 3 " Lawyer. + " 4 " Physician. + " 5 " Mechanic. + " 6 " Merchant. + " 7 " Sporting Man. + " 8 " Planter or Farmer. + + + " 9 " Felon. + +This last number is considered in a different light from any of the +others. When a cross is placed over it, it signifies that the Brother +bearing it has been a martyr in the great and noble cause of Equal +Rights; or, in other words, that in performing his duty as a freeman, he +has been seized and cast into prison by the tyrants of the world: and it +shall be considered a deed worthy of censure, for any Brother to +mistreat, or throw any obstacle in the way of another, who may be +entitled to the cross over the figure 9, in the fourth line of +Quality;--and all members, both officers and privates, are entitled to +know the meaning of the mark over the figure 9; and if any Brother says +he is entitled to said mark, all Brethren are, in a measure, bound to +believe him--as it will be expected that no Brother will be base enough +to attempt a deception of this kind; for the truth can always be +ascertained by writing to the Worthy Grand of the District where he was +sentenced--whose duty it shall be to answer the epistle correctly and +promptly; and in case any Brother shall make a false statement in this +respect--or in fact in any other--he shall be branded as +dishonourable--shall be publicly exposed to all of the Brethren +present--and his name sent, by the Grand Master, to all other Grand +Masters of the several Districts, so that it may be marked on their +several books as a Brother who cannot be depended upon under any +circumstances. + +Fifth: HAUGH--a flash word, signifying DISEASE--embracing under it, +imperfections, scars, marks, &c.--is described as follows: + +No. 1 signifies Consumptive. + " 2 " Rheumatical. + " 3 " Gout. + " 4 " Dropsical. + " 5 " Hypochondriacal. + " 6 " Scrofulous. + " 7 " Stoppage in Speech, or Stuttering. + " 8 " Pox-marked, or Hair-lipped. + " 9 " Loss of an eye, tooth, or limb--a bald +head, or any noted scar exposed. This number will require close +inspection, in order to avoid being deceived; as the mechanical +construction of wigs, glass eyes, false teeth, wooden legs, false +whiskers, &c., has been brought to such perfection, that, without the +very closest scrutiny, they will, many times, escape our observation, +and pass as the real members created by the God of Nature. + +Sixth: GAUGH--a flash word, signifying AGE AND MANNER OF SPEECH--is +described as follows: + +No. 1 denotes the person to be 70. + " 2 " " from 50 to 60. + " 3 " " " 40 to 55. + " 4 " " " 30 to 40. + " 5 " " " 21 to 30. +No. 6 denotes the person to be Very Gray. + " 7 " " Dappled. + " 8 " " Quick Spoken. + " 9 " " Slow and Indistinct. + +These private Qualities are not to be explained to any but Grand +Masters; and when a Brother becomes familiar with these private +dualities, he can correspond with other Masters, without any fear of +detection, as all of the Qualities, though apparently simple, are +impossible for any one to understand, unless he has the key; and he who +shall DARE to instruct another in this mystery, unless entitled to it by +the law of our constitution, will find it would have been better for him +had a mill-stone been tied about his neck, and he been cast in the bosom +of the deepest sea. + +[The table of "flash" words contained in article sixth, section second, +are words used among the fraternity in general, and by the common +members believed to be the only secret language of the order. In this +they have been kept wholly ignorant, by the cunning of their leaders. We +have but little doubt in our mind that there may have been a great many +words added to the original vocabulary, since the adoption of the +constitution, as we find among the gamblers, and other dishonest men, +language entirely incomprehensible to all without a key. The gambler, +though not anywise connected, stands in his profession ready to +conciliate them in their works of death, under the horrible idea that +Nature, as their God, has plainly sanctioned the profession. And the +religion of Nature they aver to be the only true religion on earth.] + +_Art. 6._ It shall be the duty of the Grand Master, upon the initiation +of a member, to supply him with a list of flash words used by the +Brethren of this society, and shall likewise inform them of the great +importance, for the safety of the Brotherhood, that they commit the few +words given them to memory,--which they will also find of great +importance in conversation and correspondence--as, in the few words +which are diffused in their respective places, no person, without a +complete key, can explain or interpret their true meaning. The words +adopted are but few, yet answer, with common language, to enable the +Brothers to converse with ease without being understood by others +concerning their business, or matters and things pertaining to the +Brotherhood. It likewise enables a Brother, in common conversation, to +designate another; or, in addressing thousands, he may be identified by, +as it were, accidentally using any one word of his discourse in +connection with the Brotherhood:--the latter, however, is never to be +done, unless in extreme cases. The most essential service is in +conveying the meaning, which, in all cases, must be done in its proper +place. + +If you wish to ascertain if a Brother be present, you can easily do so +by SOUNDING. SOUNDING signifies FEELING, or ASCERTAINING; and if you +wish so to do, use the word CULLEY, which signifies Brother, Friend, +Partner. + +The word CONEY means Counterfeit paper money. + " BOGUS " Spurious coin, &c. + " CRABBING " Robbing, Stealing, &c. + " DUMBY " Pocket-book, purse, &c. + " DROP " Pocket, &c. + " CADY " Highwayman, murderer, &c. + " GLIB, STRIKER " Incendiary. + " CRACK " Break. As crack a crib. + " CRIB " House, trunk, desk, &c. +The word THIMBLE means Watch, crome, clock. + " PRAGUE " Horse, mule, or ass. + " GLIM " Light. + " SIFTER " Burglar, house-breaker, &c. + " GEISTER " An extra thief. + " FEELER " Dirk, sword, knife, &c. + " REACHER " Gun, pistol, &c. + " PAD " Bed. + " BLOTTER " Writing--such as letters, &c. + +As Nature, in every feature, dislikes a traitor, no provision has been +made for dissembling. This society is ruled by Nature, as our God!--and +it is the duty of each and every member to do all in his power to +promote the welfare of his Brethren, as, by so doing, he must in time +convince all observers that the Secret Brothers are the only true +Christian sect on earth; and this we, ourselves, individually and +collectively, believe; and we make this manifest, by placing our names +to this scroll, and thereby pledging our fortunes and our lives to +maintain and carry out these principles in all sincerity and truth; and +should we ever offer to take up another faith, and renounce this, may +our prayer-oath be fulfilled to the extent of all its agonies; aye, and +more: we now again doubly pray, that if we ever offer to secede from +this, our religion, that we may thereby seal our immortal state with an +undying existence in a world of torment, prepared for all priestcraft +and treacherous mortals. + + * * * * * + +The singular circumstances connected with my obtaining these papers, and +the awful obligations contained in the constitution, will prepare the +reader for some strange developments. The constitution, although not +elegantly worded, proves its author to have been a man of uncommon +shrewdness, and knowledge of human nature, and forethought. We may +therefore expect that the plan of operations should be so laid as to +baffle detection by ordinary means. I will try to give some idea of it. + +It was necessary that letters should be transmitted from one member to +another, in a distant location, yet the person to whom the letter was +addressed might be miles from a government post-office, and it might not +be safe for him to present himself for a letter, lest he should be +recognised as a desperate man, and letters were liable to be opened and +their desperate projects exposed. To avoid this danger, they established +a line of communication, extending from Toronto, Canada, to New Orleans. +Not precisely direct, but lying through large towns. + +On this route were post-offices; consisting of hollow trees, caves, +cavities in rocks, &c. Those who wished to send letters deposited them +here; with full directions. All the "brothers" knew these post-offices; +and when, in their travels, they came near one, were bound to stop, and +examine the letters. If they found letters directed to persons on their +route, they must carry them along. If the letter was directed to a +person beyond the extent of his journey, he must at least carry it to +the next post-office, if he was going so far; and from that, some other +Brother would pass it along. It was death, in all cases, for a member to +open a letter not directed to him. + +As Brothers are constantly passing along the line, in both directions, +considerable despatch was secured. If a letter should chance to be lost, +it was written in such a manner that one not knowing the secret would +suppose it to be an ordinary business letter, and the persons alluded +to were so mentioned as that only the individual to whom the letter was +addressed, or some person interested in the same transaction, could +understand the allusion. + +The person to whom the letter was addressed must return the letter, if +requested, but might keep a copy. Along this mail line lived many of the +Brotherhood, and as they knew each other by signs, and were able to +converse in a _flash language_, unintelligible to the community +generally; when we recollect that they were bound by solemn oaths to aid +and defend each other in every emergency, right or wrong--that both men +and women belonged to the order--the reader will see what security a +villain could enjoy when hunted by the police; how easily the +_respectable_ citizen, the country merchant, the lawyer, the captain of +a steamboat, could conceal the fugitive, and put the officer upon the +wrong scent. + +In addition to this caution, any thing which must be so explicit that a +stranger to the order might understand, if he should see it, was written +with sympathetic ink, which would appear only when heated, and would +disappear again when cold; and even this was written in a perfectly +unintelligible cipher, to which, however, I very fortunately found the +key among the letters. I insert it for the benefit of the curious. + +One of the most profitable branches of their business was that of +_trading in horses_. For this, as will be seen, their combination gave +them peculiar facilities. + +One of the _common_ robbers steals a _horse_, rides it fifty or a +hundred miles, and offers it to a _respectable_ robber, called a +_trader_. If it do not appear a dangerous bargain, he makes the +transaction as public as possible; he takes a bill of sale, and enters +it on his books, and the common robber goes on his way rejoicing. +Presently the owner comes along, and _claims the horse_. The +_respectable_ trader is very much astonished at the discovery, but makes +no resistance. The owner, rejoiced to find his property again, gladly +pays the expenses of keeping and goes home. But the respectable trader +is very sure to have not the slightest clue to the whereabouts of the +man who sold him the horse, and although it was done so publicly that +the owner cannot have a doubt of the innocence of the trader, yet, +strange to say, nobody knows which direction the thief took, even when +he left the settlement. + +Lest some member should get another into his power, it is provided in +the constitution, that for every transaction they shall "pass" or +exchange receipts. This gives to each the same power, provided they are +both of the lower grade. That is, whoever has bought a stolen horse of +some member of the band, can be proved to have done so by the thief, +from the receipt; and the thief in like manner is in the power of the +trader. Again, it is of importance to the poor robber to have a receipt +from some eminent trader, since it gives him character as a man of +business, and serves as a letter of introduction. They are written in +the usual form of an ordinary business transaction. + +The Grand Masters, who, alone, it will be recollected, have the secret +of using sympathetic ink, and the cipher, always add to the receipt, +with invisible writing, the description and character of the individual +who bears it, thus holding the poor fellow completely in his power. + +But should a poor scamp get caught, and lie in prison a year or two, he +is entitled, by the constitution, to thirty-three cents per day for the +whole time. By the same constitution, also, he is directed how he must +proceed to get it. He proceeds, therefore, in due form, as follows: +Going to the Grand Master of the district in which he was convicted, he +addresses him thus:--"Most worthy Grand Master, I have this day come +before you, to place my hand upon the seal and swear that upon ---- day +of ----, in the year ----, I was confined in prison, (or _by sickness_) +for ---- months and ---- days; during which time I have contracted the +following expenses; I therefore make my petition that such money as may +be my due may be given me for my assistance." + +The Grand Master, or Grand as he is called, then asks the following +questions: + +"How long have you been a member? + +"Where were you initiated? + +"To whom have you paid your dues? + +"What evidence have you that such are the facts?" + +If, then, the poor brother have not receipts proving the transactions +for which he was imprisoned, and further, proof of his actual +imprisonment, (or evidence of his sickness,) no further notice is taken +of him. But if he have such regular proofs as are required, the Grand +declares that they have but a small amount of funds in the treasury. But +that the Brother may get his dues, he gives him drafts upon the various +Grands in the country, to the amount of his dues. If the amount were +five hundred dollars, he would receive fifty ten dollar drafts upon +fifty Grands, scattered over the country, from Canada to Alabama, and of +whom, in all probability, he will never see three; and they are payable +to none but the person in whose favour they are drawn. And "to make +assurance doubly sure," with sympathetic ink, the cunning officer +writes a full description on each draft, of the age, size, complexion, +profession, peculiarities, &c., of the bearer, so that if he should +undertake to send by another, he would have his labour for his pains. + +We have now submitted the constitution to the judgment of our readers, +as we found it, having only added a few explanatory remarks, which we +are enabled to do from knowledge acquired in various ways; and we now +select from those letters which came into our possession a few, written +by some of the individuals noticed in this work, which will throw +additional light on the character of the Band. The note to each letter +is explanatory of the language contained in the ciphers. + + +No. 1. + Lawrenceburgh, September 24, 1825. + +_Most Worthy and Respected Brother_,--Let me introduce the bearer of +this, who visits you for the purpose of promoting our benevolent +institution and his operations. I have not the least doubt you will find +his visit not of importance to him alone, but to you and all the friends +of humanity and kind feeling which belong to our benevolent society. + +Yours, in great haste, + +101000 +000000 +000300 +000004 +500000 +000000 +000000 +800088 + + +000900 + +[This letter bears upon its face the following ciphers, which +interpreted read as follows:--The bearer is BOLD, CUNNING, TEMPERATE, +LARGE, and TALL; by profession a LAWYER, and has been a CONVICT, he is +marked upon the face; his age is from THIRTY to FORTY, and QUICK in +speech. The cross (+) upon the number 9 designates the bearer to have +been a convict, and that he is entitled to much respect among the +Brotherhood. This, however, the Grand Masters teach their subordinates +to acknowledge, for the purpose of finding out among them such as they +can have confidence in in carrying out any desperate scheme; and +likewise to prevent them from exposing others, through their +associations; and thus it is that they, as brethren, feel no delicacy in +acknowledging to a brother, the honour of having been a martyr.] + + +No. 2. + Lawrenceburgh, October 13, 1825. + +_Friend Brown_,--According to our agreement, I was at the place +appointed, where I remained until three o'clock, much distressed on +account of your absence; and my situation was very little better when I +learned you had been detained through the negligence of our friend in +Boon county. I have no confidence in him, nor ever will have, so long as +he makes use of so much whisky. I exchanged the coney I had for four +hundred pounds of feathers, and left them subject to your order at +friend ---- ----, grocery store, Lower Market street. I called and took +breakfast with the judge, and he tells me times have never been so close +upon the coney trade since he resided in the city. I likewise called +upon the Irish friend, and the first word he spoke was an oath that +Cincinnati was bankrupted; that constant calls were continually made by +the boys, and not one dollar to accommodate them with. I hope you will +be at home before I leave for Indianapolis, as I cannot remain long upon +the way, and I have many calls to make, and be there by the 20th, as +that is the day appointed. Raise all the funds you can, and I have no +doubt every thing will come out right. This will be handed you by one +whom I recommend strictly honest, as I have had recommended. Though he +has lived in the burgh ten years, I never knew him until our old friend +told me that he was a member. He knows you only by sight. + +Yours, ---- ----, + +000110 +000000 +003000 +000000 +000005 +600000 +000000 +888000 +000009 + +[The figures of this letter describe the bearer as follows: ACTIVE, +TEMPERATE, DILATORY, TALL, AND SLENDER, DARK-COMPLEXIONED, WEALTHY, +without any particular occupation. That he is CONSUMPTIVE; his age is +between TWENTY-ONE and THIRTY; his speech SLOW and INDISTINCT.] + + +No. 3. + Greensburgh, October 20, 1825. + +_Friend Brown_,--I have, as you see by this letter, arrived at +Greensburgh, having travelled several nights over some of the roughest +roads I ever placed foot upon; my journey, otherwise, has not been so +disagreeable; but night-travelling always disagrees with me. I was +joined by our friend, the doctor, and his intimate friend from +Brookville. They tell me they have been absent from Brookville +twenty-one days. We met at our good old friend's house, near York ridge. +He is as pleasant as ever, and full as religious, and paid me one +hundred and twenty-five dollars--squaring accounts--and traded me two +notes on our Madison merchant, amounting to one hundred and thirty-five +dollars, which are as good as gold, as he endorses them, and I believe +and know the principal to be as good as any man in Madison. + +The doctor tells me some of the boys have had a flare-up in Buffalo; but +that is nothing new, as our Canada friends act very imprudent. He tells +me since he left us, that several cabs have been traced out, and no +traces of the workmen left which can injure any one party. He came +through Columbus, Ohio! He says they are hard at work, but scarce of +material, and no means to procure it. I have not the least doubt but you +might find it profitable to go or send some one to supply their wants, +so we can make it very profitable. Our friends, ---- ----, ---- ----, +_take_ Fort Meggs, and at Manhattan (I have reference to our judge and +the lawyer we met in Manhattan, Ohio) have made out well with the +horses, taken them in the summer, and say they wish the boys would +bring them one hundred head before the lake closes. The doctor brought +me a letter to that effect. I leave this place to-morrow evening for the +Forks of the road, where I shall expect a letter from you. Let my friend +---- ---- know I am well. + +Yours, ---- ----, + +000000 +002200 +000003 +400000 +000000 +600600 +077000 +800008 +000000 + +[This describes the bearer to be UNDAUNTED, ACTIVE, TEMPERATE, +IMPRUDENT, LOW, and HEAVY, LIGHT-COMPLEXIONED, by profession a LAWYER +and MERCHANT; age from FORTY to FIFTY-FIVE, QUICK-SPOKEN.] + + +No. 4. + Four Corners, October 24, 1825. + +_Friend Brown_,--I have arrived at the Four Corners, where I was pleased +to receive your favour of the 17th, and having the good luck to learn +that five of the brethren of Virginia are in the neighbourhood, and +would leave to-morrow evening for their homes by the way of +Lawrenceburgh, I make ready this and forward it by them for the purpose +to inform you that our friend ---- ----, the cooper, cannot, without my +consent, have any more stock, unless he pays for it in advance, as I am +satisfied he does not wish to act out the correct principles. He tried, +the day before I left, to make me agree to take cooperage for the last +stock he got; and though he made it answer to the whole face, two +hundred, yet he did not wish to pay me thirty in cash, and said you +promised to supply him at fifteen cents per hundred, and take it out in +cooperage; if so, your contracts must be for your own private benefit, +not mine; he has gulled me enough, and I cannot stand his slabbering +discourse any more. I am satisfied he has no moral honesty. Our friend, +the grocery-keeper, must pay for his last, as he has bartered it all +off. I met an intimate friend of his from Burlington, Kentucky, on +Clifty, in company with our light-complexioned friend, who lives not far +in the county back of the burgh. Two who accompany this are crossed (+) +9's, immediately from Tennessee, and have been travelling fifteen +nights. They are accompanied by a brother from Charleston, Virginia, +another from Parkersburg, Virginia, and a third from Marietta, Ohio; all +wealthy, the bearer and all, worthy brethren. The bearer is a Grand. + +Yours, ---- ----. + +100000 +002000 +300000 +000004 +000000 +606600 +000000 +800008 +000000 + +[This describes the bearer as being BOLD, ARTFUL, ACTIVE, TEMPERATE, +LOW, and HEAVY, SANDY-COMPLEXIONED, by profession a MERCHANT; age from +THIRTY to FORTY, QUICK-SPOKEN.] + + +No. 5. + Sugar Creek, October 24, 1825. + +_Esteemed Brown_,--After two nights' hard travelling, I find myself well +provided for, in company with our old "Bogus Friend," who informs me he +has just returned from Toronto, Canada; and has brought some of the most +splendid bogus I ever have seen, and sells it, in trade at 33-1/3, 28 in +cash. I purchased two thousand of him, part trade, part cash; and he is +to deliver it to you. He has sent a large quantity to Brookville, +Indiana, and he will send your two thousand from Brookville. I let him +have four horses, which I purchased from our Rising-sun Brethren. He +sent them immediately to his lawyer, in or near Sandusky, who will +forward them immediately to Michigan. I believe the horse trade is +better, and a great deal more safe than the slave. There are many +brethren living here, and of the best order, and live up to the +principles of the Brotherhood; and of the many which live here, and in +fact all through these parts, very few are considered other than men of +the highest respectability. But I hear many making inquiry about our +Lawrenceburgh Aurora, and Rising-sun brethren, and say the brethren have +acted in many respects badly, and our friend ---- ----, in the burgh, +who purchased the pork he shipped from some of them; they say that he +has deceived them. I feel mortified to think he has no more principle: I +want you to call and tell him he must settle, and I think he ought to +know the same without advice. They are the wrong men for him to try to +gull; I have every right to suspect him of dishonesty, when I think how +much the Brotherhood has done for him, you and I in particular, and +know how he treated us; and though we have given him all of the start he +has, he would sacrifice us both, with our families, for a hundred +dollars. I have found out that Sulivan did not make his escape, as he +assured us he did, but was sold for seven hundred and fifty dollars. So +you can depend he has swindled you and I; do not trust him farther than +you can see him, and recommend him in the right numbers. This will be +handed you by a brother living near the islands Sixty-two and +Sixty-three, on the Mississippi; he is about to make a permanent +location, and wishes to purchase six or eight blacks. If the lot we have +an interest in have not left the burgh, he is the man: he says there are +large bands of the brethren settled near him; I hope you can please him. + +Yours in haste, ---- ----. + +101000 +000000 +300000 +000004 +000000 +000000 +007007 +800800 +000000 + +[This describes the bearer as follows: BOLD, ARTFUL, TEMPERATE, LARGE +and TALL, LIGHT-COMPLEXIONED, PLANTER by profession, HEAD DAPPLED GRAY; +age from THIRTY to FORTY, QUICK SPOKEN.] + + +No. 6. + Indianopolis, November 5, 1825. + +_Friend Brown_,--I have been waiting four days for your answer to mine +of the 24th, and this day have the pleasure of receiving it. I am glad +to hear that your friends in the east have not forgotten you; I had a +letter forwarded me to this place, speaking of your liberality to the +people in Pittsburg, when you visited there last spring, and our friends +---- & Co., the iron traders, are very anxious for another trade. I +think they have made better use of their trade than our two Marietta +merchants ---- ----; the latter, I believe, some of the boys got hold +on, as he was going east, and he returned, one thousand minus, in clear +dust, and his twelve hundred in coney. The Steubenville merchant is +here, and has contracted with me for two hundred dollars' worth of +coney, assorted; he tells me that a brother in a flat boat has been put +aside for his plunder, which, sad to relate, was but little; and that he +saw the wife of the deceased was trying to make up the amount at this +time in Cincinnati; if she has not effected it, I think some attention +had better be given her before it is too late, as she is satisfied it +was done through mistake. You had better go or send some one to see her; +you will find her on Sixth street, at the widow ----, or if you inquire +at, ---- ----, cabinet-maker, on Sycamore. I will give ten; you will +give the same: tell ---- ----, on Lower Market, he must do the same; it +is a pity she should suffer through mistake. She is a fine woman, and +all of the Brotherhood should befriend her. I hope you have, from your +letter, become satisfied with the friendship of ---- ----. I told you +they would not do--I have known them from boys, and the day they got +that bogus from you so cheap, I would sooner have thrown it in the +river. The airs they put on about that negro, satisfied me that they had +forfeited all principles of honesty, which is the way with such men +after they become able to live--never think they are beholding. I will +write you again in a few days. The bearer of this I have learned is a +good brother. + +Yours, ---- ----. + +110000 +002000 +300000 +040004 +000000 +006660 +070000 +800000 + + +000900 + +[This describes the bearer to have been BOLD, ARTFUL, TEMPERATE, +TREACHEROUS, MEDDLESOME, IMPRUDENT, LOW and HEAVY, SANDY-COMPLEXIONED, a +MERCHANT by profession, and that he had been a convict; his age between +THIRTY and FORTY, disease SCROFULOUS.] + + +No. 7. + Indianopolis, November 9, 1825. + +_Friend Brown_,--The town is full of our warm friends, and I am happy to +say that there is a fine spirit existing. To-morrow night I will leave +for Fayetteville; I have received your package of coney, and disposed of +three thousand to the old doctor we met while we were in Canandaigua; he +is the man we sold the flour to at Buffalo. He resides in St. Louis, +Missouri, I hope he may do well, as he is a great man, and has more +knowledge of mankind than any man of his age in America, and will trade +from a pin to a steamboat. He tells me he purchased the lot of negroes +which were in Madison, and he says that he heard, since he left, that +three more had been deposited for sale by the same man; if so, he +wishes you to write him a few lines to Terrehaute, and a copy of the +same to Vincennes. He tells me he will be able to get rid of every +dollar at these two places, and that he can purchase one hundred head of +horses if he wished, all which have come from other states, and some +fine blooded stock. I learn through friend ---- ----, of Bairdstown, +Kentucky, that there has been some hard talk about Judge ----, at +Lexington. I have no confidence in a man who drinks and gambles, as he +does; I do not care how wealthy he is, nor how great a title he wears; +for my part I intend to keep clear of him, with all of his wealth and +title; and your friend in Maysville is another. I write in haste, and +send it by our brother. + +Yours, ---- ----. + +101000 +000020 +300000 +000004 +000000 +000600 +070007 +808000 +000000 + +[This number describes the bearer to be BOLD, ARTFUL, TEMPERATE, +IMPRUDENT, LARGE and TALL, of DARK COMPLEXION, by profession a MERCHANT; +he is diseased with RHEUMATISM; his age from THIRTY to FORTY, hair +DAPPLED.] + + +No. 8. + Lexington, June 3, 1827. + +_Dear Brown_,--I have at last arrived in this wealthy part of Kentucky, +which I assure you is a treat for a man that has been so much exposed to +the fatigues of travelling over cliffs, and swimming creeks, and all +other inconveniences that man could imagine. I arrived at Winchester, +Kentucky, where our old friend resides. It was two o'clock when I +arrived, but I found him in his shop playing cards with a black +journeyman old sledge, at twenty-five cents a game, and you ought to +have seen him scrabble for the cards when I rapped upon the window. I +left Winchester for Maysville, where I remained four days with our +friend, the same old block of sociability; yet he tells me he does well +in the stock trade. He says he sold forty odd horses in one year. Since +he has lived in Kentucky, over two hundred, which you know is over fifty +per year. From Maysville I crossed the river through the Sciota region, +by the way of Portsmouth, then to Chillicothe; from there on to +Zanesville, from there to Wheeling, and then to Washington, +Pennsylvania; returned to Wheeling, then to Parkersburgh. I did not call +at Marietta; there has some difficulty taken place in that region. From +Parkersburgh to Charleston, Kanhaway, with but little delay. Our saline +friends are great dealers in "coney." I met twenty-six in one day at the +old "Col." He is doing his work clean, without any risk. There are, he +tells me, upon an average, five horses sold per week from Sandy among +the friends of the trade. I left Charleston; had a tedious journey to +this city. Lexington is a humane place, but dangerous to move, unless +you do it through some of the old wealthy friends of the trade. I must +now say to you that I have done well in my small way. I have cleared +over two hundred per month. I found our friend, of the Blue Lick region, +who tells me the house trade is good along the road; that the coloured +boys do it all, and are not suspected. (_In speaking of the house trade, +he had reference to the entering of houses by the slaves, pillaging, +&c., which would be laid to white men._) Well, now, I am through with my +travels for the present. Let me give you some little of the history of +our Dearborn brother, which I assure you is novel. I told you he would +never do, and I suppose, ere this, you have found I was right. I cannot +be fooled easy. You thought that from the simple fact that he traded in +horses well, (_meaning that he stole horses well_,) that he would not +fail to be useful anywhere I wished to place him; but he returned home, +I suppose you discover, without a dollar, and made sixty the first night +we arrived in Cincinnati, off of a cheese trader that slept in the +adjoining room. He wanted to return the next day to the burgh, but I +prevailed upon him to stop, as suspicion rested not upon us. He remained +according to my request, and I never have come across such an +industrious man; but he had not much courage, less than any man of his +age I ever met, and not one particle of judgment in human nature. When +we arrived, I cautioned him about trading with any of the brethren of +the city without my consent, knowing, as I did, the city brethren were +"celish;" however, he assured me his trade was "bogus;" that you had +supplied him with cut quarters, which no other person dare offer, and +that he had done well even with them. (Cut money was, at an early date, +used as change; one dollar cut in four pieces answered as twenty-five +cents each.) I found he was bent on the "bogus" trade, and I told him to +hold on a few days, and that I would assist him to some; that I had not +the first dollar, but would find out through the brethren when I +returned from our friend's in the country--nine miles. I then left him +at the boarding-house, and promised to return the next day. I returned +according to promise; called at our boarding-house, and upon inquiry +learned he was out in the city. I took a stroll up to our friend's, the +coffee-house keeper, in Market street. While I was passing through the +market-house, I passed by a man with a large load upon his back. I could +not discover what the bulk was. I passed on to the coffee-house, where +three of the boys were dividing one hundred and sixty-five dollars, the +proceeds of the day's work, which, they informed me, they had obtained +from one of the soft-shell brethren. That in the course of the day they +had met a countryman, and seeing he was apparently upon the look-out for +speculation, they had finally entered into conversation with him, and +had accidentally shown him some bright half dollars, and told him they +were counterfeit. "What," said he, "bogus?" "Bogus, indeed," said one. +"And do you know what, bogus is?" He said he ought to, and they then +tried him, and found him one of the right kind of brethren to skin; and +that they did in the following manner: Finding that he had money and +wanted "bogus," they set upon a plan to deceive him; which they did by +showing him the new half dollars, and telling him they were good coin; +and that if he wished he could have them at fifteen dollars for a +hundred dollars of "bogus." He agreed to purchase one hundred and +sixty-five dollars' worth, which they were to supply that evening. That +they were to meet him in the Fifth street market-house, and deliver his +bogus in a tobacco keg headed up. He of course took it for granted that +all was honest. They separated from him, purchased a tobacco keg, filled +it with stone-coal cinders, within an inch of the top, packing them very +hard to make them weigh heavy. They then put a false head one inch from +the top, upon which they put two hundred copper cents. They then placed +another head upon that, confining it tight with a hoop. After preparing +it, they rolled it into the market-house where they had met. He had paid +them the one hundred and sixty-five dollars for the cinders, which he +supposed to be the most beautiful bogus, and when he lifted the keg he +was satisfied all was right; _and how could he doubt it, they were +brethren!_ and they were then dividing the spoils. I suspected, from +description, it was our Lawrenceburgh friend, but remained silent, and +returned to my room where I knew I could ascertain. When I went, I +discovered my friend just ascending the stairs, with a large keg upon +his shoulder. "Halloo," said I, "what upon earth have you here?" He +dropped the keg, as though he had been shot, making a crash to be heard +a half mile distant, but fortunately no person about the house appeared +much disturbed. The old lady came to the door, and wanted to know what +was the matter. I told her my friend had fallen, but that no damage was +done. She retired. As soon as he discovered it was me, he raised his +burden once more, and carried it to the room. "Come in, sir," said he. +"What have you here?" said I. "That I will show you, in a few minutes." +I knew all the time, and though I was vexed, I could not refrain from +laughter. "You laugh," said he, "and well you might, if you knew the +speculation I had been making to-day." He soon got a hatchet to show me +his treasure. I never saw a man so perfectly carried away at the +prospect he had in store. He was nearly exhausted by carrying such a +burden so far. The perspiration drops were oozing out of his forehead, +and he effected the opening of the keg with no little trouble. "Now, +sir," said he, "you may laugh, if you please; raise that head and see if +there is not something in store to laugh at." I did as he bade. I lifted +up the head which covered his treasure, when to his surprise a few black +copper cents made their appearance. "Copper bogus," said I. "I believe +in my soul they have mistaken; let's examine further." He soon +discovered the false head, which he raised, and in a double surprise +cried out, "My conscience, I won't trade. No, I will have my money back! +I will sue them." "Who will you sue?" said I. He came to a stand, then +remarked, "Really, I can't tell who they were. They gave me no name, but +I will take them for swindling if they don't give it up. I will swear," +said he--then he paused and I took the word from his mouth, and told him +that I would swear that he was a fool, and had better return to Dearborn +county and plough corn. He laid the coppers one side, being about two +hundred, then carefully headed the keg up. We went to bed. During the +night he arose. I heard him going downstairs. The next morning I +discovered that both him and the keg were missing. I never heard from +him afterwards, but hope, if he is at home, that you will hereafter keep +him there. + +Yours, in haste, + +P.S. I hope you will answer this immediately. Direct to Nashville, +Tennessee. This Brother is a true blue. + +100000 +002020 +000003 +000400 +500000 +000600 +070000 +800088 +000000 + +[This describes the bearer to be CUNNING, TEMPERATE, TREACHEROUS, +IMPRUDENT; size LOW and HEAVY; by profession a PHYSICIAN and a MERCHANT; +disease RHEUMATISM and FACE DISFIGURED; age from FORTY to FORTY-FIVE; +QUICK-SPOKEN.] + + +No. 9. + Lawrenceburgh, April 9, 1827. + +_Friend Brown_,--I am happy to have the extreme pleasure of introducing +to your acquaintance one of my most intimate friends. He visits the city +on business, which may require assistance; if so, you can confer no +greater favour on your humble servant, than by serving him. + +Yours, in haste, + +The following was taken from the same sheet, having been interlined in +fine hand in sympathetic ink, which was entirely a secret to the +bearer, and read when warm, as follows: + +_In a side pocket made upon the inside of an old black velvet vest, you +will find eighteen hundred dollars in United States money. In an old +hair trunk, tied around with a rope, he carries twelve hundred dollars +in silver. He is fond of spirits, and occasionally gets drunk, and when +drunk, has no memory, and would not acknowledge the fact of being drunk +for twice the amount. He is a man of wealth and of honour. Destroy this +immediately._ + +The history connected with the above letters may be considered of great +importance to explain the villanies of this band; and from the +circumstances connected with this history, I have every reason to have +full confidence that the same letters this note refers to, were the +occasion of the bearer being robbed of some thirty-one hundred dollars. +We will now give the foundation for our belief. During the examination +of my original package of letters, I discovered a very familiar name +attached to one of those apparent business letters, which caused me to +examine the import, and upon so doing, I found that it contained the +same which I have given, with a few omissions which I considered of +importance to my personal safety, viz., the names of the parties, the +place of residence of the man robbed, &c. When I found that I had a +familiar name to so base an article, to satisfy myself that it was not a +forgery, I examined the same person's signatures which had been written +in the year 1827, and found they compared satisfactorily to my mind. I +then set upon a plan to ascertain from the man who lost the money, +without his having an idea of my intention, which I did as follows. I +wrote to a responsible man living in the same place, to know of him if +such a man of his village had ever lost any money, and if so, what +amount, the date he lost it, &c.; to which I received the following +brief note: "Sir,--You have written me upon a subject which I was not +familiar with at the time I received your letter, but have made inquiry, +and found that in the spring of 1827, the person alluded to in your +letter was robbed while in Wheeling, on his way to Philadelphia, out of +rising three thousand dollars: which money he has never heard of. He is +a man in good circumstances, and was at that time, in fact he has always +been, considered wealthy. I conversed with him one time upon the +subject, but he dislikes to have it mentioned to him. You likewise +wished me to inquire if he received any letters of introduction or +recommendation previous to his departure, on the date mentioned. He had +several, and with one exception, they were all from his best friends. +One he had given him by a man residing in Lawrenceburgh, Indiana, was +for the purpose of introducing him to Daniel Brown, a merchant of +Dearborn county, whom he met in Cincinnati, on his (Brown's) return, and +had but a few moments' time to converse with him, after he gave him the +letter. You, therefore, know all I can ascertain about your request." I +could then see through the whole lead of his misfortunes, and it is +about in this way. The letter which he bore to Brown, having the +particulars concerning his temperament, likewise the amount of money, +&c., enabled Brown to set the band upon him, who robbed him, and then +divided with Brown and his Lawrenceburgh friend. These letters I had +transcribed and put them up and lectured to the citizens of +Lawrenceburgh concerning the horrible fact of their existence; and +these are the letters spoken of, that made the pigeon's flutter, and +likewise caused so many threats of my assassination; and all that +prevented them was, that they feared whoever might have the handling of +the papers hereafter might handle them with less mercy. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +I have frequently, in the course of this work, had to notice the very +intimate connection which those concerned in the administration of +justice, or ostensibly in the suppression of crime, had with those who +perpetrate it. In all of our large cities, this occasionally forces +itself into public notice. Anxious as the authorities always are to +conceal any thing of this kind, it accidentally leaks out. The +opportunity for concealment, and the advantages afforded by official +station, have not been overlooked by the Brothers, and the police of +every city contains several of the fraternity. In all fairness, however, +the great mass of crime connected with such establishments ought not to +be laid to their charge. The very wish to be connected with the police, +indicates a morbid disposition of the mind--a desire to be familiar with +crime; for it is necessary to detect it successfully, to come in contact +frequently with the criminal. In consequence, by familiarity, crime +loses its enormity: the police officer sees how seldom the perpetrator +is detected; how often, when detected, he escapes unwhipped of justice; +he connives at some petty offence, in the hope of entrapping the +criminal in some more flagrant act, and tampers with crime, till the +little moral sensibility he had when he entered the service is +destroyed. This is obviously a true picture of human nature; but I must +proceed with the story, which suggested these remarks. + +In no city of the Union has the depredations of the Band of Brothers +been more extensive than in Cincinnati, Ohio, yet there seems to be a +prevailing wish, entertained even by those who have witnessed their +ravages, to doubt the existence of any such organization. Nor am I +surprised at this incredulity--the thought that we are surrounded by +hundreds of individuals, sworn to protect and assist one another in +their ravages upon our lives and property, is no very pleasant prospect +for contemplation. Sincerely I wish it were merely a dream of the night, +but the unaccountable and sudden downfall of some of the most +respectable and talented families of that city convince that it yet +exists in all its awful realities. In confirmation of this I will +introduce the history of one family, guarding myself as much as possible +from saying any thing that might hurt the feelings of any of the +relatives yet living. It consisted of five boys--at least that number is +all that has come under my notice; the eldest, at the age of sixteen, +connected himself with bad associates, was committed to the jail on a +charge of theft, and convicted. In a short time the next brother +followed in the same course, and shared the same fate. The remaining +children were yet young, and to preserve them from the vicious habits of +the elder ones, the father kept them at hard labour every day. We are +not intimately acquainted with the character of the father, but we never +heard any thing laid to his charge but that he was a dissipated, and so +far an immoral man. He at least gave his children an example of +industry, and could not be suspected of training them in dishonest +practices. The eldest son was pardoned, or served his time out, we +forget which, and came home to his father's house; but was soon taken +in another misdemeanour, and sentenced to ten years' confinement in the +Kentucky State Prison. At the expiration of his term the second also +returned, but fearfully depraved and abandoned. He seemed to take a +delight in all manner of wickedness, and bore evidence that he came from +a good school. After a few months of dissipation, supported by robbery, +he was again taken, convicted the second time, and sent to the State +Prison. From it he made his escape, and found his way to Vicksburg, but +on attempting a robbery, he was detected, and shot through his left +shoulder, the ball fracturing the bone very badly. One day while he was +under arrest, several men visited him; he was alarmed when they first +entered, but soon regained his self-possession. One of the party +inquired why he seemed so much affrighted at their entrance; to which he +replied, that at first sight he had taken one of them for a man of the +name of Phelps. [A robber who was afterwards taken, and attempted to +break from jail, but was shot down in the streets of Vicksburg. For +particulars see "Gambling Unmasked."] A very friendly feeling was soon +established between the robber and his visitors; in a few days he was +taken from jail, and bent his way for New Orleans, where he was again +detected in the very act of robbery, but in attempting to make his +escape was shot down by the captain of the guard. + +This same year of his death the third brother got into difficulty, and +was sentenced to the Penitentiary for three years. Before the expiration +of his sentence, the fourth was convicted. The fifth boy at this time +was about seventeen, and he too was caught stealing, convicted, and +received his sentence about the time the fourth regained his liberty. + +The third brother, after serving the specified period in what is called +the _Penitentiary_, took his way south, where he was again committed for +robbery, and sentenced to five years' confinement in the Louisiana State +Prison. At the expiration of that period he started for home, but when +near the island of Sixty-six, on the Mississippi, he concluded to take a +trunk and jump overboard. This feat he accomplished successfully; but +unluckily for him, it was in the same year in which so many outlaws were +put to death by the citizens, and having connected himself with a band +who were at that time flooding the river with counterfeit coin, +negro-stealing, and indulging in all manner of villany, he was taken by +a company, and with about forty others put to death, some being shot, +and others tied up in sacks and thrown into the Mississippi. + +The fifth brother was now in the Ohio Penitentiary, the fourth in the +Indiana State Prison, but the eldest brother was released from +confinement, and returned to Cincinnati. His long confinement, however, +seems to have had no very beneficial effect, for in a few months he was +again convicted of petit larceny, and sentenced to serve in the chain +gang. Here he conducted himself so well as to gain the unqualified +commendation of one of the drivers, who in consequence treated him +indulgently. About this period, there was much excitement, caused by the +frequency of night robberies, and no trace of the thieves could be +found, by which they could be detected. The most vigilant means were +used, and many were sent to the jails and penitentiary, but still the +robberies went on. Among those committed at this period, was the fifth +brother, who for a short period had enjoyed his liberty. The eldest +brother served out his time in the chain gang, and after being +liberated, suddenly disappeared; and, which surprised many, the driver +of the chain gang disappeared at the same time. A day or two after their +disappearance, a drover from Kentucky, who had been at Cincinnati, and +was on his way home, was taken from his horse, robbed, his throat cut, +and left for dead upon the road side. They had, however, merely severed +the windpipe, and on being discovered, he was able to give such +information as led to the detection of the driver and his friend, the +convict. They were arrested, and identified by the mangled drover; and +the citizens, knowing the desperate character of the elder brother, who +had served an apprenticeship in their own State Prison, gave them a +trial according to "Lynch" custom, and hung them both. Thus ended the +life of the eldest of the brothers--the third who had suffered the +penalty of death for their crimes. + +The suspicions of the people were excited by this occurrence, and a +train of investigation set on foot which left no doubt but that the +recent robberies were committed by the chain driver and his gang. At +night they were freed from their chains, allowed to prowl about and +plunder, and brought their spoils to the prison, where it could easily +be stowed away without suspicion. We believe that we are quite within +the mark, if we attribute one-eighth of the robberies committed in large +cities, to the police, or perpetrated with their connivance. Many, we +hesitate not to say, are done by men whom the public believe to be in +prison. It has become a proverb, "Set a thief to catch a thief," and +the public seem to have acquiesced that thus it shall ever be. There is +an allowed and constant connection between the criminal and the officer +engaged in suppressing crime, but whether it be necessary and +unavoidable, or the best disposition possible, deserves some +consideration. The hangman is in general only a little more fortunate +than his culprit. The leader of a band of Regulators is commonly more +ferocious, and as lawless as the victim against whom his fury is +directed. The lawyer unscrupulously pockets a fee, which he knows has +been obtained by the plunder of the citizen. Not a few of them hang +about our jails, prying into the means of the prisoners, and divide with +them the spoil, sheltering themselves from communicating any disclosures +they make under their judicial privileges. But if justice be the end of +the law, why should the communications of a prisoner to his counsel be +held sacred? If the case be undefensible otherwise, why should it be +defended, unless it be to give a fee to the lawyer, at the expense of +justice? With all deference to the legislators of our country, and to +the gentlemen of the legal profession, this seems a privilege not to be +envied: to _know_ that you are assisting to defraud, but debarred by +custom from disclosing it; to know that the culprit is guilty, and +deserves punishment or restraint, but to send him forth again upon +society to commit further crime. + +Our readers may be anxious to know what became of the other two +brothers, the fourth and fifth. At this moment we believe they are both +in the State Prison. Now how was the ruin of this once respectable +family accomplished? Why did the fate of the elder not deter the +younger from crime? Were they merely drawn along by the contagion of +ill-example, or were there more potent influences at work in their +destruction? And why did punishment and penitentiaries do so little in +their reformation? The greater part of their lives were passed within +their walls, cut off from the influence of evil, but we see no sanitory +effect. We will not answer these questions directly, but in the course +of this work will supply the reader with materials to answer them for +himself. We have every reason to believe that the eldest and the second +were entangled in the meshes of The Secret Band of Brothers, in a manner +from which there was no escape. They are ever on the look-out for any +individual who has forfeited his character, and who promises by his +ingenuity or dexterity to be a fit tool for their purposes. Their agents +are to be found in all the professions, in the magistracy, and in the +prisons and penitentiaries; sometimes, under the vail of hypocrisy, +assuming a fair exterior at the time they are engaged in all manner of +villany; at other times, when their influence in any place is in the +ascendency, openly showing their real character. Men can be found in +many of our towns so notoriously profligate, that not one individual in +the place could be found that would say they were honest men, yet +through solicitation, party spirit, and sometimes through fear, they are +elected to official stations. It is one of the leading objects of the +Secret Band, to have as many of the brotherhood in the magistracy as +possible, and neither money nor importunity are spared to effect their +object. They know what they are about: they are too sagacious to suppose +that a thief will catch a thief; that a gambler will suppress gambling, +or a drunkard promote temperance; and it would be well that those who +really desire any of these objects, were equally "wise in their +generation." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +The spring of 1833 found me travelling through the Choctaw nation, +which, at that time, with the exception of the government posts, was a +wilderness. Fort Towson, Duxborough, Jonesborough, Lost Prairie, Horse +Prairie, Pecan Point, and several other places throughout this wild and +newly settled country, were crowded with every kind and description of +people from the states, from, the government agents and contractors to +the wild and mysterious refugee--the latter being very numerous, and +having settled upon the south side of Red river, to evade the pursuit of +the United States' officer of justice, that portion then being +considered within the boundaries of Texas. The whole region was one of +peculiar debasement in all respects. As might be suspected, seasoned as +it was with such a population, drunkenness, debauchery, and murder +walked abroad, hand in hand, day and night. Human life was valued no +higher than the life of an ox or a hog, and the heart of the settlement +was cold, and palsied to the most remote touch of feeling, and hardened +to the recital of brutalities and crimes of the most indescribable +enormity. Men talked of their evil doings, their deep, revolting guilt, +with the most impudent freedom, and laughed and chuckled over them as +though they were the best jokes in the world! + +It was in one of the Texan settlements, in this rude, wicked tract of +country, that an incident came to my knowledge, quite by accident, +which I will relate. The settlement contained some seventy to eighty +people, men, women, and children, white and black. I was taking a stroll +with one of the settlers among the cabins and huts, he being familiar +with the occupants of each, their habits and history. When we passed a +spot worth notice, he gave me the character of the owner, his wealth, +&c., and although all about the settlement wore an appearance of the +most abject poverty, I was surprised to find the wealth which many of +the inhabitants of so desolate, dreary, and forbidding a place +possessed. We finally came to a small log cabin, at the extreme end of +the settlement, apparently about twenty feet in length by eighteen deep, +a story and a half high. + +"Who lives here?" said I. + +"The widow ----," replied my guide, whose name was Edmonds--"the widow +of ----, but--yes--the widow of Dr ----, who was killed a few days ago." + +I was struck with my companion's pauses, and thought there was something +singular in them, especially as his countenance at the time seemed to +change slightly. I soon mustered resolution to ask him who were the +murderers of Doctor ----, but his reply was simply that he did not know. + +"I should like to see the widow," said I; "will you introduce me?" + +He declined, stating that he must then leave me, and go along some half +a mile further, where some men were at work, chopping down a bee-tree. + +"Very well," said I; "I will step in and introduce myself. You have +awakened some little curiosity in my mind to know more about the murder +of this man." + +He left me without making any reply, and I entered the cabin, the door +of which was standing ajar. I found, seated near the fire on a rude +bench, a female, perhaps thirty years old, whose countenance wore a look +of deep dejection, but at the same time betrayed strong evidence of +having been once quite attractive. A little girl sat in her lap--two +boys of the ages of perhaps seven and eleven occupied a bench at her +right--an infant of, I should think, three months old, slept in the +cradle, which a little girl apparently about five years old stood +rocking. The group was a very imposing one. As I entered, I gave a tap +upon the door, which caused the mother to turn towards me; but she did +not speak, waiting, it would seem, for me to introduce my business. I +apologized for my unceremonious entrance, saying, that I had learned she +was formerly a resident in the states; and that I being also from +thence, felt some interest in her and her family. She beckoned me to a +seat, and after some time, told me she was born in Philadelphia, but +that, having married a Kentuckian, she moved there, and lived some eight +or nine years in that state--that her husband, at the expiration of that +time, had taken his family to Little Rock, Arkansas, where they resided +one year, and that from thence they had come to the place where I found +them. + +Here there was a pause; in fact, I discovered that the poor woman's +voice faltered the moment she approached the subject of her arrival at +her present residence. The silence was broken by the child, who stood +rocking the cradle, and who said, "This is a bad place, ain't it, Ma? +Here the bad men live that killed Pa." At this the mother burst into +tears. As she did so, she kindly told the child to hush. + +After the mother's tears had partially subsided, I told her to talk to +me without restraint; that I had visited the settlement on the other +side of the river on government business, which I expected to transact, +and leave in a very few days. I here was guilty of falsehood. I had not +visited the settlement for government, of course, but to pursue my +iniquitous course of gambling with the refugees. + +The woman implored me to be watchful; that I was in the midst of the +most abandoned description of men that could possibly be conceived of; +and that they would make a victim of me the more readily, on account of +my extreme youth. I told her that they could want nothing of me, for the +simple reason that I had nothing valuable about me. She assured me that +it was not always avarice which tempted these men to deeds of blood. +They had butchered her poor husband in the very house where we were, +within hearing of herself and children, and when all were imploring that +his life might be spared. And yet money was not the temptation. She then +gave me a history of the cruel murder of her husband, which was as +follows:-- + +Doctor ---- was educated a physician in the city of Philadelphia, though +a native of Kentucky. He married his wife in that city; after which he +went back to Kentucky, where he settled down in the practice of his +profession. It was not many years after he took up his abode in his +native place before he became involved, and subsequently being accused +of committing a forgery, he concluded it was best to leave his native +state. His first stopping-place, after leaving Kentucky, was Little +Rock, Arkansas, where he remained until his brother-in-law joined him +with his family. Becoming uneasy and unhappy there, he finally removed +to the settlement, where an end was put to his earthly career by the +band of assassins. + +His wife, when she came to this portion of her husband's career, was +again deeply affected; but she soon mustered composure enough to +continue the story. + +After my husband came here, he proceeded to build this house, and we all +moved into it in a very short period after the first log was laid. He +was a changed man, and my health had become impaired by the exposures +which it was necessary to encounter, in travelling through this +wilderness. Doctor ---- was a changed man; most painfully was this the +case. He was not only moody and sullen in his temperament, and at times +unhappy to the last degree; but he did not seem to take that pleasure +which he once did in the society of his wife and children. Now and then +he would drink hard, and become intoxicated, in which case he abused me +most shamefully, and I bore all for the sake of the children. Some few +days before his death, he entered into a speculation with some bad +fellows here, to smuggle spirits through the nation, which they +succeeded in doing, and with great profit. About this time, or just +after, when in a calm and subdued mood, he confessed to me, that he was +not an honest man; that he was a refugee from justice, and a doomed man; +that a trap had been laid for him a short time after he was married; +that he fell into it; that he was a sworn member of a band of +desperadoes and villains, and that he was doomed to be a guilty wretch +so long as he lived. I thought he was crazy, but his assurance was in a +few days fully verified. + +Not long after my husband made this confession to me, he ran a partition +across the cabin--making two rooms. In the other department he put two +beds, and whenever any of his cronies called to see him, he would order +myself and the children into the room. Here we remained while he and his +companions drank and played cards--making sometimes such a noise that it +seemed as if the very roof would be raised. They often kept it up all +night long. + +One morning, after one of these frolics, he said to me he wished I was +at home with my father; that he never intended to return to Philadelphia +himself; but he would see that I was safely taken there. I asked why he +was so much inclined to part from me. He stated that that was his +business; I must leave him. Only the night before, he had been accused +of divulging secrets to me in regard to his companions; that he had +promised them to send me home. He added, that I might take all the +children but the two eldest boys. I protested against separating me and +my children. His only reply was, that his determination on the point was +fixed. + +That night he ordered myself and the children into the room, in a more +angry tone than ever, and barred us in. It was not long after this +before his wicked companions arrived and planted themselves down at the +table. I listened at the door, and while my husband had gone out of the +cabin for some purpose, I heard them whispering busily together. As he +entered the apartment, however, the whispering ceased, and one of them +said, "Let's play for the liquor first, and decide that point +afterwards." + +After this, they played and swore, and one would have supposed the room +to have been occupied by fiends incarnate rather than by men. At about +twelve o'clock, one of the company said, "Well, boys, now is the time; +what are we here for?" "Out with the light," said another. My husband +now asked what they proposed doing, when, without giving him the +slightest notice, the light was put out, and a heavy blow descended. I +heard my husband cry out, "Do not murder me;" but the strokes fell heavy +and fast, and spite of my screams and the screams of my children--spite +of our efforts to beat the door in, the bloody work was kept up until I +heard my husband's body fall upon the floor. In a short time his +murderers left. I tried to burst the door open, but without success. At +last, I raised my eldest boy to the window, and he crawled outside, and +ran round, entering the door which led to the room containing his +father's corpse. As the child moved towards the door of the room, for +the purpose of unbarring it, he fell over the dead body of his father. +The door was finally unbarred, and I rushed into the room where my +murdered husband lay. Oh, sir, I cannot tell you what were then my +feelings. The lights which the children brought into the room exposed +the whole scene, and it was one which I could not describe if I +would--my husband's body lying upon the floor, weltering in blood. I +tried to lift it up to the bed, but could not. I then, with the +assistance of the children, rolled it up in a counterpane, and we sat +down and watched it till morning--fearing that, if we did not, it might +be carried off by wolves--a large number of which howled about the house +until day dawned. Oh, sir, it was a sorrowful night! The next morning +several of the neighbours called in, and after expressing their horror +at the deed of blood, assured me that they would aid in bringing the +murderers to justice. That they knew them, and that they resided on the +Sabine river. Would you believe it, sir? Two of the very sympathizers I +knew to have been concerned in the murder of my husband. + +A coffin was made, into which my poor husband's body was laid, and then +the neighbours buried him, but in such a manner that he lay but a foot +or two below the earth's surface. I have been afraid the beasts of prey +which infest this region would get possession of his corpse; so, with my +children, I build every night a fire near his grave. + +"Now, sir," added the woman, "I have told you the painful story, and you +will see in what a dreadful situation I am. I am here in this dreadful +place, with perhaps one hundred dollars in money, and five children, +nearly all of whom constantly require my watchful care. Can you not +assist me in my wretchedness?" + +I told the poor thing I would endeavour to do something for her. I had +hardly done so, when Edmonds passed the door of the cabin on his way +back from the choppers. Seeing me, he turned back and said, as I passed +out to meet him, "Well, Green, what do you think of the widow?" My reply +was, that she was so shy and distant that I could not learn much about +her, one way or the other; that she appeared unwilling, or afraid to +converse. + +"It is well enough that she did," was Edmond's reply, "she does not know +what she talks about. When she does choose to speak, I believe her to be +either crazy or foolish, and d----n me if I know which." + +Edmonds invited me to go with him to his home. So I went along. I found +there a man, named Scoggins, with whom Edmonds got into a very free +conversation. I heard him say, "We must send that woman away; she talks +to somebody every day; she must be taken care of in one way or the +other. She must, Scoggins, she must." + +It was not long after this, before Scoggins took me aside, and in a +friendly manner advised me not to go to the widow's again; that she was +a bad and a meddlesome person withal. I did not visit her afterwards; +indeed, I had no opportunity to do so, for the day following the +incidents I here related, in company with Edmonds and Scoggins, I left +the settlement for Fort Towson--about one hundred and fifty miles east. +Our object was to play cards with the officers at the fort, and lighten +them of some of their change. We also expected to fall in with some of +the half-bred Choctaws, who are not inexpert in the shuffle. Edmonds and +Scoggins were ordinary players, and depended on my skill. The former was +a shrewd fellow, a Georgian by birth--aged about forty-five; the latter, +a Canadian, was about the same age. They had served together during the +war of 1812, and in the same company. Two more peculiar men could not be +found. Like a pair of well-trained horses, I saw very soon, after we +joined company, they pulled together. They had a negro with them, who +was deaf and dumb; and he was one of the best servants I ever saw. He +had been Edmonds' attendant for fifteen years, and was, I should think, +about fifty years old. This old negro knew every route from Canada to +Texas. He would stand and sleep, like a horse, for hours, and seemed to +care much more for horses than he did for himself. I thought there was +something more than at first appeared about the old darkey. While at the +fort, he would, in our company, stand for hours, it seemed to me +listening attentively to all that was said, and appearing to understand +it. He was very submissive and polite to any one who noticed him, and, +from the beginning, appeared to take a wonderful liking to me. At Fort +Towson I tried to get rid of Edmonds and Scoggins, telling them I had +resolved to leave them, and that I was going to cross the Nation to Fort +Smith, about one hundred and fifty miles distant. They appeared to like +the route I had chosen, and said they would accompany me. While at Fort +Towson, I discovered that both of my companions had a large number of +acquaintances there, mixed in among the Indians; and, likewise, that +many of the slaves appeared to know them. + +We finally left the fort, in company with ten Choctaws. I had purchased, +while in the nation, twelve head of horses, two of which were quarter +horses, that is, intended to run a quarter of a mile in singularly quick +time. I obtained them of a half-bred Choctaw, and they were valued at +five hundred dollars each. + +We encamped, the first night after our departure, about thirty miles +distant from Fort Towson. The next morning I found that my two valuable +quarter horses, with six others of the drove, were missing. I said +something about my chance of finding them again, but soon had every hope +of the kind destroyed, by being informed that the Pawnee Indians were +very numerous in the neighbourhood; that they were great horse thieves; +and had undoubtedly appropriated to themselves my valuable beasts. We +went fifty miles further, when we again encamped. Here the horses of +the dumb negro and Scoggins were missing. They appeared to think their +animals might be recovered, and turned back for that purpose, promising +to overtake us, if possible, at Fort Smith. + +When we arrived at the fort, I disposed of the horses I had left, and +took passage on the steamboat Reindeer, for the mouth of White River. +Edmonds insisted on accompanying me. I made no objection, of course, but +was anxious to get rid of him. It was about the twentieth of May, when +we arrived at Montgomery's Point, on the Mississippi. Edmonds, daring +the passage, frequently sympathized with me on the loss of my horses. He +also, now and then, spoke to me about the widow of Doctor ----, +commiserated her forlorn situation, and stated that he had a strong +desire, and in fact determination, to communicate intelligence of her +deplorable condition to her friends in Philadelphia. He asked me, if I +did not, myself, think of doing something of the kind. I told him that I +had forgotten her name, and had I remembered it, I hardly thought that I +should trouble myself about her or her affairs. He said, he, too, had +forgotten the name, but he could procure it of Scoggins when he +returned. + +We remained at the Point several days, awaiting the arrival of a +steamboat. Finally, the Chester came along, bound for St. Louis. I took +passage in her, and left Edmonds behind, not a little to my +gratification. We had not proceeded far from the Point, when the Chester +broke down, and I was obliged to get on board of a down boat, and return +to the Point. On arriving there, the first person I encountered was the +dumb negro, who told me that Edmonds had died suddenly, since my +departure, of the cholera, which was raging at that time on the +Mississippi, and which cut men down almost without warning. On inquiry, +I found the negro had told me the truth, and must confess I was not a +little astonished at it. But a few hours previously, I had left Edmonds, +apparently well; now he was a corpse! The thought gave me a shade of +melancholy, especially as I knew and felt that he had been cut down in +guilt; for that he was both a robber and a murderer I could not for a +moment doubt. + +I made some inquiry about the amount of money left by Edmonds, and +discovered that after paying all the expenses of his funeral, the amount +of nine hundred dollars would be left, which, according to his request +just before his death, was to be sent to his friends in Savanna, +Georgia. + +Not long after I got back to the Point, when walking out alone, the dumb +negro joined me, and motioned me to follow him: I did so, without +hesitation. We had not gone far out of the way, before he placed himself +near me, and, to my surprise, spoke to me as plainly and distinctly as +any one could. He said he knew he would surprise me when he talked like +other folks; but he would give me a good reason for having seemed to be +dumb. He then gave me a sketch of his chequered career. He was once a +slave, but had been a free man between thirty and forty years. At the +age of twenty, he was purchased from his master, at Petersburg, +Virginia, to save his life, by a band of outlaws of which he became a +member, in a servile capacity. These men had freed him, soon after they +purchased him from his master, and in consideration he had taken the +oath as one of their gang, and had sworn, with other things, to appear +to be deaf and dumb, so long as he should live--the penalty for any +forgetfulness, or otherwise, that should betray that he could either +speak or hear, being death! That he had been educated to this end; that +the band had men who could converse with him readily by signs, and that +he had been so much accustomed to communicate his thoughts in that +manner, that it had become second nature. He told me he was now +determined to go to Canada, where he proposed remaining for the balance +of his life. I asked him how he meant to go? His reply was, that he +should make the journey by land; that he knew every foot of the route, +and had hundreds of warm friends all the way along. He further said that +he could communicate to me a secret, which he thought it would be better +for me to keep--and this is the first time I have ever publicly revealed +it. + +The secret was, that he and Scoggins, after leaving Edmonds and myself, +had retraced their steps to the skirts of Texas; that my horses had not +been taken, as I supposed, by the Indians, but that hired tools of +Edmonds and Scoggins had stolen them. That it was well for me I laid my +money out in horses: had I not done so, they would have murdered me, to +possess themselves of it. He further assured me, that I had been for +three months in the most heartless and desperate region which the +country affords, and among my worst enemies. The negro added, that he +had heard hard letters read concerning me since I was in the country. +That they were written a year before, by certain men belonging to the +same band, whom I knew, but least suspected. One of them lived near +Lawrenceburgh, Indiana; another was Goodrich, the notorious villain to +whom I have alluded in the preceding part of the work. + +This negro also told me that Dr. ----, who had been murdered on the +Texan frontier, was himself a member of the Secret Band, and that he was +killed to save many a better man. That he and Scoggins had gone back to +see that the widow and her family were removed; but they found, on +reaching the settlement, she had left. We had learned, moreover, that +when seventy or eighty miles on her journey to her friends', she was +taken sick and died, and that she had lost her youngest child before she +left the settlement. It was further stated that the remainder of her +family were at Little Rock, with a friend of her husband's, who would +provide for them till her family could either send for them, or give +some directions in regard to their disposition. + +The negro advised me never to divulge my opinions in relation to the +doctor's death, nor to the history of his family out west. I told him I +did not recollect their names, and therefore could not do so if I would. +He assured me that it was well for me, perhaps, that it was so; and that +it could do me no good if I did. I spoke to the negro about the lively +sympathy which Edmonds had expressed for the family, a few days before I +parted with him; that he had told me, in case he could procure the name +and residence of their friends at the east, he would write them; and +that he had asked me if I remembered them. I told him I did not. + +The negro assured me that it was well for me I had been so ignorant on +the subject; Edmonds was only trying me. Had I appeared to have known +any thing, and betrayed any disposition to give publicity to what I +knew, he would have prevented me, even if he had taken my life. + +I discovered from the negro, that the secret band of outlaws, to whom I +here alluded, had a large number of members scattered among the +different tribes of Indians; that they are all about the western +country, in fact, and that all are true to each other as steel itself. +The negro assured me that he could find friends at every turn; yes, +those who _would die for him!_ He was well off, however, without them, +and had determined to pass the remainder of his days in living a life of +honesty; hoping that, by so doing, God would forgive him, if man did +not. + +The negro told me much more in regard to himself and his companions. He +said he had been deaf and dumb, in order to find out what was going on. +He stood about and heard much said, which would not have been said had +it been supposed he could hear, and much, too, that was at times +extremely valuable to the band. + +I told him that I had often noticed and pitied him. His reply was, that +he saw I felt for him, and it was none the worse for me that I did. This +very county where we were, was afterwards infested by Murrill and his +gang; and it was here that, in 1841, the citizens turned out and put to +death, by shooting and drowning, some forty or fifty villains. + +But to return to the negro. I told him that his intelligence startled +me. He assured me, that while with him I was not in danger; that, to +tell the truth, where we then were was not a very bad tract of country. +For, said he, the brethren of Arkansas and Mississippi are not "clear +grit." That a few weeks preceding, a man by the name of Jeffries, who +had passed counterfeit money, they permitted to be taken and put to +death. He had, it seems, got off about one thousand dollars of the +spurious money on some river boatmen and traders; who returned when they +found the money was bad, pursued the counterfeiter to an island on the +river; where, after having stripped him naked and tied him to a tree, +they beat him to death! It was true this man was not a member of the +secret fraternity; but he would have been had his life been spared. + +At this point of my conversation with the negro, I discovered the +steamboat HURON near by, so I shook hands with him and left him. +Rejoicing that a boat had at last come along, I was soon on board her, +bound for Louisville. We "wooded" some thirty miles distant from +Montgomery's Point, and at the wood-yard, I overheard one of the workmen +telling about the skeleton of a man which had been found on an island +near by; that it was tied to a tree, and that it was the remains of a +man who had been whipped to death for passing counterfeit money. The +woodman added, that the poor victim's watch and clothes were found +hanging near his skeleton. This story confirmed the statement of the +dumb negro on this point, and gave me confidence in all he had told me. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +In the first chapter of this work, I have spoken of various attacks upon +my character; but not knowing from what motives they originated, I paid +no attention to them, nor should I to the one I shall here attempt the +exposition of, had it not been to satisfy the public that it was made +through a motive which I have every reason to believe a sinister one. I +will not offer through any remark intentionally to say such is the fact, +in relation to the intention of my imprudent opposer in my lone work of +mercy, for of the motives of a man no other man can judge; but will lay +our correspondence before the public, that they may examine and judge +for themselves. + + +No. 1. + State Prison, Auburn, April 7, 1845. + +_To the Editor of the Tribune:_ + +We have had a recent visit from Mr. J. H. Green, the "Reformed Gambler," +of whom you have previously spoken favourably in the editorial +department of your paper. Many are highly pleased with the man, and +think he should be sustained by public patronage and the press, inasmuch +as he comes with good credentials of moral and Christian character from +the church. Many think his course calculated to do much good, for this +and coming generations. He appears admirably calculated and accomplished +for exposing the deceptive marks and tricks of this heartless race of +land-pirates, called Gamblers, alias "_Sportsmen_." His description of +their infernal conduct and character cannot fail to put men on their +guard in season to shun them as they would a deadly pestilence that +walketh in darkness, and destruction that wasteth at noonday. + +The grog-shop, the brothel, and the gambling-room, are three of the +blackest fountains of human misery over which the devil presides. From +these he gathers the bitterest waters of hellish destruction, and +spreads them broad-cast over creation: of which eternity can only +measure the full amount. + +The Temperance Cause has attacked one of those sinks of Satan; the Moral +Reform enterprise has commenced upon another, and Mr. Green has now +taken the third "bull by the horns." Money and talent, and the press, +are enlisted against the two former, and shall we stand aloof, and leave +Mr. Green to combat the dragon single-handed and alone? It is high time +the whole community was aroused to the desolating evils of Gambling; and +the press, too, in thunder-tones, should be made to speak out upon this, +as upon other soul-destroying vices of the land. + +Mr. Green has given five Lectures in our village: two in the Town Hall, +two in the Methodist Church, and one in the State Prison. On Sabbath, +sixth instant, at four o'clock, P.M., he addressed the children of the +several Sabbath-schools of the town, in the Methodist Episcopal Church, +to good effect; and in the evening, the same house was filled to a +perfect jam. Here Mr. Green was listened to with the best possible +attention; and I believe the great bulk of that immense throng, not only +believed him a reformed man, but also that he was doing a good and +necessary work in this country. + +At nine o'clock, Sabbath morning, Mr. Green spoke to the unfortunate +inmates of this prison, numbering some eight hundred convicts, besides a +large concourse of citizens, who flocked to hear him at the same place. +His discourse was listened to in breathless silence by those men, and +hundreds of them wept freely, while listening to a recital of the +horrors of Gambling, as experienced during twelve wretched years of his +own gambling life, and of his reformation and salvation by grace in +Christ. A deep and powerful impression pervaded the vast concourse, +while all was graced by beautiful strains of vocal music by the "Boston +Quartet Club," and all passed off finely. + +After Chapel service, Mr. Green and myself visited the cell of Henry +Wyatt, the murderer of James Gordon, of which the papers have spoken. +They readily recognised each other, as having been members of the same +gambling fraternity in the south and west. More than fifty gamblers were +named by them, whose doleful history was equally familiar to both. + +Previous to this visit by Mr. Green, Wyatt had told me that gambling was +the cause of his ruin. At the close of our visit of some two hours, Mr. +Green gave Wyatt a pathetic exhortation to read his Bible, and pray +much, to repent of sin, and believe in Christ, and to seek religion as +the only thing which could prepare him for his approaching doom. Tears +flowed freely, and Wyatt exclaimed, "What a pity it is that you had not +come out in this way four years ago; then I should not have been here +in _chains_, as you see me now." We wept together, and left his cell in +silence. + +Respectfully yours, &c., + O.E. MORRILL, _Chaplain_. + + +No. 2. + From the Christian Advocate and Journal. + +GREEN'S FIRST VISIT TO AUBURN STATE PRISON. + +Doctor Bond:-- + +_Dear Sir_,--I shall be happy to contribute to your valuable sheet the +following communication: + +I visited the Auburn State Prison, upon the morning of the 4th instant, +accompanied by the Boston Quartet Club, better known in New York city +than in this region for their valuable services in calling out so many +thousands to hear the eloquence of John B. Gough, in behalf of +temperance. We passed through the different workshops of the prison, +where many hundreds are doing the different labours allotted to them by +their agents. The health of the prisoners is as good, and spirits better +than any institution I have ever visited. Though the gloom of the +prisoner was not made manifest by his haggard countenance, yet I could +not prevent the melancholy reflection, that every heart knew its own +sorrow. I have seen much of human depravity in this wicked world--I have +felt the sensitive nerve made like an ice-drop by the cold finger of +scorn--I know how to sympathize with the child of circumstances--with +the heart-broken parent, whose pale, care-worn cheek but too plainly +speaks, "We feel trouble, but ye know it not." How many friends and +relatives are now bemoaning the loss of that boy who was once the pride +of all that knew him in the days of his affluence! Rising eight hundred +souls are now confined in the Auburn State Prison; and as my thoughts +expanded in their melancholy train, I asked myself, Who are to blame for +all the crimes committed, and which have incarcerated so many human +beings? I answered by referring to my own sad experience. By the +carelessness of the parent or guardian, the bud is nipped before the +blossom puts forth, and should it not scatter its leaves to the four +winds, it cannot fail to produce evil fruit. With these sad feelings, I +wended my way through the prison, which speaks well to the praise of the +different agents placed there to conduct the working departments. + +On my return to the prison office, I was introduced to the chaplain, +Rev. O.E. Morrill, which reverend gentleman informed me that a man by +the name of Wyatt, then confined in one of the cells for the murder of +Gordon, on the 16th of March, in the Auburn State Prison, had confessed +to him that he had lived a gambler several years in the south and west, +and he would like I should call upon him. I accompanied him to the cell +of the murderer. The door was thrown open upon its grating hinges, when +the reverend gentleman introduced me as an acquaintance of his who had +travelled south several years, and thought that he (Wyatt) would be glad +to converse with him. He said he was happy to see me, and asked me to be +seated. After a short discourse, relative to the different classes of +men then in confinement, I asked him what he followed in his travels +through the south. He told me gambling. I asked him how long he had been +engaged in that nefarious business. He said twelve or thirteen years. I +asked him if he knew many gamblers? He said he did. I asked him if he +ever knew one by the name of Green? He said he did. I asked his name? He +answered, "John;" said he knew him in 1832, 1833, 1834, and 1835, and +saw him in 1842 in St. Louis. I asked him if he was intimate with Green? +He said he knew him as one gambler knew another. I asked if I favoured +him? He said if I would stand in the light he would tell me. I did so. +He said I looked like the man. I told him I was the man, but that I +never knew him by the name of Wyatt. He said I did not; that Wyatt was +not his real name. He then told me another, which was not his real name, +and asked me if I did not hear of a man being murdered near St. Louis in +the year 1841, and of two men being arrested, both tried and convicted, +one having a new trial granted him, the other being hung. I told him +that I thought I had. He said he was the man that had the new trial +granted, and was acquitted; "and," said he, "they hung the wrong man; he +was innocent; I am the guilty man; but they hung him and cleared me." +"But," says I, "you were under a different name still, at that time." He +said, "Yes, by none of those names do you know me, but my real name you +are familiar with. Your name," said he, "I knew in the year 1832; the +gamblers called you John, but Jonathan is your real name." My curiosity +was highly excited at the strange management of the murderer. But you +may imagine the increase of it when he told me his real name. I looked +at the murderer, and could scarcely believe my own eyes; yet he stood +before me a living marvel. I have pledged secresy as to his real name +until after his execution. I interrogated him on his first steps in +vice, and how he became so hardened. He told me to remember the +treatment he had received from the Lynchers' lash at Vicksburg. I did, +but my eyes could scarcely credit reality. I had known him in 1832, +1833, 1834, and in the early part of 1835, as a bar-keeper in Vicksburg. +He was never a shrewd card-player, but at that time was considered an +inoffensive youth. The coffee-house he kept was owned by North, who, +with four others, were executed on the 5th of July, 1835, by Lynch law. +Wyatt and three others were taken on the morning of the 7th, stripped, +and one thousand lashes given to the four, tarred and feathered, and put +into a canoe and set adrift on the Mississippi river. It makes my blood +curdle and my flesh quiver to think of the suffering condition of these +unfortunate men, set adrift on the morning of the 7th of July, with the +broiling sun upon their mangled bodies. Two died in about two hours +after they were set afloat. Wyatt and another remained with their hands +and feet bound forty hours, suffering more than tongue can tell or pen +describe, when they were picked up by some slave negroes, who started +with the two survivors to their quarters. His companion died before they +arrived. Wyatt survives to tell the horrors of the Lyncher's lash. He +told me seven murders had been occasioned by their unmerciful treatment +to him, and one innocent man hung. I know his statements to be true, for +I had known him before 1835, and his truth in other particulars cannot +be doubted. He murdered his seventh man, for which crime he will be +executed. I have another communication for your paper concerning the +murderer, and his prospects in the world to come. + +Yours, truly, + J. H. GREEN. + +Auburn, April 10, 1845. + + +No. 3. + From the Christian Advocate and Journal. + +GREEN'S SECOND VISIT TO AUBURN STATE PRISON. + +Doctor Bond: + +_Dear Sir_,--I made my second visit to the prison on Sabbath morning, +the 6th instant, accompanied by the Boston Quartet Club. As we were +winding our way through the halls and passing the gloomy cells, I felt +sad and melancholy upon reflecting on the purpose of so large a prison. +Is it possible, thought I, that our heaven-favoured land of freedom +requires institutions of so extensive a character as this to keep down +the vices of a people who boast of their morality? Yet, horrible as it +appeared to me, I thought, if many of the foreign travellers, who are +ever ready to criticise and condemn our institutions, were conducted +through the Auburn State Prison, without any intimation of its design, +they would put it down in their journals of travel as an institution to +diffuse literary science and useful knowledge; and from what we have +learned of institutions of the latter kind, under monarchical +governments, we have little hesitation in saying, that they would not +compare well with this prison. Nor would they be willing that some of +their plans for the diffusion of useful knowledge, in the way of +charity, should be compared, in respect to health and religious +principles, with this institution, intended only for the punishment and +prevention of crime, and the reformation of criminals. And if it be the +fact, that our state's prison is better calculated than some foreign +institutions designed to educate the poor of the land for this same +purpose, it certainly will stand good that our land of liberty is +comparatively the land of morality. + +We entered the chapel, where were seated nearly eight hundred convicts, +and something like one hundred citizens, who had been admitted for the +purpose of hearing the sweet melody of the Boston Quartet Club, and to +hear the reformed gambler speak upon a vice which had brought over one +hundred within the gloomy walls of a state's prison. Service commenced +with prayer by the chaplain, Rev. O.E. Morrill. The Boston Quartet Club +then sung the beautiful sacred piece, "Hear my Prayer," during which +breathless silence made manifest that the music was enjoyed. I was then +introduced as the reformed gambler, Mr. J. H. Green. When I arose, there +was profound silence throughout the chapel, to hear my sad experience. I +felt perfectly incompetent to give satisfaction to an audience, partly +composed of the most hardened wretches that infest our land--men who are +steeped to the very lips in degradation, many of whom are men of talent, +well-educated, and well acquainted with most of the leading topics of +the day, knowing, too, as I did, that an error might be construed into +an insult; and to such men an insult is unpardonable. I commenced by +relating my sad experience, and in a few minutes there could scarcely be +seen a dry cheek in that vast assembly of depraved men. My address being +closed, the prisoners were marched in order to their dining-room. + +The chaplain and myself visited the cell of Wyatt, the murderer. We +found him sitting upon the straw which covered the floor. He seemed to +be somewhat indifferent when the chaplain first spoke to him, but upon +his second speech, telling that Mr. Green had again called to see him, +he sprung to his feet and shook hands with me--said he was glad I had +called--that he had been fearful I had left the prison, after giving my +address, without seeing him, and added, "Mr. Green, I would love to hear +you give your experience." I told him of the attention the prisoners had +given me, and the advice I had given them, about signing the +anti-gambling pledge, so soon as they were released--to come out with +their sad experience, and they would find the good and generous-hearted +ever ready to receive them. He turned round to the chaplain and said, +"How much good such a society as that would have done, had it been +formed before I became a gambler!--How many men it would have saved from +the dagger of the midnight murderer! But it is too late to save me." I +changed the subject, by asking him about different gamblers of our +country. We talked about many with whom we both had been intimate. Some, +he tells me, now live in your empire city, and were leading men among +the politicians in the last presidential contest. I knew them to be +leading men. I knew them to be gamblers and swaggering bullies; and I +knew them to be at one time connected with Wyatt, but did not know them +to be murderers; yet they certainly are. + +Wyatt asked me if they permitted such men to vote? I told him they did. +Said he, "A gambler should not be entitled to a vote, nor to his oath." +He spoke correctly; and said he, "The day is not far distant when the +man, who is known to the world as a gambler, will not be countenanced." +Neither his vote nor his oath would be taken at the present day, if the +citizens, who are the bone and sinew of the country, would take into +consideration his real principles. He said, "No man who bets upon +elections should be entitled to his vote, nor to his oath; for a man who +can be excited to bet upon an election, can be excited when upon oath to +stretch the blanket; or, in plainer language, to swear to a lie. Such I +believe to be facts." "And lotteries are another species of villany," +said he; "the money goes to the vendor, and makes his victim poor and +dishonest. Such I know to be facts." Pleased to hear a man, situated as +Wyatt, the murderer, is, reason so candidly, I changed the subject, in +order to learn more about the murders he had committed. I knew that a +man, in the year 1839, was missing from Natchez, by the name of Tucker, +and by the run of Wyatt's discourse, I found he was in that part about +the same time. + +I told Wyatt that a man by the name of Tucker was supposed to have been +murdered about that date between Natchez and New Orleans. He laughed, +and said he knew something about it. "Myself and three others," said he, +"went to Natchez as produce speculators. Tucker owned a boat load of +produce. We contracted for it, advanced him money sufficient to pay off +his hands, telling him we had sufficient help; that he could go with us +to New Orleans, and that on our arrival there, we would pay him the +balance due. He did so. We paid him in a Mississippi bath. We murdered +him, and then threw him overboard." I asked him if he ever was +suspected. He said, not that he knew of. I asked him if he was not +afraid, when he was committing such a murder, that the body might rise +upon the water and be the means of their being suspected. "We cut their +entrails out," said he, "then they never rise until resurrection-day." I +felt heart-sick at his dreadful description of the murder of Tucker. I +knew him. He was a good, honest man. I arose from my seat, took him by +the hand, and bade him good day, promising him to call again. I will, in +my next, inform you of the particulars of my third visit, which will +lead you further into his dreadful history. I will in my next also speak +of his views on the subject of religion. + +Yours, truly, + J. H. GREEN. + +Auburn, April 17, 1845. + + +No. 4. + +The following letter was written and published by the unanimous consent +of every honest citizen of Cleveland, Ohio, of which place I can only +speak in the language of commendation. It is one of the most virtuous +cities in the state, according to its population; and from the interest +two of the principal organs took in behalf of the anti-gambling cause, I +am certain that no filthy sheet can ever pollute its moral principles. + +_To the Editor of the Cleveland Plaindealer:_ + +Mr. Gray, Sir--The Herald of last evening contained a letter over the +signature of O.E. Morrill, dated July 25th, 1845, charging J. H. Green, +"the Reformed Gambler," with misrepresenting the confessions made to him +by "Wyatt, the murderer." The Anti-Gambling Society of this city have +requested me, as its President, to publish the following letter, in +justice to Mr. Green, and in answer to Mr. Morrill. It was written on +the 12th of July last, in reply to Mr. Morrill's "private note," +referred to in his letter published last evening. A true copy was made, +and the original forwarded to Mr. O.E. Morrill on the day of its date, +by Dr. Cowles, of this city. Deeming this letter a complete refutation +of the charges against Mr. Green, the Society have taken the liberty, +without his knowledge, of requesting you to place it before the public. + +Your obedient servant, + John E. Cary. + Cleveland, August 5, 1845. + +[This letter was written in reply to a letter addressed me by the Rev. +O.E. Morrill, requesting my return to Auburn, fifteen days previous to +his publishing my statements as false, and letter No. 7 will show in +what manner I replied.] + + +No. 5. + Cleveland, July 12, 1845. + +_Mr. O.E. Morrill:_ + +Dear sir,--I have just received yours of the 10th. Speaking in regard to +Wyatt's case, you state that you was very much surprised at my letters. +Why did you not tell me so before they were published? You also heard +both the first and second letter before I left your section. Why did you +not object to them before? + +Again, you say, some parts are my own representations. This I deny. I +will not say that I have given them verbatim, but this I do say, and +will maintain, that I have not exaggerated in my statements. + +Yet I do not wish to injure that poor doomed man. God forbid. I do not +think as you do about Wyatt. I know him better than you do, or can. I +know that he has been the child of circumstances. I know that he is not +a man who will strictly confine himself to the truth; and fear of death +will make him do any thing that he is told to do. His denying what he +told me, I care nothing for. In my statements, if they were not correct +from him to me, I am not accountable; I believe them to be facts. + +Now for a few questions to brighten your memory. When we entered his +cell for the first time, you introduced me as a man who had lived in the +south. I interrogated him on his past life. Did I not commence at +Huntsville, in the year 1832, and trace him to November, 1835, at the +mouth of the Ohio, with the Texas troops? When he told me that he had +known me up to that date, that he also saw me at St. Louis, do you not +recollect his asking me if I had not heard of a man being murdered in, +or near St. Louis, one man hung, and the other acquitted? And do you not +recollect I told him I thought I did; also, that at the same time I was +informed, that the people thought that the guilty man was cleared, and +the innocent one hung. He laughed, and said he was the guilty one, or +something amounting to the same? Do you recollect, in your own letter to +the Tribune, you stated that over fifty gamblers were recognised, with +whose doleful history we were both familiar? Also, do you not recollect +his telling about their lynching him; about the cords cutting his arms? +Do you not recollect when I talked about the Tucker, or flat-boat +murder, he told how they cut out the entrails, to prevent the body from +rising? Do you not recollect that you and myself talked the same over at +your house? You certainly cannot forget. He told me so much, I can think +of but little, which I thought most essential to remember. I am willing +to say nothing more about his case, until his execution; if I am +satisfied it will be beneficial to the community, as well as Wyatt. But +to retract one syllable, I cannot, unless I find myself mistaken, in +which case I will make any acknowledgment necessary. + +You ask, or say, that, if I come back, something may be done +satisfactorily. I presume it can be done without my coming. You can +write to me at this city; I shall remain here two weeks. I suppose the +change of officers has made some in relation to the confession, of which +I know nothing about, but there is no fabrication, as far as I am +concerned, and the fact of a newspaper quarrel between you and I cannot +fail to injure, or at least excite the people more against him. You say +you will be forced into it. Do not be hasty. I do not fear any +inconvenience from any act of mine, but, of course, if you contradict my +statements, I have the same chance to support them; and, perhaps, there +are some facts, which, when revealed, will make you better satisfied +that the confession you have of Wyatt is not more than one-fourth true. +His dates are almost every one incorrect. His crimes are enlarged in +some places, diminished in others. You have the best right to his +confessions, if he alters it, and you have the most truthful history. I +told you when we parted, that I knew things relative to Wyatt, which he +would never tell you, with which you should be benefited after the +trial. They are in my possession, and I will not reveal them until he +has been tried, unless it should be necessary to show the fact of his +(Wyatt's) horrible character. + +What has been said by me, cannot so far injure Wyatt, unless it is +perverted. But what I have said are facts, which I will not retract, +and they are of that nature which need no retractation. My memory is as +good as yours. I am striving to do right, the same as yourself, and will +contend that you are as liable to be mistaken as I am, especially when I +knew him in different circumstances. I blame you not for doing every +thing that is right to make Wyatt as happy as he can be, under his +present circumstances, but be careful that you are right. + +I leave this matter for your consideration, believing that you will do +what is correct, so far as you are able. You can rest assured, that I +will do any thing in my power to assist. You will find, however, that I +am correct in my statements. Write me, and your letter shall have +immediate attention. + +Yours, with respect, + J. H. GREEN. + + +No. 6. + From the Auburn Journal, July 30th. + +State Prison, Auburn, N.Y., July 25, 1845. + +Mr. Oliphant:-- + +_Sir_,--In justice to an unfortunate prisoner, now in chains awaiting +his trial at the next sitting of the court in this place, I feel in duty +bound to say to the public, that whatever Wyatt's character or conduct +may have been, or however many murders he may have committed, and may +ultimately be revealed to the public through the proper channels--yet +all Mr. Green has said about Wyatt's having confided to him, that he, +with three others, were whipped a thousand lashes at Vicksburg, which +had been the cause of seven murders, and that Gordon was the seventh man +that he (Wyatt) had killed, and that he (Wyatt) positively killed the +man at St. Louis, for which an innocent man was hung--and that he +(Wyatt) said _he_ killed Tucker in 1839, between Natchez and New +Orleans, is _untrue_ to my _certain_ knowledge. + +Mr. Green's visits were all made in my presence, while Wyatt was +confined in his cell, a room some four by seven feet in size; hence, all +that passed between them could be distinctly heard and known by all +three of us. + +I have no disposition to injure Mr. Green, but I should do violence to +every principle of justice and humanity, were I to remain silent, and +see a fellow-being tried for his life in the midst of that prejudice +which has already condemned the criminal to a thousand deaths, by Mr. +Green's published declarations of Wyatt's own confessions of bloody +deeds and horrid murders, when, in reality, the prisoner has made no +such confessions to him, to my certain knowledge. + +To avoid this unpleasant task, I addressed a private note to Mr. Green, +calling for a satisfactory explanation; but, in his reply, he utterly +refuses a single retraction, and the only alternative left me is to let +the prisoner suffer this great injustice, or disabuse the public mind +from the wrong impressions made by fabrications of Mr. Green. + +I hope to be spared the disagreeable necessity of resorting to the +newspapers of the day to correct any further improprieties of Mr. Green +on this subject. If I am not, I will give a specific catalogue of them +in my next. + +All editors of newspapers, whether political or religious, are requested +to give the above an insertion in their columns, as an act of justice to +an injured man, and very much oblige. + +Your obedient servant, + O.E. MORRILL, _Chaplain._ + + +No. 7. + Toledo, August 5, 1845. + +_To the Editor of the New York Tribune:_ + +Dear sir,--I beg leave to introduce to your columns the following +article, written for the purpose of satisfying the honest part of the +community, that a letter written by the Rev. O.E. Morrill, on the 25th +of July last, is an unprincipled misrepresentation of my purpose, in +bringing to light the horrid deeds of murder committed by Wyatt, now in +the Auburn State Prison. + +I visited Wyatt four times, in company with Mr. Morrill, Chaplain of the +Prison. The time I spent with him in all these visits was about five +hours, during which we conversed about his former course of life. It is +impossible for me to state in one article all that he revealed to me, +but what I do remember, I published in my letters, relative to my visits +to the cell of Wyatt. The second of these letters was dated April 7th, +and the first about the 1st of April. I read both these letters to the +reverend gentleman; the first before it went to press, and the second as +soon as published, we being at both times together, with some officers +of the institution, in the State Prison office. + +I now call the attention of the reader to a letter, from the reverend +gentleman, to the editor of the New York Tribune, of the date of April +7th, in which he speaks in the highest terms of my conduct. The reader +will notice that this is after my first letter was published, and after +he had heard them both read, and after he knew that I had given Wyatt's +confessions, which he now, in his letter of July 25th, declares to be +nothing more than "fabrications" of mine. If my statement of Wyatt's +confession were known to Mr. Morrill to be false, why did he recommend +me so highly in his letter of April 7th, and why has he not contradicted +me before this? The reverend gentleman says, that he did not wish to +injure me, and so addressed me a private note. If I could be so base as +to put forth to the world such falsehoods as he accuses me of, in regard +to a fellow-being, so soon to be launched into eternity, no fear of +injury to me can excuse the gentleman for his not exposing me +immediately to public scorn and detestation. + +When at Auburn, after my visits to the cell, I spoke several times, in +the presence of Mr. Morrill, and other gentlemen, of Wyatt's confessions +to me; and yet Mr. Morrill, though present, never disputed one relation. +I also lectured some fifty times, within fifty miles of Auburn, and, in +nearly all, gave the same statements which he now contradicts. Why has +not Mr. Morrill published, together with his contradiction, my reply to +his note of July 10th? If he had, the community would have seen my +reasons for not retracting my former statements. + +I am truly sorry to have any difficulty with the reverend gentleman, on +this subject or any other, but my duty in regard to this malicious +slander, (the motives of which I am unable to fathom,) compels me to +reply, and for no other purpose than to satisfy the community, that I +could have no personal object in view, in casting a stigma upon the +character of this unfortunate convict, by any statement he made to me, +for I certainly could not be benefited in any manner by publishing +falsehoods in relation to him. + +I repeat again to the world, and ever will, that the unfortunate Wyatt +did to me confess all I stated he did, and much more, which it is +impossible for me to remember. If he stated falsehoods to me, I am not +responsible. He told me that he was one of _four_ that had received a +thousand lashes at Vicksburg, in July, 1835; and I knew a young man, by +the name of Henry North, to be about Vicksburg, and to be in the +employment of North, the gambler, who was hung at Vicksburg, by the +_lynchers_, in July, 1835. Henry, though of the same name, was not +related to the other, as I understood. When I went to the south in the +fall of 1835, I inquired about the gamblers of Vicksburg, and was told +that Henry North, alias Wyatt, or Newell, was, with four others, +whipped, tarred and feathered, hands bound, and set afloat, and the +supposition was that he, and the others with him, existed no more. When +Wyatt told me his real name, I was surprised at beholding him. He told +me that he had set fire twice to Vicksburg, and once to Natchez, and +that, during the conflagration, he murdered _three_ men. He told me he +killed Tucker in 1839. I talked with Mr. Morrill before several officers +of the prison, in regard to what Wyatt said about cutting the entrails +out of Tucker, and the confession which Mr. Morrill now has from Wyatt +will show the main circumstances of this murder, perhaps not giving +Tucker's name, but he speaks about the flat-boat murder, between Natchez +and New Orleans, and I claim it, in justice to me, that the reverend +gentleman should produce the confession Wyatt made, when he speaks of +"speculation on the Mississippi." + +I also call on Mr. Morrill, in justice to myself and the public, to +answer the following questions. 1st. Did not Wyatt confess in his +presence the murder of individuals besides Tucker, on the Mississippi? +2d. Did he not say he cut the entrails out to prevent their rising? 3d. +Did he not say he was tried at St. Louis under another name, (I think it +was North,) and did I not turn to Mr. Morrill, and say, I knew some men +had been tried at St. Louis, but knew none of the parties; and did not +Wyatt then say that he was tried for murder at St. Louis, that he was +convicted on his first trial, but acquitted on a new trial, and that an +innocent man was hung? 4th. Did I not tell Mr. Morrill, that Wyatt +informed me that he had been a convict in the Ohio Penitentiary; and +does not Mr. Morrill recollect that upon my third visit to Wyatt's cell, +I said to Wyatt, that it was reported he had been in the Ohio +Penitentiary, at which Wyatt frowned, and I changed the tenor of my +question by stating, that Gordon said he (Wyatt) had been there, and +that Wyatt laughed, and said it was such d----d lies which occasioned +Gordon's death; and did not Mr. Morrill say to me, he knew many of +Wyatt's _misfortunes_, which he kept secret from the agent of the +prison; and will Mr. Merrill deny that when we went into the office, +after my last visit, that the clerk again repeated that Wyatt had been +in the Ohio Prison, and did not I then decide with the clerk, the +probability of such being the fact, and did not Mr. Morrill still +_insist_ that it was a false report? + +In conclusion I will say, that whatever may be the reverend gentleman's +intentions towards me, and in his own behalf the motives for which I am +not able to penetrate; yet, although he brands my statements as false, +and although the cell was but four by seven feet in size, I leave it to +the community to decide, whether two men, who can speak the "flash +language," in which one word can convey sentences, may not hold a +conversation not easily understood by a third person, ignorant of its +meaning--and can Mr. Morrill assert what meaning was conveyed by such +language between Wyatt and myself? if so, he is the first man I ever +knew that could interpret a language or tongue he never studied. At +least one-fourth of the conversation between Wyatt and myself before Mr. +Morrill, was of this kind. I do not think Mr. Morrill understood all he +heard, yet the greater part of what I published in my letters was spoken +in plain English, and Mr. Morrill, at the time, gave vent to his +feelings over the dreadful disclosures. + +I ask the papers of the day to publish this statement in justice to both +parties, as well as the public at large. + + J. H. GREEN. + +No. 8. + Correspondence of the New York Tribune. + +Perrysburgh, Ohio, August 16, 1845. + +_Mr. Greeley_,--I wish to introduce to the columns of your valuable +paper the following. Though it may seem mysterious and out of date, it +will be read with much interest by many, and may have a tendency to cast +a light upon one of the most horrible murders ever committed in this or +any other Christian land. There is not one shade of doubt remaining in +my mind but that the murderers, as well as their victim or victims, long +before the date of this article, might have been discovered, had there +been sufficient effort made. True, efforts have at last been made, and +the skeleton of one murdered victim found, and much search made for the +other. The particulars which led to the but small effort which has +already been made, are collected from circumstances as follows:--As near +as we can learn, in September, 1844, a gentleman, by the name of +Stephens, from the state of New York, made his appearance in +Perrysburgh, remained in and near some days, left, sometime after +returned. About the time of his departure from the second visit, he made +known his business, that he had kept secret until the time near his +departure. He then told that two men had been murdered, and their bodies +concealed in the woods about one-half mile from the last turnpike gate, +which is about four miles from Perrysburgh. His statements corroborating +some previous signs of murder, induced the citizens to turn out and +scout the swamp in search, knowing as they did that certain packages of +clothes had been found in the Maumee river by a fisherman, on the 17th +April, 1844. The clothes found were done up in parcels, coat, +pantaloons, and vest, with a stone tied round each, with strips of +handkerchiefs cut or torn for the purpose. Upon examination, the clothes +were cut in a way to show they had been ripped off from the body. The +pantaloon's legs cut open; the coat cut open from the back and sleeves; +the vest also cut open from the back. The coat had many cuts in the left +sleeve, also a hole about the lower button on the right side, which hole +was in the pantaloons, cutting the lower suspender in two. The vest had +several cuts in it, immediately back of the neck, through the collar, +and two knife holes. The vest is a figured worsted piece of goods, of +lilac colour, about half-worn. The coat is a black cloth frock, or +surtout, but little worn, no velvet upon it, lined inside of the skirts +with black silk or serge, the sleeve lining twilled linen. Inside of +the left sleeve is a mark of the merchant, which is one cipher--nothing +more. From the looks, I should have taken the coat to have cost twenty +dollars. The pantaloons are rather of a blue colour, striped casinet, +and have never been worn much. The suspender, which has been cut in two, +is a common striped web. The two handkerchiefs are figured silk, +half-worn. When they were found, it was evident they had not been long +in the water. I have a piece of each garment, and persons who have +missed any of their friends mysteriously perhaps might find, upon +examination, that which would lead them to know their friend had +suffered death from the hands of a murderer. A sample of each I will +keep to exhibit through the country, hoping to solve the mystery. + +Now for the mysterious visits of Mr. Stephens. About his departure from +the second visit, he disclosed certain things, which I will give +according to my information. He said he had been informed by certain +convicts, then in the New York State Prison at Auburn, that they had +murdered two men in the said swamp, and had concealed their bodies. One +they had stripped; the other, left his clothing upon him. They stated +that the murdered men were travelling in a buggy, and that they (the +murderers) stopped the buggy, presented their pistols, forced them into +the woods, where they shot one, and stabbed and butchered the other. Not +far from the same place, a hat was found with a bullet-hole in it, but +no sign was left upon the body found which would indicate that he had +been brought to his death by a ball, which also goes farther to prove +the probability of the murder of two men. They buried them, as they +state, about one-half mile apart, strip ping the clothes off from one, +which they took along with them in the buggy, and made their way to the +Maumee river. Not thinking it politic to cross at the toll-bridge, they +went up to the ford, near Fort Meigs, and found the river not in a +fording state. They tied stones to the clothes and threw them in the +river, where they were afterward found, and crossed the bridge to the +north side of the river, went below Toledo, took the buggy to pieces, +sank it and the harness in the river, and took the horse out back of +Manhattan and killed it. In the early part of the summer following two +men were arrested near Geneseo, New York, for committing burglary. +Apprehension of another attack almost forbids me giving their names, +while duty doubly nerves me to speak and let the public know that +_Wyatt_, alias Newell, or North, and Head, his accomplice in the +burglary at Geneseo, are the two murderers who gave Mr. Stephens his +information, and caused his visit to ascertain the truth of such horrid +deeds. Other circumstances leave no doubt resting with the people of +this part that the same two men, Wyatt and Head, murdered John Parish, +of Hancock county, while attempting to arrest them for horse-stealing. A +small explanation of this fact I will make. It will be remembered by +many that Wyatt attempted to make his escape from the Auburn prison, and +when Gordon, the man he afterward murdered, told the keepers, he was +searched, and upon his person a letter was found, which letter contained +no names of men or places, nor was it directed; but from the purport, it +was evidently written for the purpose of sending to Ohio, for it stated +that he dare not venture back, as the people would recognise him as the +murderer of a certain officer who had made an attempt to arrest him. The +reader will also recollect that Wyatt, under the name of Newell, +resided in Toledo in the commencement of 1844 until April 1st, 1844, +when he left Toledo, and was not heard of until Mr. Stephens' +revelation. I would say, in conclusion, so far as this statement may +have a tendency to excite the citizens to their duties, relative to +those mysterious murders, that I hope those concerned in ferreting out +the particulars hereafter will not have a malignant feeling for any +stranger who may come among them to assist, not for honour or profit, +as, undoubtedly, so far as this mysterious affair is concerned, some of +the principal workers have made the two latter-mentioned their object. I +believe this, so far, to be the most correct account of those mysterious +murders, and if it is thought by any concerned that a more able report +can be given, come out and do your duty. + + J. H. GREEN. + + +This article is introduced for several purposes--all of which we +consider of importance to substantiate the facts we have laid before +them. Those murders, near Perrysburgh, were committed by Wyatt and Head, +his colleague, who is now in the State Prison at Auburn, New York. After +the controversy had taken place, I availed myself of the opportunity to +search into facts concerning Wyatt, and found, in addition to those set +forth in the preceding letter, the following:--Wyatt, alias Robert Henry +North, was hired as a stage-driver near Chillicothe, Ohio, in the latter +part of 1838, but decamped in a short time afterwards with a horse +belonging to another man, and made his way to Portsmouth, Ohio; where he +was taken and carried back to Chillicothe, tried, and convicted to serve +three years in the Ohio Penitentiary. In 1841 he was released. He then +left for Missouri, where he again got into difficulty, which detained +him until 1843. He told me he was tried for his life in St. Louis, +convicted, got a new trial, and was acquitted. If he was, it was under a +different name from any above mentioned, and the murder he was tried for +must have been Major Floyd. But I do not believe he was one of those +tried, and acquitted, as he professed to be. He then made his way across +the country to Louisville, Kentucky. From there to a town called Mount +Gilead, in Ashland county, Ohio, where he went to work at the business +of tailoring, a trade he had learned in the Ohio State Prison. In a +short time after he arrived there, he married a very respectable lady, +with whom, for the short period they lived together, he led a very +disagreeable life. In the latter part of 1843, or the beginning of 1844, +he left for Toledo, Ohio, where he hired out, and lived up to the time +spoken of in the preceding letter, and where he committed the crimes +referred to in the same. After which, he made his escape to the state of +New York, in company with the notorious villain, Head, where they +committed a burglary, and were sentenced to the Auburn State Prison from +Geneseo. When Wyatt arrived at the penitentiary, he was recognised by an +old companion who had served in the Ohio Penitentiary, by the name of +Gordon. Gordon gave information to the keepers, of Wyatt's having served +a time in the penitentiary in Ohio. Wyatt became enraged, and despairing +of any chance of a pardon, being sentenced, I think, for fourteen years, +he tried to effect his escape, but was detected and severely punished. +He then swore vengeance against Gordon, whose time was nearly expired; +and on Saturday, the 15th of March, 1845, he secreted about his person +one-half of a pair of shears, given him to work with in the tailor's +shop, which he reserved until the next day, (Sabbath, the 16th,) and as +the prisoners were marching to their cells from their dinners, stabbed +Gordon in the right side, immediately below the ribs. The instrument +passed towards his spine, through one of the main arteries, killing him +almost instantly, and for this last deed he was hanged. + +Finally, let me say to those who may be anxious to know more of the +history of this unfortunate man, and of his crimes, that I have looked +with great anxiety for the third letter, spoken of in my second to the +Christian Advocate and Journal. That the mystery of their not appearing +has been no fault of mine. I wrote four letters, and but two appeared. +Whether they were detained by the false and garbled statements which +have been set forth by the Rev. O.E. Morrill, or whether they have ever +been received, I am unable to say. However, I have written twice to Dr. +Bond, and, as yet, I have not been able to learn by what authority they +have been detained. But should I have them returned, the public may be +welcome to them for their worth. + +Since the execution, we learned from those present, that Wyatt was taken +from his cell, faint from the loss of blood he had shed a few days +before, in his attempt to commit suicide. When seated in his chair, +under the gallows, he made remarks like the following: "I have lived +like a man, I will die like a man. I am not afraid to die. I am about to +enter eternity, and appear before my God. My conduct has been +misrepresented--men have sworn falsely against me--I cannot and will not +forgive them--I am not the man I have been represented to be--I did not +commit the murder charged upon me in Ohio. I am thankful to the sheriff +and his family for their kindness." He manifested no religious penitence +to the last. He died an unbeliever. + + * * * * * + +In conclusion, I would say to those who have perused this work, so full +of strange and startling incidents, let not their mysterious and dark +character cause you to doubt of their truth. Recollect that there are +strange events in the life of every man, many of which he cannot fathom; +and were the whole circumstances of your own life disclosed, it is not +impossible that many of them would exceed belief. Horrible as is the +picture of depravity here exhibited, the half has not been told, nor +would I reveal one iota more than I deemed necessary to awaken the +public attention to a sense of their danger, and a corresponding sense +of their duty. Reader, you may be standing upon the edge of a precipice, +though you know it not. Fathers, your sons may frequent these haunts of +vice, and be entangled in the snares of the destroyer. Wives, mothers, +sisters, daughters, lend us your aid to save those you love from +destruction. You need not be ignorant, that around you are hundreds of +individuals who live in affluence upon the spoils of their industry. It +is not gamblers that support gaming. If the merchant, and lawyer, and +tradesman, and the man of fortune did not supply them with the material, +their profession would die. In all my works I have shown how gambling +lends to, and is connected with, all other crimes; and I beseech you, as +you love your families, yourselves, and our common country, that you +lend your aid and influence to abate this evil. This vast conspiracy +against your lives and fortunes, which I have here developed, is no +chimera. Its workings are everywhere felt, though the machinery is +unseen. I have no object but your good in making this disclosure; and +should it meet the eye, as I have no doubt it will, of some one not a +stranger to its crimes, I beseech him to consider his ways. Why should +he live a curse to the earth--a destroyer of his kind--a blot upon +creation--a dishonour to his Maker? Heaven and earth are equally ready +to receive the returning prodigal. The only danger--the only disgrace is +to continue where you are. In behalf of our Maker, in behalf of +humanity, in behalf of all that is noble and virtuous, I beseech you to +TURN, _why will ye die_? + + + + +DEBATE ON GAMBLING, + +BETWEEN + +MR. FREEMAN THE AVOWED GAMBLER, AND MR. GREEN, THE REFORMED GAMBLER; +BEFORE THE CITIZENS OF PHILADELPHIA, IN THE LECTURE-ROOM OF THE CHINESE +MUSEUM, ON THE EVENINGS OF THE 10TH, 13TH, AND 15TH OF MAY, 1847. + +_Mr. Freeman's challenge, and Mr. Green's acceptance, as published in +the papers of the city of Philadelphia._ + + + From the Inquirer. + +It is well known that Mr. Green, the Reformed Gambler, gave a Lecture at +the Museum on Monday night last, in which he exposed the arts and +devices of the Gambling Fraternity of the Union. His audience was quite +large, and his illustrations were listened to with no little interest. +It seems from the following article, which we copy from the Sun of +yesterday, that a professional Gambler was present. His Card or +Challenge is quite a curiosity: + +Mr. Editor:--Having attended the Lecture of J. H. Green, last evening, at +the Chinese Museum, on the popular vice of Gambling, and differing from +him in each and in every view which he took, and which he is in the +habit of taking upon that subject, I beg leave respectfully to say to +him through the medium of your columns, that I have made up my mind to +confront him in debate, in regard to the right and wrong of the subject +in question. I say, I am willing so to do, provided it meets his +views, and those of the community. If he, and those who admire his +theory, are the friends of truth, surely they will not shrink from +investigation?--and if I cannot sustain myself in debate, why, his +triumph will add strength to his cause. + +With regard to _who_ I am, I will say in a single word that I am a +professional Gambler. I shall set out, if we meet, to prove to the +audience, among other things, that in his illustrations of the cheatery +which he says the gambler practices upon his victim, he is actually at +that very moment practising a palpable cheat upon the very audience +which he is proposing to enlighten. As regards any profits that may +arise from such a meeting, I want none, although perhaps as needy as Mr. +Green. + +As regards experience in debate, Mr. G. has decidedly the advantage of +me in that respect. I have had the honour of addressing public audiences +four times in my whole life, and but four--two of these were in favour +of Old Tip, in 1840, and the other two upon the subject of temperance. I +am well aware that there are many persons who would look upon it as a +sort of inconsistency that a man, occupying my position, should be the +honest advocate of temperance--but they so reason because they are +uninformed in regard to the higher order of gambling! + +Should Mr. Green accede to my proposition, he only has to name his time +and place--or if he prefers to have a personal interview, he can do so. +I am willing to wait on him at his boarding-house, but would like to +have at least one respectable person present to hear all that passes +between us. + + J.G. FREEMAN. + +N.B.--I am a native of South Carolina; I am known from Virginia to +Orleans. Mr. Green I have seen in that city, and he no doubt recollects +me, though I never had any intimacy with him. + +We publish below another communication from Mr. Freeman, in which he +announces that Mr. Green has accepted his challenge to debate, and lays +down his points for argument. We are glad of this, and have no doubt the +public will share in our curiosity to know what kind of a defence can be +made by a gambler, even so _polished_ as Mr. Freeman, for a vice fitly +characterized by Mr. Green as "fifty per cent. worse than stealing." +Expectation is on tiptoe. + + + Communicated for the Sun. + +Mr. Editor--I return to you my sincere thanks for having kindly +published my letter to Mr. J. H. Green, the reformed gambler; and beg +leave now to state to you, that I have had an interview with him, and +that he fully consents to go into the debate. It now devolves upon me, +since I have assumed the character of _plaintiff_ in the action, to +define minutely the exact points to be discussed. + +The first position, then, that I shall assume, is that all those states +in this Union that have enacted very severe laws against gambling, such +as making it a penitentiary offence, &c., have acted both tyrannically +and unwisely--_tyrannically_, because they are an infringement upon +those sacred reserved rights that never were yielded in what law +commentators call the "social compact"--and _unwise_, because their +tendency is to generate immorality rather than stop it. + +The second ground that I shall take, is that the character of that class +of beings called "gamblers" is less understood by the community at +large, and especially by that portion of it that have had no intercourse +with them, than any class of men in the world. That it has ever been the +misfortune of the gambler to be misrepresented, not only of late by Mr. +Green, but generally by those that have attempted to portray his +character in the prints. + +I shall undertake to show him up in his true character, making it +neither better nor worse than it really is--"_Let justice be done if the +heavens fall._" + +In the third place, I shall propose to prove beyond question, that +cheating at cards is decidedly the most unfortunate thing for the cause +of gambling and gamblers, that possibly could exist. And on the other +hand, that it is the very saviour of that portion of mankind who have a +sneaking fondness for play. + +In the fourth place, I will attempt to prove that those tricks that Mr. +Green is in the habit of illustrating with cards, are entirely +worthless; that they can _not_ be reduced to practice; that if they can, +it must be on persons wholly destitute of common sense; that an opinion +that he can tell any cards by the back, is entirely untrue; that neither +he nor any other man can do any such thing, unless the cards have been +marked either by himself or some other person. + +In the course of those proceedings, I shall take upon myself, for the +benefit of the young and inexperienced who may be present, to make such +developments as will be of lasting importance to them in their sojourn +through this mazy world; for, as Mr. Calhoun once said of the +Constitution of the United States, if there be any one man that loves +innocent youth better than all others, I claim to be that man. To seduce +one into _any_ vicious habit when uncontaminated, is a thing I would +_scorn_ to do. And the pleasure which I feel, when I reflect upon it, of +having actually saved some half dozen from ruin, is to me unspeakable. +But for this I know I am never to be credited; for Mr. Green has +informed us that the gambler is _hardened_, for he never goes to church, +and if you reach him at all it must be with a penitentiary act. + +But, pardon me, Messrs. Editors, this is not the time nor the place for +the argument. + + Yours, respectfully, J.G. FREEMAN. + +Mr. Green says he will inform me on to-morrow when it will suit to have +the meeting. + +Mr. Green, it will be seen by the following letter, has consented to +meet his challenger in debate on the subject of gambling. We are glad of +this, inasmuch as Mr. Freeman is said to be quite an intelligent +gentleman, and stands at the head of his _profession_. The discussion, +if conducted in a proper spirit, will be attended by good results.--ED. + + + For the Daily Sun. + +Philadelphia, April 29, 1847. + +_Messrs. Barrett & Jones_:--In the "Sun" of the 28th and 29th inst. are +two communications, over the signature of J.G. Freeman, proposing to +controvert my positions relative to the gamblers, and challenging me to +a public discussion. + +This individual called upon me after the publication of his first +letter, and seemed to be honest in his intentions to defend his system +of untold enormities. If the public, therefore, can be benefited, and my +reformatory purpose in this particular promoted, as I suspect it will, I +would rather court than avoid such an interview. + +I have long wished for, but certainly never expected such a discussion. + +I see the shoe begins to pinch. I am glad to perceive that those for +whom it was made are beginning to feel and cry aloud. Just as I +anticipated, the _law_ seems to be the part which binds most. Men who +are most without conscience are generally most restive in view of a +threatening penitentiary. + +I will accept the challenge to meet him on the several points proposed +in his communications. Indeed I am happy that he has chosen his own +grounds; for the best which such opposition could select is likely in +all conscience to be bad enough. + +Suffer me therefore to say to your correspondent that I intend lecturing +on the evenings of the 10th, 13th, and 15th of the coming month, (May,) +at the Lecture-room of the Chinese Museum, on George street; at which +times I will be very happy if he will attend and defend such positions +as are assumed in the two communications alluded to. + +I shall require, however, that a committee of gentlemen be chosen to +control the discussion. + + J. H. GREEN. + +The Lecture-room of the Museum will, we think, be found much too small +to accommodate the audience, who desire to be present on these +interesting occasions. Would it not be better to take the upper part of +the Museum building? It would certainly be filled.--ED. + +Messrs. Editors:--There is a feature in Mr. Green's acceptance to my +challenge to meet him in debate upon the subject of gambling, with which +I frankly confess I am not at all pleased. Upon looking over it, you +will discover that he uses the following language: "Suffer me, +therefore, to say to your correspondent, that I intend lecturing on the +evenings of the 10th, 13th, and 15th of the coming month, (May,) at the +lecture-room of the Chinese Museum, on George street; at which time I +will be very happy if he will attend and defend such positions as are +assumed in the two communications alluded to." Now, I should like to +know Mr. Green's motive for calling a _debate_ a _lecture_? Why not call +things by their right names? + +You will, therefore, Messrs. Editors, be pleased to inform your +correspondent, Mr. Green, that I cordially consent to meet him at the +time and place designated by him, for the purpose of _debating_ the +gambling question; and the cash which may be taken at the door to be +divided between us, if any, after all the expenses are paid, or to be +disposed of in such a manner as the committee may deem just and proper. +'Tis true, I did say in my first communication that I did not care to +have any of the money, and I so felt and so thought at that time; but +since, I have employed some reflection upon the subject, and, like some +of our modern politicians, I have _changed_. 'Tis true that money is no +part of the motive, but then, as Mr. Polk once expressed himself in +regard to the tariff and protection, I am willing that it should come in +_incidentally_. + +Now, it falls to my lot to know much more of the history of Mr. Green +than any of those who know it only from his own statements and +publications. About four or five years ago, in the city of New York, I +became acquainted with a gentleman by the name of Ball, a dealer in +ivory; this Mr. B. exhibited a large quantity of Mr. Green's cheating +cards, and said that Mr. Green was largely in his debt, and that his +only way to make the debt was to sell those cards, and asked me to buy. +He then took me into another room and exhibited to me some very costly +machinery, and certainly the strangest I had ever seen;--it had been +invented by Mr. Green to put a sign on white-back cards, so as to know +them by the backs. He also showed me other stamps invented by Mr. Green. +Now the consummation of this work had cost Mr. Green not only much +valuable time, but all the money he could possibly borrow; but, after +all, the thing ends in disaster--the cards don't sell. Desperation +seizes upon him. Like Arnold, he now throws his eye over to the other +camp, and thinks what might be done in the way of a reward. He consoles +himself with the reflection that he will, at least, be upon the side of +virtue: "I will tell the public that my only motive is to benefit the +rising generation, (a profitable thought with Mr. Green, 'the rising +generation'); but in order to begin right, I will publish to the world a +full history of my life, in which it will devolve upon me to make a +confession of my sins. All, I will disclose to the world; but as to that +ponderous machinery at Mr. Ball's in New York--I rather think I will +skip that." + +Now when poverty pinched the prodigal son, as it did Mr. Green in New +York, what was the language of that truly penitent. Alluding to his old +father, he says: "I will go and tell _all_ I ever done, &c." But when +Mr. Green resolves to put on a mask of penitence, what is his course? I +will go and tell those good ministers of the gospel, and others, _half_ +I ever done, &c., and then take good care to run my hand as deep into +their purses as possible. + +Now in Mr. Green's crusade against gambling and gamblers, if he had +shown signs of purity of motive, and had not wantonly and knowingly +misrepresented the men, and disguised the facts in regard to the +profession, I would be the last man living to impugn him. But the +motive, I consider, was _corrupt_--'twas spoils;--and in the mode of +attack, the established principle in morals has _not_ been regarded, +which is, that the means in the accomplishment of any public good must +always be as honest as the ends; and for these reasons I do feel +sanguine in the belief, when the trial comes off at the Chinese Museum +next week, that if I do not get the verdict, I shall do more--I shall +deserve it. + + Yours, &c. J.G. FREEMAN. + +N.B.--If the gentlemen, editors generally, of this city, will give the +above communication a place in their columns, with such comments as they +may think fit to make, they will confer a favour upon one of the +proscribed, but one who suffers no man to stand in front of him as a +lover of truth. + + J.G.F. + + + Communicated for the Sun. + +_Messrs. Barrett & Jones_:--I had supposed that my consent to Mr. +Freeman's request to be heard in defence of his fraternity, had fixed +that issue. I did not intend by the announcement of my lecturing on the +evenings alluded to by Mr. F., that they were to be any thing more than +a fair discussion of the character and tendencies of gambling, if Mr. F. +should think proper to participate. I wish it now to be so understood. I +want a committee of gentlemen to arrange this matter. But why Mr. F. +should suppose that he should have half the proceeds of the meeting, I +am unable to conjecture. He seeks an opportunity to defend his business +against attacks which it seems has excited no small share of alarm on +his part, or those whom he represents, and yet he demands remuneration! +The fraternity must be in a rather forlorn condition at present, if they +are unable to pay their attorney, in so philanthropic a cause. When we +consider the source, this demand sits with ill grace upon such a +champion. I have laboured now for four years, having commenced my reform +without a dollar, to expose this damnable vice. If I am not supported by +the public which my labours are designed to benefit, those labours must +necessarily cease. + +Were Mr. F. similarly engaged, I would share with him not only the +profits of my meetings, but my heart's best feelings also. + +I shall be very happy if I am met, as I was led to believe, am no +speaker, but somewhat skilful with cards, _and their_ use by me before +an intelligent audience is my argument; I want no better for my purpose. + + J. H. GREEN. + +Messrs. Editors:--It appears from Mr. Green's last communication that he +and I are at issue in regard to the preliminary arrangements of the +debate that is to come off next week, upon the gambling question. He +thinks that he ought to have all the proceeds of the meeting; and I +think it should be equally divided, or else given to some charitable +institution, or else have it free. Mr. Green's argument for supposing +that he should have _all_, is, that because he has been labouring four +years, he ought to be rewarded: and in rather a threatening tone gives +the public to understand that if they do not reward him he will quit. +"If I am not," he says, "supported by the public, which my labours are +designed to benefit, those labours must necessarily cease." Now, _my_ +argument for supposing that the proceeds should be equally divided is, +that I claim to be the _real_ reformer; that it will be seen by those +who may attend the discussion, that it is _I_ that am the true +moralist--I shall go with the New Testament in one hand, and Dr. Paley's +Moral Philosophy in the other, and upon that battery, and no other, will +I plant my artillery. He that is _green_ enough to suppose that I am +green-_horn_ enough to get up before a large audience, in the +enlightened city of Philadelphia, to defend an absurdity, must be +verdant indeed I go not to defend gamblers, but to defend truth, and to +show that Mr. Green, like a corrupt witness, in his eagerness to procure +a verdict for his party, goes beyond the facts; and that too when there +is no necessity for it, for the gambler has real sins enough without +heaping others upon him which he never committed. Now then, to end all +this difficulty at a blow, I make to Mr. Green the proposition--That the +honourable Mayor of the city, if he will do it, be the person to appoint +the committee that is to conduct the debate, and to the decision of the +committee, as to the funds, will I cordially submit, but not to Mr. +_Green's ipse dixit_. And here I will further suggest, that the +committee be composed wholly of lawyers. This will be proper, because it +is a question of law that is to be discussed; and further, it is +presumed that they understand better than any other class of men what is +called parliamentary usage. + +Should this proposition not be acceded to, which I _know_ is fair, my +course will be to debate the question on "my own hook," and in that case +take all the money and give Mr. Green not a dollar of it, but invite him +to come to _my_ quarters, and defend himself, for I shall certainly be +down upon him--and so let him go to his house the next night and take +what may be offered at his door, and allow me to answer him in what he +may have to say. + +When Mr. Green, in his acceptance of my challenge, _would_ call the +debate a _lecture_, I saw that old habits, that of cheating, had not yet +left him. Why it looks as though he has the unblushing impudence to +attempt to turn a Jack from the bottom, upon me, in the very blaze of +day, the very first deal; but the gentleman ought to know that he is now +in contact with one who knows how little things are done. Yes, he would +have it that the _debate_ was a lecture, and _Mr. Green's_ lecture, not +mine, and why? Why because if it be his lecture, all the cash would, as +a matter of course, be his. Also, is this not, I ask, the trick of a +perfect black-leg? + + J.G. FREEMAN. + + + First Night, from the Times. + +On Monday evening, at the Lecture-room of the Chinese Museum, the debate +between Mr. Green, the Reformed gambler, and Mr. J.G. Freeman of the +opposite side took place, in the presence of a very large and highly +respectable audience, partly composed of ladies. + +Dr. Elder, at the appointed time, announced that the disputants were +upon the ground, and prepared to enter into the discussion of the +subject of gambling. He then introduced Mr. Freeman to the meeting. + +Mr. F. said his antagonist and himself had settled the preliminaries, +and in regard to the proceeds of the debates, it had been agreed that +Mr. Green should receive those of the two first meetings, and that Mr. +Freeman should receive the returns of the third meeting, provided, on +motion, a large majority of those present were in favour of it. + +He would not attempt to disguise his real feelings from his hearers, and +the gratification he experienced in having the opportunity of speaking, +for once in his life, to an audience composed of men of intelligence and +integrity. He well knew the difficulties under which he laboured, being +unused to speaking in public, and surrounded as he was in the community +by the reverend gentlemen and the press, who were avowedly opposed to +him, and who had thrown their bomb-shells and Congreve rockets liberally +at the gambling fraternity, without mercy, but he regarded these weapons +as harmless, for they had fallen at his feet without inflicting a single +wound. + +Mr. F. then turned to the consideration of the laws making gambling a +penal offence, and particularly referred to the act of Assembly passed +by the last legislature, which he denounced as unjust and impolitic. He +did not appear for the purpose of defending gambling, but to speak a +word in favour of those who had been represented to be the worst +members of society, and against whom the voice of proscription had been +raised. He contended that a man had a constitutional right to do what he +pleased with that which was legally his own property, and all laws +passed to abridge that right ought to receive public reprehension. + +He was at a loss to understand why Mr. Green should have taken so active +a part in the passage of the law at Harrisburg. It had been said that +gambling must be checked, and in order to put it down, you must make it +a penitentiary offence. He regarded this as an egregious error. +Gambling, he was convinced, ought to be treated in the same manner as +Intemperance--by moral suasion--and not by passing a law that puts a man +in the penitentiary for exercising a legal right. But there were fewer +gamblers than drunkards, and the former had no influence at the +ballot-box. + +He denied the statements of Mr. Green, that young men had been enticed +to gambling-houses. They invariably went there of their own accord, and +he related instances in which the relatives and friends of young men +were called upon by gamblers, to exercise proper authority in +restraining them from visiting such places. + +He alluded to the excessive penalty attached to the law, and argued that +it would never be enforced, there being no inducement for the police to +detect the offenders; and that from the face of the law is shown, that +it was not made for the punishment of wealthy gamblers, but the poor +itinerant wretches who had no local habitation. These being birds of +passage, he questioned whether they would remain long enough in one +place to be caught, while the rich operator and speculator would be +permitted to go on unmolested, in his gilded career of depredations +upon his fellow man. + +Mr. Green then arose and expressed his surprise that any individual +could have the effrontery to stand up before an intelligent body of +citizens, a part of that constituency, from whom the legislature of the +state had derived its authority, and denounce a law which had not only +been passed with entire unanimity of the members of that body, but which +had met with general favour from the people. He then referred to the act +of Assembly, and made some explanatory remarks upon it. He ably defended +the law from the remarks of his opponent, in regard to its vagueness and +insufficiency. On the whole, he regarded it as a good one. It could be +effectively put in force, and was calculated to crush the evil of +gambling. + +He said he had no wish to conceal from the people his former habits and +mode of getting a livelihood, but on the contrary, had repeatedly, in +public, represented himself as being a wary gambler, and acknowledged +that he had done, perhaps, as much with cards in a professional way as +any man claiming the same amount of information in regard to them. + +He then passed to a review of the terrible consequences of gambling, and +showed that those who became addicted to it, acquired a passion for +play, that predominated over every other feeling, and closed up the +springs of affection and sympathy in the human heart. + +These facts he forcibly and eloquently illustrated by relating some +painful occurrence, which came under his observation. On one occasion he +was playing with a party, one of whom was losing his money very +rapidly. In the height of a game, his family physician entered the +room, and saying that it was with much difficulty that he found his +whereabouts, informed him that his daughter had been seized with extreme +illness. The gambler replied, that he would return to his home very +soon. + +The doctor left, but not long after returned with the gambler's wife, +who implored him to come home, as the girl was dying. He desired the +doctor to lead his wife from the room, with the solemn promise to follow +them; which promise he seemed to have forgotten the next instant, so +deeply was he interested in the play, and he remained at the +gaming-table. In a little while after, the doctor returned and told him +his daughter was dead. For the moment, he appeared to be greatly +affected, but he still sat at the faro table of that h----l, and when he +arose from it he was a ruined man. + +The man has since reformed, and Mr. Green said that when he last saw +him, in Baltimore, he attempted to describe the feelings which rent his +breast, after he had realized the sad events of that night. His first +desire was to commit suicide, but the hand of Providence stayed his arm, +and by His interposition he was enabled to turn from the vice, and shun +the society of those who practise it. + +Mr. Green re-asserted that all he had stated about plans being laid to +catch the unwary, by gamblers, was strictly true. He had been cognisant +of plottings of the fraternity, and in speaking of some individual who +was about to be plucked, the common expression among them was, "that he +was not ripe yet." The remarks of Mr Green were listened to with great +attention by the audience. + +Mr. Freeman followed, and after briefly replying to the points of the +previous speaker, said that it was his intention, at the next meeting, +to prove that all species of speculation is, properly speaking, +gambling. + +The Rev. John Chambers concluded. He confessed his disappointment. He +expected to find a man here who would attempt to defend gambling, but he +congratulated the audience that no such thing had been attempted, Mr. +Freeman having acknowledged gambling to be an evil. + +The Reverend gentleman's remarks were of a general character, and in the +course of their delivery he upheld the law of the state, and unsparingly +denounced those for whose detection and punishment it was passed. + + + First Night, from the Saturday Evening Post. + +The discussion on gambling, between Mr. Green the Reformed gambler, and +Mr. Freeman, of the "Profession," which has been looked forward to with +so much interest, opened upon Monday evening. The audience generally, +however, were rather disappointed, inasmuch as Mr. Freeman stated that +he did not come there to defend gambling, but only to prove the folly +and injustice of attempting to put it down by making its practice, _by +professional gamblers_, an offence punishable by imprisonment in the +penitentiary. But although Mr. Freeman made this avowal, he evidently +did attempt in various parts of the discussion to defend gambling--not, +however, as a thing good in itself, but as being no worse than many +other practices which society tolerates, and which no man loses his +reputation, or is in danger of imprisonment, for engaging in. + +We have no scruple in confessing, that we were much interested in Mr. +Freeman. He appears to be one of a singular class of men, some one of +whom may be found in nearly every pursuit, however dishonourable--men of +keen and subtle minds, and of as much goodness and honesty of purpose as +is possible in the life which they have chosen, or into which perhaps +they have been in a degree forced. In the course of his remarks, he made +one allusion to his own history, which while it told as much as any +thing that was said in the course of the debate against gambling, opened +unto us, in a degree, the secret of his present position. He said that +when he was a young man, he had lost his all at the gaming table, and +that from that blow he had never recovered--"_it had broken his heart_." +And yet, strange anomaly, he now not only makes his living by gambling, +but stands up before the world as its defender. + +But let us look a little further into Mr. Freeman's arguments. He did +not state them very plainly, being evidently unaccustomed to public +speaking, and, as the English say, to "thinking on his legs," but if we +are not mistaken, he reasons to his own heart as follows. Gambling in +cards is not right _abstractly_, but it is the same in principle as +gambling in stocks, in breadstuffs, in merchandise, in land, or in any +thing else. None of these are right, but they are necessary fruits of +the folly and wickedness of men, and inevitable in the present condition +of society. "I make my living, I know," he probably says, "from the +weakness and wickedness of my fellow men; but so do the physician, the +judge, the lawyer, the jailer, and the hangman." If we are not mistaken, +in this way does Mr. Freeman make out a clear case to his own +conscience; and to some small extent he is right in what he asserts. To +gamble with cards is the same principle as to gamble with stocks, or any +thing else--the difference is only one of degree; but although the +gambler and the judge both live, in a certain sense, off of the vices of +their fellow men, the difference is very evident between him whose +business conduces to increase those vices, and his whose noble office it +is to lessen them. + +But Mr. Freeman complains that, while the gambler with cards is +proscribed by society, and branded with all marks of shame, and laws +passed to imprison him if found practising his art, the gambler in +stocks is neither reviled nor imprisoned. At the rank injustice, as he, +in our opinion, honestly believes it, of this course on the part of +society, he can hardly contain his indignation. Those "uncouth +gestures," as one of our contemporaries designates them, were not in our +opinion intended for effect, but were the natural language of +uncontrollable indignation at what he believes to be the rank in justice +of society, which he could not adequately express in words. The audience +laughed, but the speaker was far from laughing--a perfect tempest of +conflicting emotions, it seemed to us, was agitating his bosom. Strange +as it may sound to our readers, he evidently thought that his cause was +just, and wanted to make it appear so, not to the gamblers and their +friends, hundreds of whom were present, and ready at any moment with +their applause, but to the crowd of intelligent, virtuous men and women, +in whose audience he stood. We saw the breaking out of this feeling in +the half-contemptuous manner in which he alluded to the tastes of +gamblers in general, as contrasted with his own--"he did not keep the +company of gamblers; he had nothing to say against them, but his tastes +were different." + +But is it unjust to punish the gambler with cards by imprisonment and +public proscription, while the gambler in stocks, &c., whose crime is +the same in principle, though not in degree, goes unwhipt of justice? +Undoubtedly it is, for it is no reason that one vice should go +unpunished, because another is able to escape for the present. Mr. +Freeman's argument is very good, so far as it applies to inflicting upon +the gambler in stocks the same penalty as on himself; but the law of +Progress, and the best interests of society, demand that these things +should never be allowed to work backwards. For the way society advances, +is simply this--the worst manifestations of vice are first proscribed, +and then their proscription is made a stepping-stone to demolish others. +For instance--we attack gambling with cards, the worst manifestation of +the gambling principle; we make it abhorrent to the moral sense of the +world; we so confound it, and justly too, with robbery, that future +generations shall grow up in that faith, and all the efforts of +interested sophistry never be able henceforward to separate them to the +popular apprehension. Having done this, in the course of some fifty or +one hundred years, certain dealings in stocks, for instance, are called +in question. If they can be proved to be rightly described by the phrase +"GAMBLING in Stocks," the battle is half-won. For the proscription of +the worst kind of gambling has given a vantage ground from which to +attack the principle of gambling wherever found. And this, we say, is +the only law of progress. + +Another ground taken by Mr. Freeman was, that "a man has a right to do +what he chooses with his own, if in so doing he does not injure anybody +else." In a limited sense, this is true, doubtless--but he does injure +somebody else if he fails to perform his duties to his family or to his +country. For instance, he has no right to commit suicide. But gambling +cannot be done without injuring somebody else, as it takes two to play +at it--leaving out of view the injury done to society at large, as Mr. +Green has shown in his various works on the subject. But there is no +necessity in dwelling upon this point--it cannot be defended for a +moment. + +As to Mr. Green's part in the discussion, it is not necessary to say +much. He has our confidence and sympathy. We consider his present course +a most noble one, and wish him all success in his efforts to overthrow +the abominable vice from whose clutches he has come forth a reformed +man. + +We have taken up considerable room with this subject, because we feel +great interest in both parties engaged in the discussion. Did Mr. +Freeman appear to be only a bold, bad man, we should hardly have wasted +a single paragraph upon him or his arguments. But he is evidently a man +of considerable information and talent, and to all appearance, strange +as it may sound, of much sincerity and cross-grained honesty. That he +may be led to forsake his present pursuits, before his gray hairs shall +have gone down to a dishonoured grave, is our fervent wish and prayer. + + + From Scott's Weekly. + +The interesting question between Mr. J. H. Green, the Reformed Gambler, +and Mr. J.G. Freeman, as to the rights of gambling, was discussed in the +Lecture-room of the Museum Building, on Monday evening last. A large +audience attended, and notwithstanding the zeal of Mr. Freeman more than +once carried him a little beyond the limits of propriety, the whole +passed off pleasantly. + +The announcement in the papers was not adhered to, which created some +dissatisfaction; but then the speeches of Mr. Freeman were of themselves +well worth the price of admission. He did not defend gambling--he could +not, he said, pretend to defend it--he only meant to deny the sweeping +aspersions of its foes. He spoke at great length, and sometimes his +logic was quite ingenious. + +Mr. Green confined himself to a few facts, leaving the more minute part +of the discussion for a subsequent evening. + +The Rev. John Chambers closed the proceedings by a few timely remarks, +in which he reviewed what he considered lawful and unlawful +pursuits--among these latter, he hoped to see the time that every vender +of intoxicating liquors would be placed in the same catalogue that +gamblers are by the recent law--imprisonment. He then referred to the +decorum of the audience, and expressed a hope that all the future +discussions would be listened to in the same spirit--that all the truth +possible may be elicited in reference to that terrible vice--gambling. + + + From the Inquirer. + +The long-talked-of debate upon gambling and its tendencies, was +commenced last evening in the Lecture-room of the Chinese Museum. The +audience was large, and deep interest was manifested in the discussion. +Aboard of highly respectable gentlemen presided as Moderators, and Dr. +Elder officiated as chairman. + +Mr. Freeman, the challenger, opened the debate, and proposed that the +question be met in a categorical form, thus:--Were the laws of the +different states which make gambling a Penitentiary offence unjust and +impolitic? Were they formed in good policy or not? + +Mr. Freeman considered himself as honoured in being permitted to speak +before the meeting on the question. Fearful odds were against him; all +the ranks of battle were on the other side. The clergy, who were +accustomed to public speaking, were against him--as well as the editors +and the press. In the war now raging, the climate--the sickly climate, +was more dangerous than the shells and shot of the enemy--and in this +case, the sickly climate was the prejudice, the prejudice of opinion, +which was against the cause he espoused, or rather defended. Mr. F. also +referred to other influences against him. Mr. F. contended that even, if +the states in which such laws were passed, disliked the vice of +gambling--it was no reason why they should pass laws that were unjust +and impolitic. + +Mr. F. contended, in opposition to such laws, that a man had a perfect +right to do what he pleased with his own things. Any legislation to the +contrary was tyranny. More mischief and immorality would result from +such laws than from the vice itself--for it was a violation of one of +the rights of man on the mere score of expediency. He contended, +therefore, that men had a perfect right to do what they pleased with +their own things, so long as they did not interfere with the rights of +others. A drunkard could not drink without disturbing other people--why +not make his a Penitentiary offence? Yet a gambler was considered a +Penitentiary offender, though he did not interfere with the rights of +others. + +What were speculators in railroads, &c. &c.?--Why many of them gamblers +on the largest scale! + +In noticing the temptations of gambling, Mr. F. said that he and other +gamblers had often warned youths against entering upon that dangerous +course, and had thus saved them from ruin. + +Mr. F. argued against the law recently enacted at Harrisburg against +gambling, on the ground that it was partial and unjust. + +One of the strangest things was, that a man who had been imprisoned, had +been an outcast himself, should be the first to betray, and to place +others in the same situation, and send them to the Penitentiary. Yet +such was the case with the gentleman who had come from Ohio to +Harrisburg to assist in obtaining the passage of the law against +gambling. + +Mr. Green replied, and defended the law in question, as it was passed in +Pennsylvania; and read a section, in which gamblers, without a fixed +residence, were, upon conviction, to be imprisoned, &c.; and Mr. G. said +that although no games were mentioned, yet all gambling games were +included. Mr. G. admitted that he had been a gambler for many years, and +had done much evil to the community--as much as most evil men--but he +was now, he hoped, reformed. Mr. G. then contended that several +gambling-houses and tables had been closed under this law--and surely +this was a great advantage to the public--surely such closing of +gaming-houses had saved many persons from ruin. + +Mr. Green gave much experience of his gambling life, and contended that +principles of honour were not common among gamblers. Gambling was a +principle of robbery--of robbery from beginning to end. If gambling was +right--why, Mr. Green would ask--did the former speaker persuade young +men not to come into gambling-houses? Mr. Green described a splendid +gambling-house in Calvert street, Baltimore, and the snares of robbery +laid for the unwary--and the method adopted to entrap a rich and unwary +citizen. The revelations were truly startling, and displayed a painful +instance of the _"facilis descensus averni"_--a father whose feelings +were blunted, and hardly to be re-awakened even by the death of a +beloved daughter. And this was but one instance out of thousands, in +which the sum of $1200, $1500, and $2000 had been lost at various times, +and a fatal, fascinating infatuation contracted. + +Mr. Freeman resumed, and again contended for the right of any man to +gamble--that he had a right to do what he would with his own--and that a +law was unfair which punished this one vice, and let other and greater +vices alone. It was cowardly legislation. A gambler was said to have no +home, and would not be missed, if he were sent to prison; but send a man +of property, of standing to prison for some one of _his_ vices, and +there would soon be a fuss in the wigwam. Mr. F. was very severe upon +the great body of editors, for following servilely public opinion, +without courage or independence to express a manly opinion of their own. + +Mr. F. said that all ministers were not good men--there were a few +exceptions--neither should all gamblers, in fairness, be considered as +scoundrels. He, Mr. F. as a gambler, never would admit his inferiority +to those individuals who, without labour, gained money and circumvented +others by extensive and fraudulent schemes of speculation. + +The Rev. John Chambers summed up with great eloquence and ability, and +said that he was disappointed--he had expected a defence and vindication +of gambling as an _honourable_ profession--but he was glad to find that +the gentleman who had spoken, Mr. Freeman, had not even attempted to +advocate gambling as truthful or honest. + +Mr. Chambers considered all dealing fair, in which a man received a +_quid pro quo_--but whether a man cheat at cards or in the sale of a +bale of dry goods, he was equally a scoundrel. If Mr. Freeman would make +it appear that gambling was a fair business, he (Mr. C.) would not wish +it to be a Penitentiary offence; but if gambling was, as Mr. Green had +shown, a system of robbery--why then, it ought to be a Penitentiary +offence. Mr. C. said that Mr. Freeman had behaved honourably--for he had +said to young men--"Do not come into this place!" And why? Because it +was the road to ruin. + +Mr. C. regretted that Mr. Freeman should have made several scriptural +allusions. No virtuous man would ever support gambling--for it gave no +equivalent either in money or reputation for the losses sustained. As +such was the case, gambling should be a Penitentiary offence--but if Mr. +Freeman could prove that it was an upright and honourable calling, why +then, perhaps, he might induce us to apprentice our children to it. + +After Mr. Green had spoken for a few minutes, the debate was adjourned +to Thursday evening next. + + + From the Evening Bulletin. + +The great discussion on the subject of gambling came off last night at +the Chinese Museum, between Mr. Green, the celebrated Reformed Gambler, +and Mr. Freeman, the individual who acknowledges himself one of the +"sporting" band. The audience was very large and respectable. A board of +worthy gentlemen were appointed a governing committee, of which Dr. +Elder acted as chairman. The whole proceedings were marked with the +greatest decorum. + +Mr. Freeman spoke first. He is a man somewhat advanced in years, and +possesses abilities, which we could wish were better applied than in the +defence, or even palliation, of such a corrupting habit as gambling. He +directed his batteries mainly against the late gambling laws in this +state. + +He did not like the application to professional and not private +gambling. He denounced editors and ministers by wholesale; in regard to +the former, declaring that there was only one in the country who was +really independent, and that one, Bennett of the New York Herald! He +quoted Scripture, but that is not surprising, for we are told by the +poet, "the devil may cite Scripture." His manner was violent, and his +allusions to his opponent, Mr. Green, the very essence of bitterness. +He tried to slide his repugnance to that gentleman into the small corner +of contempt; but the whole audience could see that he, in reality, +entertained no such trifling feelings towards his opponent. + +Mr. Green spoke in reply to Freeman, not only like a gentleman, but like +a Christian. He treated the sneers of his opponent with kindness, +seeming to be sorry, if one might judge from his manner, that he should +have boldly placed himself in the point which he occupies before the +community. There was a plain, straightforward honesty, as well as a +gentleness in the tone and manner of Green, which, though he did not +indulge in such a flow of language as his opponent, spoke volumes in +favour of his sincerity, and won for him new friends and admirers. His +opponent had intimated both by word and act, that he was not to be +trusted; he did not seem to feel it necessary to go into a defence of +his motives in reply, but appeared to say, "Here I am,--I come to +denounce a habit of pestiferous corrupting influence, of which I have +practical knowledge; I will stand or fall by the position which I have +taken,--leaving the future to show the world whether or not I am +honest." Freeman spoke again after Green concluded, and very much in the +same style as in the early part of the evening. + +After he had concluded, the Rev. John Chambers made an address, which +was marked with strong argument and a fine Christian-like tone. Mr. +Green then said a few words, and the meeting adjourned to Thursday +evening, at the same place, when the discussion is to be resumed. There +doubtless will be a large attendance. No subject could be more +interesting to the public, and the agitation of none can exercise a +better moral influence. + + + From the North American. + +A good-humoured illustration of the right of every one to say what he +pleases, took place at the Lecture-room of the Museum last evening. Mr. +Freeman, an uncouth man, who gesticulates as if he was mending shoes, +but who has naturally no inconsiderable endowment of brain and nerve, +delivered himself of a tirade against everybody in general, and against +the press and clergy in particular. He complained that everybody was +against him--compared the clergy to Gen. Scott and his regulars; the +editors to bomb-shells and Congreve rockets, and what else we know not; +himself individually to Gen. Taylor, and the race of the poor persecuted +gamblers to our Saviour--who, he said, like them, had not where to lay +his head! + +The impious jumble of fustian and blasphemy was accompanied in the +delivery by every species of grimace and buffoonery, and a fierceness of +dramatic action and posture far more ludicrously affecting than the +classic attitudes of Gen. Tom Thumb, who was defying the lightning, as +Ajax, dying like the Gladiator, and taking snuff like Napoleon, in the +room overhead. At the bottom of all this ridiculous exhibition, which +drew repeated shouts of laughter from the very large and respectable +audience, lay two principles upon which Mr. Freeman might have erected +an imposing argumentative structure. These were, that every man has a +right to do what he pleases with his own, so that he does not disturb +others; and that laws punishing professional gamblers and letting +citizens go free, are unjust. + +Mr. Green, without going into the metaphysics of the question, showed by +some very plain and straightforward remarks the fraud and villany of +professional gambling, and proved that it was throughout a _system_ of +deliberate robbery. This being the case, it follows, of course, that the +general good of the community, which has ever been acknowledged +paramount, requires it to be put down. Thus satisfactorily stood the +question when we left, and we do not see how it can fairly be removed +from this broad ground. It is evident that Mr. Green is a sincere man, +and we firmly believe that he is engaged in a good work. + + +SECOND NIGHT. + + + From the Inquirer. + +The discussion between Mr. Green, the Reformed gambler, and Mr. Freeman +in opposition, was continued yesterday evening, in the Lecture-room of +the Chinese Museum, Leonard Jewell, Esq. in the chair. + +Mr. Freeman contended that not one of his arguments, on the previous +evening, had been answered by Mr. Green, but anecdotes and doleful +stories had been told instead. Mr. F. defended his allusions from +Scripture, and said that they had been misconstrued; that he only meant +to say that the Saviour of mankind had recommended us to do good, and to +return good for evil; but some of the clergy had not followed the golden +rule in this matter, for punishment and the Penitentiary had been +recommended by them as a cure for gambling. As it was known that he (the +speaker) played, he came only to defend gambling as far as truth went, +but no farther--there he would stop. + +Mr. Freeman complained that Mr. Green had classed _all_ gamblers as men +of the worst character--as if they were thieves or counterfeiters, +whereas Mr. G. knew that he could mention many who were incapable of +doing any thing mean--men who would denounce a counterfeiter as soon as +any one in that room. Mr. Freeman related a story of a fraudulent trick, +by which a large sum of money had been fraudulently obtained, and its +recovery prevented by force--one individual, who was named, menacing +with a bowie-knife; and Mr. F. said of the getter-up of the +plan--pointing to Mr. Green--"as Nathan said unto David, there sits the +man!" + +Mr. Green admitted that it might be so--that it was so. + +Mr. Freeman said that he knew Mr. Green's friends had a reply to cover +all such things--because he was a reformed man--Mr. F. hoped it was so, +but he really had some little doubt. + +Mr. F. distinguished between deep play, which he likened to the +_strategie_ of generals in the field, the one to mislead the other, and +open, undisguised cheating, which he denounced. Mr. F. referred to +several distinguished men who gambled--and to several well-known +gamblers--and he defied Mr. Green to say that any one he had named would +or could be guilty of a mean action. + +There was in the world a certain amount of wealth--the many of mankind +were (the industrious) producers--but he held that all men, speculators, +who circumvented others by their wits, living without work, were in +point of fact--_gamblers_. If a man were to go into the street and gain +$3000 in a morning by a stock or other speculation--why, as surely as we +lived, somebody lost that money--aye, and by gambling on the largest +scale. Men who lost their money at a gaming-table went there to win +money of the gamblers--but generally lost their own. Their object was to +put the gambler's money in their own pockets; and when they were +disappointed, they exclaimed against gamblers. Gamblers lived on the +depravity of men; if men were not depraved, gamblers would have no +chance; but they were encouraged by the depravity of others. Mr. F. +condemned and would punish cheating, whether by gamblers or other +speculators. + +Mr. Green did not wish to say any thing personally against any of the +men or gamblers who had been named by Mr. F. Some were benevolent +men--but one or two he had named were men without heart. He (Mr. G.) +knew several gamblers, amateurs and professional men, who were +straightforward in their gambling transactions. He did not desire to +hurt the feelings of any of these individuals--he attacked not men but +vice--and he contended that gambling was a system of robbery, from +beginning to end. That it was that he contended for--and that, he hoped, +he had already shown. Mr. Green admitted that Mr. Freeman's story of the +scheme gotten up, bowie-knife, &c., was in the main correct. If meeting +contracts was honest--why then, many gamblers might be called honest. He +did not mean to say that such HONEST gamblers would put their hands in a +man's pocket and steal money--no--they would not do that. + +But he would say what they would do;--they would sit up all night, have +suppers, wine and spirits set out to tempt men, and they would play with +any that came; and though some such customers were known or suspected to +have obtained the money they played with by robbery, yet he never knew +that the gamblers had ever refused to allow such men to play, so long as +they had money. Mr. Green described several snares that were practised +by gamblers, particularly one at New Orleans, called the "broker." He +hoped some of the gamblers of this city would reform as soon as the new +law went into effect. He had already heard of some having turned +collectors, policemen, &c.--but he doubted their reform if they were +turned over to the police--for though there were some very good +policemen in this city, he could confidently say also there were some +spotted ones. + +Mr. Green considered the bowling-alleys and billiard rooms as the very +bane of the city--leading men on step by step to the vices of gambling +and drunkenness. Mr. Green stated that he had never met with a gambler +in his life, who played honestly, and got his living by playing cards +honestly--for all he had ever known would take advantage, +sometimes--which perhaps the world might call cheating. Mr. Green +practically illustrated with a pack of cards the modes of taking +advantage, (cheating in plain English,) that were truly surprising. Mr. +G. said that such things were done by gamblers, called _honourable_, and +if any one had charged such men with dishonesty, why a duel, or worse, +might have been the consequence. + +On one occasion, he (Mr. Green) had been cheated out of several hundred +dollars by a brother gambler. He knew it, but lost his money and said +nothing--at length, he found out the method of cheating--and went home +and set up all night by way of studying a cheat that would recover his +money and more. He succeeded at last, and went and won all the money of +his antagonist and party--in fact, he won enough to break the whole +party. Mr. Green then showed by cards how he had been engaged in winning +(by tricks) money from a planter in Louisiana. + +Mr. Freeman replied, and contended that Mr. Green had referred to only a +few mean gamblers--and by his inference charged their practices upon the +whole body. But our limited space warns us to be brief. Mr. Freeman only +contended that a gambler was honest in a relative point of view--as +honest as other men who in trade or otherwise, or in speculation, did +things as bad or worse than gamblers. Mr. F. related anecdotes to show +that persons charged with faults and crimes were almost always condemned +by public opinion, and their faults and crimes exaggerated. Mr. F. +stated that in former times, the keepers of gaming-houses in New Orleans +paid heavy licenses, and were subject to ruinous fines if they cheated +in the smallest degree. + +Mr. F. contended that cheating at cards was decidedly a disadvantage to +the gambler--because, if he lost his character as a fair man, people +would not play with him, and so cheating was to him a loss: on the +principle of a man in England, who said he would give a hundred thousand +dollars for a character. "Why?" asked his friends. "Because," replied +the first, "because I could gain two hundred thousand dollars by it!" + +Mr. F. introduced several anecdotes. Mr. F. had heard several sensible +men in New Orleans say, that if gaming-houses there were licensed, there +would be little or no cheating, because those houses would be under the +police, and people could not then do as they now do in holes and +corners. On the principle of "Vice is a creature of such hateful mien," +&c. &c., Mr. F. thought that Mr. Green, by showing and explaining some +of his tricks, would be likely to tempt some persons to practise such +tricks, if they wanted a little money; and on this point he would quote +Scripture, and say--"Lead us not into temptation!" + +Mr. Freeman exhibited a capital trick on the cards, quite equal to some +of Mr. Green's. But, said Mr. F., all such things were nothing--for, in +gambling, playing on the square with fairness is the best policy. [Mr. +Green admitted Mr. Freeman's trick to be very superior--and it was at +length understood that at the next meeting (on Saturday night) several +of these mysteries would be shown on both sides.] + +Mr. Green declared that he could show the principle of gambling to be a +hundred per cent. worse than stealing. + +The debate was listened to with much interest, and we learn that it will +be closed to-morrow (Saturday) evening. + + From the Evening Bulletin. + +Messrs. Green and Freeman renewed their discussion last night, at the +Chinese Museum, in the presence of a crowded audience, Leonard Jewell, +Esq. in the chair. Mr. Freeman spoke first, and very _modestly_ +contended that none of his arguments of the previous evening had been +answered by his opponent, but that, instead of this, painful anecdotes +and stories had been told. He had quoted Scripture only to show that +making stringent laws to punish gambling was contrary to the spirit of +our Saviour's teaching, viz. to return good for evil. This argument, +will, of course, apply to all laws for the punishment of crime. Freeman +went on to except to Green's wholesale denunciations of all gamblers; it +was well known that some were _honourable_ men. There were a few bad +ones, his opponent knew, and one, in particular, who on a certain +occasion drew a bowie-knife to prevent a sum of money, fraudulently +obtained, being returned to its proper owner. Green acknowledged that he +was the man to whom Freeman alluded. He would not deny that he had been +as guilty as the guiltiest. + +Freeman continued by saying that he supposed his opponent would get over +this by saying he had reformed. Green looked assent. + +Freeman justified gambling by business operations, which were the result +of chance, such as stock-jobbing; but we confess we cannot see where the +parallel begins, the one being a clear matter of chance on both sides, +the other, if Green's stories be true, which we firmly believe, all on +the side of the gambler, who cheats from the beginning to the ending of +his playing, what with tricks of the trade, marked cards, &c. Freeman +took the ground that gamblers were honest, and thus made out a better +case than the facts will sustain. + +Mr. Green's reply was quiet and unaffected. He knew some gamblers who +were straightforward and honourable in their playing. But the majority +of the profession were dishonest, and the community was demoralized and +impoverished by them. He admitted the story about the bowie-knife. He +had never been disposed to conceal any of his wicked acts while one of +the _profession_. There was one point on which all gamblers were +unprincipled; they would play and win money of men they knew were +totally ignorant of the arts of card-playing. This was a fraud--it was +dishonest; a strong argument against the whole band, good or bad. + +Mr. Green denounced bowling-alleys and billiard saloons. He then exposed +the tricks by which gamblers cheated, and in doing so interested the +audience very much. + +Freeman's rejoinder was still to the end that some gamblers were honest +and honourable. He knew that there were rogues among gamblers, who +practised tricks, and he gave an excellent specimen of their adroitness, +in a trick which Mr. Green acknowledged was a capital one. + +The debate was listened to throughout with great attention. It will be +resumed on Saturday evening. + + +THIRD NIGHT + + + From the Daily Sun. + +On Saturday evening, the debate between Messrs. Green and Freeman, on +the subject of gambling, was resumed, in the Lecture-room of the Museum +building. There was a full audience in attendance, and towards the close +of the debate, the proceedings became intensely interesting. + +At the appointed hour, Dr. Elder, the moderator, made a few remarks, by +way of opening the meeting, and introduced + +Mr. Freeman, who, upon advancing to the table, said that he regarded it +as complimentary indeed, that he was permitted to proceed with the +discussion. Under all the circumstances, he considered it a great +compliment, that a highly intelligent audience should listen to one of +the proscribed fraternity. But friends, (said the speaker,) if the scene +of the discussion lay farther South, in the region of the spot where he +was born, he would not consider it so much of a compliment--he would not +make such a concession, even from the great Harry of the West down to my +fallen foe. In looking round the staging he observed new faces, and +missed those who had previously occupied their places--he had heard +those men had consulted their dignity, and any man (in the opinion of +the speaker) who thinks more of his dignity than his duty is not fit to +occupy the sacred desk. The arguments which he had brought forward on +the previous occasions have not been answered. Mr. Green has not even +attempted to do so, but he (the speaker) had found that a worthy +gentleman had entered the field, though not verbally, and endeavoured to +supply the place of his opponent. He would take the liberty to +compliment him--the distinguished editor of the Post--though he did not +know him, nor that such a paper as the Post was printed. That editor, +like many others whose prejudices overbalance their reason, had +misunderstood him. The speaker then indulged in a _critique_ on the +editorial, principally upon the ground which he had taken--that a man +has a right to do with his own things what he pleases, provided, in so +doing, he does not infringe upon the rights of others. On this point, it +appeared that the editor thought and argued differently, and Mr. Freeman +said, that in taking the above ground, he did not claim originality, for +it is a principle of law, as laid down in Blackstone, Paley, and +others--it is the language of great commentators, and upon it he would +stand or fall, and leave the distinguished editor to battle with those +men. + +Some things, continued the speaker, may seem inconsistent at first, +which, upon examination, are not inconsistent. A thing may be legally +right and morally wrong, and whilst he could defend it legally, he could +not morally. For instance, suppose a rich man had two sons, both of whom +acted as sons should act, and the father in making out his will should +devise his whole estate to one son, and cut the other off, as they say +in England, with a shilling. Now, who would deny his right to do so if +it pleased him; who would say that it is not legally right?--no one. But +would it be morally right?--certainly not. What is morality?--love your +God, your neighbour, and yourself. And though he could defend the will +as legal, yet in a moral point of view he could condemn it as unnatural. +The editor of the Post (said the speaker) confounds gambling with +robbery, and what for?--that future generations may grow up in faith. It +is, said he, a settled principle of morality never to hoist false +colours, but to raise the standard of truth and defend it to the last. +(Applause.) + +He remembered an anecdote: a physician was sent to attend a poor sick +boy, and when he arrived at the couch of pain and distress, he found it +necessary to administer a pill--a very nauseous dose. Said the +mother--"Doctor, it would be better to put a little sugar on it, and +then he can take it, and not know it's a pill." "No, madam," replied the +doctor, "it won't do to deceive him. Here, my son," said the +practitioner, "take this medicine and it will cure you," and the little +fellow swallowed it like a man. Thus it is with Mr. Green and the green +editor; they associate the gambler, without distinction, with assassins +and robbers. In doing so they are wrong; they do not speak the truth. +The speaker then proceeded to show how a young man may often be lured +into temptation--by representing gamblers as assassins, who, upon +acquaintance, he finds are apparently gentlemen, and he is induced to +think that he has been hitherto misled and deceived in regard to such +men. He then cultivates their acquaintance, and finally, through his own +depravity, he becomes worse and worse, until he is at last swallowed up +in the vortex of degradation. This is the result of employing +dishonourable measures to prevent him from visiting such places, or to +carry out honourable ends. + +A man has a right to commit suicide, so far as propriety is concerned. +If he does not owe any thing, and feels it in his conscience that he +would like to die, he has a right to do so--but if that man owes five +dollars, he would certainly violate a moral principle by killing +himself, because he ought to live as long as he can to pay his debt. The +speaker once knew a man, in good circumstances, who was weary of +existence, and feeling disposed to take a journey to "that bourne whence +no traveller returns," committed suicide. There may be many who would +call it murder--but the community are murderers--they sometimes murder +in cold blood. But lately a man was taken to the gallows, and they hung +a young man because he had killed somebody else, and yet there are many +persons who believe this is right, and that suicide, such as the speaker +had selected, is wrong. + +The speaker now proceeded to criticize the law relative to gambling, +passed at the recent legislature, in which he said that if a man has a +fixed place of residence and carries on a dry goods business, he might +gamble as much as should please him and the law would not take hold of +him. He would ask anybody to read the law understandingly and then deny +this round assertion. This act, said he, is bugbear--it is a disgrace as +it now stands, for it smacks of cowardice. The legislators, he presumed, +had a little sense, and they knew that some kind of a law must be +passed, and they were ingenious enough to know how to frame it to sound +well, and yet be comparatively powerless. They knew by such a statute +that _nolle prosequis_ could be entered--and solicitors make more +money--they well knew that there were many religious people among their +constituents, and it would not do for them to act singular, or else they +would find so short an account at the next ballot-box that they would +not be sent back. He would spurn such legislators and keep them for ever +in private life. (Applause.) + +In conclusion, he said that he was decidedly an anti-gambler, and he did +not defend the subject morally. In order that he might enlighten the +people on the subject of gambling, he would give one lecture, in which +he would relate his experience, and promised that it should be the +richest and most interesting thing that could be listened to. He did not +want money. He would only ask enough to pay expenses of the room--the +ladies and the reverend clergy may come in gratis--all he wished was +that the truth should be told about gambling. + +Mr. Green now took the stand, and said that it appeared to him that +there was something in the law which seemed to stick to his opponent, +Mr. Freeman. He complains that the Jaw is dull--that it is trash--a +bugbear, and heaps other similar epithets upon it, and yet he appears to +make considerable noise about it, and why should he attempt to ridicule +me, in connection with the law. Every man in this state knows that Mr. +Green himself could not pass the law without the aid of the legislature. +He (Mr. Freeman) goes on to take many other positions which he (the +speaker) could not understand, and therefore would not further allude to +them. He thought that if the young men were warned properly to keep +aloof from the gambling shops, and they should heed the warning, they +would escape a life of infamy. 'Tis true, a young man may go from the +parlour to a gambling-place. He will first find the gamblers +fascinating--rooms handsomely furnished--fine suppers given, and in +fact, every temptation may be set out to catch the unwary novice. The +gambler will tell him this reform is all priestcraft--you can see for +yourself that we (gamblers) are not the assassins which we are +represented to be--these reformers don't speak the truth. The young man +is blinded--he thinks he knows by this time all about the gamblers--but +in fact he knows nothing. He goes on by degrees, until becoming more +hardened, he does not fear to do that which would have made him recoil +with horror, in the outset. He may go to another city--carry letters of +introduction to prominent gamblers--forty other letters may get there +before him, putting the robbers on the look out, getting them to set +their stool-pigeons. The young man is trapped--he is enticed into a +gambling hell--don't call them sporting saloons or gambling-rooms, (said +the speaker,) but call them what they are, _hells_--he loses all his +money--his character is gone--he is ruined, and who then cares for +him--does the gambler? + +Let me relate an instance which came under my immediate notice:--A young +man in Baltimore, sometime after he had been ruined at a gambling hell, +went there, but having no money, was not cared for by the gambler. He +laid down on the floor in a corner of the room, night after night. One +day, in particular, it was asked who he was. "Only a loafer," replied +the gambler. The young man was aroused from his stupor by the one with +whom he had gambled and lost, and was told to go about his business. The +young man replied, "Sir, you should be the last man to treat me so; it +was with you I first played cards, it was under your roof where I tasted +the first glass of wine;" and whilst thus expostulating, the gambler +pushed him out, he reeled down the stairs, fractured his skull on the +curb-stone and fell into the gutter. Mr. Green was present and saw this +base transaction. He raised the young man from the gutter, gave him a +handkerchief to wipe the blood from his forehead. The next day that +young man was found dead under one of the wharves. Now he, Mr. Green, +could not say that the gambler murdered him, but he was dead and held +the handkerchief in his clenched fist. That young man had swallowed the +wrong pill; why did not the gamblers tell him they were robbers and +assassins, why did they not stick to the truth. They dare not do it, and +he (Mr. Green) thought it his duty as a reformed man to speak truly and +act honestly. The present law which so much troubles Mr. Freeman was +passed with due deliberation unanimously, and when it goes into effect +on the first of July he would not wonder if there should be a very great +amount of trouble among more gamblers than Mr. Freeman. (Applause.) + +_Mr. Freeman._ The gentleman wants to know, why this law grieves me +so--why! because it is trash. He (the speaker) did not expect to live in +Pennsylvania but a few days longer, as he intended going South, and if +he should chance to come back again, and choose to play a game of cards, +he did not wish to be placed on a par with incendiaries, robbers and +murderers. All of you, no doubt, have heard of steamboat racing, boilers +blowing up, &c.--everybody is up in arms about it, and cry aloud for a +law to stop this abominable racing. Now he (the speaker) could make the +round statement that there never has been one explosion of a boiler +during the time of a steamboat racing. The reason is plain. When the +race is going on, everybody is wide awake, the water is kept high, and +the boilers prevented from being overheated, and in such a case no +explosion can possibly take place. A law, therefore, passed to stop +steamboats racing in order to prevent boilers from bursting, would be +equivalent to the law passed relative to gambling. In conclusion, he +would say that he knew of but one gambler who had been in prison, and +not one south of Mason and Dixon's line, which was more than could be +said of any other profession. (Great applause.) + +_Mr. Green_ (quickly.) Why is it so?--because the gamblers are eelish, +and not because they don't deserve the penitentiary; Mr. Freeman knows +that. (Roars of laughter and continued applause.) + +_Mr. Elder._ Ladies and gentlemen, it is now proposed that a vote be +taken on the distribution of the proceeds of this evening. Mr. Green has +had the receipts of the two previous evenings, and at the first meeting +it was agreed to let the audience decide as to the third meeting. + +_Voice._ Were not the lectures given by Mr. Green? + +_Many Voices._ Question, question, question. + +_Voice._ I demand an answer to my question, for I wish to vote +understandingly. + +_Voices._ Calling question from all parts of the room. + +_Another Voice._ Mr. Speaker, I wish to know one thing. Mr. Green says, +since his reformation, he has given back over twenty thousand dollars of +property which he won when he was a gambler. Now I wish to know if he +will give the proceeds of the night to the gamblers, if the question is +decided in his favour. + +_Voices._ Question, take the question; loud talking and grumbling. + +_First Voice._ Suppose it is decided in favour of Mr. Freeman, I wish to +know if the debate can be continued or not. + +The question was now taken by rising, and silence being restored, the +Moderator said--"It is the decision of the chair, that the proceeds +belong to Mr. Freeman, by a very large majority." + +_Voice._ Sir, there is a mistake. + +_Moderator._ Are there any gentlemen here who are dissatisfied with the +decision? + +_Voice._ I am. + +Hon. Charles Gibbons, speaker of the Senate, proposed to take the +question by voice. This was agreed upon. + +_Mr. Elder._ All in favour of the proceeds being given to Mr. Freeman, +say I. Here there was a tremendous response. The contrary opinion was +then taken, and the chair decided that the I's were in a large majority. +(Great applause.) + +_Voice._ Mr. President, I demand back my quarter dollar--I can't pay +money to go into the pockets of a gambler. (Hisses.) + +_Mr. Freeman._ The gentleman can have his quarter back with pleasure. +(Applause.) + +The rest of the evening was consumed in the explanation of tricks of +gamblers by Mr. Green, which was intensely interesting, and he was +greeted with rounds of applause, as he successfully performed them. + + + From the City Bulletin. + +A large audience assembled on Saturday night to listen to the last +debate on gambling. Mr. Freeman opened the ball with a great deal of +self-possession, and talked away in defence of a palpable wrong, with as +much coolness and composure as if he was discussing the last news by the +steamer. But his sophistry, as well as all the sneers and jeers of his +brethren in the audience, which betrayed themselves when Green began to +speak, could not keep the truth under. Before the evening closed, he had +every thing his own way, and was complete master of the field. Freeman +battled against the late law passed in this State--and contended that it +was of no avail in crushing the evil of gambling. He added that if it +was effective, it was effective against the wrong persons. He then +slurred over his opponent's position, charged him with insincerity, and +denounced all his tales of horror. He incidentally, however, took +occasion to say, that he could a tale unfold which would harrow up the +soul, a tale of his own personal adventure, as a gambler, and he invited +the audience to its recital to-morrow evening. + +Mr. Green rose with the same pleasant smile which he always has worn +during his debate with Freeman, and met his opponent's positions, not +with smooth, oily, plausible words, but in a plain spoken, substantial, +truth-telling language. He reiterated all that he had charged against +gambling at former meetings. He said gamblers were no better than +thieves, that they cheated always when they could, and that they had +every advantage over those who fell into their clutches. + +The audience were now called upon to vote as to the disposal of the +receipts at the door--Mr. Green having agreed that his opponent should +have them, if it was so decided. The vote was taken, and by a large +majority the receipts were awarded to Freeman. + +The tricks now came on, Freeman having taken the ground that they could +not be done without detection with any cards. He accordingly placed upon +the table a pack of cards which he said he had purchased that evening. +Mr. Green in taking the cards asked that a committee should be appointed +to witness his tricks, and report to the assembly, but Freeman and his +friends put in a decided objection to this. Green at once told the +audience he would gratify them and perform the tricks openly. Here came +his triumph, which was complete. He took the very cards which his +opponent had bought, and with them showed conclusively, that all he had +charged in relation to the expertness and skill of gamblers, and of +course, their immense advantages over their opponents, was true. + +Thus has ended a debate which, we do think, has been productive of good +to the community, while it has vindicated most fully the position which +Green takes in his work of reform. We have no sympathy for Freeman, +while he maintains his present stand, though we freely confess he is a +gentleman of ability, and that we should be most happy to see him a +co-labourer with Green, in crushing the vice of gambling. He says he is +broken down in health and spirits. We know of nothing which can restore +the last, and make him bear the first with greater resignation, than +retire to the path of virtue. + + + From the North American. + +The gambling discussion between Messrs. Green and Freeman was closed on +Saturday evening, before a very large and interested audience. After +some speaking on either side, which was listened to with becoming +patience and attention, the tricks--which were evidently the great point +of interest--were in order, and Mr. Green proceeded to fulfil his +promises to the letter. Mr. Freeman had brought a pack of cards of his +own selection and preparation, and Mr. Green objected that this could +hardly be considered fair, and said that he should prefer the +appointment of a committee to provide cards, and superintend the +experiments. Upon this Mr. Freeman commenced declaiming in a triumphant +tone against his antagonist; but Mr. Green cut him short by stating that +he was willing to proceed with the cards that Mr. Freeman had brought. +Mr. Gibbons then took the pack and marked it with a pencil, so that he +might be sure of recognising it. Mr. Green then took them from him, +shuffled them a moment with his hands under the table, and showed them +to Mr. Gibbons, who pronounced them the same he had marked. Mr. Green +then dealt them in separate heaps, and Mr. Gibbons turned up the faces, +and showed the audience that each of the thirteen heaps contained the +four aces, four kings, four queens, and so on down to the four deuces. +The cards were then shuffled, and Mr. Green ran them off, the backs +being upward, so rapidly that the eye could scarcely follow the motion +of his fingers--naming each card as he threw it off, and making but +_one_ mistake in the whole fifty-two cards. This extraordinary feat was +received by the audience with acclamations, as being most convincing +proof of the power of gamblers to perform the swindling deceptions with +the cards, that Mr. Green has charged upon the nimble-fingered +fraternity. The audience then good-naturedly voted Mr. Freeman the +pecuniary proceeds of the evening, as a remuneration for the zeal he had +displayed in a bad cause. The question was then put to the audience +whether Mr. Green had satisfactorily performed all he had undertaken, +and loudly answered in the affirmative. + + + From the United States Gazette. + +The discussion on this important subject was continued and concluded, on +Saturday evening, by Messrs. Green and Freeman. + +A man who can for a few minutes interest an audience so much in favour +of the vice of gambling, as to make them shut out its horrible +deformity, must possess more than ordinary powers, and we question much +whether, of the whole fraternity of gamblers, one could be found better +adapted for the Herculean task which Mr. Freeman set himself. That which +the mind is accustomed steadily to dwell upon, and upon which action is +had repeatedly, will scarcely want for self-justification--and while the +error of proceeding is reluctantly admitted, whatever may tend to +justify, however slightly, is eagerly seized upon and proclaimed. There +is scarcely an evil practice for which the doer may not raise up or +create reasons in justification, and plausible arguments may be made to +gloss over the most detestable and indefensible crimes. + +A kind of Letheon is administered to the judgment by continual +progression in some improper path, till that which is to all others +palpably and painfully degrading becomes pleasant and eminently proper +in him who labours under the mental oblivion. Such a course Mr. Freeman +has trod, for while he admits that gambling is pernicious, he clamours +for the natural right which all men possess, to do it so long as they do +not meddle with others, and insists that it in no way gives occasion for +the exercise of legal power by the fact that he has played at cards, and +lost or won money. If it could be confined to individuals--if the +penalty of the crime was visited only upon the doer--- if the moral and +pecuniary destruction which gambling visits upon all who offer tribute +at its altar, went no farther than him who made the offering, then Mr. +Freeman would have a proper privilege, and would be right in saying that +a man violated no law by the practice of the nefarious profession. But +there are few, very few, we suppose, who are not connected by the ties +of blood, the bonds of matrimony, or the relation of father to child, +who are all affected by such degradation as the gambler visits upon +himself, and who feel the bitter poignancy of the stroke with greater +force than he whose heart has been gradually but surely abased. While a +man has a single relation or friend, he should not gamble; and if he +stood alone in the world, with no friend, the fear of the eternal +judgment should deter him from the commission of the sin. + +Mr. Freeman is a plausible man; he talks earnestly and fluently, and his +argument is clear and comprehensive, so far as it goes. He thinks +readily and speaks aptly. As a debater, he far excels his opponent Mr. +Green, and with a good cause would be an opponent difficult to conquer. +But few, we think, expected so much of the metaphysics of gambling as he +gave, but after he had constructed his argument, and presented the +justification of the fraternity, it was marvellous how quickly the one +crumbled and the other was turned to condemnation, by the application of +the tests of reason and truth which Mr. Green applied. Facts stood +stubbornly before Mr. Freeman's theories, and bore them down, and the +experiments with the cards which closed the lecture, demonstrated, +beyond a doubt, how far an unscrupulous gambler could carry his villany +against an unsuspecting victim. With a rapidity that defied observation +and detection, Mr. Green performed several tricks, by which he produced +any card or series of cards at will, and even read eighteen cards in +succession by the backs. + +In his argument, Mr. Freeman invariably rose in the estimation of the +audience, but he rose only to fall again. There may have been respect +for his abilities, but there was greater sorrow that so unprofitable and +degrading a direction had been given to them. Every argument that he +used became, upon reflection, an argument against gambling, and the only +thing he really effected, was the proof that the law recently passed +against gamblers by the legislature of this State is not stringent +enough. + +Mr. Freeman announced that on Wednesday next, he would deliver a +lecture, in which he would review his course of life, and offer +arguments against gambling--which he freely confessed to be a vice, even +while he proclaimed his right to practise it. Such an exposition cannot +fail to be of deep interest. + + + From the Inquirer. + +This controversy was continued on Saturday evening, Dr. Elder in the +chair. The Lecture-room at the Chinese Museum was crowded on the +occasion. + +Mr. Freeman commented on the notice taken by the press of the +controversy--in general it was manly and dignified; Mr. Freeman read +from the Post, in which gambling was severely opposed. The ground on +which Mr. Freeman had canvassed this matter was, he contended, in +accordance with Blackstone, Paley, and other great men, who +thought--namely, that a man had a right to do what he liked with his own +things. Mr. Freeman held that a thing might be legally right and morally +wrong. A man had a legal right (he contended) to gamble--but in a moral +light he would not defend it. Suppose a man had two sons, and, from some +trivial cause, he resolved to cut off one of them with a shilling. He +had a legal right so to do--but perhaps he was morally wrong. Mr. +Freeman answered an article that had appeared in the Post. Mr. Freeman +contended that young men who engaged in gambling, did so generally from +a bad system of education. + +The Post had contended, in opposition to Mr. Freeman's maxim that a man +had a right to do what he pleased with his own things, so long as he did +not interfere with others, that gambling did interfere with the rights +of others; for example, it might prevent men from paying their debts, or +it might prompt them to commit suicide, either of which was a wrong to +society. Mr. Freeman contended, nevertheless, that a man had such a +right--certainly he had, if he were not in debt--but if he were, it was +then his duty to live as long as he could, to endeavour to pay his +debts. Mr. Freeman illustrated his points by allusions to Gen. Taylor +and Gen. Jackson--adding, "let the truth be told if the heavens fall." + +Mr. Freeman again opposed the new law passed against gambling--for, he +said, it was so shaped, that if a man of property gambled, he could not +be troubled, but a poor, itinerant gambler could be punished. Mr. +Freeman read the law in proof--wherein a difference certainly appeared +to be made between those who had something to live upon, and a merely +itinerant gambler--the latter liable to imprisonment if he kept a gaming +house, of from one to five years. Indeed, "being without a fixed +residence" is one of the features of the law. Such a law appeared to Mr. +Freeman as if, for example, a man of standing were to go into a store +and steal, he would be let off--- whereas, if an itinerant man were to +steal, he must be punished with years of imprisonment. The cases were +parallel, and yet, it seemed to him that a man of good standing ought to +be punished more severely than the other, because his temptations were +not so great. Such a law, so partial, was a disgrace to the +statute-book. From what he knew of legislators, he thought they had made +such a law, knowing that gambling was a bad vice, as a bugbear, to deter +people from engaging in it--and, in some cases, because they were afraid +of public opinion, and servilely followed the crowd, lest at some future +time they might lose their election. + +Mr. Freeman said that he considered himself as an anti-gambler--but +injustice had been done to gamblers, and he had defended them as far as +he consistently could--and if an audience would meet him on Tuesday +night, he would give them an anti-gambling lecture. He differed with Mr. +Green. + +Mr. Green wished to know why Mr. Freeman should dislike the law so much, +if he considered gambling a bad vice--he (Mr. Green) really did not +understand such a position. Such was the effect of gambling upon the +mind, that he was sure that when Mr. Freeman first lost his money, +(three thousand dollars,) and first became a gambler, he would not have +spoken as he had that night. A young man, in gambling, was driven on by +degrees, by the excitement of cards, of fine wines, society, &c. +Gamblers ridiculed all ideas of reform, and said to the young man, you +know all about us--we are called gamblers--and the young man thinks he +knows all about them, as he finds them fascinating--but he knows nothing +about them. When the young man is ruined, what do the gamblers do for +him? Nothing. Such a young man in Baltimore was thus ruined, and became +a sot--and at length had no place to sleep, unless the gamblers allowed +him. One night, he was awakened by the gambler shaking him, and calling +him a loafer. The poor man said, "I do not deserve this at your hands. +This was the first house I gambled in." The gambler threw him down +stairs, and his head struck the curb-stone, and Mr. Green lent him his +handkerchief to bind up the wound, and prevented further mischief being +done to him. The next day he was found under one of the wharves--_dead!_ +And such was the treatment inflicted on him by the gamblers. Mr. Green +then defended the new law. + +Mr. Freeman said that he opposed the law because he thought it +discreditable to Pennsylvania--that there should be a law to the effect +that, "If I play cards, a man may say to me--there, you have done an act +that, if legally visited, would send you to the Penitentiary." Mr. +Freeman illustrated his views by a reference to the explosion of +steamboats. Mr. Freeman said that there was never but one gambler put +into prison south of Mason & Dixon's line. Mr. Freeman hinted that Mr. +Green at Harrisburg had shown gambling tricks upon cards, with packs +that were known to him--prepared cards, in fact. He thus astonished the +natives. And this was one influence brought in aid of a passage of the +law. + +A vote was then taken on the question--"Shall the proceeds of this night +be given to Mr. Freeman?" It was decided in the affirmative by a large +majority. + +Mr. Freeman did not deny that cheating was practised by the gamblers. +But Mr. Freeman contended that Mr. Green could not perform the tricks, +could not cheat with cards that he was not familiar with. Mr. Freeman +produced a pack which he had just bought, and were otherwise +untouched--and he said that Mr. Green could not operate with that pack. +He defied him. + +Mr. Green said that this was no argument. But if Mr. Freeman would +agree, and the meeting would appoint a committee of twelve citizens, he +would before that committee meet Mr. Freeman, and with those cards +exhibit tricks of gamblers. + +Some discussion ensued, and it was agreed that a committee should be +appointed. Subsequently Mr. Green said he would exhibit before the +audience; but that if Mr. Freeman shuffled the pack, he might of course +disarrange his (Mr. Green's) play. But Mr. Green had contended that any +gambler _in his own play_ could cheat. And Mr. Green displayed several +extraordinary tricks, in which he was remarkably successful, +particularly in illustrating the facility with which two partners in +gambling could win from their opponents with certainty. + +At the conclusion of the meeting, upon Mr. Freeman submitting to the +audience the question--"Have I sustained my position?"--it was decided +in the negative. The question however, was not put until the audience +had risen to depart--but the response was general. + + + From the Daily Sun. + +We have been no inattentive observers of the debate on gambling, between +Mr. Green, and his able and plausible antagonist, Mr. Freeman--who +brought to the defence of a bad cause, an energy, an earnestness, and a +power of illustration, which, on any other subject, must have crowned +him with the laurels of a brilliant victory. But what power of +logic--what force of elocution--- what stretch, of fancy, _can_ defend +gambling?--which, even if right _in itself_, is yet attended by such +baneful consequences--such appalling effects--as to strike terror into +the hearts of the most reckless, and seal the lips of eloquence by the +blood of the unfortunate? This was illustrated in a most striking manner +in the recent debate--where a long tissue of false logic, on the part of +Mr. Freeman, was blown to the winds by the simple recital of a _fact_, +by Mr. Green detailing the death of a ruined gambler by the hands of a +prosperous one! _Blood_ dispelled all the illusions of logic. Argument +evaporated before the _corpse_ of the victim. Applause for ingenious +argument was hushed in a moment, when the dead body of the gambler +appeared in view! What a tribute to the power of _truth_--what a +tremendous triumph of nature, and her sacred laws, over the flimsy +artifices of passion, fiction, and a diseased imagination, fevered by +habitual vice. + +Dr. Johnson says that the gambler is no better than a robber, because he +acquires property without an equivalent. The whole gist of the argument +lies here. You strip a man of fortune, or tear from his hands the +earnings of a long life, and give him in return--_nothing!_ Mr. Freeman +says, in answer to this--yes, you give him the chance of robbing you! +And he goes so far in his sophistry, as to contend that if a man +attempts to rob you on the highway, you have a right to rob him! Such is +the language of the gambler, on the rule of right, who wanting a +principle of virtue, resorts to every extravagant theory, to justify his +violations of the first law of nature. + +Justice is the foundation of all human institutions: and this ordains, +that no man shall take from another, what is his own, without paying him +an equivalent. The gambler pays no equivalent--and hence, he stands on +the same platform with the robber. + +The strong point in the logic of Mr. Freeman was, that _other +professions_ also acquire property without paying an equivalent, and +therefore gamblers were not criminal! We marvelled that a man of his +sagacity should venture on so gross a sophism. He alluded to speculators +and stock-jobbers, who gained their thousands without an exchange of +values, and exulted that the gambler was no worse. But could this make +the gambler an honest man, because other men were rogues? How desperate +the cause that could clutch at so frail a straw for support! Yet Mr. +Freeman appeared perfectly unconscious of the imbecility of his +reasoning. More perfect hallucination we never beheld! + +Every man _feels_, when he gains property without an equivalent, that he +has done a wrong. Every dollar so acquired plants a fang in his heart. +Conscience goads him. He is miserable, restless, tortured, and for +temporary relief flies to the transient oblivion of the bowl. When he +wins, he drinks--and when he loses, he drinks to desperation. He feels +that when he wins, he is a rogue--and that when he loses, he is a +victim--no matter whether gambler, speculator or stock-jobber--he has +violated the _rule of right_, by acquiring property without an +equivalent; and he feels the degradation of the robber, who cries +"stand!" to the passenger on the highway, and extorts his purse, with +the pistol at his breast. + +Of the fascinating charms of gambling, history has left us too many +records to make us insensible of the importance of the safe-guards which +society ought to erect, to defend itself from the poison of so +infectious a contamination. Who would believe, that the great +_Wilberforce_ was once a gambler! That even _Pitt_ once stood on the +brink of a gambler's hell. But Wilberforce was cured by _winning_ £2000 +at _Holland-house_--and such was the pain he felt for those who had lost +their money, that it prevented all "his future triumphs in the infernal +regions." But in those regions, flourished the greatest statesmen and +wits of the age--who fell victims to the prevailing fascination of the +gaming-table. What destroyed _Charles James Fox_, as a statesman? +_Gambling!_ What brought the brilliant _Sheridan_ to the grave? +Intoxication, brought on by the ill-starred luck of the ruined gamester? +"_Holland-house!_" immortalized as the resort of genius, as well as for +its orgies of dissipation, is not less renowned to infamy, as having +been the "hell" of respectable gamesters. + +There is a kind of democracy of crime, contended for by Mr. Freeman, +that has its charms to the ears of the groundlings. He is opposed to a +law that punishes _one_ class of gamblers only, instead of bringing +_all_, within the focus of its penalties! There is much truth in this. +Laws ought to be equal in their operation--but if they cannot be equal, +this is no reason why there ought to be no laws at all. This conclusion +is not warranted by any rule in logic or in government. + +No man has a right to dispose of his property to the corruption of the +public morals. Mr. Freeman adduced the instance of a father having a +right to disinherit one son and prefer the other. This is not a parallel +case. The parallel would be a rich man leaving his fortune to found an +Institution of demoralizing tendency--say to teach you the art of +cheating! The laws would annul such a bequest. Society has an original, +inherent right to defend itself from all evil--and that gaming is an +evil, whether played with cards, lotteries, dice, stocks, or betting, +not even Mr. Freeman could seriously deny. + +In the late debate between these celebrated speculators,--one reformed, +the other confirmed in his vicious career--it was observed, what a tower +of strength _truth_ gives to the man who espouses the _just_ cause. Mr. +Green stood self-vindicated by his very position--while the labour of +_Sisiphus_ devolved on Mr. Freeman. But the stone would not stay rolled +up hill. It was no sooner at midway from the summit, but back it rolled +upon its unfortunate and panting labourer. + +The fostering power which _intemperance_ derives from the excitements of +the gaming-table, would itself prove an effectual argument against this +monstrous infatuation, if no other existed. But when we find +intoxication, only one of a legion of vices that attend on it--and that +fraud, cheating, forgery, swindling, robbery, murder, and suicide, are +its unfailing companions--we may well marvel that it should find any man +so reckless of public opinion, as to venture its championship. Mr. +Freeman went so far in this mad advocacy of his darling pursuit, as to +justify _suicide_! In this, however, he was perfectly consistent--for if +gaming of any kind is right, so is murder, robbery, and suicide. In +this, Mr. Freeman over-reached himself--and by attempting too much, +exposed the futility and weakness of his case. + +One fact, of a highly useful import, was established by this debate--and +having received the concurrent attestation of Mr. Freeman, must now be +considered as no longer open to doubt--that _cheating_ is a necessary +part of gaming, from which even _honourable_ gamblers--(what a +revolting solecism!)--do not shrink! But this is not the worst of the +admissions made, in the course of this debate--which we here enumerate: + +1. The winner is always in danger of murder--and runs for his life. + +2. The loser becomes a cheat, a murderer, a suicide, or a drunkard. + +3. The tortures of the damned are common to all gamblers, winners and +losers. + +4. Deception and lying are their common attributes. + +5. Outlawed by public opinion--they wage implacable war against the +morals, peace, and happiness of society. + + * * * * * + +So many allusions have been made to the Laws of Ohio and Pennsylvania +against gambling, that it is thought necessary to append them here, that +the reader may judge for himself how far the charges of impolicy, +partiality, and non-efficiency are justified by these instruments. + + +[_Law of Pennsylvania for the Suppression of Gambling, drafted by_ +J. H. GREEN.] + +SECTION 1. _Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of +the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in General Assembly met, and it is +hereby enacted by the authority of the same_, That if any person shall +keep a room, building, arbour, booth, shed, or tenement, to be used or +occupied for gambling, or shall, knowingly, permit the same to be used +or occupied for gambling; or if any person, being the owner of any +room, building, arbour, booth, shed, or tenement, shall rent the same to +be used or occupied for gambling, the persons so offending shall, on +conviction thereof, be fined in any sum not less than fifty nor more +than five hundred dollars; and if the owner of any room, building, +arbour, booth, shed, or tenement, shall know that any gaming-tables, +apparatus, or establishment is kept or used in such room, building, +arbour, booth, shed, or tenement, for gambling, and winning, betting, or +gaining money, or other property, and shall not forthwith cause +complaint to be made against the person so keeping or using such room, +building, arbour, booth, shed, or tenement, he shall be taken, held, and +considered to have knowingly permitted the same to be used and occupied +for gambling. + +SECT. 2. If any person shall keep or exhibit any gaming-table, +establishment, device, or apparatus to win or gain money, or other +property of value, or to aid, assist, or permit others to do the same; +or if any person shall engage in gambling for a livelihood, or shall be +without any fixed residence, and in the habit or practice of gambling, +he shall be deemed and taken to be a common gambler, and upon conviction +thereof, shall be imprisoned and kept at hard labour in the penitentiary +not less than one, nor more than five years, and be fined five hundred +dollars, to be paid into the treasury of the county where such +conviction shall take place, for the use of common schools therein, to +be divided among the accepting school districts in such county, in +proportion to the number of taxable inhabitants in each district. + +SECT. 3. If an affidavit shall be filed with the magistrate before whom +complaint shall be made of an offence against any provision of this +act, stating that the affiant has reason to believe, and does believe, +that the person charged in such complaint has upon his person, or at any +other place named in such affidavit, any specified articles of personal +property, or any gaming-table, device, or apparatus, the discovery of +which might lead to establish the truth of such charge, the said +magistrate shall, by his warrant, command the officer, who is authorized +to arrest the person so charged, to make diligent search for such +property and table, device, or apparatus; and if found, to bring the +same before such magistrate, and the officer so seizing shall deliver +the same to the magistrate before whom he takes the same, who shall +retain possession, and be responsible therefor until the discharge, or +commitment, or letting to bail of the person charged; and in case of +such commitment, or letting to bail of the person so charged, such +officer shall retain such property, subject to the order of the court +before which such offender may be required to appear, until his +discharge or conviction. And in case of the conviction of such person, +the gaming-table, device, or apparatus shall be destroyed, and the +property shall be liable to pay any judgment which may be rendered +against such person; and after the payment of such judgment and costs, +the surplus, if any, shall be paid to the use of the common schools +aforesaid, and in case of the discharge of such person by the +magistrate, or court, the officer having such property in his custody +shall, on demand, deliver it to such person. + +SECT. 4. If any person called to testify on behalf of the state before +any justice of the peace, grand-jury, or court, upon any complaint, +information, or indictment, for any offence made punishable by this act, +shall disclose any fact tending to criminate himself in any manner made +punishable by this act, he shall thereafter be discharged of and from +all liability to prosecution or punishment for such matter or offence. + +SECT. 5. It shall be lawful for any justice of the peace, chief +magistrate of any municipal incorporation, or judge of any court of +Common Pleas, upon complaint upon an oath, that any gaming-table, +establishment, apparatus, or device is kept by any person for the +purpose of being used to win or gain money or other property, by the +owner thereof, or any other person, to issue his warrant, commanding any +sheriff, or constable, to whom the same shall be directed, within the +proper jurisdiction, after demanding entrance to break open and enter +any house or other place wherein such gaming establishment, apparatus, +or device shall be kept, and to seize and safely keep the same, to be +dealt with as hereinafter provided. + +SECT. 6. Upon return of said warrant executed, the authority issuing the +same shall proceed to examine and inquire touching the said complaint, +and if satisfied that the same is true, he shall order the officer so +seizing such gaming establishment, apparatus, or device, forthwith to +destroy the same; which order the said officer shall proceed to execute +in the presence of said authority, unless the person charged as keeper +of said gaming establishment, apparatus, or device, shall, without +delay, enter into a recognisance in the sum of six hundred dollars, with +sufficient sureties, to be approved by said authority, for the appeal of +said complaint to the Court of Common Pleas, next to be held in the +proper county, conditioned that the defendant will appear at the next +term of the court to which he appeals, and abide the order of said +court, and for the payment of the full amount of the fine and all costs, +in case he shall be found guilty of the offence charged, and judgment be +rendered against him in said court. + +SECT. 7. The officer taking such recognisance shall return the same to +the clerk of the court to which said appeal is taken forthwith, and such +clerk shall file the same in his office, and the complaint shall be +prosecuted in such court, by indictment, as in other criminal cases; and +upon conviction thereof, the appellant shall be fined not more than +fifty dollars, and shall pay the costs of prosecution; and such gaming +establishment, apparatus, or device shall be destroyed. + +SECT. 8. If any person or persons shall, through invitation or device, +persuade or prevail on any person or persons to visit any room, +building, arbour, booth, shed, or tenement, kept for the use of +gambling, he or they shall, upon conviction thereof, be held responsible +for the money or properties lost by such invitation or device, and fined +in a sum not less than fifty, and not more than five hundred dollars. + +SECT. 9. It shall be the duty of all sheriffs, constables, and all +prosecuting attorneys to inform and prosecute all offenders against this +act, and upon refusal thereof, they shall pay a fine of not less than +fifty, nor more than five hundred dollars. + +SECT. 10. This act shall be given in charge to the Grand Jury, by the +President Judge of the Court of Quarter Sessions in the respective +counties. + +SECT. 11. This act shall take effect on the first day of July next. + + +[_Law of Ohio for the suppression of Gambling, drafted by_ +J. H. GREEN.] + +SECTION 1. _Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio_, +That if any person shall keep a room, building, or arbour, booth, shed, +or tenement, to be used or occupied for gambling, or shall, knowingly, +permit the same to be used or occupied for gambling; or if any person, +being the owner of such room, building, arbour, booth, shed, or +tenement, shall rent the same to be used or occupied for gambling, the +persons so offending shall, on conviction thereof, be fined in any sum +not less than fifty dollars, nor more than five hundred dollars; and if +any owner of any room, building, arbour, booth, shed, or tenement, shall +know that any gambling-tables, apparatus, or establishment, is kept or +used in such room, building, arbour, booth, shed, or tenement, for +gambling, and winning, betting, or gaining money, or other property, and +shall not forthwith cause complaint to be made against the person so +keeping or using the room, building, arbour, booth, shed, or tenement, +he shall be taken, held, and considered to have knowingly permitted the +same to be used and occupied for gambling. + +SECT. 2. If any person shall keep or exhibit any gaming-table, +establishment, device, or apparatus to win or gain money, or other +property of value, or to aid or assist, or permit others to do the same; +or if any person shall engage in gambling for a livelihood, or shall be +without any fixed residence, and in the habit or practice of gambling, +he shall be deemed and taken to be a common gambler, and upon conviction +thereof, shall be imprisoned and kept at hard labour in the +penitentiary not less than one, nor more than five years, and be fined +five hundred dollars, to be paid into the treasury of the county where +such conviction shall take place, for the use of common schools therein. + +SECT. 3. If an affidavit shall be filed with the magistrate before whom +complaint shall be made of an offence against any provisions of this +act, stating that the affiant has reason to believe, and does believe, +that the person charged in such complaint has upon his person, or at any +other place named in such affidavit, any money, or any specified +articles of personal property, or any gaming-table, device, apparatus, +the discovery of which might tend to establish the truth of such charge, +the said magistrate shall, by his warrant, command the officer, who is +authorized to arrest the person so charged, to make diligent search for +such money or property, and table, device, or apparatus; and if found, +to bring the same before such magistrate--and the officer seizing the +same, shall retain possession thereof, subject to the order of the +magistrate before whom he takes the same, until the discharge, or +commitment, or letting to bail of the person charged; and in case of +such commitment, or letting to bail of the person so charged, such +officer shall retain such property, subject to the order of the court +before which such offender may be required to appear, until his +discharge or conviction. And in case of the conviction of such person, +the gaming-table, device, or apparatus shall be destroyed, and the money +and other property shall be liable to pay any judgment which may be +rendered against such person; and in case of the discharge of such +person by the magistrate, or court, the officer having such property in +his custody, shall, on demand, deliver it to such person. + +SECT. 4. If any person called to testify on behalf of the state before +any justice of the peace, grand-jury, or court, upon any complaint, +information, or indictment, for any offence made punishable by this act, +shall disclose any fact tending to criminate himself in any matter made +punishable by this act, he shall thereafter be discharged of and from +all liability to prosecution or punishment for such matter of offence. + +SECT. 5. It shall be lawful for any justice of the peace, chief +magistrate of the municipal incorporation, or judge of any court of +common pleas, upon complaint on oath, that any gaming-table, +establishment, apparatus, or device is kept for the purpose of being +used to win or gain money or other property, by the owner thereof, or +any other person, to issue his warrant, commanding any sheriff, +constable, or marshal of any municipal corporation to whom the same may +be directed, within the proper jurisdiction, after demanding entrance, +to break open and enter any house or other place where such gaming +establishment, apparatus, or device shall be kept, and to seize and +safely keep the same, to be dealt with as hereafter provided. + +SECT. 6. Upon the return of said warrant executed, the authority issuing +the same shall proceed to examine and inquire touching the said +complaint, and if satisfied the same is true, he shall order the officer +so seizing such gaming establishment, apparatus, or device, forthwith to +destroy the same; which order the said officer shall proceed to execute +in the presence of said authority, unless the person charged as keeper +of said gaming establishment, apparatus, or device, shall, without +delay, enter into a recognisance in the sum of two hundred dollars, with +sufficient sureties, to be approved by said authority, for the appeal of +said complaint to the Court of Common Pleas, next to be held in the +proper county, conditioned that the defendant will appear at the next +term of the court to which he appeals, and abide the order of such +court, and for the payment of the full amount of the fine and all costs, +in case he shall be found guilty of the offences charged, and judgment +be rendered against him in said court. + +SECT. 7. The officer taking such recognisance shall return the same to +the clerk of the court to which said appeal is taken forthwith, and such +clerk shall file the same in his office, and complaint shall be +prosecuted in such court, by indictment, as in other criminal cases; and +upon conviction, the appellant shall be fined not more than fifty +dollars, and shall pay the costs of prosecution; and such gaming +establishment, apparatus, or device shall be destroyed. + +SECT. 8. It shall be the duty of all sheriffs, constables, marshals of +incorporated cities, towns, and boroughs, and of all prosecuting +attorneys, to inform and prosecute all offences against this act. + +SECT. 9. This act shall be given in charge to the Grand Jury, by the +President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in the respective counties. + +SECT. 10. This act shall take effect on the first day of March next. + + ELIAS F. DRAKE, +_Speaker of the House of Representatives._ + + SEABURY FORD, +_Speaker of the Senate._ + +Jan 17, 1846. + +During the three evenings of the debate the Lecture-room of the Museum +was crowded with a most respectable audience; and thousands must have +read the reports given by the different Newspapers on the following +mornings. Throughout the community there was considerable excitement, +and we have no doubt that good has already resulted. The evils of +gambling are now familiar to many who never previously thought upon the +subject; and the excuses and defences urged for participating in the +vice have been stripped of their fallacious guises. For this work we owe +many thanks to the conductors of the public press who have come forth +ably and willingly to our assistance. + +But we trust that the immediate advantages from the discussion are not +the only ones. It will be perceived from the reports given, that we met +with no common opponent. Mr. Freeman is perhaps not excelled, if he has +an equal, among gamblers, for talent, learning, and, what is more rare, +candour and honesty of character. From a lecture which he has since +delivered, we learn that he was on a professional visit to Philadelphia, +where he had bought some implements for gambling and was about to return +to the South, when his attention was arrested by a notice in a paper +that Mr. Green was to give a lecture in the Museum on the following +evening. For some years he had formed a resolution that if ever he had +an opportunity of hearing him, he would embrace it, and he now concluded +that he would stay another day for that purpose. He did so, attended his +lecture, and from antipathy to himself and the course he was pursuing, +was induced to send the challenge to the Sun newspaper which led to the +debate in the preceding pages. It is not improbable that while thinking +on the points he proposed to defend, his naturally acute mind perceived +their fallacy, as there was a gradual shifting of his position from the +subject of the original challenge, till on the last evening of the +debate he ended with the astonishing announcement that on the Tuesday +following he would deliver a lecture _against gambling_ in the same +place. Since then, he has delivered several lectures on the same +subject, has taken the temperance pledge, been admitted into one of the +divisions of the Sons of Temperance, and promises fair to be an +efficient labourer in the cause of truth and virtue. Like Paul, he seems +to have been arrested midway in his career, and by the power of +conscience compelled to build up what he once exerted himself to +destroy. May God prosper him in his labours, and give him grace to +continue unto the end. + + + [_Recommendation._] + +Cincinnati, _July_, 1843. + +We, the undersigned, believing that Mr. J. H. Green's proposed +publication ["The ARTS AND MISERIES OF GAMBLING"] will be eminently +useful in counteracting one of the most pernicious and demoralizing +vices of the age, take great pleasure in recommending it to the +patronage of the public. + +Rev. CHARLES ELLIOTT, +_Editor of the Western Christian Advocate_. + +Rev. L.L. HAMLINE, +_Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church_. + +D.K. ESTE, +_Judge of the Superior Court, Cin. Ham. Co_. + +Rev. JAMES P. KILBRETH. + +SAMUEL WILLIAMS. + +JOHN McLEAN, +_Judge of the United States Court._ + +Rev. W.H. RAPER. + +THOMAS J. BIGGS, +_President of the Cincinnati College._ + +SAMUEL W. LYND, D.D. +_Pastor of the Ninth Street Baptist Church._ + +Hon. JACOB BURNET. + +Rev. JOHN F. WRIGHT. + +H.E. SPENCER, +_Mayor of Cincinnati._ + + + + +LOTTERIES. + + +This is as deceptive, and as base a business, as was ever introduced +into any country. The apparent respectability of it, and of the men who +carry it on, is calculated to remove the scruples many might otherwise +have to patronizing it. The facility with which it can be patronized, +without the liability of exposure, and the promises of sudden gain so +artfully held out, are inducements not easily resisted by a money-loving +people, totally ignorant of the odds against them in the game they play. + +All other games generally require the personal attention of the players +who patronize them; but this is a game at which any one can play, and +need never be seen, even by those against whom he may be playing. +Thousands of persons, who stand high in the estimation of their +neighbors for good conduct; men who would not, on any account, be found +at a gambling-table, will patronize lotteries. The ease with which it +can be done, without exposure, enables them to gratify, to the full +extent of their means, their passion for this base species of swindling. +In many of our large cities, numerous well-dressed young men are +constantly engaged in vending tickets through the streets, or from house +to house, and they can be bought as privately as the buyer may wish, or +he may send his servant for them. Thus it is that a man may gamble as +extensively as he pleases in lotteries, without his proceedings being at +all likely to become public. + +In my description of lotteries, I shall confine myself to the lottery +scheme before us; because it will serve as an example of all others, and +because the reader will be better able to comprehend explanations of +this system than if I were to write of some scheme not here inserted. + +By a reference to the tables of tickets, it will be seen that there are +fifteen packages of whole tickets, as many of halves, and thirty +packages of quarter tickets. Each package contains all the numbers, from +one up to seventy-eight, without a repetition of any one of them. The +tickets found in these tables are all that are intended for any one +drawing; and every successive drawing is but another edition of the same +tickets, all arranged in the same order, and with the same combination +numbers; but they have a different class number on them. The proprietors +of a lottery furnish the printer with a copy of these tables, arranged +in a blank book, and this book is called the _scheme-book_, from which +as many as may be ordered from time to time are printed. + +The arranging of the class numbers is a matter of fancy, as to what they +shall be; their only use being to determine to what particular drawing +any particular ticket belongs, in order that a ticket which proves to be +a blank may not, at some future drawing, be handed in for a premium, on +account of containing some of the numbers then drawn. + +[Illustration: _Drawing of Lottery Tickets._] + +THE DRAWING. There are several methods of conducting the drawing; but +that which is most commonly used is as follows:-- + +There is a hollow wheel, as represented in the plate; then there are +seventy-eight small tin tubes, scarcely half an inch in diameter, and +about three inches in length; these are for holding the numbers, from +one to seventy-eight; each number is on a separate piece of paper, which +is rolled up and put into a tube; these tubes, when the numbers have +been placed in them, are all put into the wheel, and a person is +selected to draw out one at a time from the wheel, which is opened, and +cried aloud, for the information of those present who may be interested. +The number is registered, for the future guidance of the lottery-dealer, +in determining what he shall pay those who may hold one or more of the +numbers so drawn. After this, the wheel is again turned, so as to mix +well the numbers contained in it, and a second is drawn; and the same +proceedings are gone over with, until twelve numbers are drawn, and +registered in the order in which they are drawn. Sometimes thirteen will +be drawn, it being customary, on many occasions, to draw one number for +every six contained in the wheel; but I cannot give this as a universal +rule, because I have often found it deviated from. Sometimes little boys +are selected to draw the numbers from the wheel--to give the impression +that every possible step has been taken to render the management as fair +as possible; but in this there is also much deception. + +Swarms of domestic servants, day labourers, and the most poor and needy +persons daily visit these worse than gambling shops, where they risk +their little all, and get nothing in return but the delightful +anticipation of being rich when the "drawing" takes place. + +True it has been the case that prizes have been drawn, and trumpeted +forth to the world, as inducements for others to buy. Having known how +some of these prizes have sometimes been obtained, will it be too much +to suppose that others are obtained in like manner? that is by the +proprietors of lotteries being swindled through the unfaithfulness of +their agents. A case came to my knowledge of a man who drew a capital +prize; and the mode of operation, by which it was effected, was as +follows: An agent, who was stationed in a town some distance from the +principal establishment, made two confidants, who, doubtless, readily +acted with him from hope of gain. One of these was the post-master of +the town, and the other an acquaintance, a patron of the lottery. The +duty of the agent was to transmit to the principal office all unsold +tickets, by the first mail that left after the known hour of drawing. +This mail also conveyed the lists of the drawing; but, in a regular +manner of proceeding, they would not have been accessible to the agent +before the departure of the stage with his unsold tickets. By making a +confidant of the post-master, however, he received the lists as quick as +possible after the mail arrived, and before it had been assorted. He +then examined his unsold tickets, and if any considerable prize +remained, he would take it from among the unsold tickets, and despatch +the remainder to the principal office, and give the prize to his other +confidant; each one giving out that the ticket had been sold to him; and +accordingly the prize would be claimed and paid, although fraudulently +obtained. In this particular case, the capital prize was drawn, and it +appeared that the ticket-holder appropriated all the money to his own +use, as he was known to buy much property shortly afterwards. It is +believed also, by those who were acquainted with the incident, that he +never divided with the rascally agent; and thus was the cheater cheated, +who, in his wrath, let out some of the secrets of the manner in which +the prize was obtained. + +This same man has since met with reverses of fortune, and would now, I +believe, find it difficult to raise money sufficient to purchase a +ticket even of a low price. + +Among the many cases of lottery swindling, every body has heard of the +great Louisiana real estate lottery, in which the prizes were to have +been the St. Charles Hotel, the Verandah, the St. Charles Theatre, the +Bank, the Arcade, and other magnificent buildings in New Orleans. It is +quite needless to say any thing of this, as the public has been pretty +well enlightened in regard to it, through the public journals of the +day. + +The following is a copy of a handbill issued by the proprietors of the +lottery immediately after a drawing, for the information of +ticket-holders, and all others interested:-- + + DRAWING OF THE LOTTERY. + + The following are the numbers which were this day drawn from the + seventy-eight placed in the wheel, viz.:-- + + 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 + ------------------------------------ + 20 51 61 24 74 77 46 36 69 29 26 3 + + and that the said tickets were drawn in the order in which they + stand: that is to say, No. 20 was the first that was drawn; No. 51 + was the 2d; No. 61 was the 3d; No. 24 was the 4th; No. 74 was the + 5th; No. 77 was the 6th; No. 46 was the 7th; No. 36 was the 8th; + No. 69 was the 9th; No. 29 was the 10th; No. 26 was the 11th; No. 3 + was the 12th, and last. + + Those tickets entitled to the 110 highest prizes were drawn in the + following order:-- + + 1 2 3 $30,000 | 7 8 9 $5,000 + 4 5 6 10,000 | 10 11 12 2,367 20 + + Those 6 tickets having on them the + + 2 3 4 | 3 4 5 | 5 6 7 | 6 7 8 | 8 9 10 | 9 10 11 > each 1,500 + + Those 100 tickets having on them the + + 1 2 4 | 1 4 7 | 1 7 9 | 2 3 11 | 2 6 10 \ + 1 2 5 | 1 4 8 | 1 7 10 | 2 3 12 | 2 6 11 | + 1 2 6 | 1 4 9 | 1 7 11 | 2 4 5 | 2 6 12 | + 1 2 7 | 1 4 10 | 1 7 12 | 2 4 6 | 2 7 8 | + 1 2 8 | 1 4 11 | 1 8 9 | 2 4 7 | 2 7 9 | + 1 2 9 | 1 4 12 | 1 8 10 | 2 4 8 | 2 7 10 | + 1 2 10 | 1 5 6 | 1 8 11 | 2 4 9 | 2 7 11 | + 1 2 11 | 1 5 7 | 1 8 12 | 2 4 10 | 2 7 12 | + 1 2 12 | 1 5 8 | 1 9 10 | 2 4 11 | 2 8 9 | + 1 3 4 | 1 5 9 | 1 9 11 | 2 4 12 | 2 8 10 | + 1 3 5 | 1 5 10 | 1 9 12 | 2 5 6 | 2 8 11 > each 1,000 + 1 3 6 | 1 5 11 | 1 10 11 | 2 5 7 | 2 8 12 | + 1 3 7 | 1 5 12 | 1 10 12 | 2 5 8 | 2 9 10 | + 1 3 8 | 1 6 7 | 1 11 12 | 2 5 9 | 2 9 11 | + 1 3 9 | 1 6 8 | 2 3 5 | 2 5 10 | 2 9 12 | + 1 3 10 | 1 6 9 | 2 3 6 | 2 5 11 | 2 10 11 | + 1 3 11 | 1 6 10 | 2 3 7 | 2 5 12 | 2 10 12 | + 1 3 12 | 1 6 11 | 2 3 8 | 2 6 7 | 2 11 12 | + 1 4 5 | 1 6 12 | 2 3 9 | 2 6 8 | 3 4 6 | + 1 4 6 | 1 7 8 | 2 3 10 | 2 6 9 | 3 4 7 / + +All others with three of the drawn numbers on, (being 110) each 300 +Those 66 tickets having on them the 1st and 2d drawn numbers, each 100 +Those 66 tickets having on them the 2d and 3d, each 80 +Those 66 tickets having on them the 3d and 4th, each 50 +Those 66 tickets having on them the 4th and 5th, each 40 +Those 132 tickets having on them the 5th and 6th, or 6th and 7th, each 30 +All others with two of the drawn numbers on, (being 3960,) each 20 +And all tickets having one, only, of the drawn numbers on, each, + (being 25,740,) 10 + +Now, let us spend a few moments in examining this bill, and we shall see +how much truth there is in it. It says, that the ticket having on it the +three first drawn numbers will be entitled to the capital prize of +$30,000. Now, in the whole scheme before us, there is no such ticket. +The combination, 20, 51, 61, is not to be found in this arrangement. +Consequently, there was no ticket whose numbers entitled it to this +prize. Next, the bill says, the ticket having the fourth, fifth, and +sixth drawn numbers, which would have been 24, 74, 77, would be entitled +to a prize of $10,000. There is no such ticket in the combination. +Consequently this also is false. Now, it is evident that the dealers, in +publishing this bill, mean to impress the public with the idea, that +tickets, containing the necessary numbers to draw these prizes, are in +the lottery, and that somebody must, of course, draw them; but it is all +false, and a very little investigation will convince any one, that a +greater system of deception can hardly exist. Bear in mind, that the +bill says these prizes were drawn. The third prize was $5,000, and the +ticket which contained the seventh, eighth, and ninth numbers was to +draw this prize. These numbers are 36, 46, 69. There is no such +combination in the scheme-book--no such ticket was printed or sold. +Consequently, here is another falsehood. The same can be said of the +fourth prize--the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth numbers--being 3, 26, 29. +There is no such combination in the book, and no such prize could be +drawn. Of the next six prizes, of $1,500 each, said to have been drawn, +there was not a single ticket in the whole scheme which contained the +necessary numbers to draw any one of these six prizes! + +It is next asserted, that there were in the lottery one hundred tickets, +having three drawn numbers, and entitled each to a prize of $1,000. This +I have examined, and I find that, instead of being one hundred, there +are but two--the first in magnitude being one from package number six, +of half tickets, bearing the numbers 20, 36, 51,--these being the first, +second, and eighth of the drawn numbers, and would entitle the holder to +one half of the $1,000, subject to a deduction of fifteen per cent. The +other is a quarter ticket, bearing the numbers 46, 51, 74--from the +twenty-seventh package, of quarters--being the second, fifth, and +seventh of the drawn numbers, and would entitle the holder of it to one +quarter of the $1,000, after deducting the fifteen per cent. But it is +well known that, frequently, scarce one half of the tickets of any one +class, intended for a particular drawing, are ever disposed of, and are +consequently returned to the manager's office, to be destroyed. Then, +what guaranty have we that the numbers entitled to the above pitiful +prizes were sold? They are as likely to be among the tickets returned +unsold, as among those sold. Next, the bill states that there were one +hundred and ten others, each having three drawn numbers, and were +entitled to a prize of $300 each. By a close investigation, I find but +one single ticket of this kind in the whole scheme. This is the ticket +in the twelfth package of quarters, bearing the numbers 61, 69, 77; and +if it had been sold, it would have entitled the holder to one fourth of +the $300, deducting 15 per cent. Next, the bill says, those sixty-six +tickets having the first and second drawn numbers, will each be entitled +to a prize of $100. In searching for these in the scheme-book, I find +but one that bears the first and second numbers; that is, in package +fourteen. The ticket having the numbers 20, 51, 66, is the only one +having the two first numbers; and if sold, the holder was entitled to +one half of the $100, it being a half ticket. Now, the reader may +perceive that I have examined and laid open, so that he too may examine, +this masterpiece of villany. I find that of the two hundred and +eighty-six highest prizes, which, their own handbill states, existed in +their lottery, and which, by their own figures, amounted to the enormous +sum of $195,967, and, in order to be drawn, only required that the +tickets should be bought,--I find, allowing every ticket to have been +sold, and afterwards every holder presented his ticket for the sum to +which it might be entitled, that of the two hundred and eighty-six said +to be in the scheme, there are but five, and these very inconsiderable; +and that the greatest amount of these five prizes, without deducting the +fifteen per cent, is only $875, instead of the enormous sum of $195,967. +Can it be possible that any person will be found to patronize lotteries, +after considering these facts? + +I pass over those small prizes named after the first sixty-six having +the first and second drawn numbers on them, and will prove the balance +to be falsehoods, as the greater portion of the first part of the bill +is. + +In the first place, let us see how many prizes are represented to exist, +not to say any thing of the blanks. In counting up the prizes named on +this bill, we find them to be 30,316; and I do not think they would +pretend to say that more than one half of their tickets were prizes. +Then we will say that they had an equal number of blanks. This would +carry their scheme up to over sixty thousand tickets; and even if they +were all prizes, and no blanks, (which they do not pretend,) who cannot +see the extreme improbability of their disposing of 30,316 tickets in +one week? for it must be remembered that these were all of one class, +and for one particular week's drawing. But the last witness, whose +overwhelming testimony will settle the question, is their own +scheme-book, of which an accurate copy is here given, and which shows +the number of tickets, for any one drawing, to be but 1,560, the half of +which, by great exertion, they might succeed in selling; each successive +drawing being another edition of these same combinations, with a +different class number on them. Now, let me ask, where are their 30,316 +prizes to come from? What a scheme of deception do we here behold! and +one, too, that has been so long submitted to and patronized by the +public of this and other countries. + +Another method of still further swindling the buyers of tickets, is much +practised in some parts of the country. The agents who sell the tickets +are authorized to insure them. When a man buys one, the price, perhaps, +might be ten dollars. The seller, if he has been authorized, will say, +"Now, sir, for ten dollars, I will insure your ticket to draw a prize." +This is enough for the buyer to have his ticket insured to draw a prize, +and possibly the capital prize: he pays an additional fee, and the agent +forwards the numbers of all the tickets, so insured, to the office where +the drawing is to be held; and there they manage to have these tickets +contain one (seldom more) of the drawn numbers. This entitles the buyer +to receive back the price of his ticket, after taking out 15 per cent.; +and as it was not a total blank, the insurer is safe, and retains the +sum paid for insurance. The buyer remains swindled out of the insurance, +and 15 per cent, of the cost. These swindling shops are numerous, and +are sometimes called _policy offices_. + +We sincerely hope that our readers will examine with some attention the +developments we have made in relation to the deceptive schemes of the +lottery managers; for we feel that they cannot fail to convince every +man of common sense, who has a particle of moral principle and moral +honesty left, that he who encourages this basest of all swindling, by +purchasing tickets, is not alone an enemy to himself and family, but he +countenances a species of gambling that is extensively mischievous and +ruinous, and has for its victims many of our best citizens, young and +old; while, at the same time, he unintentionally throws a veil over the +villanous deeds of the lottery gambler and his unprincipled, as well as +his inexperienced supporters. We once more invite our readers to examine +our statements with attention. + +The following tables represent, completely, the entire contents of a +lottery dealer's scheme-book, made for the guidance of the printer, in +printing tickets. At the close of the tables is represented a ticket, +with its class and combination numbers. + ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| #1# | #2# | #3# | #4# | #5# | #6# | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 1 27 53| 1 28 55 | 1 29 54| 1 30 56| 1 31 57| 1 32 58| +| 2 28 54| 2 29 56 | 2 30 55| 2 31 57| 2 32 58| 2 33 59| +| 3 29 55| 3 30 57 | 3 31 56| 3 32 58| 3 33 59| 3 34 60| +| 4 30 56| 4 31 58 | 4 32 57| 4 33 59| 4 34 60| 4 35 78| +| 5 31 57| 5 32 59 | 5 33 58| 5 34 60| 5 35 61| 5 36 77| +| 6 32 58| 6 33 60 | 6 34 59| 6 35 61| 6 36 62| 6 42 71| +| 7 33 59| 7 34 61 | 7 35 60| 7 36 62| 7 37 63| 7 43 70| +| 8 34 60| 8 35 62 | 8 36 61| 8 37 63| 8 38 64| 8 44 69| +| 9 35 61| 9 36 63 | 9 37 62| 9 38 64| 9 39 65| 9 45 68| +|10 36 62| 10 37 64 | 10 38 63| 10 39 65| 10 40 66| 10 46 67| +|11 37 63| 11 38 65 | 11 39 64| 11 40 66| 11 41 67| 11 37 76| +|12 38 64| 12 39 66 | 12 40 65| 12 41 67| 12 42 68| 12 38 75| +|13 39 65| 13 40 67 | 13 41 66| 13 42 68| 13 43 69| 13 39 74| +|14 40 66| 14 41 68 | 14 42 67| 14 43 69| 14 44 70| 14 40 73| +|15 41 67| 15 42 69 | 15 43 68| 15 44 70| 15 45 71| 15 41 72| +|16 42 68| 16 43 70 | 16 44 69| 16 45 71| 16 46 72| 16 27 57| +|17 43 69| 17 44 71 | 17 45 70| 17 46 72| 17 47 73| 17 28 56| +|18 44 70| 18 45 72 | 18 46 71| 18 47 73| 18 48 74| 18 29 55| +|19 45 71| 19 46 73 | 19 47 72| 19 48 74| 19 49 75| 19 30 54| +|20 46 72| 20 47 74 | 20 48 73| 20 49 75| 20 50 76| 20 31 53| +|21 47 73| 21 48 75 | 21 49 74| 21 50 76| 21 51 77| 21 47 65| +|22 48 74| 22 49 76 | 22 50 75| 22 51 77| 22 52 78| 22 48 66| +|23 49 75| 23 50 77 | 23 51 76| 23 52 78| 23 30 53| 23 49 64| +|24 50 76| 24 51 78 | 24 52 77| 24 27 53| 24 29 54| 24 50 63| +|25 51 77| 25 52 53 | 25 27 78| 25 28 54| 25 28 55| 25 51 62| +|26 52 78| 26 27 54 | 26 28 53| 26 29 55| 26 27 56| 26 52 61| ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ + +The above lottery schemes were accurately copied from the scheme-book of +a lottery dealer in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and may be considered a fair +specimen of lottery combinations generally. The tables are for a 78 +numbered lottery, every three perpendicular lines of figures containing +a package, and each package all the numbers, from 1 to 78, inclusive; +and there are also 26 tickets in each package. + ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| #7# | #8# | #9# | #10# | #96# | #97# | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 1 34 59| 1 60 78| 1 61 64| 1 35 36| 1 38 39 | 1 41 43| +| 2 36 60| 2 61 77| 2 62 65| 2 37 38| 2 40 49 | 2 42 45| +| 3 35 61| 3 62 76| 3 63 66| 3 39 40| 3 41 50 | 3 44 47| +| 4 37 62| 4 63 75| 4 29 78| 4 41 42| 4 42 51 | 4 46 49| +| 5 38 63| 5 64 74| 5 28 77| 5 43 44| 5 43 52 | 5 48 51| +| 6 49 74| 6 65 73| 6 27 76| 6 45 46| 6 44 53 | 6 50 53| +| 7 50 75| 7 66 72| 7 30 50| 7 47 48| 7 45 54 | 7 52 55| +| 8 51 76| 8 67 71| 8 31 51| 8 49 50| 8 46 55 | 8 54 57| +| 9 52 77| 9 68 70| 9 32 52| 9 51 52| 9 47 56 | 9 56 59| +|10 27 78| 10 53 69| 10 33 53| 10 53 54| 10 48 57 | 10 58 61| +|11 28 53| 11 27 52| 11 34 54| 11 55 56| 11 58 67 | 11 60 63| +|12 29 54| 12 28 51| 12 35 55| 12 57 58| 12 59 68 | 12 62 65| +|13 30 55| 13 29 50| 13 36 56| 13 59 60| 13 60 69 | 13 64 67| +|14 31 56| 14 30 49| 14 37 57| 14 61 62| 14 61 70 | 14 66 69| +|15 32 57| 15 31 48| 15 38 58| 15 63 64| 15 62 71 | 15 68 71| +|16 33 58| 16 32 47| 16 39 59| 16 65 66| 16 63 72 | 16 70 73| +|17 48 73| 17 33 46| 17 40 60| 17 67 68| 17 64 73 | 17 72 75| +|18 47 72| 18 34 45| 18 41 67| 18 69 70| 18 65 74 | 18 74 77| +|19 46 71| 19 35 44| 19 42 68| 19 71 72| 19 66 75 | 19 76 78| +|20 45 70| 20 36 43| 20 43 69| 20 73 74| 20 27 76 | 20 35 40| +|21 44 69| 21 37 59| 21 44 70| 21 75 76| 21 28 77 | 21 34 39| +|22 43 68| 22 38 58| 22 45 71| 22 77 78| 22 29 78 | 22 33 38| +|23 42 67| 23 39 57| 23 46 72| 23 27 28| 23 30 34 | 23 32 37| +|24 41 66| 24 40 56| 24 47 73| 24 29 30| 24 31 35 | 24 31 36| +|25 40 65| 25 41 55| 25 48 74| 25 31 32| 25 32 36 | 25 27 29| +|26 39 64| 26 42 54| 26 49 75| 26 33 34| 26 33 37 | 26 28 30| ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ + +At the beginning of the first package you will see the numbers 1, 27, +53; they are placed on one ticket; and so with each succeeding three +numbers through the whole scheme. + ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| #98# | #99# | #100# | | #101# | #101# | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 13 | 14 | 15 | 00 | 1 | 1 | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 1 45 44| 1 62 70| 1 27 78| | 1 2 53 | 1 2 60| +| 2 46 47| 2 63 71| 2 28 77| | 3 4 54 | 3 6 61| +| 3 48 49| 3 64 72| 3 29 76| | 5 29 55 | 4 7 62| +| 4 50 51| 4 65 73| 4 30 75| | 6 30 56 | 5 52 63| +| 5 52 53| 5 66 74| 5 31 74| | 7 31 57 | 8 51 64| +| 6 54 55| 6 52 75| 6 32 73| | 8 32 58 | 9 50 65| +| 7 56 57| 7 53 76| 7 33 72| | 9 33 59 | 10 49 66| +| 8 58 59| 8 54 77| 8 34 71| | 10 34 60 | 11 48 67| +| 9 60 61| 9 55 78| 9 35 70| | 11 35 61 | 12 47 68| +|10 62 63| 10 56 67| 10 36 69|Here ends| 12 36 62 | 13 46 69| +|11 64 65| 11 57 68| 11 37 68| Fifteen | 13 37 63 | 14 45 70| +|12 66 67| 12 58 69| 12 38 67|Packages | 14 38 64 | 15 44 71| +|13 68 69| 13 59 61| 13 39 66|of Whole | 15 39 65 | 16 43 72| +|14 70 71| 14 51 60| 14 40 65| Tickets | 16 40 66 | 17 42 73| +|15 72 73| 15 27 39| 15 41 64| | 17 41 67 | 18 41 74| +|16 74 75| 16 28 40| 16 42 63| | 18 42 68 | 19 40 75| +|17 76 77| 17 29 41| 17 43 62| | 19 43 69 | 20 39 76| +|18 43 78| 18 30 42| 18 44 61| | 20 44 70 | 21 38 77| +|19 27 42| 19 31 43| 19 45 60| | 21 45 71 | 22 37 78| +|20 28 41| 20 32 44| 20 46 59| | 22 46 72 | 23 36 53| +|21 29 40| 21 33 45| 21 47 58| | 23 47 73 | 24 35 54| +|22 30 39| 22 34 46| 22 48 57| | 24 48 74 | 25 34 55| +|23 31 38| 23 35 47| 23 49 56| | 25 49 75 | 26 33 56| +|24 32 37| 24 36 48| 24 50 55| | 26 50 76 | 27 32 57| +|25 33 36| 25 37 49| 25 51 54| | 27 51 77 | 28 31 58| +|26 34 35| 26 38 50| 26 52 53| | 28 52 78 | 29 30 59| ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ + +There are, in these schemes, 15 packages of whole tickets, each +containing 26, which make an aggregate of 390, and the same number of +halves, which, if added to the former, will make 780; also, 30 packages +of quarters, making, in all, 1560. These comprise the whole of the +combinations here given, and are intended for one particular drawing, +constituting one class. For each successive drawing, another edition of +the same combinations are offered for sale, only with different class +numbers. + ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| #103# | #104# | #105# | #106# | #107# | #108# | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 1 3 61| 1 3 65| 1 4 66| 1 4 67| 1 5 68| 1 5 69| +| 2 4 62| 2 41 66| 2 42 67| 2 5 68| 2 6 69| 2 6 70| +| 5 6 63| 4 42 67| 3 43 68| 3 45 69| 3 7 70| 3 7 71| +| 7 8 64| 5 43 68| 5 44 69| 6 46 70| 4 45 71| 4 8 72| +| 9 31 65| 6 44 69| 6 45 70| 7 47 71| 8 46 72| 9 48 75| +|10 32 66| 7 45 70| 7 46 71| 8 48 72| 9 47 73| 10 49 76| +|11 33 67| 8 40 71| 8 47 72| 9 49 73| 10 48 74| 11 50 73| +|12 34 68| 9 39 72| 9 48 73| 10 50 74| 11 49 75| 12 51 74| +|13 35 69| 10 38 73| 10 49 74| 11 51 75| 12 50 76| 13 52 78| +|14 36 71| 11 37 74| 11 50 75| 12 52 76| 13 51 77| 14 31 77| +|15 37 70| 12 36 75| 12 51 76| 13 29 77| 14 52 78| 15 32 68| +|16 38 72| 13 35 76| 13 52 77| 14 30 78| 15 30 67| 16 33 67| +|17 39 73| 14 34 77| 14 41 78| 15 31 66| 16 31 66| 17 34 66| +|18 40 74| 15 33 78| 15 40 65| 16 32 65| 17 32 65| 18 35 65| +|19 41 75| 16 32 53| 16 28 64| 17 33 64| 18 33 64| 19 36 64| +|20 42 76| 17 31 54| 17 29 63| 18 34 63| 19 34 63| 20 37 63| +|21 43 77| 18 30 55| 18 30 62| 19 35 62| 20 35 62| 21 38 62| +|22 44 78| 19 29 56| 19 31 61| 20 36 61| 21 36 61| 22 39 61| +|23 45 53| 20 28 57| 20 32 60| 21 37 60| 22 37 60| 23 40 60| +|24 46 54| 21 52 58| 21 33 59| 22 38 59| 23 38 59| 24 41 59| +|25 47 55| 22 51 59| 22 34 58| 23 39 58| 24 39 58| 25 42 58| +|26 48 56| 23 50 60| 23 35 57| 24 40 57| 25 40 57| 26 43 57| +|27 49 57| 24 49 61| 24 36 56| 25 41 56| 26 41 56| 27 44 56| +|28 50 58| 25 48 62| 25 37 55| 26 42 55| 27 42 55| 28 45 55| +|29 51 59| 26 47 63| 26 38 54| 27 43 54| 28 43 54| 29 46 54| +|30 52 60| 27 46 64| 27 39 53| 28 44 53| 29 44 53| 30 47 53| ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ + +The venders of lottery tickets possess an immense advantage over the +buyer, which is mostly in the extreme improbability of a prize of any +considerable amount being drawn. The numbers 1 to 78 are capable of +making 76076 combinations on what I may term the increasing ratio--that +is, the second larger than the first, and the third larger than the +second, in arithmetical progression; as, 5, 10, 15, &c. + ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| #109# | #110# | #196# | #197# | #198# | #199# | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 1 6 70| 1 6 71| 1 7 72| 1 7 73| 1 8 74 | 1 8 75| +| 2 7 71| 2 7 72| 2 8 73| 2 8 74| 2 9 75 | 2 9 76| +| 3 8 72| 3 8 73| 3 9 74| 3 9 75| 3 10 76 | 3 10 77| +| 4 9 73| 4 9 74| 4 10 75| 4 10 76| 4 11 77 | 4 11 78| +| 5 10 74| 5 10 75| 5 11 76| 5 11 77| 5 12 78 | 5 12 74| +|11 32 75| 11 33 76| 6 12 77| 6 12 78| 6 13 73 | 6 13 72| +|12 33 76| 12 34 77| 13 33 78| 13 52 72| 7 14 72 | 7 14 73| +|13 34 77| 13 35 78| 14 34 53| 14 51 71| 15 45 70 | 15 46 71| +|14 35 78| 14 36 70| 15 35 54| 15 50 70| 16 46 71 | 16 47 70| +|15 36 69| 15 37 69| 16 36 55| 16 49 69| 17 47 69 | 17 48 69| +|16 37 68| 16 38 68| 17 37 56| 17 48 68| 18 48 68 | 18 49 68| +|17 38 67| 17 39 67| 18 38 57| 18 47 67| 19 49 67 | 19 50 67| +|18 39 66| 18 40 66| 19 39 58| 19 46 66| 20 50 66 | 20 51 66| +|19 40 65| 19 41 65| 20 40 59| 20 45 65| 21 51 65 | 21 52 65| +|20 41 64| 20 42 64| 21 41 60| 21 44 64| 22 52 64 | 22 45 64| +|21 42 62| 21 43 63| 22 42 61| 22 43 61| 23 44 63 | 23 44 61| +|22 43 63| 22 44 62| 23 43 62| 23 42 62| 24 43 62 | 24 43 60| +|23 44 60| 23 45 61| 24 44 63| 24 41 63| 25 42 61 | 25 42 63| +|24 45 61| 24 46 60| 25 45 64| 25 40 60| 26 41 60 | 26 41 62| +|25 46 59| 25 47 59| 26 46 65| 26 39 59| 27 40 59 | 27 40 58| +|26 47 58| 26 48 58| 27 47 66| 27 38 58| 28 39 58 | 28 39 59| +|27 48 57| 27 49 56| 28 48 67| 28 37 57| 29 38 57 | 29 38 56| +|28 49 56| 28 50 57| 29 49 68| 29 36 56| 30 37 56 | 30 37 57| +|29 50 55| 29 51 55| 30 50 69| 30 35 55| 31 36 55 | 31 36 54| +|30 51 54| 30 52 54| 31 51 70| 31 34 54| 32 35 53 | 32 35 55| +|31 52 53| 31 32 53| 32 52 71| 32 33 53| 33 34 54 | 33 34 53| ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ + +In the following combinations there are but 1560, where there might be +76076; and if this latter number were printed and sold, some one must +hold the three first drawn numbers, every ticket-holder having one +chance out of 76076 of drawing the capital prize. But, in this +combination, if a man were to purchase the whole of the tickets, being +1560, there would still be 49 chances against his holding the three +first numbers, to one for it. As there are no two tickets holding the +same three numbers, of course but one can hold the three first, which is +the prize. + ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| #200# | #206# | #201# | #202# | #203# | #204# | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 15 | 00 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 1 9 76| | 1 9 77 | 1 10 77| 1 10 78 | 1 11 21| +| 2 10 77| | 2 10 78 | 2 11 78| 2 11 77 | 2 12 22| +| 3 11 78| | 3 11 76 | 3 12 53| 3 12 76 | 3 13 23| +| 4 12 75| | 4 12 74 | 4 13 54| 4 13 75 | 4 14 24| +| 5 13 74| | 5 13 75 | 5 14 55| 5 14 74 | 5 15 25| +| 6 14 73|Here ends | 6 14 72 | 6 15 56| 6 15 72 | 6 16 26| +| 7 15 72| Fifteen | 7 15 73 | 7 16 57| 7 16 71 | 7 17 27| +| 8 16 71| Packages | 8 16 70 | 8 17 58| 8 17 70 | 8 18 28| +|17 52 70| of Half | 17 51 71 | 9 18 59| 9 18 69 | 9 19 29| +|18 51 69| Tickets. | 18 50 69 | 19 52 60| 19 36 68 | 10 20 30| +|19 50 68| The | 19 49 68 | 20 40 72| 20 37 67 | 31 41 51| +|20 49 67|following | 20 48 67 | 21 50 62| 21 38 66 | 32 42 52| +|21 48 66| Packages | 21 47 66 | 22 49 63| 22 39 65 | 33 43 53| +|22 47 65| are | 22 46 65 | 23 48 64| 23 40 64 | 34 44 54| +|23 46 64|Quarters. | 23 45 64 | 24 47 65| 24 41 62 | 35 45 55| +|24 45 63| | 24 44 61 | 25 46 66| 25 45 63 | 36 46 56| +|25 44 62| | 25 43 62 | 26 45 67| 26 43 60 | 37 47 57| +|26 43 61| | 26 42 63 | 27 44 68| 27 44 61 | 38 48 58| +|27 42 60| | 27 41 60 | 28 43 69| 28 42 59 | 39 49 59| +|28 41 59| | 28 40 59 | 29 42 70| 29 46 58 | 40 50 60| +|29 40 58| | 29 39 58 | 30 41 71| 30 47 57 | 61 67 73| +|30 39 57| | 30 38 57 | 31 51 61| 31 48 56 | 62 68 74| +|31 38 56| | 31 37 56 | 32 39 73| 32 49 55 | 63 69 75| +|32 37 55| | 32 36 55 | 33 38 74| 33 50 54 | 64 70 76| +|33 36 54| | 33 35 53 | 34 37 75| 34 51 53 | 65 71 77| +|34 35 53| | 34 52 54 | 35 36 76| 35 52 73 | 66 72 78| ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ + +By a little investigation, any one may discover that his chance for +drawing a prize, even of a trifling amount, is extremely small. By the +following method any one may ascertain the number of combinations which +any given number will produce, as in the present case, 78 × 77 × 76 = +456456 ÷ 6 = 76076, the number of combinations of three numbers each; +the 78 multiplied by 77, and the product by 76, and that product divided +by 6 gives the number of combinations of three numbers each, which the +numbers from 1 to 78 will produce, no two combinations containing the +same three numbers. + ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| #205# | #206# | #207# | #208# | #209# | #210# | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 1 12 23| 1 13 25 | 1 14 27 | 1 15 29| 1 16 31 | 1 17 33| +| 2 13 24| 2 14 26 | 2 15 28 | 2 16 39| 2 17 32 | 2 18 34| +| 3 14 25| 3 15 27 | 3 16 29 | 3 17 31| 3 18 33 | 3 19 35| +| 4 15 26| 4 16 28 | 4 17 30 | 4 18 32| 4 19 34 | 4 20 36| +| 5 16 27| 5 17 29 | 5 18 31 | 5 19 33| 5 20 35 | 5 21 37| +| 6 17 28| 6 18 30 | 6 19 32 | 6 20 34| 6 21 36 | 6 22 38| +| 7 18 29| 7 19 31 | 7 20 34 | 7 21 35| 7 22 37 | 7 23 39| +| 8 19 30| 8 20 32 | 8 21 33 | 8 22 36| 8 23 38 | 8 24 40| +| 9 20 31| 9 21 33 | 9 22 35 | 9 23 37| 9 24 39 | 9 25 41| +|10 21 32| 10 22 34 | 10 23 36 | 10 24 38| 10 25 40 | 10 26 42| +|11 22 33| 11 23 35 | 11 24 37 | 11 25 39| 11 26 41 | 11 27 43| +|34 45 56| 12 24 36 | 12 25 38 | 12 26 40| 12 27 42 | 12 28 44| +|35 46 57| 37 49 61 | 13 26 39 | 13 27 41| 13 28 43 | 13 29 45| +|36 47 58| 38 50 62 | 40 53 66 | 14 28 42| 14 29 44 | 14 30 46| +|37 48 59| 39 51 63 | 41 54 67 | 43 55 67| 15 30 45 | 15 31 47| +|38 49 60| 40 52 64 | 42 55 68 | 44 56 68| 46 57 68 | 16 32 48| +|39 50 61| 41 53 65 | 43 56 69 | 45 57 69| 47 58 69 | 49 59 69| +|40 51 62| 42 54 66 | 44 57 70 | 46 58 70| 48 59 70 | 50 60 70| +|41 52 63| 43 55 67 | 45 58 71 | 47 59 71| 49 60 71 | 51 61 71| +|42 53 64| 44 56 68 | 46 59 72 | 48 60 72| 50 61 72 | 52 62 72| +|43 54 65| 44 55 66 | 45 47 73 | 49 61 73| 51 62 73 | 53 63 73| +|44 55 66| 46 58 70 | 48 61 74 | 50 62 74| 52 63 74 | 54 64 74| +|67 71 76| 47 59 72 | 49 62 75 | 51 63 75| 53 64 75 | 55 65 75| +|68 72 75| 48 60 71 | 50 63 76 | 52 64 76| 54 65 76 | 56 66 76| +|69 73 78| 73 75 77 | 51 64 77 | 53 65 77| 55 66 77 | 57 67 77| +|70 74 77| 74 76 78 | 52 65 78 | 54 66 78| 66 67 78 | 58 68 78| ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ + ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| #296# | #297# | #298# | #299# | #300# | #301# | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 22 | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 1 18 35| 1 19 37| 1 20 39| 1 21 41| 1 22 43| 1 23 45| +| 2 19 36| 2 20 38| 2 21 40| 2 22 42| 2 23 44| 2 24 46| +| 3 20 37| 3 21 39| 3 22 41| 3 23 43| 3 24 45| 3 25 47| +| 4 21 38| 4 22 40| 4 23 42| 4 24 44| 4 25 46| 4 26 48| +| 5 22 39| 5 23 41| 5 24 43| 5 25 45| 5 26 47| 5 27 49| +| 6 23 40| 6 24 42| 6 25 44| 6 26 46| 6 27 48| 6 28 50| +| 7 24 41| 7 25 43| 7 26 45| 7 27 47| 7 28 49| 7 29 51| +| 8 25 42| 8 26 44| 8 27 46| 8 28 48| 8 29 50| 8 30 52| +| 9 26 43| 9 27 45| 9 28 47| 9 29 49| 9 30 51| 9 31 53| +|10 27 44| 10 28 46| 10 29 48| 10 30 50| 10 31 52| 10 32 54| +|11 28 45| 11 29 47| 11 30 49| 11 31 51| 11 32 53| 11 33 55| +|12 29 46| 12 30 48| 12 31 50| 12 32 52| 12 33 54| 12 34 56| +|13 30 47| 13 31 49| 13 32 51| 13 33 53| 13 34 55| 13 35 57| +|14 31 48| 14 32 50| 14 33 52| 14 34 54| 14 35 56| 14 36 58| +|15 32 49| 15 33 51| 15 34 53| 15 35 55| 15 36 57| 15 37 59| +|16 33 50| 16 34 52| 16 35 54| 16 36 56| 16 37 58| 16 38 60| +|17 34 51| 17 35 53| 17 36 55| 17 37 57| 17 38 59| 17 39 61| +|52 61 70| 18 36 54| 18 37 56| 18 38 58| 18 39 60| 18 40 62| +|53 62 71| 55 63 71| 19 38 57| 19 39 59| 19 40 61| 19 41 63| +|54 63 72| 56 64 72| 58 65 72| 20 40 60| 20 41 62| 20 42 64| +|55 64 73| 57 65 73| 59 66 73| 61 67 74| 21 42 63| 21 43 66| +|56 65 74| 58 66 74| 60 67 74| 62 68 73| 64 69 74| 22 44 65| +|57 66 75| 59 67 75| 61 68 75| 63 69 76| 65 70 75| 67 71 75| +|58 67 76| 60 68 76| 62 69 76| 64 70 75| 66 71 76| 68 72 76| +|59 68 77| 61 69 77| 63 70 77| 65 71 78| 67 72 77| 69 73 77| +|60 69 78| 62 70 78| 64 71 78| 66 72 77| 68 73 78| 70 74 78| ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ + +Lottery-dealers are aware of the great odds against the buyers, and are +very cautious in keeping all the secrets of a fraud to themselves, by +which they are robbing the public continually. But it shall not be the +fault of the writer of these pages if their swindling machinations are +longer concealed from the community. Thousands upon thousands of +dollars are expended annually in lottery tickets in this country; and +how very seldom is it that you hear of a capital prize having been +drawn! If there should chance to be a prize of any magnitude awarded to +a ticket-holder, it is trumpeted from one end of the Union to the other, +by those most interested in lottery speculations, stimulating others to +try their luck, and by that means making their very losses minister to +their gain; for, in all likelihood, months and years may elapse before +another large prize will be drawn from the same lottery. + ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| #302# | #303# | #304# | #305# | #306# | #307# | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 1 24 47| 1 25 49 | 1 26 51 | 1 12 24| 1 13 27 | 1 14 39| +| 2 25 48| 2 26 50 | 2 27 52 | 2 13 25| 2 14 28 | 2 15 38| +| 3 26 49| 3 27 51 | 3 28 53 | 3 14 26| 3 15 29 | 3 16 37| +| 4 27 50| 4 28 52 | 4 29 54 | 4 15 27| 4 16 30 | 4 17 36| +| 5 28 51| 5 29 53 | 5 30 55 | 5 16 28| 5 17 31 | 5 18 35| +| 6 29 52| 6 30 54 | 6 31 56 | 6 17 29| 6 18 32 | 6 19 34| +| 7 30 53| 7 31 55 | 7 32 57 | 7 18 30| 7 19 33 | 7 20 33| +| 8 31 54| 8 32 56 | 8 33 58 | 8 19 31| 8 20 34 | 8 21 32| +| 9 32 55| 9 33 57 | 9 34 59 | 9 20 32| 9 21 35 | 9 22 31| +|10 33 56| 10 34 58 | 10 35 60 | 10 21 33| 10 22 36 | 10 23 30| +|11 34 57| 11 35 59 | 11 36 61 | 11 22 34| 11 23 26 | 11 24 29| +|12 35 58| 12 36 60 | 12 37 62 | 23 49 66| 12 24 25 | 12 25 28| +|13 36 59| 13 37 61 | 13 38 63 | 35 50 65| 37 51 65 | 13 26 27| +|14 37 60| 14 38 62 | 14 39 64 | 36 51 64| 38 52 66 | 40 53 78| +|15 38 61| 15 39 63 | 15 40 66 | 37 52 67| 39 53 67 | 41 54 77| +|16 39 62| 16 40 64 | 16 41 65 | 38 53 69| 40 54 68 | 42 55 76| +|17 40 63| 17 41 65 | 17 42 67 | 39 54 68| 41 55 69 | 43 56 75| +|18 41 64| 18 42 66 | 18 43 68 | 40 55 70| 42 56 70 | 44 57 74| +|19 42 65| 19 43 67 | 19 44 69 | 41 56 71| 43 57 71 | 45 58 73| +|20 43 66| 20 44 68 | 20 45 71 | 42 57 72| 44 58 72 | 46 59 71| +|21 44 67| 21 45 69 | 21 46 70 | 43 58 73| 45 59 73 | 47 60 72| +|22 45 68| 22 46 70 | 22 47 72 | 44 59 74| 46 60 74 | 48 61 70| +|23 46 69| 23 47 71 | 23 48 73 | 45 60 75| 47 61 75 | 49 62 69| +|70 73 76| 24 48 72 | 24 49 74 | 46 61 76| 48 62 76 | 50 63 68| +|71 74 77| 73 76 77 | 25 50 75 | 47 62 77| 49 63 77 | 51 64 67| +|72 75 78| 74 75 78 | 76 77 78 | 48 63 78| 50 64 78 | 52 65 66| ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ + +It will be seen by the lottery combinations we present, how infinitely +disproportionate are the chances in this species of gambling--how vastly +the odds bear against the purchaser of tickets, and what mischievous +results must of necessity spring from a vile system of frauds, +perpetrated, as it is, by the sanction of law, and the tolerance of +custom. + ++--------+-----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| #308# | #309# | #310# | #396# | #397# | #398# | ++--------+-----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | ++--------+-----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 1 18 53| 1 19 53 | 1 20 53 | 1 21 53| 1 22 45 | 1 23 46| +| 2 19 54| 2 20 54 | 2 21 54 | 2 22 54| 2 23 43 | 2 24 45| +| 3 20 55| 3 21 55 | 3 22 55 | 3 23 55| 3 24 44 | 3 25 55| +| 4 21 56| 4 22 56 | 4 23 56 | 4 24 56| 4 25 56 | 4 26 56| +| 5 22 57| 5 23 57 | 5 24 57 | 5 25 57| 5 26 57 | 5 27 57| +| 6 23 58| 6 24 58 | 6 25 58 | 6 26 58| 6 27 58 | 6 28 58| +| 7 24 59| 7 25 59 | 7 26 59 | 7 27 59| 7 28 59 | 7 29 59| +| 8 25 60| 8 26 60 | 8 27 60 | 8 28 60| 8 29 60 | 8 30 78| +| 9 26 61| 9 27 61 | 9 28 61 | 9 29 61| 9 30 61 | 9 31 77| +|10 27 62| 10 28 62 | 10 29 62 | 10 30 62| 10 31 62 | 10 32 76| +|11 28 63| 11 29 63 | 11 30 63 | 11 31 63| 11 32 63 | 11 33 75| +|12 29 64| 12 30 64 | 12 31 64 | 12 32 64| 12 33 64 | 12 34 74| +|13 30 65| 13 31 65 | 13 32 65 | 13 33 65| 13 34 65 | 13 35 73| +|14 31 66| 14 32 66 | 14 33 66 | 14 34 66| 14 35 66 | 14 36 72| +|15 32 67| 15 33 67 | 15 34 67 | 15 35 67| 15 36 67 | 15 37 71| +|16 33 68| 16 34 68 | 16 35 68 | 16 36 68| 16 38 71 | 16 38 70| +|17 34 69| 17 35 69 | 17 36 69 | 17 37 69| 17 37 70 | 17 39 69| +|35 44 70| 18 36 70 | 18 37 70 | 18 38 70| 18 39 69 | 18 40 68| +|36 45 71| 37 45 71 | 19 38 71 | 19 39 71| 19 40 68 | 19 41 67| +|37 46 72| 38 46 72 | 39 46 72 | 20 40 72| 20 41 72 | 20 42 66| +|38 47 73| 39 47 73 | 40 47 73 | 41 47 73| 21 42 73 | 21 43 65| +|39 48 74| 40 48 74 | 41 48 74 | 42 48 74| 46 51 74 | 22 44 64| +|40 49 75| 41 49 75 | 42 49 75 | 43 49 75| 47 52 75 | 47 51 63| +|41 50 76| 42 50 76 | 43 50 76 | 44 50 76| 48 53 76 | 48 52 62| +|42 51 77| 43 51 77 | 44 51 77 | 45 51 77| 49 54 77 | 49 53 61| +|43 52 78| 44 52 78 | 45 52 78 | 46 52 78| 50 55 78 | 50 54 60| ++--------+-----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ + +All the combinations used in this lottery have been given, as also the +number that might be made; and, of course, the less the dealer in +lotteries makes, the greater the chance in his favor, and the less in +favor of the buyer. The figures heading the classes of combinations, on +each page, are class-numbers, and those below the first figures, and +immediately above the columns, are placed there to indicate the number +of packages. + ++---------+--------+ +| #399# | #400# | ++---------+--------+ +| 29 | 30 | ++---------+--------+ +| 1 24 53 | 1 25 53| +| 2 25 54 | 2 26 54| +| 3 26 55 | 3 27 55| +| 4 27 56 | 4 28 56| +| 5 28 57 | 5 29 57| +| 6 29 58 | 6 30 58|Here ends +| 7 30 59 | 7 31 59|the Thirty +| 8 31 60 | 8 32 60|Packages +| 9 32 61 | 9 33 61|of Quarters. +|10 33 62 |10 34 62| +|11 34 63 |11 35 63| +|12 35 64 |12 36 64| +|13 36 65 |13 37 65| +|14 37 66 |14 38 66| +|15 38 67 |15 39 67| +|16 39 68 |16 40 68| +|17 40 69 |17 41 69| +|18 41 70 |18 42 70| +|19 42 71 |19 43 71| +|20 43 72 |20 44 72| +|21 44 73 |21 45 73| +|22 45 74 |22 46 74| +|23 46 75 |23 47 75| +|47 50 76 |24 48 76| +|48 51 77 |49 51 77| +|49 52 78 |50 52 78| ++---------+--------+ + +[Illustration: MARKED CARDS. See Green on Gambling.] + +The above are specimens of patterns of playing cards, that the reader +may rely upon the gambler's knowing by their back as well as the +generality of amusement players know by their face. The same may be said +of all the patterns spoken of and presented to the view of the reader on +another page of this work. + +[Illustration: Literature Lottery BY AUTHORITY OF THE STATE OF KENTUCKY +Class No. 205 Com Nos 10 48 75 + +This Ticket will entitle the holder to one QUARTER of such Prize as may +be drawn to its Numbers, if demanded within twelve months after the +Drawing. Subject to a deduction of Fifteen per cent: Payable forty days +after the Drawing. + +For A. BASSFORD & CO., Managers. +#Covington, 1841. QUARTER.# + +[This plate represents a lottery ticket with the numbers placed upon it. +The numbers seen upon its face are of the same order as those found upon +every ticket when sold, and are used to designate one ticket from +another, and by comparing them with the numbers at the head of any of +those packages of combinations, on another page, you will see the manner +in which they are arranged, and the great advantage in favor of the +managers.]] + + +FALLACY OF LOTTERIES AS A MEANS OF REVENUE. + +We are indebted for the following exposition to our moral friend, Capt. +John Maginn, of New York city. + +"Although they may produce, by the various deceptive allurements which +they hold forth, a temporary influx into the treasury of the state, yet +the prostration of industry, the formation of idle habits, intemperance +and various other vices, have invariably been the consequences wherever +they have been introduced. No farther evidence of this position is +requisite than the fact that in England, where many of the common +necessaries of life are heavily taxed, it has been satisfactorily +ascertained from observation, that for several days preceding the +drawing of a lottery, the consumption of such articles was very +materially diminished. It is moreover equally true, that a very small +proportion of the tax actually paid, through the purchase of lottery +tickets, is available to the state: by far the greater part being +absorbed in the expenses, profits, &c., of managers and venders." + + +INSURING NUMBERS, OR POLICY DEALING. + +As the system of insuring numbers is at present practised to a fearful +extent in this city, and as its votaries are mostly the ignorant and +unthinking portion of the community, we proceed to give a plain +matter-of-fact investigation of the chances. + +There being on the day of drawing a certain number of tickets in the +wheel, out of which a particular number of them are to be drawn, it +follows that there are so many chances to one against a given number +being drawn as the number which are to be drawn are contained in the +entire number of tickets in the wheel. To illustrate this practically, +suppose you would insure the payment of $100 upon the event of a certain +number being drawn from the lottery wheel to-day; suppose it is a 78 +number lottery, and that 12 ballots are to be drawn; the chance then is +evidently 78/12, or 6.5 to 1 that you lose: accordingly, in order to +make the chances equal, you must pay 100/6.5, or $15.38, for insurance: +if therefore the insurer should ask $32, there would be about $16 fraud: +in other words, you would have to contend against about 100 per cent. +The only inducement for the insurer to pursue this vile practice, in +defiance of constitutions and laws, is a liberal per centage. This +varies from 30 to 70, and even 125 per cent. Under circumstances like +these, when the chances of gain are obviously so remote, it would seem +incredible that any one endowed with even ordinary sagacity could be so +deluded--so desperate--as to adventure; though, sad to relate, hundreds +and hundreds in this city daily spend their little all in effecting +insurance on numbers, and that, too, at the sacrifice of the common +necessaries of life. + +Another system of insurance, which we will proceed to analyze, is +effected by what is termed a station number. The adventurer selects a +number, and declares that it will come out the first or second drawn, or +in some other place, for which he pays six cents, and if the number is +drawn in the order indicated, he is to receive $2.50. To illustrate +this, suppose you select a certain number, which you declare will be the +third drawn; suppose also that it is a 78 number lottery, and that there +are 12 drawn ballots. In this case there are evidently 78/12 = 6.5 +chances to 1 against the selected number being drawn. It is also plain +that should it be a drawn number, there are 12 chances to 1 against it +being drawn in any particular order; wherefore it follows, that there +are 6.5x12 = 78 chances to 1 against the selected number being the third +or any other particular drawn number. Accordingly, to equalize the +chances, in case of winning you should receive 78x6 = $4.68; hence, +under these circumstances the insurer gains $2.18, which is nearly 100 +per cent. Again, suppose it is a 98 number lottery, and that you pay 25 +cents: here we have 98x25 = $24.50, the sum you ought to receive in case +of winning, instead of which you only receive 25/6x2.5 = $10.626; hence +the insurer gains $13.975, or more than 125 per cent. + + +PROF. GODDARD ON LOTTERIES. + +We give below a very able memorial, from the pen of Prof. Goddard, of +Brown University, to the Legislature of Rhode Island. + +The undersigned, citizens of Rhode Island, have long regarded the +lottery system with unqualified reprobation. They believe it to be a +multiform social evil, which is obnoxious to the severest reprehension +of the moralist, and which it is the duty of the legislator, in all +cases, to visit with the most effective prohibitory sanctions. +Entertaining these convictions, the undersigned memorialists cannot +withhold them from the Hon. General Assembly of Rhode Island. They +invoke the General Assembly to exercise their constitutional powers, +promptly and decisively, for the correction of a long-continued, and +wide-spread, and pestilent social evil. They ask them, most respectfully +and earnestly, to withdraw, as soon as may be, all legislative sanction +of the lottery system, and to save Rhode Island from the enduring +reproach of being among the last States to abandon that system. The +memorialists beg leave to disclaim, in this matter, all personal or +political considerations. They are seeking neither to help nor to hurt +any political party. They contemplate no aggression upon the rights or +the character of individuals. They are engaged in no impracticable +scheme of moral reform. They have no fondness for popular agitation. +They are what they profess to be, citizens of Rhode Island, and it is +only in the quality of citizens of Rhode Island, that they now ask the +General Assembly to resort to the most operative penal enactments, for +the entire suppression of a system which exists, and which can exist +only to disgrace the character of the State, and to injure both the +morals and the interests of the people. The memorialists are persuaded +that a commanding majority of the citizens of every political party +entertain sentiments of decided hostility to all lotteries. In praying, +therefore, for legislative interposition, they feel that they are not +in advance of public opinion, that they are not urging the General +Assembly to anticipate public opinion, but only to imbody it; to +accelerate its salutary impulses, and to augment its healthful vigour. +The constitutional power of the legislature to interfere in the premises +being undisputed, the memorialists beg leave to submit, for +consideration, a few only of the many reasons which have forced upon +their minds the conclusion--that Rhode Island should lose no time and +spare no effort in extirpating the lottery system:--a system which has +already worked extensive evil within her borders; which is repugnant to +a cultivated moral sense; and which has been branded, both as illegal +and immoral, by some of the most enlightened governments upon earth. In +this connection, it should be stated, that England, and, it is believed, +France likewise, have abandoned the lottery system. Some of the most +populous and influential States in this Confederacy have abandoned it. +Massachusetts has abandoned it; Pennsylvania has abandoned it; New York +has abandoned it. Nay more, so hostile were the people of the latter +State to the lottery system, that in revising its Constitution a few +years since, they adopted a provision which prohibits the Legislature +from ever making a lottery grant. These examples are adduced to show the +progress of an enlightened public sentiment upon this subject, and to +exhibit the grateful spectacle of governments, differently constituted, +exercising their powers for the best interests of the people. The evils +which the lottery system creates, and the evils which it exasperates, +are so various and complicated, that the undersigned memorialists +cannot attempt an enumeration. They are so revolting as to furnish no +motive for rhetorical exaggeration. A few only of these evils the +undersigned memorialists will now proceed to mention. + +1. Lotteries are liable to many of the strongest objections which can be +alleged against gambling. They have thus far escaped, it is true, the +infamy of gambling, but they can plead no exemption from its malignant +consequences. Like gamblers, they are hostile--not to say fatal--to all +composure of thought and sobriety of conduct. Like gambling, they +inflame the imagination of their victims and their dupes, with visions +of ease, and affluence, and pleasure, destined never to be realized. +Like gambling, they seduce men, especially the credulous and the +unthinking, from the pursuits of regular industry, into the vortex of +wild adventure and exasperated passions. Like gambling, they ultimately +create a necessity for constant vicious excitement. Like gambling, they +often lead to poverty and despair, to insanity and to suicide. Like +gambling, they furnish strong temptations to fraud, and theft, and +drunkenness. Like gambling, they work, in but too many cases, a +permanent depravation of all moral principle and all moral habits. This +fearful parallel might easily be extended. The picture here presented of +the evils of lotteries, however fearful it may seem, is not overdrawn. +This picture will be owned as just, by many a bereaved widow and by many +a forsaken wife, who trace all their woes to the temptation into which +this _respectable_ and legalized species of gambling had betrayed once +affectionate husbands. It will be owned as just by many a child, who +has been doomed perchance to a heritage of ignorance and poverty, by a +father, for whose weak virtue the potent fascinations of the lottery +were found too strong. In many respects, the lottery system may be +deemed even more pernicious than ordinary gambling. It spreads a more +accomplished snare; it is less offensive to decorum; it is less alarming +to consciences which have not lost all sensitiveness; it numbers among +its participants multitudes of those who ought to blush and to tremble +for thus hazarding their own virtue, and for thus corrupting the virtues +of others; it draws within its charmed circle men and women who fill up +every gradation of age, and character, and fortune. + +2. The lottery system, as at present constituted, presents the strongest +temptations to fraud on the part of all those who are concerned either +in the drawing of lotteries or in the sale of tickets. It is not known +that fraud has in any case been perpetrated, though fraud is suspected. +If perpetrated, it would be no easy matter to detect it. The ignorant +and the credulous men and women, who seek to better their fortunes by +gambling in lottery tickets, know nothing of those mystical combinations +of numbers, on which their fate is suspended. Utter strangers as they +are to all the "business transactions" of the lottery system, if cheated +at all, they are cheated without remedy. + +3. The lottery system operates as a most oppressive tax upon the +community. This tax is paid, not by the rich and luxurious--but it is +paid mainly by those who are struggling for independence, and by those +who earn their bread by the sweat of their brow--by the servants in our +kitchens--by clerks and apprentices, and day-labourers; by mechanics and +traders; by the men and women who work in our factories; and in too many +instances, it is to be feared, by our hardy yeomanry, who, impatient of +the slow profits of agriculture, vainly expect from the chances of the +lottery that which is never denied to the efforts of industry. The +amount of pauperism and crime, of mental agitation and perchance of +mental insanity, which the lottery system must create among these +numerous classes, it would not be easy to calculate. + +4. Lotteries are the parent of much of the pauperism which is to be +found in this young, and free, and prosperous land. It entails poverty +upon multitudes directly, by exhausting their limited means in abortive +experiments to get rich by "high prizes"--and, yet more, by withdrawing +multitudes from a dependence on labour, and accustoming them to hope +miracles of good fortune from chance. After repeated disappointments, +they discover, when it is too late to profit from the discovery, how +sadly they have been duped, and how recklessly they have abandoned their +confidence in themselves, and in that gracious Being who never forsakes +those who put their trust in him. They sink into despondency, and, +seeking to forget themselves, they bring upon their faculties the brutal +stupor of intoxication, or they exhilarate them by its delirious gayety. +Suicide is often the fearful issue. Dupin ascribes a hundred cases of +suicide _annually_ to the lottery system in the single city of Paris. +Many years ago a lottery scheme, displaying splendid prizes, was formed +in London. Adventures to a very large amount was the consequence, and +the night of the drawing was signalized by fifty cases of suicide! + +5. Success in lotteries is hardly less fatal than failure. The fortunate +adventurer is never satisfied. He ventures again and again, till ruin +overtakes him. After all the tempting promises of wealth, which are made +by those concerned in this iniquitous system, how very few, except +managers of lotteries and venders of lottery tickets, has it ever made +rich! and well may it be asked, whom has it ever made more diligent in +business, more contented, and respectable, and happy? + +6. Lotteries, it is believed, are rendered especially mischievous in +this country by the nature of our institutions, and by the spirit of the +times. Here, the path to eminence being open to every one--but too many +are morbidly anxious to improve their condition; and by means, too, +which in the wisdom of Providence were never intended to command +success. A mad desire for wealth pervades all classes--it feeds all +minds with fantastic hope; it is hostile to all patient toil, and +legitimate enterprise, and economical expenditure. It generates a spirit +of reckless speculation; it corrupts the simplicity of our tastes; and, +what is yet worse, it impairs, not unfrequently, in reference to the +transactions of business, the obligations of common honesty. Upon these +elements of our social condition and character, the lottery system +operates with malignant efficacy. + +The undersigned memorialists are far from thinking that, in the +preceding remarks, they have exhausted the argument against the lottery +system. They have dwelt, in general terms, upon only some of its more +prominent evils. They do not allow themselves to believe that, aside +from the ranks of those who have a direct personal interest in this +system, a man of character could be found in Rhode Island to defend it. +The memorialists deem lotteries to be in Rhode Island a paramount social +evil. They entreat the General Assembly to survey this evil in all its +phases, and then to apply the remedy. The interposition which is now +asked at the hands of the Legislature has been delayed too long, either +for the interests or for the character of the state. It is time that we +protected our interests, and retrieved our character. It is time that +the lottery had ceased to be the "_domestic institution_" of Rhode +Island. It is time that we abandoned, and abandoned for ever, the policy +of supporting schools, and building churches, with the wages of +iniquity. The memorialists are aware that the General Assembly have made +lottery grants, which have not yet expired. They seek not in any way to +interfere with those grants; but in concluding this expression of their +views, they cannot avoid repeating their earnest entreaty that the +legislature would come up without unnecessary delay to the great work of +reforming an abuse, which no length of time, or patronage of numbers, or +policy of state, should be permitted to shelter for another hour. + + +EXTRACTS _from a Report to the Society for the Prevention of Pauperism +in the city of New York._ + +"It is not possible to estimate the sum that may have been drawn from +the people by lottery devices. Nor is it possible to estimate the number +of poor people that have engaged in lottery gambling. We have been told, +that more than two hundred of these deluded people have been seen early +in the mornings at the lottery offices, pressing to know their fate. +_There_ might be seen the anxiety, the disappointment, and +mortification, of unfortunate beings, who had lost their all! + +"Thus we see that this demoralizing contagion has spread its destructive +influence over the most indigent and ignorant of the community. The +injurious system of lotteries opens a wide door to gambling, fraud and +imposition; of which the speculating, dishonest, idle, profligate and +crafty avail themselves, and deceive the innocent and ignorant. + +"If we place this subject in a pecuniary view as it relates to the +public funds, the mischievous effect is more obvious. From an estimate, +made by a gentleman of accurate calculation, it appears, that the +expense, or the amount drawn from the people, to raise by lottery the +net sum of 30,000 dollars, amounts to $170,500, including the expense of +the managers and their attendants, the clerks and attendants of the +lottery offices, the expense of time lost by poor people, and the amount +paid the proprietors of lottery offices. This enormous sum is paid for +the collection of only 30,000 dollars. This is, therefore, not only the +most expensive, but also the most demoralizing method that was ever +devised to tax the people. + +"Upon the whole view of the subject, your committee are decidedly of +opinion, that lotteries are the most injurious kind of taxation, and the +very worst species of Gambling. By their insidious and fascinating +influence on the public mind, their baleful effect is extended, and +their mischievous consequences are most felt by the indigent and +ignorant, who are seduced, deceived, and cheated out of their money, +when their families are often suffering for the necessaries of life. +Their principles are vitiated by lotteries, they are deceived by vain +and delusive expectation, and are led into habits of idleness and vice, +which produce innumerable evils, and, ultimately, end in misery and +pauperism." + + +LOTTERY COMBINATIONS. + +The numbers on lottery tickets are formed by combinations of certain +numbers previously agreed upon; as from 1 to 60, 1 to 75, 1 to 78, &c., +&c. + +Combination consists in taking a less number of things out of a greater, +without any regard to the order in which they stand; no two combinations +having the same quantities or numbers. + +_Problem._--To find the number of combinations which can be taken from +any given number of things, all different from each other, taking a +given number at a time. + +_Rule._--Take a series of numbers, the first term of which is equal to +the number of things out of which the combinations are to be made, and +decreasing by 1, till the number of terms is equal to the number of +things to be taken at a time, and the product of all the terms. + +Then take the natural series 1, 2, 3, &c., up to the number of things to +be taken at a time, and find the product of all the terms of this +series. + +Divide the former product by the latter, and the quotient will be the +answer. + +How many combinations of 3 numbers can be taken out of 78 numbers? + +78×77×76 = 456456 and + 1×2×3 = 6 + 6)456456 + ------ + 76076 Answer. + +How many combinations of 3 numbers can be taken out of 70 numbers? + +70×69×68 = 328440 and + 1×2×3 = 6 + 6)328440 + ------ + 54740 Answer. + +How many combinations of 3 numbers can be taken out of 60 numbers? + +60×59×58 = 205320 and + 1×2×3 = 6 + 6)205320 + ------ + 34220 Answer. + +How many combinations of 3 numbers can be taken out of 40 numbers? + +40×39×38 = 59280 and + 1×2×3 = 6 + 6)59280 + ----- + 9880 Answer. + +We have sufficient experience in lottery gambling to assure the +community that their whole system is as foul as highway robbery. We +purchased a wheel from one of the fraternity in Washington City, and +drew in Philadelphia three times, then carried it to Washington, and +there demonstrated to the satisfaction of those who witnessed our +drawing, that what we asserted was true to the letter. We copy the +notices of the American Courier, one of the first papers of our country +in the cause of humanity, and ever ready to diffuse that which will +promote the happiness and welfare of mankind. + + "GREEN'S LOTTERY, + +"On Saturday night, drew the prize of fifty dollars for the proprietor, +he having declared to the audience the intention of giving them blanks, +which he did to the satisfaction of the judges. We have the best +authority for stating the belief that his expositions will prove not +only interesting, but highly beneficial, in opening the eyes of +thousands to the frauds practised in the shape of fairness by the +lottery managers." + +After which the editor received the following:-- + + _Frederick, June 9th, 1848._ + +_Dear Sir_--Will you oblige some of your readers by giving them an idea +of "Green's" manner of exposition of frauds, as practised by the lottery +managers? and by so doing, no doubt but you will confer a favour on many +of your subscribers. + +Respectfully, B. + A. M'Makin, Esq., _Ed. American Courier, Philad._ + +EXPLANATION. + +In obedience to the request of "B," we have conversed with a gentleman +who was one of a committee of the audience to superintend the drawing of +"Green's Lottery" on a recent occasion. He says that the tickets were +prepared and distributed precisely after the plan of the regular lottery +managers, with the exception that Mr. Green announced to the audience +that he had purposely reserved certain combinations of numbers, which he +knew by calculation would draw for him the highest prize, and leave for +them _blanks only!_--Each individual in the audience held a ticket, with +a different combination of numbers, such as they choose to select from +the packages opened to them. The numbers were placed in the wheel +precisely in the usual way, the drawing conducted by the committee from +the audience, and on the announcement of the drawn numbers it was +discovered, sure enough, that the audience had received all blanks, and +upon Mr. Green pointing to a package on the table reserved for himself, +it was examined by the committee, and lo! there lay the ticket having +the combination of numbers drawing _the capital prize_!--ED. A.C. + + +_Communicated to the American Courier from Washington, D.C._ + +Green's great Consolidated Lottery drew in this city on the 22d inst. +The Reformed Gambler astonished a highly respectable audience at his +complete exposition of the fraud practised by lottery speculators +throughout our Union. Mr. Green stated to the audience that though he +wished them to understand the lottery system to be fraught with +deception, he did not wish it to be understood that he was competent to +make a clear and comprehensive exposition. This was his fourth effort, +and he had succeeded in three to the satisfaction of his audience. + +He then stated that he would draw from the ternary combination of 42 +numbers, and take therefore 8 drawn ballots, being equal to 15 in 75. He +then placed in R.H. Gillet's hand 42 tickets, which he declared +contained the drawn numbers, where any 3 numbers should be upon a +ticket. Having explained satisfactorily his intentions, he requested Mr. +J. Thaw to act as his commissioner, Mr. Thaw being well known as a +gentleman of integrity. + +Mr. Green then requested Mr. Gillet to mark the numbers from 1 to 42, so +that there should be no doubt resting upon the mind of any one that they +were the same numbers which should afterwards be drawn out. The tickets +were marked, and Mr. Thaw deposited them singly in tin tubes, from 1 to +42. Mr. Thaw then revolved the wheel, mixing them thoroughly; he then +drew one at a time, until he drew 8, being the correct drawn ballots. +Mr. Green then asked the audience if they had any prizes. Receiving a +negative answer, he stated that he could draw one half of the numbers +from the wheel and still they should have none, though they had some 400 +tickets against his 42. The commissioner continued drawing, the prizes +still falling in the manager's package, and the numbers from 1 to 29 +were taken out of the 42 before the audience received a full compliment +of 3 numbers on a ticket. The drawing appeared fair; the numbers placed +in the wheel were those taken out. The wheel is one Mr. G. purchased +from a lottery vender in Washington city. Mr. G.'s explanation of his +power to prevent prizes being drawn without his consent appeared very +satisfactory. He declared that the managers had it in their power to +assort out certain numbers, and by the villany of those concerned in the +distribution, were enabled to keep any numbers from the hands of the +drawer. + +I must own that this exposition of Green's has taken me altogether by +surprise. I did think that the deluded thousands who live on, day after +day, in the vain hope of a prize, instead of depending solely upon their +industry, skill, and talents, had some remote chance of getting a good +drawn number. But, it seems that this is all a delusion, and that +lotteries can be "stocked" as well as a pack of cards. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SECRET BAND OF BROTHERS*** + + +******* This file should be named 17917-8.txt or 17917-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/9/1/17917 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Secret Band of Brothers</p> +<p> A Full and True Exposition of All the Various Crimes, Villanies, and Misdeeds of This Powerful Organization in the United States.</p> +<p>Author: Jonathan Harrington Green</p> +<p>Release Date: March 4, 2006 [eBook #17917]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SECRET BAND OF BROTHERS***</p> +<p> </p> +<h4>E-text prepared by Dave Maddock, Susan Skinner,<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net/">http://www.pgdp.net/</a>)<br /> + from page images generously made available by the<br /> + University of Michigan Digital Library Production Service<br /> + (<a href="http://www.hti.umich.edu/">http://www.hti.umich.edu/</a>)</h4> +<p> </p> +<table border="0" cellpadding="10" style="background-color: #ccccff;"> + <tr> + <td valign="top"> + Note: + </td> + <td> + Images of the original pages are available through the Making of + America collection of the University of Michigan Digital Library + Production Service. See + <a href="http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa;idno=AHK6233.0001.001"> + http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa;idno=AHK6233.0001.001</a> + </td> + </tr> +</table> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/001.png" width="400" height="537" alt="Frontispiece" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr style='width: 65%;' /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<h1>SECRET BAND OF BROTHERS.</h1> + +<p class='center'><span style="font-size: small;">A FULL AND</span><br /> +<span style="font-size: large;">TRUE EXPOSITION</span><br /> +<span style="font-size: small;">OF ALL THE VARIOUS</span><br /> +<span style="font-size: large;">Crimes, Villanies, and Misdeeds</span><br /> +<span style="font-size: small;">OF THIS POWERFUL</span><br /> +<span style="font-size: large;">ORGANIZATION IN THE UNITED STATES.</span> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: small;">BY THE</span><br /> +<span style="font-size: small;">"REFORMED GAMBLER,"</span><br /> +<span style="font-size: x-large;">JONATHAN H. GREEN.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: small;">AUTHOR OF "THE GAMBLER'S LIFE," "GAMBLING EXPOSED," "THE REFORMED +GAMBLER; OR, AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF J. H. GREEN," ETC.</span><br /> +<br /> +WITH ILLUSTRATIVE ENGRAVINGS.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"This is a most fearful and startling exposition of crime, and gives the +true and secret history of a daring and powerful secret association, the +members of which, residing in all parts of the country, have for a long +period of years been known to one another by signs and tokens known only +to their order. This association has been guilty of an almost incredible +amount of crime. Beautifully embellished with Illustrative Engravings, +from original designs by Darley and Croome."—<i>Courier.</i></p></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p class='center'> +Philadelphia:<br /> +T. B. PETERSON AND BROTHERS,<br /> +306 CHESTNUT STREET.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p> +<p class='center' style="font-size: small;">Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, by<br /> +T. B. PETERSON,<br /> + +In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the +Eastern District of Pennsylvania. +</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE.</h2> + + +<p>The vice of gambling is peculiarly destructive. It +spares neither age nor sex. It visits the domestic +hearth with a pestilence more quiet and stealthy, but +not less deadly, than intemperance. It is at once the +vice of the gentleman, and the passion of the blackguard. +With deep shame we are forced to admit that +the halls of legislation have not been free from its influence, +nor the judicial bench unstained by its pollution.</p> + +<p>It is against this vice, which is now spreading like +a subtle poison through all grades of society, that the +present work is directed. The author is not a mere +theorist. He speaks from experience—dark and bitter +experience. The things he has seen he tells; the +words he has heard he speaks again. Some of these +scenes curdle the blood in the veins, even when remembered; +some of these words, whenever whispered, +recall incidents of singular atrocity, and thrill the +bosom with horror.</p> + +<p>The author professes to speak nothing but the plain +truth. He does not aspire to an elegant style of +writing, adorned with the ornaments of the orator and +the scholar; but to one quality may lay claim, without +being thought a vain or immodest man. He +speaks with an earnest sincerity. Whatever he says +comes from his heart, and is spoken with all the sympathy +of his soul.</p> + +<p>This work differs from all the previous works of the +author. Indeed, it is unlike any thing ever published +in this country. It is not a mere exposure of gam<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>bling, +nor yet an attack on the character of particular +gamblers. It is a revelation of a wide-spread organization—pledged +to gambling, theft, and villany of all +kinds. There are at the present time existing, in our +Union, certain organizations, pledged to the performance +of good works, which merit the hearty approbation +of every honest man. These are called secret +societies, although their proceedings, and the names +of the officers, with minute particulars, are published +in a thousand shapes. Prominent among these beneficial +orders stand the Odd Fellows and the Sons of +Temperance. But the order, whose history is related +in the following pages, differs from all these. Its proceedings, +the names of its members or its officers, and +even its very existence as a body, have hitherto been +secret, and sealed from the whole world. Besides, it is +pledged to accomplish all kinds of robbery, aye, and +even worse deeds. It has, in more than one deplorable +instance, concealed its dark deeds with murder.</p> + +<p>This order is not confined in its operations to the +dark places of life. It numbers among its members +the professional man, the "respectable citizen," the +prominent and wealthy of various towns throughout +the Union; nay, it has sometimes invaded the house +of God, and secured the services of those who are +ostensibly his ministers.</p> + +<p>There is not a line of fiction in these pages. The +solemn truth is told, in all its strange and horrible +interest. To the public, to the candid of all classes, +to the friends of reform, to the honest citizen, and to +the sincere Christian, the author makes his appeal.</p> + +<p>Let not his voice of warning be unheeded. Let +all be up and doing, so that the monster may be +exterminated from the face of the earth, and the youth +of the present age be saved from destruction.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS.</h2> + + +<div class="toc"> + +<p class="main">CHAPTER I.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">THE SECRET BAND OF BROTHERS.</a></span></p> + +<p class="entrycenter">Why this exposure is made at the present time—Who oppose reform—My +lectures—The New-Light minister—How some get rich—My opponents <span class="pagenumber"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></span></p> + + +<p class="main">CHAPTER II.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">A DARK CONSPIRACY.</a></span></p> + +<p class="entrycenter">Goodrich, the gambler—His malicious conduct—Cause of it—The +Browns—Their plan to escape punishment <span class="pagenumber"><a href="#Page_16">16</a></span></p> + + +<p class="main">CHAPTER III.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">THE CONSPIRACY IN PROGRESS.</a></span></p> + +<p class="entrycenter">The colonel takes medicine to bring on sickness—Ruse will not +take—Character of the administrators of justice in New Orleans—Colonel +Brown deserted by the Brotherhood—Dearborn county, Indiana, delegation + <span class="pagenumber"><a href="#Page_22">22</a></span></p> + +<p class="main">CHAPTER IV.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">THE CONSPIRACY FURTHER DEVELOPED.</a></span></p> + +<p class="entrycenter">The secret correspondence brought from Canada—The Brotherhood desert +Brown—How I obtained the secret writings—Not suspected—Mrs. Brown and +the landlady—-Cunningham suspected of purloining them <span class="pagenumber"><a href="#Page_27">27</a></span></p> + + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span></p> +<p class="main">CHAPTER V.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">BRIBERY AND COUNTERFEIT MONEY.</a></span></p> + +<p class="entrycenter">Brown's lawyer attempts to bribe me to testify falsely against +Taylor—Acquaint the deputy-marshal with the fact—Brown's ineffectual +attempts to find bail—Suspected of having removed the hid money—The +colonel's visitors <span class="pagenumber"><a href="#Page_34">34</a></span></p> + + +<p class="main">CHAPTER VI.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">MYSTERIOUS DISCLOSURES.</a></span></p> + +<p class="entrycenter">His Lawrenceburgh friends—A hypocritical lecture—Further +disclosures—A searching examination—First intimation of the existence +of The Secret Band of Brothers—Colonel Brown's narrative of the +conspiracy against Taylor <span class="pagenumber"><a href="#Page_42">42</a></span></p> + + +<p class="main">CHAPTER VII.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">DISCLOSURES CONTINUED.</a></span></p> + +<p class="entrycenter">The colonel resumes his narrative—The missing papers.—Fare advice <span class="pagenumber"><a href="#Page_57">57</a></span></p> + + +<p class="main">CHAPTER VIII.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">DEATH OF COLONEL BROWN.</a></span></p> + +<p class="entrycenter">Conspiracy against my life—Conversation with Cunningham regarding the +mysterious papers—Death of Colonel Brown <span class="pagenumber"><a href="#Page_62">62</a></span></p> + + +<p class="main">CHAPTER IX.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">THE SECRET BAND OF BROTHERS.</a></span></p> + +<p class="entrycenter">Explanatory remarks—The Grand Master of The Secret Band of +Brothers—Vice-grand Masters—Ordinary members—Objects of the +Order—Colonel Brown sacrificed lest he should betray them—Taylorites +and Brownites <span class="pagenumber"><a href="#Page_66">66</a></span></p> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p> +<p class="main">CHAPTER X.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">THE MYSTERIOUS BOX.</a></span></p> + +<p class="entrycenter">Anxiety about the missing papers—Cause of the hostility of the Band to +me—The papers supposed to be deposited in the United States +Court—Clerk's office broken into, and the box containing Taylor's +indictment and the spurious money stolen—Suspected—Placed in prison +for safety—The robber discovered—My release—The mysterious box—The +stranger—Conversation with Wyatt—The box opened <span class="pagenumber"><a href="#Page_75">75</a></span></p> + + +<p class="main">CHAPTER XI.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">THE PORK TRADE, OR DRIVING THE HOGS TO A WRONG MARKET.</a></span></p> + +<p class="entrycenter">The trading operations of the Band—Lectures at Lawrenceburgh—The +Browns and the hog-drover <span class="pagenumber"><a href="#Page_84">84</a></span></p> + + +<p class="main">CHAPTER XII.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS OF THE SECRET BAND OF BROTHERS.</a></span></p> + +<p class="entrycenter">Initiation—Penalties—The Grand Masters—The secret writing—The six +qualities, Huska, Caugh, Naugh, Maugh, Haugh, Gaugh—Vocabulary of flash +words—The post-routes.—The horse-trade explained—Allowances— +Specimens of correspondence—The biter bit—A letter of introduction +with an important note—Subsequent inquiry into the case <span class="pagenumber"><a href="#Page_90">90</a></span></p> + + +<p class="main">CHAPTER XIII.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">A CHAPTER OF AFFINITIES.</a></span></p> + +<p class="entrycenter">Thieves and thief-catchers—A family of five—Penitence and +Penitentiaries—The chain-driver and his gang—Lawyers' fees and +Lawyers' privileges—Our representatives <span class="pagenumber"><a href="#Page_139">139</a></span></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p> + +<p class="main">CHAPTER XIV.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">GAMBLING EXPEDITION IN THE CHOCTAW NATION.</a></span></p> + +<p class="entrycenter">Character of the inhabitants on the Texas frontier in 1833—The murder +of Dr ——. Operations at Fort Towson—Edmonds and Scoggins—Robbery— +Journey to Fort Smith—The dumb negro speaks—His character of Scoggins +and Edmonds <span class="pagenumber"><a href="#Page_147">147</a></span></p> + + +<p class="main">CHAPTER XV.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CORRESPONDENCE CONNECTED WITH MY VISIT TO THE AUBURN PRISON, AND +CONVERSATION WITH WYATT, THE MURDERER.</a></span></p> + +<p class="entrycenter">1. Chaplain Morrill's letter commendatory of my visit—2. My own +account—3. My second visit—4. Mr. Gary's letter—5. Reply to the +accusations of Mr. Morrill—6. Mr. Merrill's charges—7. Vindication +from these charges—8. Further particulars relative to the life of Wyatt +<i>alias</i> Newell <i>alias</i> North, and a horrid murder committed near +Perrysburgh, Ohio—</p> + +<p class="entryleft"><a href="#conclusion">Conclusion</a> <span class="pagenumber"><a href="#Page_184">184</a></span></p> + +<p class="entryleft"><a href="#DEBATE_ON_GAMBLING">Debate on Gambling</a> <span class="pagenumber"><a href="#Page_193">193</a></span></p> + + +<p class="main"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="#LOTTERIES">LOTTERIES.</a></span></p> + +<p class="entryleft"><a href="#Drawing_of_Lottery_Tickets">Drawing of Lottery Tickets</a> <span class="pagenumber"><a href="#Page_267">267</a></span></p> + +<p class="entryleft"><a href="#INSURING_NUMBERS">Insuring Numbers, or Policy Dealing</a> <span class="pagenumber"><a href="#Page_288">288</a></span></p> + +<p class="entryleft"><a href="#LOTTERY_COMBINATIONS">Lottery Combinations, etc.</a> <span class="pagenumber"><a href="#Page_299">299</a></span></p> +</div> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE<br /> +<br /> +SECRET BAND OF BROTHERS.</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + + +<p>In perusing the following pages, the reader will learn +the history of a class of men, who, for talent, cannot be +excelled. He may startle at the horrid features which +naked truth will depict—at deeds of darkness which, +though presented to an enlightened people, may require +a stretch of credulity to believe were ever perpetrated in +the glorious nineteenth century.</p> + +<p>It will, no doubt, elicit many a curious thought, especially +with honest men, and the "whys and wherefores" +will pass from mouth to mouth in every hamlet, village, +and town, where the following recital may find a reader +or hearer. All will declare it mysterious. It is a mystery +to myself in some particulars, but in others it is not. +It is strange, passing strange, to think that such a black-hearted, +treacherous band of men, as I am about to describe, +could have existed so long in a civilized and Christian +country.</p> + +<p>With a trembling hand do I attempt to bring to light +their ruling principles, to develop a system of organized +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>and accomplished villany. My reasons for assuming so +daring a position may seem to require an explanation. It +may be asked why I did not make this revelation before, +as far as I had knowledge, or what is the occasion of the +present exposition? To the preceding queries I will +briefly reply.</p> + +<p>First, There has been no period in my life, prior to +1846, when I could dare to lay before the world what I +contemplate doing at the present time. It will be long +remembered by many, that in August, 1842, I renounced +a profession, in which I had worse than squandered twelve +years, the sweet morning of my life. In doing so, I knew +I must, of necessity, experience deep mortification, in a +personal exposure, which would attend me through life.</p> + +<p>Gambling, with all its concomitants, had taken full possession +of my depraved nature. Thus it was that I, like +all wicked men, refused to "come to the light," and I +feared to oppose a craft so numerous as the one of which +I was a professed member. Well did I know that I was +carrying out a wrong and wicked principle. Conviction +produced reflection. After a careful deliberation of the +whole subject, I declared with a solemn oath, that, by the +assistance of Almighty God, I would renounce for ever a +profession so ruinous in its every feature. Immediately +I felt the band severed, and my misgivings were scattered +to the winds. My former companions laughed at me. +They scouted the idea, that one so base as I should ever +think of reformation. It moved me not. My credit, I +found, failed, after it was known that I had quit gambling. +A thousand different conjectures attended so strange a +proceeding on the part of one in my circumstances. +Why should I abandon card-playing, destroy valuable +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>card plates, and lose their still more profitable proceeds, +return moneyed obligations, which would have secured +me an independent fortune? These things were a matter +of surprise with the cool and deliberate patrons of vice, +and especially with many, who, though they were often +covered with a garb of outward morality, were full of rottenness +within. Some, who pass for moral and religious +persons, have in this thing exhibited a moral obliquity +that has often astonished me.</p> + +<p>From a careful examination, I have learned the lamentable +fact, that the most prominent opposers of moral reforms +are composed of two classes, <span class="smcap">the hardened sinner</span>, who +makes money his god, and <span class="smcap">the extremely ignorant</span>. +Let not the reader understand, however, that I suppose +there are not ignorant rich men as well as poor—the latter +have their share of bad men, and so also have the +former—but that vice and ignorance are common to both.</p> + +<p>In the year 1843, I commenced lecturing against the fearful +vice of gambling, for no other reason than to stay the +gambler in his ruinous course, and save the youth of our +land from his alluring wiles. For this I received <span class="smcap">in public</span> +the "God speeds" of <span class="smcap">all</span> classes, and the prayers of +all Christians in secret. I soon learned I had much with +which to contend—opposition from directions I little anticipated. +The gambler, unfortunate man! he carried +upon his countenance an expression of open hate, indicating +a deadly hostility to my reformatory movements. The +ignorant man, I found, was disposed to make his avarice +the highway to happiness. He was unwilling to favour +any reform that would invade the territory of his contracted +selfishness. His reply, if he had any, would be +that stereotyped one, "such a course will have a tendency +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>to make more gamblers than it will cure." If his reasons +were asked for such a statement, you could get no satisfactory +answer. Perhaps he would say, "I am satisfied +of the fact from my own disposition." He might as well +give a child's reason at once, and say, "<span class="smcap">cause</span>!" Such +persons have seldom heard a lecture, or read a syllable, +and yet are always prating with a great show of wisdom, +but rather, in fact, of blind conceit. Their silence would +be of far more service to the cause of virtue than their +opinions. In many cases, it will be found that such persons +are not only ignorant, but dishonest.</p> + +<p>Again, there is the rich, moral, or religious man, who +takes another position. He opposes with the declaration +"his sons will not gamble: they have such good and +moral examples," &c. This is sometimes a want of consideration, +that prompts them thus to speak; with others, +a secret villany, driving them to such ultra positions, a +mere tattered garment to cover their own moral deformity. +They must oppose the reformation, or be held up to public +disgrace. In nine cases out of ten, the opposer of this +class, is, or has been, a participant in the works of darkness +whose exposition he so much dreads.</p> + +<p>Finding many disposed to act thus, and to teach their +children to imitate their own pernicious examples, I have +made it a study to demolish, if possible, the foundation of +their positions. The success attending my efforts to trace +them out, assures me, that I am correct when I affirm +that two-thirds of all opposers are influenced in their conduct +by the basest of principles; one-sixth act through +ignorance, united with vice, and one-sixth are wholly +ignorant and cannot be morally accountable, if their want +of information is in any way excusable. But what may +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>be still more startling, about one-fourth of the whole are +members of the various churches, yea, even men of this +class are found in sacerdotal robes. This fact came +within my knowledge long since. I felt it my duty to +publish the same, but delayed, till I should gain experience +in defending my position. I was satisfied, however, +that the efforts of a certain New Light minister to +traduce my character and hinder my influence, must have +been prompted from some of the foregoing considerations. +Would the world know who this man is? It will be necessary +to go to the very town where he lives to secure +the information. I doubt whether his name would ever +have appeared in print, but for his newspaper controversy, +or in case of his death. His unwarrantable attack +put me on my guard, and caused me to search out the +ground of his base and unchristian treatment. One thing +is very certain, he is no gambler. It may not be a want +of disposition, but rather a sufficient amount of sense, to +make him a proficient in the business. He may be an +ignorant dupe—a mere tool of the designing, the "cats +paw" of some respectable blackleg, who thinks to cover +his own crimes, by exciting public opinion against me, +through an apparently respectable instrumentality. But +I did not wish to bandy words with him, being impressed +with the propriety of a resolution I made while a gambler, +that it is only throwing away time to attempt to account +for the different actions and opinions of weak and +prejudiced minds; and therefore I dropped the whole +affair. I would have remained silent, but for the position +taken by other divines from his false and garbled statements. +Many have condemned me unheard, listening +willingly to my accusers, without hearing a word in my +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>own defence. Not satisfied with such an expression of +their <span class="smcap">excessive christian charity</span>, they have even thrust +at me through the public prints, for which, no doubt, +they will have the hearty amens of all gamblers, and it +may be several dollars in their pockets. Certain editors +have joined in the same "hue and cry" with their +worthy compeers. The reasons were evident in their +case. They knew I was invading their dearest worldly +interests. There were others who only knew me from +hearsay. Why should they become my enemies? It +was because I held in my possession secrets, whose exposition +would make many of them tremble. It would +be to them like the interpreted handwriting upon the +wall. Hence they were ready to contribute their talents +and wealth, to sustain certain individuals as honourable +men. I could not have deemed it proper to expose "<span class="smcap">the +Secret Band of Brothers</span>," had not duty, and my obligations +to society, urged me forward. The allegiance +I owe to God is paramount to all other. The result is yet +to be experienced, by the better part of the community. +Heavily was the oppressive hand of this notable brotherhood +laid upon me. My soul was sorely vexed by their +daring villany.</p> + +<p>In the county where I was bred, I have numbered, in +one day, thirteen who sustained honourable places in +society, nine of whom were rich, strangely rich in view +of their facilities for acquiring wealth in a newly settled +country. Not one is a professional man. Few bear the +callous badge of industry and physical exertion upon +their hands. Several are, by an outward profession, +Christians,—but invariably opposed to all the benevolent +institutions of the day and works of reform, unless their +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>views of what is the right course are fully met, which +are generally so extravagant as to preclude all hope of +co-operation. With these I had a severe contest. Well +did they know, there was something behind the screen +which, brought to light, would expose their villanous +transactions, open the eyes of honest men, and greatly +endanger, if not destroy, their craft. That I had letters, +written by themselves, they knew—nor dare they deny +it—letters which might lead to a conviction of crime, that +would raise them to a position somewhere between heaven +and earth. They may rest assured that I have documents +that place more than one thousand of them in a +relative position to law and society.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + + +<p>In a previous work of mine, called "<span class="smcap">Gambling Unmasked</span>," +an allusion is made to an evident conspiracy +against my life, sometime before I became a confirmed +gambler. Goodrich was the name which I gave, as the +chief actor. This same doubly refined villain, it will be +remembered, by all who have read the above work, was +foremost to aid in my arrest when I made good my escape +to the Pine woods, lying back of New Orleans. The +reader will likewise recollect, that I could not, at that +time, account for such manifestations of unprecedented +malignity, on the part of one from whom I might rather +expect protection than persecution. But the secret is +out, and I now have the power to give clear and truthful +explanations.</p> + +<p>This Goodrich, who resides at the present time in or +near New Orleans, and who holds the rank of gambler-general +in that city of Sodom, was an old and advanced +member of the "Secret Band of Brothers." Knowing, +as he did, that I was engaged in assisting the honest part +of the community to convict two brothers who were plotting +my downfall, as a sworn member of the above fraternity, +he was solemnly bound to do all in his power to +aid in the consummation of my personal ruin. That the +world might know something of this Goodrich, (though +the half cannot be told,) I gave, in my autobiography, +several incidents, in which he acted a prominent part. +What I then said will answer for an introduction.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p> + +<p>That he was connected with an organized association +of gentlemen blacklegs will not be denied. The proof is +abundant. Nor was he an apprentice, a mere novitiate; +but long schooled in vice and ripening year by year, he +swelled quite beyond the bounds of ordinary meanness, +till he became a full-grown monster of his kind. Not +content to gather riches by common roguery, he sought +out the basest instrumentalities as more congenial to his +real disposition. His chief riches were obtained by dark +and murderous transactions; and had he a score of necks, +with hempen necklaces well adjusted, I doubt whether +he could pay the full forfeiture to the law.</p> + +<p>From my first acquaintance with him at Louisville, +with blood-thirsty vigilance he sought my destruction. +Here began the risings of his malice, and this was the +cause. In the year 1830, I gave information to the city +police in relation to Hyman, who, at that time, was the +keeper of a hotel. It was while at this house, that Goodrich +became my determined and implacable foe. I had +been duped by two brothers, Daniel and James Brown, +who were then confined in the calaboose for passing +counterfeit money. Large quantities were also found in +their possession. I was their confidant, so far as prudence +would allow them to make any revelations. That +they were guilty of the crime with which they had been +charged, no honest man could doubt, after being made +acquainted with the circumstances. Yet they would +swear most stoutly, even in my presence, that they were +innocent, and that they had been deceived. I could not +but believe they were guilty, after having witnessed so +many of their iniquitous actions. Often have I been told +by the wife of one of them, that they could call to their +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>assistance, if necessary, a thousand men. Who they +were and where they were, so ready to uphold these +abandoned men, I had, at that time, no knowledge.</p> + +<p>At length their situation became desperate. Already +had they passed one year within the walls of a gloomy +prison, without the privilege of a trial. They were required +to give bail in the sum of twenty thousand dollars +each. No satisfactory bonds could be procured. The +whole community were incensed against them. They +had for a long time trampled upon private rights and +warred against the best interests of the people. They +had set at defiance all laws instituted for purposes of justice +and protection, and they could not but expect a stern +rebuke from all the friends of morality and good order. +The only prospect before them, upon a fair trial, was a +sentence of twenty years to the penitentiary. This was +by no means cheering, especially to those who had lived +in ease and affluence, whose bodies were enervated by +voluptuousness and hands made tender by years of idle +pleasures. Crowds were gathering to witness their trial, +and waiting in anxious suspense the issue. Disgrace, +public disgrace and lasting infamy stared them in the +face. They were put upon their last resources, and necessity +became the mother of invention. They fixed +upon the following plan to extricate themselves.</p> + +<p>Public opinion must be propitiated. An interest in +their behalf must be awakened by some manifestation +that would touch the chord of sympathy. A double part +must be played. They would affect to change their sentiments. +In this they acted according to the laws of the +secret brotherhood. With them, any thing was honesty +that would effect their purposes. But to consummate +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>their design, another object must be secured—some innocent +person must be implicated and made a scape-goat +for, at least, a part of their crimes. This game they understood +well, for they had been furnished with abundant +means and instructions. It required also deep-seated +iniquity of heart, and in this there was no lack, for they +were the sublimation of depravity. They must also have +time and capital. These were easily provided, as will +be seen in the sequel. There was an individual with +whom they had become acquainted in Cleaveland, and +upon whom suspicion had rested for some time. He +was the man fixed upon as their victim. Of course he +was not a member of their organized band. "Honour +among thieves" forbids the selection of such a one. It +was necessary, however, that he should be somewhat of +a villain. Here also they exhibited much sagacity in the +selection. It now only remained to slip his neck into the +noose that was in preparation for themselves. All the +instrumentalities being prepared to their liking, they immediately +set the infernal machinery in active operation.</p> + +<p>The first thing to be done was to change the direction +of public opinion as to the real perpetrator. It must be +called off from the persons who were now so hotly pursued, +and put upon a different scent. The agents were +at hand—The Secret Band of Brothers. These "dogs +of war" were let loose, and simultaneously the whole +pack set up their hideous yell after the poor fellow previously +mentioned. Many of them being merchants and +holding a respectable relation to society, and most of them +being connected with the different honourable professions, +their fell purpose was the more easily accomplished. A +continual excitement was thus kept up, by breathing forth +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>calumny and denunciation against one who, however +guilty of other things, was innocent of the thing laid to +his charge. At the same time, the ears of the principal +bank-officers were filled with words of extenuation and +sympathy toward the two brothers. Their former high +respectability was adduced. That they were guilty was +not denied, but they had been misled and seduced. Intimations +were given that the name of the real villain who +had caused their ruin would be given, provided they +would ease off in their prosecution already in progress. +And then it would be such a glorious thing to secure the +prime-mover.</p> + +<p>By these fair and seemingly sincere pretensions, they +soon kindled relentings in the hearts of the prosecutors. +How could it be otherwise? for "they were all honourable +men." Several of the individuals who assisted in +maturing the plan were men of commanding influence, +in the very town where I was bred. I had abundant +opportunities to know them. A proposition was finally +made through them by the instructions of the officers, +that, as the brothers knew their guilt was fully established, +it would have a tendency to mitigate their sentence, if +they would expose the head man, by whose knavery +many extensive property-holders were threatened with total +bankruptcy. This was the precise position at which the +secret band of brothers had been aiming. The next step +was to secure, if possible, the younger brother as "state's +evidence" against the appointed victim of Cleaveland notoriety, +whom, for the sake of convenience, I will designate +by his name, Taylor.</p> + +<p>He was a man of extraordinary abilities and gentlemanly +deportment. He and the two brothers were mu<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>tual +acquaintances. They had been accomplices, no +doubt, in many a deed of darkness. But as "the devil +should have his due," I am bound to exculpate him +from any participation in the alleged crime. That he +was innocent in this affair I have the fullest evidence. I +was solicited by the pettifogger, (I will not say lawyer,) +for the brothers, to take a bribe for perjury, and swear +poor Taylor guilty of giving me five hundred dollars of +counterfeit money, which money he would place in my +hands. Of this fellow, I will speak in another chapter. +The younger brother was now to declare himself and brother +as having been seduced by Taylor. It was to be +done without the apparent knowledge of the elder brother, +whom we will hereafter call Colonel Brown. It +was to be communicated to one of the officers, with a solicitation +to keep it a secret from the colonel. He also +had an appointed part to play. The character he was +to sustain in this drama of well-concocted treachery, I +will next present.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + + +<p>The colonel's physician advised him to take medicine, +to reduce his system, and give him the appearance of +one rapidly sinking under a pulmonary affection. He +consented, as such a plan was considered the most likely +to succeed. It will be readily seen, that the design was +to work upon the sympathies of the officers, and thus +procure his enlargement. Nor were they disappointed. +The colonel's health began to fail. The drugs acted +their appropriate part. Some of his friends made vigorous +exertions to have him removed to the hospital, declaring +it necessary for the continuation of life. Others were +actively engaged in giving forth intimations, and expressing +their fears that he would die before his trial came on, +always taking care to assert their confidence of his innocence. +This was a mere ruse, to trick the officers into a +consent for his removal. But they had mistaken the +character of the men with whom they were dealing. +They were not to be moved by exhibitions of suffering +humanity. Their hearts had become insensible to human +misery and they resisted all appeals to sympathy.</p> + +<p>There was now but one alternative for the friends of +the prisoner. They must apply the drugs more assiduously, +till they made a mere skeleton of their subject; +and then try the virtue of the "almighty dollar." This +now seemed to be the only thing that would move the +hearts of seven-eighths of the police judges, marshals, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>wardens, and prosecutors. Such were the administrators +of public justice, at that time, in New Orleans. The +greater part were men, who, at some period of their +lives, had been steeped chin-deep in infamy. Some were +men of wealth and liberally educated. They were men +who would shrink from giving an account of their early +years. Several were verging upon three score years and +ten. All the wealth they possessed had been plundered +from another set of villains, whose misfortune was, a want +of sagacity in escaping the rapacity of their more accomplished +compeers. That there were a few honourable +exceptions must be admitted, but I could not with a good +conscience assert, that one-eighth of the police was as +honest as is generally the case with those city officers, for +I have facts to the contrary.</p> + +<p>The whole of that Southern Sodom at an early date +had been inundated with this "secret band of brothers," +or this fraternal band of land pirates. As they became +wealthy they ceased their usual occupation, and began to +speculate in a different way. Having it in their power, +they would rob even their nearest friends, thus overleaping +that common law of "honour among thieves." They +would do this with the utmost impunity, whenever they +saw proper. There was no redress. The very officers +were, many of them, under fictitious names and would +assume deceptive titles, for the more successful perpetration +of their villany.</p> + +<p>The unfortunate prisoner discovered, when it was too +late, that his supposed HONEST BROTHERHOOD were not +what their profession had led him to believe. Poor fellow! +he had not taken enough degrees to learn the full +"mystery of iniquity." Every effort was made to pro<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>cure +a light bail, but it could not be effected. At last an +arrangement was made, and for a stipulated sum he was +placed in charge of a committee, who had him removed +to the hospital. The colonel, by this time, was, to appearance, +very dangerously ill. He was removed to his new +quarters, but not permitted to regain his health, lest the +spell of their deceit should be broken. His visitors were +numerous. To his face, they appeared his most sincere +friends. They seemed deeply interested in his welfare, +and made bountiful proffers of sympathy and assistance. +His true friends, who were capable of rendering him succour, +were very few. He had many of the lower class +of the brotherhood, the novitiates, who were ready to act +energetically and in good faith. But the head men—the +very individuals who had reaped the spoils of his doings—were +his worst enemies. They had received the lion's +share, without leaving the poor jackall even the scraps, +but turned him over, unaided, to the tender mercies of a +felon's fate. They had filled their pockets with the +richest of the spoils, and would not now contribute a +penny to reward their benefactor.</p> + +<p>At this time, there were one hundred of the brotherhood +in the city, who might have procured bail; but +gratitude found no place in their hearts. They had also +violated their oaths. Day after day would parties of his +old friends and neighbours visit him, both in the prison +and hospital. They would tell him that arrangements +were in progress to effect his escape. The whole, however, +was false, as no action had been taken. The prisoner +depended much upon a delegation from Dearborn +county, Indiana, of whom he had a right to claim assistance; +but they, like the rest, proved traitors. I have +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>counted thirty different men from that county, who visited +him from time to time. These, at home, were men of +good standing, equally respected with other citizens. +Several were leading men in all the moral and religious +enterprises of the day, and generally individuals of +wealth. Two of them, I knew, made great professions +of religious enjoyment and zeal. One was a very strict +church-going man, but with the heart of a Judas. His +hypocrisy was of such a deep and damning character, I +can hardly forbear giving his name. Duty might demand +his exposure, but for the injury that would be inflicted +upon an innocent family. These men may reform. I +am delaying exposure. I hope ere long to have an evidence +of their sincere repentance, but fear they are too +far gone, too much in love with the wages of iniquity. +They have too long turned a deaf ear to the pitiful cries +of the widow and orphan whose ruin they have effected, +whose natural protector they may have robbed, leaving +his injured family in penury and want. Some of these, +who were comparatively poor at the time of the colonel's +downfall, in 1832, have since become rich. There is +reason to fear that such sudden wealth, obtained without +any visible means, was not very honourably acquired. It +is seldom that honest industry will thus accumulate. The +letters I shall publish will be accompanied with explanatory +notes. The persons concerned will recognise their +own productions, and I hope to see such a change in their +future life as shall deserve a charitable silence. But I +return from my digression.</p> + +<p>The sworn friends of the prisoner had forsaken him in +the hour of need, and left him single-handed and alone to +meet the stern rigours of the law. There was no remedy +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>unless in his own stratagem, which was now being matured. +It was as follows. His brother was to remain in +prison as an evidence against Taylor, mentioned in the +previous chapter, while he was to assume all the responsibility +of the counterfeit money, plates, &c., as well as +all the other villanies which had been charged upon them +conjointly.</p> + +<p>The colonel was very sick from the action of the medicines. +He supposed every effort had been made to bail +him, but was greatly deceived. His fate was sealed. A +conspiracy was formed against him. He suspected foul +play, because his former associates did not come forward +and bail him. His removal to the hospital was only a +pretence set up by them, that might give more time to +carry out their treacherous designs. He was a prisoner, +and they were determined to make him such the remainder +of his life. He had his friends, however, warmhearted, +and true. He was almost worshipped by the +poorer members of the brotherhood. The richer part +envied him for his superior skill in his profession and +general popularity, and feared the consequences. In this +he differed widely from his brother, who was neither +loved nor feared, and was only respected from his relationship. +When the plan was devised for the younger brother +to swear the counterfeit money and plates upon +Taylor, it was intended by these professed friends, that +he should be caught in his own net, and be thus prevented +from rendering the colonel any assistance. The +consummation of this plan, I will next detail.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + + +<p>The younger brother was to produce various letters +which had been written to him from different parts of the +Union, by different individuals. That this could be done +will be seen by what follows. The colonel had been an +extensive speculator in merchandise of almost every kind. +He was extensively known. His correspondence was +wide-spread. In his villanous communications, however, +letters were never addressed to him in his proper +name, unless some one should labour under the impression +that he was an honest man. He used two fictitious +names; the one was George Sanford, and the other that +of his brother. These letters were placed in the hands +of that brother for safe keeping. Thus the colonel, to all +appearance, only maintained an honourable and necessary +business correspondence. He consented that his brother +should use these letters if they could be made useful in +helping him out of difficulty. He was willing the letters +should be produced and read, as the younger brother had +promised to bring forth the plates. In the mean time +there was an understanding between them, that no intimations +should be given as to the "secret band of brothers;" +not a syllable was to be lisped that would lead to +exposure.</p> + +<p>To obtain the desired end, and give greater security, +instructions were given to the wife of one of the brothers +to examine carefully all the letters, and select out from +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>them those of a specific character, and to keep them +sacred, subject to the order of the colonel. These letters +had been conveyed in a chest from Canada, where they +had been preserved with great secrecy. This chest was +sent for in February, 1832, and arrived the next April. +Some three days after the reception of the trunk containing +these papers, information was given that the removed +letters had come, and were ready for the examination of +those who were acting as prosecutors of Taylor. By this +time, public opinion had become so much changed toward +both of the prisoners, that a very little effort would have secured +their acquittal. They had acted with great skill and +prudence, and were in a fair way to succeed. This was perceived +by the leaders of the fraternity. They were unwilling +such a man as the colonel should escape. A deep plot +was consequently laid and rigorously carried out to thwart +him in his efforts to escape the penalty of the law. His trial +was put off and the inducement held out that bail should +be obtained. All this was done to keep up appearances. +His enemies dared not openly provoke him. They dared +not come out and proclaim their hostility, for they well +knew he had the means to expose them. To seek his +ruin by an open show of opposition would be to touch fire +to the train, that, in the explosion, would involve them all +in a common ruin. They must approach him, Joab like, +and drive the dagger to his heart while saluting him with +professions of friendship. But his patience had become +wearied by a protracted sickness and continued disappointment.</p> + +<p>The letters above referred to were done up in packages +of three hundred each. I was present when the trunk +was opened, and witnessed the selection of many of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>letters. The lady who assorted them threw about one +out of every thirty in a separate pile. I made no inquiry +respecting them, but my curiosity, as you may well imagine, +was not a little excited, especially as I observed +several familiar names. The lady finally unrolled six +pieces of parchment, which were blank in appearance. +She folded them up in a square form of about six inches. +She then folded up some three hundred and seventy letters, +and placed them upon the parchment. Upon these +she placed a written parchment containing the copies of +about six hundred letters, and having carefully enclosed +the whole in a sealed envelope, she placed them between +two beds upon which she usually slept. The remainder +she packed up and sent to her husband's attorney. Immediately +she left the room to visit her husband in prison.</p> + +<p>Scarcely had she retired, before my curiosity was intensely +excited to learn the contents of the concealed package. +I ventured into the room with the intention of +satisfying myself. I no sooner placed my hand upon the +package, than I felt the blood seemingly curdling in my +veins. The thought that I was about to act the part of a +dishonest man impressed me deeply. I reflected a moment, +and then dropped the package, and hastened to +leave the room. As I turned from the bedside, my desire +to know the contents of the package came upon me +with a redoubled force. The passion was too violent for +resistance, for I was confident some of these letters were +written by men I had known from my infancy. Whether +I acted properly or improperly, an impartial public must +determine; but after thinking upon the subject a moment, +I turned, grasped the package, and bore it off under the +keenest sensations of alarm and fear of detection. I has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>tened +down stairs and made my way to the house of a +man by the name of Watkins. He was a good man, and +a sincere friend to me. His wife was a kind-hearted and +benevolent woman. I met her at the door, and told her +a friend of mine had given me this package to take care +of, and I would let her see the contents at another time. +She took it and laid it away; I then hastened to the prison +to meet Mrs. B——, who I knew expected me to +accompany her, or to be present with her that day. Could +I get to the prison as soon, or sooner than she, suspicion +of my having taken the package would be lessened. I +soon found myself at the prison gate. The lady had not +yet arrived. The prisoners were standing around the +door on the inside. I waited some ten minutes, when I +heard B. say he did not see what could detain his wife +so long. I stepped to the door and remarked that I had +been waiting some time, and was expecting her every +minute. Immediately she made her appearance and +remarked,</p> + +<p>"You have got here before me. I looked for you before +I left."</p> + +<p>I had observed her looking into the room I occupied, +when she was about leaving the house; I, however, was +in an opposite one, occupied by another boarder. After +conversing a short time with her husband, she remarked, +that she must return to the house, as she had left the +package where it might be found. She called upon me to +accompany her. I did so, and we soon arrived at the +house. I remained below while she hastened up stairs +to her room.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes she came running to the head of the +stairs and called me; I immediately answered her.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Green," said she, "some person has been robbing +my room."</p> + +<p>I felt as though I was suspected, for "a guilty conscience +needs no accusing."</p> + +<p>"What have you had taken?" asked I.</p> + +<p>"Oh! I have"——then she paused, as if studying +what to say. In the mean time, the landlady had heard +her say she had been robbed, and hastened to the place +where we were standing, but being unobserved from the +excitement, was occupying a position at Mrs. B.'s back.</p> + +<p>"Oh! I have lost a package of letters, of no value to +any person but myself. They are family relics, but I +will have them at the peril of my life. I will swear that +I have lost other things besides the papers, and will get +them back, or make this house pay well for harbouring +thieves. Mind, Green, what I have said. Keep mum, +and I will have them back at the risk of——"</p> + +<p>She was interrupted by the landlady, who very kindly +assisted her in finishing her sentence by adding—"at +the risk of perjuring yourself!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. B. being startled, exclaimed, "Oh! no, madam, +don't mistake me. I only meant I would make a great +stir about them—that I would offer a reward to the servants, +and at the same time let on as if something very +valuable was missing."</p> + +<p>"Of course I would not intimate, and do not, I pray +you, understand me as thinking that any person has taken +them with the design of retaining them. I have no idea +that the individual having them, whoever he may be, +will be base enough to keep them from me. Some of +them are very ancient, and among the number are several +sheets of blank parchment, which belonged to my +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>grandfather. I have preserved them as a memento. +Their loss would be a source of great grief."</p> + +<p>The landlady turned away, apparently satisfied with +her statement and forced apology. She then turned to +me and said,</p> + +<p>"I will have those papers at the price of my life. If +they are lost"—here she made a stop and added, "I shall +dislike it."</p> + +<p>I discovered an extreme anxiety depicted in her features—her +breast was actually heaving with emotion.</p> + +<p>"Green," said she, "has old Cunningham been about +here to-day?"</p> + +<p>"I believe not," was my reply. "I have not seen +him."</p> + +<p>"Well," she continued, "I hope he may never enter +this house again, though he appears to be the best friend +that my husband and the colonel possess. He pays strict +attention to his business, at the same time, which does +not seem consistent."</p> + +<p>This Cunningham, so abruptly introduced, was a man +quite advanced in years, a member of the fraternity, and, +considering his age, was a very active and efficient agent. +At this juncture, the old servant, who attended to the +room, entered. She (Mrs. B.) inquired "if any person +had been in her room during her absence to the prison." +The servant tried to recollect. While he delayed, my +heart palpitated violently from fear, lest he might say he +had seen me enter her room. I was on the point of confessing +the whole matter. I felt that I was suspected. +At this critical moment he broke the silence—a silence +burdened with anxiety to the lady as well as myself, by +remarking that he had seen the old gentleman (mean<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>ing +Cunningham) "go up stairs, and he thought enter +her room."</p> + +<p>"I have it!" exclaimed she. "He has got them." +I need not tell the reader I felt greatly relieved, that +there was at least the shadow of evidence, which would +serve to clear me and implicate Cunningham. The lady +appeared to be intensely excited. I was in doubt what +course it would be prudent for me to pursue. Finally, I +went to the house of Watkins, and told him that the package +I had given him was of no value to any person but +myself; that it was made up of various articles of writing, +containing hundreds of names, many of which were familiar +to me. He looked them over in a cursory manner, +and remarked,</p> + +<p>"I think there must be witchcraft in these. The letters, +though very simple, bear upon their face a suspicious +appearance." He, however, agreed to preserve +them with care.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + + +<p>After my interview with Watkins, I felt greatly relieved. +I hastened to the hospital to see the colonel, as +was my custom, often several times a day. I found him +surrounded with visitors, all of whom appeared to be affected +while in his presence. He needed sympathy. +His mind was tortured. His whole life seemed made up +of successive throes of excitement and desperation. His +heart was torn by conflicting passions. His confidence +and affection for former friends were evidently waning. +If any remained, it hung like the tremulous tones of +music uncertain and discordant upon its shivered strings. +After the principal visitors had retired, the following +individuals, three from Lawrenceburgh, two from Cincinnati, +one from Madison, and one from Frankfort, made +their appearance, accompanied by one of the colonel's +legal advisers. They counseled with him for some time. +The legal gentleman remarked, at the close of the mutual +conversation:</p> + +<p>"It will do. I have conversed with your friends," +calling his two principal attorneys by name. "They say +something of that kind must be done. It will have a +powerful effect. T. cannot ward off such licks as we +will give him."</p> + +<p>The meaning of this fellow was, that bribery could be +effectually used. This man, who thus offered to subvert, +by the basest of means, the claims of public and private +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>justice, was so lost to shame and self-respect, that he verily +thought it an honourable and creditable act, if he could +render himself notorious for clearing the most abandoned +scoundrels. It argued the most deep-seated depravity, +to commit unblushing crime and then glory in his infamy. +He heeded not the means, so he accomplished his end. +He would not hesitate to implicate himself, for it was but +a few days after this, when he offered me a bribe, as before +stated, and likewise the counterfeit money. (I here +have reference to the five hundred dollars, to which I referred +in my work called "Gambling Unmasked.")</p> + +<p>After the party had retired, the colonel said in a few +days he would be able to secure bail—that they were +waiting for an intimate friend,—a wholesale merchant +from Philadelphia. He then conversed with me more +freely, and told me much about his enemies in Dearborn +Co., Ind., and also his intimate friends. Said he:</p> + +<p>"You may live to hear of my success in making some +of those Dearborn county fellows glad to leave their nests, +which they have feathered at my expense."</p> + +<p>It was the next day after this, that I made known to +Mr. Munger the fact, that a bribe had been proffered me +to swear against T., in favour of the brothers. Some two +days after, I received the note containing the information +respecting the hidden treasure. See the work above +mentioned.</p> + +<p>These circumstances, with the excitement occasioned +by the loss of the package, created a great sensation, +especially with the friends of the colonel and his brother. +Fear and jealousy were at work with the whole banditti +of public swindlers. They knew not on whom to fix the +imputation of purloining their valuable papers. Cun<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>ningham +was suspected, and likewise Spurlock, another +old confederate, who had frequently visited the room of +the unfortunate lady. Sturtivant, one of their principal +engravers, was thought to be implicated, and even one +of their pettifoggers was on the list of the proscribed. +They did not fix upon me till several days after. The +circumstances of this suspicion I will now detail.</p> + +<p>The Lawrenceburgh members had not complied with +their promises. One was waiting to turn his produce +into cash, and when he was ready to fulfil his engagement, +no action could be taken, because his fellow townsmen +had their excuses for delay and non-concurrence. +The Philadelphia merchant had arrived, but suddenly +left, as the report says, "between two days." Two +others of the intended bail were among the missing. I +carried a letter to another, who owned a flat-boat. I went +on board and found his son, but learned that the father +had gone up the coast on business, to be absent several +days. The son took the letter, broke it open, and read +it. He told me to say to the colonel that his father was +absent and had written to him that he intended starting +home in a few days, probably by the next boat. I went +back and bore the message. The lawyer who had given +me the letter cursed me for permitting the son to open it. +The colonel turning over on his bed, and fastening his +eyes upon the enraged attorney, with a mingled expression +of anger and despair, said,</p> + +<p>"I am gone, there is no hope for me. I see, I see, they +have robbed me of my property, my papers, poisoned, +and then forsaken me. I have not much more confidence +in you than in the rest."</p> + +<p>"My dear colonel," said the implicated sycophant,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> +"do you think I would ever treat so basely a client so +liberal and worthy as yourself," at the same time wiping +his cheek as if a tear had been started by such an unkind +imputation.</p> + +<p>He then requested me to go for Mrs. B., and tell her, +he requested her presence at the hospital. I went in +search of the wife, but did not meet with her. I found +some ten or fifteen of the band awaiting her return. +Night came on, and she had not yet made her appearance. +I perceived they were in great perturbation.</p> + +<p>This same day my room had been changed to a small +apartment in close proximity with the one occupied by +Mrs. B., separated only by a thin board partition. About +two o'clock at night she came home, accompanied by two +females. One left in a few minutes, as she had company +waiting for her at the door. The other remained and +entered into conversation with Mrs. B. I laid my ear to +the partition and could distinctly hear every word which +was spoken. I heard Mrs. B. say, "I have searched in +a satisfactory manner, and am convinced that some one +has removed the earth. I did not expect to find it, after +my husband told me some one had answered him in my +name and taken the note."</p> + +<p>I was now satisfied that she had been in search of the +money I had found at the root of the tree, on the corner +of Canal and Old Levee streets. I could not hear the +opinion they entertained, but the strange female remarked, +that</p> + +<p>"Colonel Goodrich suspects him, and will certainly +catch him, provided he has got it."</p> + +<p>"I do not think he can have it," said Mrs. B.; "I have +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>never seen the least evidence of guilt; besides, the colonel," +meaning her brother-in-law, "says he is perfectly harmless."</p> + +<p>I was then convinced that it was myself they were +talking about. My fears were awakened, so much so +that I passed a very restless night.</p> + +<p>Early the next morning I hurried away to Mr. Munger's +room and laid open my fears. It may be proper to +state in this connection, that this Mr. Munger, whom I +made my confidant, was the United States deputy-marshal.</p> + +<p>The search above referred to was for money which had +been hid by Sandford, and he, at his death, had informed +Mr. B. where he had deposited it. The particulars, together +with the manner by which I came in possession +of it, are detailed in "<span class="smcap">Gambling Unmasked</span>."</p> + +<p>I found Mr. Munger in his room, and related the incidents +of the past night. He said he could not understand +their meaning. I could, but I did not tell him that the +letters had been taken. For the want of this information, +things looked mysterious. He told me not to fear, +but to flatter those who had requested me to perjure myself, +with a prospect of compliance with their wishes. I +went from his room to my boarding-house, and from +thence to the hospital. Here I found the colonel surrounded +with some twenty citizens, who resided in and +about Wheeling and Pittsburgh, all members of the fraternity. +Some were men of great respectability in the +community where they lived, and doubtless remain so to +the present day. They held out flattering hopes that +bail would yet be secured, but all left the city in a few +days, without rendering any assistance whatever.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p> + +<p>The preliminaries for the trial were arranged. Taylor +was indicted. The younger brother being state's evidence, +had an encouraging prospect of acquittal. Unfortunately, +the colonel had taken a wrong position at the start. He +had been betrayed by those of the brotherhood who had +the influence requisite for assistance. The cheat had +been carried so far by fair and continued promises, it was +now too late to retrieve himself. I felt deeply interested +for him. He was a noble specimen of mankind. He +possessed abilities worthy of a more honourable application. +He bore all his misfortunes with unexampled fortitude. +The night after his Wheeling and Pittsburgh +associates had betrayed his confidence, he conversed with +me for some time. The main topic of his conversation +was about certain men who resided in Lawrenceburgh +and its vicinity. He gave recitals of things which had +been done by men living in and near that place, which +cannot be contemplated without a feeling of horror. I +was actually shocked and chilled, especially as I knew +the actors. The whole seemed to me like some dreadful +vision of the night, and I could hardly believe the evidence +of my senses in favor of actual perpetration. The +colonel continued:</p> + +<p>"They fear me; they are seeking to crush me while +professing the greatest friendship." He paused after +adding, "to-morrow I will give you some advice which +will be of everlasting benefit. Be careful that you do not +mention it."</p> + +<p>Having returned to my boarding-house, I was very +closely interrogated by Mrs. B. and the aforesaid pettifogger, +in reference to my absence.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Where had I been all night, and what had detained +me from my meals the day before?"</p> + +<p>I told them, at which they eyed one another closely. +Mrs. B. observed—</p> + +<p>"I think the colonel must be hard run for assistance, +to keep two or three constantly waiting on him."</p> + +<p>To this I made no reply, but ate my breakfast fast, and +returned to the hospital. I found Colonel Brown very +restless. During the day several men, from different +cities and towns at a distance, called. Three remained +about two hours with him. They were from Charleston, +on the Kanawha river, Va. After they retired, he lay +in a doze for about an hour, when he was awakened by +the arrival of four visitors, accompanied by his physician. +One made a stand at the door of the colonel, three +came in, while the doctor, with the fourth, passed along +the gallery, to see some other of the inmates. I soon, +learned that two of the three present were from Nashville, +Tenn.; one a merchant, the other a negro trader. +When they began conversation, I stepped to the door. +They talked very rapidly. One said his friend from +Paris, Tenn., would be down in a few days with several +others, from Clarksville. The colonel listened to them +with patience, and replied:</p> + +<p>"They had better come, and not disappoint me."</p> + +<p>These three left. In a few minutes the physician, in +company with the fourth, came to the door. The doctor +made a short stay, leaving the other man in the room +with the colonel.</p> + +<p>It was a matter of surprise to witness the liberty that +was extended to visitors, as well as the prisoner. He +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>had a guard, it is true, but the steward of the sick rooms +had been ordered not to permit any one to enter the +apartment without a pass, signed by the Board of Trustees; +yet all who wished to visit were allowed a free ingress, +and no questions were asked. I had been taken +there at first by Mrs. B., after which I had free access. +But to return.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + + +<p>The man left there by the doctor, I knew. After +viewing him closely, consider my surprise, when I recognised +a person I had known from my first remembrance. +It was the man who was said by his son to have gone up +the river, and, as I supposed, had returned home. It was +the usual custom of this man, not to go with his flat +boats, but being ladened and committed to skilful pilots, +he took passage upon a steamboat and waited their arrival +at the place of destination. He seemed very much +disconcerted in my presence, but I said nothing to +strengthen his suspicions that I knew him. He cast +several glances at me, at every convenient opportunity. +When he left, it was near night. I was requested by +the colonel to go to my supper and then return. I went +away, and being weary I laid down upon my bed, from +which I did not awake till daylight. On examining my +clothes, I found some person had rifled my pockets. My +wallet was robbed of one paper, which contained a list of +names, but nothing else. Fortunately, however, I had +written the same on my hat lining. I expected to have +heard something concerning the affair—especially the +record of names, but in this I was happily disappointed.</p> + +<p>Having eaten my breakfast, I went to the Custom +house. The United States court was then in session. +Hundreds of the colonel's acquaintances were there every +day. They were frequently giving their opinions as to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>the issue of the trial. Some entertained one opinion and +some another,—their chief conversation was in reference +to the two brothers, and their connection with Taylor. +One of the group I discovered was from Lawrenceburgh, +Indiana. I knew them all, and with the exception of this +one, they extended to me the hand of friendship. They +seemed glad to see me, and were in fact honest men. +He, however, did not seem friendly, though he did speak, +but at the same time gave me a look of disapprobation, +as much as to say, you have no right to be in company +with such honest men. I paid no attention to his looks, +as I knew him better than any man in the crowd. He +knew he had laid himself liable to detection, and hence +did not wish me to be in communication with his old +friends, lest I might become an informant. He rather +desired to have them discard me, but as they were upright, +unsuspecting men, they did not give heed to his +conduct. They conversed freely, and tried in every way +to amuse me. At length he discovered there was a growing +sympathy in my favour, and assumed another attitude +to secure my departure. He began to talk somewhat in +the following strain.</p> + +<p>"I know Green is a smart boy, but they say the +Browns have him here to run on errands, and he is +strongly suspected of not being what he should be, in +regard to honesty."</p> + +<p>One or two of the honest countrymen spoke in my behalf, +and the whole was turned off in a jovial way, not +wishing, as I suppose, to injure my feelings; at which +he, with a sigh that bespoke the consummate hypocrite, +added:</p> + +<p>"Well, Green, God bless you. You had a sainted +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>mother, and I always respected your old father, but you +boys, I fear, are all in the downward road to ruin. You +had better return home and be a good boy. Beware of +the company of the Browns, as you know they are bad +characters, and that I, and many others, held them at a +distance, when they were in Lawrenceburgh."</p> + +<p>The rest of the company retired while he was thus +lecturing me so sanctimoniously.</p> + +<p>No one can imagine the feelings I then had. I was at +first confounded, then enraged, to witness the conduct of +that black-hearted villain, he little suspecting that I knew +him to be the very man that was in the room the day before, +dressed in disguise. How could I feel otherwise. +There he was lecturing me about duty, as if he had been +a saint. It is true, he sustained that character at home. +I had known him for many years as a leading man in the +very respectable church to which he there belonged. +Had I not been satisfied of the base part he was acting, +when I met him the day before in disguise—his hypocritical +lecture might have been beneficial. But I discovered +he was an arrant knave—a real whitewashed devil, +and I could with difficulty refrain from telling him my +thoughts. I left, wondering how such a Judas could go +so long "unwhipt of justice"—how he could avoid exposure. +Probably it was by a change of dress.</p> + +<p>It was now time I had visited the hospital, to show +reason why I had not fulfilled my engagement on the +previous evening. The colonel received me with a welcome +countenance, and remarked, he "was glad I had +returned, for," said he, "I feared you had gone away."</p> + +<p>I told him I was weary when I went home; that after +supper I had laid down to rest a few minutes, and slept +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>longer than I intended, and that was the reason I had not +returned. He was satisfied with my excuse, and introduced +another subject. He inquired if I had heard any +news, or seen any of the Lawrenceburgh citizens; and +if so, had his name been mentioned? I replied, that it +had been the principal topic of conversation, some speaking +well of him, and others illy. He then wished to +know, who had spoken evil of him? I told him the +man's name.</p> + +<p>"And he talked about me, did he?" inquired the +colonel.</p> + +<p>I replied, "He has spoken very hard things against +you, alleging that he never associated or had any dealings +with you."</p> + +<p>"He told you, he never had any dealings with me? +What did you think of that?"</p> + +<p>I answered, "When you resided in Lawrenceburgh, I +was too small to notice such things."</p> + +<p>I answered thus designedly, for I had seen him walking +arm and arm with the colonel, time and again, but I +was afraid to let the colonel know that I had even a moderate +share of sagacity.</p> + +<p>"Green, how often have you seen him," continued the +colonel, "and where, since you have been in the city? +You know his son said, he had returned home, a few +days since, when you carried him the letter."</p> + +<p>I told him I had not seen him before, since I came to +the city.</p> + +<p>"Are you certain of that?"</p> + +<p>"I am confident I have not seen him."</p> + +<p>"You are mistaken," said he, "you met him yesterday."</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p> + +<p>I knew what he meant, but dared not let him know +that I had recognised him. Again he interrogated me:</p> + +<p>"Do you not recollect him?" at the same time eyeing +me with an intensity of expression. I replied that I was +certain I had not seen him.</p> + +<p>"You are mistaken," said the colonel. "You met him +here yesterday. He was the man that remained after the +doctor had left."</p> + +<p>"It cannot be," I rejoined. "You must be mistaken, +as I was certain that man had light hair, nearly red."</p> + +<p>"It was him, Green," said he. "He had a wig on, +but for your life mention not a syllable of this to your best +friend. He is a villain of the deepest dye, and I know +him to be such."</p> + +<p>I, of course, agreed that I might have been mistaken.</p> + +<p>"He knew you," continued the colonel, "and was the +worst frightened man I ever saw, for fear you would recognise +him. I am glad you did not, for it might have +cost you your life."</p> + +<p>"I suppose, then, colonel," said I, "he intends furnishing +you with bail, does he not?"</p> + +<p>"He did not manifest such a determination, did he, +when you met him?"</p> + +<p>I replied: "He might have had his reasons for acting +as he did; it may be, it was to find out whether I knew +him as the person I met here yesterday. You say, colonel, +then, I actually met him yesterday?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, he is the very villain. I know enough about +him to make him stretch hemp, if he had his dues."</p> + +<p>I told him he was esteemed by many, where he lived, +to be a very good man.</p> + +<p>"Yes, they respect him for his riches," said the colo<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>nel; +"but they would not respect either him, or many of +his neighbours, if all knew them as well as I do."</p> + +<p>After this, he proceeded to give me the promised advice, +and addressed me thus:</p> + +<p>"Green, I believe you are a good boy, but have been +imposed on by the world. I am about to give you some +advice. I feel it right I should do so. I am in bad +health, and can never recover, and my only object in procuring +bail was to secure a decent burial, but I have no +hope. Green, I tell you this, that you may know the +condition in which you are placed. You are surrounded +by a set of devils incarnate, and you know them not. +You are just entering upon a life of misery and crime. +You can now see, to a limited extent, what has caused +me to lead a wretched and abandoned life. As soon as +you can, leave this place. You know not your danger. +You have about you some desperate enemies. I have +told the most inveterate of them, that they were mistaken +as to your character."</p> + +<p>I here inquired what they accused me of.</p> + +<p>He continued, "Of being treacherous to one of the brotherhood, +of which my brother is a member."</p> + +<p>"I never knew before that such a society existed," +said I.</p> + +<p>"They accuse you of three different crimes. You +know whether there is any foundation for the charges. +First, that you agreed to swear against Taylor; then, +after the spurious money was placed in your hands, you +gave the facts to Taylor's lawyer, and that your evidence +will now be used in his favour. If such is the case, I +advise you to abandon such a purpose, for you will certainly +lose your life if you persist in this thing."</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p> + +<p>I denied to him any such intention.</p> + +<p>"Well," said he, "what have you done then with those +five one-hundred-dollar notes given you by one of the +assistant attorneys of my brother?"</p> + +<p>I replied, "They are in my chest."</p> + +<p>"If such is the case, it will make every thing satisfactory +in that matter."</p> + +<p>I now left, and went to Mr. Munger, and related the +substance of my late interview. He handed me the +notes that I might make good my declaration. I took +them immediately to the hospital. When I entered I +found two merchants, who resided at Memphis, in close +conversation with the colonel. He told me to call again +at two o'clock. About that time, I returned. The visitors +were gone, but the colonel appeared much distressed. +Some new event must have added to his former +anxiety.</p> + +<p>"I wish you," said he, "to bring those notes and let +me see them."</p> + +<p>Having them in my pocket, I presented them to him.</p> + +<p>"I am glad you have them. You have been strongly +suspected of foul play—of giving them into the hands +of the defendant."</p> + +<p>I was well convinced from this, that it was one of the +clan who had rummaged my trunk and pockets a few +days previous. I then asked him, what else they had +laid to my charge?</p> + +<p>He replied: "A man by the name of Sandford gave +information to my brother, that a certain amount of money +had been hidden by him. Sandford died, and gave the +money to my brother, and gave directions where he could +find it. My brother prepared a note for his wife, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>told her where she could find the money, and my brother +reached the note to the wrong person." [See <span class="smcap">Gambling +Unmasked</span>.] "Some person told him you were +the receiver; that they had seen you take the note."</p> + +<p>I knew, however, that no one had seen me take it, that +the whole was a mere conjecture—a plan to worm a confession +out of me. Hence I denied it stoutly.</p> + +<p>"I do not believe it myself," affirmed the colonel, +"but the whole clan, remember, dislike you; among +others, a negro trader, by the name of Goodrich. He +has marked you out as a transgressor, and is determined +to put you out of the way." I have mentioned this same +Goodrich, once before. He is well known as one accustomed +to sell runaway negroes, as a kidnapper, who lives +with a wench, and has several mulatto children, and +probably does a profitable business in selling his own +offspring.</p> + +<p>I replied, "I do not know Goodrich, and know as little +about Sandford's money."</p> + +<p>"Well, Green, I believe you are innocent of the two +first accusations, and hope you may be of the third."</p> + +<p>But now came the "tug of war." These others were +only a preparatory step for a fearful inquisition. I knew +what was coming, and mustered all my fortitude to meet +the exigency. If ever there was a time when I was +called upon to summon my collected energies, to express +calmness and betoken innocence, it was on this occasion. +The colonel, fixing his eagle-eye upon me with severest +scrutiny, proceeded:</p> + +<p>"A certain package of papers has been taken, which +has produced a great excitement, and has caused me +serious injury." When he mentioned <span class="smcap">papers</span>, there was +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>a sensible pause, and a piercing look which exhibited a +determination to detect the slightest expression of guilt. +I was enabled to command myself, however, in such a +way, that I think I satisfied him I was not guilty.</p> + +<p>In reply, I asked the colonel "Why they should accuse +me of acting so base a part?"</p> + +<p>"Unfortunately for you," said the colonel, "you have +been seen talking with the friends of Taylor."</p> + +<p>I replied, "Perhaps I have, for I cannot tell who are +his friends, or who his enemies." I likewise asked him +if he thought it possible I could or would do any thing to +injure him.</p> + +<p>"I think not," said he, "yet mankind are so base and +deceitful, I have but little confidence in any one. I will +now show you how dreadful must be my position in regard +to the package, and then you can understand why +its loss will go so hard with me."</p> + +<p>I listened with the utmost attention, and he entered +upon this part of the subject as follows:</p> + +<p>"I am a member of a society called '<span class="smcap">The Secret +Band of Brothers</span>.' It is an ancient order, of a religious (?) +character. The leading members carry on an +extensive correspondence with one another. All letters +of business are subject to the order of the one who indites +them, allowing the holder the privilege of retaining a +copy. I had many letters written by leading men in my +possession; besides a large package of copies. These +with the original letters have been taken. Now, Green, +you promise secrecy, and I will give you the whole plan, +so far as in my power, and you can then judge how seriously +I shall be affected if those papers are not recovered.</p> + +<p>"At the time of my arrest, on the charges for which I +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>am to be tried, my friends were numerous and wealthy, +and I had the utmost confidence in all their promises. +The excitement was intense, and I did not deem it proper +to call upon them until it should subside. After waiting +a suitable length of time, I wrote to many of my acquaintances, +and, among others, to several whose names are +familiar to you. They were under personal obligations +to me, aside from the common claims of friendship. They +had made their thousands by plans of my own invention, +and much of the very wealth which had given them distinction +and influence was the fruit of my ingenuity. To +my letters they made ready and satisfactory replies. +They made the largest promises to give me any requisite +assistance, when called upon, yet as often left me in suspense, +or to reap the bitter fruit of disappointment. This +was the reason why my trial was put off during several +sessions of the court. My brother having been indicted +with me, made the prospect of both more dubious. I had +property, but not at my disposal. My wife betrayed my +confidence, for having it in her power to send me pecuniary +aid, she neglected to do it; indeed, all her conduct had +a tendency to involve me in the net that was spread for +my feet. Through her, information was given that I had +friends who would assist me, which served as an excuse for +her dereliction. This awakened the suspicions of community. +There was an anxiety to know who would step +forward to my rescue. Hence those from whom I expected +aid became alarmed, lest their characters, which +had hitherto been unblemished, should come into disrepute. +Two of them are merchants in Dearborn county, +Indiana. Some five of the most wealthy men of that +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>county were driven almost to desperation when they learned +that my wife had it in her power to use their names in +connection with deeply dishonourable acts. I, however, +satisfied them that she would not expose them, and they +in turn promised to assist me, writing several letters of +commendation in my behalf, giving me an untarnished +character as a merchant of high respectability in Lawrenceburgh. +From time to time they promised to secure +me bail, and yet they as often failed to make good their +word. In this they violated the most solemn obligations. +We were pledged to sustain each other to the last farthing, +in case either became involved in difficulty. That pledge +I had never broken, and I looked for the same fidelity on +the part of my associates. I never before had occasion +to test their sincerity, but found all their solemn promises +a mere 'rope of sand.' I found I was gone, as far as +they were concerned, and turned my efforts in another +direction."</p> + +<p>"I now had recourse to my friends in Chillicothe, +Cleaveland, Buffalo, Detroit, Zanesville, Beaver, Lexington, +Nashville, Philadelphia, New York city, Boston, +and Cincinnati. As usual, they gave me the most liberal +promises, but in no case fulfilled their engagements. I +was now driven to new measures. I found those in +whom I reposed the utmost confidence hollow-hearted +and treacherous. I next entered upon the plan of making +a certain villain share in my wretchedness and disgrace. +In this I was joined by my brother, who, in perfecting +the scheme, acted somewhat imprudently. I advised +him to take a different course, but he listened to +others who professed to befriends to us, and were, indeed, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>members of the same fraternity,<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> but turned out the worst +kind of enemies, especially those who were wealthy. +The poorer members were true to a man, and I am confident +will remain so; and if I am spared, I will make the +wealth of the others dance for their vile treatment. I +have a thousand men who but wait my call. When I +say the word, though they are of the same brotherhood, +yet having also experienced the treachery and oppression +of the higher class in common with myself, they will +make war upon them whenever the signal is given."</p> + +<p>Here he stopped for a few minutes, and then began to +state the little trouble it would have given his friends to +have aided him if they had felt disposed.</p> + +<p>"But I am an invalid, and God knows I do not deserve +such treatment." (The reader may think it strange that +such a man should call upon his Maker, especially when +he reads the constitution of the secret conclave, of which +he was a member. The phrase "God knows," was used +often in his private conversation.) "These persons I +have always considered my friends, and have never given +them occasion to be any thing else. Finding, however, +that I had no hope from them, and that I must stand my +trial, I was willing to make use of other means. I therefore +agreed to proposals made by the most wealthy of my +friends, and yielded to their arrangements, in order, if possible, +to escape punishment. There was a man by the +name of Taylor, the same whose trial is now pending, +whom they feared, and who was known to community as +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>an accomplished villain. He was the person selected +upon whom it was designed to heap the burden of the +guilt. By that means, the attention of our prosecutors +would be diverted. The plan was set in operation, and +soon the infamy of Taylor was sounded from Maine to +the confines of Texas. They had their agents in almost +every city to help on the work. From the first, I had +but little hope of success in this manœuvre, but consented +reluctantly to the trial. I was confident he had many +enemies, and not without cause. Having been foiled in +all my former plans, I now experienced the deepest anxiety. +I was especially solicitous that as long a time +should elapse as possible before he was arrested. Some +time after the report of his guilt he was arrested, and my +brother promised to secure evidence to prove him guilty, +and likewise to establish my innocence. It was also +agreed by the committee of arrangements at that time, +that I should take medicine upon a feigned sickness, in +order to secure a change in my situation. In this way I +could be removed to the Marine Hospital, when reported +by the committee of health as being in danger. I was to +appear ignorant of my brother's design, of which in truth +I was. I took medicine, which had the desired effect. +It made me desperately sick, producing excessive prostration. +Application was made for my removal to the +place where you now see me. Being conveyed hither, +arrangements were made for my bail by my supposed +friends. I was persuaded that I should continue in this +state of unnatural disease from that time till the present. +My brother carried on his treacherous part, and it required +no little effort to convince the community that Taylor was +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>really guilty of what was charged upon himself. Although +he was known to be a desperate man, yet the +charges were of such a nature, it was most difficult to +sustain them. My brother's main dependence was in +the fraternity. He founded his hope of success upon a +concert of action among so many, apparently reputable +witnesses. Some of them would be used in behalf of the +state, and consequently receive regular pay for time and +services, and at the same time could employ a false testimony +against Taylor. Two objects could be thus secured; +first, they would be detained as witnesses and used as +necessity required; and, secondly, be ready to make up +my bail. My brother further gave community to understand, +that he would be able, by the production of certain +papers, to convince them of all that had been rumored +against Taylor. For this end, a quantity of papers were +forwarded to this city, among which were some bearing +my name, that were mere business letters. The ordering +these letters was not approved by me. It was a plan of +my brother. When it was discovered by several of my +most intimate friends, they became alarmed, thinking I was +concerned in the affair. As the fraternity required, by their +constitution, that all letters should be returned at the request +of the author, permitting the holder to take a copy, +it became my duty to comply with this requisition whenever +made. There was a great alarm. Many visited the +city with whom I had held correspondence, whose letters +had never been returned. They learned as to the disposition +that was to be made of the papers, and report said +we were about to give each individual's name concerned, +as we were intending to turn state's evidence. This ac<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>counts +for the many different visiters you have seen. +You also saw several from Lawrenceburgh, and the very +man you said spoke so disrespectfully of me, and gave +you the long moral lecture, is here on the same purpose—the +same individual you met two days since, whom you +designated as having light hair."</p> + +<p>I here found his strength would not permit him to +pursue the narrative further, and upon his promising to +resume and finish the subject the next day, I left the +hospital.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> When he spoke of this fraternity, I then supposed he referred +to some of the benevolent societies of the day.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + + +<p>In returning to my boarding-house I was met by the +blackleg pettifogger, who treated me with great coldness. +I met him again the next morning at the prison, and he +treated me in like manner. But I was especially anxious +to hear what more the colonel had to say, and hastened to +his room. He began his account where he had left off.</p> + +<p>"This man, who was dressed in disguise, was greatly +alarmed, lest certain of his letters in the package should +come to light, which had not been retained. He started +for home, as stated by his son, but returned to secure his +letters. You have witnessed the tremendous excitement +which exists, the running to and fro, and the many +strange visitors that frequent my room. There is a cause +for all this which I will now relate.</p> + +<p>"My brother sent for those papers, which, upon arrival, +were submitted to his wife that she might select the most +important to be produced as testimony in court against +Taylor. In accordance with directions, she examined +them all and laid aside all the business letters, (meaning +the package lost,) which in some way have been mislaid +or stolen. These, you are accused of having taken, and +also of having taken a note that was reached through the +grate by my brother, as he supposed to his wife, but it +proved to be some other person, and they suspected you +as that one. They also charge you with giving information +as to the man who gave you five hundred dollars, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>and also that he used my name, saying at the same time, +'If you will swear that money on Taylor I will make you +a rich man,' and that you concerted in this thing to act a +deceitful part."</p> + +<p>I replied: "I promised to take the money and swear +according to directions, but it was not for any respect I +had for the man who offered me a bribe, or the pecuniary +compensation, but for you and your brother."</p> + +<p>"Green," said he, "have no respect for my brother. +He has not an honest heart. He would betray his own +father, and be sure that you refuse to do what the pettifogger +has advised." (See a full account in Gambling +Unmasked.) "Green, take care, or you will lose your life. +You have enemies that watch you closely. They also +watch me, but I cannot help myself. I wish you well and +believe you innocent."</p> + +<p>This last was uttered in a suppressed and pathetic +tone, and I perceived his eye was intently fixed upon +mine as if he would read in its expression the secret +workings of my heart. I was determined he should not +effect his purpose, and managed to evade his glances.</p> + +<p>"I am aware of their foul intentions," continued he, +"but know not how to evade it. Green, I have all confidence +in you as an honest boy, and do not think you +would do any thing to injure me, but have thought you +might have had a curiosity to know the contents of some +of those letters, and have mislaid them with the intention +of giving them back when you had read them."</p> + +<p>I again protested my innocence, and solemnly declared +I had no knowledge of the package.</p> + +<p>"Then," exclaimed he, "I am a doomed man. There +is no hope, and I will tell you the reason why.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You know I have had many friends calling upon me, +day by day, from all parts of the country. You have +seen among them some of the most wealthy in the town +of Lawrenceburgh. They are my sworn friends and all +members of a Secret Society, which obligates each one, +under a most solemn oath, to assist a brother member out +of any difficulty, provided he has not violated his obligations. +Now my brother has acted most imprudently in +pledging himself to produce certain papers, and to bring +other witnesses besides himself against Taylor. These +men were apprehensive that we had mutually laid a trap +to expose the whole band. This has involved me in the +most unjust crimination. I am subjected to the charge +of conspiracy, and hence you see how difficult it is to +procure bail. It is true I have had promises from all +parts of the Union, but my brother concerted, without reflecting +upon the consequences of his conduct, to bring +one thousand men, if necessary, to this city, who would +be ready to do any thing he might direct. These men +were brethren of the same band, but of a lower order, +none of whom were possessed of wealth or extended influence. +The others, who possessed both, were kept in +silence, for fear of being betrayed or proving false to the +fraternity of which they were members. That we are +circumstanced as you see us at present, is not for the +want of friends. They are abundant and powerful; we +have them on sea and on land, and they are ready to assist +us out of any difficulty, and would do it in a moment if +assured that all was right on our part. You see the city +is full of them—many have come to secure their letters, +which they knew were in my possession, and if exposed, +would bring upon them certain ruin,—but alas! they +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>have come too late. You will notice I have had no +visitors while I have been giving you this history. I +told the steward to admit none but yourself. Be assured, +Green, I have many friends, but they dare not act—they +dare not help me and they dare not convict me. +You may live to know the truth of what I am stating."</p> + +<p>I inferred, from the last remark, that he had reference +to the judiciary. I had noticed that during his two days' +conversation, no person had visited the room but the +physician and a certain judge who lived near Florence, +Alabama, and the latter remained only a few minutes. I +found out his name by seeing it written upon his hat +lining, which had been placed upon the window opening +on the piazza. After the judge had retired, the colonel +resumed the conversation.</p> + +<p>"I am accused by my friends with treachery to the +brotherhood. They think that I, in concert with my +brother, have laid a plan to clear ourselves by their downfall. +When the news was out that the papers were lost, +I saw the most marked indications of hostility. They +came forward and pledged to bail me in any amount, provided +I would return their letters, but swore that I should +never go from this room alive, if I did not produce them. +I am certain to suffer death. My sentence is fixed, and I +have no hope. My brother and his advisers have ruined +me. They have had me borne hither that I might not +understand their plans. I am satisfied the papers are in +the hands of the intimate friends of my brother and those +who had manifested such an interest in my removal to +this place. I have been reduced by medicine, and my +inability to exercise—so contrary to my general habits—has +seated a fatal disease upon my lungs."</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p> + +<p>His disease had been occasioned by the constant use +of medicine, which exposed his system to cold, and this, +by constant repetition, had entirely destroyed his constitution. +I have no doubt that a slow poison was mingled +in his medicine. When he had finished this tale of sorrow, +he gave me some affectionate advice in something +like the following words:</p> + +<p>"Green, I advise you to leave the city as soon as possible. +There are two parties of the 'secret band' that +seek your life; those who are so much enraged at the +loss of the papers, because their reputation, fortunes, and +lives, are thereby in jeopardy, and those who are the personal +friends of my brother, and who support him, do or +say what he may. They take his word with the infallibility +of law and gospel, and are by profession great +friends of mine, as well as of the other party, who swear +they will have those papers at all hazards, right or wrong; +meaning if you have them, they will obtain them in some +way; that if I have them they shall be returned. I therefore +advise you to leave the city immediately."</p> + +<p>I told him I had no funds.</p> + +<p>"I have not one dollar," said he, "to help you off, or +I would give it to you."</p> + +<p>I told him I was under great obligations for his kindness. +He further remarked:</p> + +<p>"Now pledge me secrecy to what I have related, for +it can have no effect in assisting you, and will ruin me."</p> + +<p>I did so, and bade him farewell. I hastened to see +Mr. Munger, and told him what the colonel had said about +the counterfeit money and the money I had found by +Sandford's note, but not a word as to the mysterious +package.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + + +<p>Shortly after the events detailed in the foregoing +chapter, I had a conversation with Mr. Munger, who told +me, he was satisfied that my life was in danger, and advised +me to leave the city for a few weeks, or, at least, to +change my boarding-place, and keep myself in seclusion. +Accordingly, I changed my quarters as soon as possible. +I could not well leave the city, as Mr. Munger informed +me I must be present to appear in court when Taylor +was tried, in case the younger brother acted the part he +had promised; and if not, it would be equally important +for me to be on hand, as they intended to indict him and +his pettifogger, for their wicked designs upon the man +they were endeavouring to ruin. As I could not go far +out of the city, under these circumstances, I considered +it more safe to remain concealed: I waited, therefore, +several days, until the colonel's death, which occurred +not long after I bade him farewell.</p> + +<p>I had met Cunningham—the old man at first charged +with having the package by Mrs. Brown—several times +after the colonel had advised me to leave the city, and in +our last interview, he gave me to understand that the +colonel would never get out of his bed alive, or leave the +hospital, except when carried to his burial. I asked him, +why.</p> + +<p>"There are many reasons. His health will never be +any better; he cannot recover from his present illness.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> +I know it is hard, but there are many who think it is +preferable that one should suffer than thousands, who +consider themselves better men. He has brought this +trouble upon himself, by not living up to his oath. He +and his brother are both traitors, and have placed the +fraternity, of which they are members, entirely in the +power of their enemies, but it will all come out right; +there is no mistake. You heard that Madam Brown +had lost a certain package of papers, letters, or the like, +did you not?"</p> + +<p>I replied in the affirmative.</p> + +<p>"Well, they believed for a time that I had them, or +would have made others think so; but that kind of accusation +would not take with men who knew me. They +next laid the charge against you: I have satisfied the +interested party, that they are not in the possession of +either of us, but that the colonel and his brother have +them, and intend thereby to slip more necks into the +halter than poor Taylor's. I am of the opinion, their +own necks will pay the price of their treachery."</p> + +<p>I then replied, that I knew Mrs. Brown had said she +had lost a package of papers, but what they contained, I +knew not.</p> + +<p>"Nor ever will know," said he.</p> + +<p>"I have no curiosity about the matter," I replied.</p> + +<p>"And you might as well <span class="smcap">never</span> have, for curious people +will pay dearly for reading them, especially if they +undertake it in court, as evidence against the brotherhood."</p> + +<p>The reader can hardly imagine the intense desire that +was created, by this time, in my heart, to learn all about +this "brotherhood," and "fraternity," so often intro<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>duced, +and yet so obscurely as to give me no certain information.</p> + +<p>I took this opportunity to ask Cunningham, what title +this society had assumed; whether they were Masons or +Odd Fellows? He laughed, and said:</p> + +<p>"I thought I had explained some of the particulars to +you." He then stopped, as if to consider, when he continued: +"Certainly, Masons and Odd Fellows both, and +all other good institutions—but, I can tell you, Green, the +brother who has turned state's evidence swears terrible +vengeance against you. Do you be careful. He has +many who are watching you. I belong to the party opposed +to him and the colonel, and they throw all the +blame upon you. You are the victim of their suspicions +and hate, and you will do well to leave this place without +delay; but tell no one, by any means, that I have given +you this information."</p> + +<p>I bade him good day, and we separated.</p> + +<p>I now thought I would call once more, and see the +colonel. I hastened to the hospital, but as I drew near, +I discovered two men riot far from the steps, and the third +coming down. I walked by them, without being recognised, +and as I passed, the third man had entered into +conversation with the other two.</p> + +<p>He was asked, "Is it a fact, that he is dead?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, certainly. He has been dead about three +hours."</p> + +<p>"I knew," said one, "that he could not stand it long."</p> + +<p>Two of the men, I perceived, were from Lawrenceburgh, +the two who stood remotely, one of whom was the +identical person who wore the wig, and gave me such +good fatherly instruction. I passed to the room, where<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> +I found the steward, with three assistants, laying out the +corpse.</p> + +<p>"We do not wish any more assistance at present," +said the old French steward. I understood his meaning, +and left immediately.</p> + +<p>The news of the colonel's death soon spread through +the city, and many gathered to witness the burial, but +owing to the inclemency of the weather, few followed to +the grave. When the hearse bore the body away, it +rained very hard. I did not make my appearance on the +occasion, for I well knew that many would be present to +relieve their anxious minds—to rejoice rather than mourn +over the dead, and who would sooner see my dead body +deposited by that of the colonel's, than any other on earth. +I was determined not to be mourned for in that way, by +the desperate villains. I therefore kept aloof from their +society.</p> + +<p>Several days elapsed, during which time I remained +in concealment from all the clan, but Cunningham, who +expressed a concern for my welfare. I also had frequent +conferences with my friend, the deputy-marshal. Three +days after the colonel's death, Cunningham informed me, +that he was convinced that both of the Browns deserved +death.</p> + +<p>"But I dare not tell you why," said he, "and if I +should, you would not be able to comprehend my reasons. +Be assured, if they are guilty, the other brother will +never come from that prison alive. He will find out, that +the brotherhood are wide awake."</p> + +<p>All his insinuations were perfect Greek to me, for some +weeks after; but when Taylor had his trial, the whole +matter was explained. Their import I will now unfold.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + + +<p>From the time the plan was concocted, for making +Taylor suffer the penalty of another's crime, the utmost +promptitude was required for its execution—the machinery +must be actively employed by the friends of the +colonel, and his brother. First, the colonel must be made +sick, and a sympathy thereby awakened, and hence the +plea for his removal would be the more plausible. His +enlargement was important. He was a principal man, +with whom it would be necessary to have much consultation—an +intercourse more vital to the cause of his pretended +than his real friends. Besides, there were many +who really desired his escape, but being among the first +class of society, as to wealth, respectability, and influence, +they were unwilling to frequent the prison to visit +the unfortunate colonel. Though interested deeply in +his release, they were not willing the public should understand +that they were sworn friends. The part the +younger brother was to sustain, has already been detailed +in a former chapter. The medicine was administered +with the desired effect, and the colonel was removed to +the hospital. He was now in a situation to be consulted. +Many would now visit him, who never would have gone +to the prison. If a reason was required for their familiarity +with so base a man, it could be found in the dictates +of kindness, called forth by suffering humanity. +After his removal, his brother was under obligation to do +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>as he had promised, to produce the spurious plates, the +counterfeit money, and the correspondence, and swear +them upon Taylor, as the real agent and proprietor. As +the signatures of the letters were anonymous, other testimony +was required to establish the real author.</p> + +<p>It will be remembered that the plates and letters were +in Canada for safe keeping, and must be sent for, and +conveyed to the city before the trial of Taylor could proceed. +In the mean time, jealousy and consequent dread +on the part of the colonel's confederates were daily receiving +new strength. Conscious were they of having acted +a most dishonorable and deceitful part with one of whom, +under ordinary circumstances, they were accustomed to +stand in awe; but now they were more especially apprehensive +of danger, because there was a provocation for +seeking vengeance. They knew he had every means to +involve them in a more signal overthrow than that which +awaited himself. The only alternatives were, either to +wrest the weapons of destruction from his hands, or +render the possessor incapable of wielding them. They +were driven almost to desperation, when they reflected on +their deeds of wickedness reaching through many years, +the record of which was in the hands of a powerful and +justly provoked enemy, who in a day might spread out +for the gaze of the world the portraiture of their former +characters, in which were mingled the features of darkest +villany and the more glaring expressions of open violence +and crime. Goaded on by an awful apprehension, they +were prepared for any thing that might save themselves +and families from exposure and disgrace.</p> + +<p>Colonel Brown was a Grand Master of the band of +Secret Brothers. The members of the fraternity who +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>sought his ruin were of the same degree, together with +those holding the relation of Vice-grand Master. He had +nothing to fear from the common brotherhood, who were +kept in perfect ignorance of the transactions of those more +advanced. Indeed, they were his warmest friends, and +regarded him with especial reverence, because he commended +himself to their confidence and esteem by his +naturally good disposition, and, most of all, by his relation +of Grand Master, which is always accompanied either +with dread or marked respect. The inferior order was +very numerous, but seldom wealthy, generally of a suspicious +character, who had no fixed residence, but wandered +from place to place, preying upon the community in the +character of bar-keepers, pickpockets, thieves, gamblers, +horse-racers, and sometimes murderers. They may be +found in all parts of the United States and Canada. +These were controlled by some two hundred Grand +Masters, conveniently located, who were generally men +of wealth and respectability, and often connected with +some learned profession, yet but seldom applying themselves +to their profession sufficient to gain a livelihood. +These men, of both orders, would often confer together, +especially when one had been detected in any crime—or +some dirty job was to be done, which was likely to bring +into the hands of the superior order any considerable +wealth. In fact, these so-called respectable men would +lay plans which they dared not execute for fear of detection, +but having any number of agents in readiness among +the common brotherhood who had nothing to lose in point +of character, they would employ them, and if successful, +be sure to pocket all the spoils—except enough to satisfy +the immediate wants of their jackals. If they were not +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>successful, but detected in their villany, these unfortunate +agents could lay claim to their aid, and were permitted +to make drafts of money to procure bail in case of indictment +or to defray the expenses of a trial. We have sometimes +wondered that certain felons should get clear, when +their guilt has been established beyond a doubt. We will +not wonder when we learn that there are men of wealth +and influence in almost every town, who are sworn to aid +and befriend these villains. They are sometimes lawyers, +and jurors, and even judges. But their conduct +and relations will be more clearly seen, when I publish +their letters and constitution. It is only necessary to +remark in this connection, that the only persons really +benefited in this organized system of land piracy, are +their Grand Masters. They lay most of the plans, +and receive and control the money,—confer among themselves, +but never with a common brother, only using him +as a tool for the accomplishment of some foul purpose. +Here is policy. It would not be safe to commit their +secrets to the many hundreds under them, but only to +such as are judged suitable after years of trial, and those +beneath are often looking forward for promotion, which +is a pledge of their fidelity. The reader will perceive +that if this higher order was ever to be fully exposed, it +must be by some one of their own number, for one of an +inferior degree knows no more of their proceedings than +the uninitiated.</p> + +<p>The danger of a full exposure now threatened them in +connection with Colonel Brown; at least they apprehended +it. They knew they deserved it, and the circumstances +of their accomplice pointed in that direction. +He had the means—their own letters, and a knowledge +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>of their deeds. It was only necessary to give information +to a third person, and the work would be done. Besides, +he was a man of extensive acquaintance and +influence—a ruling spirit among his fellows. A revelation +from him would have been direful in the extreme, as, +in addition, he had in his possession the constitution and +by-laws of the fraternity, which were always lodged with +the ruling Grand Master. Under these circumstances +we need not wonder that there was excitement, that every +expedient was employed to rescue the documents or make +away with their possessor. He was now in confinement. +It was vital to their designs to keep him there till they +could secure the letters and constitution above referred +to, or, in case of failure, make his life pay the forfeit. +They cared but little for his brother, as he was of an inferior +grade. The Grand Masters, then in office, had but +one object in view, and that they were intent upon accomplishing. +The acquittal or conviction of the two +brothers was a matter of no consequence compared with +their own personal safety. To secure this they would +not scruple even to commit murder. That this is the +case, will be seen by an article in their constitution. I +may further remark in this connection, that their laws +required, that the Grand Master shall be assisted by six +Vice-grand Masters, but these latter cannot be admitted +into the secrets of the former till they are promoted, +although they are obligated to do his bidding. The +members who had been advanced to the highest degree, +and hold the principal secrets of the order in connection +with the colonel their leader, were about two hundred. +These were the individuals conspiring against his life, in +case they could not procure their letters and other docu<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>ments. +Their main and first object was, therefore, to +bring those papers to the city.</p> + +<p>The papers were sent for, as before stated, and all their +designs, of a public and private nature, set in active operation. +Of this the colonel had no knowledge at the +time. Mrs. B. was to give them up to the committee +appointed for the purpose of inspecting them. All that +would have any tendency to injure or expose the fraternity, +if brought to light, were to be selected, and the +rest brought forward for the purpose of convicting Taylor. +The intention of bringing these papers to the city being, +in the mean time, made known to the colonel, he gave +directions to his sister-in-law to reserve such papers as +he specified, and hand the balance over to the committee. +The trunk in which they were deposited having arrived, +Mrs. B. acted according to directions, reserving the notable +package which she concealed between her beds, while +she conveyed the residue to the prison office for legal +purposes—to be used by the committee, who met there +by consent of one of the prison keepers—he being a +Grand Master of the secret band and one of the principal +policemen. After delivering up the papers, she returned +and found her valuable deposit had been removed as +previously stated.</p> + +<p>The fact of their removal being made known to the +brotherhood, they thought some base person had robbed +the lady of her important charge. This opinion prevailed +with the fraternity generally. Not so with the +two hundred grandees. Their opinion assumed the character +of their former suspicions, while their suspicions +were converted into fact. They were now fully convinced +that the colonel contemplated the destruction of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>their order, and was intent upon keeping the papers in +his own power: that he had even entered upon the act +of defeating the very purpose they had in view, in bringing +those papers to the city. At this time the city was +crowded with the members of this secret society, and +private rewards were offered by the two hundred or that +portion of this band then in the city, for the recovery of +the papers. These rewards made a great stir, especially +with the officers of all parties, both those for and against +the colonel. Taylor was a mark to be shot at by about +seven-eighths of the band, and the remaining one-eighth +was ready to go to the highest bidder, to do service for +him who would give the highest wages. He found +means to secure the friendship of the latter, many of +whom were considered quite respectable men, and were +never suspected by the brotherhood of any thing dishonourable. +The head men constituted still another party. +Thus these villains were divided into three factions. +These were the friends of Taylor, known as Taylorites, +and the supporters of Brown, called Brownites. These +only were publicly known; while the third party, embracing +the royal grandees, were actively engaged in disengaging +themselves from the coils which they supposed +had been deliberately laid for their destruction. They +showed, by their efforts, they had more at stake than all +the rest. Though their movements were not publicly +recognised, yet they had every influence that would favour +their cause in operation, to consummate their hellish +purposes.</p> + +<p>The constitution, by-laws, and about one thousand and +three hundred letters, including copies and original, were +missing; and the destiny of the whole band of Grand<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> +Masters depended upon their recovery, before ever they +fell into the hands of one who could explain them to the +brotherhood; and still more calamitous would be the condition +of the entire fraternity, if they were ever revealed +to the public. Those more immediately concerned were +confirmed in the opinion that the colonel had secreted +them for future use. Finding they had not accomplished +what they intended, in bringing the papers to the city, +they had recourse to a certain clause in the constitution, +to compel the colonel to produce some of them, if in his +possession. That clause required the holder of an original +letter to return the same, when requested by the +writer, after copying, if desirable. This law applied, +however, only to letters having the secret "qualities," +or, in other words, the private description of the bearer +in full, which was written in acid, and could be read only +after subjection to chemical action. Three hundred and +seventy-nine of the letters in the package were of this +kind; one thousand were copies, whose original had +been returned. The former had been written to the +colonel, and one bore date as far back as July 9th, 1819; +the latter had been addressed to various individuals, and +some bore date as far back as 1798.</p> + +<p>To secure these letters was a work of great delicacy. +Though the constitution granted the right of asking the +unreturned letters, yet the writers feared to make the +requisition of the colonel, lest he might suspect them of +a conspiracy, and being thus exasperated, let loose his +engines of destruction. They finally fixed upon the following +plan. They were to hold out the idea that they +were ready to bail him, provided he would leave the country. +In case he consented, they were to request the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>retention of the letters, feeling confident he had not destroyed +them. The plan was laid open to the colonel by +the man from Dearborn county, Indiana, the same who +was dressed in disguise. He was told by the colonel +that the papers (meaning the package) had been taken, +and he could not furnish them, as he had no possible +knowledge who had done the deed. This reply, to the +council of Grand Masters, was like "a clap of thunder +in a cloudless sky," so confident were they that he had +them and would produce them when thus requested. +There was now only one alternative, the life of the colonel +must be taken, which they could and did accomplish, as +the sequel will show.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + + +<p>From the time of the visit by the Dearborn county man +till the death of Colonel Brown, embracing about six +weeks, there were constant and fierce wranglings among +the fraternity. A considerable change had been made +in the feelings of some of the colonel's former sworn friends, +which of course made those who knew him innocent +more bitter against any one they might suspect guilty of +bringing such a calamity upon him. His friends and +foes were equally interested in finding the retainer of +the lost package, but all to no purpose. There was, however, +but one sentiment in the Grand Council; they still +believed that the colonel had them, and designed, as soon +as he was liberated, to make a general exposure of the +whole organization to the world. But their own consciousness +of personal injury—of having acted a treacherous +part against this man—was, in reality, the ground of their +conviction as to his guilt; for it was not in the nature of +the man to be false to his pledged honour. It only remained +that they should prevent his liberation; and the +most effectual way was to act in accordance with the +assassin's maxim, "Dead men tell no tales." Their +hatred rose to such a pitch that they began to exhibit +their enmity toward any one that either sympathized, befriended, +or was even familiar with the colonel. Here +was the ground of their deadly animosity toward me.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +They supposed I was his confidant, and might be an +agent for the execution of his designs.</p> + +<p>These murderers,—(I ask no pardon for so harsh an +epithet, for they were such in thought and deed,)—these +Grand Masters, who visited the colonel while I waited +upon him, and thus became personally known, have, ever +since that event, assumed a hostile attitude toward me. +It is true they have never attacked me publicly, yet I am +confident they have hired others to do it. From the time +I drew the money put in deposit by Sandford, and bore +off that object of curiosity, so carefully concealed in the +bed, until the day I was chased as a mad dog by an infuriated +mob through the streets of New Orleans, and finally +made good my escape through a troop of less hostile cotton +snakes, as recorded in my Gambling Unmasked, I +was singled out as an object of open and private hate by +the whole tribe of organized desperadoes. To recover +those papers, no steps were too desperate for the Grand +Masters—they having any amount of money to accomplish +their object; and I am now about to present the reader +with another exhibition of their daring and indefatigable +perseverance.</p> + +<p>They now came to the conclusion that those papers +had been given to the officers of the bank, and were deposited +in the clerk's office of the United States court, to +be used against them at some future day. They offered +rewards to several of the inferior grade, for the purpose +of getting possession of the box containing the plates, +counterfeit money, and, as they supposed, the lost package. +Their only hope now lay in getting that box. The +time of Taylor's trial had been fixed. Mr. Munger informed +me I could leave the city for a few days, and he +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>would let me know when my services were wanted. I went +to Bayou Sara, one hundred and fifty miles above New +Orleans. A few days after my arrival, Mr. Munger came +after me in great haste, bringing the information that a +great and daring burglary had been committed the same +night I left the city. The clerk's office had been entered, +and the box, containing Taylor's indictments, plates, and +spurious money, had been taken. Taylor's jury had not +agreed, and he would get clear, in case the box could not +be recovered. He informed me that I had been suspected +and accused of the deed; but that he knew I was innocent, +for he had inquired of the boat, and found I had left +on the previous night, some time before the robbery was +committed. He did not wish any one to know that he +had any knowledge of my location, but told me I had +nothing to fear. Indeed, I knew I could prove an <span class="smcap">alibi</span> +by more than one person, and I consented to return. +While on our way back to the city, I told Mr. Munger I +did not wish to go into the prison where the younger +Brown was confined; I feared he had some designs upon +my life.</p> + +<p>"Do not have any apprehensions," said he, "on that +account. You will not be hurt, for you will be put into +the debtor's apartment, where Brown is not permitted +to visit, and of course can have no chance to do you an +injury."</p> + +<p>I was placed in prison upon my return—a position of +greater safety to me than any other. Being assured by +Mr. Munger of protection, I went without hesitation—expecting +to be released the next day. The next morning +I was brought out and informed, to my great surprise, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>that if discharged I must furnish a very heavy bail. This +was a source of alarm; but my friend calmed my fears, +by saying that all would be right when I was examined; +that the excitement was great, and it was only necessary +to wait for the return of the Lady of the Lake—which +was on a trip to Natchez, and would be back in a few +days—when abundant evidence in my favour would be +secured, and I would be acquitted.</p> + +<p>In a few days, I was accordingly set at liberty. The +plates and papers had been found in Natchez, and a man +by the name of King had been arrested—who confessed +the crime, but alleged that he had been hired by a certain +party to do the deed. This King was one of the brotherhood, +and had been employed by the committee of Grand +Masters to enter the office and secure for them the box, +by which they expected to obtain the package. In this +they were mistaken, and placed in a worse dilemma than +before.</p> + +<p>On the day of my discharge I was visited by a man, +to me unknown. He informed me that he had procured +my acquittal, and was my sincere friend and well-wisher; +that he desired always to remain the same—and would, +during life, on condition that I acted in accordance with +his wishes.</p> + +<p>I considered him a strange person, to introduce himself +in so singular a manner. He advised me to leave the +city as soon as possible. I told him that was my intention. +I likewise informed Mr. Munger of the same, and +he readily consented, as Taylor's trial had been put off. +Arrangements being made with him, I expected to leave +the next day. In the mean time, I had an interview with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> +Cunningham, who told me I must look out, for the brotherhood +in general suspected me of foul play as to the +papers. I denied all knowledge of them—for I found it +my only safety to pursue one uniform course.</p> + +<p>He continued: "The party are determined to have +them at all hazards, and are now more convinced than +ever that you are in the secret. All the circumstances +are against you—more especially since the custom-house +was broken open, which robbery was perpetrated for the +express purpose of finding the papers. It was thought +if the colonel had disposed of them, they would be found +there; but now they will hold you responsible. I bid +you farewell."</p> + +<p>On the same evening I had this conversation with +Cunningham, I went with Smith to the gambling-house: +the same day, too, on which I won seventy dollars in +the flat boat—the first and dearest money I ever won at +gaming, as it nearly cost me my life—the full account of +which is given in the work previously mentioned.</p> + +<p>On the second day after this, as I was about leaving +for Mobile, I met the gentleman who had procured my +release. He advised me to depart forthwith, promising +to meet me at another time. As we were separating he +placed in my hands a box.</p> + +<p>"Here," said he, "is a box, containing something I +wish you to keep with great care. You must not open +it till I give you permission."</p> + +<p>I took the same. It was a small box, made of oak, +three inches high, eight long, and five wide. Its possession +gave me much uneasiness for twelve years—during +which time I remained faithful to my instructions. I +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>frequently met with my benefactor. The last time I saw +him was in Philadelphia, in 1841. I have received from +him nine letters, in all, of a good moral character, and +always referring to the box. This individual's name I +have never been able to learn. No two letters ever bore +the same signature, but the identity of their contents convinced +me they were all from the same person. That +mysterious box I have preserved to the present day.</p> + +<p>It will be remembered by the reader that I confided +the papers, taken from Mrs. B., with a man by the name +of Watkins. This individual died with the cholera, in +1832. I called upon his wife for the package, who returned +the same to me at Cincinnati, in 1833. I found +every thing as I had left it, excepting the blank parchments. +They were gone. Here was a mystery I could not solve. +How should a part be missing and not the whole? I +never gained any satisfactory information until last summer. +While travelling through the state of New York, +I had occasion to visit the state's prison, where I met with +a certain convict who passed by the name of Wyatt, but +whose real name was Robert H. North. He gave +me information about a certain "<span class="smcap">flash</span>," or comprehensive +language used among professional gamblers and +blacklegs. Many of the phrases were familiar, but I +never could ascertain their origin. He was soon convinced +of my ignorance, and then informed me of the +society whence they originated. He likewise explained +the reason why I was so persecuted by the notorious +Goodrich. "It is known," said he, "wherever the fraternity +exist, that you obtained the package; but they +are satisfied you destroyed the same, and it is well you +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>did, or else you would have been put out of the way long +before this."</p> + +<p>I told him I had taken the package, but there was nothing +in it save letters and a few blank parchments.</p> + +<p>He laughed and said:</p> + +<p>"If you had <span class="smcap">warmed</span> those parchments, they would +have presented an exhibition worthy of your attention."</p> + +<p>This information made me restless with excitement and +anxiety to peruse those letters and notes which I still had +in my possession. I may here remark, the letters were, +for the most part, unintelligible to a common reader, because +of the secret language in which they were written. +I had examined them again and again, without much +satisfaction. I knew they were penned for the purpose +of clandestinely carrying on a wholesale plunder—a deliberate +imposition upon public and private rights. By +frequent perusal I had become familiar with many of the +terms which were often explained to me by those who +were acquainted with their use, though they are used by +thousands, without any knowledge of their origin.</p> + +<p>After I commenced an exposure of the vice of gambling, +I was often attacked by certain low, vulgar editors in a +manner that indicated deep-seated malice. I could not +account for their abuse. They would admit that society +should be rid of the evil in question, but at the same time +exhibited the most bitter hostility to me as one who had +dared to expose the abominations of gaming. I was conscious +there was something that moved them in their +work of calumny not yet developed. The mystery rendered +me unhappy. I was anxious to know the cause +of this public opposition, and the more so, that I might +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>satisfy the people that the whole arose from influences +akin to the vice I was labouring to destroy. The secret +was soon discovered, and I am now prepared to satisfy +the public mind that the attacks upon my present relation +to society have arisen from something more than an +ignorant prejudice. These hireling editors knew I had +the materials to draw their portraits at full length in all +their moral hideousness; and they feared society would +be thrown into spasms at the sight, and they would be +hurled from their stations of trust by an enraged and insulted +people. It has only been necessary in one or two +instances to give them a few hints of the information I +possessed, and they were hushed up <span class="smcap">instanter</span>.</p> + +<p>A long time had elapsed since I heard from the mysterious +stranger who gave me the box,—long enough, I +had supposed, to free me from obligation of further restraint +upon my curiosity. It had now been in my +possession several years, and I felt myself at liberty +to examine its contents. Having consulted with a few +friends previously, I then made known, in the fall of +1842, to Rev. John F. Wright—formerly of the Methodist +Book Concern, Cincinnati—that I had such a box, +and my intentions. I likewise gave the same information +to Arthur Vance—formerly of Lawrenceburgh, +Indiana—Mr. John Norton, of Lexington, Kentucky—Thomas +M. Gallay, of Wheeling, Virginia. I informed +each of them how I came by the box, and the unaccountable +conduct of the man who placed it in my hands. +Having opened it, I found the same number of parchments +I had missed from the package, all blank in appearance. +In these was a note, which read as follows:</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">"The parchments, now in the hands of the possessor, +contain much sad intelligence, and can be read, +provided they are heated. They are exposed by a +brother of the band, a doomed man, one the world +has known to its sorrow for forty years. May the +owner and holder consider the doomed one a most +kind friend for ever!</span></p> + +<p>"New Orleans, May 3d, 1832."</p> + +<p>I soon hastened to ascertain the contents of the parchments, +and found the statement made correct.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + + +<p>The contents of these papers are such as almost stagger +belief, even in the most credulous. They not only go to +prove the existence of a league of villany, but also laid +open the machinery by which their wickedness was concealed; +still, from many incidents of my own life, and +from what I have learned by observing events which +have transpired around me, as well as from narratives of +undoubted truth which I have heard, I am constrained to +believe that the band above alluded to does now exist, +and that it has flourished for a long time, with astonishing +power.</p> + +<p>I have reason to suppose that many of the band settled +in and about Lawrenceburgh, Indiana; and from the year +1800 to 1827, they were very numerous, and some of +them wealthy; they were mostly close traders, who +turned every cent they got, honestly or dishonestly, into +real estate. Many of them, also, were well educated, +and composed the <i>aristocracy</i>, while the <i>poor honest</i> man +was crowded down by these <i>influential members of society</i>.</p> + +<p>There are now three classes of wealthy men in that +neighbourhood: the honest, whose property was obtained +fairly; the members of the band; and some, of whom I +am doubtful whether they belong to the band or not. If +they do not, they are villains by nature, and do not need +their assistance.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> + +<p>In the year 1846, I delivered a lecture at Lawrenceburgh, +in which I exposed this band, and showed the +manner in which their correspondence was carried on. +The old members of the band had art enough to persuade +the doubtful rogues that they were the persons alluded +to, and they believed it. Whether conscience had any +thing to do with their belief or not, I do not pretend to +say; but the community generally seemed quite ready +to grant them that honour. It was very amusing to notice +the difference between the conduct of the guilty and that of +the innocent, in relation to the exposure. The "Brotherhood," +all at once, were very much concerned about the +fair fame of their neighbourhood—called me a slanderer, +and in fact caused a much greater excitement against +themselves than would have occurred, had they kept +still; while the honest citizens quietly asked for the +names of the "brothers," and whether any of their relations +belonged to them; they begged me to go on, and +expose every member.</p> + +<p>Since 1802, many robberies have been committed +under circumstances which strongly indicate that such a +band existed. Public agents, and other highly respectable +citizens, have been robbed of funds which they held +in trust, and no trace of the robbers could be found, and +no curiosity seemed to be excited by the fact. Sometimes +the person robbed shared in the spoils, and sometimes +they were innocent; and it has sometimes happened +that the innocent man was suspected. The honest +citizens of Lawrenceburgh have, for forty years, known +what a curse it is to have bad neighbours.</p> + +<p>During the excitement occasioned by my lectures above +mentioned, a resident of Lawrenceburgh related the fol<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>lowing +incident, which is only one among many which +might be named to show the nature of the transactions in +which these men engaged, and their facilities for carrying +them out. I will give it as nearly as I can recollect +in his own words:</p> + +<p>"During the year 1832, a stranger came into the town +of Lawrenceburgh, and for several days was noticed in the +public places watching every one who passed, as if looking +for some one. At length he came to me, and told +me that he wished my assistance in the business on +which he came, but that it would be necessary to keep +the matter secret. I answered, that if it were proper, I +had no objections to secrecy. He then related the following +facts as introductory to his business.</p> + +<p>"He resided in Ohio; some eighteen months previous +a friend had been induced to purchase a large drove of +hogs for the market; he made the purchase on credit, +with a promise to pay when he returned. While he was +preparing to start, Daniel and James Brown bargained +and contracted for them, to be delivered at a certain landing +on Lake Erie, at a certain day, at which place and +time they promised to meet and pay him. He gathered +his drove, and proceeded to the landing, where he arrived +several days before the time appointed. He was there +met by some men, who told him that Brown had been +there, and left word for him to drive the hogs to a landing +two or three days' journey further on, where he had +made arrangements to butcher and pack them. He went +as directed; he found neither of the Browns there, but +found the men who had directed him before; they informed +him that they had orders to commence killing and +packing the hogs, and that Mr. Brown would be there +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>that day, or the next. He consented, and the hogs were +killed and packed. A merchant at the landing advanced +money to pay the man, and also furnished salt, and barrels +on credit. On the day that all was finished, the two +Browns arrived, bringing with them another large drove. +They pretended to be very much surprised to find our +friend there, and much more so to find the hogs butchered. +They declared that they had not bargained for the +slaughter of the hogs, and that they contracted for them +in another place, and would have nothing to do with +them here; that he had broken his contract, and they +should demand heavy damages. He sought for the men +who had directed him hither, but they had dispersed as +soon as paid, and no trace of them was to be found. He +told the Browns how he had been deceived, but they +denied all knowledge of the affair, and again talked of +damages. The merchant then presented his bill for supplies, +and money advanced to butchers and packers. Our +friend not having the money, he seized on the pork. +What could he do? The case was desperate. He had +bought on credit; would his pitiful story satisfy his +creditors? His character was ruined. You may imagine +the state of his mind. At this crisis, the Messrs. Brown +took him aside, and told him that since he was in difficulty, +they were willing to befriend him, and to show +him how he could soon make money enough to pay off +his creditors. An oath of secrecy was required and given. +They then offered to settle the merchant's bills, which +were very extravagant, and pay him for the pork in +counterfeit money, at twenty per cent., with which he was +to buy stock through the country. In his despair, he consented; +a few days after he was detected, arrested, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>tried, under a false name, and condemned to the Ohio +penitentiary. His friends, remaining entirely ignorant +of his fate, began to suspect foul play. The Messrs. +Brown effected his pardon, and hurried him away; but +not before he had contrived to make known his story, and +the fact that he was under restraint among a band of bad +men, and that he could not escape without assistance. +He was never heard of more.</p> + +<p>"The stranger gave me his address, and requested that +I would keep an eye upon the people who should come +there, and if I should see the Browns, or hear of his unfortunate +friend, that I should let him know. He had +visited Lawrenceburgh, because that was the former residence +of these two men, and he hoped to see them; but +being disappointed, he was compelled to go back to the +family of the lost neighbour without having received any +intelligence of his fate."</p> + +<p>The reader will have seen by this time, that, probably, +the whole transaction was arranged before the man bought +the first hoof of that drove of hogs. Some emissary of +the Browns advised him to speculate in pork; to use his +credit, which was good, and he did not see the Browns +till he was preparing to start. They make him liberal +offers, because they never intend to pay, and it matters +little what they offer. He then sends some of the meaner +members of the gang to the landing, to order him a few +days' journey further, and there they meet him again, and +butcher, and pack the hogs. They are well paid for +their villany by the job, which they take care to make a +fat one. The merchant was paid for his part of the rascality +by the profit on his stores, and perhaps by a bonus +out of the money advanced. They then thought that if +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>they could implicate him in any unlawful business, he +would tell no tales about them; accordingly, they entice +him, or rather drive him to the counterfeit trade. But +conscience makes bad men cowards, and they felt uneasy, +so, by means of some of the band, they have him arrested; +the proof is so positive that he must be convicted, and +the poor fellow was thrown into the penitentiary. But +even here they did not consider him safe, although under +a false name; so, through the influence of some of the +<i>aristocracy</i>, they get him pardoned; and then the moment +he is free, they meet him, tell him of all they have +done for him, and propose a new scene of action. Poor +fellow, what can he do? He goes with them to this new +scene of action, but in all probability he finds it a state of +<i>rest</i>, for "dead men tell no tales."</p> + +<p>Thus, for the paltry price of a drove of hogs, was an +honest man ruined, and, for fear of detection, murdered.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + + +<p>Probably in no era of the world, and certainly never +among a Christian people, was there formed a more bold, +daring, and, at the same time, secret association, than the +one whose constitution and by-laws we now present to +the reader. Composed of men of all classes and grades +in society, from the priest at the altar, the judge on the +bench, the lawyer at the bar, down to the most common +felon and street thief or pickpocket, all bound together +by a solemn oath, they laboured for the general cause of +secret plunder, to the enriching of themselves at the expense +of the mass. But having previously shown how I +procured my information regarding these desperadoes, I +shall leave farther comment on their acts, for the present, +to the public, before whose tribunal they must be arraigned, +and proceed at once to present their</p> + + +<h3>CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS.</h3> + +<p class="rightheader"><i>Hanging Rock, Western District of Virginia,</i><br /> +<i>July 12, 1798.</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Section</span> I.—<i>Art. 1.</i> This society shall be known by +the name of the <span class="smcap">Secret Band of Brothers</span>.</p> + +<p><i>Art. 2.</i> It shall be governed by brethren who have become +prominent by their many valiant deeds for the promotion +of the society.</p> + +<p><i>Art. 3.</i> The officers of this society shall be known as +Grand Masters, and shall be duly authorized, by this constitution, +to initiate, as members of this society, any male +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>or female, who comes well and duly recommended by a +brother, in good standing, as having served the probation +which this constitution requires.</p> + +<p><i>Art. 4.</i> It shall be the duty of a brother, before he +gives the applicant information who the Band of Brothers +are, to take him on probation three months, during which +time he shall notify the Grand Master, that at such a +date he will introduce the person, on probation, for initiation.</p> + +<p><i>Art. 5.</i> It shall be the duty of the Grand Master to +notify all the Brotherhood, so far as he has it in his power, +that such an individual will pray for the privilege of becoming +a member of the Honourable Brotherhood, at such +a date; and to likewise apprize them of the duty set +apart, so far as in the power of each member, to carefully +scan the motives of the said candidate, and, if they can +ascertain by word, deed or action, that the candidate is +not a fit person to become a member, to convey the same +to the brother who recommended him, and the same must, +in all cases, apprize the Worthy Grand what has been +said against, and in favour of the said candidate;—and +it must be strictly observed, that in no case shall the +Worthy Grand condescend to be introduced without proper +notice; and the same must in all cases be strictly +obeyed.</p> + +<p><i>Art. 6.</i> It shall be the duty of every member to make +the candidate the subject of trial, in every secret manner +which he may think profitable to test his qualities as a +true believer in the virtue of the Brotherhood; and likewise +to throw every temptation in his way, which may +be likely to sour his disposition against the formalities of +the world, and thereby lead him into a closer commune<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> +with the Holy Brotherhood, of which he is to become a +member, and which he is to believe to be true and honest +in every sense of the word; and that all other religions +and creeds are base, and founded upon speculative +motives—that this is the only <span class="smcap">true</span>, by which he must stand +through good or ill, and never secede, on pain of death +on earth, and punishment eternal hereafter.</p> + +<p><i>Art. 7.</i> It shall be the duty of every brother to be +strictly on his guard, concerning this brave and generous +band, and give no intimation to any mortal being of its +existence, unless he is fully persuaded that he or they +are worthy by thought and act of the high and honourable +character which the honourable body will ever confer +upon them, by receiving them as men and brethren, +worthy of the protection of the only true society under +Heaven.</p> + +<p><i>Art. 8.</i> It shall be the duty of all, both members and +Masters, to guard against the influence of party spirit, +either political or religious, as termed by a certain class +of people, who, from their weak and shattered principles, +have been led to suppose that the great and overruling +Bible, among certain classes, is the Divine inspiration of +the Deity, and was hewn from a solid rock, for the purpose +of satisfying all men of the power of God, whom +this band hold sacred, as a being of unchangeable character, +who will, in the immortal state, prepare an everlasting +place of rest for all who do not by their oaths +confirm the total disapprobation of his supernatural +power.</p> + +<p><i>Art. 9.</i> It shall be the duty of all brethren of this benevolent +band, in their becoming members of this Christian +(!) fraternity, to deny the principles of the book +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>called the Bible, to be other than the work of priestcraft, +got up to delude the weaker portion of mankind, and +whose principles have been carried out to the uttermost +parts of the earth, until even the heathen have suffered +by the base intrigue of missionaries, of this rascally compilation +of nonsense, by being made subservient to their +most outrageous and villanous transactions.</p> + +<p><i>Art. 10.</i> That we do deplore the perversion of the +power of God, as men and Christians, and believe it +highly commendable to this, the only true society of +Christian principles, to associate and connect ourselves +with all churches, of every denomination, and with all +societies, not for the purpose of supporting them, but +through these means to the furthering of our own designs.</p> + +<p><i>Art. 11.</i> That we labour to make proselytes of all with +whom we come in contact, when it can be done without +suspicion and danger to ourselves; that we believe this a +true principle—founded upon Nature herself, our ruler—that +policy dictates to us the necessity of keeping at peace +with the world, and often appearing humble and Godlike, +that we may be taken as pious and God-serving people: +at the same time, that we keep our "lights so shining," +that all who wish, may be able to understand, appreciate, +and embrace our principles.</p> + +<p><i>Art. 12.</i> That we hold, as a duty to mankind, that the +God of nature, the only God, has made a benevolent +donation to all his beings; and that it is against the principles +of true Christianity, to allow one man to fare sumptuously +day by day, while his neighbours, as good by +nature, and far better by practice, shall be made his servants;—and +therefore, we, the members of this honourable +body, do pledge ourselves to try, by every means in our +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>power, to diffuse the necessaries of life throughout the +universe, that all may fare alike who live as Nature's +Christians.</p> + +<p><i>Art. 13.</i> We pledge ourselves to take from the rich, +and give to the poor; and, as none of the honourable +body wish for more than the God of Nature has given—which +is an abundance of this world's goods—we agree +to take from the one, and give to the other; and that the +wealthy, or the enemies of this society, shall be the ones +we will strive to harass, by disapprobation of their tyrannical +course; and no respect will we pay to persons, +either politically or religiously, but swear to prove true to +all the bearings which we have laid down in this our +Constitution.</p> + +<p><i>Art. 14.</i> We pledge ourselves to strive for the promotion +of the true principles as set apart by us, and to use +every means in our power to enlarge our institution, and +to abhor—save when dictated by policy—everything like +priestcraft, (such as may be found in that book, called the +Bible, in the twentieth chapter of Exodus, and known as +the "ten commandments," which were said to have been +written by the finger of God, and which have since been +the cause of nine-tenths of the crime against the welfare +of mankind,) and yet to take every means in our power— +knowing, as we do, that we are the only rightful Christians, +and few in number, in comparison with the other +denominations—to carry out our motives, as dictated by +policy, by linking ourselves to them by bonds of this same +priestcraft; in other words, to be, if possible, promoted +to the charge of their flocks, as priests or ministers; and +all advancement of the like shall be duly appreciated by +every worthy member; and the industrious and honest +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>brother, so succeeding, shall be looked up to, and respected +as one of more than ordinary talent.</p> + +<p><i>Art. 15.</i> We pledge ourselves to educate our children +so as, if possible, to prevent them from becoming members +of any society save that of the Holy Band,—known +as the Secret Band of Brothers—the only correct and +Christian people that strive to place all men upon an +equal footing,—and, furthermore, to destroy all principles +we may from time to time see developing in favour of +that class of people whom the world calls Christians, and +that we do sincerely feel it a duty we owe to ourselves +and the God of Nature, to try, by every means in our +power—and in this case all means shall be considered +justifiable—to overthrow all institutions which take the +Bible as their standard—as we hold that the God of Nature +has set apart for us three principles and no other.</p> + +<p>First: That all men are made to live their time of probation +on earth, and are not answerable hereafter for any +deed they may commit, so it be sanctioned by the laws +or constitution of this society.</p> + +<p>Second: That the course mankind in general pursues, +particularly the so-styled religious class of community, is +wholly contrary to our views, and therefore wrong; and +that the God of Nature, as our God, requires that we put +down the fabulous book called the Bible, to save mankind +from priestcraft and delusion, and bring them over to our +principles.</p> + +<p>Third: That there is but one unpardonable sin, which +is, to allow Christians, our tyrants, to progress when we +can make them retard, by leaguing ourselves with, and +instilling into their minds, and more particularly their +offspring, all the noble sentiments which may tend to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>overthrow former prejudice and eradicate the present +false views of moralists, until the Bible shall be looked +upon by them in the light it now is by the followers of +Mahomet, and until all the present laws of society be considered +tyrannical and unjust.</p> + +<p><i>Art. 16.</i> The God of Nature, we hold as our God, has +in no principle required us, through his wise construction +of our component parts, to be in any manner driven by, +or subject to man,—that He, as a wise, intelligent being, +created all mankind upon an equality, and that all men +should so stand in regard to each other—that no being +was ever placed upon this earth to rule as monarch over +others,—and, therefore, that all monarchies, all governments, +which are headed by rulers, such as kings, presidents, +governors, &c., are unlawful in the sight of God, +and unjust—and that we, as men and Christians of the +Holy Brotherhood, do hereby pledge ourselves, aye, do +swear by all we hold sacred, that we will use all the cunning +of our natures to put down all kingdoms, all governments +which are ruled by crowned heads, presidents, or +governors, or ruled by any principle of religion other than, +nature—and that all religion, priestcraft, &c., is unholy +in the sight of the Most High God, and that He requires +of us, as a paramount duty, that we labour zealously for +its final extermination, to the glory of Him and the benefit +of mankind here and hereafter.</p> + +<p><i>Art. 17.</i> We hold that the foregoing articles are wholly +correct, and fully sanctioned by the God of Nature—that +whoever of our fraternity proves in anywise recreant to +them is a traitor to us, to himself, and his God;—that the +candidate for membership, in view of this, does by this +article most solemnly declare and avow that all the fore<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>going +are according to his most unbiased views—that +such, and only such, he will ever support, nor shrink, +nor waver from, nor expose the same, even in the agonies +of death, on flood, or field, in prison, on the rack, scaffold, +or feathered couch—that he understands this fully, and +all the bearings of it, with all of the foregoing, his name, +which he deliberately, without compulsion, sets to this +constitution, stands as lasting, undeniable proof—that he +has come to this solemn determination after calm, mature +deliberation—that he is over twenty-two years of age—and, +finally, that he is willing to go through with all the +oaths and ceremonies which this band sees proper to +impose; in proof whereof, he now repeats the following</p> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>PRAYER.</p> + +<p>Almighty and all-merciful God! the Great Author and +Disposer of all beings! I hereby pledge myself, in thy +sight, to keep sacred the holy principles, one and all, +which I this day have had set before and disclosed to me, +by the Worthy Grand Master of the most ancient order +under heaven—known by the appellation of the Secret +Band of Brothers—and I pray thee, Almighty God! to +watch the workings of my cultivated nature; and, Heavenly +Father! keep me sane in mind, that I may always +know the everlasting punishment which awaits me, if I +prove recreant to the vows which I herewith do take +upon me, with my own free will, in thy holy sight—and +I pray thee, Almighty God! should I prove false to the +vow or vows I now make, in becoming a member of this +Holy Brotherhood, to shut from me the light of thy +countenance—to visit the wrath of thy indignation upon me—to +let my walks here on earth be paths of desolation, at +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>the end of which be famine and death, and, in the world +to come, torment and more tormenting pains racking my +soul for ever! But, Almighty God! should I keep and +carry out these, the only true principles, which thou in +thy wisdom hast set aside for thy children to follow, then +mayest thou be pleased to grant me a well-spent closing +life on earth, and an undying existence with thee in thy +holy kingdom of heaven!—Amen.</p></div> + +<p><i>Art. 18.</i> The foregoing articles having been read and +acceded to by the candidate for membership, and the +prayer having been repeated by him, he shall be considered +a member of this fraternity—known as the Secret +Band of Brothers—and the Grand Master shall then proceed +with the following:—</p> + +<p>Most worthy Brother! You have now been initiated +into some of the secrets of the Holy Brotherhood, otherwise +called the Secret Band of Brothers; you have become +a member of an Order which, I trust, you will ever +cherish—feeling it is worthy of any of God's children; +and, if you so consider it, and also consider yourself a +true and lawful member, you will now make the same +manifest by an inclination of your head, in token of assent,</p> + +<p><i>Art. 19.</i> The member having bowed in assent, the +Grand Master shall again proceed, as follows:—</p> + +<p>Now, Brother, you, through choice, can take one degree, +which will entitle you to a benefit in sickness or in +distress; and likewise entitle you to the use of the <span class="smcap">scale</span>, +which will enable you to converse with any Brother without +any possible chance of detection, by paying the trifling +sum of twenty-five cents per month, to the Worthy Grand, +who is the proper person for you to apply to for assist<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>ance, +which in all cases must be done verbally:—in token +of assent that you wish this degree conferred upon +you, you will now lay your hand upon your heart and +answer in the affirmative.</p> + +<p><i>Art. 20.</i> After conferring the foregoing degree, the +Grand Master shall again proceed, as follows:</p> + +<p>Brother, it is now my pleasant duty to inform you that +the degree just taken entitles you to a full membership +of the Holy Brotherhood, and also entitles you to a benefit +of thirty-three cents per day, if imprisoned, or confined +by sickness, caused by exposure or otherwise,—which +you, in all cases, must make known to the Worthy Grand, +if possible, through a Brother, but by no other process; +and you must be careful to observe one particular point, +which is, <span class="smcap">never</span>, under any circumstance, to approach +the Worthy Grand as an intimate acquaintance, for fear +of being suspected as such, and thereby bringing mistrust +upon him through some person who may have had their +eye upon you, as a man not carrying out the principles +which they approve of as being the ones best calculated +to promote their priestcraft.</p> + +<p><i>Art. 21.</i> The Grand Master shall thus continue:</p> + +<p>You being now a member of this Holy Brotherhood, it +falls to my lot to apprize you of the position which you +now occupy, and some of the duties incumbent upon you. +This society claims you as a Brother, and, should you be +sick, will prepare hospitable means for your comfort—should +you be in difficulty, through misfortune, you will +ever find friends ready and willing to assist you: should +you for any offence be brought to trial, your judges, jurors, +witnesses, &c., you will find composed of men +selected from this Holy Brotherhood: you have the pri<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>vilege +at any time to go and come as you please, to retire +or live in public life; but you are to make known every +transaction whereby certain classes may be considered +as dishonest—and if the person offending is not committed +by a Brother, you are bound, if possible, to see that the +offender is brought before the tyrannical bar, and, likewise, +if it lies in your power, to have the said offender +convicted; and, if convicted, it shall furthermore be your +duty to apprize the Grand Master the length of time he +is sentenced, to what prison, and what punishment—as +we, as men and Christians, hold it a duty for each member +to throw every obstacle in the way of the people +<span class="smcap">called</span> Christians, for the purpose of bringing them to +the laws which Nature's God has set apart.</p> + +<p><i>Art. 22.</i> Having now informed you of some of the +benefits and duties falling upon you, as a Brother, I now +come to an article of penalty, which you will find requires +your close attention, as follows:</p> + +<p>If you betray a Brother, this Constitution allots to you +but one punishment, which is—DEATH BY VIOLENT +MEANS!—<span class="smcap">and this sentence will surely be carried +into effect</span>—as sure as that there is a sun at noonday, +or stars at night; and the Brother, so terminating your +career, shall receive, in compensation, the sum of <span class="smcap">three +hundred dollars</span>, which shall be paid to him by a Grand +Master, for this society.</p> + +<p><i>Art. 23.</i> If you are ever true and faithful to the Brotherhood, +you shall be sustained by them, in all your +undertakings, right or wrong; and should you meet with +danger, by reason of the Brotherhood, which sometimes +happens, by your making the same known to the Grand +Master, he will, if your quarterly and annual payments +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>have been regularly made, refund you the full amount. +You will be charged, annually, five dollars for your head, +and a half cent per annum on all your common chattels +and freehold property,—which you will be required to +pay in advance, yearly, to ensure you the benefit and +full privilege of the Secret Band of Brothers' Mutual Insurance; +the principle of which is adopted for the special +benefit of the Brotherhood, as we feel no interest in befriending +any, not even our own blood relations, unless +with a motive of sooner or later bringing to bear our +Christian creed, and making them true and faithful +Brethren.</p> + +<p><i>Art. 24.</i> If at any time you think it would be policy +for you to withdraw—or, in other words, retire—you will +find it beneficial for you to watch for, and detect every +species of fraud—done by any other clan than the Brotherhood—and +convey the same to your worthy Brethren; +and in all cases, do all you can to make war with what +the self-styled Christians call moral principles; and whenever +you see or hear of an imprudent act in a Brother, it +shall be your duty to convey the fact to the Brother—if +not by your own tongue, by that of some Brother of the +band,—and if you see any manifestations made throughout +the community of a moral, or, what is termed of a +religious nature, it shall be your duty to oppose and +oppress the leaders in every shape and manner possible, +as we hold all such calculated to keep in darkness +many who might, otherwise, be made true and faithful +Brethren, and followers of Nature's God: and the moral +part of the community, so termed, who will not give us +an opportunity to enroll their names, watch; and if by +aping them you can make inroads upon their creeds, or +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>false views, you will add not only to the promotion of +the society, but will sustain a character throughout the +Brotherhood, not to be forgotten; and, furthermore, as +there are many ways to find out the principles of men, it +is to be the constant duty of each member of this Brotherhood, +to take advantage of every opportunity of finding +out the opinions of the mass—by talking as much as possible +about the villanous transactions which happened at +an early day, in the new settlements, and the active part +which he took in detecting the band, &c.—by which +means he not only learns who are friendly towards the +promotion of this Brotherhood, but also who are the ones +for this society to watch as their most deadly enemies;— +and a Brother must, in no case, refuse to give money for +the construction of the most popular churches, and must +always pay great respect to the priests—for through them +we hope to hide many of what might be termed, by our +enemies, deeds of darkness; but such as we, as men and +Christians, believe to be lawful and proper duties: and +one who does not comply with the rules and regulations +of this band so far as in his power, after having taken +the solemn oath, shall be treated by all honourable members +as unworthy of their protection, and shall be proscribed +by the Brotherhood—<span class="smcap">which proscription leaves +him liable to sudden and violent death, at any moment</span>!</p> + +<p><i>Art. 25.</i> Each member who has been duly sworn in, +as Grand Master, can have the privilege of withdrawing +his name from the Holy Brotherhood, by recommending +one whom he considers worthy, and in whom he pledges +himself can be put unbounded confidence, and one who +has never failed to pay his quarterage and yearly dues +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>in advance; (as such a failure assuredly prohibits him +from promotion;) and this office grants to the holder his +travelling expenses, and two dollars per day, while on business +of the society, and, likewise, secures him double the +benefit of a private, in sickness or difficulty. Now, therefore, +Brother, you have the full meaning of the foregoing, +and the same chance of promotion as either of the Brethren.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sect.</span> II. <i>Art. 1.</i> The Grand Masters of this society +shall consist of six, to every fifty mile square,—five of +whom have no power, other than to bear the annual +returns, in case of absence or sickness of the principal +Grand—in which case they are entitled to his pay, for +their services and expenses—said pay to be deducted +from the moneys in their possession, at the meeting of +the society; and in case of death or resignation, the seat +or seats of the former Grand or Grands must be filled by +the next Grand or Grands, in rank—said rank to be +through the official age of the subordinates; whose seats, +as <span class="smcap">they</span> rise, must again be filled by some one of the +private members, whose appointment must be confirmed +by a petition, signed by three-fourths of the Brethren; +and, in case of two or more candidates running for the +same office, the one having the most names shall be +considered duly elected—whereupon he must solemnly +pledge himself to keep the funds intrusted to him, belonging +to the Brotherhood, secure; that should he, at +any time, be required to resign, by three-fourths of the +Grands, he will make due returns of all moneys in his +possession; and that, in all cases, he will be ready to +render a correct account of all moneys received and paid +out by him, which account shall, also, be duly made out +and handed in at every annual meeting.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Art. 2.</i> It shall be the duty of every Principal Grand +to keep his accounts, and the Constitution of this society, +written on paper, with a certain kind of acid, which cannot +be read, unless held to the fire, when the heat will +bring to the face of the paper the desired intelligence; +and it shall, furthermore, be the duty of the Grand Master +to commit to memory this Constitution and By-laws,—that +he may, at any time, be able to give any passage +verbatim, without the assistance of referring to the article +itself, as it endangers the Brotherhood to have the documents +on hand;—and it shall also be the duty of the +Grand Masters, in office, to supply the five, who are not +matured officers, with one article at a time, until they +commit the same to memory; when it shall be their duty +to instruct them the manner in which the same is written +in acid; and then to demand a written Constitution from +each, which, if not written correctly, must be corrected +and returned every three months, until perfected.</p> + +<p><i>Art. 3.</i> It shall be the duty of the Grand Masters to +examine their five subordinate officers, four times each +year, until they find each capable of drafting a constitution, +and of giving each article its correct No. and proper +place,—with full instructions as to secrecy, in keeping +all the six words, with their proper tables, from the ordinary +members—as the ordinary members are not entitled +to the use of the six words, which are termed Qualities;—and, +furthermore, if any of the Grand Masters know +of a letter of importance, which one of the members has +written to a Grand Master or Subordinate Grand, it shall +be the duty of the said Grand Master, if possible, to +<span class="smcap">qualify</span> the letter, either upon the inside or outside, as +the case may be—for the qualities are highly essential,—<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>and +it shall still, furthermore, be the duty of all Grand +Masters, to teach their Brethren the necessity of their +committing as much of the language as shall be given +them on their initiation; and, likewise, the great importance, +for the general safety, that all letters shall contain +as much of the secret language as can be made to answer +the purpose,—because it will be easily read by the Grand +Masters, and common members, but will be impossible for +the worldly people to unravel.</p> + +<p><i>Art. 4.</i> It shall be further observed, that no Grand, if +known to reveal to any common member more than the +initiation prayer, and what has been specified in the foregoing—with +the exception of the meaning of the figure +9, in the fourth column, to which all are entitled—can be +thought worthy of the honourable Grand's station; and +in no case can such an offence be forgiven—and that, as +a punishment for such an offence, he shall not only be +discharged from the high and honourable office of Grand +Master, but shall have a vote of censure passed upon +him, which shall for ever disqualify him from holding +office; and he shall, thenceforth, be closely watched, and +in case he shows, or in any way manifests, any sign +of malicious disapprobation, he shall be tried in secret, +by the Grands and members of his District; and upon +three-fourths giving their opinion that he is an enemy to +the Brotherhood, it shall be the duty of the Grand Master +to take him on probation, six months, and apprize him +of the fact, that he is, in the opinion of the Brotherhood, +acting, or about to act, a treacherous part,—and that he +has been granted the state of probation, and the privilege +of leaving the District, or changing his treacherous principles:—if +he choose the former, his name must be sent +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>to every Grand Master in the Union; if he choose the +latter, his after good works must recommend him; but in +case he should refuse either, it shall be the duty of the +Grand Master to put upon his head the usual reward—of +a traitor, which is three hundred dollars, to whoever +takes his life, with the highest approbation which can +be placed upon the Brother, so doing, by his honest +Brethren.</p> + +<p>[The following qualities are known and used by the +Grand Masters alone, the common members being wholly +ignorant of their existence; and thus it is, that these +grandees can so completely foil their followers, without +the least risk of the latter being the wiser. The qualities +are made for the special purpose of designating +each individual, and at the same time be entirely safe +from the least suspicion. When a Grand Master has had +the honour of promotion conferred, he is supplied with +the table of qualities; likewise the secret of correspondence +is submitted to his confidence, under an oath, the +penalty of which is death, if he, by word, deed, or action +develop, or by any means expose, the principles +of his special charge. After he has taken the solemn +oath, the chief Grand gives him the secret for preparing +the sympathetic ink, which is used upon all occasions +where one Grand is corresponding with another; and +where a Brother is about to travel, it is the duty of the +Grand Master presiding, in the district where he resides, +to give him a plain letter of recommendation, with the +private qualities in cipher, in a definite manner, that +the Grand Master who receives the same may not be +deceived; and ofttimes has the poor ninny carried in his +supposed letter his death warrant. As the secret of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>cipher is not known to any but those of the fraternity +who have been promoted above the ranks of the subordinate, +it leaves the latter completely in the hands of +their Grand Masters. But we would not have our readers +to understand, by our explanation, that it is our belief, +that the private qualities are always carried out to a letter, +as laid down in their constitution and by-laws; yet we +have no hesitation in saying, that we believe that the +members live more closely to their profession than many +of our Christian institutions; and that there are many that +walk as near the line of their profession as they know +how, we have every reason to believe from the daily +illustrations we have of depravity among us. We therefore +give you the correct qualities of the Grand Masters, +which are held entirely apart from the common Brotherhood, +by the preceding restrictions set forth in this +note.]</p> + +<p><i>Art. 5.</i> The Grand Master shall be fully invested with +power to give out the following catalogue of useful flash +words. The six words of <span class="smcap">quality</span> are highly beneficial +in conversation, and must, in all cases, be used when one +is present who is not known to be a member. By this +means can be found out the strange Brethren, who are +ever ready for any sound so familiar to their ears. The +dualities, also, serve to advance the Brethren, who are +made acquainted with them, to the higher seats of honour, +and are as follows:</p> + +<p>First: <span class="smcap">Huska</span>—a flash word, signifying <span class="smcap">Good</span>—is fully +described by the subjoined numbers, the signification of +which is annexed:</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>No.</td><td align='left'>1</td><td align='left'>signifies</td><td align='left'>Bold.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'> "</td><td align='left'>2</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Intrepid.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>No.</td><td align='left'>3</td><td align='left'>signifies</td><td align='left'>Artful.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'> "</td><td align='left'>4</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Undaunted.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'> "</td><td align='left'>5</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Cunning.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'> "</td><td align='left'>6</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Active.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'> "</td><td align='left'>7</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Assiduous.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'> "</td><td align='left'>8</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Temperate.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'> "</td><td align='left'>9</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>A true Brother, without cultivation—meaning +one who, from infancy, has had sufficient +strength of mind to carry out his principles. This number +is considered highly honourable to the Brother bearing it, +who is said to have the same conferred upon him by the +God of Nature.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + + + +<p>Second: <span class="smcap">Caugh</span>—a flash word, signifying <span class="smcap">Bad</span>—is also +described as follows:</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>No.</td><td align='left'>1</td><td align='left'>signifies</td><td align='left'>Treacherous.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>2</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Ungrateful.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>3</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Presumptuous.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>4</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Meddlesome.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>5</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Quarrelsome.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>6</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Impudent.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>7</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Imprudent.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>8</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Dilatory.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>9</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Intemperate.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>This last number is one which will prohibit whoever is +entitled to it, from holding the high and honourable office +of Grand Master; and whoever is known to sell or give +intoxicating liquors to a Brother, for the purpose of making +him subserve to his avaricious purpose, shall be +highly censured, and made to pay over double the +amount which the victim has lost. If a Brother sees +proper to distil, or vend intoxicating spirits, and at the +same time notifies the Brethren, when they call on him, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>that he does not make and sell the same for any other +purpose than to prostrate the minds of the tyrannical +priestcraft, and their victims, he shall be sustained in his +noble enterprise.</p> + +<p>Third: <span class="smcap">Naugh</span>—a flash word, signifies <span class="smcap">Size and Complexion</span>—and, +therefore, each number has a double meaning.</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>No.</td><td align='left'>1</td><td align='left'>signifies the</td><td align='left'>person to be</td><td align='left'>Large and Tall.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>2</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Low and Heavy.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>3</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Tall and Slender.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>4</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Medium.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>5</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Small.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>6</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Sandy Complexion.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>7</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Light Complexion.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>8</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Dark Complexion,</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>9</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Coloured.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>A person of the last-named colour is never to be admitted, +unless as an outlaw, who is to be used by the +Worthy Grand, and who is to be so educated that he will +not dare to commit any daring act, without permission from +the Worthy Grand; and it shall be highly reprehensible in +any Brother to converse with any coloured Brother, upon +any business pertaining to the Brotherhood; and all such +shall lay themselves liable to a vote of censure—as the +man of colour is not admitted for other purpose, than to +carry out deeds thought highly honourable, but which +many worthy Brethren dislike to execute, but for which +the Worthy Grand can always depend on his coloured +Brother; and, furthermore, should he be detected, the +Brotherhood will be in no manner endangered, as the +coloured Brother's testimony cannot be used against +them.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p> + +<p>Fourth: <span class="smcap">Maugh</span>—a flash word, signifying <span class="smcap">Profession</span>—is +designated thus:</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>No.</td><td align='left'>1</td><td align='left'>signifies a</td><td align='left'>Brother of wealth and a Labourer.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>2</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Seaman.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>3</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Lawyer.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>4</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Physician.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>5</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Mechanic.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>6</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Merchant.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>7</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Sporting Man.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>8</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Planter or Farmer.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>+</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>9</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Felon.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>This last number is considered in a different light from +any of the others. When a cross is placed over it, it +signifies that the Brother bearing it has been a martyr in +the great and noble cause of Equal Rights; or, in other +words, that in performing his duty as a freeman, he has +been seized and cast into prison by the tyrants of the +world: and it shall be considered a deed worthy of censure, +for any Brother to mistreat, or throw any obstacle +in the way of another, who may be entitled to the cross +over the figure 9, in the fourth line of Quality;—and all +members, both officers and privates, are entitled to know +the meaning of the mark over the figure 9; and if any +Brother says he is entitled to said mark, all Brethren are, +in a measure, bound to believe him—as it will be expected +that no Brother will be base enough to attempt a deception +of this kind; for the truth can always be ascertained +by writing to the Worthy Grand of the District where he +was sentenced—whose duty it shall be to answer the +epistle correctly and promptly; and in case any Brother +shall make a false statement in this respect—or in fact in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>any other—he shall be branded as dishonourable—shall be +publicly exposed to all of the Brethren present—and his +name sent, by the Grand Master, to all other Grand Masters +of the several Districts, so that it may be marked on their +several books as a Brother who cannot be depended upon +under any circumstances.</p> + +<p>Fifth: <span class="smcap">Haugh</span>—a flash word, signifying <span class="smcap">Disease</span>—embracing +under it, imperfections, scars, marks, &c.—is +described as follows:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>No.</td><td align='left'>1</td><td align='left'>signifies</td><td align='left'>Consumptive.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>2</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Rheumatical.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>3</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Gout.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>4</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Dropsical.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>5</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Hypochondriacal.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>6</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Scrofulous.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>7</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Stoppage in Speech, or Stuttering.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>8</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Pox-marked, or Hair-lipped.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>9</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Loss of an eye, tooth, or limb—a bald +head, or any noted scar exposed. This number will require +close inspection, in order to avoid being deceived; +as the mechanical construction of wigs, glass eyes, false +teeth, wooden legs, false whiskers, &c., has been brought +to such perfection, that, without the very closest scrutiny, +they will, many times, escape our observation, and pass +as the real members created by the God of Nature.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>Sixth: <span class="smcap">Gaugh</span>—a flash word, signifying <span class="smcap">Age and +Manner of Speech</span>—is described as follows:</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>No.</td><td align='left'>1</td><td align='left'>denotes the</td><td align='left'>person</td><td align='left'>to be</td><td align='left'>70.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>2</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>from</td><td align='left'>50 to 60.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>3</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>40 to 55.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>4</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>30 to 40.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>5</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>21 to 30.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>No.</td><td align='left'>6</td><td align='left'>denotes the</td><td align='left'>person</td><td align='left'>to be</td><td align='left'>Very Gray.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>7</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>Dappled.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>8</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>Quick Spoken.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>9</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>Slow and Indistinct.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>These private Qualities are not to be explained to any +but Grand Masters; and when a Brother becomes familiar +with these private dualities, he can correspond with +other Masters, without any fear of detection, as all of the +Qualities, though apparently simple, are impossible for +any one to understand, unless he has the key; and he +who shall <span class="smcap">dare</span> to instruct another in this mystery, unless +entitled to it by the law of our constitution, will find it +would have been better for him had a mill-stone been +tied about his neck, and he been cast in the bosom of the +deepest sea.</p> + +<p>[The table of "flash" words contained in article sixth, +section second, are words used among the fraternity in +general, and by the common members believed to be the +only secret language of the order. In this they have +been kept wholly ignorant, by the cunning of their leaders. +We have but little doubt in our mind that there may +have been a great many words added to the original vocabulary, +since the adoption of the constitution, as we find +among the gamblers, and other dishonest men, language +entirely incomprehensible to all without a key. The +gambler, though not anywise connected, stands in his +profession ready to conciliate them in their works of +death, under the horrible idea that Nature, as their God, +has plainly sanctioned the profession. And the religion +of Nature they aver to be the only true religion on earth.]</p> + +<p><i>Art. 6.</i> It shall be the duty of the Grand Master, upon +the initiation of a member, to supply him with a list of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>flash words used by the Brethren of this society, and shall +likewise inform them of the great importance, for the +safety of the Brotherhood, that they commit the few words +given them to memory,—which they will also find of +great importance in conversation and correspondence—as, +in the few words which are diffused in their respective +places, no person, without a complete key, can explain +or interpret their true meaning. The words adopted are +but few, yet answer, with common language, to enable +the Brothers to converse with ease without being understood +by others concerning their business, or matters and +things pertaining to the Brotherhood. It likewise enables +a Brother, in common conversation, to designate another; +or, in addressing thousands, he may be identified by, as +it were, accidentally using any one word of his discourse +in connection with the Brotherhood:—the latter, however, +is never to be done, unless in extreme cases. The most +essential service is in conveying the meaning, which, in +all cases, must be done in its proper place.</p> + +<p>If you wish to ascertain if a Brother be present, you +can easily do so by <span class="smcap">sounding</span>. <span class="smcap">Sounding</span> signifies <span class="smcap">feeling</span>, +or <span class="smcap">ascertaining</span>; and if you wish so to do, use the +word <span class="smcap">Culley</span>, which signifies Brother, Friend, Partner.</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>The word</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Coney</span></td><td align='left'>means</td><td align='left'>Counterfeit paper money.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Bogus</span></td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Spurious coin, &c.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Crabbing</span></td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Robbing, Stealing, &c.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Dumby</span></td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Pocket-book, purse, &c.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Drop</span></td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Pocket, &c.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Cady</span></td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Highwayman, murderer, &c.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Glib, Striker</span></td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Incendiary.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Crack</span></td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Break. As crack a crib.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Crib</span></td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>House, trunk, desk, &c.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>The word</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Thimble</span></td><td align='left'>means</td><td align='left'>Watch, crome, clock.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Prague</span></td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Horse, mule, or ass.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Glim</span></td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Light.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Sifter</span></td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Burglar, house-breaker, &c.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Geister</span></td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>An extra thief.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Feeler</span></td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Dirk, sword, knife, &c.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Reacher</span></td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Gun, pistol, &c.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Pad</span></td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Bed.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Blotter</span></td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='left'>Writing—such as letters, &c.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>As Nature, in every feature, dislikes a traitor, no provision +has been made for dissembling. This society is +ruled by Nature, as our God!—and it is the duty of each +and every member to do all in his power to promote the +welfare of his Brethren, as, by so doing, he must in time +convince all observers that the Secret Brothers are the +only true Christian sect on earth; and this we, ourselves, +individually and collectively, believe; and we make this +manifest, by placing our names to this scroll, and thereby +pledging our fortunes and our lives to maintain and carry +out these principles in all sincerity and truth; and should +we ever offer to take up another faith, and renounce this, +may our prayer-oath be fulfilled to the extent of all its +agonies; aye, and more: we now again doubly pray, that +if we ever offer to secede from this, our religion, that we +may thereby seal our immortal state with an undying +existence in a world of torment, prepared for all priestcraft +and treacherous mortals.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The singular circumstances connected with my obtaining +these papers, and the awful obligations contained in +the constitution, will prepare the reader for some strange +developments. The constitution, although not elegantly +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>worded, proves its author to have been a man of uncommon +shrewdness, and knowledge of human nature, and +forethought. We may therefore expect that the plan of +operations should be so laid as to baffle detection by ordinary +means. I will try to give some idea of it.</p> + +<p>It was necessary that letters should be transmitted from +one member to another, in a distant location, yet the person +to whom the letter was addressed might be miles from +a government post-office, and it might not be safe for him +to present himself for a letter, lest he should be recognised +as a desperate man, and letters were liable to be +opened and their desperate projects exposed. To avoid +this danger, they established a line of communication, +extending from Toronto, Canada, to New Orleans. Not +precisely direct, but lying through large towns.</p> + +<p>On this route were post-offices; consisting of hollow +trees, caves, cavities in rocks, &c. Those who wished +to send letters deposited them here; with full directions. +All the "brothers" knew these post-offices; and when, +in their travels, they came near one, were bound to stop, +and examine the letters. If they found letters directed +to persons on their route, they must carry them along. +If the letter was directed to a person beyond the extent +of his journey, he must at least carry it to the next post-office, +if he was going so far; and from that, some other +Brother would pass it along. It was death, in all cases, +for a member to open a letter not directed to him.</p> + +<p>As Brothers are constantly passing along the line, in +both directions, considerable despatch was secured. If +a letter should chance to be lost, it was written in such a +manner that one not knowing the secret would suppose +it to be an ordinary business letter, and the persons alluded +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>to were so mentioned as that only the individual to whom +the letter was addressed, or some person interested in the +same transaction, could understand the allusion.</p> + +<p>The person to whom the letter was addressed must +return the letter, if requested, but might keep a copy. +Along this mail line lived many of the Brotherhood, and +as they knew each other by signs, and were able to converse +in a <i>flash language</i>, unintelligible to the community +generally; when we recollect that they were bound +by solemn oaths to aid and defend each other in every +emergency, right or wrong—that both men and women +belonged to the order—the reader will see what security +a villain could enjoy when hunted by the police; how +easily the <i>respectable</i> citizen, the country merchant, the +lawyer, the captain of a steamboat, could conceal the +fugitive, and put the officer upon the wrong scent.</p> + +<p>In addition to this caution, any thing which must be +so explicit that a stranger to the order might understand, +if he should see it, was written with sympathetic ink, +which would appear only when heated, and would disappear +again when cold; and even this was written in +a perfectly unintelligible cipher, to which, however, I +very fortunately found the key among the letters. I +insert it for the benefit of the curious.</p> + +<p>One of the most profitable branches of their business +was that of <i>trading in horses</i>. For this, as will be seen, +their combination gave them peculiar facilities.</p> + +<p>One of the <i>common</i> robbers steals a <i>horse</i>, rides it fifty +or a hundred miles, and offers it to a <i>respectable</i> robber, +called a <i>trader</i>. If it do not appear a dangerous bargain, +he makes the transaction as public as possible; he takes +a bill of sale, and enters it on his books, and the common +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>robber goes on his way rejoicing. Presently the owner +comes along, and <i>claims the horse</i>. The <i>respectable</i> +trader is very much astonished at the discovery, but +makes no resistance. The owner, rejoiced to find his +property again, gladly pays the expenses of keeping and +goes home. But the respectable trader is very sure to +have not the slightest clue to the whereabouts of the man +who sold him the horse, and although it was done so +publicly that the owner cannot have a doubt of the innocence +of the trader, yet, strange to say, nobody knows +which direction the thief took, even when he left the +settlement.</p> + +<p>Lest some member should get another into his power, +it is provided in the constitution, that for every transaction +they shall "pass" or exchange receipts. This gives to +each the same power, provided they are both of the lower +grade. That is, whoever has bought a stolen horse of +some member of the band, can be proved to have done +so by the thief, from the receipt; and the thief in like +manner is in the power of the trader. Again, it is of +importance to the poor robber to have a receipt from some +eminent trader, since it gives him character as a man of +business, and serves as a letter of introduction. They +are written in the usual form of an ordinary business +transaction.</p> + +<p>The Grand Masters, who, alone, it will be recollected, +have the secret of using sympathetic ink, and the cipher, +always add to the receipt, with invisible writing, the description +and character of the individual who bears it, +thus holding the poor fellow completely in his power.</p> + +<p>But should a poor scamp get caught, and lie in prison +a year or two, he is entitled, by the constitution, to thirty-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>three +cents per day for the whole time. By the same +constitution, also, he is directed how he must proceed to +get it. He proceeds, therefore, in due form, as follows: +Going to the Grand Master of the district in which he +was convicted, he addresses him thus:—"Most worthy +Grand Master, I have this day come before you, to +place my hand upon the seal and swear that upon —— +day of ——, in the year ——, I was confined in prison, +(or <i>by sickness</i>) for —— months and —— days; during +which time I have contracted the following expenses; +I therefore make my petition that such money as may be +my due may be given me for my assistance."</p> + +<p>The Grand Master, or Grand as he is called, then asks +the following questions:</p> + +<p>"How long have you been a member?</p> + +<p>"Where were you initiated?</p> + +<p>"To whom have you paid your dues?</p> + +<p>"What evidence have you that such are the facts?"</p> + +<p>If, then, the poor brother have not receipts proving the +transactions for which he was imprisoned, and further, +proof of his actual imprisonment, (or evidence of his sickness,) +no further notice is taken of him. But if he have +such regular proofs as are required, the Grand declares +that they have but a small amount of funds in the treasury. +But that the Brother may get his dues, he gives him +drafts upon the various Grands in the country, to the +amount of his dues. If the amount were five hundred +dollars, he would receive fifty ten dollar drafts upon +fifty Grands, scattered over the country, from Canada to +Alabama, and of whom, in all probability, he will never +see three; and they are payable to none but the person +in whose favour they are drawn. And "to make +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>assurance doubly sure," with sympathetic ink, the cunning +officer writes a full description on each draft, of +the age, size, complexion, profession, peculiarities, &c., +of the bearer, so that if he should undertake to send by +another, he would have his labour for his pains.</p> + +<p>We have now submitted the constitution to the judgment +of our readers, as we found it, having only added +a few explanatory remarks, which we are enabled to do +from knowledge acquired in various ways; and we now +select from those letters which came into our possession +a few, written by some of the individuals noticed in this +work, which will throw additional light on the character +of the Band. The note to each letter is explanatory of +the language contained in the ciphers.</p> + +<h4>No. 1.</h4> + +<p class="rightheader">Lawrenceburgh, September 24, 1825.</p> + +<p><i>Most Worthy and Respected Brother</i>,—Let me introduce +the bearer of this, who visits you for the purpose of +promoting our benevolent institution and his operations. +I have not the least doubt you will find his visit not of +importance to him alone, but to you and all the friends of +humanity and kind feeling which belong to our benevolent +society.</p> + +<p><span class="i4">Yours, in great haste,</span></p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='right'>101</td><td align='left'>000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>000</td><td align='left'>000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>000</td><td align='left'>300</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>000</td><td align='left'>004</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>500</td><td align='left'>000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>000</td><td align='left'>000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>000</td><td align='left'>000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>800</td><td align='left'>088</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'></td><td align='left'>+</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>000</td><td align='left'>900</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p> + +<p>[This letter bears upon its face the following ciphers, +which interpreted read as follows:—The bearer is <span class="smcap">bold, +cunning, temperate, large</span>, and <span class="smcap">tall</span>; by profession a +<span class="smcap">lawyer</span>, and has been a <span class="smcap">convict</span>, he is marked upon +the face; his age is from <span class="smcap">thirty</span> to <span class="smcap">forty</span>, and <span class="smcap">quick</span> in +speech. The cross (+) upon the number 9 designates +the bearer to have been a convict, and that he is entitled +to much respect among the Brotherhood. This, however, +the Grand Masters teach their subordinates to acknowledge, +for the purpose of finding out among them such as +they can have confidence in in carrying out any desperate +scheme; and likewise to prevent them from exposing +others, through their associations; and thus it is that they, +as brethren, feel no delicacy in acknowledging to a brother, +the honour of having been a martyr.]</p> + +<h4>No. 2.</h4> + +<p class="rightheader">Lawrenceburgh, October 13, 1825.</p> + +<p><i>Friend Brown</i>,—According to our agreement, I was +at the place appointed, where I remained until three +o'clock, much distressed on account of your absence; +and my situation was very little better when I learned +you had been detained through the negligence of our +friend in Boon county. I have no confidence in him, +nor ever will have, so long as he makes use of so much +whisky. I exchanged the coney I had for four hundred +pounds of feathers, and left them subject to your order at +friend —— ——, grocery store, Lower Market street. +I called and took breakfast with the judge, and he tells +me times have never been so close upon the coney trade +since he resided in the city. I likewise called upon the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> +Irish friend, and the first word he spoke was an oath that +Cincinnati was bankrupted; that constant calls were continually +made by the boys, and not one dollar to accommodate +them with. I hope you will be at home before +I leave for Indianapolis, as I cannot remain long upon the +way, and I have many calls to make, and be there by the +20th, as that is the day appointed. Raise all the funds +you can, and I have no doubt every thing will come out +right. This will be handed you by one whom I recommend +strictly honest, as I have had recommended. +Though he has lived in the burgh ten years, I never +knew him until our old friend told me that he was a member. +He knows you only by sight.</p> + +<p><span class="i4">Yours, —— ——,</span></p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>000110</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>000000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>003000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>000000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>000005</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>600000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>000000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>888000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>000009</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>[The figures of this letter describe the bearer as follows: +<span class="smcap">active, temperate, dilatory, tall, and slender, +dark-complexioned, wealthy</span>, without any particular +occupation. That he is <span class="smcap">consumptive</span>; his age is between +<span class="smcap">twenty-one</span> and <span class="smcap">thirty</span>; his speech <span class="smcap">slow</span> and +<span class="smcap">indistinct</span>.]</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p> + +<h4>No. 3.</h4> + +<p class="rightheader">Greensburgh, October 20, 1825.</p> + +<p><i>Friend Brown</i>,—I have, as you see by this letter, +arrived at Greensburgh, having travelled several nights +over some of the roughest roads I ever placed foot upon; +my journey, otherwise, has not been so disagreeable; but +night-travelling always disagrees with me. I was joined +by our friend, the doctor, and his intimate friend from +Brookville. They tell me they have been absent from +Brookville twenty-one days. We met at our good old +friend's house, near York ridge. He is as pleasant as +ever, and full as religious, and paid me one hundred and +twenty-five dollars—squaring accounts—and traded me +two notes on our Madison merchant, amounting to one +hundred and thirty-five dollars, which are as good as gold, +as he endorses them, and I believe and know the principal +to be as good as any man in Madison.</p> + +<p>The doctor tells me some of the boys have had a flare-up +in Buffalo; but that is nothing new, as our Canada +friends act very imprudent. He tells me since he left +us, that several cabs have been traced out, and no traces +of the workmen left which can injure any one party. +He came through Columbus, Ohio! He says they are +hard at work, but scarce of material, and no means to +procure it. I have not the least doubt but you might +find it profitable to go or send some one to supply their +wants, so we can make it very profitable. Our friends, +—— ——, —— ——, <i>take</i> Fort Meggs, and at Manhattan +(I have reference to our judge and the lawyer we met +in Manhattan, Ohio) have made out well with the horses, +taken them in the summer, and say they wish the boys +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>would bring them one hundred head before the lake +closes. The doctor brought me a letter to that effect. I +leave this place to-morrow evening for the Forks of the +road, where I shall expect a letter from you. Let my +friend —— —— know I am well.</p> + +<p><span class="i4">Yours, —— ——,</span></p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>000000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>002200</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>000003</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>400000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>000000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>600600</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>077000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>800008</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>000000</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>[This describes the bearer to be <span class="smcap">undaunted, active, +temperate, imprudent, low</span>, and <span class="smcap">heavy, light-complexioned</span>, +by profession a <span class="smcap">lawyer</span> and <span class="smcap">merchant</span>; age +from <span class="smcap">forty</span> to <span class="smcap">fifty-five, quick-spoken</span>.]</p> + + +<h4>No. 4.</h4> + +<p class="rightheader">Four Corners, October 24, 1825.</p> + +<p><i>Friend Brown</i>,—I have arrived at the Four Corners, +where I was pleased to receive your favour of the 17th, +and having the good luck to learn that five of the brethren +of Virginia are in the neighbourhood, and would +leave to-morrow evening for their homes by the way of +Lawrenceburgh, I make ready this and forward it by +them for the purpose to inform you that our friend +—— ——, the cooper, cannot, without my consent, have +any more stock, unless he pays for it in advance, as I am +satisfied he does not wish to act out the correct principles. +He tried, the day before I left, to make me agree to take +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>cooperage for the last stock he got; and though he made +it answer to the whole face, two hundred, yet he did not +wish to pay me thirty in cash, and said you promised to +supply him at fifteen cents per hundred, and take it out +in cooperage; if so, your contracts must be for your own +private benefit, not mine; he has gulled me enough, and +I cannot stand his slabbering discourse any more. I am +satisfied he has no moral honesty. Our friend, the grocery-keeper, +must pay for his last, as he has bartered it +all off. I met an intimate friend of his from Burlington, +Kentucky, on Clifty, in company with our light-complexioned +friend, who lives not far in the county back of +the burgh. Two who accompany this are crossed (+) +9's, immediately from Tennessee, and have been travelling +fifteen nights. They are accompanied by a brother +from Charleston, Virginia, another from Parkersburg, Virginia, +and a third from Marietta, Ohio; all wealthy, the +bearer and all, worthy brethren. The bearer is a Grand.</p> + +<p><span class="i4">Yours, —— ——.</span></p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>100000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>002000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>300000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>000004</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>000000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>606600</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>000000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>800008</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>000000</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>[This describes the bearer as being <span class="smcap">bold, artful, +active, temperate, low</span>, and <span class="smcap">heavy, sandy-complexioned</span>, +by profession a <span class="smcap">merchant</span>; age from <span class="smcap">thirty</span> to +<span class="smcap">forty, quick-spoken</span>.]</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p> + +<h4>No. 5.</h4> + +<p class="rightheader">Sugar Creek, October 24, 1825.</p> + +<p><i>Esteemed Brown</i>,—After two nights' hard travelling, +I find myself well provided for, in company with our old +"Bogus Friend," who informs me he has just returned +from Toronto, Canada; and has brought some of the most +splendid bogus I ever have seen, and sells it, in trade +at 33-1/3, 28 in cash. I purchased two thousand of him, +part trade, part cash; and he is to deliver it to you. He +has sent a large quantity to Brookville, Indiana, and he +will send your two thousand from Brookville. I let him +have four horses, which I purchased from our Rising-sun +Brethren. He sent them immediately to his lawyer, in +or near Sandusky, who will forward them immediately to +Michigan. I believe the horse trade is better, and a great +deal more safe than the slave. There are many brethren +living here, and of the best order, and live up to the principles +of the Brotherhood; and of the many which live +here, and in fact all through these parts, very few are +considered other than men of the highest respectability. +But I hear many making inquiry about our Lawrenceburgh +Aurora, and Rising-sun brethren, and say the brethren +have acted in many respects badly, and our friend +—— ——, in the burgh, who purchased the pork he shipped +from some of them; they say that he has deceived +them. I feel mortified to think he has no more principle: +I want you to call and tell him he must settle, and +I think he ought to know the same without advice. They +are the wrong men for him to try to gull; I have every +right to suspect him of dishonesty, when I think how +much the Brotherhood has done for him, you and I in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>particular, and know how he treated us; and though we +have given him all of the start he has, he would sacrifice +us both, with our families, for a hundred dollars. I have +found out that Sulivan did not make his escape, as he +assured us he did, but was sold for seven hundred and fifty +dollars. So you can depend he has swindled you and I; +do not trust him farther than you can see him, and recommend +him in the right numbers. This will be handed you +by a brother living near the islands Sixty-two and Sixty-three, +on the Mississippi; he is about to make a permanent +location, and wishes to purchase six or eight blacks. +If the lot we have an interest in have not left the burgh, +he is the man: he says there are large bands of the brethren +settled near him; I hope you can please him.</p> + +<p><span class="i4">Yours in haste, —— ——.</span></p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>101000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>000000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>300000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>000004</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>000000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>000000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>007007</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>800800</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>000000</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>[This describes the bearer as follows: <span class="smcap">bold, artful, +temperate, large</span> and <span class="smcap">tall, light-complexioned, planter</span> +by profession, <span class="smcap">head dappled gray</span>; age from <span class="smcap">thirty</span> +to <span class="smcap">forty, quick spoken</span>.]</p> + + +<h4>No. 6.</h4> + +<p class="rightheader">Indianopolis, November 5, 1825.</p> + +<p><i>Friend Brown</i>,—I have been waiting four days for +your answer to mine of the 24th, and this day have the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>pleasure of receiving it. I am glad to hear that your +friends in the east have not forgotten you; I had a letter +forwarded me to this place, speaking of your liberality +to the people in Pittsburg, when you visited there last +spring, and our friends —— & Co., the iron traders, are +very anxious for another trade. I think they have made +better use of their trade than our two Marietta merchants +—— ——; the latter, I believe, some of the boys +got hold on, as he was going east, and he returned, one +thousand minus, in clear dust, and his twelve hundred in +coney. The Steubenville merchant is here, and has contracted +with me for two hundred dollars' worth of coney, +assorted; he tells me that a brother in a flat boat has +been put aside for his plunder, which, sad to relate, was +but little; and that he saw the wife of the deceased was +trying to make up the amount at this time in Cincinnati; +if she has not effected it, I think some attention had better +be given her before it is too late, as she is satisfied it +was done through mistake. You had better go or send +some one to see her; you will find her on Sixth street, +at the widow ——, or if you inquire at, —— ——, +cabinet-maker, on Sycamore. I will give ten; you will +give the same: tell —— ——, on Lower Market, he must +do the same; it is a pity she should suffer through mistake. +She is a fine woman, and all of the Brotherhood +should befriend her. I hope you have, from your letter, +become satisfied with the friendship of —— ——. I +told you they would not do—I have known them from +boys, and the day they got that bogus from you so cheap, +I would sooner have thrown it in the river. The airs +they put on about that negro, satisfied me that they had +forfeited all principles of honesty, which is the way with +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>such men after they become able to live—never think +they are beholding. I will write you again in a few days. +The bearer of this I have learned is a good brother.</p> + +<p><span class="i4">Yours, —— ——.</span></p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='right'>110</td><td align='left'>000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>002</td><td align='left'>000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>300</td><td align='left'>000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>040</td><td align='left'>004</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>000</td><td align='left'>000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>006</td><td align='left'>660</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>070</td><td align='left'>000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>800</td><td align='left'>000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'></td><td align='left'>+</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>000</td><td align='left'>900</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>[This describes the bearer to have been <span class="smcap">bold, artful, +temperate, treacherous, meddlesome, imprudent, +low</span> and <span class="smcap">heavy, sandy-complexioned</span>, a <span class="smcap">merchant</span> by +profession, and that he had been a convict; his age between +<span class="smcap">thirty</span> and <span class="smcap">forty</span>, disease <span class="smcap">scrofulous</span>.]</p> + +<h4>No. 7.</h4> + +<p class="rightheader">Indianopolis, November 9, 1825.</p> + +<p><i>Friend Brown</i>,—The town is full of our warm friends, +and I am happy to say that there is a fine spirit existing. +To-morrow night I will leave for Fayetteville; I have +received your package of coney, and disposed of three +thousand to the old doctor we met while we were in +Canandaigua; he is the man we sold the flour to at Buffalo. +He resides in St. Louis, Missouri, I hope he may +do well, as he is a great man, and has more knowledge +of mankind than any man of his age in America, and +will trade from a pin to a steamboat. He tells me he purchased +the lot of negroes which were in Madison, and he +says that he heard, since he left, that three more had been +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>deposited for sale by the same man; if so, he wishes you +to write him a few lines to Terrehaute, and a copy of the +same to Vincennes. He tells me he will be able to get +rid of every dollar at these two places, and that he can +purchase one hundred head of horses if he wished, all +which have come from other states, and some fine blooded +stock. I learn through friend —— ——, of Bairdstown, +Kentucky, that there has been some hard talk about +Judge ——, at Lexington. I have no confidence in a +man who drinks and gambles, as he does; I do not +care how wealthy he is, nor how great a title he +wears; for my part I intend to keep clear of him, with +all of his wealth and title; and your friend in Maysville +is another. I write in haste, and send it by our brother.</p> + +<p><span class="i4">Yours, —— ——.</span></p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>101000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>000020</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>300000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>000004</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>000000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>000600</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>070007</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>808000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>000000</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>[This number describes the bearer to be <span class="smcap">bold, artful, +temperate, imprudent, large</span> and <span class="smcap">tall</span>, of <span class="smcap">dark complexion</span>, +by profession a <span class="smcap">merchant</span>; he is diseased with +<span class="smcap">rheumatism</span>; his age from <span class="smcap">thirty</span> to <span class="smcap">forty</span>, hair <span class="smcap">dappled</span>.]</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span></p> + +<h4>No. 8.</h4> + +<p class="rightheader">Lexington, June 3, 1827.</p> + +<p><i>Dear Brown</i>,—I have at last arrived in this wealthy +part of Kentucky, which I assure you is a treat for a man +that has been so much exposed to the fatigues of travelling +over cliffs, and swimming creeks, and all other inconveniences +that man could imagine. I arrived at Winchester, +Kentucky, where our old friend resides. It was +two o'clock when I arrived, but I found him in his shop +playing cards with a black journeyman old sledge, at +twenty-five cents a game, and you ought to have seen +him scrabble for the cards when I rapped upon the +window. I left Winchester for Maysville, where I remained +four days with our friend, the same old block of +sociability; yet he tells me he does well in the stock +trade. He says he sold forty odd horses in one year. +Since he has lived in Kentucky, over two hundred, which +you know is over fifty per year. From Maysville I +crossed the river through the Sciota region, by the way +of Portsmouth, then to Chillicothe; from there on to +Zanesville, from there to Wheeling, and then to Washington, +Pennsylvania; returned to Wheeling, then to +Parkersburgh. I did not call at Marietta; there has some +difficulty taken place in that region. From Parkersburgh +to Charleston, Kanhaway, with but little delay. +Our saline friends are great dealers in "coney." I met +twenty-six in one day at the old "Col." He is doing +his work clean, without any risk. There are, he tells +me, upon an average, five horses sold per week from +Sandy among the friends of the trade. I left Charleston; +had a tedious journey to this city. Lexington is a hu<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>mane +place, but dangerous to move, unless you do it +through some of the old wealthy friends of the trade. I +must now say to you that I have done well in my small +way. I have cleared over two hundred per month. I +found our friend, of the Blue Lick region, who tells me +the house trade is good along the road; that the coloured +boys do it all, and are not suspected. (<i>In speaking of +the house trade, he had reference to the entering of +houses by the slaves, pillaging, &c., which would be laid +to white men.</i>) Well, now, I am through with my travels +for the present. Let me give you some little of the +history of our Dearborn brother, which I assure you is +novel. I told you he would never do, and I suppose, ere +this, you have found I was right. I cannot be fooled easy. +You thought that from the simple fact that he traded in +horses well, (<i>meaning that he stole horses well</i>,) that he +would not fail to be useful anywhere I wished to place +him; but he returned home, I suppose you discover, without +a dollar, and made sixty the first night we arrived in +Cincinnati, off of a cheese trader that slept in the adjoining +room. He wanted to return the next day to the +burgh, but I prevailed upon him to stop, as suspicion +rested not upon us. He remained according to my request, +and I never have come across such an industrious +man; but he had not much courage, less than any man +of his age I ever met, and not one particle of judgment in +human nature. When we arrived, I cautioned him about +trading with any of the brethren of the city without my +consent, knowing, as I did, the city brethren were "celish;" +however, he assured me his trade was "bogus;" +that you had supplied him with cut quarters, which no +other person dare offer, and that he had done well even +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>with them. (Cut money was, at an early date, used as +change; one dollar cut in four pieces answered as twenty-five +cents each.) I found he was bent on the "bogus" trade, +and I told him to hold on a few days, and that I would +assist him to some; that I had not the first dollar, but +would find out through the brethren when I returned +from our friend's in the country—nine miles. I then left +him at the boarding-house, and promised to return the +next day. I returned according to promise; called at our +boarding-house, and upon inquiry learned he was out in +the city. I took a stroll up to our friend's, the coffee-house +keeper, in Market street. While I was passing +through the market-house, I passed by a man with a +large load upon his back. I could not discover what the +bulk was. I passed on to the coffee-house, where three +of the boys were dividing one hundred and sixty-five dollars, +the proceeds of the day's work, which, they informed +me, they had obtained from one of the soft-shell brethren. +That in the course of the day they had met a countryman, +and seeing he was apparently upon the look-out +for speculation, they had finally entered into conversation +with him, and had accidentally shown him some +bright half dollars, and told him they were counterfeit. +"What," said he, "bogus?" "Bogus, indeed," said one. +"And do you know what, bogus is?" He said he +ought to, and they then tried him, and found him one of +the right kind of brethren to skin; and that they did in +the following manner: Finding that he had money and +wanted "bogus," they set upon a plan to deceive him; +which they did by showing him the new half dollars, and +telling him they were good coin; and that if he wished +he could have them at fifteen dollars for a hundred dol<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>lars +of "bogus." He agreed to purchase one hundred +and sixty-five dollars' worth, which they were to supply +that evening. That they were to meet him in the Fifth +street market-house, and deliver his bogus in a tobacco +keg headed up. He of course took it for granted that all +was honest. They separated from him, purchased a tobacco +keg, filled it with stone-coal cinders, within an inch +of the top, packing them very hard to make them weigh +heavy. They then put a false head one inch from the +top, upon which they put two hundred copper cents. +They then placed another head upon that, confining it +tight with a hoop. After preparing it, they rolled it into +the market-house where they had met. He had paid +them the one hundred and sixty-five dollars for the cinders, +which he supposed to be the most beautiful bogus, +and when he lifted the keg he was satisfied all was right; +<i>and how could he doubt it, they were brethren!</i> and +they were then dividing the spoils. I suspected, from +description, it was our Lawrenceburgh friend, but remained +silent, and returned to my room where I knew I +could ascertain. When I went, I discovered my friend +just ascending the stairs, with a large keg upon his +shoulder. "Halloo," said I, "what upon earth have you +here?" He dropped the keg, as though he had been +shot, making a crash to be heard a half mile distant, but +fortunately no person about the house appeared much +disturbed. The old lady came to the door, and wanted +to know what was the matter. I told her my friend had +fallen, but that no damage was done. She retired. As soon +as he discovered it was me, he raised his burden once +more, and carried it to the room. "Come in, sir," said he.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> +"What have you here?" said I. "That I will show you, +in a few minutes." I knew all the time, and though I +was vexed, I could not refrain from laughter. "You +laugh," said he, "and well you might, if you knew the +speculation I had been making to-day." He soon got a +hatchet to show me his treasure. I never saw a man so +perfectly carried away at the prospect he had in store. +He was nearly exhausted by carrying such a burden so +far. The perspiration drops were oozing out of his forehead, +and he effected the opening of the keg with no little +trouble. "Now, sir," said he, "you may laugh, if you +please; raise that head and see if there is not something +in store to laugh at." I did as he bade. I lifted up the +head which covered his treasure, when to his surprise a +few black copper cents made their appearance. "Copper +bogus," said I. "I believe in my soul they have +mistaken; let's examine further." He soon discovered +the false head, which he raised, and in a double surprise +cried out, "My conscience, I won't trade. No, I will +have my money back! I will sue them." "Who will +you sue?" said I. He came to a stand, then remarked, +"Really, I can't tell who they were. They gave me no +name, but I will take them for swindling if they don't +give it up. I will swear," said he—then he paused and +I took the word from his mouth, and told him that I would +swear that he was a fool, and had better return to Dearborn +county and plough corn. He laid the coppers one +side, being about two hundred, then carefully headed +the keg up. We went to bed. During the night he +arose. I heard him going downstairs. The next morning +I discovered that both him and the keg were missing.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> +I never heard from him afterwards, but hope, if he is at +home, that you will hereafter keep him there.</p> + +<p><span class="i4">Yours, in haste,</span></p> + +<p>P.S. I hope you will answer this immediately. Direct +to Nashville, Tennessee. This Brother is a true +blue.</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>100000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>002020</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>000003</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>000400</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>500000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>000600</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>070000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>800088</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>000000</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>[This describes the bearer to be <span class="smcap">cunning, temperate, +treacherous, imprudent</span>; size <span class="smcap">low</span> and <span class="smcap">heavy</span>; by profession +a <span class="smcap">physician</span> and a <span class="smcap">merchant</span>; disease <span class="smcap">rheumatism</span> +and <span class="smcap">face disfigured</span>; age from <span class="smcap">forty</span> to <span class="smcap">forty-five; +quick-spoken</span>.]</p> + +<h4>No. 9.</h4> + +<p class="rightheader">Lawrenceburgh, April 9, 1827.</p> + +<p><i>Friend Brown</i>,—I am happy to have the extreme +pleasure of introducing to your acquaintance one of my +most intimate friends. He visits the city on business, +which may require assistance; if so, you can confer no +greater favour on your humble servant, than by serving +him.</p> + +<p><span class="i4">Yours, in haste,</span></p> + +<p>The following was taken from the same sheet, having +been interlined in fine hand in sympathetic ink, which +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>was entirely a secret to the bearer, and read when warm, +as follows:</p> + +<p><i>In a side pocket made upon the inside of an old black +velvet vest, you will find eighteen hundred dollars in +United States money. In an old hair trunk, tied +around with a rope, he carries twelve hundred dollars +in silver. He is fond of spirits, and occasionally gets +drunk, and when drunk, has no memory, and would not +acknowledge the fact of being drunk for twice the +amount. He is a man of wealth and of honour. Destroy +this immediately.</i></p> + +<p>The history connected with the above letters may be +considered of great importance to explain the villanies of +this band; and from the circumstances connected with this +history, I have every reason to have full confidence that +the same letters this note refers to, were the occasion of +the bearer being robbed of some thirty-one hundred dollars. +We will now give the foundation for our belief. +During the examination of my original package of letters, +I discovered a very familiar name attached to one of those +apparent business letters, which caused me to examine +the import, and upon so doing, I found that it contained +the same which I have given, with a few omissions which +I considered of importance to my personal safety, viz., +the names of the parties, the place of residence of the +man robbed, &c. When I found that I had a familiar +name to so base an article, to satisfy myself that it was +not a forgery, I examined the same person's signatures +which had been written in the year 1827, and found they +compared satisfactorily to my mind. I then set upon a +plan to ascertain from the man who lost the money, without +his having an idea of my intention, which I did as +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>follows. I wrote to a responsible man living in the same +place, to know of him if such a man of his village had +ever lost any money, and if so, what amount, the date he +lost it, &c.; to which I received the following brief note: +"Sir,—You have written me upon a subject which I +was not familiar with at the time I received your letter, +but have made inquiry, and found that in the spring of +1827, the person alluded to in your letter was robbed +while in Wheeling, on his way to Philadelphia, out of +rising three thousand dollars: which money he has never +heard of. He is a man in good circumstances, and +was at that time, in fact he has always been, considered +wealthy. I conversed with him one time upon the subject, +but he dislikes to have it mentioned to him. You +likewise wished me to inquire if he received any letters +of introduction or recommendation previous to his departure, +on the date mentioned. He had several, and with one +exception, they were all from his best friends. One he +had given him by a man residing in Lawrenceburgh, +Indiana, was for the purpose of introducing him to +Daniel Brown, a merchant of Dearborn county, whom +he met in Cincinnati, on his (Brown's) return, and had +but a few moments' time to converse with him, after he +gave him the letter. You, therefore, know all I can ascertain +about your request." I could then see through the +whole lead of his misfortunes, and it is about in this way. +The letter which he bore to Brown, having the particulars +concerning his temperament, likewise the amount of +money, &c., enabled Brown to set the band upon him, +who robbed him, and then divided with Brown and his +Lawrenceburgh friend. These letters I had transcribed +and put them up and lectured to the citizens of Law<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>renceburgh +concerning the horrible fact of their existence; +and these are the letters spoken of, that made the +pigeon's flutter, and likewise caused so many threats +of my assassination; and all that prevented them was, that +they feared whoever might have the handling of the +papers hereafter might handle them with less mercy.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + + +<p>I have frequently, in the course of this work, had to +notice the very intimate connection which those concerned +in the administration of justice, or ostensibly in +the suppression of crime, had with those who perpetrate +it. In all of our large cities, this occasionally forces +itself into public notice. Anxious as the authorities always +are to conceal any thing of this kind, it accidentally +leaks out. The opportunity for concealment, and the +advantages afforded by official station, have not been overlooked +by the Brothers, and the police of every city contains +several of the fraternity. In all fairness, however, +the great mass of crime connected with such establishments +ought not to be laid to their charge. The very +wish to be connected with the police, indicates a morbid +disposition of the mind—a desire to be familiar with +crime; for it is necessary to detect it successfully, to come +in contact frequently with the criminal. In consequence, +by familiarity, crime loses its enormity: the police officer +sees how seldom the perpetrator is detected; how often, +when detected, he escapes unwhipped of justice; he +connives at some petty offence, in the hope of entrapping +the criminal in some more flagrant act, and tampers with +crime, till the little moral sensibility he had when he entered +the service is destroyed. This is obviously a true +picture of human nature; but I must proceed with the +story, which suggested these remarks.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p> + +<p>In no city of the Union has the depredations of the +Band of Brothers been more extensive than in Cincinnati, +Ohio, yet there seems to be a prevailing wish, entertained +even by those who have witnessed their ravages, +to doubt the existence of any such organization. Nor am +I surprised at this incredulity—the thought that we are +surrounded by hundreds of individuals, sworn to protect +and assist one another in their ravages upon our lives and +property, is no very pleasant prospect for contemplation. +Sincerely I wish it were merely a dream of the night, +but the unaccountable and sudden downfall of some of +the most respectable and talented families of that city +convince that it yet exists in all its awful realities. In +confirmation of this I will introduce the history of one +family, guarding myself as much as possible from saying +any thing that might hurt the feelings of any of the relatives +yet living. It consisted of five boys—at least that +number is all that has come under my notice; the eldest, +at the age of sixteen, connected himself with bad associates, +was committed to the jail on a charge of theft, and +convicted. In a short time the next brother followed in +the same course, and shared the same fate. The remaining +children were yet young, and to preserve them from +the vicious habits of the elder ones, the father kept them +at hard labour every day. We are not intimately acquainted +with the character of the father, but we never +heard any thing laid to his charge but that he was a dissipated, +and so far an immoral man. He at least gave +his children an example of industry, and could not be +suspected of training them in dishonest practices. The +eldest son was pardoned, or served his time out, we forget +which, and came home to his father's house; but +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>was soon taken in another misdemeanour, and sentenced +to ten years' confinement in the Kentucky State Prison. +At the expiration of his term the second also returned, +but fearfully depraved and abandoned. He seemed to +take a delight in all manner of wickedness, and bore evidence +that he came from a good school. After a few +months of dissipation, supported by robbery, he was +again taken, convicted the second time, and sent to the +State Prison. From it he made his escape, and found +his way to Vicksburg, but on attempting a robbery, he +was detected, and shot through his left shoulder, the ball +fracturing the bone very badly. One day while he +was under arrest, several men visited him; he was +alarmed when they first entered, but soon regained his +self-possession. One of the party inquired why he +seemed so much affrighted at their entrance; to which +he replied, that at first sight he had taken one of them +for a man of the name of Phelps. [A robber who was +afterwards taken, and attempted to break from jail, but +was shot down in the streets of Vicksburg. For particulars +see "Gambling Unmasked."] A very friendly +feeling was soon established between the robber and his +visitors; in a few days he was taken from jail, and +bent his way for New Orleans, where he was again detected +in the very act of robbery, but in attempting to +make his escape was shot down by the captain of the +guard.</p> + +<p>This same year of his death the third brother got into +difficulty, and was sentenced to the Penitentiary for three +years. Before the expiration of his sentence, the fourth +was convicted. The fifth boy at this time was about +seventeen, and he too was caught stealing, convicted, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>received his sentence about the time the fourth regained +his liberty.</p> + +<p>The third brother, after serving the specified period in +what is called the <i>Penitentiary</i>, took his way south, +where he was again committed for robbery, and sentenced +to five years' confinement in the Louisiana State +Prison. At the expiration of that period he started for +home, but when near the island of Sixty-six, on the +Mississippi, he concluded to take a trunk and jump overboard. +This feat he accomplished successfully; but +unluckily for him, it was in the same year in which so +many outlaws were put to death by the citizens, and having +connected himself with a band who were at that time +flooding the river with counterfeit coin, negro-stealing, +and indulging in all manner of villany, he was taken by +a company, and with about forty others put to death, +some being shot, and others tied up in sacks and thrown +into the Mississippi.</p> + +<p>The fifth brother was now in the Ohio Penitentiary, +the fourth in the Indiana State Prison, but the eldest +brother was released from confinement, and returned to +Cincinnati. His long confinement, however, seems to +have had no very beneficial effect, for in a few months he +was again convicted of petit larceny, and sentenced to +serve in the chain gang. Here he conducted himself so +well as to gain the unqualified commendation of one of +the drivers, who in consequence treated him indulgently. +About this period, there was much excitement, caused by +the frequency of night robberies, and no trace of the +thieves could be found, by which they could be detected. +The most vigilant means were used, and many +were sent to the jails and penitentiary, but still the rob<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>beries +went on. Among those committed at this period, +was the fifth brother, who for a short period had enjoyed +his liberty. The eldest brother served out his time in +the chain gang, and after being liberated, suddenly disappeared; +and, which surprised many, the driver of the +chain gang disappeared at the same time. A day or two +after their disappearance, a drover from Kentucky, who +had been at Cincinnati, and was on his way home, was +taken from his horse, robbed, his throat cut, and left for +dead upon the road side. They had, however, merely +severed the windpipe, and on being discovered, he was able +to give such information as led to the detection of the +driver and his friend, the convict. They were arrested, +and identified by the mangled drover; and the citizens, +knowing the desperate character of the elder brother, +who had served an apprenticeship in their own State +Prison, gave them a trial according to "Lynch" custom, +and hung them both. Thus ended the life of the eldest +of the brothers—the third who had suffered the penalty +of death for their crimes.</p> + +<p>The suspicions of the people were excited by this occurrence, +and a train of investigation set on foot which +left no doubt but that the recent robberies were committed +by the chain driver and his gang. At night they +were freed from their chains, allowed to prowl about and +plunder, and brought their spoils to the prison, where it +could easily be stowed away without suspicion. We believe +that we are quite within the mark, if we attribute +one-eighth of the robberies committed in large cities, to +the police, or perpetrated with their connivance. Many, +we hesitate not to say, are done by men whom the public +believe to be in prison. It has become a proverb, "Set +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>a thief to catch a thief," and the public seem to have +acquiesced that thus it shall ever be. There is an allowed +and constant connection between the criminal and the +officer engaged in suppressing crime, but whether it be +necessary and unavoidable, or the best disposition possible, +deserves some consideration. The hangman is in +general only a little more fortunate than his culprit. The +leader of a band of Regulators is commonly more ferocious, +and as lawless as the victim against whom his fury +is directed. The lawyer unscrupulously pockets a fee, +which he knows has been obtained by the plunder of the +citizen. Not a few of them hang about our jails, prying +into the means of the prisoners, and divide with them +the spoil, sheltering themselves from communicating any +disclosures they make under their judicial privileges. +But if justice be the end of the law, why should the +communications of a prisoner to his counsel be held +sacred? If the case be undefensible otherwise, why +should it be defended, unless it be to give a fee to the +lawyer, at the expense of justice? With all deference to +the legislators of our country, and to the gentlemen of +the legal profession, this seems a privilege not to be +envied: to <i>know</i> that you are assisting to defraud, but +debarred by custom from disclosing it; to know that the +culprit is guilty, and deserves punishment or restraint, +but to send him forth again upon society to commit further +crime.</p> + +<p>Our readers may be anxious to know what became of +the other two brothers, the fourth and fifth. At this moment +we believe they are both in the State Prison. +Now how was the ruin of this once respectable family +accomplished? Why did the fate of the elder not deter +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>the younger from crime? Were they merely drawn +along by the contagion of ill-example, or were there more +potent influences at work in their destruction? And why +did punishment and penitentiaries do so little in their reformation? +The greater part of their lives were passed +within their walls, cut off from the influence of evil, but +we see no sanitory effect. We will not answer these +questions directly, but in the course of this work will +supply the reader with materials to answer them for +himself. We have every reason to believe that the eldest +and the second were entangled in the meshes of The +Secret Band of Brothers, in a manner from which there +was no escape. They are ever on the look-out for any +individual who has forfeited his character, and who promises +by his ingenuity or dexterity to be a fit tool for +their purposes. Their agents are to be found in all the +professions, in the magistracy, and in the prisons and +penitentiaries; sometimes, under the vail of hypocrisy, +assuming a fair exterior at the time they are engaged in +all manner of villany; at other times, when their influence +in any place is in the ascendency, openly showing +their real character. Men can be found in many of our +towns so notoriously profligate, that not one individual in +the place could be found that would say they were honest +men, yet through solicitation, party spirit, and sometimes +through fear, they are elected to official stations. It is +one of the leading objects of the Secret Band, to have +as many of the brotherhood in the magistracy as possible, +and neither money nor importunity are spared to effect +their object. They know what they are about: they are +too sagacious to suppose that a thief will catch a thief; +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>that a gambler will suppress gambling, or a drunkard +promote temperance; and it would be well that those who +really desire any of these objects, were equally "wise in +their generation."</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + + +<p>The spring of 1833 found me travelling through the +Choctaw nation, which, at that time, with the exception +of the government posts, was a wilderness. Fort Towson, +Duxborough, Jonesborough, Lost Prairie, Horse +Prairie, Pecan Point, and several other places throughout +this wild and newly settled country, were crowded with +every kind and description of people from the states, from, +the government agents and contractors to the wild and +mysterious refugee—the latter being very numerous, and +having settled upon the south side of Red river, to evade +the pursuit of the United States' officer of justice, that +portion then being considered within the boundaries of +Texas. The whole region was one of peculiar debasement +in all respects. As might be suspected, seasoned +as it was with such a population, drunkenness, debauchery, +and murder walked abroad, hand in hand, day +and night. Human life was valued no higher than the +life of an ox or a hog, and the heart of the settlement +was cold, and palsied to the most remote touch of feeling, +and hardened to the recital of brutalities and crimes of +the most indescribable enormity. Men talked of their +evil doings, their deep, revolting guilt, with the most impudent +freedom, and laughed and chuckled over them as +though they were the best jokes in the world!</p> + +<p>It was in one of the Texan settlements, in this rude, +wicked tract of country, that an incident came to my +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>knowledge, quite by accident, which I will relate. The +settlement contained some seventy to eighty people, men, +women, and children, white and black. I was taking a +stroll with one of the settlers among the cabins and huts, +he being familiar with the occupants of each, their habits +and history. When we passed a spot worth notice, he +gave me the character of the owner, his wealth, &c., and +although all about the settlement wore an appearance of +the most abject poverty, I was surprised to find the wealth +which many of the inhabitants of so desolate, dreary, and +forbidding a place possessed. We finally came to a small +log cabin, at the extreme end of the settlement, apparently +about twenty feet in length by eighteen deep, a +story and a half high.</p> + +<p>"Who lives here?" said I.</p> + +<p>"The widow ——," replied my guide, whose name +was Edmonds—"the widow of ——, but—yes—the widow +of Dr ——, who was killed a few days ago."</p> + +<p>I was struck with my companion's pauses, and thought +there was something singular in them, especially as his +countenance at the time seemed to change slightly. I +soon mustered resolution to ask him who were the murderers +of Doctor ——, but his reply was simply that +he did not know.</p> + +<p>"I should like to see the widow," said I; "will you +introduce me?"</p> + +<p>He declined, stating that he must then leave me, and +go along some half a mile further, where some men were +at work, chopping down a bee-tree.</p> + +<p>"Very well," said I; "I will step in and introduce +myself. You have awakened some little curiosity in my +mind to know more about the murder of this man."</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span></p> + +<p>He left me without making any reply, and I entered +the cabin, the door of which was standing ajar. I found, +seated near the fire on a rude bench, a female, perhaps +thirty years old, whose countenance wore a look of deep +dejection, but at the same time betrayed strong evidence +of having been once quite attractive. A little girl sat in +her lap—two boys of the ages of perhaps seven and +eleven occupied a bench at her right—an infant of, I +should think, three months old, slept in the cradle, which +a little girl apparently about five years old stood rocking. +The group was a very imposing one. As I entered, +I gave a tap upon the door, which caused the mother to +turn towards me; but she did not speak, waiting, it would +seem, for me to introduce my business. I apologized for +my unceremonious entrance, saying, that I had learned +she was formerly a resident in the states; and that I +being also from thence, felt some interest in her and her +family. She beckoned me to a seat, and after some time, +told me she was born in Philadelphia, but that, having +married a Kentuckian, she moved there, and lived some +eight or nine years in that state—that her husband, at the +expiration of that time, had taken his family to Little +Rock, Arkansas, where they resided one year, and that +from thence they had come to the place where I found +them.</p> + +<p>Here there was a pause; in fact, I discovered that the +poor woman's voice faltered the moment she approached +the subject of her arrival at her present residence. The +silence was broken by the child, who stood rocking the +cradle, and who said, "This is a bad place, ain't it, Ma? +Here the bad men live that killed Pa." At this the mo<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>ther +burst into tears. As she did so, she kindly told the +child to hush.</p> + +<p>After the mother's tears had partially subsided, I told +her to talk to me without restraint; that I had visited the +settlement on the other side of the river on government +business, which I expected to transact, and leave in a +very few days. I here was guilty of falsehood. I had +not visited the settlement for government, of course, but +to pursue my iniquitous course of gambling with the +refugees.</p> + +<p>The woman implored me to be watchful; that I was +in the midst of the most abandoned description of men +that could possibly be conceived of; and that they would +make a victim of me the more readily, on account of my +extreme youth. I told her that they could want nothing +of me, for the simple reason that I had nothing valuable +about me. She assured me that it was not always avarice +which tempted these men to deeds of blood. They +had butchered her poor husband in the very house where +we were, within hearing of herself and children, and +when all were imploring that his life might be spared. +And yet money was not the temptation. She then gave +me a history of the cruel murder of her husband, which +was as follows:—</p> + +<p>Doctor —— was educated a physician in the city of +Philadelphia, though a native of Kentucky. He married +his wife in that city; after which he went back to Kentucky, +where he settled down in the practice of his profession. +It was not many years after he took up his +abode in his native place before he became involved, and +subsequently being accused of committing a forgery, he +concluded it was best to leave his native state. His first +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>stopping-place, after leaving Kentucky, was Little Rock, +Arkansas, where he remained until his brother-in-law +joined him with his family. Becoming uneasy and unhappy +there, he finally removed to the settlement, where +an end was put to his earthly career by the band of assassins.</p> + +<p>His wife, when she came to this portion of her husband's +career, was again deeply affected; but she soon +mustered composure enough to continue the story.</p> + +<p>After my husband came here, he proceeded to build +this house, and we all moved into it in a very short period +after the first log was laid. He was a changed man, +and my health had become impaired by the exposures +which it was necessary to encounter, in travelling through +this wilderness. Doctor —— was a changed man; +most painfully was this the case. He was not only +moody and sullen in his temperament, and at times unhappy +to the last degree; but he did not seem to take +that pleasure which he once did in the society of his wife +and children. Now and then he would drink hard, and +become intoxicated, in which case he abused me most +shamefully, and I bore all for the sake of the children. +Some few days before his death, he entered into a speculation +with some bad fellows here, to smuggle spirits +through the nation, which they succeeded in doing, and +with great profit. About this time, or just after, when +in a calm and subdued mood, he confessed to me, that he +was not an honest man; that he was a refugee from justice, +and a doomed man; that a trap had been laid for +him a short time after he was married; that he fell into +it; that he was a sworn member of a band of desperadoes +and villains, and that he was doomed to be a guilty +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>wretch so long as he lived. I thought he was crazy, but +his assurance was in a few days fully verified.</p> + +<p>Not long after my husband made this confession to me, +he ran a partition across the cabin—making two rooms. +In the other department he put two beds, and whenever +any of his cronies called to see him, he would order myself +and the children into the room. Here we remained +while he and his companions drank and played cards—making +sometimes such a noise that it seemed as if the +very roof would be raised. They often kept it up all +night long.</p> + +<p>One morning, after one of these frolics, he said to me +he wished I was at home with my father; that he never +intended to return to Philadelphia himself; but he would +see that I was safely taken there. I asked why he was +so much inclined to part from me. He stated that that +was his business; I must leave him. Only the night +before, he had been accused of divulging secrets to me +in regard to his companions; that he had promised them +to send me home. He added, that I might take all the +children but the two eldest boys. I protested against +separating me and my children. His only reply was, +that his determination on the point was fixed.</p> + +<p>That night he ordered myself and the children into the +room, in a more angry tone than ever, and barred us in. +It was not long after this before his wicked companions +arrived and planted themselves down at the table. I listened +at the door, and while my husband had gone out +of the cabin for some purpose, I heard them whispering +busily together. As he entered the apartment, however, +the whispering ceased, and one of them said, "Let's play +for the liquor first, and decide that point afterwards."</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span></p> + +<p>After this, they played and swore, and one would have +supposed the room to have been occupied by fiends incarnate +rather than by men. At about twelve o'clock, one +of the company said, "Well, boys, now is the time; what +are we here for?" "Out with the light," said another. +My husband now asked what they proposed doing, when, +without giving him the slightest notice, the light was put +out, and a heavy blow descended. I heard my husband cry +out, "Do not murder me;" but the strokes fell heavy and +fast, and spite of my screams and the screams of my children—spite +of our efforts to beat the door in, the bloody work +was kept up until I heard my husband's body fall upon the +floor. In a short time his murderers left. I tried to burst +the door open, but without success. At last, I raised my +eldest boy to the window, and he crawled outside, and +ran round, entering the door which led to the room containing +his father's corpse. As the child moved towards +the door of the room, for the purpose of unbarring it, he +fell over the dead body of his father. The door was +finally unbarred, and I rushed into the room where my +murdered husband lay. Oh, sir, I cannot tell you what +were then my feelings. The lights which the children +brought into the room exposed the whole scene, and it +was one which I could not describe if I would—my husband's +body lying upon the floor, weltering in blood. I +tried to lift it up to the bed, but could not. I then, with the +assistance of the children, rolled it up in a counterpane, +and we sat down and watched it till morning—fearing +that, if we did not, it might be carried off by wolves—a +large number of which howled about the house until day +dawned. Oh, sir, it was a sorrowful night! The next +morning several of the neighbours called in, and after ex<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>pressing +their horror at the deed of blood, assured me +that they would aid in bringing the murderers to justice. +That they knew them, and that they resided on the Sabine +river. Would you believe it, sir? Two of the +very sympathizers I knew to have been concerned in the +murder of my husband.</p> + +<p>A coffin was made, into which my poor husband's +body was laid, and then the neighbours buried him, but +in such a manner that he lay but a foot or two below the +earth's surface. I have been afraid the beasts of prey +which infest this region would get possession of his +corpse; so, with my children, I build every night a fire +near his grave.</p> + +<p>"Now, sir," added the woman, "I have told you the +painful story, and you will see in what a dreadful situation +I am. I am here in this dreadful place, with perhaps +one hundred dollars in money, and five children, +nearly all of whom constantly require my watchful care. +Can you not assist me in my wretchedness?"</p> + +<p>I told the poor thing I would endeavour to do something +for her. I had hardly done so, when Edmonds +passed the door of the cabin on his way back from the +choppers. Seeing me, he turned back and said, as I +passed out to meet him, "Well, Green, what do you think +of the widow?" My reply was, that she was so shy and +distant that I could not learn much about her, one way +or the other; that she appeared unwilling, or afraid to +converse.</p> + +<p>"It is well enough that she did," was Edmond's reply, +"she does not know what she talks about. When she +does choose to speak, I believe her to be either crazy or +foolish, and d—n me if I know which."</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p> + +<p>Edmonds invited me to go with him to his home. So +I went along. I found there a man, named Scoggins, +with whom Edmonds got into a very free conversation. +I heard him say, "We must send that woman away; she +talks to somebody every day; she must be taken care of +in one way or the other. She must, Scoggins, she must."</p> + +<p>It was not long after this, before Scoggins took me +aside, and in a friendly manner advised me not to go to +the widow's again; that she was a bad and a meddlesome +person withal. I did not visit her afterwards; +indeed, I had no opportunity to do so, for the day following +the incidents I here related, in company with Edmonds +and Scoggins, I left the settlement for Fort Towson—about +one hundred and fifty miles east. Our object +was to play cards with the officers at the fort, and lighten +them of some of their change. We also expected to fall +in with some of the half-bred Choctaws, who are not inexpert +in the shuffle. Edmonds and Scoggins were ordinary +players, and depended on my skill. The former +was a shrewd fellow, a Georgian by birth—aged about +forty-five; the latter, a Canadian, was about the same +age. They had served together during the war of 1812, +and in the same company. Two more peculiar men +could not be found. Like a pair of well-trained horses, +I saw very soon, after we joined company, they pulled +together. They had a negro with them, who was deaf +and dumb; and he was one of the best servants I ever +saw. He had been Edmonds' attendant for fifteen years, +and was, I should think, about fifty years old. This old +negro knew every route from Canada to Texas. He +would stand and sleep, like a horse, for hours, and seemed +to care much more for horses than he did for him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>self. +I thought there was something more than at first +appeared about the old darkey. While at the fort, he +would, in our company, stand for hours, it seemed to +me listening attentively to all that was said, and appearing +to understand it. He was very submissive and +polite to any one who noticed him, and, from the beginning, +appeared to take a wonderful liking to me. At +Fort Towson I tried to get rid of Edmonds and Scoggins, +telling them I had resolved to leave them, and that I was +going to cross the Nation to Fort Smith, about one hundred +and fifty miles distant. They appeared to like the +route I had chosen, and said they would accompany me. +While at Fort Towson, I discovered that both of my companions +had a large number of acquaintances there, mixed +in among the Indians; and, likewise, that many of the +slaves appeared to know them.</p> + +<p>We finally left the fort, in company with ten Choctaws. +I had purchased, while in the nation, twelve head of +horses, two of which were quarter horses, that is, intended +to run a quarter of a mile in singularly quick time. +I obtained them of a half-bred Choctaw, and they were +valued at five hundred dollars each.</p> + +<p>We encamped, the first night after our departure, about +thirty miles distant from Fort Towson. The next morning +I found that my two valuable quarter horses, with six +others of the drove, were missing. I said something about +my chance of finding them again, but soon had every +hope of the kind destroyed, by being informed that the +Pawnee Indians were very numerous in the neighbourhood; +that they were great horse thieves; and had undoubtedly +appropriated to themselves my valuable beasts. +We went fifty miles further, when we again encamped.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> +Here the horses of the dumb negro and Scoggins were +missing. They appeared to think their animals might +be recovered, and turned back for that purpose, promising +to overtake us, if possible, at Fort Smith.</p> + +<p>When we arrived at the fort, I disposed of the horses +I had left, and took passage on the steamboat Reindeer, +for the mouth of White River. Edmonds insisted on +accompanying me. I made no objection, of course, but +was anxious to get rid of him. It was about the twentieth +of May, when we arrived at Montgomery's Point, on +the Mississippi. Edmonds, daring the passage, frequently +sympathized with me on the loss of my horses. He also, +now and then, spoke to me about the widow of Doctor +——, commiserated her forlorn situation, and stated +that he had a strong desire, and in fact determination, to +communicate intelligence of her deplorable condition to +her friends in Philadelphia. He asked me, if I did not, +myself, think of doing something of the kind. I told +him that I had forgotten her name, and had I remembered +it, I hardly thought that I should trouble myself about +her or her affairs. He said, he, too, had forgotten the +name, but he could procure it of Scoggins when he returned.</p> + +<p>We remained at the Point several days, awaiting the +arrival of a steamboat. Finally, the Chester came along, +bound for St. Louis. I took passage in her, and left Edmonds +behind, not a little to my gratification. We had +not proceeded far from the Point, when the Chester broke +down, and I was obliged to get on board of a down boat, +and return to the Point. On arriving there, the first person +I encountered was the dumb negro, who told me that Ed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>monds +had died suddenly, since my departure, of the cholera, +which was raging at that time on the Mississippi, and +which cut men down almost without warning. On inquiry, +I found the negro had told me the truth, and must confess +I was not a little astonished at it. But a few hours previously, +I had left Edmonds, apparently well; now he +was a corpse! The thought gave me a shade of melancholy, +especially as I knew and felt that he had been cut +down in guilt; for that he was both a robber and a murderer +I could not for a moment doubt.</p> + +<p>I made some inquiry about the amount of money left +by Edmonds, and discovered that after paying all the +expenses of his funeral, the amount of nine hundred dollars +would be left, which, according to his request just +before his death, was to be sent to his friends in Savanna, +Georgia.</p> + +<p>Not long after I got back to the Point, when walking +out alone, the dumb negro joined me, and motioned +me to follow him: I did so, without hesitation. We had +not gone far out of the way, before he placed himself near +me, and, to my surprise, spoke to me as plainly and distinctly +as any one could. He said he knew he would +surprise me when he talked like other folks; but he +would give me a good reason for having seemed to be +dumb. He then gave me a sketch of his chequered +career. He was once a slave, but had been a free man +between thirty and forty years. At the age of twenty, +he was purchased from his master, at Petersburg, Virginia, +to save his life, by a band of outlaws of which he +became a member, in a servile capacity. These men +had freed him, soon after they purchased him from his +master, and in consideration he had taken the oath as +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>one of their gang, and had sworn, with other things, to +appear to be deaf and dumb, so long as he should live—the +penalty for any forgetfulness, or otherwise, that +should betray that he could either speak or hear, being +death! That he had been educated to this end; that +the band had men who could converse with him readily +by signs, and that he had been so much accustomed to +communicate his thoughts in that manner, that it had become +second nature. He told me he was now determined +to go to Canada, where he proposed remaining for +the balance of his life. I asked him how he meant to go? +His reply was, that he should make the journey by land; +that he knew every foot of the route, and had hundreds +of warm friends all the way along. He further said that +he could communicate to me a secret, which he thought +it would be better for me to keep—and this is the first +time I have ever publicly revealed it.</p> + +<p>The secret was, that he and Scoggins, after leaving +Edmonds and myself, had retraced their steps to the skirts +of Texas; that my horses had not been taken, as I supposed, +by the Indians, but that hired tools of Edmonds and +Scoggins had stolen them. That it was well for me I laid +my money out in horses: had I not done so, they would +have murdered me, to possess themselves of it. He further +assured me, that I had been for three months in the +most heartless and desperate region which the country +affords, and among my worst enemies. The negro added, +that he had heard hard letters read concerning me since +I was in the country. That they were written a year +before, by certain men belonging to the same band, whom +I knew, but least suspected. One of them lived near +Lawrenceburgh, Indiana; another was Goodrich, the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>notorious villain to whom I have alluded in the preceding +part of the work.</p> + +<p>This negro also told me that Dr. ——, who had been +murdered on the Texan frontier, was himself a member +of the Secret Band, and that he was killed to save many +a better man. That he and Scoggins had gone back to +see that the widow and her family were removed; but +they found, on reaching the settlement, she had left. We +had learned, moreover, that when seventy or eighty miles +on her journey to her friends', she was taken sick and died, +and that she had lost her youngest child before she left the +settlement. It was further stated that the remainder of +her family were at Little Rock, with a friend of her husband's, +who would provide for them till her family could +either send for them, or give some directions in regard to +their disposition.</p> + +<p>The negro advised me never to divulge my opinions +in relation to the doctor's death, nor to the history of his +family out west. I told him I did not recollect their +names, and therefore could not do so if I would. He +assured me that it was well for me, perhaps, that it was +so; and that it could do me no good if I did. I spoke to +the negro about the lively sympathy which Edmonds had +expressed for the family, a few days before I parted with +him; that he had told me, in case he could procure the +name and residence of their friends at the east, he would +write them; and that he had asked me if I remembered +them. I told him I did not.</p> + +<p>The negro assured me that it was well for me I had +been so ignorant on the subject; Edmonds was only trying +me. Had I appeared to have known any thing, and +betrayed any disposition to give publicity to what I knew, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>he would have prevented me, even if he had taken my +life.</p> + +<p>I discovered from the negro, that the secret band of outlaws, +to whom I here alluded, had a large number of +members scattered among the different tribes of Indians; +that they are all about the western country, in fact, and +that all are true to each other as steel itself. The negro +assured me that he could find friends at every turn; yes, +those who <i>would die for him!</i> He was well off, however, +without them, and had determined to pass the remainder +of his days in living a life of honesty; hoping +that, by so doing, God would forgive him, if man did not.</p> + +<p>The negro told me much more in regard to himself and +his companions. He said he had been deaf and dumb, +in order to find out what was going on. He stood about +and heard much said, which would not have been said +had it been supposed he could hear, and much, too, that +was at times extremely valuable to the band.</p> + +<p>I told him that I had often noticed and pitied him. +His reply was, that he saw I felt for him, and it was +none the worse for me that I did. This very county +where we were, was afterwards infested by Murrill and +his gang; and it was here that, in 1841, the citizens +turned out and put to death, by shooting and drowning, +some forty or fifty villains.</p> + +<p>But to return to the negro. I told him that his intelligence +startled me. He assured me, that while with him +I was not in danger; that, to tell the truth, where we +then were was not a very bad tract of country. For, +said he, the brethren of Arkansas and Mississippi are not +"clear grit." That a few weeks preceding, a man by +the name of Jeffries, who had passed counterfeit money, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>they permitted to be taken and put to death. He had, +it seems, got off about one thousand dollars of the spurious +money on some river boatmen and traders; who returned +when they found the money was bad, pursued the +counterfeiter to an island on the river; where, after having +stripped him naked and tied him to a tree, they beat him +to death! It was true this man was not a member of the +secret fraternity; but he would have been had his life +been spared.</p> + +<p>At this point of my conversation with the negro, I discovered +the steamboat HURON near by, so I shook hands +with him and left him. Rejoicing that a boat had at +last come along, I was soon on board her, bound for Louisville. +We "wooded" some thirty miles distant from +Montgomery's Point, and at the wood-yard, I overheard +one of the workmen telling about the skeleton of a man +which had been found on an island near by; that it was +tied to a tree, and that it was the remains of a man +who had been whipped to death for passing counterfeit +money. The woodman added, that the poor victim's +watch and clothes were found hanging near his skeleton. +This story confirmed the statement of the dumb negro +on this point, and gave me confidence in all he had told +me.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + + +<p>In the first chapter of this work, I have spoken of +various attacks upon my character; but not knowing +from what motives they originated, I paid no attention to +them, nor should I to the one I shall here attempt the +exposition of, had it not been to satisfy the public that +it was made through a motive which I have every reason +to believe a sinister one. I will not offer through any +remark intentionally to say such is the fact, in relation +to the intention of my imprudent opposer in my lone +work of mercy, for of the motives of a man no other +man can judge; but will lay our correspondence before +the public, that they may examine and judge for themselves.</p> + +<h4>No. 1.</h4> + +<p class="rightheader">State Prison, Auburn, April 7, 1845.</p> + +<p><i>To the Editor of the Tribune:</i></p> + +<p>We have had a recent visit from Mr. J. H. Green, the +"Reformed Gambler," of whom you have previously +spoken favourably in the editorial department of your +paper. Many are highly pleased with the man, and +think he should be sustained by public patronage and the +press, inasmuch as he comes with good credentials of +moral and Christian character from the church. Many +think his course calculated to do much good, for this and +coming generations. He appears admirably calculated +and accomplished for exposing the deceptive marks and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>tricks of this heartless race of land-pirates, called Gamblers, +alias "<i>Sportsmen</i>." His description of their infernal +conduct and character cannot fail to put men on +their guard in season to shun them as they would a deadly +pestilence that walketh in darkness, and destruction that +wasteth at noonday.</p> + +<p>The grog-shop, the brothel, and the gambling-room, are +three of the blackest fountains of human misery over +which the devil presides. From these he gathers the +bitterest waters of hellish destruction, and spreads them +broad-cast over creation: of which eternity can only measure +the full amount.</p> + +<p>The Temperance Cause has attacked one of those sinks +of Satan; the Moral Reform enterprise has commenced +upon another, and Mr. Green has now taken the third +"bull by the horns." Money and talent, and the press, +are enlisted against the two former, and shall we stand +aloof, and leave Mr. Green to combat the dragon single-handed +and alone? It is high time the whole community +was aroused to the desolating evils of Gambling; +and the press, too, in thunder-tones, should be made to +speak out upon this, as upon other soul-destroying vices +of the land.</p> + +<p>Mr. Green has given five Lectures in our village: two +in the Town Hall, two in the Methodist Church, and one +in the State Prison. On Sabbath, sixth instant, at four +o'clock, <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>, he addressed the children of the several +Sabbath-schools of the town, in the Methodist Episcopal +Church, to good effect; and in the evening, the same +house was filled to a perfect jam. Here Mr. Green was +listened to with the best possible attention; and I believe +the great bulk of that immense throng, not only believed +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>him a reformed man, but also that he was doing a good +and necessary work in this country.</p> + +<p>At nine o'clock, Sabbath morning, Mr. Green spoke to +the unfortunate inmates of this prison, numbering some +eight hundred convicts, besides a large concourse of citizens, +who flocked to hear him at the same place. His +discourse was listened to in breathless silence by those +men, and hundreds of them wept freely, while listening +to a recital of the horrors of Gambling, as experienced +during twelve wretched years of his own gambling life, +and of his reformation and salvation by grace in Christ. +A deep and powerful impression pervaded the vast concourse, +while all was graced by beautiful strains of vocal +music by the "Boston Quartet Club," and all passed off +finely.</p> + +<p>After Chapel service, Mr. Green and myself visited +the cell of Henry Wyatt, the murderer of James Gordon, +of which the papers have spoken. They readily recognised +each other, as having been members of the same +gambling fraternity in the south and west. More than +fifty gamblers were named by them, whose doleful history +was equally familiar to both.</p> + +<p>Previous to this visit by Mr. Green, Wyatt had told +me that gambling was the cause of his ruin. At the +close of our visit of some two hours, Mr. Green gave +Wyatt a pathetic exhortation to read his Bible, and pray +much, to repent of sin, and believe in Christ, and to seek +religion as the only thing which could prepare him for +his approaching doom. Tears flowed freely, and Wyatt +exclaimed, "What a pity it is that you had not come out +in this way four years ago; then I should not have been +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>here in <i>chains</i>, as you see me now." We wept together, +and left his cell in silence.</p> + +<p><span class="i4">Respectfully yours, &c.,</span><br /> +<span class="i8">O.E. MORRILL, <i>Chaplain</i>.</span></p> + + +<h4>No. 2.</h4> + +<p class="rightheader">From the Christian Advocate and Journal.</p> + +<p class="center">GREEN'S FIRST VISIT TO AUBURN STATE PRISON.</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Doctor Bond</span>:—</p> + +<p><i>Dear Sir</i>,—I shall be happy to contribute to your valuable +sheet the following communication:</p> + +<p>I visited the Auburn State Prison, upon the morning of +the 4th instant, accompanied by the Boston Quartet Club, +better known in New York city than in this region for +their valuable services in calling out so many thousands +to hear the eloquence of John B. Gough, in behalf of temperance. +We passed through the different workshops +of the prison, where many hundreds are doing the different +labours allotted to them by their agents. The health +of the prisoners is as good, and spirits better than any +institution I have ever visited. Though the gloom of the +prisoner was not made manifest by his haggard countenance, +yet I could not prevent the melancholy reflection, +that every heart knew its own sorrow. I have seen much +of human depravity in this wicked world—I have felt the +sensitive nerve made like an ice-drop by the cold finger +of scorn—I know how to sympathize with the child of +circumstances—with the heart-broken parent, whose pale, +care-worn cheek but too plainly speaks, "We feel trouble, +but ye know it not." How many friends and relatives +are now bemoaning the loss of that boy who was once the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>pride of all that knew him in the days of his affluence! +Rising eight hundred souls are now confined in the Auburn +State Prison; and as my thoughts expanded in their +melancholy train, I asked myself, Who are to blame for +all the crimes committed, and which have incarcerated +so many human beings? I answered by referring to my +own sad experience. By the carelessness of the parent +or guardian, the bud is nipped before the blossom puts +forth, and should it not scatter its leaves to the four winds, +it cannot fail to produce evil fruit. With these sad feelings, +I wended my way through the prison, which speaks +well to the praise of the different agents placed there to +conduct the working departments.</p> + +<p>On my return to the prison office, I was introduced to +the chaplain, Rev. O.E. Morrill, which reverend gentleman +informed me that a man by the name of Wyatt, then +confined in one of the cells for the murder of Gordon, on +the 16th of March, in the Auburn State Prison, had confessed +to him that he had lived a gambler several years +in the south and west, and he would like I should call +upon him. I accompanied him to the cell of the murderer. +The door was thrown open upon its grating +hinges, when the reverend gentleman introduced me as an +acquaintance of his who had travelled south several years, +and thought that he (Wyatt) would be glad to converse +with him. He said he was happy to see me, and asked +me to be seated. After a short discourse, relative to the +different classes of men then in confinement, I asked him +what he followed in his travels through the south. He +told me gambling. I asked him how long he had been +engaged in that nefarious business. He said twelve or +thirteen years. I asked him if he knew many gamblers?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> +He said he did. I asked him if he ever knew one by +the name of Green? He said he did. I asked his name? +He answered, "John;" said he knew him in 1832, 1833, +1834, and 1835, and saw him in 1842 in St. Louis. I +asked him if he was intimate with Green? He said he +knew him as one gambler knew another. I asked if I +favoured him? He said if I would stand in the light he +would tell me. I did so. He said I looked like the man. +I told him I was the man, but that I never knew him by +the name of Wyatt. He said I did not; that Wyatt was +not his real name. He then told me another, which was +not his real name, and asked me if I did not hear of a +man being murdered near St. Louis in the year 1841, +and of two men being arrested, both tried and convicted, +one having a new trial granted him, the other being hung. +I told him that I thought I had. He said he was the +man that had the new trial granted, and was acquitted; +"and," said he, "they hung the wrong man; he was +innocent; I am the guilty man; but they hung him and +cleared me." "But," says I, "you were under a different +name still, at that time." He said, "Yes, by none +of those names do you know me, but my real name you +are familiar with. Your name," said he, "I knew in +the year 1832; the gamblers called you John, but Jonathan +is your real name." My curiosity was highly excited +at the strange management of the murderer. But +you may imagine the increase of it when he told me his +real name. I looked at the murderer, and could scarcely +believe my own eyes; yet he stood before me a living +marvel. I have pledged secresy as to his real name until +after his execution. I interrogated him on his first steps +in vice, and how he became so hardened. He told me +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>to remember the treatment he had received from the +Lynchers' lash at Vicksburg. I did, but my eyes could +scarcely credit reality. I had known him in 1832, 1833, +1834, and in the early part of 1835, as a bar-keeper in +Vicksburg. He was never a shrewd card-player, but at +that time was considered an inoffensive youth. The coffee-house +he kept was owned by North, who, with four others, +were executed on the 5th of July, 1835, by Lynch law. +Wyatt and three others were taken on the morning of +the 7th, stripped, and one thousand lashes given to the +four, tarred and feathered, and put into a canoe and set +adrift on the Mississippi river. It makes my blood curdle +and my flesh quiver to think of the suffering condition of +these unfortunate men, set adrift on the morning of the +7th of July, with the broiling sun upon their mangled +bodies. Two died in about two hours after they were set +afloat. Wyatt and another remained with their hands +and feet bound forty hours, suffering more than tongue +can tell or pen describe, when they were picked up by +some slave negroes, who started with the two survivors to +their quarters. His companion died before they arrived. +Wyatt survives to tell the horrors of the Lyncher's lash. +He told me seven murders had been occasioned by their +unmerciful treatment to him, and one innocent man hung. +I know his statements to be true, for I had known him +before 1835, and his truth in other particulars cannot be +doubted. He murdered his seventh man, for which +crime he will be executed. I have another communication +for your paper concerning the murderer, and his +prospects in the world to come.</p> + +<p><span class="i4">Yours, truly,<br /></span> +<span class="i8">J. H. GREEN.</span></p> + + +<p>Auburn, April 10, 1845.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></p> + +<h4>No. 3.</h4> + +<p class="rightheader">From the Christian Advocate and Journal.</p> + +<p class="center">GREEN'S SECOND VISIT TO AUBURN STATE PRISON.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Doctor Bond</span>:</p> + +<p><i>Dear Sir</i>,—I made my second visit to the prison on +Sabbath morning, the 6th instant, accompanied by the +Boston Quartet Club. As we were winding our way +through the halls and passing the gloomy cells, I felt sad +and melancholy upon reflecting on the purpose of so large +a prison. Is it possible, thought I, that our heaven-favoured +land of freedom requires institutions of so extensive +a character as this to keep down the vices of a people +who boast of their morality? Yet, horrible as it appeared +to me, I thought, if many of the foreign travellers, who +are ever ready to criticise and condemn our institutions, +were conducted through the Auburn State Prison, without +any intimation of its design, they would put it down +in their journals of travel as an institution to diffuse literary +science and useful knowledge; and from what we +have learned of institutions of the latter kind, under monarchical +governments, we have little hesitation in saying, +that they would not compare well with this prison. Nor +would they be willing that some of their plans for the +diffusion of useful knowledge, in the way of charity, +should be compared, in respect to health and religious +principles, with this institution, intended only for the +punishment and prevention of crime, and the reformation +of criminals. And if it be the fact, that our state's prison +is better calculated than some foreign institutions designed +to educate the poor of the land for this same pur<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>pose, +it certainly will stand good that our land of liberty +is comparatively the land of morality.</p> + +<p>We entered the chapel, where were seated nearly eight +hundred convicts, and something like one hundred citizens, +who had been admitted for the purpose of hearing +the sweet melody of the Boston Quartet Club, and to +hear the reformed gambler speak upon a vice which had +brought over one hundred within the gloomy walls of a +state's prison. Service commenced with prayer by the +chaplain, Rev. O.E. Morrill. The Boston Quartet Club +then sung the beautiful sacred piece, "Hear my Prayer," +during which breathless silence made manifest that the +music was enjoyed. I was then introduced as the reformed +gambler, Mr. J. H. Green. When I arose, there +was profound silence throughout the chapel, to hear my +sad experience. I felt perfectly incompetent to give satisfaction +to an audience, partly composed of the most hardened +wretches that infest our land—men who are steeped +to the very lips in degradation, many of whom are men +of talent, well-educated, and well acquainted with most +of the leading topics of the day, knowing, too, as I did, +that an error might be construed into an insult; and to +such men an insult is unpardonable. I commenced by +relating my sad experience, and in a few minutes there +could scarcely be seen a dry cheek in that vast assembly +of depraved men. My address being closed, the prisoners +were marched in order to their dining-room.</p> + +<p>The chaplain and myself visited the cell of Wyatt, the +murderer. We found him sitting upon the straw which +covered the floor. He seemed to be somewhat indifferent +when the chaplain first spoke to him, but upon his second +speech, telling that Mr. Green had again called to see +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>him, he sprung to his feet and shook hands with me—said +he was glad I had called—that he had been fearful +I had left the prison, after giving my address, without +seeing him, and added, "Mr. Green, I would love to hear +you give your experience." I told him of the attention +the prisoners had given me, and the advice I had +given them, about signing the anti-gambling pledge, so +soon as they were released—to come out with their sad +experience, and they would find the good and generous-hearted +ever ready to receive them. He turned round to +the chaplain and said, "How much good such a society +as that would have done, had it been formed before I became +a gambler!—How many men it would have saved +from the dagger of the midnight murderer! But it is too +late to save me." I changed the subject, by asking him +about different gamblers of our country. We talked +about many with whom we both had been intimate. +Some, he tells me, now live in your empire city, and +were leading men among the politicians in the last presidential +contest. I knew them to be leading men. I +knew them to be gamblers and swaggering bullies; and I +knew them to be at one time connected with Wyatt, but +did not know them to be murderers; yet they certainly +are.</p> + +<p>Wyatt asked me if they permitted such men to vote? +I told him they did. Said he, "A gambler should not be +entitled to a vote, nor to his oath." He spoke correctly; +and said he, "The day is not far distant when the man, +who is known to the world as a gambler, will not be +countenanced." Neither his vote nor his oath would be +taken at the present day, if the citizens, who are the +bone and sinew of the country, would take into considera<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>tion +his real principles. He said, "No man who bets +upon elections should be entitled to his vote, nor to his +oath; for a man who can be excited to bet upon an election, +can be excited when upon oath to stretch the blanket; +or, in plainer language, to swear to a lie. Such I believe +to be facts." "And lotteries are another species of villany," +said he; "the money goes to the vendor, and +makes his victim poor and dishonest. Such I know to be +facts." Pleased to hear a man, situated as Wyatt, the +murderer, is, reason so candidly, I changed the subject, in +order to learn more about the murders he had committed. +I knew that a man, in the year 1839, was missing from +Natchez, by the name of Tucker, and by the run of Wyatt's +discourse, I found he was in that part about the +same time.</p> + +<p>I told Wyatt that a man by the name of Tucker was +supposed to have been murdered about that date between +Natchez and New Orleans. He laughed, and said he +knew something about it. "Myself and three others," +said he, "went to Natchez as produce speculators. +Tucker owned a boat load of produce. We contracted +for it, advanced him money sufficient to pay off his hands, +telling him we had sufficient help; that he could go with us +to New Orleans, and that on our arrival there, we would +pay him the balance due. He did so. We paid him in +a Mississippi bath. We murdered him, and then threw +him overboard." I asked him if he ever was suspected. +He said, not that he knew of. I asked him if he was not +afraid, when he was committing such a murder, that the +body might rise upon the water and be the means of their +being suspected. "We cut their entrails out," said he, +"then they never rise until resurrection-day." I felt +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>heart-sick at his dreadful description of the murder of +Tucker. I knew him. He was a good, honest man. I +arose from my seat, took him by the hand, and bade him +good day, promising him to call again. I will, in my next, +inform you of the particulars of my third visit, which will +lead you further into his dreadful history. I will in my +next also speak of his views on the subject of religion.</p> + +<p><span class="i4">Yours, truly,<br /></span> +<span class="i8">J. H. GREEN.</span></p> + +<p>Auburn, April 17, 1845.</p> + +<h4>No. 4.</h4> + +<p>The following letter was written and published by the +unanimous consent of every honest citizen of Cleveland, +Ohio, of which place I can only speak in the language +of commendation. It is one of the most virtuous cities +in the state, according to its population; and from the +interest two of the principal organs took in behalf of the +anti-gambling cause, I am certain that no filthy sheet can +ever pollute its moral principles.</p> + +<p><i>To the Editor of the Cleveland Plaindealer</i>:</p> + +<p>Mr. <span class="smcap">Gray</span>, Sir—The Herald of last evening contained +a letter over the signature of O.E. Morrill, dated July +25th, 1845, charging J. H. Green, "the Reformed Gambler," +with misrepresenting the confessions made to him +by "Wyatt, the murderer." The Anti-Gambling Society +of this city have requested me, as its President, to publish +the following letter, in justice to Mr. Green, and in +answer to Mr. Morrill. It was written on the 12th of +July last, in reply to Mr. Morrill's "private note," re<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>ferred +to in his letter published last evening. A true +copy was made, and the original forwarded to Mr. O.E. +Morrill on the day of its date, by Dr. Cowles, of this city. +Deeming this letter a complete refutation of the charges +against Mr. Green, the Society have taken the liberty, +without his knowledge, of requesting you to place it +before the public.</p> + +<p><span class="i4">Your obedient servant,<br /></span> +<span class="smcap i8">John E. Cary.</span></p> +<p>Cleveland, August 5, 1845.</p> + +<p>[This letter was written in reply to a letter addressed +me by the Rev. O.E. Morrill, requesting my return to +Auburn, fifteen days previous to his publishing my statements +as false, and letter No. 7 will show in what manner +I replied.]</p> + + + +<h4>No. 5.</h4> + +<p class="rightheader">Cleveland, July 12, 1845.</p> + + +<p><i>Mr. O.E. Morrill:</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear sir</span>,—I have just received yours of the 10th. +Speaking in regard to Wyatt's case, you state that you +was very much surprised at my letters. Why did you +not tell me so before they were published? You also +heard both the first and second letter before I left your +section. Why did you not object to them before?</p> + +<p>Again, you say, some parts are my own representations. +This I deny. I will not say that I have given +them verbatim, but this I do say, and will maintain, that +I have not exaggerated in my statements.</p> + +<p>Yet I do not wish to injure that poor doomed man. +God forbid. I do not think as you do about Wyatt. I +know him better than you do, or can. I know that he +has been the child of circumstances. I know that he is +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>not a man who will strictly confine himself to the truth; +and fear of death will make him do any thing that he is +told to do. His denying what he told me, I care nothing +for. In my statements, if they were not correct from +him to me, I am not accountable; I believe them to be +facts.</p> + +<p>Now for a few questions to brighten your memory. +When we entered his cell for the first time, you introduced +me as a man who had lived in the south. I interrogated +him on his past life. Did I not commence at +Huntsville, in the year 1832, and trace him to November, +1835, at the mouth of the Ohio, with the Texas troops? +When he told me that he had known me up to that date, +that he also saw me at St. Louis, do you not recollect his +asking me if I had not heard of a man being murdered +in, or near St. Louis, one man hung, and the other acquitted? +And do you not recollect I told him I thought +I did; also, that at the same time I was informed, that +the people thought that the guilty man was cleared, and +the innocent one hung. He laughed, and said he was +the guilty one, or something amounting to the same? +Do you recollect, in your own letter to the Tribune, you +stated that over fifty gamblers were recognised, with +whose doleful history we were both familiar? Also, do +you not recollect his telling about their lynching him; +about the cords cutting his arms? Do you not recollect +when I talked about the Tucker, or flat-boat murder, he +told how they cut out the entrails, to prevent the body +from rising? Do you not recollect that you and myself +talked the same over at your house? You certainly cannot +forget. He told me so much, I can think of but little, +which I thought most essential to remember. I am will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>ing +to say nothing more about his case, until his execution; +if I am satisfied it will be beneficial to the community, +as well as Wyatt. But to retract one syllable, I +cannot, unless I find myself mistaken, in which case I +will make any acknowledgment necessary.</p> + +<p>You ask, or say, that, if I come back, something may +be done satisfactorily. I presume it can be done without +my coming. You can write to me at this city; I shall +remain here two weeks. I suppose the change of officers +has made some in relation to the confession, of which I +know nothing about, but there is no fabrication, as far as +I am concerned, and the fact of a newspaper quarrel between +you and I cannot fail to injure, or at least excite +the people more against him. You say you will be +forced into it. Do not be hasty. I do not fear any inconvenience +from any act of mine, but, of course, if you +contradict my statements, I have the same chance to support +them; and, perhaps, there are some facts, which, +when revealed, will make you better satisfied that the +confession you have of Wyatt is not more than one-fourth +true. His dates are almost every one incorrect. +His crimes are enlarged in some places, diminished in +others. You have the best right to his confessions, if he +alters it, and you have the most truthful history. I told +you when we parted, that I knew things relative to +Wyatt, which he would never tell you, with which you +should be benefited after the trial. They are in my possession, +and I will not reveal them until he has been tried, +unless it should be necessary to show the fact of his +(Wyatt's) horrible character.</p> + +<p>What has been said by me, cannot so far injure Wyatt, +unless it is perverted. But what I have said are facts, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>which I will not retract, and they are of that nature which +need no retractation. My memory is as good as yours. +I am striving to do right, the same as yourself, and will +contend that you are as liable to be mistaken as I am, +especially when I knew him in different circumstances. +I blame you not for doing every thing that is right to +make Wyatt as happy as he can be, under his present +circumstances, but be careful that you are right.</p> + +<p>I leave this matter for your consideration, believing +that you will do what is correct, so far as you are able. +You can rest assured, that I will do any thing in my +power to assist. You will find, however, that I am correct +in my statements. Write me, and your letter shall +have immediate attention.</p> + +<p><span class="i4">Yours, with respect,<br /></span> +<span class="i8">J. H. GREEN.</span></p> + + +<h4>No. 6.</h4> + +<p class="rightheader">From the Auburn Journal, July 30th.</p> + +<p class="rightheader">State Prison, Auburn, N.Y., July 25, 1845.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Oliphant</span>:—</p> + +<p><i>Sir</i>,—In justice to an unfortunate prisoner, now in +chains awaiting his trial at the next sitting of the court +in this place, I feel in duty bound to say to the public, +that whatever Wyatt's character or conduct may have +been, or however many murders he may have committed, +and may ultimately be revealed to the public through the +proper channels—yet all Mr. Green has said about Wyatt's +having confided to him, that he, with three others, +were whipped a thousand lashes at Vicksburg, which +had been the cause of seven murders, and that Gordon +was the seventh man that he (Wyatt) had killed, and that +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>he (Wyatt) positively killed the man at St. Louis, for +which an innocent man was hung—and that he (Wyatt) +said <i>he</i> killed Tucker in 1839, between Natchez and +New Orleans, is <i>untrue</i> to my <i>certain</i> knowledge.</p> + +<p>Mr. Green's visits were all made in my presence, while +Wyatt was confined in his cell, a room some four by seven +feet in size; hence, all that passed between them could +be distinctly heard and known by all three of us.</p> + +<p>I have no disposition to injure Mr. Green, but I should +do violence to every principle of justice and humanity, +were I to remain silent, and see a fellow-being tried for +his life in the midst of that prejudice which has already +condemned the criminal to a thousand deaths, by Mr. +Green's published declarations of Wyatt's own confessions +of bloody deeds and horrid murders, when, in reality, +the prisoner has made no such confessions to him, to my +certain knowledge.</p> + +<p>To avoid this unpleasant task, I addressed a private +note to Mr. Green, calling for a satisfactory explanation; +but, in his reply, he utterly refuses a single retraction, +and the only alternative left me is to let the prisoner suffer +this great injustice, or disabuse the public mind from the +wrong impressions made by fabrications of Mr. Green.</p> + +<p>I hope to be spared the disagreeable necessity of resorting +to the newspapers of the day to correct any further +improprieties of Mr. Green on this subject. If I am not, +I will give a specific catalogue of them in my next.</p> + +<p>All editors of newspapers, whether political or religious, +are requested to give the above an insertion in their columns, +as an act of justice to an injured man, and very +much oblige.</p> + +<p><span class="i4">Your obedient servant,<br /></span> +<span class="i8">O.E. MORRILL, <i>Chaplain.</i></span></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span></p> + +<h4>No. 7.</h4> + +<p class="rightheader">Toledo, August 5, 1845.</p> + +<p><i>To the Editor of the New York Tribune:</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear sir</span>,—I beg leave to introduce to your columns +the following article, written for the purpose of satisfying +the honest part of the community, that a letter written by +the Rev. O.E. Morrill, on the 25th of July last, is an +unprincipled misrepresentation of my purpose, in bringing +to light the horrid deeds of murder committed by +Wyatt, now in the Auburn State Prison.</p> + +<p>I visited Wyatt four times, in company with Mr. Morrill, +Chaplain of the Prison. The time I spent with him +in all these visits was about five hours, during which we +conversed about his former course of life. It is impossible +for me to state in one article all that he revealed to +me, but what I do remember, I published in my letters, +relative to my visits to the cell of Wyatt. The second +of these letters was dated April 7th, and the first about +the 1st of April. I read both these letters to the reverend +gentleman; the first before it went to press, and the +second as soon as published, we being at both times together, +with some officers of the institution, in the State +Prison office.</p> + +<p>I now call the attention of the reader to a letter, from +the reverend gentleman, to the editor of the New York +Tribune, of the date of April 7th, in which he speaks in +the highest terms of my conduct. The reader will notice +that this is after my first letter was published, and after +he had heard them both read, and after he knew that I +had given Wyatt's confessions, which he now, in his +letter of July 25th, declares to be nothing more than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> +"fabrications" of mine. If my statement of Wyatt's +confession were known to Mr. Morrill to be false, why +did he recommend me so highly in his letter of April 7th, +and why has he not contradicted me before this? The +reverend gentleman says, that he did not wish to injure +me, and so addressed me a private note. If I could be +so base as to put forth to the world such falsehoods as he +accuses me of, in regard to a fellow-being, so soon to be +launched into eternity, no fear of injury to me can excuse +the gentleman for his not exposing me immediately to +public scorn and detestation.</p> + +<p>When at Auburn, after my visits to the cell, I spoke +several times, in the presence of Mr. Morrill, and other +gentlemen, of Wyatt's confessions to me; and yet Mr. +Morrill, though present, never disputed one relation. I +also lectured some fifty times, within fifty miles of Auburn, +and, in nearly all, gave the same statements which +he now contradicts. Why has not Mr. Morrill published, +together with his contradiction, my reply to his note of +July 10th? If he had, the community would have seen +my reasons for not retracting my former statements.</p> + +<p>I am truly sorry to have any difficulty with the reverend +gentleman, on this subject or any other, but my duty +in regard to this malicious slander, (the motives of which +I am unable to fathom,) compels me to reply, and for no +other purpose than to satisfy the community, that I could +have no personal object in view, in casting a stigma upon +the character of this unfortunate convict, by any statement +he made to me, for I certainly could not be benefited +in any manner by publishing falsehoods in relation +to him.</p> + +<p>I repeat again to the world, and ever will, that the un<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>fortunate +Wyatt did to me confess all I stated he did, and +much more, which it is impossible for me to remember. +If he stated falsehoods to me, I am not responsible. He +told me that he was one of <i>four</i> that had received a thousand +lashes at Vicksburg, in July, 1835; and I knew a +young man, by the name of Henry North, to be about +Vicksburg, and to be in the employment of North, the +gambler, who was hung at Vicksburg, by the <i>lynchers</i>, +in July, 1835. Henry, though of the same name, was +not related to the other, as I understood. When I went +to the south in the fall of 1835, I inquired about the gamblers +of Vicksburg, and was told that Henry North, alias +Wyatt, or Newell, was, with four others, whipped, tarred +and feathered, hands bound, and set afloat, and the supposition +was that he, and the others with him, existed no +more. When Wyatt told me his real name, I was surprised +at beholding him. He told me that he had set fire +twice to Vicksburg, and once to Natchez, and that, during +the conflagration, he murdered <i>three</i> men. He told me +he killed Tucker in 1839. I talked with Mr. Morrill +before several officers of the prison, in regard to what +Wyatt said about cutting the entrails out of Tucker, and +the confession which Mr. Morrill now has from Wyatt +will show the main circumstances of this murder, perhaps +not giving Tucker's name, but he speaks about the flat-boat +murder, between Natchez and New Orleans, and I +claim it, in justice to me, that the reverend gentleman +should produce the confession Wyatt made, when he +speaks of "speculation on the Mississippi."</p> + +<p>I also call on Mr. Morrill, in justice to myself and the +public, to answer the following questions. 1st. Did not +Wyatt confess in his presence the murder of individuals +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>besides Tucker, on the Mississippi? 2d. Did he not say +he cut the entrails out to prevent their rising? 3d. Did +he not say he was tried at St. Louis under another name, +(I think it was North,) and did I not turn to Mr. Morrill, +and say, I knew some men had been tried at St. Louis, +but knew none of the parties; and did not Wyatt then +say that he was tried for murder at St. Louis, that he was +convicted on his first trial, but acquitted on a new trial, +and that an innocent man was hung? 4th. Did I not tell +Mr. Morrill, that Wyatt informed me that he had been a +convict in the Ohio Penitentiary; and does not Mr. Morrill +recollect that upon my third visit to Wyatt's cell, I +said to Wyatt, that it was reported he had been in the +Ohio Penitentiary, at which Wyatt frowned, and I +changed the tenor of my question by stating, that Gordon +said he (Wyatt) had been there, and that Wyatt laughed, +and said it was such d—d lies which occasioned Gordon's +death; and did not Mr. Morrill say to me, he knew many +of Wyatt's <i>misfortunes</i>, which he kept secret from the +agent of the prison; and will Mr. Merrill deny that when +we went into the office, after my last visit, that the clerk +again repeated that Wyatt had been in the Ohio Prison, +and did not I then decide with the clerk, the probability +of such being the fact, and did not Mr. Morrill still <i>insist</i> +that it was a false report?</p> + +<p><a name="conclusion" id="conclusion"></a></p> +<p>In conclusion I will say, that whatever may be the +reverend gentleman's intentions towards me, and in his +own behalf the motives for which I am not able to penetrate; +yet, although he brands my statements as false, +and although the cell was but four by seven feet in size, I +leave it to the community to decide, whether two men, who +can speak the "flash language," in which one word can +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>convey sentences, may not hold a conversation not easily +understood by a third person, ignorant of its meaning—and +can Mr. Morrill assert what meaning was conveyed +by such language between Wyatt and myself? if so, he +is the first man I ever knew that could interpret a language +or tongue he never studied. At least one-fourth +of the conversation between Wyatt and myself before +Mr. Morrill, was of this kind. I do not think Mr. Morrill +understood all he heard, yet the greater part of what +I published in my letters was spoken in plain English, +and Mr. Morrill, at the time, gave vent to his feelings +over the dreadful disclosures.</p> + +<p>I ask the papers of the day to publish this statement +in justice to both parties, as well as the public at large.</p> + +<p><span class="i8">J. H. GREEN.</span></p> + +<h4>No. 8.</h4> + +<p class="rightheader">Correspondence of the New York Tribune.</p> + +<p class="rightheader">Perrysburgh, Ohio, August 16, 1845.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. Greeley</i>,—I wish to introduce to the columns of +your valuable paper the following. Though it may seem +mysterious and out of date, it will be read with much interest +by many, and may have a tendency to cast a light upon one +of the most horrible murders ever committed in this or any +other Christian land. There is not one shade of doubt +remaining in my mind but that the murderers, as well as +their victim or victims, long before the date of this article, +might have been discovered, had there been sufficient +effort made. True, efforts have at last been made, and +the skeleton of one murdered victim found, and much +search made for the other. The particulars which led +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>to the but small effort which has already been made, are +collected from circumstances as follows:—As near as we +can learn, in September, 1844, a gentleman, by the name +of Stephens, from the state of New York, made his appearance +in Perrysburgh, remained in and near some +days, left, sometime after returned. About the time of +his departure from the second visit, he made known his +business, that he had kept secret until the time near his +departure. He then told that two men had been murdered, +and their bodies concealed in the woods about one-half +mile from the last turnpike gate, which is about four +miles from Perrysburgh. His statements corroborating +some previous signs of murder, induced the citizens to +turn out and scout the swamp in search, knowing as they +did that certain packages of clothes had been found in the +Maumee river by a fisherman, on the 17th April, 1844. +The clothes found were done up in parcels, coat, pantaloons, +and vest, with a stone tied round each, with strips +of handkerchiefs cut or torn for the purpose. Upon examination, +the clothes were cut in a way to show they +had been ripped off from the body. The pantaloon's legs +cut open; the coat cut open from the back and sleeves; +the vest also cut open from the back. The coat had +many cuts in the left sleeve, also a hole about the lower +button on the right side, which hole was in the pantaloons, +cutting the lower suspender in two. The vest had +several cuts in it, immediately back of the neck, through +the collar, and two knife holes. The vest is a figured +worsted piece of goods, of lilac colour, about half-worn. +The coat is a black cloth frock, or surtout, but little worn, +no velvet upon it, lined inside of the skirts with black +silk or serge, the sleeve lining twilled linen. Inside of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>the left sleeve is a mark of the merchant, which is one +cipher—nothing more. From the looks, I should have +taken the coat to have cost twenty dollars. The pantaloons +are rather of a blue colour, striped casinet, and +have never been worn much. The suspender, which +has been cut in two, is a common striped web. The two +handkerchiefs are figured silk, half-worn. When they +were found, it was evident they had not been long in the +water. I have a piece of each garment, and persons +who have missed any of their friends mysteriously perhaps +might find, upon examination, that which would +lead them to know their friend had suffered death from +the hands of a murderer. A sample of each I will keep +to exhibit through the country, hoping to solve the +mystery.</p> + +<p>Now for the mysterious visits of Mr. Stephens. About +his departure from the second visit, he disclosed certain +things, which I will give according to my information. +He said he had been informed by certain convicts, then +in the New York State Prison at Auburn, that they had +murdered two men in the said swamp, and had concealed +their bodies. One they had stripped; the other, left his +clothing upon him. They stated that the murdered men +were travelling in a buggy, and that they (the murderers) +stopped the buggy, presented their pistols, forced them +into the woods, where they shot one, and stabbed and +butchered the other. Not far from the same place, a hat +was found with a bullet-hole in it, but no sign was left +upon the body found which would indicate that he had +been brought to his death by a ball, which also goes farther +to prove the probability of the murder of two men. They +buried them, as they state, about one-half mile apart, strip +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>ping the clothes off from one, which they took along with +them in the buggy, and made their way to the Maumee river. +Not thinking it politic to cross at the toll-bridge, they +went up to the ford, near Fort Meigs, and found the river +not in a fording state. They tied stones to the clothes +and threw them in the river, where they were afterward +found, and crossed the bridge to the north side of the +river, went below Toledo, took the buggy to pieces, sank +it and the harness in the river, and took the horse out +back of Manhattan and killed it. In the early part of +the summer following two men were arrested near Geneseo, +New York, for committing burglary. Apprehension +of another attack almost forbids me giving their names, +while duty doubly nerves me to speak and let the public +know that <i>Wyatt</i>, alias Newell, or North, and Head, his +accomplice in the burglary at Geneseo, are the two murderers +who gave Mr. Stephens his information, and caused +his visit to ascertain the truth of such horrid deeds. +Other circumstances leave no doubt resting with the people +of this part that the same two men, Wyatt and Head, +murdered John Parish, of Hancock county, while attempting +to arrest them for horse-stealing. A small explanation +of this fact I will make. It will be remembered by +many that Wyatt attempted to make his escape from the +Auburn prison, and when Gordon, the man he afterward +murdered, told the keepers, he was searched, and upon +his person a letter was found, which letter contained no +names of men or places, nor was it directed; but from the +purport, it was evidently written for the purpose of sending +to Ohio, for it stated that he dare not venture back, as +the people would recognise him as the murderer of a certain +officer who had made an attempt to arrest him. The +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>reader will also recollect that Wyatt, under the name of +Newell, resided in Toledo in the commencement of 1844 +until April 1st, 1844, when he left Toledo, and was not +heard of until Mr. Stephens' revelation. I would say, in +conclusion, so far as this statement may have a tendency +to excite the citizens to their duties, relative to those mysterious +murders, that I hope those concerned in ferreting +out the particulars hereafter will not have a malignant +feeling for any stranger who may come among them to +assist, not for honour or profit, as, undoubtedly, so far as +this mysterious affair is concerned, some of the principal +workers have made the two latter-mentioned their object. +I believe this, so far, to be the most correct account of +those mysterious murders, and if it is thought by any +concerned that a more able report can be given, come out +and do your duty.</p> + +<p><span class="i8">J. H. GREEN.</span></p> + + +<p>This article is introduced for several purposes—all of +which we consider of importance to substantiate the facts +we have laid before them. Those murders, near Perrysburgh, +were committed by Wyatt and Head, his colleague, +who is now in the State Prison at Auburn, New York. +After the controversy had taken place, I availed myself +of the opportunity to search into facts concerning Wyatt, +and found, in addition to those set forth in the preceding +letter, the following:—Wyatt, alias Robert Henry North, +was hired as a stage-driver near Chillicothe, Ohio, in the +latter part of 1838, but decamped in a short time afterwards +with a horse belonging to another man, and made +his way to Portsmouth, Ohio; where he was taken and +carried back to Chillicothe, tried, and convicted to serve +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>three years in the Ohio Penitentiary. In 1841 he was +released. He then left for Missouri, where he again got +into difficulty, which detained him until 1843. He told +me he was tried for his life in St. Louis, convicted, got a +new trial, and was acquitted. If he was, it was under a +different name from any above mentioned, and the murder +he was tried for must have been Major Floyd. But I do +not believe he was one of those tried, and acquitted, as he +professed to be. He then made his way across the country +to Louisville, Kentucky. From there to a town called +Mount Gilead, in Ashland county, Ohio, where he went +to work at the business of tailoring, a trade he had learned +in the Ohio State Prison. In a short time after he arrived +there, he married a very respectable lady, with +whom, for the short period they lived together, he led a +very disagreeable life. In the latter part of 1843, or the +beginning of 1844, he left for Toledo, Ohio, where he +hired out, and lived up to the time spoken of in the preceding +letter, and where he committed the crimes referred +to in the same. After which, he made his escape to the +state of New York, in company with the notorious villain, +Head, where they committed a burglary, and were sentenced +to the Auburn State Prison from Geneseo. +When Wyatt arrived at the penitentiary, he was recognised +by an old companion who had served in the Ohio +Penitentiary, by the name of Gordon. Gordon gave information +to the keepers, of Wyatt's having served a time +in the penitentiary in Ohio. Wyatt became enraged, +and despairing of any chance of a pardon, being sentenced, +I think, for fourteen years, he tried to effect his escape, +but was detected and severely punished. He then swore +vengeance against Gordon, whose time was nearly ex<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>pired; +and on Saturday, the 15th of March, 1845, he +secreted about his person one-half of a pair of shears, +given him to work with in the tailor's shop, which he +reserved until the next day, (Sabbath, the 16th,) and as +the prisoners were marching to their cells from their dinners, +stabbed Gordon in the right side, immediately below +the ribs. The instrument passed towards his spine, +through one of the main arteries, killing him almost instantly, +and for this last deed he was hanged.</p> + +<p>Finally, let me say to those who may be anxious to +know more of the history of this unfortunate man, and of +his crimes, that I have looked with great anxiety for the +third letter, spoken of in my second to the Christian Advocate +and Journal. That the mystery of their not appearing +has been no fault of mine. I wrote four letters, +and but two appeared. Whether they were detained by +the false and garbled statements which have been set +forth by the Rev. O.E. Morrill, or whether they have +ever been received, I am unable to say. However, I +have written twice to Dr. Bond, and, as yet, I have not +been able to learn by what authority they have been detained. +But should I have them returned, the public +may be welcome to them for their worth.</p> + +<p>Since the execution, we learned from those present, +that Wyatt was taken from his cell, faint from the loss of +blood he had shed a few days before, in his attempt to +commit suicide. When seated in his chair, under the +gallows, he made remarks like the following: "I have +lived like a man, I will die like a man. I am not afraid +to die. I am about to enter eternity, and appear before +my God. My conduct has been misrepresented—men +have sworn falsely against me—I cannot and will not +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>forgive them—I am not the man I have been represented +to be—I did not commit the murder charged upon me in +Ohio. I am thankful to the sheriff and his family for +their kindness." He manifested no religious penitence to +the last. He died an unbeliever.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>In conclusion, I would say to those who have perused +this work, so full of strange and startling incidents, let not +their mysterious and dark character cause you to doubt +of their truth. Recollect that there are strange events in +the life of every man, many of which he cannot fathom; +and were the whole circumstances of your own life disclosed, +it is not impossible that many of them would exceed +belief. Horrible as is the picture of depravity here +exhibited, the half has not been told, nor would I reveal +one iota more than I deemed necessary to awaken the +public attention to a sense of their danger, and a corresponding +sense of their duty. Reader, you may be standing +upon the edge of a precipice, though you know it +not. Fathers, your sons may frequent these haunts of +vice, and be entangled in the snares of the destroyer. +Wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, lend us your aid to +save those you love from destruction. You need not be +ignorant, that around you are hundreds of individuals +who live in affluence upon the spoils of their industry. +It is not gamblers that support gaming. If the merchant, +and lawyer, and tradesman, and the man of fortune +did not supply them with the material, their profession +would die. In all my works I have shown how gambling +lends to, and is connected with, all other crimes; +and I beseech you, as you love your families, yourselves, +and our common country, that you lend your aid and in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>fluence +to abate this evil. This vast conspiracy against +your lives and fortunes, which I have here developed, is +no chimera. Its workings are everywhere felt, though +the machinery is unseen. I have no object but your good +in making this disclosure; and should it meet the eye, +as I have no doubt it will, of some one not a stranger to +its crimes, I beseech him to consider his ways. Why +should he live a curse to the earth—a destroyer of his +kind—a blot upon creation—a dishonour to his Maker? +Heaven and earth are equally ready to receive the returning +prodigal. The only danger—the only disgrace is to +continue where you are. In behalf of our Maker, in behalf +of humanity, in behalf of all that is noble and virtuous, +I beseech you to <span class="smcap">turn</span>, <i>why will ye die</i>?</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="DEBATE_ON_GAMBLING" id="DEBATE_ON_GAMBLING"></a>DEBATE ON GAMBLING,<br /> +<br /> +<span style="font-size: small;">BETWEEN</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap" style="font-size: 80%;">Mr. Freeman the avowed gambler, and Mr. Green, +the reformed gambler; before the citizens of +Philadelphia, in the Lecture-room of the Chinese +Museum, on the Evenings of the 10th, 13th, and +15th of May, 1847.</span></h2> + +<p><i>Mr. Freeman's challenge, and Mr. Green's acceptance, +as published in the papers of the city of Philadelphia</i>.</p> + +<p class="center">From the Inquirer.</p> + +<p>It is well known that Mr. Green, the Reformed Gambler, +gave a Lecture at the Museum on Monday night last, in +which he exposed the arts and devices of the Gambling +Fraternity of the Union. His audience was quite large, +and his illustrations were listened to with no little interest. +It seems from the following article, which we copy +from the Sun of yesterday, that a professional Gambler was +present. His Card or Challenge is quite a curiosity:</p> + +<p>Mr. Editor:—Having attended the Lecture of J. H. +Green, last evening, at the Chinese Museum, on the +popular vice of Gambling, and differing from him in each +and in every view which he took, and which he is in the +habit of taking upon that subject, I beg leave respectfully +to say to him through the medium of your columns, that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> +I have made up my mind to confront him in debate, in +regard to the right and wrong of the subject in question. +I say, I am willing so to do, provided it meets his views, +and those of the community. If he, and those who admire +his theory, are the friends of truth, surely they will +not shrink from investigation?—and if I cannot sustain +myself in debate, why, his triumph will add strength to +his cause.</p> + +<p>With regard to <i>who</i> I am, I will say in a single word +that I am a professional Gambler. I shall set out, if we +meet, to prove to the audience, among other things, that +in his illustrations of the cheatery which he says the +gambler practices upon his victim, he is actually at that +very moment practising a palpable cheat upon the very +audience which he is proposing to enlighten. As regards +any profits that may arise from such a meeting, I +want none, although perhaps as needy as Mr. Green.</p> + +<p>As regards experience in debate, Mr. G. has decidedly +the advantage of me in that respect. I have had the honour +of addressing public audiences four times in my +whole life, and but four—two of these were in favour of +Old Tip, in 1840, and the other two upon the subject +of temperance. I am well aware that there are many +persons who would look upon it as a sort of inconsistency +that a man, occupying my position, should be the honest +advocate of temperance—but they so reason because they +are uninformed in regard to the higher order of gambling!</p> + +<p>Should Mr. Green accede to my proposition, he only +has to name his time and place—or if he prefers to +have a personal interview, he can do so. I am willing +to wait on him at his boarding-house, but would like to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>have at least one respectable person present to hear all that +passes between us.</p> + +<p><span class="i8">J.G. FREEMAN.</span></p> + +<p>N.B.—I am a native of South Carolina; I am known +from Virginia to Orleans. Mr. Green I have seen in +that city, and he no doubt recollects me, though I never +had any intimacy with him.</p> + +<p>We publish below another communication from Mr. +Freeman, in which he announces that Mr. Green has accepted +his challenge to debate, and lays down his points +for argument. We are glad of this, and have no doubt +the public will share in our curiosity to know what kind of +a defence can be made by a gambler, even so <i>polished</i> as +Mr. Freeman, for a vice fitly characterized by Mr. Green +as "fifty per cent. worse than stealing." Expectation is +on tiptoe.</p> + +<p class="center">Communicated for the Sun.</p> + +<p>Mr. <span class="smcap">Editor</span>—I return to you my sincere thanks for +having kindly published my letter to Mr. J. H. Green, +the reformed gambler; and beg leave now to state to you, +that I have had an interview with him, and that he fully +consents to go into the debate. It now devolves upon me, +since I have assumed the character of <i>plaintiff</i> in the action, +to define minutely the exact points to be discussed.</p> + +<p>The first position, then, that I shall assume, is that all +those states in this Union that have enacted very severe +laws against gambling, such as making it a penitentiary +offence, &c., have acted both tyrannically and unwisely—<i>tyrannically</i>, +because they are an infringement upon +those sacred reserved rights that never were yielded in +what law commentators call the "social compact"—and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> +<i>unwise</i>, because their tendency is to generate immorality +rather than stop it.</p> + +<p>The second ground that I shall take, is that the character +of that class of beings called "gamblers" is less +understood by the community at large, and especially by +that portion of it that have had no intercourse with them, +than any class of men in the world. That it has ever +been the misfortune of the gambler to be misrepresented, +not only of late by Mr. Green, but generally by those that +have attempted to portray his character in the prints.</p> + +<p>I shall undertake to show him up in his true character, +making it neither better nor worse than it really is—"<i>Let +justice be done if the heavens fall.</i>"</p> + +<p>In the third place, I shall propose to prove beyond question, +that cheating at cards is decidedly the most unfortunate +thing for the cause of gambling and gamblers, that +possibly could exist. And on the other hand, that it is +the very saviour of that portion of mankind who have a +sneaking fondness for play.</p> + +<p>In the fourth place, I will attempt to prove that those +tricks that Mr. Green is in the habit of illustrating with +cards, are entirely worthless; that they can <i>not</i> be reduced +to practice; that if they can, it must be on persons +wholly destitute of common sense; that an opinion +that he can tell any cards by the back, is entirely untrue; +that neither he nor any other man can do any such thing, +unless the cards have been marked either by himself or +some other person.</p> + +<p>In the course of those proceedings, I shall take upon +myself, for the benefit of the young and inexperienced who +may be present, to make such developments as will be +of lasting importance to them in their sojourn through this +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>mazy world; for, as Mr. Calhoun once said of the Constitution +of the United States, if there be any one man +that loves innocent youth better than all others, I claim to +be that man. To seduce one into <i>any</i> vicious habit when +uncontaminated, is a thing I would <i>scorn</i> to do. And the +pleasure which I feel, when I reflect upon it, of having +actually saved some half dozen from ruin, is to me unspeakable. +But for this I know I am never to be credited; +for Mr. Green has informed us that the gambler is <i>hardened</i>, +for he never goes to church, and if you reach him +at all it must be with a penitentiary act.</p> + +<p>But, pardon me, Messrs. Editors, this is not the time +nor the place for the argument.</p> + +<p><span class="i4">Yours, respectfully,<br /></span> +<span class="smcap i8">J.G. Freeman.</span></p> + +<p>Mr. Green says he will inform me on to-morrow when +it will suit to have the meeting.</p> + +<p>Mr. Green, it will be seen by the following letter, has +consented to meet his challenger in debate on the subject +of gambling. We are glad of this, inasmuch as Mr. +Freeman is said to be quite an intelligent gentleman, and +stands at the head of his <i>profession</i>. The discussion, +if conducted in a proper spirit, will be attended by good +results.—<span class="smcap">ed</span>.</p> + +<p class="center">For the Daily Sun.</p> + +<p class="rightheader">Philadelphia, April 29, 1847.</p> + + +<p><i>Messrs. Barrett & Jones</i>:—In the "Sun" of the 28th +and 29th inst. are two communications, over the signature +of J.G. Freeman, proposing to controvert my positions +relative to the gamblers, and challenging me to a public +discussion.</p> + +<p>This individual called upon me after the publication +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>of his first letter, and seemed to be honest in his intentions +to defend his system of untold enormities. If the +public, therefore, can be benefited, and my reformatory +purpose in this particular promoted, as I suspect it will, +I would rather court than avoid such an interview.</p> + +<p>I have long wished for, but certainly never expected +such a discussion.</p> + +<p>I see the shoe begins to pinch. I am glad to perceive +that those for whom it was made are beginning to feel +and cry aloud. Just as I anticipated, the <i>law</i> seems to be +the part which binds most. Men who are most without +conscience are generally most restive in view of a threatening +penitentiary.</p> + +<p>I will accept the challenge to meet him on the several +points proposed in his communications. Indeed I am +happy that he has chosen his own grounds; for the best +which such opposition could select is likely in all conscience +to be bad enough.</p> + +<p>Suffer me therefore to say to your correspondent that I +intend lecturing on the evenings of the 10th, 13th, and +15th of the coming month, (May,) at the Lecture-room of +the Chinese Museum, on George street; at which times I +will be very happy if he will attend and defend such positions +as are assumed in the two communications alluded to.</p> + +<p>I shall require, however, that a committee of gentlemen +be chosen to control the discussion.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap i8">J. H. Green.</span></p> + + +<p>The Lecture-room of the Museum will, we think, be +found much too small to accommodate the audience, who +desire to be present on these interesting occasions. +Would it not be better to take the upper part of the Museum +building? It would certainly be filled.—<span class="smcap">ed</span>.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p> + +<p>Messrs. Editors:—There is a feature in Mr. Green's +acceptance to my challenge to meet him in debate upon +the subject of gambling, with which I frankly confess I am +not at all pleased. Upon looking over it, you will discover +that he uses the following language: "Suffer me, +therefore, to say to your correspondent, that I intend lecturing +on the evenings of the 10th, 13th, and 15th of the +coming month, (May,) at the lecture-room of the Chinese +Museum, on George street; at which time I will be very +happy if he will attend and defend such positions as are +assumed in the two communications alluded to." Now, +I should like to know Mr. Green's motive for calling a +<i>debate</i> a <i>lecture</i>? Why not call things by their right +names?</p> + +<p>You will, therefore, Messrs. Editors, be pleased to inform +your correspondent, Mr. Green, that I cordially consent +to meet him at the time and place designated by +him, for the purpose of <i>debating</i> the gambling question; +and the cash which may be taken at the door to be +divided between us, if any, after all the expenses are +paid, or to be disposed of in such a manner as the committee +may deem just and proper. 'Tis true, I did say +in my first communication that I did not care to have any +of the money, and I so felt and so thought at that time; +but since, I have employed some reflection upon the subject, +and, like some of our modern politicians, I have +<i>changed</i>. 'Tis true that money is no part of the motive, +but then, as Mr. Polk once expressed himself in regard +to the tariff and protection, I am willing that it should +come in <i>incidentally</i>.</p> + +<p>Now, it falls to my lot to know much more of the history +of Mr. Green than any of those who know it only +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>from his own statements and publications. About four +or five years ago, in the city of New York, I became acquainted +with a gentleman by the name of Ball, a dealer +in ivory; this Mr. B. exhibited a large quantity of Mr. +Green's cheating cards, and said that Mr. Green was +largely in his debt, and that his only way to make the +debt was to sell those cards, and asked me to buy. He +then took me into another room and exhibited to me some +very costly machinery, and certainly the strangest I had +ever seen;—it had been invented by Mr. Green to put a +sign on white-back cards, so as to know them by the +backs. He also showed me other stamps invented by +Mr. Green. Now the consummation of this work had +cost Mr. Green not only much valuable time, but all the +money he could possibly borrow; but, after all, the thing +ends in disaster—the cards don't sell. Desperation seizes +upon him. Like Arnold, he now throws his eye over to +the other camp, and thinks what might be done in the +way of a reward. He consoles himself with the reflection +that he will, at least, be upon the side of virtue: "I will +tell the public that my only motive is to benefit the rising +generation, (a profitable thought with Mr. Green, 'the +rising generation'); but in order to begin right, I will +publish to the world a full history of my life, in which it +will devolve upon me to make a confession of my sins. +All, I will disclose to the world; but as to that ponderous +machinery at Mr. Ball's in New York—I rather +think I will skip that."</p> + +<p>Now when poverty pinched the prodigal son, as it did +Mr. Green in New York, what was the language of that +truly penitent. Alluding to his old father, he says: "I +will go and tell <i>all</i> I ever done, &c." But when Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> +Green resolves to put on a mask of penitence, what is his +course? I will go and tell those good ministers of the +gospel, and others, <i>half</i> I ever done, &c., and then take +good care to run my hand as deep into their purses as +possible.</p> + +<p>Now in Mr. Green's crusade against gambling and +gamblers, if he had shown signs of purity of motive, and +had not wantonly and knowingly misrepresented the men, +and disguised the facts in regard to the profession, I would +be the last man living to impugn him. But the motive, +I consider, was <i>corrupt</i>—'twas spoils;—and in the mode +of attack, the established principle in morals has <i>not</i> been +regarded, which is, that the means in the accomplishment +of any public good must always be as honest as the +ends; and for these reasons I do feel sanguine in the belief, +when the trial comes off at the Chinese Museum +next week, that if I do not get the verdict, I shall do +more—I shall deserve it.</p> + +<p><span class="i4">Yours, &c.<br /></span> +<span class="smcap i8">J.G. Freeman.</span></p> + + +<p>N.B.—If the gentlemen, editors generally, of this +city, will give the above communication a place in their +columns, with such comments as they may think fit to +make, they will confer a favour upon one of the proscribed, +but one who suffers no man to stand in front of him as a +lover of truth.</p> + +<p><span class="i8">J.G.F.</span></p> + + +<p class="center">Communicated for the Sun.</p> + +<p><i>Messrs. Barrett & Jones</i>:—I had supposed that my +consent to Mr. Freeman's request to be heard in defence +of his fraternity, had fixed that issue. I did not intend +by the announcement of my lecturing on the evenings +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>alluded to by Mr. F., that they were to be any thing more +than a fair discussion of the character and tendencies of +gambling, if Mr. F. should think proper to participate. +I wish it now to be so understood. I want a committee +of gentlemen to arrange this matter. But why Mr. F. +should suppose that he should have half the proceeds of +the meeting, I am unable to conjecture. He seeks an +opportunity to defend his business against attacks which +it seems has excited no small share of alarm on his part, +or those whom he represents, and yet he demands remuneration! +The fraternity must be in a rather forlorn condition +at present, if they are unable to pay their attorney, +in so philanthropic a cause. When we consider the +source, this demand sits with ill grace upon such a champion. +I have laboured now for four years, having commenced +my reform without a dollar, to expose this damnable +vice. If I am not supported by the public which +my labours are designed to benefit, those labours must necessarily +cease.</p> + +<p>Were Mr. F. similarly engaged, I would share with +him not only the profits of my meetings, but my heart's +best feelings also.</p> + +<p>I shall be very happy if I am met, as I was led to believe, +am no speaker, but somewhat skilful with cards, <i>and their</i> +use by me before an intelligent audience is my argument; +I want no better for my purpose.</p> + +<p><span class="i8">J. H. GREEN.</span></p> + + +<p>Messrs. Editors:—It appears from Mr. Green's last +communication that he and I are at issue in regard to the +preliminary arrangements of the debate that is to come +off next week, upon the gambling question. He thinks +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>that he ought to have all the proceeds of the meeting; +and I think it should be equally divided, or else given +to some charitable institution, or else have it free. Mr. +Green's argument for supposing that he should have <i>all</i>, +is, that because he has been labouring four years, he +ought to be rewarded: and in rather a threatening tone +gives the public to understand that if they do not reward +him he will quit. "If I am not," he says, "supported +by the public, which my labours are designed to benefit, +those labours must necessarily cease." Now, <i>my</i> +argument for supposing that the proceeds should be +equally divided is, that I claim to be the <i>real</i> reformer; +that it will be seen by those who may attend the discussion, +that it is <i>I</i> that am the true moralist—I shall go +with the New Testament in one hand, and Dr. Paley's +Moral Philosophy in the other, and upon that battery, +and no other, will I plant my artillery. He that is <i>green</i> +enough to suppose that I am green-<i>horn</i> enough to get up +before a large audience, in the enlightened city of Philadelphia, +to defend an absurdity, must be verdant indeed +I go not to defend gamblers, but to defend truth, and to +show that Mr. Green, like a corrupt witness, in his eagerness +to procure a verdict for his party, goes beyond the +facts; and that too when there is no necessity for it, +for the gambler has real sins enough without heaping +others upon him which he never committed. Now then, +to end all this difficulty at a blow, I make to Mr. Green +the proposition—That the honourable Mayor of the city, +if he will do it, be the person to appoint the committee +that is to conduct the debate, and to the decision of the +committee, as to the funds, will I cordially submit, but +not to Mr. <i>Green's ipse dixit</i>. And here I will further +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>suggest, that the committee be composed wholly of lawyers. +This will be proper, because it is a question of law +that is to be discussed; and further, it is presumed that +they understand better than any other class of men what +is called parliamentary usage.</p> + +<p>Should this proposition not be acceded to, which I +<i>know</i> is fair, my course will be to debate the question on +"my own hook," and in that case take all the money and +give Mr. Green not a dollar of it, but invite him to come +to <i>my</i> quarters, and defend himself, for I shall certainly +be down upon him—and so let him go to his house the +next night and take what may be offered at his door, +and allow me to answer him in what he may have to +say.</p> + +<p>When Mr. Green, in his acceptance of my challenge, +<i>would</i> call the debate a <i>lecture</i>, I saw that old habits, +that of cheating, had not yet left him. Why it looks as +though he has the unblushing impudence to attempt to +turn a Jack from the bottom, upon me, in the very blaze +of day, the very first deal; but the gentleman ought to +know that he is now in contact with one who knows how +little things are done. Yes, he would have it that the +<i>debate</i> was a lecture, and <i>Mr. Green's</i> lecture, not mine, +and why? Why because if it be his lecture, all the +cash would, as a matter of course, be his. Also, is this +not, I ask, the trick of a perfect black-leg?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap i8">J.G. Freeman.</span></p> + +<p class="center">First Night, from the Times.</p> + +<p>On Monday evening, at the Lecture-room of the Chinese +Museum, the debate between Mr. Green, the Reformed +gambler, and Mr. J.G. Freeman of the opposite side +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>took place, in the presence of a very large and highly respectable +audience, partly composed of ladies.</p> + +<p>Dr. Elder, at the appointed time, announced that the +disputants were upon the ground, and prepared to enter +into the discussion of the subject of gambling. He then +introduced Mr. Freeman to the meeting.</p> + +<p>Mr. F. said his antagonist and himself had settled the +preliminaries, and in regard to the proceeds of the debates, +it had been agreed that Mr. Green should receive +those of the two first meetings, and that Mr. Freeman +should receive the returns of the third meeting, provided, +on motion, a large majority of those present were in favour +of it.</p> + +<p>He would not attempt to disguise his real feelings from +his hearers, and the gratification he experienced in having +the opportunity of speaking, for once in his life, to +an audience composed of men of intelligence and integrity. +He well knew the difficulties under which he +laboured, being unused to speaking in public, and surrounded +as he was in the community by the reverend +gentlemen and the press, who were avowedly opposed to +him, and who had thrown their bomb-shells and Congreve +rockets liberally at the gambling fraternity, without +mercy, but he regarded these weapons as harmless, for +they had fallen at his feet without inflicting a single +wound.</p> + +<p>Mr. F. then turned to the consideration of the laws +making gambling a penal offence, and particularly referred +to the act of Assembly passed by the last legislature, +which he denounced as unjust and impolitic. He +did not appear for the purpose of defending gambling, +but to speak a word in favour of those who had been re<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>presented +to be the worst members of society, and against +whom the voice of proscription had been raised. He +contended that a man had a constitutional right to do +what he pleased with that which was legally his own +property, and all laws passed to abridge that right ought +to receive public reprehension.</p> + +<p>He was at a loss to understand why Mr. Green should +have taken so active a part in the passage of the law at +Harrisburg. It had been said that gambling must be +checked, and in order to put it down, you must make it +a penitentiary offence. He regarded this as an egregious +error. Gambling, he was convinced, ought to be treated +in the same manner as Intemperance—by moral suasion—and +not by passing a law that puts a man in the penitentiary +for exercising a legal right. But there were +fewer gamblers than drunkards, and the former had no +influence at the ballot-box.</p> + +<p>He denied the statements of Mr. Green, that young +men had been enticed to gambling-houses. They invariably +went there of their own accord, and he related instances +in which the relatives and friends of young men +were called upon by gamblers, to exercise proper authority +in restraining them from visiting such places.</p> + +<p>He alluded to the excessive penalty attached to the +law, and argued that it would never be enforced, there +being no inducement for the police to detect the offenders; +and that from the face of the law is shown, that it +was not made for the punishment of wealthy gamblers, +but the poor itinerant wretches who had no local habitation. +These being birds of passage, he questioned whether +they would remain long enough in one place to be caught, +while the rich operator and speculator would be permitted +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>to go on unmolested, in his gilded career of depredations +upon his fellow man.</p> + +<p>Mr. Green then arose and expressed his surprise that +any individual could have the effrontery to stand up before +an intelligent body of citizens, a part of that constituency, +from whom the legislature of the state had derived +its authority, and denounce a law which had not +only been passed with entire unanimity of the members +of that body, but which had met with general favour from +the people. He then referred to the act of Assembly, and +made some explanatory remarks upon it. He ably defended +the law from the remarks of his opponent, in regard +to its vagueness and insufficiency. On the whole, +he regarded it as a good one. It could be effectively put +in force, and was calculated to crush the evil of gambling.</p> + +<p>He said he had no wish to conceal from the people +his former habits and mode of getting a livelihood, but on +the contrary, had repeatedly, in public, represented himself +as being a wary gambler, and acknowledged that he +had done, perhaps, as much with cards in a professional +way as any man claiming the same amount of information +in regard to them.</p> + +<p>He then passed to a review of the terrible consequences +of gambling, and showed that those who became addicted +to it, acquired a passion for play, that predominated over +every other feeling, and closed up the springs of affection +and sympathy in the human heart.</p> + +<p>These facts he forcibly and eloquently illustrated by +relating some painful occurrence, which came under his +observation. On one occasion he was playing with a +party, one of whom was losing his money very rapidly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> +In the height of a game, his family physician entered the +room, and saying that it was with much difficulty that he +found his whereabouts, informed him that his daughter +had been seized with extreme illness. The gambler replied, +that he would return to his home very soon.</p> + +<p>The doctor left, but not long after returned with the +gambler's wife, who implored him to come home, as the +girl was dying. He desired the doctor to lead his wife +from the room, with the solemn promise to follow them; +which promise he seemed to have forgotten the next instant, +so deeply was he interested in the play, and he remained +at the gaming-table. In a little while after, the +doctor returned and told him his daughter was dead. +For the moment, he appeared to be greatly affected, but +he still sat at the faro table of that h—l, and when he +arose from it he was a ruined man.</p> + +<p>The man has since reformed, and Mr. Green said that +when he last saw him, in Baltimore, he attempted to describe +the feelings which rent his breast, after he had realized +the sad events of that night. His first desire was to +commit suicide, but the hand of Providence stayed his +arm, and by His interposition he was enabled to turn +from the vice, and shun the society of those who practise +it.</p> + +<p>Mr. Green re-asserted that all he had stated about plans +being laid to catch the unwary, by gamblers, was strictly +true. He had been cognisant of plottings of the fraternity, +and in speaking of some individual who was about +to be plucked, the common expression among them was, +"that he was not ripe yet." The remarks of Mr +Green were listened to with great attention by the audience.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. Freeman followed, and after briefly replying to +the points of the previous speaker, said that it was his +intention, at the next meeting, to prove that all species +of speculation is, properly speaking, gambling.</p> + +<p>The Rev. John Chambers concluded. He confessed +his disappointment. He expected to find a man here +who would attempt to defend gambling, but he congratulated +the audience that no such thing had been attempted, +Mr. Freeman having acknowledged gambling to be +an evil.</p> + +<p>The Reverend gentleman's remarks were of a general +character, and in the course of their delivery he upheld +the law of the state, and unsparingly denounced those +for whose detection and punishment it was passed.</p> + +<p class="center">First Night, from the Saturday Evening Post.</p> + +<p>The discussion on gambling, between Mr. Green the +Reformed gambler, and Mr. Freeman, of the "Profession," +which has been looked forward to with so much +interest, opened upon Monday evening. The audience +generally, however, were rather disappointed, inasmuch +as Mr. Freeman stated that he did not come there to defend +gambling, but only to prove the folly and injustice +of attempting to put it down by making its practice, <i>by +professional gamblers</i>, an offence punishable by imprisonment +in the penitentiary. But although Mr. Freeman +made this avowal, he evidently did attempt in various +parts of the discussion to defend gambling—not, however, +as a thing good in itself, but as being no worse than +many other practices which society tolerates, and which +no man loses his reputation, or is in danger of imprisonment, +for engaging in.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span></p> + +<p>We have no scruple in confessing, that we were much +interested in Mr. Freeman. He appears to be one of a +singular class of men, some one of whom may be found +in nearly every pursuit, however dishonourable—men +of keen and subtle minds, and of as much goodness and +honesty of purpose as is possible in the life which they +have chosen, or into which perhaps they have been in a +degree forced. In the course of his remarks, he made +one allusion to his own history, which while it told as +much as any thing that was said in the course of the debate +against gambling, opened unto us, in a degree, the +secret of his present position. He said that when he was +a young man, he had lost his all at the gaming table, and +that from that blow he had never recovered—"<i>it had +broken his heart</i>." And yet, strange anomaly, he now +not only makes his living by gambling, but stands up +before the world as its defender.</p> + +<p>But let us look a little further into Mr. Freeman's arguments. +He did not state them very plainly, being evidently +unaccustomed to public speaking, and, as the +English say, to "thinking on his legs," but if we are not +mistaken, he reasons to his own heart as follows. Gambling +in cards is not right <i>abstractly</i>, but it is the same +in principle as gambling in stocks, in breadstuffs, in +merchandise, in land, or in any thing else. None of +these are right, but they are necessary fruits of the folly +and wickedness of men, and inevitable in the present +condition of society. "I make my living, I know," he +probably says, "from the weakness and wickedness of +my fellow men; but so do the physician, the judge, the +lawyer, the jailer, and the hangman." If we are not +mistaken, in this way does Mr. Freeman make out a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>clear case to his own conscience; and to some small extent +he is right in what he asserts. To gamble with +cards is the same principle as to gamble with stocks, or +any thing else—the difference is only one of degree; +but although the gambler and the judge both live, in a +certain sense, off of the vices of their fellow men, the difference +is very evident between him whose business conduces +to increase those vices, and his whose noble office +it is to lessen them.</p> + +<p>But Mr. Freeman complains that, while the gambler +with cards is proscribed by society, and branded with all +marks of shame, and laws passed to imprison him if found +practising his art, the gambler in stocks is neither reviled +nor imprisoned. At the rank injustice, as he, in our +opinion, honestly believes it, of this course on the part +of society, he can hardly contain his indignation. Those +"uncouth gestures," as one of our contemporaries designates +them, were not in our opinion intended for effect, +but were the natural language of uncontrollable indignation +at what he believes to be the rank in justice of society, +which he could not adequately express in words. The +audience laughed, but the speaker was far from laughing—a +perfect tempest of conflicting emotions, it seemed +to us, was agitating his bosom. Strange as it may sound +to our readers, he evidently thought that his cause was +just, and wanted to make it appear so, not to the gamblers +and their friends, hundreds of whom were present, and +ready at any moment with their applause, but to the +crowd of intelligent, virtuous men and women, in whose +audience he stood. We saw the breaking out of this +feeling in the half-contemptuous manner in which he +alluded to the tastes of gamblers in general, as contrasted +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span>with his own—"he did not keep the company of gamblers; +he had nothing to say against them, but his tastes +were different."</p> + +<p>But is it unjust to punish the gambler with cards by +imprisonment and public proscription, while the gambler +in stocks, &c., whose crime is the same in principle, +though not in degree, goes unwhipt of justice? Undoubtedly +it is, for it is no reason that one vice should go +unpunished, because another is able to escape for the +present. Mr. Freeman's argument is very good, so far +as it applies to inflicting upon the gambler in stocks the +same penalty as on himself; but the law of Progress, and +the best interests of society, demand that these things +should never be allowed to work backwards. For the +way society advances, is simply this—the worst manifestations +of vice are first proscribed, and then their proscription +is made a stepping-stone to demolish others. +For instance—we attack gambling with cards, the worst +manifestation of the gambling principle; we make it abhorrent +to the moral sense of the world; we so confound +it, and justly too, with robbery, that future generations +shall grow up in that faith, and all the efforts of interested +sophistry never be able henceforward to separate them to +the popular apprehension. Having done this, in the +course of some fifty or one hundred years, certain dealings +in stocks, for instance, are called in question. If they +can be proved to be rightly described by the phrase +"<span class="smcap">Gambling</span> in Stocks," the battle is half-won. For the +proscription of the worst kind of gambling has given a +vantage ground from which to attack the principle of +gambling wherever found. And this, we say, is the +only law of progress.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p> + +<p>Another ground taken by Mr. Freeman was, that "a +man has a right to do what he chooses with his own, +if in so doing he does not injure anybody else." In a +limited sense, this is true, doubtless—but he does injure +somebody else if he fails to perform his duties to his +family or to his country. For instance, he has no right to +commit suicide. But gambling cannot be done without +injuring somebody else, as it takes two to play at it—leaving +out of view the injury done to society at large, as +Mr. Green has shown in his various works on the subject. +But there is no necessity in dwelling upon this +point—it cannot be defended for a moment.</p> + +<p>As to Mr. Green's part in the discussion, it is not necessary +to say much. He has our confidence and sympathy. +We consider his present course a most noble +one, and wish him all success in his efforts to overthrow +the abominable vice from whose clutches he has come +forth a reformed man.</p> + +<p>We have taken up considerable room with this subject, +because we feel great interest in both parties engaged +in the discussion. Did Mr. Freeman appear to +be only a bold, bad man, we should hardly have wasted +a single paragraph upon him or his arguments. But he +is evidently a man of considerable information and talent, +and to all appearance, strange as it may sound, of much +sincerity and cross-grained honesty. That he may be +led to forsake his present pursuits, before his gray hairs +shall have gone down to a dishonoured grave, is our fervent +wish and prayer.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span></p> + +<p class="center">From Scott's Weekly.</p> + +<p>The interesting question between Mr. J. H. Green, +the Reformed Gambler, and Mr. J.G. Freeman, as to the +rights of gambling, was discussed in the Lecture-room +of the Museum Building, on Monday evening last. A +large audience attended, and notwithstanding the zeal +of Mr. Freeman more than once carried him a little beyond +the limits of propriety, the whole passed off pleasantly.</p> + +<p>The announcement in the papers was not adhered to, +which created some dissatisfaction; but then the speeches +of Mr. Freeman were of themselves well worth the price +of admission. He did not defend gambling—he could +not, he said, pretend to defend it—he only meant to +deny the sweeping aspersions of its foes. He spoke at +great length, and sometimes his logic was quite ingenious.</p> + +<p>Mr. Green confined himself to a few facts, leaving the +more minute part of the discussion for a subsequent evening.</p> + +<p>The Rev. John Chambers closed the proceedings by a +few timely remarks, in which he reviewed what he considered +lawful and unlawful pursuits—among these latter, +he hoped to see the time that every vender of intoxicating +liquors would be placed in the same catalogue that gamblers +are by the recent law—imprisonment. He then +referred to the decorum of the audience, and expressed +a hope that all the future discussions would be listened +to in the same spirit—that all the truth possible may be +elicited in reference to that terrible vice—gambling.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p> + +<p class="center">From the Inquirer.</p> + +<p>The long-talked-of debate upon gambling and its tendencies, +was commenced last evening in the Lecture-room +of the Chinese Museum. The audience was large, and +deep interest was manifested in the discussion. Aboard +of highly respectable gentlemen presided as Moderators, +and Dr. Elder officiated as chairman.</p> + +<p>Mr. Freeman, the challenger, opened the debate, and +proposed that the question be met in a categorical form, +thus:—Were the laws of the different states which make +gambling a Penitentiary offence unjust and impolitic? +Were they formed in good policy or not?</p> + +<p>Mr. Freeman considered himself as honoured in being +permitted to speak before the meeting on the question. +Fearful odds were against him; all the ranks of battle +were on the other side. The clergy, who were accustomed +to public speaking, were against him—as well as +the editors and the press. In the war now raging, the +climate—the sickly climate, was more dangerous than +the shells and shot of the enemy—and in this case, the +sickly climate was the prejudice, the prejudice of opinion, +which was against the cause he espoused, or rather +defended. Mr. F. also referred to other influences against +him. Mr. F. contended that even, if the states in which +such laws were passed, disliked the vice of gambling— +it was no reason why they should pass laws that were unjust +and impolitic.</p> + +<p>Mr. F. contended, in opposition to such laws, that a +man had a perfect right to do what he pleased with his +own things. Any legislation to the contrary was tyranny. +More mischief and immorality would result from such +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>laws than from the vice itself—for it was a violation of one +of the rights of man on the mere score of expediency. He +contended, therefore, that men had a perfect right to do +what they pleased with their own things, so long as they +did not interfere with the rights of others. A drunkard +could not drink without disturbing other people—why +not make his a Penitentiary offence? Yet a gambler was +considered a Penitentiary offender, though he did not interfere +with the rights of others.</p> + +<p>What were speculators in railroads, &c. &c.?—Why +many of them gamblers on the largest scale!</p> + +<p>In noticing the temptations of gambling, Mr. F. said +that he and other gamblers had often warned youths +against entering upon that dangerous course, and had +thus saved them from ruin.</p> + +<p>Mr. F. argued against the law recently enacted at +Harrisburg against gambling, on the ground that it was +partial and unjust.</p> + +<p>One of the strangest things was, that a man who had +been imprisoned, had been an outcast himself, should be +the first to betray, and to place others in the same situation, +and send them to the Penitentiary. Yet such was +the case with the gentleman who had come from Ohio +to Harrisburg to assist in obtaining the passage of the +law against gambling.</p> + +<p>Mr. Green replied, and defended the law in question, +as it was passed in Pennsylvania; and read a section, in +which gamblers, without a fixed residence, were, upon +conviction, to be imprisoned, &c.; and Mr. G. said that +although no games were mentioned, yet all gambling +games were included. Mr. G. admitted that he had +been a gambler for many years, and had done much evil +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>to the community—as much as most evil men—but he +was now, he hoped, reformed. Mr. G. then contended +that several gambling-houses and tables had been closed +under this law—and surely this was a great advantage +to the public—surely such closing of gaming-houses had +saved many persons from ruin.</p> + +<p>Mr. Green gave much experience of his gambling life, +and contended that principles of honour were not common +among gamblers. Gambling was a principle of robbery—of +robbery from beginning to end. If gambling +was right—why, Mr. Green would ask—did the former +speaker persuade young men not to come into gambling-houses? +Mr. Green described a splendid gambling-house +in Calvert street, Baltimore, and the snares of robbery +laid for the unwary—and the method adopted to entrap a +rich and unwary citizen. The revelations were truly +startling, and displayed a painful instance of the <i>"facilis +descensus averni"</i>—a father whose feelings were blunted, +and hardly to be re-awakened even by the death of a +beloved daughter. And this was but one instance out +of thousands, in which the sum of $1200, $1500, and +$2000 had been lost at various times, and a fatal, fascinating +infatuation contracted.</p> + +<p>Mr. Freeman resumed, and again contended for the +right of any man to gamble—that he had a right to do +what he would with his own—and that a law was unfair +which punished this one vice, and let other and greater +vices alone. It was cowardly legislation. A gambler +was said to have no home, and would not be missed, if he +were sent to prison; but send a man of property, of standing +to prison for some one of <i>his</i> vices, and there would +soon be a fuss in the wigwam. Mr. F. was very severe +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>upon the great body of editors, for following servilely +public opinion, without courage or independence to express +a manly opinion of their own.</p> + +<p>Mr. F. said that all ministers were not good men—there +were a few exceptions—neither should all gamblers, +in fairness, be considered as scoundrels. He, Mr. F. as +a gambler, never would admit his inferiority to those individuals +who, without labour, gained money and circumvented +others by extensive and fraudulent schemes of +speculation.</p> + +<p>The Rev. John Chambers summed up with great eloquence +and ability, and said that he was disappointed— +he had expected a defence and vindication of gambling +as an <i>honourable</i> profession—but he was glad to +find that the gentleman who had spoken, Mr. Freeman, +had not even attempted to advocate gambling as truthful +or honest.</p> + +<p>Mr. Chambers considered all dealing fair, in which a +man received a <i>quid pro quo</i>—but whether a man cheat +at cards or in the sale of a bale of dry goods, he was +equally a scoundrel. If Mr. Freeman would make it +appear that gambling was a fair business, he (Mr. C.) +would not wish it to be a Penitentiary offence; but if +gambling was, as Mr. Green had shown, a system of robbery—why +then, it ought to be a Penitentiary offence. +Mr. C. said that Mr. Freeman had behaved honourably—for +he had said to young men—"Do not come into +this place!" And why? Because it was the road to +ruin.</p> + +<p>Mr. C. regretted that Mr. Freeman should have made +several scriptural allusions. No virtuous man would +ever support gambling—for it gave no equivalent either +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>in money or reputation for the losses sustained. As such +was the case, gambling should be a Penitentiary offence—but +if Mr. Freeman could prove that it was an upright +and honourable calling, why then, perhaps, he +might induce us to apprentice our children to it.</p> + +<p>After Mr. Green had spoken for a few minutes, the +debate was adjourned to Thursday evening next.</p> + +<p class="center">From the Evening Bulletin.</p> + +<p>The great discussion on the subject of gambling came +off last night at the Chinese Museum, between Mr. Green, +the celebrated Reformed Gambler, and Mr. Freeman, the +individual who acknowledges himself one of the "sporting" +band. The audience was very large and respectable. +A board of worthy gentlemen were appointed a governing +committee, of which Dr. Elder acted as chairman. The +whole proceedings were marked with the greatest decorum.</p> + +<p>Mr. Freeman spoke first. He is a man somewhat +advanced in years, and possesses abilities, which we could +wish were better applied than in the defence, or even palliation, +of such a corrupting habit as gambling. He directed +his batteries mainly against the late gambling +laws in this state.</p> + +<p>He did not like the application to professional and not +private gambling. He denounced editors and ministers +by wholesale; in regard to the former, declaring that +there was only one in the country who was really independent, +and that one, Bennett of the New York Herald! +He quoted Scripture, but that is not surprising, for we +are told by the poet, "the devil may cite Scripture." His +manner was violent, and his allusions to his opponent,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> +Mr. Green, the very essence of bitterness. He tried to +slide his repugnance to that gentleman into the small +corner of contempt; but the whole audience could see +that he, in reality, entertained no such trifling feelings +towards his opponent.</p> + +<p>Mr. Green spoke in reply to Freeman, not only like a +gentleman, but like a Christian. He treated the sneers +of his opponent with kindness, seeming to be sorry, if +one might judge from his manner, that he should have +boldly placed himself in the point which he occupies +before the community. There was a plain, straightforward +honesty, as well as a gentleness in the tone and +manner of Green, which, though he did not indulge in +such a flow of language as his opponent, spoke volumes +in favour of his sincerity, and won for him new friends +and admirers. His opponent had intimated both by +word and act, that he was not to be trusted; he did not +seem to feel it necessary to go into a defence of his motives +in reply, but appeared to say, "Here I am,—I come +to denounce a habit of pestiferous corrupting influence, +of which I have practical knowledge; I will stand or +fall by the position which I have taken,—leaving the +future to show the world whether or not I am honest." +Freeman spoke again after Green concluded, and very +much in the same style as in the early part of the evening.</p> + +<p>After he had concluded, the Rev. John Chambers made +an address, which was marked with strong argument +and a fine Christian-like tone. Mr. Green then said a +few words, and the meeting adjourned to Thursday evening, +at the same place, when the discussion is to be resumed. +There doubtless will be a large attendance.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> +No subject could be more interesting to the public, +and the agitation of none can exercise a better moral +influence.</p> + +<p class="center">From the North American.</p> + +<p>A good-humoured illustration of the right of every +one to say what he pleases, took place at the Lecture-room +of the Museum last evening. Mr. Freeman, an +uncouth man, who gesticulates as if he was mending +shoes, but who has naturally no inconsiderable endowment +of brain and nerve, delivered himself of a tirade +against everybody in general, and against the press and +clergy in particular. He complained that everybody was +against him—compared the clergy to Gen. Scott and his +regulars; the editors to bomb-shells and Congreve rockets, +and what else we know not; himself individually to +Gen. Taylor, and the race of the poor persecuted gamblers +to our Saviour—who, he said, like them, had not +where to lay his head!</p> + +<p>The impious jumble of fustian and blasphemy was +accompanied in the delivery by every species of grimace +and buffoonery, and a fierceness of dramatic action and +posture far more ludicrously affecting than the classic +attitudes of Gen. Tom Thumb, who was defying the +lightning, as Ajax, dying like the Gladiator, and taking +snuff like Napoleon, in the room overhead. At the bottom +of all this ridiculous exhibition, which drew repeated +shouts of laughter from the very large and respectable +audience, lay two principles upon which Mr. Freeman +might have erected an imposing argumentative structure. +These were, that every man has a right to do what he +pleases with his own, so that he does not disturb others; +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>and that laws punishing professional gamblers and letting +citizens go free, are unjust.</p> + +<p>Mr. Green, without going into the metaphysics of +the question, showed by some very plain and straightforward +remarks the fraud and villany of professional +gambling, and proved that it was throughout a <i>system</i> +of deliberate robbery. This being the case, it follows, +of course, that the general good of the community, which +has ever been acknowledged paramount, requires it to be +put down. Thus satisfactorily stood the question when +we left, and we do not see how it can fairly be removed +from this broad ground. It is evident that Mr. Green is +a sincere man, and we firmly believe that he is engaged +in a good work.</p> + + +<p class="center">SECOND NIGHT.</p> + +<p class="center">From the Inquirer.</p> + +<p>The discussion between Mr. Green, the Reformed gambler, +and Mr. Freeman in opposition, was continued yesterday +evening, in the Lecture-room of the Chinese +Museum, Leonard Jewell, Esq. in the chair.</p> + +<p>Mr. Freeman contended that not one of his arguments, +on the previous evening, had been answered by Mr. +Green, but anecdotes and doleful stories had been told +instead. Mr. F. defended his allusions from Scripture, +and said that they had been misconstrued; that he only +meant to say that the Saviour of mankind had recommended +us to do good, and to return good for evil; but +some of the clergy had not followed the golden rule in +this matter, for punishment and the Penitentiary had +been recommended by them as a cure for gambling. As +it was known that he (the speaker) played, he came +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>only to defend gambling as far as truth went, but no +farther—there he would stop.</p> + +<p>Mr. Freeman complained that Mr. Green had classed <i>all</i> +gamblers as men of the worst character—as if they were +thieves or counterfeiters, whereas Mr. G. knew that he +could mention many who were incapable of doing any +thing mean—men who would denounce a counterfeiter as +soon as any one in that room. Mr. Freeman related a +story of a fraudulent trick, by which a large sum of +money had been fraudulently obtained, and its recovery +prevented by force—one individual, who was named, +menacing with a bowie-knife; and Mr. F. said of the +getter-up of the plan—pointing to Mr. Green—"as Nathan +said unto David, there sits the man!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Green admitted that it might be so—that it +was so.</p> + +<p>Mr. Freeman said that he knew Mr. Green's friends +had a reply to cover all such things—because he was a +reformed man—Mr. F. hoped it was so, but he really +had some little doubt.</p> + +<p>Mr. F. distinguished between deep play, which he +likened to the <i>strategie</i> of generals in the field, the one +to mislead the other, and open, undisguised cheating, +which he denounced. Mr. F. referred to several distinguished +men who gambled—and to several well-known +gamblers—and he defied Mr. Green to say that +any one he had named would or could be guilty of a +mean action.</p> + +<p>There was in the world a certain amount of wealth—the +many of mankind were (the industrious) producers—but +he held that all men, speculators, who circumvented +others by their wits, living without work, were in point +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>of fact—<i>gamblers</i>. If a man were to go into the street +and gain $3000 in a morning by a stock or other speculation—why, +as surely as we lived, somebody lost that +money—aye, and by gambling on the largest scale. Men +who lost their money at a gaming-table went there to +win money of the gamblers—but generally lost their own. +Their object was to put the gambler's money in their +own pockets; and when they were disappointed, they +exclaimed against gamblers. Gamblers lived on the depravity +of men; if men were not depraved, gamblers +would have no chance; but they were encouraged by +the depravity of others. Mr. F. condemned and would +punish cheating, whether by gamblers or other speculators.</p> + +<p>Mr. Green did not wish to say any thing personally +against any of the men or gamblers who had been named +by Mr. F. Some were benevolent men—but one or two +he had named were men without heart. He (Mr. G.) +knew several gamblers, amateurs and professional men, +who were straightforward in their gambling transactions. +He did not desire to hurt the feelings of any of these individuals—he +attacked not men but vice—and he contended +that gambling was a system of robbery, from beginning +to end. That it was that he contended for—and +that, he hoped, he had already shown. Mr. Green admitted +that Mr. Freeman's story of the scheme gotten up, +bowie-knife, &c., was in the main correct. If meeting +contracts was honest—why then, many gamblers might +be called honest. He did not mean to say that such +<span class="smcap">honest</span> gamblers would put their hands in a man's +pocket and steal money—no—they would not do +that.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p> + +<p>But he would say what they would do;—they would +sit up all night, have suppers, wine and spirits set out to +tempt men, and they would play with any that came; +and though some such customers were known or suspected +to have obtained the money they played with by +robbery, yet he never knew that the gamblers had ever +refused to allow such men to play, so long as they had +money. Mr. Green described several snares that were +practised by gamblers, particularly one at New Orleans, +called the "broker." He hoped some of the gamblers +of this city would reform as soon as the new law went +into effect. He had already heard of some having turned +collectors, policemen, &c.—but he doubted their reform +if they were turned over to the police—for though there +were some very good policemen in this city, he could +confidently say also there were some spotted ones.</p> + +<p>Mr. Green considered the bowling-alleys and billiard +rooms as the very bane of the city—leading men on step +by step to the vices of gambling and drunkenness. Mr. +Green stated that he had never met with a gambler +in his life, who played honestly, and got his living by +playing cards honestly—for all he had ever known +would take advantage, sometimes—which perhaps the +world might call cheating. Mr. Green practically illustrated +with a pack of cards the modes of taking advantage, +(cheating in plain English,) that were truly surprising. +Mr. G. said that such things were done by gamblers, +called <i>honourable</i>, and if any one had charged such men +with dishonesty, why a duel, or worse, might have been +the consequence.</p> + +<p>On one occasion, he (Mr. Green) had been cheated out +of several hundred dollars by a brother gambler. He +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>knew it, but lost his money and said nothing—at length, +he found out the method of cheating—and went home +and set up all night by way of studying a cheat that +would recover his money and more. He succeeded at +last, and went and won all the money of his antagonist +and party—in fact, he won enough to break the whole +party. Mr. Green then showed by cards how he had +been engaged in winning (by tricks) money from a planter +in Louisiana.</p> + +<p>Mr. Freeman replied, and contended that Mr. Green +had referred to only a few mean gamblers—and by his +inference charged their practices upon the whole body. +But our limited space warns us to be brief. Mr. Freeman +only contended that a gambler was honest in a relative +point of view—as honest as other men who in +trade or otherwise, or in speculation, did things as bad +or worse than gamblers. Mr. F. related anecdotes to +show that persons charged with faults and crimes were +almost always condemned by public opinion, and their +faults and crimes exaggerated. Mr. F. stated that in +former times, the keepers of gaming-houses in New Orleans +paid heavy licenses, and were subject to ruinous +fines if they cheated in the smallest degree.</p> + +<p>Mr. F. contended that cheating at cards was decidedly +a disadvantage to the gambler—because, if he lost his +character as a fair man, people would not play with +him, and so cheating was to him a loss: on the principle +of a man in England, who said he would give a hundred +thousand dollars for a character. "Why?" asked his +friends. "Because," replied the first, "because I could +gain two hundred thousand dollars by it!"</p> + +<p>Mr. F. introduced several anecdotes. Mr. F. had +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>heard several sensible men in New Orleans say, that if +gaming-houses there were licensed, there would be little +or no cheating, because those houses would be under the +police, and people could not then do as they now do in +holes and corners. On the principle of "Vice is a creature +of such hateful mien," &c. &c., Mr. F. thought that +Mr. Green, by showing and explaining some of his tricks, +would be likely to tempt some persons to practise such +tricks, if they wanted a little money; and on this point +he would quote Scripture, and say—"Lead us not into +temptation!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Freeman exhibited a capital trick on the cards, +quite equal to some of Mr. Green's. But, said Mr. F., all +such things were nothing—for, in gambling, playing on +the square with fairness is the best policy. [Mr. Green +admitted Mr. Freeman's trick to be very superior—and +it was at length understood that at the next meeting (on +Saturday night) several of these mysteries would be +shown on both sides.]</p> + +<p>Mr. Green declared that he could show the principle +of gambling to be a hundred per cent. worse than stealing.</p> + +<p>The debate was listened to with much interest, and +we learn that it will be closed to-morrow (Saturday) evening.</p> + +<p class="center">From the Evening Bulletin.</p> + +<p>Messrs. Green and Freeman renewed their discussion +last night, at the Chinese Museum, in the presence of a +crowded audience, Leonard Jewell, Esq. in the chair. +Mr. Freeman spoke first, and very <i>modestly</i> contended +that none of his arguments of the previous evening had +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>been answered by his opponent, but that, instead of this, +painful anecdotes and stories had been told. He had +quoted Scripture only to show that making stringent laws +to punish gambling was contrary to the spirit of our Saviour's +teaching, viz. to return good for evil. This argument, +will, of course, apply to all laws for the punishment +of crime. Freeman went on to except to Green's +wholesale denunciations of all gamblers; it was well +known that some were <i>honourable</i> men. There were a +few bad ones, his opponent knew, and one, in particular, +who on a certain occasion drew a bowie-knife to prevent +a sum of money, fraudulently obtained, being returned to +its proper owner. Green acknowledged that he was the +man to whom Freeman alluded. He would not deny that +he had been as guilty as the guiltiest.</p> + +<p>Freeman continued by saying that he supposed his +opponent would get over this by saying he had reformed. +Green looked assent.</p> + +<p>Freeman justified gambling by business operations, +which were the result of chance, such as stock-jobbing; +but we confess we cannot see where the parallel begins, +the one being a clear matter of chance on both sides, the +other, if Green's stories be true, which we firmly believe, +all on the side of the gambler, who cheats from the beginning +to the ending of his playing, what with tricks of +the trade, marked cards, &c. Freeman took the ground +that gamblers were honest, and thus made out a better +case than the facts will sustain.</p> + +<p>Mr. Green's reply was quiet and unaffected. He knew +some gamblers who were straightforward and honourable +in their playing. But the majority of the profession were +dishonest, and the community was demoralized and im<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>poverished +by them. He admitted the story about the +bowie-knife. He had never been disposed to conceal any +of his wicked acts while one of the <i>profession</i>. There +was one point on which all gamblers were unprincipled; +they would play and win money of men they knew were +totally ignorant of the arts of card-playing. This was a +fraud—it was dishonest; a strong argument against the +whole band, good or bad.</p> + +<p>Mr. Green denounced bowling-alleys and billiard +saloons. He then exposed the tricks by which gamblers +cheated, and in doing so interested the audience very +much.</p> + +<p>Freeman's rejoinder was still to the end that some +gamblers were honest and honourable. He knew that +there were rogues among gamblers, who practised tricks, +and he gave an excellent specimen of their adroitness, in +a trick which Mr. Green acknowledged was a capital one.</p> + +<p>The debate was listened to throughout with great +attention. It will be resumed on Saturday evening.</p> + + +<p class="center">THIRD NIGHT</p> + +<p class="center">From the Daily Sun.</p> + +<p>On Saturday evening, the debate between Messrs. Green +and Freeman, on the subject of gambling, was resumed, +in the Lecture-room of the Museum building. There +was a full audience in attendance, and towards the close +of the debate, the proceedings became intensely interesting.</p> + +<p>At the appointed hour, Dr. Elder, the moderator, made +a few remarks, by way of opening the meeting, and introduced</p> + +<p>Mr. Freeman, who, upon advancing to the table, said +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>that he regarded it as complimentary indeed, that he was +permitted to proceed with the discussion. Under all the +circumstances, he considered it a great compliment, that +a highly intelligent audience should listen to one of the +proscribed fraternity. But friends, (said the speaker,) if +the scene of the discussion lay farther South, in the region +of the spot where he was born, he would not consider +it so much of a compliment—he would not make +such a concession, even from the great Harry of the West +down to my fallen foe. In looking round the staging he observed +new faces, and missed those who had previously occupied +their places—he had heard those men had consulted +their dignity, and any man (in the opinion of the speaker) +who thinks more of his dignity than his duty is not fit to +occupy the sacred desk. The arguments which he had +brought forward on the previous occasions have not been +answered. Mr. Green has not even attempted to do so, +but he (the speaker) had found that a worthy gentleman +had entered the field, though not verbally, and endeavoured +to supply the place of his opponent. He would +take the liberty to compliment him—the distinguished +editor of the Post—though he did not know him, nor that +such a paper as the Post was printed. That editor, like +many others whose prejudices overbalance their reason, +had misunderstood him. The speaker then indulged in +a <i>critique</i> on the editorial, principally upon the ground +which he had taken—that a man has a right to do with +his own things what he pleases, provided, in so doing, +he does not infringe upon the rights of others. On this +point, it appeared that the editor thought and argued differently, +and Mr. Freeman said, that in taking the above +ground, he did not claim originality, for it is a principle +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>of law, as laid down in Blackstone, Paley, and others—it +is the language of great commentators, and upon it he +would stand or fall, and leave the distinguished editor to +battle with those men.</p> + +<p>Some things, continued the speaker, may seem inconsistent +at first, which, upon examination, are not inconsistent. +A thing may be legally right and morally wrong, and +whilst he could defend it legally, he could not morally. +For instance, suppose a rich man had two sons, both of +whom acted as sons should act, and the father in making +out his will should devise his whole estate to one son, +and cut the other off, as they say in England, with a +shilling. Now, who would deny his right to do so if it +pleased him; who would say that it is not legally right?—no +one. But would it be morally right?—certainly not. +What is morality?—love your God, your neighbour, and +yourself. And though he could defend the will as legal, +yet in a moral point of view he could condemn it as unnatural. +The editor of the Post (said the speaker) confounds +gambling with robbery, and what for?—that future +generations may grow up in faith. It is, said he, a settled +principle of morality never to hoist false colours, but +to raise the standard of truth and defend it to the last. +(Applause.)</p> + +<p>He remembered an anecdote: a physician was sent +to attend a poor sick boy, and when he arrived at the +couch of pain and distress, he found it necessary to administer +a pill—a very nauseous dose. Said the mother—"Doctor, +it would be better to put a little sugar on it, +and then he can take it, and not know it's a pill." "No, +madam," replied the doctor, "it won't do to deceive him. +Here, my son," said the practitioner, "take this medicine +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>and it will cure you," and the little fellow swallowed it +like a man. Thus it is with Mr. Green and the green +editor; they associate the gambler, without distinction, +with assassins and robbers. In doing so they are wrong; +they do not speak the truth. The speaker then proceeded +to show how a young man may often be lured into temptation—by +representing gamblers as assassins, who, +upon acquaintance, he finds are apparently gentlemen, +and he is induced to think that he has been hitherto +misled and deceived in regard to such men. He then +cultivates their acquaintance, and finally, through his +own depravity, he becomes worse and worse, until he is +at last swallowed up in the vortex of degradation. This +is the result of employing dishonourable measures to prevent +him from visiting such places, or to carry out honourable +ends.</p> + +<p>A man has a right to commit suicide, so far as propriety +is concerned. If he does not owe any thing, and +feels it in his conscience that he would like to die, he +has a right to do so—but if that man owes five dollars, he +would certainly violate a moral principle by killing himself, +because he ought to live as long as he can to pay +his debt. The speaker once knew a man, in good circumstances, +who was weary of existence, and feeling disposed +to take a journey to "that bourne whence no traveller +returns," committed suicide. There may be many +who would call it murder—but the community are murderers—they +sometimes murder in cold blood. But lately +a man was taken to the gallows, and they hung a young +man because he had killed somebody else, and yet there +are many persons who believe this is right, and that +suicide, such as the speaker had selected, is wrong.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p> + +<p>The speaker now proceeded to criticize the law relative +to gambling, passed at the recent legislature, in +which he said that if a man has a fixed place of residence +and carries on a dry goods business, he might gamble as +much as should please him and the law would not take +hold of him. He would ask anybody to read the law +understandingly and then deny this round assertion. This +act, said he, is bugbear—it is a disgrace as it now stands, +for it smacks of cowardice. The legislators, he presumed, +had a little sense, and they knew that some kind of a +law must be passed, and they were ingenious enough to +know how to frame it to sound well, and yet be comparatively +powerless. They knew by such a statute that +<i>nolle prosequis</i> could be entered—and solicitors make more +money—they well knew that there were many religious +people among their constituents, and it would not do for +them to act singular, or else they would find so short an +account at the next ballot-box that they would not be sent +back. He would spurn such legislators and keep them +for ever in private life. (Applause.)</p> + +<p>In conclusion, he said that he was decidedly an anti-gambler, +and he did not defend the subject morally. In +order that he might enlighten the people on the subject +of gambling, he would give one lecture, in which he +would relate his experience, and promised that it should +be the richest and most interesting thing that could be +listened to. He did not want money. He would only +ask enough to pay expenses of the room—the ladies and +the reverend clergy may come in gratis—all he wished +was that the truth should be told about gambling.</p> + +<p>Mr. Green now took the stand, and said that it appeared +to him that there was something in the law which seemed +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>to stick to his opponent, Mr. Freeman. He complains +that the Jaw is dull—that it is trash—a bugbear, and +heaps other similar epithets upon it, and yet he appears +to make considerable noise about it, and why should he +attempt to ridicule me, in connection with the law. Every +man in this state knows that Mr. Green himself could +not pass the law without the aid of the legislature. +He (Mr. Freeman) goes on to take many other positions +which he (the speaker) could not understand, and therefore +would not further allude to them. He thought that +if the young men were warned properly to keep aloof +from the gambling shops, and they should heed the warning, +they would escape a life of infamy. 'Tis true, a +young man may go from the parlour to a gambling-place. +He will first find the gamblers fascinating—rooms handsomely +furnished—fine suppers given, and in fact, every +temptation may be set out to catch the unwary novice. +The gambler will tell him this reform is all priestcraft—you +can see for yourself that we (gamblers) are not the +assassins which we are represented to be—these reformers +don't speak the truth. The young man is blinded—he +thinks he knows by this time all about the gamblers—but +in fact he knows nothing. He goes on by degrees, until +becoming more hardened, he does not fear to do that +which would have made him recoil with horror, in the +outset. He may go to another city—carry letters of introduction +to prominent gamblers—forty other letters +may get there before him, putting the robbers on the +look out, getting them to set their stool-pigeons. The +young man is trapped—he is enticed into a gambling +hell—don't call them sporting saloons or gambling-rooms, +(said the speaker,) but call them what they are, <i>hells</i>—he +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>loses all his money—his character is gone—he is ruined, +and who then cares for him—does the gambler?</p> + +<p>Let me relate an instance which came under my immediate +notice:—A young man in Baltimore, sometime +after he had been ruined at a gambling hell, went there, +but having no money, was not cared for by the gambler. +He laid down on the floor in a corner of the room, night +after night. One day, in particular, it was asked who he +was. "Only a loafer," replied the gambler. The young +man was aroused from his stupor by the one with whom +he had gambled and lost, and was told to go about his +business. The young man replied, "Sir, you should be +the last man to treat me so; it was with you I first played +cards, it was under your roof where I tasted the first glass +of wine;" and whilst thus expostulating, the gambler +pushed him out, he reeled down the stairs, fractured his +skull on the curb-stone and fell into the gutter. Mr. +Green was present and saw this base transaction. He +raised the young man from the gutter, gave him a handkerchief +to wipe the blood from his forehead. The next +day that young man was found dead under one of the +wharves. Now he, Mr. Green, could not say that the +gambler murdered him, but he was dead and held the +handkerchief in his clenched fist. That young man had +swallowed the wrong pill; why did not the gamblers tell +him they were robbers and assassins, why did they not +stick to the truth. They dare not do it, and he (Mr. Green) +thought it his duty as a reformed man to speak truly and +act honestly. The present law which so much troubles +Mr. Freeman was passed with due deliberation unanimously, +and when it goes into effect on the first of July +he would not wonder if there should be a very great +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>amount of trouble among more gamblers than Mr. Freeman. +(Applause.)</p> + +<p><i>Mr. Freeman.</i> The gentleman wants to know, why +this law grieves me so—why! because it is trash. He +(the speaker) did not expect to live in Pennsylvania but a +few days longer, as he intended going South, and if he +should chance to come back again, and choose to play a +game of cards, he did not wish to be placed on a par with +incendiaries, robbers and murderers. All of you, no doubt, +have heard of steamboat racing, boilers blowing up, &c.—everybody +is up in arms about it, and cry aloud for a +law to stop this abominable racing. Now he (the speaker) +could make the round statement that there never has been +one explosion of a boiler during the time of a steamboat +racing. The reason is plain. When the race is going +on, everybody is wide awake, the water is kept high, and +the boilers prevented from being overheated, and in such +a case no explosion can possibly take place. A law, +therefore, passed to stop steamboats racing in order to +prevent boilers from bursting, would be equivalent to the +law passed relative to gambling. In conclusion, he would +say that he knew of but one gambler who had been in +prison, and not one south of Mason and Dixon's line, +which was more than could be said of any other profession. +(Great applause.)</p> + +<p><i>Mr. Green</i> (quickly.) Why is it so?—because the gamblers +are eelish, and not because they don't deserve the +penitentiary; Mr. Freeman knows that. (Roars of laughter +and continued applause.)</p> + +<p><i>Mr. Elder.</i> Ladies and gentlemen, it is now proposed +that a vote be taken on the distribution of the proceeds +of this evening. Mr. Green has had the receipts of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>two previous evenings, and at the first meeting it was +agreed to let the audience decide as to the third meeting.</p> + +<p><i>Voice.</i> Were not the lectures given by Mr. Green?</p> + +<p><i>Many Voices.</i> Question, question, question.</p> + +<p><i>Voice.</i> I demand an answer to my question, for I wish +to vote understandingly.</p> + +<p><i>Voices.</i> Calling question from all parts of the room.</p> + +<p><i>Another Voice.</i> Mr. Speaker, I wish to know one +thing. Mr. Green says, since his reformation, he has +given back over twenty thousand dollars of property +which he won when he was a gambler. Now +I wish to know if he will give the proceeds of the +night to the gamblers, if the question is decided in his +favour.</p> + +<p><i>Voices.</i> Question, take the question; loud talking and +grumbling.</p> + +<p><i>First Voice.</i> Suppose it is decided in favour of Mr. +Freeman, I wish to know if the debate can be continued +or not.</p> + +<p>The question was now taken by rising, and silence +being restored, the Moderator said—"It is the decision +of the chair, that the proceeds belong to Mr. Freeman, by +a very large majority."</p> + +<p><i>Voice.</i> Sir, there is a mistake.</p> + +<p><i>Moderator.</i> Are there any gentlemen here who are dissatisfied +with the decision?</p> + +<p><i>Voice.</i> I am.</p> + +<p>Hon. Charles Gibbons, speaker of the Senate, proposed +to take the question by voice. This was agreed +upon.</p> + +<p><i>Mr. Elder.</i> All in favour of the proceeds being given +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>to Mr. Freeman, say I. Here there was a tremendous +response. The contrary opinion was then taken, and the +chair decided that the I's were in a large majority. (Great +applause.)</p> + +<p><i>Voice.</i> Mr. President, I demand back my quarter dollar—I +can't pay money to go into the pockets of a gambler. +(Hisses.)</p> + +<p><i>Mr. Freeman.</i> The gentleman can have his quarter +back with pleasure. (Applause.)</p> + +<p>The rest of the evening was consumed in the explanation +of tricks of gamblers by Mr. Green, which was intensely +interesting, and he was greeted with rounds of +applause, as he successfully performed them.</p> + +<p class="center">From the City Bulletin.</p> + +<p>A large audience assembled on Saturday night to listen +to the last debate on gambling. Mr. Freeman opened +the ball with a great deal of self-possession, and talked +away in defence of a palpable wrong, with as much coolness +and composure as if he was discussing the last news +by the steamer. But his sophistry, as well as all the +sneers and jeers of his brethren in the audience, which +betrayed themselves when Green began to speak, could +not keep the truth under. Before the evening closed, he +had every thing his own way, and was complete master +of the field. Freeman battled against the late law passed +in this State—and contended that it was of no avail in +crushing the evil of gambling. He added that if it was +effective, it was effective against the wrong persons. +He then slurred over his opponent's position, charged +him with insincerity, and denounced all his tales of horror. +He incidentally, however, took occasion to say, that +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>he could a tale unfold which would harrow up the soul, +a tale of his own personal adventure, as a gambler, +and he invited the audience to its recital to-morrow evening.</p> + +<p>Mr. Green rose with the same pleasant smile which he +always has worn during his debate with Freeman, and +met his opponent's positions, not with smooth, oily, plausible +words, but in a plain spoken, substantial, truth-telling +language. He reiterated all that he had charged against +gambling at former meetings. He said gamblers were +no better than thieves, that they cheated always when +they could, and that they had every advantage over those +who fell into their clutches.</p> + +<p>The audience were now called upon to vote as to the +disposal of the receipts at the door—Mr. Green having +agreed that his opponent should have them, if it was so +decided. The vote was taken, and by a large majority +the receipts were awarded to Freeman.</p> + +<p>The tricks now came on, Freeman having taken the +ground that they could not be done without detection with +any cards. He accordingly placed upon the table a pack +of cards which he said he had purchased that evening. +Mr. Green in taking the cards asked that a committee +should be appointed to witness his tricks, and report to +the assembly, but Freeman and his friends put in a decided +objection to this. Green at once told the audience +he would gratify them and perform the tricks openly. +Here came his triumph, which was complete. He took +the very cards which his opponent had bought, and with +them showed conclusively, that all he had charged in relation +to the expertness and skill of gamblers, and of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>course, their immense advantages over their opponents, +was true.</p> + +<p>Thus has ended a debate which, we do think, has been +productive of good to the community, while it has vindicated +most fully the position which Green takes in his +work of reform. We have no sympathy for Freeman, +while he maintains his present stand, though we freely +confess he is a gentleman of ability, and that we should +be most happy to see him a co-labourer with Green, in +crushing the vice of gambling. He says he is broken +down in health and spirits. We know of nothing which +can restore the last, and make him bear the first with +greater resignation, than retire to the path of virtue.</p> + +<p class="center">From the North American.</p> + +<p>The gambling discussion between Messrs. Green and +Freeman was closed on Saturday evening, before a very +large and interested audience. After some speaking on +either side, which was listened to with becoming patience +and attention, the tricks—which were evidently the great +point of interest—were in order, and Mr. Green proceeded +to fulfil his promises to the letter. Mr. Freeman had +brought a pack of cards of his own selection and preparation, +and Mr. Green objected that this could hardly be +considered fair, and said that he should prefer the appointment +of a committee to provide cards, and superintend +the experiments. Upon this Mr. Freeman commenced +declaiming in a triumphant tone against his antagonist; +but Mr. Green cut him short by stating that he was willing +to proceed with the cards that Mr. Freeman had +brought. Mr. Gibbons then took the pack and marked it +with a pencil, so that he might be sure of recognising it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> +Mr. Green then took them from him, shuffled them a +moment with his hands under the table, and showed them +to Mr. Gibbons, who pronounced them the same he had +marked. Mr. Green then dealt them in separate heaps, +and Mr. Gibbons turned up the faces, and showed the +audience that each of the thirteen heaps contained the +four aces, four kings, four queens, and so on down to the +four deuces. The cards were then shuffled, and Mr. +Green ran them off, the backs being upward, so rapidly +that the eye could scarcely follow the motion of his fingers—naming +each card as he threw it off, and making +but <i>one</i> mistake in the whole fifty-two cards. This extraordinary +feat was received by the audience with acclamations, +as being most convincing proof of the power +of gamblers to perform the swindling deceptions with the +cards, that Mr. Green has charged upon the nimble-fingered +fraternity. The audience then good-naturedly +voted Mr. Freeman the pecuniary proceeds of the evening, +as a remuneration for the zeal he had displayed in a +bad cause. The question was then put to the audience +whether Mr. Green had satisfactorily performed all +he had undertaken, and loudly answered in the affirmative.</p> + +<p class="center">From the United States Gazette.</p> + +<p>The discussion on this important subject was continued +and concluded, on Saturday evening, by Messrs. Green +and Freeman.</p> + +<p>A man who can for a few minutes interest an audience +so much in favour of the vice of gambling, as to make +them shut out its horrible deformity, must possess more +than ordinary powers, and we question much whether, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>of the whole fraternity of gamblers, one could be found +better adapted for the Herculean task which Mr. Freeman +set himself. That which the mind is accustomed steadily +to dwell upon, and upon which action is had repeatedly, +will scarcely want for self-justification—and while the +error of proceeding is reluctantly admitted, whatever may +tend to justify, however slightly, is eagerly seized upon +and proclaimed. There is scarcely an evil practice for +which the doer may not raise up or create reasons in justification, +and plausible arguments may be made to gloss +over the most detestable and indefensible crimes.</p> + +<p>A kind of Letheon is administered to the judgment by +continual progression in some improper path, till that +which is to all others palpably and painfully degrading +becomes pleasant and eminently proper in him who +labours under the mental oblivion. Such a course Mr. +Freeman has trod, for while he admits that gambling is +pernicious, he clamours for the natural right which all +men possess, to do it so long as they do not meddle with +others, and insists that it in no way gives occasion for the +exercise of legal power by the fact that he has played at +cards, and lost or won money. If it could be confined to +individuals—if the penalty of the crime was visited only +upon the doer—- if the moral and pecuniary destruction +which gambling visits upon all who offer tribute at its +altar, went no farther than him who made the offering, +then Mr. Freeman would have a proper privilege, and +would be right in saying that a man violated no law by +the practice of the nefarious profession. But there are +few, very few, we suppose, who are not connected by the +ties of blood, the bonds of matrimony, or the relation of +father to child, who are all affected by such degradation +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>as the gambler visits upon himself, and who feel the +bitter poignancy of the stroke with greater force than he +whose heart has been gradually but surely abased. While +a man has a single relation or friend, he should not gamble; +and if he stood alone in the world, with no friend, +the fear of the eternal judgment should deter him from +the commission of the sin.</p> + +<p>Mr. Freeman is a plausible man; he talks earnestly +and fluently, and his argument is clear and comprehensive, +so far as it goes. He thinks readily and speaks +aptly. As a debater, he far excels his opponent Mr. +Green, and with a good cause would be an opponent +difficult to conquer. But few, we think, expected so +much of the metaphysics of gambling as he gave, but +after he had constructed his argument, and presented the +justification of the fraternity, it was marvellous how quickly +the one crumbled and the other was turned to condemnation, +by the application of the tests of reason and truth +which Mr. Green applied. Facts stood stubbornly before +Mr. Freeman's theories, and bore them down, and +the experiments with the cards which closed the lecture, +demonstrated, beyond a doubt, how far an unscrupulous +gambler could carry his villany against an unsuspecting +victim. With a rapidity that defied observation and detection, +Mr. Green performed several tricks, by which he +produced any card or series of cards at will, and even +read eighteen cards in succession by the backs.</p> + +<p>In his argument, Mr. Freeman invariably rose in the +estimation of the audience, but he rose only to fall again. +There may have been respect for his abilities, but there +was greater sorrow that so unprofitable and degrading a +direction had been given to them. Every argument that +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>he used became, upon reflection, an argument against +gambling, and the only thing he really effected, was the +proof that the law recently passed against gamblers by +the legislature of this State is not stringent enough.</p> + +<p>Mr. Freeman announced that on Wednesday next, he +would deliver a lecture, in which he would review his +course of life, and offer arguments against gambling—which +he freely confessed to be a vice, even while he +proclaimed his right to practise it. Such an exposition +cannot fail to be of deep interest.</p> + +<p class="center">From the Inquirer.</p> + +<p>This controversy was continued on Saturday evening, +Dr. Elder in the chair. The Lecture-room at the Chinese +Museum was crowded on the occasion.</p> + +<p>Mr. Freeman commented on the notice taken by the +press of the controversy—in general it was manly and +dignified; Mr. Freeman read from the Post, in which +gambling was severely opposed. The ground on which +Mr. Freeman had canvassed this matter was, he contended, +in accordance with Blackstone, Paley, and other +great men, who thought—namely, that a man had a right +to do what he liked with his own things. Mr. Freeman +held that a thing might be legally right and morally +wrong. A man had a legal right (he contended) to gamble—but +in a moral light he would not defend it. Suppose +a man had two sons, and, from some trivial cause, +he resolved to cut off one of them with a shilling. He +had a legal right so to do—but perhaps he was morally +wrong. Mr. Freeman answered an article that had appeared +in the Post. Mr. Freeman contended that young +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>men who engaged in gambling, did so generally from a +bad system of education.</p> + +<p>The Post had contended, in opposition to Mr. Freeman's +maxim that a man had a right to do what he +pleased with his own things, so long as he did not interfere +with others, that gambling did interfere with the +rights of others; for example, it might prevent men +from paying their debts, or it might prompt them to +commit suicide, either of which was a wrong to society. +Mr. Freeman contended, nevertheless, that a +man had such a right—certainly he had, if he were not +in debt—but if he were, it was then his duty to live as +long as he could, to endeavour to pay his debts. Mr. +Freeman illustrated his points by allusions to Gen. Taylor +and Gen. Jackson—adding, "let the truth be told if +the heavens fall."</p> + +<p>Mr. Freeman again opposed the new law passed +against gambling—for, he said, it was so shaped, that +if a man of property gambled, he could not be troubled, +but a poor, itinerant gambler could be punished. Mr. +Freeman read the law in proof—wherein a difference +certainly appeared to be made between those who had +something to live upon, and a merely itinerant gambler—the +latter liable to imprisonment if he kept a gaming +house, of from one to five years. Indeed, "being without +a fixed residence" is one of the features of the law. +Such a law appeared to Mr. Freeman as if, for example, +a man of standing were to go into a store and steal, +he would be let off—- whereas, if an itinerant man were +to steal, he must be punished with years of imprisonment. +The cases were parallel, and yet, it seemed to him +that a man of good standing ought to be punished +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>more severely than the other, because his temptations +were not so great. Such a law, so partial, was a disgrace +to the statute-book. From what he knew of legislators, +he thought they had made such a law, knowing +that gambling was a bad vice, as a bugbear, to deter +people from engaging in it—and, in some cases, because +they were afraid of public opinion, and servilely followed +the crowd, lest at some future time they might lose their +election.</p> + +<p>Mr. Freeman said that he considered himself as an +anti-gambler—but injustice had been done to gamblers, +and he had defended them as far as he consistently could—and +if an audience would meet him on Tuesday night, +he would give them an anti-gambling lecture. He differed +with Mr. Green.</p> + +<p>Mr. Green wished to know why Mr. Freeman should +dislike the law so much, if he considered gambling a bad +vice—he (Mr. Green) really did not understand such a +position. Such was the effect of gambling upon the mind, +that he was sure that when Mr. Freeman first lost his +money, (three thousand dollars,) and first became a gambler, +he would not have spoken as he had that night. A +young man, in gambling, was driven on by degrees, by +the excitement of cards, of fine wines, society, &c. Gamblers +ridiculed all ideas of reform, and said to the young +man, you know all about us—we are called gamblers—and +the young man thinks he knows all about them, as +he finds them fascinating—but he knows nothing about +them. When the young man is ruined, what do the +gamblers do for him? Nothing. Such a young man in +Baltimore was thus ruined, and became a sot—and at +length had no place to sleep, unless the gamblers allowed +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>him. One night, he was awakened by the gambler +shaking him, and calling him a loafer. The poor man +said, "I do not deserve this at your hands. This was the +first house I gambled in." The gambler threw him down +stairs, and his head struck the curb-stone, and Mr. Green +lent him his handkerchief to bind up the wound, and prevented +further mischief being done to him. The next +day he was found under one of the wharves—<i>dead!</i> +And such was the treatment inflicted on him by the +gamblers. Mr. Green then defended the new law.</p> + +<p>Mr. Freeman said that he opposed the law because he +thought it discreditable to Pennsylvania—that there should +be a law to the effect that, "If I play cards, a man may +say to me—there, you have done an act that, if legally +visited, would send you to the Penitentiary." Mr. Freeman +illustrated his views by a reference to the explosion +of steamboats. Mr. Freeman said that there was never +but one gambler put into prison south of Mason & Dixon's +line. Mr. Freeman hinted that Mr. Green at Harrisburg +had shown gambling tricks upon cards, with +packs that were known to him—prepared cards, in fact. +He thus astonished the natives. And this was one influence +brought in aid of a passage of the law.</p> + +<p>A vote was then taken on the question—"Shall the +proceeds of this night be given to Mr. Freeman?" It was +decided in the affirmative by a large majority.</p> + +<p>Mr. Freeman did not deny that cheating was practised +by the gamblers. But Mr. Freeman contended that Mr. +Green could not perform the tricks, could not cheat with +cards that he was not familiar with. Mr. Freeman produced +a pack which he had just bought, and were other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>wise +untouched—and he said that Mr. Green could not +operate with that pack. He defied him.</p> + +<p>Mr. Green said that this was no argument. But if Mr. +Freeman would agree, and the meeting would appoint a +committee of twelve citizens, he would before that committee +meet Mr. Freeman, and with those cards exhibit +tricks of gamblers.</p> + +<p>Some discussion ensued, and it was agreed that a committee +should be appointed. Subsequently Mr. Green +said he would exhibit before the audience; but that if +Mr. Freeman shuffled the pack, he might of course disarrange +his (Mr. Green's) play. But Mr. Green had +contended that any gambler <i>in his own play</i> could cheat. +And Mr. Green displayed several extraordinary tricks, +in which he was remarkably successful, particularly in +illustrating the facility with which two partners in gambling +could win from their opponents with certainty.</p> + +<p>At the conclusion of the meeting, upon Mr. Freeman +submitting to the audience the question—"Have I sustained +my position?"—it was decided in the negative. +The question however, was not put until the audience +had risen to depart—but the response was general.</p> + +<p class="center">From the Daily Sun.</p> + +<p>We have been no inattentive observers of the debate +on gambling, between Mr. Green, and his able and plausible +antagonist, Mr. Freeman—who brought to the defence +of a bad cause, an energy, an earnestness, and a +power of illustration, which, on any other subject, must +have crowned him with the laurels of a brilliant victory. +But what power of logic—what force of elocution—- what +stretch, of fancy, <i>can</i> defend gambling?—which, even +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>if right <i>in itself</i>, is yet attended by such baneful consequences—such +appalling effects—as to strike terror into +the hearts of the most reckless, and seal the lips of eloquence +by the blood of the unfortunate? This was illustrated +in a most striking manner in the recent debate—where +a long tissue of false logic, on the part of Mr. Freeman, +was blown to the winds by the simple recital of a +<i>fact</i>, by Mr. Green detailing the death of a ruined gambler +by the hands of a prosperous one! <i>Blood</i> dispelled +all the illusions of logic. Argument evaporated before +the <i>corpse</i> of the victim. Applause for ingenious argument +was hushed in a moment, when the dead body of the +gambler appeared in view! What a tribute to the power +of <i>truth</i>—what a tremendous triumph of nature, and her +sacred laws, over the flimsy artifices of passion, fiction, +and a diseased imagination, fevered by habitual vice.</p> + +<p>Dr. Johnson says that the gambler is no better than a +robber, because he acquires property without an equivalent. +The whole gist of the argument lies here. You +strip a man of fortune, or tear from his hands the earnings +of a long life, and give him in return—<i>nothing!</i> +Mr. Freeman says, in answer to this—yes, you give him +the chance of robbing you! And he goes so far in his +sophistry, as to contend that if a man attempts to rob you +on the highway, you have a right to rob him! Such is +the language of the gambler, on the rule of right, who +wanting a principle of virtue, resorts to every extravagant +theory, to justify his violations of the first law of nature.</p> + +<p>Justice is the foundation of all human institutions: and +this ordains, that no man shall take from another, what +is his own, without paying him an equivalent. The gam<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>bler +pays no equivalent—and hence, he stands on the +same platform with the robber.</p> + +<p>The strong point in the logic of Mr. Freeman was, that +<i>other professions</i> also acquire property without paying +an equivalent, and therefore gamblers were not criminal! +We marvelled that a man of his sagacity should venture +on so gross a sophism. He alluded to speculators and +stock-jobbers, who gained their thousands without an exchange +of values, and exulted that the gambler was no +worse. But could this make the gambler an honest man, +because other men were rogues? How desperate the +cause that could clutch at so frail a straw for support! +Yet Mr. Freeman appeared perfectly unconscious of the +imbecility of his reasoning. More perfect hallucination +we never beheld!</p> + +<p>Every man <i>feels</i>, when he gains property without an +equivalent, that he has done a wrong. Every dollar so +acquired plants a fang in his heart. Conscience goads +him. He is miserable, restless, tortured, and for temporary +relief flies to the transient oblivion of the bowl. When +he wins, he drinks—and when he loses, he drinks to +desperation. He feels that when he wins, he is a rogue—and +that when he loses, he is a victim—no matter whether +gambler, speculator or stock-jobber—he has violated the +<i>rule of right</i>, by acquiring property without an equivalent; +and he feels the degradation of the robber, who cries +"stand!" to the passenger on the highway, and extorts +his purse, with the pistol at his breast.</p> + +<p>Of the fascinating charms of gambling, history has left +us too many records to make us insensible of the importance +of the safe-guards which society ought to erect, to +defend itself from the poison of so infectious a contamina<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>tion. +Who would believe, that the great <i>Wilberforce</i> +was once a gambler! That even <i>Pitt</i> once stood on the +brink of a gambler's hell. But Wilberforce was cured +by <i>winning</i> £2000 at <i>Holland-house</i>—and such was the +pain he felt for those who had lost their money, that it +prevented all "his future triumphs in the infernal regions." +But in those regions, flourished the greatest statesmen +and wits of the age—who fell victims to the prevailing +fascination of the gaming-table. What destroyed <i>Charles +James Fox</i>, as a statesman? <i>Gambling!</i> What brought +the brilliant <i>Sheridan</i> to the grave? Intoxication, brought +on by the ill-starred luck of the ruined gamester? "<i>Holland-house!</i>" +immortalized as the resort of genius, as +well as for its orgies of dissipation, is not less renowned to +infamy, as having been the "hell" of respectable gamesters.</p> + +<p>There is a kind of democracy of crime, contended for +by Mr. Freeman, that has its charms to the ears of the +groundlings. He is opposed to a law that punishes <i>one</i> +class of gamblers only, instead of bringing <i>all</i>, within the +focus of its penalties! There is much truth in this. +Laws ought to be equal in their operation—but if they +cannot be equal, this is no reason why there ought to be +no laws at all. This conclusion is not warranted by any +rule in logic or in government.</p> + +<p>No man has a right to dispose of his property to the +corruption of the public morals. Mr. Freeman adduced +the instance of a father having a right to disinherit one +son and prefer the other. This is not a parallel case. +The parallel would be a rich man leaving his fortune to +found an Institution of demoralizing tendency—say to +teach you the art of cheating! The laws would annul +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>such a bequest. Society has an original, inherent right +to defend itself from all evil—and that gaming is an evil, +whether played with cards, lotteries, dice, stocks, or betting, +not even Mr. Freeman could seriously deny.</p> + +<p>In the late debate between these celebrated speculators,—one +reformed, the other confirmed in his vicious career—it +was observed, what a tower of strength <i>truth</i> gives +to the man who espouses the <i>just</i> cause. Mr. Green +stood self-vindicated by his very position—while the +labour of <i>Sisiphus</i> devolved on Mr. Freeman. But the +stone would not stay rolled up hill. It was no sooner at +midway from the summit, but back it rolled upon its unfortunate +and panting labourer.</p> + +<p>The fostering power which <i>intemperance</i> derives from +the excitements of the gaming-table, would itself prove +an effectual argument against this monstrous infatuation, +if no other existed. But when we find intoxication, only +one of a legion of vices that attend on it—and that fraud, +cheating, forgery, swindling, robbery, murder, and suicide, +are its unfailing companions—we may well marvel that +it should find any man so reckless of public opinion, as +to venture its championship. Mr. Freeman went so far +in this mad advocacy of his darling pursuit, as to justify +<i>suicide</i>! In this, however, he was perfectly consistent—for +if gaming of any kind is right, so is murder, robbery, +and suicide. In this, Mr. Freeman over-reached himself—and +by attempting too much, exposed the futility +and weakness of his case.</p> + +<p>One fact, of a highly useful import, was established by +this debate—and having received the concurrent attestation +of Mr. Freeman, must now be considered as no longer +open to doubt—that <i>cheating</i> is a necessary part of gam<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>ing, +from which even <i>honourable</i> gamblers—(what a revolting +solecism!)—do not shrink! But this is not the +worst of the admissions made, in the course of this debate—which +we here enumerate:</p> + +<p>1. The winner is always in danger of murder—and +runs for his life.</p> + +<p>2. The loser becomes a cheat, a murderer, a suicide, +or a drunkard.</p> + +<p>3. The tortures of the damned are common to all gamblers, +winners and losers.</p> + +<p>4. Deception and lying are their common attributes.</p> + +<p>5. Outlawed by public opinion—they wage implacable +war against the morals, peace, and happiness of society.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>So many allusions have been made to the Laws of Ohio +and Pennsylvania against gambling, that it is thought necessary +to append them here, that the reader may judge +for himself how far the charges of impolicy, partiality, and +non-efficiency are justified by these instruments.</p> + +<p class="center">[<i>Law of Pennsylvania for the Suppression of Gambling, +drafted by</i> <span class="smcap">J. H. Green</span>.]</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Section</span> 1. <i>Be it enacted by the Senate and House +of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, +in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted +by the authority of the same</i>, That if any person shall +keep a room, building, arbour, booth, shed, or tenement, to +be used or occupied for gambling, or shall, knowingly, permit +the same to be used or occupied for gambling; or if +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span>any person, being the owner of any room, building, arbour, +booth, shed, or tenement, shall rent the same to be used +or occupied for gambling, the persons so offending shall, +on conviction thereof, be fined in any sum not less than +fifty nor more than five hundred dollars; and if the +owner of any room, building, arbour, booth, shed, or +tenement, shall know that any gaming-tables, apparatus, +or establishment is kept or used in such room, building, +arbour, booth, shed, or tenement, for gambling, and winning, +betting, or gaining money, or other property, and +shall not forthwith cause complaint to be made against +the person so keeping or using such room, building, arbour, +booth, shed, or tenement, he shall be taken, held, and +considered to have knowingly permitted the same to be +used and occupied for gambling.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sect.</span> 2. If any person shall keep or exhibit any gaming-table, +establishment, device, or apparatus to win or +gain money, or other property of value, or to aid, assist, +or permit others to do the same; or if any person shall +engage in gambling for a livelihood, or shall be without +any fixed residence, and in the habit or practice of gambling, +he shall be deemed and taken to be a common +gambler, and upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned +and kept at hard labour in the penitentiary not less than +one, nor more than five years, and be fined five hundred +dollars, to be paid into the treasury of the county where +such conviction shall take place, for the use of common +schools therein, to be divided among the accepting school +districts in such county, in proportion to the number of +taxable inhabitants in each district.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sect.</span> 3. If an affidavit shall be filed with the magistrate +before whom complaint shall be made of an offence +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>against any provision of this act, stating that the affiant +has reason to believe, and does believe, that the person +charged in such complaint has upon his person, or at any +other place named in such affidavit, any specified articles +of personal property, or any gaming-table, device, or +apparatus, the discovery of which might lead to establish +the truth of such charge, the said magistrate shall, by his +warrant, command the officer, who is authorized to arrest +the person so charged, to make diligent search for such +property and table, device, or apparatus; and if found, to +bring the same before such magistrate, and the officer so +seizing shall deliver the same to the magistrate before +whom he takes the same, who shall retain possession, +and be responsible therefor until the discharge, or commitment, +or letting to bail of the person charged; and +in case of such commitment, or letting to bail of the +person so charged, such officer shall retain such property, +subject to the order of the court before which such offender +may be required to appear, until his discharge or conviction. +And in case of the conviction of such person, the +gaming-table, device, or apparatus shall be destroyed, and +the property shall be liable to pay any judgment which +may be rendered against such person; and after the payment +of such judgment and costs, the surplus, if any, +shall be paid to the use of the common schools aforesaid, +and in case of the discharge of such person by the magistrate, +or court, the officer having such property in his +custody shall, on demand, deliver it to such person.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sect.</span> 4. If any person called to testify on behalf of +the state before any justice of the peace, grand-jury, or +court, upon any complaint, information, or indictment, +for any offence made punishable by this act, shall dis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>close +any fact tending to criminate himself in any manner +made punishable by this act, he shall thereafter be +discharged of and from all liability to prosecution or punishment +for such matter or offence.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sect.</span> 5. It shall be lawful for any justice of the peace, +chief magistrate of any municipal incorporation, or judge +of any court of Common Pleas, upon complaint upon an +oath, that any gaming-table, establishment, apparatus, or +device is kept by any person for the purpose of being +used to win or gain money or other property, by the +owner thereof, or any other person, to issue his warrant, +commanding any sheriff, or constable, to whom the +same shall be directed, within the proper jurisdiction, +after demanding entrance to break open and enter any +house or other place wherein such gaming establishment, +apparatus, or device shall be kept, and to seize and +safely keep the same, to be dealt with as hereinafter provided.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sect.</span> 6. Upon return of said warrant executed, the +authority issuing the same shall proceed to examine and +inquire touching the said complaint, and if satisfied that +the same is true, he shall order the officer so seizing such +gaming establishment, apparatus, or device, forthwith to +destroy the same; which order the said officer shall proceed +to execute in the presence of said authority, unless +the person charged as keeper of said gaming establishment, +apparatus, or device, shall, without delay, enter +into a recognisance in the sum of six hundred dollars, +with sufficient sureties, to be approved by said authority, +for the appeal of said complaint to the Court of Common +Pleas, next to be held in the proper county, conditioned +that the defendant will appear at the next term of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>court to which he appeals, and abide the order of said +court, and for the payment of the full amount of the fine +and all costs, in case he shall be found guilty of the +offence charged, and judgment be rendered against him +in said court.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sect.</span> 7. The officer taking such recognisance shall +return the same to the clerk of the court to which said +appeal is taken forthwith, and such clerk shall file the +same in his office, and the complaint shall be prosecuted +in such court, by indictment, as in other criminal cases; +and upon conviction thereof, the appellant shall be fined +not more than fifty dollars, and shall pay the costs of prosecution; +and such gaming establishment, apparatus, or +device shall be destroyed.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sect.</span> 8. If any person or persons shall, through invitation +or device, persuade or prevail on any person or persons +to visit any room, building, arbour, booth, shed, or +tenement, kept for the use of gambling, he or they shall, +upon conviction thereof, be held responsible for the money +or properties lost by such invitation or device, and +fined in a sum not less than fifty, and not more than five +hundred dollars.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sect.</span> 9. It shall be the duty of all sheriffs, constables, +and all prosecuting attorneys to inform and prosecute all +offenders against this act, and upon refusal thereof, they +shall pay a fine of not less than fifty, nor more than five +hundred dollars.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sect.</span> 10. This act shall be given in charge to the +Grand Jury, by the President Judge of the Court of +Quarter Sessions in the respective counties.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sect.</span> 11. This act shall take effect on the first day +of July next.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span></p> + +<p class="center">[<i>Law of Ohio for the suppression of Gambling, drafted +by</i> <span class="smcap">J. H. Green.</span>]</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Section</span> 1. <i>Be it enacted by the General Assembly +of the State of Ohio</i>, That if any person shall keep a +room, building, or arbour, booth, shed, or tenement, to be +used or occupied for gambling, or shall, knowingly, permit +the same to be used or occupied for gambling; or if +any person, being the owner of such room, building, arbour, +booth, shed, or tenement, shall rent the same to be used +or occupied for gambling, the persons so offending shall, +on conviction thereof, be fined in any sum not less than +fifty dollars, nor more than five hundred dollars; and if +any owner of any room, building, arbour, booth, shed, or +tenement, shall know that any gambling-tables, apparatus, +or establishment, is kept or used in such room, building, +arbour, booth, shed, or tenement, for gambling, and winning, +betting, or gaining money, or other property, and +shall not forthwith cause complaint to be made against +the person so keeping or using the room, building, arbour, +booth, shed, or tenement, he shall be taken, held, and +considered to have knowingly permitted the same to be +used and occupied for gambling.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sect.</span> 2. If any person shall keep or exhibit any gaming-table, +establishment, device, or apparatus to win or +gain money, or other property of value, or to aid or assist, +or permit others to do the same; or if any person shall +engage in gambling for a livelihood, or shall be without +any fixed residence, and in the habit or practice of gambling, +he shall be deemed and taken to be a common +gambler, and upon conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>and kept at hard labour in the penitentiary not less than +one, nor more than five years, and be fined five hundred +dollars, to be paid into the treasury of the county where +such conviction shall take place, for the use of common +schools therein.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sect.</span> 3. If an affidavit shall be filed with the magistrate +before whom complaint shall be made of an offence +against any provisions of this act, stating that the affiant +has reason to believe, and does believe, that the person +charged in such complaint has upon his person, or at +any other place named in such affidavit, any money, or +any specified articles of personal property, or any gaming-table, +device, apparatus, the discovery of which might +tend to establish the truth of such charge, the said magistrate +shall, by his warrant, command the officer, who is +authorized to arrest the person so charged, to make diligent +search for such money or property, and table, device, +or apparatus; and if found, to bring the same before such +magistrate—and the officer seizing the same, shall retain +possession thereof, subject to the order of the magistrate +before whom he takes the same, until the discharge, or +commitment, or letting to bail of the person charged; +and in case of such commitment, or letting to bail of the +person so charged, such officer shall retain such property, +subject to the order of the court before which such offender +may be required to appear, until his discharge or conviction. +And in case of the conviction of such person, the +gaming-table, device, or apparatus shall be destroyed, and +the money and other property shall be liable to pay any +judgment which may be rendered against such person; +and in case of the discharge of such person by the magis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>trate, +or court, the officer having such property in his +custody, shall, on demand, deliver it to such person.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sect.</span> 4. If any person called to testify on behalf of +the state before any justice of the peace, grand-jury, or +court, upon any complaint, information, or indictment, +for any offence made punishable by this act, shall disclose +any fact tending to criminate himself in any matter +made punishable by this act, he shall thereafter be discharged +of and from all liability to prosecution or punishment +for such matter of offence.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sect.</span> 5. It shall be lawful for any justice of the peace, +chief magistrate of the municipal incorporation, or judge +of any court of common pleas, upon complaint on oath, +that any gaming-table, establishment, apparatus, or device +is kept for the purpose of being used to win or gain +money or other property, by the owner thereof, or any +other person, to issue his warrant, commanding any +sheriff, constable, or marshal of any municipal corporation +to whom the same may be directed, within the proper +jurisdiction, after demanding entrance, to break open and +enter any house or other place where such gaming establishment, +apparatus, or device shall be kept, and to seize +and safely keep the same, to be dealt with as hereafter +provided.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sect.</span> 6. Upon the return of said warrant executed, +the authority issuing the same shall proceed to examine +and inquire touching the said complaint, and if satisfied +the same is true, he shall order the officer so seizing such +gaming establishment, apparatus, or device, forthwith to +destroy the same; which order the said officer shall proceed +to execute in the presence of said authority, unless +the person charged as keeper of said gaming establish<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>ment, +apparatus, or device, shall, without delay, enter +into a recognisance in the sum of two hundred dollars, +with sufficient sureties, to be approved by said authority, +for the appeal of said complaint to the Court of Common +Pleas, next to be held in the proper county, conditioned +that the defendant will appear at the next term of the +court to which he appeals, and abide the order of such +court, and for the payment of the full amount of the fine +and all costs, in case he shall be found guilty of the +offences charged, and judgment be rendered against him +in said court.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sect.</span> 7. The officer taking such recognisance shall +return the same to the clerk of the court to which said +appeal is taken forthwith, and such clerk shall file the +same in his office, and complaint shall be prosecuted in +such court, by indictment, as in other criminal cases; and +upon conviction, the appellant shall be fined not more +than fifty dollars, and shall pay the costs of prosecution; +and such gaming establishment, apparatus, or device shall +be destroyed.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sect.</span> 8. It shall be the duty of all sheriffs, constables, +marshals of incorporated cities, towns, and boroughs, and +of all prosecuting attorneys, to inform and prosecute all +offences against this act.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sect.</span> 9. This act shall be given in charge to the Grand +Jury, by the President Judge of the Court of Common +Pleas in the respective counties.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sect.</span> 10. This act shall take effect on the first day of +March next.</p> + +<p class="rightheader"><span class="smcap">Elias F. Drake</span>,<br /> +<i>Speaker of the House of Representatives.</i><br /> +<span class="smcap">Seabury Ford,</span><br /> +<i>Speaker of the Senate.</i><br /></p> +<p>Jan 17, 1846.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span></p> + +<p>During the three evenings of the debate the Lecture-room +of the Museum was crowded with a most respectable +audience; and thousands must have read the reports +given by the different Newspapers on the following mornings. +Throughout the community there was considerable +excitement, and we have no doubt that good has already +resulted. The evils of gambling are now familiar to +many who never previously thought upon the subject; +and the excuses and defences urged for participating in +the vice have been stripped of their fallacious guises. For +this work we owe many thanks to the conductors of the +public press who have come forth ably and willingly to +our assistance.</p> + +<p>But we trust that the immediate advantages from the +discussion are not the only ones. It will be perceived +from the reports given, that we met with no common +opponent. Mr. Freeman is perhaps not excelled, if he +has an equal, among gamblers, for talent, learning, +and, what is more rare, candour and honesty of character. +From a lecture which he has since delivered, we learn +that he was on a professional visit to Philadelphia, where +he had bought some implements for gambling and was about +to return to the South, when his attention was arrested by +a notice in a paper that Mr. Green was to give a lecture +in the Museum on the following evening. For some years +he had formed a resolution that if ever he had an opportunity +of hearing him, he would embrace it, and he now +concluded that he would stay another day for that purpose. +He did so, attended his lecture, and from antipathy +to himself and the course he was pursuing, was induced +to send the challenge to the Sun newspaper which led to +the debate in the preceding pages. It is not improbable +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>that while thinking on the points he proposed to defend, +his naturally acute mind perceived their fallacy, as +there was a gradual shifting of his position from the subject +of the original challenge, till on the last evening of the +debate he ended with the astonishing announcement that +on the Tuesday following he would deliver a lecture +<i>against gambling</i> in the same place. Since then, he has +delivered several lectures on the same subject, has taken +the temperance pledge, been admitted into one of the divisions +of the Sons of Temperance, and promises fair to +be an efficient labourer in the cause of truth and virtue. +Like Paul, he seems to have been arrested midway in +his career, and by the power of conscience compelled to +build up what he once exerted himself to destroy. May +God prosper him in his labours, and give him grace to +continue unto the end.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span></p> + +<p class="center">[<i>Recommendation.</i>]</p> + +<p class="rightheader"><span class="smcap">Cincinnati</span>, <i>July</i>, 1843.</p> + +<p>We, the undersigned, believing that Mr. J. H. Green's +proposed publication ["The <span class="smcap">Arts and Miseries of +Gambling</span>"] will be eminently useful in counteracting +one of the most pernicious and demoralizing vices of the +age, take great pleasure in recommending it to the patronage +of the public.</p> + +<p> +<span class="smcap">Rev. CHARLES ELLIOTT</span>,<br /> +<i>Editor of the Western Christian Advocate</i>.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Rev. L.L. HAMLINE</span>,<br /> +<i>Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church</i>.<br /> +<br /> +D.K. ESTE,<br /> +<i>Judge of the Superior Court, Cin. Ham. Co</i>.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Rev. JAMES P. KILBRETH.</span><br /> +<br /> +SAMUEL WILLIAMS.<br /> +<br /> +JOHN McLEAN,<br /> +<i>Judge of the United States Court.</i><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Rev. W.H. RAPER.</span><br /> +<br /> +THOMAS J. BIGGS,<br /> +<i>President of the Cincinnati College.</i><br /> +<br /> +SAMUEL W. LYND, D.D.<br /> +<i>Pastor of the Ninth Street Baptist Church.</i><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Hon. JACOB BURNET.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Rev. JOHN F. WRIGHT.</span><br /> +<br /> +H.E. SPENCER,<br /> +<i>Mayor of Cincinnati.</i> +</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="LOTTERIES" id="LOTTERIES"></a>LOTTERIES.</h2> + + +<p>This is as deceptive, and as base a business, as was +ever introduced into any country. The apparent respectability +of it, and of the men who carry it on, is +calculated to remove the scruples many might otherwise +have to patronizing it. The facility with which it can +be patronized, without the liability of exposure, and the +promises of sudden gain so artfully held out, are inducements +not easily resisted by a money-loving people, totally +ignorant of the odds against them in the game they play.</p> + +<p>All other games generally require the personal attention +of the players who patronize them; but this is a +game at which any one can play, and need never be +seen, even by those against whom he may be playing. +Thousands of persons, who stand high in the estimation +of their neighbors for good conduct; men who would +not, on any account, be found at a gambling-table, will +patronize lotteries. The ease with which it can be done, +without exposure, enables them to gratify, to the full extent +of their means, their passion for this base species of +swindling. In many of our large cities, numerous well-dressed +young men are constantly engaged in vending +tickets through the streets, or from house to house, and +they can be bought as privately as the buyer may wish, +or he may send his servant for them. Thus it is that a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>man may gamble as extensively as he pleases in lotteries, +without his proceedings being at all likely to become +public.</p> + +<p>In my description of lotteries, I shall confine myself to +the lottery scheme before us; because it will serve as an +example of all others, and because the reader will be +better able to comprehend explanations of this system +than if I were to write of some scheme not here inserted.</p> + +<p>By a reference to the tables of tickets, it will be seen +that there are fifteen packages of whole tickets, as many +of halves, and thirty packages of quarter tickets. Each +package contains all the numbers, from one up to seventy-eight, +without a repetition of any one of them. The +tickets found in these tables are all that are intended for +any one drawing; and every successive drawing is but +another edition of the same tickets, all arranged in the +same order, and with the same combination numbers; but +they have a different class number on them. The proprietors +of a lottery furnish the printer with a copy of +these tables, arranged in a blank book, and this book is +called the <i>scheme-book</i>, from which as many as may be +ordered from time to time are printed.</p> + +<p>The arranging of the class numbers is a matter of +fancy, as to what they shall be; their only use being to +determine to what particular drawing any particular +ticket belongs, in order that a ticket which proves to be +a blank may not, at some future drawing, be handed in +for a premium, on account of containing some of the +numbers then drawn.</p> +<p><a name="Drawing_of_Lottery_Tickets" id="Drawing_of_Lottery_Tickets"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> +<img src="images/268.png" width="400" height="338" alt="Drawing of Lottery Tickets." title="" /> +<span class="caption">Drawing of Lottery Tickets.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="smcap">The Drawing.</span> There are several methods of conducting +the drawing; but that which is most commonly +used is as follows:—</p> + +<p>There is a hollow wheel, as represented in the plate; +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>then there are seventy-eight small tin tubes, scarcely +half an inch in diameter, and about three inches in +length; these are for holding the numbers, from one to +seventy-eight; each number is on a separate piece of +paper, which is rolled up and put into a tube; these +tubes, when the numbers have been placed in them, are +all put into the wheel, and a person is selected to draw +out one at a time from the wheel, which is opened, and +cried aloud, for the information of those present who +may be interested. The number is registered, for the +future guidance of the lottery-dealer, in determining +what he shall pay those who may hold one or more of +the numbers so drawn. After this, the wheel is again +turned, so as to mix well the numbers contained in it, +and a second is drawn; and the same proceedings are +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>gone over with, until twelve numbers are drawn, and +registered in the order in which they are drawn. Sometimes +thirteen will be drawn, it being customary, on +many occasions, to draw one number for every six contained +in the wheel; but I cannot give this as a universal +rule, because I have often found it deviated from. Sometimes +little boys are selected to draw the numbers from +the wheel—to give the impression that every possible +step has been taken to render the management as fair as +possible; but in this there is also much deception.</p> + +<p>Swarms of domestic servants, day labourers, and the +most poor and needy persons daily visit these worse +than gambling shops, where they risk their little all, +and get nothing in return but the delightful anticipation +of being rich when the "drawing" takes place.</p> + +<p>True it has been the case that prizes have been +drawn, and trumpeted forth to the world, as inducements +for others to buy. Having known how some of +these prizes have sometimes been obtained, will it be +too much to suppose that others are obtained in like +manner? that is by the proprietors of lotteries being +swindled through the unfaithfulness of their agents. A +case came to my knowledge of a man who drew a +capital prize; and the mode of operation, by which it +was effected, was as follows: An agent, who was +stationed in a town some distance from the principal +establishment, made two confidants, who, doubtless, +readily acted with him from hope of gain. One of these +was the post-master of the town, and the other an acquaintance, +a patron of the lottery. The duty of the +agent was to transmit to the principal office all unsold +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>tickets, by the first mail that left after the known hour +of drawing. This mail also conveyed the lists of the +drawing; but, in a regular manner of proceeding, they +would not have been accessible to the agent before the +departure of the stage with his unsold tickets. By making +a confidant of the post-master, however, he received +the lists as quick as possible after the mail arrived, and +before it had been assorted. He then examined his unsold +tickets, and if any considerable prize remained, he +would take it from among the unsold tickets, and despatch +the remainder to the principal office, and give the prize to +his other confidant; each one giving out that the ticket +had been sold to him; and accordingly the prize would +be claimed and paid, although fraudulently obtained. In +this particular case, the capital prize was drawn, and it +appeared that the ticket-holder appropriated all the +money to his own use, as he was known to buy much +property shortly afterwards. It is believed also, by those +who were acquainted with the incident, that he never divided +with the rascally agent; and thus was the cheater +cheated, who, in his wrath, let out some of the secrets +of the manner in which the prize was obtained.</p> + +<p>This same man has since met with reverses of fortune, +and would now, I believe, find it difficult to raise money +sufficient to purchase a ticket even of a low price.</p> + +<p>Among the many cases of lottery swindling, every +body has heard of the great Louisiana real estate lottery, +in which the prizes were to have been the St. Charles +Hotel, the Verandah, the St. Charles Theatre, the +Bank, the Arcade, and other magnificent buildings in +New Orleans. It is quite needless to say any thing of +this, as the public has been pretty well enlightened in +regard to it, through the public journals of the day.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span></p> + +<p>The following is a copy of a handbill issued by the +proprietors of the lottery immediately after a drawing, +for the information of ticket-holders, and all others interested:—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="center"><span class="smcap">Drawing of the Lottery.</span></p> + +<p>The following are the numbers which were this day drawn from +the seventy-eight placed in the wheel, viz.:—</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='center' class="bb">1</td><td align='center' class="bb">2</td><td align='center' class="bb">3</td><td align='center' class="bb">4</td><td align='center' class="bb">5</td><td align='center' class="bb">6</td><td align='center' class="bb">7</td><td align='center' class="bb">8</td><td align='center' class="bb">9</td><td align='center' class="bb">10</td><td align='center' class="bb">11</td><td align='center' class="bb">12</td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>20</td><td align='center'>51</td><td align='center'>61</td><td align='center'>24</td><td align='center'>74</td><td align='center'>77</td><td align='center'>46</td><td align='center'>36</td><td align='center'>69</td><td align='center'>29</td><td align='center'>26</td><td align='center'>3</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>and that the said tickets were drawn in the order in which they +stand: that is to say, No. 20 was the first that was drawn; No. +51 was the 2d; No. 61 was the 3d; No. 24 was the 4th; No. 74 was +the 5th; No. 77 was the 6th; No. 46 was the 7th; No. 36 was the +8th; No. 69 was the 9th; No. 29 was the 10th; No. 26 was the +11th; No. 3 was the 12th, and last.</p> + +<p>Those tickets entitled to the 110 highest prizes were drawn in +the following order:—</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='right'>1</td><td align='right'>2</td><td align='right'>3</td><td align='right' class="br">$30,000</td><td align='right'>7</td><td align='right'>8</td><td align='right'>9</td><td align='right'>$5,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>4</td><td align='right'>5</td><td align='right'>6</td><td align='right' class="br">10,000</td><td align='right'>10</td><td align='right'>11</td><td align='right'>12</td><td align='right'>2,367</td><td align='right'>20</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>Those 6 tickets having on them the</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='center' class="br">2 3 4</td><td align='center' class="br">3 4 5</td><td align='center' class="br">5 6 7</td><td align='center' class="br">6 7 8</td><td align='center' class="br">8 9 10</td><td align='center'>9 10 11 } each 1,500</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>Those 100 tickets having on them the</p> + + + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='right' class='br'>1 2 4</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 4 7</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 7 9</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 3 11</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 6 10</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right' class='br'>1 2 5</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 4 8</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 7 10</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 3 12</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 6 11</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right' class='br'>1 2 6</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 4 9</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 7 11</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 4 5</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 6 12</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right' class='br'>1 2 7</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 4 10</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 7 12</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 4 6</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 7 8</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right' class='br'>1 2 8</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 4 11</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 8 9</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 4 7</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 7 9</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right' class='br'>1 2 9</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 4 12</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 8 10</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 4 8</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 7 10</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right' class='br'>1 2 10</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 5 6</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 8 11</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 4 9</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 7 11</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right' class='br'>1 2 11</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 5 7</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 8 12</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 4 10</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 7 12</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right' class='br'>1 2 12</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 5 8</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 9 10</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 4 11</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 8 9</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right' class='br'>1 3 4</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 5 9</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 9 11</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 4 12</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 8 10</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right' class='br'>1 3 5</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 5 10</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 9 12</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 5 6</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 8 11</td><td align='right'>} each 1,000</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right' class='br'>1 3 6</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 5 11</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 10 11</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 5 7</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 8 12</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right' class='br'>1 3 7</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 5 12</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 10 12</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 5 8</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 9 10</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right' class='br'>1 3 8</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 6 7</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 11 12</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 5 9</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 9 11</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right' class='br'>1 3 9</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 6 8</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 3 5</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 5 10</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 9 12</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right' class='br'>1 3 10</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 6 9</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 3 6</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 5 11</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 10 11</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right' class='br'>1 3 11</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 6 10</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 3 7</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 5 12</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 10 12</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right' class='br'>1 3 12</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 6 11</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 3 8</td><td align='right' class='br'> 2 6 7</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 11 12</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right' class='br'>1 4 5</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 6 12</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 3 9</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 6 8</td><td align='right' class='br'>3 4 6</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right' class='br'>1 4 6</td><td align='right' class='br'>1 7 8</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 3 10</td><td align='right' class='br'>2 6 9</td><td align='right' class='br'>3 4 7</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span></p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>All others with three of the drawn numbers on, (being 110) each</td><td align='right'>300</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Those 66 tickets having on them the 1st and 2d drawn numbers, each</td><td align='right'>100</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Those 66 tickets having on them the 2d and 3d, each</td><td align='right'>80</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Those 66 tickets having on them the 3d and 4th, each</td><td align='right'>50</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Those 66 tickets having on them the 4th and 5th, each</td><td align='right'>40</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Those 132 tickets having on them the 5th and 6th, or 6th and 7th, each</td><td align='right'>30</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>All others with two of the drawn numbers on, (being 3960,) each</td><td align='right'>20</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>And all tickets having one, only, of the drawn numbers on, each, (being 25,740,)</td><td align='right'>10</td></tr> +</table></div></div> + + +<p>Now, let us spend a few moments in examining this +bill, and we shall see how much truth there is in it. It +says, that the ticket having on it the three first drawn +numbers will be entitled to the capital prize of $30,000. +Now, in the whole scheme before us, there is no such +ticket. The combination, 20, 51, 61, is not to be found +in this arrangement. Consequently, there was no ticket +whose numbers entitled it to this prize. Next, the bill +says, the ticket having the fourth, fifth, and sixth drawn +numbers, which would have been 24, 74, 77, would be +entitled to a prize of $10,000. There is no such ticket +in the combination. Consequently this also is false. +Now, it is evident that the dealers, in publishing this bill, +mean to impress the public with the idea, that tickets, +containing the necessary numbers to draw these prizes, +are in the lottery, and that somebody must, of course, +draw them; but it is all false, and a very little investigation +will convince any one, that a greater system of deception +can hardly exist. Bear in mind, that the bill says +these prizes were drawn. The third prize was $5,000, +and the ticket which contained the seventh, eighth, and +ninth numbers was to draw this prize. These numbers +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span>are 36, 46, 69. There is no such combination in the +scheme-book—no such ticket was printed or sold. +Consequently, here is another falsehood. The same can +be said of the fourth prize—the tenth, eleventh, and +twelfth numbers—being 3, 26, 29. There is no such +combination in the book, and no such prize could be +drawn. Of the next six prizes, of $1,500 each, said to +have been drawn, there was not a single ticket in the +whole scheme which contained the necessary numbers to +draw any one of these six prizes!</p> + +<p>It is next asserted, that there were in the lottery one +hundred tickets, having three drawn numbers, and entitled +each to a prize of $1,000. This I have examined, +and I find that, instead of being one hundred, there are +but two—the first in magnitude being one from package +number six, of half tickets, bearing the numbers 20, +36, 51,—these being the first, second, and eighth of the +drawn numbers, and would entitle the holder to one half +of the $1,000, subject to a deduction of fifteen per cent. +The other is a quarter ticket, bearing the numbers 46, +51, 74—from the twenty-seventh package, of quarters—being +the second, fifth, and seventh of the drawn +numbers, and would entitle the holder of it to one +quarter of the $1,000, after deducting the fifteen per +cent. But it is well known that, frequently, scarce one +half of the tickets of any one class, intended for a particular +drawing, are ever disposed of, and are consequently +returned to the manager's office, to be destroyed. Then, +what guaranty have we that the numbers entitled to the +above pitiful prizes were sold? They are as likely to be +among the tickets returned unsold, as among those sold. +Next, the bill states that there were one hundred and ten +others, each having three drawn numbers, and were en<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>titled +to a prize of $300 each. By a close investigation, +I find but one single ticket of this kind in the whole +scheme. This is the ticket in the twelfth package of +quarters, bearing the numbers 61, 69, 77; and if it had +been sold, it would have entitled the holder to one fourth +of the $300, deducting 15 per cent. Next, the bill +says, those sixty-six tickets having the first and second +drawn numbers, will each be entitled to a prize of $100. +In searching for these in the scheme-book, I find but +one that bears the first and second numbers; that is, in +package fourteen. The ticket having the numbers 20, +51, 66, is the only one having the two first numbers; and +if sold, the holder was entitled to one half of the $100, +it being a half ticket. Now, the reader may perceive +that I have examined and laid open, so that he too may +examine, this masterpiece of villany. I find that of the +two hundred and eighty-six highest prizes, which, their +own handbill states, existed in their lottery, and which, +by their own figures, amounted to the enormous sum +of $195,967, and, in order to be drawn, only required +that the tickets should be bought,—I find, allowing every +ticket to have been sold, and afterwards every holder +presented his ticket for the sum to which it might be +entitled, that of the two hundred and eighty-six said to be +in the scheme, there are but five, and these very +inconsiderable; and that the greatest amount of these five +prizes, without deducting the fifteen per cent, is only +$875, instead of the enormous sum of $195,967. Can +it be possible that any person will be found to patronize +lotteries, after considering these facts?</p> + +<p>I pass over those small prizes named after the first +sixty-six having the first and second drawn numbers on +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>them, and will prove the balance to be falsehoods, as +the greater portion of the first part of the bill is.</p> + +<p>In the first place, let us see how many prizes are represented +to exist, not to say any thing of the blanks. In +counting up the prizes named on this bill, we find them +to be 30,316; and I do not think they would pretend +to say that more than one half of their tickets were +prizes. Then we will say that they had an equal number +of blanks. This would carry their scheme up to +over sixty thousand tickets; and even if they were all +prizes, and no blanks, (which they do not pretend,) who +cannot see the extreme improbability of their disposing +of 30,316 tickets in one week? for it must be remembered +that these were all of one class, and for one particular +week's drawing. But the last witness, whose +overwhelming testimony will settle the question, is their +own scheme-book, of which an accurate copy is here +given, and which shows the number of tickets, for any +one drawing, to be but 1,560, the half of which, by +great exertion, they might succeed in selling; each successive +drawing being another edition of these same +combinations, with a different class number on them. +Now, let me ask, where are their 30,316 prizes to come +from? What a scheme of deception do we here behold! +and one, too, that has been so long submitted to and +patronized by the public of this and other countries.</p> + +<p>Another method of still further swindling the buyers of +tickets, is much practised in some parts of the country. +The agents who sell the tickets are authorized to insure +them. When a man buys one, the price, perhaps, might be +ten dollars. The seller, if he has been authorized, will say, +"Now, sir, for ten dollars, I will insure your ticket to draw +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>a prize." This is enough for the buyer to have his ticket +insured to draw a prize, and possibly the capital +prize: he pays an additional fee, and the agent forwards +the numbers of all the tickets, so insured, to the office +where the drawing is to be held; and there they manage +to have these tickets contain one (seldom more) of +the drawn numbers. This entitles the buyer to receive +back the price of his ticket, after taking out 15 per cent.; +and as it was not a total blank, the insurer is safe, and +retains the sum paid for insurance. The buyer remains +swindled out of the insurance, and 15 per cent, of the +cost. These swindling shops are numerous, and are +sometimes called <i>policy offices</i>.</p> + +<p>We sincerely hope that our readers will examine with +some attention the developments we have made in relation +to the deceptive schemes of the lottery managers; +for we feel that they cannot fail to convince every man +of common sense, who has a particle of moral principle +and moral honesty left, that he who encourages this +basest of all swindling, by purchasing tickets, is not +alone an enemy to himself and family, but he countenances +a species of gambling that is extensively mischievous +and ruinous, and has for its victims many of +our best citizens, young and old; while, at the same +time, he unintentionally throws a veil over the villanous +deeds of the lottery gambler and his unprincipled, as well +as his inexperienced supporters. We once more invite +our readers to examine our statements with attention.</p> + +<p>The following tables represent, completely, the entire +contents of a lottery dealer's scheme-book, made for the +guidance of the printer, in printing tickets. At the +close of the tables is represented a ticket, with its class +and combination numbers.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span></p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="1" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='center'><b>1</b></td><td align='center'><b>2</b></td><td align='center'><b>3</b></td><td align='center'><b>4</b></td><td align='center'><b>5</b></td><td align='center'><b>6</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>1</td><td align='center'>2</td><td align='center'>3</td><td align='center'>4</td><td align='center'>5</td><td align='center'>6</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'> 1 27 53</td><td align='right'>1 28 55</td><td align='right'>1 29 54</td><td align='right'>1 30 56</td><td align='right'>1 31 57</td><td align='right'>1 32 58</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'> 2 28 54</td><td align='right'>2 29 56</td><td align='right'>2 30 55</td><td align='right'>2 31 57</td><td align='right'>2 32 58</td><td align='right'>2 33 59</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'> 3 29 55</td><td align='right'>3 30 57</td><td align='right'>3 31 56</td><td align='right'>3 32 58</td><td align='right'>3 33 59</td><td align='right'>3 34 60</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'> 4 30 56</td><td align='right'>4 31 58</td><td align='right'>4 32 57</td><td align='right'>4 33 59</td><td align='right'>4 34 60</td><td align='right'>4 35 78</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'> 5 31 57</td><td align='right'>5 32 59</td><td align='right'>5 33 58</td><td align='right'>5 34 60</td><td align='right'>5 35 61</td><td align='right'>5 36 77</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'> 6 32 58</td><td align='right'>6 33 60</td><td align='right'>6 34 59</td><td align='right'>6 35 61</td><td align='right'>6 36 62</td><td align='right'>6 42 71</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'> 7 33 59</td><td align='right'>7 34 61</td><td align='right'>7 35 60</td><td align='right'>7 36 62</td><td align='right'>7 37 63</td><td align='right'>7 43 70</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'> 8 34 60</td><td align='right'>8 35 62</td><td align='right'>8 36 61</td><td align='right'>8 37 63</td><td align='right'>8 38 64</td><td align='right'>8 44 69</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'> 9 35 61</td><td align='right'>9 36 63</td><td align='right'>9 37 62</td><td align='right'>9 38 64</td><td align='right'>9 39 65</td><td align='right'>9 45 68</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>10 36 62</td><td align='right'>10 37 64</td><td align='right'>10 38 63</td><td align='right'>10 39 65</td><td align='right'>10 40 66</td><td align='right'>10 46 67</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>11 37 63</td><td align='right'>11 38 65</td><td align='right'>11 39 64</td><td align='right'>11 40 66</td><td align='right'>11 41 67</td><td align='right'>11 37 76</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>12 38 64</td><td align='right'>12 39 66</td><td align='right'>12 40 65</td><td align='right'>12 41 67</td><td align='right'>12 42 68</td><td align='right'>12 38 75</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>13 39 65</td><td align='right'>13 40 67</td><td align='right'>13 41 66</td><td align='right'>13 42 68</td><td align='right'>13 43 69</td><td align='right'>13 39 74</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>14 40 66</td><td align='right'>14 41 68</td><td align='right'>14 42 67</td><td align='right'>14 43 69</td><td align='right'>14 44 70</td><td align='right'>14 40 73</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>15 41 67</td><td align='right'>15 42 69</td><td align='right'>15 43 68</td><td align='right'>15 44 70</td><td align='right'>15 45 71</td><td align='right'>15 41 72</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>16 42 68</td><td align='right'>16 43 70</td><td align='right'>16 44 69</td><td align='right'>16 45 71</td><td align='right'>16 46 72</td><td align='right'>16 27 57</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>17 43 69</td><td align='right'>17 44 71</td><td align='right'>17 45 70</td><td align='right'>17 46 72</td><td align='right'>17 47 73</td><td align='right'>17 28 56</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>18 44 70</td><td align='right'>18 45 72</td><td align='right'>18 46 71</td><td align='right'>18 47 73</td><td align='right'>18 48 74</td><td align='right'>18 29 55</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>19 45 71</td><td align='right'>19 46 73</td><td align='right'>19 47 72</td><td align='right'>19 48 74</td><td align='right'>19 49 75</td><td align='right'>19 30 54</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>20 46 72</td><td align='right'>20 47 74</td><td align='right'>20 48 73</td><td align='right'>20 49 75</td><td align='right'>20 50 76</td><td align='right'>20 31 53</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>21 47 73</td><td align='right'>21 48 75</td><td align='right'>21 49 74</td><td align='right'>21 50 76</td><td align='right'>21 51 77</td><td align='right'>21 47 65</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>22 48 74</td><td align='right'>22 49 76</td><td align='right'>22 50 75</td><td align='right'>22 51 77</td><td align='right'>22 52 78</td><td align='right'>22 48 66</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>23 49 75</td><td align='right'>23 50 77</td><td align='right'>23 51 76</td><td align='right'>23 52 78</td><td align='right'>23 30 53</td><td align='right'>23 49 64</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>24 50 76</td><td align='right'>24 51 78</td><td align='right'>24 52 77</td><td align='right'>24 27 53</td><td align='right'>24 29 54</td><td align='right'>24 50 63</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>25 51 77</td><td align='right'>25 52 53</td><td align='right'>25 27 78</td><td align='right'>25 28 54</td><td align='right'>25 28 55</td><td align='right'>25 51 62</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>26 52 78</td><td align='right'>26 27 54</td><td align='right'>26 28 53</td><td align='right'>26 29 55</td><td align='right'>26 27 56</td><td align='right'>26 52 61</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>The above lottery schemes were accurately copied +from the scheme-book of a lottery dealer in Vicksburg, +Mississippi, and may be considered a fair specimen of +lottery combinations generally. The tables are for a +78 numbered lottery, every three perpendicular lines of +figures containing a package, and each package all the +numbers, from 1 to 78, inclusive; and there are also +26 tickets in each package.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span></p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="1" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='center'><b>7</b></td><td align='center'><b>8</b></td><td align='center'><b>9</b></td><td align='center'><b>10</b></td><td align='center'><b>96</b></td><td align='center'><b>97</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>7</td><td align='center'>8</td><td align='center'>9</td><td align='center'>10</td><td align='center'>11</td><td align='center'>12</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>1 34 59</td><td align='right'>1 60 78</td><td align='right'>1 61 64</td><td align='right'>1 35 36</td><td align='right'>1 38 39</td><td align='right'>1 41 43</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>2 36 60</td><td align='right'>2 61 77</td><td align='right'>2 62 65</td><td align='right'>2 37 38</td><td align='right'>2 40 49</td><td align='right'>2 42 45</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>3 35 61</td><td align='right'>3 62 76</td><td align='right'>3 63 66</td><td align='right'>3 39 40</td><td align='right'>3 41 50</td><td align='right'>3 44 47</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>4 37 62</td><td align='right'>4 63 75</td><td align='right'>4 29 78</td><td align='right'>4 41 42</td><td align='right'>4 42 51</td><td align='right'>4 46 49</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>5 38 63</td><td align='right'>5 64 74</td><td align='right'>5 28 77</td><td align='right'>5 43 44</td><td align='right'>5 43 52</td><td align='right'>5 48 51</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>6 49 74</td><td align='right'>6 65 73</td><td align='right'>6 27 76</td><td align='right'>6 45 46</td><td align='right'>6 44 53</td><td align='right'>6 50 53</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>7 50 75</td><td align='right'>7 66 72</td><td align='right'>7 30 50</td><td align='right'>7 47 48</td><td align='right'>7 45 54</td><td align='right'>7 52 55</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>8 51 76</td><td align='right'>8 67 71</td><td align='right'>8 31 51</td><td align='right'>8 49 50</td><td align='right'>8 46 55</td><td align='right'>8 54 57</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>9 52 77</td><td align='right'>9 68 70</td><td align='right'>9 32 52</td><td align='right'>9 51 52</td><td align='right'>9 47 56</td><td align='right'>9 56 59</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>10 27 78</td><td align='right'>10 53 69</td><td align='right'>10 33 53</td><td align='right'>10 53 54</td><td align='right'>10 48 57</td><td align='right'>10 58 61</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>11 28 53</td><td align='right'>11 27 52</td><td align='right'>11 34 54</td><td align='right'>11 55 56</td><td align='right'>11 58 67</td><td align='right'>11 60 63</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>12 29 54</td><td align='right'>12 28 51</td><td align='right'>12 35 55</td><td align='right'>12 57 58</td><td align='right'>12 59 68</td><td align='right'>12 62 65</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>13 30 55</td><td align='right'>13 29 50</td><td align='right'>13 36 56</td><td align='right'>13 59 60</td><td align='right'>13 60 69</td><td align='right'>13 64 67</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>14 31 56</td><td align='right'>14 30 49</td><td align='right'>14 37 57</td><td align='right'>14 61 62</td><td align='right'>14 61 70</td><td align='right'>14 66 69</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>15 32 57</td><td align='right'>15 31 48</td><td align='right'>15 38 58</td><td align='right'>15 63 64</td><td align='right'>15 62 71</td><td align='right'>15 68 71</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>16 33 58</td><td align='right'>16 32 47</td><td align='right'>16 39 59</td><td align='right'>16 65 66</td><td align='right'>16 63 72</td><td align='right'>16 70 73</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>17 48 73</td><td align='right'>17 33 46</td><td align='right'>17 40 60</td><td align='right'>17 67 68</td><td align='right'>17 64 73</td><td align='right'>17 72 75</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>18 47 72</td><td align='right'>18 34 45</td><td align='right'>18 41 67</td><td align='right'>18 69 70</td><td align='right'>18 65 74</td><td align='right'>18 74 77</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>19 46 71</td><td align='right'>19 35 44</td><td align='right'>19 42 68</td><td align='right'>19 71 72</td><td align='right'>19 66 75</td><td align='right'>19 76 78</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>20 45 70</td><td align='right'>20 36 43</td><td align='right'>20 43 69</td><td align='right'>20 73 74</td><td align='right'>20 27 76</td><td align='right'>20 35 40</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>21 44 69</td><td align='right'>21 37 59</td><td align='right'>21 44 70</td><td align='right'>21 75 76</td><td align='right'>21 28 77</td><td align='right'>21 34 39</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>22 43 68</td><td align='right'>22 38 58</td><td align='right'>22 45 71</td><td align='right'>22 77 78</td><td align='right'>22 29 78</td><td align='right'>22 33 38</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>23 42 67</td><td align='right'>23 39 57</td><td align='right'>23 46 72</td><td align='right'>23 27 28</td><td align='right'>23 30 34</td><td align='right'>23 32 37</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>24 41 66</td><td align='right'>24 40 56</td><td align='right'>24 47 73</td><td align='right'>24 29 30</td><td align='right'>24 31 35</td><td align='right'>24 31 36</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>25 40 65</td><td align='right'>25 41 55</td><td align='right'>25 48 74</td><td align='right'>25 31 32</td><td align='right'>25 32 36</td><td align='right'>25 27 29</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>26 39 64</td><td align='right'>26 42 54</td><td align='right'>26 49 75</td><td align='right'>26 33 34</td><td align='right'>26 33 37</td><td align='right'>26 28 30</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>At the beginning of the first package you will see the +numbers 1, 27, 53; they are placed on one ticket; and so +with each succeeding three numbers through the whole +scheme.</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="1" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='center'><b>98</b></td><td align='center'><b>99</b></td><td align='center'><b>100</b></td><td> </td><td align='center'><b>101</b></td><td align='center'><b>101</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>13</td><td align='center'>14</td><td align='center'>15</td><td align='center'>00</td><td align='center'>1</td><td align='center'>1</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>1 45 44</td><td align='right'>1 62 70</td><td align='right'>1 27 78</td><td> </td><td align='right'>1 2 53</td><td align='right'>1 2 60</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>2 46 47</td><td align='right'>2 63 71</td><td align='right'>2 28 77</td><td> </td><td align='right'>3 4 54</td><td align='right'>3 6 61</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>3 48 49</td><td align='right'>3 64 72</td><td align='right'>3 29 76</td><td> </td><td align='right'>5 29 55</td><td align='right'>4 7 62</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>4 50 51</td><td align='right'>4 65 73</td><td align='right'>4 30 75</td><td> </td><td align='right'>6 30 56</td><td align='right'>5 52 63</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>5 52 53</td><td align='right'>5 66 74</td><td align='right'>5 31 74</td><td> </td><td align='right'>7 31 57</td><td align='right'>8 51 64</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>6 54 55</td><td align='right'>6 52 75</td><td align='right'>6 32 73</td><td> </td><td align='right'>8 32 58</td><td align='right'>9 50 65</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>7 56 57</td><td align='right'>7 53 76</td><td align='right'>7 33 72</td><td> </td><td align='right'>9 33 59</td><td align='right'>10 49 66</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>8 58 59</td><td align='right'>8 54 77</td><td align='right'>8 34 71</td><td> </td><td align='right'>10 34 60</td><td align='right'>11 48 67</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>9 60 61</td><td align='right'>9 55 78</td><td align='right'>9 35 70</td><td> </td><td align='right'>11 35 61</td><td align='right'>12 47 68</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>10 62 63</td><td align='right'>10 56 67</td><td align='right'>10 36 69</td><td align='center'>Here ends Fifteen Packages of Whole Tickets</td><td align='right'>12 36 62</td><td align='right'>13 46 69</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>11 64 65</td><td align='right'>11 57 68</td><td align='right'>11 37 68</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>13 37 63</td><td align='right'>14 45 70</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>12 66 67</td><td align='right'>12 58 69</td><td align='right'>12 38 67</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>14 38 64</td><td align='right'>15 44 71</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>13 68 69</td><td align='right'>13 59 61</td><td align='right'>13 39 66</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>15 39 65</td><td align='right'>16 43 72</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>14 70 71</td><td align='right'>14 51 60</td><td align='right'>14 40 65</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>16 40 66</td><td align='right'>17 42 73</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>15 72 73</td><td align='right'>15 27 39</td><td align='right'>15 41 64</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>17 41 67</td><td align='right'>18 41 74</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>16 74 75</td><td align='right'>16 28 40</td><td align='right'>16 42 63</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>18 42 68</td><td align='right'>19 40 75</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>17 76 77</td><td align='right'>17 29 41</td><td align='right'>17 43 62</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>19 43 69</td><td align='right'>20 39 76</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>18 43 78</td><td align='right'>18 30 42</td><td align='right'>18 44 61</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>20 44 70</td><td align='right'>21 38 77</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>19 27 42</td><td align='right'>19 31 43</td><td align='right'>19 45 60</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>21 45 71</td><td align='right'>22 37 78</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>20 28 41</td><td align='right'>20 32 44</td><td align='right'>20 46 59</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>22 46 72</td><td align='right'>23 36 53</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>21 29 40</td><td align='right'>21 33 45</td><td align='right'>21 47 58</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>23 47 73</td><td align='right'>24 35 54</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>22 30 39</td><td align='right'>22 34 46</td><td align='right'>22 48 57</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>24 48 74</td><td align='right'>25 34 55</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>23 31 38</td><td align='right'>23 35 47</td><td align='right'>23 49 56</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>25 49 75</td><td align='right'>26 33 56</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>24 32 37</td><td align='right'>24 36 48</td><td align='right'>24 50 55</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>26 50 76</td><td align='right'>27 32 57</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>25 33 36</td><td align='right'>25 37 49</td><td align='right'>25 51 54</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>27 51 77</td><td align='right'>28 31 58</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>26 34 35</td><td align='right'>26 38 50</td><td align='right'>26 52 53</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>28 52 78</td><td align='right'>29 30 59</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>There are, in these schemes, 15 packages of whole +tickets, each containing 26, which make an aggregate +of 390, and the same number of halves, which, if added +to the former, will make 780; also, 30 packages of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>quarters, making, in all, 1560. These comprise the whole +of the combinations here given, and are intended for one +particular drawing, constituting one class. For each successive +drawing, another edition of the same combinations +are offered for sale, only with different class numbers.</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="1" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='center'><b>103</b></td><td align='center'><b>104</b></td><td align='center'><b>105</b></td><td align='center'><b>106</b></td><td align='center'><b>107</b></td><td align='center'><b>108</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>3</td><td align='center'>4</td><td align='center'>5</td><td align='center'>6</td><td align='center'>7</td><td align='center'>8</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>1 3 61</td><td align='right'>1 3 65</td><td align='right'>1 4 66</td><td align='right'>1 4 67</td><td align='right'>1 5 68</td><td align='right'>1 5 69</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>2 4 62</td><td align='right'>2 41 66</td><td align='right'>2 42 67</td><td align='right'>2 5 68</td><td align='right'>2 6 69</td><td align='right'>2 6 70</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>5 6 63</td><td align='right'>4 42 67</td><td align='right'>3 43 68</td><td align='right'>3 45 69</td><td align='right'>3 7 70</td><td align='right'>3 7 71</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>7 8 64</td><td align='right'>5 43 68</td><td align='right'>5 44 69</td><td align='right'>6 46 70</td><td align='right'>4 45 71</td><td align='right'>4 8 72</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>9 31 65</td><td align='right'>6 44 69</td><td align='right'>6 45 70</td><td align='right'>7 47 71</td><td align='right'>8 46 72</td><td align='right'>9 48 75</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>10 32 66</td><td align='right'>7 45 70</td><td align='right'>7 46 71</td><td align='right'>8 48 72</td><td align='right'>9 47 73</td><td align='right'>10 49 76</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>11 33 67</td><td align='right'>8 40 71</td><td align='right'>8 47 72</td><td align='right'>9 49 73</td><td align='right'>10 48 74</td><td align='right'>11 50 73</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>12 34 68</td><td align='right'>9 39 72</td><td align='right'>9 48 73</td><td align='right'>10 50 74</td><td align='right'>11 49 75</td><td align='right'>12 51 74</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>13 35 69</td><td align='right'>10 38 73</td><td align='right'>10 49 74</td><td align='right'>11 51 75</td><td align='right'>12 50 76</td><td align='right'>13 52 78</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>14 36 71</td><td align='right'>11 37 74</td><td align='right'>11 50 75</td><td align='right'>12 52 76</td><td align='right'>13 51 77</td><td align='right'>14 31 77</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>15 37 70</td><td align='right'>12 36 75</td><td align='right'>12 51 76</td><td align='right'>13 29 77</td><td align='right'>14 52 78</td><td align='right'>15 32 68</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>16 38 72</td><td align='right'>13 35 76</td><td align='right'>13 52 77</td><td align='right'>14 30 78</td><td align='right'>15 30 67</td><td align='right'>16 33 67</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>17 39 73</td><td align='right'>14 34 77</td><td align='right'>14 41 78</td><td align='right'>15 31 66</td><td align='right'>16 31 66</td><td align='right'>17 34 66</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>18 40 74</td><td align='right'>15 33 78</td><td align='right'>15 40 65</td><td align='right'>16 32 65</td><td align='right'>17 32 65</td><td align='right'>18 35 65</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>19 41 75</td><td align='right'>16 32 53</td><td align='right'>16 28 64</td><td align='right'>17 33 64</td><td align='right'>18 33 64</td><td align='right'>19 36 64</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>20 42 76</td><td align='right'>17 31 54</td><td align='right'>17 29 63</td><td align='right'>18 34 63</td><td align='right'>19 34 63</td><td align='right'>20 37 63</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>21 43 77</td><td align='right'>18 30 55</td><td align='right'>18 30 62</td><td align='right'>19 35 62</td><td align='right'>20 35 62</td><td align='right'>21 38 62</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>22 44 78</td><td align='right'>19 29 56</td><td align='right'>19 31 61</td><td align='right'>20 36 61</td><td align='right'>21 36 61</td><td align='right'>22 39 61</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>23 45 53</td><td align='right'>20 28 57</td><td align='right'>20 32 60</td><td align='right'>21 37 60</td><td align='right'>22 37 60</td><td align='right'>23 40 60</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>24 46 54</td><td align='right'>21 52 58</td><td align='right'>21 33 59</td><td align='right'>22 38 59</td><td align='right'>23 38 59</td><td align='right'>24 41 59</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>25 47 55</td><td align='right'>22 51 59</td><td align='right'>22 34 58</td><td align='right'>23 39 58</td><td align='right'>24 39 58</td><td align='right'>25 42 58</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>26 48 56</td><td align='right'>23 50 60</td><td align='right'>23 35 57</td><td align='right'>24 40 57</td><td align='right'>25 40 57</td><td align='right'>26 43 57</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>27 49 57</td><td align='right'>24 49 61</td><td align='right'>24 36 56</td><td align='right'>25 41 56</td><td align='right'>26 41 56</td><td align='right'>27 44 56</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>28 50 58</td><td align='right'>25 48 62</td><td align='right'>25 37 55</td><td align='right'>26 42 55</td><td align='right'>27 42 55</td><td align='right'>28 45 55</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>29 51 59</td><td align='right'>26 47 63</td><td align='right'>26 38 54</td><td align='right'>27 43 54</td><td align='right'>28 43 54</td><td align='right'>29 46 54</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>30 52 60</td><td align='right'>27 46 64</td><td align='right'>27 39 53</td><td align='right'>28 44 53</td><td align='right'>29 44 53</td><td align='right'>30 47 53</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>The venders of lottery tickets possess an immense advantage +over the buyer, which is mostly in the extreme +improbability of a prize of any considerable amount +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>being drawn. The numbers 1 to 78 are capable of +making 76076 combinations on what I may term the +increasing ratio—that is, the second larger than the +first, and the third larger than the second, in arithmetical +progression; as, 5, 10, 15, &c.</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="1" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='center'><b>109</b></td><td align='center'><b>110</b></td><td align='center'><b>196</b></td><td align='center'><b>197</b></td><td align='center'><b>198</b></td><td align='center'><b>199</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>9</td><td align='center'>10</td><td align='center'>11</td><td align='center'>12</td><td align='center'>13</td><td align='center'>14</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>1 6 70</td><td align='right'>1 6 71</td><td align='right'>1 7 72</td><td align='right'>1 7 73</td><td align='right'>1 8 74</td><td align='right'>1 8 75</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>2 7 71</td><td align='right'>2 7 72</td><td align='right'>2 8 73</td><td align='right'>2 8 74</td><td align='right'>2 9 75</td><td align='right'>2 9 76</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>3 8 72</td><td align='right'>3 8 73</td><td align='right'>3 9 74</td><td align='right'>3 9 75</td><td align='right'>3 10 76</td><td align='right'>3 10 77</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>4 9 73</td><td align='right'>4 9 74</td><td align='right'>4 10 75</td><td align='right'>4 10 76</td><td align='right'>4 11 77</td><td align='right'>4 11 78</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>5 10 74</td><td align='right'>5 10 75</td><td align='right'>5 11 76</td><td align='right'>5 11 77</td><td align='right'>5 12 78</td><td align='right'>5 12 74</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>11 32 75</td><td align='right'>11 33 76</td><td align='right'>6 12 77</td><td align='right'>6 12 78</td><td align='right'>6 13 73</td><td align='right'>6 13 72</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>12 33 76</td><td align='right'>12 34 77</td><td align='right'>13 33 78</td><td align='right'>13 52 72</td><td align='right'>7 14 72</td><td align='right'>7 14 73</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>13 34 77</td><td align='right'>13 35 78</td><td align='right'>14 34 53</td><td align='right'>14 51 71</td><td align='right'>15 45 70</td><td align='right'>15 46 71</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>14 35 78</td><td align='right'>14 36 70</td><td align='right'>15 35 54</td><td align='right'>15 50 70</td><td align='right'>16 46 71</td><td align='right'>16 47 70</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>15 36 69</td><td align='right'>15 37 69</td><td align='right'>16 36 55</td><td align='right'>16 49 69</td><td align='right'>17 47 69</td><td align='right'>17 48 69</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>16 37 68</td><td align='right'>16 38 68</td><td align='right'>17 37 56</td><td align='right'>17 48 68</td><td align='right'>18 48 68</td><td align='right'>18 49 68</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>17 38 67</td><td align='right'>17 39 67</td><td align='right'>18 38 57</td><td align='right'>18 47 67</td><td align='right'>19 49 67</td><td align='right'>19 50 67</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>18 39 66</td><td align='right'>18 40 66</td><td align='right'>19 39 58</td><td align='right'>19 46 66</td><td align='right'>20 50 66</td><td align='right'>20 51 66</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>19 40 65</td><td align='right'>19 41 65</td><td align='right'>20 40 59</td><td align='right'>20 45 65</td><td align='right'>21 51 65</td><td align='right'>21 52 65</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>20 41 64</td><td align='right'>20 42 64</td><td align='right'>21 41 60</td><td align='right'>21 44 64</td><td align='right'>22 52 64</td><td align='right'>22 45 64</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>21 42 62</td><td align='right'>21 43 63</td><td align='right'>22 42 61</td><td align='right'>22 43 61</td><td align='right'>23 44 63</td><td align='right'>23 44 61</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>22 43 63</td><td align='right'>22 44 62</td><td align='right'>23 43 62</td><td align='right'>23 42 62</td><td align='right'>24 43 62</td><td align='right'>24 43 60</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>23 44 60</td><td align='right'>23 45 61</td><td align='right'>24 44 63</td><td align='right'>24 41 63</td><td align='right'>25 42 61</td><td align='right'>25 42 63</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>24 45 61</td><td align='right'>24 46 60</td><td align='right'>25 45 64</td><td align='right'>25 40 60</td><td align='right'>26 41 60</td><td align='right'>26 41 62</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>25 46 59</td><td align='right'>25 47 59</td><td align='right'>26 46 65</td><td align='right'>26 39 59</td><td align='right'>27 40 59</td><td align='right'>27 40 58</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>26 47 58</td><td align='right'>26 48 58</td><td align='right'>27 47 66</td><td align='right'>27 38 58</td><td align='right'>28 39 58</td><td align='right'>28 39 59</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>27 48 57</td><td align='right'>27 49 56</td><td align='right'>28 48 67</td><td align='right'>28 37 57</td><td align='right'>29 38 57</td><td align='right'>29 38 56</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>28 49 56</td><td align='right'>28 50 57</td><td align='right'>29 49 68</td><td align='right'>29 36 56</td><td align='right'>30 37 56</td><td align='right'>30 37 57</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>29 50 55</td><td align='right'>29 51 55</td><td align='right'>30 50 69</td><td align='right'>30 35 55</td><td align='right'>31 36 55</td><td align='right'>31 36 54</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>30 51 54</td><td align='right'>30 52 54</td><td align='right'>31 51 70</td><td align='right'>31 34 54</td><td align='right'>32 35 53</td><td align='right'>32 35 55</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>31 52 53</td><td align='right'>31 32 53</td><td align='right'>32 52 71</td><td align='right'>32 33 53</td><td align='right'>33 34 54</td><td align='right'>33 34 53</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>In the following combinations there are but 1560, +where there might be 76076; and if this latter number +were printed and sold, some one must hold the three +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>first drawn numbers, every ticket-holder having one +chance out of 76076 of drawing the capital prize. But, +in this combination, if a man were to purchase the whole +of the tickets, being 1560, there would still be 49 chances +against his holding the three first numbers, to one for it. +As there are no two tickets holding the same three +numbers, of course but one can hold the three first, +which is the prize.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span></p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="1" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='center'><b>200</b></td><td align='center'><b>206</b></td><td align='center'><b>201</b></td><td align='center'><b>202</b></td><td align='center'><b>203</b></td><td align='right'><b>204</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>15</td><td align='center'>00</td><td align='center'>1</td><td align='center'>2</td><td align='center'>3</td><td align='center'>4</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>1 9 76</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>1 9 77</td><td align='right'>1 10 77</td><td align='right'>1 10 78</td><td align='right'>1 11 21</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>2 10 77</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>2 10 78</td><td align='right'>2 11 78</td><td align='right'>2 11 77</td><td align='right'>2 12 22</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>3 11 78</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>3 11 76</td><td align='right'>3 12 53</td><td align='right'>3 12 76</td><td align='right'>3 13 23</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>4 12 75</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>4 12 74</td><td align='right'>4 13 54</td><td align='right'>4 13 75</td><td align='right'>4 14 24</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>5 13 74</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>5 13 75</td><td align='right'>5 14 55</td><td align='right'>5 14 74</td><td align='right'>5 15 25</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>6 14 73</td><td align='center'>Here ends Fifteen Packages of Half Tickets. The following Packages are Quarters.</td><td align='right'>6 14 72</td><td align='right'>6 15 56</td><td align='right'>6 15 72</td><td align='right'>6 16 26</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>7 15 72</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>7 15 73</td><td align='right'>7 16 57</td><td align='right'>7 16 71</td><td align='right'>7 17 27</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>8 16 71</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>8 16 70</td><td align='right'>8 17 58</td><td align='right'>8 17 70</td><td align='right'>8 18 28</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>17 52 70</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>17 51 71</td><td align='right'>9 18 59</td><td align='right'>9 18 69</td><td align='right'>9 19 29</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>18 51 69</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>18 50 69</td><td align='right'>19 52 60</td><td align='right'>19 36 68</td><td align='right'>10 20 30</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>19 50 68</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>19 49 68</td><td align='right'>20 40 72</td><td align='right'>20 37 67</td><td align='right'>31 41 51</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>20 49 67</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>20 48 67</td><td align='right'>21 50 62</td><td align='right'>21 38 66</td><td align='right'>32 42 52</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>21 48 66</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>21 47 66</td><td align='right'>22 49 63</td><td align='right'>22 39 65</td><td align='right'>33 43 53</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>22 47 65</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>22 46 65</td><td align='right'>23 48 64</td><td align='right'>23 40 64</td><td align='right'>34 44 54</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>23 46 64</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>23 45 64</td><td align='right'>24 47 65</td><td align='right'>24 41 62</td><td align='right'>35 45 55</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>24 45 63</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>24 44 61</td><td align='right'>25 46 66</td><td align='right'>25 45 63</td><td align='right'>36 46 56</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>25 44 62</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>25 43 62</td><td align='right'>26 45 67</td><td align='right'>26 43 60</td><td align='right'>37 47 57</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>26 43 61</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>26 42 63</td><td align='right'>27 44 68</td><td align='right'>27 44 61</td><td align='right'>38 48 58</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>27 42 60</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>27 41 60</td><td align='right'>28 43 69</td><td align='right'>28 42 59</td><td align='right'>39 49 59</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>28 41 59</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>28 40 59</td><td align='right'>29 42 70</td><td align='right'>29 46 58</td><td align='right'>40 50 60</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>29 40 58</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>29 39 58</td><td align='right'>30 41 71</td><td align='right'>30 47 57</td><td align='right'>61 67 73</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>30 39 57</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>30 38 57</td><td align='right'>31 51 61</td><td align='right'>31 48 56</td><td align='right'>62 68 74</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>31 38 56</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>31 37 56</td><td align='right'>32 39 73</td><td align='right'>32 49 55</td><td align='right'>63 69 75</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>32 37 55</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>32 36 55</td><td align='right'>33 38 74</td><td align='right'>33 50 54</td><td align='right'>64 70 76</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>33 36 54</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>33 35 53</td><td align='right'>34 37 75</td><td align='right'>34 51 53</td><td align='right'>65 71 77</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>34 35 53</td><td align='right'> </td><td align='right'>34 52 54</td><td align='right'>35 36 76</td><td align='right'>35 52 73</td><td align='right'>66 72 78</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>By a little investigation, any one may discover that his +chance for drawing a prize, even of a trifling amount, is +extremely small. By the following method any one may +ascertain the number of combinations which any given +number will produce, as in the present case, 78 × 77 +× 76 = 456456 ÷ 6 = 76076, the number of combinations +of three numbers each; the 78 multiplied by 77, +and the product by 76, and that product divided by 6 +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>gives the number of combinations of three numbers each, +which the numbers from 1 to 78 will produce, no two +combinations containing the same three numbers.</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="1" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='center'><b>205</b></td><td align='center'><b>206</b></td><td align='center'><b>207</b></td><td align='center'><b>208</b></td><td align='center'><b>209</b></td><td align='center'><b>210</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>5</td><td align='center'>6</td><td align='center'>7</td><td align='center'>8</td><td align='center'>9</td><td align='center'>10</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>1 12 23</td><td align='right'>1 13 25</td><td align='right'>1 14 27</td><td align='right'>1 15 29</td><td align='right'>1 16 31</td><td align='right'>1 17 33</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>2 13 24</td><td align='right'>2 14 26</td><td align='right'>2 15 28</td><td align='right'>2 16 39</td><td align='right'>2 17 32</td><td align='right'>2 18 34</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>3 14 25</td><td align='right'>3 15 27</td><td align='right'>3 16 29</td><td align='right'>3 17 31</td><td align='right'>3 18 33</td><td align='right'>3 19 35</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>4 15 26</td><td align='right'>4 16 28</td><td align='right'>4 17 30</td><td align='right'>4 18 32</td><td align='right'>4 19 34</td><td align='right'>4 20 36</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>5 16 27</td><td align='right'>5 17 29</td><td align='right'>5 18 31</td><td align='right'>5 19 33</td><td align='right'>5 20 35</td><td align='right'>5 21 37</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>6 17 28</td><td align='right'>6 18 30</td><td align='right'>6 19 32</td><td align='right'>6 20 34</td><td align='right'>6 21 36</td><td align='right'>6 22 38</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>7 18 29</td><td align='right'>7 19 31</td><td align='right'>7 20 34</td><td align='right'>7 21 35</td><td align='right'>7 22 37</td><td align='right'>7 23 39</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>8 19 30</td><td align='right'>8 20 32</td><td align='right'>8 21 33</td><td align='right'>8 22 36</td><td align='right'>8 23 38</td><td align='right'>8 24 40</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>9 20 31</td><td align='right'>9 21 33</td><td align='right'>9 22 35</td><td align='right'>9 23 37</td><td align='right'>9 24 39</td><td align='right'>9 25 41</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>10 21 32</td><td align='right'>10 22 34</td><td align='right'>10 23 36</td><td align='right'>10 24 38</td><td align='right'>10 25 40</td><td align='right'>10 26 42</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>11 22 33</td><td align='right'>11 23 35</td><td align='right'>11 24 37</td><td align='right'>11 25 39</td><td align='right'>11 26 41</td><td align='right'>11 27 43</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>34 45 56</td><td align='right'>12 24 36</td><td align='right'>12 25 38</td><td align='right'>12 26 40</td><td align='right'>12 27 42</td><td align='right'>12 28 44</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>35 46 57</td><td align='right'>37 49 61</td><td align='right'>13 26 39</td><td align='right'>13 27 41</td><td align='right'>13 28 43</td><td align='right'>13 29 45</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>36 47 58</td><td align='right'>38 50 62</td><td align='right'>40 53 66</td><td align='right'>14 28 42</td><td align='right'>14 29 44</td><td align='right'>14 30 46</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>37 48 59</td><td align='right'>39 51 63</td><td align='right'>41 54 67</td><td align='right'>43 55 67</td><td align='right'>15 30 45</td><td align='right'>15 31 47</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>38 49 60</td><td align='right'>40 52 64</td><td align='right'>42 55 68</td><td align='right'>44 56 68</td><td align='right'>46 57 68</td><td align='right'>16 32 48</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>39 50 61</td><td align='right'>41 53 65</td><td align='right'>43 56 69</td><td align='right'>45 57 69</td><td align='right'>47 58 69</td><td align='right'>49 59 69</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>40 51 62</td><td align='right'>42 54 66</td><td align='right'>44 57 70</td><td align='right'>46 58 70</td><td align='right'>48 59 70</td><td align='right'>50 60 70</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>41 52 63</td><td align='right'>43 55 67</td><td align='right'>45 58 71</td><td align='right'>47 59 71</td><td align='right'>49 60 71</td><td align='right'>51 61 71</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>42 53 64</td><td align='right'>44 56 68</td><td align='right'>46 59 72</td><td align='right'>48 60 72</td><td align='right'>50 61 72</td><td align='right'>52 62 72</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>43 54 65</td><td align='right'>44 55 66</td><td align='right'>45 47 73</td><td align='right'>49 61 73</td><td align='right'>51 62 73</td><td align='right'>53 63 73</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>44 55 66</td><td align='right'>46 58 70</td><td align='right'>48 61 74</td><td align='right'>50 62 74</td><td align='right'>52 63 74</td><td align='right'>54 64 74</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>67 71 76</td><td align='right'>47 59 72</td><td align='right'>49 62 75</td><td align='right'>51 63 75</td><td align='right'>53 64 75</td><td align='right'>55 65 75</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>68 72 75</td><td align='right'>48 60 71</td><td align='right'>50 63 76</td><td align='right'>52 64 76</td><td align='right'>54 65 76</td><td align='right'>56 66 76</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>69 73 78</td><td align='right'>73 75 77</td><td align='right'>51 64 77</td><td align='right'>53 65 77</td><td align='right'>55 66 77</td><td align='right'>57 67 77</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>70 74 77</td><td align='right'>74 76 78</td><td align='right'>52 65 78</td><td align='right'>54 66 78</td><td align='right'>66 67 78</td><td align='right'>58 68 78</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="1" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='center'><b>296</b></td><td align='center'><b>297</b></td><td align='center'><b>298</b></td><td align='center'><b>299</b></td><td align='center'><b>300</b></td><td align='center'><b>301</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>11</td><td align='center'>12</td><td align='center'>13</td><td align='center'>14</td><td align='center'>15</td><td align='center'>22</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>1 18 35</td><td align='right'>1 19 37</td><td align='right'>1 20 39</td><td align='right'>1 21 41</td><td align='right'>1 22 43</td><td align='right'>1 23 45</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>2 19 36</td><td align='right'>2 20 38</td><td align='right'>2 21 40</td><td align='right'>2 22 42</td><td align='right'>2 23 44</td><td align='right'>2 24 46</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>3 20 37</td><td align='right'>3 21 39</td><td align='right'>3 22 41</td><td align='right'>3 23 43</td><td align='right'>3 24 45</td><td align='right'>3 25 47</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>4 21 38</td><td align='right'>4 22 40</td><td align='right'>4 23 42</td><td align='right'>4 24 44</td><td align='right'>4 25 46</td><td align='right'>4 26 48</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>5 22 39</td><td align='right'>5 23 41</td><td align='right'>5 24 43</td><td align='right'>5 25 45</td><td align='right'>5 26 47</td><td align='right'>5 27 49</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>6 23 40</td><td align='right'>6 24 42</td><td align='right'>6 25 44</td><td align='right'>6 26 46</td><td align='right'>6 27 48</td><td align='right'>6 28 50</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>7 24 41</td><td align='right'>7 25 43</td><td align='right'>7 26 45</td><td align='right'>7 27 47</td><td align='right'>7 28 49</td><td align='right'>7 29 51</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>8 25 42</td><td align='right'>8 26 44</td><td align='right'>8 27 46</td><td align='right'>8 28 48</td><td align='right'>8 29 50</td><td align='right'>8 30 52</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>9 26 43</td><td align='right'>9 27 45</td><td align='right'>9 28 47</td><td align='right'>9 29 49</td><td align='right'>9 30 51</td><td align='right'>9 31 53</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>10 27 44</td><td align='right'>10 28 46</td><td align='right'>10 29 48</td><td align='right'>10 30 50</td><td align='right'>10 31 52</td><td align='right'>10 32 54</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>11 28 45</td><td align='right'>11 29 47</td><td align='right'>11 30 49</td><td align='right'>11 31 51</td><td align='right'>11 32 53</td><td align='right'>11 33 55</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>12 29 46</td><td align='right'>12 30 48</td><td align='right'>12 31 50</td><td align='right'>12 32 52</td><td align='right'>12 33 54</td><td align='right'>12 34 56</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>13 30 47</td><td align='right'>13 31 49</td><td align='right'>13 32 51</td><td align='right'>13 33 53</td><td align='right'>13 34 55</td><td align='right'>13 35 57</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>14 31 48</td><td align='right'>14 32 50</td><td align='right'>14 33 52</td><td align='right'>14 34 54</td><td align='right'>14 35 56</td><td align='right'>14 36 58</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>15 32 49</td><td align='right'>15 33 51</td><td align='right'>15 34 53</td><td align='right'>15 35 55</td><td align='right'>15 36 57</td><td align='right'>15 37 59</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>16 33 50</td><td align='right'>16 34 52</td><td align='right'>16 35 54</td><td align='right'>16 36 56</td><td align='right'>16 37 58</td><td align='right'>16 38 60</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>17 34 51</td><td align='right'>17 35 53</td><td align='right'>17 36 55</td><td align='right'>17 37 57</td><td align='right'>17 38 59</td><td align='right'>17 39 61</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>52 61 70</td><td align='right'>18 36 54</td><td align='right'>18 37 56</td><td align='right'>18 38 58</td><td align='right'>18 39 60</td><td align='right'>18 40 62</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>53 62 71</td><td align='right'>55 63 71</td><td align='right'>19 38 57</td><td align='right'>19 39 59</td><td align='right'>19 40 61</td><td align='right'>19 41 63</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>54 63 72</td><td align='right'>56 64 72</td><td align='right'>58 65 72</td><td align='right'>20 40 60</td><td align='right'>20 41 62</td><td align='right'>20 42 64</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>55 64 73</td><td align='right'>57 65 73</td><td align='right'>59 66 73</td><td align='right'>61 67 74</td><td align='right'>21 42 63</td><td align='right'>21 43 66</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>56 65 74</td><td align='right'>58 66 74</td><td align='right'>60 67 74</td><td align='right'>62 68 73</td><td align='right'>64 69 74</td><td align='right'>22 44 65</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>57 66 75</td><td align='right'>59 67 75</td><td align='right'>61 68 75</td><td align='right'>63 69 76</td><td align='right'>65 70 75</td><td align='right'>67 71 75</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>58 67 76</td><td align='right'>60 68 76</td><td align='right'>62 69 76</td><td align='right'>64 70 75</td><td align='right'>66 71 76</td><td align='right'>68 72 76</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>59 68 77</td><td align='right'>61 69 77</td><td align='right'>63 70 77</td><td align='right'>65 71 78</td><td align='right'>67 72 77</td><td align='right'>69 73 77</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>60 69 78</td><td align='right'>62 70 78</td><td align='right'>64 71 78</td><td align='right'>66 72 77</td><td align='right'>68 73 78</td><td align='right'>70 74 78</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>Lottery-dealers are aware of the great odds against the +buyers, and are very cautious in keeping all the secrets +of a fraud to themselves, by which they are robbing the +public continually. But it shall not be the fault of the +writer of these pages if their swindling machinations are +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span>longer concealed from the community. Thousands upon +thousands of dollars are expended annually in lottery +tickets in this country; and how very seldom is it that you +hear of a capital prize having been drawn! If there should +chance to be a prize of any magnitude awarded to a +ticket-holder, it is trumpeted from one end of the Union +to the other, by those most interested in lottery speculations, +stimulating others to try their luck, and by that +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span>means making their very losses minister to their gain; +for, in all likelihood, months and years may elapse before +another large prize will be drawn from the same lottery.</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="1" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='center'><b>302</b></td><td align='center'><b>303</b></td><td align='center'><b>304</b></td><td align='center'><b>305</b></td><td align='center'><b>306</b></td><td align='center'><b>307</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>17</td><td align='center'>18</td><td align='center'>19</td><td align='center'>20</td><td align='center'>21</td><td align='center'>22</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>1 24 47</td><td align='right'>1 25 49</td><td align='right'>1 26 51</td><td align='right'>1 12 24</td><td align='right'>1 13 27</td><td align='right'>1 14 39</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>2 25 48</td><td align='right'>2 26 50</td><td align='right'>2 27 52</td><td align='right'>2 13 25</td><td align='right'>2 14 28</td><td align='right'>2 15 38</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>3 26 49</td><td align='right'>3 27 51</td><td align='right'>3 28 53</td><td align='right'>3 14 26</td><td align='right'>3 15 29</td><td align='right'>3 16 37</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>4 27 50</td><td align='right'>4 28 52</td><td align='right'>4 29 54</td><td align='right'>4 15 27</td><td align='right'>4 16 30</td><td align='right'>4 17 36</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>5 28 51</td><td align='right'>5 29 53</td><td align='right'>5 30 55</td><td align='right'>5 16 28</td><td align='right'>5 17 31</td><td align='right'>5 18 35</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>6 29 52</td><td align='right'>6 30 54</td><td align='right'>6 31 56</td><td align='right'>6 17 29</td><td align='right'>6 18 32</td><td align='right'>6 19 34</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>7 30 53</td><td align='right'>7 31 55</td><td align='right'>7 32 57</td><td align='right'>7 18 30</td><td align='right'>7 19 33</td><td align='right'>7 20 33</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>8 31 54</td><td align='right'>8 32 56</td><td align='right'>8 33 58</td><td align='right'>8 19 31</td><td align='right'>8 20 34</td><td align='right'>8 21 32</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>9 32 55</td><td align='right'>9 33 57</td><td align='right'>9 34 59</td><td align='right'>9 20 32</td><td align='right'>9 21 35</td><td align='right'>9 22 31</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>10 33 56</td><td align='right'>10 34 58</td><td align='right'>10 35 60</td><td align='right'>10 21 33</td><td align='right'>10 22 36</td><td align='right'>10 23 30</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>11 34 57</td><td align='right'>11 35 59</td><td align='right'>11 36 61</td><td align='right'>11 22 34</td><td align='right'>11 23 26</td><td align='right'>11 24 29</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>12 35 58</td><td align='right'>12 36 60</td><td align='right'>12 37 62</td><td align='right'>23 49 66</td><td align='right'>12 24 25</td><td align='right'>12 25 28</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>13 36 59</td><td align='right'>13 37 61</td><td align='right'>13 38 63</td><td align='right'>35 50 65</td><td align='right'>37 51 65</td><td align='right'>13 26 27</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>14 37 60</td><td align='right'>14 38 62</td><td align='right'>14 39 64</td><td align='right'>36 51 64</td><td align='right'>38 52 66</td><td align='right'>40 53 78</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>15 38 61</td><td align='right'>15 39 63</td><td align='right'>15 40 66</td><td align='right'>37 52 67</td><td align='right'>39 53 67</td><td align='right'>41 54 77</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>16 39 62</td><td align='right'>16 40 64</td><td align='right'>16 41 65</td><td align='right'>38 53 69</td><td align='right'>40 54 68</td><td align='right'>42 55 76</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>17 40 63</td><td align='right'>17 41 65</td><td align='right'>17 42 67</td><td align='right'>39 54 68</td><td align='right'>41 55 69</td><td align='right'>43 56 75</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>18 41 64</td><td align='right'>18 42 66</td><td align='right'>18 43 68</td><td align='right'>40 55 70</td><td align='right'>42 56 70</td><td align='right'>44 57 74</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>19 42 65</td><td align='right'>19 43 67</td><td align='right'>19 44 69</td><td align='right'>41 56 71</td><td align='right'>43 57 71</td><td align='right'>45 58 73</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>20 43 66</td><td align='right'>20 44 68</td><td align='right'>20 45 71</td><td align='right'>42 57 72</td><td align='right'>44 58 72</td><td align='right'>46 59 71</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>21 44 67</td><td align='right'>21 45 69</td><td align='right'>21 46 70</td><td align='right'>43 58 73</td><td align='right'>45 59 73</td><td align='right'>47 60 72</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>22 45 68</td><td align='right'>22 46 70</td><td align='right'>22 47 72</td><td align='right'>44 59 74</td><td align='right'>46 60 74</td><td align='right'>48 61 70</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>23 46 69</td><td align='right'>23 47 71</td><td align='right'>23 48 73</td><td align='right'>45 60 75</td><td align='right'>47 61 75</td><td align='right'>49 62 69</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>70 73 76</td><td align='right'>24 48 72</td><td align='right'>24 49 74</td><td align='right'>46 61 76</td><td align='right'>48 62 76</td><td align='right'>50 63 68</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>71 74 77</td><td align='right'>73 76 77</td><td align='right'>25 50 75</td><td align='right'>47 62 77</td><td align='right'>49 63 77</td><td align='right'>51 64 67</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>72 75 78</td><td align='right'>74 75 78</td><td align='right'>76 77 78</td><td align='right'>48 63 78</td><td align='right'>50 64 78</td><td align='right'>52 65 66</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>It will be seen by the lottery combinations we present, +how infinitely disproportionate are the chances in this +species of gambling—how vastly the odds bear against +the purchaser of tickets, and what mischievous results +must of necessity spring from a vile system of frauds, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>perpetrated, as it is, by the sanction of law, and the +tolerance of custom.</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="1" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='center'><b>308</b></td><td align='center'><b>309</b></td><td align='center'><b>310</b></td><td align='center'><b>396</b></td><td align='center'><b>397</b></td><td align='center'><b>398</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>23</td><td align='center'>24</td><td align='center'>25</td><td align='center'>26</td><td align='center'>27</td><td align='center'>28</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>1 18 53</td><td align='right'>1 19 53</td><td align='right'>1 20 53</td><td align='right'>1 21 53</td><td align='right'>1 22 45</td><td align='right'>1 23 46</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>2 19 54</td><td align='right'>2 20 54</td><td align='right'>2 21 54</td><td align='right'>2 22 54</td><td align='right'>2 23 43</td><td align='right'>2 24 45</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>3 20 55</td><td align='right'>3 21 55</td><td align='right'>3 22 55</td><td align='right'>3 23 55</td><td align='right'>3 24 44</td><td align='right'>3 25 55</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>4 21 56</td><td align='right'>4 22 56</td><td align='right'>4 23 56</td><td align='right'>4 24 56</td><td align='right'>4 25 56</td><td align='right'>4 26 56</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>5 22 57</td><td align='right'>5 23 57</td><td align='right'>5 24 57</td><td align='right'>5 25 57</td><td align='right'>5 26 57</td><td align='right'>5 27 57</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>6 23 58</td><td align='right'>6 24 58</td><td align='right'>6 25 58</td><td align='right'>6 26 58</td><td align='right'>6 27 58</td><td align='right'>6 28 58</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>7 24 59</td><td align='right'>7 25 59</td><td align='right'>7 26 59</td><td align='right'>7 27 59</td><td align='right'>7 28 59</td><td align='right'>7 29 59</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>8 25 60</td><td align='right'>8 26 60</td><td align='right'>8 27 60</td><td align='right'>8 28 60</td><td align='right'>8 29 60</td><td align='right'>8 30 78</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>9 26 61</td><td align='right'>9 27 61</td><td align='right'>9 28 61</td><td align='right'>9 29 61</td><td align='right'>9 30 61</td><td align='right'>9 31 77</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>10 27 62</td><td align='right'>10 28 62</td><td align='right'>10 29 62</td><td align='right'>10 30 62</td><td align='right'>10 31 62</td><td align='right'>10 32 76</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>11 28 63</td><td align='right'>11 29 63</td><td align='right'>11 30 63</td><td align='right'>11 31 63</td><td align='right'>11 32 63</td><td align='right'>11 33 75</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>12 29 64</td><td align='right'>12 30 64</td><td align='right'>12 31 64</td><td align='right'>12 32 64</td><td align='right'>12 33 64</td><td align='right'>12 34 74</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>13 30 65</td><td align='right'>13 31 65</td><td align='right'>13 32 65</td><td align='right'>13 33 65</td><td align='right'>13 34 65</td><td align='right'>13 35 73</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>14 31 66</td><td align='right'>14 32 66</td><td align='right'>14 33 66</td><td align='right'>14 34 66</td><td align='right'>14 35 66</td><td align='right'>14 36 72</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>15 32 67</td><td align='right'>15 33 67</td><td align='right'>15 34 67</td><td align='right'>15 35 67</td><td align='right'>15 36 67</td><td align='right'>15 37 71</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>16 33 68</td><td align='right'>16 34 68</td><td align='right'>16 35 68</td><td align='right'>16 36 68</td><td align='right'>16 38 71</td><td align='right'>16 38 70</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>17 34 69</td><td align='right'>17 35 69</td><td align='right'>17 36 69</td><td align='right'>17 37 69</td><td align='right'>17 37 70</td><td align='right'>17 39 69</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>35 44 70</td><td align='right'>18 36 70</td><td align='right'>18 37 70</td><td align='right'>18 38 70</td><td align='right'>18 39 69</td><td align='right'>18 40 68</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>36 45 71</td><td align='right'>37 45 71</td><td align='right'>19 38 71</td><td align='right'>19 39 71</td><td align='right'>19 40 68</td><td align='right'>19 41 67</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>37 46 72</td><td align='right'>38 46 72</td><td align='right'>39 46 72</td><td align='right'>20 40 72</td><td align='right'>20 41 72</td><td align='right'>20 42 66</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>38 47 73</td><td align='right'>39 47 73</td><td align='right'>40 47 73</td><td align='right'>41 47 73</td><td align='right'>21 42 73</td><td align='right'>21 43 65</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>39 48 74</td><td align='right'>40 48 74</td><td align='right'>41 48 74</td><td align='right'>42 48 74</td><td align='right'>46 51 74</td><td align='right'>22 44 64</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>40 49 75</td><td align='right'>41 49 75</td><td align='right'>42 49 75</td><td align='right'>43 49 75</td><td align='right'>47 52 75</td><td align='right'>47 51 63</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>41 50 76</td><td align='right'>42 50 76</td><td align='right'>43 50 76</td><td align='right'>44 50 76</td><td align='right'>48 53 76</td><td align='right'>48 52 62</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>42 51 77</td><td align='right'>43 51 77</td><td align='right'>44 51 77</td><td align='right'>45 51 77</td><td align='right'>49 54 77</td><td align='right'>49 53 61</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>43 52 78</td><td align='right'>44 52 78</td><td align='right'>45 52 78</td><td align='right'>46 52 78</td><td align='right'>50 55 78</td><td align='right'>50 54 60</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>All the combinations used in this lottery have been +given, as also the number that might be made; and, of +course, the less the dealer in lotteries makes, the greater +the chance in his favor, and the less in favor of the buyer. +The figures heading the classes of combinations, on each +page, are class-numbers, and those below the first figures, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span>and immediately above the columns, are placed there to +indicate the number of packages.</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="1" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='center'><b>399</b></td><td align='center'><b>400</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align='center'>29</td><td align='center'>30</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>1 24 53</td><td align='right'>1 25 53</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>2 25 54</td><td align='right'>2 26 54</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>3 26 55</td><td align='right'>3 27 55</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>4 27 56</td><td align='right'>4 28 56</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>5 28 57</td><td align='right'>5 29 57</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>6 29 58</td><td align='right'>6 30 58</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>7 30 59</td><td align='right'>7 31 59</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>8 31 60</td><td align='right'>8 32 60</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>9 32 61</td><td align='right'>9 33 61</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>10 33 62</td><td align='right'>10 34 62</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>11 34 63</td><td align='right'>11 35 63</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>12 35 64</td><td align='right'>12 36 64</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>13 36 65</td><td align='right'>13 37 65</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>14 37 66</td><td align='right'>14 38 66</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>15 38 67</td><td align='right'>15 39 67</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>16 39 68</td><td align='right'>16 40 68</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>17 40 69</td><td align='right'>17 41 69</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>18 41 70</td><td align='right'>18 42 70</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>19 42 71</td><td align='right'>19 43 71</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>20 43 72</td><td align='right'>20 44 72</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>21 44 73</td><td align='right'>21 45 73</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>22 45 74</td><td align='right'>22 46 74</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>23 46 75</td><td align='right'>23 47 75</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>47 50 76</td><td align='right'>24 48 76</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>48 51 77</td><td align='right'>49 51 77</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>49 52 78</td><td align='right'>50 52 78</td></tr> +</table></div> +<p class='center'>Here ends the Thirty Packages of Quarters.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"> +<img src="images/287.png" width="300" height="562" alt="MARKED CARDS. See Green on Gambling." title="" /> +<span class="caption">MARKED CARDS. See Green on Gambling.</span> +</div> + +<p>The above are specimens of patterns of playing cards, +that the reader may rely upon the gambler's knowing by +their back as well as the generality of amusement players +know by their face. The same may be said of all the +patterns spoken of and presented to the view of the +reader on another page of this work.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/288.png" width="500" height="131" alt="Literature Lottery +Ticket" title="" /> +<span class="caption">This Ticket will entitle the holder to one QUARTER of such Prize as may be +drawn to its Numbers, if demanded within twelve months after the Drawing. +Subject to a deduction of Fifteen per cent: Payable forty days after the Drawing.<br /> +For A. BASSFORD & CO., Managers.<br /> +Covington, 1841. QUARTER.</span> +</div> + +<p>[This plate represents a lottery ticket with the numbers placed upon it. The numbers +seen upon its face are of the same order as those found upon every ticket when sold, and +are used to designate one ticket from another, and by comparing them with the numbers at +the head of any of those packages of combinations, on another page, you will see the manner +in which they are arranged, and the great advantage in favor of the managers.]</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span></p> + + +<h4>FALLACY OF LOTTERIES AS A MEANS OF REVENUE.</h4> + +<p>We are indebted for the following exposition to our +moral friend, Capt. John Maginn, of New York city.</p> + +<p>"Although they may produce, by the various deceptive +allurements which they hold forth, a temporary +influx into the treasury of the state, yet the prostration +of industry, the formation of idle habits, intemperance +and various other vices, have invariably been the consequences +wherever they have been introduced. No +farther evidence of this position is requisite than the +fact that in England, where many of the common necessaries +of life are heavily taxed, it has been satisfactorily +ascertained from observation, that for several days preceding +the drawing of a lottery, the consumption of such +articles was very materially diminished. It is moreover +equally true, that a very small proportion of the tax actually +paid, through the purchase of lottery tickets, is +available to the state: by far the greater part being +absorbed in the expenses, profits, &c., of managers and +venders."</p> + + +<h4><a name="INSURING_NUMBERS" id="INSURING_NUMBERS"></a>INSURING NUMBERS, OR POLICY DEALING.</h4> + +<p>As the system of insuring numbers is at present +practised to a fearful extent in this city, and as its votaries +are mostly the ignorant and unthinking portion of +the community, we proceed to give a plain matter-of-fact +investigation of the chances.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span></p> + +<p>There being on the day of drawing a certain number +of tickets in the wheel, out of which a particular number +of them are to be drawn, it follows that there are so +many chances to one against a given number being +drawn as the number which are to be drawn are contained +in the entire number of tickets in the wheel. To +illustrate this practically, suppose you would insure the +payment of $100 upon the event of a certain number +being drawn from the lottery wheel to-day; suppose it +is a 78 number lottery, and that 12 ballots are to be +drawn; the chance then is evidently 78/12, or 6.5 to 1 that +you lose: accordingly, in order to make the chances +equal, you must pay 100/6.5, or $15.38, for insurance: if +therefore the insurer should ask $32, there would be +about $16 fraud: in other words, you would have to +contend against about 100 per cent. The only inducement +for the insurer to pursue this vile practice, in defiance +of constitutions and laws, is a liberal per centage. +This varies from 30 to 70, and even 125 per cent. +Under circumstances like these, when the chances of +gain are obviously so remote, it would seem incredible +that any one endowed with even ordinary sagacity +could be so deluded—so desperate—as to adventure; +though, sad to relate, hundreds and hundreds in this +city daily spend their little all in effecting insurance on +numbers, and that, too, at the sacrifice of the common +necessaries of life.</p> + +<p>Another system of insurance, which we will proceed +to analyze, is effected by what is termed a station number. +The adventurer selects a number, and declares +that it will come out the first or second drawn, or in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span>some other place, for which he pays six cents, and if +the number is drawn in the order indicated, he is to receive +$2.50. To illustrate this, suppose you select a +certain number, which you declare will be the third +drawn; suppose also that it is a 78 number lottery, and +that there are 12 drawn ballots. In this case there are +evidently 78/12 = 6.5 chances to 1 against the selected +number being drawn. It is also plain that should it be +a drawn number, there are 12 chances to 1 against it +being drawn in any particular order; wherefore it +follows, that there are 6.5x12 = 78 chances to 1 against +the selected number being the third or any other particular +drawn number. Accordingly, to equalize the +chances, in case of winning you should receive 78x6 += $4.68; hence, under these circumstances the insurer +gains $2.18, which is nearly 100 per cent. Again, +suppose it is a 98 number lottery, and that you pay 25 +cents: here we have 98x25 = $24.50, the sum you +ought to receive in case of winning, instead of which +you only receive 25/6x2.5 = $10.626; hence the insurer +gains $13.975, or more than 125 per cent.</p> + + +<h4>PROF. GODDARD ON LOTTERIES.</h4> + +<p>We give below a very able memorial, from the pen +of Prof. <span class="smcap">Goddard</span>, of Brown University, to the Legislature +of Rhode Island.</p> + +<p>The undersigned, citizens of Rhode Island, have long +regarded the lottery system with unqualified reprobation. +They believe it to be a multiform social evil, which is +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span>obnoxious to the severest reprehension of the moralist, +and which it is the duty of the legislator, in all cases, +to visit with the most effective prohibitory sanctions. +Entertaining these convictions, the undersigned memorialists +cannot withhold them from the Hon. General Assembly +of Rhode Island. They invoke the General +Assembly to exercise their constitutional powers, +promptly and decisively, for the correction of a long-continued, +and wide-spread, and pestilent social evil. +They ask them, most respectfully and earnestly, to +withdraw, as soon as may be, all legislative sanction of +the lottery system, and to save Rhode Island from the +enduring reproach of being among the last States to +abandon that system. The memorialists beg leave to +disclaim, in this matter, all personal or political considerations. +They are seeking neither to help nor to +hurt any political party. They contemplate no aggression +upon the rights or the character of individuals. +They are engaged in no impracticable scheme of moral +reform. They have no fondness for popular agitation. +They are what they profess to be, citizens of Rhode +Island, and it is only in the quality of citizens of Rhode +Island, that they now ask the General Assembly to +resort to the most operative penal enactments, for the +entire suppression of a system which exists, and which +can exist only to disgrace the character of the State, and +to injure both the morals and the interests of the people. +The memorialists are persuaded that a commanding +majority of the citizens of every political party entertain +sentiments of decided hostility to all lotteries. In praying, +therefore, for legislative interposition, they feel that +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span>they are not in advance of public opinion, that they are +not urging the General Assembly to anticipate public +opinion, but only to imbody it; to accelerate its salutary +impulses, and to augment its healthful vigour. The +constitutional power of the legislature to interfere in the +premises being undisputed, the memorialists beg leave +to submit, for consideration, a few only of the many +reasons which have forced upon their minds the conclusion—that +Rhode Island should lose no time and +spare no effort in extirpating the lottery system:—a +system which has already worked extensive evil within +her borders; which is repugnant to a cultivated moral +sense; and which has been branded, both as illegal and +immoral, by some of the most enlightened governments +upon earth. In this connection, it should be stated, +that England, and, it is believed, France likewise, have +abandoned the lottery system. Some of the most populous +and influential States in this Confederacy have +abandoned it. Massachusetts has abandoned it; Pennsylvania +has abandoned it; New York has abandoned +it. Nay more, so hostile were the people of the latter +State to the lottery system, that in revising its Constitution +a few years since, they adopted a provision which +prohibits the Legislature from ever making a lottery +grant. These examples are adduced to show the progress +of an enlightened public sentiment upon this +subject, and to exhibit the grateful spectacle of governments, +differently constituted, exercising their powers +for the best interests of the people. The evils which +the lottery system creates, and the evils which it exasperates, +are so various and complicated, that the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>undersigned memorialists cannot attempt an enumeration. +They are so revolting as to furnish no motive for +rhetorical exaggeration. A few only of these evils the +undersigned memorialists will now proceed to mention.</p> + +<p>1. Lotteries are liable to many of the strongest objections +which can be alleged against gambling. They +have thus far escaped, it is true, the infamy of gambling, +but they can plead no exemption from its malignant +consequences. Like gamblers, they are hostile—not to +say fatal—to all composure of thought and sobriety of +conduct. Like gambling, they inflame the imagination +of their victims and their dupes, with visions of ease, +and affluence, and pleasure, destined never to be realized. +Like gambling, they seduce men, especially the credulous +and the unthinking, from the pursuits of regular +industry, into the vortex of wild adventure and exasperated +passions. Like gambling, they ultimately create +a necessity for constant vicious excitement. Like +gambling, they often lead to poverty and despair, to +insanity and to suicide. Like gambling, they furnish +strong temptations to fraud, and theft, and drunkenness. +Like gambling, they work, in but too many cases, a +permanent depravation of all moral principle and all +moral habits. This fearful parallel might easily be extended. +The picture here presented of the evils of +lotteries, however fearful it may seem, is not overdrawn. +This picture will be owned as just, by many a bereaved +widow and by many a forsaken wife, who trace all +their woes to the temptation into which this <i>respectable</i> +and legalized species of gambling had betrayed once +affectionate husbands. It will be owned as just by +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span>many a child, who has been doomed perchance to a +heritage of ignorance and poverty, by a father, for whose +weak virtue the potent fascinations of the lottery were +found too strong. In many respects, the lottery system +may be deemed even more pernicious than ordinary +gambling. It spreads a more accomplished snare; it is +less offensive to decorum; it is less alarming to consciences +which have not lost all sensitiveness; it numbers +among its participants multitudes of those who +ought to blush and to tremble for thus hazarding their +own virtue, and for thus corrupting the virtues of others; +it draws within its charmed circle men and women who +fill up every gradation of age, and character, and fortune.</p> + +<p>2. The lottery system, as at present constituted, +presents the strongest temptations to fraud on the part +of all those who are concerned either in the drawing +of lotteries or in the sale of tickets. It is not known +that fraud has in any case been perpetrated, though +fraud is suspected. If perpetrated, it would be no easy +matter to detect it. The ignorant and the credulous +men and women, who seek to better their fortunes by +gambling in lottery tickets, know nothing of those +mystical combinations of numbers, on which their fate +is suspended. Utter strangers as they are to all the +"business transactions" of the lottery system, if cheated +at all, they are cheated without remedy.</p> + +<p>3. The lottery system operates as a most oppressive +tax upon the community. This tax is paid, not by the +rich and luxurious—but it is paid mainly by those who +are struggling for independence, and by those who earn +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span>their bread by the sweat of their brow—by the servants +in our kitchens—by clerks and apprentices, and day-labourers; +by mechanics and traders; by the men and +women who work in our factories; and in too many +instances, it is to be feared, by our hardy yeomanry, +who, impatient of the slow profits of agriculture, vainly +expect from the chances of the lottery that which is +never denied to the efforts of industry. The amount of +pauperism and crime, of mental agitation and perchance +of mental insanity, which the lottery system must create +among these numerous classes, it would not be easy to +calculate.</p> + +<p>4. Lotteries are the parent of much of the pauperism +which is to be found in this young, and free, and prosperous +land. It entails poverty upon multitudes directly, +by exhausting their limited means in abortive experiments +to get rich by "high prizes"—and, yet more, by +withdrawing multitudes from a dependence on labour, +and accustoming them to hope miracles of good fortune +from chance. After repeated disappointments, they +discover, when it is too late to profit from the discovery, +how sadly they have been duped, and how recklessly +they have abandoned their confidence in themselves, +and in that gracious Being who never forsakes those +who put their trust in him. They sink into despondency, +and, seeking to forget themselves, they bring upon +their faculties the brutal stupor of intoxication, or they +exhilarate them by its delirious gayety. Suicide is +often the fearful issue. Dupin ascribes a hundred cases +of suicide <i>annually</i> to the lottery system in the single +city of Paris. Many years ago a lottery scheme, dis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span>playing +splendid prizes, was formed in London. Adventures +to a very large amount was the consequence, +and the night of the drawing was signalized by fifty +cases of suicide!</p> + +<p>5. Success in lotteries is hardly less fatal than failure. +The fortunate adventurer is never satisfied. He ventures +again and again, till ruin overtakes him. After +all the tempting promises of wealth, which are made +by those concerned in this iniquitous system, how very +few, except managers of lotteries and venders of lottery +tickets, has it ever made rich! and well may it be +asked, whom has it ever made more diligent in business, +more contented, and respectable, and happy?</p> + +<p>6. Lotteries, it is believed, are rendered especially +mischievous in this country by the nature of our institutions, +and by the spirit of the times. Here, the path to +eminence being open to every one—but too many are +morbidly anxious to improve their condition; and by +means, too, which in the wisdom of Providence were +never intended to command success. A mad desire +for wealth pervades all classes—it feeds all minds with +fantastic hope; it is hostile to all patient toil, and legitimate +enterprise, and economical expenditure. It +generates a spirit of reckless speculation; it corrupts +the simplicity of our tastes; and, what is yet worse, it +impairs, not unfrequently, in reference to the transactions +of business, the obligations of common honesty. Upon +these elements of our social condition and character, the +lottery system operates with malignant efficacy.</p> + +<p>The undersigned memorialists are far from thinking +that, in the preceding remarks, they have exhausted +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span>the argument against the lottery system. They have +dwelt, in general terms, upon only some of its more +prominent evils. They do not allow themselves to +believe that, aside from the ranks of those who have a +direct personal interest in this system, a man of character +could be found in Rhode Island to defend it. The +memorialists deem lotteries to be in Rhode Island a +paramount social evil. They entreat the General Assembly +to survey this evil in all its phases, and then to +apply the remedy. The interposition which is now +asked at the hands of the Legislature has been delayed +too long, either for the interests or for the character of +the state. It is time that we protected our interests, +and retrieved our character. It is time that the lottery +had ceased to be the "<i>domestic institution</i>" of Rhode +Island. It is time that we abandoned, and abandoned +for ever, the policy of supporting schools, and building +churches, with the wages of iniquity. The memorialists +are aware that the General Assembly have made lottery +grants, which have not yet expired. They seek not in +any way to interfere with those grants; but in concluding +this expression of their views, they cannot avoid +repeating their earnest entreaty that the legislature +would come up without unnecessary delay to the great +work of reforming an abuse, which no length of time, +or patronage of numbers, or policy of state, should be +permitted to shelter for another hour.</p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span></p> + + +<p class='center'>EXTRACTS <i>from a Report to the Society for the Prevention of Pauperism +in the city of New York.</i></p> + +<p>"It is not possible to estimate the sum that may have +been drawn from the people by lottery devices. Nor +is it possible to estimate the number of poor people that +have engaged in lottery gambling. We have been told, +that more than two hundred of these deluded people +have been seen early in the mornings at the lottery +offices, pressing to know their fate. <i>There</i> might be +seen the anxiety, the disappointment, and mortification, +of unfortunate beings, who had lost their all!</p> + +<p>"Thus we see that this demoralizing contagion has +spread its destructive influence over the most indigent +and ignorant of the community. The injurious system +of lotteries opens a wide door to gambling, fraud and +imposition; of which the speculating, dishonest, idle, +profligate and crafty avail themselves, and deceive the +innocent and ignorant.</p> + +<p>"If we place this subject in a pecuniary view as it +relates to the public funds, the mischievous effect is +more obvious. From an estimate, made by a gentleman +of accurate calculation, it appears, that the expense, or +the amount drawn from the people, to raise by lottery +the net sum of 30,000 dollars, amounts to $170,500, +including the expense of the managers and their attendants, +the clerks and attendants of the lottery offices, the +expense of time lost by poor people, and the amount +paid the proprietors of lottery offices. This enormous +sum is paid for the collection of only 30,000 dollars. +This is, therefore, not only the most expensive, but also +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span>the most demoralizing method that was ever devised to +tax the people.</p> + +<p>"Upon the whole view of the subject, your committee +are decidedly of opinion, that lotteries are the most injurious +kind of taxation, and the very worst species of +Gambling. By their insidious and fascinating influence +on the public mind, their baleful effect is extended, and +their mischievous consequences are most felt by the +indigent and ignorant, who are seduced, deceived, and +cheated out of their money, when their families are +often suffering for the necessaries of life. Their principles +are vitiated by lotteries, they are deceived by vain +and delusive expectation, and are led into habits of idleness +and vice, which produce innumerable evils, and, +ultimately, end in misery and pauperism."</p> + + +<h4><a name="LOTTERY_COMBINATIONS" id="LOTTERY_COMBINATIONS"></a>LOTTERY COMBINATIONS.</h4> + +<p>The numbers on lottery tickets are formed by combinations +of certain numbers previously agreed upon; as +from 1 to 60, 1 to 75, 1 to 78, &c., &c.</p> + +<p>Combination consists in taking a less number of things +out of a greater, without any regard to the order in +which they stand; no two combinations having the same +quantities or numbers.</p> + +<p><i>Problem.</i>—To find the number of combinations which +can be taken from any given number of things, all different +from each other, taking a given number at a time.</p> + +<p><i>Rule.</i>—Take a series of numbers, the first term of +which is equal to the number of things out of which the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span>combinations are to be made, and decreasing by 1, till +the number of terms is equal to the number of things to +be taken at a time, and the product of all the terms.</p> + +<p>Then take the natural series 1, 2, 3, &c., up to the +number of things to be taken at a time, and find the +product of all the terms of this series.</p> + +<p>Divide the former product by the latter, and the quotient +will be the answer.</p> + +<p>How many combinations of 3 numbers can be taken +out of 78 numbers?</p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='right'>78×77×76 =</td><td align='left'>456456 and</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>1×2×3 =</td><td align='left'>6</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right' class='bb'>6)456456</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>76076</td><td align='right'>Answer.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>How many combinations of 3 numbers can be taken +out of 70 numbers?</p> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='right'>70×69×68 =</td><td align='left'>328440 and</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>1×2×3 =</td><td align='left'>6</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right' class='bb'>6)328440</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>54740</td><td align='right'>Answer.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>How many combinations of 3 numbers can be taken +out of 60 numbers?</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='right'>60×59×58 =</td><td align='left'>205320 and</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>1×2×3 =</td><td align='left'>6</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right' class='bb'>6)205320</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>34220</td><td align='right'>Answer.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>How many combinations of 3 numbers can be taken +out of 40 numbers?</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='right'>40×39×38 =</td><td align='left'>59280 and</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>1×2×3 =</td><td align='left'>6</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right' class='bb'>6)59280</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>9880</td><td align='right'>Answer.</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span></p> + +<p>We have sufficient experience in lottery gambling to assure the +community that their whole system is as foul as highway robbery. +We purchased a wheel from one of the fraternity in Washington +City, and drew in Philadelphia three times, then carried it to +Washington, and there demonstrated to the satisfaction of those +who witnessed our drawing, that what we asserted was true to the +letter. We copy the notices of the American Courier, one of the +first papers of our country in the cause of humanity, and ever +ready to diffuse that which will promote the happiness and +welfare of mankind.</p> + +<p class='center'>"GREEN'S LOTTERY,</p> + +<p>"On Saturday night, drew the prize of fifty dollars for the proprietor, +he having declared to the audience the intention of giving +them blanks, which he did to the satisfaction of the judges. We +have the best authority for stating the belief that his expositions +will prove not only interesting, but highly beneficial, in opening +the eyes of thousands to the frauds practised in the shape of fairness +by the lottery managers."</p> + +<p>After which the editor received the following:—</p> + +<p class="rightheader"><i>Frederick, June 9th, 1848.</i></p> + +<p><i>Dear Sir</i>—Will you oblige some of your readers by giving them +an idea of "Green's" manner of exposition of frauds, as practised +by the lottery managers? and by so doing, no doubt but you will +confer a favour on many of your subscribers.</p> + +<p><span class="i4">Respectfully, B.</span><br /> +<span class="i8">A. M'Makin, Esq., <i>Ed. American Courier, Philad.</i></span></p> + +<p class='center' style="font-size: small;">EXPLANATION.</p> + +<p>In obedience to the request of "B," we have conversed with a +gentleman who was one of a committee of the audience to superintend +the drawing of "Green's Lottery" on a recent occasion. He +says that the tickets were prepared and distributed precisely after +the plan of the regular lottery managers, with the exception that +Mr. Green announced to the audience that he had purposely reserved +certain combinations of numbers, which he knew by calculation +would draw for him the highest prize, and leave for them <i>blanks +only!</i>—Each individual in the audience held a ticket, with a different +combination of numbers, such as they choose to select from +the packages opened to them. The numbers were placed in the +wheel precisely in the usual way, the drawing conducted by the +committee from the audience, and on the announcement of the +drawn numbers it was discovered, sure enough, that the audience +had received all blanks, and upon Mr. Green pointing to a package +on the table reserved for himself, it was examined by the committee, +and lo! there lay the ticket having the combination of +numbers drawing <i>the capital prize</i>!—<span class="smcap">Ed. A.C.</span></p><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span></p> + + +<p class='center'><i>Communicated to the American Courier from Washington, D.C.</i></p> + +<p>Green's great Consolidated Lottery drew in this city on the 22d +inst. The Reformed Gambler astonished a highly respectable +audience at his complete exposition of the fraud practised by +lottery speculators throughout our Union. Mr. Green stated to the +audience that though he wished them to understand the lottery +system to be fraught with deception, he did not wish it to be +understood that he was competent to make a clear and comprehensive +exposition. This was his fourth effort, and he had succeeded +in three to the satisfaction of his audience.</p> + +<p>He then stated that he would draw from the ternary combination +of 42 numbers, and take therefore 8 drawn ballots, being equal to +15 in 75. He then placed in R.H. Gillet's hand 42 tickets, which +he declared contained the drawn numbers, where any 3 numbers +should be upon a ticket. Having explained satisfactorily his intentions, +he requested Mr. J. Thaw to act as his commissioner, Mr. +Thaw being well known as a gentleman of integrity.</p> + +<p>Mr. Green then requested Mr. Gillet to mark the numbers from +1 to 42, so that there should be no doubt resting upon the mind of +any one that they were the same numbers which should afterwards +be drawn out. The tickets were marked, and Mr. Thaw deposited +them singly in tin tubes, from 1 to 42. Mr. Thaw then revolved +the wheel, mixing them thoroughly; he then drew one at a time, +until he drew 8, being the correct drawn ballots. Mr. Green then +asked the audience if they had any prizes. Receiving a negative +answer, he stated that he could draw one half of the numbers from +the wheel and still they should have none, though they had some +400 tickets against his 42. The commissioner continued drawing, +the prizes still falling in the manager's package, and the numbers +from 1 to 29 were taken out of the 42 before the audience received +a full compliment of 3 numbers on a ticket. The drawing appeared +fair; the numbers placed in the wheel were those taken +out. The wheel is one Mr. G. purchased from a lottery vender in +Washington city. Mr. G.'s explanation of his power to prevent +prizes being drawn without his consent appeared very satisfactory. +He declared that the managers had it in their power to assort out +certain numbers, and by the villany of those concerned in the distribution, +were enabled to keep any numbers from the hands of +the drawer.</p> + +<p>I must own that this exposition of Green's has taken me altogether +by surprise. I did think that the deluded thousands who +live on, day after day, in the vain hope of a prize, instead of depending +solely upon their industry, skill, and talents, had some +remote chance of getting a good drawn number. But, it seems +that this is all a delusion, and that lotteries can be "stocked" as +well as a pack of cards.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SECRET BAND OF BROTHERS***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 17917-h.txt or 17917-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/9/1/17917">http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/9/1/17917</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Secret Band of Brothers + A Full and True Exposition of All the Various Crimes, Villanies, and Misdeeds of This Powerful Organization in the United States. + + +Author: Jonathan Harrington Green + + + +Release Date: March 4, 2006 [eBook #17917] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SECRET BAND OF BROTHERS*** + + +E-text prepared by Dave Maddock, Susan Skinner, and the Project Gutenberg +Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net/) from page +images generously made available by the University of Michigan Digital +Library Production Service (http://www.hti.umich.edu/) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 17917-h.htm or 17917-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/9/1/17917/17917-h/17917-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/9/1/17917/17917-h.zip) + + Images of the original pages are available through the Making of + America collection of the University of Michigan Digital Library + Production Service. See + http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa;idno=AHK6233.0001.001 + + + + + +SECRET BAND OF BROTHERS. + +A Full and True Exposition of All the Various Crimes, Villanies, +and Misdeeds of This Powerful Organization in the United States. + +By the "Reformed Gambler," + +JONATHAN H. GREEN. + +Author of "The Gambler's Life," "Gambling Exposed," "The Reformed +Gambler; Or, Autobiography of J. H. Green," Etc. + +With Illustrative Engravings. + + + * * * * * + + + "This is a most fearful and startling exposition of crime, and + gives the true and secret history of a daring and powerful secret + association, the members of which, residing in all parts of the + country, have for a long period of years been known to one another + by signs and tokens known only to their order. This association has + been guilty of an almost incredible amount of crime. Beautifully + embellished with Illustrative Engravings, from original designs by + Darley and Croome."--_Courier._ + + + * * * * * + + + +[Illustration] + + + + + +Philadelphia: +T. B. Peterson and Brothers, +306 Chestnut Street. +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, +by T. B. PETERSON, +in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and +for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. + + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The vice of gambling is peculiarly destructive. It spares neither age +nor sex. It visits the domestic hearth with a pestilence more quiet and +stealthy, but not less deadly, than intemperance. It is at once the vice +of the gentleman, and the passion of the blackguard. With deep shame we +are forced to admit that the halls of legislation have not been free +from its influence, nor the judicial bench unstained by its pollution. + +It is against this vice, which is now spreading like a subtle poison +through all grades of society, that the present work is directed. The +author is not a mere theorist. He speaks from experience--dark and +bitter experience. The things he has seen he tells; the words he has +heard he speaks again. Some of these scenes curdle the blood in the +veins, even when remembered; some of these words, whenever whispered, +recall incidents of singular atrocity, and thrill the bosom with horror. + +The author professes to speak nothing but the plain truth. He does not +aspire to an elegant style of writing, adorned with the ornaments of the +orator and the scholar; but to one quality may lay claim, without being +thought a vain or immodest man. He speaks with an earnest sincerity. +Whatever he says comes from his heart, and is spoken with all the +sympathy of his soul. + +This work differs from all the previous works of the author. Indeed, it +is unlike any thing ever published in this country. It is not a mere +exposure of gambling, nor yet an attack on the character of particular +gamblers. It is a revelation of a wide-spread organization--pledged to +gambling, theft, and villany of all kinds. There are at the present time +existing, in our Union, certain organizations, pledged to the +performance of good works, which merit the hearty approbation of every +honest man. These are called secret societies, although their +proceedings, and the names of the officers, with minute particulars, are +published in a thousand shapes. Prominent among these beneficial orders +stand the Odd Fellows and the Sons of Temperance. But the order, whose +history is related in the following pages, differs from all these. Its +proceedings, the names of its members or its officers, and even its very +existence as a body, have hitherto been secret, and sealed from the +whole world. Besides, it is pledged to accomplish all kinds of robbery, +aye, and even worse deeds. It has, in more than one deplorable instance, +concealed its dark deeds with murder. + +This order is not confined in its operations to the dark places of life. +It numbers among its members the professional man, the "respectable +citizen," the prominent and wealthy of various towns throughout the +Union; nay, it has sometimes invaded the house of God, and secured the +services of those who are ostensibly his ministers. + +There is not a line of fiction in these pages. The solemn truth is told, +in all its strange and horrible interest. To the public, to the candid +of all classes, to the friends of reform, to the honest citizen, and to +the sincere Christian, the author makes his appeal. + +Let not his voice of warning be unheeded. Let all be up and doing, so +that the monster may be exterminated from the face of the earth, and the +youth of the present age be saved from destruction. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE SECRET BAND OF BROTHERS. + +Why this exposure is made at the present time--Who oppose reform--My +lectures--The New-Light minister--How some get rich--My opponents 9 + + +CHAPTER II. + +A DARK CONSPIRACY. + +Goodrich, the gambler--His malicious conduct--Cause of it--The +Browns--Their plan to escape punishment 16 + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE CONSPIRACY IN PROGRESS. + +The colonel takes medicine to bring on sickness--Ruse will not +take--Character of the administrators of justice in New Orleans--Colonel +Brown deserted by the Brotherhood--Dearborn county, Indiana, delegation + 22 + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE CONSPIRACY FURTHER DEVELOPED. + +The secret correspondence brought from Canada--The Brotherhood desert +Brown--How I obtained the secret writings--Not suspected--Mrs. Brown and +the landlady---Cunningham suspected of purloining them 27 + + +CHAPTER V. + +BRIBERY AND COUNTERFEIT MONEY. + +Brown's lawyer attempts to bribe me to testify falsely against +Taylor--Acquaint the deputy-marshal with the fact--Brown's ineffectual +attempts to find bail--Suspected of having removed the hid money--The +colonel's visitors 34 + + +CHAPTER VI. + +MYSTERIOUS DISCLOSURES. + +His Lawrenceburgh friends--A hypocritical lecture--Further +disclosures--A searching examination--First intimation of the existence +of The Secret Band of Brothers--Colonel Brown's narrative of the +conspiracy against Taylor 42 + + +CHAPTER VII. + +DISCLOSURES CONTINUED. + +The colonel resumes his narrative--The missing papers.--Fare advice 57 + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +DEATH OF COLONEL BROWN. + +Conspiracy against my life--Conversation with Cunningham regarding the +mysterious papers--Death of Colonel Brown 62 + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE SECRET BAND OF BROTHERS. + +Explanatory remarks--The Grand Master of The Secret Band of +Brothers--Vice-grand Masters--Ordinary members--Objects of the +Order--Colonel Brown sacrificed lest he should betray them--Taylorites +and Brownites 66 + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE MYSTERIOUS BOX. + +Anxiety about the missing papers--Cause of the hostility of the Band to +me--The papers supposed to be deposited in the United States +Court--Clerk's office broken into, and the box containing Taylor's +indictment and the spurious money stolen--Suspected--Placed in prison +for safety--The robber discovered--My release--The mysterious box--The +stranger--Conversation with Wyatt--The box opened 75 + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE PORK TRADE, OR DRIVING THE HOGS TO A WRONG MARKET. + +The trading operations of the Band--Lectures at Lawrenceburgh--The +Browns and the hog-drover 84 + + +CHAPTER XII. + +CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS OF THE SECRET BAND OF BROTHERS. + +Initiation--Penalties--The Grand Masters--The secret writing--The six +qualities, Huska, Caugh, Naugh, Maugh, Haugh, Gaugh--Vocabulary of flash +words--The post-routes.--The horse-trade explained--Allowances-- +Specimens of correspondence--The biter bit--A letter of introduction +with an important note--Subsequent inquiry into the case 90 + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +A CHAPTER OF AFFINITIES. + +Thieves and thief-catchers--A family of five--Penitence and +Penitentiaries--The chain-driver and his gang--Lawyers' fees and +Lawyers' privileges--Our representatives 139 + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +GAMBLING EXPEDITION IN THE CHOCTAW NATION. + +Character of the inhabitants on the Texas frontier in 1833--The murder +of Dr ----. Operations at Fort Towson--Edmonds and Scoggins--Robbery-- +Journey to Fort Smith--The dumb negro speaks--His character of Scoggins +and Edmonds 147 + + +CHAPTER XV. + +CORRESPONDENCE CONNECTED WITH MY VISIT TO THE AUBURN PRISON, AND +CONVERSATION WITH WYATT, THE MURDERER. + +1. Chaplain Morrill's letter commendatory of my visit--2. My own +account--3. My second visit--4. Mr. Gary's letter--5. Reply to the +accusations of Mr. Morrill--6. Mr. Merrill's charges--7. Vindication +from these charges--8. Further particulars relative to the life of Wyatt +_alias_ Newell _alias_ North, and a horrid murder committed near +Perrysburgh, Ohio-- + +Conclusion 184 + +Debate on Gambling 193 + + +LOTTERIES. + +Drawing of Lottery Tickets 267 + +Insuring Numbers, or Policy Dealing 288 + +Lottery Combinations, etc. 299 + + + + +THE + +SECRET BAND OF BROTHERS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +In perusing the following pages, the reader will learn the history of a +class of men, who, for talent, cannot be excelled. He may startle at the +horrid features which naked truth will depict--at deeds of darkness +which, though presented to an enlightened people, may require a stretch +of credulity to believe were ever perpetrated in the glorious nineteenth +century. + +It will, no doubt, elicit many a curious thought, especially with honest +men, and the "whys and wherefores" will pass from mouth to mouth in +every hamlet, village, and town, where the following recital may find a +reader or hearer. All will declare it mysterious. It is a mystery to +myself in some particulars, but in others it is not. It is strange, +passing strange, to think that such a black-hearted, treacherous band of +men, as I am about to describe, could have existed so long in a +civilized and Christian country. + +With a trembling hand do I attempt to bring to light their ruling +principles, to develop a system of organized and accomplished villany. +My reasons for assuming so daring a position may seem to require an +explanation. It may be asked why I did not make this revelation before, +as far as I had knowledge, or what is the occasion of the present +exposition? To the preceding queries I will briefly reply. + +First, There has been no period in my life, prior to 1846, when I could +dare to lay before the world what I contemplate doing at the present +time. It will be long remembered by many, that in August, 1842, I +renounced a profession, in which I had worse than squandered twelve +years, the sweet morning of my life. In doing so, I knew I must, of +necessity, experience deep mortification, in a personal exposure, which +would attend me through life. + +Gambling, with all its concomitants, had taken full possession of my +depraved nature. Thus it was that I, like all wicked men, refused to +"come to the light," and I feared to oppose a craft so numerous as the +one of which I was a professed member. Well did I know that I was +carrying out a wrong and wicked principle. Conviction produced +reflection. After a careful deliberation of the whole subject, I +declared with a solemn oath, that, by the assistance of Almighty God, I +would renounce for ever a profession so ruinous in its every feature. +Immediately I felt the band severed, and my misgivings were scattered to +the winds. My former companions laughed at me. They scouted the idea, +that one so base as I should ever think of reformation. It moved me not. +My credit, I found, failed, after it was known that I had quit gambling. +A thousand different conjectures attended so strange a proceeding on the +part of one in my circumstances. Why should I abandon card-playing, +destroy valuable card plates, and lose their still more profitable +proceeds, return moneyed obligations, which would have secured me an +independent fortune? These things were a matter of surprise with the +cool and deliberate patrons of vice, and especially with many, who, +though they were often covered with a garb of outward morality, were +full of rottenness within. Some, who pass for moral and religious +persons, have in this thing exhibited a moral obliquity that has often +astonished me. + +From a careful examination, I have learned the lamentable fact, that the +most prominent opposers of moral reforms are composed of two classes, +THE HARDENED SINNER, who makes money his god, and THE EXTREMELY +IGNORANT. Let not the reader understand, however, that I suppose there +are not ignorant rich men as well as poor--the latter have their share +of bad men, and so also have the former--but that vice and ignorance are +common to both. + +In the year 1843, I commenced lecturing against the fearful vice of +gambling, for no other reason than to stay the gambler in his ruinous +course, and save the youth of our land from his alluring wiles. For this +I received IN PUBLIC the "God speeds" of ALL classes, and the prayers of +all Christians in secret. I soon learned I had much with which to +contend--opposition from directions I little anticipated. The gambler, +unfortunate man! he carried upon his countenance an expression of open +hate, indicating a deadly hostility to my reformatory movements. The +ignorant man, I found, was disposed to make his avarice the highway to +happiness. He was unwilling to favour any reform that would invade the +territory of his contracted selfishness. His reply, if he had any, would +be that stereotyped one, "such a course will have a tendency to make +more gamblers than it will cure." If his reasons were asked for such a +statement, you could get no satisfactory answer. Perhaps he would say, +"I am satisfied of the fact from my own disposition." He might as well +give a child's reason at once, and say, "CAUSE!" Such persons have +seldom heard a lecture, or read a syllable, and yet are always prating +with a great show of wisdom, but rather, in fact, of blind conceit. +Their silence would be of far more service to the cause of virtue than +their opinions. In many cases, it will be found that such persons are +not only ignorant, but dishonest. + +Again, there is the rich, moral, or religious man, who takes another +position. He opposes with the declaration "his sons will not gamble: +they have such good and moral examples," &c. This is sometimes a want of +consideration, that prompts them thus to speak; with others, a secret +villany, driving them to such ultra positions, a mere tattered garment +to cover their own moral deformity. They must oppose the reformation, or +be held up to public disgrace. In nine cases out of ten, the opposer of +this class, is, or has been, a participant in the works of darkness +whose exposition he so much dreads. + +Finding many disposed to act thus, and to teach their children to +imitate their own pernicious examples, I have made it a study to +demolish, if possible, the foundation of their positions. The success +attending my efforts to trace them out, assures me, that I am correct +when I affirm that two-thirds of all opposers are influenced in their +conduct by the basest of principles; one-sixth act through ignorance, +united with vice, and one-sixth are wholly ignorant and cannot be +morally accountable, if their want of information is in any way +excusable. But what may be still more startling, about one-fourth of +the whole are members of the various churches, yea, even men of this +class are found in sacerdotal robes. This fact came within my knowledge +long since. I felt it my duty to publish the same, but delayed, till I +should gain experience in defending my position. I was satisfied, +however, that the efforts of a certain New Light minister to traduce my +character and hinder my influence, must have been prompted from some of +the foregoing considerations. Would the world know who this man is? It +will be necessary to go to the very town where he lives to secure the +information. I doubt whether his name would ever have appeared in print, +but for his newspaper controversy, or in case of his death. His +unwarrantable attack put me on my guard, and caused me to search out the +ground of his base and unchristian treatment. One thing is very certain, +he is no gambler. It may not be a want of disposition, but rather a +sufficient amount of sense, to make him a proficient in the business. He +may be an ignorant dupe--a mere tool of the designing, the "cats paw" of +some respectable blackleg, who thinks to cover his own crimes, by +exciting public opinion against me, through an apparently respectable +instrumentality. But I did not wish to bandy words with him, being +impressed with the propriety of a resolution I made while a gambler, +that it is only throwing away time to attempt to account for the +different actions and opinions of weak and prejudiced minds; and +therefore I dropped the whole affair. I would have remained silent, but +for the position taken by other divines from his false and garbled +statements. Many have condemned me unheard, listening willingly to my +accusers, without hearing a word in my own defence. Not satisfied with +such an expression of their EXCESSIVE CHRISTIAN CHARITY, they have even +thrust at me through the public prints, for which, no doubt, they will +have the hearty amens of all gamblers, and it may be several dollars in +their pockets. Certain editors have joined in the same "hue and cry" +with their worthy compeers. The reasons were evident in their case. They +knew I was invading their dearest worldly interests. There were others +who only knew me from hearsay. Why should they become my enemies? It was +because I held in my possession secrets, whose exposition would make +many of them tremble. It would be to them like the interpreted +handwriting upon the wall. Hence they were ready to contribute their +talents and wealth, to sustain certain individuals as honourable men. I +could not have deemed it proper to expose "THE SECRET BAND OF BROTHERS," +had not duty, and my obligations to society, urged me forward. The +allegiance I owe to God is paramount to all other. The result is yet to +be experienced, by the better part of the community. Heavily was the +oppressive hand of this notable brotherhood laid upon me. My soul was +sorely vexed by their daring villany. + +In the county where I was bred, I have numbered, in one day, thirteen +who sustained honourable places in society, nine of whom were rich, +strangely rich in view of their facilities for acquiring wealth in a +newly settled country. Not one is a professional man. Few bear the +callous badge of industry and physical exertion upon their hands. +Several are, by an outward profession, Christians,--but invariably +opposed to all the benevolent institutions of the day and works of +reform, unless their views of what is the right course are fully met, +which are generally so extravagant as to preclude all hope of +co-operation. With these I had a severe contest. Well did they know, +there was something behind the screen which, brought to light, would +expose their villanous transactions, open the eyes of honest men, and +greatly endanger, if not destroy, their craft. That I had letters, +written by themselves, they knew--nor dare they deny it--letters which +might lead to a conviction of crime, that would raise them to a position +somewhere between heaven and earth. They may rest assured that I have +documents that place more than one thousand of them in a relative +position to law and society. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +In a previous work of mine, called "GAMBLING UNMASKED," an allusion is +made to an evident conspiracy against my life, sometime before I became +a confirmed gambler. Goodrich was the name which I gave, as the chief +actor. This same doubly refined villain, it will be remembered, by all +who have read the above work, was foremost to aid in my arrest when I +made good my escape to the Pine woods, lying back of New Orleans. The +reader will likewise recollect, that I could not, at that time, account +for such manifestations of unprecedented malignity, on the part of one +from whom I might rather expect protection than persecution. But the +secret is out, and I now have the power to give clear and truthful +explanations. + +This Goodrich, who resides at the present time in or near New Orleans, +and who holds the rank of gambler-general in that city of Sodom, was an +old and advanced member of the "Secret Band of Brothers." Knowing, as he +did, that I was engaged in assisting the honest part of the community to +convict two brothers who were plotting my downfall, as a sworn member of +the above fraternity, he was solemnly bound to do all in his power to +aid in the consummation of my personal ruin. That the world might know +something of this Goodrich, (though the half cannot be told,) I gave, in +my autobiography, several incidents, in which he acted a prominent part. +What I then said will answer for an introduction. + +That he was connected with an organized association of gentlemen +blacklegs will not be denied. The proof is abundant. Nor was he an +apprentice, a mere novitiate; but long schooled in vice and ripening +year by year, he swelled quite beyond the bounds of ordinary meanness, +till he became a full-grown monster of his kind. Not content to gather +riches by common roguery, he sought out the basest instrumentalities as +more congenial to his real disposition. His chief riches were obtained +by dark and murderous transactions; and had he a score of necks, with +hempen necklaces well adjusted, I doubt whether he could pay the full +forfeiture to the law. + +From my first acquaintance with him at Louisville, with blood-thirsty +vigilance he sought my destruction. Here began the risings of his +malice, and this was the cause. In the year 1830, I gave information to +the city police in relation to Hyman, who, at that time, was the keeper +of a hotel. It was while at this house, that Goodrich became my +determined and implacable foe. I had been duped by two brothers, Daniel +and James Brown, who were then confined in the calaboose for passing +counterfeit money. Large quantities were also found in their possession. +I was their confidant, so far as prudence would allow them to make any +revelations. That they were guilty of the crime with which they had been +charged, no honest man could doubt, after being made acquainted with the +circumstances. Yet they would swear most stoutly, even in my presence, +that they were innocent, and that they had been deceived. I could not +but believe they were guilty, after having witnessed so many of their +iniquitous actions. Often have I been told by the wife of one of them, +that they could call to their assistance, if necessary, a thousand men. +Who they were and where they were, so ready to uphold these abandoned +men, I had, at that time, no knowledge. + +At length their situation became desperate. Already had they passed one +year within the walls of a gloomy prison, without the privilege of a +trial. They were required to give bail in the sum of twenty thousand +dollars each. No satisfactory bonds could be procured. The whole +community were incensed against them. They had for a long time trampled +upon private rights and warred against the best interests of the people. +They had set at defiance all laws instituted for purposes of justice and +protection, and they could not but expect a stern rebuke from all the +friends of morality and good order. The only prospect before them, upon +a fair trial, was a sentence of twenty years to the penitentiary. This +was by no means cheering, especially to those who had lived in ease and +affluence, whose bodies were enervated by voluptuousness and hands made +tender by years of idle pleasures. Crowds were gathering to witness +their trial, and waiting in anxious suspense the issue. Disgrace, public +disgrace and lasting infamy stared them in the face. They were put upon +their last resources, and necessity became the mother of invention. They +fixed upon the following plan to extricate themselves. + +Public opinion must be propitiated. An interest in their behalf must be +awakened by some manifestation that would touch the chord of sympathy. A +double part must be played. They would affect to change their +sentiments. In this they acted according to the laws of the secret +brotherhood. With them, any thing was honesty that would effect their +purposes. But to consummate their design, another object must be +secured--some innocent person must be implicated and made a scape-goat +for, at least, a part of their crimes. This game they understood well, +for they had been furnished with abundant means and instructions. It +required also deep-seated iniquity of heart, and in this there was no +lack, for they were the sublimation of depravity. They must also have +time and capital. These were easily provided, as will be seen in the +sequel. There was an individual with whom they had become acquainted in +Cleaveland, and upon whom suspicion had rested for some time. He was the +man fixed upon as their victim. Of course he was not a member of their +organized band. "Honour among thieves" forbids the selection of such a +one. It was necessary, however, that he should be somewhat of a villain. +Here also they exhibited much sagacity in the selection. It now only +remained to slip his neck into the noose that was in preparation for +themselves. All the instrumentalities being prepared to their liking, +they immediately set the infernal machinery in active operation. + +The first thing to be done was to change the direction of public opinion +as to the real perpetrator. It must be called off from the persons who +were now so hotly pursued, and put upon a different scent. The agents +were at hand--The Secret Band of Brothers. These "dogs of war" were let +loose, and simultaneously the whole pack set up their hideous yell after +the poor fellow previously mentioned. Many of them being merchants and +holding a respectable relation to society, and most of them being +connected with the different honourable professions, their fell purpose +was the more easily accomplished. A continual excitement was thus kept +up, by breathing forth calumny and denunciation against one who, +however guilty of other things, was innocent of the thing laid to his +charge. At the same time, the ears of the principal bank-officers were +filled with words of extenuation and sympathy toward the two brothers. +Their former high respectability was adduced. That they were guilty was +not denied, but they had been misled and seduced. Intimations were given +that the name of the real villain who had caused their ruin would be +given, provided they would ease off in their prosecution already in +progress. And then it would be such a glorious thing to secure the +prime-mover. + +By these fair and seemingly sincere pretensions, they soon kindled +relentings in the hearts of the prosecutors. How could it be otherwise? +for "they were all honourable men." Several of the individuals who +assisted in maturing the plan were men of commanding influence, in the +very town where I was bred. I had abundant opportunities to know them. A +proposition was finally made through them by the instructions of the +officers, that, as the brothers knew their guilt was fully established, +it would have a tendency to mitigate their sentence, if they would +expose the head man, by whose knavery many extensive property-holders +were threatened with total bankruptcy. This was the precise position at +which the secret band of brothers had been aiming. The next step was to +secure, if possible, the younger brother as "state's evidence" against +the appointed victim of Cleaveland notoriety, whom, for the sake of +convenience, I will designate by his name, Taylor. + +He was a man of extraordinary abilities and gentlemanly deportment. He +and the two brothers were mutual acquaintances. They had been +accomplices, no doubt, in many a deed of darkness. But as "the devil +should have his due," I am bound to exculpate him from any participation +in the alleged crime. That he was innocent in this affair I have the +fullest evidence. I was solicited by the pettifogger, (I will not say +lawyer,) for the brothers, to take a bribe for perjury, and swear poor +Taylor guilty of giving me five hundred dollars of counterfeit money, +which money he would place in my hands. Of this fellow, I will speak in +another chapter. The younger brother was now to declare himself and +brother as having been seduced by Taylor. It was to be done without the +apparent knowledge of the elder brother, whom we will hereafter call +Colonel Brown. It was to be communicated to one of the officers, with a +solicitation to keep it a secret from the colonel. He also had an +appointed part to play. The character he was to sustain in this drama of +well-concocted treachery, I will next present. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +The colonel's physician advised him to take medicine, to reduce his +system, and give him the appearance of one rapidly sinking under a +pulmonary affection. He consented, as such a plan was considered the +most likely to succeed. It will be readily seen, that the design was to +work upon the sympathies of the officers, and thus procure his +enlargement. Nor were they disappointed. The colonel's health began to +fail. The drugs acted their appropriate part. Some of his friends made +vigorous exertions to have him removed to the hospital, declaring it +necessary for the continuation of life. Others were actively engaged in +giving forth intimations, and expressing their fears that he would die +before his trial came on, always taking care to assert their confidence +of his innocence. This was a mere ruse, to trick the officers into a +consent for his removal. But they had mistaken the character of the men +with whom they were dealing. They were not to be moved by exhibitions of +suffering humanity. Their hearts had become insensible to human misery +and they resisted all appeals to sympathy. + +There was now but one alternative for the friends of the prisoner. They +must apply the drugs more assiduously, till they made a mere skeleton of +their subject; and then try the virtue of the "almighty dollar." This +now seemed to be the only thing that would move the hearts of +seven-eighths of the police judges, marshals, wardens, and prosecutors. +Such were the administrators of public justice, at that time, in New +Orleans. The greater part were men, who, at some period of their lives, +had been steeped chin-deep in infamy. Some were men of wealth and +liberally educated. They were men who would shrink from giving an +account of their early years. Several were verging upon three score +years and ten. All the wealth they possessed had been plundered from +another set of villains, whose misfortune was, a want of sagacity in +escaping the rapacity of their more accomplished compeers. That there +were a few honourable exceptions must be admitted, but I could not with +a good conscience assert, that one-eighth of the police was as honest as +is generally the case with those city officers, for I have facts to the +contrary. + +The whole of that Southern Sodom at an early date had been inundated +with this "secret band of brothers," or this fraternal band of land +pirates. As they became wealthy they ceased their usual occupation, and +began to speculate in a different way. Having it in their power, they +would rob even their nearest friends, thus overleaping that common law +of "honour among thieves." They would do this with the utmost impunity, +whenever they saw proper. There was no redress. The very officers were, +many of them, under fictitious names and would assume deceptive titles, +for the more successful perpetration of their villany. + +The unfortunate prisoner discovered, when it was too late, that his +supposed HONEST BROTHERHOOD were not what their profession had led him +to believe. Poor fellow! he had not taken enough degrees to learn the +full "mystery of iniquity." Every effort was made to procure a light +bail, but it could not be effected. At last an arrangement was made, and +for a stipulated sum he was placed in charge of a committee, who had him +removed to the hospital. The colonel, by this time, was, to appearance, +very dangerously ill. He was removed to his new quarters, but not +permitted to regain his health, lest the spell of their deceit should be +broken. His visitors were numerous. To his face, they appeared his most +sincere friends. They seemed deeply interested in his welfare, and made +bountiful proffers of sympathy and assistance. His true friends, who +were capable of rendering him succour, were very few. He had many of the +lower class of the brotherhood, the novitiates, who were ready to act +energetically and in good faith. But the head men--the very individuals +who had reaped the spoils of his doings--were his worst enemies. They +had received the lion's share, without leaving the poor jackall even the +scraps, but turned him over, unaided, to the tender mercies of a felon's +fate. They had filled their pockets with the richest of the spoils, and +would not now contribute a penny to reward their benefactor. + +At this time, there were one hundred of the brotherhood in the city, who +might have procured bail; but gratitude found no place in their hearts. +They had also violated their oaths. Day after day would parties of his +old friends and neighbours visit him, both in the prison and hospital. +They would tell him that arrangements were in progress to effect his +escape. The whole, however, was false, as no action had been taken. The +prisoner depended much upon a delegation from Dearborn county, Indiana, +of whom he had a right to claim assistance; but they, like the rest, +proved traitors. I have counted thirty different men from that county, +who visited him from time to time. These, at home, were men of good +standing, equally respected with other citizens. Several were leading +men in all the moral and religious enterprises of the day, and generally +individuals of wealth. Two of them, I knew, made great professions of +religious enjoyment and zeal. One was a very strict church-going man, +but with the heart of a Judas. His hypocrisy was of such a deep and +damning character, I can hardly forbear giving his name. Duty might +demand his exposure, but for the injury that would be inflicted upon an +innocent family. These men may reform. I am delaying exposure. I hope +ere long to have an evidence of their sincere repentance, but fear they +are too far gone, too much in love with the wages of iniquity. They have +too long turned a deaf ear to the pitiful cries of the widow and orphan +whose ruin they have effected, whose natural protector they may have +robbed, leaving his injured family in penury and want. Some of these, +who were comparatively poor at the time of the colonel's downfall, in +1832, have since become rich. There is reason to fear that such sudden +wealth, obtained without any visible means, was not very honourably +acquired. It is seldom that honest industry will thus accumulate. The +letters I shall publish will be accompanied with explanatory notes. The +persons concerned will recognise their own productions, and I hope to +see such a change in their future life as shall deserve a charitable +silence. But I return from my digression. + +The sworn friends of the prisoner had forsaken him in the hour of need, +and left him single-handed and alone to meet the stern rigours of the +law. There was no remedy unless in his own stratagem, which was now +being matured. It was as follows. His brother was to remain in prison as +an evidence against Taylor, mentioned in the previous chapter, while he +was to assume all the responsibility of the counterfeit money, plates, +&c., as well as all the other villanies which had been charged upon them +conjointly. + +The colonel was very sick from the action of the medicines. He supposed +every effort had been made to bail him, but was greatly deceived. His +fate was sealed. A conspiracy was formed against him. He suspected foul +play, because his former associates did not come forward and bail him. +His removal to the hospital was only a pretence set up by them, that +might give more time to carry out their treacherous designs. He was a +prisoner, and they were determined to make him such the remainder of his +life. He had his friends, however, warmhearted, and true. He was almost +worshipped by the poorer members of the brotherhood. The richer part +envied him for his superior skill in his profession and general +popularity, and feared the consequences. In this he differed widely from +his brother, who was neither loved nor feared, and was only respected +from his relationship. When the plan was devised for the younger brother +to swear the counterfeit money and plates upon Taylor, it was intended +by these professed friends, that he should be caught in his own net, and +be thus prevented from rendering the colonel any assistance. The +consummation of this plan, I will next detail. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +The younger brother was to produce various letters which had been +written to him from different parts of the Union, by different +individuals. That this could be done will be seen by what follows. The +colonel had been an extensive speculator in merchandise of almost every +kind. He was extensively known. His correspondence was wide-spread. In +his villanous communications, however, letters were never addressed to +him in his proper name, unless some one should labour under the +impression that he was an honest man. He used two fictitious names; the +one was George Sanford, and the other that of his brother. These letters +were placed in the hands of that brother for safe keeping. Thus the +colonel, to all appearance, only maintained an honourable and necessary +business correspondence. He consented that his brother should use these +letters if they could be made useful in helping him out of difficulty. +He was willing the letters should be produced and read, as the younger +brother had promised to bring forth the plates. In the mean time there +was an understanding between them, that no intimations should be given +as to the "secret band of brothers;" not a syllable was to be lisped +that would lead to exposure. + +To obtain the desired end, and give greater security, instructions were +given to the wife of one of the brothers to examine carefully all the +letters, and select out from them those of a specific character, and to +keep them sacred, subject to the order of the colonel. These letters had +been conveyed in a chest from Canada, where they had been preserved with +great secrecy. This chest was sent for in February, 1832, and arrived +the next April. Some three days after the reception of the trunk +containing these papers, information was given that the removed letters +had come, and were ready for the examination of those who were acting as +prosecutors of Taylor. By this time, public opinion had become so much +changed toward both of the prisoners, that a very little effort would +have secured their acquittal. They had acted with great skill and +prudence, and were in a fair way to succeed. This was perceived by the +leaders of the fraternity. They were unwilling such a man as the colonel +should escape. A deep plot was consequently laid and rigorously carried +out to thwart him in his efforts to escape the penalty of the law. His +trial was put off and the inducement held out that bail should be +obtained. All this was done to keep up appearances. His enemies dared +not openly provoke him. They dared not come out and proclaim their +hostility, for they well knew he had the means to expose them. To seek +his ruin by an open show of opposition would be to touch fire to the +train, that, in the explosion, would involve them all in a common ruin. +They must approach him, Joab like, and drive the dagger to his heart +while saluting him with professions of friendship. But his patience had +become wearied by a protracted sickness and continued disappointment. + +The letters above referred to were done up in packages of three hundred +each. I was present when the trunk was opened, and witnessed the +selection of many of the letters. The lady who assorted them threw +about one out of every thirty in a separate pile. I made no inquiry +respecting them, but my curiosity, as you may well imagine, was not a +little excited, especially as I observed several familiar names. The +lady finally unrolled six pieces of parchment, which were blank in +appearance. She folded them up in a square form of about six inches. She +then folded up some three hundred and seventy letters, and placed them +upon the parchment. Upon these she placed a written parchment containing +the copies of about six hundred letters, and having carefully enclosed +the whole in a sealed envelope, she placed them between two beds upon +which she usually slept. The remainder she packed up and sent to her +husband's attorney. Immediately she left the room to visit her husband +in prison. + +Scarcely had she retired, before my curiosity was intensely excited to +learn the contents of the concealed package. I ventured into the room +with the intention of satisfying myself. I no sooner placed my hand upon +the package, than I felt the blood seemingly curdling in my veins. The +thought that I was about to act the part of a dishonest man impressed me +deeply. I reflected a moment, and then dropped the package, and hastened +to leave the room. As I turned from the bedside, my desire to know the +contents of the package came upon me with a redoubled force. The passion +was too violent for resistance, for I was confident some of these +letters were written by men I had known from my infancy. Whether I acted +properly or improperly, an impartial public must determine; but after +thinking upon the subject a moment, I turned, grasped the package, and +bore it off under the keenest sensations of alarm and fear of detection. +I hastened down stairs and made my way to the house of a man by the +name of Watkins. He was a good man, and a sincere friend to me. His wife +was a kind-hearted and benevolent woman. I met her at the door, and told +her a friend of mine had given me this package to take care of, and I +would let her see the contents at another time. She took it and laid it +away; I then hastened to the prison to meet Mrs. B----, who I knew +expected me to accompany her, or to be present with her that day. Could +I get to the prison as soon, or sooner than she, suspicion of my having +taken the package would be lessened. I soon found myself at the prison +gate. The lady had not yet arrived. The prisoners were standing around +the door on the inside. I waited some ten minutes, when I heard B. say +he did not see what could detain his wife so long. I stepped to the door +and remarked that I had been waiting some time, and was expecting her +every minute. Immediately she made her appearance and remarked, + +"You have got here before me. I looked for you before I left." + +I had observed her looking into the room I occupied, when she was about +leaving the house; I, however, was in an opposite one, occupied by +another boarder. After conversing a short time with her husband, she +remarked, that she must return to the house, as she had left the package +where it might be found. She called upon me to accompany her. I did so, +and we soon arrived at the house. I remained below while she hastened up +stairs to her room. + +In a few minutes she came running to the head of the stairs and called +me; I immediately answered her. + +"Green," said she, "some person has been robbing my room." + +I felt as though I was suspected, for "a guilty conscience needs no +accusing." + +"What have you had taken?" asked I. + +"Oh! I have"----then she paused, as if studying what to say. In the mean +time, the landlady had heard her say she had been robbed, and hastened +to the place where we were standing, but being unobserved from the +excitement, was occupying a position at Mrs. B.'s back. + +"Oh! I have lost a package of letters, of no value to any person but +myself. They are family relics, but I will have them at the peril of my +life. I will swear that I have lost other things besides the papers, and +will get them back, or make this house pay well for harbouring thieves. +Mind, Green, what I have said. Keep mum, and I will have them back at +the risk of----" + +She was interrupted by the landlady, who very kindly assisted her in +finishing her sentence by adding--"at the risk of perjuring yourself!" + +Mrs. B. being startled, exclaimed, "Oh! no, madam, don't mistake me. I +only meant I would make a great stir about them--that I would offer a +reward to the servants, and at the same time let on as if something very +valuable was missing." + +"Of course I would not intimate, and do not, I pray you, understand me +as thinking that any person has taken them with the design of retaining +them. I have no idea that the individual having them, whoever he may be, +will be base enough to keep them from me. Some of them are very ancient, +and among the number are several sheets of blank parchment, which +belonged to my grandfather. I have preserved them as a memento. Their +loss would be a source of great grief." + +The landlady turned away, apparently satisfied with her statement and +forced apology. She then turned to me and said, + +"I will have those papers at the price of my life. If they are +lost"--here she made a stop and added, "I shall dislike it." + +I discovered an extreme anxiety depicted in her features--her breast was +actually heaving with emotion. + +"Green," said she, "has old Cunningham been about here to-day?" + +"I believe not," was my reply. "I have not seen him." + +"Well," she continued, "I hope he may never enter this house again, +though he appears to be the best friend that my husband and the colonel +possess. He pays strict attention to his business, at the same time, +which does not seem consistent." + +This Cunningham, so abruptly introduced, was a man quite advanced in +years, a member of the fraternity, and, considering his age, was a very +active and efficient agent. At this juncture, the old servant, who +attended to the room, entered. She (Mrs. B.) inquired "if any person had +been in her room during her absence to the prison." The servant tried to +recollect. While he delayed, my heart palpitated violently from fear, +lest he might say he had seen me enter her room. I was on the point of +confessing the whole matter. I felt that I was suspected. At this +critical moment he broke the silence--a silence burdened with anxiety to +the lady as well as myself, by remarking that he had seen the old +gentleman (meaning Cunningham) "go up stairs, and he thought enter her +room." + +"I have it!" exclaimed she. "He has got them." I need not tell the +reader I felt greatly relieved, that there was at least the shadow of +evidence, which would serve to clear me and implicate Cunningham. The +lady appeared to be intensely excited. I was in doubt what course it +would be prudent for me to pursue. Finally, I went to the house of +Watkins, and told him that the package I had given him was of no value +to any person but myself; that it was made up of various articles of +writing, containing hundreds of names, many of which were familiar to +me. He looked them over in a cursory manner, and remarked, + +"I think there must be witchcraft in these. The letters, though very +simple, bear upon their face a suspicious appearance." He, however, +agreed to preserve them with care. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +After my interview with Watkins, I felt greatly relieved. I hastened to +the hospital to see the colonel, as was my custom, often several times a +day. I found him surrounded with visitors, all of whom appeared to be +affected while in his presence. He needed sympathy. His mind was +tortured. His whole life seemed made up of successive throes of +excitement and desperation. His heart was torn by conflicting passions. +His confidence and affection for former friends were evidently waning. +If any remained, it hung like the tremulous tones of music uncertain and +discordant upon its shivered strings. After the principal visitors had +retired, the following individuals, three from Lawrenceburgh, two from +Cincinnati, one from Madison, and one from Frankfort, made their +appearance, accompanied by one of the colonel's legal advisers. They +counseled with him for some time. The legal gentleman remarked, at the +close of the mutual conversation: + +"It will do. I have conversed with your friends," calling his two +principal attorneys by name. "They say something of that kind must be +done. It will have a powerful effect. T. cannot ward off such licks as +we will give him." + +The meaning of this fellow was, that bribery could be effectually used. +This man, who thus offered to subvert, by the basest of means, the +claims of public and private justice, was so lost to shame and +self-respect, that he verily thought it an honourable and creditable +act, if he could render himself notorious for clearing the most +abandoned scoundrels. It argued the most deep-seated depravity, to +commit unblushing crime and then glory in his infamy. He heeded not the +means, so he accomplished his end. He would not hesitate to implicate +himself, for it was but a few days after this, when he offered me a +bribe, as before stated, and likewise the counterfeit money. (I here +have reference to the five hundred dollars, to which I referred in my +work called "Gambling Unmasked.") + +After the party had retired, the colonel said in a few days he would be +able to secure bail--that they were waiting for an intimate friend,--a +wholesale merchant from Philadelphia. He then conversed with me more +freely, and told me much about his enemies in Dearborn Co., Ind., and +also his intimate friends. Said he: + +"You may live to hear of my success in making some of those Dearborn +county fellows glad to leave their nests, which they have feathered at +my expense." + +It was the next day after this, that I made known to Mr. Munger the +fact, that a bribe had been proffered me to swear against T., in favour +of the brothers. Some two days after, I received the note containing the +information respecting the hidden treasure. See the work above +mentioned. + +These circumstances, with the excitement occasioned by the loss of the +package, created a great sensation, especially with the friends of the +colonel and his brother. Fear and jealousy were at work with the whole +banditti of public swindlers. They knew not on whom to fix the +imputation of purloining their valuable papers. Cunningham was +suspected, and likewise Spurlock, another old confederate, who had +frequently visited the room of the unfortunate lady. Sturtivant, one of +their principal engravers, was thought to be implicated, and even one of +their pettifoggers was on the list of the proscribed. They did not fix +upon me till several days after. The circumstances of this suspicion I +will now detail. + +The Lawrenceburgh members had not complied with their promises. One was +waiting to turn his produce into cash, and when he was ready to fulfil +his engagement, no action could be taken, because his fellow townsmen +had their excuses for delay and non-concurrence. The Philadelphia +merchant had arrived, but suddenly left, as the report says, "between +two days." Two others of the intended bail were among the missing. I +carried a letter to another, who owned a flat-boat. I went on board and +found his son, but learned that the father had gone up the coast on +business, to be absent several days. The son took the letter, broke it +open, and read it. He told me to say to the colonel that his father was +absent and had written to him that he intended starting home in a few +days, probably by the next boat. I went back and bore the message. The +lawyer who had given me the letter cursed me for permitting the son to +open it. The colonel turning over on his bed, and fastening his eyes +upon the enraged attorney, with a mingled expression of anger and +despair, said, + +"I am gone, there is no hope for me. I see, I see, they have robbed me +of my property, my papers, poisoned, and then forsaken me. I have not +much more confidence in you than in the rest." + +"My dear colonel," said the implicated sycophant, "do you think I would +ever treat so basely a client so liberal and worthy as yourself," at the +same time wiping his cheek as if a tear had been started by such an +unkind imputation. + +He then requested me to go for Mrs. B., and tell her, he requested her +presence at the hospital. I went in search of the wife, but did not meet +with her. I found some ten or fifteen of the band awaiting her return. +Night came on, and she had not yet made her appearance. I perceived they +were in great perturbation. + +This same day my room had been changed to a small apartment in close +proximity with the one occupied by Mrs. B., separated only by a thin +board partition. About two o'clock at night she came home, accompanied +by two females. One left in a few minutes, as she had company waiting +for her at the door. The other remained and entered into conversation +with Mrs. B. I laid my ear to the partition and could distinctly hear +every word which was spoken. I heard Mrs. B. say, "I have searched in a +satisfactory manner, and am convinced that some one has removed the +earth. I did not expect to find it, after my husband told me some one +had answered him in my name and taken the note." + +I was now satisfied that she had been in search of the money I had found +at the root of the tree, on the corner of Canal and Old Levee streets. I +could not hear the opinion they entertained, but the strange female +remarked, that + +"Colonel Goodrich suspects him, and will certainly catch him, provided +he has got it." + +"I do not think he can have it," said Mrs. B.; "I have never seen the +least evidence of guilt; besides, the colonel," meaning her +brother-in-law, "says he is perfectly harmless." + +I was then convinced that it was myself they were talking about. My +fears were awakened, so much so that I passed a very restless night. + +Early the next morning I hurried away to Mr. Munger's room and laid open +my fears. It may be proper to state in this connection, that this Mr. +Munger, whom I made my confidant, was the United States deputy-marshal. + +The search above referred to was for money which had been hid by +Sandford, and he, at his death, had informed Mr. B. where he had +deposited it. The particulars, together with the manner by which I came +in possession of it, are detailed in "GAMBLING UNMASKED." + +I found Mr. Munger in his room, and related the incidents of the past +night. He said he could not understand their meaning. I could, but I did +not tell him that the letters had been taken. For the want of this +information, things looked mysterious. He told me not to fear, but to +flatter those who had requested me to perjure myself, with a prospect of +compliance with their wishes. I went from his room to my boarding-house, +and from thence to the hospital. Here I found the colonel surrounded +with some twenty citizens, who resided in and about Wheeling and +Pittsburgh, all members of the fraternity. Some were men of great +respectability in the community where they lived, and doubtless remain +so to the present day. They held out flattering hopes that bail would +yet be secured, but all left the city in a few days, without rendering +any assistance whatever. + +The preliminaries for the trial were arranged. Taylor was indicted. The +younger brother being state's evidence, had an encouraging prospect of +acquittal. Unfortunately, the colonel had taken a wrong position at the +start. He had been betrayed by those of the brotherhood who had the +influence requisite for assistance. The cheat had been carried so far by +fair and continued promises, it was now too late to retrieve himself. I +felt deeply interested for him. He was a noble specimen of mankind. He +possessed abilities worthy of a more honourable application. He bore all +his misfortunes with unexampled fortitude. The night after his Wheeling +and Pittsburgh associates had betrayed his confidence, he conversed with +me for some time. The main topic of his conversation was about certain +men who resided in Lawrenceburgh and its vicinity. He gave recitals of +things which had been done by men living in and near that place, which +cannot be contemplated without a feeling of horror. I was actually +shocked and chilled, especially as I knew the actors. The whole seemed +to me like some dreadful vision of the night, and I could hardly believe +the evidence of my senses in favor of actual perpetration. The colonel +continued: + +"They fear me; they are seeking to crush me while professing the +greatest friendship." He paused after adding, "to-morrow I will give you +some advice which will be of everlasting benefit. Be careful that you do +not mention it." + +Having returned to my boarding-house, I was very closely interrogated by +Mrs. B. and the aforesaid pettifogger, in reference to my absence. + +"Where had I been all night, and what had detained me from my meals the +day before?" + +I told them, at which they eyed one another closely. Mrs. B. observed-- + +"I think the colonel must be hard run for assistance, to keep two or +three constantly waiting on him." + +To this I made no reply, but ate my breakfast fast, and returned to the +hospital. I found Colonel Brown very restless. During the day several +men, from different cities and towns at a distance, called. Three +remained about two hours with him. They were from Charleston, on the +Kanawha river, Va. After they retired, he lay in a doze for about an +hour, when he was awakened by the arrival of four visitors, accompanied +by his physician. One made a stand at the door of the colonel, three +came in, while the doctor, with the fourth, passed along the gallery, to +see some other of the inmates. I soon, learned that two of the three +present were from Nashville, Tenn.; one a merchant, the other a negro +trader. When they began conversation, I stepped to the door. They talked +very rapidly. One said his friend from Paris, Tenn., would be down in a +few days with several others, from Clarksville. The colonel listened to +them with patience, and replied: + +"They had better come, and not disappoint me." + +These three left. In a few minutes the physician, in company with the +fourth, came to the door. The doctor made a short stay, leaving the +other man in the room with the colonel. + +It was a matter of surprise to witness the liberty that was extended to +visitors, as well as the prisoner. He had a guard, it is true, but the +steward of the sick rooms had been ordered not to permit any one to +enter the apartment without a pass, signed by the Board of Trustees; yet +all who wished to visit were allowed a free ingress, and no questions +were asked. I had been taken there at first by Mrs. B., after which I +had free access. But to return. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +The man left there by the doctor, I knew. After viewing him closely, +consider my surprise, when I recognised a person I had known from my +first remembrance. It was the man who was said by his son to have gone +up the river, and, as I supposed, had returned home. It was the usual +custom of this man, not to go with his flat boats, but being ladened and +committed to skilful pilots, he took passage upon a steamboat and waited +their arrival at the place of destination. He seemed very much +disconcerted in my presence, but I said nothing to strengthen his +suspicions that I knew him. He cast several glances at me, at every +convenient opportunity. When he left, it was near night. I was requested +by the colonel to go to my supper and then return. I went away, and +being weary I laid down upon my bed, from which I did not awake till +daylight. On examining my clothes, I found some person had rifled my +pockets. My wallet was robbed of one paper, which contained a list of +names, but nothing else. Fortunately, however, I had written the same on +my hat lining. I expected to have heard something concerning the +affair--especially the record of names, but in this I was happily +disappointed. + +Having eaten my breakfast, I went to the Custom house. The United States +court was then in session. Hundreds of the colonel's acquaintances were +there every day. They were frequently giving their opinions as to the +issue of the trial. Some entertained one opinion and some +another,--their chief conversation was in reference to the two brothers, +and their connection with Taylor. One of the group I discovered was from +Lawrenceburgh, Indiana. I knew them all, and with the exception of this +one, they extended to me the hand of friendship. They seemed glad to see +me, and were in fact honest men. He, however, did not seem friendly, +though he did speak, but at the same time gave me a look of +disapprobation, as much as to say, you have no right to be in company +with such honest men. I paid no attention to his looks, as I knew him +better than any man in the crowd. He knew he had laid himself liable to +detection, and hence did not wish me to be in communication with his old +friends, lest I might become an informant. He rather desired to have +them discard me, but as they were upright, unsuspecting men, they did +not give heed to his conduct. They conversed freely, and tried in every +way to amuse me. At length he discovered there was a growing sympathy in +my favour, and assumed another attitude to secure my departure. He began +to talk somewhat in the following strain. + +"I know Green is a smart boy, but they say the Browns have him here to +run on errands, and he is strongly suspected of not being what he should +be, in regard to honesty." + +One or two of the honest countrymen spoke in my behalf, and the whole +was turned off in a jovial way, not wishing, as I suppose, to injure my +feelings; at which he, with a sigh that bespoke the consummate +hypocrite, added: + +"Well, Green, God bless you. You had a sainted mother, and I always +respected your old father, but you boys, I fear, are all in the downward +road to ruin. You had better return home and be a good boy. Beware of +the company of the Browns, as you know they are bad characters, and that +I, and many others, held them at a distance, when they were in +Lawrenceburgh." + +The rest of the company retired while he was thus lecturing me so +sanctimoniously. + +No one can imagine the feelings I then had. I was at first confounded, +then enraged, to witness the conduct of that black-hearted villain, he +little suspecting that I knew him to be the very man that was in the +room the day before, dressed in disguise. How could I feel otherwise. +There he was lecturing me about duty, as if he had been a saint. It is +true, he sustained that character at home. I had known him for many +years as a leading man in the very respectable church to which he there +belonged. Had I not been satisfied of the base part he was acting, when +I met him the day before in disguise--his hypocritical lecture might +have been beneficial. But I discovered he was an arrant knave--a real +whitewashed devil, and I could with difficulty refrain from telling him +my thoughts. I left, wondering how such a Judas could go so long +"unwhipt of justice"--how he could avoid exposure. Probably it was by a +change of dress. + +It was now time I had visited the hospital, to show reason why I had not +fulfilled my engagement on the previous evening. The colonel received me +with a welcome countenance, and remarked, he "was glad I had returned, +for," said he, "I feared you had gone away." + +I told him I was weary when I went home; that after supper I had laid +down to rest a few minutes, and slept longer than I intended, and that +was the reason I had not returned. He was satisfied with my excuse, and +introduced another subject. He inquired if I had heard any news, or seen +any of the Lawrenceburgh citizens; and if so, had his name been +mentioned? I replied, that it had been the principal topic of +conversation, some speaking well of him, and others illy. He then wished +to know, who had spoken evil of him? I told him the man's name. + +"And he talked about me, did he?" inquired the colonel. + +I replied, "He has spoken very hard things against you, alleging that he +never associated or had any dealings with you." + +"He told you, he never had any dealings with me? What did you think of +that?" + +I answered, "When you resided in Lawrenceburgh, I was too small to +notice such things." + +I answered thus designedly, for I had seen him walking arm and arm with +the colonel, time and again, but I was afraid to let the colonel know +that I had even a moderate share of sagacity. + +"Green, how often have you seen him," continued the colonel, "and where, +since you have been in the city? You know his son said, he had returned +home, a few days since, when you carried him the letter." + +I told him I had not seen him before, since I came to the city. + +"Are you certain of that?" + +"I am confident I have not seen him." + +"You are mistaken," said he, "you met him yesterday." + +I knew what he meant, but dared not let him know that I had recognised +him. Again he interrogated me: + +"Do you not recollect him?" at the same time eyeing me with an intensity +of expression. I replied that I was certain I had not seen him. + +"You are mistaken," said the colonel. "You met him here yesterday. He +was the man that remained after the doctor had left." + +"It cannot be," I rejoined. "You must be mistaken, as I was certain that +man had light hair, nearly red." + +"It was him, Green," said he. "He had a wig on, but for your life +mention not a syllable of this to your best friend. He is a villain of +the deepest dye, and I know him to be such." + +I, of course, agreed that I might have been mistaken. + +"He knew you," continued the colonel, "and was the worst frightened man +I ever saw, for fear you would recognise him. I am glad you did not, for +it might have cost you your life." + +"I suppose, then, colonel," said I, "he intends furnishing you with +bail, does he not?" + +"He did not manifest such a determination, did he, when you met him?" + +I replied: "He might have had his reasons for acting as he did; it may +be, it was to find out whether I knew him as the person I met here +yesterday. You say, colonel, then, I actually met him yesterday?" + +"Yes, he is the very villain. I know enough about him to make him +stretch hemp, if he had his dues." + +I told him he was esteemed by many, where he lived, to be a very good +man. + +"Yes, they respect him for his riches," said the colonel; "but they +would not respect either him, or many of his neighbours, if all knew +them as well as I do." + +After this, he proceeded to give me the promised advice, and addressed +me thus: + +"Green, I believe you are a good boy, but have been imposed on by the +world. I am about to give you some advice. I feel it right I should do +so. I am in bad health, and can never recover, and my only object in +procuring bail was to secure a decent burial, but I have no hope. Green, +I tell you this, that you may know the condition in which you are +placed. You are surrounded by a set of devils incarnate, and you know +them not. You are just entering upon a life of misery and crime. You can +now see, to a limited extent, what has caused me to lead a wretched and +abandoned life. As soon as you can, leave this place. You know not your +danger. You have about you some desperate enemies. I have told the most +inveterate of them, that they were mistaken as to your character." + +I here inquired what they accused me of. + +He continued, "Of being treacherous to one of the brotherhood, of which +my brother is a member." + +"I never knew before that such a society existed," said I. + +"They accuse you of three different crimes. You know whether there is +any foundation for the charges. First, that you agreed to swear against +Taylor; then, after the spurious money was placed in your hands, you +gave the facts to Taylor's lawyer, and that your evidence will now be +used in his favour. If such is the case, I advise you to abandon such a +purpose, for you will certainly lose your life if you persist in this +thing." + +I denied to him any such intention. + +"Well," said he, "what have you done then with those five +one-hundred-dollar notes given you by one of the assistant attorneys of +my brother?" + +I replied, "They are in my chest." + +"If such is the case, it will make every thing satisfactory in that +matter." + +I now left, and went to Mr. Munger, and related the substance of my late +interview. He handed me the notes that I might make good my declaration. +I took them immediately to the hospital. When I entered I found two +merchants, who resided at Memphis, in close conversation with the +colonel. He told me to call again at two o'clock. About that time, I +returned. The visitors were gone, but the colonel appeared much +distressed. Some new event must have added to his former anxiety. + +"I wish you," said he, "to bring those notes and let me see them." + +Having them in my pocket, I presented them to him. + +"I am glad you have them. You have been strongly suspected of foul +play--of giving them into the hands of the defendant." + +I was well convinced from this, that it was one of the clan who had +rummaged my trunk and pockets a few days previous. I then asked him, +what else they had laid to my charge? + +He replied: "A man by the name of Sandford gave information to my +brother, that a certain amount of money had been hidden by him. Sandford +died, and gave the money to my brother, and gave directions where he +could find it. My brother prepared a note for his wife, and told her +where she could find the money, and my brother reached the note to the +wrong person." [See GAMBLING UNMASKED.] "Some person told him you were +the receiver; that they had seen you take the note." + +I knew, however, that no one had seen me take it, that the whole was a +mere conjecture--a plan to worm a confession out of me. Hence I denied +it stoutly. + +"I do not believe it myself," affirmed the colonel, "but the whole clan, +remember, dislike you; among others, a negro trader, by the name of +Goodrich. He has marked you out as a transgressor, and is determined to +put you out of the way." I have mentioned this same Goodrich, once +before. He is well known as one accustomed to sell runaway negroes, as a +kidnapper, who lives with a wench, and has several mulatto children, and +probably does a profitable business in selling his own offspring. + +I replied, "I do not know Goodrich, and know as little about Sandford's +money." + +"Well, Green, I believe you are innocent of the two first accusations, +and hope you may be of the third." + +But now came the "tug of war." These others were only a preparatory step +for a fearful inquisition. I knew what was coming, and mustered all my +fortitude to meet the exigency. If ever there was a time when I was +called upon to summon my collected energies, to express calmness and +betoken innocence, it was on this occasion. The colonel, fixing his +eagle-eye upon me with severest scrutiny, proceeded: + +"A certain package of papers has been taken, which has produced a great +excitement, and has caused me serious injury." When he mentioned PAPERS, +there was a sensible pause, and a piercing look which exhibited a +determination to detect the slightest expression of guilt. I was enabled +to command myself, however, in such a way, that I think I satisfied him +I was not guilty. + +In reply, I asked the colonel "Why they should accuse me of acting so +base a part?" + +"Unfortunately for you," said the colonel, "you have been seen talking +with the friends of Taylor." + +I replied, "Perhaps I have, for I cannot tell who are his friends, or +who his enemies." I likewise asked him if he thought it possible I could +or would do any thing to injure him. + +"I think not," said he, "yet mankind are so base and deceitful, I have +but little confidence in any one. I will now show you how dreadful must +be my position in regard to the package, and then you can understand why +its loss will go so hard with me." + +I listened with the utmost attention, and he entered upon this part of +the subject as follows: + +"I am a member of a society called 'THE SECRET BAND OF BROTHERS.' It is +an ancient order, of a religious (?) character. The leading members +carry on an extensive correspondence with one another. All letters of +business are subject to the order of the one who indites them, allowing +the holder the privilege of retaining a copy. I had many letters written +by leading men in my possession; besides a large package of copies. +These with the original letters have been taken. Now, Green, you promise +secrecy, and I will give you the whole plan, so far as in my power, and +you can then judge how seriously I shall be affected if those papers are +not recovered. + +"At the time of my arrest, on the charges for which I am to be tried, +my friends were numerous and wealthy, and I had the utmost confidence in +all their promises. The excitement was intense, and I did not deem it +proper to call upon them until it should subside. After waiting a +suitable length of time, I wrote to many of my acquaintances, and, among +others, to several whose names are familiar to you. They were under +personal obligations to me, aside from the common claims of friendship. +They had made their thousands by plans of my own invention, and much of +the very wealth which had given them distinction and influence was the +fruit of my ingenuity. To my letters they made ready and satisfactory +replies. They made the largest promises to give me any requisite +assistance, when called upon, yet as often left me in suspense, or to +reap the bitter fruit of disappointment. This was the reason why my +trial was put off during several sessions of the court. My brother +having been indicted with me, made the prospect of both more dubious. I +had property, but not at my disposal. My wife betrayed my confidence, +for having it in her power to send me pecuniary aid, she neglected to do +it; indeed, all her conduct had a tendency to involve me in the net that +was spread for my feet. Through her, information was given that I had +friends who would assist me, which served as an excuse for her +dereliction. This awakened the suspicions of community. There was an +anxiety to know who would step forward to my rescue. Hence those from +whom I expected aid became alarmed, lest their characters, which had +hitherto been unblemished, should come into disrepute. Two of them are +merchants in Dearborn county, Indiana. Some five of the most wealthy men +of that county were driven almost to desperation when they learned that +my wife had it in her power to use their names in connection with deeply +dishonourable acts. I, however, satisfied them that she would not expose +them, and they in turn promised to assist me, writing several letters of +commendation in my behalf, giving me an untarnished character as a +merchant of high respectability in Lawrenceburgh. From time to time they +promised to secure me bail, and yet they as often failed to make good +their word. In this they violated the most solemn obligations. We were +pledged to sustain each other to the last farthing, in case either +became involved in difficulty. That pledge I had never broken, and I +looked for the same fidelity on the part of my associates. I never +before had occasion to test their sincerity, but found all their solemn +promises a mere 'rope of sand.' I found I was gone, as far as they were +concerned, and turned my efforts in another direction." + +"I now had recourse to my friends in Chillicothe, Cleaveland, Buffalo, +Detroit, Zanesville, Beaver, Lexington, Nashville, Philadelphia, New +York city, Boston, and Cincinnati. As usual, they gave me the most +liberal promises, but in no case fulfilled their engagements. I was now +driven to new measures. I found those in whom I reposed the utmost +confidence hollow-hearted and treacherous. I next entered upon the plan +of making a certain villain share in my wretchedness and disgrace. In +this I was joined by my brother, who, in perfecting the scheme, acted +somewhat imprudently. I advised him to take a different course, but he +listened to others who professed to befriends to us, and were, indeed, +members of the same fraternity,[1] but turned out the worst kind of +enemies, especially those who were wealthy. The poorer members were true +to a man, and I am confident will remain so; and if I am spared, I will +make the wealth of the others dance for their vile treatment. I have a +thousand men who but wait my call. When I say the word, though they are +of the same brotherhood, yet having also experienced the treachery and +oppression of the higher class in common with myself, they will make war +upon them whenever the signal is given." + +Here he stopped for a few minutes, and then began to state the little +trouble it would have given his friends to have aided him if they had +felt disposed. + +"But I am an invalid, and God knows I do not deserve such treatment." +(The reader may think it strange that such a man should call upon his +Maker, especially when he reads the constitution of the secret conclave, +of which he was a member. The phrase "God knows," was used often in his +private conversation.) "These persons I have always considered my +friends, and have never given them occasion to be any thing else. +Finding, however, that I had no hope from them, and that I must stand my +trial, I was willing to make use of other means. I therefore agreed to +proposals made by the most wealthy of my friends, and yielded to their +arrangements, in order, if possible, to escape punishment. There was a +man by the name of Taylor, the same whose trial is now pending, whom +they feared, and who was known to community as an accomplished villain. +He was the person selected upon whom it was designed to heap the burden +of the guilt. By that means, the attention of our prosecutors would be +diverted. The plan was set in operation, and soon the infamy of Taylor +was sounded from Maine to the confines of Texas. They had their agents +in almost every city to help on the work. From the first, I had but +little hope of success in this manoeuvre, but consented reluctantly to +the trial. I was confident he had many enemies, and not without cause. +Having been foiled in all my former plans, I now experienced the deepest +anxiety. I was especially solicitous that as long a time should elapse +as possible before he was arrested. Some time after the report of his +guilt he was arrested, and my brother promised to secure evidence to +prove him guilty, and likewise to establish my innocence. It was also +agreed by the committee of arrangements at that time, that I should take +medicine upon a feigned sickness, in order to secure a change in my +situation. In this way I could be removed to the Marine Hospital, when +reported by the committee of health as being in danger. I was to appear +ignorant of my brother's design, of which in truth I was. I took +medicine, which had the desired effect. It made me desperately sick, +producing excessive prostration. Application was made for my removal to +the place where you now see me. Being conveyed hither, arrangements were +made for my bail by my supposed friends. I was persuaded that I should +continue in this state of unnatural disease from that time till the +present. My brother carried on his treacherous part, and it required no +little effort to convince the community that Taylor was really guilty +of what was charged upon himself. Although he was known to be a +desperate man, yet the charges were of such a nature, it was most +difficult to sustain them. My brother's main dependence was in the +fraternity. He founded his hope of success upon a concert of action +among so many, apparently reputable witnesses. Some of them would be +used in behalf of the state, and consequently receive regular pay for +time and services, and at the same time could employ a false testimony +against Taylor. Two objects could be thus secured; first, they would be +detained as witnesses and used as necessity required; and, secondly, be +ready to make up my bail. My brother further gave community to +understand, that he would be able, by the production of certain papers, +to convince them of all that had been rumored against Taylor. For this +end, a quantity of papers were forwarded to this city, among which were +some bearing my name, that were mere business letters. The ordering +these letters was not approved by me. It was a plan of my brother. When +it was discovered by several of my most intimate friends, they became +alarmed, thinking I was concerned in the affair. As the fraternity +required, by their constitution, that all letters should be returned at +the request of the author, permitting the holder to take a copy, it +became my duty to comply with this requisition whenever made. There was +a great alarm. Many visited the city with whom I had held +correspondence, whose letters had never been returned. They learned as +to the disposition that was to be made of the papers, and report said we +were about to give each individual's name concerned, as we were +intending to turn state's evidence. This accounts for the many +different visiters you have seen. You also saw several from +Lawrenceburgh, and the very man you said spoke so disrespectfully of me, +and gave you the long moral lecture, is here on the same purpose--the +same individual you met two days since, whom you designated as having +light hair." + +I here found his strength would not permit him to pursue the narrative +further, and upon his promising to resume and finish the subject the +next day, I left the hospital. + + +[1] When he spoke of this fraternity, I then supposed he referred to +some of the benevolent societies of the day. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +In returning to my boarding-house I was met by the blackleg pettifogger, +who treated me with great coldness. I met him again the next morning at +the prison, and he treated me in like manner. But I was especially +anxious to hear what more the colonel had to say, and hastened to his +room. He began his account where he had left off. + +"This man, who was dressed in disguise, was greatly alarmed, lest +certain of his letters in the package should come to light, which had +not been retained. He started for home, as stated by his son, but +returned to secure his letters. You have witnessed the tremendous +excitement which exists, the running to and fro, and the many strange +visitors that frequent my room. There is a cause for all this which I +will now relate. + +"My brother sent for those papers, which, upon arrival, were submitted +to his wife that she might select the most important to be produced as +testimony in court against Taylor. In accordance with directions, she +examined them all and laid aside all the business letters, (meaning the +package lost,) which in some way have been mislaid or stolen. These, you +are accused of having taken, and also of having taken a note that was +reached through the grate by my brother, as he supposed to his wife, but +it proved to be some other person, and they suspected you as that one. +They also charge you with giving information as to the man who gave you +five hundred dollars, and also that he used my name, saying at the same +time, 'If you will swear that money on Taylor I will make you a rich +man,' and that you concerted in this thing to act a deceitful part." + +I replied: "I promised to take the money and swear according to +directions, but it was not for any respect I had for the man who offered +me a bribe, or the pecuniary compensation, but for you and your +brother." + +"Green," said he, "have no respect for my brother. He has not an honest +heart. He would betray his own father, and be sure that you refuse to do +what the pettifogger has advised." (See a full account in Gambling +Unmasked.) "Green, take care, or you will lose your life. You have +enemies that watch you closely. They also watch me, but I cannot help +myself. I wish you well and believe you innocent." + +This last was uttered in a suppressed and pathetic tone, and I perceived +his eye was intently fixed upon mine as if he would read in its +expression the secret workings of my heart. I was determined he should +not effect his purpose, and managed to evade his glances. + +"I am aware of their foul intentions," continued he, "but know not how +to evade it. Green, I have all confidence in you as an honest boy, and +do not think you would do any thing to injure me, but have thought you +might have had a curiosity to know the contents of some of those +letters, and have mislaid them with the intention of giving them back +when you had read them." + +I again protested my innocence, and solemnly declared I had no knowledge +of the package. + +"Then," exclaimed he, "I am a doomed man. There is no hope, and I will +tell you the reason why. + +"You know I have had many friends calling upon me, day by day, from all +parts of the country. You have seen among them some of the most wealthy +in the town of Lawrenceburgh. They are my sworn friends and all members +of a Secret Society, which obligates each one, under a most solemn oath, +to assist a brother member out of any difficulty, provided he has not +violated his obligations. Now my brother has acted most imprudently in +pledging himself to produce certain papers, and to bring other witnesses +besides himself against Taylor. These men were apprehensive that we had +mutually laid a trap to expose the whole band. This has involved me in +the most unjust crimination. I am subjected to the charge of conspiracy, +and hence you see how difficult it is to procure bail. It is true I have +had promises from all parts of the Union, but my brother concerted, +without reflecting upon the consequences of his conduct, to bring one +thousand men, if necessary, to this city, who would be ready to do any +thing he might direct. These men were brethren of the same band, but of +a lower order, none of whom were possessed of wealth or extended +influence. The others, who possessed both, were kept in silence, for +fear of being betrayed or proving false to the fraternity of which they +were members. That we are circumstanced as you see us at present, is not +for the want of friends. They are abundant and powerful; we have them on +sea and on land, and they are ready to assist us out of any difficulty, +and would do it in a moment if assured that all was right on our part. +You see the city is full of them--many have come to secure their +letters, which they knew were in my possession, and if exposed, would +bring upon them certain ruin,--but alas! they have come too late. You +will notice I have had no visitors while I have been giving you this +history. I told the steward to admit none but yourself. Be assured, +Green, I have many friends, but they dare not act--they dare not help me +and they dare not convict me. You may live to know the truth of what I +am stating." + +I inferred, from the last remark, that he had reference to the +judiciary. I had noticed that during his two days' conversation, no +person had visited the room but the physician and a certain judge who +lived near Florence, Alabama, and the latter remained only a few +minutes. I found out his name by seeing it written upon his hat lining, +which had been placed upon the window opening on the piazza. After the +judge had retired, the colonel resumed the conversation. + +"I am accused by my friends with treachery to the brotherhood. They +think that I, in concert with my brother, have laid a plan to clear +ourselves by their downfall. When the news was out that the papers were +lost, I saw the most marked indications of hostility. They came forward +and pledged to bail me in any amount, provided I would return their +letters, but swore that I should never go from this room alive, if I did +not produce them. I am certain to suffer death. My sentence is fixed, +and I have no hope. My brother and his advisers have ruined me. They +have had me borne hither that I might not understand their plans. I am +satisfied the papers are in the hands of the intimate friends of my +brother and those who had manifested such an interest in my removal to +this place. I have been reduced by medicine, and my inability to +exercise--so contrary to my general habits--has seated a fatal disease +upon my lungs." + +His disease had been occasioned by the constant use of medicine, which +exposed his system to cold, and this, by constant repetition, had +entirely destroyed his constitution. I have no doubt that a slow poison +was mingled in his medicine. When he had finished this tale of sorrow, +he gave me some affectionate advice in something like the following +words: + +"Green, I advise you to leave the city as soon as possible. There are +two parties of the 'secret band' that seek your life; those who are so +much enraged at the loss of the papers, because their reputation, +fortunes, and lives, are thereby in jeopardy, and those who are the +personal friends of my brother, and who support him, do or say what he +may. They take his word with the infallibility of law and gospel, and +are by profession great friends of mine, as well as of the other party, +who swear they will have those papers at all hazards, right or wrong; +meaning if you have them, they will obtain them in some way; that if I +have them they shall be returned. I therefore advise you to leave the +city immediately." + +I told him I had no funds. + +"I have not one dollar," said he, "to help you off, or I would give it +to you." + +I told him I was under great obligations for his kindness. He further +remarked: + +"Now pledge me secrecy to what I have related, for it can have no effect +in assisting you, and will ruin me." + +I did so, and bade him farewell. I hastened to see Mr. Munger, and told +him what the colonel had said about the counterfeit money and the money +I had found by Sandford's note, but not a word as to the mysterious +package. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +Shortly after the events detailed in the foregoing chapter, I had a +conversation with Mr. Munger, who told me, he was satisfied that my life +was in danger, and advised me to leave the city for a few weeks, or, at +least, to change my boarding-place, and keep myself in seclusion. +Accordingly, I changed my quarters as soon as possible. I could not well +leave the city, as Mr. Munger informed me I must be present to appear in +court when Taylor was tried, in case the younger brother acted the part +he had promised; and if not, it would be equally important for me to be +on hand, as they intended to indict him and his pettifogger, for their +wicked designs upon the man they were endeavouring to ruin. As I could +not go far out of the city, under these circumstances, I considered it +more safe to remain concealed: I waited, therefore, several days, until +the colonel's death, which occurred not long after I bade him farewell. + +I had met Cunningham--the old man at first charged with having the +package by Mrs. Brown--several times after the colonel had advised me to +leave the city, and in our last interview, he gave me to understand that +the colonel would never get out of his bed alive, or leave the hospital, +except when carried to his burial. I asked him, why. + +"There are many reasons. His health will never be any better; he cannot +recover from his present illness. I know it is hard, but there are many +who think it is preferable that one should suffer than thousands, who +consider themselves better men. He has brought this trouble upon +himself, by not living up to his oath. He and his brother are both +traitors, and have placed the fraternity, of which they are members, +entirely in the power of their enemies, but it will all come out right; +there is no mistake. You heard that Madam Brown had lost a certain +package of papers, letters, or the like, did you not?" + +I replied in the affirmative. + +"Well, they believed for a time that I had them, or would have made +others think so; but that kind of accusation would not take with men who +knew me. They next laid the charge against you: I have satisfied the +interested party, that they are not in the possession of either of us, +but that the colonel and his brother have them, and intend thereby to +slip more necks into the halter than poor Taylor's. I am of the opinion, +their own necks will pay the price of their treachery." + +I then replied, that I knew Mrs. Brown had said she had lost a package +of papers, but what they contained, I knew not. + +"Nor ever will know," said he. + +"I have no curiosity about the matter," I replied. + +"And you might as well NEVER have, for curious people will pay dearly +for reading them, especially if they undertake it in court, as evidence +against the brotherhood." + +The reader can hardly imagine the intense desire that was created, by +this time, in my heart, to learn all about this "brotherhood," and +"fraternity," so often introduced, and yet so obscurely as to give me +no certain information. + +I took this opportunity to ask Cunningham, what title this society had +assumed; whether they were Masons or Odd Fellows? He laughed, and said: + +"I thought I had explained some of the particulars to you." He then +stopped, as if to consider, when he continued: "Certainly, Masons and +Odd Fellows both, and all other good institutions--but, I can tell you, +Green, the brother who has turned state's evidence swears terrible +vengeance against you. Do you be careful. He has many who are watching +you. I belong to the party opposed to him and the colonel, and they +throw all the blame upon you. You are the victim of their suspicions and +hate, and you will do well to leave this place without delay; but tell +no one, by any means, that I have given you this information." + +I bade him good day, and we separated. + +I now thought I would call once more, and see the colonel. I hastened to +the hospital, but as I drew near, I discovered two men riot far from the +steps, and the third coming down. I walked by them, without being +recognised, and as I passed, the third man had entered into conversation +with the other two. + +He was asked, "Is it a fact, that he is dead?" + +"Yes, certainly. He has been dead about three hours." + +"I knew," said one, "that he could not stand it long." + +Two of the men, I perceived, were from Lawrenceburgh, the two who stood +remotely, one of whom was the identical person who wore the wig, and +gave me such good fatherly instruction. I passed to the room, where I +found the steward, with three assistants, laying out the corpse. + +"We do not wish any more assistance at present," said the old French +steward. I understood his meaning, and left immediately. + +The news of the colonel's death soon spread through the city, and many +gathered to witness the burial, but owing to the inclemency of the +weather, few followed to the grave. When the hearse bore the body away, +it rained very hard. I did not make my appearance on the occasion, for I +well knew that many would be present to relieve their anxious minds--to +rejoice rather than mourn over the dead, and who would sooner see my +dead body deposited by that of the colonel's, than any other on earth. I +was determined not to be mourned for in that way, by the desperate +villains. I therefore kept aloof from their society. + +Several days elapsed, during which time I remained in concealment from +all the clan, but Cunningham, who expressed a concern for my welfare. I +also had frequent conferences with my friend, the deputy-marshal. Three +days after the colonel's death, Cunningham informed me, that he was +convinced that both of the Browns deserved death. + +"But I dare not tell you why," said he, "and if I should, you would not +be able to comprehend my reasons. Be assured, if they are guilty, the +other brother will never come from that prison alive. He will find out, +that the brotherhood are wide awake." + +All his insinuations were perfect Greek to me, for some weeks after; but +when Taylor had his trial, the whole matter was explained. Their import +I will now unfold. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +From the time the plan was concocted, for making Taylor suffer the +penalty of another's crime, the utmost promptitude was required for its +execution--the machinery must be actively employed by the friends of the +colonel, and his brother. First, the colonel must be made sick, and a +sympathy thereby awakened, and hence the plea for his removal would be +the more plausible. His enlargement was important. He was a principal +man, with whom it would be necessary to have much consultation--an +intercourse more vital to the cause of his pretended than his real +friends. Besides, there were many who really desired his escape, but +being among the first class of society, as to wealth, respectability, +and influence, they were unwilling to frequent the prison to visit the +unfortunate colonel. Though interested deeply in his release, they were +not willing the public should understand that they were sworn friends. +The part the younger brother was to sustain, has already been detailed +in a former chapter. The medicine was administered with the desired +effect, and the colonel was removed to the hospital. He was now in a +situation to be consulted. Many would now visit him, who never would +have gone to the prison. If a reason was required for their familiarity +with so base a man, it could be found in the dictates of kindness, +called forth by suffering humanity. After his removal, his brother was +under obligation to do as he had promised, to produce the spurious +plates, the counterfeit money, and the correspondence, and swear them +upon Taylor, as the real agent and proprietor. As the signatures of the +letters were anonymous, other testimony was required to establish the +real author. + +It will be remembered that the plates and letters were in Canada for +safe keeping, and must be sent for, and conveyed to the city before the +trial of Taylor could proceed. In the mean time, jealousy and consequent +dread on the part of the colonel's confederates were daily receiving new +strength. Conscious were they of having acted a most dishonorable and +deceitful part with one of whom, under ordinary circumstances, they were +accustomed to stand in awe; but now they were more especially +apprehensive of danger, because there was a provocation for seeking +vengeance. They knew he had every means to involve them in a more signal +overthrow than that which awaited himself. The only alternatives were, +either to wrest the weapons of destruction from his hands, or render the +possessor incapable of wielding them. They were driven almost to +desperation, when they reflected on their deeds of wickedness reaching +through many years, the record of which was in the hands of a powerful +and justly provoked enemy, who in a day might spread out for the gaze of +the world the portraiture of their former characters, in which were +mingled the features of darkest villany and the more glaring expressions +of open violence and crime. Goaded on by an awful apprehension, they +were prepared for any thing that might save themselves and families from +exposure and disgrace. + +Colonel Brown was a Grand Master of the band of Secret Brothers. The +members of the fraternity who sought his ruin were of the same degree, +together with those holding the relation of Vice-grand Master. He had +nothing to fear from the common brotherhood, who were kept in perfect +ignorance of the transactions of those more advanced. Indeed, they were +his warmest friends, and regarded him with especial reverence, because +he commended himself to their confidence and esteem by his naturally +good disposition, and, most of all, by his relation of Grand Master, +which is always accompanied either with dread or marked respect. The +inferior order was very numerous, but seldom wealthy, generally of a +suspicious character, who had no fixed residence, but wandered from +place to place, preying upon the community in the character of +bar-keepers, pickpockets, thieves, gamblers, horse-racers, and sometimes +murderers. They may be found in all parts of the United States and +Canada. These were controlled by some two hundred Grand Masters, +conveniently located, who were generally men of wealth and +respectability, and often connected with some learned profession, yet +but seldom applying themselves to their profession sufficient to gain a +livelihood. These men, of both orders, would often confer together, +especially when one had been detected in any crime--or some dirty job +was to be done, which was likely to bring into the hands of the superior +order any considerable wealth. In fact, these so-called respectable men +would lay plans which they dared not execute for fear of detection, but +having any number of agents in readiness among the common brotherhood +who had nothing to lose in point of character, they would employ them, +and if successful, be sure to pocket all the spoils--except enough to +satisfy the immediate wants of their jackals. If they were not +successful, but detected in their villany, these unfortunate agents +could lay claim to their aid, and were permitted to make drafts of money +to procure bail in case of indictment or to defray the expenses of a +trial. We have sometimes wondered that certain felons should get clear, +when their guilt has been established beyond a doubt. We will not wonder +when we learn that there are men of wealth and influence in almost every +town, who are sworn to aid and befriend these villains. They are +sometimes lawyers, and jurors, and even judges. But their conduct and +relations will be more clearly seen, when I publish their letters and +constitution. It is only necessary to remark in this connection, that +the only persons really benefited in this organized system of land +piracy, are their Grand Masters. They lay most of the plans, and receive +and control the money,--confer among themselves, but never with a common +brother, only using him as a tool for the accomplishment of some foul +purpose. Here is policy. It would not be safe to commit their secrets to +the many hundreds under them, but only to such as are judged suitable +after years of trial, and those beneath are often looking forward for +promotion, which is a pledge of their fidelity. The reader will perceive +that if this higher order was ever to be fully exposed, it must be by +some one of their own number, for one of an inferior degree knows no +more of their proceedings than the uninitiated. + +The danger of a full exposure now threatened them in connection with +Colonel Brown; at least they apprehended it. They knew they deserved it, +and the circumstances of their accomplice pointed in that direction. He +had the means--their own letters, and a knowledge of their deeds. It +was only necessary to give information to a third person, and the work +would be done. Besides, he was a man of extensive acquaintance and +influence--a ruling spirit among his fellows. A revelation from him +would have been direful in the extreme, as, in addition, he had in his +possession the constitution and by-laws of the fraternity, which were +always lodged with the ruling Grand Master. Under these circumstances we +need not wonder that there was excitement, that every expedient was +employed to rescue the documents or make away with their possessor. He +was now in confinement. It was vital to their designs to keep him there +till they could secure the letters and constitution above referred to, +or, in case of failure, make his life pay the forfeit. They cared but +little for his brother, as he was of an inferior grade. The Grand +Masters, then in office, had but one object in view, and that they were +intent upon accomplishing. The acquittal or conviction of the two +brothers was a matter of no consequence compared with their own personal +safety. To secure this they would not scruple even to commit murder. +That this is the case, will be seen by an article in their constitution. +I may further remark in this connection, that their laws required, that +the Grand Master shall be assisted by six Vice-grand Masters, but these +latter cannot be admitted into the secrets of the former till they are +promoted, although they are obligated to do his bidding. The members who +had been advanced to the highest degree, and hold the principal secrets +of the order in connection with the colonel their leader, were about two +hundred. These were the individuals conspiring against his life, in case +they could not procure their letters and other documents. Their main +and first object was, therefore, to bring those papers to the city. + +The papers were sent for, as before stated, and all their designs, of a +public and private nature, set in active operation. Of this the colonel +had no knowledge at the time. Mrs. B. was to give them up to the +committee appointed for the purpose of inspecting them. All that would +have any tendency to injure or expose the fraternity, if brought to +light, were to be selected, and the rest brought forward for the purpose +of convicting Taylor. The intention of bringing these papers to the city +being, in the mean time, made known to the colonel, he gave directions +to his sister-in-law to reserve such papers as he specified, and hand +the balance over to the committee. The trunk in which they were +deposited having arrived, Mrs. B. acted according to directions, +reserving the notable package which she concealed between her beds, +while she conveyed the residue to the prison office for legal +purposes--to be used by the committee, who met there by consent of one +of the prison keepers--he being a Grand Master of the secret band and +one of the principal policemen. After delivering up the papers, she +returned and found her valuable deposit had been removed as previously +stated. + +The fact of their removal being made known to the brotherhood, they +thought some base person had robbed the lady of her important charge. +This opinion prevailed with the fraternity generally. Not so with the +two hundred grandees. Their opinion assumed the character of their +former suspicions, while their suspicions were converted into fact. They +were now fully convinced that the colonel contemplated the destruction +of their order, and was intent upon keeping the papers in his own +power: that he had even entered upon the act of defeating the very +purpose they had in view, in bringing those papers to the city. At this +time the city was crowded with the members of this secret society, and +private rewards were offered by the two hundred or that portion of this +band then in the city, for the recovery of the papers. These rewards +made a great stir, especially with the officers of all parties, both +those for and against the colonel. Taylor was a mark to be shot at by +about seven-eighths of the band, and the remaining one-eighth was ready +to go to the highest bidder, to do service for him who would give the +highest wages. He found means to secure the friendship of the latter, +many of whom were considered quite respectable men, and were never +suspected by the brotherhood of any thing dishonourable. The head men +constituted still another party. Thus these villains were divided into +three factions. These were the friends of Taylor, known as Taylorites, +and the supporters of Brown, called Brownites. These only were publicly +known; while the third party, embracing the royal grandees, were +actively engaged in disengaging themselves from the coils which they +supposed had been deliberately laid for their destruction. They showed, +by their efforts, they had more at stake than all the rest. Though their +movements were not publicly recognised, yet they had every influence +that would favour their cause in operation, to consummate their hellish +purposes. + +The constitution, by-laws, and about one thousand and three hundred +letters, including copies and original, were missing; and the destiny of +the whole band of Grand Masters depended upon their recovery, before +ever they fell into the hands of one who could explain them to the +brotherhood; and still more calamitous would be the condition of the +entire fraternity, if they were ever revealed to the public. Those more +immediately concerned were confirmed in the opinion that the colonel had +secreted them for future use. Finding they had not accomplished what +they intended, in bringing the papers to the city, they had recourse to +a certain clause in the constitution, to compel the colonel to produce +some of them, if in his possession. That clause required the holder of +an original letter to return the same, when requested by the writer, +after copying, if desirable. This law applied, however, only to letters +having the secret "qualities," or, in other words, the private +description of the bearer in full, which was written in acid, and could +be read only after subjection to chemical action. Three hundred and +seventy-nine of the letters in the package were of this kind; one +thousand were copies, whose original had been returned. The former had +been written to the colonel, and one bore date as far back as July 9th, +1819; the latter had been addressed to various individuals, and some +bore date as far back as 1798. + +To secure these letters was a work of great delicacy. Though the +constitution granted the right of asking the unreturned letters, yet the +writers feared to make the requisition of the colonel, lest he might +suspect them of a conspiracy, and being thus exasperated, let loose his +engines of destruction. They finally fixed upon the following plan. They +were to hold out the idea that they were ready to bail him, provided he +would leave the country. In case he consented, they were to request the +retention of the letters, feeling confident he had not destroyed them. +The plan was laid open to the colonel by the man from Dearborn county, +Indiana, the same who was dressed in disguise. He was told by the +colonel that the papers (meaning the package) had been taken, and he +could not furnish them, as he had no possible knowledge who had done the +deed. This reply, to the council of Grand Masters, was like "a clap of +thunder in a cloudless sky," so confident were they that he had them and +would produce them when thus requested. There was now only one +alternative, the life of the colonel must be taken, which they could and +did accomplish, as the sequel will show. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +From the time of the visit by the Dearborn county man till the death of +Colonel Brown, embracing about six weeks, there were constant and fierce +wranglings among the fraternity. A considerable change had been made in +the feelings of some of the colonel's former sworn friends, which of +course made those who knew him innocent more bitter against any one they +might suspect guilty of bringing such a calamity upon him. His friends +and foes were equally interested in finding the retainer of the lost +package, but all to no purpose. There was, however, but one sentiment in +the Grand Council; they still believed that the colonel had them, and +designed, as soon as he was liberated, to make a general exposure of the +whole organization to the world. But their own consciousness of personal +injury--of having acted a treacherous part against this man--was, in +reality, the ground of their conviction as to his guilt; for it was not +in the nature of the man to be false to his pledged honour. It only +remained that they should prevent his liberation; and the most effectual +way was to act in accordance with the assassin's maxim, "Dead men tell +no tales." Their hatred rose to such a pitch that they began to exhibit +their enmity toward any one that either sympathized, befriended, or was +even familiar with the colonel. Here was the ground of their deadly +animosity toward me. They supposed I was his confidant, and might be an +agent for the execution of his designs. + +These murderers,--(I ask no pardon for so harsh an epithet, for they +were such in thought and deed,)--these Grand Masters, who visited the +colonel while I waited upon him, and thus became personally known, have, +ever since that event, assumed a hostile attitude toward me. It is true +they have never attacked me publicly, yet I am confident they have hired +others to do it. From the time I drew the money put in deposit by +Sandford, and bore off that object of curiosity, so carefully concealed +in the bed, until the day I was chased as a mad dog by an infuriated mob +through the streets of New Orleans, and finally made good my escape +through a troop of less hostile cotton snakes, as recorded in my +Gambling Unmasked, I was singled out as an object of open and private +hate by the whole tribe of organized desperadoes. To recover those +papers, no steps were too desperate for the Grand Masters--they having +any amount of money to accomplish their object; and I am now about to +present the reader with another exhibition of their daring and +indefatigable perseverance. + +They now came to the conclusion that those papers had been given to the +officers of the bank, and were deposited in the clerk's office of the +United States court, to be used against them at some future day. They +offered rewards to several of the inferior grade, for the purpose of +getting possession of the box containing the plates, counterfeit money, +and, as they supposed, the lost package. Their only hope now lay in +getting that box. The time of Taylor's trial had been fixed. Mr. Munger +informed me I could leave the city for a few days, and he would let me +know when my services were wanted. I went to Bayou Sara, one hundred and +fifty miles above New Orleans. A few days after my arrival, Mr. Munger +came after me in great haste, bringing the information that a great and +daring burglary had been committed the same night I left the city. The +clerk's office had been entered, and the box, containing Taylor's +indictments, plates, and spurious money, had been taken. Taylor's jury +had not agreed, and he would get clear, in case the box could not be +recovered. He informed me that I had been suspected and accused of the +deed; but that he knew I was innocent, for he had inquired of the boat, +and found I had left on the previous night, some time before the robbery +was committed. He did not wish any one to know that he had any knowledge +of my location, but told me I had nothing to fear. Indeed, I knew I +could prove an ALIBI by more than one person, and I consented to return. +While on our way back to the city, I told Mr. Munger I did not wish to +go into the prison where the younger Brown was confined; I feared he had +some designs upon my life. + +"Do not have any apprehensions," said he, "on that account. You will not +be hurt, for you will be put into the debtor's apartment, where Brown is +not permitted to visit, and of course can have no chance to do you an +injury." + +I was placed in prison upon my return--a position of greater safety to +me than any other. Being assured by Mr. Munger of protection, I went +without hesitation--expecting to be released the next day. The next +morning I was brought out and informed, to my great surprise, that if +discharged I must furnish a very heavy bail. This was a source of alarm; +but my friend calmed my fears, by saying that all would be right when I +was examined; that the excitement was great, and it was only necessary +to wait for the return of the Lady of the Lake--which was on a trip to +Natchez, and would be back in a few days--when abundant evidence in my +favour would be secured, and I would be acquitted. + +In a few days, I was accordingly set at liberty. The plates and papers +had been found in Natchez, and a man by the name of King had been +arrested--who confessed the crime, but alleged that he had been hired by +a certain party to do the deed. This King was one of the brotherhood, +and had been employed by the committee of Grand Masters to enter the +office and secure for them the box, by which they expected to obtain the +package. In this they were mistaken, and placed in a worse dilemma than +before. + +On the day of my discharge I was visited by a man, to me unknown. He +informed me that he had procured my acquittal, and was my sincere friend +and well-wisher; that he desired always to remain the same--and would, +during life, on condition that I acted in accordance with his wishes. + +I considered him a strange person, to introduce himself in so singular a +manner. He advised me to leave the city as soon as possible. I told him +that was my intention. I likewise informed Mr. Munger of the same, and +he readily consented, as Taylor's trial had been put off. Arrangements +being made with him, I expected to leave the next day. In the mean time, +I had an interview with Cunningham, who told me I must look out, for +the brotherhood in general suspected me of foul play as to the papers. I +denied all knowledge of them--for I found it my only safety to pursue +one uniform course. + +He continued: "The party are determined to have them at all hazards, and +are now more convinced than ever that you are in the secret. All the +circumstances are against you--more especially since the custom-house +was broken open, which robbery was perpetrated for the express purpose +of finding the papers. It was thought if the colonel had disposed of +them, they would be found there; but now they will hold you responsible. +I bid you farewell." + +On the same evening I had this conversation with Cunningham, I went with +Smith to the gambling-house: the same day, too, on which I won seventy +dollars in the flat boat--the first and dearest money I ever won at +gaming, as it nearly cost me my life--the full account of which is given +in the work previously mentioned. + +On the second day after this, as I was about leaving for Mobile, I met +the gentleman who had procured my release. He advised me to depart +forthwith, promising to meet me at another time. As we were separating +he placed in my hands a box. + +"Here," said he, "is a box, containing something I wish you to keep with +great care. You must not open it till I give you permission." + +I took the same. It was a small box, made of oak, three inches high, +eight long, and five wide. Its possession gave me much uneasiness for +twelve years--during which time I remained faithful to my instructions. +I frequently met with my benefactor. The last time I saw him was in +Philadelphia, in 1841. I have received from him nine letters, in all, of +a good moral character, and always referring to the box. This +individual's name I have never been able to learn. No two letters ever +bore the same signature, but the identity of their contents convinced me +they were all from the same person. That mysterious box I have preserved +to the present day. + +It will be remembered by the reader that I confided the papers, taken +from Mrs. B., with a man by the name of Watkins. This individual died +with the cholera, in 1832. I called upon his wife for the package, who +returned the same to me at Cincinnati, in 1833. I found every thing as I +had left it, excepting the blank parchments. They were gone. Here was a +mystery I could not solve. How should a part be missing and not the +whole? I never gained any satisfactory information until last summer. +While travelling through the state of New York, I had occasion to visit +the state's prison, where I met with a certain convict who passed by the +name of Wyatt, but whose real name was Robert H. North. He gave me +information about a certain "FLASH," or comprehensive language used +among professional gamblers and blacklegs. Many of the phrases were +familiar, but I never could ascertain their origin. He was soon +convinced of my ignorance, and then informed me of the society whence +they originated. He likewise explained the reason why I was so +persecuted by the notorious Goodrich. "It is known," said he, "wherever +the fraternity exist, that you obtained the package; but they are +satisfied you destroyed the same, and it is well you did, or else you +would have been put out of the way long before this." + +I told him I had taken the package, but there was nothing in it save +letters and a few blank parchments. + +He laughed and said: + +"If you had WARMED those parchments, they would have presented an +exhibition worthy of your attention." + +This information made me restless with excitement and anxiety to peruse +those letters and notes which I still had in my possession. I may here +remark, the letters were, for the most part, unintelligible to a common +reader, because of the secret language in which they were written. I had +examined them again and again, without much satisfaction. I knew they +were penned for the purpose of clandestinely carrying on a wholesale +plunder--a deliberate imposition upon public and private rights. By +frequent perusal I had become familiar with many of the terms which were +often explained to me by those who were acquainted with their use, +though they are used by thousands, without any knowledge of their +origin. + +After I commenced an exposure of the vice of gambling, I was often +attacked by certain low, vulgar editors in a manner that indicated +deep-seated malice. I could not account for their abuse. They would +admit that society should be rid of the evil in question, but at the +same time exhibited the most bitter hostility to me as one who had dared +to expose the abominations of gaming. I was conscious there was +something that moved them in their work of calumny not yet developed. +The mystery rendered me unhappy. I was anxious to know the cause of this +public opposition, and the more so, that I might satisfy the people +that the whole arose from influences akin to the vice I was labouring to +destroy. The secret was soon discovered, and I am now prepared to +satisfy the public mind that the attacks upon my present relation to +society have arisen from something more than an ignorant prejudice. +These hireling editors knew I had the materials to draw their portraits +at full length in all their moral hideousness; and they feared society +would be thrown into spasms at the sight, and they would be hurled from +their stations of trust by an enraged and insulted people. It has only +been necessary in one or two instances to give them a few hints of the +information I possessed, and they were hushed up INSTANTER. + +A long time had elapsed since I heard from the mysterious stranger who +gave me the box,--long enough, I had supposed, to free me from +obligation of further restraint upon my curiosity. It had now been in my +possession several years, and I felt myself at liberty to examine its +contents. Having consulted with a few friends previously, I then made +known, in the fall of 1842, to Rev. John F. Wright--formerly of the +Methodist Book Concern, Cincinnati--that I had such a box, and my +intentions. I likewise gave the same information to Arthur +Vance--formerly of Lawrenceburgh, Indiana--Mr. John Norton, of +Lexington, Kentucky--Thomas M. Gallay, of Wheeling, Virginia. I informed +each of them how I came by the box, and the unaccountable conduct of the +man who placed it in my hands. Having opened it, I found the same number +of parchments I had missed from the package, all blank in appearance. In +these was a note, which read as follows: + +"THE PARCHMENTS, NOW IN THE HANDS OF THE POSSESSOR, CONTAIN MUCH SAD +INTELLIGENCE, AND CAN BE READ, PROVIDED THEY ARE HEATED. THEY ARE +EXPOSED BY A BROTHER OF THE BAND, A DOOMED MAN, ONE THE WORLD HAS KNOWN +TO ITS SORROW FOR FORTY YEARS. MAY THE OWNER AND HOLDER CONSIDER THE +DOOMED ONE A MOST KIND FRIEND FOR EVER! + +"New Orleans, May 3d, 1832." + +I soon hastened to ascertain the contents of the parchments, and found +the statement made correct. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +The contents of these papers are such as almost stagger belief, even in +the most credulous. They not only go to prove the existence of a league +of villany, but also laid open the machinery by which their wickedness +was concealed; still, from many incidents of my own life, and from what +I have learned by observing events which have transpired around me, as +well as from narratives of undoubted truth which I have heard, I am +constrained to believe that the band above alluded to does now exist, +and that it has flourished for a long time, with astonishing power. + +I have reason to suppose that many of the band settled in and about +Lawrenceburgh, Indiana; and from the year 1800 to 1827, they were very +numerous, and some of them wealthy; they were mostly close traders, who +turned every cent they got, honestly or dishonestly, into real estate. +Many of them, also, were well educated, and composed the _aristocracy_, +while the _poor honest_ man was crowded down by these _influential +members of society_. + +There are now three classes of wealthy men in that neighbourhood: the +honest, whose property was obtained fairly; the members of the band; and +some, of whom I am doubtful whether they belong to the band or not. If +they do not, they are villains by nature, and do not need their +assistance. + +In the year 1846, I delivered a lecture at Lawrenceburgh, in which I +exposed this band, and showed the manner in which their correspondence +was carried on. The old members of the band had art enough to persuade +the doubtful rogues that they were the persons alluded to, and they +believed it. Whether conscience had any thing to do with their belief or +not, I do not pretend to say; but the community generally seemed quite +ready to grant them that honour. It was very amusing to notice the +difference between the conduct of the guilty and that of the innocent, +in relation to the exposure. The "Brotherhood," all at once, were very +much concerned about the fair fame of their neighbourhood--called me a +slanderer, and in fact caused a much greater excitement against +themselves than would have occurred, had they kept still; while the +honest citizens quietly asked for the names of the "brothers," and +whether any of their relations belonged to them; they begged me to go +on, and expose every member. + +Since 1802, many robberies have been committed under circumstances which +strongly indicate that such a band existed. Public agents, and other +highly respectable citizens, have been robbed of funds which they held +in trust, and no trace of the robbers could be found, and no curiosity +seemed to be excited by the fact. Sometimes the person robbed shared in +the spoils, and sometimes they were innocent; and it has sometimes +happened that the innocent man was suspected. The honest citizens of +Lawrenceburgh have, for forty years, known what a curse it is to have +bad neighbours. + +During the excitement occasioned by my lectures above mentioned, a +resident of Lawrenceburgh related the following incident, which is only +one among many which might be named to show the nature of the +transactions in which these men engaged, and their facilities for +carrying them out. I will give it as nearly as I can recollect in his +own words: + +"During the year 1832, a stranger came into the town of Lawrenceburgh, +and for several days was noticed in the public places watching every one +who passed, as if looking for some one. At length he came to me, and +told me that he wished my assistance in the business on which he came, +but that it would be necessary to keep the matter secret. I answered, +that if it were proper, I had no objections to secrecy. He then related +the following facts as introductory to his business. + +"He resided in Ohio; some eighteen months previous a friend had been +induced to purchase a large drove of hogs for the market; he made the +purchase on credit, with a promise to pay when he returned. While he was +preparing to start, Daniel and James Brown bargained and contracted for +them, to be delivered at a certain landing on Lake Erie, at a certain +day, at which place and time they promised to meet and pay him. He +gathered his drove, and proceeded to the landing, where he arrived +several days before the time appointed. He was there met by some men, +who told him that Brown had been there, and left word for him to drive +the hogs to a landing two or three days' journey further on, where he +had made arrangements to butcher and pack them. He went as directed; he +found neither of the Browns there, but found the men who had directed +him before; they informed him that they had orders to commence killing +and packing the hogs, and that Mr. Brown would be there that day, or +the next. He consented, and the hogs were killed and packed. A merchant +at the landing advanced money to pay the man, and also furnished salt, +and barrels on credit. On the day that all was finished, the two Browns +arrived, bringing with them another large drove. They pretended to be +very much surprised to find our friend there, and much more so to find +the hogs butchered. They declared that they had not bargained for the +slaughter of the hogs, and that they contracted for them in another +place, and would have nothing to do with them here; that he had broken +his contract, and they should demand heavy damages. He sought for the +men who had directed him hither, but they had dispersed as soon as paid, +and no trace of them was to be found. He told the Browns how he had been +deceived, but they denied all knowledge of the affair, and again talked +of damages. The merchant then presented his bill for supplies, and money +advanced to butchers and packers. Our friend not having the money, he +seized on the pork. What could he do? The case was desperate. He had +bought on credit; would his pitiful story satisfy his creditors? His +character was ruined. You may imagine the state of his mind. At this +crisis, the Messrs. Brown took him aside, and told him that since he was +in difficulty, they were willing to befriend him, and to show him how he +could soon make money enough to pay off his creditors. An oath of +secrecy was required and given. They then offered to settle the +merchant's bills, which were very extravagant, and pay him for the pork +in counterfeit money, at twenty per cent., with which he was to buy +stock through the country. In his despair, he consented; a few days +after he was detected, arrested, and tried, under a false name, and +condemned to the Ohio penitentiary. His friends, remaining entirely +ignorant of his fate, began to suspect foul play. The Messrs. Brown +effected his pardon, and hurried him away; but not before he had +contrived to make known his story, and the fact that he was under +restraint among a band of bad men, and that he could not escape without +assistance. He was never heard of more. + +"The stranger gave me his address, and requested that I would keep an +eye upon the people who should come there, and if I should see the +Browns, or hear of his unfortunate friend, that I should let him know. +He had visited Lawrenceburgh, because that was the former residence of +these two men, and he hoped to see them; but being disappointed, he was +compelled to go back to the family of the lost neighbour without having +received any intelligence of his fate." + +The reader will have seen by this time, that, probably, the whole +transaction was arranged before the man bought the first hoof of that +drove of hogs. Some emissary of the Browns advised him to speculate in +pork; to use his credit, which was good, and he did not see the Browns +till he was preparing to start. They make him liberal offers, because +they never intend to pay, and it matters little what they offer. He then +sends some of the meaner members of the gang to the landing, to order +him a few days' journey further, and there they meet him again, and +butcher, and pack the hogs. They are well paid for their villany by the +job, which they take care to make a fat one. The merchant was paid for +his part of the rascality by the profit on his stores, and perhaps by a +bonus out of the money advanced. They then thought that if they could +implicate him in any unlawful business, he would tell no tales about +them; accordingly, they entice him, or rather drive him to the +counterfeit trade. But conscience makes bad men cowards, and they felt +uneasy, so, by means of some of the band, they have him arrested; the +proof is so positive that he must be convicted, and the poor fellow was +thrown into the penitentiary. But even here they did not consider him +safe, although under a false name; so, through the influence of some of +the _aristocracy_, they get him pardoned; and then the moment he is +free, they meet him, tell him of all they have done for him, and propose +a new scene of action. Poor fellow, what can he do? He goes with them to +this new scene of action, but in all probability he finds it a state of +_rest_, for "dead men tell no tales." + +Thus, for the paltry price of a drove of hogs, was an honest man ruined, +and, for fear of detection, murdered. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +Probably in no era of the world, and certainly never among a Christian +people, was there formed a more bold, daring, and, at the same time, +secret association, than the one whose constitution and by-laws we now +present to the reader. Composed of men of all classes and grades in +society, from the priest at the altar, the judge on the bench, the +lawyer at the bar, down to the most common felon and street thief or +pickpocket, all bound together by a solemn oath, they laboured for the +general cause of secret plunder, to the enriching of themselves at the +expense of the mass. But having previously shown how I procured my +information regarding these desperadoes, I shall leave farther comment +on their acts, for the present, to the public, before whose tribunal +they must be arraigned, and proceed at once to present their + + +CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS. + + _Hanging Rock, Western District of Virginia, + July 12, 1798._ + +SECTION I.--_Art. 1._ This society shall be known by the name of the +SECRET BAND OF BROTHERS. + +_Art. 2._ It shall be governed by brethren who have become prominent by +their many valiant deeds for the promotion of the society. + +_Art. 3._ The officers of this society shall be known as Grand Masters, +and shall be duly authorized, by this constitution, to initiate, as +members of this society, any male or female, who comes well and duly +recommended by a brother, in good standing, as having served the +probation which this constitution requires. + +_Art. 4._ It shall be the duty of a brother, before he gives the +applicant information who the Band of Brothers are, to take him on +probation three months, during which time he shall notify the Grand +Master, that at such a date he will introduce the person, on probation, +for initiation. + +_Art. 5._ It shall be the duty of the Grand Master to notify all the +Brotherhood, so far as he has it in his power, that such an individual +will pray for the privilege of becoming a member of the Honourable +Brotherhood, at such a date; and to likewise apprize them of the duty +set apart, so far as in the power of each member, to carefully scan the +motives of the said candidate, and, if they can ascertain by word, deed +or action, that the candidate is not a fit person to become a member, to +convey the same to the brother who recommended him, and the same must, +in all cases, apprize the Worthy Grand what has been said against, and +in favour of the said candidate;--and it must be strictly observed, that +in no case shall the Worthy Grand condescend to be introduced without +proper notice; and the same must in all cases be strictly obeyed. + +_Art. 6._ It shall be the duty of every member to make the candidate the +subject of trial, in every secret manner which he may think profitable +to test his qualities as a true believer in the virtue of the +Brotherhood; and likewise to throw every temptation in his way, which +may be likely to sour his disposition against the formalities of the +world, and thereby lead him into a closer commune with the Holy +Brotherhood, of which he is to become a member, and which he is to +believe to be true and honest in every sense of the word; and that all +other religions and creeds are base, and founded upon speculative +motives--that this is the only TRUE, by which he must stand through good +or ill, and never secede, on pain of death on earth, and punishment +eternal hereafter. + +_Art. 7._ It shall be the duty of every brother to be strictly on his +guard, concerning this brave and generous band, and give no intimation +to any mortal being of its existence, unless he is fully persuaded that +he or they are worthy by thought and act of the high and honourable +character which the honourable body will ever confer upon them, by +receiving them as men and brethren, worthy of the protection of the only +true society under Heaven. + +_Art. 8._ It shall be the duty of all, both members and Masters, to +guard against the influence of party spirit, either political or +religious, as termed by a certain class of people, who, from their weak +and shattered principles, have been led to suppose that the great and +overruling Bible, among certain classes, is the Divine inspiration of +the Deity, and was hewn from a solid rock, for the purpose of satisfying +all men of the power of God, whom this band hold sacred, as a being of +unchangeable character, who will, in the immortal state, prepare an +everlasting place of rest for all who do not by their oaths confirm the +total disapprobation of his supernatural power. + +_Art. 9._ It shall be the duty of all brethren of this benevolent band, +in their becoming members of this Christian (!) fraternity, to deny the +principles of the book called the Bible, to be other than the work of +priestcraft, got up to delude the weaker portion of mankind, and whose +principles have been carried out to the uttermost parts of the earth, +until even the heathen have suffered by the base intrigue of +missionaries, of this rascally compilation of nonsense, by being made +subservient to their most outrageous and villanous transactions. + +_Art. 10._ That we do deplore the perversion of the power of God, as men +and Christians, and believe it highly commendable to this, the only true +society of Christian principles, to associate and connect ourselves with +all churches, of every denomination, and with all societies, not for the +purpose of supporting them, but through these means to the furthering of +our own designs. + +_Art. 11._ That we labour to make proselytes of all with whom we come in +contact, when it can be done without suspicion and danger to ourselves; +that we believe this a true principle--founded upon Nature herself, our +ruler--that policy dictates to us the necessity of keeping at peace with +the world, and often appearing humble and Godlike, that we may be taken +as pious and God-serving people: at the same time, that we keep our +"lights so shining," that all who wish, may be able to understand, +appreciate, and embrace our principles. + +_Art. 12._ That we hold, as a duty to mankind, that the God of nature, +the only God, has made a benevolent donation to all his beings; and that +it is against the principles of true Christianity, to allow one man to +fare sumptuously day by day, while his neighbours, as good by nature, +and far better by practice, shall be made his servants;--and therefore, +we, the members of this honourable body, do pledge ourselves to try, by +every means in our power, to diffuse the necessaries of life throughout +the universe, that all may fare alike who live as Nature's Christians. + +_Art. 13._ We pledge ourselves to take from the rich, and give to the +poor; and, as none of the honourable body wish for more than the God of +Nature has given--which is an abundance of this world's goods--we agree +to take from the one, and give to the other; and that the wealthy, or +the enemies of this society, shall be the ones we will strive to harass, +by disapprobation of their tyrannical course; and no respect will we pay +to persons, either politically or religiously, but swear to prove true +to all the bearings which we have laid down in this our Constitution. + +_Art. 14._ We pledge ourselves to strive for the promotion of the true +principles as set apart by us, and to use every means in our power to +enlarge our institution, and to abhor--save when dictated by +policy--everything like priestcraft, (such as may be found in that book, +called the Bible, in the twentieth chapter of Exodus, and known as the +"ten commandments," which were said to have been written by the finger +of God, and which have since been the cause of nine-tenths of the crime +against the welfare of mankind,) and yet to take every means in our +power--knowing, as we do, that we are the only rightful Christians, and +few in number, in comparison with the other denominations--to carry out +our motives, as dictated by policy, by linking ourselves to them by +bonds of this same priestcraft; in other words, to be, if possible, +promoted to the charge of their flocks, as priests or ministers; and all +advancement of the like shall be duly appreciated by every worthy +member; and the industrious and honest brother, so succeeding, shall be +looked up to, and respected as one of more than ordinary talent. + +_Art. 15._ We pledge ourselves to educate our children so as, if +possible, to prevent them from becoming members of any society save that +of the Holy Band,--known as the Secret Band of Brothers--the only +correct and Christian people that strive to place all men upon an equal +footing,--and, furthermore, to destroy all principles we may from time +to time see developing in favour of that class of people whom the world +calls Christians, and that we do sincerely feel it a duty we owe to +ourselves and the God of Nature, to try, by every means in our +power--and in this case all means shall be considered justifiable--to +overthrow all institutions which take the Bible as their standard--as we +hold that the God of Nature has set apart for us three principles and no +other. + +First: That all men are made to live their time of probation on earth, +and are not answerable hereafter for any deed they may commit, so it be +sanctioned by the laws or constitution of this society. + +Second: That the course mankind in general pursues, particularly the +so-styled religious class of community, is wholly contrary to our views, +and therefore wrong; and that the God of Nature, as our God, requires +that we put down the fabulous book called the Bible, to save mankind +from priestcraft and delusion, and bring them over to our principles. + +Third: That there is but one unpardonable sin, which is, to allow +Christians, our tyrants, to progress when we can make them retard, by +leaguing ourselves with, and instilling into their minds, and more +particularly their offspring, all the noble sentiments which may tend to +overthrow former prejudice and eradicate the present false views of +moralists, until the Bible shall be looked upon by them in the light it +now is by the followers of Mahomet, and until all the present laws of +society be considered tyrannical and unjust. + +_Art. 16._ The God of Nature, we hold as our God, has in no principle +required us, through his wise construction of our component parts, to be +in any manner driven by, or subject to man,--that He, as a wise, +intelligent being, created all mankind upon an equality, and that all +men should so stand in regard to each other--that no being was ever +placed upon this earth to rule as monarch over others,--and, therefore, +that all monarchies, all governments, which are headed by rulers, such +as kings, presidents, governors, &c., are unlawful in the sight of God, +and unjust--and that we, as men and Christians of the Holy Brotherhood, +do hereby pledge ourselves, aye, do swear by all we hold sacred, that we +will use all the cunning of our natures to put down all kingdoms, all +governments which are ruled by crowned heads, presidents, or governors, +or ruled by any principle of religion other than, nature--and that all +religion, priestcraft, &c., is unholy in the sight of the Most High God, +and that He requires of us, as a paramount duty, that we labour +zealously for its final extermination, to the glory of Him and the +benefit of mankind here and hereafter. + +_Art. 17._ We hold that the foregoing articles are wholly correct, and +fully sanctioned by the God of Nature--that whoever of our fraternity +proves in anywise recreant to them is a traitor to us, to himself, and +his God;--that the candidate for membership, in view of this, does by +this article most solemnly declare and avow that all the foregoing are +according to his most unbiased views--that such, and only such, he will +ever support, nor shrink, nor waver from, nor expose the same, even in +the agonies of death, on flood, or field, in prison, on the rack, +scaffold, or feathered couch--that he understands this fully, and all +the bearings of it, with all of the foregoing, his name, which he +deliberately, without compulsion, sets to this constitution, stands as +lasting, undeniable proof--that he has come to this solemn determination +after calm, mature deliberation--that he is over twenty-two years of +age--and, finally, that he is willing to go through with all the oaths +and ceremonies which this band sees proper to impose; in proof whereof, +he now repeats the following + + + PRAYER. + + Almighty and all-merciful God! the Great Author and Disposer of all + beings! I hereby pledge myself, in thy sight, to keep sacred the + holy principles, one and all, which I this day have had set before + and disclosed to me, by the Worthy Grand Master of the most ancient + order under heaven--known by the appellation of the Secret Band of + Brothers--and I pray thee, Almighty God! to watch the workings of + my cultivated nature; and, Heavenly Father! keep me sane in mind, + that I may always know the everlasting punishment which awaits me, + if I prove recreant to the vows which I herewith do take upon me, + with my own free will, in thy holy sight--and I pray thee, Almighty + God! should I prove false to the vow or vows I now make, in + becoming a member of this Holy Brotherhood, to shut from me the + light of thy countenance--to visit the wrath of thy indignation + upon me--to let my walks here on earth be paths of desolation, at + the end of which be famine and death, and, in the world to come, + torment and more tormenting pains racking my soul for ever! But, + Almighty God! should I keep and carry out these, the only true + principles, which thou in thy wisdom hast set aside for thy + children to follow, then mayest thou be pleased to grant me a + well-spent closing life on earth, and an undying existence with + thee in thy holy kingdom of heaven!--Amen. + +_Art. 18._ The foregoing articles having been read and acceded to by the +candidate for membership, and the prayer having been repeated by him, he +shall be considered a member of this fraternity--known as the Secret +Band of Brothers--and the Grand Master shall then proceed with the +following:-- + +Most worthy Brother! You have now been initiated into some of the +secrets of the Holy Brotherhood, otherwise called the Secret Band of +Brothers; you have become a member of an Order which, I trust, you will +ever cherish--feeling it is worthy of any of God's children; and, if you +so consider it, and also consider yourself a true and lawful member, you +will now make the same manifest by an inclination of your head, in token +of assent, + +_Art. 19._ The member having bowed in assent, the Grand Master shall +again proceed, as follows:-- + +Now, Brother, you, through choice, can take one degree, which will +entitle you to a benefit in sickness or in distress; and likewise +entitle you to the use of the SCALE, which will enable you to converse +with any Brother without any possible chance of detection, by paying the +trifling sum of twenty-five cents per month, to the Worthy Grand, who is +the proper person for you to apply to for assistance, which in all +cases must be done verbally:--in token of assent that you wish this +degree conferred upon you, you will now lay your hand upon your heart +and answer in the affirmative. + +_Art. 20._ After conferring the foregoing degree, the Grand Master shall +again proceed, as follows: + +Brother, it is now my pleasant duty to inform you that the degree just +taken entitles you to a full membership of the Holy Brotherhood, and +also entitles you to a benefit of thirty-three cents per day, if +imprisoned, or confined by sickness, caused by exposure or +otherwise,--which you, in all cases, must make known to the Worthy +Grand, if possible, through a Brother, but by no other process; and you +must be careful to observe one particular point, which is, NEVER, under +any circumstance, to approach the Worthy Grand as an intimate +acquaintance, for fear of being suspected as such, and thereby bringing +mistrust upon him through some person who may have had their eye upon +you, as a man not carrying out the principles which they approve of as +being the ones best calculated to promote their priestcraft. + +_Art. 21._ The Grand Master shall thus continue: + +You being now a member of this Holy Brotherhood, it falls to my lot to +apprize you of the position which you now occupy, and some of the duties +incumbent upon you. This society claims you as a Brother, and, should +you be sick, will prepare hospitable means for your comfort--should you +be in difficulty, through misfortune, you will ever find friends ready +and willing to assist you: should you for any offence be brought to +trial, your judges, jurors, witnesses, &c., you will find composed of +men selected from this Holy Brotherhood: you have the privilege at any +time to go and come as you please, to retire or live in public life; but +you are to make known every transaction whereby certain classes may be +considered as dishonest--and if the person offending is not committed by +a Brother, you are bound, if possible, to see that the offender is +brought before the tyrannical bar, and, likewise, if it lies in your +power, to have the said offender convicted; and, if convicted, it shall +furthermore be your duty to apprize the Grand Master the length of time +he is sentenced, to what prison, and what punishment--as we, as men and +Christians, hold it a duty for each member to throw every obstacle in +the way of the people CALLED Christians, for the purpose of bringing +them to the laws which Nature's God has set apart. + +_Art. 22._ Having now informed you of some of the benefits and duties +falling upon you, as a Brother, I now come to an article of penalty, +which you will find requires your close attention, as follows: + +If you betray a Brother, this Constitution allots to you but one +punishment, which is--#DEATH BY VIOLENT MEANS!#--AND THIS SENTENCE WILL +SURELY BE CARRIED INTO EFFECT--as sure as that there is a sun at +noonday, or stars at night; and the Brother, so terminating your career, +shall receive, in compensation, the sum of THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS, which +shall be paid to him by a Grand Master, for this society. + +_Art. 23._ If you are ever true and faithful to the Brotherhood, you +shall be sustained by them, in all your undertakings, right or wrong; +and should you meet with danger, by reason of the Brotherhood, which +sometimes happens, by your making the same known to the Grand Master, he +will, if your quarterly and annual payments have been regularly made, +refund you the full amount. You will be charged, annually, five dollars +for your head, and a half cent per annum on all your common chattels and +freehold property,--which you will be required to pay in advance, +yearly, to ensure you the benefit and full privilege of the Secret Band +of Brothers' Mutual Insurance; the principle of which is adopted for the +special benefit of the Brotherhood, as we feel no interest in +befriending any, not even our own blood relations, unless with a motive +of sooner or later bringing to bear our Christian creed, and making them +true and faithful Brethren. + +_Art. 24._ If at any time you think it would be policy for you to +withdraw--or, in other words, retire--you will find it beneficial for +you to watch for, and detect every species of fraud--done by any other +clan than the Brotherhood--and convey the same to your worthy Brethren; +and in all cases, do all you can to make war with what the self-styled +Christians call moral principles; and whenever you see or hear of an +imprudent act in a Brother, it shall be your duty to convey the fact to +the Brother--if not by your own tongue, by that of some Brother of the +band,--and if you see any manifestations made throughout the community +of a moral, or, what is termed of a religious nature, it shall be your +duty to oppose and oppress the leaders in every shape and manner +possible, as we hold all such calculated to keep in darkness many who +might, otherwise, be made true and faithful Brethren, and followers of +Nature's God: and the moral part of the community, so termed, who will +not give us an opportunity to enroll their names, watch; and if by aping +them you can make inroads upon their creeds, or false views, you will +add not only to the promotion of the society, but will sustain a +character throughout the Brotherhood, not to be forgotten; and, +furthermore, as there are many ways to find out the principles of men, +it is to be the constant duty of each member of this Brotherhood, to +take advantage of every opportunity of finding out the opinions of the +mass--by talking as much as possible about the villanous transactions +which happened at an early day, in the new settlements, and the active +part which he took in detecting the band, &c.--by which means he not +only learns who are friendly towards the promotion of this Brotherhood, +but also who are the ones for this society to watch as their most deadly +enemies;--and a Brother must, in no case, refuse to give money for the +construction of the most popular churches, and must always pay great +respect to the priests--for through them we hope to hide many of what +might be termed, by our enemies, deeds of darkness; but such as we, as +men and Christians, believe to be lawful and proper duties: and one who +does not comply with the rules and regulations of this band so far as in +his power, after having taken the solemn oath, shall be treated by all +honourable members as unworthy of their protection, and shall be +proscribed by the Brotherhood--WHICH PROSCRIPTION LEAVES HIM LIABLE TO +SUDDEN AND VIOLENT DEATH, AT ANY MOMENT! + +_Art. 25._ Each member who has been duly sworn in, as Grand Master, can +have the privilege of withdrawing his name from the Holy Brotherhood, by +recommending one whom he considers worthy, and in whom he pledges +himself can be put unbounded confidence, and one who has never failed to +pay his quarterage and yearly dues in advance; (as such a failure +assuredly prohibits him from promotion;) and this office grants to the +holder his travelling expenses, and two dollars per day, while on +business of the society, and, likewise, secures him double the benefit +of a private, in sickness or difficulty. Now, therefore, Brother, you +have the full meaning of the foregoing, and the same chance of promotion +as either of the Brethren. + +SECT. II. _Art. 1._ The Grand Masters of this society shall consist of +six, to every fifty mile square,--five of whom have no power, other than +to bear the annual returns, in case of absence or sickness of the +principal Grand--in which case they are entitled to his pay, for their +services and expenses--said pay to be deducted from the moneys in their +possession, at the meeting of the society; and in case of death or +resignation, the seat or seats of the former Grand or Grands must be +filled by the next Grand or Grands, in rank--said rank to be through the +official age of the subordinates; whose seats, as THEY rise, must again +be filled by some one of the private members, whose appointment must be +confirmed by a petition, signed by three-fourths of the Brethren; and, +in case of two or more candidates running for the same office, the one +having the most names shall be considered duly elected--whereupon he +must solemnly pledge himself to keep the funds intrusted to him, +belonging to the Brotherhood, secure; that should he, at any time, be +required to resign, by three-fourths of the Grands, he will make due +returns of all moneys in his possession; and that, in all cases, he will +be ready to render a correct account of all moneys received and paid out +by him, which account shall, also, be duly made out and handed in at +every annual meeting. + +_Art. 2._ It shall be the duty of every Principal Grand to keep his +accounts, and the Constitution of this society, written on paper, with a +certain kind of acid, which cannot be read, unless held to the fire, +when the heat will bring to the face of the paper the desired +intelligence; and it shall, furthermore, be the duty of the Grand Master +to commit to memory this Constitution and By-laws,--that he may, at any +time, be able to give any passage verbatim, without the assistance of +referring to the article itself, as it endangers the Brotherhood to have +the documents on hand;--and it shall also be the duty of the Grand +Masters, in office, to supply the five, who are not matured officers, +with one article at a time, until they commit the same to memory; when +it shall be their duty to instruct them the manner in which the same is +written in acid; and then to demand a written Constitution from each, +which, if not written correctly, must be corrected and returned every +three months, until perfected. + +_Art. 3._ It shall be the duty of the Grand Masters to examine their +five subordinate officers, four times each year, until they find each +capable of drafting a constitution, and of giving each article its +correct No. and proper place,--with full instructions as to secrecy, in +keeping all the six words, with their proper tables, from the ordinary +members--as the ordinary members are not entitled to the use of the six +words, which are termed Qualities;--and, furthermore, if any of the +Grand Masters know of a letter of importance, which one of the members +has written to a Grand Master or Subordinate Grand, it shall be the duty +of the said Grand Master, if possible, to QUALIFY the letter, either +upon the inside or outside, as the case may be--for the qualities are +highly essential,--and it shall still, furthermore, be the duty of all +Grand Masters, to teach their Brethren the necessity of their committing +as much of the language as shall be given them on their initiation; and, +likewise, the great importance, for the general safety, that all letters +shall contain as much of the secret language as can be made to answer +the purpose,--because it will be easily read by the Grand Masters, and +common members, but will be impossible for the worldly people to +unravel. + +_Art. 4._ It shall be further observed, that no Grand, if known to +reveal to any common member more than the initiation prayer, and what +has been specified in the foregoing--with the exception of the meaning +of the figure 9, in the fourth column, to which all are entitled--can be +thought worthy of the honourable Grand's station; and in no case can +such an offence be forgiven--and that, as a punishment for such an +offence, he shall not only be discharged from the high and honourable +office of Grand Master, but shall have a vote of censure passed upon +him, which shall for ever disqualify him from holding office; and he +shall, thenceforth, be closely watched, and in case he shows, or in any +way manifests, any sign of malicious disapprobation, he shall be tried +in secret, by the Grands and members of his District; and upon +three-fourths giving their opinion that he is an enemy to the +Brotherhood, it shall be the duty of the Grand Master to take him on +probation, six months, and apprize him of the fact, that he is, in the +opinion of the Brotherhood, acting, or about to act, a treacherous +part,--and that he has been granted the state of probation, and the +privilege of leaving the District, or changing his treacherous +principles:--if he choose the former, his name must be sent to every +Grand Master in the Union; if he choose the latter, his after good works +must recommend him; but in case he should refuse either, it shall be the +duty of the Grand Master to put upon his head the usual reward--of a +traitor, which is three hundred dollars, to whoever takes his life, with +the highest approbation which can be placed upon the Brother, so doing, +by his honest Brethren. + +[The following qualities are known and used by the Grand Masters alone, +the common members being wholly ignorant of their existence; and thus it +is, that these grandees can so completely foil their followers, without +the least risk of the latter being the wiser. The qualities are made for +the special purpose of designating each individual, and at the same time +be entirely safe from the least suspicion. When a Grand Master has had +the honour of promotion conferred, he is supplied with the table of +qualities; likewise the secret of correspondence is submitted to his +confidence, under an oath, the penalty of which is death, if he, by +word, deed, or action develop, or by any means expose, the principles of +his special charge. After he has taken the solemn oath, the chief Grand +gives him the secret for preparing the sympathetic ink, which is used +upon all occasions where one Grand is corresponding with another; and +where a Brother is about to travel, it is the duty of the Grand Master +presiding, in the district where he resides, to give him a plain letter +of recommendation, with the private qualities in cipher, in a definite +manner, that the Grand Master who receives the same may not be deceived; +and ofttimes has the poor ninny carried in his supposed letter his death +warrant. As the secret of the cipher is not known to any but those of +the fraternity who have been promoted above the ranks of the +subordinate, it leaves the latter completely in the hands of their Grand +Masters. But we would not have our readers to understand, by our +explanation, that it is our belief, that the private qualities are +always carried out to a letter, as laid down in their constitution and +by-laws; yet we have no hesitation in saying, that we believe that the +members live more closely to their profession than many of our Christian +institutions; and that there are many that walk as near the line of +their profession as they know how, we have every reason to believe from +the daily illustrations we have of depravity among us. We therefore give +you the correct qualities of the Grand Masters, which are held entirely +apart from the common Brotherhood, by the preceding restrictions set +forth in this note.] + +_Art. 5._ The Grand Master shall be fully invested with power to give +out the following catalogue of useful flash words. The six words of +QUALITY are highly beneficial in conversation, and must, in all cases, +be used when one is present who is not known to be a member. By this +means can be found out the strange Brethren, who are ever ready for any +sound so familiar to their ears. The dualities, also, serve to advance +the Brethren, who are made acquainted with them, to the higher seats of +honour, and are as follows: + +First: HUSKA--a flash word, signifying GOOD--is fully described by the +subjoined numbers, the signification of which is annexed: + +No. 1 signifies Bold. + " 2 " Intrepid. +No. 3 signifies Artful. + " 4 " Undaunted. + " 5 " Cunning. + " 6 " Active. + " 7 " Assiduous. + " 8 " Temperate. + " 9 " A true Brother, without cultivation--meaning one who, +from infancy, has had sufficient strength of mind to carry out his +principles. This number is considered highly honourable to the Brother +bearing it, who is said to have the same conferred upon him by the God +of Nature. + +Second: CAUGH--a flash word, signifying BAD--is also described as +follows: + +No. 1 signifies Treacherous. + " 2 " Ungrateful. + " 3 " Presumptuous. + " 4 " Meddlesome. + " 5 " Quarrelsome. + " 6 " Impudent. + " 7 " Imprudent. + " 8 " Dilatory. + " 9 " Intemperate. + +This last number is one which will prohibit whoever is entitled to it, +from holding the high and honourable office of Grand Master; and whoever +is known to sell or give intoxicating liquors to a Brother, for the +purpose of making him subserve to his avaricious purpose, shall be +highly censured, and made to pay over double the amount which the victim +has lost. If a Brother sees proper to distil, or vend intoxicating +spirits, and at the same time notifies the Brethren, when they call on +him, that he does not make and sell the same for any other purpose than +to prostrate the minds of the tyrannical priestcraft, and their victims, +he shall be sustained in his noble enterprise. + +Third: NAUGH--a flash word, signifies SIZE AND COMPLEXION--and, +therefore, each number has a double meaning. + +No. 1 signifies the person to be Large and Tall. + " 2 " " Low and Heavy. + " 3 " " Tall and Slender. + " 4 " " Medium. + " 5 " " Small. + " 6 " " Sandy Complexion. + " 7 " " Light Complexion. + " 8 " " Dark Complexion, + " 9 " " Coloured. + +A person of the last-named colour is never to be admitted, unless as an +outlaw, who is to be used by the Worthy Grand, and who is to be so +educated that he will not dare to commit any daring act, without +permission from the Worthy Grand; and it shall be highly reprehensible +in any Brother to converse with any coloured Brother, upon any business +pertaining to the Brotherhood; and all such shall lay themselves liable +to a vote of censure--as the man of colour is not admitted for other +purpose, than to carry out deeds thought highly honourable, but which +many worthy Brethren dislike to execute, but for which the Worthy Grand +can always depend on his coloured Brother; and, furthermore, should he +be detected, the Brotherhood will be in no manner endangered, as the +coloured Brother's testimony cannot be used against them. + +Fourth: MAUGH--a flash word, signifying PROFESSION--is designated thus: + +No. 1 signifies a Brother of wealth and a Labourer. + " 2 " Seaman. + " 3 " Lawyer. + " 4 " Physician. + " 5 " Mechanic. + " 6 " Merchant. + " 7 " Sporting Man. + " 8 " Planter or Farmer. + + + " 9 " Felon. + +This last number is considered in a different light from any of the +others. When a cross is placed over it, it signifies that the Brother +bearing it has been a martyr in the great and noble cause of Equal +Rights; or, in other words, that in performing his duty as a freeman, he +has been seized and cast into prison by the tyrants of the world: and it +shall be considered a deed worthy of censure, for any Brother to +mistreat, or throw any obstacle in the way of another, who may be +entitled to the cross over the figure 9, in the fourth line of +Quality;--and all members, both officers and privates, are entitled to +know the meaning of the mark over the figure 9; and if any Brother says +he is entitled to said mark, all Brethren are, in a measure, bound to +believe him--as it will be expected that no Brother will be base enough +to attempt a deception of this kind; for the truth can always be +ascertained by writing to the Worthy Grand of the District where he was +sentenced--whose duty it shall be to answer the epistle correctly and +promptly; and in case any Brother shall make a false statement in this +respect--or in fact in any other--he shall be branded as +dishonourable--shall be publicly exposed to all of the Brethren +present--and his name sent, by the Grand Master, to all other Grand +Masters of the several Districts, so that it may be marked on their +several books as a Brother who cannot be depended upon under any +circumstances. + +Fifth: HAUGH--a flash word, signifying DISEASE--embracing under it, +imperfections, scars, marks, &c.--is described as follows: + +No. 1 signifies Consumptive. + " 2 " Rheumatical. + " 3 " Gout. + " 4 " Dropsical. + " 5 " Hypochondriacal. + " 6 " Scrofulous. + " 7 " Stoppage in Speech, or Stuttering. + " 8 " Pox-marked, or Hair-lipped. + " 9 " Loss of an eye, tooth, or limb--a bald +head, or any noted scar exposed. This number will require close +inspection, in order to avoid being deceived; as the mechanical +construction of wigs, glass eyes, false teeth, wooden legs, false +whiskers, &c., has been brought to such perfection, that, without the +very closest scrutiny, they will, many times, escape our observation, +and pass as the real members created by the God of Nature. + +Sixth: GAUGH--a flash word, signifying AGE AND MANNER OF SPEECH--is +described as follows: + +No. 1 denotes the person to be 70. + " 2 " " from 50 to 60. + " 3 " " " 40 to 55. + " 4 " " " 30 to 40. + " 5 " " " 21 to 30. +No. 6 denotes the person to be Very Gray. + " 7 " " Dappled. + " 8 " " Quick Spoken. + " 9 " " Slow and Indistinct. + +These private Qualities are not to be explained to any but Grand +Masters; and when a Brother becomes familiar with these private +dualities, he can correspond with other Masters, without any fear of +detection, as all of the Qualities, though apparently simple, are +impossible for any one to understand, unless he has the key; and he who +shall DARE to instruct another in this mystery, unless entitled to it by +the law of our constitution, will find it would have been better for him +had a mill-stone been tied about his neck, and he been cast in the bosom +of the deepest sea. + +[The table of "flash" words contained in article sixth, section second, +are words used among the fraternity in general, and by the common +members believed to be the only secret language of the order. In this +they have been kept wholly ignorant, by the cunning of their leaders. We +have but little doubt in our mind that there may have been a great many +words added to the original vocabulary, since the adoption of the +constitution, as we find among the gamblers, and other dishonest men, +language entirely incomprehensible to all without a key. The gambler, +though not anywise connected, stands in his profession ready to +conciliate them in their works of death, under the horrible idea that +Nature, as their God, has plainly sanctioned the profession. And the +religion of Nature they aver to be the only true religion on earth.] + +_Art. 6._ It shall be the duty of the Grand Master, upon the initiation +of a member, to supply him with a list of flash words used by the +Brethren of this society, and shall likewise inform them of the great +importance, for the safety of the Brotherhood, that they commit the few +words given them to memory,--which they will also find of great +importance in conversation and correspondence--as, in the few words +which are diffused in their respective places, no person, without a +complete key, can explain or interpret their true meaning. The words +adopted are but few, yet answer, with common language, to enable the +Brothers to converse with ease without being understood by others +concerning their business, or matters and things pertaining to the +Brotherhood. It likewise enables a Brother, in common conversation, to +designate another; or, in addressing thousands, he may be identified by, +as it were, accidentally using any one word of his discourse in +connection with the Brotherhood:--the latter, however, is never to be +done, unless in extreme cases. The most essential service is in +conveying the meaning, which, in all cases, must be done in its proper +place. + +If you wish to ascertain if a Brother be present, you can easily do so +by SOUNDING. SOUNDING signifies FEELING, or ASCERTAINING; and if you +wish so to do, use the word CULLEY, which signifies Brother, Friend, +Partner. + +The word CONEY means Counterfeit paper money. + " BOGUS " Spurious coin, &c. + " CRABBING " Robbing, Stealing, &c. + " DUMBY " Pocket-book, purse, &c. + " DROP " Pocket, &c. + " CADY " Highwayman, murderer, &c. + " GLIB, STRIKER " Incendiary. + " CRACK " Break. As crack a crib. + " CRIB " House, trunk, desk, &c. +The word THIMBLE means Watch, crome, clock. + " PRAGUE " Horse, mule, or ass. + " GLIM " Light. + " SIFTER " Burglar, house-breaker, &c. + " GEISTER " An extra thief. + " FEELER " Dirk, sword, knife, &c. + " REACHER " Gun, pistol, &c. + " PAD " Bed. + " BLOTTER " Writing--such as letters, &c. + +As Nature, in every feature, dislikes a traitor, no provision has been +made for dissembling. This society is ruled by Nature, as our God!--and +it is the duty of each and every member to do all in his power to +promote the welfare of his Brethren, as, by so doing, he must in time +convince all observers that the Secret Brothers are the only true +Christian sect on earth; and this we, ourselves, individually and +collectively, believe; and we make this manifest, by placing our names +to this scroll, and thereby pledging our fortunes and our lives to +maintain and carry out these principles in all sincerity and truth; and +should we ever offer to take up another faith, and renounce this, may +our prayer-oath be fulfilled to the extent of all its agonies; aye, and +more: we now again doubly pray, that if we ever offer to secede from +this, our religion, that we may thereby seal our immortal state with an +undying existence in a world of torment, prepared for all priestcraft +and treacherous mortals. + + * * * * * + +The singular circumstances connected with my obtaining these papers, and +the awful obligations contained in the constitution, will prepare the +reader for some strange developments. The constitution, although not +elegantly worded, proves its author to have been a man of uncommon +shrewdness, and knowledge of human nature, and forethought. We may +therefore expect that the plan of operations should be so laid as to +baffle detection by ordinary means. I will try to give some idea of it. + +It was necessary that letters should be transmitted from one member to +another, in a distant location, yet the person to whom the letter was +addressed might be miles from a government post-office, and it might not +be safe for him to present himself for a letter, lest he should be +recognised as a desperate man, and letters were liable to be opened and +their desperate projects exposed. To avoid this danger, they established +a line of communication, extending from Toronto, Canada, to New Orleans. +Not precisely direct, but lying through large towns. + +On this route were post-offices; consisting of hollow trees, caves, +cavities in rocks, &c. Those who wished to send letters deposited them +here; with full directions. All the "brothers" knew these post-offices; +and when, in their travels, they came near one, were bound to stop, and +examine the letters. If they found letters directed to persons on their +route, they must carry them along. If the letter was directed to a +person beyond the extent of his journey, he must at least carry it to +the next post-office, if he was going so far; and from that, some other +Brother would pass it along. It was death, in all cases, for a member to +open a letter not directed to him. + +As Brothers are constantly passing along the line, in both directions, +considerable despatch was secured. If a letter should chance to be lost, +it was written in such a manner that one not knowing the secret would +suppose it to be an ordinary business letter, and the persons alluded +to were so mentioned as that only the individual to whom the letter was +addressed, or some person interested in the same transaction, could +understand the allusion. + +The person to whom the letter was addressed must return the letter, if +requested, but might keep a copy. Along this mail line lived many of the +Brotherhood, and as they knew each other by signs, and were able to +converse in a _flash language_, unintelligible to the community +generally; when we recollect that they were bound by solemn oaths to aid +and defend each other in every emergency, right or wrong--that both men +and women belonged to the order--the reader will see what security a +villain could enjoy when hunted by the police; how easily the +_respectable_ citizen, the country merchant, the lawyer, the captain of +a steamboat, could conceal the fugitive, and put the officer upon the +wrong scent. + +In addition to this caution, any thing which must be so explicit that a +stranger to the order might understand, if he should see it, was written +with sympathetic ink, which would appear only when heated, and would +disappear again when cold; and even this was written in a perfectly +unintelligible cipher, to which, however, I very fortunately found the +key among the letters. I insert it for the benefit of the curious. + +One of the most profitable branches of their business was that of +_trading in horses_. For this, as will be seen, their combination gave +them peculiar facilities. + +One of the _common_ robbers steals a _horse_, rides it fifty or a +hundred miles, and offers it to a _respectable_ robber, called a +_trader_. If it do not appear a dangerous bargain, he makes the +transaction as public as possible; he takes a bill of sale, and enters +it on his books, and the common robber goes on his way rejoicing. +Presently the owner comes along, and _claims the horse_. The +_respectable_ trader is very much astonished at the discovery, but makes +no resistance. The owner, rejoiced to find his property again, gladly +pays the expenses of keeping and goes home. But the respectable trader +is very sure to have not the slightest clue to the whereabouts of the +man who sold him the horse, and although it was done so publicly that +the owner cannot have a doubt of the innocence of the trader, yet, +strange to say, nobody knows which direction the thief took, even when +he left the settlement. + +Lest some member should get another into his power, it is provided in +the constitution, that for every transaction they shall "pass" or +exchange receipts. This gives to each the same power, provided they are +both of the lower grade. That is, whoever has bought a stolen horse of +some member of the band, can be proved to have done so by the thief, +from the receipt; and the thief in like manner is in the power of the +trader. Again, it is of importance to the poor robber to have a receipt +from some eminent trader, since it gives him character as a man of +business, and serves as a letter of introduction. They are written in +the usual form of an ordinary business transaction. + +The Grand Masters, who, alone, it will be recollected, have the secret +of using sympathetic ink, and the cipher, always add to the receipt, +with invisible writing, the description and character of the individual +who bears it, thus holding the poor fellow completely in his power. + +But should a poor scamp get caught, and lie in prison a year or two, he +is entitled, by the constitution, to thirty-three cents per day for the +whole time. By the same constitution, also, he is directed how he must +proceed to get it. He proceeds, therefore, in due form, as follows: +Going to the Grand Master of the district in which he was convicted, he +addresses him thus:--"Most worthy Grand Master, I have this day come +before you, to place my hand upon the seal and swear that upon ---- day +of ----, in the year ----, I was confined in prison, (or _by sickness_) +for ---- months and ---- days; during which time I have contracted the +following expenses; I therefore make my petition that such money as may +be my due may be given me for my assistance." + +The Grand Master, or Grand as he is called, then asks the following +questions: + +"How long have you been a member? + +"Where were you initiated? + +"To whom have you paid your dues? + +"What evidence have you that such are the facts?" + +If, then, the poor brother have not receipts proving the transactions +for which he was imprisoned, and further, proof of his actual +imprisonment, (or evidence of his sickness,) no further notice is taken +of him. But if he have such regular proofs as are required, the Grand +declares that they have but a small amount of funds in the treasury. But +that the Brother may get his dues, he gives him drafts upon the various +Grands in the country, to the amount of his dues. If the amount were +five hundred dollars, he would receive fifty ten dollar drafts upon +fifty Grands, scattered over the country, from Canada to Alabama, and of +whom, in all probability, he will never see three; and they are payable +to none but the person in whose favour they are drawn. And "to make +assurance doubly sure," with sympathetic ink, the cunning officer +writes a full description on each draft, of the age, size, complexion, +profession, peculiarities, &c., of the bearer, so that if he should +undertake to send by another, he would have his labour for his pains. + +We have now submitted the constitution to the judgment of our readers, +as we found it, having only added a few explanatory remarks, which we +are enabled to do from knowledge acquired in various ways; and we now +select from those letters which came into our possession a few, written +by some of the individuals noticed in this work, which will throw +additional light on the character of the Band. The note to each letter +is explanatory of the language contained in the ciphers. + + +No. 1. + Lawrenceburgh, September 24, 1825. + +_Most Worthy and Respected Brother_,--Let me introduce the bearer of +this, who visits you for the purpose of promoting our benevolent +institution and his operations. I have not the least doubt you will find +his visit not of importance to him alone, but to you and all the friends +of humanity and kind feeling which belong to our benevolent society. + +Yours, in great haste, + +101000 +000000 +000300 +000004 +500000 +000000 +000000 +800088 + + +000900 + +[This letter bears upon its face the following ciphers, which +interpreted read as follows:--The bearer is BOLD, CUNNING, TEMPERATE, +LARGE, and TALL; by profession a LAWYER, and has been a CONVICT, he is +marked upon the face; his age is from THIRTY to FORTY, and QUICK in +speech. The cross (+) upon the number 9 designates the bearer to have +been a convict, and that he is entitled to much respect among the +Brotherhood. This, however, the Grand Masters teach their subordinates +to acknowledge, for the purpose of finding out among them such as they +can have confidence in in carrying out any desperate scheme; and +likewise to prevent them from exposing others, through their +associations; and thus it is that they, as brethren, feel no delicacy in +acknowledging to a brother, the honour of having been a martyr.] + + +No. 2. + Lawrenceburgh, October 13, 1825. + +_Friend Brown_,--According to our agreement, I was at the place +appointed, where I remained until three o'clock, much distressed on +account of your absence; and my situation was very little better when I +learned you had been detained through the negligence of our friend in +Boon county. I have no confidence in him, nor ever will have, so long as +he makes use of so much whisky. I exchanged the coney I had for four +hundred pounds of feathers, and left them subject to your order at +friend ---- ----, grocery store, Lower Market street. I called and took +breakfast with the judge, and he tells me times have never been so close +upon the coney trade since he resided in the city. I likewise called +upon the Irish friend, and the first word he spoke was an oath that +Cincinnati was bankrupted; that constant calls were continually made by +the boys, and not one dollar to accommodate them with. I hope you will +be at home before I leave for Indianapolis, as I cannot remain long upon +the way, and I have many calls to make, and be there by the 20th, as +that is the day appointed. Raise all the funds you can, and I have no +doubt every thing will come out right. This will be handed you by one +whom I recommend strictly honest, as I have had recommended. Though he +has lived in the burgh ten years, I never knew him until our old friend +told me that he was a member. He knows you only by sight. + +Yours, ---- ----, + +000110 +000000 +003000 +000000 +000005 +600000 +000000 +888000 +000009 + +[The figures of this letter describe the bearer as follows: ACTIVE, +TEMPERATE, DILATORY, TALL, AND SLENDER, DARK-COMPLEXIONED, WEALTHY, +without any particular occupation. That he is CONSUMPTIVE; his age is +between TWENTY-ONE and THIRTY; his speech SLOW and INDISTINCT.] + + +No. 3. + Greensburgh, October 20, 1825. + +_Friend Brown_,--I have, as you see by this letter, arrived at +Greensburgh, having travelled several nights over some of the roughest +roads I ever placed foot upon; my journey, otherwise, has not been so +disagreeable; but night-travelling always disagrees with me. I was +joined by our friend, the doctor, and his intimate friend from +Brookville. They tell me they have been absent from Brookville +twenty-one days. We met at our good old friend's house, near York ridge. +He is as pleasant as ever, and full as religious, and paid me one +hundred and twenty-five dollars--squaring accounts--and traded me two +notes on our Madison merchant, amounting to one hundred and thirty-five +dollars, which are as good as gold, as he endorses them, and I believe +and know the principal to be as good as any man in Madison. + +The doctor tells me some of the boys have had a flare-up in Buffalo; but +that is nothing new, as our Canada friends act very imprudent. He tells +me since he left us, that several cabs have been traced out, and no +traces of the workmen left which can injure any one party. He came +through Columbus, Ohio! He says they are hard at work, but scarce of +material, and no means to procure it. I have not the least doubt but you +might find it profitable to go or send some one to supply their wants, +so we can make it very profitable. Our friends, ---- ----, ---- ----, +_take_ Fort Meggs, and at Manhattan (I have reference to our judge and +the lawyer we met in Manhattan, Ohio) have made out well with the +horses, taken them in the summer, and say they wish the boys would +bring them one hundred head before the lake closes. The doctor brought +me a letter to that effect. I leave this place to-morrow evening for the +Forks of the road, where I shall expect a letter from you. Let my friend +---- ---- know I am well. + +Yours, ---- ----, + +000000 +002200 +000003 +400000 +000000 +600600 +077000 +800008 +000000 + +[This describes the bearer to be UNDAUNTED, ACTIVE, TEMPERATE, +IMPRUDENT, LOW, and HEAVY, LIGHT-COMPLEXIONED, by profession a LAWYER +and MERCHANT; age from FORTY to FIFTY-FIVE, QUICK-SPOKEN.] + + +No. 4. + Four Corners, October 24, 1825. + +_Friend Brown_,--I have arrived at the Four Corners, where I was pleased +to receive your favour of the 17th, and having the good luck to learn +that five of the brethren of Virginia are in the neighbourhood, and +would leave to-morrow evening for their homes by the way of +Lawrenceburgh, I make ready this and forward it by them for the purpose +to inform you that our friend ---- ----, the cooper, cannot, without my +consent, have any more stock, unless he pays for it in advance, as I am +satisfied he does not wish to act out the correct principles. He tried, +the day before I left, to make me agree to take cooperage for the last +stock he got; and though he made it answer to the whole face, two +hundred, yet he did not wish to pay me thirty in cash, and said you +promised to supply him at fifteen cents per hundred, and take it out in +cooperage; if so, your contracts must be for your own private benefit, +not mine; he has gulled me enough, and I cannot stand his slabbering +discourse any more. I am satisfied he has no moral honesty. Our friend, +the grocery-keeper, must pay for his last, as he has bartered it all +off. I met an intimate friend of his from Burlington, Kentucky, on +Clifty, in company with our light-complexioned friend, who lives not far +in the county back of the burgh. Two who accompany this are crossed (+) +9's, immediately from Tennessee, and have been travelling fifteen +nights. They are accompanied by a brother from Charleston, Virginia, +another from Parkersburg, Virginia, and a third from Marietta, Ohio; all +wealthy, the bearer and all, worthy brethren. The bearer is a Grand. + +Yours, ---- ----. + +100000 +002000 +300000 +000004 +000000 +606600 +000000 +800008 +000000 + +[This describes the bearer as being BOLD, ARTFUL, ACTIVE, TEMPERATE, +LOW, and HEAVY, SANDY-COMPLEXIONED, by profession a MERCHANT; age from +THIRTY to FORTY, QUICK-SPOKEN.] + + +No. 5. + Sugar Creek, October 24, 1825. + +_Esteemed Brown_,--After two nights' hard travelling, I find myself well +provided for, in company with our old "Bogus Friend," who informs me he +has just returned from Toronto, Canada; and has brought some of the most +splendid bogus I ever have seen, and sells it, in trade at 33-1/3, 28 in +cash. I purchased two thousand of him, part trade, part cash; and he is +to deliver it to you. He has sent a large quantity to Brookville, +Indiana, and he will send your two thousand from Brookville. I let him +have four horses, which I purchased from our Rising-sun Brethren. He +sent them immediately to his lawyer, in or near Sandusky, who will +forward them immediately to Michigan. I believe the horse trade is +better, and a great deal more safe than the slave. There are many +brethren living here, and of the best order, and live up to the +principles of the Brotherhood; and of the many which live here, and in +fact all through these parts, very few are considered other than men of +the highest respectability. But I hear many making inquiry about our +Lawrenceburgh Aurora, and Rising-sun brethren, and say the brethren have +acted in many respects badly, and our friend ---- ----, in the burgh, +who purchased the pork he shipped from some of them; they say that he +has deceived them. I feel mortified to think he has no more principle: I +want you to call and tell him he must settle, and I think he ought to +know the same without advice. They are the wrong men for him to try to +gull; I have every right to suspect him of dishonesty, when I think how +much the Brotherhood has done for him, you and I in particular, and +know how he treated us; and though we have given him all of the start he +has, he would sacrifice us both, with our families, for a hundred +dollars. I have found out that Sulivan did not make his escape, as he +assured us he did, but was sold for seven hundred and fifty dollars. So +you can depend he has swindled you and I; do not trust him farther than +you can see him, and recommend him in the right numbers. This will be +handed you by a brother living near the islands Sixty-two and +Sixty-three, on the Mississippi; he is about to make a permanent +location, and wishes to purchase six or eight blacks. If the lot we have +an interest in have not left the burgh, he is the man: he says there are +large bands of the brethren settled near him; I hope you can please him. + +Yours in haste, ---- ----. + +101000 +000000 +300000 +000004 +000000 +000000 +007007 +800800 +000000 + +[This describes the bearer as follows: BOLD, ARTFUL, TEMPERATE, LARGE +and TALL, LIGHT-COMPLEXIONED, PLANTER by profession, HEAD DAPPLED GRAY; +age from THIRTY to FORTY, QUICK SPOKEN.] + + +No. 6. + Indianopolis, November 5, 1825. + +_Friend Brown_,--I have been waiting four days for your answer to mine +of the 24th, and this day have the pleasure of receiving it. I am glad +to hear that your friends in the east have not forgotten you; I had a +letter forwarded me to this place, speaking of your liberality to the +people in Pittsburg, when you visited there last spring, and our friends +---- & Co., the iron traders, are very anxious for another trade. I +think they have made better use of their trade than our two Marietta +merchants ---- ----; the latter, I believe, some of the boys got hold +on, as he was going east, and he returned, one thousand minus, in clear +dust, and his twelve hundred in coney. The Steubenville merchant is +here, and has contracted with me for two hundred dollars' worth of +coney, assorted; he tells me that a brother in a flat boat has been put +aside for his plunder, which, sad to relate, was but little; and that he +saw the wife of the deceased was trying to make up the amount at this +time in Cincinnati; if she has not effected it, I think some attention +had better be given her before it is too late, as she is satisfied it +was done through mistake. You had better go or send some one to see her; +you will find her on Sixth street, at the widow ----, or if you inquire +at, ---- ----, cabinet-maker, on Sycamore. I will give ten; you will +give the same: tell ---- ----, on Lower Market, he must do the same; it +is a pity she should suffer through mistake. She is a fine woman, and +all of the Brotherhood should befriend her. I hope you have, from your +letter, become satisfied with the friendship of ---- ----. I told you +they would not do--I have known them from boys, and the day they got +that bogus from you so cheap, I would sooner have thrown it in the +river. The airs they put on about that negro, satisfied me that they had +forfeited all principles of honesty, which is the way with such men +after they become able to live--never think they are beholding. I will +write you again in a few days. The bearer of this I have learned is a +good brother. + +Yours, ---- ----. + +110000 +002000 +300000 +040004 +000000 +006660 +070000 +800000 + + +000900 + +[This describes the bearer to have been BOLD, ARTFUL, TEMPERATE, +TREACHEROUS, MEDDLESOME, IMPRUDENT, LOW and HEAVY, SANDY-COMPLEXIONED, a +MERCHANT by profession, and that he had been a convict; his age between +THIRTY and FORTY, disease SCROFULOUS.] + + +No. 7. + Indianopolis, November 9, 1825. + +_Friend Brown_,--The town is full of our warm friends, and I am happy to +say that there is a fine spirit existing. To-morrow night I will leave +for Fayetteville; I have received your package of coney, and disposed of +three thousand to the old doctor we met while we were in Canandaigua; he +is the man we sold the flour to at Buffalo. He resides in St. Louis, +Missouri, I hope he may do well, as he is a great man, and has more +knowledge of mankind than any man of his age in America, and will trade +from a pin to a steamboat. He tells me he purchased the lot of negroes +which were in Madison, and he says that he heard, since he left, that +three more had been deposited for sale by the same man; if so, he +wishes you to write him a few lines to Terrehaute, and a copy of the +same to Vincennes. He tells me he will be able to get rid of every +dollar at these two places, and that he can purchase one hundred head of +horses if he wished, all which have come from other states, and some +fine blooded stock. I learn through friend ---- ----, of Bairdstown, +Kentucky, that there has been some hard talk about Judge ----, at +Lexington. I have no confidence in a man who drinks and gambles, as he +does; I do not care how wealthy he is, nor how great a title he wears; +for my part I intend to keep clear of him, with all of his wealth and +title; and your friend in Maysville is another. I write in haste, and +send it by our brother. + +Yours, ---- ----. + +101000 +000020 +300000 +000004 +000000 +000600 +070007 +808000 +000000 + +[This number describes the bearer to be BOLD, ARTFUL, TEMPERATE, +IMPRUDENT, LARGE and TALL, of DARK COMPLEXION, by profession a MERCHANT; +he is diseased with RHEUMATISM; his age from THIRTY to FORTY, hair +DAPPLED.] + + +No. 8. + Lexington, June 3, 1827. + +_Dear Brown_,--I have at last arrived in this wealthy part of Kentucky, +which I assure you is a treat for a man that has been so much exposed to +the fatigues of travelling over cliffs, and swimming creeks, and all +other inconveniences that man could imagine. I arrived at Winchester, +Kentucky, where our old friend resides. It was two o'clock when I +arrived, but I found him in his shop playing cards with a black +journeyman old sledge, at twenty-five cents a game, and you ought to +have seen him scrabble for the cards when I rapped upon the window. I +left Winchester for Maysville, where I remained four days with our +friend, the same old block of sociability; yet he tells me he does well +in the stock trade. He says he sold forty odd horses in one year. Since +he has lived in Kentucky, over two hundred, which you know is over fifty +per year. From Maysville I crossed the river through the Sciota region, +by the way of Portsmouth, then to Chillicothe; from there on to +Zanesville, from there to Wheeling, and then to Washington, +Pennsylvania; returned to Wheeling, then to Parkersburgh. I did not call +at Marietta; there has some difficulty taken place in that region. From +Parkersburgh to Charleston, Kanhaway, with but little delay. Our saline +friends are great dealers in "coney." I met twenty-six in one day at the +old "Col." He is doing his work clean, without any risk. There are, he +tells me, upon an average, five horses sold per week from Sandy among +the friends of the trade. I left Charleston; had a tedious journey to +this city. Lexington is a humane place, but dangerous to move, unless +you do it through some of the old wealthy friends of the trade. I must +now say to you that I have done well in my small way. I have cleared +over two hundred per month. I found our friend, of the Blue Lick region, +who tells me the house trade is good along the road; that the coloured +boys do it all, and are not suspected. (_In speaking of the house trade, +he had reference to the entering of houses by the slaves, pillaging, +&c., which would be laid to white men._) Well, now, I am through with my +travels for the present. Let me give you some little of the history of +our Dearborn brother, which I assure you is novel. I told you he would +never do, and I suppose, ere this, you have found I was right. I cannot +be fooled easy. You thought that from the simple fact that he traded in +horses well, (_meaning that he stole horses well_,) that he would not +fail to be useful anywhere I wished to place him; but he returned home, +I suppose you discover, without a dollar, and made sixty the first night +we arrived in Cincinnati, off of a cheese trader that slept in the +adjoining room. He wanted to return the next day to the burgh, but I +prevailed upon him to stop, as suspicion rested not upon us. He remained +according to my request, and I never have come across such an +industrious man; but he had not much courage, less than any man of his +age I ever met, and not one particle of judgment in human nature. When +we arrived, I cautioned him about trading with any of the brethren of +the city without my consent, knowing, as I did, the city brethren were +"celish;" however, he assured me his trade was "bogus;" that you had +supplied him with cut quarters, which no other person dare offer, and +that he had done well even with them. (Cut money was, at an early date, +used as change; one dollar cut in four pieces answered as twenty-five +cents each.) I found he was bent on the "bogus" trade, and I told him to +hold on a few days, and that I would assist him to some; that I had not +the first dollar, but would find out through the brethren when I +returned from our friend's in the country--nine miles. I then left him +at the boarding-house, and promised to return the next day. I returned +according to promise; called at our boarding-house, and upon inquiry +learned he was out in the city. I took a stroll up to our friend's, the +coffee-house keeper, in Market street. While I was passing through the +market-house, I passed by a man with a large load upon his back. I could +not discover what the bulk was. I passed on to the coffee-house, where +three of the boys were dividing one hundred and sixty-five dollars, the +proceeds of the day's work, which, they informed me, they had obtained +from one of the soft-shell brethren. That in the course of the day they +had met a countryman, and seeing he was apparently upon the look-out for +speculation, they had finally entered into conversation with him, and +had accidentally shown him some bright half dollars, and told him they +were counterfeit. "What," said he, "bogus?" "Bogus, indeed," said one. +"And do you know what, bogus is?" He said he ought to, and they then +tried him, and found him one of the right kind of brethren to skin; and +that they did in the following manner: Finding that he had money and +wanted "bogus," they set upon a plan to deceive him; which they did by +showing him the new half dollars, and telling him they were good coin; +and that if he wished he could have them at fifteen dollars for a +hundred dollars of "bogus." He agreed to purchase one hundred and +sixty-five dollars' worth, which they were to supply that evening. That +they were to meet him in the Fifth street market-house, and deliver his +bogus in a tobacco keg headed up. He of course took it for granted that +all was honest. They separated from him, purchased a tobacco keg, filled +it with stone-coal cinders, within an inch of the top, packing them very +hard to make them weigh heavy. They then put a false head one inch from +the top, upon which they put two hundred copper cents. They then placed +another head upon that, confining it tight with a hoop. After preparing +it, they rolled it into the market-house where they had met. He had paid +them the one hundred and sixty-five dollars for the cinders, which he +supposed to be the most beautiful bogus, and when he lifted the keg he +was satisfied all was right; _and how could he doubt it, they were +brethren!_ and they were then dividing the spoils. I suspected, from +description, it was our Lawrenceburgh friend, but remained silent, and +returned to my room where I knew I could ascertain. When I went, I +discovered my friend just ascending the stairs, with a large keg upon +his shoulder. "Halloo," said I, "what upon earth have you here?" He +dropped the keg, as though he had been shot, making a crash to be heard +a half mile distant, but fortunately no person about the house appeared +much disturbed. The old lady came to the door, and wanted to know what +was the matter. I told her my friend had fallen, but that no damage was +done. She retired. As soon as he discovered it was me, he raised his +burden once more, and carried it to the room. "Come in, sir," said he. +"What have you here?" said I. "That I will show you, in a few minutes." +I knew all the time, and though I was vexed, I could not refrain from +laughter. "You laugh," said he, "and well you might, if you knew the +speculation I had been making to-day." He soon got a hatchet to show me +his treasure. I never saw a man so perfectly carried away at the +prospect he had in store. He was nearly exhausted by carrying such a +burden so far. The perspiration drops were oozing out of his forehead, +and he effected the opening of the keg with no little trouble. "Now, +sir," said he, "you may laugh, if you please; raise that head and see if +there is not something in store to laugh at." I did as he bade. I lifted +up the head which covered his treasure, when to his surprise a few black +copper cents made their appearance. "Copper bogus," said I. "I believe +in my soul they have mistaken; let's examine further." He soon +discovered the false head, which he raised, and in a double surprise +cried out, "My conscience, I won't trade. No, I will have my money back! +I will sue them." "Who will you sue?" said I. He came to a stand, then +remarked, "Really, I can't tell who they were. They gave me no name, but +I will take them for swindling if they don't give it up. I will swear," +said he--then he paused and I took the word from his mouth, and told him +that I would swear that he was a fool, and had better return to Dearborn +county and plough corn. He laid the coppers one side, being about two +hundred, then carefully headed the keg up. We went to bed. During the +night he arose. I heard him going downstairs. The next morning I +discovered that both him and the keg were missing. I never heard from +him afterwards, but hope, if he is at home, that you will hereafter keep +him there. + +Yours, in haste, + +P.S. I hope you will answer this immediately. Direct to Nashville, +Tennessee. This Brother is a true blue. + +100000 +002020 +000003 +000400 +500000 +000600 +070000 +800088 +000000 + +[This describes the bearer to be CUNNING, TEMPERATE, TREACHEROUS, +IMPRUDENT; size LOW and HEAVY; by profession a PHYSICIAN and a MERCHANT; +disease RHEUMATISM and FACE DISFIGURED; age from FORTY to FORTY-FIVE; +QUICK-SPOKEN.] + + +No. 9. + Lawrenceburgh, April 9, 1827. + +_Friend Brown_,--I am happy to have the extreme pleasure of introducing +to your acquaintance one of my most intimate friends. He visits the city +on business, which may require assistance; if so, you can confer no +greater favour on your humble servant, than by serving him. + +Yours, in haste, + +The following was taken from the same sheet, having been interlined in +fine hand in sympathetic ink, which was entirely a secret to the +bearer, and read when warm, as follows: + +_In a side pocket made upon the inside of an old black velvet vest, you +will find eighteen hundred dollars in United States money. In an old +hair trunk, tied around with a rope, he carries twelve hundred dollars +in silver. He is fond of spirits, and occasionally gets drunk, and when +drunk, has no memory, and would not acknowledge the fact of being drunk +for twice the amount. He is a man of wealth and of honour. Destroy this +immediately._ + +The history connected with the above letters may be considered of great +importance to explain the villanies of this band; and from the +circumstances connected with this history, I have every reason to have +full confidence that the same letters this note refers to, were the +occasion of the bearer being robbed of some thirty-one hundred dollars. +We will now give the foundation for our belief. During the examination +of my original package of letters, I discovered a very familiar name +attached to one of those apparent business letters, which caused me to +examine the import, and upon so doing, I found that it contained the +same which I have given, with a few omissions which I considered of +importance to my personal safety, viz., the names of the parties, the +place of residence of the man robbed, &c. When I found that I had a +familiar name to so base an article, to satisfy myself that it was not a +forgery, I examined the same person's signatures which had been written +in the year 1827, and found they compared satisfactorily to my mind. I +then set upon a plan to ascertain from the man who lost the money, +without his having an idea of my intention, which I did as follows. I +wrote to a responsible man living in the same place, to know of him if +such a man of his village had ever lost any money, and if so, what +amount, the date he lost it, &c.; to which I received the following +brief note: "Sir,--You have written me upon a subject which I was not +familiar with at the time I received your letter, but have made inquiry, +and found that in the spring of 1827, the person alluded to in your +letter was robbed while in Wheeling, on his way to Philadelphia, out of +rising three thousand dollars: which money he has never heard of. He is +a man in good circumstances, and was at that time, in fact he has always +been, considered wealthy. I conversed with him one time upon the +subject, but he dislikes to have it mentioned to him. You likewise +wished me to inquire if he received any letters of introduction or +recommendation previous to his departure, on the date mentioned. He had +several, and with one exception, they were all from his best friends. +One he had given him by a man residing in Lawrenceburgh, Indiana, was +for the purpose of introducing him to Daniel Brown, a merchant of +Dearborn county, whom he met in Cincinnati, on his (Brown's) return, and +had but a few moments' time to converse with him, after he gave him the +letter. You, therefore, know all I can ascertain about your request." I +could then see through the whole lead of his misfortunes, and it is +about in this way. The letter which he bore to Brown, having the +particulars concerning his temperament, likewise the amount of money, +&c., enabled Brown to set the band upon him, who robbed him, and then +divided with Brown and his Lawrenceburgh friend. These letters I had +transcribed and put them up and lectured to the citizens of +Lawrenceburgh concerning the horrible fact of their existence; and +these are the letters spoken of, that made the pigeon's flutter, and +likewise caused so many threats of my assassination; and all that +prevented them was, that they feared whoever might have the handling of +the papers hereafter might handle them with less mercy. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +I have frequently, in the course of this work, had to notice the very +intimate connection which those concerned in the administration of +justice, or ostensibly in the suppression of crime, had with those who +perpetrate it. In all of our large cities, this occasionally forces +itself into public notice. Anxious as the authorities always are to +conceal any thing of this kind, it accidentally leaks out. The +opportunity for concealment, and the advantages afforded by official +station, have not been overlooked by the Brothers, and the police of +every city contains several of the fraternity. In all fairness, however, +the great mass of crime connected with such establishments ought not to +be laid to their charge. The very wish to be connected with the police, +indicates a morbid disposition of the mind--a desire to be familiar with +crime; for it is necessary to detect it successfully, to come in contact +frequently with the criminal. In consequence, by familiarity, crime +loses its enormity: the police officer sees how seldom the perpetrator +is detected; how often, when detected, he escapes unwhipped of justice; +he connives at some petty offence, in the hope of entrapping the +criminal in some more flagrant act, and tampers with crime, till the +little moral sensibility he had when he entered the service is +destroyed. This is obviously a true picture of human nature; but I must +proceed with the story, which suggested these remarks. + +In no city of the Union has the depredations of the Band of Brothers +been more extensive than in Cincinnati, Ohio, yet there seems to be a +prevailing wish, entertained even by those who have witnessed their +ravages, to doubt the existence of any such organization. Nor am I +surprised at this incredulity--the thought that we are surrounded by +hundreds of individuals, sworn to protect and assist one another in +their ravages upon our lives and property, is no very pleasant prospect +for contemplation. Sincerely I wish it were merely a dream of the night, +but the unaccountable and sudden downfall of some of the most +respectable and talented families of that city convince that it yet +exists in all its awful realities. In confirmation of this I will +introduce the history of one family, guarding myself as much as possible +from saying any thing that might hurt the feelings of any of the +relatives yet living. It consisted of five boys--at least that number is +all that has come under my notice; the eldest, at the age of sixteen, +connected himself with bad associates, was committed to the jail on a +charge of theft, and convicted. In a short time the next brother +followed in the same course, and shared the same fate. The remaining +children were yet young, and to preserve them from the vicious habits of +the elder ones, the father kept them at hard labour every day. We are +not intimately acquainted with the character of the father, but we never +heard any thing laid to his charge but that he was a dissipated, and so +far an immoral man. He at least gave his children an example of +industry, and could not be suspected of training them in dishonest +practices. The eldest son was pardoned, or served his time out, we +forget which, and came home to his father's house; but was soon taken +in another misdemeanour, and sentenced to ten years' confinement in the +Kentucky State Prison. At the expiration of his term the second also +returned, but fearfully depraved and abandoned. He seemed to take a +delight in all manner of wickedness, and bore evidence that he came from +a good school. After a few months of dissipation, supported by robbery, +he was again taken, convicted the second time, and sent to the State +Prison. From it he made his escape, and found his way to Vicksburg, but +on attempting a robbery, he was detected, and shot through his left +shoulder, the ball fracturing the bone very badly. One day while he was +under arrest, several men visited him; he was alarmed when they first +entered, but soon regained his self-possession. One of the party +inquired why he seemed so much affrighted at their entrance; to which he +replied, that at first sight he had taken one of them for a man of the +name of Phelps. [A robber who was afterwards taken, and attempted to +break from jail, but was shot down in the streets of Vicksburg. For +particulars see "Gambling Unmasked."] A very friendly feeling was soon +established between the robber and his visitors; in a few days he was +taken from jail, and bent his way for New Orleans, where he was again +detected in the very act of robbery, but in attempting to make his +escape was shot down by the captain of the guard. + +This same year of his death the third brother got into difficulty, and +was sentenced to the Penitentiary for three years. Before the expiration +of his sentence, the fourth was convicted. The fifth boy at this time +was about seventeen, and he too was caught stealing, convicted, and +received his sentence about the time the fourth regained his liberty. + +The third brother, after serving the specified period in what is called +the _Penitentiary_, took his way south, where he was again committed for +robbery, and sentenced to five years' confinement in the Louisiana State +Prison. At the expiration of that period he started for home, but when +near the island of Sixty-six, on the Mississippi, he concluded to take a +trunk and jump overboard. This feat he accomplished successfully; but +unluckily for him, it was in the same year in which so many outlaws were +put to death by the citizens, and having connected himself with a band +who were at that time flooding the river with counterfeit coin, +negro-stealing, and indulging in all manner of villany, he was taken by +a company, and with about forty others put to death, some being shot, +and others tied up in sacks and thrown into the Mississippi. + +The fifth brother was now in the Ohio Penitentiary, the fourth in the +Indiana State Prison, but the eldest brother was released from +confinement, and returned to Cincinnati. His long confinement, however, +seems to have had no very beneficial effect, for in a few months he was +again convicted of petit larceny, and sentenced to serve in the chain +gang. Here he conducted himself so well as to gain the unqualified +commendation of one of the drivers, who in consequence treated him +indulgently. About this period, there was much excitement, caused by the +frequency of night robberies, and no trace of the thieves could be +found, by which they could be detected. The most vigilant means were +used, and many were sent to the jails and penitentiary, but still the +robberies went on. Among those committed at this period, was the fifth +brother, who for a short period had enjoyed his liberty. The eldest +brother served out his time in the chain gang, and after being +liberated, suddenly disappeared; and, which surprised many, the driver +of the chain gang disappeared at the same time. A day or two after their +disappearance, a drover from Kentucky, who had been at Cincinnati, and +was on his way home, was taken from his horse, robbed, his throat cut, +and left for dead upon the road side. They had, however, merely severed +the windpipe, and on being discovered, he was able to give such +information as led to the detection of the driver and his friend, the +convict. They were arrested, and identified by the mangled drover; and +the citizens, knowing the desperate character of the elder brother, who +had served an apprenticeship in their own State Prison, gave them a +trial according to "Lynch" custom, and hung them both. Thus ended the +life of the eldest of the brothers--the third who had suffered the +penalty of death for their crimes. + +The suspicions of the people were excited by this occurrence, and a +train of investigation set on foot which left no doubt but that the +recent robberies were committed by the chain driver and his gang. At +night they were freed from their chains, allowed to prowl about and +plunder, and brought their spoils to the prison, where it could easily +be stowed away without suspicion. We believe that we are quite within +the mark, if we attribute one-eighth of the robberies committed in large +cities, to the police, or perpetrated with their connivance. Many, we +hesitate not to say, are done by men whom the public believe to be in +prison. It has become a proverb, "Set a thief to catch a thief," and +the public seem to have acquiesced that thus it shall ever be. There is +an allowed and constant connection between the criminal and the officer +engaged in suppressing crime, but whether it be necessary and +unavoidable, or the best disposition possible, deserves some +consideration. The hangman is in general only a little more fortunate +than his culprit. The leader of a band of Regulators is commonly more +ferocious, and as lawless as the victim against whom his fury is +directed. The lawyer unscrupulously pockets a fee, which he knows has +been obtained by the plunder of the citizen. Not a few of them hang +about our jails, prying into the means of the prisoners, and divide with +them the spoil, sheltering themselves from communicating any disclosures +they make under their judicial privileges. But if justice be the end of +the law, why should the communications of a prisoner to his counsel be +held sacred? If the case be undefensible otherwise, why should it be +defended, unless it be to give a fee to the lawyer, at the expense of +justice? With all deference to the legislators of our country, and to +the gentlemen of the legal profession, this seems a privilege not to be +envied: to _know_ that you are assisting to defraud, but debarred by +custom from disclosing it; to know that the culprit is guilty, and +deserves punishment or restraint, but to send him forth again upon +society to commit further crime. + +Our readers may be anxious to know what became of the other two +brothers, the fourth and fifth. At this moment we believe they are both +in the State Prison. Now how was the ruin of this once respectable +family accomplished? Why did the fate of the elder not deter the +younger from crime? Were they merely drawn along by the contagion of +ill-example, or were there more potent influences at work in their +destruction? And why did punishment and penitentiaries do so little in +their reformation? The greater part of their lives were passed within +their walls, cut off from the influence of evil, but we see no sanitory +effect. We will not answer these questions directly, but in the course +of this work will supply the reader with materials to answer them for +himself. We have every reason to believe that the eldest and the second +were entangled in the meshes of The Secret Band of Brothers, in a manner +from which there was no escape. They are ever on the look-out for any +individual who has forfeited his character, and who promises by his +ingenuity or dexterity to be a fit tool for their purposes. Their agents +are to be found in all the professions, in the magistracy, and in the +prisons and penitentiaries; sometimes, under the vail of hypocrisy, +assuming a fair exterior at the time they are engaged in all manner of +villany; at other times, when their influence in any place is in the +ascendency, openly showing their real character. Men can be found in +many of our towns so notoriously profligate, that not one individual in +the place could be found that would say they were honest men, yet +through solicitation, party spirit, and sometimes through fear, they are +elected to official stations. It is one of the leading objects of the +Secret Band, to have as many of the brotherhood in the magistracy as +possible, and neither money nor importunity are spared to effect their +object. They know what they are about: they are too sagacious to suppose +that a thief will catch a thief; that a gambler will suppress gambling, +or a drunkard promote temperance; and it would be well that those who +really desire any of these objects, were equally "wise in their +generation." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +The spring of 1833 found me travelling through the Choctaw nation, +which, at that time, with the exception of the government posts, was a +wilderness. Fort Towson, Duxborough, Jonesborough, Lost Prairie, Horse +Prairie, Pecan Point, and several other places throughout this wild and +newly settled country, were crowded with every kind and description of +people from the states, from, the government agents and contractors to +the wild and mysterious refugee--the latter being very numerous, and +having settled upon the south side of Red river, to evade the pursuit of +the United States' officer of justice, that portion then being +considered within the boundaries of Texas. The whole region was one of +peculiar debasement in all respects. As might be suspected, seasoned as +it was with such a population, drunkenness, debauchery, and murder +walked abroad, hand in hand, day and night. Human life was valued no +higher than the life of an ox or a hog, and the heart of the settlement +was cold, and palsied to the most remote touch of feeling, and hardened +to the recital of brutalities and crimes of the most indescribable +enormity. Men talked of their evil doings, their deep, revolting guilt, +with the most impudent freedom, and laughed and chuckled over them as +though they were the best jokes in the world! + +It was in one of the Texan settlements, in this rude, wicked tract of +country, that an incident came to my knowledge, quite by accident, +which I will relate. The settlement contained some seventy to eighty +people, men, women, and children, white and black. I was taking a stroll +with one of the settlers among the cabins and huts, he being familiar +with the occupants of each, their habits and history. When we passed a +spot worth notice, he gave me the character of the owner, his wealth, +&c., and although all about the settlement wore an appearance of the +most abject poverty, I was surprised to find the wealth which many of +the inhabitants of so desolate, dreary, and forbidding a place +possessed. We finally came to a small log cabin, at the extreme end of +the settlement, apparently about twenty feet in length by eighteen deep, +a story and a half high. + +"Who lives here?" said I. + +"The widow ----," replied my guide, whose name was Edmonds--"the widow +of ----, but--yes--the widow of Dr ----, who was killed a few days ago." + +I was struck with my companion's pauses, and thought there was something +singular in them, especially as his countenance at the time seemed to +change slightly. I soon mustered resolution to ask him who were the +murderers of Doctor ----, but his reply was simply that he did not know. + +"I should like to see the widow," said I; "will you introduce me?" + +He declined, stating that he must then leave me, and go along some half +a mile further, where some men were at work, chopping down a bee-tree. + +"Very well," said I; "I will step in and introduce myself. You have +awakened some little curiosity in my mind to know more about the murder +of this man." + +He left me without making any reply, and I entered the cabin, the door +of which was standing ajar. I found, seated near the fire on a rude +bench, a female, perhaps thirty years old, whose countenance wore a look +of deep dejection, but at the same time betrayed strong evidence of +having been once quite attractive. A little girl sat in her lap--two +boys of the ages of perhaps seven and eleven occupied a bench at her +right--an infant of, I should think, three months old, slept in the +cradle, which a little girl apparently about five years old stood +rocking. The group was a very imposing one. As I entered, I gave a tap +upon the door, which caused the mother to turn towards me; but she did +not speak, waiting, it would seem, for me to introduce my business. I +apologized for my unceremonious entrance, saying, that I had learned she +was formerly a resident in the states; and that I being also from +thence, felt some interest in her and her family. She beckoned me to a +seat, and after some time, told me she was born in Philadelphia, but +that, having married a Kentuckian, she moved there, and lived some eight +or nine years in that state--that her husband, at the expiration of that +time, had taken his family to Little Rock, Arkansas, where they resided +one year, and that from thence they had come to the place where I found +them. + +Here there was a pause; in fact, I discovered that the poor woman's +voice faltered the moment she approached the subject of her arrival at +her present residence. The silence was broken by the child, who stood +rocking the cradle, and who said, "This is a bad place, ain't it, Ma? +Here the bad men live that killed Pa." At this the mother burst into +tears. As she did so, she kindly told the child to hush. + +After the mother's tears had partially subsided, I told her to talk to +me without restraint; that I had visited the settlement on the other +side of the river on government business, which I expected to transact, +and leave in a very few days. I here was guilty of falsehood. I had not +visited the settlement for government, of course, but to pursue my +iniquitous course of gambling with the refugees. + +The woman implored me to be watchful; that I was in the midst of the +most abandoned description of men that could possibly be conceived of; +and that they would make a victim of me the more readily, on account of +my extreme youth. I told her that they could want nothing of me, for the +simple reason that I had nothing valuable about me. She assured me that +it was not always avarice which tempted these men to deeds of blood. +They had butchered her poor husband in the very house where we were, +within hearing of herself and children, and when all were imploring that +his life might be spared. And yet money was not the temptation. She then +gave me a history of the cruel murder of her husband, which was as +follows:-- + +Doctor ---- was educated a physician in the city of Philadelphia, though +a native of Kentucky. He married his wife in that city; after which he +went back to Kentucky, where he settled down in the practice of his +profession. It was not many years after he took up his abode in his +native place before he became involved, and subsequently being accused +of committing a forgery, he concluded it was best to leave his native +state. His first stopping-place, after leaving Kentucky, was Little +Rock, Arkansas, where he remained until his brother-in-law joined him +with his family. Becoming uneasy and unhappy there, he finally removed +to the settlement, where an end was put to his earthly career by the +band of assassins. + +His wife, when she came to this portion of her husband's career, was +again deeply affected; but she soon mustered composure enough to +continue the story. + +After my husband came here, he proceeded to build this house, and we all +moved into it in a very short period after the first log was laid. He +was a changed man, and my health had become impaired by the exposures +which it was necessary to encounter, in travelling through this +wilderness. Doctor ---- was a changed man; most painfully was this the +case. He was not only moody and sullen in his temperament, and at times +unhappy to the last degree; but he did not seem to take that pleasure +which he once did in the society of his wife and children. Now and then +he would drink hard, and become intoxicated, in which case he abused me +most shamefully, and I bore all for the sake of the children. Some few +days before his death, he entered into a speculation with some bad +fellows here, to smuggle spirits through the nation, which they +succeeded in doing, and with great profit. About this time, or just +after, when in a calm and subdued mood, he confessed to me, that he was +not an honest man; that he was a refugee from justice, and a doomed man; +that a trap had been laid for him a short time after he was married; +that he fell into it; that he was a sworn member of a band of +desperadoes and villains, and that he was doomed to be a guilty wretch +so long as he lived. I thought he was crazy, but his assurance was in a +few days fully verified. + +Not long after my husband made this confession to me, he ran a partition +across the cabin--making two rooms. In the other department he put two +beds, and whenever any of his cronies called to see him, he would order +myself and the children into the room. Here we remained while he and his +companions drank and played cards--making sometimes such a noise that it +seemed as if the very roof would be raised. They often kept it up all +night long. + +One morning, after one of these frolics, he said to me he wished I was +at home with my father; that he never intended to return to Philadelphia +himself; but he would see that I was safely taken there. I asked why he +was so much inclined to part from me. He stated that that was his +business; I must leave him. Only the night before, he had been accused +of divulging secrets to me in regard to his companions; that he had +promised them to send me home. He added, that I might take all the +children but the two eldest boys. I protested against separating me and +my children. His only reply was, that his determination on the point was +fixed. + +That night he ordered myself and the children into the room, in a more +angry tone than ever, and barred us in. It was not long after this +before his wicked companions arrived and planted themselves down at the +table. I listened at the door, and while my husband had gone out of the +cabin for some purpose, I heard them whispering busily together. As he +entered the apartment, however, the whispering ceased, and one of them +said, "Let's play for the liquor first, and decide that point +afterwards." + +After this, they played and swore, and one would have supposed the room +to have been occupied by fiends incarnate rather than by men. At about +twelve o'clock, one of the company said, "Well, boys, now is the time; +what are we here for?" "Out with the light," said another. My husband +now asked what they proposed doing, when, without giving him the +slightest notice, the light was put out, and a heavy blow descended. I +heard my husband cry out, "Do not murder me;" but the strokes fell heavy +and fast, and spite of my screams and the screams of my children--spite +of our efforts to beat the door in, the bloody work was kept up until I +heard my husband's body fall upon the floor. In a short time his +murderers left. I tried to burst the door open, but without success. At +last, I raised my eldest boy to the window, and he crawled outside, and +ran round, entering the door which led to the room containing his +father's corpse. As the child moved towards the door of the room, for +the purpose of unbarring it, he fell over the dead body of his father. +The door was finally unbarred, and I rushed into the room where my +murdered husband lay. Oh, sir, I cannot tell you what were then my +feelings. The lights which the children brought into the room exposed +the whole scene, and it was one which I could not describe if I +would--my husband's body lying upon the floor, weltering in blood. I +tried to lift it up to the bed, but could not. I then, with the +assistance of the children, rolled it up in a counterpane, and we sat +down and watched it till morning--fearing that, if we did not, it might +be carried off by wolves--a large number of which howled about the house +until day dawned. Oh, sir, it was a sorrowful night! The next morning +several of the neighbours called in, and after expressing their horror +at the deed of blood, assured me that they would aid in bringing the +murderers to justice. That they knew them, and that they resided on the +Sabine river. Would you believe it, sir? Two of the very sympathizers I +knew to have been concerned in the murder of my husband. + +A coffin was made, into which my poor husband's body was laid, and then +the neighbours buried him, but in such a manner that he lay but a foot +or two below the earth's surface. I have been afraid the beasts of prey +which infest this region would get possession of his corpse; so, with my +children, I build every night a fire near his grave. + +"Now, sir," added the woman, "I have told you the painful story, and you +will see in what a dreadful situation I am. I am here in this dreadful +place, with perhaps one hundred dollars in money, and five children, +nearly all of whom constantly require my watchful care. Can you not +assist me in my wretchedness?" + +I told the poor thing I would endeavour to do something for her. I had +hardly done so, when Edmonds passed the door of the cabin on his way +back from the choppers. Seeing me, he turned back and said, as I passed +out to meet him, "Well, Green, what do you think of the widow?" My reply +was, that she was so shy and distant that I could not learn much about +her, one way or the other; that she appeared unwilling, or afraid to +converse. + +"It is well enough that she did," was Edmond's reply, "she does not know +what she talks about. When she does choose to speak, I believe her to be +either crazy or foolish, and d----n me if I know which." + +Edmonds invited me to go with him to his home. So I went along. I found +there a man, named Scoggins, with whom Edmonds got into a very free +conversation. I heard him say, "We must send that woman away; she talks +to somebody every day; she must be taken care of in one way or the +other. She must, Scoggins, she must." + +It was not long after this, before Scoggins took me aside, and in a +friendly manner advised me not to go to the widow's again; that she was +a bad and a meddlesome person withal. I did not visit her afterwards; +indeed, I had no opportunity to do so, for the day following the +incidents I here related, in company with Edmonds and Scoggins, I left +the settlement for Fort Towson--about one hundred and fifty miles east. +Our object was to play cards with the officers at the fort, and lighten +them of some of their change. We also expected to fall in with some of +the half-bred Choctaws, who are not inexpert in the shuffle. Edmonds and +Scoggins were ordinary players, and depended on my skill. The former was +a shrewd fellow, a Georgian by birth--aged about forty-five; the latter, +a Canadian, was about the same age. They had served together during the +war of 1812, and in the same company. Two more peculiar men could not be +found. Like a pair of well-trained horses, I saw very soon, after we +joined company, they pulled together. They had a negro with them, who +was deaf and dumb; and he was one of the best servants I ever saw. He +had been Edmonds' attendant for fifteen years, and was, I should think, +about fifty years old. This old negro knew every route from Canada to +Texas. He would stand and sleep, like a horse, for hours, and seemed to +care much more for horses than he did for himself. I thought there was +something more than at first appeared about the old darkey. While at the +fort, he would, in our company, stand for hours, it seemed to me +listening attentively to all that was said, and appearing to understand +it. He was very submissive and polite to any one who noticed him, and, +from the beginning, appeared to take a wonderful liking to me. At Fort +Towson I tried to get rid of Edmonds and Scoggins, telling them I had +resolved to leave them, and that I was going to cross the Nation to Fort +Smith, about one hundred and fifty miles distant. They appeared to like +the route I had chosen, and said they would accompany me. While at Fort +Towson, I discovered that both of my companions had a large number of +acquaintances there, mixed in among the Indians; and, likewise, that +many of the slaves appeared to know them. + +We finally left the fort, in company with ten Choctaws. I had purchased, +while in the nation, twelve head of horses, two of which were quarter +horses, that is, intended to run a quarter of a mile in singularly quick +time. I obtained them of a half-bred Choctaw, and they were valued at +five hundred dollars each. + +We encamped, the first night after our departure, about thirty miles +distant from Fort Towson. The next morning I found that my two valuable +quarter horses, with six others of the drove, were missing. I said +something about my chance of finding them again, but soon had every hope +of the kind destroyed, by being informed that the Pawnee Indians were +very numerous in the neighbourhood; that they were great horse thieves; +and had undoubtedly appropriated to themselves my valuable beasts. We +went fifty miles further, when we again encamped. Here the horses of +the dumb negro and Scoggins were missing. They appeared to think their +animals might be recovered, and turned back for that purpose, promising +to overtake us, if possible, at Fort Smith. + +When we arrived at the fort, I disposed of the horses I had left, and +took passage on the steamboat Reindeer, for the mouth of White River. +Edmonds insisted on accompanying me. I made no objection, of course, but +was anxious to get rid of him. It was about the twentieth of May, when +we arrived at Montgomery's Point, on the Mississippi. Edmonds, daring +the passage, frequently sympathized with me on the loss of my horses. He +also, now and then, spoke to me about the widow of Doctor ----, +commiserated her forlorn situation, and stated that he had a strong +desire, and in fact determination, to communicate intelligence of her +deplorable condition to her friends in Philadelphia. He asked me, if I +did not, myself, think of doing something of the kind. I told him that I +had forgotten her name, and had I remembered it, I hardly thought that I +should trouble myself about her or her affairs. He said, he, too, had +forgotten the name, but he could procure it of Scoggins when he +returned. + +We remained at the Point several days, awaiting the arrival of a +steamboat. Finally, the Chester came along, bound for St. Louis. I took +passage in her, and left Edmonds behind, not a little to my +gratification. We had not proceeded far from the Point, when the Chester +broke down, and I was obliged to get on board of a down boat, and return +to the Point. On arriving there, the first person I encountered was the +dumb negro, who told me that Edmonds had died suddenly, since my +departure, of the cholera, which was raging at that time on the +Mississippi, and which cut men down almost without warning. On inquiry, +I found the negro had told me the truth, and must confess I was not a +little astonished at it. But a few hours previously, I had left Edmonds, +apparently well; now he was a corpse! The thought gave me a shade of +melancholy, especially as I knew and felt that he had been cut down in +guilt; for that he was both a robber and a murderer I could not for a +moment doubt. + +I made some inquiry about the amount of money left by Edmonds, and +discovered that after paying all the expenses of his funeral, the amount +of nine hundred dollars would be left, which, according to his request +just before his death, was to be sent to his friends in Savanna, +Georgia. + +Not long after I got back to the Point, when walking out alone, the dumb +negro joined me, and motioned me to follow him: I did so, without +hesitation. We had not gone far out of the way, before he placed himself +near me, and, to my surprise, spoke to me as plainly and distinctly as +any one could. He said he knew he would surprise me when he talked like +other folks; but he would give me a good reason for having seemed to be +dumb. He then gave me a sketch of his chequered career. He was once a +slave, but had been a free man between thirty and forty years. At the +age of twenty, he was purchased from his master, at Petersburg, +Virginia, to save his life, by a band of outlaws of which he became a +member, in a servile capacity. These men had freed him, soon after they +purchased him from his master, and in consideration he had taken the +oath as one of their gang, and had sworn, with other things, to appear +to be deaf and dumb, so long as he should live--the penalty for any +forgetfulness, or otherwise, that should betray that he could either +speak or hear, being death! That he had been educated to this end; that +the band had men who could converse with him readily by signs, and that +he had been so much accustomed to communicate his thoughts in that +manner, that it had become second nature. He told me he was now +determined to go to Canada, where he proposed remaining for the balance +of his life. I asked him how he meant to go? His reply was, that he +should make the journey by land; that he knew every foot of the route, +and had hundreds of warm friends all the way along. He further said that +he could communicate to me a secret, which he thought it would be better +for me to keep--and this is the first time I have ever publicly revealed +it. + +The secret was, that he and Scoggins, after leaving Edmonds and myself, +had retraced their steps to the skirts of Texas; that my horses had not +been taken, as I supposed, by the Indians, but that hired tools of +Edmonds and Scoggins had stolen them. That it was well for me I laid my +money out in horses: had I not done so, they would have murdered me, to +possess themselves of it. He further assured me, that I had been for +three months in the most heartless and desperate region which the +country affords, and among my worst enemies. The negro added, that he +had heard hard letters read concerning me since I was in the country. +That they were written a year before, by certain men belonging to the +same band, whom I knew, but least suspected. One of them lived near +Lawrenceburgh, Indiana; another was Goodrich, the notorious villain to +whom I have alluded in the preceding part of the work. + +This negro also told me that Dr. ----, who had been murdered on the +Texan frontier, was himself a member of the Secret Band, and that he was +killed to save many a better man. That he and Scoggins had gone back to +see that the widow and her family were removed; but they found, on +reaching the settlement, she had left. We had learned, moreover, that +when seventy or eighty miles on her journey to her friends', she was +taken sick and died, and that she had lost her youngest child before she +left the settlement. It was further stated that the remainder of her +family were at Little Rock, with a friend of her husband's, who would +provide for them till her family could either send for them, or give +some directions in regard to their disposition. + +The negro advised me never to divulge my opinions in relation to the +doctor's death, nor to the history of his family out west. I told him I +did not recollect their names, and therefore could not do so if I would. +He assured me that it was well for me, perhaps, that it was so; and that +it could do me no good if I did. I spoke to the negro about the lively +sympathy which Edmonds had expressed for the family, a few days before I +parted with him; that he had told me, in case he could procure the name +and residence of their friends at the east, he would write them; and +that he had asked me if I remembered them. I told him I did not. + +The negro assured me that it was well for me I had been so ignorant on +the subject; Edmonds was only trying me. Had I appeared to have known +any thing, and betrayed any disposition to give publicity to what I +knew, he would have prevented me, even if he had taken my life. + +I discovered from the negro, that the secret band of outlaws, to whom I +here alluded, had a large number of members scattered among the +different tribes of Indians; that they are all about the western +country, in fact, and that all are true to each other as steel itself. +The negro assured me that he could find friends at every turn; yes, +those who _would die for him!_ He was well off, however, without them, +and had determined to pass the remainder of his days in living a life of +honesty; hoping that, by so doing, God would forgive him, if man did +not. + +The negro told me much more in regard to himself and his companions. He +said he had been deaf and dumb, in order to find out what was going on. +He stood about and heard much said, which would not have been said had +it been supposed he could hear, and much, too, that was at times +extremely valuable to the band. + +I told him that I had often noticed and pitied him. His reply was, that +he saw I felt for him, and it was none the worse for me that I did. This +very county where we were, was afterwards infested by Murrill and his +gang; and it was here that, in 1841, the citizens turned out and put to +death, by shooting and drowning, some forty or fifty villains. + +But to return to the negro. I told him that his intelligence startled +me. He assured me, that while with him I was not in danger; that, to +tell the truth, where we then were was not a very bad tract of country. +For, said he, the brethren of Arkansas and Mississippi are not "clear +grit." That a few weeks preceding, a man by the name of Jeffries, who +had passed counterfeit money, they permitted to be taken and put to +death. He had, it seems, got off about one thousand dollars of the +spurious money on some river boatmen and traders; who returned when they +found the money was bad, pursued the counterfeiter to an island on the +river; where, after having stripped him naked and tied him to a tree, +they beat him to death! It was true this man was not a member of the +secret fraternity; but he would have been had his life been spared. + +At this point of my conversation with the negro, I discovered the +steamboat HURON near by, so I shook hands with him and left him. +Rejoicing that a boat had at last come along, I was soon on board her, +bound for Louisville. We "wooded" some thirty miles distant from +Montgomery's Point, and at the wood-yard, I overheard one of the workmen +telling about the skeleton of a man which had been found on an island +near by; that it was tied to a tree, and that it was the remains of a +man who had been whipped to death for passing counterfeit money. The +woodman added, that the poor victim's watch and clothes were found +hanging near his skeleton. This story confirmed the statement of the +dumb negro on this point, and gave me confidence in all he had told me. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +In the first chapter of this work, I have spoken of various attacks upon +my character; but not knowing from what motives they originated, I paid +no attention to them, nor should I to the one I shall here attempt the +exposition of, had it not been to satisfy the public that it was made +through a motive which I have every reason to believe a sinister one. I +will not offer through any remark intentionally to say such is the fact, +in relation to the intention of my imprudent opposer in my lone work of +mercy, for of the motives of a man no other man can judge; but will lay +our correspondence before the public, that they may examine and judge +for themselves. + + +No. 1. + State Prison, Auburn, April 7, 1845. + +_To the Editor of the Tribune:_ + +We have had a recent visit from Mr. J. H. Green, the "Reformed Gambler," +of whom you have previously spoken favourably in the editorial +department of your paper. Many are highly pleased with the man, and +think he should be sustained by public patronage and the press, inasmuch +as he comes with good credentials of moral and Christian character from +the church. Many think his course calculated to do much good, for this +and coming generations. He appears admirably calculated and accomplished +for exposing the deceptive marks and tricks of this heartless race of +land-pirates, called Gamblers, alias "_Sportsmen_." His description of +their infernal conduct and character cannot fail to put men on their +guard in season to shun them as they would a deadly pestilence that +walketh in darkness, and destruction that wasteth at noonday. + +The grog-shop, the brothel, and the gambling-room, are three of the +blackest fountains of human misery over which the devil presides. From +these he gathers the bitterest waters of hellish destruction, and +spreads them broad-cast over creation: of which eternity can only +measure the full amount. + +The Temperance Cause has attacked one of those sinks of Satan; the Moral +Reform enterprise has commenced upon another, and Mr. Green has now +taken the third "bull by the horns." Money and talent, and the press, +are enlisted against the two former, and shall we stand aloof, and leave +Mr. Green to combat the dragon single-handed and alone? It is high time +the whole community was aroused to the desolating evils of Gambling; and +the press, too, in thunder-tones, should be made to speak out upon this, +as upon other soul-destroying vices of the land. + +Mr. Green has given five Lectures in our village: two in the Town Hall, +two in the Methodist Church, and one in the State Prison. On Sabbath, +sixth instant, at four o'clock, P.M., he addressed the children of the +several Sabbath-schools of the town, in the Methodist Episcopal Church, +to good effect; and in the evening, the same house was filled to a +perfect jam. Here Mr. Green was listened to with the best possible +attention; and I believe the great bulk of that immense throng, not only +believed him a reformed man, but also that he was doing a good and +necessary work in this country. + +At nine o'clock, Sabbath morning, Mr. Green spoke to the unfortunate +inmates of this prison, numbering some eight hundred convicts, besides a +large concourse of citizens, who flocked to hear him at the same place. +His discourse was listened to in breathless silence by those men, and +hundreds of them wept freely, while listening to a recital of the +horrors of Gambling, as experienced during twelve wretched years of his +own gambling life, and of his reformation and salvation by grace in +Christ. A deep and powerful impression pervaded the vast concourse, +while all was graced by beautiful strains of vocal music by the "Boston +Quartet Club," and all passed off finely. + +After Chapel service, Mr. Green and myself visited the cell of Henry +Wyatt, the murderer of James Gordon, of which the papers have spoken. +They readily recognised each other, as having been members of the same +gambling fraternity in the south and west. More than fifty gamblers were +named by them, whose doleful history was equally familiar to both. + +Previous to this visit by Mr. Green, Wyatt had told me that gambling was +the cause of his ruin. At the close of our visit of some two hours, Mr. +Green gave Wyatt a pathetic exhortation to read his Bible, and pray +much, to repent of sin, and believe in Christ, and to seek religion as +the only thing which could prepare him for his approaching doom. Tears +flowed freely, and Wyatt exclaimed, "What a pity it is that you had not +come out in this way four years ago; then I should not have been here +in _chains_, as you see me now." We wept together, and left his cell in +silence. + +Respectfully yours, &c., + O.E. MORRILL, _Chaplain_. + + +No. 2. + From the Christian Advocate and Journal. + +GREEN'S FIRST VISIT TO AUBURN STATE PRISON. + +Doctor Bond:-- + +_Dear Sir_,--I shall be happy to contribute to your valuable sheet the +following communication: + +I visited the Auburn State Prison, upon the morning of the 4th instant, +accompanied by the Boston Quartet Club, better known in New York city +than in this region for their valuable services in calling out so many +thousands to hear the eloquence of John B. Gough, in behalf of +temperance. We passed through the different workshops of the prison, +where many hundreds are doing the different labours allotted to them by +their agents. The health of the prisoners is as good, and spirits better +than any institution I have ever visited. Though the gloom of the +prisoner was not made manifest by his haggard countenance, yet I could +not prevent the melancholy reflection, that every heart knew its own +sorrow. I have seen much of human depravity in this wicked world--I have +felt the sensitive nerve made like an ice-drop by the cold finger of +scorn--I know how to sympathize with the child of circumstances--with +the heart-broken parent, whose pale, care-worn cheek but too plainly +speaks, "We feel trouble, but ye know it not." How many friends and +relatives are now bemoaning the loss of that boy who was once the pride +of all that knew him in the days of his affluence! Rising eight hundred +souls are now confined in the Auburn State Prison; and as my thoughts +expanded in their melancholy train, I asked myself, Who are to blame for +all the crimes committed, and which have incarcerated so many human +beings? I answered by referring to my own sad experience. By the +carelessness of the parent or guardian, the bud is nipped before the +blossom puts forth, and should it not scatter its leaves to the four +winds, it cannot fail to produce evil fruit. With these sad feelings, I +wended my way through the prison, which speaks well to the praise of the +different agents placed there to conduct the working departments. + +On my return to the prison office, I was introduced to the chaplain, +Rev. O.E. Morrill, which reverend gentleman informed me that a man by +the name of Wyatt, then confined in one of the cells for the murder of +Gordon, on the 16th of March, in the Auburn State Prison, had confessed +to him that he had lived a gambler several years in the south and west, +and he would like I should call upon him. I accompanied him to the cell +of the murderer. The door was thrown open upon its grating hinges, when +the reverend gentleman introduced me as an acquaintance of his who had +travelled south several years, and thought that he (Wyatt) would be glad +to converse with him. He said he was happy to see me, and asked me to be +seated. After a short discourse, relative to the different classes of +men then in confinement, I asked him what he followed in his travels +through the south. He told me gambling. I asked him how long he had been +engaged in that nefarious business. He said twelve or thirteen years. I +asked him if he knew many gamblers? He said he did. I asked him if he +ever knew one by the name of Green? He said he did. I asked his name? He +answered, "John;" said he knew him in 1832, 1833, 1834, and 1835, and +saw him in 1842 in St. Louis. I asked him if he was intimate with Green? +He said he knew him as one gambler knew another. I asked if I favoured +him? He said if I would stand in the light he would tell me. I did so. +He said I looked like the man. I told him I was the man, but that I +never knew him by the name of Wyatt. He said I did not; that Wyatt was +not his real name. He then told me another, which was not his real name, +and asked me if I did not hear of a man being murdered near St. Louis in +the year 1841, and of two men being arrested, both tried and convicted, +one having a new trial granted him, the other being hung. I told him +that I thought I had. He said he was the man that had the new trial +granted, and was acquitted; "and," said he, "they hung the wrong man; he +was innocent; I am the guilty man; but they hung him and cleared me." +"But," says I, "you were under a different name still, at that time." He +said, "Yes, by none of those names do you know me, but my real name you +are familiar with. Your name," said he, "I knew in the year 1832; the +gamblers called you John, but Jonathan is your real name." My curiosity +was highly excited at the strange management of the murderer. But you +may imagine the increase of it when he told me his real name. I looked +at the murderer, and could scarcely believe my own eyes; yet he stood +before me a living marvel. I have pledged secresy as to his real name +until after his execution. I interrogated him on his first steps in +vice, and how he became so hardened. He told me to remember the +treatment he had received from the Lynchers' lash at Vicksburg. I did, +but my eyes could scarcely credit reality. I had known him in 1832, +1833, 1834, and in the early part of 1835, as a bar-keeper in Vicksburg. +He was never a shrewd card-player, but at that time was considered an +inoffensive youth. The coffee-house he kept was owned by North, who, +with four others, were executed on the 5th of July, 1835, by Lynch law. +Wyatt and three others were taken on the morning of the 7th, stripped, +and one thousand lashes given to the four, tarred and feathered, and put +into a canoe and set adrift on the Mississippi river. It makes my blood +curdle and my flesh quiver to think of the suffering condition of these +unfortunate men, set adrift on the morning of the 7th of July, with the +broiling sun upon their mangled bodies. Two died in about two hours +after they were set afloat. Wyatt and another remained with their hands +and feet bound forty hours, suffering more than tongue can tell or pen +describe, when they were picked up by some slave negroes, who started +with the two survivors to their quarters. His companion died before they +arrived. Wyatt survives to tell the horrors of the Lyncher's lash. He +told me seven murders had been occasioned by their unmerciful treatment +to him, and one innocent man hung. I know his statements to be true, for +I had known him before 1835, and his truth in other particulars cannot +be doubted. He murdered his seventh man, for which crime he will be +executed. I have another communication for your paper concerning the +murderer, and his prospects in the world to come. + +Yours, truly, + J. H. GREEN. + +Auburn, April 10, 1845. + + +No. 3. + From the Christian Advocate and Journal. + +GREEN'S SECOND VISIT TO AUBURN STATE PRISON. + +Doctor Bond: + +_Dear Sir_,--I made my second visit to the prison on Sabbath morning, +the 6th instant, accompanied by the Boston Quartet Club. As we were +winding our way through the halls and passing the gloomy cells, I felt +sad and melancholy upon reflecting on the purpose of so large a prison. +Is it possible, thought I, that our heaven-favoured land of freedom +requires institutions of so extensive a character as this to keep down +the vices of a people who boast of their morality? Yet, horrible as it +appeared to me, I thought, if many of the foreign travellers, who are +ever ready to criticise and condemn our institutions, were conducted +through the Auburn State Prison, without any intimation of its design, +they would put it down in their journals of travel as an institution to +diffuse literary science and useful knowledge; and from what we have +learned of institutions of the latter kind, under monarchical +governments, we have little hesitation in saying, that they would not +compare well with this prison. Nor would they be willing that some of +their plans for the diffusion of useful knowledge, in the way of +charity, should be compared, in respect to health and religious +principles, with this institution, intended only for the punishment and +prevention of crime, and the reformation of criminals. And if it be the +fact, that our state's prison is better calculated than some foreign +institutions designed to educate the poor of the land for this same +purpose, it certainly will stand good that our land of liberty is +comparatively the land of morality. + +We entered the chapel, where were seated nearly eight hundred convicts, +and something like one hundred citizens, who had been admitted for the +purpose of hearing the sweet melody of the Boston Quartet Club, and to +hear the reformed gambler speak upon a vice which had brought over one +hundred within the gloomy walls of a state's prison. Service commenced +with prayer by the chaplain, Rev. O.E. Morrill. The Boston Quartet Club +then sung the beautiful sacred piece, "Hear my Prayer," during which +breathless silence made manifest that the music was enjoyed. I was then +introduced as the reformed gambler, Mr. J. H. Green. When I arose, there +was profound silence throughout the chapel, to hear my sad experience. I +felt perfectly incompetent to give satisfaction to an audience, partly +composed of the most hardened wretches that infest our land--men who are +steeped to the very lips in degradation, many of whom are men of talent, +well-educated, and well acquainted with most of the leading topics of +the day, knowing, too, as I did, that an error might be construed into +an insult; and to such men an insult is unpardonable. I commenced by +relating my sad experience, and in a few minutes there could scarcely be +seen a dry cheek in that vast assembly of depraved men. My address being +closed, the prisoners were marched in order to their dining-room. + +The chaplain and myself visited the cell of Wyatt, the murderer. We +found him sitting upon the straw which covered the floor. He seemed to +be somewhat indifferent when the chaplain first spoke to him, but upon +his second speech, telling that Mr. Green had again called to see him, +he sprung to his feet and shook hands with me--said he was glad I had +called--that he had been fearful I had left the prison, after giving my +address, without seeing him, and added, "Mr. Green, I would love to hear +you give your experience." I told him of the attention the prisoners had +given me, and the advice I had given them, about signing the +anti-gambling pledge, so soon as they were released--to come out with +their sad experience, and they would find the good and generous-hearted +ever ready to receive them. He turned round to the chaplain and said, +"How much good such a society as that would have done, had it been +formed before I became a gambler!--How many men it would have saved from +the dagger of the midnight murderer! But it is too late to save me." I +changed the subject, by asking him about different gamblers of our +country. We talked about many with whom we both had been intimate. Some, +he tells me, now live in your empire city, and were leading men among +the politicians in the last presidential contest. I knew them to be +leading men. I knew them to be gamblers and swaggering bullies; and I +knew them to be at one time connected with Wyatt, but did not know them +to be murderers; yet they certainly are. + +Wyatt asked me if they permitted such men to vote? I told him they did. +Said he, "A gambler should not be entitled to a vote, nor to his oath." +He spoke correctly; and said he, "The day is not far distant when the +man, who is known to the world as a gambler, will not be countenanced." +Neither his vote nor his oath would be taken at the present day, if the +citizens, who are the bone and sinew of the country, would take into +consideration his real principles. He said, "No man who bets upon +elections should be entitled to his vote, nor to his oath; for a man who +can be excited to bet upon an election, can be excited when upon oath to +stretch the blanket; or, in plainer language, to swear to a lie. Such I +believe to be facts." "And lotteries are another species of villany," +said he; "the money goes to the vendor, and makes his victim poor and +dishonest. Such I know to be facts." Pleased to hear a man, situated as +Wyatt, the murderer, is, reason so candidly, I changed the subject, in +order to learn more about the murders he had committed. I knew that a +man, in the year 1839, was missing from Natchez, by the name of Tucker, +and by the run of Wyatt's discourse, I found he was in that part about +the same time. + +I told Wyatt that a man by the name of Tucker was supposed to have been +murdered about that date between Natchez and New Orleans. He laughed, +and said he knew something about it. "Myself and three others," said he, +"went to Natchez as produce speculators. Tucker owned a boat load of +produce. We contracted for it, advanced him money sufficient to pay off +his hands, telling him we had sufficient help; that he could go with us +to New Orleans, and that on our arrival there, we would pay him the +balance due. He did so. We paid him in a Mississippi bath. We murdered +him, and then threw him overboard." I asked him if he ever was +suspected. He said, not that he knew of. I asked him if he was not +afraid, when he was committing such a murder, that the body might rise +upon the water and be the means of their being suspected. "We cut their +entrails out," said he, "then they never rise until resurrection-day." I +felt heart-sick at his dreadful description of the murder of Tucker. I +knew him. He was a good, honest man. I arose from my seat, took him by +the hand, and bade him good day, promising him to call again. I will, in +my next, inform you of the particulars of my third visit, which will +lead you further into his dreadful history. I will in my next also speak +of his views on the subject of religion. + +Yours, truly, + J. H. GREEN. + +Auburn, April 17, 1845. + + +No. 4. + +The following letter was written and published by the unanimous consent +of every honest citizen of Cleveland, Ohio, of which place I can only +speak in the language of commendation. It is one of the most virtuous +cities in the state, according to its population; and from the interest +two of the principal organs took in behalf of the anti-gambling cause, I +am certain that no filthy sheet can ever pollute its moral principles. + +_To the Editor of the Cleveland Plaindealer:_ + +Mr. Gray, Sir--The Herald of last evening contained a letter over the +signature of O.E. Morrill, dated July 25th, 1845, charging J. H. Green, +"the Reformed Gambler," with misrepresenting the confessions made to him +by "Wyatt, the murderer." The Anti-Gambling Society of this city have +requested me, as its President, to publish the following letter, in +justice to Mr. Green, and in answer to Mr. Morrill. It was written on +the 12th of July last, in reply to Mr. Morrill's "private note," +referred to in his letter published last evening. A true copy was made, +and the original forwarded to Mr. O.E. Morrill on the day of its date, +by Dr. Cowles, of this city. Deeming this letter a complete refutation +of the charges against Mr. Green, the Society have taken the liberty, +without his knowledge, of requesting you to place it before the public. + +Your obedient servant, + John E. Cary. + Cleveland, August 5, 1845. + +[This letter was written in reply to a letter addressed me by the Rev. +O.E. Morrill, requesting my return to Auburn, fifteen days previous to +his publishing my statements as false, and letter No. 7 will show in +what manner I replied.] + + +No. 5. + Cleveland, July 12, 1845. + +_Mr. O.E. Morrill:_ + +Dear sir,--I have just received yours of the 10th. Speaking in regard to +Wyatt's case, you state that you was very much surprised at my letters. +Why did you not tell me so before they were published? You also heard +both the first and second letter before I left your section. Why did you +not object to them before? + +Again, you say, some parts are my own representations. This I deny. I +will not say that I have given them verbatim, but this I do say, and +will maintain, that I have not exaggerated in my statements. + +Yet I do not wish to injure that poor doomed man. God forbid. I do not +think as you do about Wyatt. I know him better than you do, or can. I +know that he has been the child of circumstances. I know that he is not +a man who will strictly confine himself to the truth; and fear of death +will make him do any thing that he is told to do. His denying what he +told me, I care nothing for. In my statements, if they were not correct +from him to me, I am not accountable; I believe them to be facts. + +Now for a few questions to brighten your memory. When we entered his +cell for the first time, you introduced me as a man who had lived in the +south. I interrogated him on his past life. Did I not commence at +Huntsville, in the year 1832, and trace him to November, 1835, at the +mouth of the Ohio, with the Texas troops? When he told me that he had +known me up to that date, that he also saw me at St. Louis, do you not +recollect his asking me if I had not heard of a man being murdered in, +or near St. Louis, one man hung, and the other acquitted? And do you not +recollect I told him I thought I did; also, that at the same time I was +informed, that the people thought that the guilty man was cleared, and +the innocent one hung. He laughed, and said he was the guilty one, or +something amounting to the same? Do you recollect, in your own letter to +the Tribune, you stated that over fifty gamblers were recognised, with +whose doleful history we were both familiar? Also, do you not recollect +his telling about their lynching him; about the cords cutting his arms? +Do you not recollect when I talked about the Tucker, or flat-boat +murder, he told how they cut out the entrails, to prevent the body from +rising? Do you not recollect that you and myself talked the same over at +your house? You certainly cannot forget. He told me so much, I can think +of but little, which I thought most essential to remember. I am willing +to say nothing more about his case, until his execution; if I am +satisfied it will be beneficial to the community, as well as Wyatt. But +to retract one syllable, I cannot, unless I find myself mistaken, in +which case I will make any acknowledgment necessary. + +You ask, or say, that, if I come back, something may be done +satisfactorily. I presume it can be done without my coming. You can +write to me at this city; I shall remain here two weeks. I suppose the +change of officers has made some in relation to the confession, of which +I know nothing about, but there is no fabrication, as far as I am +concerned, and the fact of a newspaper quarrel between you and I cannot +fail to injure, or at least excite the people more against him. You say +you will be forced into it. Do not be hasty. I do not fear any +inconvenience from any act of mine, but, of course, if you contradict my +statements, I have the same chance to support them; and, perhaps, there +are some facts, which, when revealed, will make you better satisfied +that the confession you have of Wyatt is not more than one-fourth true. +His dates are almost every one incorrect. His crimes are enlarged in +some places, diminished in others. You have the best right to his +confessions, if he alters it, and you have the most truthful history. I +told you when we parted, that I knew things relative to Wyatt, which he +would never tell you, with which you should be benefited after the +trial. They are in my possession, and I will not reveal them until he +has been tried, unless it should be necessary to show the fact of his +(Wyatt's) horrible character. + +What has been said by me, cannot so far injure Wyatt, unless it is +perverted. But what I have said are facts, which I will not retract, +and they are of that nature which need no retractation. My memory is as +good as yours. I am striving to do right, the same as yourself, and will +contend that you are as liable to be mistaken as I am, especially when I +knew him in different circumstances. I blame you not for doing every +thing that is right to make Wyatt as happy as he can be, under his +present circumstances, but be careful that you are right. + +I leave this matter for your consideration, believing that you will do +what is correct, so far as you are able. You can rest assured, that I +will do any thing in my power to assist. You will find, however, that I +am correct in my statements. Write me, and your letter shall have +immediate attention. + +Yours, with respect, + J. H. GREEN. + + +No. 6. + From the Auburn Journal, July 30th. + +State Prison, Auburn, N.Y., July 25, 1845. + +Mr. Oliphant:-- + +_Sir_,--In justice to an unfortunate prisoner, now in chains awaiting +his trial at the next sitting of the court in this place, I feel in duty +bound to say to the public, that whatever Wyatt's character or conduct +may have been, or however many murders he may have committed, and may +ultimately be revealed to the public through the proper channels--yet +all Mr. Green has said about Wyatt's having confided to him, that he, +with three others, were whipped a thousand lashes at Vicksburg, which +had been the cause of seven murders, and that Gordon was the seventh man +that he (Wyatt) had killed, and that he (Wyatt) positively killed the +man at St. Louis, for which an innocent man was hung--and that he +(Wyatt) said _he_ killed Tucker in 1839, between Natchez and New +Orleans, is _untrue_ to my _certain_ knowledge. + +Mr. Green's visits were all made in my presence, while Wyatt was +confined in his cell, a room some four by seven feet in size; hence, all +that passed between them could be distinctly heard and known by all +three of us. + +I have no disposition to injure Mr. Green, but I should do violence to +every principle of justice and humanity, were I to remain silent, and +see a fellow-being tried for his life in the midst of that prejudice +which has already condemned the criminal to a thousand deaths, by Mr. +Green's published declarations of Wyatt's own confessions of bloody +deeds and horrid murders, when, in reality, the prisoner has made no +such confessions to him, to my certain knowledge. + +To avoid this unpleasant task, I addressed a private note to Mr. Green, +calling for a satisfactory explanation; but, in his reply, he utterly +refuses a single retraction, and the only alternative left me is to let +the prisoner suffer this great injustice, or disabuse the public mind +from the wrong impressions made by fabrications of Mr. Green. + +I hope to be spared the disagreeable necessity of resorting to the +newspapers of the day to correct any further improprieties of Mr. Green +on this subject. If I am not, I will give a specific catalogue of them +in my next. + +All editors of newspapers, whether political or religious, are requested +to give the above an insertion in their columns, as an act of justice to +an injured man, and very much oblige. + +Your obedient servant, + O.E. MORRILL, _Chaplain._ + + +No. 7. + Toledo, August 5, 1845. + +_To the Editor of the New York Tribune:_ + +Dear sir,--I beg leave to introduce to your columns the following +article, written for the purpose of satisfying the honest part of the +community, that a letter written by the Rev. O.E. Morrill, on the 25th +of July last, is an unprincipled misrepresentation of my purpose, in +bringing to light the horrid deeds of murder committed by Wyatt, now in +the Auburn State Prison. + +I visited Wyatt four times, in company with Mr. Morrill, Chaplain of the +Prison. The time I spent with him in all these visits was about five +hours, during which we conversed about his former course of life. It is +impossible for me to state in one article all that he revealed to me, +but what I do remember, I published in my letters, relative to my visits +to the cell of Wyatt. The second of these letters was dated April 7th, +and the first about the 1st of April. I read both these letters to the +reverend gentleman; the first before it went to press, and the second as +soon as published, we being at both times together, with some officers +of the institution, in the State Prison office. + +I now call the attention of the reader to a letter, from the reverend +gentleman, to the editor of the New York Tribune, of the date of April +7th, in which he speaks in the highest terms of my conduct. The reader +will notice that this is after my first letter was published, and after +he had heard them both read, and after he knew that I had given Wyatt's +confessions, which he now, in his letter of July 25th, declares to be +nothing more than "fabrications" of mine. If my statement of Wyatt's +confession were known to Mr. Morrill to be false, why did he recommend +me so highly in his letter of April 7th, and why has he not contradicted +me before this? The reverend gentleman says, that he did not wish to +injure me, and so addressed me a private note. If I could be so base as +to put forth to the world such falsehoods as he accuses me of, in regard +to a fellow-being, so soon to be launched into eternity, no fear of +injury to me can excuse the gentleman for his not exposing me +immediately to public scorn and detestation. + +When at Auburn, after my visits to the cell, I spoke several times, in +the presence of Mr. Morrill, and other gentlemen, of Wyatt's confessions +to me; and yet Mr. Morrill, though present, never disputed one relation. +I also lectured some fifty times, within fifty miles of Auburn, and, in +nearly all, gave the same statements which he now contradicts. Why has +not Mr. Morrill published, together with his contradiction, my reply to +his note of July 10th? If he had, the community would have seen my +reasons for not retracting my former statements. + +I am truly sorry to have any difficulty with the reverend gentleman, on +this subject or any other, but my duty in regard to this malicious +slander, (the motives of which I am unable to fathom,) compels me to +reply, and for no other purpose than to satisfy the community, that I +could have no personal object in view, in casting a stigma upon the +character of this unfortunate convict, by any statement he made to me, +for I certainly could not be benefited in any manner by publishing +falsehoods in relation to him. + +I repeat again to the world, and ever will, that the unfortunate Wyatt +did to me confess all I stated he did, and much more, which it is +impossible for me to remember. If he stated falsehoods to me, I am not +responsible. He told me that he was one of _four_ that had received a +thousand lashes at Vicksburg, in July, 1835; and I knew a young man, by +the name of Henry North, to be about Vicksburg, and to be in the +employment of North, the gambler, who was hung at Vicksburg, by the +_lynchers_, in July, 1835. Henry, though of the same name, was not +related to the other, as I understood. When I went to the south in the +fall of 1835, I inquired about the gamblers of Vicksburg, and was told +that Henry North, alias Wyatt, or Newell, was, with four others, +whipped, tarred and feathered, hands bound, and set afloat, and the +supposition was that he, and the others with him, existed no more. When +Wyatt told me his real name, I was surprised at beholding him. He told +me that he had set fire twice to Vicksburg, and once to Natchez, and +that, during the conflagration, he murdered _three_ men. He told me he +killed Tucker in 1839. I talked with Mr. Morrill before several officers +of the prison, in regard to what Wyatt said about cutting the entrails +out of Tucker, and the confession which Mr. Morrill now has from Wyatt +will show the main circumstances of this murder, perhaps not giving +Tucker's name, but he speaks about the flat-boat murder, between Natchez +and New Orleans, and I claim it, in justice to me, that the reverend +gentleman should produce the confession Wyatt made, when he speaks of +"speculation on the Mississippi." + +I also call on Mr. Morrill, in justice to myself and the public, to +answer the following questions. 1st. Did not Wyatt confess in his +presence the murder of individuals besides Tucker, on the Mississippi? +2d. Did he not say he cut the entrails out to prevent their rising? 3d. +Did he not say he was tried at St. Louis under another name, (I think it +was North,) and did I not turn to Mr. Morrill, and say, I knew some men +had been tried at St. Louis, but knew none of the parties; and did not +Wyatt then say that he was tried for murder at St. Louis, that he was +convicted on his first trial, but acquitted on a new trial, and that an +innocent man was hung? 4th. Did I not tell Mr. Morrill, that Wyatt +informed me that he had been a convict in the Ohio Penitentiary; and +does not Mr. Morrill recollect that upon my third visit to Wyatt's cell, +I said to Wyatt, that it was reported he had been in the Ohio +Penitentiary, at which Wyatt frowned, and I changed the tenor of my +question by stating, that Gordon said he (Wyatt) had been there, and +that Wyatt laughed, and said it was such d----d lies which occasioned +Gordon's death; and did not Mr. Morrill say to me, he knew many of +Wyatt's _misfortunes_, which he kept secret from the agent of the +prison; and will Mr. Merrill deny that when we went into the office, +after my last visit, that the clerk again repeated that Wyatt had been +in the Ohio Prison, and did not I then decide with the clerk, the +probability of such being the fact, and did not Mr. Morrill still +_insist_ that it was a false report? + +In conclusion I will say, that whatever may be the reverend gentleman's +intentions towards me, and in his own behalf the motives for which I am +not able to penetrate; yet, although he brands my statements as false, +and although the cell was but four by seven feet in size, I leave it to +the community to decide, whether two men, who can speak the "flash +language," in which one word can convey sentences, may not hold a +conversation not easily understood by a third person, ignorant of its +meaning--and can Mr. Morrill assert what meaning was conveyed by such +language between Wyatt and myself? if so, he is the first man I ever +knew that could interpret a language or tongue he never studied. At +least one-fourth of the conversation between Wyatt and myself before Mr. +Morrill, was of this kind. I do not think Mr. Morrill understood all he +heard, yet the greater part of what I published in my letters was spoken +in plain English, and Mr. Morrill, at the time, gave vent to his +feelings over the dreadful disclosures. + +I ask the papers of the day to publish this statement in justice to both +parties, as well as the public at large. + + J. H. GREEN. + +No. 8. + Correspondence of the New York Tribune. + +Perrysburgh, Ohio, August 16, 1845. + +_Mr. Greeley_,--I wish to introduce to the columns of your valuable +paper the following. Though it may seem mysterious and out of date, it +will be read with much interest by many, and may have a tendency to cast +a light upon one of the most horrible murders ever committed in this or +any other Christian land. There is not one shade of doubt remaining in +my mind but that the murderers, as well as their victim or victims, long +before the date of this article, might have been discovered, had there +been sufficient effort made. True, efforts have at last been made, and +the skeleton of one murdered victim found, and much search made for the +other. The particulars which led to the but small effort which has +already been made, are collected from circumstances as follows:--As near +as we can learn, in September, 1844, a gentleman, by the name of +Stephens, from the state of New York, made his appearance in +Perrysburgh, remained in and near some days, left, sometime after +returned. About the time of his departure from the second visit, he made +known his business, that he had kept secret until the time near his +departure. He then told that two men had been murdered, and their bodies +concealed in the woods about one-half mile from the last turnpike gate, +which is about four miles from Perrysburgh. His statements corroborating +some previous signs of murder, induced the citizens to turn out and +scout the swamp in search, knowing as they did that certain packages of +clothes had been found in the Maumee river by a fisherman, on the 17th +April, 1844. The clothes found were done up in parcels, coat, +pantaloons, and vest, with a stone tied round each, with strips of +handkerchiefs cut or torn for the purpose. Upon examination, the clothes +were cut in a way to show they had been ripped off from the body. The +pantaloon's legs cut open; the coat cut open from the back and sleeves; +the vest also cut open from the back. The coat had many cuts in the left +sleeve, also a hole about the lower button on the right side, which hole +was in the pantaloons, cutting the lower suspender in two. The vest had +several cuts in it, immediately back of the neck, through the collar, +and two knife holes. The vest is a figured worsted piece of goods, of +lilac colour, about half-worn. The coat is a black cloth frock, or +surtout, but little worn, no velvet upon it, lined inside of the skirts +with black silk or serge, the sleeve lining twilled linen. Inside of +the left sleeve is a mark of the merchant, which is one cipher--nothing +more. From the looks, I should have taken the coat to have cost twenty +dollars. The pantaloons are rather of a blue colour, striped casinet, +and have never been worn much. The suspender, which has been cut in two, +is a common striped web. The two handkerchiefs are figured silk, +half-worn. When they were found, it was evident they had not been long +in the water. I have a piece of each garment, and persons who have +missed any of their friends mysteriously perhaps might find, upon +examination, that which would lead them to know their friend had +suffered death from the hands of a murderer. A sample of each I will +keep to exhibit through the country, hoping to solve the mystery. + +Now for the mysterious visits of Mr. Stephens. About his departure from +the second visit, he disclosed certain things, which I will give +according to my information. He said he had been informed by certain +convicts, then in the New York State Prison at Auburn, that they had +murdered two men in the said swamp, and had concealed their bodies. One +they had stripped; the other, left his clothing upon him. They stated +that the murdered men were travelling in a buggy, and that they (the +murderers) stopped the buggy, presented their pistols, forced them into +the woods, where they shot one, and stabbed and butchered the other. Not +far from the same place, a hat was found with a bullet-hole in it, but +no sign was left upon the body found which would indicate that he had +been brought to his death by a ball, which also goes farther to prove +the probability of the murder of two men. They buried them, as they +state, about one-half mile apart, strip ping the clothes off from one, +which they took along with them in the buggy, and made their way to the +Maumee river. Not thinking it politic to cross at the toll-bridge, they +went up to the ford, near Fort Meigs, and found the river not in a +fording state. They tied stones to the clothes and threw them in the +river, where they were afterward found, and crossed the bridge to the +north side of the river, went below Toledo, took the buggy to pieces, +sank it and the harness in the river, and took the horse out back of +Manhattan and killed it. In the early part of the summer following two +men were arrested near Geneseo, New York, for committing burglary. +Apprehension of another attack almost forbids me giving their names, +while duty doubly nerves me to speak and let the public know that +_Wyatt_, alias Newell, or North, and Head, his accomplice in the +burglary at Geneseo, are the two murderers who gave Mr. Stephens his +information, and caused his visit to ascertain the truth of such horrid +deeds. Other circumstances leave no doubt resting with the people of +this part that the same two men, Wyatt and Head, murdered John Parish, +of Hancock county, while attempting to arrest them for horse-stealing. A +small explanation of this fact I will make. It will be remembered by +many that Wyatt attempted to make his escape from the Auburn prison, and +when Gordon, the man he afterward murdered, told the keepers, he was +searched, and upon his person a letter was found, which letter contained +no names of men or places, nor was it directed; but from the purport, it +was evidently written for the purpose of sending to Ohio, for it stated +that he dare not venture back, as the people would recognise him as the +murderer of a certain officer who had made an attempt to arrest him. The +reader will also recollect that Wyatt, under the name of Newell, +resided in Toledo in the commencement of 1844 until April 1st, 1844, +when he left Toledo, and was not heard of until Mr. Stephens' +revelation. I would say, in conclusion, so far as this statement may +have a tendency to excite the citizens to their duties, relative to +those mysterious murders, that I hope those concerned in ferreting out +the particulars hereafter will not have a malignant feeling for any +stranger who may come among them to assist, not for honour or profit, +as, undoubtedly, so far as this mysterious affair is concerned, some of +the principal workers have made the two latter-mentioned their object. I +believe this, so far, to be the most correct account of those mysterious +murders, and if it is thought by any concerned that a more able report +can be given, come out and do your duty. + + J. H. GREEN. + + +This article is introduced for several purposes--all of which we +consider of importance to substantiate the facts we have laid before +them. Those murders, near Perrysburgh, were committed by Wyatt and Head, +his colleague, who is now in the State Prison at Auburn, New York. After +the controversy had taken place, I availed myself of the opportunity to +search into facts concerning Wyatt, and found, in addition to those set +forth in the preceding letter, the following:--Wyatt, alias Robert Henry +North, was hired as a stage-driver near Chillicothe, Ohio, in the latter +part of 1838, but decamped in a short time afterwards with a horse +belonging to another man, and made his way to Portsmouth, Ohio; where he +was taken and carried back to Chillicothe, tried, and convicted to serve +three years in the Ohio Penitentiary. In 1841 he was released. He then +left for Missouri, where he again got into difficulty, which detained +him until 1843. He told me he was tried for his life in St. Louis, +convicted, got a new trial, and was acquitted. If he was, it was under a +different name from any above mentioned, and the murder he was tried for +must have been Major Floyd. But I do not believe he was one of those +tried, and acquitted, as he professed to be. He then made his way across +the country to Louisville, Kentucky. From there to a town called Mount +Gilead, in Ashland county, Ohio, where he went to work at the business +of tailoring, a trade he had learned in the Ohio State Prison. In a +short time after he arrived there, he married a very respectable lady, +with whom, for the short period they lived together, he led a very +disagreeable life. In the latter part of 1843, or the beginning of 1844, +he left for Toledo, Ohio, where he hired out, and lived up to the time +spoken of in the preceding letter, and where he committed the crimes +referred to in the same. After which, he made his escape to the state of +New York, in company with the notorious villain, Head, where they +committed a burglary, and were sentenced to the Auburn State Prison from +Geneseo. When Wyatt arrived at the penitentiary, he was recognised by an +old companion who had served in the Ohio Penitentiary, by the name of +Gordon. Gordon gave information to the keepers, of Wyatt's having served +a time in the penitentiary in Ohio. Wyatt became enraged, and despairing +of any chance of a pardon, being sentenced, I think, for fourteen years, +he tried to effect his escape, but was detected and severely punished. +He then swore vengeance against Gordon, whose time was nearly expired; +and on Saturday, the 15th of March, 1845, he secreted about his person +one-half of a pair of shears, given him to work with in the tailor's +shop, which he reserved until the next day, (Sabbath, the 16th,) and as +the prisoners were marching to their cells from their dinners, stabbed +Gordon in the right side, immediately below the ribs. The instrument +passed towards his spine, through one of the main arteries, killing him +almost instantly, and for this last deed he was hanged. + +Finally, let me say to those who may be anxious to know more of the +history of this unfortunate man, and of his crimes, that I have looked +with great anxiety for the third letter, spoken of in my second to the +Christian Advocate and Journal. That the mystery of their not appearing +has been no fault of mine. I wrote four letters, and but two appeared. +Whether they were detained by the false and garbled statements which +have been set forth by the Rev. O.E. Morrill, or whether they have ever +been received, I am unable to say. However, I have written twice to Dr. +Bond, and, as yet, I have not been able to learn by what authority they +have been detained. But should I have them returned, the public may be +welcome to them for their worth. + +Since the execution, we learned from those present, that Wyatt was taken +from his cell, faint from the loss of blood he had shed a few days +before, in his attempt to commit suicide. When seated in his chair, +under the gallows, he made remarks like the following: "I have lived +like a man, I will die like a man. I am not afraid to die. I am about to +enter eternity, and appear before my God. My conduct has been +misrepresented--men have sworn falsely against me--I cannot and will not +forgive them--I am not the man I have been represented to be--I did not +commit the murder charged upon me in Ohio. I am thankful to the sheriff +and his family for their kindness." He manifested no religious penitence +to the last. He died an unbeliever. + + * * * * * + +In conclusion, I would say to those who have perused this work, so full +of strange and startling incidents, let not their mysterious and dark +character cause you to doubt of their truth. Recollect that there are +strange events in the life of every man, many of which he cannot fathom; +and were the whole circumstances of your own life disclosed, it is not +impossible that many of them would exceed belief. Horrible as is the +picture of depravity here exhibited, the half has not been told, nor +would I reveal one iota more than I deemed necessary to awaken the +public attention to a sense of their danger, and a corresponding sense +of their duty. Reader, you may be standing upon the edge of a precipice, +though you know it not. Fathers, your sons may frequent these haunts of +vice, and be entangled in the snares of the destroyer. Wives, mothers, +sisters, daughters, lend us your aid to save those you love from +destruction. You need not be ignorant, that around you are hundreds of +individuals who live in affluence upon the spoils of their industry. It +is not gamblers that support gaming. If the merchant, and lawyer, and +tradesman, and the man of fortune did not supply them with the material, +their profession would die. In all my works I have shown how gambling +lends to, and is connected with, all other crimes; and I beseech you, as +you love your families, yourselves, and our common country, that you +lend your aid and influence to abate this evil. This vast conspiracy +against your lives and fortunes, which I have here developed, is no +chimera. Its workings are everywhere felt, though the machinery is +unseen. I have no object but your good in making this disclosure; and +should it meet the eye, as I have no doubt it will, of some one not a +stranger to its crimes, I beseech him to consider his ways. Why should +he live a curse to the earth--a destroyer of his kind--a blot upon +creation--a dishonour to his Maker? Heaven and earth are equally ready +to receive the returning prodigal. The only danger--the only disgrace is +to continue where you are. In behalf of our Maker, in behalf of +humanity, in behalf of all that is noble and virtuous, I beseech you to +TURN, _why will ye die_? + + + + +DEBATE ON GAMBLING, + +BETWEEN + +MR. FREEMAN THE AVOWED GAMBLER, AND MR. GREEN, THE REFORMED GAMBLER; +BEFORE THE CITIZENS OF PHILADELPHIA, IN THE LECTURE-ROOM OF THE CHINESE +MUSEUM, ON THE EVENINGS OF THE 10TH, 13TH, AND 15TH OF MAY, 1847. + +_Mr. Freeman's challenge, and Mr. Green's acceptance, as published in +the papers of the city of Philadelphia._ + + + From the Inquirer. + +It is well known that Mr. Green, the Reformed Gambler, gave a Lecture at +the Museum on Monday night last, in which he exposed the arts and +devices of the Gambling Fraternity of the Union. His audience was quite +large, and his illustrations were listened to with no little interest. +It seems from the following article, which we copy from the Sun of +yesterday, that a professional Gambler was present. His Card or +Challenge is quite a curiosity: + +Mr. Editor:--Having attended the Lecture of J. H. Green, last evening, at +the Chinese Museum, on the popular vice of Gambling, and differing from +him in each and in every view which he took, and which he is in the +habit of taking upon that subject, I beg leave respectfully to say to +him through the medium of your columns, that I have made up my mind to +confront him in debate, in regard to the right and wrong of the subject +in question. I say, I am willing so to do, provided it meets his +views, and those of the community. If he, and those who admire his +theory, are the friends of truth, surely they will not shrink from +investigation?--and if I cannot sustain myself in debate, why, his +triumph will add strength to his cause. + +With regard to _who_ I am, I will say in a single word that I am a +professional Gambler. I shall set out, if we meet, to prove to the +audience, among other things, that in his illustrations of the cheatery +which he says the gambler practices upon his victim, he is actually at +that very moment practising a palpable cheat upon the very audience +which he is proposing to enlighten. As regards any profits that may +arise from such a meeting, I want none, although perhaps as needy as Mr. +Green. + +As regards experience in debate, Mr. G. has decidedly the advantage of +me in that respect. I have had the honour of addressing public audiences +four times in my whole life, and but four--two of these were in favour +of Old Tip, in 1840, and the other two upon the subject of temperance. I +am well aware that there are many persons who would look upon it as a +sort of inconsistency that a man, occupying my position, should be the +honest advocate of temperance--but they so reason because they are +uninformed in regard to the higher order of gambling! + +Should Mr. Green accede to my proposition, he only has to name his time +and place--or if he prefers to have a personal interview, he can do so. +I am willing to wait on him at his boarding-house, but would like to +have at least one respectable person present to hear all that passes +between us. + + J.G. FREEMAN. + +N.B.--I am a native of South Carolina; I am known from Virginia to +Orleans. Mr. Green I have seen in that city, and he no doubt recollects +me, though I never had any intimacy with him. + +We publish below another communication from Mr. Freeman, in which he +announces that Mr. Green has accepted his challenge to debate, and lays +down his points for argument. We are glad of this, and have no doubt the +public will share in our curiosity to know what kind of a defence can be +made by a gambler, even so _polished_ as Mr. Freeman, for a vice fitly +characterized by Mr. Green as "fifty per cent. worse than stealing." +Expectation is on tiptoe. + + + Communicated for the Sun. + +Mr. Editor--I return to you my sincere thanks for having kindly +published my letter to Mr. J. H. Green, the reformed gambler; and beg +leave now to state to you, that I have had an interview with him, and +that he fully consents to go into the debate. It now devolves upon me, +since I have assumed the character of _plaintiff_ in the action, to +define minutely the exact points to be discussed. + +The first position, then, that I shall assume, is that all those states +in this Union that have enacted very severe laws against gambling, such +as making it a penitentiary offence, &c., have acted both tyrannically +and unwisely--_tyrannically_, because they are an infringement upon +those sacred reserved rights that never were yielded in what law +commentators call the "social compact"--and _unwise_, because their +tendency is to generate immorality rather than stop it. + +The second ground that I shall take, is that the character of that class +of beings called "gamblers" is less understood by the community at +large, and especially by that portion of it that have had no intercourse +with them, than any class of men in the world. That it has ever been the +misfortune of the gambler to be misrepresented, not only of late by Mr. +Green, but generally by those that have attempted to portray his +character in the prints. + +I shall undertake to show him up in his true character, making it +neither better nor worse than it really is--"_Let justice be done if the +heavens fall._" + +In the third place, I shall propose to prove beyond question, that +cheating at cards is decidedly the most unfortunate thing for the cause +of gambling and gamblers, that possibly could exist. And on the other +hand, that it is the very saviour of that portion of mankind who have a +sneaking fondness for play. + +In the fourth place, I will attempt to prove that those tricks that Mr. +Green is in the habit of illustrating with cards, are entirely +worthless; that they can _not_ be reduced to practice; that if they can, +it must be on persons wholly destitute of common sense; that an opinion +that he can tell any cards by the back, is entirely untrue; that neither +he nor any other man can do any such thing, unless the cards have been +marked either by himself or some other person. + +In the course of those proceedings, I shall take upon myself, for the +benefit of the young and inexperienced who may be present, to make such +developments as will be of lasting importance to them in their sojourn +through this mazy world; for, as Mr. Calhoun once said of the +Constitution of the United States, if there be any one man that loves +innocent youth better than all others, I claim to be that man. To seduce +one into _any_ vicious habit when uncontaminated, is a thing I would +_scorn_ to do. And the pleasure which I feel, when I reflect upon it, of +having actually saved some half dozen from ruin, is to me unspeakable. +But for this I know I am never to be credited; for Mr. Green has +informed us that the gambler is _hardened_, for he never goes to church, +and if you reach him at all it must be with a penitentiary act. + +But, pardon me, Messrs. Editors, this is not the time nor the place for +the argument. + + Yours, respectfully, J.G. FREEMAN. + +Mr. Green says he will inform me on to-morrow when it will suit to have +the meeting. + +Mr. Green, it will be seen by the following letter, has consented to +meet his challenger in debate on the subject of gambling. We are glad of +this, inasmuch as Mr. Freeman is said to be quite an intelligent +gentleman, and stands at the head of his _profession_. The discussion, +if conducted in a proper spirit, will be attended by good results.--ED. + + + For the Daily Sun. + +Philadelphia, April 29, 1847. + +_Messrs. Barrett & Jones_:--In the "Sun" of the 28th and 29th inst. are +two communications, over the signature of J.G. Freeman, proposing to +controvert my positions relative to the gamblers, and challenging me to +a public discussion. + +This individual called upon me after the publication of his first +letter, and seemed to be honest in his intentions to defend his system +of untold enormities. If the public, therefore, can be benefited, and my +reformatory purpose in this particular promoted, as I suspect it will, I +would rather court than avoid such an interview. + +I have long wished for, but certainly never expected such a discussion. + +I see the shoe begins to pinch. I am glad to perceive that those for +whom it was made are beginning to feel and cry aloud. Just as I +anticipated, the _law_ seems to be the part which binds most. Men who +are most without conscience are generally most restive in view of a +threatening penitentiary. + +I will accept the challenge to meet him on the several points proposed +in his communications. Indeed I am happy that he has chosen his own +grounds; for the best which such opposition could select is likely in +all conscience to be bad enough. + +Suffer me therefore to say to your correspondent that I intend lecturing +on the evenings of the 10th, 13th, and 15th of the coming month, (May,) +at the Lecture-room of the Chinese Museum, on George street; at which +times I will be very happy if he will attend and defend such positions +as are assumed in the two communications alluded to. + +I shall require, however, that a committee of gentlemen be chosen to +control the discussion. + + J. H. GREEN. + +The Lecture-room of the Museum will, we think, be found much too small +to accommodate the audience, who desire to be present on these +interesting occasions. Would it not be better to take the upper part of +the Museum building? It would certainly be filled.--ED. + +Messrs. Editors:--There is a feature in Mr. Green's acceptance to my +challenge to meet him in debate upon the subject of gambling, with which +I frankly confess I am not at all pleased. Upon looking over it, you +will discover that he uses the following language: "Suffer me, +therefore, to say to your correspondent, that I intend lecturing on the +evenings of the 10th, 13th, and 15th of the coming month, (May,) at the +lecture-room of the Chinese Museum, on George street; at which time I +will be very happy if he will attend and defend such positions as are +assumed in the two communications alluded to." Now, I should like to +know Mr. Green's motive for calling a _debate_ a _lecture_? Why not call +things by their right names? + +You will, therefore, Messrs. Editors, be pleased to inform your +correspondent, Mr. Green, that I cordially consent to meet him at the +time and place designated by him, for the purpose of _debating_ the +gambling question; and the cash which may be taken at the door to be +divided between us, if any, after all the expenses are paid, or to be +disposed of in such a manner as the committee may deem just and proper. +'Tis true, I did say in my first communication that I did not care to +have any of the money, and I so felt and so thought at that time; but +since, I have employed some reflection upon the subject, and, like some +of our modern politicians, I have _changed_. 'Tis true that money is no +part of the motive, but then, as Mr. Polk once expressed himself in +regard to the tariff and protection, I am willing that it should come in +_incidentally_. + +Now, it falls to my lot to know much more of the history of Mr. Green +than any of those who know it only from his own statements and +publications. About four or five years ago, in the city of New York, I +became acquainted with a gentleman by the name of Ball, a dealer in +ivory; this Mr. B. exhibited a large quantity of Mr. Green's cheating +cards, and said that Mr. Green was largely in his debt, and that his +only way to make the debt was to sell those cards, and asked me to buy. +He then took me into another room and exhibited to me some very costly +machinery, and certainly the strangest I had ever seen;--it had been +invented by Mr. Green to put a sign on white-back cards, so as to know +them by the backs. He also showed me other stamps invented by Mr. Green. +Now the consummation of this work had cost Mr. Green not only much +valuable time, but all the money he could possibly borrow; but, after +all, the thing ends in disaster--the cards don't sell. Desperation +seizes upon him. Like Arnold, he now throws his eye over to the other +camp, and thinks what might be done in the way of a reward. He consoles +himself with the reflection that he will, at least, be upon the side of +virtue: "I will tell the public that my only motive is to benefit the +rising generation, (a profitable thought with Mr. Green, 'the rising +generation'); but in order to begin right, I will publish to the world a +full history of my life, in which it will devolve upon me to make a +confession of my sins. All, I will disclose to the world; but as to that +ponderous machinery at Mr. Ball's in New York--I rather think I will +skip that." + +Now when poverty pinched the prodigal son, as it did Mr. Green in New +York, what was the language of that truly penitent. Alluding to his old +father, he says: "I will go and tell _all_ I ever done, &c." But when +Mr. Green resolves to put on a mask of penitence, what is his course? I +will go and tell those good ministers of the gospel, and others, _half_ +I ever done, &c., and then take good care to run my hand as deep into +their purses as possible. + +Now in Mr. Green's crusade against gambling and gamblers, if he had +shown signs of purity of motive, and had not wantonly and knowingly +misrepresented the men, and disguised the facts in regard to the +profession, I would be the last man living to impugn him. But the +motive, I consider, was _corrupt_--'twas spoils;--and in the mode of +attack, the established principle in morals has _not_ been regarded, +which is, that the means in the accomplishment of any public good must +always be as honest as the ends; and for these reasons I do feel +sanguine in the belief, when the trial comes off at the Chinese Museum +next week, that if I do not get the verdict, I shall do more--I shall +deserve it. + + Yours, &c. J.G. FREEMAN. + +N.B.--If the gentlemen, editors generally, of this city, will give the +above communication a place in their columns, with such comments as they +may think fit to make, they will confer a favour upon one of the +proscribed, but one who suffers no man to stand in front of him as a +lover of truth. + + J.G.F. + + + Communicated for the Sun. + +_Messrs. Barrett & Jones_:--I had supposed that my consent to Mr. +Freeman's request to be heard in defence of his fraternity, had fixed +that issue. I did not intend by the announcement of my lecturing on the +evenings alluded to by Mr. F., that they were to be any thing more than +a fair discussion of the character and tendencies of gambling, if Mr. F. +should think proper to participate. I wish it now to be so understood. I +want a committee of gentlemen to arrange this matter. But why Mr. F. +should suppose that he should have half the proceeds of the meeting, I +am unable to conjecture. He seeks an opportunity to defend his business +against attacks which it seems has excited no small share of alarm on +his part, or those whom he represents, and yet he demands remuneration! +The fraternity must be in a rather forlorn condition at present, if they +are unable to pay their attorney, in so philanthropic a cause. When we +consider the source, this demand sits with ill grace upon such a +champion. I have laboured now for four years, having commenced my reform +without a dollar, to expose this damnable vice. If I am not supported by +the public which my labours are designed to benefit, those labours must +necessarily cease. + +Were Mr. F. similarly engaged, I would share with him not only the +profits of my meetings, but my heart's best feelings also. + +I shall be very happy if I am met, as I was led to believe, am no +speaker, but somewhat skilful with cards, _and their_ use by me before +an intelligent audience is my argument; I want no better for my purpose. + + J. H. GREEN. + +Messrs. Editors:--It appears from Mr. Green's last communication that he +and I are at issue in regard to the preliminary arrangements of the +debate that is to come off next week, upon the gambling question. He +thinks that he ought to have all the proceeds of the meeting; and I +think it should be equally divided, or else given to some charitable +institution, or else have it free. Mr. Green's argument for supposing +that he should have _all_, is, that because he has been labouring four +years, he ought to be rewarded: and in rather a threatening tone gives +the public to understand that if they do not reward him he will quit. +"If I am not," he says, "supported by the public, which my labours are +designed to benefit, those labours must necessarily cease." Now, _my_ +argument for supposing that the proceeds should be equally divided is, +that I claim to be the _real_ reformer; that it will be seen by those +who may attend the discussion, that it is _I_ that am the true +moralist--I shall go with the New Testament in one hand, and Dr. Paley's +Moral Philosophy in the other, and upon that battery, and no other, will +I plant my artillery. He that is _green_ enough to suppose that I am +green-_horn_ enough to get up before a large audience, in the +enlightened city of Philadelphia, to defend an absurdity, must be +verdant indeed I go not to defend gamblers, but to defend truth, and to +show that Mr. Green, like a corrupt witness, in his eagerness to procure +a verdict for his party, goes beyond the facts; and that too when there +is no necessity for it, for the gambler has real sins enough without +heaping others upon him which he never committed. Now then, to end all +this difficulty at a blow, I make to Mr. Green the proposition--That the +honourable Mayor of the city, if he will do it, be the person to appoint +the committee that is to conduct the debate, and to the decision of the +committee, as to the funds, will I cordially submit, but not to Mr. +_Green's ipse dixit_. And here I will further suggest, that the +committee be composed wholly of lawyers. This will be proper, because it +is a question of law that is to be discussed; and further, it is +presumed that they understand better than any other class of men what is +called parliamentary usage. + +Should this proposition not be acceded to, which I _know_ is fair, my +course will be to debate the question on "my own hook," and in that case +take all the money and give Mr. Green not a dollar of it, but invite him +to come to _my_ quarters, and defend himself, for I shall certainly be +down upon him--and so let him go to his house the next night and take +what may be offered at his door, and allow me to answer him in what he +may have to say. + +When Mr. Green, in his acceptance of my challenge, _would_ call the +debate a _lecture_, I saw that old habits, that of cheating, had not yet +left him. Why it looks as though he has the unblushing impudence to +attempt to turn a Jack from the bottom, upon me, in the very blaze of +day, the very first deal; but the gentleman ought to know that he is now +in contact with one who knows how little things are done. Yes, he would +have it that the _debate_ was a lecture, and _Mr. Green's_ lecture, not +mine, and why? Why because if it be his lecture, all the cash would, as +a matter of course, be his. Also, is this not, I ask, the trick of a +perfect black-leg? + + J.G. FREEMAN. + + + First Night, from the Times. + +On Monday evening, at the Lecture-room of the Chinese Museum, the debate +between Mr. Green, the Reformed gambler, and Mr. J.G. Freeman of the +opposite side took place, in the presence of a very large and highly +respectable audience, partly composed of ladies. + +Dr. Elder, at the appointed time, announced that the disputants were +upon the ground, and prepared to enter into the discussion of the +subject of gambling. He then introduced Mr. Freeman to the meeting. + +Mr. F. said his antagonist and himself had settled the preliminaries, +and in regard to the proceeds of the debates, it had been agreed that +Mr. Green should receive those of the two first meetings, and that Mr. +Freeman should receive the returns of the third meeting, provided, on +motion, a large majority of those present were in favour of it. + +He would not attempt to disguise his real feelings from his hearers, and +the gratification he experienced in having the opportunity of speaking, +for once in his life, to an audience composed of men of intelligence and +integrity. He well knew the difficulties under which he laboured, being +unused to speaking in public, and surrounded as he was in the community +by the reverend gentlemen and the press, who were avowedly opposed to +him, and who had thrown their bomb-shells and Congreve rockets liberally +at the gambling fraternity, without mercy, but he regarded these weapons +as harmless, for they had fallen at his feet without inflicting a single +wound. + +Mr. F. then turned to the consideration of the laws making gambling a +penal offence, and particularly referred to the act of Assembly passed +by the last legislature, which he denounced as unjust and impolitic. He +did not appear for the purpose of defending gambling, but to speak a +word in favour of those who had been represented to be the worst +members of society, and against whom the voice of proscription had been +raised. He contended that a man had a constitutional right to do what he +pleased with that which was legally his own property, and all laws +passed to abridge that right ought to receive public reprehension. + +He was at a loss to understand why Mr. Green should have taken so active +a part in the passage of the law at Harrisburg. It had been said that +gambling must be checked, and in order to put it down, you must make it +a penitentiary offence. He regarded this as an egregious error. +Gambling, he was convinced, ought to be treated in the same manner as +Intemperance--by moral suasion--and not by passing a law that puts a man +in the penitentiary for exercising a legal right. But there were fewer +gamblers than drunkards, and the former had no influence at the +ballot-box. + +He denied the statements of Mr. Green, that young men had been enticed +to gambling-houses. They invariably went there of their own accord, and +he related instances in which the relatives and friends of young men +were called upon by gamblers, to exercise proper authority in +restraining them from visiting such places. + +He alluded to the excessive penalty attached to the law, and argued that +it would never be enforced, there being no inducement for the police to +detect the offenders; and that from the face of the law is shown, that +it was not made for the punishment of wealthy gamblers, but the poor +itinerant wretches who had no local habitation. These being birds of +passage, he questioned whether they would remain long enough in one +place to be caught, while the rich operator and speculator would be +permitted to go on unmolested, in his gilded career of depredations +upon his fellow man. + +Mr. Green then arose and expressed his surprise that any individual +could have the effrontery to stand up before an intelligent body of +citizens, a part of that constituency, from whom the legislature of the +state had derived its authority, and denounce a law which had not only +been passed with entire unanimity of the members of that body, but which +had met with general favour from the people. He then referred to the act +of Assembly, and made some explanatory remarks upon it. He ably defended +the law from the remarks of his opponent, in regard to its vagueness and +insufficiency. On the whole, he regarded it as a good one. It could be +effectively put in force, and was calculated to crush the evil of +gambling. + +He said he had no wish to conceal from the people his former habits and +mode of getting a livelihood, but on the contrary, had repeatedly, in +public, represented himself as being a wary gambler, and acknowledged +that he had done, perhaps, as much with cards in a professional way as +any man claiming the same amount of information in regard to them. + +He then passed to a review of the terrible consequences of gambling, and +showed that those who became addicted to it, acquired a passion for +play, that predominated over every other feeling, and closed up the +springs of affection and sympathy in the human heart. + +These facts he forcibly and eloquently illustrated by relating some +painful occurrence, which came under his observation. On one occasion he +was playing with a party, one of whom was losing his money very +rapidly. In the height of a game, his family physician entered the +room, and saying that it was with much difficulty that he found his +whereabouts, informed him that his daughter had been seized with extreme +illness. The gambler replied, that he would return to his home very +soon. + +The doctor left, but not long after returned with the gambler's wife, +who implored him to come home, as the girl was dying. He desired the +doctor to lead his wife from the room, with the solemn promise to follow +them; which promise he seemed to have forgotten the next instant, so +deeply was he interested in the play, and he remained at the +gaming-table. In a little while after, the doctor returned and told him +his daughter was dead. For the moment, he appeared to be greatly +affected, but he still sat at the faro table of that h----l, and when he +arose from it he was a ruined man. + +The man has since reformed, and Mr. Green said that when he last saw +him, in Baltimore, he attempted to describe the feelings which rent his +breast, after he had realized the sad events of that night. His first +desire was to commit suicide, but the hand of Providence stayed his arm, +and by His interposition he was enabled to turn from the vice, and shun +the society of those who practise it. + +Mr. Green re-asserted that all he had stated about plans being laid to +catch the unwary, by gamblers, was strictly true. He had been cognisant +of plottings of the fraternity, and in speaking of some individual who +was about to be plucked, the common expression among them was, "that he +was not ripe yet." The remarks of Mr Green were listened to with great +attention by the audience. + +Mr. Freeman followed, and after briefly replying to the points of the +previous speaker, said that it was his intention, at the next meeting, +to prove that all species of speculation is, properly speaking, +gambling. + +The Rev. John Chambers concluded. He confessed his disappointment. He +expected to find a man here who would attempt to defend gambling, but he +congratulated the audience that no such thing had been attempted, Mr. +Freeman having acknowledged gambling to be an evil. + +The Reverend gentleman's remarks were of a general character, and in the +course of their delivery he upheld the law of the state, and unsparingly +denounced those for whose detection and punishment it was passed. + + + First Night, from the Saturday Evening Post. + +The discussion on gambling, between Mr. Green the Reformed gambler, and +Mr. Freeman, of the "Profession," which has been looked forward to with +so much interest, opened upon Monday evening. The audience generally, +however, were rather disappointed, inasmuch as Mr. Freeman stated that +he did not come there to defend gambling, but only to prove the folly +and injustice of attempting to put it down by making its practice, _by +professional gamblers_, an offence punishable by imprisonment in the +penitentiary. But although Mr. Freeman made this avowal, he evidently +did attempt in various parts of the discussion to defend gambling--not, +however, as a thing good in itself, but as being no worse than many +other practices which society tolerates, and which no man loses his +reputation, or is in danger of imprisonment, for engaging in. + +We have no scruple in confessing, that we were much interested in Mr. +Freeman. He appears to be one of a singular class of men, some one of +whom may be found in nearly every pursuit, however dishonourable--men of +keen and subtle minds, and of as much goodness and honesty of purpose as +is possible in the life which they have chosen, or into which perhaps +they have been in a degree forced. In the course of his remarks, he made +one allusion to his own history, which while it told as much as any +thing that was said in the course of the debate against gambling, opened +unto us, in a degree, the secret of his present position. He said that +when he was a young man, he had lost his all at the gaming table, and +that from that blow he had never recovered--"_it had broken his heart_." +And yet, strange anomaly, he now not only makes his living by gambling, +but stands up before the world as its defender. + +But let us look a little further into Mr. Freeman's arguments. He did +not state them very plainly, being evidently unaccustomed to public +speaking, and, as the English say, to "thinking on his legs," but if we +are not mistaken, he reasons to his own heart as follows. Gambling in +cards is not right _abstractly_, but it is the same in principle as +gambling in stocks, in breadstuffs, in merchandise, in land, or in any +thing else. None of these are right, but they are necessary fruits of +the folly and wickedness of men, and inevitable in the present condition +of society. "I make my living, I know," he probably says, "from the +weakness and wickedness of my fellow men; but so do the physician, the +judge, the lawyer, the jailer, and the hangman." If we are not mistaken, +in this way does Mr. Freeman make out a clear case to his own +conscience; and to some small extent he is right in what he asserts. To +gamble with cards is the same principle as to gamble with stocks, or any +thing else--the difference is only one of degree; but although the +gambler and the judge both live, in a certain sense, off of the vices of +their fellow men, the difference is very evident between him whose +business conduces to increase those vices, and his whose noble office it +is to lessen them. + +But Mr. Freeman complains that, while the gambler with cards is +proscribed by society, and branded with all marks of shame, and laws +passed to imprison him if found practising his art, the gambler in +stocks is neither reviled nor imprisoned. At the rank injustice, as he, +in our opinion, honestly believes it, of this course on the part of +society, he can hardly contain his indignation. Those "uncouth +gestures," as one of our contemporaries designates them, were not in our +opinion intended for effect, but were the natural language of +uncontrollable indignation at what he believes to be the rank in justice +of society, which he could not adequately express in words. The audience +laughed, but the speaker was far from laughing--a perfect tempest of +conflicting emotions, it seemed to us, was agitating his bosom. Strange +as it may sound to our readers, he evidently thought that his cause was +just, and wanted to make it appear so, not to the gamblers and their +friends, hundreds of whom were present, and ready at any moment with +their applause, but to the crowd of intelligent, virtuous men and women, +in whose audience he stood. We saw the breaking out of this feeling in +the half-contemptuous manner in which he alluded to the tastes of +gamblers in general, as contrasted with his own--"he did not keep the +company of gamblers; he had nothing to say against them, but his tastes +were different." + +But is it unjust to punish the gambler with cards by imprisonment and +public proscription, while the gambler in stocks, &c., whose crime is +the same in principle, though not in degree, goes unwhipt of justice? +Undoubtedly it is, for it is no reason that one vice should go +unpunished, because another is able to escape for the present. Mr. +Freeman's argument is very good, so far as it applies to inflicting upon +the gambler in stocks the same penalty as on himself; but the law of +Progress, and the best interests of society, demand that these things +should never be allowed to work backwards. For the way society advances, +is simply this--the worst manifestations of vice are first proscribed, +and then their proscription is made a stepping-stone to demolish others. +For instance--we attack gambling with cards, the worst manifestation of +the gambling principle; we make it abhorrent to the moral sense of the +world; we so confound it, and justly too, with robbery, that future +generations shall grow up in that faith, and all the efforts of +interested sophistry never be able henceforward to separate them to the +popular apprehension. Having done this, in the course of some fifty or +one hundred years, certain dealings in stocks, for instance, are called +in question. If they can be proved to be rightly described by the phrase +"GAMBLING in Stocks," the battle is half-won. For the proscription of +the worst kind of gambling has given a vantage ground from which to +attack the principle of gambling wherever found. And this, we say, is +the only law of progress. + +Another ground taken by Mr. Freeman was, that "a man has a right to do +what he chooses with his own, if in so doing he does not injure anybody +else." In a limited sense, this is true, doubtless--but he does injure +somebody else if he fails to perform his duties to his family or to his +country. For instance, he has no right to commit suicide. But gambling +cannot be done without injuring somebody else, as it takes two to play +at it--leaving out of view the injury done to society at large, as Mr. +Green has shown in his various works on the subject. But there is no +necessity in dwelling upon this point--it cannot be defended for a +moment. + +As to Mr. Green's part in the discussion, it is not necessary to say +much. He has our confidence and sympathy. We consider his present course +a most noble one, and wish him all success in his efforts to overthrow +the abominable vice from whose clutches he has come forth a reformed +man. + +We have taken up considerable room with this subject, because we feel +great interest in both parties engaged in the discussion. Did Mr. +Freeman appear to be only a bold, bad man, we should hardly have wasted +a single paragraph upon him or his arguments. But he is evidently a man +of considerable information and talent, and to all appearance, strange +as it may sound, of much sincerity and cross-grained honesty. That he +may be led to forsake his present pursuits, before his gray hairs shall +have gone down to a dishonoured grave, is our fervent wish and prayer. + + + From Scott's Weekly. + +The interesting question between Mr. J. H. Green, the Reformed Gambler, +and Mr. J.G. Freeman, as to the rights of gambling, was discussed in the +Lecture-room of the Museum Building, on Monday evening last. A large +audience attended, and notwithstanding the zeal of Mr. Freeman more than +once carried him a little beyond the limits of propriety, the whole +passed off pleasantly. + +The announcement in the papers was not adhered to, which created some +dissatisfaction; but then the speeches of Mr. Freeman were of themselves +well worth the price of admission. He did not defend gambling--he could +not, he said, pretend to defend it--he only meant to deny the sweeping +aspersions of its foes. He spoke at great length, and sometimes his +logic was quite ingenious. + +Mr. Green confined himself to a few facts, leaving the more minute part +of the discussion for a subsequent evening. + +The Rev. John Chambers closed the proceedings by a few timely remarks, +in which he reviewed what he considered lawful and unlawful +pursuits--among these latter, he hoped to see the time that every vender +of intoxicating liquors would be placed in the same catalogue that +gamblers are by the recent law--imprisonment. He then referred to the +decorum of the audience, and expressed a hope that all the future +discussions would be listened to in the same spirit--that all the truth +possible may be elicited in reference to that terrible vice--gambling. + + + From the Inquirer. + +The long-talked-of debate upon gambling and its tendencies, was +commenced last evening in the Lecture-room of the Chinese Museum. The +audience was large, and deep interest was manifested in the discussion. +Aboard of highly respectable gentlemen presided as Moderators, and Dr. +Elder officiated as chairman. + +Mr. Freeman, the challenger, opened the debate, and proposed that the +question be met in a categorical form, thus:--Were the laws of the +different states which make gambling a Penitentiary offence unjust and +impolitic? Were they formed in good policy or not? + +Mr. Freeman considered himself as honoured in being permitted to speak +before the meeting on the question. Fearful odds were against him; all +the ranks of battle were on the other side. The clergy, who were +accustomed to public speaking, were against him--as well as the editors +and the press. In the war now raging, the climate--the sickly climate, +was more dangerous than the shells and shot of the enemy--and in this +case, the sickly climate was the prejudice, the prejudice of opinion, +which was against the cause he espoused, or rather defended. Mr. F. also +referred to other influences against him. Mr. F. contended that even, if +the states in which such laws were passed, disliked the vice of +gambling--it was no reason why they should pass laws that were unjust +and impolitic. + +Mr. F. contended, in opposition to such laws, that a man had a perfect +right to do what he pleased with his own things. Any legislation to the +contrary was tyranny. More mischief and immorality would result from +such laws than from the vice itself--for it was a violation of one of +the rights of man on the mere score of expediency. He contended, +therefore, that men had a perfect right to do what they pleased with +their own things, so long as they did not interfere with the rights of +others. A drunkard could not drink without disturbing other people--why +not make his a Penitentiary offence? Yet a gambler was considered a +Penitentiary offender, though he did not interfere with the rights of +others. + +What were speculators in railroads, &c. &c.?--Why many of them gamblers +on the largest scale! + +In noticing the temptations of gambling, Mr. F. said that he and other +gamblers had often warned youths against entering upon that dangerous +course, and had thus saved them from ruin. + +Mr. F. argued against the law recently enacted at Harrisburg against +gambling, on the ground that it was partial and unjust. + +One of the strangest things was, that a man who had been imprisoned, had +been an outcast himself, should be the first to betray, and to place +others in the same situation, and send them to the Penitentiary. Yet +such was the case with the gentleman who had come from Ohio to +Harrisburg to assist in obtaining the passage of the law against +gambling. + +Mr. Green replied, and defended the law in question, as it was passed in +Pennsylvania; and read a section, in which gamblers, without a fixed +residence, were, upon conviction, to be imprisoned, &c.; and Mr. G. said +that although no games were mentioned, yet all gambling games were +included. Mr. G. admitted that he had been a gambler for many years, and +had done much evil to the community--as much as most evil men--but he +was now, he hoped, reformed. Mr. G. then contended that several +gambling-houses and tables had been closed under this law--and surely +this was a great advantage to the public--surely such closing of +gaming-houses had saved many persons from ruin. + +Mr. Green gave much experience of his gambling life, and contended that +principles of honour were not common among gamblers. Gambling was a +principle of robbery--of robbery from beginning to end. If gambling was +right--why, Mr. Green would ask--did the former speaker persuade young +men not to come into gambling-houses? Mr. Green described a splendid +gambling-house in Calvert street, Baltimore, and the snares of robbery +laid for the unwary--and the method adopted to entrap a rich and unwary +citizen. The revelations were truly startling, and displayed a painful +instance of the _"facilis descensus averni"_--a father whose feelings +were blunted, and hardly to be re-awakened even by the death of a +beloved daughter. And this was but one instance out of thousands, in +which the sum of $1200, $1500, and $2000 had been lost at various times, +and a fatal, fascinating infatuation contracted. + +Mr. Freeman resumed, and again contended for the right of any man to +gamble--that he had a right to do what he would with his own--and that a +law was unfair which punished this one vice, and let other and greater +vices alone. It was cowardly legislation. A gambler was said to have no +home, and would not be missed, if he were sent to prison; but send a man +of property, of standing to prison for some one of _his_ vices, and +there would soon be a fuss in the wigwam. Mr. F. was very severe upon +the great body of editors, for following servilely public opinion, +without courage or independence to express a manly opinion of their own. + +Mr. F. said that all ministers were not good men--there were a few +exceptions--neither should all gamblers, in fairness, be considered as +scoundrels. He, Mr. F. as a gambler, never would admit his inferiority +to those individuals who, without labour, gained money and circumvented +others by extensive and fraudulent schemes of speculation. + +The Rev. John Chambers summed up with great eloquence and ability, and +said that he was disappointed--he had expected a defence and vindication +of gambling as an _honourable_ profession--but he was glad to find that +the gentleman who had spoken, Mr. Freeman, had not even attempted to +advocate gambling as truthful or honest. + +Mr. Chambers considered all dealing fair, in which a man received a +_quid pro quo_--but whether a man cheat at cards or in the sale of a +bale of dry goods, he was equally a scoundrel. If Mr. Freeman would make +it appear that gambling was a fair business, he (Mr. C.) would not wish +it to be a Penitentiary offence; but if gambling was, as Mr. Green had +shown, a system of robbery--why then, it ought to be a Penitentiary +offence. Mr. C. said that Mr. Freeman had behaved honourably--for he had +said to young men--"Do not come into this place!" And why? Because it +was the road to ruin. + +Mr. C. regretted that Mr. Freeman should have made several scriptural +allusions. No virtuous man would ever support gambling--for it gave no +equivalent either in money or reputation for the losses sustained. As +such was the case, gambling should be a Penitentiary offence--but if Mr. +Freeman could prove that it was an upright and honourable calling, why +then, perhaps, he might induce us to apprentice our children to it. + +After Mr. Green had spoken for a few minutes, the debate was adjourned +to Thursday evening next. + + + From the Evening Bulletin. + +The great discussion on the subject of gambling came off last night at +the Chinese Museum, between Mr. Green, the celebrated Reformed Gambler, +and Mr. Freeman, the individual who acknowledges himself one of the +"sporting" band. The audience was very large and respectable. A board of +worthy gentlemen were appointed a governing committee, of which Dr. +Elder acted as chairman. The whole proceedings were marked with the +greatest decorum. + +Mr. Freeman spoke first. He is a man somewhat advanced in years, and +possesses abilities, which we could wish were better applied than in the +defence, or even palliation, of such a corrupting habit as gambling. He +directed his batteries mainly against the late gambling laws in this +state. + +He did not like the application to professional and not private +gambling. He denounced editors and ministers by wholesale; in regard to +the former, declaring that there was only one in the country who was +really independent, and that one, Bennett of the New York Herald! He +quoted Scripture, but that is not surprising, for we are told by the +poet, "the devil may cite Scripture." His manner was violent, and his +allusions to his opponent, Mr. Green, the very essence of bitterness. +He tried to slide his repugnance to that gentleman into the small corner +of contempt; but the whole audience could see that he, in reality, +entertained no such trifling feelings towards his opponent. + +Mr. Green spoke in reply to Freeman, not only like a gentleman, but like +a Christian. He treated the sneers of his opponent with kindness, +seeming to be sorry, if one might judge from his manner, that he should +have boldly placed himself in the point which he occupies before the +community. There was a plain, straightforward honesty, as well as a +gentleness in the tone and manner of Green, which, though he did not +indulge in such a flow of language as his opponent, spoke volumes in +favour of his sincerity, and won for him new friends and admirers. His +opponent had intimated both by word and act, that he was not to be +trusted; he did not seem to feel it necessary to go into a defence of +his motives in reply, but appeared to say, "Here I am,--I come to +denounce a habit of pestiferous corrupting influence, of which I have +practical knowledge; I will stand or fall by the position which I have +taken,--leaving the future to show the world whether or not I am +honest." Freeman spoke again after Green concluded, and very much in the +same style as in the early part of the evening. + +After he had concluded, the Rev. John Chambers made an address, which +was marked with strong argument and a fine Christian-like tone. Mr. +Green then said a few words, and the meeting adjourned to Thursday +evening, at the same place, when the discussion is to be resumed. There +doubtless will be a large attendance. No subject could be more +interesting to the public, and the agitation of none can exercise a +better moral influence. + + + From the North American. + +A good-humoured illustration of the right of every one to say what he +pleases, took place at the Lecture-room of the Museum last evening. Mr. +Freeman, an uncouth man, who gesticulates as if he was mending shoes, +but who has naturally no inconsiderable endowment of brain and nerve, +delivered himself of a tirade against everybody in general, and against +the press and clergy in particular. He complained that everybody was +against him--compared the clergy to Gen. Scott and his regulars; the +editors to bomb-shells and Congreve rockets, and what else we know not; +himself individually to Gen. Taylor, and the race of the poor persecuted +gamblers to our Saviour--who, he said, like them, had not where to lay +his head! + +The impious jumble of fustian and blasphemy was accompanied in the +delivery by every species of grimace and buffoonery, and a fierceness of +dramatic action and posture far more ludicrously affecting than the +classic attitudes of Gen. Tom Thumb, who was defying the lightning, as +Ajax, dying like the Gladiator, and taking snuff like Napoleon, in the +room overhead. At the bottom of all this ridiculous exhibition, which +drew repeated shouts of laughter from the very large and respectable +audience, lay two principles upon which Mr. Freeman might have erected +an imposing argumentative structure. These were, that every man has a +right to do what he pleases with his own, so that he does not disturb +others; and that laws punishing professional gamblers and letting +citizens go free, are unjust. + +Mr. Green, without going into the metaphysics of the question, showed by +some very plain and straightforward remarks the fraud and villany of +professional gambling, and proved that it was throughout a _system_ of +deliberate robbery. This being the case, it follows, of course, that the +general good of the community, which has ever been acknowledged +paramount, requires it to be put down. Thus satisfactorily stood the +question when we left, and we do not see how it can fairly be removed +from this broad ground. It is evident that Mr. Green is a sincere man, +and we firmly believe that he is engaged in a good work. + + +SECOND NIGHT. + + + From the Inquirer. + +The discussion between Mr. Green, the Reformed gambler, and Mr. Freeman +in opposition, was continued yesterday evening, in the Lecture-room of +the Chinese Museum, Leonard Jewell, Esq. in the chair. + +Mr. Freeman contended that not one of his arguments, on the previous +evening, had been answered by Mr. Green, but anecdotes and doleful +stories had been told instead. Mr. F. defended his allusions from +Scripture, and said that they had been misconstrued; that he only meant +to say that the Saviour of mankind had recommended us to do good, and to +return good for evil; but some of the clergy had not followed the golden +rule in this matter, for punishment and the Penitentiary had been +recommended by them as a cure for gambling. As it was known that he (the +speaker) played, he came only to defend gambling as far as truth went, +but no farther--there he would stop. + +Mr. Freeman complained that Mr. Green had classed _all_ gamblers as men +of the worst character--as if they were thieves or counterfeiters, +whereas Mr. G. knew that he could mention many who were incapable of +doing any thing mean--men who would denounce a counterfeiter as soon as +any one in that room. Mr. Freeman related a story of a fraudulent trick, +by which a large sum of money had been fraudulently obtained, and its +recovery prevented by force--one individual, who was named, menacing +with a bowie-knife; and Mr. F. said of the getter-up of the +plan--pointing to Mr. Green--"as Nathan said unto David, there sits the +man!" + +Mr. Green admitted that it might be so--that it was so. + +Mr. Freeman said that he knew Mr. Green's friends had a reply to cover +all such things--because he was a reformed man--Mr. F. hoped it was so, +but he really had some little doubt. + +Mr. F. distinguished between deep play, which he likened to the +_strategie_ of generals in the field, the one to mislead the other, and +open, undisguised cheating, which he denounced. Mr. F. referred to +several distinguished men who gambled--and to several well-known +gamblers--and he defied Mr. Green to say that any one he had named would +or could be guilty of a mean action. + +There was in the world a certain amount of wealth--the many of mankind +were (the industrious) producers--but he held that all men, speculators, +who circumvented others by their wits, living without work, were in +point of fact--_gamblers_. If a man were to go into the street and gain +$3000 in a morning by a stock or other speculation--why, as surely as we +lived, somebody lost that money--aye, and by gambling on the largest +scale. Men who lost their money at a gaming-table went there to win +money of the gamblers--but generally lost their own. Their object was to +put the gambler's money in their own pockets; and when they were +disappointed, they exclaimed against gamblers. Gamblers lived on the +depravity of men; if men were not depraved, gamblers would have no +chance; but they were encouraged by the depravity of others. Mr. F. +condemned and would punish cheating, whether by gamblers or other +speculators. + +Mr. Green did not wish to say any thing personally against any of the +men or gamblers who had been named by Mr. F. Some were benevolent +men--but one or two he had named were men without heart. He (Mr. G.) +knew several gamblers, amateurs and professional men, who were +straightforward in their gambling transactions. He did not desire to +hurt the feelings of any of these individuals--he attacked not men but +vice--and he contended that gambling was a system of robbery, from +beginning to end. That it was that he contended for--and that, he hoped, +he had already shown. Mr. Green admitted that Mr. Freeman's story of the +scheme gotten up, bowie-knife, &c., was in the main correct. If meeting +contracts was honest--why then, many gamblers might be called honest. He +did not mean to say that such HONEST gamblers would put their hands in a +man's pocket and steal money--no--they would not do that. + +But he would say what they would do;--they would sit up all night, have +suppers, wine and spirits set out to tempt men, and they would play with +any that came; and though some such customers were known or suspected to +have obtained the money they played with by robbery, yet he never knew +that the gamblers had ever refused to allow such men to play, so long as +they had money. Mr. Green described several snares that were practised +by gamblers, particularly one at New Orleans, called the "broker." He +hoped some of the gamblers of this city would reform as soon as the new +law went into effect. He had already heard of some having turned +collectors, policemen, &c.--but he doubted their reform if they were +turned over to the police--for though there were some very good +policemen in this city, he could confidently say also there were some +spotted ones. + +Mr. Green considered the bowling-alleys and billiard rooms as the very +bane of the city--leading men on step by step to the vices of gambling +and drunkenness. Mr. Green stated that he had never met with a gambler +in his life, who played honestly, and got his living by playing cards +honestly--for all he had ever known would take advantage, +sometimes--which perhaps the world might call cheating. Mr. Green +practically illustrated with a pack of cards the modes of taking +advantage, (cheating in plain English,) that were truly surprising. Mr. +G. said that such things were done by gamblers, called _honourable_, and +if any one had charged such men with dishonesty, why a duel, or worse, +might have been the consequence. + +On one occasion, he (Mr. Green) had been cheated out of several hundred +dollars by a brother gambler. He knew it, but lost his money and said +nothing--at length, he found out the method of cheating--and went home +and set up all night by way of studying a cheat that would recover his +money and more. He succeeded at last, and went and won all the money of +his antagonist and party--in fact, he won enough to break the whole +party. Mr. Green then showed by cards how he had been engaged in winning +(by tricks) money from a planter in Louisiana. + +Mr. Freeman replied, and contended that Mr. Green had referred to only a +few mean gamblers--and by his inference charged their practices upon the +whole body. But our limited space warns us to be brief. Mr. Freeman only +contended that a gambler was honest in a relative point of view--as +honest as other men who in trade or otherwise, or in speculation, did +things as bad or worse than gamblers. Mr. F. related anecdotes to show +that persons charged with faults and crimes were almost always condemned +by public opinion, and their faults and crimes exaggerated. Mr. F. +stated that in former times, the keepers of gaming-houses in New Orleans +paid heavy licenses, and were subject to ruinous fines if they cheated +in the smallest degree. + +Mr. F. contended that cheating at cards was decidedly a disadvantage to +the gambler--because, if he lost his character as a fair man, people +would not play with him, and so cheating was to him a loss: on the +principle of a man in England, who said he would give a hundred thousand +dollars for a character. "Why?" asked his friends. "Because," replied +the first, "because I could gain two hundred thousand dollars by it!" + +Mr. F. introduced several anecdotes. Mr. F. had heard several sensible +men in New Orleans say, that if gaming-houses there were licensed, there +would be little or no cheating, because those houses would be under the +police, and people could not then do as they now do in holes and +corners. On the principle of "Vice is a creature of such hateful mien," +&c. &c., Mr. F. thought that Mr. Green, by showing and explaining some +of his tricks, would be likely to tempt some persons to practise such +tricks, if they wanted a little money; and on this point he would quote +Scripture, and say--"Lead us not into temptation!" + +Mr. Freeman exhibited a capital trick on the cards, quite equal to some +of Mr. Green's. But, said Mr. F., all such things were nothing--for, in +gambling, playing on the square with fairness is the best policy. [Mr. +Green admitted Mr. Freeman's trick to be very superior--and it was at +length understood that at the next meeting (on Saturday night) several +of these mysteries would be shown on both sides.] + +Mr. Green declared that he could show the principle of gambling to be a +hundred per cent. worse than stealing. + +The debate was listened to with much interest, and we learn that it will +be closed to-morrow (Saturday) evening. + + From the Evening Bulletin. + +Messrs. Green and Freeman renewed their discussion last night, at the +Chinese Museum, in the presence of a crowded audience, Leonard Jewell, +Esq. in the chair. Mr. Freeman spoke first, and very _modestly_ +contended that none of his arguments of the previous evening had been +answered by his opponent, but that, instead of this, painful anecdotes +and stories had been told. He had quoted Scripture only to show that +making stringent laws to punish gambling was contrary to the spirit of +our Saviour's teaching, viz. to return good for evil. This argument, +will, of course, apply to all laws for the punishment of crime. Freeman +went on to except to Green's wholesale denunciations of all gamblers; it +was well known that some were _honourable_ men. There were a few bad +ones, his opponent knew, and one, in particular, who on a certain +occasion drew a bowie-knife to prevent a sum of money, fraudulently +obtained, being returned to its proper owner. Green acknowledged that he +was the man to whom Freeman alluded. He would not deny that he had been +as guilty as the guiltiest. + +Freeman continued by saying that he supposed his opponent would get over +this by saying he had reformed. Green looked assent. + +Freeman justified gambling by business operations, which were the result +of chance, such as stock-jobbing; but we confess we cannot see where the +parallel begins, the one being a clear matter of chance on both sides, +the other, if Green's stories be true, which we firmly believe, all on +the side of the gambler, who cheats from the beginning to the ending of +his playing, what with tricks of the trade, marked cards, &c. Freeman +took the ground that gamblers were honest, and thus made out a better +case than the facts will sustain. + +Mr. Green's reply was quiet and unaffected. He knew some gamblers who +were straightforward and honourable in their playing. But the majority +of the profession were dishonest, and the community was demoralized and +impoverished by them. He admitted the story about the bowie-knife. He +had never been disposed to conceal any of his wicked acts while one of +the _profession_. There was one point on which all gamblers were +unprincipled; they would play and win money of men they knew were +totally ignorant of the arts of card-playing. This was a fraud--it was +dishonest; a strong argument against the whole band, good or bad. + +Mr. Green denounced bowling-alleys and billiard saloons. He then exposed +the tricks by which gamblers cheated, and in doing so interested the +audience very much. + +Freeman's rejoinder was still to the end that some gamblers were honest +and honourable. He knew that there were rogues among gamblers, who +practised tricks, and he gave an excellent specimen of their adroitness, +in a trick which Mr. Green acknowledged was a capital one. + +The debate was listened to throughout with great attention. It will be +resumed on Saturday evening. + + +THIRD NIGHT + + + From the Daily Sun. + +On Saturday evening, the debate between Messrs. Green and Freeman, on +the subject of gambling, was resumed, in the Lecture-room of the Museum +building. There was a full audience in attendance, and towards the close +of the debate, the proceedings became intensely interesting. + +At the appointed hour, Dr. Elder, the moderator, made a few remarks, by +way of opening the meeting, and introduced + +Mr. Freeman, who, upon advancing to the table, said that he regarded it +as complimentary indeed, that he was permitted to proceed with the +discussion. Under all the circumstances, he considered it a great +compliment, that a highly intelligent audience should listen to one of +the proscribed fraternity. But friends, (said the speaker,) if the scene +of the discussion lay farther South, in the region of the spot where he +was born, he would not consider it so much of a compliment--he would not +make such a concession, even from the great Harry of the West down to my +fallen foe. In looking round the staging he observed new faces, and +missed those who had previously occupied their places--he had heard +those men had consulted their dignity, and any man (in the opinion of +the speaker) who thinks more of his dignity than his duty is not fit to +occupy the sacred desk. The arguments which he had brought forward on +the previous occasions have not been answered. Mr. Green has not even +attempted to do so, but he (the speaker) had found that a worthy +gentleman had entered the field, though not verbally, and endeavoured to +supply the place of his opponent. He would take the liberty to +compliment him--the distinguished editor of the Post--though he did not +know him, nor that such a paper as the Post was printed. That editor, +like many others whose prejudices overbalance their reason, had +misunderstood him. The speaker then indulged in a _critique_ on the +editorial, principally upon the ground which he had taken--that a man +has a right to do with his own things what he pleases, provided, in so +doing, he does not infringe upon the rights of others. On this point, it +appeared that the editor thought and argued differently, and Mr. Freeman +said, that in taking the above ground, he did not claim originality, for +it is a principle of law, as laid down in Blackstone, Paley, and +others--it is the language of great commentators, and upon it he would +stand or fall, and leave the distinguished editor to battle with those +men. + +Some things, continued the speaker, may seem inconsistent at first, +which, upon examination, are not inconsistent. A thing may be legally +right and morally wrong, and whilst he could defend it legally, he could +not morally. For instance, suppose a rich man had two sons, both of whom +acted as sons should act, and the father in making out his will should +devise his whole estate to one son, and cut the other off, as they say +in England, with a shilling. Now, who would deny his right to do so if +it pleased him; who would say that it is not legally right?--no one. But +would it be morally right?--certainly not. What is morality?--love your +God, your neighbour, and yourself. And though he could defend the will +as legal, yet in a moral point of view he could condemn it as unnatural. +The editor of the Post (said the speaker) confounds gambling with +robbery, and what for?--that future generations may grow up in faith. It +is, said he, a settled principle of morality never to hoist false +colours, but to raise the standard of truth and defend it to the last. +(Applause.) + +He remembered an anecdote: a physician was sent to attend a poor sick +boy, and when he arrived at the couch of pain and distress, he found it +necessary to administer a pill--a very nauseous dose. Said the +mother--"Doctor, it would be better to put a little sugar on it, and +then he can take it, and not know it's a pill." "No, madam," replied the +doctor, "it won't do to deceive him. Here, my son," said the +practitioner, "take this medicine and it will cure you," and the little +fellow swallowed it like a man. Thus it is with Mr. Green and the green +editor; they associate the gambler, without distinction, with assassins +and robbers. In doing so they are wrong; they do not speak the truth. +The speaker then proceeded to show how a young man may often be lured +into temptation--by representing gamblers as assassins, who, upon +acquaintance, he finds are apparently gentlemen, and he is induced to +think that he has been hitherto misled and deceived in regard to such +men. He then cultivates their acquaintance, and finally, through his own +depravity, he becomes worse and worse, until he is at last swallowed up +in the vortex of degradation. This is the result of employing +dishonourable measures to prevent him from visiting such places, or to +carry out honourable ends. + +A man has a right to commit suicide, so far as propriety is concerned. +If he does not owe any thing, and feels it in his conscience that he +would like to die, he has a right to do so--but if that man owes five +dollars, he would certainly violate a moral principle by killing +himself, because he ought to live as long as he can to pay his debt. The +speaker once knew a man, in good circumstances, who was weary of +existence, and feeling disposed to take a journey to "that bourne whence +no traveller returns," committed suicide. There may be many who would +call it murder--but the community are murderers--they sometimes murder +in cold blood. But lately a man was taken to the gallows, and they hung +a young man because he had killed somebody else, and yet there are many +persons who believe this is right, and that suicide, such as the speaker +had selected, is wrong. + +The speaker now proceeded to criticize the law relative to gambling, +passed at the recent legislature, in which he said that if a man has a +fixed place of residence and carries on a dry goods business, he might +gamble as much as should please him and the law would not take hold of +him. He would ask anybody to read the law understandingly and then deny +this round assertion. This act, said he, is bugbear--it is a disgrace as +it now stands, for it smacks of cowardice. The legislators, he presumed, +had a little sense, and they knew that some kind of a law must be +passed, and they were ingenious enough to know how to frame it to sound +well, and yet be comparatively powerless. They knew by such a statute +that _nolle prosequis_ could be entered--and solicitors make more +money--they well knew that there were many religious people among their +constituents, and it would not do for them to act singular, or else they +would find so short an account at the next ballot-box that they would +not be sent back. He would spurn such legislators and keep them for ever +in private life. (Applause.) + +In conclusion, he said that he was decidedly an anti-gambler, and he did +not defend the subject morally. In order that he might enlighten the +people on the subject of gambling, he would give one lecture, in which +he would relate his experience, and promised that it should be the +richest and most interesting thing that could be listened to. He did not +want money. He would only ask enough to pay expenses of the room--the +ladies and the reverend clergy may come in gratis--all he wished was +that the truth should be told about gambling. + +Mr. Green now took the stand, and said that it appeared to him that +there was something in the law which seemed to stick to his opponent, +Mr. Freeman. He complains that the Jaw is dull--that it is trash--a +bugbear, and heaps other similar epithets upon it, and yet he appears to +make considerable noise about it, and why should he attempt to ridicule +me, in connection with the law. Every man in this state knows that Mr. +Green himself could not pass the law without the aid of the legislature. +He (Mr. Freeman) goes on to take many other positions which he (the +speaker) could not understand, and therefore would not further allude to +them. He thought that if the young men were warned properly to keep +aloof from the gambling shops, and they should heed the warning, they +would escape a life of infamy. 'Tis true, a young man may go from the +parlour to a gambling-place. He will first find the gamblers +fascinating--rooms handsomely furnished--fine suppers given, and in +fact, every temptation may be set out to catch the unwary novice. The +gambler will tell him this reform is all priestcraft--you can see for +yourself that we (gamblers) are not the assassins which we are +represented to be--these reformers don't speak the truth. The young man +is blinded--he thinks he knows by this time all about the gamblers--but +in fact he knows nothing. He goes on by degrees, until becoming more +hardened, he does not fear to do that which would have made him recoil +with horror, in the outset. He may go to another city--carry letters of +introduction to prominent gamblers--forty other letters may get there +before him, putting the robbers on the look out, getting them to set +their stool-pigeons. The young man is trapped--he is enticed into a +gambling hell--don't call them sporting saloons or gambling-rooms, (said +the speaker,) but call them what they are, _hells_--he loses all his +money--his character is gone--he is ruined, and who then cares for +him--does the gambler? + +Let me relate an instance which came under my immediate notice:--A young +man in Baltimore, sometime after he had been ruined at a gambling hell, +went there, but having no money, was not cared for by the gambler. He +laid down on the floor in a corner of the room, night after night. One +day, in particular, it was asked who he was. "Only a loafer," replied +the gambler. The young man was aroused from his stupor by the one with +whom he had gambled and lost, and was told to go about his business. The +young man replied, "Sir, you should be the last man to treat me so; it +was with you I first played cards, it was under your roof where I tasted +the first glass of wine;" and whilst thus expostulating, the gambler +pushed him out, he reeled down the stairs, fractured his skull on the +curb-stone and fell into the gutter. Mr. Green was present and saw this +base transaction. He raised the young man from the gutter, gave him a +handkerchief to wipe the blood from his forehead. The next day that +young man was found dead under one of the wharves. Now he, Mr. Green, +could not say that the gambler murdered him, but he was dead and held +the handkerchief in his clenched fist. That young man had swallowed the +wrong pill; why did not the gamblers tell him they were robbers and +assassins, why did they not stick to the truth. They dare not do it, and +he (Mr. Green) thought it his duty as a reformed man to speak truly and +act honestly. The present law which so much troubles Mr. Freeman was +passed with due deliberation unanimously, and when it goes into effect +on the first of July he would not wonder if there should be a very great +amount of trouble among more gamblers than Mr. Freeman. (Applause.) + +_Mr. Freeman._ The gentleman wants to know, why this law grieves me +so--why! because it is trash. He (the speaker) did not expect to live in +Pennsylvania but a few days longer, as he intended going South, and if +he should chance to come back again, and choose to play a game of cards, +he did not wish to be placed on a par with incendiaries, robbers and +murderers. All of you, no doubt, have heard of steamboat racing, boilers +blowing up, &c.--everybody is up in arms about it, and cry aloud for a +law to stop this abominable racing. Now he (the speaker) could make the +round statement that there never has been one explosion of a boiler +during the time of a steamboat racing. The reason is plain. When the +race is going on, everybody is wide awake, the water is kept high, and +the boilers prevented from being overheated, and in such a case no +explosion can possibly take place. A law, therefore, passed to stop +steamboats racing in order to prevent boilers from bursting, would be +equivalent to the law passed relative to gambling. In conclusion, he +would say that he knew of but one gambler who had been in prison, and +not one south of Mason and Dixon's line, which was more than could be +said of any other profession. (Great applause.) + +_Mr. Green_ (quickly.) Why is it so?--because the gamblers are eelish, +and not because they don't deserve the penitentiary; Mr. Freeman knows +that. (Roars of laughter and continued applause.) + +_Mr. Elder._ Ladies and gentlemen, it is now proposed that a vote be +taken on the distribution of the proceeds of this evening. Mr. Green has +had the receipts of the two previous evenings, and at the first meeting +it was agreed to let the audience decide as to the third meeting. + +_Voice._ Were not the lectures given by Mr. Green? + +_Many Voices._ Question, question, question. + +_Voice._ I demand an answer to my question, for I wish to vote +understandingly. + +_Voices._ Calling question from all parts of the room. + +_Another Voice._ Mr. Speaker, I wish to know one thing. Mr. Green says, +since his reformation, he has given back over twenty thousand dollars of +property which he won when he was a gambler. Now I wish to know if he +will give the proceeds of the night to the gamblers, if the question is +decided in his favour. + +_Voices._ Question, take the question; loud talking and grumbling. + +_First Voice._ Suppose it is decided in favour of Mr. Freeman, I wish to +know if the debate can be continued or not. + +The question was now taken by rising, and silence being restored, the +Moderator said--"It is the decision of the chair, that the proceeds +belong to Mr. Freeman, by a very large majority." + +_Voice._ Sir, there is a mistake. + +_Moderator._ Are there any gentlemen here who are dissatisfied with the +decision? + +_Voice._ I am. + +Hon. Charles Gibbons, speaker of the Senate, proposed to take the +question by voice. This was agreed upon. + +_Mr. Elder._ All in favour of the proceeds being given to Mr. Freeman, +say I. Here there was a tremendous response. The contrary opinion was +then taken, and the chair decided that the I's were in a large majority. +(Great applause.) + +_Voice._ Mr. President, I demand back my quarter dollar--I can't pay +money to go into the pockets of a gambler. (Hisses.) + +_Mr. Freeman._ The gentleman can have his quarter back with pleasure. +(Applause.) + +The rest of the evening was consumed in the explanation of tricks of +gamblers by Mr. Green, which was intensely interesting, and he was +greeted with rounds of applause, as he successfully performed them. + + + From the City Bulletin. + +A large audience assembled on Saturday night to listen to the last +debate on gambling. Mr. Freeman opened the ball with a great deal of +self-possession, and talked away in defence of a palpable wrong, with as +much coolness and composure as if he was discussing the last news by the +steamer. But his sophistry, as well as all the sneers and jeers of his +brethren in the audience, which betrayed themselves when Green began to +speak, could not keep the truth under. Before the evening closed, he had +every thing his own way, and was complete master of the field. Freeman +battled against the late law passed in this State--and contended that it +was of no avail in crushing the evil of gambling. He added that if it +was effective, it was effective against the wrong persons. He then +slurred over his opponent's position, charged him with insincerity, and +denounced all his tales of horror. He incidentally, however, took +occasion to say, that he could a tale unfold which would harrow up the +soul, a tale of his own personal adventure, as a gambler, and he invited +the audience to its recital to-morrow evening. + +Mr. Green rose with the same pleasant smile which he always has worn +during his debate with Freeman, and met his opponent's positions, not +with smooth, oily, plausible words, but in a plain spoken, substantial, +truth-telling language. He reiterated all that he had charged against +gambling at former meetings. He said gamblers were no better than +thieves, that they cheated always when they could, and that they had +every advantage over those who fell into their clutches. + +The audience were now called upon to vote as to the disposal of the +receipts at the door--Mr. Green having agreed that his opponent should +have them, if it was so decided. The vote was taken, and by a large +majority the receipts were awarded to Freeman. + +The tricks now came on, Freeman having taken the ground that they could +not be done without detection with any cards. He accordingly placed upon +the table a pack of cards which he said he had purchased that evening. +Mr. Green in taking the cards asked that a committee should be appointed +to witness his tricks, and report to the assembly, but Freeman and his +friends put in a decided objection to this. Green at once told the +audience he would gratify them and perform the tricks openly. Here came +his triumph, which was complete. He took the very cards which his +opponent had bought, and with them showed conclusively, that all he had +charged in relation to the expertness and skill of gamblers, and of +course, their immense advantages over their opponents, was true. + +Thus has ended a debate which, we do think, has been productive of good +to the community, while it has vindicated most fully the position which +Green takes in his work of reform. We have no sympathy for Freeman, +while he maintains his present stand, though we freely confess he is a +gentleman of ability, and that we should be most happy to see him a +co-labourer with Green, in crushing the vice of gambling. He says he is +broken down in health and spirits. We know of nothing which can restore +the last, and make him bear the first with greater resignation, than +retire to the path of virtue. + + + From the North American. + +The gambling discussion between Messrs. Green and Freeman was closed on +Saturday evening, before a very large and interested audience. After +some speaking on either side, which was listened to with becoming +patience and attention, the tricks--which were evidently the great point +of interest--were in order, and Mr. Green proceeded to fulfil his +promises to the letter. Mr. Freeman had brought a pack of cards of his +own selection and preparation, and Mr. Green objected that this could +hardly be considered fair, and said that he should prefer the +appointment of a committee to provide cards, and superintend the +experiments. Upon this Mr. Freeman commenced declaiming in a triumphant +tone against his antagonist; but Mr. Green cut him short by stating that +he was willing to proceed with the cards that Mr. Freeman had brought. +Mr. Gibbons then took the pack and marked it with a pencil, so that he +might be sure of recognising it. Mr. Green then took them from him, +shuffled them a moment with his hands under the table, and showed them +to Mr. Gibbons, who pronounced them the same he had marked. Mr. Green +then dealt them in separate heaps, and Mr. Gibbons turned up the faces, +and showed the audience that each of the thirteen heaps contained the +four aces, four kings, four queens, and so on down to the four deuces. +The cards were then shuffled, and Mr. Green ran them off, the backs +being upward, so rapidly that the eye could scarcely follow the motion +of his fingers--naming each card as he threw it off, and making but +_one_ mistake in the whole fifty-two cards. This extraordinary feat was +received by the audience with acclamations, as being most convincing +proof of the power of gamblers to perform the swindling deceptions with +the cards, that Mr. Green has charged upon the nimble-fingered +fraternity. The audience then good-naturedly voted Mr. Freeman the +pecuniary proceeds of the evening, as a remuneration for the zeal he had +displayed in a bad cause. The question was then put to the audience +whether Mr. Green had satisfactorily performed all he had undertaken, +and loudly answered in the affirmative. + + + From the United States Gazette. + +The discussion on this important subject was continued and concluded, on +Saturday evening, by Messrs. Green and Freeman. + +A man who can for a few minutes interest an audience so much in favour +of the vice of gambling, as to make them shut out its horrible +deformity, must possess more than ordinary powers, and we question much +whether, of the whole fraternity of gamblers, one could be found better +adapted for the Herculean task which Mr. Freeman set himself. That which +the mind is accustomed steadily to dwell upon, and upon which action is +had repeatedly, will scarcely want for self-justification--and while the +error of proceeding is reluctantly admitted, whatever may tend to +justify, however slightly, is eagerly seized upon and proclaimed. There +is scarcely an evil practice for which the doer may not raise up or +create reasons in justification, and plausible arguments may be made to +gloss over the most detestable and indefensible crimes. + +A kind of Letheon is administered to the judgment by continual +progression in some improper path, till that which is to all others +palpably and painfully degrading becomes pleasant and eminently proper +in him who labours under the mental oblivion. Such a course Mr. Freeman +has trod, for while he admits that gambling is pernicious, he clamours +for the natural right which all men possess, to do it so long as they do +not meddle with others, and insists that it in no way gives occasion for +the exercise of legal power by the fact that he has played at cards, and +lost or won money. If it could be confined to individuals--if the +penalty of the crime was visited only upon the doer--- if the moral and +pecuniary destruction which gambling visits upon all who offer tribute +at its altar, went no farther than him who made the offering, then Mr. +Freeman would have a proper privilege, and would be right in saying that +a man violated no law by the practice of the nefarious profession. But +there are few, very few, we suppose, who are not connected by the ties +of blood, the bonds of matrimony, or the relation of father to child, +who are all affected by such degradation as the gambler visits upon +himself, and who feel the bitter poignancy of the stroke with greater +force than he whose heart has been gradually but surely abased. While a +man has a single relation or friend, he should not gamble; and if he +stood alone in the world, with no friend, the fear of the eternal +judgment should deter him from the commission of the sin. + +Mr. Freeman is a plausible man; he talks earnestly and fluently, and his +argument is clear and comprehensive, so far as it goes. He thinks +readily and speaks aptly. As a debater, he far excels his opponent Mr. +Green, and with a good cause would be an opponent difficult to conquer. +But few, we think, expected so much of the metaphysics of gambling as he +gave, but after he had constructed his argument, and presented the +justification of the fraternity, it was marvellous how quickly the one +crumbled and the other was turned to condemnation, by the application of +the tests of reason and truth which Mr. Green applied. Facts stood +stubbornly before Mr. Freeman's theories, and bore them down, and the +experiments with the cards which closed the lecture, demonstrated, +beyond a doubt, how far an unscrupulous gambler could carry his villany +against an unsuspecting victim. With a rapidity that defied observation +and detection, Mr. Green performed several tricks, by which he produced +any card or series of cards at will, and even read eighteen cards in +succession by the backs. + +In his argument, Mr. Freeman invariably rose in the estimation of the +audience, but he rose only to fall again. There may have been respect +for his abilities, but there was greater sorrow that so unprofitable and +degrading a direction had been given to them. Every argument that he +used became, upon reflection, an argument against gambling, and the only +thing he really effected, was the proof that the law recently passed +against gamblers by the legislature of this State is not stringent +enough. + +Mr. Freeman announced that on Wednesday next, he would deliver a +lecture, in which he would review his course of life, and offer +arguments against gambling--which he freely confessed to be a vice, even +while he proclaimed his right to practise it. Such an exposition cannot +fail to be of deep interest. + + + From the Inquirer. + +This controversy was continued on Saturday evening, Dr. Elder in the +chair. The Lecture-room at the Chinese Museum was crowded on the +occasion. + +Mr. Freeman commented on the notice taken by the press of the +controversy--in general it was manly and dignified; Mr. Freeman read +from the Post, in which gambling was severely opposed. The ground on +which Mr. Freeman had canvassed this matter was, he contended, in +accordance with Blackstone, Paley, and other great men, who +thought--namely, that a man had a right to do what he liked with his own +things. Mr. Freeman held that a thing might be legally right and morally +wrong. A man had a legal right (he contended) to gamble--but in a moral +light he would not defend it. Suppose a man had two sons, and, from some +trivial cause, he resolved to cut off one of them with a shilling. He +had a legal right so to do--but perhaps he was morally wrong. Mr. +Freeman answered an article that had appeared in the Post. Mr. Freeman +contended that young men who engaged in gambling, did so generally from +a bad system of education. + +The Post had contended, in opposition to Mr. Freeman's maxim that a man +had a right to do what he pleased with his own things, so long as he did +not interfere with others, that gambling did interfere with the rights +of others; for example, it might prevent men from paying their debts, or +it might prompt them to commit suicide, either of which was a wrong to +society. Mr. Freeman contended, nevertheless, that a man had such a +right--certainly he had, if he were not in debt--but if he were, it was +then his duty to live as long as he could, to endeavour to pay his +debts. Mr. Freeman illustrated his points by allusions to Gen. Taylor +and Gen. Jackson--adding, "let the truth be told if the heavens fall." + +Mr. Freeman again opposed the new law passed against gambling--for, he +said, it was so shaped, that if a man of property gambled, he could not +be troubled, but a poor, itinerant gambler could be punished. Mr. +Freeman read the law in proof--wherein a difference certainly appeared +to be made between those who had something to live upon, and a merely +itinerant gambler--the latter liable to imprisonment if he kept a gaming +house, of from one to five years. Indeed, "being without a fixed +residence" is one of the features of the law. Such a law appeared to Mr. +Freeman as if, for example, a man of standing were to go into a store +and steal, he would be let off--- whereas, if an itinerant man were to +steal, he must be punished with years of imprisonment. The cases were +parallel, and yet, it seemed to him that a man of good standing ought to +be punished more severely than the other, because his temptations were +not so great. Such a law, so partial, was a disgrace to the +statute-book. From what he knew of legislators, he thought they had made +such a law, knowing that gambling was a bad vice, as a bugbear, to deter +people from engaging in it--and, in some cases, because they were afraid +of public opinion, and servilely followed the crowd, lest at some future +time they might lose their election. + +Mr. Freeman said that he considered himself as an anti-gambler--but +injustice had been done to gamblers, and he had defended them as far as +he consistently could--and if an audience would meet him on Tuesday +night, he would give them an anti-gambling lecture. He differed with Mr. +Green. + +Mr. Green wished to know why Mr. Freeman should dislike the law so much, +if he considered gambling a bad vice--he (Mr. Green) really did not +understand such a position. Such was the effect of gambling upon the +mind, that he was sure that when Mr. Freeman first lost his money, +(three thousand dollars,) and first became a gambler, he would not have +spoken as he had that night. A young man, in gambling, was driven on by +degrees, by the excitement of cards, of fine wines, society, &c. +Gamblers ridiculed all ideas of reform, and said to the young man, you +know all about us--we are called gamblers--and the young man thinks he +knows all about them, as he finds them fascinating--but he knows nothing +about them. When the young man is ruined, what do the gamblers do for +him? Nothing. Such a young man in Baltimore was thus ruined, and became +a sot--and at length had no place to sleep, unless the gamblers allowed +him. One night, he was awakened by the gambler shaking him, and calling +him a loafer. The poor man said, "I do not deserve this at your hands. +This was the first house I gambled in." The gambler threw him down +stairs, and his head struck the curb-stone, and Mr. Green lent him his +handkerchief to bind up the wound, and prevented further mischief being +done to him. The next day he was found under one of the wharves--_dead!_ +And such was the treatment inflicted on him by the gamblers. Mr. Green +then defended the new law. + +Mr. Freeman said that he opposed the law because he thought it +discreditable to Pennsylvania--that there should be a law to the effect +that, "If I play cards, a man may say to me--there, you have done an act +that, if legally visited, would send you to the Penitentiary." Mr. +Freeman illustrated his views by a reference to the explosion of +steamboats. Mr. Freeman said that there was never but one gambler put +into prison south of Mason & Dixon's line. Mr. Freeman hinted that Mr. +Green at Harrisburg had shown gambling tricks upon cards, with packs +that were known to him--prepared cards, in fact. He thus astonished the +natives. And this was one influence brought in aid of a passage of the +law. + +A vote was then taken on the question--"Shall the proceeds of this night +be given to Mr. Freeman?" It was decided in the affirmative by a large +majority. + +Mr. Freeman did not deny that cheating was practised by the gamblers. +But Mr. Freeman contended that Mr. Green could not perform the tricks, +could not cheat with cards that he was not familiar with. Mr. Freeman +produced a pack which he had just bought, and were otherwise +untouched--and he said that Mr. Green could not operate with that pack. +He defied him. + +Mr. Green said that this was no argument. But if Mr. Freeman would +agree, and the meeting would appoint a committee of twelve citizens, he +would before that committee meet Mr. Freeman, and with those cards +exhibit tricks of gamblers. + +Some discussion ensued, and it was agreed that a committee should be +appointed. Subsequently Mr. Green said he would exhibit before the +audience; but that if Mr. Freeman shuffled the pack, he might of course +disarrange his (Mr. Green's) play. But Mr. Green had contended that any +gambler _in his own play_ could cheat. And Mr. Green displayed several +extraordinary tricks, in which he was remarkably successful, +particularly in illustrating the facility with which two partners in +gambling could win from their opponents with certainty. + +At the conclusion of the meeting, upon Mr. Freeman submitting to the +audience the question--"Have I sustained my position?"--it was decided +in the negative. The question however, was not put until the audience +had risen to depart--but the response was general. + + + From the Daily Sun. + +We have been no inattentive observers of the debate on gambling, between +Mr. Green, and his able and plausible antagonist, Mr. Freeman--who +brought to the defence of a bad cause, an energy, an earnestness, and a +power of illustration, which, on any other subject, must have crowned +him with the laurels of a brilliant victory. But what power of +logic--what force of elocution--- what stretch, of fancy, _can_ defend +gambling?--which, even if right _in itself_, is yet attended by such +baneful consequences--such appalling effects--as to strike terror into +the hearts of the most reckless, and seal the lips of eloquence by the +blood of the unfortunate? This was illustrated in a most striking manner +in the recent debate--where a long tissue of false logic, on the part of +Mr. Freeman, was blown to the winds by the simple recital of a _fact_, +by Mr. Green detailing the death of a ruined gambler by the hands of a +prosperous one! _Blood_ dispelled all the illusions of logic. Argument +evaporated before the _corpse_ of the victim. Applause for ingenious +argument was hushed in a moment, when the dead body of the gambler +appeared in view! What a tribute to the power of _truth_--what a +tremendous triumph of nature, and her sacred laws, over the flimsy +artifices of passion, fiction, and a diseased imagination, fevered by +habitual vice. + +Dr. Johnson says that the gambler is no better than a robber, because he +acquires property without an equivalent. The whole gist of the argument +lies here. You strip a man of fortune, or tear from his hands the +earnings of a long life, and give him in return--_nothing!_ Mr. Freeman +says, in answer to this--yes, you give him the chance of robbing you! +And he goes so far in his sophistry, as to contend that if a man +attempts to rob you on the highway, you have a right to rob him! Such is +the language of the gambler, on the rule of right, who wanting a +principle of virtue, resorts to every extravagant theory, to justify his +violations of the first law of nature. + +Justice is the foundation of all human institutions: and this ordains, +that no man shall take from another, what is his own, without paying him +an equivalent. The gambler pays no equivalent--and hence, he stands on +the same platform with the robber. + +The strong point in the logic of Mr. Freeman was, that _other +professions_ also acquire property without paying an equivalent, and +therefore gamblers were not criminal! We marvelled that a man of his +sagacity should venture on so gross a sophism. He alluded to speculators +and stock-jobbers, who gained their thousands without an exchange of +values, and exulted that the gambler was no worse. But could this make +the gambler an honest man, because other men were rogues? How desperate +the cause that could clutch at so frail a straw for support! Yet Mr. +Freeman appeared perfectly unconscious of the imbecility of his +reasoning. More perfect hallucination we never beheld! + +Every man _feels_, when he gains property without an equivalent, that he +has done a wrong. Every dollar so acquired plants a fang in his heart. +Conscience goads him. He is miserable, restless, tortured, and for +temporary relief flies to the transient oblivion of the bowl. When he +wins, he drinks--and when he loses, he drinks to desperation. He feels +that when he wins, he is a rogue--and that when he loses, he is a +victim--no matter whether gambler, speculator or stock-jobber--he has +violated the _rule of right_, by acquiring property without an +equivalent; and he feels the degradation of the robber, who cries +"stand!" to the passenger on the highway, and extorts his purse, with +the pistol at his breast. + +Of the fascinating charms of gambling, history has left us too many +records to make us insensible of the importance of the safe-guards which +society ought to erect, to defend itself from the poison of so +infectious a contamination. Who would believe, that the great +_Wilberforce_ was once a gambler! That even _Pitt_ once stood on the +brink of a gambler's hell. But Wilberforce was cured by _winning_ L2000 +at _Holland-house_--and such was the pain he felt for those who had lost +their money, that it prevented all "his future triumphs in the infernal +regions." But in those regions, flourished the greatest statesmen and +wits of the age--who fell victims to the prevailing fascination of the +gaming-table. What destroyed _Charles James Fox_, as a statesman? +_Gambling!_ What brought the brilliant _Sheridan_ to the grave? +Intoxication, brought on by the ill-starred luck of the ruined gamester? +"_Holland-house!_" immortalized as the resort of genius, as well as for +its orgies of dissipation, is not less renowned to infamy, as having +been the "hell" of respectable gamesters. + +There is a kind of democracy of crime, contended for by Mr. Freeman, +that has its charms to the ears of the groundlings. He is opposed to a +law that punishes _one_ class of gamblers only, instead of bringing +_all_, within the focus of its penalties! There is much truth in this. +Laws ought to be equal in their operation--but if they cannot be equal, +this is no reason why there ought to be no laws at all. This conclusion +is not warranted by any rule in logic or in government. + +No man has a right to dispose of his property to the corruption of the +public morals. Mr. Freeman adduced the instance of a father having a +right to disinherit one son and prefer the other. This is not a parallel +case. The parallel would be a rich man leaving his fortune to found an +Institution of demoralizing tendency--say to teach you the art of +cheating! The laws would annul such a bequest. Society has an original, +inherent right to defend itself from all evil--and that gaming is an +evil, whether played with cards, lotteries, dice, stocks, or betting, +not even Mr. Freeman could seriously deny. + +In the late debate between these celebrated speculators,--one reformed, +the other confirmed in his vicious career--it was observed, what a tower +of strength _truth_ gives to the man who espouses the _just_ cause. Mr. +Green stood self-vindicated by his very position--while the labour of +_Sisiphus_ devolved on Mr. Freeman. But the stone would not stay rolled +up hill. It was no sooner at midway from the summit, but back it rolled +upon its unfortunate and panting labourer. + +The fostering power which _intemperance_ derives from the excitements of +the gaming-table, would itself prove an effectual argument against this +monstrous infatuation, if no other existed. But when we find +intoxication, only one of a legion of vices that attend on it--and that +fraud, cheating, forgery, swindling, robbery, murder, and suicide, are +its unfailing companions--we may well marvel that it should find any man +so reckless of public opinion, as to venture its championship. Mr. +Freeman went so far in this mad advocacy of his darling pursuit, as to +justify _suicide_! In this, however, he was perfectly consistent--for if +gaming of any kind is right, so is murder, robbery, and suicide. In +this, Mr. Freeman over-reached himself--and by attempting too much, +exposed the futility and weakness of his case. + +One fact, of a highly useful import, was established by this debate--and +having received the concurrent attestation of Mr. Freeman, must now be +considered as no longer open to doubt--that _cheating_ is a necessary +part of gaming, from which even _honourable_ gamblers--(what a +revolting solecism!)--do not shrink! But this is not the worst of the +admissions made, in the course of this debate--which we here enumerate: + +1. The winner is always in danger of murder--and runs for his life. + +2. The loser becomes a cheat, a murderer, a suicide, or a drunkard. + +3. The tortures of the damned are common to all gamblers, winners and +losers. + +4. Deception and lying are their common attributes. + +5. Outlawed by public opinion--they wage implacable war against the +morals, peace, and happiness of society. + + * * * * * + +So many allusions have been made to the Laws of Ohio and Pennsylvania +against gambling, that it is thought necessary to append them here, that +the reader may judge for himself how far the charges of impolicy, +partiality, and non-efficiency are justified by these instruments. + + +[_Law of Pennsylvania for the Suppression of Gambling, drafted by_ +J. H. GREEN.] + +SECTION 1. _Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of +the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in General Assembly met, and it is +hereby enacted by the authority of the same_, That if any person shall +keep a room, building, arbour, booth, shed, or tenement, to be used or +occupied for gambling, or shall, knowingly, permit the same to be used +or occupied for gambling; or if any person, being the owner of any +room, building, arbour, booth, shed, or tenement, shall rent the same to +be used or occupied for gambling, the persons so offending shall, on +conviction thereof, be fined in any sum not less than fifty nor more +than five hundred dollars; and if the owner of any room, building, +arbour, booth, shed, or tenement, shall know that any gaming-tables, +apparatus, or establishment is kept or used in such room, building, +arbour, booth, shed, or tenement, for gambling, and winning, betting, or +gaining money, or other property, and shall not forthwith cause +complaint to be made against the person so keeping or using such room, +building, arbour, booth, shed, or tenement, he shall be taken, held, and +considered to have knowingly permitted the same to be used and occupied +for gambling. + +SECT. 2. If any person shall keep or exhibit any gaming-table, +establishment, device, or apparatus to win or gain money, or other +property of value, or to aid, assist, or permit others to do the same; +or if any person shall engage in gambling for a livelihood, or shall be +without any fixed residence, and in the habit or practice of gambling, +he shall be deemed and taken to be a common gambler, and upon conviction +thereof, shall be imprisoned and kept at hard labour in the penitentiary +not less than one, nor more than five years, and be fined five hundred +dollars, to be paid into the treasury of the county where such +conviction shall take place, for the use of common schools therein, to +be divided among the accepting school districts in such county, in +proportion to the number of taxable inhabitants in each district. + +SECT. 3. If an affidavit shall be filed with the magistrate before whom +complaint shall be made of an offence against any provision of this +act, stating that the affiant has reason to believe, and does believe, +that the person charged in such complaint has upon his person, or at any +other place named in such affidavit, any specified articles of personal +property, or any gaming-table, device, or apparatus, the discovery of +which might lead to establish the truth of such charge, the said +magistrate shall, by his warrant, command the officer, who is authorized +to arrest the person so charged, to make diligent search for such +property and table, device, or apparatus; and if found, to bring the +same before such magistrate, and the officer so seizing shall deliver +the same to the magistrate before whom he takes the same, who shall +retain possession, and be responsible therefor until the discharge, or +commitment, or letting to bail of the person charged; and in case of +such commitment, or letting to bail of the person so charged, such +officer shall retain such property, subject to the order of the court +before which such offender may be required to appear, until his +discharge or conviction. And in case of the conviction of such person, +the gaming-table, device, or apparatus shall be destroyed, and the +property shall be liable to pay any judgment which may be rendered +against such person; and after the payment of such judgment and costs, +the surplus, if any, shall be paid to the use of the common schools +aforesaid, and in case of the discharge of such person by the +magistrate, or court, the officer having such property in his custody +shall, on demand, deliver it to such person. + +SECT. 4. If any person called to testify on behalf of the state before +any justice of the peace, grand-jury, or court, upon any complaint, +information, or indictment, for any offence made punishable by this act, +shall disclose any fact tending to criminate himself in any manner made +punishable by this act, he shall thereafter be discharged of and from +all liability to prosecution or punishment for such matter or offence. + +SECT. 5. It shall be lawful for any justice of the peace, chief +magistrate of any municipal incorporation, or judge of any court of +Common Pleas, upon complaint upon an oath, that any gaming-table, +establishment, apparatus, or device is kept by any person for the +purpose of being used to win or gain money or other property, by the +owner thereof, or any other person, to issue his warrant, commanding any +sheriff, or constable, to whom the same shall be directed, within the +proper jurisdiction, after demanding entrance to break open and enter +any house or other place wherein such gaming establishment, apparatus, +or device shall be kept, and to seize and safely keep the same, to be +dealt with as hereinafter provided. + +SECT. 6. Upon return of said warrant executed, the authority issuing the +same shall proceed to examine and inquire touching the said complaint, +and if satisfied that the same is true, he shall order the officer so +seizing such gaming establishment, apparatus, or device, forthwith to +destroy the same; which order the said officer shall proceed to execute +in the presence of said authority, unless the person charged as keeper +of said gaming establishment, apparatus, or device, shall, without +delay, enter into a recognisance in the sum of six hundred dollars, with +sufficient sureties, to be approved by said authority, for the appeal of +said complaint to the Court of Common Pleas, next to be held in the +proper county, conditioned that the defendant will appear at the next +term of the court to which he appeals, and abide the order of said +court, and for the payment of the full amount of the fine and all costs, +in case he shall be found guilty of the offence charged, and judgment be +rendered against him in said court. + +SECT. 7. The officer taking such recognisance shall return the same to +the clerk of the court to which said appeal is taken forthwith, and such +clerk shall file the same in his office, and the complaint shall be +prosecuted in such court, by indictment, as in other criminal cases; and +upon conviction thereof, the appellant shall be fined not more than +fifty dollars, and shall pay the costs of prosecution; and such gaming +establishment, apparatus, or device shall be destroyed. + +SECT. 8. If any person or persons shall, through invitation or device, +persuade or prevail on any person or persons to visit any room, +building, arbour, booth, shed, or tenement, kept for the use of +gambling, he or they shall, upon conviction thereof, be held responsible +for the money or properties lost by such invitation or device, and fined +in a sum not less than fifty, and not more than five hundred dollars. + +SECT. 9. It shall be the duty of all sheriffs, constables, and all +prosecuting attorneys to inform and prosecute all offenders against this +act, and upon refusal thereof, they shall pay a fine of not less than +fifty, nor more than five hundred dollars. + +SECT. 10. This act shall be given in charge to the Grand Jury, by the +President Judge of the Court of Quarter Sessions in the respective +counties. + +SECT. 11. This act shall take effect on the first day of July next. + + +[_Law of Ohio for the suppression of Gambling, drafted by_ +J. H. GREEN.] + +SECTION 1. _Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio_, +That if any person shall keep a room, building, or arbour, booth, shed, +or tenement, to be used or occupied for gambling, or shall, knowingly, +permit the same to be used or occupied for gambling; or if any person, +being the owner of such room, building, arbour, booth, shed, or +tenement, shall rent the same to be used or occupied for gambling, the +persons so offending shall, on conviction thereof, be fined in any sum +not less than fifty dollars, nor more than five hundred dollars; and if +any owner of any room, building, arbour, booth, shed, or tenement, shall +know that any gambling-tables, apparatus, or establishment, is kept or +used in such room, building, arbour, booth, shed, or tenement, for +gambling, and winning, betting, or gaining money, or other property, and +shall not forthwith cause complaint to be made against the person so +keeping or using the room, building, arbour, booth, shed, or tenement, +he shall be taken, held, and considered to have knowingly permitted the +same to be used and occupied for gambling. + +SECT. 2. If any person shall keep or exhibit any gaming-table, +establishment, device, or apparatus to win or gain money, or other +property of value, or to aid or assist, or permit others to do the same; +or if any person shall engage in gambling for a livelihood, or shall be +without any fixed residence, and in the habit or practice of gambling, +he shall be deemed and taken to be a common gambler, and upon conviction +thereof, shall be imprisoned and kept at hard labour in the +penitentiary not less than one, nor more than five years, and be fined +five hundred dollars, to be paid into the treasury of the county where +such conviction shall take place, for the use of common schools therein. + +SECT. 3. If an affidavit shall be filed with the magistrate before whom +complaint shall be made of an offence against any provisions of this +act, stating that the affiant has reason to believe, and does believe, +that the person charged in such complaint has upon his person, or at any +other place named in such affidavit, any money, or any specified +articles of personal property, or any gaming-table, device, apparatus, +the discovery of which might tend to establish the truth of such charge, +the said magistrate shall, by his warrant, command the officer, who is +authorized to arrest the person so charged, to make diligent search for +such money or property, and table, device, or apparatus; and if found, +to bring the same before such magistrate--and the officer seizing the +same, shall retain possession thereof, subject to the order of the +magistrate before whom he takes the same, until the discharge, or +commitment, or letting to bail of the person charged; and in case of +such commitment, or letting to bail of the person so charged, such +officer shall retain such property, subject to the order of the court +before which such offender may be required to appear, until his +discharge or conviction. And in case of the conviction of such person, +the gaming-table, device, or apparatus shall be destroyed, and the money +and other property shall be liable to pay any judgment which may be +rendered against such person; and in case of the discharge of such +person by the magistrate, or court, the officer having such property in +his custody, shall, on demand, deliver it to such person. + +SECT. 4. If any person called to testify on behalf of the state before +any justice of the peace, grand-jury, or court, upon any complaint, +information, or indictment, for any offence made punishable by this act, +shall disclose any fact tending to criminate himself in any matter made +punishable by this act, he shall thereafter be discharged of and from +all liability to prosecution or punishment for such matter of offence. + +SECT. 5. It shall be lawful for any justice of the peace, chief +magistrate of the municipal incorporation, or judge of any court of +common pleas, upon complaint on oath, that any gaming-table, +establishment, apparatus, or device is kept for the purpose of being +used to win or gain money or other property, by the owner thereof, or +any other person, to issue his warrant, commanding any sheriff, +constable, or marshal of any municipal corporation to whom the same may +be directed, within the proper jurisdiction, after demanding entrance, +to break open and enter any house or other place where such gaming +establishment, apparatus, or device shall be kept, and to seize and +safely keep the same, to be dealt with as hereafter provided. + +SECT. 6. Upon the return of said warrant executed, the authority issuing +the same shall proceed to examine and inquire touching the said +complaint, and if satisfied the same is true, he shall order the officer +so seizing such gaming establishment, apparatus, or device, forthwith to +destroy the same; which order the said officer shall proceed to execute +in the presence of said authority, unless the person charged as keeper +of said gaming establishment, apparatus, or device, shall, without +delay, enter into a recognisance in the sum of two hundred dollars, with +sufficient sureties, to be approved by said authority, for the appeal of +said complaint to the Court of Common Pleas, next to be held in the +proper county, conditioned that the defendant will appear at the next +term of the court to which he appeals, and abide the order of such +court, and for the payment of the full amount of the fine and all costs, +in case he shall be found guilty of the offences charged, and judgment +be rendered against him in said court. + +SECT. 7. The officer taking such recognisance shall return the same to +the clerk of the court to which said appeal is taken forthwith, and such +clerk shall file the same in his office, and complaint shall be +prosecuted in such court, by indictment, as in other criminal cases; and +upon conviction, the appellant shall be fined not more than fifty +dollars, and shall pay the costs of prosecution; and such gaming +establishment, apparatus, or device shall be destroyed. + +SECT. 8. It shall be the duty of all sheriffs, constables, marshals of +incorporated cities, towns, and boroughs, and of all prosecuting +attorneys, to inform and prosecute all offences against this act. + +SECT. 9. This act shall be given in charge to the Grand Jury, by the +President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in the respective counties. + +SECT. 10. This act shall take effect on the first day of March next. + + ELIAS F. DRAKE, +_Speaker of the House of Representatives._ + + SEABURY FORD, +_Speaker of the Senate._ + +Jan 17, 1846. + +During the three evenings of the debate the Lecture-room of the Museum +was crowded with a most respectable audience; and thousands must have +read the reports given by the different Newspapers on the following +mornings. Throughout the community there was considerable excitement, +and we have no doubt that good has already resulted. The evils of +gambling are now familiar to many who never previously thought upon the +subject; and the excuses and defences urged for participating in the +vice have been stripped of their fallacious guises. For this work we owe +many thanks to the conductors of the public press who have come forth +ably and willingly to our assistance. + +But we trust that the immediate advantages from the discussion are not +the only ones. It will be perceived from the reports given, that we met +with no common opponent. Mr. Freeman is perhaps not excelled, if he has +an equal, among gamblers, for talent, learning, and, what is more rare, +candour and honesty of character. From a lecture which he has since +delivered, we learn that he was on a professional visit to Philadelphia, +where he had bought some implements for gambling and was about to return +to the South, when his attention was arrested by a notice in a paper +that Mr. Green was to give a lecture in the Museum on the following +evening. For some years he had formed a resolution that if ever he had +an opportunity of hearing him, he would embrace it, and he now concluded +that he would stay another day for that purpose. He did so, attended his +lecture, and from antipathy to himself and the course he was pursuing, +was induced to send the challenge to the Sun newspaper which led to the +debate in the preceding pages. It is not improbable that while thinking +on the points he proposed to defend, his naturally acute mind perceived +their fallacy, as there was a gradual shifting of his position from the +subject of the original challenge, till on the last evening of the +debate he ended with the astonishing announcement that on the Tuesday +following he would deliver a lecture _against gambling_ in the same +place. Since then, he has delivered several lectures on the same +subject, has taken the temperance pledge, been admitted into one of the +divisions of the Sons of Temperance, and promises fair to be an +efficient labourer in the cause of truth and virtue. Like Paul, he seems +to have been arrested midway in his career, and by the power of +conscience compelled to build up what he once exerted himself to +destroy. May God prosper him in his labours, and give him grace to +continue unto the end. + + + [_Recommendation._] + +Cincinnati, _July_, 1843. + +We, the undersigned, believing that Mr. J. H. Green's proposed +publication ["The ARTS AND MISERIES OF GAMBLING"] will be eminently +useful in counteracting one of the most pernicious and demoralizing +vices of the age, take great pleasure in recommending it to the +patronage of the public. + +Rev. CHARLES ELLIOTT, +_Editor of the Western Christian Advocate_. + +Rev. L.L. HAMLINE, +_Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church_. + +D.K. ESTE, +_Judge of the Superior Court, Cin. Ham. Co_. + +Rev. JAMES P. KILBRETH. + +SAMUEL WILLIAMS. + +JOHN McLEAN, +_Judge of the United States Court._ + +Rev. W.H. RAPER. + +THOMAS J. BIGGS, +_President of the Cincinnati College._ + +SAMUEL W. LYND, D.D. +_Pastor of the Ninth Street Baptist Church._ + +Hon. JACOB BURNET. + +Rev. JOHN F. WRIGHT. + +H.E. SPENCER, +_Mayor of Cincinnati._ + + + + +LOTTERIES. + + +This is as deceptive, and as base a business, as was ever introduced +into any country. The apparent respectability of it, and of the men who +carry it on, is calculated to remove the scruples many might otherwise +have to patronizing it. The facility with which it can be patronized, +without the liability of exposure, and the promises of sudden gain so +artfully held out, are inducements not easily resisted by a money-loving +people, totally ignorant of the odds against them in the game they play. + +All other games generally require the personal attention of the players +who patronize them; but this is a game at which any one can play, and +need never be seen, even by those against whom he may be playing. +Thousands of persons, who stand high in the estimation of their +neighbors for good conduct; men who would not, on any account, be found +at a gambling-table, will patronize lotteries. The ease with which it +can be done, without exposure, enables them to gratify, to the full +extent of their means, their passion for this base species of swindling. +In many of our large cities, numerous well-dressed young men are +constantly engaged in vending tickets through the streets, or from house +to house, and they can be bought as privately as the buyer may wish, or +he may send his servant for them. Thus it is that a man may gamble as +extensively as he pleases in lotteries, without his proceedings being at +all likely to become public. + +In my description of lotteries, I shall confine myself to the lottery +scheme before us; because it will serve as an example of all others, and +because the reader will be better able to comprehend explanations of +this system than if I were to write of some scheme not here inserted. + +By a reference to the tables of tickets, it will be seen that there are +fifteen packages of whole tickets, as many of halves, and thirty +packages of quarter tickets. Each package contains all the numbers, from +one up to seventy-eight, without a repetition of any one of them. The +tickets found in these tables are all that are intended for any one +drawing; and every successive drawing is but another edition of the same +tickets, all arranged in the same order, and with the same combination +numbers; but they have a different class number on them. The proprietors +of a lottery furnish the printer with a copy of these tables, arranged +in a blank book, and this book is called the _scheme-book_, from which +as many as may be ordered from time to time are printed. + +The arranging of the class numbers is a matter of fancy, as to what they +shall be; their only use being to determine to what particular drawing +any particular ticket belongs, in order that a ticket which proves to be +a blank may not, at some future drawing, be handed in for a premium, on +account of containing some of the numbers then drawn. + +[Illustration: _Drawing of Lottery Tickets._] + +THE DRAWING. There are several methods of conducting the drawing; but +that which is most commonly used is as follows:-- + +There is a hollow wheel, as represented in the plate; then there are +seventy-eight small tin tubes, scarcely half an inch in diameter, and +about three inches in length; these are for holding the numbers, from +one to seventy-eight; each number is on a separate piece of paper, which +is rolled up and put into a tube; these tubes, when the numbers have +been placed in them, are all put into the wheel, and a person is +selected to draw out one at a time from the wheel, which is opened, and +cried aloud, for the information of those present who may be interested. +The number is registered, for the future guidance of the lottery-dealer, +in determining what he shall pay those who may hold one or more of the +numbers so drawn. After this, the wheel is again turned, so as to mix +well the numbers contained in it, and a second is drawn; and the same +proceedings are gone over with, until twelve numbers are drawn, and +registered in the order in which they are drawn. Sometimes thirteen will +be drawn, it being customary, on many occasions, to draw one number for +every six contained in the wheel; but I cannot give this as a universal +rule, because I have often found it deviated from. Sometimes little boys +are selected to draw the numbers from the wheel--to give the impression +that every possible step has been taken to render the management as fair +as possible; but in this there is also much deception. + +Swarms of domestic servants, day labourers, and the most poor and needy +persons daily visit these worse than gambling shops, where they risk +their little all, and get nothing in return but the delightful +anticipation of being rich when the "drawing" takes place. + +True it has been the case that prizes have been drawn, and trumpeted +forth to the world, as inducements for others to buy. Having known how +some of these prizes have sometimes been obtained, will it be too much +to suppose that others are obtained in like manner? that is by the +proprietors of lotteries being swindled through the unfaithfulness of +their agents. A case came to my knowledge of a man who drew a capital +prize; and the mode of operation, by which it was effected, was as +follows: An agent, who was stationed in a town some distance from the +principal establishment, made two confidants, who, doubtless, readily +acted with him from hope of gain. One of these was the post-master of +the town, and the other an acquaintance, a patron of the lottery. The +duty of the agent was to transmit to the principal office all unsold +tickets, by the first mail that left after the known hour of drawing. +This mail also conveyed the lists of the drawing; but, in a regular +manner of proceeding, they would not have been accessible to the agent +before the departure of the stage with his unsold tickets. By making a +confidant of the post-master, however, he received the lists as quick as +possible after the mail arrived, and before it had been assorted. He +then examined his unsold tickets, and if any considerable prize +remained, he would take it from among the unsold tickets, and despatch +the remainder to the principal office, and give the prize to his other +confidant; each one giving out that the ticket had been sold to him; and +accordingly the prize would be claimed and paid, although fraudulently +obtained. In this particular case, the capital prize was drawn, and it +appeared that the ticket-holder appropriated all the money to his own +use, as he was known to buy much property shortly afterwards. It is +believed also, by those who were acquainted with the incident, that he +never divided with the rascally agent; and thus was the cheater cheated, +who, in his wrath, let out some of the secrets of the manner in which +the prize was obtained. + +This same man has since met with reverses of fortune, and would now, I +believe, find it difficult to raise money sufficient to purchase a +ticket even of a low price. + +Among the many cases of lottery swindling, every body has heard of the +great Louisiana real estate lottery, in which the prizes were to have +been the St. Charles Hotel, the Verandah, the St. Charles Theatre, the +Bank, the Arcade, and other magnificent buildings in New Orleans. It is +quite needless to say any thing of this, as the public has been pretty +well enlightened in regard to it, through the public journals of the +day. + +The following is a copy of a handbill issued by the proprietors of the +lottery immediately after a drawing, for the information of +ticket-holders, and all others interested:-- + + DRAWING OF THE LOTTERY. + + The following are the numbers which were this day drawn from the + seventy-eight placed in the wheel, viz.:-- + + 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 + ------------------------------------ + 20 51 61 24 74 77 46 36 69 29 26 3 + + and that the said tickets were drawn in the order in which they + stand: that is to say, No. 20 was the first that was drawn; No. 51 + was the 2d; No. 61 was the 3d; No. 24 was the 4th; No. 74 was the + 5th; No. 77 was the 6th; No. 46 was the 7th; No. 36 was the 8th; + No. 69 was the 9th; No. 29 was the 10th; No. 26 was the 11th; No. 3 + was the 12th, and last. + + Those tickets entitled to the 110 highest prizes were drawn in the + following order:-- + + 1 2 3 $30,000 | 7 8 9 $5,000 + 4 5 6 10,000 | 10 11 12 2,367 20 + + Those 6 tickets having on them the + + 2 3 4 | 3 4 5 | 5 6 7 | 6 7 8 | 8 9 10 | 9 10 11 > each 1,500 + + Those 100 tickets having on them the + + 1 2 4 | 1 4 7 | 1 7 9 | 2 3 11 | 2 6 10 \ + 1 2 5 | 1 4 8 | 1 7 10 | 2 3 12 | 2 6 11 | + 1 2 6 | 1 4 9 | 1 7 11 | 2 4 5 | 2 6 12 | + 1 2 7 | 1 4 10 | 1 7 12 | 2 4 6 | 2 7 8 | + 1 2 8 | 1 4 11 | 1 8 9 | 2 4 7 | 2 7 9 | + 1 2 9 | 1 4 12 | 1 8 10 | 2 4 8 | 2 7 10 | + 1 2 10 | 1 5 6 | 1 8 11 | 2 4 9 | 2 7 11 | + 1 2 11 | 1 5 7 | 1 8 12 | 2 4 10 | 2 7 12 | + 1 2 12 | 1 5 8 | 1 9 10 | 2 4 11 | 2 8 9 | + 1 3 4 | 1 5 9 | 1 9 11 | 2 4 12 | 2 8 10 | + 1 3 5 | 1 5 10 | 1 9 12 | 2 5 6 | 2 8 11 > each 1,000 + 1 3 6 | 1 5 11 | 1 10 11 | 2 5 7 | 2 8 12 | + 1 3 7 | 1 5 12 | 1 10 12 | 2 5 8 | 2 9 10 | + 1 3 8 | 1 6 7 | 1 11 12 | 2 5 9 | 2 9 11 | + 1 3 9 | 1 6 8 | 2 3 5 | 2 5 10 | 2 9 12 | + 1 3 10 | 1 6 9 | 2 3 6 | 2 5 11 | 2 10 11 | + 1 3 11 | 1 6 10 | 2 3 7 | 2 5 12 | 2 10 12 | + 1 3 12 | 1 6 11 | 2 3 8 | 2 6 7 | 2 11 12 | + 1 4 5 | 1 6 12 | 2 3 9 | 2 6 8 | 3 4 6 | + 1 4 6 | 1 7 8 | 2 3 10 | 2 6 9 | 3 4 7 / + +All others with three of the drawn numbers on, (being 110) each 300 +Those 66 tickets having on them the 1st and 2d drawn numbers, each 100 +Those 66 tickets having on them the 2d and 3d, each 80 +Those 66 tickets having on them the 3d and 4th, each 50 +Those 66 tickets having on them the 4th and 5th, each 40 +Those 132 tickets having on them the 5th and 6th, or 6th and 7th, each 30 +All others with two of the drawn numbers on, (being 3960,) each 20 +And all tickets having one, only, of the drawn numbers on, each, + (being 25,740,) 10 + +Now, let us spend a few moments in examining this bill, and we shall see +how much truth there is in it. It says, that the ticket having on it the +three first drawn numbers will be entitled to the capital prize of +$30,000. Now, in the whole scheme before us, there is no such ticket. +The combination, 20, 51, 61, is not to be found in this arrangement. +Consequently, there was no ticket whose numbers entitled it to this +prize. Next, the bill says, the ticket having the fourth, fifth, and +sixth drawn numbers, which would have been 24, 74, 77, would be entitled +to a prize of $10,000. There is no such ticket in the combination. +Consequently this also is false. Now, it is evident that the dealers, in +publishing this bill, mean to impress the public with the idea, that +tickets, containing the necessary numbers to draw these prizes, are in +the lottery, and that somebody must, of course, draw them; but it is all +false, and a very little investigation will convince any one, that a +greater system of deception can hardly exist. Bear in mind, that the +bill says these prizes were drawn. The third prize was $5,000, and the +ticket which contained the seventh, eighth, and ninth numbers was to +draw this prize. These numbers are 36, 46, 69. There is no such +combination in the scheme-book--no such ticket was printed or sold. +Consequently, here is another falsehood. The same can be said of the +fourth prize--the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth numbers--being 3, 26, 29. +There is no such combination in the book, and no such prize could be +drawn. Of the next six prizes, of $1,500 each, said to have been drawn, +there was not a single ticket in the whole scheme which contained the +necessary numbers to draw any one of these six prizes! + +It is next asserted, that there were in the lottery one hundred tickets, +having three drawn numbers, and entitled each to a prize of $1,000. This +I have examined, and I find that, instead of being one hundred, there +are but two--the first in magnitude being one from package number six, +of half tickets, bearing the numbers 20, 36, 51,--these being the first, +second, and eighth of the drawn numbers, and would entitle the holder to +one half of the $1,000, subject to a deduction of fifteen per cent. The +other is a quarter ticket, bearing the numbers 46, 51, 74--from the +twenty-seventh package, of quarters--being the second, fifth, and +seventh of the drawn numbers, and would entitle the holder of it to one +quarter of the $1,000, after deducting the fifteen per cent. But it is +well known that, frequently, scarce one half of the tickets of any one +class, intended for a particular drawing, are ever disposed of, and are +consequently returned to the manager's office, to be destroyed. Then, +what guaranty have we that the numbers entitled to the above pitiful +prizes were sold? They are as likely to be among the tickets returned +unsold, as among those sold. Next, the bill states that there were one +hundred and ten others, each having three drawn numbers, and were +entitled to a prize of $300 each. By a close investigation, I find but +one single ticket of this kind in the whole scheme. This is the ticket +in the twelfth package of quarters, bearing the numbers 61, 69, 77; and +if it had been sold, it would have entitled the holder to one fourth of +the $300, deducting 15 per cent. Next, the bill says, those sixty-six +tickets having the first and second drawn numbers, will each be entitled +to a prize of $100. In searching for these in the scheme-book, I find +but one that bears the first and second numbers; that is, in package +fourteen. The ticket having the numbers 20, 51, 66, is the only one +having the two first numbers; and if sold, the holder was entitled to +one half of the $100, it being a half ticket. Now, the reader may +perceive that I have examined and laid open, so that he too may examine, +this masterpiece of villany. I find that of the two hundred and +eighty-six highest prizes, which, their own handbill states, existed in +their lottery, and which, by their own figures, amounted to the enormous +sum of $195,967, and, in order to be drawn, only required that the +tickets should be bought,--I find, allowing every ticket to have been +sold, and afterwards every holder presented his ticket for the sum to +which it might be entitled, that of the two hundred and eighty-six said +to be in the scheme, there are but five, and these very inconsiderable; +and that the greatest amount of these five prizes, without deducting the +fifteen per cent, is only $875, instead of the enormous sum of $195,967. +Can it be possible that any person will be found to patronize lotteries, +after considering these facts? + +I pass over those small prizes named after the first sixty-six having +the first and second drawn numbers on them, and will prove the balance +to be falsehoods, as the greater portion of the first part of the bill +is. + +In the first place, let us see how many prizes are represented to exist, +not to say any thing of the blanks. In counting up the prizes named on +this bill, we find them to be 30,316; and I do not think they would +pretend to say that more than one half of their tickets were prizes. +Then we will say that they had an equal number of blanks. This would +carry their scheme up to over sixty thousand tickets; and even if they +were all prizes, and no blanks, (which they do not pretend,) who cannot +see the extreme improbability of their disposing of 30,316 tickets in +one week? for it must be remembered that these were all of one class, +and for one particular week's drawing. But the last witness, whose +overwhelming testimony will settle the question, is their own +scheme-book, of which an accurate copy is here given, and which shows +the number of tickets, for any one drawing, to be but 1,560, the half of +which, by great exertion, they might succeed in selling; each successive +drawing being another edition of these same combinations, with a +different class number on them. Now, let me ask, where are their 30,316 +prizes to come from? What a scheme of deception do we here behold! and +one, too, that has been so long submitted to and patronized by the +public of this and other countries. + +Another method of still further swindling the buyers of tickets, is much +practised in some parts of the country. The agents who sell the tickets +are authorized to insure them. When a man buys one, the price, perhaps, +might be ten dollars. The seller, if he has been authorized, will say, +"Now, sir, for ten dollars, I will insure your ticket to draw a prize." +This is enough for the buyer to have his ticket insured to draw a prize, +and possibly the capital prize: he pays an additional fee, and the agent +forwards the numbers of all the tickets, so insured, to the office where +the drawing is to be held; and there they manage to have these tickets +contain one (seldom more) of the drawn numbers. This entitles the buyer +to receive back the price of his ticket, after taking out 15 per cent.; +and as it was not a total blank, the insurer is safe, and retains the +sum paid for insurance. The buyer remains swindled out of the insurance, +and 15 per cent, of the cost. These swindling shops are numerous, and +are sometimes called _policy offices_. + +We sincerely hope that our readers will examine with some attention the +developments we have made in relation to the deceptive schemes of the +lottery managers; for we feel that they cannot fail to convince every +man of common sense, who has a particle of moral principle and moral +honesty left, that he who encourages this basest of all swindling, by +purchasing tickets, is not alone an enemy to himself and family, but he +countenances a species of gambling that is extensively mischievous and +ruinous, and has for its victims many of our best citizens, young and +old; while, at the same time, he unintentionally throws a veil over the +villanous deeds of the lottery gambler and his unprincipled, as well as +his inexperienced supporters. We once more invite our readers to examine +our statements with attention. + +The following tables represent, completely, the entire contents of a +lottery dealer's scheme-book, made for the guidance of the printer, in +printing tickets. At the close of the tables is represented a ticket, +with its class and combination numbers. + ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| #1# | #2# | #3# | #4# | #5# | #6# | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 1 27 53| 1 28 55 | 1 29 54| 1 30 56| 1 31 57| 1 32 58| +| 2 28 54| 2 29 56 | 2 30 55| 2 31 57| 2 32 58| 2 33 59| +| 3 29 55| 3 30 57 | 3 31 56| 3 32 58| 3 33 59| 3 34 60| +| 4 30 56| 4 31 58 | 4 32 57| 4 33 59| 4 34 60| 4 35 78| +| 5 31 57| 5 32 59 | 5 33 58| 5 34 60| 5 35 61| 5 36 77| +| 6 32 58| 6 33 60 | 6 34 59| 6 35 61| 6 36 62| 6 42 71| +| 7 33 59| 7 34 61 | 7 35 60| 7 36 62| 7 37 63| 7 43 70| +| 8 34 60| 8 35 62 | 8 36 61| 8 37 63| 8 38 64| 8 44 69| +| 9 35 61| 9 36 63 | 9 37 62| 9 38 64| 9 39 65| 9 45 68| +|10 36 62| 10 37 64 | 10 38 63| 10 39 65| 10 40 66| 10 46 67| +|11 37 63| 11 38 65 | 11 39 64| 11 40 66| 11 41 67| 11 37 76| +|12 38 64| 12 39 66 | 12 40 65| 12 41 67| 12 42 68| 12 38 75| +|13 39 65| 13 40 67 | 13 41 66| 13 42 68| 13 43 69| 13 39 74| +|14 40 66| 14 41 68 | 14 42 67| 14 43 69| 14 44 70| 14 40 73| +|15 41 67| 15 42 69 | 15 43 68| 15 44 70| 15 45 71| 15 41 72| +|16 42 68| 16 43 70 | 16 44 69| 16 45 71| 16 46 72| 16 27 57| +|17 43 69| 17 44 71 | 17 45 70| 17 46 72| 17 47 73| 17 28 56| +|18 44 70| 18 45 72 | 18 46 71| 18 47 73| 18 48 74| 18 29 55| +|19 45 71| 19 46 73 | 19 47 72| 19 48 74| 19 49 75| 19 30 54| +|20 46 72| 20 47 74 | 20 48 73| 20 49 75| 20 50 76| 20 31 53| +|21 47 73| 21 48 75 | 21 49 74| 21 50 76| 21 51 77| 21 47 65| +|22 48 74| 22 49 76 | 22 50 75| 22 51 77| 22 52 78| 22 48 66| +|23 49 75| 23 50 77 | 23 51 76| 23 52 78| 23 30 53| 23 49 64| +|24 50 76| 24 51 78 | 24 52 77| 24 27 53| 24 29 54| 24 50 63| +|25 51 77| 25 52 53 | 25 27 78| 25 28 54| 25 28 55| 25 51 62| +|26 52 78| 26 27 54 | 26 28 53| 26 29 55| 26 27 56| 26 52 61| ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ + +The above lottery schemes were accurately copied from the scheme-book of +a lottery dealer in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and may be considered a fair +specimen of lottery combinations generally. The tables are for a 78 +numbered lottery, every three perpendicular lines of figures containing +a package, and each package all the numbers, from 1 to 78, inclusive; +and there are also 26 tickets in each package. + ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| #7# | #8# | #9# | #10# | #96# | #97# | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 1 34 59| 1 60 78| 1 61 64| 1 35 36| 1 38 39 | 1 41 43| +| 2 36 60| 2 61 77| 2 62 65| 2 37 38| 2 40 49 | 2 42 45| +| 3 35 61| 3 62 76| 3 63 66| 3 39 40| 3 41 50 | 3 44 47| +| 4 37 62| 4 63 75| 4 29 78| 4 41 42| 4 42 51 | 4 46 49| +| 5 38 63| 5 64 74| 5 28 77| 5 43 44| 5 43 52 | 5 48 51| +| 6 49 74| 6 65 73| 6 27 76| 6 45 46| 6 44 53 | 6 50 53| +| 7 50 75| 7 66 72| 7 30 50| 7 47 48| 7 45 54 | 7 52 55| +| 8 51 76| 8 67 71| 8 31 51| 8 49 50| 8 46 55 | 8 54 57| +| 9 52 77| 9 68 70| 9 32 52| 9 51 52| 9 47 56 | 9 56 59| +|10 27 78| 10 53 69| 10 33 53| 10 53 54| 10 48 57 | 10 58 61| +|11 28 53| 11 27 52| 11 34 54| 11 55 56| 11 58 67 | 11 60 63| +|12 29 54| 12 28 51| 12 35 55| 12 57 58| 12 59 68 | 12 62 65| +|13 30 55| 13 29 50| 13 36 56| 13 59 60| 13 60 69 | 13 64 67| +|14 31 56| 14 30 49| 14 37 57| 14 61 62| 14 61 70 | 14 66 69| +|15 32 57| 15 31 48| 15 38 58| 15 63 64| 15 62 71 | 15 68 71| +|16 33 58| 16 32 47| 16 39 59| 16 65 66| 16 63 72 | 16 70 73| +|17 48 73| 17 33 46| 17 40 60| 17 67 68| 17 64 73 | 17 72 75| +|18 47 72| 18 34 45| 18 41 67| 18 69 70| 18 65 74 | 18 74 77| +|19 46 71| 19 35 44| 19 42 68| 19 71 72| 19 66 75 | 19 76 78| +|20 45 70| 20 36 43| 20 43 69| 20 73 74| 20 27 76 | 20 35 40| +|21 44 69| 21 37 59| 21 44 70| 21 75 76| 21 28 77 | 21 34 39| +|22 43 68| 22 38 58| 22 45 71| 22 77 78| 22 29 78 | 22 33 38| +|23 42 67| 23 39 57| 23 46 72| 23 27 28| 23 30 34 | 23 32 37| +|24 41 66| 24 40 56| 24 47 73| 24 29 30| 24 31 35 | 24 31 36| +|25 40 65| 25 41 55| 25 48 74| 25 31 32| 25 32 36 | 25 27 29| +|26 39 64| 26 42 54| 26 49 75| 26 33 34| 26 33 37 | 26 28 30| ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ + +At the beginning of the first package you will see the numbers 1, 27, +53; they are placed on one ticket; and so with each succeeding three +numbers through the whole scheme. + ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| #98# | #99# | #100# | | #101# | #101# | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 13 | 14 | 15 | 00 | 1 | 1 | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 1 45 44| 1 62 70| 1 27 78| | 1 2 53 | 1 2 60| +| 2 46 47| 2 63 71| 2 28 77| | 3 4 54 | 3 6 61| +| 3 48 49| 3 64 72| 3 29 76| | 5 29 55 | 4 7 62| +| 4 50 51| 4 65 73| 4 30 75| | 6 30 56 | 5 52 63| +| 5 52 53| 5 66 74| 5 31 74| | 7 31 57 | 8 51 64| +| 6 54 55| 6 52 75| 6 32 73| | 8 32 58 | 9 50 65| +| 7 56 57| 7 53 76| 7 33 72| | 9 33 59 | 10 49 66| +| 8 58 59| 8 54 77| 8 34 71| | 10 34 60 | 11 48 67| +| 9 60 61| 9 55 78| 9 35 70| | 11 35 61 | 12 47 68| +|10 62 63| 10 56 67| 10 36 69|Here ends| 12 36 62 | 13 46 69| +|11 64 65| 11 57 68| 11 37 68| Fifteen | 13 37 63 | 14 45 70| +|12 66 67| 12 58 69| 12 38 67|Packages | 14 38 64 | 15 44 71| +|13 68 69| 13 59 61| 13 39 66|of Whole | 15 39 65 | 16 43 72| +|14 70 71| 14 51 60| 14 40 65| Tickets | 16 40 66 | 17 42 73| +|15 72 73| 15 27 39| 15 41 64| | 17 41 67 | 18 41 74| +|16 74 75| 16 28 40| 16 42 63| | 18 42 68 | 19 40 75| +|17 76 77| 17 29 41| 17 43 62| | 19 43 69 | 20 39 76| +|18 43 78| 18 30 42| 18 44 61| | 20 44 70 | 21 38 77| +|19 27 42| 19 31 43| 19 45 60| | 21 45 71 | 22 37 78| +|20 28 41| 20 32 44| 20 46 59| | 22 46 72 | 23 36 53| +|21 29 40| 21 33 45| 21 47 58| | 23 47 73 | 24 35 54| +|22 30 39| 22 34 46| 22 48 57| | 24 48 74 | 25 34 55| +|23 31 38| 23 35 47| 23 49 56| | 25 49 75 | 26 33 56| +|24 32 37| 24 36 48| 24 50 55| | 26 50 76 | 27 32 57| +|25 33 36| 25 37 49| 25 51 54| | 27 51 77 | 28 31 58| +|26 34 35| 26 38 50| 26 52 53| | 28 52 78 | 29 30 59| ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ + +There are, in these schemes, 15 packages of whole tickets, each +containing 26, which make an aggregate of 390, and the same number of +halves, which, if added to the former, will make 780; also, 30 packages +of quarters, making, in all, 1560. These comprise the whole of the +combinations here given, and are intended for one particular drawing, +constituting one class. For each successive drawing, another edition of +the same combinations are offered for sale, only with different class +numbers. + ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| #103# | #104# | #105# | #106# | #107# | #108# | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 1 3 61| 1 3 65| 1 4 66| 1 4 67| 1 5 68| 1 5 69| +| 2 4 62| 2 41 66| 2 42 67| 2 5 68| 2 6 69| 2 6 70| +| 5 6 63| 4 42 67| 3 43 68| 3 45 69| 3 7 70| 3 7 71| +| 7 8 64| 5 43 68| 5 44 69| 6 46 70| 4 45 71| 4 8 72| +| 9 31 65| 6 44 69| 6 45 70| 7 47 71| 8 46 72| 9 48 75| +|10 32 66| 7 45 70| 7 46 71| 8 48 72| 9 47 73| 10 49 76| +|11 33 67| 8 40 71| 8 47 72| 9 49 73| 10 48 74| 11 50 73| +|12 34 68| 9 39 72| 9 48 73| 10 50 74| 11 49 75| 12 51 74| +|13 35 69| 10 38 73| 10 49 74| 11 51 75| 12 50 76| 13 52 78| +|14 36 71| 11 37 74| 11 50 75| 12 52 76| 13 51 77| 14 31 77| +|15 37 70| 12 36 75| 12 51 76| 13 29 77| 14 52 78| 15 32 68| +|16 38 72| 13 35 76| 13 52 77| 14 30 78| 15 30 67| 16 33 67| +|17 39 73| 14 34 77| 14 41 78| 15 31 66| 16 31 66| 17 34 66| +|18 40 74| 15 33 78| 15 40 65| 16 32 65| 17 32 65| 18 35 65| +|19 41 75| 16 32 53| 16 28 64| 17 33 64| 18 33 64| 19 36 64| +|20 42 76| 17 31 54| 17 29 63| 18 34 63| 19 34 63| 20 37 63| +|21 43 77| 18 30 55| 18 30 62| 19 35 62| 20 35 62| 21 38 62| +|22 44 78| 19 29 56| 19 31 61| 20 36 61| 21 36 61| 22 39 61| +|23 45 53| 20 28 57| 20 32 60| 21 37 60| 22 37 60| 23 40 60| +|24 46 54| 21 52 58| 21 33 59| 22 38 59| 23 38 59| 24 41 59| +|25 47 55| 22 51 59| 22 34 58| 23 39 58| 24 39 58| 25 42 58| +|26 48 56| 23 50 60| 23 35 57| 24 40 57| 25 40 57| 26 43 57| +|27 49 57| 24 49 61| 24 36 56| 25 41 56| 26 41 56| 27 44 56| +|28 50 58| 25 48 62| 25 37 55| 26 42 55| 27 42 55| 28 45 55| +|29 51 59| 26 47 63| 26 38 54| 27 43 54| 28 43 54| 29 46 54| +|30 52 60| 27 46 64| 27 39 53| 28 44 53| 29 44 53| 30 47 53| ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ + +The venders of lottery tickets possess an immense advantage over the +buyer, which is mostly in the extreme improbability of a prize of any +considerable amount being drawn. The numbers 1 to 78 are capable of +making 76076 combinations on what I may term the increasing ratio--that +is, the second larger than the first, and the third larger than the +second, in arithmetical progression; as, 5, 10, 15, &c. + ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| #109# | #110# | #196# | #197# | #198# | #199# | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 1 6 70| 1 6 71| 1 7 72| 1 7 73| 1 8 74 | 1 8 75| +| 2 7 71| 2 7 72| 2 8 73| 2 8 74| 2 9 75 | 2 9 76| +| 3 8 72| 3 8 73| 3 9 74| 3 9 75| 3 10 76 | 3 10 77| +| 4 9 73| 4 9 74| 4 10 75| 4 10 76| 4 11 77 | 4 11 78| +| 5 10 74| 5 10 75| 5 11 76| 5 11 77| 5 12 78 | 5 12 74| +|11 32 75| 11 33 76| 6 12 77| 6 12 78| 6 13 73 | 6 13 72| +|12 33 76| 12 34 77| 13 33 78| 13 52 72| 7 14 72 | 7 14 73| +|13 34 77| 13 35 78| 14 34 53| 14 51 71| 15 45 70 | 15 46 71| +|14 35 78| 14 36 70| 15 35 54| 15 50 70| 16 46 71 | 16 47 70| +|15 36 69| 15 37 69| 16 36 55| 16 49 69| 17 47 69 | 17 48 69| +|16 37 68| 16 38 68| 17 37 56| 17 48 68| 18 48 68 | 18 49 68| +|17 38 67| 17 39 67| 18 38 57| 18 47 67| 19 49 67 | 19 50 67| +|18 39 66| 18 40 66| 19 39 58| 19 46 66| 20 50 66 | 20 51 66| +|19 40 65| 19 41 65| 20 40 59| 20 45 65| 21 51 65 | 21 52 65| +|20 41 64| 20 42 64| 21 41 60| 21 44 64| 22 52 64 | 22 45 64| +|21 42 62| 21 43 63| 22 42 61| 22 43 61| 23 44 63 | 23 44 61| +|22 43 63| 22 44 62| 23 43 62| 23 42 62| 24 43 62 | 24 43 60| +|23 44 60| 23 45 61| 24 44 63| 24 41 63| 25 42 61 | 25 42 63| +|24 45 61| 24 46 60| 25 45 64| 25 40 60| 26 41 60 | 26 41 62| +|25 46 59| 25 47 59| 26 46 65| 26 39 59| 27 40 59 | 27 40 58| +|26 47 58| 26 48 58| 27 47 66| 27 38 58| 28 39 58 | 28 39 59| +|27 48 57| 27 49 56| 28 48 67| 28 37 57| 29 38 57 | 29 38 56| +|28 49 56| 28 50 57| 29 49 68| 29 36 56| 30 37 56 | 30 37 57| +|29 50 55| 29 51 55| 30 50 69| 30 35 55| 31 36 55 | 31 36 54| +|30 51 54| 30 52 54| 31 51 70| 31 34 54| 32 35 53 | 32 35 55| +|31 52 53| 31 32 53| 32 52 71| 32 33 53| 33 34 54 | 33 34 53| ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ + +In the following combinations there are but 1560, where there might be +76076; and if this latter number were printed and sold, some one must +hold the three first drawn numbers, every ticket-holder having one +chance out of 76076 of drawing the capital prize. But, in this +combination, if a man were to purchase the whole of the tickets, being +1560, there would still be 49 chances against his holding the three +first numbers, to one for it. As there are no two tickets holding the +same three numbers, of course but one can hold the three first, which is +the prize. + ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| #200# | #206# | #201# | #202# | #203# | #204# | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 15 | 00 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 1 9 76| | 1 9 77 | 1 10 77| 1 10 78 | 1 11 21| +| 2 10 77| | 2 10 78 | 2 11 78| 2 11 77 | 2 12 22| +| 3 11 78| | 3 11 76 | 3 12 53| 3 12 76 | 3 13 23| +| 4 12 75| | 4 12 74 | 4 13 54| 4 13 75 | 4 14 24| +| 5 13 74| | 5 13 75 | 5 14 55| 5 14 74 | 5 15 25| +| 6 14 73|Here ends | 6 14 72 | 6 15 56| 6 15 72 | 6 16 26| +| 7 15 72| Fifteen | 7 15 73 | 7 16 57| 7 16 71 | 7 17 27| +| 8 16 71| Packages | 8 16 70 | 8 17 58| 8 17 70 | 8 18 28| +|17 52 70| of Half | 17 51 71 | 9 18 59| 9 18 69 | 9 19 29| +|18 51 69| Tickets. | 18 50 69 | 19 52 60| 19 36 68 | 10 20 30| +|19 50 68| The | 19 49 68 | 20 40 72| 20 37 67 | 31 41 51| +|20 49 67|following | 20 48 67 | 21 50 62| 21 38 66 | 32 42 52| +|21 48 66| Packages | 21 47 66 | 22 49 63| 22 39 65 | 33 43 53| +|22 47 65| are | 22 46 65 | 23 48 64| 23 40 64 | 34 44 54| +|23 46 64|Quarters. | 23 45 64 | 24 47 65| 24 41 62 | 35 45 55| +|24 45 63| | 24 44 61 | 25 46 66| 25 45 63 | 36 46 56| +|25 44 62| | 25 43 62 | 26 45 67| 26 43 60 | 37 47 57| +|26 43 61| | 26 42 63 | 27 44 68| 27 44 61 | 38 48 58| +|27 42 60| | 27 41 60 | 28 43 69| 28 42 59 | 39 49 59| +|28 41 59| | 28 40 59 | 29 42 70| 29 46 58 | 40 50 60| +|29 40 58| | 29 39 58 | 30 41 71| 30 47 57 | 61 67 73| +|30 39 57| | 30 38 57 | 31 51 61| 31 48 56 | 62 68 74| +|31 38 56| | 31 37 56 | 32 39 73| 32 49 55 | 63 69 75| +|32 37 55| | 32 36 55 | 33 38 74| 33 50 54 | 64 70 76| +|33 36 54| | 33 35 53 | 34 37 75| 34 51 53 | 65 71 77| +|34 35 53| | 34 52 54 | 35 36 76| 35 52 73 | 66 72 78| ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ + +By a little investigation, any one may discover that his chance for +drawing a prize, even of a trifling amount, is extremely small. By the +following method any one may ascertain the number of combinations which +any given number will produce, as in the present case, 78 x 77 x 76 = +456456 / 6 = 76076, the number of combinations of three numbers each; +the 78 multiplied by 77, and the product by 76, and that product divided +by 6 gives the number of combinations of three numbers each, which the +numbers from 1 to 78 will produce, no two combinations containing the +same three numbers. + ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| #205# | #206# | #207# | #208# | #209# | #210# | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 1 12 23| 1 13 25 | 1 14 27 | 1 15 29| 1 16 31 | 1 17 33| +| 2 13 24| 2 14 26 | 2 15 28 | 2 16 39| 2 17 32 | 2 18 34| +| 3 14 25| 3 15 27 | 3 16 29 | 3 17 31| 3 18 33 | 3 19 35| +| 4 15 26| 4 16 28 | 4 17 30 | 4 18 32| 4 19 34 | 4 20 36| +| 5 16 27| 5 17 29 | 5 18 31 | 5 19 33| 5 20 35 | 5 21 37| +| 6 17 28| 6 18 30 | 6 19 32 | 6 20 34| 6 21 36 | 6 22 38| +| 7 18 29| 7 19 31 | 7 20 34 | 7 21 35| 7 22 37 | 7 23 39| +| 8 19 30| 8 20 32 | 8 21 33 | 8 22 36| 8 23 38 | 8 24 40| +| 9 20 31| 9 21 33 | 9 22 35 | 9 23 37| 9 24 39 | 9 25 41| +|10 21 32| 10 22 34 | 10 23 36 | 10 24 38| 10 25 40 | 10 26 42| +|11 22 33| 11 23 35 | 11 24 37 | 11 25 39| 11 26 41 | 11 27 43| +|34 45 56| 12 24 36 | 12 25 38 | 12 26 40| 12 27 42 | 12 28 44| +|35 46 57| 37 49 61 | 13 26 39 | 13 27 41| 13 28 43 | 13 29 45| +|36 47 58| 38 50 62 | 40 53 66 | 14 28 42| 14 29 44 | 14 30 46| +|37 48 59| 39 51 63 | 41 54 67 | 43 55 67| 15 30 45 | 15 31 47| +|38 49 60| 40 52 64 | 42 55 68 | 44 56 68| 46 57 68 | 16 32 48| +|39 50 61| 41 53 65 | 43 56 69 | 45 57 69| 47 58 69 | 49 59 69| +|40 51 62| 42 54 66 | 44 57 70 | 46 58 70| 48 59 70 | 50 60 70| +|41 52 63| 43 55 67 | 45 58 71 | 47 59 71| 49 60 71 | 51 61 71| +|42 53 64| 44 56 68 | 46 59 72 | 48 60 72| 50 61 72 | 52 62 72| +|43 54 65| 44 55 66 | 45 47 73 | 49 61 73| 51 62 73 | 53 63 73| +|44 55 66| 46 58 70 | 48 61 74 | 50 62 74| 52 63 74 | 54 64 74| +|67 71 76| 47 59 72 | 49 62 75 | 51 63 75| 53 64 75 | 55 65 75| +|68 72 75| 48 60 71 | 50 63 76 | 52 64 76| 54 65 76 | 56 66 76| +|69 73 78| 73 75 77 | 51 64 77 | 53 65 77| 55 66 77 | 57 67 77| +|70 74 77| 74 76 78 | 52 65 78 | 54 66 78| 66 67 78 | 58 68 78| ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ + ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| #296# | #297# | #298# | #299# | #300# | #301# | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 22 | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 1 18 35| 1 19 37| 1 20 39| 1 21 41| 1 22 43| 1 23 45| +| 2 19 36| 2 20 38| 2 21 40| 2 22 42| 2 23 44| 2 24 46| +| 3 20 37| 3 21 39| 3 22 41| 3 23 43| 3 24 45| 3 25 47| +| 4 21 38| 4 22 40| 4 23 42| 4 24 44| 4 25 46| 4 26 48| +| 5 22 39| 5 23 41| 5 24 43| 5 25 45| 5 26 47| 5 27 49| +| 6 23 40| 6 24 42| 6 25 44| 6 26 46| 6 27 48| 6 28 50| +| 7 24 41| 7 25 43| 7 26 45| 7 27 47| 7 28 49| 7 29 51| +| 8 25 42| 8 26 44| 8 27 46| 8 28 48| 8 29 50| 8 30 52| +| 9 26 43| 9 27 45| 9 28 47| 9 29 49| 9 30 51| 9 31 53| +|10 27 44| 10 28 46| 10 29 48| 10 30 50| 10 31 52| 10 32 54| +|11 28 45| 11 29 47| 11 30 49| 11 31 51| 11 32 53| 11 33 55| +|12 29 46| 12 30 48| 12 31 50| 12 32 52| 12 33 54| 12 34 56| +|13 30 47| 13 31 49| 13 32 51| 13 33 53| 13 34 55| 13 35 57| +|14 31 48| 14 32 50| 14 33 52| 14 34 54| 14 35 56| 14 36 58| +|15 32 49| 15 33 51| 15 34 53| 15 35 55| 15 36 57| 15 37 59| +|16 33 50| 16 34 52| 16 35 54| 16 36 56| 16 37 58| 16 38 60| +|17 34 51| 17 35 53| 17 36 55| 17 37 57| 17 38 59| 17 39 61| +|52 61 70| 18 36 54| 18 37 56| 18 38 58| 18 39 60| 18 40 62| +|53 62 71| 55 63 71| 19 38 57| 19 39 59| 19 40 61| 19 41 63| +|54 63 72| 56 64 72| 58 65 72| 20 40 60| 20 41 62| 20 42 64| +|55 64 73| 57 65 73| 59 66 73| 61 67 74| 21 42 63| 21 43 66| +|56 65 74| 58 66 74| 60 67 74| 62 68 73| 64 69 74| 22 44 65| +|57 66 75| 59 67 75| 61 68 75| 63 69 76| 65 70 75| 67 71 75| +|58 67 76| 60 68 76| 62 69 76| 64 70 75| 66 71 76| 68 72 76| +|59 68 77| 61 69 77| 63 70 77| 65 71 78| 67 72 77| 69 73 77| +|60 69 78| 62 70 78| 64 71 78| 66 72 77| 68 73 78| 70 74 78| ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ + +Lottery-dealers are aware of the great odds against the buyers, and are +very cautious in keeping all the secrets of a fraud to themselves, by +which they are robbing the public continually. But it shall not be the +fault of the writer of these pages if their swindling machinations are +longer concealed from the community. Thousands upon thousands of +dollars are expended annually in lottery tickets in this country; and +how very seldom is it that you hear of a capital prize having been +drawn! If there should chance to be a prize of any magnitude awarded to +a ticket-holder, it is trumpeted from one end of the Union to the other, +by those most interested in lottery speculations, stimulating others to +try their luck, and by that means making their very losses minister to +their gain; for, in all likelihood, months and years may elapse before +another large prize will be drawn from the same lottery. + ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| #302# | #303# | #304# | #305# | #306# | #307# | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 1 24 47| 1 25 49 | 1 26 51 | 1 12 24| 1 13 27 | 1 14 39| +| 2 25 48| 2 26 50 | 2 27 52 | 2 13 25| 2 14 28 | 2 15 38| +| 3 26 49| 3 27 51 | 3 28 53 | 3 14 26| 3 15 29 | 3 16 37| +| 4 27 50| 4 28 52 | 4 29 54 | 4 15 27| 4 16 30 | 4 17 36| +| 5 28 51| 5 29 53 | 5 30 55 | 5 16 28| 5 17 31 | 5 18 35| +| 6 29 52| 6 30 54 | 6 31 56 | 6 17 29| 6 18 32 | 6 19 34| +| 7 30 53| 7 31 55 | 7 32 57 | 7 18 30| 7 19 33 | 7 20 33| +| 8 31 54| 8 32 56 | 8 33 58 | 8 19 31| 8 20 34 | 8 21 32| +| 9 32 55| 9 33 57 | 9 34 59 | 9 20 32| 9 21 35 | 9 22 31| +|10 33 56| 10 34 58 | 10 35 60 | 10 21 33| 10 22 36 | 10 23 30| +|11 34 57| 11 35 59 | 11 36 61 | 11 22 34| 11 23 26 | 11 24 29| +|12 35 58| 12 36 60 | 12 37 62 | 23 49 66| 12 24 25 | 12 25 28| +|13 36 59| 13 37 61 | 13 38 63 | 35 50 65| 37 51 65 | 13 26 27| +|14 37 60| 14 38 62 | 14 39 64 | 36 51 64| 38 52 66 | 40 53 78| +|15 38 61| 15 39 63 | 15 40 66 | 37 52 67| 39 53 67 | 41 54 77| +|16 39 62| 16 40 64 | 16 41 65 | 38 53 69| 40 54 68 | 42 55 76| +|17 40 63| 17 41 65 | 17 42 67 | 39 54 68| 41 55 69 | 43 56 75| +|18 41 64| 18 42 66 | 18 43 68 | 40 55 70| 42 56 70 | 44 57 74| +|19 42 65| 19 43 67 | 19 44 69 | 41 56 71| 43 57 71 | 45 58 73| +|20 43 66| 20 44 68 | 20 45 71 | 42 57 72| 44 58 72 | 46 59 71| +|21 44 67| 21 45 69 | 21 46 70 | 43 58 73| 45 59 73 | 47 60 72| +|22 45 68| 22 46 70 | 22 47 72 | 44 59 74| 46 60 74 | 48 61 70| +|23 46 69| 23 47 71 | 23 48 73 | 45 60 75| 47 61 75 | 49 62 69| +|70 73 76| 24 48 72 | 24 49 74 | 46 61 76| 48 62 76 | 50 63 68| +|71 74 77| 73 76 77 | 25 50 75 | 47 62 77| 49 63 77 | 51 64 67| +|72 75 78| 74 75 78 | 76 77 78 | 48 63 78| 50 64 78 | 52 65 66| ++--------+----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ + +It will be seen by the lottery combinations we present, how infinitely +disproportionate are the chances in this species of gambling--how vastly +the odds bear against the purchaser of tickets, and what mischievous +results must of necessity spring from a vile system of frauds, +perpetrated, as it is, by the sanction of law, and the tolerance of +custom. + ++--------+-----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| #308# | #309# | #310# | #396# | #397# | #398# | ++--------+-----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | ++--------+-----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ +| 1 18 53| 1 19 53 | 1 20 53 | 1 21 53| 1 22 45 | 1 23 46| +| 2 19 54| 2 20 54 | 2 21 54 | 2 22 54| 2 23 43 | 2 24 45| +| 3 20 55| 3 21 55 | 3 22 55 | 3 23 55| 3 24 44 | 3 25 55| +| 4 21 56| 4 22 56 | 4 23 56 | 4 24 56| 4 25 56 | 4 26 56| +| 5 22 57| 5 23 57 | 5 24 57 | 5 25 57| 5 26 57 | 5 27 57| +| 6 23 58| 6 24 58 | 6 25 58 | 6 26 58| 6 27 58 | 6 28 58| +| 7 24 59| 7 25 59 | 7 26 59 | 7 27 59| 7 28 59 | 7 29 59| +| 8 25 60| 8 26 60 | 8 27 60 | 8 28 60| 8 29 60 | 8 30 78| +| 9 26 61| 9 27 61 | 9 28 61 | 9 29 61| 9 30 61 | 9 31 77| +|10 27 62| 10 28 62 | 10 29 62 | 10 30 62| 10 31 62 | 10 32 76| +|11 28 63| 11 29 63 | 11 30 63 | 11 31 63| 11 32 63 | 11 33 75| +|12 29 64| 12 30 64 | 12 31 64 | 12 32 64| 12 33 64 | 12 34 74| +|13 30 65| 13 31 65 | 13 32 65 | 13 33 65| 13 34 65 | 13 35 73| +|14 31 66| 14 32 66 | 14 33 66 | 14 34 66| 14 35 66 | 14 36 72| +|15 32 67| 15 33 67 | 15 34 67 | 15 35 67| 15 36 67 | 15 37 71| +|16 33 68| 16 34 68 | 16 35 68 | 16 36 68| 16 38 71 | 16 38 70| +|17 34 69| 17 35 69 | 17 36 69 | 17 37 69| 17 37 70 | 17 39 69| +|35 44 70| 18 36 70 | 18 37 70 | 18 38 70| 18 39 69 | 18 40 68| +|36 45 71| 37 45 71 | 19 38 71 | 19 39 71| 19 40 68 | 19 41 67| +|37 46 72| 38 46 72 | 39 46 72 | 20 40 72| 20 41 72 | 20 42 66| +|38 47 73| 39 47 73 | 40 47 73 | 41 47 73| 21 42 73 | 21 43 65| +|39 48 74| 40 48 74 | 41 48 74 | 42 48 74| 46 51 74 | 22 44 64| +|40 49 75| 41 49 75 | 42 49 75 | 43 49 75| 47 52 75 | 47 51 63| +|41 50 76| 42 50 76 | 43 50 76 | 44 50 76| 48 53 76 | 48 52 62| +|42 51 77| 43 51 77 | 44 51 77 | 45 51 77| 49 54 77 | 49 53 61| +|43 52 78| 44 52 78 | 45 52 78 | 46 52 78| 50 55 78 | 50 54 60| ++--------+-----------+----------+---------+-----------+---------+ + +All the combinations used in this lottery have been given, as also the +number that might be made; and, of course, the less the dealer in +lotteries makes, the greater the chance in his favor, and the less in +favor of the buyer. The figures heading the classes of combinations, on +each page, are class-numbers, and those below the first figures, and +immediately above the columns, are placed there to indicate the number +of packages. + ++---------+--------+ +| #399# | #400# | ++---------+--------+ +| 29 | 30 | ++---------+--------+ +| 1 24 53 | 1 25 53| +| 2 25 54 | 2 26 54| +| 3 26 55 | 3 27 55| +| 4 27 56 | 4 28 56| +| 5 28 57 | 5 29 57| +| 6 29 58 | 6 30 58|Here ends +| 7 30 59 | 7 31 59|the Thirty +| 8 31 60 | 8 32 60|Packages +| 9 32 61 | 9 33 61|of Quarters. +|10 33 62 |10 34 62| +|11 34 63 |11 35 63| +|12 35 64 |12 36 64| +|13 36 65 |13 37 65| +|14 37 66 |14 38 66| +|15 38 67 |15 39 67| +|16 39 68 |16 40 68| +|17 40 69 |17 41 69| +|18 41 70 |18 42 70| +|19 42 71 |19 43 71| +|20 43 72 |20 44 72| +|21 44 73 |21 45 73| +|22 45 74 |22 46 74| +|23 46 75 |23 47 75| +|47 50 76 |24 48 76| +|48 51 77 |49 51 77| +|49 52 78 |50 52 78| ++---------+--------+ + +[Illustration: MARKED CARDS. See Green on Gambling.] + +The above are specimens of patterns of playing cards, that the reader +may rely upon the gambler's knowing by their back as well as the +generality of amusement players know by their face. The same may be said +of all the patterns spoken of and presented to the view of the reader on +another page of this work. + +[Illustration: Literature Lottery BY AUTHORITY OF THE STATE OF KENTUCKY +Class No. 205 Com Nos 10 48 75 + +This Ticket will entitle the holder to one QUARTER of such Prize as may +be drawn to its Numbers, if demanded within twelve months after the +Drawing. Subject to a deduction of Fifteen per cent: Payable forty days +after the Drawing. + +For A. BASSFORD & CO., Managers. +#Covington, 1841. QUARTER.# + +[This plate represents a lottery ticket with the numbers placed upon it. +The numbers seen upon its face are of the same order as those found upon +every ticket when sold, and are used to designate one ticket from +another, and by comparing them with the numbers at the head of any of +those packages of combinations, on another page, you will see the manner +in which they are arranged, and the great advantage in favor of the +managers.]] + + +FALLACY OF LOTTERIES AS A MEANS OF REVENUE. + +We are indebted for the following exposition to our moral friend, Capt. +John Maginn, of New York city. + +"Although they may produce, by the various deceptive allurements which +they hold forth, a temporary influx into the treasury of the state, yet +the prostration of industry, the formation of idle habits, intemperance +and various other vices, have invariably been the consequences wherever +they have been introduced. No farther evidence of this position is +requisite than the fact that in England, where many of the common +necessaries of life are heavily taxed, it has been satisfactorily +ascertained from observation, that for several days preceding the +drawing of a lottery, the consumption of such articles was very +materially diminished. It is moreover equally true, that a very small +proportion of the tax actually paid, through the purchase of lottery +tickets, is available to the state: by far the greater part being +absorbed in the expenses, profits, &c., of managers and venders." + + +INSURING NUMBERS, OR POLICY DEALING. + +As the system of insuring numbers is at present practised to a fearful +extent in this city, and as its votaries are mostly the ignorant and +unthinking portion of the community, we proceed to give a plain +matter-of-fact investigation of the chances. + +There being on the day of drawing a certain number of tickets in the +wheel, out of which a particular number of them are to be drawn, it +follows that there are so many chances to one against a given number +being drawn as the number which are to be drawn are contained in the +entire number of tickets in the wheel. To illustrate this practically, +suppose you would insure the payment of $100 upon the event of a certain +number being drawn from the lottery wheel to-day; suppose it is a 78 +number lottery, and that 12 ballots are to be drawn; the chance then is +evidently 78/12, or 6.5 to 1 that you lose: accordingly, in order to +make the chances equal, you must pay 100/6.5, or $15.38, for insurance: +if therefore the insurer should ask $32, there would be about $16 fraud: +in other words, you would have to contend against about 100 per cent. +The only inducement for the insurer to pursue this vile practice, in +defiance of constitutions and laws, is a liberal per centage. This +varies from 30 to 70, and even 125 per cent. Under circumstances like +these, when the chances of gain are obviously so remote, it would seem +incredible that any one endowed with even ordinary sagacity could be so +deluded--so desperate--as to adventure; though, sad to relate, hundreds +and hundreds in this city daily spend their little all in effecting +insurance on numbers, and that, too, at the sacrifice of the common +necessaries of life. + +Another system of insurance, which we will proceed to analyze, is +effected by what is termed a station number. The adventurer selects a +number, and declares that it will come out the first or second drawn, or +in some other place, for which he pays six cents, and if the number is +drawn in the order indicated, he is to receive $2.50. To illustrate +this, suppose you select a certain number, which you declare will be the +third drawn; suppose also that it is a 78 number lottery, and that there +are 12 drawn ballots. In this case there are evidently 78/12 = 6.5 +chances to 1 against the selected number being drawn. It is also plain +that should it be a drawn number, there are 12 chances to 1 against it +being drawn in any particular order; wherefore it follows, that there +are 6.5x12 = 78 chances to 1 against the selected number being the third +or any other particular drawn number. Accordingly, to equalize the +chances, in case of winning you should receive 78x6 = $4.68; hence, +under these circumstances the insurer gains $2.18, which is nearly 100 +per cent. Again, suppose it is a 98 number lottery, and that you pay 25 +cents: here we have 98x25 = $24.50, the sum you ought to receive in case +of winning, instead of which you only receive 25/6x2.5 = $10.626; hence +the insurer gains $13.975, or more than 125 per cent. + + +PROF. GODDARD ON LOTTERIES. + +We give below a very able memorial, from the pen of Prof. Goddard, of +Brown University, to the Legislature of Rhode Island. + +The undersigned, citizens of Rhode Island, have long regarded the +lottery system with unqualified reprobation. They believe it to be a +multiform social evil, which is obnoxious to the severest reprehension +of the moralist, and which it is the duty of the legislator, in all +cases, to visit with the most effective prohibitory sanctions. +Entertaining these convictions, the undersigned memorialists cannot +withhold them from the Hon. General Assembly of Rhode Island. They +invoke the General Assembly to exercise their constitutional powers, +promptly and decisively, for the correction of a long-continued, and +wide-spread, and pestilent social evil. They ask them, most respectfully +and earnestly, to withdraw, as soon as may be, all legislative sanction +of the lottery system, and to save Rhode Island from the enduring +reproach of being among the last States to abandon that system. The +memorialists beg leave to disclaim, in this matter, all personal or +political considerations. They are seeking neither to help nor to hurt +any political party. They contemplate no aggression upon the rights or +the character of individuals. They are engaged in no impracticable +scheme of moral reform. They have no fondness for popular agitation. +They are what they profess to be, citizens of Rhode Island, and it is +only in the quality of citizens of Rhode Island, that they now ask the +General Assembly to resort to the most operative penal enactments, for +the entire suppression of a system which exists, and which can exist +only to disgrace the character of the State, and to injure both the +morals and the interests of the people. The memorialists are persuaded +that a commanding majority of the citizens of every political party +entertain sentiments of decided hostility to all lotteries. In praying, +therefore, for legislative interposition, they feel that they are not +in advance of public opinion, that they are not urging the General +Assembly to anticipate public opinion, but only to imbody it; to +accelerate its salutary impulses, and to augment its healthful vigour. +The constitutional power of the legislature to interfere in the premises +being undisputed, the memorialists beg leave to submit, for +consideration, a few only of the many reasons which have forced upon +their minds the conclusion--that Rhode Island should lose no time and +spare no effort in extirpating the lottery system:--a system which has +already worked extensive evil within her borders; which is repugnant to +a cultivated moral sense; and which has been branded, both as illegal +and immoral, by some of the most enlightened governments upon earth. In +this connection, it should be stated, that England, and, it is believed, +France likewise, have abandoned the lottery system. Some of the most +populous and influential States in this Confederacy have abandoned it. +Massachusetts has abandoned it; Pennsylvania has abandoned it; New York +has abandoned it. Nay more, so hostile were the people of the latter +State to the lottery system, that in revising its Constitution a few +years since, they adopted a provision which prohibits the Legislature +from ever making a lottery grant. These examples are adduced to show the +progress of an enlightened public sentiment upon this subject, and to +exhibit the grateful spectacle of governments, differently constituted, +exercising their powers for the best interests of the people. The evils +which the lottery system creates, and the evils which it exasperates, +are so various and complicated, that the undersigned memorialists +cannot attempt an enumeration. They are so revolting as to furnish no +motive for rhetorical exaggeration. A few only of these evils the +undersigned memorialists will now proceed to mention. + +1. Lotteries are liable to many of the strongest objections which can be +alleged against gambling. They have thus far escaped, it is true, the +infamy of gambling, but they can plead no exemption from its malignant +consequences. Like gamblers, they are hostile--not to say fatal--to all +composure of thought and sobriety of conduct. Like gambling, they +inflame the imagination of their victims and their dupes, with visions +of ease, and affluence, and pleasure, destined never to be realized. +Like gambling, they seduce men, especially the credulous and the +unthinking, from the pursuits of regular industry, into the vortex of +wild adventure and exasperated passions. Like gambling, they ultimately +create a necessity for constant vicious excitement. Like gambling, they +often lead to poverty and despair, to insanity and to suicide. Like +gambling, they furnish strong temptations to fraud, and theft, and +drunkenness. Like gambling, they work, in but too many cases, a +permanent depravation of all moral principle and all moral habits. This +fearful parallel might easily be extended. The picture here presented of +the evils of lotteries, however fearful it may seem, is not overdrawn. +This picture will be owned as just, by many a bereaved widow and by many +a forsaken wife, who trace all their woes to the temptation into which +this _respectable_ and legalized species of gambling had betrayed once +affectionate husbands. It will be owned as just by many a child, who +has been doomed perchance to a heritage of ignorance and poverty, by a +father, for whose weak virtue the potent fascinations of the lottery +were found too strong. In many respects, the lottery system may be +deemed even more pernicious than ordinary gambling. It spreads a more +accomplished snare; it is less offensive to decorum; it is less alarming +to consciences which have not lost all sensitiveness; it numbers among +its participants multitudes of those who ought to blush and to tremble +for thus hazarding their own virtue, and for thus corrupting the virtues +of others; it draws within its charmed circle men and women who fill up +every gradation of age, and character, and fortune. + +2. The lottery system, as at present constituted, presents the strongest +temptations to fraud on the part of all those who are concerned either +in the drawing of lotteries or in the sale of tickets. It is not known +that fraud has in any case been perpetrated, though fraud is suspected. +If perpetrated, it would be no easy matter to detect it. The ignorant +and the credulous men and women, who seek to better their fortunes by +gambling in lottery tickets, know nothing of those mystical combinations +of numbers, on which their fate is suspended. Utter strangers as they +are to all the "business transactions" of the lottery system, if cheated +at all, they are cheated without remedy. + +3. The lottery system operates as a most oppressive tax upon the +community. This tax is paid, not by the rich and luxurious--but it is +paid mainly by those who are struggling for independence, and by those +who earn their bread by the sweat of their brow--by the servants in our +kitchens--by clerks and apprentices, and day-labourers; by mechanics and +traders; by the men and women who work in our factories; and in too many +instances, it is to be feared, by our hardy yeomanry, who, impatient of +the slow profits of agriculture, vainly expect from the chances of the +lottery that which is never denied to the efforts of industry. The +amount of pauperism and crime, of mental agitation and perchance of +mental insanity, which the lottery system must create among these +numerous classes, it would not be easy to calculate. + +4. Lotteries are the parent of much of the pauperism which is to be +found in this young, and free, and prosperous land. It entails poverty +upon multitudes directly, by exhausting their limited means in abortive +experiments to get rich by "high prizes"--and, yet more, by withdrawing +multitudes from a dependence on labour, and accustoming them to hope +miracles of good fortune from chance. After repeated disappointments, +they discover, when it is too late to profit from the discovery, how +sadly they have been duped, and how recklessly they have abandoned their +confidence in themselves, and in that gracious Being who never forsakes +those who put their trust in him. They sink into despondency, and, +seeking to forget themselves, they bring upon their faculties the brutal +stupor of intoxication, or they exhilarate them by its delirious gayety. +Suicide is often the fearful issue. Dupin ascribes a hundred cases of +suicide _annually_ to the lottery system in the single city of Paris. +Many years ago a lottery scheme, displaying splendid prizes, was formed +in London. Adventures to a very large amount was the consequence, and +the night of the drawing was signalized by fifty cases of suicide! + +5. Success in lotteries is hardly less fatal than failure. The fortunate +adventurer is never satisfied. He ventures again and again, till ruin +overtakes him. After all the tempting promises of wealth, which are made +by those concerned in this iniquitous system, how very few, except +managers of lotteries and venders of lottery tickets, has it ever made +rich! and well may it be asked, whom has it ever made more diligent in +business, more contented, and respectable, and happy? + +6. Lotteries, it is believed, are rendered especially mischievous in +this country by the nature of our institutions, and by the spirit of the +times. Here, the path to eminence being open to every one--but too many +are morbidly anxious to improve their condition; and by means, too, +which in the wisdom of Providence were never intended to command +success. A mad desire for wealth pervades all classes--it feeds all +minds with fantastic hope; it is hostile to all patient toil, and +legitimate enterprise, and economical expenditure. It generates a spirit +of reckless speculation; it corrupts the simplicity of our tastes; and, +what is yet worse, it impairs, not unfrequently, in reference to the +transactions of business, the obligations of common honesty. Upon these +elements of our social condition and character, the lottery system +operates with malignant efficacy. + +The undersigned memorialists are far from thinking that, in the +preceding remarks, they have exhausted the argument against the lottery +system. They have dwelt, in general terms, upon only some of its more +prominent evils. They do not allow themselves to believe that, aside +from the ranks of those who have a direct personal interest in this +system, a man of character could be found in Rhode Island to defend it. +The memorialists deem lotteries to be in Rhode Island a paramount social +evil. They entreat the General Assembly to survey this evil in all its +phases, and then to apply the remedy. The interposition which is now +asked at the hands of the Legislature has been delayed too long, either +for the interests or for the character of the state. It is time that we +protected our interests, and retrieved our character. It is time that +the lottery had ceased to be the "_domestic institution_" of Rhode +Island. It is time that we abandoned, and abandoned for ever, the policy +of supporting schools, and building churches, with the wages of +iniquity. The memorialists are aware that the General Assembly have made +lottery grants, which have not yet expired. They seek not in any way to +interfere with those grants; but in concluding this expression of their +views, they cannot avoid repeating their earnest entreaty that the +legislature would come up without unnecessary delay to the great work of +reforming an abuse, which no length of time, or patronage of numbers, or +policy of state, should be permitted to shelter for another hour. + + +EXTRACTS _from a Report to the Society for the Prevention of Pauperism +in the city of New York._ + +"It is not possible to estimate the sum that may have been drawn from +the people by lottery devices. Nor is it possible to estimate the number +of poor people that have engaged in lottery gambling. We have been told, +that more than two hundred of these deluded people have been seen early +in the mornings at the lottery offices, pressing to know their fate. +_There_ might be seen the anxiety, the disappointment, and +mortification, of unfortunate beings, who had lost their all! + +"Thus we see that this demoralizing contagion has spread its destructive +influence over the most indigent and ignorant of the community. The +injurious system of lotteries opens a wide door to gambling, fraud and +imposition; of which the speculating, dishonest, idle, profligate and +crafty avail themselves, and deceive the innocent and ignorant. + +"If we place this subject in a pecuniary view as it relates to the +public funds, the mischievous effect is more obvious. From an estimate, +made by a gentleman of accurate calculation, it appears, that the +expense, or the amount drawn from the people, to raise by lottery the +net sum of 30,000 dollars, amounts to $170,500, including the expense of +the managers and their attendants, the clerks and attendants of the +lottery offices, the expense of time lost by poor people, and the amount +paid the proprietors of lottery offices. This enormous sum is paid for +the collection of only 30,000 dollars. This is, therefore, not only the +most expensive, but also the most demoralizing method that was ever +devised to tax the people. + +"Upon the whole view of the subject, your committee are decidedly of +opinion, that lotteries are the most injurious kind of taxation, and the +very worst species of Gambling. By their insidious and fascinating +influence on the public mind, their baleful effect is extended, and +their mischievous consequences are most felt by the indigent and +ignorant, who are seduced, deceived, and cheated out of their money, +when their families are often suffering for the necessaries of life. +Their principles are vitiated by lotteries, they are deceived by vain +and delusive expectation, and are led into habits of idleness and vice, +which produce innumerable evils, and, ultimately, end in misery and +pauperism." + + +LOTTERY COMBINATIONS. + +The numbers on lottery tickets are formed by combinations of certain +numbers previously agreed upon; as from 1 to 60, 1 to 75, 1 to 78, &c., +&c. + +Combination consists in taking a less number of things out of a greater, +without any regard to the order in which they stand; no two combinations +having the same quantities or numbers. + +_Problem._--To find the number of combinations which can be taken from +any given number of things, all different from each other, taking a +given number at a time. + +_Rule._--Take a series of numbers, the first term of which is equal to +the number of things out of which the combinations are to be made, and +decreasing by 1, till the number of terms is equal to the number of +things to be taken at a time, and the product of all the terms. + +Then take the natural series 1, 2, 3, &c., up to the number of things to +be taken at a time, and find the product of all the terms of this +series. + +Divide the former product by the latter, and the quotient will be the +answer. + +How many combinations of 3 numbers can be taken out of 78 numbers? + +78x77x76 = 456456 and + 1x2x3 = 6 + 6)456456 + ------ + 76076 Answer. + +How many combinations of 3 numbers can be taken out of 70 numbers? + +70x69x68 = 328440 and + 1x2x3 = 6 + 6)328440 + ------ + 54740 Answer. + +How many combinations of 3 numbers can be taken out of 60 numbers? + +60x59x58 = 205320 and + 1x2x3 = 6 + 6)205320 + ------ + 34220 Answer. + +How many combinations of 3 numbers can be taken out of 40 numbers? + +40x39x38 = 59280 and + 1x2x3 = 6 + 6)59280 + ----- + 9880 Answer. + +We have sufficient experience in lottery gambling to assure the +community that their whole system is as foul as highway robbery. We +purchased a wheel from one of the fraternity in Washington City, and +drew in Philadelphia three times, then carried it to Washington, and +there demonstrated to the satisfaction of those who witnessed our +drawing, that what we asserted was true to the letter. We copy the +notices of the American Courier, one of the first papers of our country +in the cause of humanity, and ever ready to diffuse that which will +promote the happiness and welfare of mankind. + + "GREEN'S LOTTERY, + +"On Saturday night, drew the prize of fifty dollars for the proprietor, +he having declared to the audience the intention of giving them blanks, +which he did to the satisfaction of the judges. We have the best +authority for stating the belief that his expositions will prove not +only interesting, but highly beneficial, in opening the eyes of +thousands to the frauds practised in the shape of fairness by the +lottery managers." + +After which the editor received the following:-- + + _Frederick, June 9th, 1848._ + +_Dear Sir_--Will you oblige some of your readers by giving them an idea +of "Green's" manner of exposition of frauds, as practised by the lottery +managers? and by so doing, no doubt but you will confer a favour on many +of your subscribers. + +Respectfully, B. + A. M'Makin, Esq., _Ed. American Courier, Philad._ + +EXPLANATION. + +In obedience to the request of "B," we have conversed with a gentleman +who was one of a committee of the audience to superintend the drawing of +"Green's Lottery" on a recent occasion. He says that the tickets were +prepared and distributed precisely after the plan of the regular lottery +managers, with the exception that Mr. Green announced to the audience +that he had purposely reserved certain combinations of numbers, which he +knew by calculation would draw for him the highest prize, and leave for +them _blanks only!_--Each individual in the audience held a ticket, with +a different combination of numbers, such as they choose to select from +the packages opened to them. The numbers were placed in the wheel +precisely in the usual way, the drawing conducted by the committee from +the audience, and on the announcement of the drawn numbers it was +discovered, sure enough, that the audience had received all blanks, and +upon Mr. Green pointing to a package on the table reserved for himself, +it was examined by the committee, and lo! there lay the ticket having +the combination of numbers drawing _the capital prize_!--ED. A.C. + + +_Communicated to the American Courier from Washington, D.C._ + +Green's great Consolidated Lottery drew in this city on the 22d inst. +The Reformed Gambler astonished a highly respectable audience at his +complete exposition of the fraud practised by lottery speculators +throughout our Union. Mr. Green stated to the audience that though he +wished them to understand the lottery system to be fraught with +deception, he did not wish it to be understood that he was competent to +make a clear and comprehensive exposition. This was his fourth effort, +and he had succeeded in three to the satisfaction of his audience. + +He then stated that he would draw from the ternary combination of 42 +numbers, and take therefore 8 drawn ballots, being equal to 15 in 75. He +then placed in R.H. Gillet's hand 42 tickets, which he declared +contained the drawn numbers, where any 3 numbers should be upon a +ticket. Having explained satisfactorily his intentions, he requested Mr. +J. Thaw to act as his commissioner, Mr. Thaw being well known as a +gentleman of integrity. + +Mr. Green then requested Mr. Gillet to mark the numbers from 1 to 42, so +that there should be no doubt resting upon the mind of any one that they +were the same numbers which should afterwards be drawn out. The tickets +were marked, and Mr. Thaw deposited them singly in tin tubes, from 1 to +42. Mr. Thaw then revolved the wheel, mixing them thoroughly; he then +drew one at a time, until he drew 8, being the correct drawn ballots. +Mr. Green then asked the audience if they had any prizes. Receiving a +negative answer, he stated that he could draw one half of the numbers +from the wheel and still they should have none, though they had some 400 +tickets against his 42. The commissioner continued drawing, the prizes +still falling in the manager's package, and the numbers from 1 to 29 +were taken out of the 42 before the audience received a full compliment +of 3 numbers on a ticket. The drawing appeared fair; the numbers placed +in the wheel were those taken out. The wheel is one Mr. G. purchased +from a lottery vender in Washington city. Mr. G.'s explanation of his +power to prevent prizes being drawn without his consent appeared very +satisfactory. He declared that the managers had it in their power to +assort out certain numbers, and by the villany of those concerned in the +distribution, were enabled to keep any numbers from the hands of the +drawer. + +I must own that this exposition of Green's has taken me altogether by +surprise. I did think that the deluded thousands who live on, day after +day, in the vain hope of a prize, instead of depending solely upon their +industry, skill, and talents, had some remote chance of getting a good +drawn number. But, it seems that this is all a delusion, and that +lotteries can be "stocked" as well as a pack of cards. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SECRET BAND OF BROTHERS*** + + +******* This file should be named 17917.txt or 17917.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/9/1/17917 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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