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.