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.