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