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.