ey, Frank Murray, John
O'Malley, Daniel Coughlin, the detective, who later was to be charged
with participation in his murder, and Henry LeCaron, _alias_ Beach,
afterward a British spy, and who had been introduced into the order by
Alexander Sullivan. The latter acted as prosecutor. With such a trial
committee it was little wonder but that the physician should have been
pronounced guilty of treason, and that his expulsion from the order
should have been decreed.

The "treasonable" letter was as follows:

THE "TREASONABLE" LETTER.

The initials used throughout represent the titles in this order:

"V. C.," United Brotherhood; "F. C.," Executive Body; "U. S.," United
Sons; "D.," Camps; "I. R. B.," Irish Republican Brotherhood; "R. D.,"
Revolutionary Directorate; "S. C.," Supreme Council.

HEADQUARTERS F. C. OF V. C.,
Sep. 15, 1885.

_To the Officers and Members of the V. C. and of the U. S.:_

BROTHERS: In accordance with the call of the Committee of Safety a
general convention of the V. C. was held in New York City, Aug. 3
and 4, for the purpose of taking the necessary measures to save the
organization from the ruin which threatens it. A full account of
its proceedings will be found in the printed report, to which we
invite your attention.

Having been chosen by the convention to fill a position of great
difficulty and responsibility in the organization during this, the
supreme crisis of its existence, we feel it to be our duty to lay
before you the plain facts of the present situation, and to ask the
assistance of every honest man in bringing about a remedy. We make
this appeal without regard to the side you may have taken in the
recent and present troubles, knowing full well that nine-tenths of
the organization are in a state of utter ignorance as to the actual
facts, and that honest men have been led to sustain wrong. We make
it more particularly to those who are supporting and yielding blind
obedience to men who have turned their backs on the I. R. B.,
thereby ignoring the fundamental principal which is the cause and
object of our organization. If that support is withdrawn an
effective remedy can be at once applied. That there is trouble you
will not now deny, and that it is serious enough to menace the
existence of a once powerful organization, and to threaten the ruin
of the h