Months before going to Jerilderie, and with help from Joe Byrne, Ned Kelly dictated a long letter (56 pages). The letter told his story, about how he became a bushranger, and the treatment of his family by the police. It also told the story of the treatment of Irish Catholics by the police and the English and Irish Protestant farmers. He even said there might be a revolution by people in north east Victoria to set up their own republic.