Bradford opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1874-1881, 1875-12-25

rich cakes and confectionery, the choic-
est cigars that had been sent in to COM
fort these miserable murdercrs. The
low-browcd brutes are living better now
than they ever did In their lives, and
they seem to expect 1t. They growl,
and consider themselves illused, If they
do not get these things every day. II is
a nice thing to be murderer for little
while.
FEMININE DEVOTION.
1t is n thousand pities that the heroic
devotion shown by women in humble
stations Of life could not find worth Ter
objects. There is a young woman dying
in hospital of wounds given by her
lover in drunken fit, in which no twis-
ted her arm till he broke it 4; yet the girl
steadfastly refuses to say one word
about the qnarrel for fear Of making
trouble for him. If she dies without
giving her testimony he cannot be con-
victed, as she was the only witness.
There was good blood in that girl, no
matter what she was, and stout heart
better worth song and story than any
we read about this year. The brute
goes out without trouble, through the
devotion of the girl but all the same,
he leaves her to die miscrab ly in a hos
pital. -
is still non est, and the meaning of it is
no one knows or can imagine where to
look for him. The officials have doz-
en- theories, but as not one of them lead
to the place where he is, they might as
well have none. The general impression
is that he is in good hiding in this city,
waiting till he can make terms with the
city for an unconditional release. This
may, or not, be the correct idea, but
whether the venerable thief is in New
York or Belgium, he is doubtless waiting
for settlement in a very safe place. His
counsel are preparing the way in the
courts already, and when they get
through work the Boss will make his
appearance and take charge of the city
once more. There is no danger of his
ever being caught. He had his plans
too well laid, and there are too many
prominent men interested in his escape
for that.
BEECHER.
Plymouth Church is at last, acting on
the offensive. Beecher and Sherman,
his lawyer, have decided to no longer
be quiet but to strike back. They have
refused Mrs. Moulton's demand for an
investigation, they have squelched Dea-
con West, and they have said to the other
Congregational Churches that were in
terfering with Plymouth, "What are
you going to do about it?" In short,
Bro. Reecher proposes to paddle his
own canoe without any interference from
the other Churches. He feels that Plynl-
outh Chnrch is strong enough to 60 on
alone, and he don't care straw whether
the Congregational body recognizes it or
not. OF course, the other Churches will
refuse to consider it as member Of the
general body, and Plymouth church will
stand alone-an Independent body-an
association. all by itself. Mrs. Tilton is
keeping boarding house in Brooklyn,
and her daughter, Florence, is doing
copying for lawyers. Theodore is lee
turing in the West. Beecher, now that
he has taken the step, is happy once
more.
BUSINESS.
There is no such thing as business.
The merchants are doing nothing, that is,
the wholesalers. The retail people are
doing a fair holiday trade, and that is all.
When l say fair, l should say light, for
it is not SO heavy by half as that offormer
years. All other lines of trade are as
dull as dull can be. Thank your stars
that you are not in New York.