been to benefit in some way that
community in which circumstances had decreed that he should live, and
in this connection it might not be out of place to mention a bill then
before the Legislature of the state, now in session. If the bill became
a law, the greatest modern factor of prosperity, the railroad, would
come to Brampton. The speaker was interrupted here by more applause.
Mr. Worthington did not deem it dignified or necessary to state that the
railroad to which he referred was the Truro Railroad; and that he, as
the largest stockholder, might indirectly share that prosperity with
Brampton. That would be wandering too far, from his subject, which, it
will be recalled, was civic duties. He took a glass of water, and went
on to declare that he feared--sadly feared--that the ballot was not held
as sacred as it had once been. He asked the people of Brampton, and
of the state, to stop and consider who in these days made the laws and
granted the franchises. Whereupon he shook his head very slowly and
sadly, as much as to imply that, if the Truro Bill did not pass, the
corruption of the ballot was to blame. No, Mr. Worthington could
think of no better subject on this Birthday of Independence than a
recapitulation of the creed of our forefathers, from which we had so far
wandered.

In short, the first citizen, as became him, had delivered the first
reform speech ever heard in Brampton, and the sensation which it created
was quite commensurate to the occasion. The presence in the audience of
Jethro Bass, at whom many believed the remarks to have been aimed, added
no little poignancy to that sensation, although Jethro gave no outward
signs of the terror and remorse by which he must have been struck while
listening to Mr. Worthington's ruminations of the corruption of the
ballot. Apparently unconscious of the eyes upon him, he walked out of
the meeting-house with Cynthia by his side, and they stood waiting for
Wetherell and Ephraim under the maple tree there.

The be-ribboned members of the Independence Day committee were now on
the steps, and behind them came Isaac Worthington and Mr. Merrill. The
people, scenting a dramatic situation, lingered. Would the mill owner
speak to the boss? The mill owner, with a glance at the boss, did
nothing of the kind, but immediately began to talk rapidly to Mr.
Merrill. That gentleman, however, would not be talked to, but came
running over to Jethro and seized his hand, leaving Mr. Wort