Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1864-06-07

STUMBLING BLocks-By Gail Hamilton, Au
thor of "Counry Living and Couutry 'lbluk
ing, ""Gals Days, etc | vol. 10 mo 81 so
Boston rlcknor & Fields
This lie ,nother Of this authors characters
tie books exceedingly Iasy and readable, foil
Of freshness and vigor Of thought, aud having
a piquancy and relish that make every page
pleasant and attractive. Few writers Of thl,
day have a more dashing ard captivating style
thsn Gail Hamilton Ii Is cutting. flashing,
brilliant. positive. The author has no doubts
She never writes round subject, but drives
straight at it asd through 1t. She has decided
opinion +, and she expresses them without equiv
ooaf fiou or reserve When she sssalIs fogyIsm,
conservatism ,or respectable and venerable abuses
she lets the arrow Of her invecti7e, sarcasm and
rhetoric Ay right at their most vulnerable point.
ln the book before us she attacks The opinions
and prejodices which she eossi ers " ong in
churches and religious communities. She calls
them in the title " Stumbling Blocks" and she
shows them no mercy. There arc fifteen arti
cles 10 the book, zs follows The 0ats aud the
Insi The Fllnsss Of Things, Ordinances
Church Sittings A View from the Pews
Prayer Meetings The Proof of your Love
Controversies Amusentnts, Gods Way; Tae
Law of Christ, Praying forgiveness Error
Words without knowledge.
1he article on - Church Sttings," IS plea
in favor OF free pews, where the paor az well as
the rich can freely ,nd without price worship
God. The author ays;
have heard Of churches where the Jews are
locked, and only their owners are suffered 10
enter them. May they stay locked TO all Chris
tisn men Oh my soul, como not thou into their
secrets Unto such assemblies n inc hon II. be
not thou united These pcw.osners, it must be
concluded, e1pest to get into heaven through a
private entrance. They have made gravel path
Outside the strait and narrow way, a ons which
they may walk with stretched. forth necks and
wanton eyes, walking and mineing as tney 40,
and so be happily apart from Vulgar travellers
toward the celestial city. There is postern.
gate remote from the thronged portals, which
opens only to their touch. They have rented be-
iorohand the ssateliest OF the many mansion.
and will meet only their own set In the golden
streets. Is it religion or is 1t travesty
Near the conclusion is the following earnest
argument
How terrible would be our dc lily walks, IL our
streets were filed with the
Fd.nales, bodies Of unburisd men ~
How dreadful 10 a. On our errands OF business
or pie, sure, II at every step We we're forced to
touch, with shnddtring leet, the lieles taber.
naoles OF departed souls, s,-ssumbling here sgsInst
. PROSTATE body, turning aside 10 AVOID another
there, looking down upon them lying in heaps
under our psrlor windovs, and, IN spite oil ey-
cry effort, brought continually 10 contact with
orumblIng clay We take good care that this
shall nos happen. Wemake no question here Of
wealth or poverty. A man may be ever 30 poor,
but once let the breath leave his body, and he Ia
Immediately taken care OF 0ncs ceasing to be
man, ana becoming thing, church and stat,
both come in solemn rites are said, prayer and
psalm and funeral hymn are not wanting De-
Gently, reverenuy whether the past has known
the rags Of a pauper or the purple of q king
the carbon aud hydrogen and phosphorus that
have been honofed with the presence oil q soul
earth tO earth, ashes to rehes, dust to dust. Is
But decaying body Is not 80 perniclous as
deeaying soul. The soul that has lost It's prin.
cipe Of life, not only ps.ses on to its own drs
truetion, but 1t tainn wherever IL touches. The
souls that 20 to and fro IN the markel. places.
unsanetlfed, uoholS, nnloying, thinking Of No
beauty, caring Tor no purity, having po hope,
and without God 10 the vOuli,--sre not only
Ca Ing away their own lie, but they are corrod-
lng society. An evil soul 10 not only an evil
Substance, but an evil influence. IL preys upon
itself, ana upon oil around it. IL s a MISSION
AIRY, as much more successful than ordained
evAngels,s, as the line Of Its operations lies with
aod not against, the current IL pollules the
eat tth, and vlaates the air. IL is at once the
nucleus and stlmulns Of evil. When i, shall
have aed, wsilog, IRON the body which it has
degraded, you will bestir yourself giving TO the
suffering slave an attention whion you denied to
the lar more deeply suffering master. but why
Gao you not open 70 souls your church, As well
as TO bodies your hurchyarde1 You will have
your dead buried out oi your sight. Be equally
faithful TO have the sn.smlten son buried with
Christ 10 baptism, to rise with him IN the new.
ncss Of life.
The article on Amusemenls closes as fol.
lows.
Let no man drpise amusements II 10 q sub
ect which demands tho most careful oonsidera.
ton. Il should be jus as truly u part OF the
Church economy as the sacramento, Mistskes
here keep people out Of the Church, and voupd