davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1870-05-25
Lawyers and Ministers.

Lawyers and ministers are often com
pared together, to the disparagement of the
latter. We have no confidence in suct
comparisons. If they must be made, let a
poor minister be compared with a poor
lawyer, and not a poor minister with an
eminent lawyer. The result of such fair
comparison would probably be-nothing.
In our opinion, there's very little to be
learned or gained by trying to bring one
profession to the standard of another.
1t is often said, by way of berating a
people for not being captivated with ar
aged ministerial candidate, that lawyers
and judges grow in public esteem as years
and experience bring wisdom but minis
ters, forsooth, must pass for worn-out mel
as soon as they reach ripe age. A good
rod to chastise foolish people with but
it will not bear much leaning on as an ar
gument. How many aged lawyers and
judges depend upon their public speaking
for their usefulness ? There are in Boston
perhaps, five hundred lawyers in activ'
service. Dropping into the Office of
lawyer friend the other day, VIC aske'
him,
How large proportion Of the sBostC'
lawyers depend for their business on aP
pearing in court p
Seven-eighths of the legal business o
Boston is ofhce-business,' he replied.
How many lawyers derive their succes
from eloquence in court p
You can count them on your fingers.
The simple fact is, that in the ministr
public speaking is almost universally re
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1870-05-25

A BRAVE HELPMEET.-A city cores
pondent of the Recolutior has dis covered
jewel of woman, and tells about her
in these words:
During the holidays. a few months
back, had occasion, in pursuit of Noah's
arks and other juvenile requirements, to
visit several toy-shops. In one of these,
as attendant, and apparent proprietor, l
found a woman, who was also lady.
She had been handsome. and was still
young. but she looked dragged and care
worn, as she well might, with fat boy of
ten months in her arms, little girl OF less
than three years pulling at her dress, and
an older girl of seven or eight doing her
best to straighten out the articles disar-
ranged by customers. / entered into con-
versation with her. and expressed my sur
prise at finding a woman of her apparent
education and refinement in such a posi-
tion. She told me that her husband was
studying. for physician that, to support
the Esmily. aud enable him to do it, she
had uudertaksn ttsis tay-sAop, and she ad-
ded, with great pride. 1 have succeeded
beyond my expectation. | do not intend
he shall be ashamed of us either, said she.
/ { When spring comes on, shall replace
my toys with fancy goods and little gar
ments of my own making, and L expect to
make enough to set him up as physician
in respectable quarter, and then when
be is established we can join him, and no
one will know anything about it. l said,
Do you think he will realize the sacrifices
you are making for him7' She looked at
me in simple wonder! She had not thought
of sacrifices"
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1870-05-25

quird, while in the legal profession it is
comparatively Of little account. What
matsrs it that a judge seventy-fve years
old deliveas his opinion in thin, squeak
ing 'oice, that can hardly be heard across
a ns1o~sourt-room If his hearing re-
mains torably good, and his mind is un-
impaired all is right. But would he do
for 8 precher? and is it any disparage-
ment to i'm to say that he would not ?
The modI lawyer is counselor rather
than an advocate. Will the time ever
come whn the principal work of the min
istrye~iI be to give counsel in private on
the gressquestions of religion? If it does,
Ethsa it MI be found that aged spiritual
b6ss-lrs will be more revered, more
pbrsEar and as well supported, as the
vnrxasle counselors- at-law.
~sssr egal friend answered one question
whia We did not ask. 'One-third,' said
he, the Boston lawyers do not make
liyig BY their profession We did not
askhin how he knew, or what was the
reapn for the fact, or why he told US oi
ii; out on thinking it over afterward, we
thsughihe might have meant 10 offer
.erunb sf comfort to ministers pinched by
small falaries.-Sa56atha at Home.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1870-05-25
The Jordan.

~ There is no river in the world ike the
oraa1r; none SO wonderful ia lts historic
memories. none so halfowed in its sacred
associations, and none so remarkable IN its
physical geography. 1t is emphatieally
the river of the Holy ySLand. 1t has
been more or less intimately connected
with all the great events Of Scripture his
tory from the patriarchs to the apostles.
Its banks have been the scene of the most
stupendous miracles of Judgment, power,
and love the earth ever witnessed. When
the fire of heaven had burnt up Sodom's
guilty cities and polluted plain, the waters
of the Jordan rolled over them and buried
them forever from the face of man. Thrice
was the swollen torrent of that river stay
ed, and its channel divided to let Gods
people and prophets pass over dry shod.
Once 1T the bidding of the man of God,
the iron ak rose buoyant from its deep
channel, and floated on its surface Once
its waters gave forth healing virtue, as if
to prove to the proud Syrian chief the fall
lacy of his sneering exclamation Are
not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damas-
Gus, better than all the waters OF Israel ?
Greater still were those miracles of our
thickly on and around the central lake of
the Jordan. There did the storm-tossed
pillows hear and obey the voice of their
Creator; there did the incarnate God
walk upon the face of the deep; there,
obedieut to his will, the fishes filled the
disciples nets; along those shores the
lame walked, the deaf heard, the blind
saw, the sick were healed, lepers were
cIeansed, the dead were raised to life again
But the most glorious event the Jordan
ever witnessed was Christ's baptism; for
when he was baptised the heavens were
opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of
God descending like dove, and lighting
upon him : and when the Divine Son was
perfectly equipped for his great work of
redeeming love, when just about to set out
on his glorious mission, the voice of the
Divine Father pierces the vault of heaven,
and proclaims to the astonished and joyful
disciples on Jordan's banks the Divine ap-
provaI or both work aud worker This izs
my beloved Son, in whom | am well pleas
ed Surely, then, we may say that every
spot along this stream is holy ground,
and that the name Jordan is not only en-
blazoned on the page of history, but is
| enshrined in the Christians heart.
! 1t would almost seem as if nature or
natures God had from the first prepared
this river to be the scene of wondrous
events, by giving to its physical gcogra-
ply some wondrous characteristics. Its
principal fountain, bursting from the base
of Hermon. is like the mouth of other riv-
ers, on the lerel of the ocean. 1t descends
rapidly through its whole course, and al
length empties into the Dead Sea, whose
surface has depression of no less thar
1872 feet. The whole valley of the Jor
dan is thus huge rent or fssure in tn
earth's crust. Though it is not much owe
hundred miles in length, at its souther'
: end. along the shores of that mysteriou
lake, we have the climate and products o
the tropics, while at its northern end W
: have region of perpetual snow.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1870-05-25
The Boston Times relates the followin,

The Boston Times relates the following
circumstance, which presents a case of Pc
culiar interest to students of mental phe-
nomena, aud affords a curious illustration
of the force of habit 1t says Within
the past month an article was published
in the Times which had most unparalleled
history. The writer, who is a steady GO
to-ueeting citizen, it seems, had his miad
filed with his subject before going to bed,
and determined to submit it to paper at
the first opportunity. His bedroom adjoins
his parlor, in which he customarily y writes );
and some time early in the following morn
ing our friend awcke while sitting at his
! escritoire wondering why the room was so
dark. His first thought was that his wife
had taken away the light to inspect the
ehiIdren's dormitory, and he sat until his
patience gave out waiting for her return
But she did not come, and he went to the
parlor door and inquired in tones some
what different from those which distin-
guished his courtship, what was the cause
of delay. The voice in reply came from
the bedroom, and thither he went to find
his wife in bed, who asked him in wonder
ment what had caused him to get up at
that untimely hour He had risen in his
sleep, partially robed himself, and had
written the article while in a somnambulic so
state. We regret that we did not preserve
the copy of the article so written, but from
our recollection of its chirography it was a
fair specimen of our friends peculiar but
exceedingly plain handwriting. He assures
us that he had not made correction mark
on it; and also that there were two inter-
lineations on the manuscript, carated and
interpolated with as much precision as if
the article had been written by him in day
light and with his eyes OPEN
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1870-05-25

A DEAD QUEEN AND HER JEWELS
Among the Egyptian letters of w. G.
Prime is one from ThebeS, which says 4:
Down in Cairo, in the museum of Baulak,
is the coffin of an ancient queen, and care
fully laid up in a glass case are her jewels.
which were buried with her. 1t looks as
if she had loved them. and ordered them
all to be laid in her tomb. 1t is large
collection for lady, of rings and collars,
and bracelets, and brooches, or pectorals,
and there is surperb diadem which they
found on her head, where it had crowned
her queen in the silence of death for twen-
ty-five centuries. l mention it as showing
that the ladies of that day had tastes not
unlike those of our day and when | look at
this curl of hair | am not forbidden to
think that its luster was often dimmed by
the ornaments of gold which her and our
civilized or barbaric tastes introduce
among the luxurious locks which nature
has given. 1 never found the head of a
dead woman adorned with false hair, but
1 have seen abundant specimens of it from
the tombs, where it had been laid with
other ornaments, as if perchance it might
be needed in the far-off morning.
What am | twaddling about? designed
only to say of this curl, that [ believe il
adorned a head which in life had every
claim to civilization which any lady pos
ss-azcs -who rzav read sisae -s-s7sF=s md st-as'
those locks of hair have been seen In halls
whose splendor surpasses our western
dreams. among statesmen and soldiers from
whom, if we could unseal their lips, we
might learn lessons of civilization, unknown
to us of the nineteenth century.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1870-05-25

AMERICAN SILVER IN CANADA-Anoth-
er crusade against American silver has
been initiated in Canada. Fer long
time it has been received by the Canadian
government only at discount of from four
to six per cent, and then only in limited
quantities but in trade it has been at par
until within a few days. The late tumb-
ling of gold in the United States, and the
consequent falling of silver, has sent up
greenbacks in Canada, and in view of this
shn Canadians have undertaken to get rid
of the great burden or America" Ss1.s-- :
The principal railroads, the Montreal tel
egrap phi company, the hotels, the bar-rooms,
and the retail traders, are generally united
in the movement, and the result is that an
American half dollar goes for oaly forty
eight cents, a quarter for twenty -four
cents, a dime for nine cents, and half
dime for four cents. In the past three
weeks the shipments of American silver
from Montreal alone have averaged, it is
reported, $4,000 per day.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1870-05-25

WHAT THACKERAY SAW IN TEACUP.-
Mr.. Thackeray furnishes Us with the pret-
tiest little synopsis that we know of-at
once graceful, tender and picturesque-of
tea-drinking womankind. True. be makes
George Warrington laugh at Pendennis for
patronizing the tea-cup. while he is taking
another swig at the beer. Pen drinks
tea, he tells the Major; it's only fit for
old women But turn to the chapter
where Capt. Shandon shuffies off to drink
away his newly acquired five pound note,
tiddlIng it in his waiscoat, while his poor,
patient, wasted wife turns sadly aside.
after faint protest she had hoped to
have him to dinner herself to-day-but he
was off to the tavern, and there was no
chance of that now. So Mrs. went to the
cupboard. and. in lien of dinner, made
herself some tea. And in those varieties
of pain of which We spoke aboat, what a
part of eonfdants has that poor teapot
played ever since the kindly plant was in
strodueed among US. What myriads OF
women have cried over it. to be sure
What sick beds it has smoked by = What
fevered lips have received refreshment By
it Nature meant very kindly by women
when she made the tea-plant. With a
little thought what series of pictures
and groups the fancy may conjure up and
assemble around the teapot and cup! Me-
/ lissa and tSacharissa are talking over it.
Poor PolIE has it and her lovers letters
upon thesable; his letters who was her
lover yesterday, aud when 1t was with
I pleasure, not despair, she wept over them
Mary cores slipping noisefess.y into her
Eqsther's bedroom, bearing a cup of the
sousoler 10 the widow who will take nc
/ other food Ruth is busy eoncoeting It fol
her husband, who is coming home from the
harvest Held-one could fill a pag,
with hints for such pictures finally, Mrs
Shandon and little Mary sat down and
drank their tea together. while the Cap.
tain goes out and takes his pleasure. She
cares for nothing else but that when hel
father is away Whywas not page filled
with hints for more such pictures-or who
would not welcome plural, page-of them
from painter of so much feeling, and
taste, and delicacy of touch?
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1870-05-25
Religious Beliefs of the Indians.

The quality of God was the most ancient
tenet of the Indian faith-a prominent
tenet, it may be observed, in all the more
advanced Oriental nations of antiquity.
They believed in the existebce OF two
Great Spirits as forming the perfect God
head. One eminently great was the Good
Spirit, and the inferior was an. Evil Spirit.
They believed every animal to have had
great original, or father. The first buffalo,
the first bear, the first beaver, tbs first
eagle, ct ceterd, was the manitu, or quar-
dian spirit, of the whole race Of these diff
ferent creatures. They chose some OF
these originals as their special mansion oE
guardian, and hence arose the custom ol
having its representation as the totem Of
the tribe. Whatever they held to be supe-
rior to themselves they de6ed. such as the
sun, moon, stars, meteors Afre, water,
thunder, wind but they :uever exalted
their heroes or prophets aboFe the sphere
of humanity They adored anYinvisibie
great Master of Life in~various formss
which they called Manitou, and made it a
sort of tutelar deity They had vague
notions of vicarious atonement, and made
propitiatory sacrifices with great solenanity
aa exhibition of Divine wrath, and the sass
walton of family as an act of Divine mrr-
cy. They were very superstitious, and
under the direction of priestcraft they did
cruel and horrible things. In their picto-
graphic records of moral and religious
thought, as we'll as of their mythology,
they employed symbols extensively. These
were also used in writing their songs, and
in musical notations.
Their funeral and burial ceremonies in-
dicated their belief in the immortality Of
the soul. These ceremonies were Of SIM
liar type everywhere. They laid their
dead, wrapped in skins, upon sticks in the
bottom of a shallow pit, or placed them in
a sitting posture, or occasionally folded
them in skins and laid them upon high
scatfolds out of the reach of wild beasts,
under which the relatives wept and walled.
Their arms, utensils, paints and food were
buried with them, to be used on their long
journey to the spirit-land, for they had an
idea that they possessed two-fold nature
Of matter and spirit. In some regions
they lighted symbolic funeral pyre for
several nigats upon the grave that the soul
might perceive and enjoy the respect paid
to the body. Everywhere they raised
mounds over the graves, and planted them
with wild flowers and among the Flori-
dians, the widows of warriors slain in bat
tie cut off their hair and strewed it over
the graves of their beloved ones-Har-
Der'S Magazine for May
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1870-05-25

A new phase of religious fanaticism has
broken out in New Jersey. 1t first ap
peared in the congregation of the Metho-
dist church at Maoopin, two years ago,
and has since spread, until the original
church is destroyed, and the new religion
has entirely supplanted the old. The
fanatics term themselves Jehovahs band.
Their peculiar form of worship develops
itself in putting, blowing, whistling, shout
ing, jumping, wrestling, falling to the floor
and rolling over, and other action of a mus
cuIar nature. Baptism is by immersion in
the village mill-pond at midnight On
Sunday the service is continuous, and the
fanatics refuse to read or write or even to
receive letter, their only recess being for
| meals. John Rhene Smith. well-to-do
farmer. is chief of the band The Meth
odist Conference has sent some of its best
i preachers to overthrow the new sect, but
in-spite of all their eloquence the heresy
4 = spteading.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1870-05-25
Thoughts on a Skull.

Some young people, camping on the
south side of Appledore, one summer,
among the ancient graves, dug up skele-
ton the bones crumbled TO dust, but the
skull remained intact, and / kept it for a
long time The Shoalers shook their
heads. Hog Island would have no luck
while that skull remained above ground"
1t had lain so long in the earth that it was
no more repulsive than bit of stone, yet
a nameless dread invested it. At last
took it in my hands and pored over 1T till
the shudder passed away forever, and then
I was never weary of studyinglt 1t. Sitting
by the driftwood blaze late into the still
autumn nights alone at my desk, it kept
me company vase of brilliant flowers
on one side, the skull on the other, and the
shaded lamp between, equally lighting
both. A curious head it was, thick as an
Ethiopian's, with no space above the eyes,
high above the ears, and heavy behind
them. But O, those hollows where the
49,. ance looked out, beholding the same
sea-ana s5ySe see soaday Those great
creature gazed from them? Cunning and
malice, anger and hate, may have burned
within them in sullen fame who shall say
I if any beauty ever illumined them If
hate smouldered here. did love ever look
out aud transfgure the poor, dull face
did any spark from the far heaven ever
brighten it any touch of lofty thought
or aspiration turn the clay to fire Aud
when so many years ago this being glided
away from behind these awful windows
and left them empty forever and ever, did
he find what in his life here he could not
have possessed, with this head, which be
did not make, and therefore was not re-
sponsible forf
Many and many a question l put silent
ly to the silent casket which had held a
human soul there was no sound to answer
me save only the great, gentle whisper of
the sea without the windows, and now and
then a sigh from the autumn wind. There
came to me sense of the pathos of the
infinite patience of humanity, waiting 50
helplessly and blindly for the unraveling
of the riddle that has troubled every
thoughtful soul since the beginning of
time. Little roots of plants were clasped
about the temples. Behind the right ear
were three indentations, as if made by
/ some sharp instrument, suggesting foul
/ play. An Indian tomahawk might have
made those marks, or a pirates cut.ass
who can say? What matter is it now /
kept the relic for months, till it crumbled
so fast when daily busted it that feared
it would disappear entirely; so | carried
i. quietly back and laid it in the grave
from which it had been taken, wondering
as drew the shallow earth over it, who
had stood round about when it was buried
for the first time, centuries ago, what
manner of people, and were they afraid oil
sorry. But there was no voice to answer
! me.-Mrs Tkarter, IN the May Atlantic
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1870-05-25
VOL. x XVII.

bic aching tooth 2 Thsgro<pe of world
could not move him ike this S.-x-
Did you ever see q hard, unsympathetic
person given over to long days and nights of
agony7 Somehow theold, old cry Of pain is
never called weakneswhsp it comes frop his
lips. They pity. themselves so much who
never have pity for others. 49,
fsthe movers of the world are oply con-
tent with the speed Of the lightning, only
content to struggle and fght in the widest
roar and tumult. of the battle, they should
have the largest charity for those whom fate
determines shall walk bearing heavy burdens,
and whose share in the contests of life is not
the JOY of heroic warfare, the thrill of jubi-
liant victory, but the famine Of the siege, the
weary march, and the 'death-pang of defeat
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1870-05-25

Be Whatever you try to
do in life try with all your heart to do it
well whatever you devote yourself to, de-
vote to completely in great aims and
small, be thoroughly in earnest. Never
believe it possible that any natural or i'm
proved ability can claim immunity from
the companionship of the steady, plain,
hard-working qualities, and hope to gain
the end There is no such thing as fulfill
ment on this earth. Some happy talent
and some fortunate opportunity may form
the two sides of the ladder on which some
men mount but the rounds of that ladder
must be of stuff to stand bear and tear :;
and there is no substitute for thorough
going, ardent and sincere earnestness.
Never put one to anything on which you
can throw your whole self; never affect
deprication of yuur work; whatever it is.
These you will find to be golden rules.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1870-05-25

A RANDOM HIT.-' Many a shaft at
random sent hits somewhere or other
which the archer little meant to touch.
We have heard an anecdote illustrative of
this truth which has probably not appea red
In print before, and which has been told su
as piece of ofgenuine history. 1t happened
in large city-never mind what city.
There were two pretty sisters who had
married, one an eminent lawyer, the other
distinguished literary man. Literary
man dies, and leaves younger sister wild
ow. Some years rolled away, and the
widow lays aside her weeds. Now, then
it happens that a certain author and critic
has occasion, on broiling day in summer
to call on the eminent lawyer, husband oi
the elder sister. He finds the lawyer
pleading and sweltering in the crowded
court, sees that the lawyer is suffering
dreadfully from the heat, pities him. re-
joices that he is not lawyer, and goes TO
|, a cool saunter under the sheltering tree
of fashionable park and garden. Among
the ice-eating, tanning crowd there b.
meets the younger Of our two sisters. ant
for the moment he thinks he is speakin;
J to the elder. Oh, MIS- answers
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1870-05-25

the lady, how dreadfully hot it is here"
: Yes, MADAME replies our luckless critic,
it is hot here: but can assure you the
heat of this place isn't circumstance,
when compared with the heat of the place
where your poor dear husband is suffering
today A horror stricken expression
comes over the face of the lady she rises
from her chair and Indignantly founces
away. Ah, Me miserable soliioquized
our wretched critic. : l have been mistak-
ing the one sister for the other, and she
thinks l meant to say that her husband Is
not in heaven.-Galary.