davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1877-02-14

The sweetest and most signal revenge
to naiet upon enemies who seek to belittle
our labors or underestimate our abilities,
is to do everything well, lead irreproach.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1877-02-14

Who ARE THE STRONG MEN.-We mis-
take strong feelings for strong character
A man who bears all before him-bolore
whose fown domestics tremble, and
whose bursts Of fury make the children of
the house tremble-because be mas his
will obeyed, and his own way in all things
we call him strsng man. The truth is,
that is the weak man; it is his passions
that are strong; he, mastered by them. is
weak. You must measure the strength
of a man by the power of the feelings be
subdues, not by the power of those which
subdue him. And hence composure is
very often the highest result of strength.
Did we never see man receive a fla
grant insult, and only grow q little pale,
and then reply quietly? That was man
spiritually strong. Or did we never see a
man in anguish stand rs if carved out of
solid rock, mastering himself? or one
bearing a helpless daily trial remain
silent and never tell the world what it
was that cankered his home peace? That
is strength. He who, with strong passions
remains chaste-he who, keenly sensitive.
with manly power of Indignation in him.
can be provoked, yet can restrain himself
and forgive-these are strong men, spirit
ual heroes.
Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1877-02-14
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Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1877-12-05
The Fresh Hour,

Every day should be commenced with
God. The busiest aud the best man in Jeru-
salem was wont TO say, " In the morning will
direct my prayer unto thee, and will look
up;" " will sing aloud of thy mercy in the
morning" Daniel too, saluted his God with
prayer and praise at early dawn. We begin
the day unwisely, and at great risk TO our
selves, if we leave our chamber without a
secret conference with our Almighty Friend.
Every Christian, when he puts on his clothes,
should also put on his spiritual armor. Before
the days march begins he should gather up a
portion of heavenly mama TO feed the inner
man. As the Oriental traveller sets out for
the sultry journey over burning sands by
loading up his camel under the palm-tree's 5
shade, and fills his water hagons from
the crystal fountain which sparkles at
its roots, so does Christs pilgrim draw
his morning supplies from tke exhaust
less spring. Morning is the golden hour
for prayer and praise. The mind is fresh
the mercies of the night and the new
resurrection of the dawn both prompt a
devout soul to thankfulness. The buoyant
heart takes its earliest flight, like the lark
toward the gates of heaven. One OF tht
finest touches in Buuyan's immortal allie
CORY is his description of Christian in tht
chamber of Peace, "who awoke and sang,
while his window looked out TO the sun
rising. If even the stony statute of ole
heather Memnon made music when the frs
rays of the dawn kindled on its fiinty brow
surely no Christian heart should be duml
when God causes the outgoings OF the morn
ing TO rejoice.-T. l.. CWyer, u. d.
Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1877-12-05

try to make myself somewhat better thar
this, by some means, before | dare again L
hope in God !" and then we go off 10 ou
own selves and our own works, and wesink
in the deep mire where there is no standing.
1t is happy thing If at such moments we
turn again to Christ and say. "Ohl my
Master, unworthy as | am to be with thy
followers, though vilest of all those whose
names are written on thy roll, yet do be-
lieve in thee still. To thy cross will cling
| will never let go my hold, for thou hast
come to save sinners even such as am, and
in thee will | continue TO trust" My dear
brethren you will find that while this re-.
stores your peace, it at the same time exctes
you to seek after higher degrees of holiness
1t is the idea Of the wordling that il sip bt
pardoned so easily, men will live in it I; bp
it is not 80. To the spiritual mind the grt
love displayed in the pardon of sin is tine
very highest motive for overcoming every
unhallowed propensity. A sense Of blood.
bought pardon seals the death warrant Of
the most favored sin. Ever shall we find
our safest mode of battling with sin to be a
new resort to the cross Happy is it for us
that the blood ceanseth from all sin that
it continues to do so every day. should
die in despair If it were not for this truth,
that there is a fountain open still.--Spurgeon.
Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1877-12-05
Autumnal Tints.

1t is very curious to observe the regular
ity with which we are told in the autumn
that d" the first frost will change the color of
the leaves" whereas the frost has nothing
to do with the change. 1t has, indeed some
times happened in New England that the
foliage has changed, as if by magic, in
single night, so that, upon looking out of the
window in the morning, the eye was sur
prised with the spectacle of the world we'll
nigh on fire. and since this transformation
took place in connection with the mercury
1t low point, the whole affair is referred
to the agency of Jack Frost. But why not
refer to this prestidigitator the glowing tints
of the apple, the rich crimson of the velvet
peach, and the purple of the plum Many
years ago this error was pointed ont by an
eminent botanist, who showed that the
gorgeous color of the autumn leaf came in the
regular process of ripening; and though
botany is generally studied in schools the
old notion comes back with the beavers
every year, showing that error, in common
with truth, especially when supported by
The uor popuh will "rise again." however
leservedly crushed to earth. Leaves find
their parallel in man as already observed,
md, like the human species, they may ripen
,uddenly. If, however, any one chooses to
make mystery of the intensity of the au-
tumnal colors, there should be no great diff
Guilty in explaining the variety. Indeed, the
apparent superiority over the strength OF
color in the foliage on the continent of
Europe may be attributed chiefly to this
variety In Great Britain the climate is
,vidently unfavorable to the production OF
bright forest-tones, but in parts of Germany
the brilliancy of certain kinds of leaves is
quite equal TO that of the corresponding va
rieties in North America. At the same
time the greens of Europe are quite differ
ent from those of our own land, where, be
ginning with burnt green in the South
we pass northward along the Atlantic sea
board, reaching the true green of the creates
OF the hay-producing states, the state o
Maine. Every one has noticed the unparal
leled green of the Emerald Isle," which
becomes a pale sea-green in Scotland,
whitish green in the south of England ant
in France-only to change to an ashen
green in Germany, and sombre olive il
the Italian states. But we were remarkinj
upon the variety OF the autumual tints il
our own country. This is explained by tn
fact that, while in Europe there are onl
forty trees that attain TO a height of thirt
feet, in North America there are no les
thau one hundred and forty-hence ou
forests flash like the plane-tree that " tn
Persian adorned with his mantles and jew
els."-Appietons' Journal for November.
Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1877-12-05
Revisiting the Old Charge.

There is nothing like it-this going back
of pastor to former people after some
years of absence, and after precious re-
vival. How it stirs grateful memories of
divine grace to find those Z" in Christ and
in the church that were a moral distance
from both when you knew them; to be
warmly greeted by those whose presence
vividly recalls to pastor scenes too tender
for any but poets pen, as
"By the couch of pain he kneels again;
Again the thin hand lies
Cold in his palm, while the last far look
Steals into the steadfast eyes;
And now the burden of hearts that break
Lies heavy upon his own
The widows woe and the orphans cry
And the desoate mothers moan.
To look at your former home, first at the
trees you dug around and then at the un-
changed paper on the chamber wall, where
a dear soul escaped its bondage to see the
boys and girls you baptized growing into
Christian manliness and womanliuess u
see the sanctuary cleansed, ornameuted, hon.
ored to be kindly greeted by pastor who
more than fills the place the Lord emptied
when he sent you away these are precious
but a small part of the vacation joys of many
Il wearied minister as he visits again the
spot where he wept and prayed, and sung aud
preached, and sinned and was forgiven. The
sad experience is TO find one he counted a:
a Christian gone back to the world, or ont
formerly respected as moralist now sunL
in vice and degradation, and some ther
"almost persuaded now farther off ap
parently chan ever from the kingdom o
heaven. Some that he left stalwart anC
beautiful he finds pining in pains furnace
heat only waiting. 1t is good once NOR
to sing of Gods goodness, to pray, aud truS
him for dying grace. 1t is good for the liv
ing to press the hand of the dying.
| " Not clear nor dark" as the Scripture saith,
The pastors memories are;
| No day that is gone WAS shadowless,
No night was without its star
But mingled bitter and sweet hath been
The portion of his cup;
"The hand that in love hath smtten," he saith,
"ln love hath bound us up" -Adrdnce
Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1877-12-05
The True Way Of Training Children.


The frat tb;,o that nar.rts mad ,o
remember in their thouobt for their chill.
drap 10 tbat ,ho, L,,n No o,,no,sI;n l.,
them. Rsfore von ,yill o,er fool ana ao,
toward them 40 vo,, sbonld Won mus,
have baar,fal, oonv;c,ion that tbev orc
Gods children rather tban vonr our
Yon are moi to d;snose of them .s Won
wish hnt 90 be w;sbes II;s des;rss not No,
yours are 10 he he consulted ] in tbeir ednca.
lion. You arc IN train tbe,o 70 he not ,yb a.,
Won wonld have them IN he but what be
would have them to he ue has committed
them to your care for a time. To- To train. disoi.
nina and ;,strnct a,d 10 a, them for
suoh service and mode of ,;fe 40 he shall or.
dain M matter how zaalons vou are M
matter how earnest and loving and con.
scientions Won are Won will never educate
children for Cod nnless Won feel that tbev
are his not vours. If Won feel that thew are
yours. that Won own them. Won will he likely
to educate them for Yourselves and not for
him, Won will strive 10 make them exoel in
things that are agreeable IN Won and not
agreeable IN him. and the rasuIt will he that.
without realizing il without wishing IL Won
will rob God bv The substitution of vonr own
wishes in their education and develonment
in the place of his. He will be divorced
from his own and his own will not know
him. They will grow mn untitled for his
service and unconscious Of hi, Fatberbood
over them. They will not know that to be
true which Scripture teaches, that God is
the Former of their bodies. the Father of
their spirits, whose name thew should honor
and in whose service thew should find their
chief delight. Teach him otherwise. Say
to him, "My son. | am not educating YOU
for this earth I am educating Won for
Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1877-12-05

ness | must have seemed to you the very
gorilla the rebels paint me. / was sorry
enough for it when you were gone. could
not sleep moment last night, so thought
I'd drive into town in the cool Of the morn
ing and make 1t all right. Fortunately 1
had little difficulty in finding you"
"This is very good of you, Mr.. President"
said the Colonel, deeply moved.
" No, it isn't; but that was very bad of
me last night. | never should have forgiven
myself II | had let that piece Of ugly work
stand. That was noble wife Of yours,
Colonel You were a happy man to have
such a noble woman TO love you; and you
must be good fellow or such woman never
would have risked 80 much for you. And what
grand women there are in these times, Col
onel What angels of devotion and mercy,
and how brave and pluckyl Going every
where at the call of duty, facing every dangerl
tell you, if it were not for the women we
should all go to the devil. and should all de
serve to. They are the salvation Of the ma
tion. Now, come, Colonel my carriage is
at the door. I'll drive you to the War De-
partInent, and we'll see Stanton about this
matter"
Even at that early hour they found the
Secretary at his post The President pleaded
the case of Colonel Scott, and not only re-
quested that leave of absence should be
granted him, but that a steamer should be
sent down the river TO bring up the body Of
his wife. Humanity, Mr.. Stanton" said
the good President his homely face trans
figured with the glow of earnest tender
feeling, humanity should overrule consid-
erations of policy, and even military necessi-
ties, in matters ike this"
Ihp Spcrptary was touchad and ba qaib
something of his regret at not having felt
himself at liberty to grant Colonel Scott's
request in the first place.
No, 10, MIR. Stanton" said the Presi-
dent, "you did right in adhering to your
own rules; you are the right man for this
place. If we had such soft-hearted fool
as here, there would be no rules or regula-
tions that this army or country could de-
pend upon. But this is a peculiar case.
Only think of that poor woman"
Of course the "impossible " was accom-
plished
To the surprise of the Colonel, the Presi-
dent insisted upon driving him to the navy
yard to see that the Secretary's order was
carried out Immediately. He seemed to
have nervous fear that some obstacle might
be thrown in the way of the pious expedi-
tion. He waited at the landing till all was
ready, then charged the officers Of the steamer
To give every attention to his friend Col
onel Scott With him he shook hands
warmly at parting, saying "God bless you,
my dear fellow. | hope you will have no
more trouble in this sad affair-and Colonel,
try and forget last night"
Away up in New Hampshire church
ward there is a grave carefully watched and
tended by faithful love. But every April
tme the violets on that mound speak not
alone of the womanly devotion and tender
ness Of her that sleeps below-they are ten
der and fearful with the memory of the
murdered President.
Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1877-12-05
Weighing the Thanksgiving Turkey.

Here sir Please take this bird around
to Albro's and see how much II weighs"
The idea What would the folks over the
way say, to see the "professor walking out
with big turkey under his arm That was
the way the thing presented itself to the
good-natured college student acting az pri
vate tutor in the family. But Mrs. Simp-
son, the portly and practical housewife, had
no such idea of the fitness Of things.
It was the day before Thanksgiving, and
the farmer who had agreed TO supply her
with turkey had brought it, but had not
weighed it, and Of course they could not agree
on its weight, all of which ended in the
startling proposition with which we began
"Well il you aint the LATEST man -
just as though it was going to hurt you any
to take this bird to the corner and back :"
She saw me looking, apparently, for hole
to crawl into, but, in reality, for the broom,
which, when found made use of in put
ting into execution plan had formed for
weighing the turkey-at home.
! hung the broom-handle TO the gas jet by
wire loop, and slid it along in the loop until
it balanced. BY this time all were curious
to see what | was about
| then fixed wire to the turkeys feet
and hooked it so that it would slide on the
bibthiudhhiV' Nthb HOb
fixed it in the same way When the broom
was nicely balanced, hung the turkey on
the broom end of the stick, two inches from
the balancing loop. Then | hung the fiat
iron on the other side, aud showed it along
until it balanced the turkey. Next |
measured the distances of the turkey and
flatiron from the balancing loop, and found
that the turkey hung two inches and the
fat-iron eight inches from the balancing
loop. That was all. had found the weight
of the turkey, and told them: Twenty-four
pounds.
DO you spose I'm going to believe all
that tomfoolery? It doesn't weigh more'n
twenty, know. Here Maggie Take this
out and ask Albro to weigh it for you.'
"I'm blamed if he hasn't hit it about
right" said the farmer who had brought the
turkey How did You find out ?"
"Well you see" said |, ." the fat-iron has
figure six on it; that shows that it weighs
six pounds. Now, if the turkey had not
weighed more than the fat-iron they would
have balanced each other at the same dis
tance from the balancing loop but the
turkey was the heavier, so had to move the
flat-iron out further. At the same distance
from the loop as the turkey (two inches),
the fat-iron pulled six pounds weight, and
at every addition of that distance it would
pull six pounds more. Thus: at four
inches itpulled twelve pounds at six inches,
eighteen pounds and at eight inches, TWEEN
ty-four pounds. At that distance it just
balanced the turkey, thus proving that it
weighed"
"Well, Maggie, what does Albro say? ?"
"Twenty-four poun', num-" replied Mag
gle, coming in.
"Well, give up" said Mrs. Simpson, and
she did, and so do till next time.-St
Nicholas fur Norember.
Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1877-12-05
Good Manners.

The essence of good manners is kindly
thoughtfulness of others. The man who
goes to his room in hotel stamping and
talking through the corridor, slamming his
door and flnging his boots down heavily
upon the floor, is merely brutally selfish. He
is not aware that he owes duties to other
people who will be affected by his conduct.
He does not think that he rudely awakens
some one to whom sleep is indispensable,
and whom he has no right to disturb. Hay
don's picture of the man in the chop-house
waiting for the Times, which his neighbor
has held for an hour, and is evidently bent
upon holding until he has read all the ad
vertisements, is an illustration of this com
mon selfishness. The talk and conduct in
the cars are generally signs of vanity or a
morbid self-consciousness. A well-bred man
keeps his toothaches and his headaches to
himself, and does not assume that strangers
are interested in his digestion. A well-bred
woman keeps her children quiet, and doe:
not assume that all her fellowtravelers must
share her foudness for them. If Mrs. z.
with vivid sense of Mr.. P.'s pecularitie:
and of her fine equipage, could only ono,
know how supremely unimportant any III
dividual is, how well the world Jared before
Mr. p arrived, and how unshocked the uni
verse will be 10y his departure, she would b'
, modest and wel-nannered woman. Tha
knowledge would, indeed, be general cor
rective of manners. A certain kind of per
sonal conceit often accompanies undeniabl
superiority. There are men, like Lore
Chatham, who like to have their going an'
coming regarded az events, to move with
pompous hustle, and to be constantly recog
| uiZed as great men. But if they could onl
Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1877-12-05
The BOundless Ocean.

Sentimental voyagers have rhapsodized
upon "the boundless ocean " as seen from a
vessel after the land has disappeared below
the horizon, and naught is visible as far as
the eve can reach but the "blue above and
the blue below" To landsman it is novel
and impressive spectacle, and the expanse of
waters, stretching away in every direction to
the horizon, seems sublime in Its imnensity.
But AS soon as we ask ourselves what the ex-
tent of this circular area Of water actually
is, we see that imagination has more to do
with the impression it makes upon us than
the reality. When we look down from
neighboring hill upon an inland pond
dozen miles in diameter, the view of the
water may be lovely, but it does not strike
us as sublime, for we know that the entire
liquid area is little more than hundred
square miles. But it is just as large as the
expanse of ocean seen from the deck of an
ocean steamer, if the eye is twenty-four feet
above the water. The horizon, the boundary
of the "boundless " ocean visible from the
ship, is under these circumstances only six
allies off, and the vessel is virtually sailing
through a circular pond twelve miles in
diameter If we climb the mast the circle
Anlarges, but when we get hundred feet
above the water we have barely doubled its
lameter and quadrupled its area. The " de
preston of the horizon can be readily
calculated in this simple rule: twothirds of
the square of the distance in mules is the de-
preston in feet. For one mile, then, the de-
preston is eight inches that is, II the eye
is lust eight inches above the water, the
horizon or limit of vision is a mile off To
see two miles in any direction across the
water, the eye must be two-thirds of four
feet (or thirtytwo inches) above the surface;
to see three miles, it must be at a height of
six feet; and so on. The rule is accurate
for all distances within the range of vision.
1t is curious that experienced mariners gen
orally have as erroneous an idea of the dis
tance of the horizon at sea as any land lub-
ber" on board. Ask the captain of an ocean
steamer (as we have often done) what this
distance is, and the chances are that he will
say ten to twelve miles Tell him that 1t is
only six, and he will probably laugh at you.
You can convince him only by mathe-
matical demonstration and yet you will
find on inquiry that in working up his daily
observations he makes an allowance of
five miles for what he calls the dip of the
horizon" Whether this is the allowance
made in all cases we are unable to say. If
it is it was probably fixed for the average
height of the eye of the observer at sea,
which would be considerably less than on a
great transatlantic steamship. 1t is hardly
necessary to say that the horizon is not the
| limit of vision at sea- so far as ships, ice
bergs, and other objects rising much above
the water are concerned. The masts and
sails of vessel may be seen i'll clear weather
when she is several miles beyond the hori-
zon and we can roughly estimate her dis
tance by the depth to which she seems sunk
in the water If we assume this to be
Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1877-12-05
Helm for the Weak.

am ashamed to confess it, but even when |
seek TO live nearest to God, ieel an evil heart
OF unbelief struggling within me. There may
come times when you viii anxiousy inquire,
"Can be a child of God at all cannot
arouse my feeling towards God; my passions
will not stir; even in holy duties ! lack the
living power; there is the wood, but where
is the burnt offeringY | would fain be-
jealous, earnest, intense, fervent, but ! anl
sluggish, very dolt in the Masters cause. =
At such times we are apt 10 say, 4" / must