davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1880-07-21
Children's Love for Home.

A little brother and sister were talking
about their home and their love for it. 81
wouldn't swap my home for any other in the
world" said the sister. 90 | don't feel
So" was the boys response. al think that
Willy As home is as pretty as ours.
It's bigger, and it's got more things in it. |
think I'd like to swap ours for that" But
would you like to give up your father and
mother for his ?" asked his sister. "And
would you rather have his sisters than
yours 7" "No, woulin't want that" said
the boy. "Well, to swap homes means that, +"
said the sensible sister; for home itself
isn't home. home is your father and
mother, and brothers and sisters, and every
thing you have in the house." Wasn't that
well said ? Isn't there a truth in those
words which is hid from many ef the wise
and prudent and revealed unto babes A
well'furnished house is not home, A home
is the life and the love which the family in
the house represents. Who would swap his
home for rich neighbor SIS. S. Times.
Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1880-07-21
An Indian Game,


When not on the war-path or engaged in
hunting, western Indians spend much of
their time in various games or contests of
skill. OF these contests one of the most
popular is flying the arrow, a sport to which
the Indians OF all tribes devote considerable
time and attention.
When this game is proposed, each of those
who wish to join in it lays on the ground
something of small value, such as a pipe,
culver of arrows, bow, spear, tobacco
pouch, or knife and when all have been col
lected, the value of the whole makes prize
well worth trying for. Then bows are care
fully examined, dozen of the best arrows
III the quiver selected, aud the first of the
competitors steps out in front of the rest,
aud prepares to shoot, not at mark, but
straight up into the air. His object is to
have as many arrows in the air as possible
at the same time; and he who can send up
the greatest number before the first touches
the ground, wins the game and all the prizes,
But few of the most expert of the Indian
bow-men have been known to put more than
ten arrows into the air at once, and to do
even this requires extraordinary skill and
strength. The arrows, ten or twelve in
number, are held in the hand that grasps the
bow, aud the rapidity with which each is
fitted to the string and sent upward is truly
wonderful.-Harper's Young People.
Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1880-07-21
MOhammedanism In Central Africa.

OF the assumption of certain apologists of
Islam, that the religion of the false prophet
is both more aggressive and more sautary
in Africa than Christianity, the Foreign Ms
sionary says I" Ii we consider only the phys
ical condition of success, it must be allowed
that Islam has an immense advantage in its
central position and its vicinage to the field
to be won. There is much, also, in the
greater similarity of character between tine
moslem aud the heather tribes as compared
with Europeans, whose habits are so utterly
different from those of all African tribes.
But, on the other hand, the forces of Chris
tianity have now well nigh surrounded
Africa, aud are pushing through hundred
avenues into the interior. Discovery, time,
commerce and civilization are handmaids OF
the gospel as they are not of Islam. That
can only endure the dim light which survives
from past age. 1t belongs to an age which
has passed away and to type of civilization
which is everywhere sinking into decay"
Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1880-07-21
The Laws of Nature.

No phrase is more commonly and wretch
edly used than "the laws of nature" A
law strictly means d" a rule or order estab-
lished by authority" it is that which sis
commanded by one who has a right to re-
quire obedience" The term claw" there
fore, not only presupposes lawgiver, but
it presupposes his specific publishing or de-
claring of the rule in question. Hence, it is
only by an accommodation of language that
we speak of the I" law of gravitation," the
claw of attraction" the "law of repulsion."
The existence of such laws is merely in
ferred from certain observed facts. There
is no record of the laws enactment to ap-
peal to. What folly, therefore, to speak Of
any of these laws" as standing in the way
of a specific written promise of God that he
will answer prayer in spite of the ordinary
processes of nature "The course of ma
ture, truly and properly speaking, is moth
ing else but the will of God producing GER
tain effects in continued, regular, constant
and uniform manner-which course or man
ner of acting, being in every movement per-
fectly arbitrary, is as easy to be altered at
any time as to be preserved" Even such
an unbeliever as John Stuart Mill admits all
this when he says "The expression law of
nature is generally employed by scientific
men with a sort of tacit reference to the
original sense of the word law namely,
the expression Of the will of a superior
the superior, in this instance, being the
Ruler of the universe" Yet there are
(" laws of nature laws concerning the
natural world, recorded in the divine Rul-
ers statute-book. Those laws stand sure,
and there is comfort in resting on their
declarations, in many time Of anxiety or
doubt. Good DIR. Hawes of Hartford came
into the infant class of the "Old Center
church" Sunday-school, one morning in
spring-time, many years ago. "Children, +"
he asked, "what season of the year is this ?"
"Spring," was the quick reply. "What
was the season before this ?" "Winter."
"What season will come next Z" "Sum-
mer." "Hold on" said the doctor. "How
do you know that !? How do you know
that the next season won't be winter again
How do you know that summer will ever
come again 7" There was q pause for the
little ones to think. Then young Henry
Calnp-afterward known as Major Camp,
I" the knightly soldier spoke up in child
like reverence and trust because, sir,
God has said while the earth remaineth,
seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat,
and summer and winter, and day and night,
shall not cease" That child knew the diff
ference between a law of nature" and an
inference from observed facts in nature.
Whosoever, therefore, shall humble him
self as this little child in dealing with
Gods facts and laws in the universe of ma
ture and of grace" the same is greatest in
the kingdom of heaven" Aud he who talks
in any other way than this as to "the laws
of nature interfering with the promises of
God, does not understand what he is talking
about.-Sunddyschoo Times.
Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1880-07-21
The Family Purse.

The money question between husband and
wife is one of the most serious drawbacks
to married happiness, ard it is time it was
adjusted on more just and equal basis.
The life of utter dependence which some
women lead is crushing and degrading.
Men do not realize the utter helplessness
and vacuity to which the system condemns
woman. Now, does anybody believe that it
is necessary for the welfare of the family
that she should go to him for twenty-five
cents every time she needs it for car fare or
spool of thread Is it right or Just to take
her imbecility in money matters for granted
before she has been tested ? Is it moi Just
such women, who are left by the failure of
some speculative craze to their own resources,
with the burden of family upon their in.
experienced shoulders, who often display
wonderful powers of energy and calculation,
in addition TO thrift and persevering in
dustry, which ought to put all such men to
shame ? Women, as a general rule, can
make dollar go as far as two in the hands
OF men; and many conceited individuals
who now consider that the social system
bounded by four walls of their dwelling
would cease to revolve if they were taken
out Of it, would find great happiness and
great pecuniary advantage in putting the
control of all the interior details of their
homes in the hands of their wives, with a
division of the income equal to the require.
ment.- Womdn's Journal.
Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1880-07-21
Quench Not the Spirit.

al once" says faithful minister of the
gospel, "entered farmhouse on chilly
November evening, and spent an hour in
personal religious conversation with the in
mates. The aged father of the family, a
most kind and amiable man, followed me to
the door and stopped me on the porch he
took me by the hand and most deliberately
said: Il thank you for your visit, and hope
it will not be the last but as you have Just
commenced your labors among us l wish to
give you just word of advice, based on my
own experience. Let us old people alone
and devote all your labors to the youth of
your flock. Forty years ago l was very
anxious about my soul. Many were then
converted but | was not one of them and
now for years | have not had single feel
ing on the subject. know that am lost
sinner; | know that / can be saved only
through Jesus Christ; l feel persuaded that
when die | shall be lost believe all
you preach, but feel it no more than if |
were block of marble. expect to live
and die just as | am; SO leave US to our
selves, and give all your strength to the
work of saving the young remembered,
says the pastor, the incident and watched
the progress of the man. His seat was
rarely vacant in the sanctuary, but he was
true prophet of his own fate. He lived as
he predicted, and so he died. We laid him
down in his hopeless grave, in the midst OF
a congregation over whom God had so often
opened the windows of heaven -. NJ.
White, B.A.
Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1880-07-21
A Negro Bishop in Westminster.

Among the most interesting features of
the recent gathering of the bishops Of the
Anglican Communion in London was the
presence of the bishop of Hayti, an African
born in the United States and consecrated
in Grace church, New York, in 1874. Bishop
James Theodore Holly for such is his
name), the present bishop of Hayti, is a
man of excellent gifts of gnuinely mis-
sionary spirit He received an especially
cordial welcome on his appearance among
the English and American bishops at Lam
beth and he won the respect and esteem of
all who came to know him. While in Lon
don Dean Stanley invited to preach in West
minister Abbey on st. James day, and his
sermon, founded on the request of the mother
of James that her two sons might sit re-
spectively at the right and left hand of
Christ in his kingdom, ended with the fol
lowing noble and touching prayer: And
now on the shores of old England, the cradle
of that Anglo.Saxon Christianity by which
! have been in part at least illuminated,
standing beneath the vaulted roof of this
monumental pile, redolent with the piety of
bygone generations during so many ages, in
the presence of the
" Storied urn and animated bust
that hold the sacred ashes and commemorate
the buried grandeur of so many illustrations
personages, | catch fresh inspiration and
new impulse of the divine missionary spirit
of our common Christianity, and here in the
presence of God, of anpels, and Of men, on
this day sacred to the memory OF an apostle
who blessed name was called over me at my
baptism, and as | lift up my voice for the
first and perhaps only time in any Of Eng
lands sainted shrines, | dedicate myself
anew to the work Of God, of the gospel of
Christ, aud of the salvation of my fellow
men, in the far-distant ilse of the Caribbean
sea, that has become the chosen field of my
gospel labors. O thou Saviour Christ, son
of the living God, who, when thou vast
spurned by the Jews of the race of Shem,
and who, when delivered up without cause
by the Romans of the race of Japheth, on
the day of thy ignominious crucifixion hadst
thy ponderous cross borne TO Golgotha's
summit on the stalwart shoulders of Simon,
the Cyrenian of the race of Ham, pray
thee, o precious Saviour, remember that for
lorn, despised and rejected race, whose son
thus bore thy cross, when thon shalt come
in the power and majesty of thy eternal
kingdom TO distribute thy crowns of ever
lasting glory And give to me then, not a
place at thy right hand or at thy left, but
only the place OF a gate-keeper at the en-
trance of the holy city, the new Jerusalem,
that may behold my redeemed brethren,
the saved of the Lord, entering therein to
be partakers, with Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, of all the joys of thy glorious and
everlasting kingdom.
Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1880-07-21
Think a Minute First.

am reminded OF an incident which
touched me very much at the time, and may
find responsive chord in the hearts OF some
who are parents. was sitting on my porch
on pleasant summer morning, when up
runs little Belle, intent on visit TO little
playmate across the way. Papa" she asks
"may 90 over and play with Carrie awhile2"
and then, as il she seemed to discern dis
sent in my face, she put her little rosebud
lips close to mine and quickly added, "Please
don't say no; think minute, first" Was
there ever more charming protest against
hasty and inconsiderate answer OF
course, the little girl had her wish We are
perhaps all too ready thoughtlessly to deny
many of the little ones things that seem tri-
fling to us, but are everything TO them. Aud
when their little appeals come, before letting
the No" rise too quickly TO our lips, let us
think minute.-Haper's Magazine,
Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1880-07-21
No Hope.

Atheism, whether positive or negative,
gives no hope for the conduct or comfort of
our individual life. Each mans personal
life is ever present to himself as the object
of his hopes or fears. Shall this life be
long or short Shall it be bright or dark :
Shall it be failure or success The
man who believes in God and trusts in his
guidance, he, and he alone has solid ground
for hope. He knows him through the forces
of the universe which surround him and
confront him at every step, and he knows
him as the heavenly Father who animates
and directs them to each individual Joy or
sorrow. In both relations he is in harmony
with him, in the first so far as he knows
them, and with God himself who controls
the known and the unknown TO his true
well being and makes even his ignorance
aud mistakes blessing. He knows aud
obeys God as revealed in nature. What
natural theism suggests, Christian theism
declares for mans guidance and comfort
The living God becomes ourFather in heaven,
the guardian of our life, our ever present
friend, who understands our most secret
thoughts, or weakest fears, or blushing
shame, or conscious guilt, and who can
bring to each and to all the sympathy and
comfort and guidance of personal friend
ship and assured blessing. Porter
Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1880-07-21

their ready fund of information quite out
side of the conventional topics, and the
well-posted" boys, who know much more
than books could have taught them, will be
found in general to havela father or mother
who is wise enough TO "visit with them,
ard who do not keep their best mental and
social gifts for outside friends. Show us
father who saves his new stories or Jokes TO
delight the family circle after supper,-who
has an eye out for new facts Of travel, dis
covery, SCIENCE literature, art or religion
with which 10 stimulate conversation at
home-who talks with the little chaps about
their studies and plays, and the older ones
about their duties, ambitions and labors-
who keeps before his daughters an ideal of
gentleman who treats ladies with SINGER
ity, reverence, and as equals, and doesn't
carry his "small talk in separate pack
age from the rest of his knowledge, strictly
for their use, and wen show you rare man,
we are afraid. If home is to be something
more than boarding-house, a mere conven-
ience or social necessity, it ought to draw
out the best gifts of each inmate into the
fund of common enjoyment and mutual
nistrations.-Selecied.
Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1880-07-21

The men of nation inevitably make the
women what they will and the women in
return impress upon the children what they
have received from their own fathers. Hence
it comes that the existence of the American
woman has become almost as purely OBJ.
jective as that of the man. Her idea OF life
from her cradle has been associated with the
maximum of exertion. There is no quietude
among Americans, and wonderfully little
egotism in their social life. 1t is never
ending series of sensations aud mental
shocks, which keep the whole being in a
nervous quiver and allow no time for any
quality save that of energy TO develop itself
symmetrically. The American woman is as
unquiet in her thoughts, and enslaved by her
duties, however light, as the man. Even
when she visits she has no air of repose.
Her conversation is not thoughtful, but
acifu. She tells you what she does or suf-
fers, not what she thinks or feels. There
is no reverie about her, no suggestion of
that brooding spirit which indicates ca
pacity for impassioned affection-a capacity
which to bachelors is always ideally seduc.
tive, however little the married man may ap-
preeiate or return it. Yet, generally speak
ing, undemonstrative as the American girl
may be, she will wear her life out in work
ing FOR the man she loves. She forgets all
about being for him in that merciless energy
which always drives her into doing for him.
Her character is full of the lights which
dazzle, but 1t 10 wanting in the tender sbad-
ows which soften her personality. AHdntic
Monthly,
Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1880-07-21
The Limitations of Sex.

The main psychological distinction be-
tween men and women is that men think
more than women, and that their thinking
is of better quality, because it is carried
on chiefly in the form of reasoning and is
drawn from wider field of facts. This is
not random inference, but may be scien-
tifcally verified by any observer who will
approach this question in the same impair
TALLY critical spirit which should guide in
vestigation upon every subject. Brain-ac-
tivity is constant phenomenon in both
sexes during waking hours; but much Of
this activity is merely emotional in women
Nature has exacted the penalty for this con
stitutional narrowness by keeping their ac-
tivity within narrow bounds. To verify
this, we have only to take the testimony
found in the records of modern civilization.
Wherever we look we find woman caring
for the individual, while man has cared fol
the individual and for the community
General interests have fallen into his hands
while personal ones have been left to hers
This division of labor has been so strictly
based upon natural facts that we see that
those facts must hold fundamental cause
of such results. In many of the processe:
of civilization we get the combined influence
of the sexes but we have one institution
which shows the record of unmixed mascu
line activity; and this institution is the
state. The moral evolution of national life
has been shared,by women but the intel
lectual bases of all governments have been
devised by men. Women have made fouI
important contributions to modern civiliza
tion they have cared for the body in its
immediate needs by the preparation of food
and clothing, and by ministration to the
sick; they have been the conservers ol
moral forces, and have insisted on specia
standards of conduct in society aud in the
home; they have guided the rudimentary
intellectual training of children; and they
have contributed to the aesthetic develop
ment of the race by creating and combin
ing beautiful forms and colors in dress, il
decoration and in household art. Thes,
four departments have been mainly con
trolled by women, and the comfort and
beauty of everyday life proclaim their sue
cess.-NorM american Review.
Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1880-07-21
Ones Own Work.

Every church-member should learn his
sphere of work. The eye cannot do the ser.
vice of the hand, nor the hand Of the eye.
Many good men have prevented their use
fulness by mistaking their proper sphere.
Valuable deacons have been converted into
worthless preachers. Good pastors have
sacrificed their usefulness in their attempts
to be financial agents. Some members are
prompt to speak in church, who would show
their wisdom and increase their usefulness
by silence; and Others, from diffidence or
false views of duty, are silent, whose intel
ligence, piety and discretion, entitle them to
be heard. Every brother should study his
own gifts, and, by practice and observation,
learn how he may best employ them. Nor
should he trust to his own judgment alone
in this matter. He should seek the advice
of his judicious brethren, and give it due
weight Especially he should, with peni-
tent Saul, cry, Lord what wilt thou have
me to do ?"-Reiigious Herald.
Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1880-07-21
MONTPELIER VT, WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, $780,

to heed. Unless they have a care, the min
listers will find their occupation as teachers
Of the people gone' of one thing pastors
may be sure: congregation that will grow
impatient after thirty minutes listening to
an ordinary sermon, will give close attention
to a familiar, (not off-hand) instructive,
earnest exposition of the Scriptures an hour
long. What does this mean Itmeans sim
ply that the people enjoy discourse that
makes the Bible palmer to them-that opens
II to their minds, so that they can see more
clearly the hidden treasures of wisdom and
knowledge it contains. And it is by this
knowledge Of the Scriptures that Christians
grow in spiritual strength and stature. Let
not pastors think any matter that makes the
Bible palmer to the understandings of their
people unsuitable for pulpit use. If there
were more of the Bible class style of exposi-
tion in the "sacred desk" there would be a
larger number Of Bible students in the pews
and a good deal less complaint about
"long sermons"
Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1880-07-21
Evolution on the Prairies.

After foothold has been gained in new
country and home established, genera
ton, perhaps two, must pass away before a
fine type of humanity is produced. The
fathers and mothers have toiled for the ac-
tual necessaries of life, and gained them.
The children are supplied with physical
comforts. Plenty of food and exercise in
the pure air give them stalwart frames, good
blood and perfect animal health, but there
is bovine stolidity of expression in their
faces, suggestion of kinship with the clod.
They are honest-bearted and well-meaning,
stupid, not naturally, but because their
minds have never been quickened and stim-
ulated. They grope in a blind way for bet.
ter things, and wonder if life means no more
than to plough and SOW and reap, to wash
and cook and sew. | see young people of
this class by the score, and my heart goes
out toward them III pity, though they are all
unconscious of needing pity. Perhaps one
out Of every hundred will break from the
slowly-stepping ranks and run ahead to taste
of the springs of knowledge reserved for the
next generation, but the vast majority will
go down to their graves without ever attain.
ing to the ripeness and symmetry of fully
developed life. Their children perhaps
certainly their grandchildren-will attain Q
fine physical and mental type; and by tina,
time " the prairies will cease to be syn
onym for lack of society and remoteness
from liberal and refining Influences Lip.
pincott's for July.