The Sun.
London, England, 1855-10-01 00:00:00

• THE THANKSGIVING DAY.

Yesterday being the day appointed by command of
her Majesty lot a national thanksgiving, for the signal
Rd repeated successes of our army and that of crtif allies
in the Crimea,
and especially fur the capture of the tows
'
and fortress of Sebastopol, the form of prayer and
thanksgiving prepared for the occasion was readin all
the churches in the metropolis at both the morning and
evening services, and sermons 'were preached, in all of
which especial reference, was made irr various:termg-tn-
the war,, and t) the last great'victo4 achieved by the
allied armies. In most of the churches, more especially
St. Panl a and Westminster Abbey, the congregations
were unusualty large, and collections were made in many
of them on 'behalf of the widows and orphane of those
who'have fallen in`the conflict, or of kindred objects.
ST. PAUL'S. -• •
At the principal service at St. Paul's t'attredral tliere:l
was an overwhelming congregation, the sermon being
preached by the HOD. and Rev. H. Montlgue Villiers,

M.A., a younger brother of the Earl of Clarendon. As
the rev. gentleman was making his way from his stall
to the pulpit, the National Anthem pealed from the
organ, the congregation rising in a body in its honour.
Mr. 'Villiers selected for his text the first and following
verses of the 124th Psalm If it had not been the
Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say : if it had
not been the Lord who was on our side when men rose up
against us, then they had swallowed us up quick when
their wrath was kindled against us." Men, he said, daily
received mercies from thehands of the Almighty Disposer
cif events, but it was only on extraordinary occasions
that they presented themselves with any force to their
minds. The circumstances under which they had that day
assembled were of a most remarkable character, and it
would be the duty of the people to consider the best
means of showing their acknowledgments to the Lord.
The accounts which had been so graphically given to the
public by the daily press, the enormous strength of that
gigantic fortification which had just fallen into the hands
of the Allies, the indomitable perseverance and the un-
doubted courage of our foes, the extraordinary acuteness
of the general who conducted the retreat,—all these
things combined clearly proved the applicability of the
words of the text, and were sufficient to show that, if
I,he Lord had not been on our side, we should have been
"Swallowed up" when the wrath of the enemy was kin-
A mere formal acknowledgment of so great a
Mercy was far from being enough, and our fellow-coun-
trymen, individually and nationally, would fall very far
Short of their duty if they neglected to give an essentially
practical character to their thanksgiving. If we looked
to ourselves nationally, we should be unable to deny that
during the 40 years of peace we bad enjoyed we had
Shown far grcater zeal in extending the wealth than in
Extending the piety of the country. We entered upon
be war in a boastful spirit, and with an impression that
!directly we set foot on the enemy's territory they would
all before us. But these anticipations had not been
realised, and God had shown us in a manner which could
never be forgotten how little we really knew of. the bit-
;terness of war. The rev. gentleman urged the desirable-
ness of a great national repentance, which would be best
evidenced by imparting sound religious education to the
baptized and unbaptized heathens with whom this country
,abounded, and made an urgent appeal for subscriptions,
!which would be collected at the Cathedral doors, he aid
!of the wives and families of our fellow-countrymen who
!had fallen in the Crimea. He added, that if there were
!any who wished to subscribe to the fund for the religious
!instruction of the soldiers, or for the relief of those in
the hospitals, he should be happy to take charge of their
subscriptions.
A collection was then made on behalf of the Patriotic
Fund, the plates being held by the Rev. Canon Dale,
and the Rev. Messrs. Povab, Packman, and Beckwith.