The Liverpool Standard, and General Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-09-05 00:00:00

civilisation than at any previous period of our
history. Under such circumstances ;4-

s an im-

portant inquiry what ought to be our duty, and
the answer must be obvious to every of

who is

not so totally occupied with the things of this
world as to ignore the existence of an over-ruling
Providence which governs all things aright. It is
our boast, and perhaps no vain one, that England
is the great centre of Christianity, professing a
purer faith than any other people, and setting an
example to the rest of the world. It, therefore,
behoves us more especially not to neglect the
opportunities afforded of testifying to the sincerity
of our faith, and few are presented like the present
for a manifestation of national gratitude. We
should remember the warning of MosEs to the
children of Israel before their entry into the pro-
mised land, and which is peculiarly applicable to
our own condition at the present time :

When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt
bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he hath
given thee.
Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God in not
keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his
statutes, which I command thee this day ;
. .

Lest .ichen thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built
goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy
silver and gold is multiplied, and all that thou bast is
multiplied ;
That thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord
thy God ;
And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might
of mine hand bath gotten me this wealth.
But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God : for it is
he that giveth thee power to get wealth.

It requires no stretch of the imagination to com-
pare our position as a nation at this time with
that which was thus foreshadowed of the people
of Israel ; and, if our own sense of obligation does
not teach us the duty which we owe, we should at
least be warned by the fearful consequences which
ensued upon the forgetfulness of the Jews. The
inference from all this must be plain to the
humblest intellect, and we look forward to the
realisation of what must be the sincere wish of
every Christian. It will not be long before the
harvest is brought to a conclusion, and it will
then be the duty of our rulers to appoint a DAY OF
NATIONAL THANKSGIVING for the blessings vouch-
safed to us. This should be done in no niggardly
way, by merely ordering an extra prayer on a day
already devoted to Divine worship ; but a day
should be taken from the ordinary affairs of life,
from the pursuits of money-getting, from the
labours for the meat which perisheth, and specially
dedicated to the outpouring of a people's gratitude
for the blessings which they will enjoy every other
clay in the year. It tan be no great sacrifice even
to the poor mans since Ace harvest has made

empioymi

'e abundant, and, though it is sure I

)e met with the (
d by

ion tha

lolidas

many to mere sensual enjoy-
it is no argument against such a manifes-

,rill be do

meats

,nal gratitude by millions who will
throng the churches, and gladly join with heart
and voice in thankfulness and praise to the Giver

tation of nati

of all good