Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1854-11-22
THANKSGIVING.

bring about either of these ends.
THAAKSG lVIEG.
whatever may % thought of the good taste
of substituting the northern custom of obse-v.
ing Thanksgiving Day" set apart by our
political rulers as practical substitute for
the venerable g Christmas Day. hallowed az
the anniversary of the birth of the Redeemer
Of men, since the earliest days of Christianity.
and until the innovation of Thanksgiving y
observed Throughout: christendom as the dav
of all others in the year to be dedicated to the
duty Of returning heartfelt thanks to the
Author Of all Good Gifts for his many blessing 9
Touchsafed to erring Observation-Disclosures
may be thought, We write, of the good taste
and propriety Of this change, flor which We
confess little fancy indeed) now that our
rulers lace determined that Thanksgiving day
shall be kept here, this season, it is to be
hoped that all will have a joyous tim. of it
All the churches will be open in the mornino
and all the ministers of Washington will try
to Guido each other in preaching sermons de-
signed to fx the hearts and minds of all on
The fact that We live, move and have our be-
ing only under Divine Providence, to whom wa
owe all, absolutely all, for every blessing each
one Of US has enjoyed through life Not a
sparrow falleth to the ground without his
knowledge, and no work OF man prospers but
through his aid. He helps those who helm
themselves, or the philosophy Of success in
9 q mi a a ke. mi in
dem, he on astens man by defeating the eonsum-
nation OF bis worldly ends. No wise person can
reflect on the history of life, animal and vegeta-
BILE, as he knows it, without standing in awe of
that great All Wise and Benevolent Providence
who holds US ali in the hollow of his hand
Nor does there live a sensible man who Ia not
assured in bis own neart that the happiness
the peace IF mind which passeth all under
standing-that is the lot of him who not only
believes in, but censcientjously lives I'D to the
standard foI mans conduct laid down in the
New Testament, is enabled best to enjoy all
the true blessings that are within the reach of
all We make these reflections because We
know well that there are multitudes in this
land of churches-men, many of them scrupu.
lousy careful not to offend what they deem to
be the religious prejudices of their neighbors-
who do not reflect twice in a twelyemon,h
upon the weight of their obligations to Proyi-
dence. A paragraph or two, in a secular
journal like ours, upon the subject will be
more apt to reach their minds eye than all
the sermons preached and published from
Canada to the shores that border tho Pacific.
These people, to us, arc the worst kind of
"heathen," and We coDjure them to devote
an hour tomorrow to listening to words OK
planning and enforcing their real obligations
for all they have, enjoy and are Afterwards
they may eat, drink, aud be merry, giving
thanks in an animal way, as it were. The
turkeys will suffer on such an occasion, a. in
duty bound. As where turkeys are con-
eerned, all Yankee creation on Thanksgiving
day Is apparently bound to forget the obliga-
ton to do unto others as they would DO done by.
No business will be done to morrow in w ash.
ington. We trust that the holiday may be
misused IS little as possible Of course the
quantity of execrable rum punished will be
much greater than usual in twenty -four hours,
for this Is always the case on a holiday of the
kind. Our hope is that the occasion will not
be desecrated by scenes in the street going to
show that We have many among us who are
prone to use such an occasion for the gratiii
cation of the bad elements in mans nature.
The Star will not appear to morrow.
~ Many clergymen have been elected TO the
Legislature Of Massachusetts, tho Methodist.
according 10 the Boston Transcript. taking the
lead several Universalists and some Con.
gregationalists have also been elected
stm0rs Anaertcan
Now look out for disagreements, chickering's
and contentious. When ministers, who bav.
cried out Woe is me if preach not the Coz
pei OF Christ, desert tho Gospel banner, On.
ter the political arena and mix in the roupb
and tumble fight Of partisans, religion suffers
and the people loose all respect for the CLAIR.
cal garb. II 10 the duty of the true minist,v
to denounce this corruption in the church. tn
cry aloud and spare not, until their delino usnt
brethren come back to the fold from whence
they have strayed, and stop crying GOOD
Lord and good DeVir' In the same breath.
When ministers become worldlings, infdslity
pfospers.
N