The Kansas herald of freedom., 1859-12-03
Thanksgiving SsfRoQ.
THE LESSONS OF OUR HISTORY.
THANKSGIVING SERMON
DELIVERED by
Rev. Richard cordley, of Lawrence,
Thursday, Nov. gath, 1859,

Tint" Remove not the ancient landmarks
which your fathers have set."-Prov. xii, Is.
There are no periods so dear to the
hearts of a people, as their national reli
glous festivals. They are the seasons when
families reunite, when the scattered loved
ones reassemble around the old hearth.
stone, and recount the events of long past
but not forgotten days. There were no
scenes the Jews looked back to with such
regret from their captivity, as to those
yearly religious festivals when the tribes
went Up to Jerusalem to worship in the
Temple of the Lord to meet their breth-
rem from all parts of the land, and to re-
new the old friendships that otherwise
would have been fOrgotteu. The sad
dest, but most beautiful of the psalms, is
inspired with this idea. They looked
back from the rivers of Babylon, not so
much to the homes they had left, as to
Jerusalem, the place of their solemn
feasts. "By the rivers of Babylon, there
We sat down, yea, We wept when we re-
membered Zion. For they that carried
us away captive, required of US song.
They that wasted us require us to be
merry, and sing one of the songs of Zion.
How shall We sing the Lords song in a
strange land If 1 forget thee, o Jeru-
salem, let my right hand forget her cum
ming. If l do not remember thee, let my
tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth
If prefer not Jerusalem above my chief
JOY"
Last to be forgotten with any people,
are their yearly religious festivals. The
German cannot forget his New Years
rejoicing, but must initiate here in the
land of his adoption, the festivities of his
"Faderland." The Irishman never for
gets the 18th of March. The English
man never forgets old Christmas,
"The rare old times, when the Christmas chimes
were merry SOUND TO hear,
When the baron's wide hall, and the cottage
small,
Were full Of good English cheer"
The Puritans had too uncompromising an
aversion to popery to transfer from their
fatherland festival so covered with
Popish associations as Christmas. Still
the feeling which in Old England found
expression in Christmas, could not be
smothered in New England. 1t must
find vent somewhere. So with their usual
religious practicality, they established a
day of National Thanksgiving, at the
close of the year, to the God who had
kept and blessed them through the year.
They made the mistake, however, of
making its yearly recurrence depend on
the Executive proclamation,. instead of
establishing it as permanent festival, to
roll round as surely as the sun.
No one fact exhibits more clearly the
entire subjugation of Kansas to foreign
power, or rather the entire want of SYM
pathy between her rulers and her people.
than that for the past five years the peo.
pie of this Territory have been forbidden
to enjoy the festival they had learned to
toce in their former homes. For five
years her numerous Executives have been
too reckless of her wishes even to answer
her requests. Thoy have been too care
less, too busy, or too mean to afford the
time or the paper for a proclamation
To-day, for the fst time, We regularly
celebrate this time-honored festival of
the fathers. The return of festal days
betokens the return of permanent peace
1t is the olive branch of peace. Though
few OF US can yet sit down under our own
vine and fig tree, or even apple tree, yet
We do enjoy the security these emblems
prefigure. Everything betokens not only
peace, but peace permanently established
by the entire removal of elements of dis
turbance. Even the removing of the
stones from yonder fort, and the convert
ing of them into peaceful dwellings, has
much the appearance of beating the swords
into plow-shares turning the implements