The Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1859-1865, 1864-12-08

Everything forbids division Our com
mon origin forbids it, our mountains for
bid it, oar rivers forbid it, God forbils it,
and "thcy that resist shall receive to
themselves damnation"
Few things are more necessary than to
have burned down into our hearts that we
live as a nation by The authority OF tie AZ
mighty. 1t was God who guided our
Pilgrim fathers across the stormy deep,
and planted their feet securely on Ply
mouth rock. 1t was God who fired the
hearts of eur Revolutionary sires to brave
danger and death for the establishment of
Freedom. And when He provides a gov
ernment for people, it is His govern
ment, and none have right to wrest it
away from Him. The roots of our life as
apeople are planted in God, and our God
is the God lii Christ. Instead of adopting
the presumptuous sentiment, Wealth is
King, Power is King, Cotton is King, let
us adopt the nobler sentiment, Con Is
KING. Thank Heaven !. the heart Of the
nation beats to a mightier measure than
mammon- worshipers would have it. There
is a higher divinity among us than Wall
street brokers or spectators in gold. Our
Generals, when they win victories, are
beginning to attribute them to the God Of
battles, instead of to the .sheaviest battal-
ions" Our President begins to open his
eyes TO the fact that he is child of des-
tiny, and that he rules the nation by the
authority of the Ruler Of the universe.
We assemble to-day, in response to the
call of our noble-hearted Chief Magistrate
and loyal Governor, to devote it as 'sGay
of thanksgiving and prayer to Almighty
God, the benefcent Creator and Ruler of
the universe" What a spectacle A
nation on its knees returning thanks to
the Giver of all Good, the Shepherd and
Bishop of our soulsr' We very we'll
know in what light some men view this
National Sabbath. They contemptuously
call it ''Lincoln's holiday" and profane it
with dram-drinking. These have no God
but party, and recognize no Providence
but the will Of their leaders. But, while
we have mauy calamities to mourn, yet we
have much for which to be thankful
Although we are in the midst Of the most
gigantic and bloody war that ever shook
the earth, and while our hearts bound with
joy our eyes are blinded with tears, yet we
courage" Let us lift up our hearts and
voices to the Lord our God in thanksgiv-
ing aud praise.
We hare a Iand of east erte.a anil uasur-
passed fertility. 1t is washed by two
oceans, laved by a mighty gult on the
South, and encircled by a necklace of
lakes on the North. We have a salubri-
Gus climate, adapted to every taste, life
inspiring ard health giving. God has
given us sweet air and pure skies, carrying
no pestilence on their wing, and we be-
lieve it is well-established fact that the
is less among us than in the old
world. In the language of the Proclama-
ton, at has also pleased our Heavenly
Father to favor as well our citizens at
their homes as our soldiers in their camps
and our sailors On the seas with unusual
health" Let us conceive Cor moment
what would have been our unhappy con-
dition if we had been visited by those
scourges of God, Pestilenco and Famine,
rs we'll as War. Although there has been
a measurable diminution from the proGuc-
tions OF former years, yet our fields are
crowned with the bounty of kind nature,
and the gathered fruits of the earth,"
and the joyous reaper, Crowned with the
sickle and the wheaton sheaf," lifts his
heart to the ''Father Of light, from whom
cometh down every good and perfect gift"
Colder than ice must be that heart, un-
grateful and selfish that soul, that cannot
trace the Divine hand in all these benefits.
God has best as toith industry and enter
prize. Re-echoing the words Of the Pres
dent, "He has opened to us new sources
IF wealth, and has crowned the labor of
he working men in every department of
industry with abundant reward" Our
commerce and agriculture
nave fourished in spite of a desolatins
var. Our inventive genius and mechan-
cal skill vie with the proudest discoveries
If ancient or modern times. Our credit |
s good at home or abroad, and we scout
he idea this nation can ever become bank
'upt. With the inexhausti5le mines of
wealth found in our fields, our forests and
everlasting hills, and with the industry
md inventive genius Of the nation to de- |
7elop them, we cannot fail.
We enjoy great intellectual and religious |
,riOileges. Our colleges and semlnaries
ire thrown open wide, inviting rich and
Door, male and female to come and slake
heir thirst at the gurgling fountain which
comes rilling down from the Pierian |
spring. Here is sparkling gem handed
down by angel hands-and ga thing of