New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1864-11-23

if his dinner docs not set him to oolhking TOO
intensely of that home, will prove himself as
valiant trencherman as any Of those soldiers
in "The Lay Of tho Last Minstrel" who
"--csrved at the meal
With giaves Of steel.
And drank tho red wine through the helmet b'r.'
For this occasion. at least. wo wish every
absent one the stomach Of Charles V. WEI
can SEQ the camp as we write-the arrival or
the bampers--the uncording of thee hampers
tho disembOwelin of the hampcrs-the Dis
tribut;on Of The solid contents Of the hampers
Then:
Priinum scsEan
1um strdor dentiun.
Tum clnmor gcnsturn.
inst quiet,
Then diet.
Then riot
Not that by riot" we moan any inordlnato
or over -hoisterous merrment; butOniy cheerful
converse, and tender talk of the loved ones leil
at home-may be talk with ttemble 10 it
and then gladder chat Of the war over, the re-
turn, the reunion which shall compress into
one little moment all tho joys of lifetime.
DO You think it will bring any cheap or vulgar
pleasure to our war.worn veterans, when We
send 10 them the host evidence in our power
that here VIC remember all the discomforts
which they suffer, and all the mortal
perils which they encounter for our sakes' 10
it not tit that they should have their Thanksg'v-
ing dinner-they who at risk Of life and OF limb,
are making future Thanksg.yings posSible-they
who have made the Thanksgiving of 1864 pos
sble-they who are not fighting lor bit OF
musty parchment which We call tho Constitu'
ton, but for their pleasant homes OF love. OF pa
rental protection, Of iilial devotion, OF brothery
and sisterly fidelity' When we think OF
the work which the army is doing--how wa
have committed to its hands the destinies OF this
continent and the happiness of our chidren's
children-hOw it is creating for liz present rep
utatons before the nations and name IN his
tory--how il is keeping bright the Evolutionary
links which bind us TO the purer and earlier days
Of the Republication We think OF all this serV-
ice, noblcr than soldier ever before rendered to
! his country--how poor seem our largest dona.
tions!--how mean our bountics!- insufficient
our most frequent rcmembrances how nado-
uua.e our warrnest gratitude II Is something
fifty to honor the dead. but it is more to be
Justly thankful to the living. If We build mon
uments to the departed and cOnsecr%e forever
the places of their burial, We do no more than
pay them customary aud decent tribute; but
we give to them the highest honor, when we
care tendcrly for those who survive them. The
great money debt which has been accumulating
is nothing to the moral debt which We owe to
the army Intelligent and high.spinted u cur
soldiers are, it is not mere conventional praise
which they dcSire-thc set phrases OF formal
thanks and tho routine OF ceremonious wei.
comes;-it is that hearty appreciation Of their
services and suierings which shows Itself IN
delicate attentions which have in them An ele.
ment of refinement, and which remind them Of
their high and equal relations to the state.
Domocracies, 10 be great and permanent,
must be based upon kindly and generous social
relations, upon great common interests and
pursuits. and upon the implied admission that
all have an equal stake in the welfare and per.
pstuity OF tho State. II il wonderful-more
wonderful than any experience OF Ike nature
which any nation has heretofore had-tha.
we, in the great trouble. which have fallen
upon us, have been 50 knit together by the tie OF
q common love and u common interest, and
tha, all, rich and poor, high and low according
to old estimates, the inhabitants Of the town
and the deni,ens OF the country, have so worked.
paid, fought hed, and died together for the
land which all have loved so well. 1t will be
very strange il, i'll this noble feeling, the Re.
pubic does no, find not only restoration aud
safety, but greatness and dignity common
surate with our fondest hopes