The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1865-12-07
Thursday Morning, Dec. 7, 1855.
IFrom the Round 7dble.]
Concerning Thanksgiving Sermons

[Fron, the Round Tdble.lo 't'ti si9'
Concerning Thanksgiving Sermons. 81
As the day of national thanksgiving and
prayer approaches, it may be taken for grant
ed that the clergymen throughout the country,
particularly those in the loyal states, are rack
ing their brains for the material for what is
known as Thanksgiving sermon" In the
olden times, the delivery of the annual dis
course was a notable event both for the min
lister and his hearers. The latter were taught
to look forward to it as The greatest occurrence
in the church of the wholeyear. To be sure,
there was the Fast day sermon, but around it
clung the memories Of empty stoInachs, result
ing from limited disbursement of food at the
family table. 1T sayored strongly of bilious
ness on the part Of the clergyman, and unap-
peased hunger on the part of the congrega-
tion. 1t was expected of that great man, the
minister, ON that occasion, to relieve himself
of all the pent-up wrath against personal and
political opponents which had accumulated in
his brain for a year; and the congregation lis
tened to his diatribes with that mingled rever-
ence and disgust with which a child gazes up
on doctor who prescribes for it EPSON salts.
But no such associations were attached to
Thanksgiying-day. To the youthful mind it
embraced two great facts, viz: the religious
services at church, and the grand dinner at
home..s The natural deprayity of the juvenile
heart regarded the former as necessary pre-
nde to the latter, just as the possessors OF that
heart were induced to gulp down nauseous
drugs upon the promise of toothsome sweet
meats Immediately afterwards. To the adult
mind, however, the case presented different
aspect. 1t regarded the sermon as the main
incident of the day. Accustomed to sleep
soundly through the Sabbath discourses, it was
both novel and pleasing to listen to the preach
er ON Thanksgiving For once the ''doc-
trines" were forgotten, and in their stead the l
occupant OF the pulpit expoundedi his views
upon the great questions of the day. Recre-
ant officials received their Just dues the Pill |
grim Fathers were eulogized in language that
would alright rhetolician; old England and
the Pope were shown up in a manner that was
astonishing for everything but accuracy while |
the "stars and stripes" were apostrophized in
words ,eminently calculated to inspire every
listener with awe and patriotism. Nor was
this all. The minister enjoyed the festivities
of the day as well as the hearers. He fired
his biggest gun on that occasion. Old scores
that had worn upon him fer the year past he
then paid of with compound interest His
ideas Of government, his views upon the great
political questions of the time, sly hits at the
management of town affairs, and broad gener-
alizations on the problems of the age-all
these slipped from his tongue as he pounded
the pulpit cushion and gazed through his sil-
ver-rinimed spectacles on the gaping assem-
blage before him. Many of the old associa-
tions which, in the mind of every New Eng
lander, cluster about this old New England
festival now exist but In memory. Only the
service at church and the dinner at home re-
main. The latter we dismiss at this point;
for the present we shall confine our observa
tions to the former. s.i III ss5a. s5 IS 5,as u
First of all, we beg to assure the pastors of
the country that the people are tolerably well
szPa. - 4>+ - <,f Iofo
war. There is, probably, not man in the
land, North or South, who has not well defin-
ed views upon this subject. Strange as it may
seem, the now historical fact that Fort Sum-
ter was fired upon ON bright, sunny morning
in April, 1851, and the subsequent uprising of
great nation, are not perfectly unfamiliar to
the church-going portion of the American
people. Nor is it likely that many persons are
totally Ilninformed of the surrender of Gen
eral Lee and the consequent collapse of the re-
bellion early last spring. Equally familiar is
it to intelligent minds that Great Britain con-
tributedi not little to furnishing privateers
for the late so-called Confederate States, and
that Maximilian, supported by French guns
and French soldiers, has set at defiance the
Monroe doctrine by attempting to maintain
the extremely barren honor of being Emperor
of Mexico, These are a few leading facts of
which the American people may be presumed
to be not wholly ignorant. We would also re-
mind certain of our clergymen that slavery,
though "the sum of all viliainies," is abolished
on this continent, and certain others that "ab-
olitionists" are creatures of the past. The
crack of the slave-driver's whip, together with
the clamor of the so-called @fanatic" for the
abolition of slavery, is silenced. These Incl
dents in our recent history, and others inti-
mately connected Herewith, the preacher may
presume that the people at large have at least
heard of, and will not listen to the announce
ment of them as things new and heretofore
unheard of. 5s... e N /, iff35raaa las srlgs4ri :
We trust that none of orr readers win mis-
interpret the spirit in which these words are
uttered. For the last four years the Thanks
giving sermons of most of our clergymen have
been little else than stale campaign speeches,
labeled with a, text from, the Scriptures and
padded with some theology and more parti-
sanship. We intend no insinuations against
what is termed "preaching politics. THE
stoutest opponents of this never complain so
long as their minister utters opinions that CO.
incide with their owm) Even granting, for
the moment, that the pulpit has done the harm
in this respect which some argue that it has,
we claim that il has also done yeoman service
for the government during the time of its tri-
al. Exceptions there may have been, but, as
Glass; the ministers of the Gospel have been
thoroughly patriotic throughout the recent
war, and oltimes have expressed their opin-
ions openly when, to all appearances, the with
holding of them would have been of positive
advantage. But at this time we look to the
American pulpit for that influence which can
emanate from no other source Like the old
Puritans, its representatives have shown them
selves valiant in the day Of battle, and, like
the old Puritans, let them prove themselves
magnanimous in the hour of triumph World
ly craftsmanship may accomplish much at
such period as this, but Christian statesman
ship, imbued with the principles of the Chris
tian religion and enunciated by its appointed
ambassadors, can do more. The latter we
need to-day. Wherefore we ask the pastors o.
our churches to forget the things that are past
and impress upon their charges the solemn re-
sponsibilities of the present. The passions o.
men are to- be allayed and their judgment
quickened. No policy Of reconstruction can
be thoroughly eficacious unless the temper O
the people is harmonized with the principles
first enunciated in the Sermon on the Mount
To imbue the American people with senti
ments befltting nation that claims christian
ity for its guide, there is no such efficient
agency as the American ministry. And wert
every pastor, on the day of our nationa
thanksgiving, to strive to impress upon it
hearers the responsibility resting upon eacl