Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1866-12-06
THE WILMINGTON JOURNAL.
WILMINGTON, n. c.,
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1866.
To-Day! To-day

It is often said that the practice of every
virtue is difficult, sometimes painful-ln'
deed some have gone so far as to aver that
the chief merit of virtuous actions lies in
the self-denial they require. This, howev-
er true, in respect to the practice of most
of the virtues, cannot, we think, be alleged
of the virtue of gratitude. There is nc
more pleasing exercise of the mind than
this, and were it not commanded as duty,
one would think it would be INDUCED fol-
thenatural qualification which always accom-
panies its exercise This is one Of the fe W
duties, the performance of which is attend
ed with such real pleasure that its reward
is found in the act itself. Here, at least,
"yirtue finds its own reocard," and if this
be true of gratitude between men, how
must the virtue be exalted and the pleasure
enhanced when God is its object-that
which was most pleasing sensation when
INDUCED toward our fellow-man, now rises
to holy and elevating aspiration as it Is
directed to that henefcent Being, & from
whom all blessings flow" These thoughts
have been suggested to us by the recon-
mendation of the National, as, also,
of the State Executive, that this day
be dedicated to the Holy offices Of
Religion, and particularly to the
expression of our deep gratitude and awful
homage to Him, in whose hands are the
destinies of Nations, for his innumerable
blessings to u.s. There is no truer measure,
by which to determine the advance of
people in moral and intellectual culture,
than such manifestations of the National
mind, as there is no more sublime and at
fecting exhibition of the National hed'"
than this spectacle of mighty people pros
trate before that throne to which all allie
glance and faith and love and loyalty IN
heaven and earth are due, implorlng par
don for the past, while, "with hands up
lifted and with eyes devout," they pour
forth the diapason of Nations thankful
ness. We are indeed gratifed to see this
acknowledgment of our constant Deepen
dence on the only Being in whom "there
is neither variableness nor shadow of turn
ing"
Governments, like the men who
make them, are unstable as the water, and
shift their forms to suit the spirit of the
times, but to the true, and leal and faith
full patriot, it is an inestimaole consolation to
know that change "stops with the
Shore of time that He, upon whom
we repose our trust, is the same,
'' yesterday, to-day, and yt0reoer,"
and if we will indeed, and in truth, be true
to Him and to ourselves, we may ego forth
to meet the shadowy future without fear
and not without hope"
It is true, there are some men among
us, who would fain have it believed
that we have nothing to be grateful
for that our beloved mother-North
Cardinals at present in the hands
of her bitterest enemies-unnatural off
spring, who, reversing thefable of antiquity,
which made the parent devour her issue,
are engaged in devouring their confding
and devoted mother, by every species of
depletion, eztortion and vexation, which
the possession of present power enables them
to exert But we should feel it sort of
sacrilege, while engaged in the exercise of
these elevating and holy duties of religion
and patriotism, were We to permit the
thoughts of such men to intrude themselves
upon us. No, we have yet country; thank
God, and noble, buoyant and jubilant
country, though it be for the nonce de-
pressed by a weight we cannot remove, it is
only temporary, the superintendent weight
will be removed for we have God as well
as a country, and He, in his own good time,
will lift the incubus from u.s. and then we,
and the world, will see the might that
slumbers in the now coiled and fettered
spring,-DaiIy Journal, 29M.
Reputation of Private Debts.
One of the most difficult problems for the
solution of the statesman, is the measure
of relief to be applied to a people suffering
from great monetary prostitution. Modern
times present many instances of financial
revulsions, and we believe that they have
been left, almostwithout exception, to work
their own cure.
But the case of the South has few paral-
lek in history. Not only have our people
been subjected to IN exhausting war, but
the greater part of their available means,
that which was the basis of their C:cdit
throughout the world, has been entirely de