North Branch democrat. [volume] (Tunkhannock, Pa.) 1854-1867, 1866-01-10
Sc r NJ ON
OF THE
REV JOHN CHAMB ERS,
.ON THANKSGIVING DAY,
Thursday, December 7th, 1865.
s E r NJ o N

The services of the day were commen-
ced by the reading of the s5th Psalm, in
connection with the 9Th chapter of the lst C
pistle to the Thessalonians. The speaker
then said
We have assembled in compliance with
the request ofthe Chief Magistrate of the
United States, that we should, on this day,
meet and give thanks to Almighty God for
the restoration of peace to our lately dis
tracted and unhappy land-not that l recog-
nize the right of any civil magistrate to
dictate the Church of Christ in any way
but a request, such, as the one put
forth BY President Johnson, must find its
echo in the heart of every man and woman
before me, and call forth unmingled graft
| tude to God for the mercy vouchsafed us
in being delivered from Que of the most
cruel, bloody, and desolating wars the world
| ever saw. At the same time, am sure
that no one amongst US has waited until
this hour to pour forth the gratitude and
praise which the cessation of hostilties must
have caused to spring in the heart of every
Christian and lover of humanity. What
minister of the Prince of Peace has not
urged upon his people the duty of devout
| - l., fol ho ba lost
was fired? For it is glorious truth that
Christ, His gospel, and HIS ministers are a
like opposed to war, which in all its conse
quences is fraught with evil and evil only.
Mr.. Chambers then offered mp prayer,
in which he thanked for the return Of
peace and freedom, that the writ of hdbeds
corpus had been restored, so that men
were no longer in danger of being dragged
at the midnight hour from THAR homes and
families. He ardently invoked the rich
est blessings of the Almighty upon the
President of the Unitetd States, the Gov
ernor of each sovereign State, and the Ju-
dietary of the nation, supreme and subordi-
nate,
The sermon was based upon the text, St.
Nit. 18th chap. ,e:3d W: :"Can We not dis
cern the signs Vi the times" and was as foil
ows
No man ought to be al idle or inattcn-
tive spectator of passing events, or shut his
eyes to the signs of the times. Bui it Is
melancholy fact, ti.at comparatively few OF
.Lr orcat mass of men think for themselves
either politically or relisiously, and hence
they are the slaves or dupes of Others who
have the courage or the ambition to betheI
leaders 1t is know to the world at large,
that no people on earth boast more OF their
civil and religious liber:y than do the
American people : but it is sad truth that
in many cases it is but the empty sound
without any solid foundation, and that the
many are led captive by..the few-especial-
| " politically. The past four or five years
have been among the most eventful OF the
worlds history. The great experiment of
self government has been stretched to its ut
most tension. As a nation we have been
upsn the verge of ruin, and l confess that
even now my mind is not satisfied that the
ship Of State is entirely off the lee-shore or
! safely moored. There is wilderness in
the political heavens which to the attentive
observer must appear portentous of evil IN
tho future, and what makesit more alarm
ing is that the masses of our people are
ignorant of their chartered rights. How
few ofthe teeming millions of this nation ev-
er carefully read or studied the Constitu
ton of the United States Do you sup
pose that more than one in every thousand
has ever done so? And yet this grand in
strument is the book of the people-not by
any means the exclusive property of the ju
rist, the lawyer or the politician, but, l re-
peat. it, the book of the people, made for
them, and for their special benefit ; and the
man who fails to make it the rule of his
life, as citizen, is derelct of duty.
But let us now proceed to inquire into
what is our present condition, and what oul
future prospects and first of all, I shall
view them as they stand related to the Bi-
BILE standard of Christian purity and excel
lence. Let us 60 to the law and to the tes
timony. We read, Titus, Sd chap. l.:
: verses "Put them in mind to be subjec
, to principalities and powers, to obey mag
istrates, to be ready 10 every good work
to speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers