New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1868-11-25
THANKSGIVING DAY,

| IdANhSGlVlNG DA1'
By public proclamation we bud to-mor-
row set apart as a day OF solemn prayer
and thanksgiving. Thanksgiving how de-
lightful the sound how expressive of hap
piness, and OF gratitude, which is the es-
sence Of happiness. Every day, as the
broad lands turn to meet the sun, each bird
and beast utters its note OF praise-per-
chance unknowingly, yet ever chanting an
eternal hymn Of thanks to the God of life.
Shall we, the intelligent recipients of I'M
paralleled blessings, grudge one day in the
year in which to offer our public thanks
giving to the Divine Dispenser of all good?
Two hundred and forty-eight years ago
a small but heroic band of pilgrims kneel-
ing in the snow upon the bleak rock of
Plymouth, raised their voices 10 thanks-
giving to the God for whose worship they
had sacrificed their luxurious homes to find
only dreary wilderness. One hundred
and sixty years later the defendants of
these intrepid men and of the other infant
colonies, forming the Continental Congress
ct the United States, appointed the thir-
teenth Of December, seventeen hundred
elghty-one as a day of public thanksgiving
and prayer to celebrate the triumph of
American Valor and patriotism over British
tyranny.
These two events were the worthy germs
of our national existence. The former
marking the implanting OF religious prin-
ciple which has blossomed all over our
land in temples Of worship and institutions
of learning, ever cementiug with strength
and wisdom the foundations of our national
prosperity; the latter marking an era of
liberty, which, from the glimmerings of twi-
light, shines brightly now, and soon, we
trust will fash in universal splendsr
wherever our flag floats on the breeze.
The ferVent thanksgiving uttered by the
brave old Puritan over his scanty meal of
parched corn and dried venison, under
the tall pine rocking in the wintry
wind, perchanee interrupted by the
scream of the ocean eagle or threat
ening war-whoop of the wild Indian,
and the joyful outburst of praise by the
Continental Congress have been perpetu-
ated through all the intervening years, and
may now be echoed by many millions in !
our land, in the sumptuous banquet hall Of |
the millionaire and in the modest cottage |
of the humber class. Very different, how |
ever, was the meagre repast of the pioneers
of our country to that of the present time.
The mammoth turkey, with its unctuous
brown covering and body guard of luscious
bivalves, the savory chicken-pie and sub
stantial roast beef aanked by every variety
of nourishing esculents, crowned by the
royal plum pudding, the creamy pumpkin
and custard and delicious mince pies the
blocks Of sweet go lden butter, and foam
light, snowy bread, the fragrant fruits of
our teeming soil, now form fair sample
Of an American thanksgiving dinner,
evincing abundant harvests and cattle upon
a thousand hills.
Is it not incumbent upon US, then, not
only as a nation, but Individually, to make
a public demonstration of gratitude to the
Most High at the same time dispensing a
portion of our abundance to the suffering
Door, and offering an earnest petition that
III civil animosity and Intolerance
of the late war-may
'e entirely obliterated; that violence
nd wrong may utterly cease, and
hat under the guidance the calm, pa
riotic spirit Of the man chosen to be the
lture Chief Magistrate of this people we
lay indeed become a perfect Republic,
nder whose fostering care the humblest
itizen may find protection, both at home
nd abroad?
Through Gods excellent kindness we
AVE been permitted to take our place as
rst among the nations of the earth.
Louisiana may participate in this glory. /
Let us have peace"