The New York herald., 1870-11-24
Thanksgiving Day asd she American Year
or Jubiiee.l N II. ~ N4

Thankssiving Day and tho American Year
or Jubilss.l 8 Ill AZ NA
Also In tho fifteenth day OF the seventh month";
when yo have gathered In the fruit Of the land ye
shall keep feast unto the Lord seven days On the
m mrs. gay sna,l oe ssD9atn & and on the eighth shall
And ye shall hallow the nfteth year. and proclaim
thereof; 1t shall be jubilee unto you and We sha
return every man unto hlS possession, and We shall
return every man unto hts famiiy-Lsv. XIV. To-
1t is Thanksgiving Day, and here we have
the origin Of this beautiful institution -
s'When ye have gathered In the fruits Of the
land, ye shall keep feast unto the Lord"
We are thus carried back from the proclama-
tions of the President, the Governor and the
Mayor; beyond the Pilgrim Puritans Of the
New England blarney stone; beyond the
Church of Old England, and the long and Inn
posing array Of the Popes Of Rome; beyond
Romulus and Remus, and beyond Mount CAL
vary and Bethlehem. to Moses-glorIous old
Moses-the giver Of the Divine law to the
children Of Israel In the wilderness, en- route
to the Promised Land, three thousand three
hundred and sixty-one years ago! We say
glorious old Moses, for the great fundamental
principles of law, society and religion Of this
day, in all the realms of civilization, Christian
and Moslem, are drawn frem the code Of
Moses. He stands at the very head Of all the
great lawgvers and statesmen Of the Earth
down to the new dispensation, and all that
have succeeded him are borrowers frsm Moses
Empires and dynasties since his day have
risen, flourishsd, decayed and disappeared;
modern science has achieved wonders-the
Suez Canal, for instance, SURPRISING the Pyra-
mids Of Egypt Cat some Of which, no doubt,
Noses saw the builders at work); new world
has been discovered end peopled; time and
space have been annlhilated By the lightning
telegraph; Paris, under siege. is reduced to
horsefash, and Hoffman has been reelected
Governor, and yet we have the day in full
blast-this old Mosaic institution Of thanks
giving festival-having gathered in ''the fruit
Of the land" .--,,,.,s H.s'se., IT,,
How expressive those simple words, ''tns
fruit Of the land" and how Beautiful to us
have been the products Of and all the blessings
of the year! Wheat and corn, cotton, sugar,
rice and tobacco, hay and potatoes, hops and
barley for beer, including the lager, berries,
melons, grapes and fruits, in roots Of all kinds,
and in coal and petroleum, silver and gold, and
likewise in fish, how magnificent our products
of the year, and how small compared with
suoh resources the burden Of our national
debt! And then our exemption from war
(barring the Apaches) and from pestilence
and famine, while Cuba and ''the fair land Of
France" are laid waste by fire and sword, and
while all Europe, from the Thames to the
Golden Horn bristling with bayonets, is
preparing for battle. Truly we have
abundant cause for giving thanks
in the consumption Of turkeys, pump
kin pies and sweet cider, to say nothing
of California wine, Kentucky Bourbon, Jersey
applejack or New England rum. We have had
some destructive tornadoes out West, some dis |
astrous inundations down South, some suffer- |
ngs by drought and fire along our Northern
borders, many lame ducks in Wall street, |
some strange illuminations in the heavens and |
the rumblings Of little earthquake under Man
haitian Island; but these, in the general ac-
count, are small things compared with the sum
81 che years. glorious rewards Of our
fields, mines, shops and factories. and
speculations in gold, fancy stocks. and
real estate. We have, had some blue
Mondays this year, but no ''black FRI
day )" we have had a splendid racing season on |
the land and the sea, gay and prosperous