The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1871-12-09
A Tbankspiving Discourse.
Delivered By the Req. w. Prear, Pastor, IN u
Fort Street Church, Honolulu, Nor. gu, ioG

/ Z u " " GE z 90
Fort Street Church, Honolulu, Nor. 81, 1871
PSALMS I47 20. q He hath not dealt SO with any nation
and as for His judgments they have not known them FAS
ye the Lord" MD
ocean islands. our hearts to-day are IN unison, Win
all those dear and loved ones, who, throughout tne
broad fatherland, are Offering thanksgiving 70 tne
one Great God of bounty and blessing. oathered II
the same spirit, cherishing the same memories, bound
in the same old family ties. rejoicing I'D, and solicit
ous for the same national welfare, we with them,
unite in the one national thanksgiving ana praise
God for His goodness, for His providence, and His
grace 10 US and to our common country. we are
sin a part of that great nation. Its blood IS III our
veins. Its love of liberty Is INCUR hearts Its
spirit of progress pushes US Or IN acn'esen!eht: ls
interests are still our interests Its prosperity Is our
low. Its caIamities are our sorrow. Its causes for
Thanksgiving are ours also. Not only has that same
hand of blessing which has dispensed good to our
native land, let fall its profusion upon us, but very
many of the blessings that We here enjoy, have
fallen upon US, from that Divine hand extended
out over US, US it were from the home country.
La fact so much Of the civilization and religion,
and public spirit, that prevail here came from
that home country that We almost forget that we are
in foreign parts, and We can thank our heavenly
Father today, for all these island comforts, and priv
l iIeges and bounties, and homes, almost as II they
were upon our native soil. We do thank Him to-day
for the blessings that He has showered upon US as
individuals, for blessings of life, and health, and
safety, and sustenance and all spiritual good. We
thank Him for friends and for society. We thank
Him for our homes, and our hopes. We thank HIM
for the state and the church. We thank Him for the
privileges we enjoy under the government In
this land of our sojourning. We thank Him for his
word of life and salvation. And though many OF US
have experienced heavy losses and severe trials, yet
we thank Him, that the blessings that remain are
more, and that our life is yet full of His. mercies, and
that His love appears even in the adversely as well as
in the bounty. There IS not one OF US who mas not
reason to render to Him q public tribute Of gratitude
this day for the blessings of His providential and
gracious hand to us individually.
But we are blessed, and may to-day feel ourselves
blessed in the great nation of which we are still a
part. As citizens of that favored country, we would
anew recall to mind its worth, and think of the great
blessings in which we share in common with all its
people.
1t is in the first place q matter for Thanksgiving
that we have a country, and a nation that we can
call our own. Though in a foreign land, we are not
wanderers on the earth, every mans hand against
as, and ours against every man. There goes with
US a something of credit and of character, that makes
us more than the mere individual. There is a power
behi1a us that wraps us about with its influence,
and throws the aegis of its protection over us. We
have a country, and our feet may return and rest
upon its soil. Our homes may be under its sky, when
ever other climes prove insalubriOus or inhospitable.
Its fields of ripening grain may be for our sustenance.
Within its safe borders our right, not mere privilege,
it is to follow the peaceful pursuits of life. Its very
hills and streams court our love. The warmth of its
social life beats in our hearts, and keeps them,
though remote, from becoming cold and solitary. Its
virtues and principles bind US to walks of purity and
uODleutSS. LES, Il II WOflu SOmctuluR " ndSc u
country that we can call our own. 1t is good to love
it. Heather poets have sung that it is sweet to die
for it. Many a hero has felt himself privileged and
honored in giving his life for his country. The pull
sations OF the national life have beaten for the time
in him, and he has been exalted In greatness by the
spirit of the nation that has filled him.
To feel as we go forth in the world, that a great
nation is behind US, and that we belong to a noble
and mighty people, gives us a consciousness of dignity
and worth. Something of our governments strength
is in our efforts. Something Of its dignity is in our
walk. Its honors rest down upon our heads, and its
achievements are our pride and boast. The poorest
Roman that trod the remOtest strand of earth, felt
that he was the citizen of a mighty and glorious ma
ton. There is thus something of his nations strength
and greatness entering into every citizen. His ma
tionality gives him q character. Not only do the
laws of his country give him protection at home and
abroad, but the fact that he belongs to a people and
a government tends to make him more of q man.
And if that nation is great aud noble, and free, if its
laws are wise, and its government good, if its
history is grand, and its position commanding, if it
has the spirit of greatness of achievement and pro-
gress, SO much the more does it lend of itself to the
individual the blessing of citizenship is all the
greater. That our children may rejoice in the land of
our birth that they may love its institutions and its
government that they may feel noble and free and
strong ON account of their nationality, is not among
the least of the blessings to be grateful for. And
while We rejoice in all that is great and good in other
lands, and while We would unite with those of other
States and kingdoms in a heartfelt Thanksgiving
for all the blessings and honors with which the good
God has favored their countries, yet taking it all and
IN all, we know OF no country, and no government,
that we would exchange to-day for our own. We are
glad to be citizens of that noble realm, of that free
nation. We are glad to have our children grow up
in the spirit of its liberties. We rejoice in its history,
it's conflicts, and its rising power, in its youth, and
vigor, in its fair name and in its broad scope of
progress.
If there ever was q nation of which our text could
be truly spoken it is ours. Israel was not a more
chosen people. Their beginning was not more of
God, and their history was not more under the shap-
ing of His hand than ours has been. The Psalmist
saw that the Lord had not dealt so graciously and
grandly with any of the surrounding people. and
especially in this, that. they had not known His judg-
ments, i. e.. His revealed will. What he meant was
that Israel's greatness and prosperity and joy, were
owing to the fact that they were Gods people, and
had His truth and His laws. They had the true re-
ligion Of Jehovah, and as His people, God had dealt
maryelously with them, and in view of this Israel's
singer exclaimed, "Praise We the Lord" Gods
mercies to his nation was his song Of praise. Have
not we, my fellow-citizens, a yet sweeter song to sing
in this respect? For is it not more true that he
hath dealt marvelously and graciously with us?
Look for instance at the surprising natural advan-
tages that He has given US. No people has He blessed
with fairer and broader acres. For beauty of land
scape, feaility of soil, variety of climates, and pro-
ducts, comprehensiyeness of resources, great store
beds of metals and Goals and oils for facilities for
arts and manufactures, and commerce., farms and
fisheries, forests and prairies and for all that can
lift up the mind to the noble and the grand, for great
mountains and stupendous cataracts, and great
rivers, and inspiring views, and scenes of every
kind-He bath not so dealt with any people. The
promised land of Canaan was fair and fertile, and at
that time very central and commanding in position.
But in none of these respects can it now compare
with the goodly heritage which the Lord has given to
our nations No nation has now, and prospectively
so central and commanding a position. 1t is getting
to be more and more midway latitudinaIy and longi-
tudinally in the great courses of trade and travel
1t is a land surprisingly fitted to be the seat of en-
pire and influence. 1t is a country to be loved, one to
which the generations of p~osterity will become most
fondly attached. A dearer fatherland than it will be,
no descendants of the human race have ever cherished.
Consider further, that the Lord hath dealt with us
blessedly also in our origin as a nadon. He gave to
us q royal beginning. Abraham's call to go forth to
Canaan, and be the father of a chosen people was
not more divine or grand than was the planting of
the goodly pilgrim seed on the wild shores of New
England. The Puritans were the worthy founders
Of such a nation. Their faith and righteousness