The Portland daily press., 1871-12-02

and homeSteadS where quiet reignS on all othel
| days echo with the songs and laughter of child.
| rem. The old family pew in the church is AGAR
| filled with its occupants of long ago and man
| hood is brought again face to face with the
memory of its childish faith. There is another
| side to this picture. To-day there will be scenes
of shameless riot, of debauchery, of sin. Many
| who have shared the blessings of the Father
| love will have. no thought of gratitude They
| will even curse the name of the benefactor
| Others will sit down i'll sorrow SO deep that nc
ray of hope seems to pierce the darkness OF
| their despair
The lesson of the day for all is, Be thankful
| The object of this service is to awaken thank.
| fulness and give an opportunity for its expires.
| sion. Our thankfulness is due to God who
| gives us all things. To Him we are indebted
| for all that we have, and not to ourselves. We
boast of our material achievements and forget
how much belongs to God Praise is the rent
| we owe to Him. Philip Henry said there are
many fine farms for which He receives no rent
| Richer than material blessings may be ours in
our family relations; much may be due to pa.
| rental fidelity, but God has been our teacher
| directing by a wisdom higher than mans Every
blessing comes from God We open our hands
and take what He gives, and often, while ac-
| cepting the gift forget or deny the giver. We
too often do not connect our blessings with the
divine source. Much of this ingratitude
springs from unbelief. The evil heart does not
wish to acknowledge God. The private sphere
of life must not engross all our thoughts to-day.
We celebrate not an individual, a family, OF
even State, but a National Thanksgiving.
The speaker then confined himself more es-
pecially to consideration of our National con-
dition, and some of the matters we are dealing
with. The Indian and Mormon questions, he
believed, would soon find satisfactory solu-
tlon Mormonism must perish when its vile
ness is exhibited in contrast with purer social
system
Our chief danger is coming through prosperi-
tV The immense material of
country are grovelling its spirituality. Jim Fisk
owns the New York Legislature, and holds his
own in spite of the press and the clergy. But
effrontery and viany cannot triumph forever.
Tweedism and Butlerism are going down. Jim
Bludsoe will not be the patron saint of the 18th
century. Bret Harte will not be its chief in
structor in morals or rhetoric; nor Gail Hamil-
ton in missionary economies. The marriage
relation will hold in spite of Theodore Tilton
and Mrs. Woodruff. We are not a nation of
saints or philosophers, butwe are neither so vile
nor so foolish that such types represent our
average. There is yet virtue. honor, purity,
piety There is salt enough to save us through
divine grace.
tude. All we receive is of Gods Astounding
mercy. If the blessings we have cause no
thoughts of gratitude, let us at least be thank
full for the evils we have escaped. Measured by
the miseries which have fallen upon others, but
which we have missed, how great is the sum of
our mercies. In our affections we are to apt to
look at the little cloud instead of the blue arch
that spans the whole heavens There is no
night of sorrow so dark that we may not see
Gods mercies twinkling above us like the stars
They seem far off and dim to our blind eyes,
but as we gaze, 10 those stars will grow into
suns that shall flood our whole soul with the
light of love. Thankfulness does not depend
upon the amount of good received, but upon the
amount of appreciation.
1t is said that when the sun is going out of
SiOht the mic Swiss of ba
takes his horn and shouts, "Praise We the Lord
Then brother herdsman on some distant slope
takes the echo, ''Praise We the Lord" Soon
another answers still higher up the mountain,
till hill shouts to hill, and peak echoes to peak
the sublime anthem of praise So it may be on
this National Thanksgiving Day. The church
bells of Maine ring out, 'Praise We the Lord
New Hampshire catches the sound and echoes
over her mountains praise We the Lord" Mas
sachusetts for two hundred and forty years on
the day of Thanksgiving has not forgotten to
send out the note, Praise We the Lord The
Middle States, the South, the far West set their
bells urging in unison, "Prase We the Lord
From the ST. Lawrence to the Gulf, from the
Atlantc to the Pacific, echoes and re-echoes the
glad sound; church bell and anthem, and song
and prayer and family rejoicing are all pitched
upon that key note, ''Praise We the Lord" That
sound enters the ears of the Lord God of Sa-
baoth and from the serene skies there comes an
voice, like the benedfction of Jeho-
.AAdppy 10 eiiC pSopiO WIOSO 0Ou Is buS
Lord"
HIGH STREET CHURCH.
The Free Street Baptist united with the High |
Street Society at the house of the LATTER the |
sermon being preached by Rev. Mr.. Fem. The
text was from 1. Tim. 5: 22,-'sNeither be par
taker of other mems SINS" The tendency of |
the age is to combination of labor, and to
make combination a system, and the great |
question, especially for Christians is, What is
The degree of accountability of an individual
for the acts of the association, be it natural |
or an artificial one-family, state, party or
financial. He discussed the question at length, |
Ind found a hopeful sign of the recognition of |
Individual responsibility in the result of the |
New York election and the war upon Tammany. |
There was very large attendance present to
listen to the discourse
CONGRESS SQUARE UNIvERsALIsT CHURCH.
Both Universalist Societies worshipped to-
sether at this place. Rev. Mr.. Gibbs and Rev. |
zenas Thompson, of Mechanic Falls, conduct
ID the preliminary services. The sermon was |
,y Rev. George W. Bicl1nell, pastor elect of the
India street Church, who took his text from |
Both Ps. Sd verse:-''Praise the Lord" The |
scriptures are replete with exhortations to man |
20 praise the Lord. United with these exhorta- |
IlOnS, DeduUlIul SuDllluo, tU0 pleas OI |
nature. Nature ever praises. If the acorks of |
Sod praise Him, how much more ought man, |
the browning glory of creation We must be |
careful that we praise rightly. Word praise is |
nothing; merely semblance The praise comes |
from the heart, and adopts the garb of Ian |
lot deceived by semblances, even though man
may be. The praise is fashioned first by real |
zing sense of an obligation, or consciousness of
dependence. Man does not realize his obliga-
I.,e,, hA
devoted. Man must be educated to realize his
position. Many feel that they are independent
ind praise themselves. When adversely comes |
heir independence vanishes, and when saved |
hey instinctively give praise to God. A second |
element in the fashioning of the praise is graft |
ire grateful therefor, we may give acceptable |
praise. With too many this element is dor |
nant. 1t requires awakening-anima Ii |
we would obey and truly praise God we must |
strive to understand our dependence-must be |
filed with gratitude for the many gifts and tes-
5imonies of love lavished upon us, and then we
shall be in condition to render each day purer
and more acceptable praise. The holy indu- |
ences which cluster around us and the teachings
Of nature should be heard, and all days should
be days of thanksgiving and seasons of praise.
None should neglect this great agent to our
spiritual growth-praise to our HeavenlyfF Father.
THE BETHEL CHURCH.
At the Bethel Rev. Edward P. Thwing delv-
cred an interesting and instructive historical
discourse on the Pilgrim Legacy, commencing
with the statement that it is the universal GUS
tom of all nations to honor their ilustrious an
eestors, and that we as Americans, have just
cause to glory in the deeds of the Pilgrims, and
to point with pride to the honored names of the
Bradfords and the BreWsters, as noble exam
pies of those earnest and God-fearing men who,
on the bleak and inhospitable shores of Massa-
chusetts Bay, laid the foundations of that civil
and religious liberty in the full enjoyment of
which our country is to-day blessed. Mr..
Thwing proceeded to describe the causes and
circumstances under which the Puritans left
their native England to seek refuge in a new
and unknown land. A brief description of the
voyage of the Mayfower, and the disheartening
circumstances of the landing on Plymouth Rock
was given, and the speaker proceeded to discuss
in detail some of the more prominent features OF
Puritan civilization, and to draw therefrom GER
tain lessons worthy of consideration at the pres
ent time. In this cosmopolitan age it is common
to hear the Pilgrims hippantly denounced as
stern and unrelenting fanatics. Had they been
less stern and less relenting, we should not have
been to-day enjoying the blessings of free and
prosperous country where rrligious liberty is
the great fundamental feature of our system of
government The peculiar circumstances by
which the Puritans were surrounded should be
considered in their behalf, Surrounded on every
side by hostile Indians and not knowing the
hour or moment when they might be called upon
to defend their homes and hearthstones from
the ruthless savages, it is not in any way re-
markable that they should have maintained the
str,. est laws for the government of the infant
colony, OF looked with suspicion upon, all new
comeTs and tho.s who protested new and strange
doctrines of religious belief But the greatest
sin for which the Pilgrims haze been denoun ei
ed. is the hanging of persons enarseo WIN
witchcraft. And it has become the 9Ml,on OF
very large number of persons that the Massa,
cbusetts colonists were the principal actors IN
this drama But such is by no means the case,
In England, where civilization had even at