The Hawaiian gazette., 1873-12-10
HAWAHANGAZETTE
A THANKSGIVING SERMON,
Prc.enea IN the Fors street. church. Homo
Iulu. November &c. Iss2

sAns thv reuOvu went forth among The heather
for Inv beauty: for Il perfect through my come
liness which bad put upon thee, saiih the Lore
Cod EZEKIEL xvi; "a
We are assembled to observe the Ma
tionsl Thanksgiving of the United States
Of America The proclamation OF the
Chief Magistrate of that Great Republic
has Just reached us calling upon the PEG
pie to ~meet in their respective places Of
worship to make their Acknowledgements
TO Almighty God for His bouniies and His
protection" To-day the thanksgiving
anthem is going mp from their glad hearts,
and household joy and the spirit OF graft.
tude are flowing throughout that broad
land We also would mingle our graft
tude with theirs, and joyfully join in the
general praise.
The day. as vet, is American. Why
should il not also be Hawaiian? Why
should not our King recognize in public
proclamation the Divine Hand, and all
the places of worship in these favored
Isles be opened IN national acknowledge
ment of our special Indebtedness to the
Divine GoodneSsl / would that we were
assembled to-day, in obedience to pro
clamatlon from this government also, and
that nv sermon accordingly could have S
more distinct reference to Hawaii
Indeed, may il not be hoped that all
+ Christian nations viii vet set apart 8 day,
and the same day, for national thanksgiv-
ing. Would not the spectacle be beauti-
ful one, and well pleasing to the Great
7 God of the hsrvests, and would it not
tend TO promote fraternity and good will
among the nationss Christian lands now
unite in the same objects of prayer, the
first week in the year, would it not be
quite as fitting and salutary that they
should together take up the song of graft
tude and praise. and swell it in unbroken
chorus the whole earth around?
In anticipation of that day, we invite all
Of different naiionalities 10 unite with us
IN this observance, trusting that our SER
vice viii be such that all can make the
dsy their own.
Il Is all the more fitting that there
should be such public thanksgiving day,
IN which we give some comprehensive
and concentrated expression of our graft
tu6e TO God, because in eur daily life we
do not thank Him for one in 8 thousand
of His mercies He fills our laps with
bounties, aud our mouths with fatneSs, and
our hearts with glsdness. and in unnum-
bered ways He cheers our life all the year
through, and yet, in cur hurry and care,
we scarcely stop to give Him thank or
S thought for i all
To-day we come publicly to confess His
goodness, and our thoughts turn unbid-
den 10 our great reasons for thankfulness.
l have chosen the words of Ezekiel, as
fifty expressing the real and higher
grounds Of our gratitude:
Thy renown went forth among the
heather for thy beauty: for It was perfect
through my comeliness, which had put
upon thee, saith the Lord God"
Our general theme, 10 which we do not
expect to cling very closely, you perceive
then Is The beauty OF our nation Is perfect
through The conlsliGeSS sekici The Lord God
hos pat upon ker.
Ezekiel sets this thought before US in s
striking figure. The nation of Israel, be
tells US. was as virgin, whom the Lord
found in the time OF her love. destitute
and impure He took her, espoused her
10 himself. lifted her out of her defle. /
ments, washed away her stains, clothed /
her with broidered work and silk, decked /
her with costly jewels, put S beautiful /
crown upon her head, supplied her with 4
hne -four and honey to eat, until she thus 1
became qneenly in her beauty, and her re-
nown went forth among the heather. 4
Her beauty was perfect because of the /
adornments which the Lord had put upon
her. His bounty and favor were seen in
the fruitfulness Of her fields His wisdom 4
and love shone forth in the enlightened 4
laws and institutions that distinguished /
her, and that have since moulded the
highest civilizations of the earth. His
and power were displayed in
the triumphs, and victories, that made her
armies terror TO mightiest kings. Her
prestige. her prosperity, her greatness. her
happiness, her influence and renown, were
all bis comelineSs with which be had cloth
ed her
This is our thought to-day. We would
appropriate it 10 ourselves and to our
country. We would think of our coun-
iry's beauty as q comeliness which the
Lord has given her. We would confess
md deny not, that we are Christisn peo-
pie, and that the Lord the Most High God
S our God Our civilization, our great
ness, our freedom, our progress, our hap
piness received from Him, and from the
principles of the Christian religion. their
spirit, their life, their tone, their nurture.
L is because we are 8 Christian people
hat we are what we are. If our country's
7enown has gone forth, if her influence On
he nations Of the earth has been inspir-
ng and blessed, if her people are enlight-
med and prospered and free and happy,
{ the fairest and choicest features of ma
ional beauty sdorn her, 1t is because God
las pGt His eonehness upon her. 1t is the
Sod Of revelation, that presided at her
1Irth, and has moulded her features. and
haped her civilization, and given finish
o her character, and SAVIOR to her name.
Tor her broad and virgin acres, her TEEN
ng fields, her happy homes, her many, al.
most ideal families, her general enlighten-
nent, her equal laws, Ser universal free
lom, her giant strength. her striding pro-
res. her assured stability, and her world
vide influence, our thanks must 90 M to
be God of our forefathers. He took her
D her virgin state. took her out of the
ardships and expressions, and persecu-
ion OF the old world, espoused her TO
imsef in the most fitting time of all the
ges. brought her to the new home of His