Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1874-12-04

held In the BaptIst church Ihanksgiv'
ling Day"
4 At the Universslist church services
were held IL the forenoon, sllthe chnrches
in town being represented, the pastor,
Rev. E. J. ChAiIee. officiating. The ser
mon was production Of marvellous pow
or and wondrous beauty. The text was
chosen from words Of the Psalmist. " He
maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth
thee with the finest Of the wheat"
AT the request Of many readers of the
TIMES, we give entire the closing pass
ages Of Il . discourse:
"The truest liberty is the truest law.
Each soul being pure, all will be pure.
The true result comes when epery man
is law and an institution, and gov
eminent, and national force. There.
fore, while we are thankful for peace,
and the scope it gives us in our individ-
ual life, We cannot help remembering
the responsibilities which it brings. And
finally this leads to the thought of the
condition of our home life Home !"
is the central word. and that comes out
in our meditations to-day. This is fes-
tival when we properly gather together
in churches but the hearts inmost i'm
preston is in home, HOME. Thousands
are gathered there today. Thousands
more, in thought, are visiting home and
friends. Thousands in crowded cities,
upon the sea and in far off lands, re
member the old homestead, the old
church, the dear old faces, some now sad
ly changed, some, perhaps, strangely glo-
rifed, looking down from heaven-and
the old graves that lie in frosty white
ness in country ohurchyard,
Peace and Homel War breaks mp
home and makes it desolate; leaves a
dark and bloody spot on many thresh.
hold. Peace gives room for its enjoy
ments, its sanctities, its responsibilities.
Are those sanctilies respected among us
In large measure, ges. The homes of
our land, as rule, God be thanked, are
pure homes-homes glorifed by mans
labor and fortified by woman's honor.
Most of our homes are the hearts of
the land-springs and centres of all
we can call prosperity.
Yet the true life of home-that is to be
guarded as the very heart of the nations
life. Without this we may gather in
the finest of the wheat, but it is mixed
with the tares Of sin.
There may be peace in the land as
whole, but there is no peace where there
is the death of affection or the sacrifice
of honor.
But let DIS end vita our happiest
thoughts of peace and home. Peace
that lends to home its dearest o portuni-
ties.
Home, that gives TO the individual,
that gives to the nation, the assurance
of truest peace. But some may say
there is peace that is very sad. The
peace OF some vanished form and silent
voice. True. This peace, too, falls cold
and silent with the wintry air upon
many a homeland side by side in the
r..
burrows whence the finest of the
wheat has been gathered. there are fur
rows of another kind--marked by the
passing year-the burrows of consecrated
graves.
Those dear ones who went out from US
through the door that opens not for visi-
BILE return!
Laden with harvest spoils they entered
In at the golden gate of their rest;
Lad n their sheayes at the feet Of the Master,
round their places among the blest."
Let Us be thankful that there is not
despair, but the peace of a vision seen
through tears, of a light that is beyond
the cloud; and let us feel to day, that
with the general joy, there is much to be
thankful for.
Let each, and all, then, say; OH
Great Free Land Be thankful In
city temples, and country churches, in
countless homes, from icy cresls that
shield the stubble fields, to verdanl shores
where winter never kills, and from the
Atlantic to the Pacific sea.
o Great Free Land Be thankful
to our God, and praise Him, for he hath
strengthened the bars of thy gates. He
hath blessed thy children within thee.
He maketh peacein thy borders and FL
leth thee with the finest of the wheat
We regret that the crowded state of
your columns will not admit of our Civ
ing full aud perfect abstract of Mr..
Chaffee's discourse. 1t was one of his
finest efforts. Without dealing in full
some praise, we can say that taken in
its entirety, it was one of the best SER
mons we ever heard. It was packed full
of practical, but profound thought. Its
premises were sustained by strong Logic.
ailucid as the light of the single gospel.
1t was presented in picturesque image