Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1874-12-10
NUMBER 36.

ground, but no sooner does it meet . Wig
orous tree, than with clinging grasp, It
cleaves TO it and climbs It, and as it climbs
sends out at short intervals, arm.like ten.
drills that hug the tree in vice.like en-
brace. As the murderer ascends, these
bands grow larger and grasp tighter. Up
it climbs until the loftiest point is gained
and fettered; then as If in triumph the
parasite shoots ont huge, fowcry head
above the straDgled summit and from the
dead trees crown, scatters Its seed to do
again the work Of death.
In brief this spirit Of worldliness, love
OF gain and pleasure rather than love of
God and eternal truth is diametrically the
opposite of the fear ofthe Lord, the path
polar-distant from "the good way and the
right" into which the Prophets words
and the goodness of the Prophets Cod
yea Of our own God would lead us. No
position is safe but that indicated ..Fear
the Lord"-and Samuel knowing how
prone men are to satisfy their consciences
and lull them to sleep, by mere forms of
right doing with emphasis "and
serve him in truth and with all your
heart"
No surface piety will suffice, no relig-
ion which like ones sunday coat, is put
on at occasions only, no mere decent be-
haviour, no mere ceremonies will suffice.
To attempt the payment of heavens claims
with these would be as foolish as to offer
wrapping paper in liquidation of your
note which is due at the bank tomorrow.
There must be worship in which the
soul finds delightful out-f1owing merg-
ing of the human will in the divine-an
arrangement Of our intentions so as to be
parallel to Gods intentions,-a transfer
to God of the sovereignty Of the heart.
To do this is to keep Thanksgiving day
as it should be kept. And, unless our
gathering at this time is mere matter of
custom and of form, we shall, by divine
grace, be raised to this standard this
is the standard of that word which says,
''Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart, and Him only shalt thou
serve" Love to God, such as His good
ness ought to enkindle finds its outcome
and expression only in such yielding of
obedience-Love is religion-religion is
Love
Pass now to the exortation of the text,
"Consider how great things he hath done
for you" This is an (argumentum ad
hominum,)-an argument to the man
himself, appealing to the inward sensi-
bility to the very core of the heart Cal
lous and stone,-like hearts must be in
deed, to resist these sweetly wooing
words. The sense of honor, Of right, and
justice, is made the referee, as if God
himself was content to submit the validi-
ty, and force his claims to our decision.
1t is not the sturn voice of one demand
ing, PAY me what thou owest me-" but
the still small voice of concience speak
ing in heart-melting tones "In view of
all these mercies, what manner Of men
ought we to be-" what loving, loyal, obe-
dient children toward such q Father.
| Ingratitude is IL ost foul and hateful
quality. If unbelief is the Father of all
sin, ingratitude is its prolific mother. In
gratitude is the habitual state Of feeling
prevailing in sin hardened, sin darken-
ed unredecting nature. 1t is brutish,-
nay, among the very brutes, only the low
est orders possess it as an abiding attri
butte to their being.
| "The Ak knoweth his owner, and the
ass his mas ters crib; but Israel doth not
know, my people doth not consider" God
pity the parent, who can say of his off
spring, as the Lord said of US, Il have
nourlshed and brought up children, and
they have rebelled against me-" He who
towards God, leads life whose currents
all flow from this fountain head of iniqu-
ity; he who, like swine feeding under
the fruit trees, never looks upward to the
branches bending with stores of good
things above him; he whose heart never
kindles and glows under the warmth of
divine goodness, is an object of pity in
Esight Of heaven and all holy beings.
Even the tiny flower, unendowed with
reason or consciousness, turns its smiling
face upward towards the clouds in CRATE
full acknowledgment of their refreshing,
life-giving drops. Even the little bird
sings its morning hymn Of praise, as tit
rises to enjoy the opening day, and the
sun, as if pleased with the melodious
tribute, glances in return his brightest
smiles through the dew drops on the
tiny breast, until each becomes -gleam-
ing diamond. But brighter than flowers,
more precious than diamonds, are the
joys experienced by the grateful heart.
Gratitude is the human child, reaching
up its lips to receive the kiss of the heav-
enly Father. As blossoms send up their
fragrance to the sun, from thousand
hillsides and valleys in springtime, in
thankful return for the light which gives
them life and health, and paints their
varied charms, SO do grateful hearts,
everywhere exhale to God the incense OF
praise for his streaming benefits.
Some one has said that we ought to do
with our mercies what botanists do with
their plants; classify them, or as the as
tronomers with the stars arrange them in
groups, and systems, and consultations.
By SO doing, we certainly are led to a
more correct estimate than by q hurried
glance. If you wanted to obtain cor
rect idea of the geography of Europe,
you would buy the travels of some tourist
on foot, like Bayard Taylor, who visited
each town and village, climbed each
mountain, viewed each lake, one by one,
rather than the hasty narrative OF one