Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1875-12-02
LANCASTER WISCONSIN, THURSDAY. DECEMBER

bllndly the dlctatIon OF party leaders
We shall be grossly delinquent, my
friends, if we do not discharge ouI
political duties with thoughtful, con
scientious fidelity Our country is SC
great in its territory, and in the unde-
yelped resources of its wealth, and in
the mighty tide of its coming popula
ton; SO great in its central position.
and IS the future highway of travel
and traffic between Western Europe
and Eastern Asia, Cat the present
moment arrangements are making for
employing this highway more than
heretofore,) that one might tremble
TO know that the opinions that he ex-
presses, and the vote he casts, go to
shape that august future. We are
starting trains of influence which will
act in the coming time with potent
force of which we do not dream.
Shall we make it necessary that the
performance of prtriotic duty should
be enforced by some providential Wis
Itatlon, should be wrung from rs by
some torturing agony, or shall we
move to our work under the more
noble and glandsome prompting of
gratitude to God, and love to man.
With the high inspiration of these
sentiments we must read, and thiak,
and speak and vote. In the adoption
OF measures and the selection of men,
we must look towards the most entire
r formation and publication, until our
greatness shall be that of liberty with
out lawlessness, OF public and nation
al affairs administered ably, honor
ably, b4i eicently.
And not less obvious and urgent are
our duties to society. AS we have
seen, the material out of which a
great State is constructed, is good
men. You can not build nobly and
securely of rotten timber. No Gun,
ming state-craft can make of France
a truly great nation without more of
the home virtues and of religion. 1t
is by these that we have achieved a
remarkable history; and if the grand
promise of our future is not realized,
it will be in consequence of the lack
Of these essential elements of great
ness. Let intemperance prevail in low
and in high society, among men and
among women; let the Sabbath be-
come day of traffic and of dissipa,
ton, as it is in France to- day let the
marriage tie be thing so weak that
it can be sundered at the caprice Of
the parties let RIGHTEOUSNESS sap
the life of the society let dishonesty
prevail in trade, and corruption de-
base our politics then will come to
pass that which the sturdy old patriot,
Samuel Adams, some times appre-
hended, that we should become PEG
pie not worthy of the sacrifices by
which we have been saved.
Thanksgiving, my hearers, is a
homo festival. having emphaucal. a
social as well as religious character.
The social virtues and religion blend
naturally, and with beautiful harmony
The old classic writer's, with all their
consummate art, do not draw such
pictures of family life as are incident
ly sketched in that book whose lead
ing design is to make known saliva.
ton. OF courtship and marriage,
what fictitious tale is more exquisite
than the true story of Isaac and
Rebecca? What dying patriarch
ever gave directions for his burial
with more ofrefned pathos than when
Jacob said, "Bury me with my
fathers, in the cave that is in the field
of Ephron the Httite: there they
buried Abraham and Sarah, his wife !;
there they buried Isaac and Rebecca,
his wife ; and there / buried Leah. :"
Woman was never found among the
the enemies and prosecutors of tho
Savior, when He was on earth, and
He has rewarded her fidelity by rails
ing her to position of honor and
affection in the family which she had
never before occupied. The family,
as it it exists among US, is an institu-
ton of christianity; and this festival
is at once social and religious. 1t re-
calls the absent ones TO the paternal
home that they may together "brlng
sacrifices of praise unto the house OF
the Lord" and then keep the feast OF
thanksgiving in their own habitations.
Let the fires burn brightly on the old
affairs to- lay. Those who are unable
to be present at the feast shall not be
forgotten. The spirit of distant
friends shall blend with ours by orr
mutual love, memories and prayers.
Nay, even the dear buried dead shall
be of our circle and number, for they,
too, live, and remember and love.
And if they may not return to US, it
will not be long before we shall, if true
and faithful, go tot hem and cele-
brate a greater thanksgiving. Home
is there, rather than here. What we
call home is but camping ground IN
| life's march.
| $50 live, that when the mighty caravan
That halts one night time in the vale Of death,
Shall strike its white tents FOR the morning march
Thou shalt mount onward to the Eternal hill
Thy foot unwearied and thy strength renewed,