, 1875-11-27

third. tho +" rrcsidcnt'n."
| va shall prove that Thanksgiving MAS na-
tonll halliday long bcf0Eo tho War, and with
greater snnoton than that Of tho President alone,
| That It il not Puritan " tnatftus!ou nor q
=" Nea England" nor Presidents fnstitu-
t,on. But In 90 Affirming ne would mt dotrsct
| from tho virtues aud fame Of tho puritans. nnr
entertain 1csa regard fof that part OF tho coun.
| Try which hns dnno 10 much 10 develop tho
wealth aud worth Of sho nasion, nor diminish tho
esseom and Affection Of our whole poopfe for tho
m artyred President, nor dlsparago tho proaent
incumbent Of tho Chief Magiss1scY. tho 1aoctei
aud lsonored head Of this neon1e, whom no ate
commanded a. CArissiano and taught ~ church,
men to honor a. "tn authority
Moreover, chtef rulers. tince and ovon boforo
Moses, hsso hold autlotity to sppolnt annual
fcstiso days. nut assuredly tho world did not
wait for Now England 10 discover tho Religious.
moss Of Rtvtng thanks, nor for President to
proclaim tho fltneas Of an annual Tl.ankyai aivlng-
| Day for tin annual fruit bearing OF tho earth.
Tie clear and open ropIy to thoso orrora ID fund
iii tho universal prevalence Of Thanksgiving.
! nsv. such d tiav had beon go anclont and so
universal q gladnods, that tho disposition to
place Its orts!a in modern tItnos, and to locate it
| In New England, Is really marvellous Tho uni
voraalttY Of this feAtlvo day Inns been 40 en,iro
TINT 1t llas not confined tsse!f to cithcr tho truo
feliaton or ssue believers. Wha. religion In tho
| past Inns over lacked III IfAvo nut Aeathuu
| Greece and 1!omo had their annual dass Of
tlankBElvIpR for tho fruits Of tho Garth Ia July
Ss'F e ' ha2s: sasns .sd SdsFs' sso.sS"1 to GSts
TO to n,cesnns for tho vntas.7 Thoso
| feaata mol only had popu'as favor aud celeontvt
but dignity M well; rio otoquelcs Of .l,o boss-
| mr. n anil ftjU Tn
| thetn, aud the festivities rendered. hearty and
| en.icthB BY the proscnce Of tho incttng versea
OF their most brilliant poets, and dEseos aud
ltomo iu their day "ore tho "oTd, Cstes and
| bRcchus, as o7n;roilIng tito corn and tho vino.
wero de'tea dstsaRuahlloa an having their fcasts
| among tho nations everywhere, Thus this day
| bcara no recent dnte aud laB not originated
Bnt Thanksgiving for tho fruits Of tho
earth stands In tho past rcco ds Of ths t1no rctig
| ion even sot moro clearly than IN the false. and
| IL Displayed among tho ooaerYancas Of Gods
coyonauted peoplo oven Yet moro richly than
! nn lou Today and for onr ronent guidance.
1t surely IL not peco,asry to narrato tho tnul.
titudlnous offerings OF Tie fruits OF tho Garth
among Gods ancient people7 II IL seen through
every year. and nn every hand. hos they run ttn-
brokon back to TINT carlie.t tllnn Nhen s'Cnin
| byonPht ol tho fruits OF tho ground an offering
| unto tho Lord. and Abol brought Of aho t}rss.uga
of the flock, and of tho fat tusrcot;" God Hum
tng-Dav. i1o appointed th!a day for His poopls,
to bo kept recognized and accepted festival by
them, in whatever country OF In whatever
Ind i1 thy shonla : S1,:t' ,n, in thanks ,,s fo5
tho Feast Of thu Harvest, - astoaal aunua!
ThauaselvlnE- E-Dav.-a worry memorable day also,
~ it III the day called pcntocoat. Thia dar, an
unailv. was Gods appointed IllnuksSiving-Da
for liz people. Thus runs tue Dislno ordi-
| nance:
Thou elai observe the fesst OF the first frtjth Of
WHEAT harreat, md tho feast Of ingaherinR at tho
tdat It may he holy colt .4tion unto yuu Ye aaa
forever.
"a statute forever" And the day has boon
permanouoy, as Gods thon ohoseu people. tho
Hebrews, ~oro e1peoted to be d perpetnity.
and m annual ThanAsgirns-Day for tho
fruits OF tho earth was by God intended TO bo.
and therefore is, q peEpesul,y.
| Enuht by all meaus keep this feaat that comsth
at JcruAalotn." And SO from every part OF tho
eatth tho Jew went up annually With full heart
to kcop his Thaoksgiying-D bis Peutecost, at
Jerusalem. Wo have tho record;
Arthtans and Modes and Elatnltcs, ald tho dwcl1ess
rontus and Asia. Phsysia sad pnmphyHa, In Egypt
Of onao. and Jowa and proseiyes, Cretes aud Arabi
an1.
This list exhibits jews gathered at Jntusalem
GOT ouly from all parss Of Palestins, but from At
the Garth. It Was their gathering tn these an-
nual festivals OF tAauHa 70 God for tho harvest.
Tho permansnco Of tbs festive day with the
Jews may bo Seen iu tho fact that thers eoro
then 1,b00 ysara between God'a appointment of
tho day. ani that observance Of Ii narrated in
tic second chapter Of thb Acts. Now, IL It not
strange that Christians in our tlmc should
haye forgotten TUG old e1issonce OF Thaoks-
glying-pay and its Divno ortein especial
il wbcn that day Is ponsecost. and that
On that day God gayo lis SECOND
greatest gift 10 men? It Va, on tbat Than4s-
elynK-Day God bestowed the ioug.prom,sed silt
of the iloiy spirit, thus houorinI. and teaching
LIB to boneE, by Ills own example, this day Of
national observance.
Thua Ia ii seen That tho origin OF Thanksgiving
Day, as an annual fcstlya! IN thanks tQf tho
tory as New England; but did 1t CONN through
ta early dotniuant 1c!iGlons7 Two facta sottlo
this. that our National Congress-. SO early IS
177e, and from t71o to LIES, n the apAco ot only
tuo Congrosa itself observed. By adiournmont,
some fifteen days ~ Of national fayts and (2) Of
natiousl thauksglvings. auraly this frees the
whole subject from sectional action. Thus
only tho tLeory Of our Whole poope,
but BY our whole carly paop'e It was pnbiiotY bet
forth ~ \ life. Dat this theory And this lito
wefo not rot forth a. originating nlth our peo-
pie, but as eomething already established for
iuen aud nations. Hence the nattonal fssts, ao-
loast t1o days Of Coda ancle.t people. tho H.
brewe we're not only placed by Congresa in tho
spr'ng.t!me OF tho ycas. but wo'e a1a, eaoed OH
aitAcr Wednesday or FlidAy. In 1910 there wers
Two such fssts. 1n the proclamation for that on
May II, Congress lmportunes the peonle to Join
in acte 0f prayer, aud pclltence. and public
worship, but esuecially to plny "thst God sould
avert impending calamisies." aod urges that ali
tue people ''sho1ld abstain from serYile labor"
In order that cal nest heed may be given to tho
dutIca OF the day.
And 80 equally distinct ware the sppoInted
-
harvest, Thanksgiving Day was piAced by Con-
g'cas in tho aut1mp. aud usually though nat
Invariably, on Thursday 10 tho weak. Tho
reclamation tur tbs year 1770 calls for The
national day OF tbAuks, not simply for tho OF.
dipary blrnsngA Of the year, but - for tho o..
pcciai fertility OF tue >oaoon," and It urges In
Fortunate prayer that "dod would estAb1Al1 the
Independence Of those United states." This Eat
,sfaotory history shows taat annual thanxsstv-
| ius.t1Ays for the fruits Ut tbs earth not only
cakae IL through the oantnEE:s End AIpn9 Among