New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1876-12-01
7zF rOJcE or THE PULPIT


There never was such a Thanksgiving Day
before. 1t never, happened before that this
doy of general fcasting and universal good
will did not fall upon time when the angry
passions of the campaign had gone down, the
defeated had acquiesced in the verdict against
them, and the currents of political LIE had re-
sumcd their even flow. This year Thanks
giving Day finds the country still divided into
two parties and the campaign In iull
headway nearly month after the cleo
ton. Onc-half the people cry " fraud "
against the other half and all sober
citizens look forward with solicitude to the
immediate future that seems now so uncertain.
Always on this day the etiquette of the pulpit
is a little l0Osened, and the priest becomes IA
teacher in politics, unless he chooses still to
keep his eyes fixed on the religious not on the
secular phases of the time But now, above
all other times, the current is too swift to be
resisted even by the moro severe of our pulpit
instructors, who rgidly exclude from their dis
courses all reference to passing events, and
would have the church sanctuary of peace,
however the storm may rage outside.
The present crisis in our history was there
fore the theme OF countless sermons yesterday,
some Of the more notable of which are presented
elsewhere. As usual, Mr.. Beechcr's is the
freest, the bodest, the least clerical.
Plymouth Church on Thanksgiving Day IL
quite as much of weekday affair as New
England town-mecting, and no less political.
Though Mr.. Bcechcr is never prudish about
discussing the events of the day with the ut
most frankness, it is only on this festival that
he makes purely political address, and
only on this day that he countenances
and even relishes applause. His discourse
was most striking one, being, rs 1t
was, the rich accumulation of year. 1t re-
viewed candidly but chartdbly the course of
the South before the war; during it, and after
it. and while asserting the utmost sympathy
for its misiortunes and the highest admira-
ton for its bearing under them, yet took
the broad and high ground that it is
reapng only what it has sowed. "When
South Carolina plunged the nation into war,
" she established that logic of events which is
" now goading her to desperation. She sowed
" the wind, and is rcapEg the whirlwind. She
" says 1t is a wind from the North ! say il is
" from above, from the seat Of Justice On the
other hand he says, Since the war tie South
" has gained glory greater than 1t won in
" battle or in council
| There was no other address which took
strong party ground, as Mr.. Bcechcrs did, but
! there were others no less important. The Rev.
DR.. Armitlgc delivered a most thoughtful dis
course upon the defects in the electoral sys-
TEN, and the need of civil service reform.
! The Rev. DR.. Samuel OsgoOd treated Repre-
sentative Government. Dr. Bellows DIR. Cha
pin, DR.. Gotthell, and by allusion merely,
/ DR.. Hall, discussed the bearing of the people
during this term Of suspense, and commended
| their moderation. One and all insisted that the
highest need of the time WAS an honest count.
The voice of the pulpit has made itself heard
in this crisis, and it has wholesome sound.