National Republican., 1877-11-27

'RuTt pay "bhl
Tho sensitive soul has boen shocked -
thought of the recent atrocities in Turkey,
but anon the same spirit remembereth tha4
the day of Thanksgiving is nigh, and smack
eth its lips in anticipation Of more fowl
murders"
Somebody has said that gratitude Is Lively
sense of benefits to come" If our gratituds
this year keep pace with mercies received, and
is only one-tenth as intense as our harvests
have been bountiful, it will doubtless astonish
the Creator, who, from some thousands Of yearS
experience, must have grown used to mans in
gratitude. Remember, there Is wide difor-
ence between
BEING GLAD
that we have revived certain benefits and
being truly thankful TO the benefactor. The
good old New England custom of gathering
all the scattered family together upon thst
day Is q blessed one. Though year by year
the circle narrows, and chairs stand vacant
whose former occupants are celebrating an
eternal Thanksgiving in the better country,
| yet the remnant, to the latest survivor may
| look upon these festivals as red letter days in
the calendar of life. Make It q point to b
either guest or hostess upon that day. If not
invited out, bestir yourself and invite yous
friends to dine with you but don't, whatever
the condition of your larder, be so selfish as to
| dine alone upon Thanksgiving. Your dinner
need not involve IN enormous outlay
VI tliht HOuty, lOT you may kduRB -
exactly according to the state Of your finances.
Some of the most delightful dinners we have
| ever enjoyed were impromptu affairs, where
| the cost of the whole meal was inconsiderabls !;
and we have attended some grand dinners, too,
where no expense had been spared and every
thing was Of tho richest and rarest, which were
yet insuiferabe bores. Better is dinner Of
herbs where love Is than q stalled OK and
hatred therowith"-and better is Jolly meal
of bacon and potatoes than an affair of empty
| ceremony over humming- birds wings. If you
cannot afford oysters, and turkey, and roast
pig, and celery, mnce and pumpkin pies and
plum pudding, after our ancestors Thanks
giving bill of fare, you can at least have your
usual dinner, little more carefully prepared
and daintily served, maybe, and share it with
others: If you are rich, then you have cause
for double thankfulness, as well ~
double responsibility in using rightly
the means Providence has placed
at your disposal SO, while inviting Dives "a
share epicurean feasts, remember the Laza-
rus who lies starving without, and send him
at least the crumbs from your table. The
poor we have always with us, and the wealthy
should see to 1t that not one mouth go din.
nerless upon this day of all days. Probably
the most acceptable way to prove ones thank
fulness to God for benefits received would b.
to devote tithe of those benefits to the desd.
tute. While purchasing your ThanksglN ing tur-
keys and cranberries and wines and fruits, sup.
pose you see to 1t that your humble neighbos
or poverty y-stricken washwoman has at least q
chicken, with appe.sauce and poor mans
pudding" for her dinner. Don't forget the
servants either, nor keep them all day and
night waiting upon others. Let them haye
some cause for thankfulness too, and remem.
Der that the sum of religion is not all made up
by going to church, and that the bountiful
Giver is not served best by outward observ'
ance5.