Daily Los Angeles herald., 1878-11-28
rhe my We Celebrate

rhe my We Celebrate
In no respect has the influence of
New England been more conspicu-
ously asserted than in the univer-
al acceptance which the custom of
ths Governors Of the several States
setting apart day of Thanksgiv-
ing, praise and prayer. has OBJ
tanned throughout the whole
United States. The practice is EN-.
phatically Puritan in its origin. 1t
Is : memento of the times of severe
trial and hardship which pioneer
people necessarily experienced in
settling an untrodden continent.
At each peril from savage and want
escaped their hearts went up in
thankfulness to the Giver of all
good for his msrcies. 1t was an in
stltutlon Of a pious and honest peo-
pie; and its recurrence, in these
later and lighter days, carries with
It great deal Of reproach and
rsminiscence to the present genera
tion. The present people of the
United States have little in COM
mon with their primitive and aus.
ters ancestors who originated this
Observance. 1t strikes US, as we
encounter this memorial of the
"bravs days of old,n with our null
tiplisd forms Of villainy and finesse,
that We must feel good deal as a
not entirely abandoned courte ian
does when brought face to face with
. virgin in her teens.
President Buchanan, we believe,
introduced the innovation of ap.
pointing National Day of Thanks
giving.
In California we have much to
be thankful for and much to depre-
cate. In the first place. we have to
render devout recognition to the
Almighty for bouniiful crops,
which enable Us not only to feed
our own psople but to supply the
granaries of the world from our
superabundance. We have here,
in abundance, the corn, wine
and oil which have played
such conspicuous part in
the commercial history of man.
kind from the oldest days. We
can not only express our oil from
olives, as they did n the old days.
but we have the pools of roek oil
Of which note is found in the
earliest chronicles of the Bible.
All Of our people who have the
proper energy and thrift can sit un-
der the shadow Of their own vines
and ng trees, with no one to make
them afraid.
If our causes for thankfulness
aro great, the drawbacks to the pie.
ture are not less pronounced in
their outline. Our leading citizens
have, in too many instances, given
up their souls to the Moloch of un-
Righteousness. Aggregated wealth
abounds in our midst in its most
pitiless forms. In some countries
1t has taken thousand years to
crystalizs the shapes OF selfish
ness and greed which we witness in
our young California to-day. The
birth of these bad instincts in this
State has resembled that of Mi
nerva. who is said to have sprung
full grown from the brain of Jove.
Cnpidity and monopoly have real
ly never known such thing as in
fancy In California. They have re.
ssmbled the infusoria and insect
tribe in that, as soon as they were
noticed, their ability to injure and
annoy was fully matured.
A the garish sun shines do wn
upon US to-day it is hard to realize
that it il the Thanksgiving Day of
the East. There the snow lies deep
upon the meadows, the Frost King
has left his sign manual in fanci-
ful arabesques on the millions of
window panes. The rhythm of the
sleigh-bells is heard, and the touch
of frost which has visited the
turkey, celery and cranberries, has
given a mellowness and flavor to
all we cannot hope for here. With
orange and pomegranate trees in
full bloom here, the inhabitant of
the Ice bound Moth and East un-
doubtedly envies the Californian.
On the other hand, We cannot re.
press sigh that no snow-ball shall
fiatten itself against our cheek to-
day, aud that We shall not hear the
inspiriting crunch OF the ice or
snow. We find our greatest enjoy
msnts 10 contrast; and many a
Southern Californian, with his gar
den crammed with heliotropes and
tube roses, envies his Eastern
cousin the brisk delights of
downright, honest, old fashioned
winter.
WITH some of the San Francisco
newspapers the great Denis Kear-
ney is character SO important