Mexico weekly ledger., 1880-11-25
THURSDAY, NOV. rs. 1880.
rHANKsGIy1NG.
Coming as Thanksgiving does, q

THANKSGIVING.
Coming as Thanksgiving does, af-
ter outwork for the year is mainly
over, it may be very properly re-.
garded a. the ..Jubilee of Inga,her-
ings and Earnings" Long winter
nights are then commencing, the icy
blast begins to shrek among the de-
foliated trees and the well heaped
FIRE blazes and crackles upon the
hearth. 1t is therefore a most fit
time for retrospect. OF all others it
is the most appropriate season to
sum up results and acknowledge the
blessings and deliverances of Prov
idence, and the set services of
Thanksgiving Day, to be what they
should be, ought to be the collective
and public avowal Of what has been
universally experienced previously,
individually and privately. Where
ever Thanksgiving Days are thus
properly celebrated, they are great
tributaries to social and civil cohes-
ion. They then tend to renew MEM
cries that strengthen patriotism. Com
mon experiences create mutual SYM
pathies. No people better under
stood the bond Of Thanksgiving than
did the Jews, to whom it was a spec
ial revelation. But to gain the high
est social benefits from this festival, to
the teachings of Moses must be added
the gentler precepts of forbearance
inculcatsd by Him, who said, "My
Kingdom is not of this world"
In American Thanksgivings here
tofore, there has been tendency to
laud that spirit which thanks God it
10 '.Not a. other men," and initiate
that elder brother, who was enraged
when the father graciously received
the returning prodigal. Much has
been also done to magnify sectional
contentious and victories. An an
ticipated, prosperous era has received
wide spread attention 1t is easy to
take up party jubilation, and still
easier Of talk Of openings between the
settlements, of the lowing and bleat-
ing Of herds and flocks, and of the
time when farm shall touch farm from
ocean to ocean; but it requires a
loftier spirit and purer conceptions
to dwell attractively on the beauties
and blessings of that love of which
St. Paul says, "Charity suffereth
long and is kind /; charity envieth not,
charity vaunteth not itself, is not
puffed up, doth not behave itself un.
seemly, seeketh not her own, is not
easily provoked, thlnksth no evil,
rejoiced not in iniquity, but rejoiceth
in truth beareth all things, believetll
all things, hopeth all things, endur
eth all things" Such lessons are not
to be found in party jubilees, nor
amid the temporary and common
place glitter of mundane success, but
in the heart and upon the lips of the
humble worshipper. Perhaps after
agricultural, commercial and indus
trial blessings, our mcst prominent
and universal appeal for thankful
ness can be found in the fact, that
America is in theory, if not in prac-
tice, the land of spiritual and politl-
cal freedom that there exists among
Us neither an established religion or
an openly acknowledged and privi-
legged arlstocracy, and that our peo-
pie understand less than all others
what the State can do foI and against
churches, and for and against class
es. May we long retain this
condition. What is most needed
among US, Is not the religious and
political toleration that springs from
indifference and. ignorance, but that
which arises from felt and acknowl-
edged dependence upon God and
the revelation of His glorious char
acter, who maketh His sun TO shine
and His rain to fall for all.