The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1880-12-03
THANKSGIELNG sERMON.

Preached in Asbauy II. b. Chapel by
Rec. II. ID. C0rsbje, at The Union
"1hanksgi0iag" ser0ice Of the As
bury II. e. Church and The Congre-
gGtional Church Of Bristol and Parts
on Thursday morning, Noe. rs, 1880.
Text.Psalms, 95:2: LET us come before
His presence with thanksgiving
DR.. Boyd, one of the choicest of mod
ern Scottish essayists and preachers,
whose volumes, Recreations of a
Country Parson,' "Graver thoughts Of
Country Parson," f" Leisure Hours in
Town." &c, have found as ready read
ers in America as in his own native
land, gives us this glimpse Of Scottish
scenery "There is picturesque tract
of the Western Highlands of Scotland
in passing through which the traveller
has to ascend long winding path,
very steep, very rough, and very lonely,
leading up a wild and desolate glen.
The savage and awful grandeur of
the scenery, with its bare hills and
rocks, is hardly equalled in this coun-
try. But if the traveller goes up that
glen on foot (and it is hardly possible
to go up it otherwise his appreciation
Of the scene around him is gradually
oVerborne by the sense of pure physi-
cal fatigue. Not without a great strain
upon limbs and heart can that rugged
way be traversed. At last you reach a
ridge whence the road descends steeply
on the other side of the hill. You have
ended your climbing, and you may now
begin to go down again, from which
ever side you come. And there, at this
summit, you will find a rude seat of
stone which bears the Inscription in
deeply cut letters, Rest and be Thank
full" BY proclamation of the Presi-
dent of the U. S., we, who during the
past months of this year, have been
planning and toiling and struggling,
some with weary minds and tired limbs,
some faint-hearted and discouraged, are
invited to meet in our respective
places of worship to-day. And l trust,
that like the traveller, who climbs that
Highland cliff at Glencroe, who as he
sees those words of invitation carved
in the rough stone, "Rest and be Thank
full' feels impelled to accept it with
joy-so we, who have met together to-
day Pilgrims in the pathway of Life,
may rest and give God thanks. Thus
/ welcome you this morning to the OBJ
servance of our time-honored, national
Thanksgiving. 1 welcome you to the
observance of custom which dates
back of the Revolutionary War-a
custom which is linked with so many
blessed memories and pleasant associ-
ations. A custom which we receive
as a rich legacy from those who have
gone before us.
Let us hope that our annual Thanks
giving may remind us of our fore
fathers virtues and faith, even though
we may have drifted somewhat away
from the hard doctrines of their dog
matte creeds. You have doubtless
often thought Of the appropriateness
of our day for Thanksgiving coming
late in the autumn rather than at some
other season of the year. Something
of the same feeling is associated with
Thanksgiving that is present with us
at our Harvest Home festiyals-we
rejoice that our crops are stored away
in barn or cellar. We feel like exclaim-
ing with the Psalmist, "Thou crownest
the year with Thy goodness but as
the GROWING naturally takes place not
until there is something to crown-so
our Thanksgiving fittingly occurs at
the close of the year when there is so
much for which we can and ought to
give thanks. 1t is significant to note.
too, the different states of mind that
most of us have at different periods of
the same year. How very different
are our thoughts and feelings in
Autumn from what they were in
Spring-timel How largely hope entered
into our mental states in Spring, and
how little are we influenced by it in
Autumn The farmer goes forth to
sow in Spring-time buoyant with hope
and expectation. He may have vague
dread of the ravages of insects. he
may possibly think Of drouth, or flood,
or blight, or rust, yet he hopes against
all these. He hopes that this year he
will have good yield of grain, so that
he may be able to lift the mortgage
from off his farm, to enlarge his barn
or build anew house, to buy some more
machinery, or the adjoining piece of
land, to send a son or daughter to col
lege, or himself and wife to be able to
go back to the old eastern homestead
and visit the spots dear to childhood
and yet dearer to manhood and woman
hood because of their sacred recollec-
tons. In Spring such thoughts as
these occupy the farmers mind day
after day, and week after week. His
wife and children, and servants. all
catch his spirit of hopefulness and
enthusiasm, and everything connected
with farm, or dairy, or kitchen, feels
the vigorous glow of the new Spring
time hore. The merchant is equally
hopeful and jubilant. He sees that
with the bountiful harvest, for which
be hopes, laborers will all find employ
ment, money will circulate freely. and
Il