The Evening critic., 1881-11-24
THANKSGIVING DAY.
How 10 was Observcd-The Services
In the Churches.

In the Churches.
The National Holiday was generally
observed to-day. The Departments, Ma
tional and local, were all closed also the
Smithsonian Institution and Corcoran Art
Gallery, and business was almost entirely
suspended
Here and there store was open, mainly
for the purpose of supplying families with
extras for their Thanksgiving dinners. but
they did not remain open long. The thea
tres all conducted largely.attendcd matt
necs. There were rifle contests and other
ont. of-town events that carried many peo-
pie away, and the church services were all
interesting. Tonight there will be n series
of balls and entertainments with which the
holiday will be iittingly closed.
The Church Services.
The President and several members of his
Cabinet attended divine service ut St.
Luke's u. +. Church, corner Fifteenth and
Samson streets. An earnest and appropriate
sermon was preached by the rector, Rev.
Alex. Cromwell This is new colored
church and somewhat in debt. A collection
was taken up for the purpose of liquidating
this debt and quite u handsome sum
realized.
The services at
NJ. Johns n. u. Church
CATION was unusually large, number of
strangers being attracted by the idea of
seeing the President. These latter were
doomed to disappointment. us that gentle
man worshiped elsewhere to-day. The
rector, Rev. DIR. Leonard, preached q pow
erful sermon on the lesson of the day and
dwelt oloquently on the prosperity of the
nation and benevolencc and goodness of the
Lord.
lie took his text from Proverbs ill.,, and
10: Honor the Lord with thy substance
and with the first fruits of all thine in.
crease; so shall thy barns be filled with
plenty and thy presses shall burst out with
new wine"
''The baptist Congregations
of the city united in union service ut the
Calvary Baptist Church, and filed the
building The exercises included reading
of Scriptures by Dr. Cuthbert, q prayer
by DR.. Parker, hymns led by
DR.. James, and other devotional services.
DIR. Fauncc, of the E-strcct Church. deliv-
cred II Thanksgiving sermon, finding his
text in the sixth verse of the Sixty-eighth
Psalm. The sermon was an eloquent and
effective one, and in it the three great in
stitutions-the church, the family and the
state-were ably discussed and their nu-
merous blessings reviewed. A large col
lection was taken up for the benefit of the
Baptist Home.
The Capitol XIII Churches.
The Metropolitan Presbyterian Church
was well filled this morning, the occasion
being the Union Thanksgiving services,
held under the auspices of the Waugh NJ.
L. Church, Twclfth-strect NJ. Il. Church,
North Carolina Avenue NJ. p. Church,
Church of the Reformation Lutheran)
Enu nth ctr root nj II Church ou1 fbn Mptrn.
politan Presbyterian.
The ministers of the churches named oc j.
cnpied seats in the pulpit. DR.. Downs, of
Waugh Chapel, led in prayer, which was
followed by scriptural reading by DR.. Nor
gan, of the Twelfth street Church. Another
beautiful and effective prayer was offered
by the Rev. Mr.. Parsons, of the Lutheran
Church, after which DR.. George Leech began
his sermon.
A Tribute to Garfield.
In the course of his remarks DIR. Leech
said: who can keep out of mind the I'M
timely loss of him who was just one year
ago chosen by the people to be their pilot
through succeeding years. That one event
will ever make the year 1881 stand out
among the years as Sinai amid the great
mountains"
The speaker did not wonder that the
nation, like Rachel, refused to be comforted
after having lost one so princely, so
wise, so good, so full Of promise" But"
continued the pastor, &c the sad event is not
destitute Of comfort. Our glorious insti-
buttons bore we'll the strain. His honor is
secure; his glory immortal his mauso-
leum is the great American heart his
grand life will be an inspiration to millions
in the coming century. The patience and
exalted courage of his dying hours will be
an everlasting inspiration to suffering hu.
manity. The passions of parties and of
men will be subdued by his dying The
alienated sections have been drawn together
in prayer and sympathy and sorrow, some
what as in other days" In closing, DR..
Leech said:
ut only remains for MS to guide our spirits
to higher life to harder work, to purer
faith, as people Of Christ as individuals, as
American citizens"
At the conclusion of DIR. Leechs sermon
a collection was taken up for the benefit of
the Garfield Memorial Hospital, after which
the services closed.
At Wesley Chapel
Nj. Il. Church an excellent congregation as
semblcd The pastor, Rev w. /. McKenny,
delivered an eloquent and thoughtful
Thanksgiving sermon. He took no text
but spoke of the reasons for which we. as Il
sketched the circumstances under which
the observance of Thanksgiving day arose,
and pointed out some of the individual
blessings for which those in his congrega'
ton had reason to be thankful. Refer
ring to national blessings, the first reason
was the very general prosperity with which
our nation has been crowded. The next was
the maintenance of civil and religious
liberty. In speaking Of the dangers which
threaten this, he said that the most i'm.
mincnt was the steady, slow and certain
growth of the Roman Catholic Church in
this country, particularly as regards it.
claims to political prominence and political
authority within the bounds 0four common
country. Another reason was the recogni
ton of the supremacy of law, notable ex
amples of which were the Hayes-Tilder
contest and the present Guiteau trial. lie
spoke eloquently of the unity of the people
rs u cause for thankfulness, and praised
God that the Nation had been purged o
disintregating elements and had beer
cemented together on purer better ant
more permanent basis. In conclusion, ht
referred to the three things necessary t
make the future greatness of the Nation as
sured, viz the publication of the political
and home life and the influence Of tn,
church.
Excursion to baltimore.
A delegation of the Knights of Pythas
of this city, visited Baltimore to-day t,
participate in the ceremoney of opening
the new hall of the Knights of Pythias il
that CITY.