Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-11-30
CHRIST CHURCH.
DISCOURSE By REV. M. N. GILBERT.


The Thanksgiving services at Christ
Episcopal church, yesterday morning were
exceedingly beautiful and appropriate.
| The exercises consisted of beautiful song
service by the choir, in which several Sc
lections were admirably rendered, and a
sermon by the rector, Rev. NJ. N. Gilbert.
The church was well-flled with worship
| pers and the sacred edifcs never presented
a finer appearance, the new frescoing and
elegance and beauty of the altar arrange
| ments making it one Of the most attractive
temples of worship in the northwest.
After the conclusion of the song services
the pastor preached an eloquent sermon,
basing his theme On the eighth chapter Of
Deuteronomy, from the tenth to the four
teenth verses:
| When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou
shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land
which he hath given thee.
In commencing, the reverend
speaker said: "My friends, we
live, therefore We rejoice; it
is enough for Us only to realize the fact of
| existence to have in cur hearts some spirit
| and sense of gratitude and thsnkfulness.
Every life has some cause for thankful
ness, but 1t would be strange if all hearts
were touched by the same stroke of happi-
ness. Happiness could be only appre
ciated by contrast, and every life had
woven into its texture the lines Of sorrow,
which, like silver threads made the strands
brighter and more beautiful by contrast.
The sufferer who has been laid low upon
bed of. sickness might have forgotten,
were it not that the Lord had laid his hand
upon him, the years of Joy and happiness
that had gone before; even sick bed,
when viewed in the proper light, could be
made source of comfort. Sickness and
pain sometimes conveyed a useful lesson;
man, if left to himself, was apt to become
careless of mis- spiritual interests, and the
Lord often laid his hand heavily on the
heads of his children to teach them not to
forget him; all Joy was by comparison.
We may find out cur measure of happi-
ness by contrasting our conditions with
those about US. Sn.ll one disaster make
us forget all the bcunties which God has
bestowed upon US? Mankind vas afflicted
for one purpose; TO teach him the pur-
poses of life, and that no matter how far
he might wander away from the right
path God still kept watch over him.
This Yas the lesson intended
to be taught by Thanks
giving day: it was the tendency of the
people ard nation at large TO
forget God; there was time
when men walked the earth and saw God
smiling IN the overarching sky; it seemed
sometimes that the old Christianity with
its strength of purpose and conservation
had lost some of its power; it was to be
feared that sometime there might be
deafness as to the great spiritual truths of
- L.. H. -
spirituality; an Indifference which led to
sin. How shall we guard against it? The
lesson of to-day was the same fact that
shone out on Sinai; it was this that God
was present power in every heart.
We meet to-day to realize what our bless
ings were and to thank the source from
which they came"
The speaker then alluded to the spirit
of lawlessness abroad in the land; he
spoke of the defense of the criminal class
by the lawyer, when he knew his client
was wrong. One reason why
law was disregsrded was because its
very conservators and Interpreters
| were sometimes overlooking the sublime
principles of justice. It seemed to the
| speaker that the lawyers of the land had
greater responsibilities than any other
profession, not excepting the clergy; they
were not living up to the old standard; If
the better class of lawyers would not en-
deavor to cover up the truth there would
! be no more disrespect for the law;
no mora guilty men would escape; no
more lynchings and acts of violence would
be heard. The speaker then alluded to
| the growing dissemination OF immoral
| literature; he said our youth we're becom-
! ing inebriated with bad literature; the
shop windows teamed With things that de-
! fled the mind and corrupted the heart;
| the bookshelves OF our stores
were loaded with this pernieious
trash, and even n some of the rich
| homes of the city, the speaker had seen
! French literature which he would not dsre
to take in his own hands. These books
were impure in both thought and express
| sion, end if it was not weeded out Of the
home the children of the land would be
come tainted and corrupted with false
ideas of virtue. Nero himself had pos
sesssd high character until his mind had
| been corrupted by bad literature.
The reverend speaker gave the conGregs-
ton some sound ard wholesome advice
concerning the pernicious habit of putting
questionable literature into the hands of
the young, which poisoned the stream sf
life at the very fountain. He adjured
each man and woman to be true to their
manhood and womanhood, and to not
shirk the responsibilities which rested up
on them. A graphic picture was
! drawn of the evils and
dangers which beset the nation, and he
called upon the legal profession and the
press of the country to be true and firm to
the great trust vested in them, and laying
especial stress upon the lsxity with which
| justice was sometimes executed and the
difficulties encountered in convicsing bad
and dangerous men.