The bee., 1883-12-08
GRATITUDE.
Delivered Thanksgiving Even
Ing BY MIR. N. +. Hamlin,
at Isreal Bethel M. Il.
Church.


can actuate the heart of man. 1t has in it.
something noble, disinterested. and if may
| be allowed the term, generously devout. Re
pentance indicates our nature fallen and
prayer turns chiefly upon a regard for ones
self. but the exercise of gratitude existed in
Paradise when there was no fault to deplOre,
and will be perpetuated in heaven when God
shall be all and in all.
In this great republic of fifty millions of
people, to-day the grateful Acknowledgements
of the faithful are being sent heavenward to
the giver of all good. The children of human
ity oppressed, despite our misfortunes in
times past, and the gloomy outlook for the
future, with grateful and sincere hearts bow
down at the shrine of Jehovah and give
thanks to him who with loving kindness hath
guided us in paths we knew not.
The past year has been prolific of good TO
the negro race, true it has brought sorrow
and Joy alternately to our hearts, and many
of our kindsmen and friends have passed
through the valley of darkness to that un-
discovered country. whose maker and builder
is God. There has been cause for mourning.
and Justly too; for the hand of the enemy has
slain the innocent, and by reason thereof
the homes of our unfortunate people at Dan
willie and in other Southern cities have put
on the habiliments of mourning in token of
grief that those who We're near and dear to
them were ON account of q vile prejudice
ushored by murderouS hands into the
presence of the eternal God, without prepar;t-
ton and without warning. Yet we are thank
full and heartily grateful to him who knOweth
the secrets of all hearts, for his loving kind
ness toward us. In the dark and gloomy
midnight of our earlier existence in this
great christian land, when the star of hope
had not risen above the horizon to send its
gleam of light into our hearts, when the
cruel beings who claimed God as their father
and our fathers as their ehattels were seeking
to ALLEVIATE us from the human family, to
prostitute and degrade our natures, the
same almighty and all wise God, unto whom
we have this day met to render thanks was
weighing this nation in the balance, and try
ing it in a crucible of fire. shaping its destiny
and its future leading the negro through the
midnight of gloom, despair and death into the
sunlight of freedom and equality. We have
much more to be thankful for than the white
race, We have been at the heels of that race
during every period of its existence, and our
progress and advancement has been such as
to excite the envy and interest of the baser
element of that race, Oppressive laws made
TO operate against us, and in favor of white
men, have only tended to strengthen and
benefit us. The gratitude of the white race
toward us, has its origin in envy, oppression
and prejudice, but God is now as he has been
for all time, on the side of the weak and the
defenceless, who love and obey his teachings
This nation and / allude to the white race
having q continent for it's possession and the
reinS of government in it's hands must not
overlook the fact that true goodness and
true greatness go hand in hand, that the sun
of righteousness shines alike upon the inst
and unjust, that negro labor and intellect
have in large measure contributed to the
greatness and the glory of this so called
Land of the free and home of the brave"
Let it therefore not forget tn render due honor
and credit to the faithful black allies whose
destiny is linked to the chariot wheels of
American civilization and progress. Let it
prove to the world that it is too great intel
lectually, morally and in every other way to
be small, to be little, either in theory or prac-
tice, toward a race which, in the expressive
language of the Poet,
ITO heaven sent its signs,
In morning vows, and evening sacrifice
And prayed for blessing to descend on those
Who dealt to them the cup ofmany woes"
And now in conclusion permit one more OBJ
servation. No nation, no individual liveth TO
himself. In all ages this truth has held good.
There can be no America without the negro.
Being product of it's soil not originally; he
is a necessary and important factor. The
progress of the white race means the building
of the black race. And not withstanding the
decision of the Supreme Court of the United
States we are no less citizens by the virtue of
the constitution, the magma charter, upon
which the foundation of this Republic will
rest securely as long as it deals Justly, fairly
and honestly with all its citizens This ma
| ton cannot afford to go backward Every
| false step l. makes inures to the benefit of the
| negro. Let US then as one man, fully con-
| der grateful thanks unto Almighty God for
| all the blessings we have received at his
| hand and more especially in having brought
US safely and surely where we now are, NOR
ally religionsly and intellectually. The die is
| cast. The negro is fixture on this conti-
nent, and in the beautiful language of Ruth,
| it is saying to the white race, all over this
country. Entreat me not to leave thee, or to
return from following after thee, for whittier
thou goest will go. and where thou lodgest I
| will lodge. Thy people shall be my people,
| and thy God my God.
| All the efforts of designing men to the con-
/ trary cannot change the logic Of events or the
4 inevitable design of our creator,