Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1885-11-26
THANKSGIVING.

Peopls of all races and religions. FROM
the time when tEe first streaks Of light
Frightening the skies Of the fzg Esss
bstokebed the dawn Of history dom %
ths present, have been accustomed 20
set apart tine for rejoicing vhen the
crops are safely gathered and the sooks
are driven 70 the winter pasture. Ii -
q natural impulse-.he impoise Of man
Co rejoice over work accomplished and
hopes fulfilled Az the lsborer rei1iees
when night approaches and devoses the
evening TO thought Of the tolls Of day
.ad Anticipation OF the rest Of night, %
nations. when the evening Of the year
approaches. rejoice st the years work
done and devote time 70 relaxation
and rest This tendency 10 always
shown. IN no people IL IL absent. Often
arbitrary laws CT iron castoms have
restrained II, bat il has never been
entirely suppressed. IL has usually been
combined vith the religious instinct Of
rnsn, and the feast Of rest has been de-
voted 20 she gods. Tie Egyptians made
IL a feast in honor of the Nile, which
made the land OF Egypt land Of plenty.
The PersiAns vorshipped the sun and
20 abe SUI they devoted the autumn
feast. The Romans dedicated Il 30 Pan
and among them It finally developed into
the Satnraslia, which was pre- ominensly
the festival Of ease and rejoicing.
Early Christianity looked with disfayor
upon the pagan festival and ondeavorsd
20 obliterats 10 from the calendar. The
attempt was = failure, and Christianity
vas compelled 10 tolerate the festival. II
not TO adopt Ii. IL came down into the
middle ages. and through them into the
modern world a. the carnival Of South
ern Europe.
Among the earnest and devout Puri-
tans vho left their English homes for
oonssisnce's sake and settled among the
dikes Of Holland there was q tendency
60 render public thanks 10 God for ell
the blessings which He bestowed. Into
this giving of thanks vas introduced ell
the sternnsss Of the Puritan nature.
II wss not joyful thanksgiving. but q
sad one, IL was not time fos feastinR,
bat for fasting. II bore the stamp Of
the rigid solemnity Of the Puritan BE-
lief. When the Paritans left Holland
and made the long journey 70 America.
they carried With them this custom Of
rendering public thanks. Gathered on
Plymouth Rock, they THANKED God that
their voyage vas safely over. There
after zach difficulty overcome. each
danger passed, called forth thanks.
when the War Of Independence came.
each victory called forth the solemn
thanks OF our iron forefathers. The
War OF 1872 brought many another
occasion for thanksgiving. The vio-
tories Of Northern armies on Southern
fields, less than q quarter Of century
ago, called forth from all the people
than&sgivines which differed little In
their nature from the thankgivings
celebrated in Holland more than tws
oantaries before.
Our Thanksgiving Of today has In 10
many Of the elements Of the harvest
feast of oil tho world. and many OF the
elements Of tho Puritan Thanksgiving.
IL 10 a combination festival. We have
stripped the giving of thanks Of its old
world s,ernness, and we have stripped
che harvest Feast Of its license and its
Wild revcls. Lik the Puritan giving Of
thanks, 1t Ia a pouring forth Of graft
tuds for benefits bestowed. Like the
satarnalia and the carnival. 10 10 feast
of gladness. As the American people
combine the qualities Of many peoples.
we have gathered into this. cor cue
National religious festival. the ele-
ments of many rites, many customs
and many fsasts.