St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-08-19
For the Bounteous Crops Be-
slowed by Wise PpOvi-
dence.
An English Evangelist Talks
Brilliantly Of His Mis-
sion.
Minnesota MouldepS Of Opin-
ion Return From a Chi
eago Jaunt.

olC luhlhS JAW ~
the usual harvest festival services to be
held next month. With so bountiful a
harvest as that of this year these
thanksgiving services will attract con-
siderable attention. In view of this
fact a very appropriate sermon was
that delivered yesterday morning by
Rev, Samuel Mills at st. Peters mission
church, Dayton's bluff. Mr.. Mills took
occasion to point out some OF the les
sons intended to be conveyed by such
services, and an outline of the elegant
discourse is here presented. The rev.
erend gentleman said:
The giving of thanks is of divine
origin, and very often enjoined in Holy
Scripture, Gods WI peculiar people
observing many days of thanksgiving.
The most joyous of these was 1.-The
feast of tabernacles, Or the i%ngathering
of all their crops, when every lsraellte
was expected to be present at Jeru-
salem. We can fancy the scene. The
hurrying thrOngs, the noise, confusion
and hustle; citizen and stranger uniting
in covering every housetOp and every
vacant spot with booths; and then on
the evening of the 14th of October-how
beautiful, how impressive the scene!
The myriad of tWinkling lights from
each leafy bower; the rich blending in
color Of the foliage, fruit and flowers;
the air filled with perfume; the merry
chants and the joyous laughter OF the
thousands of Israel. Then, all at once
there is stiffness, followed soon by the
great melody of praising as the opening
hymn is sung. Truly it is a
FITTING PRELUDE
to the services of the morrow.
And as God wished the Jews to be re-
minded year by yearof their tabernacle
life, and of their entire dependence on
Him, so would he in our festival
services, remind us that all we have is
His gift, given undeservedly and daily
continued to US. Perhaps, too, these
services are more necessary to us than
they were to the Jews of old, since men
nowadays seem somehow averse to CIV
ing the need of praise where it is due.
Men are always willing to accept the
gift, but they do not always remember
to acknowledge the giver. But in feS-
tival services our feelings of thankful
ness naturally go out beyond our own
the prosperity which have been be-
slowed upon the church and the nation
at large, and here we have aroused
within us not t~hankfulness alone, but
patriotism and pride. We know what
these words mean; we know how words
and memories sometimes stir us. Who
can read of BaIaklave or Alma without
a thrill? Have not the names, Water
loo OF Trafalgar, power even now
to move the hearts OF those
whose kindred were the heroes
these names recall? With what pride
do the citizens of this country regard
its history! They look back over the
past. They witness the struggles and
the triumphs of the young nation. They
see it nodded into form by the master
hand of him who is justly called Father
of his country. They watch its growth
till the dark days come. They march
side by side with the men who fought
for freedom against oppression, and
the flag they loved becomes dOubly dear
as it emerged from the strife crimSoned
with the blood of many a hero, covered
with the dust of many a battle. torn
with many a shot. yet victorious, float
ing calmly over the :
MANY THOUSANDS OF FETTERS
it had swept from the feet of fellow
men. All! history cannot die. The
spirit of the fathers is and will be the
spirit of the children, and this from
the thankful desire to show ourselves
worthy children of worthy parents.
The love of Christ and of His church
should not be less than that of country.
We owe the same allegiance to Christ
that we W to our country. Look back
through all the centuries to the time
when He first planted His church on
earth. How hopeless seemed its mis-
sion-that Of changing the whole world.
Look at its struggles, its triumphs over
heather darkness, over heather pride
and superstition. Follow its history
down through all those centuries, and,
in spite of persecution, in spite of foes
within and without, it has reached even
to us-its continuity unbroken, stronger,
more vigorous. more ready for the con
f1ict with sin, the world and the devil
than ever before; and we sing nov the
glad songs of praise which were sung
by our fathers, and i'll the old time be-
fore them. The songs sung by mar
tyred saints, by Cherubim and Seraphim
before the throne of the eternal in the
temple not made with hands, Eternal in
the heavens. And do we not feel that
the spirit Of our fathers lives again in
us from the sense of belonging to a
DOuA WllOSC nlSIllUSIo navy vi SOhi-
mon interest,
COMMON HONOR?
But may we not narrow the circles
somewhat. and as a parish thank God
for His goodness and his mercy toward
us? There are those of you here to-day
who remember the first planting of the
church in this mission. and who remem-
Der the lights and shadows of its short
history, and who, | am sure. rejoice
that, in spite of every obstacle placed in
its way, it has grown on, has grown and
prospered, and is to-day more prosper
Gus and brighter as regards its future
than eve before. May this go on until.
under Gods blessing, the parish be-
comes self-sustaining: and not only
that, but able to carry to other places
the message ithas tselfreceived. Work
on, pray on, remembering it is Gods
work you are doing, and with God there
are no impossibilities. And may your
thank offering this year be the declara-
ton of your independence as a parish.