The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1891-12-02
the DEMOCRATIC PRESS.
"a HAPPY PEoPLE,o
Union rhanKsgiving service.

ing the blessings of the year.
The sermon by Rev. H Hollingshead,D. D.,
was very able production, and eminently wor-
to an earnest perusal of its fine line of thought,
peculiarly appropriate to the day and service.
Happy is the people tcho8e God is the Lord
Ps. CXLIV: Is.
1t has been said that our nation is atheistical.
This saying we brand as utterly false. We have
a God. one God. the Everliving. Almighty eho-
yah. the Universal King and happy beyond what
lip can speak is the people that is in such case
Yea. happy is the people whose God is the Lord.
Men possessed of ricn eloquence have made
the declaration, THAT this nation was born by
the thought and struggles of Freethinkers and
that we have no religion" On this we put the
stamp of reckless statement, and bring before
you an array of facts that Will show that IN
contrary opinion we are on solid ground. We
have no State religion, nor do we want one Tor
from the days of the Cesars.it has been the dead
ly foe to pure and true faith. We have reil-
gion, and at the call of our President and Gov
ernor. come into this house of praise. and with
hymn and anthem. with holy lesson. and hands
uplifted in prayer. join millions OF reVerent
worshippers in confessing the true God. who is
crowns the circIing year with His goodness.
The corner stone of cur nation was laid with
tears and in sore trials. with patient trust and in
full faith in the sure truth that if the Lord build
not the house. in vain is the labor of the builder
Without Gods mighty power and tender care
America could not have taken place among the
great powers that be. The sun and soil. the sky
and showers, the mines and metals. do NOT make
a nation. All of these the prehistoric tribes
possessed; but they did not leave name; their
deeds have perished from the speech of men and
on all the scrolls of history they spoken OF as
the vanished races"
The red men were strong in numbers. and
brave in battle. For them the soil was rich. the
air was filed with birds of every wing the streams
flashed with fish of every scale, and the woods
and wilds were full of game: yet they never
hewed their way to greatness. and the ence pow
erful tribes have gone out like expiring lights.
Without Gods helping hand. the Puritan set
tiers would have been quenched like torch
tossed in the sea. The Mayfower. with its bur-
den of souls, would have sucked in destruction
in the first swell of the angry ocean. If the God
who holds the ocean had not held her in the hol-
low of His hand. When the scanty stores shrunk
till only five grains could be given to each sett er
each day, God, who openeth His hand and salts
feth the desires of every living thing. opened
before them the long hidden ears of corn. The
thin garments worn would have been cut through
and they chilled to the marrow. in the wild win
try New England blasts. but the Lord took them
under His wide, warm. everlasting wings.
In the days of bitter struggle. the fierce fight
with famine. the hard contests with pestilence.
the sweating toll with barren SOIL the battle with
wild beasts, the sad divisions among themselv es.
\ IL. .rl RI oI1
the green fields when King Phillip took the war
path. they would have gone out like taper in a
blizzard But God said to the forces they faced.
% Hitherto shall ye come but no farther. and here
shall your proud waves be stayed"
The first Napoleon said. q God is on the side of
the strongest battalions." If true. it was dark
day for the Colonsts when they rose in resistance
to the cruel sway of the George III. England
was the first and proudest of kingdoms; her bat
tie ships had strewn the seas with wrecked fleets;
she had covered the earth with slain armies her
Generals were trained. and of rare skill: her
soldiers and sailors men of courage and richly
equipped. and strong in numbers. The Patriots
were but feeble band, recruited for short term.
They left needy families at home. They had
ehort supplies and poor weapons they were the
sport of the Royaists. and were called the ragged
brigades. There was not an untorn coat in the
army; hungry. hatless. .shoeless. they were track
ed by the stains of blood on the frozen earth.
Yet the Angel of Victory took its station att their
side and tipped their standards with triumph.
and all the torn Gamers blazed with beauty and
victory. 1t was not the majesty of numbers. not
the power of their batteries. not vast stores not
skill and drill. that brought the sword of Corn
wallis and won the siege at Yorktown.
'.'Twas not their courage or their sword
To them deliverance gave,
Twas not their numbers nor their strength
That did our country save.
Twas Gods right hand and powerful arm.
Whose succor they implored;
His providence protected them
Who His great name adored."
This nation was not born of Atheistic doubt
it could not live in it than song bird could
live in an exhausted receiver. Our Government
did not issue from Goddess. infidel crowd. This
will appear if you turn over the leaves of history.
With this light we are fortified by large circle
of facts Let us look to the Pit from whence we
were digged, and the rock from whence we were
hewn. In 1900. bible hating Spain'was in the van
of nations, and her invincible Armada swept the
seas, and her armies roamed this land in ac-
cursed search for gold. France. with blood red
hands all dyed in the veins of murdered Protes-
tants, was second in rank. and her men and mis-
sionaries consumed with lust for land and laying
claim to all from the coldest Canada to the hot
gulf stream. Austria was the Gibraltar of the
Papacy, and was rated a first class power. Prus-
sia was shooting to the 'front.'
The art of printing worked in England mar
vellous results. The first book printed with NOV
able types was the Bible. Tyndal said. as he
translated it into his mother tongue, may live
to see plowboy able to read the Word of God"
A great thirst possessed the people to hear it
read: they crowded around any one who coul
rpell through chapter. and would sit for hours.
The Book was brought into family. school. and
church, and was regarded as the Book and gift of
God. The aged took it as their staff in life and
pillow in death. The fathers sang its glorious
psalms in devotion. Mothers here got names for
their babes and found sweet stories to kindle the
delight of childhood. It became the text book
in the colleges. and students were called Bible
moths" England was called the nation of a
book" The Bible was called "The religion of
Protestants." When the Virgin Queen was
crowned, her subjects gave her Bible. She
received twith grace, pressed her lips on it.clasp
ed it to her heart, and kept it through her long
reign, and died with her finger on golden pro-
mise of rest, The hearts of the people burned
with one impulse, and the nation felt new life
force.
A tree is known by its fruits. and the fruits Of
Bible study appeared. A new and nobler race
began to breathe; host of solid men arose. The
pen of history writes. that they were God fearing
men, conscientious in all matters. kind as broth
ers. good fathers, husbands of chaste speech. and
true to their marriage vows; temperate. indus
trious true to friends. noble. honest. hospita-
bic men, who hated oppression, and loved liberty
better than life. The law, literature. invention.
commerce and religion were lighted into new
life and electrified so the world was kindled with
wonder at the triumphs of the human mind. A
change of rulers drew on them bitter persecu-
tions, and company moved to the continent, but
the bloody oppressor was there. On the sands of
the sea shore after prayer and praises they bound
their souls together to cross the seas. and build
State where they could be free to serve the Lord,
and their Pastors exclaimed. More light is to
break out from Gods word" In the cabin cf the
Mayfower they signed a paper beginning with
these words: I'm the name of God. amen"
Having undertaken voyage for the glory of
God and the advancement of true religion" &c.
When they reached the shore they filled the for
ests with songs of praise for deliverance. When
the cabins were built to shelter them from the
wild hurricanes, they reared the church. then
4 . II HolIo