Birmingham state herald., 1895-11-29
BUSINESS BdSliiNIE WAS SUSPENDED And Thanksgiving Day Appro- priateIy Observed Here. DR. BARB0UR'S ABLE SERMON At the First Presbyterian Church-A Fine Pro- gramme Rendered at Temple
 Emanuel.

s Thanksgiving was generally observed here yesterday, nearly everybody taking a holiday, or at least a half holiday.
 Quite a number of the men spent the day in the woods hunting while others sought amusement or recreation in other Ways.
 The postoffice and banks were closed and the schools were not in session.
 A great number of the merchants closed their doors and suspended busi- ness at noon in order that their clerks might enjoy a well earned rest.
 Several private dinners and informal affairs were given and Thanksgiving ser vices were held in quite a number of the churches.
 The day was an ideal one, the weather being cool and bracing with slight rise of The mercury in the afternoon.
 Church of the Advent.
 Thanksgiving services were held in the rector, Rev. Dr. T. J. Beard, who gave a short talk appropriate to the occasion. At the conclusion of the service the holy sacrament was administered to the mem- bers of the church.
 Presbyterian Churches.
 All the Presbyterian churches of the city united in Thanksgiving services at hhC II II Sl ItSDy lGIldH CHuIcll. LIT. JOun Barbour, pastor of the South Highland Presbyterian church, preached the Thanksgiving sermon from the text: , Psalm, cxlv, 15: Thou openest Thy hand and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.'
 A larger more impressive thought does not enter the human mind than this-the care which the great God exercises every moment over every creature of His hand : Wherever men have thought of a per .s.,xl qndeed we believe in God only because we see evidences of a divine presence and providence in the earth The an- cient hymns of the Hindoos, relics of an earlier and purer faith, abound in ascriptions to the Giver of all, and Greek art attained it's highest expression in Phidias' statue at Olympia of Jupiter, Father over all.
 This truth, then, is fundamental. If you doubt the reality of Providence today Sou are lingering in the vestibule of the Temple. You cannot worship at the al- tar If you do not believe in Providence you cannot rejoice in grace.
 What an exquisite picture in our text of the abundance of the provision for all, and the perfect ease-Thou openest Hhine hand-with which all the armies of Living creatures are supplied. And so there is enough for all.
 But, says one, there is not enough for nll. What means the poverty on every hand, the Squalor, the misery, the fam ines sweeping thousands off the earth?
 Now of this providence thus impeached q remark:
 l l. It Is not irrespective of human in- | duStry.
 li Every creature must gather according 1 to it's nature. For though a bird has but ! ito fly to the spot and pick up the grain, and whilst with many creatures sport and work go hand in hand, man must dig and reap in order to have. He be- longs to larger system. So long as the woods are full of lumber for our houses and the hills store their minerals and our fields respond to labor so long Gods bounty cannot be questioned. And this law is not a hindrance or qualification of that bounty, for labor brings appetite, and appetite leads to new discoveries of plenty. With larger store. The use of jewels came with man s own development. An Indian today would rather have an eagle feather. Men Maited long before they knew Of the uses ! of some of our most familiar objects T1coal. for instance. Doubtless the very ground at our feet is full of rejected treasures.
 l. 2. But this bounty is not irrespective of the claims of human brotherhood. | . God has given to us as members or a race-a family. On every dollars worth of treasure, on every acre of ground, God reserves a lien for the benefit of His poor. l : If the penury and the suffering are tlue to the unequal or the ungenerous distribution of Gods favor they cannot hoe charged upon the giver or used as arr sument against His providence.
 There are men in this city denying this I]octrine who have in their own clinched fist the refutation of their doubts. A man who has cornered the coal or the provisions of the poor does not believe 6n Providence! I do not wonder. How can he afford to believe in Providence un- til he mends his ways? God does not Intervene to keep you from taking your heighbor's life; neither will He interpose If you rob him of his little all. Never hheless, His word testifies against you. and when all accounts are settled it will stand against you.
 [ And this law of brotherhood is bless Ing, too It is the very law of wealth. The family is the best economical ar rangement ever devised. Seven people cannot live so economically together in any other way as in the family relation And the principle operates at large. The