The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1895-12-05
JOhns0ns Anodyne | inime]
Originated 1910, the Johnson Family physci

from the awful peril winch SO long nau
menaced Them
None the less profoundly were they ex-
ercised by the consciousness of their guilt
before their God, and they as frankly and
humbly expressed their remoTse and re
pentance in public as their gratitude and
thankfulness. 1t was only four years
after the raging Of that frenzied super
stitiun of witchcraft which made Salem
the scene Of such inhuman deeds, that
the enormity Of the wrong they had done
in torturing and violating the most sacred
relations OF human hearts and homes was
so profoundly experienced that the whole
community was moved to a public eX-
preston Of penitence and humiliation A
day was set apart for solemn fasting and
confession in homes and meeting houses.
s'The names OF innocent victims were re
called with Hnavailing regret The his
torian tells us that the occasion was made
deeply impressive when one Of the Judges
in the trials arose and stood in his place
i'll the sanctuary while the minister read
aloud a note which he had handed to him
asking that in the general prayer his own
individual petition be offered. imploring
forgiveness for the wrong he personally
had committed in his high office. His
prayer was that his error might not be
ulNlUely NlSlleC upon Hill, uOI HIS ldIlIly,
nor the public.
s. profound was the significance of pub
lie humiliation to the Fathers. And not
only was their contrition manifest in pc
titions for pardon, but in such substantial
PREPARATION as they were able to make. on
the occasion just referred to a consider
able sum Of money from the public treas
uIy was distributed to the Representatives
of the sufferers from closes, disabilities
and scandals.
4 These facts, chosen from many which
might be cited, show not only that the
I Fathers in each instance gave not general
and stereotyped but special and definite
reasons or occasions for observing days Of
Thanksgiving and Fast; but they also
make clear their intense and vital convic-
ton Of their dependence on God, and their
duty of allegiance to him.
I Morbid, homogeneous, even impiOus
| though their conceptions of God seem to
us to have been on occasions, there was
beneath all their superstition and stern
administration of what to them seemed
justice, a depth Of religious sentiment
/ which caused them to acknowledge the
relation of cause and effect between every
event of their lives and their God.
| said their conceptions Of God and of
homogeneous and impious. This was true
Of their public expression, but not,-let
us beieve,-of their intent. Their public
I thanksgivings were not always pure and
unseltish gratitude to God, nor their hui
mutations always free from attempts at
self justification, and hints of dssatisfac-
ton with Gods dealings with them, as
not being quite adequate to their deserts.
Public prayer,--as any one may learn
from the journalslof Winthrop and Sew
all. - no. intrequently was the medium
Of making known the private opinions,
partialities and grievances of minister
! in his relations with his people, or of one
man with another, even to the extent Of
excited uttelance and embttered feelings,
with little Of the grace Of mercy and for
giveness Those old servants Of the Lord
| were not only humble in his presence, but
exacting as we'll. They served him strict
~, and demanded their dues The Math-
ers, as their diaries reveal, We're accustom-
ed with deliberation and frank sincerity
! to cast up detailed accounts OF debt and
credit with God, with grim limitations
on some dark occasions, that the balance
was on their side; that God had come
short in some reasonable condition Of the
covenant" Cotton Mather, on his solemn
innate converse with God, would roll and
writhe on the floor Of his locked and dark
ened study, pitifully pleading with the
unseen partner of his plans and labors to
so reward him that they might not longer
remain unappreciated, and himself be
| made the sport of detraction and ridicule
Though we> keep up the custom of the
Fathers in our annual Thanksgiving day,
| it must be seen that it has not the same
significance, is not SO profoundly momen-
tous to us, as it was to them. 1t has be-
come perfunctory, habitual-a holiday. a
feast day. With them it was not merely
a periodical custom, it was devout occa-
I sion. If we were subject, to the extent
they were, to the theocratic idea, we
doubtless might find specific mercies and
blessings to justify the proclamation Of
Thanksgiving day as often as they did;
and if we were to interpret all our our
disasters and dangers, material and moral,
as direct and detailed penalties laid upon
us by God for our shortcomings and sins,
as they did, there would be no lack of oc-
casions for public humiliation.
1t may be doubted if our consciousness
Of the mercies and blessings we enjoy is
as vvid,-it certainly is not so devout-as
that Of the Fathers. 1t may also be ques-
toned if our comprehension Of the signi-
| ficance of our sins and short -comings is
as keen as theirs. Our allegiance to God
would. l fear, be scarcely strong enough
to move US to proclaim public thanks
giving for material benefits as meagre as
those which we're the occasions Of the
first Thanksgiving days. The changes
we note have come to pass naturally and
inevitably. The greatly altered premises,
Of knowledge; the ways Of Gods dealings
with men; vastly improved conditions Of
living; widely extended and elaborated
functions Of industry, have so modified
our conceptions of our relations to God,
and to rich nature which supplies all our
material needs, that we have not the
same impulse of thanksgiving the Fathers
had. a Not the same, but not less. You
cannot feel like a Puritan, because you
live in larger world; have a thousand
conveniences and luxuries he never
dreamed Of; are in touch with the whole
world. You cannot worship like Puri-
tan because your ideas and experience Of
God are 'not like his. You do not, as he
did, look upon calamities as the direct and
detailed .rebukes and penalties Of God;
not upon impending perils as his threats
Of punishment if you do not grovel before
him. We do not look upon bountiful
harvests and national prosperity as the
special, partial favors of God, but as the
results of the universal, overlooking boun-
| tv of the Eternal which has been poured