The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-11-26
GIVE THANKS FOR PATRIOT
HEARTS.

When the somber and earnest men
who laid the foundations Of this ma
ton gathered to the annual Thanks
giving, the state was ever in their
thoughts and prayers. Grateful for in
divfdual preservation, overwhelmed ac-
cording to their creed with q sense of
the goodness that had snatched them
from the wrath to come, they did not
forget to voice their gratitude for the
existence of commemorative where lib
erty was more than a name, and patri-
otism a virtue universal and unques-
toned. We have grown far from their
ideals The New England Thanksgiv-
ing Of the olden time would be scarcely
less at home among us today, and
vastly less picturesque, than doublet
and hose. We have built new affairs
and found new shrines for our devo-
ton. Yet the fire Of patriotic fervor
has never gone out, even when gross
commerciaHsm corrupted simplicity of
thought and life. That, which is the
vital spark, the breath of life to ma
tons; that without which they must
go down among the ruins Of their
grandeur to wreck and oblivion, is
strong, in the hearts Of our people today.
And wherever men gather to give
thanks for the fruitful year, for the
gIories that it has added to the Amer
lean name, for tranquility at home and
respect abroad, for the soft promise of
returning prosperity that fills the air
with a light like that of dawn, they
should first Of all be proud and joyous
and grateful for the patriotic spirit
which was never, save in the great
crisis of national life and death, as
strong in the United States as it is
today.
This is the witness that as a. nation
we have not lived unworthily. This is
the guarantee against the dread Of
those who see in visions our fnstitu-
lions rock before the swaying gusts of
political passion, and question whether
that which we have built shall endure.
No government of men stands by writ
ten constitutions, but by the unwritten
law in the hearts of it's loyal children;
not by courts and officers and penalties,
| but by the glad obedience which men
render to the common mother of them
all. And we may find now. in the days
just after an embittered contest, when
the sullen swell following the great
storm moves to stubborn defiance by
| the conquered and to insolent rejoicings
by the victors, little Of either, but
rather the united testimony of those
who, in their different ways and ae-
cording to their diverging opinions,
I have loved their country we'll and
sought to magnify and make her honor
| able. 1t is a great and glad Thanks
| giving when the spirit of party can
50 far yield to that of patriotism as to
bring those who were lately arrayed
! against each other into the same great
| congregation of the people, where the
| thought Of country Is first of ALL To-
/ day we have 1t for our witness A
Democratic political club celebrated
this week the election of a Republican
/ president, and called for a man great
| enough to set party second and the
nation first A Republican partisan at
Republican celebration paid high tri-
butte to President Cleveland for his
| fidelity to duty at So great cost. And
| at the same time, In the far West, the
/ defeated candidate who sympathized
with neither, spoke these noble words
''I love my country so much: I love
| mankind SO. well, that I shall rejoice
| If the result Of the late campaign
| proves I was wrong and my opponent
| was right. Because, Ii he can make
| the government better than T could
! have made 1t, then my children and
| your children will enjoy the benefits"
| We draw closer to one another under
I the influence Of acts and thoughts like
these The old analogy, that which
must have the SAVIOR Of truth about 1t
| in any lusty and stable state, between
/ the nation and the family. comes home
Ito us. Beyond and around the indfvid-