New-York tribune., 1896-11-26
THlyKSGITING DAY iND RELIGION.

Doubtl,ss il Is true Of Thanksgiving Day. aS
Of other religious holidays that lis religious char
acter is largely lost sight Of. Even in New Eng
land where the Observance of the day originated.
II is generally devoted To sports and pa>iimc>.
and os a day of general hllarlty must lc cla>S'i
with Fast Day the original character of which
has almost wholly disappeared. Nowhere to
dav will the churches be crowded. and IN some
cases the fact that there Is church service ~
all will be- regarded as 4 hardship since II VIII
interfere with family reunions or with the ,ut-
door recrcaiions which have become chlrac"r-
lstir of the day. In this city there viii be-
sparse attendance al most Of the chur"lc>; but
even if !, is stormy thousands will witness the
wnCarlisle football game. the theatres VIII
be well attended and II the conditions are favor
able a great army Of men and women viii ride
their wheels All this certainly wonid seem to
Indicate tha, the purely religious conception OF
the day. of which alone the rurlian~ took cosni-
zancc. no longer holds the chief place IN The
minds of the people.
Nevertheless. appearances ar- provcrbally de-
ceiving and they may be 50 In this ease. II no
religious impulse can exist in the heart without
a regular attendance Oh religious worship. t"n u
must be admitted that Thanksgiving Day j. 10
Of people But many who are themselves regu-
lar churchgocrs would not be prepared 10 id'i-
,fy religion wholly with church attendance, c--
peclally on day other than Sunday. They
would admit that men and women may be- more
or less controlled by sense of dependence on
an unseen power. even If they are not regular
worshippcrs in church. Such scnSc Of religion
rs this is an intangible thing. II does not fall
Of iipr 81
fer In many cases. perhaps it i little more
than a vague and uniornuacd feeling, and
sometimes it closely approaches the vanishing
point As a rule Of life and conduct ii undonbl-
edly leaves much 10 be desired
Yet such recognition of religion * not wholly
TO In ignored, and in the aggregate it may be-
come a powerful influence in shaping the moral
life Of the Nation Outside Of the rapt ecstasy
of the spiritual reclnSe, and the hiSh-wrought
fervor of the new convert. the religious impulse
Is seldom a clcarcnt and continuous feeling.
Even the regular churchgoer is thrown into no
ecstasy by the privilege cf Worship dearly ~
he NAV prize 1t. 1t becomes largely matter of
habit with him. And what is best of all ii leads
to the formation Of other moral habits relating
10 conduct. which in time become second nature,
rs the old saying has ii. There will he nothing
formally religious in the Observance of this
Thanksgiving Day by multindcs of people. Yet
| IT, behind 1t all, there lies ,he religious back
ground capable of being brought into clearer
view by some great vicssludc, we cannot say
that the day is wholly rreligious. We never
know how much unselish patriotism there is in
the country until some danger assals 1t. BE
fore the campaign which has just ended cynics
might have doubted the existence of such "A thing
as a National conscience. but they can doubt no
longer And sO if anything should happen
bringing into clear relief the religious conscious
ness Of the American people. we believe that
they would be- found TO measure up pretty well
with the worthless who founded the Nation on
the moral precepts Of religion.