The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1896-11-26
OFFERING THANKS.
PURITANS DID NOT ORIGINATE THE
THANKSGIVING IDEA.

hpu Ocits were Sinilar.
The story Of the first Thanksgiving
in New England loses mono of its inter-
versary new charm beckons in persua-
sive power to old colony days in Plym-
outh. 1t is land of lingering visions;
Of scant stock Of pilgrim fathers, sur
vivors OF the hundred souls and more
washed by the Mayhower on the bleak
New England coast when winter pre-
vailed against them so that their clothes
froze, many times like coats Of iron.
But hark to a clank Of cutlass and
oorselet Of steel What, hoi Miles Stand
ish, "olad In doublet and hose and
boots Of Cordovan leather" striding
again with martial air, and yet onoe
more doth the hurrying pen Of the strip
ling, John Alden, with the dow Of
his youth and the beauty thereof, IN
dite epistles filed with the name and
tho fame Of Priscilla, the "loveliest maid
In Plymouth.
Two hundred and seventy-five years
Atlantic coast shimmered before the
straining eyes Of the Puritan forefa-
theirs, but it is not hard to picture their
first Thanksgiving in the golden autumn
Of 1921. The cruel, hungry winter
(there was row Of graves, and their
number was almost half Of the entire
company was passed. Summer smiled
on their cornfelds, and autumn brought
abundant harvest. 1t Is a joyous de-
soription that Edward Winslow. the his
torian of the Plymouth colony, writes
Of the pioneer Puritanical Thanksgiving
that followed:
"Our harvest being gotten In, our
Governor (William Bradford) sent four
men on fowling, 30 that we might after
q special manner rejoice together after
we had gathered the fruit of our labors
They four In one day killed as much
foule as, with a little help beside,
served the company almost week. At
which time. amongst other recreation, we
exercised our arms, many Of the Indians
coming amongst us, and among the rest
their greatest king, Massasoyt, with
some 80 men, whom for three days we
entertained and feasted, and they went
out and killed five deer, which they
brought to the plantation and bestowed
on our Governor and upon the captain
(Myles Standish) and others.
Governor Bradford completes the
picture by enumerating the blessings
which induce the Thanksgiving cere-
| mony:
"They began now to gather in ye
small harvest they had and to fitte up
their homes and dwellings against win
| ter, being all well recovered in health
and strength, and had all things In
good plenty, for as some were thus en-
| ployed in affairs abroad others were ex-
ercised in fishing about codd and bass
and other fish of which yey took good
store, Of which every family had their
| portion. All ye Somer ther was no
waste, and now began to come in store
Of foule, as winter approached, Of which
| this place did abound when they came
| first (but afterwards decreased by de-
| grees) and beside water foule ther was
| great store of wild Turkies, of which
| they took many, beside venison, sc.
Beside they had about peck Of meal q
| weeke to person or now since harvest,
Indian corn to ye proportion.
Not one Of the American holidays Is
30 suggestive Of the love of home which
is dominant in the national mind as
Thanksgiving, but in history the fes-
tival does not find its exclusive home
here. The Thanksgiving idea is an old
one. The New England Puritans, in
commemorating day Of thanks, were
only following in the footsteps of the
Hebrews who annually observed a feast
Of tabernaoles or of ingathering. Thanks
giving lives in the classic authors in al
lusions to the feasts of Demeter. Har-
vest homes We're held by the Saxons and
the Celts, and what more beautiful pic
ture Of an aboriginal autumn festival
could there be than the story of Hia-
watha's feast Of Mondamin;
Homeward then went Hiswatha
To the lodge Of old NolSomis,
And the seven days OF his fasting
We're accomplished and completed.
But the place was not forgotten
Where he wrestled with Mondamia,
Nor forgotten nor neglected
Was the grave whore lay Mondamin,
Sleeping in the rain and sunshine,
Whore his scattered plumes and garments
Faded in the rain and sunshine.
Day by day did Hiawatha
Go to wait and watch beside it;
Kept the dark mold soft above IT.
Kept it clean from weeds and insects;
Drove away, with SCOTS and shoutings,
Kahgahgee, the king of ravens.
Till at length the small green feather
From the earth shot slowly upward,
Then another and another,
And before the summer ended
Stood the maize In all its beauty,
With its shining robes about it.
And its long, soft, yellow tresses,
And in rapture Hiawatha
Cried aloud: "It is Mondaminl
Yes, the friend Of man, Mondaminl"
Then he called to old NolIomis
And Iagoo, the great boaster;
Showed them where the maize was grow
ing;
Told them of his wondrous vision,
OF his wrestling and his triumph
OF this new gift to the nations,
Which should be their food forever.
And still later, when the autumn
Changed the long, green leaves TO yellow,
And the soft and juicy kernels
Grow like wampum hard and yellow,