The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-12-01
THANKSGIVING DAY.
Interesting Union Services of the Bap-
fist Churches.

fist Churches.
The union services of the Baptist
churches were held yesterday morning
at the South Baptist church Rev. Hi
ram Conway of the John Street church,
Rev. j. H. Lingley and Rev. Arthur
st. James of the Beacon street Bap-
fist church, Rev. Guy F. Wheeler and
Rev. A. L. Anderson took part in the
service.
The sermon was given by Rev. s. b.
Meeser. Mrs. 1nez Buss- Knowles and
Miss Bertha Griswold sang iii solos and
duets. The Offering of the morning was
for the Greendale French orphanage,
Rev. Mr. Meeser took as his subject,
Thanksgiving day. and took as his
text Psalm, 1882.
He said in part: 1t is a good thing
for nation to stop somewhere in the
food tide of prosperity and remember
God. Our forefathers were wise when
they determined that there ought to
be at least one day of the year in
which people should turn to their
house of worship, and publicly confess
their gratitude to God, and proclaim
that they know that it is his bounty
which has come upon them, and that
his mercy has spared and blessed them.
In prosperity and in danger the nation
should never fail to recall the name
and the person of him who presides
over its destiny. We have every reason
for doing this. Our history reads like
the history of the chosen people of old.
1t has many marks of the divine
guidance, and as many tokens Of the
divine favor as the life of Israel. The
custom of public acknowledgment
of God is one of the sources of our
national integrity, as well as one of the
duties of religion and patriotism. The
nation will recognize that it also has
an accountability to God as well as
the individual 1t will see that there
is law of God for nations as well as
for men That God will hold the ma
tion to an account and require justice.
mercy and truth from it, making it re-
sponsible at the bar of the divine judg
ment, just as he does when men are
to be judged.
Men are sometimes disposed to think
that they can do as a state what they
cannot do as individuals. They have
not too well learned as yet that this
is not so, or recognized that the judg
ment of God is none the less sure upon
a whole people than upon single per-
son. I cannot but consider that this day
of national Thanksgiving is, therefore,
one of the strong bulwarks of our ma
tiOnal moral integrity, nor can 1 do
other than regret the decay of the
beautiful and worthy custom of assem-
bling in great bodies in the churches to
make this acknowledgment Today we
are to note the common blessings of
the people as a whole the things which
all may share in common. So far then,
as this day is concerned, public ac-
acknowledgement of God as the author of
our blessings as a people, is the SUI
preme duty.
1t is a matter both of patriotism and
religion that We are assembler here.
We are often afflicted With prophets of
evil who sit in sackcloth and ashes and
give vent to walls of pessimism with
a seriousness that has no redeeming
features of faith or hope or good hui
NOR. History shows that the world all
ways is moving towards the things that
are better, and never takes a step
backward. Here is this thing called
anti-imperialism, a silly masquerade of
antique and belated fears, a child
play of boogy man, lifted into the dig
nifty of a national scare in which aug
ust men play the boogy while 9TH
ers lift their hands in sacred horror to
scare the nation out of strenuous and
noble progress.
Believing that honor and righteous
ness are the foundations of a lasting
greatness, and that there can be no
surety of private virtue if the people
smile on public vice, we will all pray
that the courage and high purpose of
the founders of the republic will be a
potent inspiration to honorable citizen
shin