The Globe-republican., 1901-11-28

is nearest and dearest to the hearts or
the American people Especially is
this so in historic old New England,
where family ties, associations and
memories, together with the day-by-
day life of the hardy sons and daugh-
tiers of this prosperous and picturesque
region, are tempered and nodded even
to this day by the traditions of their
Puritan ancestry, writes Rev. John
Hall.
Nearly three centuries ago a little
band of brave, adventurous pioneers
celebrated the first appointed day of
Thanksgiving Governor Bradford at
Plymouth Mass, in the autumn fol-
lowing the landing of the Pilgrims, set
apart a day to be devoted to thanks
giving, prayer, praise and incidentally
to various and sundry demonstrations
of good will, good fellowship and a
general good time for young and old
1t was a day of bounty, of openhanded-
ness, day when the 1atch-string was
not only altogether out, but the door
was wide open. 1t is said of certain
venerable Puritans that after the feast
was over, after the hangers-on and the
few poor of the neighborhood had been
fed, that they gathered into baskets
the scraps and bits that remained and
went out through the highways and
bywayS looking for hungry dogs and
cats. that they also might be filled on
this blessed day. Failing in this, they
placed the food on some rock or tree
trunk, that the birds and wild beasts
might eat thereof. There are many
holidays around which pleasant memo
ries cluster, but among them all
Thanksgiving Day presents to our view
/ the most Kaleidoscope pictures. This
/ day for family reunion this milestone
on the pathway OF human life, this day
from which many househ olds date
! their pleasures and their griefs, the
4 red-letter days in the calendar of the
/ aged and infirm, hoped for, waited for,
prayed for, because it brought once
more the smiling faces of loved ones;
! because it furnished one more delight
I before the venerable and snow-crowned
heads We're laid away in their last Ion 8
| home There is one most delightful
1 feature of this altogether happy occa-
sion: Blessed be the roof under which
an unbroken family circle gathers.
| Then it is that the day can have its full
significance of thanksgiving and praise.
1t is hard indeed to accept the DEGREES
| of Providence when they remove from
us those to whom hearts are close
we viii, up from the depths of our
souls comes the cry for the beloved
| who have been taken from u.s. But
when we come. one and all. IN unbrok-
en- band and tall our places at the ia
bic filled with the good things of life,
then in the fuIlness of our hearts we
can give thanks not only for the plenty
| which has been showered upon us, but
for the presence of those without
/ whom our lives would be incomplete
and full of sorrow
1t is meet that before we enjoy the
delights of a table laden with the deli
cacies and dainties with which the sea
son has furnished US, that we should
render our tribute of praise and
thankfu1ness to the great Provider who
giveth at the proper time the harvest
of field, orchard, meadow, forest and
stream 1t is but common justice that
we would do this even to q friend who
has bestowed favors upon us How
much more. then, to the great Creator
who gives not Oniy the simplest. but
also the greatest gifts of our lives
For the gift Of life. What is Hfe9
Lie is the spirit of God Himself. When
/ God made man He breathed into his
nostri1s His own breath and with ii
a fragment of his own spiritual and
immortal being