Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1901-11-29
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WASHINGTON. Nov. 24.-This discourse
OF DR.. Talmage is national congratu~
htion over the achievements OF brain
and hand during the past twelve
months. The texts are: Corinthians
TX, 10. "He that ploweth should plow
IN hope" Isaiah xii, Z. "He that
smootheth with the hammers" Judges
v. IA. 'They that handle the pen of the
writer"
There is a table being spread across
The top of the two great ranges OF
mountains which ridge this continent,
table which reaches from the Allan
tic to the Pacific sea. It is the Thanks
giving table of the nation. They win
come from the east and the west and
the north and the south and sit at IL.
On it are smoking the products OF all
lands, birds of every aviary. cattle
from every pasture, fish from every
lake, feathered spoils from every farm.
The fruit baskets bend down under the
products plucked from the peachields
OF Maryland, the apple orchards OF
western New York, the orange groves
of Florida, the vineyards of Ohio and
the nuts thrashed from New England
woods. The bread is white from the
wheat6elds of Illinois and Michigan,
the banqueters are adorned with Cali
fornia gold. and the table is agleam
with Nevada silver, and the feast is
warmed with the fire grates heaped
up with Pennsylvania coal. The hall is
spread with carpets from Lowell mills,
nj fgl,f 4I,o lf.rI,t
bronzed brackets of Philadelphia man.
ufacture.
Welcome, Thanksgiving dayi What
ever we may think of New England
theology, we all like New England
Thanksgiving day. What means the
steady rush TO the depots and the long
rail trains darting their lanterns along
the tracks OF the Boston and Lowell,
the Georgia Central, the Chicago Great
Western, the st. Paul aud Duluth and
the Southern railway? Ask the happy
group in the New England farmhouse;
ask the villagers whose song of praise
in the morning will come over the
Berkshire hills; ask all the plantations
of the south which have adopted the
New England custom of setting apart
n day OF thanksgiving. Oh. il is n great
day Of national festivityl Clap your
hands, We people. and shout aloud>for
joy. Through the organ pipes let there
come down the thunder of nations
rejoicingl Blow the corneti Wave the
palm branchesl "Oh. that men would
praise the Lord for his goodness and
for his wonderful works to the chill
dren OF menl"
Victories of Pence
For two years and half this nation
has been celebrating the triumph OF
sword and gun and battery. We have
sung martial airs and cheered return
ing heroes and sounded the requiem
for the slain in battle. Methinks Il
will be healthful change if on this
years Thanksgiving I'm church and
homestead we celebrate the victories
OF the plow. the hammer and the pen,
for nothing was done ut Santiago or
Manila that was OF more Importance
than that which I'm the last year has
been done in farmers field and me-
chanic's shop and authors study by
those who never wore an epaulet or
shot Spaniard or went n hundred
miles from their own doorsill. Come
up, farmers and mechanics ana liter
airy men, and get your dues as far as
can pay them.
Things have marvelously changed.
Time was when the stern edict OF gov
ernments forbade religious assemble
ges- Those who dared to be so unloyal
TO their king as to acknowledge loyalty
to the Head OF the universe were pun.
ished. Churches awfully silent in wor-
ship suddenly heard their doors swung
open. and down upon the church aisle
score OF muskets thumped as the
leaders babe them Ground nrmsw
This custom OF having the fathers, the
husbands, the sons and brothers at the
entrance OF the pew is custom which
came down from olden time, when IL
was absolutely necessary that the IA
Their or brother should sit at the end of
the church pew fully armed TO defend
the helpless portion OF the family. But
now how changedl Severe penalties
are threatened against any one who
shall interrupt religious services, and
annually, at the command OF the high
est official in the United States we
gather together for thanksgiving and
holy worship. Today would stir your
souls to joyful thanksgiving while
conventional way recount the con-
quests or the plow, the hammer and
the pen.
Most OF the implements OF husband
ry have been superseded by modern
inventions, but the plow has never lost
Its reign. 1t has furrowed its way
through all the ages. Its victories have
been waved by the barley OF Palestine,
the wheat OF Persia. the fax OF Ger
many the ricestalks OF China, the rich
grasses OF Italy. IL has turned I'D the
mammoth OF Siberia. the mastodon OF
Egypt and the pine groves OF Thessaly.
Its iron foot hath marched where Mo-
ses wrote and Homer sang and ArIs.
totie taught and Alexander mounted
his war charger. 1t hath wrung its
Golfer on Norwegian wIlds and ripped
out the stumps OF the American forest,
pushing its way through the savan.
mas OF the Carolinas and trembling In
the grasp OF the New Hampshire yeo-
manry. American civilization hath
kept step with the rattle OF its clevises,
and on its beam hath ridden thrift and
national plenty.
do not wonder that the Japanese
and the Chinese and the Phonicians
so particularly extoIled husbandry or
that Cincinnatus went from the consul
snip to the pillow or that Noah was
farmer before he became shipbuilder
or that Elisha was in the field blowing
with twelve yoke OF oxen when the
mantle fell on him or that the Egyp-
tians In their paganism worshiped the
OK as tiller of their lands.
To get an appreciation of what the
American plow has accomplished l
take you into the western wilderness.
Here in the dense forest 1 find a col
lection Of Indian wigwams. With belts
Of wampum the men iazily sit on the
skins of deer, smoking their feathered
falumets, or, driven forth by hunger,