Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-11-27

lgious liberty.
Let us thank God that when we arise
in the morning we can gather our lit
tie children about the family altar and
have morning prayers without having
any Lord Claverhouse pounding upon
our door or without hearing the tramp
Of any Bloody" McKenzie's hirelings
ready to lead us out to execution
When 10 O'Clock comes next Thursday
morning and we hear the bells of Gods
sanctuary tolling, let us be thankful
that we do not have to worship our
Heavenly Father In secret, as the early
Christians used to do in the dark cata-
combs Of ancient Rome or as the pill
grims before their embarkation secret
ly did 1t In the stable of the Scrooby
manor house. When next Thursday
we sit down to a Thanksgiving dinner
and say grace, our children and loved
ones being gathered about the dining
room table, grooming under the weight
OF the best viands the markets afford,
may we thank God that that dinner
will not be stopped ON account of that
grace. o religious liberty, thou art
not always honored in this twentieth
century, for the living have never seen
the dagger Of bigotry driven into thy
rich warm, throbbing heart! o re-
lgious liberty, before whose shrines
Cromwelps Ironsides made the earth
tremble and at whose affairs the cove
nanters and the pilgrims were ready
to sacrifice their lives, may we be ready
to rapturously greet thee next Thurs
day morning and to reverently touch
the pure white hem OF thy garment
with the holy kiss Of thankful lips! 1t
was for this religious liberty that the
pilgrim fathers thanked God in 1921.
1t is for religious liberty that we, their
children ought to welcome the au-
tumnal queen Of American festivals.
With humble prayer and fasting
In every strait and grief
They sought the Everlasting
And found a sure relief.
Their covenant-God o ershadowed them.
Their shield from every foe,
And gave them here a dwelling place
Two hundred years ago.
The Lesson of the Pilgrims.
My friend, there ought to be a lesson
for you in the pilgrim fathers graft
tude to God for the supplying of their
necessary temporal wants. You may
not be a millionaire. You may not
have big bank account nor enough
money to keep you in case II you
ceased to work; but. like the pilgrim
fathers of old. on this Thanksgiving
day Of 1902 you can thank God that
you have a home In which to live, no
matter how humble that home may be.
You can thank God that you have
enough clothes to keep you warm and
enough good, plain, wholesome food to
eat, Should your table be simply
spread you can thank God with the
same humble, beautiful Christian spir-
it with which Elder William Brewster
Of Plymouth colony gave thanks Al
though the bread supply and the coffee
and tea supply and nearly all other
supplies for months had failed, and he
and his family for weeks at n time
were compelled to live upon fish alone,
yet William Brewster used to gather
his children about his table and utter
a devout grace. With nothing but
clans and oysters for breakfast, din
ner and tea month in and month out,
William Brewster used to thank God
that they were permitted 10 enjoy the
abundance of the sea and the treasures
hid in the sand
But, although a few OF us may thank
God merely for the bare nccessaries
most of us can thank him next Thurs
day morning for the luxuries as we'll
Our national prosperity was never rs
great as today. If we were TO cross
the seas and recount to the inhabitants
OF any other land all the temporal
blessings with which we are surround
ed, those foreign inhabitants would not
believe the Utopian stories we would
tell them. They would be as skeptica
about our Munchausen-like tales as the
relatives of one of DR.. William S.
Breckinridge's parishioners were sup
posed to be.
1t was during time of great plenty
In Kentucky. Food at that time was SO
abundant as to be practically without
value. BCt one day this parishioner
came to DR.. Breckenridge and asked
him to write to his family in Ireland.
Among other things he said, Tell
them | have meat twice a week, with
out fail" why. Patrick" said DR..
Breckenridge, you know that is not
the full truth. You know you can
have and do have meat every meal Of
every day instead of only two times n
week. II know that, your honor"
was the prompt reply. but If told
my old father and mother, who rarely
have meat In Ireland more than once
week, that meat was so plentiful IN
America that l could have 1t twenty
one times a week they would not be-
lieve smother word that I might ever
say" Next Thursday, like the pilgrim
! fathers, all can thank God for the bare
necessaries of life. On that day, like
DR.. Breckinridge's parishioner, nearly
all Of Us can thank God for the lux
uries also as well as the necessarics.
We can thank God that under the
shadow Of the American eagles wings
there are this year moro refined and
| cultivated homes, more abundant ia
bles, more beautiful wardrobes, more
well selected libraries, with their food
for the mind, more pianos and musical
Instruments more pictures upon the
walls and more of everything that goes
to make temporal life happy than ever
greeted any Thanksgiving day before.