Milford chronicle., 1902-11-28

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. . 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! % re-
ligiOus liberty, before whose shrineS
CromweTs 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
dav morning and to reyerently 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-Ccd O. ershadowed them,
Their shield from every foe,
And gave them here a dwelling place
Two hundred years ago.
The Lesson of the Pilgrims.
NV friend there ought to be 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 a big bank account nor enough
money to keep you in ease if you
! ceased TO work; but, like the pilgrim
fathers Of old, on this Thanksgiving
! day of 1902 you can thank God that
| you have 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 a time
were compelled to live upon fish alone
| yet William Brewster used to gather
his children about his table and uttel
deyout grace. With nothing bu
clans and oysters for breakfast din
ner and tea month in and month out
William Brewster used to thank Got
that they were permitted to enjoy tn
abundance of the sea and the treasure
hid in the sand"
But, although few of us may than
: | God merely for the bare necessaries
\ most of us can thank him next Thurs
: day morning for the luXuries as wei
4 Our national prosperity was never a
great as today. If we were to eros
the seas and recount to the inhabitant
- of any other land all the temper;
= blessings with which we are SURROUND
: cd, those foreign inhabitants would NJ
! believe the Utopian stories we woul
tell them. They would be as skeptic
=. about our Munchausen-like tales as IL
u. relatives Of one of Dr. William
.. Breckinridge's parishioners were su
70 posed to be.
s. 1t was during a time of great plen
A. in Kentucky. Food at that time was
of abundant as to be practically witho
lg value. But one day this parishion
it, came to DR.. Breckinridge and ask
ee him to write to his family in Irelau
nd Among other things he said, ct
,r. them l have meat twice a week, wit
on out fail" why, Patrick" said
nd Breckenridge, you know that is 1
h. the full truth. You know you c
VS. have and do have meat every meal
tn every day instead of only two times
re week" 81 know that, your homo
sh was the prompt reply, but if 1 t
my old father and mother, who rar,
have meat in Ireland more than OF
yvs a week, that meat was so plentiful
nd America that I could have it TWEEN
NC one times a week they would not
nv lieve another word that l might e
cir gay" Next Thursday like the pilgl
of fathers, all can thank God for the b
vn necessaries Of life On that day, !
DR.. Breckinridge's parishioner, nea
re- all Of us can thank God for the l
nov uries also as well as the necessar
,eir We can thank God that under
wn shadow Of the American eagles wi
on there are this year more refined
1vn cultivated homes, more abundant
md bIes, more beautiful wardrobes, n
row.
~ well selected libraries, with their
-iii for the mind, more pianos and mus
Instruments, more pictures upon
0i, walls and more of everything that G
,.i. to make temporal life happy than {
~ greeted any Thanksgiving day Def
,Oln Thanksgiving day is 4 harvest da!
ne ne day for recounting your temporal
- we'll as your spiritual blessings.
~ q time for thanking God for a full
board as well as for Il church altar.
pas The Freedom From Sin.
ei1 The pilgrim fathers rejOiced bee;
~ they had removed their children f
y '%i the sinful temptations of for
ma land They themselves were men
" women of sterling and unimpeach
ious integrity. They We're just as wi
-oiil, to lay down their lives as martyrs
uleo Jesus Christ, in Leyden in 1920
were their three fellow tOwnsmen,
Guns ~ Barrows, John Greenwood and ,
tnat Penny, who, in 1893, laid down
urs' lives in England; but, though the
lne grim fathers might be ready to di'
one Christ, their undeveloped children
SICK account probably of the influenc
J. yer their foreign surroundings, were NJ
u OIL ways of the same mind. Their
hoI and daughters sometimes drifted {
u 10 from the principles of their fat
ernor They not only fell into The sinful Ii
were of this European city, but they ma
Ould. the sons and the daughters of tho
lantS eigners. They enlisted in the TO
md navies and went forth as free lane
Con- the foreign wars, and it was in
ILL to to save their own flesh and blood
repre- the sinful contact of the ''uncil
Ot eX- cised Philistines," as well as fol
made gious liberty, that the pilgrim ia
) first turned their backs upon the lal
igiOus their adoption and the homes of
igiOus friends. Shall we not, then, OF
eping Thanksgiving day of 1902 be tina
e liv- that we can rear our children in {
igious whose silver dollar is stamped
j.. they the suggestive motto, 'In Coo
lie the TrustT' Taking our little chill
their faces between our two hands anC
d had ing lovingly and earnestly int
t eyes depths of their pure eyes, can '
fellow be thankful that both we and tn
s,, GIufcffor, oornv1rrnifinc