The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1912-11-22

Gus celebration of the gathering of the
years harvest, a day or week of feast
ing, song, dance and revel, is found
in all ages and among all peoples.
Thanksgiving days are also common
to all religions, past aud present, but,
they were not regular or periodical
eVents-occurring generally after
some victory Of war. THE Purtans
and the Pilgrims brought with them
from England both the Harvest festi-
val and the Thanksgiving days, the
latter being observed whenever the
deeply religious mind Of the Puritan
saw in their prosperity or good for
tune the direct Intervention of Provi-
dence. The Puritan also stripped the
ancient Harvest festival of much of its
rude license that had grown up around
the celebratien-:.n England, and grad
ually" through the two centuries fol-
lowing the settlement of New England,
there grew up the practice of combin-
ing the two events and making the
Thanksgiving annual. The religious
element has been greatly subordinated
as the years passed until at the pres
ent time it is to a majority of Ameri-
cans only an incident that by many is
observed only in the breach.
To the stern old Puritan of almost
three centuries ago, the Thanksgiving
day of 1912 would seem little less than
sacrilege so far as the thanksgiving
feature Of 1t is concerned. But he
would understand and appreciate the
days feasting and revel as a part of
the celebration of the Harvest festi-
val. The difference is apparent in the
records of the early settlement of
America. The first thanksgiving serv-
ice held in North America was OBJ
served with religious ceremonies con-
Quoted by an English minister In the
year 1878 on the shores of Newfound-
land. This clergyman, accompanied
the expedition under Frobisher, who
settled the first English colony in
America. The records of this signifl.
cant day have been preserved in the
quaint rules and regulations of the ex-
petition as follows:
In primus: To Danish swearing
dice and card playing, and filthy COM
munication. and to serve God twice a
day with the ordinary service of the
Church of England. On Monday morn
ing, May 81, 1878, aboard the Ayde,
we received all, the communication by
the minister Of Gravesend, prepared
as good Christians toward God, and
resolute men for all fortunes;
and Master Wolfall made unto us a
goodbye serrson, exhorting all espe-
cially to be thankful to God for His
strange and marvellous deliverance in
those dangerous places"
The second record of a THANKSGIVING
service In America is that of the Pop
ham colony which settled at Sagada.
hoe on the Maine coast in 1907. It
consisted of prayer and sermon as in
the first instance. These were thanks.
giving days pure and simple, and after
the settlement Of Plymouth many 9th.
ers Of a similarly solemn religious ma.
ture occurred.
The first Harvest festival held In
America was upon December 10, 1921.
II has been called, wrongly, the first
autumnal Thanksgiving held in Amer
lea, but 1t was in reality the obsery.
ance Of the Harvest festival. with
which the settlers had been acquaint-
ed In England. It was not day set
apart for religious worship and 1t Is
not likely that any religious service
was held; on the contrary, 1t was the
beginning of a whole week of festiv.
ity in celebration Of the successful
garnering Of their Hrst harvest hi