The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-11-26

~ 5.sr . r- ~ III
permitted, that no cooking was al
lowed on the Sabbath day and hung
bred other provisions equally absurd
and ridiculous, when as a matter OF
fact no such laws ever appeared upon
the statute books of Connecticut, or
any of the other colonies. These blue
laws existed only in the mind Of one
Samuel Peters, an Episcopalian
clergyman of Connecticut, who was
obliged to flee to England during the
revolutionary war on account of his
tory sympathies. To get even with
the people Of Connecticut he wrote a
book ascribing to them these absurd
practices. The laws of that period
were severe and the punishments rig
orous, but on the whole they were not
unjust and were calculated to pro-
mote the right conduct of the people.
In addition to the other infelicities OF
the period, the colonists were in con-
slant apprehension of danger. Every
home had its. frelock and the men
usually went armed for they lived in
momentary fear of massacre by wild
and b1ood-thirsty savages. What Oc-
casions for gratitude we have for the
age in which we live and the bless
ings with which our pathway is
crowned!
Don't Sigh for Good Old Times.
I 1--WE often hear people signing for
the good old times. If we could go
back to those times. do not believe
that there is single one of us who
would be willing to exchange the
present for the past. The most
the enjoyment OF comforts and con-
veniences of which the most affluent
of our Puritan ancestors never SO
much as dreamed. Macauley says:
1t Is the fashion to place the golden
age of England in times when noble
men were destitute of comforts, the
want Of which would be intolerable
to modern footman, when farmers
and store-keepers breakfasted upon
loaves, the very sight of which would
raise riot in a modem workhouse.'
This statement applies with equal
force to conditions in our own land.
1t is a strange phantasy of the hu'"an
mind, however, to Sup2,so that the
golden age lies in tho rentol5 LIST.
TITS said that distance lend: em,ttlt-
ment and TO may of us It Seems as
if the sun .shone q It'll, moro BRIGHT.
ly. and the SHOWS were little deep
er, and fish in the streams were a
little larger when w. were BOYS than
they are to1av. Another ,lif'':..itv Is
found in the fact that we often for
get present bless 1,s in our uuG SITS
for further objects Of happiness. We
are apt, many times, to think Of the
things which we want and too little
about the blessings which we now
have. The story is told of a southern
planter who in ante-bellum days was
making the rounds of his plantation.
AS he approached cabin he heard
a voice in prayer, and listening as he
drew nigh he heard a poor slave
pouring out his soul in fervent praise
to God for the blessings Of his dis
tressed lot. The planter was deeply
touched and cried out, oh! my God!
I have my thousands and tens of thou
sands, but unworthy wretch that
am, never thank Thee, as this poor
slave does, who scarcely has clothes
to put on. or food to satisfy his hun
GER We, too, have been guilty of
the sin Of ingratitude. May God help
us, in this year Of grace 1916, to
count our many blessings, to con-
slider the many privileges and advan-
tages which we enjoy, and render
suitable thanks to sour Heavenly
Father for bestowing upon us the
same.
while emphasizing the occasion
for thanksgiving by these contrasts
we should not forget the heritage
which our fathers have left us. Re
move not the ancient landmark which
thy fathers have set What are these
landmarks?
The Landmarks Left Us.
"a free church. It was for this
that our forefathers left their ances.
trail homes and braved the perils Of
the stormy deep. AS Greene, the
English historian, says: They were
driven forth from their fatherland.
not by earthly want, or by greed Of
gold, OF by the lust Of adventure, but
by the fear Of God and the zeal Of
Cody worship It was for free som
Of conscience that tho Di'-rir-e rnd