The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1919-01-31
prosperity, the welfare Of nations and
all depend on the proper cultivation

prompts the human heart 10 recog-
nize facors and benefits and chal-
lehges acts Of acknowledgment . 1t
influences the human soul to the.
performance of kind and benevolent
deeds. Enkindled by parental love.
in the child's disposition, gratitude,
produces the hearty attachment IN
the home, rivets the domestic ties
closely together in the bonds of mu-
tual affection. Gratitude checks ego
tism and ~silences self interest. 1t
awakens cordial feelings and gives
rise to sociability and close friend
ship. 1t stimulates warm regard for
the wants and needs of a fellow crea-
ture and nourishes and refines all
social intercourse and relation. 1t
is gratitude that creates the chiva1-
ous spirit of patriotism. 1t is the
feeling of gratitude that makes US
love and serve our country. It Is
this feeling that urges us to sacrifice
our personal wishes to public good
10 promote our %country's welfare.
Just as the blood in the human
heart circulates through the veins and
arteries OF the body. permeates the
vascular system, nourishes and IN
,igorates the cells and fibres and
distributes the necessary ingredients
of iitality throughout the corporal
organism. so the vital sap of graft
tude pulsates in the great emotional
network of the soul, pervading the
r.h3,c @hc-e cf -cr'or5 reelection ccd
mo,ei ccgita1ior~. STRENGTHENING the
good resolutions for benevolent &C
tons, and contributing the most. es-
sential requirements to the general
welfare and the advance of civiliza-
ton.
These reflections should suffice to
show that gratitude is indispensable,
an inherent beauty of mans charac-
ter Solemn thanksgiving to the Di-
vine our Of goodness, the express
sion of gratitude and the acknowledge
ment Of favOrs obtained are as old
as the world itself. 1t has preponder-
ated among the religious institutions
as the natural response of the heart,
and there is no epoch. no period; no
age in which Thanksgiving is I'M
known.
In this great country, therefore, in
which no ecclesiastical authority. no
established church exists, our express
sion Of gratitude is the spontaneous
outburst of our hearts. We recog-
nize God, in humble alteration, the
Father of all. and acknowledge by
grateful thanksgiving. that he has
opened to us the treasures of His
mercies and blessings. The grateful
citizens of the United States. nler,
women and children, of all religious
denominations and confessions. attend
their respective places of worship
and give vent to their than full hearts
for the great blessings bestowed up
on them. What a happy people we
Ere. There is no spot in the world
Waere its residents enjoy greater bless
lngs. more rational liberty, more
abundant prosperity or have better
prospects for the day to come. Our
knows no master except
God and His laws, and is. therefore
free. For true freedom consists in
the observance Of the law. Con-
the vice-regent of God in
our hearts. tells US that our religion
Is true if we rejoice in doing Gods
will as free agents. And truly, re-
iigious liberty, the absolute separa-
ton of church and state, has become
more fully realized in America than
in any other land. Here the church
does not NEEDLE with politics nor
the government with religion. Not
in Indifference, however. to religious
convictions. our nation m~anifests it.
self. but in the we'll understood and
we'll applied principle of freedom and
equality, of moral as we'll as political
In all countries where the
church is made a political engine
religion has lost her sacred character.
Religion in it's purity means fear of
God and no fear of man. 1t is a
great detrinent to religion to be
controlled, directed, favored or re-
strained by police surveillance. It is
for this reason that the President.
the governors, the congress at Wash
ington and the state legislatures have
as such nothing to do with the church.