The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-11-19
STERN THOUGHTS
 OF FOREFATHERS
 RECALLED BY DAY
Pastor Relates Some of the Things for Which We Should Be Thankful at
 This Season

Somehow the suggestion of Thanksgiving brings up thoughts of that stern people who several cen turies ago settled the northeastern section of this good land of ours, gave us the gracious Thanksgiving GUS tom, and set for us many noble exam ples which will ever remain an in spiration to all good Americans"
 The speaker was the Rev. pr. j. R. Hobbs. pastor of tho First Baptist church. beloved by his large member ship, and respected by the community at large, because of his splendid at tainments and the great work he has done for his church during his resi- dence in Birmingham.
 Thanksgiving is an ever beautiful subject. always justifying the procla nation of the chief executive of the United States of America in setting it aside as a joyful, sacred. beautiful day on which to renew our thanks flor the manifold blessings we have enjoyed.
 Feasting and prayer, the out-of- doors and the open sky, make up the joyous season of Thanksgiving; the national bird, the turkey. aboundlng over the land for us to feast upon, and no beggars should be afoot on that day with peace and plenty reign ing in this great and glorious coun- try of ours.
 There should be no beggars. no road buns"
 Kipling's pretty remark about the man stealing ride on the blind bag gage should be passed on: Hes no tramp; he's a gentleman in disguise"
 The last one of us might for to- day at least allow ourselves to be en- veloped in far-reachinG and extrava- gant charity to those less fortunate than ourselves, and if such a one passes our door on that day let us give him cause for thanksgiving, whether he deserves it or not. 1 The Pilgrim Fathers
 With this Idea in view-of a pro- found feeling of thanksgiving. Dr. Hobbs recalls that our pilgrim fath- CTS who set us the pioneer example were stern people. He says:
 "They had set themselves to the stern business of building homes in an inhospitable land where man and land and weather were their enemies. But they were religious people and were just as stern in practicing the rigid rules of their religion as they were deliberate and determined in carving out country for themselves and their children. Had they been softer men of softer ideals and less inclined to rigid observance of what they believed to be right they would never have won out against the odds that fought against them.
 "In the thinking of American peo- pie there is always an intimate con neetion between these early pilgrim settlers of the national custom of thanksgiving. Perhaps 1t is so be- cause of art. Most of us are familiar with certain pictures of those peoples and days. These pictures may not have been the work of masters: in deed we may not even know who first painted them, but the scenes they de- piet are made by them forever fa- miliar to us. There Is one I remem- Der where the few devoted people are on the-way to the little house of wor- ship. The snow lies deep upon the ground. The landscape Is bleak and unbroken but for the humble meeting house and the little band of pilgrims in the foreground. The women lead the children by the hands while the men with stern countenances and alert carry their arms to ward off any possible foe. whether man or beast. To worship under such condi- tions requires red blood and stern virtue indeed.
 .Then who has not read in our lit- erature of the Thanksgfvings of those early days. Some writer has so de- plcted the scene about the great roaring log fire where the simple meal is being prepared and where prayers of thanksgiving are soon to be said, and as we have read we have lost ourselves In the fine spirit of that far-off occasion and have been led to thank God for the people who first inaugurated the custom of giv- ing thanks at stated season of the year to the God who gave us our country.
 Their Worth To Our Country
 Among the many things for which we should be thankful are these Pilgrim fathers. We can never know how much they were worth to this country. Their stern virtues, their stern religion, their rigid and un- icompromising views on all moral
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