Year: 1874

ing Day to the worship OF God, and in


formal public manner thanked Him


for the manifold blessings we as peo-


pie have been daily receiving from


His hands. It is we'll to do this; we
as a people. have abundant occasion


"to bless our God and make the voice
OF his praise to he heard" The Lord
has blessed the labors of the husband
man with abundant harvest. The
whole land from ocean to ocean has
poured forth from it's fertile bosom
every variety of product essential to
human comfort and use. The Lord
has blessed us with an abundant land.
But the Lord is merciful whether He
gives or withholds. The Lord has an
Infinite purpose of good to all His
children, and that purpose He keeps
in view in all His dealings with men.
And it is the climax of religion to say
in all conditions of life "Thy will be
DONE" This implies thankfulness for
misfortunes, poverty, sickness, and all
the evils that we are heir to; so we are
taught by theologians of the Nine
teenth Century. We do not, however,
join these enthusiastic admirers of
poverty.


If we examine this subject from the
dictionary Of life we Will better under
stand what the word poverty means.
Want of money to get proper food,
clothing, education, recreation. 1t
means that you cannot give to starv-
ing woman without taking the bread
from your own child. 1t takes
grand mind not to become narrowed
by this continual battle for the neces-
saries oflife. When persons are cold,
hungry, weary and anxious they are
not apt to feel thankful for it. No
person who has felt the full sting of
poverty can honestly thank God for
the sutIerings he indures. They may
honestly thank him for the blessings
that alleviate their trials, but no sane
man can be gratified when he sees his
near ones pale and thin, gathered
around fireless CRATE or an empty
table. Put it to any one; would you not
think man crazy who would thank
God because his parents with aged,
trembling limbs had to work like
galley slaves for a scanty livelihood,
while he in his poverty could barely
keep his own children out of the poor
house. / would turn my back upon
such a hypocrite.


But, on the other hand, what we
call prosperity and usually regard as
the only ground for gratitude may bea
curse rather than q blessing. Our pri- :
vations and struggles, our unrequited
labors and disappointed hopes, our
sufferings and sorrows may be our
greatest blessings and the truest
grounds for thanks, but they are bles-
sings in disguise, and we cannot see
them; therefore, we are not called
upon to be thankful for them. God is
able to make the evils of life praise
Him and we should rejoice that He
has the will and the power to do it;
but we should not be thankful for the
evils. God does not require it, and it
is fanaticism and foolish to talk as
many do on this subject.


AS nation we have enough to
thank God for without thanking Him
for poverty and other evils. Teh years
of unparalleled prosperity which have
been bestowed upon our national his
tory are q source of gratitude to all true
Americans. The history of no nation
furnishes parallel for prosperity and
national greatness in so short time.
A slight review of the past is sufficient
to prove to the thinking part OF the
world that the hand of God has been in


I, ~, IF io rxyf
first discovery to the present moment.
The nations of Europe were sifted to
find noble souls for the first settlement
of this great country which was to be-
come the place of refuge for the OPP
pressed of every land. Like the
woman mentioned in Revelations,
whose man-child was to rule all ma
tions, they fled into this wilderness,
where they might be fed and find
refuge from the blood of falsities, and
that tyranny which strove to control
for it's own selfish ends, not only the
bodies, but the souls of men. The
Puritan and Hugenot fled from home
and the comforts of civilized life, and
severed all the ties of kindred and
country for freedom. All the circum-
stances of the early settlement of the
country were well calculated to train
them for the great work they had
been selected to inaugurate. Theirs
was the school of danger and suffer-
ing They had to protect, govern, and
provide for themselves. Thus through
many years of suffering and labor
they firmly established their power,
They prepared a home for the home.
less and opened an asylum for the OPP
of
and power that wrestled with forest
and savage and every outward circum-
stance, was not content to remain at
ease in the enjoyment OF victory, but
marched on to new cOnquests over
barriers and invisible forces of nature.
These strong men whose sharp eyes
penetrated the secrets Of nature, en-
ticed the falling stream to spin and
weave their garments, to forge their
iron, to shape their wood into forms
adapted TO their use. AS the country
was developed new fields were opened
to attract a new class of enterprising
loborers. Our domain was so large
that canals must be dug and railroads
built. This attracted the legiOns of
cheerful Irishmen. The fertile soil
attrected the frugal German, our
vast mineral wealth induced to our
shores the Welchman, our growing
manufactures the English artizan.
the discovery Of gold in our own State
was too strong an attraction for the
conservatism of the Chinese. AS there


was no other way to bring the barba-
rious African he came as q slave.
Thus through the providences of God,


has all the nations of earth been


brought together in our fair country.


Ihau haua hann drayyn or driven here