Year: 1873

ing as to expecta civil government
be perfect when the men who form
! are imperfect. A state is man in


collective sense. A government mu


necessarily express all the passion


and frailties of human nature becau'


it is made of men. Our governmer


with all of its abuses is about as goo,


if not better, than any in the worlc


Where will you go to find more civ


and religious privileges2 We hay
this TO say, when you start off in


huff to Brazil or Honduras, we loo


for your speedy returnl Men who g


about complaining against the local.


ties i'll which they live are not general


ly provident or energetic. Believe me


You are the best housed, the bes


clothed and the best fed people on tn


globe. The lilies of the field NOR


magnifcently clothed than Solomon il
all his glory, were not arrayed like on
of these (pointing to the ladies' NJ,
| friends, you do not seem to realize you
gorgeous ease. Even the paupers il
this blessed land of ours are fat. Com
pare your condition with that of other,
the miserable serfs, though liberated
and poor peasants of Europe. Are
you aware that America has no peas
ants? 1t may be, that we have drank
nectar until it has palled to the taste
Hear me! God will bring you into
judgment for your ingratitude.


We would not make wrong impress
sion even in favor of this delectable
land. True, the soil is fertile, the
winds are propitious and the people are
rich, but there is violence even in the
presence of plenty and freedom. The
enemies of God and religion are named
Legion. Our public prints are teem-
ing with horrible tragedies desperate
men and women are every day destroy
ing their own lives. These horrors
are not the result of stint or poverty,
but are the natural creatures of idle
ness, intemperance and false ideas of
life.


There is mythical character called
Hard Times, who has been living as
far back as the oldest inhabitant can
recollect in the imagination of the
people. There has been no famine the
ground has brought forth plentifully,
man and beast have been provided
with all the necessaries of life, and yet
the name of this despot, Hard Times,
has been on every lip. Perhaps there
may be some trouble arising from a
want of confidence between men, which
trouble, am sorry to say, has been
growing since the late war, and which
| trust may be corrected by wholesome
legislation. But to return to our char
acter. Our American Hard Times is
a most eccentric anomaly. What
think you of Hard Times, dressed in
cloth, living in a palatial mansion,
sitting in a rocking chair with his feet
in "a rug and eating three meals day?
Really if our Hard Times should visit
verty-stricken Asia the very Kings
would throw down their crowns to do
him honor.


In large commercial country like
this there must be financial spasms
occasionally. Reckless men and cor
porations will engage in reckless specu-
lations; but [ am confident that as long
as men work at the bench and in the
field that this will be a land of
plenty.


You have been especially blessed
during the past year. The blood of
exemption has been sprinkled on the
lintels of your doors. Pestilence,
which has Stayed thousands of our
countrymen has not tarried at your
hearth. But how can you be thank
ful, my friends, unless you possess that
source of thankfulness-a Christian
heart? We must first show our ap-
probation of the Pearl of great price
before we can express any genuine
gratitude for these minor blessings.
There is a spontaneous thanksgiving
after the heart has been spiritually fer
tilted by faith and love.