THANKSGIVING SERMON AT PREBLE, N. Y.

Old Congregational Church, Preble, N. Y.

The Cortland Democrat, Friday, December 14, 1894.

THANKSGIVING SERMON.

Delivered by Rev. George MacDonald at Preble, N. Y., Thursday, Nov. 29, 1894.

   Prov. 14. 34.—Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.

   Ps. 33. 12.—Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.

   All nations have a history. An undying record of their existence stands prominently before the world.

   Thousands of men have lived and died of whose lives the world have no record; their deeds are unwritten, their names are forgotten, their memory and their love are lost, their hatred is buried in the dust.

   It is not so with nations, they cannot sink unto forgetfulness. If the annals of their history has been written in blood, and the pages stained with crime, so they must remain. God's terse and emphatic language, to any who would dare to change the record is, what is written, is written. Not only does the history of each nation belong rightfully to itself, but also to God, and he spreads it when it is needful, before the eyes of some other nation, that it may read, ponder and profit by the example given, either by avoiding its vices, or imitating its virtues.

   Any sinful nation resolving to remain such, by taking the past as an index to the future, may read its future destiny in characters as plain as those traced by the mysterious fingers upon the walls of the King of Babylon's Palace. Which upon being interpreted read, "God Hath Numbered thy Kingdom and Finished it." The doom and history of every sinful nation has been a fulfillment of the words of the Prophet, who has said: "The nation and kingdom that will not serve thee, shall perish, yea, those nations shall be truly wasted." In this way God has been pleased to spread out page after page, that men might read and learn wisdom. Nor has this lesson been given in vain, for some of the nations have taken the warning given. And like ancient Nineveth turned away from their wickedness, and by timely repentance averted the wrath and escaped the curse which certainly would have come to them, had they not repented and turned from their idols, and their evil ways.

   Among all civilized people, and even by all semi-civilized nations, it is now conceded that the Almighty sways the kingdoms of the earth, that He controls and presides over the destinies of all nations.

   In the various modes of government we see men taking a prominent part. Some occupy high official positions, some are diplomats, some warriors. Upon the signature of a Lincoln the liberty of millions of downtrodden slaves may seem to depend. And on the arm of a Grant, the welfare and destiny of a nation may appear to hang. But these men after all are only agents, mere wheels in the great moral machinery. Behind all human means, behind these men, there is a Divine power, behind all that is visible, there is an all powerful hand that governs all things.

   God himself is upon the throne of the universe and man, fully executing the freedom of His will fulfills His manifold purposes.

   As loyal citizens of this great country and desirous of promoting its best interests, it is our imperative duty to look back and scan with careful eye, Gods Providential dealings with the nations of the earth, that we may be enabled to learn therefrom some lesson. And if we do study the history of the nations we will find in every case, that according to our text, the nations that did justly and righteously God exalted, while those who were sinful became a reproach and were destroyed. Our text declares that righteousness exalteth a nation. I think we may then safely accept this as a general truth, that good men, righteous men, that is just men, in all ages have been the true strength, the real preservers of the nation in which they lived, averting frequently great disasters, and restoring strength and blessings, when, but for their presence, the nation would certainly have perished.

   We have a remarkable instance of this truth presented to us in the case of Sodom. We are informed by the sacred record that the people of Sodom were very wicked. Set so firmly in their evil courses, and so defiant in their wickedness against God, the Almighty wearied by their continued wickedness utterly destroyed them. But before doing it he afforded them graciously an opportunity to save themselves. So righteous Abraham, who pleaded for the city, and finally asked God, if he would spare it even if ten righteous men could be found in it. God said, I will not destroy it for ten sake.

   Judging by this fact we can safely come to the conclusion, that righteousness is not only the chief factor in the prosperity and moral progress, but in the safety and welfare and continuance of any city or nation. And in order to give this subject a practical character, we will inquire, what constitutes the righteousness spoken of in the text, that which exalteth a nation.

   Men to be righteous in the sense of the text must not only be honest and truthful, but patriotic. With all their religious, with all their moral, with all their political force, they must array themselves against the prevailing sins which surround them, whether they be social or national sins. Whether they be dishonesty, covetousness, profanity, Sabbath breaking, licentiousness, election fraud, bribery or any other of the numerous sins. At times there is a deep obligation, when wickedness of any particular description seems rampant upon every moral man, and especially every Christian man, to bring to the front his good qualities into braver and more prominent use. Instead of looking upon the prevalence of wickedness as a good cause for [flinching] for compromise, for cowardice, he should deem it as a call for greater firmness of his principles, for greater exertion on his part to stamp out the evil.

   In the times in which we live no sane person would attempt to deny that iniquity does prevail; there is not a sin known to the devil which is not more or less prevalent, while some of them must thrust themselves before us in all their impurity and rankness. Fraud and dishonesty are prevalent, embezzlements, and swindling are the order of the day, and are become so common that they hardly cause a remark. Because of swearing, the land mourns. God's Sabbath's are profaned, his churches are poorly attended, his ordinances despised. Intemperance like a demon walks through the earth, while the cry of murder is heard every day and every night the gleam of the incendiary torch is seen, the wicked plotteth against the just, they lie in wait to deceive, the wicked watcheth the righteous and seeketh to slay them, his mouth is full of cursing and deceit, and fraud, mischief and vanity are under his tongue.

   If then we would be numbered with the righteous in the land, we should in the midst of such wickedness refuse to keep company with vile men, and should ever be ready not only to present the example of a pure life and spotless character, but to oppose with a brave heart and manly spirit, whatever threatens the public welfare. Listen to the teachings of God's word, about this: "Abstain from all appearance of evil, be not partakers of other men's sins. Have no fellowship with unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them; cleanse yourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." You cannot fail to notice that all these passages of scripture have one aim, and that is purity.

   Purity of heart, a purity that maintains a higher standard of right than mere commercial honesty, that is more noble-minded than the cold every day courtesies of life, purity which comes out in every day life, hallowing each deed. A purity, so to speak, issuing from the man in daily life, so that the world starts back from him, and knows at a glance that he has been with Jesus. It is to exercise and maintain this spotless purity and unflinching honesty, that we are called not as members of the church of Christ, but as citizens of a free and noble country. And he who winks at the iniquities which are now like a horned incubus weighing down this nation, and by the use of his vote and political influence impedes the progress and moral improvement of the nation, is not worthy of the blessings of American citizenship and should be deemed a traitor to the flag which gives him its protection.

   Time will not permit me to enumerate the many sins prevalent in our land; some of which walk abroad with brazen face, without a blush, and others equally as dangerous which are insidiously winking [sic] their way in upon us, and which if not met with a bold front and tenaciously resisted will in a little time control every rank of society.

   I wish to direct your special attention to two of those evils which are already casting a dark shadow over our country.

   First, Sabbath breaking; with us this has become a vital question, in fact it has always been a vital question with every nation, if they had but known it. Of Israel God said, "They polluted my Sabbaths, then I said I would pour my fury upon them to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness."

   Again Nehemiah says, "When I contended with the nobles of Sudah, and said unto them, what evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the Sabbath day? Did not your Father's thus, and did not God bring all this evil upon us and upon this city, yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath."

   God has not abolished the commandment—"Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," and He never will. How rapidly the sin of Sabbath breaking is making headway in our land. On the Sabbath day, business, travel and traffic are constantly increasing. It is fast becoming the reproach of our nation. And if the Christian men and women of our country do not rise up in the name of the Lord, and come to the rescue, this sin may cause God's anger to burn against our land, until it be destroyed by its own wickedness.

   A nation may possibly for awhile ignore God's claim to His holy day. Like Israel of old, disregard it; like France vote the Sabbath away, and flaunt the flag of defiance before the Almighty's face. But sooner or later that nation God will destroy. So let us take warning in time and beware. Why are we so foolish, why do we do deliberately that which the history of the past assures us will hinder the prosperity of the nation? What is there that will so surely and permanently establish a nation and exalt it, as a strict and holy observance of God's Sabbath?

   Hear what the Divine voice says, "If thou turn thy foot away from the Sabbath from doing thy pleasure on my holy days, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, Honorable, and shall honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words. Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord, and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy Father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it."

   Second—The evil of intemperance. Unspeakably sad are the facts, that the saloons of the United States send 80,000 young men annually down unto drunkard's graves, and that they afflict more families and slay more persons than war and pestilence; that they are the chief causes of pauperism, crime and insanity, that they are the law breakers in every community, the resorts where crimes of every sort centers, that they are dens of profanity, lewdness and ungodliness, that they are open enemies of the church of Christ and of almost every effort to improve the moral and spiritual condition of men, that they fill thousands of homes with poverty, brawling violence and long continued anguish are facts that cannot be denied. Intemperance is a question of vital importance. No nation can long disregard it and live. It is not only a reproach to the nation that allows it to exist, but a poisonous viper in its bosom, that will sting it to death, a burning sirocco that will blast and wither everything that is fair and beautiful. Drunkenness has been looked upon by some as a social evil, and as such must be controlled or removed, if removed at all by some kind of social or moral influence.

   If this assertion is correct then surely it is an evil that touches society and lays its claims for help upon every man, woman and child in our land. But my friends, has it not already passed beyond this narrow limit, has it not grown so great, that society is powerless to control it? Society by its own confession being powerless, it becomes the duty of the nation to grapple with this giant evil, and the final issue must be decided by our ballots. And if we would have a share in the honor of removing this accursed evil and burning reproach, which will if not removed sap the very foundations of our republic, if we would be moved by the cries of pleading humanity, by the entreaties of the supplicating inebriates, by the woes of the widow, the wail of the fatherless children and the cry of despair which is ringing like a death knell through all our land, then let us rise up in our strength, and courage and duty, and thus by our own righteousness as a people rid our country of this vile reproach, and exalt it in this respect above all the nations of the earth.

   I am not an alarmist, I am not all the time deploring the degeneracy of the times and the looseness, weakness and want of backbone of our government. I know that wickedness prevails to a fearful extent, but I trust that the leaven cast into society and into our politics by the good and the true in the community will leaven the whole. There are in all parties, political schemers and unprincipled windbags, loud mouthed demagogues, who are mean enough to do anything that will lift them into the office, or in any way secure their personal aggrandizement. Judases, who would sell their vote, their country, their party for even less than thirty pieces of silver.

   But thank God they are not all such. We have in our political parties men who are good and true. Men into whose hands we would no more dare to place a bribe, than we would dare to place a rattle-snake in their bosom, there are men who would say as Henry Clay once remarked "I would rather be right than be president." We sadly need more men of this type, men in whose hearts there flows a noble and lofty ambition to live such pure and holy lives, that they indeed may be preservers of our nation. We want men like Moses, who choose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Men like the three Hebrew children, who rather than bow down and worship the God which was set up on the plain of Dura, choose to be cast into the fiery furnace. We want such men as Daniel, who in defiance of the decree declaring that the first man, who prayed to God, should be cast into the lion's den, went to the window facing towards his enemies and falling upon his knees prayed to his God as he used to do. We want men who when bribes are presented or when persecution rages, when mobs surround them, and stripes and prisons awaits them, when wicked men threaten with rack and chain, will say as did Paul, "None of these things move me." Let us have such men as these in every community, and there will be no limit to the growth, no bounds to the moral strength, and religious power of our nation.

   With such righteousness it will go on and on, in greatness rising higher and higher in virtue and goodness until the angel of liberty arm in arm with the angel of religion shall ascend the skies, and announce that "America, has all been given up for Christ." While other angels further on, catching the glad news, will shout to worlds beyond, "America, America, with all her sons and daughters, America, the north and the south, the east and the west, has all become the Lord's."

   It's well for us to remember that it is by us as individual citizens that this great nation is made up. And it is true that the stream cannot rise above its level. So that a nation can't be anything but what its citizens make it. If then we would have our nation honest, we must as citizens be honest, if we would have it righteous, we as private citizens must be righteous. It is folly to talk of making a good government, a righteous nation out of a corrupt people. As well try to make an active, pious, aggressive, influential church out of drones, and unconverted men and women as a strong nation out of evil and immoral citizens.

   Being righteous does not consist merely in being patriotic, active in political campaigns and on election days, not in shouting loudly for favorite candidates and doing our duty at the polls, though that is highly important; nor does it consist in attending church services, nor in having our names on the church roll, nor in performing all the external forms of religion. It is true it embraces all these for no community can be righteous of which a large proportion neglect attendance on public worship. But it includes more than these, we show our righteousness by living and acting it every day. Show it by honoring God's day, by honoring the means of Grace, by being active in all good works, by being kind, generous, sympathetic, free from all malice, jealousy, bigotry and sectarian narrowness, and above all abounding in faith in God, as our great ruler.

   Faith in the Holy Spirit to awaken and enlighten men, faith in the Lord Jesus as the Redeemer of mankind, as the only sanctifier of men, and as the only Saviour of the world.

   Let us consider for a short time the latter verse of our text, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." Can we as a people claim this promise? Are we sure that the Lord is our God? As individuals I fear that we have allowed other gods besides the Lord to have dominion over us; we have also bowed at earthly shrines, and have great reason to confess our sins before the Most High. But as a nation we have never recognized any other as our God than the Lord of Hosts, the great and merciful Jehovah, maker of Heaven and earth. Upon our currency we have the superscription "In God we trust." And if it be so that as an nation we have made the Lord our God, is it not our right to claim His continued blessing upon us, and his abiding presence with us? Consider how He has watched over our country and protected it from the wrath of its foes. He hath rebuked kings for its sake, we may truly say.

   He hath not so dealt with any nation. Its growth hath been so rapid and healthy, our government so mild, our education so liberal and our religion so free, that other nations have been impressed, have been awakened from their long slumber of ignorance, aroused from their mental and moral bondage, and are now calling for freedom and equality. The spirit and genius of American liberty has crossed the oceans, climbed the mountains and infused itself into the life blood of Europe and Asia. As American citizens, let us try to realize our duties and privileges. Let our sympathies and our plans of evangelization be as broad as the country for which we act as deep as the interests of our race; let us make our nation so pure, so grand and so bright, that its light shall shine all over the earth. Let us keep the bible and the cross, and our own constitution before us, and our march will be onward and upward in the great highway of political purity, of social elevation and religious progress.

   Let the church of God awake to a right sense of her responsibility, let the ambassadors of Christ be zealous and faithful, let Christian laymen be active and aggressive, and it will not be long until rivers of blessings shall flow over all our hills, prairies and plains, touching every heart and home, and songs of salvation echoing from hill to mountain, and sweeping up in full chorus through the Heavens glad notes even to the throne of God.

   Fellow citizens, you have good reason to be proud of the land of your birth. It has its faults it is true, but who cannot from the fullness of his heart say, "with all thy faults I love thee still?" We glory in our country's good name, we rejoice in its prosperity and in the assurance of its perpetuity. For more than a century it has stood bravely the world's strong tide of opposition. Kings have sneered, statesmen have predicted its dissolution and overthrow. But still amid storms and abuse, amid political commotions and financial panics it has stood unmoved and unharmed even by the fiery ordeal of war. Instead of tottering and falling and finding a grave as was so often predicted, among other republics it stands to-day majestic in its strength. True, its garments have been stained with its own best blood and is now holding in its bosom tenderly as a mother thousands of its own sons, and of those of foreign blood, who gave their lives for its sake. But the sword has been sheathed, and the angel smiles alike upon the orange groves of the sunny south, and the cold hills of the north. This nation once so small and feeble has been exalted.

   It stands now like a queen among the nations of the earth, its brow radiant with the light of a nation glory.

   "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." Amen.

Protective Police Election.

   At the regular annual election of officers of the Protective Police the following were elected for the ensuing year:

Captain—B. R. Carpenter.

Lieutenant—W. E. Powers.

Sergeant—W. H. Morgan.

President—S. J. Sornberger.

Vice-President—H. M. Kellogg.

Secretary—J. A. Jayne.

Treasurer—C. P. Walrad.

Representative on the board of engineers.—A. Sager.

Representative to the state convention—J. A. Jayne.

Alternate—R. J. Lucas.

Representative to the Central New York Fireman's convention—H. L. Gleason.

Alternate—G. W. Davenport.

Chaplain—Rev. L. H. Pearce, D. D.

   [Protective Police served with the Cortland Fire Department—CC editor.]

NEIGHBORING COUNTIES.

   CHENANGO —Chenango supervisors condemn the new poor house and report that the inmates are in a filthy condition.

   The citizens of Oxford have agreed to contribute $6,720 towards the expense of erecting the new soldiers' home.

   Postmaster Jones of Norwich has appointed Frank H. Grant to succeed Calvin C. Brooks as Deputy Postmaster. The appointment will take effect about January 1.

   Monday night fire was discovered under the floor of the press room in the Norwich Sun office, caught from the heating apparatus. It was blazing along the stringers when the boys discovered it, who took prompt measures, with the assistance of a garden hose to extinguish the flames, in which they were successful after a lively fight.

   MADISON—The market for Canastota celery has been brisk of late.

   J. W. Warner, A. S. Whitman and J. F. Aldrich of Oneida, have organized and are principal stockholders in the Columbia Pneumatic Wagon Wheel company. They will manufacture pneumatic wheels for wagons.

   B. B. Mareness, a carpenter residing in the village of Madison and well known in that vicinity, committed suicide Friday forenoon at his home in that place, by shooting himself through the head with a revolver. Despondency caused by financial troubles and failing health is ascribed as a reason. He was sixty-two years of age and leaves a wife and daughter.

   Christopher Burdick, aged 22 years, whose home is in Canastota, and who was recently arrested for desertion from the United States Army, has been sentenced to penal servitude for two and a half years at Fort Leavenworth. Burdick was a private in company G, Ninth Infantry, and absconded at about the time it was decided to abandon Fort Ontario. He was taken to Governor's Island in New York harbor, Saturday, whence he with other deserters, will be transported west.

   TOMPKINS—Revival meetings are in progress at Varna.

   There are said to be no unoccupied stores at Ithaca.

   The notorious chlorine case has cost Tompkins County $5,000 [and one life—CC editor].

   The Supervisors have voted to expend $110 in repairing the county jail.

   The old Dryden orchestra has been reorganized and is now known as the Imperial Orchestra.

   A consignment of new books is being put upon the shelves of the Southworth Library, Dryden.

   A stone crusher is another addition to the manufacturing interests of the Groton Bridge & Manufacturing Co.

   Ithaca's Society for the Prevention of Crime had during the month of November one hundred and sixty-six items of business.

   The second section of Lehigh Valley train No. 2 on Sunday carried 250 passengers who were bound from the west to Europe. They all had their steamer tickets and were ready to embark upon reaching New York.

   Messrs Hoagland & Lacey, proprietors of the Tompkins House, Ithaca, have dissolved partnership, Mr Lacey retiring. He is succeeded by Mr. A. B. Stamp, the new firm being Stamp & Hoagland. Mr. Stamp was for a period of twenty-one years proprietor of the house, retiring some time ago in favor of Mr. Hoagland, who formed the partnership with Mr. Lacey about two years ago.

HERE AND THERE.

   All the stores in town are making fine displays of Christmas goods.

   The H. M. Whitney Co. have just put in a sprinkler system in their wagon factory.

   The Cortland Wagon Co. have made arrangements to handle bicycles on a large scale.

   The Howard Stock Co. are playing all the week in the Opera House to fair audiences.

   Mr. W. S. Freer will give a holiday party at his hall in Higginsville on Friday evening, Dec. 28th, 1894. Music by McDermott's orchestra, Full bill $1.25.

   Prof. Bardwell will give his interesting entertainment of the "World's Fair" views at the brick block at the corner of Elm and Pomeroy-sts. on Tuesday evening, Dec. 18. The proceeds of this entertainment will be used for the East-side Reading room.

   P. C. Kingsbury, the dry goods merchant of Homer, has a new advertisement in another column.

   The Cortland Omnibus & Cab Co. have finished the two closed cars which they have been building for the Cortland and Homer Traction Co. They are very handsome. The cars will be heated by electricity. The two open cars will be complete in a few days.

   The Standard says the Motor Cycle company will build a mile out-door track in this village next summer and have offered the following prizes to the persons making the fastest miles; First prize 1,000 cash, second prize $500, third prize $100. The races will be held Nov. 1, 1895. Other races will be held at the same time.