IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) / V/ 5? ik< ^ %• & m^ 1.0 LI 125 t^ ||j|28 1 2.5 c: til |||j|2.2 ■ ^ IIIIM mm 1.4 il.6 p^ <^ /a A ^>M #? c?^ >^ r Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY 14580 (716) 872-4503 CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Ca ladian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut canadien de microreproductions historiques Technical and Bibliographic Notes/ Notes techniques et bibliographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming Features o! this copy which may bo bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which ma\ significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked beiuw. L'Institut a microfilme le meilleur exemplaira q-j'il lui a ete possible de se procurer Les details de cet axemplaire qui sont peutetre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite. ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la m^thode normale de filmage sont indiqu^s ci-dessous. Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur Covers damaged/ Couverture endommagee D D Coloured pages/ Pages da couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommagees Q n n Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaur^e et/ou pelliculae Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque Coloured maps/ Cartes g^ographiques en couleur Coloured ink lis. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noirel Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ ReliA avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ Lareliure serree peut causer de Tombrs ou de la distorsion le long da la marga interiaure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certamea pages blanches ajout^es lors dune restauration apparaissent dans le texta, mais, lorsque ceia ^tait possible, ces pages n'ont pas iti film^es. E □ n D D D Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages restaurees et/ou pelliculees Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages decolorees, tachetees ou piquees Pages detached/ Pages detachees Showthrough/ Transparence Quality of print varies/ Qualite indgale de I'impression Includes supplementary material/ Comprend du matdriel supplementair>i Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, ti!i:;ues. etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Las pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillat d'errata. une pelure, etc.. cnt 6t6 fi!m6es ^ nouveau de facon a obtenir la meilleure image possible D Additional comments:/ Commentqires suoplementaires This Item is filmed a: the reduction ratio checked beiow/ Ce document est filme au taux de reduction indique ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 12X 26X 30X ! ' ! ! ! 1 1 J 1 1 i 16X 20X 24 X 28X 32X The copy filmed hare has bean reproduced thanks to the generosity of: University of British Columbia Library L'exemplaire filmlt fut reproduit grAce A la gAnArositA de: University of British Columbia Library The images appearing here are the best quelity possible considering the condit'on and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. Le* images suivantes ont iti reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettetA da l'exemplaire filmA, et en conformity nvec les conditions du contrat de filmage Origmal copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the beck cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first pege with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. Les exempleires originaux dont la couvorture en papier est imprimte sont filmAs en commenpant par le premier piat et en terminant soit par la derniAre page oui comporto une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second plat, salon le cas. Tous les autres ex^mplaires originaux sont filmAs an commanqent par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la derniAre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol — ^ (meaning "CON- TINUED "), or the symbol V (meaning 'END '), whichever applies. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la derniAre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — »■ signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc.. peuvent Atre filmAs it des taux da rMuction diff^rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clichA. il est filmA A partir de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombra d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrant la m^thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 -M T4 Tfa ■HiiH Thanksgiving; its Natu»*e, and Fonns of Expression: A TRIBUTB AND KKVIEW. j i DELIVERED AT DftUMMONDVILL«, ONTARIO, f «-rt NOVKMBEK, I "«r • ■ ' ■■ 1 BEING THANK80IVING DAY THROUGHOUT THE DOMINION, | BY ROBERT THOMSON, LL.D., THK oaOLOOICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBUBGH; FELLOW OP THE A MA - 1>IAN IN8TITOTE, TOBONTO. ETC.; M1NI8TEB OF CHIPPAWVAvn DRUMMoNnVFLLE PRKRBYTBKIAJf CHUBCH OF CANADA. 'Os ivf^tvofAfvwv Trdvrm' 7} KaroiKia iv onL Sept. Siout tetaatimn omnium habitatio est ia t©.— VrL«/TE All lay springe are in Thee.- Ps. Ixxxvii., 7. ..-■k^ TORONTO JAMES BAIN & HON, >6 KIN(; STREET EAST. DRUMMONDVILLE : GEOP.GE J. DUNL^AN ; A. tAND. HAMILTON: D. McLELLAN. ' MDCCOLXXIX, JSJM^ \f T— r •>'«i|*i^ ./. :\i •? ( "•V/- t r Thanksgiving; its Nature, and Forms of Expression: 41 A TllIBrTK .'.NI) liHVIKW. %\\ :^ddvc^$ DELIVERED AT DRIMMONDVILLE, ONTARIO, (iiH xovKMr.Ki;, lU' ,:l\G riIA\KSGIVIX(i DAY THROUGHOUT THK DOMINION. ../. HY ROBERT THOMSON, LL.D., FITIOW OF THF. M(K[ETY OF .VN-TK^F AIIIF.S OF SCOTLAND; FELLOW OF THF GFOLOGICAL .OflF.TV OF K! .I\ BFROH : FFI,LOW OF THE fANA- dLn'iNSTITFTF., TORONTO, KTC,; MINISTF.Il OF CIIIFFAWA AND DKUinlONDVILLK PlU>13YTi: WAN CUUr.CU IN CANADA. \ 'Qi ivcfypaLvniuvwv ttumtm' rj KaTOLKia ev aoi. — 8ePT. Sicut Ix't-Liitiiiiii oiiiuiiim aabitatio est in te.— Vclgate. All my si.rm:;s are in Tlico. -Ps. Ixxxvii., 7. T0K(1XT(1 : JAMES BAIN He .SOX, 4(. KIX(J ^^TRHET EAST. DllUMMONDVIL! : OP:ORGK J. DUNCAX : A. LAND HAMILTON : 1). McLELLAN. MUCCCLXXIX. TO THE OFFICE-BEARERS AND CONGREGATIONS OK CHIPPAWA AND DR UMMOND VILLL Pi;E:>KVTErJAN CTirilCH, Tlhis iliscorrsc IS RESPECTFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED. I. rhn>:i.. \\i\.. l(»-lf> : ••Thni<, D Loiin, />■ tli, ;jrnit,)»l!i; /">■ all thai is 11, th( fiiarai ,n><( thi nivth !.■< th,n, : thiiir is the kiiKjihm, O LOlU), (tial Thoii art ixaltcl ash' art al,.,,; all. ''All thi, HIS rniiK 'I' Th,,, ,11,'/ <•/ ih,i„ "in, h,in n; 'jirni Thie" ,t<: I'silin 1., 14, \'>- "'#' ""'" '•''"' tha)ik.'«ji,i)i!/; aii't /xt'i thif n.VK to th< M,>.st Hiiih . a,„l,;,ll „!,'■» ',a ' ■- the daii '>f tr,nthk : I will d>- liicr thtf, aii'l th,," shall al,ii-i/;i //((." Ix accovdancv with tlif arraiigeinonts ma(k' I'.y the 1,ivtliivn to whom \v«" owe tliis united service' this mornini;-, and at tlu-ir re(iurst, it has fallen to my lot to aduch occasions for some years ; the opening services having been con(bictea by my frien.l, Rev. M. Swann. It is now published in compliance witii the wisiie> of s,>me who vsere pre- sent on that occasion. n thf trcliiiLTs Ity which it uiiiy ;i[iiiru|»riutuly !•«-■ acc<»m- ])iitrnil. The (lilt V of thaiik^.:i\ iiil; iiicnlcatid in thr WokU di" nUl' text t'l^'t't hi •!• with th(i-c of t hi ■ lllUl 1 a I 1 1 'l' ( ! i >i | s own hcait. r\j)iv^--in'j t!ic spiiit i>t' a tciily thankful anil (jrviiut wnivh';ii|iii\ ivniinii u^ that fii iin thf \rry lir^inninu' of hi^ .gracious ^"_-"i;ir-Ji'lH""''""'" "'' I'ather to ai-i-o- gant selt-a])plaus(\ — our natuml pridpr»*v^4ttnt?fToui. and so inipaticntiy rtjbdliny;,.,a;4aJLuh>t, the feelinir of depeiit all thr time he is ' NVitln.ut <;'m1 in the world" (Eph. ii. 12). Now, let me r.niark, that Cain's otferin.t,' of fruits was rejected l.y (iod, not hecause it was wron^- in itself, hut solely hecause in the proud s, Dent. viii. 10, 17, 1«. 8 the Lord with thy substance, and with tl>.e first fruits of all thine increase ; so shall thy bar.^s be tilled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine" (Prov. iii., !>, 10). The mention of the first fruits, indeed, reminds us of the interesting ceremony by vvliich, under the Hebrew Theocracy, on the second day of the Passover Aveek, the commencement (^f bar- ley harvest; was inaugurated.' A sheaf of the first ripe barley was then brought, and waved by the of- ciating priest, north, south, east and west — denoting thereby, that " the earth was the Lord's, and the fulness thereof,"- He being the absolute lord and proprietor of all — thereby doing homage as his hum- ble and dejK'ndent vassals, as the keys of a gi-eat city are presented to the Sovereign on the occasion of a royal visit, and graciously returned to the custody of their ffuardians. This law was of wide ext nt and applied to all their ac(pisitions ; so that as at the beginning, so also at the close of the general harvest, loaves baked of the tlour of the recently-gathered grain were oftered in gratitude to the Lord, who had crowned the labours of the year with his blessing. We shall not enter into any further exposition of our text beyond merely codling your attention to the fact that these words })resent a combination familiar to every reader of the Holy Scriptures whereby a command and a promise go together. " Ofier unto 'I. Cor., XV., 20,23. 'These words were appropriately selected by the late Prince Con- sort, and ill- ribed over the Koyal Exchange, London, chise by the Baniv of England, the heaiL ui Liie A<.-.iiLiue.-5t city n\ znc v.orKi. 9 G.xl thanksgiving, and i ay thy vows to the Most High,"— vows, some of which may, and often have bern'madc under the shuddering apprehension of some grievous personal or family trial or afflietion, under which you agonizingly prayed the Lord, that He might be pleased to make this cup pass from, you— tliis beloved child's \i\' -iven back to you from the very brink of the grav. - (-r that this and the other dearest objects of your affection might not be taken away as with i. stroke,-in which -se, how differently in certain respects would you henceforth think, and feel, and act. But as the chief butler failed to remember Joseph, but forgat him when the time of his tribulation had come to an end, so do men act towards their highest and best Benefactor. " Lord in trouble they have visited Thee, they poured out a prayer when Thy chastening was upon them, ' rfsa xxvi. 10) and only then. But not thus acta the believer who walks with God, and who recalls the exercise of his soul under such cii-cumstances. " We went through tire and water, but Thou brought- est us out into a wealthy place. I will go into Thy house with burnt offenngs ; 1 will pay Thee my vows which my lii-s have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken when 1 was in trouble. I will ottrr unto Thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the in- cense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. Come and hear, all ye that fevr CJod, and I will de- clare what lie h,dh done for my soul " (Ps. Ixvi. 12, etc ) The precept is given, partly at least, that the ,.rH,.Piousness of having done, or at lea.t tried to do 10 this, Tiiay the better lielp us to lake hold of and lonn our liearts upon the promise which is fortliwith adrleJ, " And call upon nie in the day of trouble," — not as if to invite trouble to come, but because living in a M'orld where, in some shape or anotlier, trouble is certain, sooner or later, to overtake the most prosperous among us all; but come when and how it may — " [ will deliver thee, and thou slialt jrlorifv me.'' We are thus saved from the feelinof of having acted with the baseness which we so justly despise among ea'"thly acquaintances, who use their friends as suaraen use a refu'jfc harb.)ur, never visit- ing or nnining into them unless com[)elled by stress of weather, and to escape shipwreck, and but for which they woukl probably forget their very exist- ence altogether. It is in a very different sj)irit 1 trust, my friends, that we meet here to-day, when almost a year has elapsed since, on the fourtli of Decen\l)er last, we met together for a like object. The period here embraced has been in sou'c respects a nighly disas- trous one in (iirat Britain, which so numy amongst us are accustomed to regard as the Mother Country ; for with a winter of even fiercer severity than our own rfor England, that is), thei'e followed a late and ungenial spring-tiile, with a l)leak sunuiier, wdiile the hopes of the autumn months were nearly blighted by almost incessant rains, almost annihilating in Brit- ain and other parts of Europe the harvest, as well as destroying many lives and much property by terrible inundations. England alone rcipiires to im- 11 i'^ V' ('r [)ort tVoin other CI tuiitries, this year inuro higlily fav oured than itself, nioie than til'ty millions of bushels of grain, to maintain the average supply of food for the British Islands, To liome i)rivations of this kind, seriously aggravating the existing national distress, England has on haiid two bloody wars, neither of which can yet be said to be concluded, and one of them perhaps scarcely begun, — wars entered u\ on for the most trifling reasons, and in op- position to the remonstrances of England's wisest Indian and African Governors and warriors, whore even were there victory announced to-morrow, but little glory at th.e be>t could accrue to England from vancjuishing either the barbarous Zulus on the one iiand, or the hardy tribes of Afghanistan or Cabul on the other. Not such were tlie exploits of the Dake of Wellington, engaged with Nelson, Moore, and other men of fame in breaking the povver of Buonaparte within the S[)anish Peninsula, or at \ ly'y j Waterloo, — the main incident indeed of the disas- ; trous Zulu ex})eiliti()n, in which the English were I nearlv beaton out of South Africa altorjether, havintj been the tragic and toucliing death of the last of the Buonapartes who i:; likely to make much ligure in history, who certainly iidicritcd many of the better qualities of his famous ancestor, once the " luunmer of tlie whob; earth," and now "pparently, both as a dynasty and politically, "broken in pieces " for ever. In jileasing contrast to this deeply clouded and unattractive picture, the iidiabitants of this Domi- nion at the close of canother year, feel constrained to acknowledjj;) the special goodness of God, in not onlv exempting us from the worst calamities of the Mother Country, but in sending us, along with con- tinued public tranquility, abundance of grain of ex- cellent quality, and within this peninsula in i)ar- ticular, and generally throughout Ontario, such an amount and quality of fruit, as with some minor de- ductions for the ravages of disease, have rarely been surpassed. No doubt the picture here too is not without its shadow ; for the trade and onnnerce of Canada are only now at last beginning slowly to emerge from a depression more severe and long con- t'uue^l, than it has been the lot of our oldest mer- chants to experience for a lengthened period. The revival shows it.self despite of the sudden collapse of move than one Public Bank, to the ruin of multitudes of unfortunate shareholders, and the utter destruc- tion for the time being, of all mutual confidence and commercial enterprise. Let us hope that the period of trial has not been >dthout its salutary effects; and may our future both as a nation and as indivihr hefirt audits sym- pathies, not only again'^t the wkiow, tli© fathexless and the strangtir, oi" the claims even of wife and children, but also of the perishing heathen at home and abroad, the salvation of the lost, the bloodless triumphs of that kingdom of truth and righteousness of which the Lord taught us to pray that it migh^. come, " on earth even ns it is in heaven." What is the natural drift and tendency of such unsanctitied and unl)lessed accumulations, for wealth they are not ? Our Li)rd himself answers the (piestion : "The ground of a certain rich man Ijrought i'orth ]>lentifully ; and ' .Jniii,'i's i. i i. !■'. 14 M^ thou<,rht within himself saying, what shall I do, ^Xbecause I have no room where to >)estow my fruits ? / And he said. This will I „/ / ^ars ; tajvejjiiiiu- 4ia*ttr -uU^uiri^ aiid-W 4M«i'4y. diJJ-L^\ '^"'But Cod said unto him, Thou fool, this night shall ^-^-^Ay thysoulbere([uired of thee; then, whose shall those things be which thou hast provided ? So is he, that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich to- ward God" (Luke xii., 10, etc.). In pleasing con- trast with this picture, we (piote the well-known lines of the most Chiistian of all the domestic poets of En Inland. But (), Tli.tii iM.niiteous (JivtT of all -s. 1, Thou art nf all thy -ifts thyself the cfowiil Cive what Thou canst, without Thee we are poor, Au.l with Thee rich, take what Thou wilt away. ' And this brings mc to the obligation to otier thanks, as especially rc>,ting upon those who, during the bygone year, have either for ^he first time in their liv.'a bceu put . iu poi>i«*«ion of the true riches of which we ha\e been si)eaking, viz. : been recon- ciled to God through the blood of His dear Son by the power of the Hoi}' Ghost, or who have experi- enced such couuiciuu;* ef4tftVtlr?hTiient and confirma- tion in the truth previously lesa iRni'ectly realized, as really amounts to primary conversion. What a blessedness to be put by God himself among his own 1 Cowper's Ta>ik, V., "Winter Morning Walk " (last lines). 15 children fJer. iii. 1!»), ^vll') :ue kcj.t l.y liis mi^dity power tlirouffh faitli unto salvation, — none beiiij^- able to pluck them out of their Father's hand— made heirs of God and joint-h.irs with ( 'iirist : Flow in- significant in comparison of such a privilege ap]»far the most lordly possessions of earth, or the ])roudest titles of herrldry conferred hy any earthly Sove- reiu'n: "Behold what .'anncr of love tlie Father hatli l)estowe(l on you, thntyou should he callein'aLrci)Uslv' actiiie. " Deny not the tribute of thanks to Him ^vho has given us the desire of our hearts, l.'st we resend;)le the nine lepers who forgot to return thanks, and though j^urged from the leprosy of the tiesh, retained the worse leprosy of ingratitude for the grace which had cured them." ^ This, ami the twi-i immediately precedin;.; sentences, marked with 17 Lastly, in view of the minierous crimes and acts of unnatural violence that happen around us, awak- eninn^ the apprehensions of every thou<,ditfuI and patriotic mind; the many Elis, wlio when their chil- dren forsake the way of rii^hteousness make ])ut feeble or no efforts to restrain them, and in whose hands that parental authority, for th(i wise exercise of which Gncl commended his servant Abraham,' degenerates into a uu're shadow or nonentity, let parents, ministers, and Sablmth school teachers com- bine to redouble their prayers and efforts, to train up the coming generation in the nurture and admoni- tion of tile Lord. To have a church in every home was the aim of our blessed Lord and his apostles. In a well-ordered family we recognize the genn and promi.se of a well-ordered and prosperous Church and State ; for the future citizens and members of each respectively, will ])e just what the training of the parental roof and of the public schools shall have made them. Let the odious vice of intemperance be decisively and .systematically discouraged by the diligent use of all those wise preventatives, of gen- eral culture and the formation of moral and intel- lectual tastes which, l)y the grace of God, will elevate inverted commas, I (juote from the Daily " Morning " Re.adings of the Rev. ('. H. Spurgeon, l)oth becau.se of their ai>p»-opriatenes!5, and to afford me an opportunity of commending to my readers, which I dland and America, to provide us with atiy sub- stitute for that blessed Revelation of savini,' truth and mercy, which they profess to decry, and so vainly attack. Whu.. true to the distinctive piin- ciples of the Church to whicli we conscientiously belong, and of which we are members, let us look with a fraternal eye upon the yodly in other com- munions than our own, taking for our motto, "In- essentials, Unity; in minor and non-essential MATTERS, Liberty; and ix all things, Charity, T..E LOVE THAT NLVER FAILETH." And OU a (lay of united Thanksgiving, when, from the (jlovernor- General downwards, all ranks are met together for a similar o))jeet, can we tin