And yet does the mere observance of a beautiful custom—constitut: sufficient reason why we should miger here this day and conduct this Thanksgiving service? Does even the fact that or President hai asked us to do so give us adequate] cause for doing this? If these are the only reasons for our gathering, then the exercises of this hour have degenerated into pious cant] which have for their only purpose the keeping alive of a tradition.
There are plenty of reasons why we should not gather here. Dickens: in his story, "A Christmas Carol," tells of an old miser by the name of Scrooge. On one Christmas the nephew of this miser burst tthe cold, cheerless office of his uncle out: "Merry Christmas, said Scrooge. "Humbug!" And then he began to give reasons wy. he sould be meet. Thay Were poor, and one could not pas' bills without money. They were one year older, and not an hour richer. "If I could work my will," concluded the pessimistic" Scrooge idiot' who goes about with Merry] Ghiietinas on his Kips, should—bel Sod whi own uldg, an ritfel with a stake of holly throu rot & dis ara things have Rappened since Uist "met "here., Last January wel
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.