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THE AMERICAN BIRTHRIGHT AND THE

PHILIPPINE POTTAGE.

BY REV. HENRY VAN DYKE, LL. D.,

PASTOR BRICK CHURCH, NEW YORK CITY.

Hebrews xii: 16. "Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright."

This is the most important Thanksgiving Day that has been celebrated by the present generation of Americans. Three and thirty years have rolled away since. we gave thanks for the ending of the Civil War. Never since that time has our national religious festival been observed under such brilliant sunlight of prosperity or with such portentous clouds of danger massed along the horizon.

It is a significant Thanksgiving because we have extraordinary causes for national gratitude. The first and greatest of these causes is the superabundant harvest with which, for the second year in succession, God has rewarded the patient toilers who are the strength and pride of our country. This harvest includes not only the fruits of the earth, but also the manifold products of human industry. The true power of a nation is in the character of its workers. The true glory of a nation is in the quality of their workmanship. The true prosperity of a nation is in the reward which God bestows upon their work. For this reward,. far greater than it has ever been before in our history, let us give our first and our deepest thanks.

The second cause for gratitude to-day is the new evidence that we have received of the union of the

whole American people in loyalty and patriotism. The gaping wounds left by the Civil War have closed. There is no bloody chasm between the North and the South. The President presides over a united country, responding as one man to a call to support the national honor; and the brave men who once wore the gray uniform are ready to march again beside the "boys in blue" under the starry flag of American freedom. For this glorious restoration of the spirit of national unity let us give joyous and united thanks.

The third cause for gratitude is the renewal of cordial amity between the two leading nations of the world-Great Britain and the United States. The clouds of jealousy and distrust which have so often risen between England and America seemed to have faded entirely away. These two sister countries, representing in widely different political forms the triumphant spirit of Anglo-Saxon civilization, rejoice together in the clear sunlight of warm and vital sympathy. Such a friendship is nobler and more secure than any kind of partnership. A true and open amity between Great Britain and the United States, undisturbed by any rivalries in the dangerous business of imperial conquest, unthreatened by any secret and selfish compact to divide the spoils of territorial war, would be a powerful guarantee of the peace of the world. For this unchartered friendship with our kinsmen across the sea let us give sincere and prudent thanks.

The fourth cause for thanksgiving to-day is the signal victory that has been granted to our country's arms in a war undertaken for the destruction of the ancient Spanish tyranny in the Western Hemisphere and the liberation of the oppressed people of Cuba. How reluctantly the American people took up the cross of war after thirty-three years of peace none can

know except those who have read the peace-loving heart of the great silent classes, the happy, industrious, prosperous classes, of our country. The call of humanity was the only summons that could have roused them; the cause of liberty was the only cause for which they would have fought. No party, no administration could have received the loyal support of the whole people unless it had written on its banner the splendid motto: "Not for gain, not for territory, but for freedom and human brotherhood!" That avowal alone made the war possible and successful. For that cause alone Christians could pray with a sincere heart, and mothers give their sons to death by slaughter or disease, and lovers of liberty take up the unselfish sword. The cause is won; the last vestige of the Spanish power in the Western Hemisphere is broken; Cuba is free. Proud of the splendid discipline and courage and compassion of our navy, proved at Manila and Santiago; proud of the personal bravery of the true heroes in our army who endured unknown hardships, and were patient under incredible difficulties, and who faced with equal daring the pestilence that walked in darkness through the camps of death and the invisible bullets that sang through the cruel sunlight of Guantanamo and San Juan hill; proud and glad of all that American soldiers and sailors have done this year in the cause of liberty, we present our offerings upon the solemn altar of gratitude. For the Divine guidance and protection, without which a victory so complete and swift, even over an inferior foe, could never have been won, let us give most humble and hearty thanks.

But this Thanksgiving Day is not significant alone. in its causes for gratitude. It is an important day, a marked day, an immensely serious day because it finds. us, suddenly and without preparation, face to face

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