~*3Cemapare the harvest then and the har- " + amd a day of abundant opportunity for ! "pom,” Into this goes through the year, >» “DAYS OF PAST THANKSGIVING | BEST SPIRIT FOR THE TIME tiigistory Proves that There Always Has Been a Time Set Apart for Festivities. ™Fhanksgiving is generally believed “> have commenced with the advent of *¥ze Pilgrim fathers, and therefore a “Begacy to us from New England. But " “swhen the true facts in the case come | ~ 4 Hght we find that Thanksgiving day yeas first celebrated by Popham colon- © I¥mfs at Monhegan, who joined in “Giv- | Img God thanks” for their safe arrival ‘and many blessings in the ritual laid «%»wn in the Thanksgiving service of fhe Church of England prayer book. It #s ¥Enown with what antipathy the @arly Puritans regarded any and all of ‘the boly days of the English church, amd the celebration of such was stern- “Xr forbidden in New England. How many of us know that days for ‘giving thanks were set apart in Europe ong before the reformation and were observed by the Church of England vymany years before the Pilgrims land- ad? ? The first Thanksgiving in this coun- “7¥xy was not set apart as a day of re- ligious observance, but for recreation. On December 11, 1621, Edward Wins: J¥ow wrote home to England the follow- dmg very quaint account of the week's JProgram: “Our harvest being gotten in, our sovernor sent four men out fowling so we might in a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruits of our labors. The four killed “gp much fowl that with a little help =werved the compaay about a week. d prestige not to be usurped by any ofher bird on our Thanksgiving day platter. Only fifty-five English speaking peo- ple sat down to the first Thanksday feast, but the addition of the Indians made a goodly company for whom the poor, lonely and homesick women pre- pared the dinner. There were only four of them, with one servant “and ‘Aa few young mezidekins.” There is no zrecord to be found of any religious. ‘aporship during this week of feasting. In 1628 the second Thanksgiving day ‘was ordered and observed by the Pil- grim father§. Early Thanksgivings are “mot always celebrated in November Zmor upon Thursday, and it is not until ¥BT7T that we find the first printed “Fhanksgiving proclamation, now owned “my the Massachusetts Historical so- «ghety. It is interesting to note that «-gaimeo 1862 the president of the United “%Bftautes has set the last Thursday in November to be observed as a day‘of v “aanksgiving. And harking back to VPiigrim days, what a vast difference. “yest now. Whether our forefathers wwere ever actually reduced to the tra- «ditional five grains of corn each, 1s a ‘fact not decided by history, but it is true that they returned thanks for the most meager fare and endured the most grinding hardships without a ~mmurmur. Like our forbears we make of the day a great time for feasting and games and net so much of church @oing. It is a day for family reunions making a cause of Thanksgiving in the “other fellow’s” heart. i i Happy Thanksgiving Custom. A woman who has an almost old- ~fashioned faith in Providence keeps ~7a@hat she calls her “thank offering From one Thanksgiving to the middle of the following November, a sum of money for every accident escaped, ~calamity averted or special joy. i "These offerings are not confined to “ser own escapes but each time some msember of her family bobs up from samme threatened woe into the box goes £3e money offering of thanks. Not the same amount is given each “gimme, and rarely large sums, for the “wgganan is not rich, but a nice little sum