6 THE ACORN the clang of the belfry to summon the people of Plymouth who hastened with glad hearts to thank the Lord for his tender mercies. Massasayt, the Indian king-, with his ninety men, in return for the invitation given them,, killed five deer and bestowed them upon the governor and Miles Standish. The feast lasted for three whole days, the people all raising their hearts to God in gratitude for his tender care and for the bounties of the harvest. As Oliver Wendell Holmes says, "The howling demons quaked to hear the Christians Godly song," and Morris writes: "Thy blessings descended in sunshine and power Or rose from the soil that was sown by Thy hand; The mountains and valley rejoiced in Thy power. And Heaven encircled and smiled on the land." So that Thanksgiving in the United States denotes an annual festival not instituted to celebrate a single event, but to show proper gratitude to God for the blessings of the closing year. But not yet was a special day set. Only in 1651, 1668, and 1680 were days of thansgiving appointed by the Plymouth colony. The Massachusetts Bay colony and the Dutch of New York held similar observances once in a long while, but not regularly. President Washington appointed a day of rejoicing for the adoption of the Constitution. In 1795, he issued a call for national thanksgiving, and set the nineteenth of February as the day. Later, Gov. Jay of New York and Gov. Clinton tried to establish a national holiday, but the west and the south were both slow to take kindly to the custom. So that it was not until after the great national crisis of the civil war, when President Lincoln, issuing a long proclamation appointing the last Thursday of November as-a day of thanksgiving and prayer, that the national holiday was fixed. Since that year, 1863, every president of the United States has appointed the last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving day, and nearly all of the governors have followed with proclamations for their respective states. We are not the only people who hold a Thanksgiving day. Long ago, as we find in the Bible, the Hebrews, under the Mosaic laws, celebrated the goodness of God under branches of trees and in tents of palm. In Holland, the anniversary of the deliverance of the city of Leyden from the siege October 3, 1575, was kept as a religious festival of thanksgiving-and praise. In England, the fifth of November is celebrated in commemoration of the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot, and the German Protestants have the custom of "Harvest Home" with religious services as well as general feasting and rejoicing. But America! Who can deny that she has the greatest cause for rejoicing and thanksgiving? Did she not obtain her liberty through the help, of the Eternal Father? THE ACORN 7 And is not liberty a welcome, joyous, glorious thing? Yes! Because a free people may be a serious, thoughtful people having the almost terrible responsibility of governing itself. With freedom has come unexampled prosperity; of late years the enjoyment of internal tranquility, and the satisfaction of preventing gross tyranny in some of our neighboring countries. The Latterday Saints know that American citizens have the chief cause for thanksgiving for we have been told by a sacred book of God that this is a promised land, that it should yield goodly fruits, that it should be the choicest of the choice in richness of minerals, vegetation, and all things else desirable. We as a people realize that there is an indication of the divine beneficence especially towards us. And therefore we should have a greater amount of gratitude in our hearts that we have been born in these times, that we have been chosen to proclaim the everlasting Gospel to all parts of the earth, that we have been led to this picturesque valley where we have health and plenty, that finally through our efforts the hearts of the American citizens, in fact of the whole world, will swell almost to overflowing with joy and thanksgiving until the voice of acclamation and gratitude commencing on the Rock of Plymouth will be transmitted through millions until it lose itself in the murmurs of the ocean. But until that time "When Autumn doffs her robes Of purple and green and gold; When the trees stand leafless, bare, and brown. And the nights grow black and cold; Again we come together all To keep in the good old way, Just as they did in days of yore A glad Thanksgiving Day." Rat "A Story" "No, son, I feel it my duty, to request you again not to join the Football team. You know how small you are compared with the other boys and I do not wish my son to be crippled for life by having a fellow three times his weight fall on him. If you are needed, you may play with the practise team but your constitution will not permit the nerve and bodily strain of playing a matched game." These words were spoken by Mr. Sharp, the father of Jean Sharp the Sophomore, whose ability in the line of Football playing had made him very anxious to play. He was a tall lad of seventeen, not so firmly built as one of his age should be, but his agility made him a very scientific sportsman. As his father finished speaking, Jean stood gazing out of the window at Clarence Durlow, who was passing. He exchanged greetings with Clarence and turning to his