Why we ought to be grateful to the old Puritans, with all their faults.
Their unsuccessful warfare on plum pudding, which, like truth, "crushed
to earth," rose again. Their discovery and enshrining of Turkey. On this
day the Nation gathers as a family at the Thanksgiving board, and from all
parts of the world the wanderers come home to the family feast. The duty of
Happiness, joined to gratitude, is emphasized this day. The closing toast,
"The Federal Eagle and the Festal Turkey; may we always have peace under
the wings of the one, and be able to obtain a piece from the breast of the
other."