8 THANKSGIVING SERMON. attributed to their intellectual advancement. Men and nations obtain credit and distinction for nothing more than their wisdom. Gathered up as it is from habits of thought and study, from careful observation, and, not un- frequently, painful experience, it is ho matter of wonder that it is highly esteemed. How to devise their plans for the present and the future ; how to adjust them in view of the facilities that may advance, or obstacles which may oppose their progress; how to form a correct judgment of the character and tactics «of friends and foes; how to anticipate, and forestall, and frustrate evil machinations and turn them to good account; how to act so as to hazard nothing by rashness and lose nothing by delay; how, in few words, to select the best ends, and the best time and means of accomplishing them, is a rare faculty when bestowed, and a rare attainment when sought after. We have high authority for saying, “Wisdom is better than weapons of war.” Yet much as we should seek its counsels, and profitable as it is to direct, we may not make it the ground of our dependence or the foundation of our hopes. God gave the Assyrian his ascendency over the nations, and his tri
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM4ODY=