'Thou hast crowned the year with thy goodness': thanksgiving for harvest in the 18th century Church of England
So says the Church of England's Common Worship provision for the Agricultural Year. It is a view which can be used by those critical of the festival of Harvest Thanksgiving, dismissing it as a 19th century invention, now inherently compromised by reactionary nostalgia.
What this account ignores is the fact that observance of harvest was well-established in the Church of England long before 1862. Throughout the later 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, the Sunday closest to Michaelmas was a Sacrament Sunday, marking the end of harvest. What is more, official recognition of harvest thanksgiving also significantly pre-dates the mid-19th century.
For example, a royal proclamation of 1759 appointed 29th November as a day of thanksgiving "to acknowledge the great Goodness and Mercy of Almighty God" as seen in both the success of the Crown forces in capturing Quebec and in having "most seasonably granted Us at this Time an uncommonly plentiful Harvest". Similarly, in 1798, 29th November was again appointed as a day of "general thanksgiving" for the victory of the Royal Navy in the Battle of the Nile and for "manifold inestimable Benefits received at His Hands in the course of the present Year".
While that latter description might sound rather vague, the Form of Prayer and Thanksgiving used on the day included 'A Prayer of Thanksgiving for the Plenty of the Year', to be used before the Prayer of Saint Chrysostom:
O Merciful Father, of whose gift it cometh that the earth is fruitful, and animals multiply for the service and sustenance of man; we give thee humble thanks, that, of thy great bounty, thou hast crowned the year with thy goodness; causing both the sun to shine, and the rain to fall, in just measure and due season, and blessing the increase of our kine and of our sheep. Continue, we beseech thee, thy loving kindness towards us, and give us grace to improve thy mercies to thy glory, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
A similar provision was in the Form of Prayer and Thanksgiving from 1759, in this case one of two collects provided for the day:
O God, who openest thy hand, and fillest all thing living with plenteousness: we thank thee, that thou hast given us rain in its season, and reserved unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest: so that our land has yielded us a large increase. Secure to us, we pray thee, what thou hast bestowed upon us: and let not our corn be meat for our enemies: but may they, who have gathered it, eat it, and praise the Lord: serving thee with joyfulness and gladness of heart for the abundance of all things; yet not labouring chiefly for the food which perisheth, but for that which endureth unto everlasting life, and is given us by our blessed Redeemer, Jesus Christ: who with thee and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, one God world without end. Amen.
Liturgical provision for thanksgiving for the harvest was not, therefore, a Victorian innovation. The prayers regarding the harvest in the official Forms of Prayer and Thanksgiving in 1759 and 1798 used themes which would become standard references in later forms of Harvest Thanksgiving, not the least of which was the echo of the Psalmist, "thou hast crowned the year with thy goodness".
Similarly, sermons from these days of thanksgiving also indicate a vibrant tradition of harvest preaching. A 1759 thanksgiving sermon preached in the parish church of Greensted in Essex quoted the same words from the Psalmist:
our Cattle are strong, and healthy, our Garners are filled with all Maimer of Store; we are in Plenty, and we have a Prospect of Plenty: The Lord "crowneth the Year with his Goodness, and the Clouds drop Fatness".
At the same thanksgiving, a sermon preached at Bagendon in Gloucestershire balanced a hearty, earthy joy in the bounty of the harvest, with the Gospel's teaching on wealth and duty to the poor:
And now, what return can we poor mortals make, but to serve that God with pious joy, devout thanksgiving, and wonderful adoration; for wonderous indeed are all his works! He has not only fill'd us with the finest wheat-flour, that scarce our garners can contain our stores; but our loaded barns, now full, produce such plenty of barley, source of British liquor, best of wines!
Eat, drink, and be merry, but never run to excess with greediness, nor ever drink too much to be drunken; but so much as to strengthen your hearts and cheer your spirits. Eat, drink, and be merry; not like the rich man in the gospel, who had such great crops of corn, that he pulled down his old barns, and built 'em larger, saying to his soul, Eat, drink, and be merry, for I have many years to come to enjoy my abundant store; when, alas! that very dreadful night his soul was required of him. So, woe to us, if any here should follow his miserable example, for then how soon, how much too soon may we endure his miserable fate! Let those therefore that be rich, be rich only to salvation. Let 'em now feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty; that there may be no complaining in our streets, no murmuring, nor crying at our gates. Happy are the people who are in such a case; yea, blessed are the people who have the Lord for their GOD.
Another 1759 thanksgiving sermon, in Topsham, Devon - which, the preface notes, was preached before "a numerous Congregation" - again joyfully echoed the Psalmist:
we should think ourselves in all Duty bound to express our Gratitude to the same Beneficent Being, who, by giving us the late very plentiful Harvest, hath filled our Hearts with Food and Gladness ... Tis, therefore, owing to the abundant Goodness of the Lord, who giveth the former and the latter Rain, that the Year is ever crowned with Plenty.
On thanksgiving day 1798, in the parish church of Edgware, Middlesex, the sermon - even amidst the rejoicing in national victories over the forces of Revolutionary France - rejoiced in the blessings of the harvest:
By the favourable dispensation of the Almighty, we live in a land, which, for the comfort it yields, and the safety it affords, may well be styled, 'The glory of all lands'. It is a land of plenty; fertile in soil, temperate in climate, inhabited by an opulent, powerful, and enlightened people, long distinguiſhed by arts and arms. We have the promise regularly fulfilled of seed-time and harvest; and so signal and uninterrupted is the gracious interest, which an indulgent Providence takes in our prosperity, that our years are crowned with increase, "filling our hearts with joy and gladness".
The thanksgiving sermon in the parish of St. John's, Southwark, preached before a congregation which included a local militia unit, had its focus very much on the recent British victories in the contest with Revolutionary France, yet still made reference to the harvest, placing it alongside other national blessings:
He hath given us victory abroad; He hath preserved us in peace, and sent us plenty at home; so "that there is no decay, no leading into captivity, nor complaining in our streets".
The observance of such days of thanksgiving with reference to harvest, the authorised Forms of Prayer and Thanksgiving making provision for harvest thanksgiving, and thanksgiving sermons which rejoiced in the blessings of the harvest, all point to a robust and vibrant tradition which the later 19th century observance and provision echoed. Harvest Thanksgiving was, therefore no Victorian invention. Rather, it drew upon precedents well-established in the 18th century, including the provision of authorised prayers for the occasion. Many of the themes and phrases seen in 18th century thanksgiving day sermons continue to be heard in sermons at the festival of Harvest Thanksgiving.
(The first painting is 'The Old Parish Church and Village, Hampton-on-Thames, Middlesex', late 18th century, artist unknown. The second 'An Old Country Churchyard', by Henry Mark Anthony, mid-19th century.)
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