Worth reading: Lincoln's Proclamation of Thanksgiving

jmurtari@AKidsRight.Org

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Good People & People of Faith,

_(This is a repeat from 2007, but
still worth it. How many "modern"_
politicians would risk calling the
electorate for penitence and that our
problems are our doing...)

We all
recognize Abraham Lincoln as one of the greatest Presidents,
but in
1863, when he wrote the following message, it would be fair to
say he
was 'hated' by a large portion of the public. The Civil War
was
unpopular, there were anti-draft riots, and 'winning' the war was
not a
certainty. Lincoln would also be standing for re-election in
1864 (and
while he did win by a large amount), at this time his
chances were
regarded as 'slim'. Republican leader Thurlow Weed wrote
to Secretary of
State William Seward, "I have told Mr. Lincoln that
his re-election was
an impossibility."

Was Lincoln perfect? No. But what made him a great
man was a sense of
humility, his committment to ideals and even though
engaged in a Civil
War -- he did not 'hate' the people of the South.
Perhaps we can all
learn how to proceed in our struggle agains injustice
by reading his
simple message.

 PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S ORIGINAL
PROCLAMATION ESTABLISHING 
 THANKSGIVING DAY, DATED OCT. 3, 1863.

The
year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with
the
blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these
bounties,
which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget
the source
from which they come, others have been added, which are of
so
extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and
soften
even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever
watchful
providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a Civil War of
unequalled magnitude and severity,
which has sometimes seemed to foreign
States to invite and to provoke
their aggression, peace has been
preserved with all nations, order has
been maintained, the laws have
been respected and obeyed, and harmony
has prevailed everywhere except
in the theatre of military conflict;
while that theatre has been greatly
contracted by the advancing armies
and navies of the Union.

Needful
diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of
peaceful
industry to the national defence, have not arrested the
plough, the
shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of
our
settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the
precious
metals, have yielded even more abundantly than
heretofore. Population
has steadily increased, notwithstanding the
waste that has been made in
the camp, the siege and the battle-field;
and the country, rejoicing in
the consciousness of augmented strength
and vigor, is permitted to
expect continuance of years, with large
increase of freedom.

No human
counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out
these great
things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God,
who, while
dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless
remembered
mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be
solemnly,
reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and
voice by
the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow
citizens in
every part of the United States, and also those who are at
sea and
those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and
observe
the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving
and
Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. AND
I
RECOMMEND TO THEM THAT WHILE OFFERING UP THE ASCRIPTIONS JUSTLY DUE
TO
HIM FOR SUCH SINGULAR DELIVERANCES AND BLESSINGS, THEY DO ALSO,
WITH
HUMBLE PENITENCE FOR OUR NATIONAL PERVERSENESS AND
DISOBEDIENCE,
commend to his tender care all those who have become
widows, orphans,
mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in
which we are
unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the
interposition of the
Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and
to restore it as
soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to
the full
enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In
testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal
of
the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this
third day of October, in the year
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and sixty-three, and of the
independence of the United States the
eighty-eighth. 

- A. LINCOLN

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