, 1863-04-03
FROM WASHINGTON.
The Presidents Proclamation
of Fast.
Our Foreign Policy Under
Discussion.


National Prayer and Humiliation,
PROCLAMATION B1 THE PHE-1uESr OF THE
United STATES OF ANEEtCA.
WHEREAS. The Scnate Of the United States de-
routly recognizing the supreme authority and just
government Of Almighty God in all the adairs OF
men and Of nations. has, by resolution requested
the President to designate and set apart day for
National prayer and humiliation; and,
NuEREAs, It Is the duty Of nations az we'll as OF
men, to own their dependence upon the oye1ruEip-
powe: OF God, to confess their sins and ttaaecrrs
sions In hsmble eor1ow, yet with assured hope
that genuine repentance will lead to mercy ard
pardon, and to recognize the sublime truths au-
Mouuced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all
history, that those nations only BLESSED whose
God Is the Lord;
And inasmuch, Us we know that, by His divine
Law, nations, like individuals, arc subjected to
punishments and Establishments in this world.
may not Justly fear that tho awful calamity OF
civil war, which now dvsolates the land, may b,
but a punishment inflicted upon ns for our pre-
snmpous eins, to the neeiful end Of our national
reformation as a whole People: We have been
the recipients Of the choicest bounties Of Heaven,
We have been preserved these many yaa:s, in
peace and prosperity. We hare grown iu num-
bers, wealth, and poyvcr as no other nation has
have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved
lis in peace. and multiplied and enriched and
Strengthened LIE; and We have vainly imagined. in
the eccitfrlueEs Of our hearts, that a thes bles-
tirge were producer! by some superior wisdom
and virtue Of our own. Intoxicated with unb.o-
ken Euccesa; .e hare become too self5uticitut to
feel the necessity OF redceminS and preserving
grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us
It behoovcs us, then, to humble ourselves before
the offended Power, to confess Cur national sius.
anu to pray for clemency ard forgiveness.
Now, therefore, in compliance with tho request
ard fully coucHrriny in the views Of the Senate,
do by this my proclamation designate and set
apart Thr:seay. the Goth Gay Of April, 1879, as q
day Of national humiliation, fasting, and prayer
And do Aervhy request all the people to abstain
on that day from their ordinary secular pursuits,
and to mite Mt their several places Of public wo1-
ship and their respective homes, III keeping the
Gay holy 10 the Lord, and devoted to the humble
discharge OF the religious duties proper to that
solemn occasion.
AL this being done, i'll sincerity and trutll, let ns
then rest hnmbly in the hope authorized BIZ Divine
teachings, that the united cry Of the 1,ation will be
heard OIL high and answered with blessings no less
tlnn the pardon Of our national sins. and the resto.
rEtfon Of onr now divided and suffering country to
its former happy condition Of unity and peace.
In witness whereof, I have hereun:o set my hand,
and caused the seal Of the United States to be at.
nxed.
Done III the City Of Washington this 3otl dav
Of March, in the year Of our Lord, one thousand
eight hundred and xty-threc and OF the indepen-
cncc Of thu itedstates tho eishty-scvcn,
L. E. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
BY the President:
WILLIAM Il. SEWARD. Secretary Of State.
Especial Dispatch to the Chicago Tsibunc.]
WASHINGTON, april Q, 1867
The Board, composed of Majors Dodge,
Taylor and Hodge, engaged in examining
qualifications of paylnastcr5, is hard at work,
and is soon to convene at st. Louis aud Gin
cinnati, to examine paymasters in those De-
partments.
The Administration has nearly perfect q
policy to be pursued with reference 10 foreign
nations engaged in the construction Of YES
scls for the rebels. Probably upon ttc result
will depend the solution Of tile letters Of
marquc question.
| It has hccn determined to announce the gen-
eral policy Of the Government under the law
| relating to the recovery Of abandoned prop
| erty, in proclamation, and the Secretary of
thc Treasury is preparing regulations to carry
| them out.
Fifth Auditor JOHN G. Underwood, appoint
ed Z. s. District Judge III the Eastern Dis
triet Of Virginia, east Of the Blue Ridge, will
organize his Court at Norfolk, June l..
| Tile New York appointments under the
| Conzcriltion Law arc nearly all determined
on. About half Of Them arc honorably dis
chargcd+ soldiers, unable tn dn duty in the field.
i few ];sye been detailed from their rcsi-
mclts.
/ WAsmsGToS, April It is reported, ap.
| Tarcntly upon trustworthy authority, that
Toy. Andy johnson has been successful in oh
tail'lng from the Government full powers for
has been authorized to Rise troops for this
purpose. and to cut all the red tape that might
gIatarrass him.
Gen. Si.e1's leave of absence having been
still further extended, he has left for New
York.
Col. Bakers detectives captured two Jews,
/ named L. vi and Miller, UP the Potomac yes
tcrlay, with $4,000 or &l22, 600 in Confederate
| money upon their persons.
WASHINGTON, March 1.-The account OF
the capture Of the schooner Jane Morley with
| contrabandists and contraband goods, on the
Lower Pntomac, it appears from the STIR,
from which the story is copied, is An iuTen-
tioD.
The public land to hf sold next summer
embrace in Washington Territory nearly three
! million acres. in Kansas l45 600 ncres, and in
| Michigan 5000,