Daily national Republican., 1863-04-29
NATIONAL HUMILIATION, FASTING
AND PRAYER.

from food as a religious Observance. Practice,
in this country, has turned EAST days " into
feast days, the common-sCnsc idea of the peo-
pie being that reasonable amount Of food docs
not injure the body, pcrvert the understanding,
or muddlc the conscience. The toilng masses
Of this country hail with JOY every proclama-
tion for a day of fasting or thanksgiving, be.
cause it Ia to them holiday, day Of rest. A
fast day" is welcome also by fast young men
aud women, who employ it in injurious sports
and vulgar dissipation, thus doing injury to
themselves and the community in which they
live. The business people, generally, yield to
the request of the President, or Governor, or
Mayor, 10 abstain, on that day, from their ordl-
nary secular persuits, and close their stores and
offices. The only exceptions to this rule are
the resorts for fedding-hotels, restaurants, and
confectionery saloons These places generally
do an extra amount of business on such days.
Their patrons are chiefly from those who
convert a " fast day" into a general holiday,
caring little about the real cause which pro-
duced it. Among the profcssedly religious
people, few fast, comparatively. Many sincere
practical Christians do not believe, notwith-
standing the Scriptural examples handed down
to us, that a clear conscience comes through
an empty stomach.
We are told that in seasons Of danger or gen.
eral afiliction, when nature itself ceased for a
time to crave indulgence, il was customary
among the Jews to abstain from food as a re-
ligious duty, and the same "'lctice prevailed
among individuals when the occasion was per-
sOnal. Thus we read that the Saviour tasted
forty days and forty nights. such protracted
tasts are accounted for only upon the ground
miraculous interposition. Wea not living
in a time Of miracles just now. but We are liy-
ing in the midst Of Tcwe-.imcricdn Jews some
Of them, who ahstai. oIn food, not as a relig-
ious uuty, however, lut because they cannot
find anything to steal.
We have the authority Of the primitive
church that itass and G.sH"ols were practiced
On stated days, To commemorate the actions
and sulicring7 Of pesrns most instrumental
in carrying forward the great original designs
Of the Author of all things; but in process of
time, as early as the fourth century, the prac-
tice was almost wholly abandoned, on account
of the many Corruptions ii cngendered. The
English church retains the festivals to this
day. So that we have ancient, scriptura
authority for .tedaiag as well as tlstipg. We
know, from history, that the former resulted
in extravaganza and liccntiousness. The latter
breeds hypocrisy. "When ye fast, =" said Him
who spakc as never man spake, "be not as
the hypocritcs, Of a sad countenance; for they
+ aisfgurC their faces that then mdy appear tp,to
men 10 fast Appear not unto men
= to fast, but unto thy Father, which is in secret;
, and thy Father, which sCcth in secret, shall
} reward thee openly
Fast days, in this country, that come OF ma.
tional and State proclamatlons, are, by the
practices of the people, nothing more nor less
than fdrces. So much for fasts.
The President recognizing the Supreme Ruler
of Nations in all of the affairs of men, and, in
accordance with the request of the Senate of the
United States, sets apart tomorrow, Thursday,
the 3Oth day of April, as a day for " National
prayer and humiliation"
He requests all the people to abstain on that
day from their ordinary secular pursuits, and
to unite in the discharge of duties proper to the
; occasion. That this request will be responded
4 ~ WY bNhNi Hii1s W ''ANN nv uDubls
No people on earth deserve to be humbled
more than this, because, when God exalted us
"a a nation on the earth, and gave us a name
above every name
, We become proud and dizzy;
f We hnasted of freedom and nursed slavery;
r We violated the law against piracy to engage
in the slave trade;
5 We violated State laws to yield to slavcry's
Infamous dcmandsi
: We perverted the supreme law of the land at
, the bidding of slavery
We disgraced our Army and Navy by making
4 agents Of both to sustain the curse;
IL Welmpri@oncd men and women (whllc boast.
m.; Of our free schools for learning the slave
to read;
"" scourgcd imprisoned, and hung clergy,
" mcr r'r teaching slaves the Christian religion
- v ,,r adcd the area Of slavery into new
t, Sluca.
70 Nr~r.,. ,avcry into Territories against
- lnwi
" W" invaded the soil Of our weakest ncighbol
h aud wrrNcA from him territory to convert tc
i SIa,D..
We compromised away our honor to save
slavery
We shut our eyes against truth and justice
o aud hardened our hearts against God and gave
k ourselves up to slavery and its perpctuatlon;
c We branded ourselves as a nation of hypo
k crltes-boastlng Of "cqual rights" while cx
changing gold for men, women, and children;
0 In the language of the President, we hat
"forgotten God"
For these things We deserve the terrible re-
Il mindcr which We have received as a nation
! that there is a God, who is just.
. Wccannot hehumliatcd toOmuch, nor bowed
. too low, and while we are thus Justly punished
3 those who have been most guilty in administer
. ing the affairs of this nation, and who are now
, urruycl in battle against this Government, foI
, the sole purpose Of pcrpctuating slavery, aut
extending 1t, rpussiblc, to the British line on the
q north, are suffering far greater curse than We
: are, hut are rcupins no more than they deserve
> They are not only starving, huL the avenginq
y God Is gmitng them with great floods, so thai
g they cannot SOW their slriug seeds nor reap Al
o au.Hr,n IL ,rycsti
% rhc. suppiigs lron the Wrsu and southwes