The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1863-04-05
OFFICIAL.
BIZ he Pre5ids7t Of de Cmtod States Of
Americq.
A PROCLAMATTON.

"A fhOJLAMA lion.
wHErpAs, The senate Of tho United
States, 6escutly iecognizibg The Supreme
Authority aid just GovCrnpent Of Az
mighty tGed, in al The affairs Of men
and Of nations, has, By resolution, re-
.qncstod the President to designate and
net apart day for national prayer and
humiliation: --
AEp wHEREAs it Is the duty of nations,
as well as o. men, TO own theg- depend.
eRe0 upon the oYer-Iuling power of God
to confess their sins ard transgressions,
in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope
that genuine repentance will lead TO
mercy and pardon, and 70 recognize the
sublime truth, announced in the Holy
Scriptures and proven by all history,
that those nations only ere blessed whose
God is the Lord:
Aud, insomuch as we know that by
His divine law, nations, like individuals,
are subjected 10 punishmcnts aud chas-
tisements in this world, may we not
Justly fear that tho awful calamity OF
civil war, which now des0lates the land,
may bebut punishment Inflicted upon
! rs for oEr presuuptuous sins, % the need
full end Of our national reformation as a
whole People2 We have been the recipi-
ents of the choicest bOunties of Heaven
| We have preserved, these many years, in
| peace and prosperity. We have grown
in numbers, wealth and power as nc
| other nation has ever grown But we
have forgotten God, we have forgotten
Che gracious hand which preserved us in
peace, and multiplied aud enriched and
strengthened US; and we have vainly i'm
| agined, in the distinctness of our hearts
that all these blessings were produced by
some superior wisdom and virtue of ou
ewn. intoxicated with nnbroken sue,
cess, we have become too self-sufTicien
to feel the necessity of redetming anC
preserving grace, too proud 70 pray Il
the God that made us!
II behooyes us, then, 10 humble our.
selves before offended Power, 10 confess
our national sins, and TO pray Tor elem
ency and forgiveness,
Now therefore, in compliance with th
request, and fully copcuuiUg ia The view
of the Senate, do, by this my proolama
tion, designate and set apart Thursday
the 30th of April, 1863, as a day of ma
tional humiliation fasting, and prayer
And | do hereby request all the peOpl
to abstain on that day from their ordina
~ secular pursuits, and 70 unite, at thei
several places Of public worship and ihoi
respective homes, in keeping the day hulr
to the Lord, and devoted 70 the humbl
discharge Of the religions duties .prope
to that solemn occasion.
All this being done, in sincerity an,
truth, let us then rest humbly in the hope
authorized by the Divine teachings, tina
the united cry Of the nation will be hear,
on high, and answered with blessings, q
less than the pardon Of our national sins
and restoration of our now divided an,
suffering country to its former happ,
condition Of unity and peace
In witness whereof have hereunt
set my hand and caused the seal Of IN
United States to be affixed.
,-D,, Done at the city of Wash
81, s.{ ington this thirtieth day 0
'N~' March, in the year Of our Lor,
one thousand eight hundred and sixty
three, and Of the independence Of ia
United States the eighiy-seyenth.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President:
WILLIAM Il. SEWARD Secretary Of State