Norwich bulletin., 1918-05-31
PRAY THAT WE MAY
 DO WILL OF GOD


 DO WILL OF GOD. So Shall Victory Come, Says Rev. A.
 P. Purkiss in Memorial Day Address.
 .-=
 In his Memorial day address, which | many of the Sedgwiek post men de- l clared was the best and most inspiring they had listened to in years, Rev MT. l Purkiss declared that he meant to preach sermon, and he read as a basis for it the proclamationS made by Abraham Lincoln in April 1883. for 8 day of fasting and prayer, and the proclariiation of President Wilson call Ing on the nation to make this Meno- rial day one of prayer.
 Pray for our country and our peo- pie and our allies and our army that we shall do Gods will he said and SC shall victory through the might of our armies and navies be assured.
 Rev. Mir. Purkiss read the two proclamatioTls as follows:
 LincoIn's Proclamation.
 Whereas. The Senate of the United States, deyoutly recognizing the su- preme authority and just government 1 of Almighty God in all the affairs Of ! men and of nations. has by a resoiu- 1 tion requested the President to desig- l nate and set apart a day for National prayer and humiliation; and,
 l Whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their depehd- ence upon the Gverruling power of God, to confess their sins and trans ! gressions in humble sorrow. yet with assured hope that genuine repentance i will lead to mercy and pardon; and to | recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by 1 all history; that those nations only blessed whose God is the Lord;
 And, insomuch as we know that by His divine law nations. like individ- uals, are subjected to punishments in this world: may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for cur presumptuous sins: to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people? We have been the recip- tents of the choicest bounties of Hea- ven we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers. wealth, and power as no other nation has eVer grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious
 hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strength
 
 in. the deceitfulness of our hearts, that
 all these blessings were produced by 1 some superior wisdom and virtue of
 our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success we have become too self-suffi- cient to feel the necessity of redeem ing and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us. ''It behooves us. then. to humble our selves before the offended Power, tc confess our national sins. and to pray for. clemency and forgiveness.
 Now, therefore, in complianee Hsitr , the request, and fully concurring ir the views of the senate, I do by tfS my proclamation designate and s4t
 apart Thursday, the 3oth day of April ;; 1868, as a day of national humilia ton , fasting and prayer. And I do ferebJ i request all tie people to abstain or . that day from their ordinary seculai !, pursuits. and to unite at their severa E places of public worship and their re speetive honies in keeping the da! i holy to the Lord and devoted to tn, humble discharge of the religious du ties proper to that solemn occasion , "All this being done in sincerity ant : truth, let us then rest humbly in tn, F hope auth6fized by the divine teach , inss that the united cry Of the natioi will be heard on high and answere, Y With blessings no less than the par s don of our national sins and the res toration of our now divided and suf fering country to it's former happ, { condition of unity and peace."'
 r Wilson's Proclamation.
 T Whereas, it has always been tn t reverent habit of the people of tn n United States to turn in humble ap ? peal to Almighty God for His guidane | id the affairs of their. common life: n Now. Therefore, I, Woodrow Wilson e President of the United. States c : America. do hereby proclaim Thurs : ready freighted with sacred and stifn t ulating memories, a day of public hu y initiation, prayer and fasting, and d p exhort my fellow citizens of all faith y and ereeds to assemble on that da e in their several places of worship an It there, as well as in their homes. | IT pray Almighty God that He may for
 give our sins and shortcomings as e people and purify our hearts to SC 8 | and. love the truth. to accept and de l, fend all things that are just and righ Ie and to propose only those righteet t acts and Judgments which are in cor 'f f6rrnity with His will; beseeching Hi = that He will give victory to our al
 mics as. they fight for freedom; wis l. dom to those who take counsel on ot Il behalf in these days of dark strugg | and perplexity, and steadfastness 1 'h our people to make sacrifice to the u le most in support of What is just ar ' true. bringing us at last the peace l. which mems hearts can be at rest bt
 cause it is founded upon mercy, jul. ' tice and good will.
 h. WOODROW WILSON. Q Tn nart fhn sneaker said
 !, This day was established as a de se for scattering flowers upon the gray n of our dead heroes of the Civil wa l: and te pay our respects and hernal '. to those heroes who remain to ble
 our land. Today we are in the mid IS of a. mighty struggle, the mightest u sr world ever saw, to determine wheth l. the sacrifices our brave men of t T. past have naade shall Be of value. v .h cannot think in times of the pal sn Our gaze Is fixed uf'6n the mleh IS present. As we speak; that trernei l. dous ,serrna1l drive Is going fofwaf r. Our worlds future hangs In the ba ae ai1ce ,rhia Ia no time for cenesiti f
 HHif -nrRAsa, for boastinSi This IS aa tiKae fur confession of sin hfad EeiaEa