Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 11.djvu/800

 756 APPENDIX. PROCLAMATION. N 0. 7. No. 7. Day of Public Humiliation appointed. Mm-4:1123,179s. BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. A PROCLAMATION. As the safety and prosperity of nations ultimately and essentially depend on the protection and the blessing of Almighty God, and the national acknowledgment of this truth is not only an indispensable duty which the people owe to Him, but a. duty whose natural influence is favourable be the promouou of jshat morality and piety, without which social happiness cannot eugist, nor the blessings of a free government be enjoyed, and as this duty at all times mcumbent, is so es ecially in seasons of difliculty or of danger, when existing or threatening cngamitzies, the just judgments of God against prevalent iniquity, are a loud call bo repentance and reformation; and as the United States of America arc, ht present, placed in a, hazardous and afllictive situation, by the unfriendly disposition, conduct, and demands of a Foreig; Power, evinced by repeated refusals be receive our messengers of reconction and peace, by depredatnons on our Commerce, and the inflicticn of injuries on very many of our fellowcitizens, while engaged in their lawihl business on the seas.- nder these considerations it has appeared to mc that the duty of imploring the mercy and benedicdon of Heaven on our country, demands, at this time, a special attention from its inhabitants. Wednesday, I have, therefore, thought fit to recommend, and I do hereby recommend, that MW 9» 1798, ¤P· Wednesday, the ninth day of May next, be observed throughout the United p°mt°d as “ day States, as a day of Solemn Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer: That the of Public Hu-. . . . . milmiom Citizens of these States, abstaming on that day from their customary worldly occupations, offer their devout addresses 1:0 the Father of Mercies, agreeably to those forms or methods which they have severally adonted as the most suitable and becoming: That all Religious Congregations do, with the deepest humility, acknowledge before God the manifold sins and tmnsgressions with which we are justly chargeable as individuals and as a nation, beseeching him at the same time of His infinite Grace through the Redeemer of the World, freely to remit all our offences, and to incline us, by his Holy Spirit, to that sincere Re eutancc and Reformation, which may a.H`ord us reason to hope for his inestimabhz favour and Heavenly Benediction: That it be made the subject of particular and earnest supplication, that our country may be protected fiom all the dangers which threaten it : That our civil and religious privileges may be preserved in~ violate, and perpetuated to the latest generations: That our Public Councils and Magistrates may be especially enlightened and directed at this critical period: That the American people may be 1..11ted in those bonds of amity and mutual confidence, and inspired wilh that vigour and fortitude by which they have in times past been so highly distinguished, and by which they have obtained such invaluable advantages : That the health of the inhabitants of our land may be preserved, and the1r Agriculture, Commerce, Fisheries, Arts and Manufactures, be blessed and prospered: That the principles of genuine piety and sound morality may influence the minds and govern the lives of every description of our Citizens, and that the blessings of eace, freedom, and pure religion, may be speedily extended to all the nations of the Earth. And, finally, I recommend, that on the said day, the duties of Humiliation and Prayer be accompanied by fervent thanksgiving to the bestnwer of every good gift, not only for His having hitherto protected and preserved the people of these United States, in the independent enjoyment of their Religious and Civil Freedom, but also for having prospered them in a wonderful ronress of population, and for conferring on them many and great favours, conducive to the happiness and prosperity of a nation. Given under my hand and the Seal of the United States of America, at Philadelphia, this twenty-mhird day of March, in the year of our [L. s.] Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight, and of the independence of the said States the twenty-second. JOHN ADAMS. BY Tun Pmasxnmxrz TIMOTHY PICKERING, Secretary of Stare.