Thursday, November 25, 2010

Proclamation Establishing Thanksgiving Day

Proclamation Establishing Thanksgiving Day
October 3, 1863


The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies.  To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.  In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.  Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore.  Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom.
No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things.  They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.
It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people.  I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.   And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.

A. Lincoln

11 comments:

Otepoti said...

Happy Thanksgiving Day to you and yours.

eutychus said...

Hey! Good to hear from you! I thought I lost you! Do you have a Thanksgiving Day or equivalent in New Zealand?

Otepoti said...

Hi, Eutychus.

Sorry to have left off reading GITW for a while. Much water under the bridge.

No, we don't have Thanksgiving here. I wish we did - one day counting our blessings would do everybody good.

Instead, we imported a peculiar summertime Halloween :-/

Best wishes

eutychus said...

Otepoti,

Well, turn about is fair play since I left off blogging for a while...
Hope things have settled a bit on your side.
We've left off the whole "counting blessings" culturally. Its now more a matter of a fattening up to get ready for shopping for Christmas which, though starting some days (weeks?) before, officially gets going on the frenetic day known as Black Friday following Thanksgiving. A name which fits on a number of levels and is scarier in many cases than Halloween. I'd be interested to know more about your summertime Halloween.

eutychus said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Otepoti said...

There isn't a lot to tell!

When I was a child, we only read about Halloween. Now, our Walmart equivalent, The Warehouse, sells costumes, and some children go door-to-door. The one little group who made it to our front door were disconsolate to hear that we had no lollies in the house (we don't call it "candy") at all. (I'd forgotten about it.)

For the last three years, Halloween's been on a brilliant early summer evening, and of course, pumpkins are six months out of season.

Could you take Halloween back, do you think, and we could throw ourselves into Matariki instead? That's a festival I could get behind...

Best wishes

eutychus said...

A New years Party built around seven sisters- Cool! Thanks for educating me.
We go through about 4-5 big bags of candy in about two hours. One piece per beggar er, I mean trick or treater. We start at 6 and go till 8 and then turn off the lights.

Otepoti said...

The best thing about Matariki is that it's so simple. You just go down to your local beach or marae, watch for Matariki to emerge above the horizon, stand round a bonfire and eat kumara and bread (it's also a kumara festival.)

It's high-carb, but it doesn't rot your teeth.

Best.

eutychus said...

You know of course, that if I ever get to New Zealand, I'm coming vor a visit..:-)
Kumara- is that like a sweet potato or yam?

Otepoti said...

Pass. I don't know what you guys would call it, but I do know that the kumara we grow now is not the same as the one cultivated by Maori in pre-European days. The one we call a kumara now is usually about the size of your fist, a bit knobbly, with a red or orange skin, and some veining inside. Flesh is yellowy.

(It's too cold where I live to grow kumara, but I do grow yams and potatoes.)

Best.

eutychus said...

Ok so not quite what I had in mind. We've been eating a lot of Sweet Potatoes lately (the dark skinned ones are sweeter) since I found that cool recipe. Also a fair amount of potatoes in cock a leeky soup. Yumm and tis the season.