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Thanksgiving Proclamation: 1795

When we review the calamities which afflict so many other nations, the present condition of the United States affords much matter of consolation and satisfaction. Our exemption hitherto from foreign war, an increasing prospect of the continuance of that exception, the great degree of internal tranquillity we have enjoyed, the recent confirmation of that tranquillity by the suppression of an insurrection which so wantonly threatened it, the happy course of our public affairs in general, the unexampled prosperity of all classes of our citizens, are circumstances which peculiarly mark our situation with indications of the Divine beneficence toward us. In such a state of things it is in an especial manner our duty as a people, with devout reverence and affectionate gratitude, to acknowledge our many and great obligations to Almighty God and to implore Him to continue and confirm the blessings we experience.

 

Deeply penetrated with this sentiment, I, George Washington, President of the United States, do recommend to all religious societies and denominations, and to all persons whomsoever, within the United States to set apart and observe Thursday, the 19th day of February next as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, and on that day to meet together and render their sincere and hearty thanks to the Great Ruler of Nations for the manifold and signal mercies which distinguish our lot as a nation, particularly for the possession of constitutions of government which united and by their union establish liberty with order; for the preservation of our peace, foreign and domestic; for the seasonable control which has been given to a spirit of disorder in the suppression of the late insurrection, and generally for the prosperous course of our affairs, public and private; and at the same time humbly and fervently to beseech the kind Author of these blessings graciously to prolong them to us; to imprint on our hearts a deep and solemn sense of our obligations to Him for them; to teach us rightly to estimate their immense value; to preserve us from the arrogance of prosperity, and from hazarding the advantages we enjoy by delusive pursuits; to dispose us to merit the continuance of His favors by not abusing them; by our gratitude for them, and by a correspondent conduct as citizens and men; to render this country more and more a safe and propitious asylum for the unfortunate of other countries; to extend among us true and useful knowledge; to diffuse and establish habits of sobriety, order, morality, and piety, and finally, to impart all the blessings we possess, or ask for ourselves, to the whole family of mankind.

 

In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of the United States of America to be affixed to these presents, and signed the same with my hand.

 

Done at the city of Philadelphia, the 1st day of January, 1795, and of the Independence of the United States of America the nineteenth.

 

By the President : GO. WASHINGTON.

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T. Shaw
T. Shaw
Thursday, November 22, AD 2012 7:01am

Happy Thanksgiving all!

This year I give thanks for recent national events which led me back to prayer (any moment not encumbered with worldly labors) and to the Truth. The Truth that this vail of tears in which we (poor, banished children of Eve) exist is not our true home. The Truth that some day we may enter our true, happy home with Christ, who by His Life, Death, and Resurrection purchased for us the rewards of eternal life.

“Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the Promises of Christ.”

Now, the cooking begins. And, dig in!

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Thursday, November 22, AD 2012 1:53pm

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Taylor
Taylor
Thursday, November 22, AD 2012 7:23pm

Did he have two speeches like this? Here he assigns it to Nov. 26th.

“Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be — That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks — for his kind care and protection of the People of this country previous to their becoming a Nation — for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his providence, which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war — for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed — for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.”

Read more: EDITORIAL: Rendering our sincere thanks – Washington Times http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/nov/21/rendering-our-sincere-thanks/#ixzz2D0KU12ZD
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

And sort of run-on sentences.

Robert A. Rowl;and
Robert A. Rowl;and
Friday, November 23, AD 2012 11:11am

AMERICAN SPIRIT STILL LIVES!

The true American spirit will always live – I know why.
Liberty and religious freedom are ever our cry.
Don’t let a day pass without honor for the God we trust.
To aspire for salvation must always be our main thrust.

The hour of visitation must never be forgotten.
Without trust in God, our nation could not be begotten.
We must ensure that Christianity again prevails.
Without the God of Abraham our basic nature fails.

The liberty ball is silent – freedom we still ensure.
In the hearts of Americans it will always endure.
I will fly Old Glory when our nation is again free.
Socialism leads a nation into ignominy.

Now, the nation my military career defended,
has by traitorous American votes been upended.
A grave sin was committed against unborn human life.
God’s Justice surely demands vengeance and eternal strife.

When spirit seems at its very worst, patriots heed the call.
They know what made liberty and freedom refuse to fall.
The American dream, now in default, we must revive,
Only with revived trust in God can our nation survive.

Bob Rowland
X1/XVIII/MMXII

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