PROCLAMATION.
APPOINTING A DAY FOR
PUBLIC WORSHIP.
It is meet that the
people of the Confederate States should, from time to time, assemble to
acknowledge their dependence on Almighty God, to render devout thanks to His
Holy name, to bend in prayer at His footstool, and to accept, with fervent
submission, the chastening of His All-wise and All-merciful Providence.
Let us, then, in
temples and in the field, unite our voices in recognizing, with adoring
gratitude, the manifestations of His protecting care in the many signal
victories with which our arms have been crowned; in the fruitfulness with which
our land has been blessed, and in the unimpaired energy and fortitude with
which He has inspired our hearts and strengthened our arms in resistance to the
iniquitous designs of our enemies.
And let us not
forget that while graciously vouchsafing to us His protection, our sins have
merited and received grievous chastisement; that many of our best and bravest
have fallen in battle; that many others are still held in foreign prisons; that
large districts of our country have been devastated with savage ferocity, the
peaceful homes destroyed, and helpless women and children driven away in
destitution; and that with fiendish malignity the passions of a servile race
have been excited by our foes into the commission of atrocities from which
death is a welcome escape.
Now, therefore, I,
Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America, do issue this
my proclamation, setting apart Wednesday, the 16th day of November next, as a
day to be specially devoted to the worship of Almighty God; and I do invite and
invoke all the people of these Confederate States to assemble on the day
aforesaid, in their respective places of public worship, there to unite in
prayer to our Heavenly Father that He bestow His favor upon us; that He extend
over us the protection of His Almighty arm; that He sanctify His chastisement
to our improvement, so that we may turn away from evil paths and walk
righteously in His sight; and that He may restore peace to our beloved country,
healing its bleeding wounds, and securing to us the continued enjoyment of our
own right to self-government and independence, and that He will graciously
hearken to us while we ascribe to Him the power and glory of our independence.
Given under my hand
and the seal of the Confederate States, at Richmond, this 26th day of October,
in the year of our Lord 1864.
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