e
from which they come, others have been added, which are of so
extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften 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 provoke their
aggressions, 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 strength from the fields of peaceful
industry to the national defence have not arrested the plough, the
shuttle, or the ship; the axe has 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 vigour, 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 one 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 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,