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PROCLAMATION
Thanksgiving
and Prayer
Washington,
January 1, 1795
The
text of this proclamation largely resembles that of
the proclamation of 1789. Here, President George Washington
proclaimed a day of prayer and thanksgiving when the
prospect of another foreign war had decreased. In this
proclamation, George Washington called upon all of the
religious societies and denominations to join with him
in setting apart Thursday, February 19, 1795, as a day
of public thanksgiving and prayer. Once again the primary
focus of this proclamation is one of expressing thanks
to God for the many civil liberties and freedoms the
inhabitants of this nation enjoy under their republican
form of government and the constitutions establishing
that government. This proclamation stands as a bright
example of the relationship between religion and government.
Although the government left matters of religion to
the various religious denominations, religion itself,
and a belief in God as the preserver of this nation's
freedom, were pervasive during the time following the
Revolutionary War.
RJ&L
Religious Institutions Group
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 exemption, 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 unite 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.
[seal.] Done
at the city of Philadelphia, the 1st day of January,
1795, and of the Independence of the United States
of America the nineteenth.
Go
WASHINGTON.
By
the President:
Edm:
Randolph.
Source:
I A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents
171-72 (James D. Richardson ed., 1897).
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