Constant thanksgiving and gratitude are due from the American people to
Almighty God for His goodness and mercy, which have followed them since
the day He made them a nation and vouchsafed to them a free government.
With loving kindness He has constantly led us in the way of prosperity
and greatness. He has not visited with swift punishment our
shortcomings, but with gracious care He has warned us of our dependence
upon His forbearance and has taught us that obedience to His holy law is
the price of a continuance of His precious gifts.
In acknowledgment of all that God has done for us as a nation, and to
the end that on an appointed day the united prayers and praise of a
grateful country may reach the throne of grace, I, Grover Cleveland,
President of the United States, do hereby designate and set apart
Thursday, the 29th day of November instant, as a day of thanksgiving and
prayer, to be kept and observed throughout the land.
On that day let all our people suspend their ordinary work and
occupations, and in their accustomed places of worship, with prayer
and songs of praise, render thanks to God for all His mercies, for the
abundant harvests which have rewarded the toil of the husbandman during
the year that has passed, and for the rich rewards that have followed
the labors of our people in their shops and their marts of trade
and traffic. Let us give thanks for peace and for social order and
contentment within our borders, and for our advancement in all that
adds to national greatness.
And mindful of the afflictive dispensation with which a portion of our
land has been visited, let us, while we humble ourselves before the
power of God, acknowledge His mercy in setting bounds to the deadly
march of pestilence, and let our hearts be chastened by sympathy with
our fellow-countrymen who have suffered and who mourn.
And as we return thanks for all the blessings which we have received
from the hands of our Heavenly Father, let us not forget that He has
enjoined upon us charity; and on this day of thanksgiving let us
generously remember the poor and needy, so that our tribute of praise
and gratitude may be acceptable in the sight of the Lord.
Done at the city of Washington on the 1st day of November, 1888, and in
the year of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and
thirteenth.
[SEAL.]
In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name and caused the seal of
the United States to be affixed.