(_Issued October 3, 1863_)
The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the
blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties,
which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source
from which they come, others have been added, which are of so
extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften
even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful
Providence of Almighty God.
In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which
has sometimes seemed to invite and provoke the aggression of foreign
states, 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 theater of military conflict.
The needful diversion of wealth and strength from the fields of
peaceful industry to the national defense has not arrested the plow,
the shuttle, or the ship.
The ax 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 by the camp, the siege,
and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness
of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of
years with large increase of freedom.
No human council 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 seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly,
reverentially, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and
voice, by the whole American people.
I recommend too, 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, as
soon as may be consistent with divine purposes, to the full enjoyment
of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and union.