Rethink.

By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards 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 foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, 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 of 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 vigor, 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 who are 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 as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

Comment:

“Fruitful fields” and “healthful skies” seem to contrast gravely with the people of the nation itself in 1863; recall this was in the same year as Gettysburg, where casualties numbered 60,000 in three days. Our children may be dying, we ourselves may be ill, but the land of the country itself is bountiful. The bounties of the land are “constantly enjoyed;” they do not provoke thought. If one thinks, one finds “others” of “so extraordinary a nature”  that one must become sensible to the Providence of Almighty God. “Extraordinary” usually means beyond what is political, what is beyond human means. In the midst of a civil war, what God seems to have extraordinarily given is the promise of the ordinary. One would not expect “peace” to be preserved with other nations as other nations are opportunists, yet there has been peace of that sort. There is order, law and harmony even; independent of the war itself (and some draft riots), people aren’t forming factions and backstabbing each other for the most meager gain. Not only are foreign nations opportunists, but so are individuals, and a civil war has more than once been an opportunity for tyrants.

Moreover, while the war is horrible, its “theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.” People aren’t just obedient and willing, they’re resolved. To that end, even in the midst of a horrific war, industry and commerce are thriving because people are doing their best: “needful diversions of wealth and of 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 more abundantly than heretofore.” One could be ungenerous and look at this as some kind of cold sentiment derived from something like the “Protestant work ethic,” but note that those in rebellion enslave people. The point is more that a quiet virtue attends freedom, and that virtue sacrifices continually to make blessings for others. “Industry” and “enlarging one’s settlements” aren’t necessarily limited to financial capital; the center of Lincoln’s list is “ship,” recalling the Mayflower.

It is from that more refined sentiment that Lincoln can say “population has steadily increased” and not be insensitive to the war dead. They’re allowing people to live; the population of the whole country “is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.” The “augmented strength and vigor” that the country feels does not come from military victories alone, but from the fact that our way of life can produce for the sake of peace.

Lincoln has taken three things – awareness of blessings, the faith and resolve of the American people, and the willingness to work as well as one can – and used them to argue there is a Providential/moral order we can trust keeping the Union afloat. No amount of wisdom on the Founders’ part could stop people from turning to the worst of tyrants during a civil war, or despairing and quitting in their ordinary toil as they see and read about death all around. One could say that Lincoln is praising the character of the American people very highly, and I think that is happening (character is not a product of “human counsel” or a “mortal hand” alone). The reason why he turns to a discussion of “anger for our sins” and recommends not only thanks for “singular deliverances and blessings,” but also “humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience” is that virtuous people do not need flattery, especially when they are aware of the horror they are enduring. What they need to know: 1) their cause is right and just (the silent contrast between the labors of those fighting for Union and those who are partial to slavery) 2) their virtues are employed correctly (they’re not only fighting the war, but leading their normal lives, creating the ground for genuine peace – note “tranquility” in the last list Lincoln gives, and what it stands in place of given the order of the rest of the Proclamation) 3) their efforts are not in vain, that there will be healing (the appeal to the Almighty).

• Abraham Lincoln, “Letter to Ephraim D. and Phoebe Ellsworth”
• Abraham Lincoln, “Remarks to Baltimore Presbyterian Synod, Washington, D.C.”
• Abraham Lincoln, “Speech at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania”
• Happy Thanksgiving!
• Questions regarding the Lincoln Memorial

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.