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To make corresponding returns, and the guilt which we have contracted, by disregarding these obligations, misimproving our privileges and neglecting the glorious Gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

And while, with unfeigned penitence, we confess our numerous offenses, and implore forgiveness of our justly offended Benefactor, in humble reliance on the merits of his Son, let us fervently pray, that He will be pleased, in infinite mercy, to grant to us the continued enjoyment of the blessings which we have forfeited; to avert from us the evils which we have deserved; and to have all the public and private interests of the inhabitants of this State in his safe and holy keeping; particularly, that He will grant us a favorable seed time, and a plentiful harvest; that He will smile upon our agriculture, commerce and manufacturers, and upon all the lawful employments of our citizens; that He will preserve our mariners from the perils of the deep, and cause the voice of health and rejoicing to be heard in our habitations; that a spirit of wisdom, and of fidelity to GOD and to men, may be imparted to all who are entrusted with the formation and execution of our laws; that He will look with a propitious eye upon our colleges and seminaries of learning, and bless all the means which are employed to promote the intellectual and moral improvement of the rising generations, that He will assist our religious teachers in the performance of their duties, and crown their ministrations with success; that He will incline us all suitably to prize, and to improve our inestimable religious privileges; cause pure and undefiled religion to prevail through this State, and render increasingly successful, all attempts to extend the knowledge, and promote the influence of Christianity. That He will also be pleased to preserve the peace and prosperity of these United States; to bless their Chief Magistrate, and both branches of the national Legislature; and, to grant to the inhabitants of each State, those blessings which are necessary to their happiness; that, as the GOD and Father of the human race, He will look compassionately upon the wants and sufferings of his great family; bring good out of the evils which exist in the world, and cause the time soon to arrive, when civil and religious liberty shall be every where enjoyed, the knowledge and beneficent spirit of Christianity be universally diffused, and all flesh see the salvation of GOD. And the inhabitants of this State are requested to abstain from all labor and recreation inconsistent with the services of said day.

Given at the Council Chamber, in Portland, the sixteenth day of February in the year of our Lord, one thousand, eight hundred and twenty two, and in the forty sixth year of the Independence of the United States of America.

Albion K. Parris.

By the Governor.

Ashur Ware, Secretary of State