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State of Maine.

By the Governor of the State of Maine:

A Proclamation

for a day of

Public Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer.

As rational and accountable beings, it becomes the privilege and duty of communities as well as of individuals, occasionally to pause from the ordinary concerns of life, and solemnly reflect upon the object of their existence, and the relation they sustain towards their Creator. Deeply impressed with the importance of this duty, the pious Ancestors of New England left a laudable example, which, in accordance with Reason and Revelation, now calls upon us, their descendants, to set apart a day, unitedly to deplore our ingratitude to our Almighty Benefactor for the innumerable Mercies He has conferred upon us; in penitence[?] and contrition humbly to acknowledge our manifold transgressions of His holy Laws, and with devout resolutions of future Amendment, to implore a continuance of His Gracious Favor and Protection.

With the advice of the Executive Council, I do therefore appoint Thursday the twelfth day of April next, to be observed by the people of this State as a day of Public Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer. And while on this occasion we assemble in our respective places of Public Worship, let us pray that by Divine aid we may be enabled to overcome every sinful propensity and unhallowed passion; sensible of our own errors and imperfections may we look with Charity upon the failings of others; if suffering from ingratitude or in justice, may we learn to forgive as we hope to be forgiven; if any duty incumbent on us as Citizens, Men and Christians, has been neglected, let us not rest until it has been performed; and in all the transactions of life, resolve to conduct as in the presence of an Omniscient and Holy God, before whose bar we must all shortly appear.

Let us also, pray that our Heavenly Father would mercifully supply the wants of all his Creatures; that he would smile upon the Seasons of the year, and abundantly reward the labors of the Husbandman; that he would bless the honest enterprise and industry of our Fellow citizens of every calling and profession; that our Civil, Literary and Religious Institutions may be sustained and prospered; and that the means of

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