Proclamation of Thanksgiving
by the President of the United States of America
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 unequalled 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 had 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 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 United States the eighty-eighth.
A. Lincoln
1 comment:
Also from today's BCCT. For greedy people feeding at the public money trough, I don't think the starting salary range of $24,100 to $33,575 would entice Joe the Plumber to give up his day job. Also, aren't 5-year contracts supposed to be extremely rare? It seems like they're common enough to be taken off the endangered species list. Contracts aren't really binding though, right? So there's always the option of the next board ripping it up and handing them a shorter deal, take it or leave it.
Board OKs 5-year deal with secretaries
By JOAN HELLYER
Bucks County Courier Times
Secretaries in the Bensalem School District will begin paying $20 per month toward their health care premiums in January, according to a new agreement the Bensalem school board approved Tuesday night.
It's the first time the secretaries will help pay for their premium costs, reflecting an ongoing effort to have the district's estimated 950 employees contribute more to their health care expenses, officials said. The agreement also includes a move to a less expensive health care plan and employees continuing co-payments when they receive health care services.
In addition, the deal calls for a 2 percent salary increase this school year, a 2.75 percent increase in 2009-10, and 3 percent increase in 2010-11, 2011-12, and 2012-13, said Robert Cardillo, Bensalem's human resources director.
The $20 per month payment toward health care premiums will go up to $22 toward the end of the contract.
The collective bargaining agreement is retroactive to July and covers 47 district staff members.
The secretaries are grouped into three different levels, and paid according to their classification, Cardillo said. Starting salaries in 2008-09 range from $24,100 for a “B” secretary, to $30,330 for an “A” secretary, and $33,575 for a senior secretary, he said.
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