214 Tlie Rocky Mountain Locust. 



nities, and may possibly extend to the whole State, and if not abated 

 will eventuate in sore distress and famine ; 



Wherefore, be it known that the 3d day of June proximo is here- 

 by appointed and set apart as a day of fasting and prayer, that 

 Almighty God may be invoked to remove from our midst those 

 impending calamities, and to grant instead the blessings of abun- 

 dance and plenty; and the people and all the officers of the State 

 are hereby requested to desist, during that day, from their usual 

 employments, and to assemble at their places of worship for humble 

 and devout prayer, and to otherwise observe the day as one of fast- 

 ing and prayer. 



In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused 

 the great seal of the State of Missouri to be affixed, in the city of 

 Jefferson, this 17th day of May, 1875. 



C. H. HARDIN. 



By the Governor : 



M. K. McGrath, Secretary of State. 



This proclamation naturally drew forth a large amount 

 of comment, and the Governor was ridiculed or praised 

 according as fancy inspired newspaper men. As I was 

 myself taken to task by no less a personage than the Rev- 

 erend Doctor W. Pope Yeaman, of the Third Baptist 

 Church of St. Louis, for supposed ridicule, and for taking 

 " unnecessary pains to sneer at Providence," it may be as 

 well to state that the only sentiment I ever expressed, 

 either by word of mouth or by pen, as to the proclama- 

 tion, is contained in an article published in the St. Louis 

 Globe of May 19, 1875, where I wrote : 



I deeply and sincerely appreciate the sympathy which our wor- 

 thy Governor manifests for the suffering people of our western 

 counties, through the proclamation which sets apart the 3d of June 

 as a day of fasting and prayer that the great Author of our being 

 may be invoked to remove impending calamities. Yet, without 

 discussing the question as to tbe efficacy of prayer in affecting the 

 physical world, no one will for a moment doubt that the supplica- 

 tions of the people will more surely be granted if accompanied by 

 well-directed, energetic work. When, in 1853, Lord Palmerston 

 was besought by the Scotch Presbyterians to appoint a day for 

 national fasting, humiliation and prayer, that the cholera might be 

 averted, he suggested that it would be more beneficial to feed the 

 poor, cleanse the cesspools, ventilate the houses and remove the 

 causes and sources of contagion, which, if allowed to remain, will 

 infallibly breed pestilence, " in spite of all the prayers and fastings 



