Posted on Thursday 22 July 2010
Late in his life, after requesting permission from President Washington, Duché returned to America where he spent his remaining years request was therefore referred to a committee of Daniel Roberdeau, John Adams, and Jonathan Smith 103 who examined the possibilities and then on September 11, reported to Congress: That the use of the Bible is so universal, and its importance so great your Committee recommend that Congress will order the Committee of Commerce to import 20,000 Bibles from Holland, Scotland, or elsewhere, into the different ports of the States of the Union.
Congress agreed and ordered the Bibles imported. On October 31, in consequence of several unexpected American victories Bennington, Stillwater, Saratoga, and others, Congress appointed Samuel Adams, Richard Henry Lee, and Daniel Roberdeau to draft a proclamation for a national day of prayer and thanksgiving.
On November 1, 1777, Congress approved that proclamation, which declared: Forasmuch as it is the indispensable duty of all men to adore the superintending providence of Almighty God; to acknowledge with gratitude their obligation to Him for benefits received and to implore such farther blessings as they stand in need of to offer humble and earnest supplication that it may please God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot our sins out of remembrance and to prosper the means of religion for the promotion and enlargement of that kingdom which consisteth “in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”
On December 15, 1777, John Adams reported to Abigail that the direct, open, and frequent intervention of God was evident to most Americans: I have had many opportunities in the course of this journey to observe how deeply rooted our righteous cause is in the minds of the people. One evening as I sat in one room, I overheard a company of the common sort of people in another room conversing upon serious subjects. At length I heard these words: “It appears to me the eternal Son of God is operating powerfully against the British nation for their treating lightly serious things.” That spiritual tone extended far beyond the passing conversation of just the “common sort of people”; it was also evident among the people’s leaders.