Whereas we are respectfully establishing the NATIONAL FOUNDATION SHRINE in order to make manifest our reverential attitude toward the national religions of the Great South in perpetuity and spread the principles of the Nation to infinity, we issue this rescript to you, our loyal fellow Society members, patriots and true children of the Dragon.
Since the inception of our Society the foundation of our establishment has grown stronger and its destiny has been glorious. It enjoys sound leadership and a loyal membership that improves with every passing day. When we reflected upon this great achievement and looked to its source, we saw that it was all thanks to the divine blessings obtained by all of the faithful people whose prayers to the God of Heaven, the Buddhist, Cao Dai, Hoa Hao, Christian, Taoist spiritual support, joined to those of our sacred ancestors and the protection of His Majesty THE EMPEROR OF VIET NAM. Therefore we did visit in person the VIETNAMESE IMPERIAL HOUSE and in order to express our heartfelt thanks and deep gratitude we issued a Rescript to our supporters instructing you in the duty of being one in virtue and mind with the sacred spirits and emperors of Vietnam. Profound was the meaning of this, undertaken both in Europe and the Homeland.
The purpose of our recent voyage to the East was to celebrate the revival of the Nam Giao Festival by the occupying power and to worship Heaven and the AUGUST EMPERORS in person at their respective temples, in solidarity with the religious adherents of the major faiths of Vietnam. On the occasion of our happy return to our own adopted country we have respectfully established the NATIONAL FOUNDATION SHRINE in which to make offerings to all of the revered gods of Heaven which share responsibility for our success and encouraging the loyal devotion of the people. We wish to thank especially those whose sacrificial donations of funds, expertise and machinery were able to make this construction possible of such a beautiful temple. We shall pray in our own person, and with the deepest reverence, for the prosperity of the Nation; and we shall make this an eternal example that our sons and grandsons for ten thousand generations shall follow without end. Thus may the consolidation of religious reverence be established so that all of the faiths of Vietnam may be venerated and so that the principles of the Nation will be founded in the teaching of Loyalty and Filial Piety. Pacified through Benevolence and Love and civilized through Concord, this society will be pure and illustrious, and will be assured of the divine blessing.
Let all our people understand our meaning. Strengthen the reverence toward all religions and extend our principles; strive to carry this out unremittingly, and do not pause in your efforts to make the country strong. |
