1 Resolutions passed at a meeting held by the New England Society of Montreal. At a meeting of the members of this society, and other Americans, held in the American Presbyterian church on Wednesday, April 19, 1865, in commemoration of the memory of ABRAHAM LINCOLN, late President of the United States, the following resolutions were unanimously adopted: Whereas ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, has perished by the hand of an assassin, at the time when the military power of the rebellion was conquered, and when his wisdom seemed most necessary to the well-being of the country; and whereas the Americans resident in Montreal are deeply interested in anything which concerns the honor or welfare of. the United States: Therefore resolved 1. That the members of the Montreal New England Society, and other Americans resident in Montreal, tenderly sympathize with the government and people of the United States, and bereaved family, in deploring this calamitous event, and in their grief at this sore affliction, and that as an evidence of our grief we wear mourning thirty days. 2. That in the acts and character of ABRAHAM LINCOLN as President of the United States, in a time of unparalleled difficulty, we recognize the true patriot and sagacious statesman, as well as that fidelity to sacred trust, that regard to individual rights, that kindly consideration for all classes, as manifested in his reluctance to wage war until forced upon him, his tender care for the soldiers, and words of sympathy to their relatives, his emancipation proclamation, and his clemency to conquered cities and captured armies, which will forever link his name with that of the illustrious Washington, as one of the greatest, wisest, noblest, and kindliest men of the race. 3. That in the career and character of ABRAHAM LINCOLN as farm laborer, boatman, school teacher, lawyer, legislator, and President, we recognize the influence and power of American institutions to develop manhood, and to confer honor and rewards upon the capable and deserving. 4. That although ABRAHAM LINCOLN has perished by the hand of an assassin, we thank God that he was permitted to live to see the arm of this most gigantic and guilty rebellion broken; that although we ardently desired he might have been spared to carry out his schemes for the reconstruction of government in the conquered and returning States, yet we bow in submission to God's will, entertaining undoubting faith in the righteousness of the Divine. government, and the speedy and thorough pacification of the country, so that the United States, purged of its heirloom of slavery, and strengthened by the discipline of war, shall be in the future, as in the past, the home of the free and hope of the oppressed, the refuge for the poor and down trodden of every race and creed. 5. That seeing in this dreadful crime, at which "humanity shudders and civilization grows pale," a fresh proof of the lawless and degrading tendencies of slavery, we pledge ourselves anew to aid in every legitimate way in the overthrow of the last vestige of human slavery on this continent. 6. That the foregoing resolutions be published in the newspapers of this city, and that a copy of them be sent through the United States consul general to the United States government, and to the family of the lamented deceased. A true copy of the original minute: E. F. AMES, Secretary. P. D. BROWNE, President. May it please your Excellency: With profound sentiments of affliction and indignation the Canadian Institute heard of the horrible murder that has spread consternation among the people of the United States, and of the execrable attempt of assassination upon the person of the honorable Secretary of State. The premature and tragic death of the eminent man, so universally respected and admired, who was the political chief of the great nation that your Excellency is now called upon to govern, is, in the opinion of the Canadian Institute, not only a terrible national calamity, but an event that brings sorrow and mourning upon all true friends of liberty and progress, and upon the enemies of slavery and tyranny throughout the world, and sincere grief to the believers in democratic institutions; who were proud to see one of the most upright and blameless men that ever governed a nation at the head of the freest people on the face of the earth. The members of the Canadian Institute, in their humble sphere, admired ABRAHAM LINCOLN as much for his rare modesty and the self-denial of which he gave so many glorious examples, as they esteemed him for his elevated conception of political and private probity, which even his enemies could not refuse to acknowledge in him. Slavery had already sacrificed enough victims; and it was truly lamentable that the great chief of the nation, who had destroyed the monster, should become its last and most illustrious martyr. It is, indeed, deplorable that this great and renowned patriot, the impersonation of national unity, of fidelity to the Constitution and devotion to duty, should be added to the hecatomb of sacrifices of defenders of the Constitution and the laws, caused by the accursed institution of slavery. The Canadian Institute, watching with interest the various events in the social or political progress of a people towards civilization, ventures to express to your Excellency the great pleasure it feels at the abolition of slavery in the glorious American republic. The consequence of this act will be the blotting out of the only stain upon democratic institutions, which have been so often corrupted, perverted, and turned from their true path by an accursed institution which was an emphatic denial of all human rights, and a violation of every divine law; and the restoration of peace in the United States, a peace that must endure, since the sole cause of the terrible war that has desolated the great country has disappeared with slavery. The Canadian Institute rejoices that your Excellency escaped the assassin's dagger, and expresses its most sincere wish for the success of your administration; it hopes you may overcome the existing obstacles in the way of a perfect peace and reunion, with the same success that attended your illustrious predecessor, and wishes you may fill the honorable and glorious position in the history of the United States which was promised by your memorable assurances of devotion to the integrity of your country and to its glorious and admirable Constitution. L. A. DESSAULEES, Clerk of the Crown, Committee. J. J. DURAND, President of the C. I. MONTREAL, April 22, 1865. To his Excellency ANDREW JOHNSON, President of the United States : SIR: We, the mayor, aldermen, and burgesses of the borough of Newark, in the county of Nottingham, England, in council assembled, desire through you to express to our brethren in America, on our own behalf, as well as of the inhabitants of the town of which we are the municipal representatives, our deep commiseration on the melancholy event which has so suddenly and unexpectedly placed you in your present high and difficult position, and our profound abhorrence of the dastardly crime which, at so important a period of his valuable life, has deprived his country of the services of your distinguished predecessor. Although the perpetrator of an act of unparalleled atrocity appears hitherto to have escaped detection, we trust that he may soon receive the just reward of his villany, and that through Divine assistance you may be enabled, by a wise and beneficent policy, to effect the object which at the time of his premature removal appeared nearest the heart of ABRAHAM LINCOLN, namely, the restoration to peace and prosperity of your magnificent but now afflicted country. Given under our common seal at the council chamber, in the Town Hall of the said borough, the 2d day of May, 1865. [SEAL.] JOHN GILBIET, Mayor. BOROUGH OF NEWCASTLE-UNDER-LYME, IN THE COUNTY OF STAFFORD. At an assembly of the council in the Town Hall, on Wednesday, the 3d day of May, 1865, it was Resolved unanimously, That this council desires to express its feelings of horror and detestation at the death, by the hand of an assassin, of President LINCOLN, the chosen and trusted chief of the United States of America; and to record its heartfelt sympathy and condolence with Mrs. Lincoln, and the government and people of those States, upon the grievous loss they have sustained. [SEAL.] THOMAS HARDING, Town Clerk. TOWN CLERK'S OFFICE, GUILDHALL, Neath, May 8, 1865. At a quarterly meeting of the town council of the borough of Neath, in the county of Glamorgan, holden at the council chamber of the Guildhall of the said borough, on Monday, the 8th day of May, 1865, On the motion of Mr. Alderman Gwyn, seconded by P. Charles, esq., mayor, it was resolved 1. That this council desires to record the sentiments of horror and detestation with which it regards the assassination of President LINCOLN and the attack on Mr. Seward, the American Secretary of State; and wishes to offer its sincere condolence to the widow and family of the late President, and to express its deep sympathy with the American people in the severe loss which they have sustained. 2. That the foregoing resolution be transmitted by the mayor to the American minister for presentation in due course. [SEAL.] P. CHARLES, Mayor. Resolutions passed at a meeting of the magistrates and town council of the royal burgh of Newburgh, Fifeshire, held on the 5th of May, 1865. The magistrates and council unanimously agree to place on their records an expression of their own and fellow-townsmen's condemnation and abhorrence of the barbarous murder of the President of the United States of America, and also an expression of their sincere sympathy with the people of the United States on the afflicting calamity which has befallen them. That the chief magistrate be requested to transmit to his excellency the American minister in London an address in accordance with these resolutions, and also that a copy of them be sent to Mrs. Lincoln, with an expression of the magistrates' and council's sympathy with her under her severe and distressing bereavement. NEWBURGH, May 10, 1865. ANDREW MILNE, Chief Magistrate. Address of the magistrates and town council of the burgh of Newburgh. To his Excellency CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary for the United States of America, London. May it please your excellency: We, the magistrates and town council of the burgh of Newburgh, in the county of Fife, North Britain, in common council assembled, do hereby express deepest sorrow and indignation at the atrocious assassination of ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States of America, and at the dastardly attempt about the same hour on Mr. Seward, Secretary of State. We desire that the government and people of the United States should understand that no difference of opinion on the merits of the conflict of the last four years avails to prevent the unanimous condemnation of so great a crime against our common humanity. No fouler crime stands chronicled in all history. We hereby offer our sincere sympathy with the people of the United States on the afflicting and heavy loss which they have thus sustained, and trust that the event may be overruled for their good. May it please your excellency to forward this humble address to the proper quarter, in order that the American people may know they have the sympathy of the council and inhabitants of this burgh. Signed by the chief magistrate at Newburgh, May 10, 1865. ANDREW MILNE, Chief Magistrate. |