Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the Second Session Thirty-eighth Congress, Part IV, Appendix to diplomatic correspondence of 1865; the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, late president of the United States of America, and the attempted assassination of William H. Seward, Secretary of State, and Frederick W. Seward, Assistant Secretary, on the evening of the 14th of April, 1865; expressions of condolence and sympathy inspired by these events

L’Avenir Lodge

[Translation.]

Paris, May 25, 1865.

From the lodge called L’Avenir to the Ambassador of the United States.

Sir: We fulfil a painful duty in expressing to you the profound emotion we feel and the bitter regret we have for the death of brother, Abraham Lincoln. Though born in an humble and modest condition, he raised himself to the highest rank in the republic by his perseverance in good, by the superiority of his character, and by the excellence of his principles. By the votes of the north he was twice elected President. To him was reserved the glory of substantiating the dogma of human liberty upon the ruins of expiring slavery, and of effacing the shame that veiled the face of society for so many centuries. During the war that has been rending America, we admired the unwavering firmness of his design, the loftiness of his views, the disinterestedness of his spirit, his prudence in danger, his moderation in victory; and when the Atlantic’s waves cast the astounding news upon our shores, we uttered a deep cry of desolation and despair.

Rest in thy tomb, sublime and immortal dead! Posterity will proclaim that you overcame the hydra of servitude, and crowned the triumph of liberty with the martyrdom of your life.

Receive, sir, the assurance our most distinguished sentiments.

• GUILLET, the Venerable.
• A. FAUZAIS, 1st Warden.
• ANTOINE BLATU, Secretary.
• PAUL MARITAIN, Speaker.
• CHARLES DORIOT, Keeper of the Seals.