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

Representatives of the Baptist Churches of England

undated

Address of the Representatives of the Baptist Churches of England, on the death of President Lincoln.

To his Excellency the honorable Charles Francis Adams, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States of America, at the court of her Most Gracious Majesty, Queen Victoria:

Sir: We, the representatives of the general Baptist churches of England, at our annual association held this year at Birmingham, most respectfully beg leave to express, through you, our intense sympathy with your people on the occasion of the tragic death of your late honored President, by the abhorred act of an assassin, and to pay our tribute of earnest and affectionate admiration to the memory of that great and good man, whose purity of motive, firmness of purpose, and kindness of heart, have endeared him to all well wishers of the human race. We would particularly tender our sincere condolence with his widow and family under their irreparable loss; and, at the same time offer our heartfelt congratulations to President Johnson, and the people of the United States, on the termination of that dreadful conflict which has, for four years, been productive of so much bloodshed and misery, and very especially because in this instance the restoration of peace is associated with one of the most welcome and gladdening events in the history of the human race—the abolition of slavery throughout your country.

For this we give most hearty thanks to the Almighty Disposer of all events; and to Him we present our fervent prayers that your great nation may, through all time, enjoy the manifold blessings of unity and liberty, intelligence and piety, peace and prosperity.

Signed on behalf of the association.

• THOMAS W. MATHEWS, Chairman,
  Pastor at Boston, in Lincolnshire.
• THOMAS BARRASS, Secretary,
  Pastor at Peterborough.