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

Inhabitants of Kingston, Jamaica

Kingston, Jamaica, June 1, 1865.

Address of the inhabitants of Kingston, Jamaica, to President Johnson.

Sir: We, the inhabitants of Kingston, Jamaica, on this melancholy occasion seek the opportunity of conveying to you and the people of America the inexpressible grief we feel, and the sympathy which touches our hearts, on the sad event which has not only overtaken the nation of America but, we may say the whole world, in the tragical end of the great and renowned Mr. Lincoln your late President.

Our feelings revolt at the atrocious, cowardly, and heartless manner in which his valuable life was taken, and by which the cause of truth, liberty, and righteousness has been deprived of one of its greatest supporters the world ever produced.

When we reflect on his fixed principles of humanity and truth, from which he could not be moved by threats nor tempted by selfish interest to swerve, we find that he was of a singularly great mind. He accomplished, under God, great purposes, and his memory claims a reputation which can never be tarnished. We could wish that his most valuable life had been spared to see the end of the unnatural and terrible war which he had so nearly subdued brought to a conclusion; “but though dead, he yet speakcth.” We hope that that freedom which has cost the penalty of life may be ever a memento of him, dear in the heart of the people of America in present and succeeding generations. We beg you, as the representative of the American people, and through you, his surviving widow, to accept this our special condolence in the sudden bereavement which has caused such general sorrow, and we hope that it will please God to grant sustaining grace in the hour of need, and that the dispensation may be sanctified in its influences

We have also to convey to the honorable W. H. Seward, Secretary of State, our heartfelt congratulation on the narrow escape of his life from the hands of the base ruffian, who so barbarously assaulted him on a bed of sickness. We hope that Almighty God may be pleased yet to spare his valuable life, and that his remaining days on earth may be peace.

We heartily convey to yourself our best wishes for the success of your administration, and the happiness and prosperity of the nation, whose greatness is so truly enhanced by the blessings of freedom to all its subjects.

• GEO. W. GORDON,
  Chairman.
• JNO. H. CROLE,
  Secretary.

His Excellency Andrew Johnson,
President of the United States of America.