Municipal Council of Paisley
Address of the provost, magistrates, and town council of the burgh of Paisley, in Scotland.
Sir: That the provost, magistrates, and town council of the burgh of Paisley have received the intelligence of the death of his Excellency Abraham Lincoln, late President of the United States, by the hand of an assassin, and of the attempt to assassinate the honorable William H. Seward, an illustrious member of his government, with sentiments of detestation and abhorrence.
That they desire for themselves and the inhabitants of the burgh they represent, to express their detestation of these atrocious crimes, whereby the American nation, by the untimely death of Mr. Lincoln, has been deprived of an upright ruler, and the life of Mr. Seward endangered, and of deep sympathy and condolence with Mrs. Lincoln in her severe affliction.
They have also to express their sympathy with the government and people of the United States in being deprived of their Chief Magistrate at a momentous period of their country’s history.
They would express a hope that the prospects of a returned peace may not be impeded by the lamented death of Mr. Lincoln, and that the measures to be adopted by your government may tend to the restoration of the blessings of peace.
[seal.]
Provost and Chief Magistrate of Paisley.
His Excellency the President
of the United States of America.