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

Preston Anti-slavery Society

Preston, undated

Address of the Preston Anti-Slavery Society.

To his Excellency Andrew Johnson, President of the United States:

Sir: Permit us, in thought and feeling, to join with the great multitude of mourners, and with them utter our deep sorrow over the loss of one so noble-hearted, so gentle and wise, as the late President of the American republic.

We are shocked at the atrocious and dastardly mode by which so valuable a life was destroyed, and can only attribute it to the corrupting influence of the foul system of slavery, which engenders the most cruel and inhuman passions. We desire to express and offer, through you, our deep sympathy with the American government and people in their grief over this cruel deed, which is truly the crowning enormity of that catalogue of crimes committed in the name of slavery. With them we execrate the brutal assault on Mr. Seward and his sons, and join in gratitude for their spared lives.

Permit us to hope that the anti-slavery policy so wisely inaugurated, and so firmly executed by your predecessor, may under your governance be practically completed, until in America shall be found only the freedman and the citizen, and unjust prejudice disappearing from all classes of society shall follow as a shadow the departed form of slavery.

Our sense of the inestimable worth of the departed checks the disposition to congratulate you upon your ascension to the presidential chair; but remembering your manner of life from your youth up, your steadfastness and sufferings on behalf of your convictions, and the gifts with which you have been so liberally endowed, and have so diligently cultivated, we beg to express our earnest hope and confidence that your future career will testify your worthiness of the honor and your ability to sustain the responsibility so unexpectedly conferred upon you.

Accept, sir, for yourself and the great republic of America, our best wishes. Signed for and on behalf of the Preston Anti-Slavery Society:

• JNO. McKEAN, President.
• ROBT. BENSON, Treasurer.
• SARAH J. CLEMESLIA,
• EDWIN COX,
  Honorary Secretaries.