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 St. Thomas, Canada West

St. Thomas, Canada West, April 19, 1865.

At a public meeting of the inhabitants of St. Thomas, Canada West, on Wednesday, the 19th of April, 1865, the mayor, Thomas Arkell, esq., presided, and the following resolutions were passed unanimously.

The meeting was opened by religious services, in which the ministers of different denominations took part.

1. Moved by Doctor South wick, ex-M. P. P., seconded by the Reverend Doctor Caulfield, that we, the mayor and inhabitants of St. Thomas, in public meeting assembled, hereby declare our unutterable horror at the crime by which the valuable life and labors of the late excellent President of the United States were so dreadfully closed.

2. Moved by Daniel Harvey, esq., seconded by his honor Judge Hughes, that we regard the assassination of President Lincoln and the diabolical assault on Secretary Seward as indelible stains upon the civilization of the age, and a special disgrace to our race and language.

3. Moved by Sheriff Munro, seconded by the Reverend Mr. Cuthbertson, that we desire to express our sincere sympathy with the people of the United States in the great and awful loss which they have sustained by the murder of their President—an act which has this day draped that nation in mourning, and will cause a shudder of horror to run through every civilized nation in the world.

4. Moved by the Reverend Mr. Ames, seconded by W. E. Murray, esq., of Aylmer, that we express our deepest sympathy with the widow and family of President Lincoln, in their severe bereavement.

5. Moved by Colin McDougald, esq., seconded by Mr. Hodge, that the proceedings of this meeting be engrossed and forwarded to the British ambassador at Washington, and published in the local newspapers, the London Free Press, and the Globe and Leader, of Toronto.

6. Moved by C. D. Paul, esq., seconded by Nelson Moore, esq., that the mayor leave the chair and Doctor Southwick take the same.

The thanks of the meeting were then given to the mayor, and the meeting was closed by the Reverend Doctor Caulfield pronouncing the benediction.

THOMAS ARKELL,

Mayor, Chairman.

Thomas Hodge, Secretary.