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

Mutual Aid Society of Chieti

[Translation.]

Mutual Aid Society of Chieti, May 9, 1865.

To the People of the United States:

Brothers: The news of the death of Abraham Lincoln, caused by the hand of a homicide, at a moment when America was about to gather the fruit of four years of immense sacrifice and continued struggle for liberty against the privileges of race, has found a mournful echo wherever the sound of your splendid victories has penetrated, and your glorious triumphs have carried the enthusiasm of magnanimous undertakings.

Fellow-workmen: Bound to you in the bonds of brotherhood, we earnestly hope for our own social emancipation. Your efforts in a most holy cause have always had our sympathies, and we now share the indignation you feel at the attack on Mr. Seward.

We are sure the assassin’s dagger cannot stop the work of liberty now nearly finished; and we hope the blood of the victim will cleanse the country of barbarism.

For the society:

[seal.]

• GAETANO CARUSI, President.
• GENNARO DE CARLO, Vice-President.
• DANIELE POLIDORO,
• FERDINANDO SANTONI DE SIO,
• FRANCESCO SIOARDI,
  Committee.