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

Social Progress Lodge of Florence

[Translation.]

Florence, May 4, 1865.

Sir: The masonic lodge II Progresso Sociale, of the ancient accepted Scottish rite established in Florence, at their meeting of the 3d instant, after rendering funeral honor to the great martyr of liberty, Abraham Lincoln, and adopting mourning for three weeks, have resolved to make known their profound sorrow to the noble nation which you represent in Italy, at the same time expressing the confident hope that, notwithstanding the loss of their president, the nation and its institutions will continue as enduring as the great principles for which they are contending.

• B. ODICINI, Master.
• F. PULSZKY, Senior Warden.
• C. BETTINI, Junior Warden.
• A. MARTINATI, Orator.
• M. LE SAIRO, Secretary.

Hon. Col. T. B. Lawrence,
United States Consul General for Italy.