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

Señor Basilio Salinas to Mr. Dickinson

[Translation.]

Government House, Leon,
May 18, 1865.

Mr. Minister: His excellency the captain general, president, has been made acquainted with your despatch of the 17th instant, in which he is notified through me of the unfortunate events which occurred in Washington on the 14th of April last, the assassination of his Excellency the President of the United States of North America, Mr. Abraham Lincoln, and the serious wounds inflicted by the hand of another assassin on the person of the very illustrious Secretary of State, Mr. William H. Seward. I am also notified in the same communication of the elevation to the presidency, by virtue of the laws, of his Excellency the Vice-President, Mr. Andrew Johnson, and to the ministry temporarily of the chief clerk, Mr. Hunter, until the recovery of Mr. Seward which now seems probable.

The government and people of Ncaragua are not nor could they be indifferent to an event which has so great effect on all classes of society, as well on account of the welfare of the country which Mr. Lincoln governed so worthily, as because of such excesses. In a republic, too, like the United States—model of civilization and of grandeur—it seems impossible to conceive the existence of a man that, even by the means of the most exalted imagination, could conceive the design of applying his treacherous hand against the life of him who, by the general choice of the people, had been called for a fixed period to the presidential chair.

But the deed is done, sir, however extraordinary it may seem to those who know its magnitude; and while it meets solely with universal condemnation, let us indulge the grateful hope that his principles may be securely preserved for the United States of North America under the presidency of a successor worthy of the immortal Lincoln, for which we trust in the co-operation of Mr. Seward, that veteran Secretary, whom Providence has so marvellously preserved for the benefit of his country.

These are the sentiments of his excellency the President of Nicaragua, and in transmitting them to your excellency, with the expression of my sincerest sympathy, I have the honor to subscribe myself once again,

Your affectionate servant,

BASILIO SALINAS.

His Excellency A. B. Dickenson.
Minister Resident of the United States, &c., &c., &c.