No. 905.]
Legation of the United States,
London,
March 23, 1865.
Hon. William H. Seward,
Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.
[Untitled]
Union and Emancipation
Society,
Glasgow,
March 17, 1865.
In the name of the Union and Emancipation Society of Glasgow, we
desire to express to your Excellency the satisfaction with which the
members of that society have heard of the momentous reform in the
Constitution of the United States now in process of being ratified.
We regard the passing, by so large a majority, of the constitutional
amendment, by which all subjects of your government are declared
free and equal before the law, as one of the greatest triumphs of
modern civilization. It is a triumph in which all who love liberty
may well exult; fraught with consequences so vast, bearing so
directly on the prosperity and happiness of future millions of
mankind, it is an event in the contemplation of which minor
differences may well be forgotten—an authoritative refutation of the
belief that has associated a large section of the Anglo-Saxon race
with the maintenance of an ancient pagan prejudice—the arrogantly
exclusive spirit of caste. It is an authoritative assertion of the
fundamental principle of Christianity, proclaiming the brotherhood
of all the nations of the earth.
We recognize in the history of the last four years, which has made
possible so grand a reformation, the work of that Divine Providence
who often walks in a mysterious way to the accomplishment of His
ends—evolving out of strife a lasting peace; out of anarchy an order
more secure; out of rebellion in behalf of slavery, the victory of
freedom. We also recognize in these results the vindication of the
patriotic efforts of your countrymen—our kinsmen, who in many a
stubborn field have proved themselves worthy descendants of those
who fought for a new world in which to preserve their ancient faith.
We recognize in them the approaching consummation of the beneficent
policy which you inaugurated on your first, and on your second
assumption of the presidential chair have so nobly perpetuated. We
congratulate your people on their choice of a ruler on whose honesty
and honor not even his enemies have cast a shade of doubt, who in so
trying a crisis has combined tenacity of purpose with
moderation.
The recent success of your arms by land and sea bids us hope that the
time is not far distant when the last efforts of a formidable
conspiracy against law and right will have proved
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futile, and that with the
re-establishment of the Union, more firmly compacted by heroic
blood, the blot of slavery will have disappeared from the length and
breadth of your dominions.
JAMES SINCLAIR, Secretary.
His Excellency Abraham Lincoln,
President of the United States.
