Mr. Adams to Mr.
Hunter
No. 957.]
Legation of the United States,
London,
May 18, 1865.
Sir: The officers of the two great universities
have taken the course of addressing me, as the national representative
here, on the occasion of the late deplorable event, rather than that
most commonly adopted. The whole proceeding is extraordinary; and marks,
perhaps more than any other single event, the profound impression that
has been made in this kingdom by the crime.
As it is obvious that the desire is that these acts should receive
publicity in the United States, I have the honor to transmit copies of
all the papers, including my letter of acknowledgment.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
William Hunter, Esq., Acting Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.
The Chancellor of Oxford to
Mr. Adams
St. James
Square,
May 6, 1865.
Sir: As chancellor of the University of
Oxford, I have the honor of transmitting to you an address under the
seal of the University, unanimously adopted by convocation,
expressive of their condolence with the government and the people of
the United States on the calamity which has recently befallen them
in the assassination of the President; their abhorrence of the act
of the assassination; their friendly feeling towards a kindred
nation, and their earnest prayers for the restoration of peace and
national prosperity to your now suffering country. It is, I hope,
unnecessary for me to assure your excellency of my entire personal
concurrence in the sentiments of which I am made the official organ;
but the departure on this occasion, by the University, from its
almost invariable practice, will afford an additional proof, if any
were required, of the strength and genuineness of the feelings which
this atrocious crime and lamentable catastrophe have evoked from all
classes, and all shades of political opinions, from the sovereign
downward, throughout the whole of the United Kingdom.
I have the honor to be, with the highest respect, your excellency’s
most obedient servant,
His Excellency Hon. Charles Francis
Adams,
Minister of the United States.
Address
To his excellency the envoy
extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States
of America.
May it please your Excellency:
We, the chancellor, masters, and scholars of the University of
Oxford, request your excellency to convey to the government and
people of the United States of America the assurance of our sincere
condolence on the occasion of the appalling calamity which has
recently befallen your country.
It is not the practice of this University to notice, in its corporate
capacity, events which do not directly affect the well-being of our
own country; but at this singular and lamentable crisis we are
conscious of the full force of those recollections of the past which
must at all times lead the British nation to regard, with a
community of interest, the fortunes and destinies of a friendly and
a kindred people. In accordance with these sentiments, it is the
anxious desire of the university to express to your excellency the
abhorrence with which we, together with the whole civilized world,
regard the assassination of the President of the United States. We
would also at the same time express, in common with all ranks of our
[Page 366]
countrymen, our
earnest hope that by the orderings of a merciful Providence the
American people may speedily enjoy the restoration of internal peace
and national prosperity.
Given at our house of convocation,
under our common seal, this fifth day of May in the year of our
Lord God 1865.[l. s.]
Mr. Adams to the Chancellor of Oxford
Legation of the United
States,
London,
May 8, 1865.
My Lord: On behalf of my country, I receive
with the most profound sensibility the intelligence which, as
chancellor of the University of Oxford, you communicate respecting
the extraordinary action it has taken in regard to the late
afflicting event in America.
That the high standard of education established in that University
should excite a strong abhorrence of the act of the assassin, in the
present case, is no more than could be naturally expected; but that
the authorities should resort to an unusal method of expressing
their sense of it, and at the same time couple with it the most
friendly wishes for the restoration of peace and prosperity to
America, is a circumstance which cannot fail to be fully
appreciated, as well as to stimulate good will among the people of
the United States.
I have the honor to be, your obedient servant,
The Earl of Derby,
&c., &c., &c.
The Chancellor of Cambridge to
Mr. Adams
Devonshire
House,
May 12, 1865.
Sir: It is my agreeable duty, as chancellor
of the University of Cambridge, to transmit to your excellency the
enclosed letter expressing the indignation of the University at the
assassination of President Lincoln, and its sympathy with your
countrymen on the loss they have sustained.
I have the honor to be, sir, your excellency’s most obedient
servant,
His Excellency the Minister of the United
States.
Address.
To his excellency the Honorable Charles Francis
Adams, minister of the United States of America at the court of
her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland.
Sir: We, the chancellor, masters, and
scholars of the University of Cambridge, desire to assure you, as
the representative in this country of the United States of America,
that we cordially share those sentiments of indignation and
abhorrence which have been called forth throughout England by the
intelligence of the assassination of President Lincoln. Removed as
we are from the arena of political discussion, we still cannot
forbear to say, that crimes of this nature are essentially opposed
to the interests of peace and civilization. The circumstances of
peculiar atrocity which characterized the murder of President
Lincoln must ever stigmatize it as a most foul blot on the history
of our times.
We beg leave to request your excellency to make known in some
suitable manner to your countrymen this respectful tribute of our
sympathy and condolence with them on the great loss which they have
sustained.
Given under our common seal, in our
senate-house at Cambridge, this eleventh day of
May, in the year of our Lord 1865.[l.
s.]
Mr. Adams to the Chancellor of Cambridge
Legation of the United
States,
London,
May 15, 1865.
My Lord Duke: I have the honor to
acknowledge the reception of your note of the 12th instant, and of
the official letter therein referred to from the chancellor,
masters, and scholars of the University of Cambridge, expressive of
their indignation at the assassination of the President of the
United States, and of their sympathy and condolence with my
countrymen in the loss they have sustained. I shall seize the
earliest opportunity to make known to them the substance of this
communication, which, coming as it does from one of the great
sources of moral and political instruction in this kingdom, cannot
fail to be received in the kindest spirit, and remembered with most
affectionate cordiality.
I have the honor to be, your obedient servant,
His Grace the Duke of Devonshire,
&c., &c., &c.
