Hon. William H. Seward
Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.
[Untitled]
The people of Dewsbury, in Yorkshire,
to Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of
America:
We, the inhabitants of Dewsbury, in public meeting assembled, hereby
congratulate the people of America, who, in again electing you to
fill the office of President, manifest not only a just appreciation
of your services, but, by their approval of your acts, are willing
to share the responsibility which attaches to your important
office.
At the very outset of your presidential career you were sworn to
protect and defend the Union, to uphold the constitution of your
country, and to administer its laws with impartiality. Immediately
after the election of 1860, nay, while it was pending, the slave
States manifested much uneasiness at the triumph which the friends
of liberty were likely to achieve: and fearing that the principles
of freedom were so well understood, and that the abolition of
slavery was only a work of time, determined at all hazards to rebel
against the government, which-they had resisted to establish, and
found one on a purely despotic basis, having for its primary object
the consolidation of slave laws, and the permanent establishment of
slavery throughout a great portion of your continent.
Happily for America and for the world, these attempts have hitherto
been frustrated. Choosing you as their chief magistrate, as the
exponent of their views, the people have sacrificed their wealth and
their lives on the altars of their country, and with a fortitude
unexampled, with courage unshaken, they are solving the problem
whether liberty or despotism shall triumph, and whether the tide of
civilization shall be stayed, or roll on to bless the human
race.
May your efforts to put down this rebellion be successful; may you
live to establish the rights and assert the dignity of man; and may
generations hereafter who enjoy the blessings of this struggle refer
to this period, excliaming, “Then lived the Saviour of my country,
to whom I dedicate a grateful heart.”
Signed on behalf of the meeting the 20th day of December, 1864.
JOHN BATES, Chairman.
The following resolutions were passed by the meeting:
“That we hail with joy the re-election of Abraham Lincoln as
President of the United States of America, believing that the policy
he has hitherto pursued in the present crisis will tend to the
abolition of slavery, and to the advancement of civilization
throughout the world.
“That no country can be free that has slavery for one of its
institutions, nor can it be powerful or great; therefore every
well-wisher of his country or kind, every person, in short, who
helps on the progress of his race, must be an abolitionist.
“That this meeting expresses its sympathy with the government and
people of the United States of America in their present hour of
trial and conflict, and heartily wishes that their exertions and
sacrifices to put down an unholy rebellion may be speedily crowned
with success.
“That the resolutions adopted at this meeting be sent to Mr. Adams,
United States minister in London, accompanied with an address to be
forwarded by him to President Lincoln.
