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

American Residents of Beirout

Beirout, Syria, May 13, 1865.

At the call of J. Aug. Johnson, esq., American consul at Beirout, a meeting of the American citizens resident in Syria was held at the consulate this afternoon, at 5 o’clock, to give expression to the sentiments of the local American community with reference to the assassination of President Lincoln.

The consul was called to the chair, and the Rev. Philip Berry appointed secretary. The meeting was opened with prayer by the Rev. Dr. Van Dyck.

After a statement of facts by the Chair, a committee was appointed, consisting of the Rev Messrs. Van Dyck, H. Jessup, and Post, to draw up suitable resolutions embodying the sense of this meeting, and which are as follows:

Whereas in the inscrutable dispensation of Divine Providence our country, in the midst of its rejoicings for victory, has been overtaken by a great national calamity in the assassination of President Lincoln and severe wounding of the Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, in the attempt to assassinate him: therefore,

Resolved, That we do hereby express our detestation of the dastardly and horrible crime which has deprived our nation of its Chief Magistrate, at such a crisis in its history as the present, and our unfeigned grief and humiliation under this sorrowful dispensation.

Resolved, That we do hereby unite with our fellow-citizens and countrymen, at home and abroad, in expressing our high appreciation of the character of President Lincoln as a patriot, as a citizen, and as Chief Magistrate of the United States, and that, as a mark of respect for his memory, we wear the usual badge of mourning for forty days.

Resolved, That we earnestly pray for the speedy restoration of Mr. Seward to health and strength.

Resolved, That J. Aug. Johnson, esq., United States consul for Syria and Palestine, be requested to transmit a copy of these resolutions, signed by the chairman and secretary, to the Department of State at Washington, and another to the family of the deceased President, with whose grief we deeply sympathize.

J. AUGUSTIN JOHNSON,

U. S. Consul, Chairman.

Philip Berry, Secretary.