American Residents of Constantinople

At a meeting of the citizens of the United States of America at Constantinople, convened in the American legation, Saturday, the 29th day of April, 1865, attended by the members of the legation and consulate general, and all of the community of that city, the honorable E. Joy Morris was called to the chair, and Mr. John P. Brown nominated secretary.

The meeting was opened with a prayer by the Reverend Dr. William Goodell; after which the chairman addressed it on the subject of the deplorable occurrences which had called it together.

A committee was then nominated to frame resolutions suitable to the occasion, composed of the following persons:

The Reverend Dr. William Goodell, chairman; Reverend Dr. Elias Riggs, member; Dr. D. Stamatiades, member; Reverend George Washburn, member; Mr. John P. Brown, secretary; who adopted the following:

Whereas, when about to assemble together with grateful hearts in thanks to Almighty God for having blessed our beloved country with the prospect of a speedy restoration of peace and the preservation of the Union, we have learned with the deepest grief that it has also pleased the Almighty, in his inscrutable providence, to chasten our hearts with the death of Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, and the grievously wounding of William H. Seward, Secretary of State, by the hands of assassins. We, therefore, humble [Page 620] ourselves before him in our deep affliction, and unite with our fellow-citizens in the United States, as well as in all parts of the world, in an expression of our abhorrence of so execrable a crime, and of our sorrow of this dispensation of Providence, as also of the high estimation in which we hold the eminent character and services of the illustrious deceased, and of the great patriots who have been victims to the cause of our country and of that of humanity:

Resolved, That, as a mark of the deep respect which we all entertain for the memory of the lamented President, we wear the usual badge of mourning for forty days, and that we respectfully request the honorable E. Joy Morris, minister resident at this capital, to transmit a copy of these resolutions, signed by the chairman and secretary, to the Department of State, at Washington, and another to the afflicted family of the deceased President, in whose grief we profoundly participate.

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be published in the public papers in this city.

  • WILLIAM GOODELL, Chairman.
  • JOHN P. BROWN, Secretary.