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

Mr. Culver to Mr. Seward.

Legation of the United States,
Caracas, May 8, 1865.

No. 113.]

Sir: It was but yesterday that the mournful intelligence reached Venezuela of the death of the President of the United States, and of the critical condition of yourself and son, by reason of violence at the hands of an assassin. The entire community was shocked at the intelligence, while the grief at the death of the President is profound, and the solicitude for yourself is universal. The Acting President here, General Guzman, and his minister of foreign affairs, Mr. Seijas, have been pleased to express themselves in terms of tenderest sympathy for the people of the United States in this their hour of affliction.

Our news only reaches to the morning of the 15th of April. Of course we can know nothing of the effect produced by, or the agencies that contributed to, this terrible calamity. As I have received no official notice of the event, I have not thought proper to bring it officially to the notice of this government. I shall await with painful and mournful anxiety the receipt of despatches of a date subsequent to the sad event. My own feelings are too much saddened and overwhelmed to add more.

I beg the department will accept the assurances of my deepest sympathy for its distinguished head in the afflictions visited upon him and upon the nation.

I have the honor to be your obedient servant,

E. D. CULVER

.

Hon. William H. Seward,
Secretary of State.