Municipal Council of Columbus, Ohio
Resolutions passed at a meeting held by the city council of the city of Columbus, Ohio.
At a special meeting of the city council of the city of Columbus, held this day, all the members thereof being present, the following preamble and resolutions were unanimously adopted:
For the first time in this country has our Chief Magistrate fallen by the hand of an assassin. Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States has thus fallen. For the first time with us has the life of a cabinet minister been assailed. That crime that has cursed and blighted other lands has been inaugurated in this. That practice that ever has produced, and that, if unchecked, ever must produce, first anarchy and then despotism, has begun here. The example has been set of removing a magistrate, not by the constitutionally expressed will of the people, but by murder. Let this example grow into use and there will be an end of free government among us. There can be no true liberty where life is insecure; there can be no stable or beneficent government where the dagger of an [Page 661] assassin overthrows or usurps the national will. To these general truths, of vital importance to society, the occasion presents other and most painful reflections. In the midst of the universal rejoicings over the success of our arms and the prospects of peace, the Chief Magistrate, during whose administration the rebellion had been crushed, and from whose power, influence, and patriotism the most sanguine hopes of a speedy pacification were entertained, has been violently taken from our midst. The banners that yesterday morning proudly and joyously floated from the mast-head, now hang in the drapery and gloom of mourning; and where but lately universal gratulations were exchanged there are now seen and heard universal greetings of sorrow.
In this most painful hour of a nation’s distress, it is most meet and proper that all official bodies and all citizens should solemnly express their abhorrence of the deeds of murder that have caused this distress; that they should deter, by their unanimity, a repetition of such deeds, and should manifest clearly to the world that the people of these States are not, and do not mean to be, involved in the horrors of anarchy, and that they will never give up the blessings of law, order, and free government. And it is also most meet and becoming that the sympathy of the nation for the bereaved family of the late President, and for the surviving and suffering victims of the tragedy, should be expressed.
Be it, therefore, resolved, by the city council of the city of Columbus:
- 1.
- That this council and the people of Columbus view with abhorrence the deeds of murder that have deprived the country of its President, and have endangered the lives of the Secretary and Assistant Secretary of State.
- 2.
- That this council and the people of this city most deeply deplore the death of President Lincoln, and regard it as a great public calamity, and hereby tender their sincerest sympathy to his bereaved and afflicted family.
- 3.
- That we desire, on this solemn occasion, to place upon record our appreciation of the high and commanding qualities of the late President Lincoln, as a man of integrity and a patriot statesman, one who lived and labored for what he deemed to be the honor and best interests of his country, who united mildness and kindness of heart with firmness of purpose, and whose character, on the whole, fitted him peculiarly for the great work of pacification and reconciliation upon which he had entered.
- 4.
- That the warm sympathy of this council and community is felt for the suffering Secretary and Assistant Secretary of State.
- 5.
- That a committee of nine of this council (one from each ward) be appointed to act in conjunction with such committees as may be appointed by the State authorities and the citizens generally, to make suitable preparations for the reception here of the remains of the late President, should they be conveyed through this city.
- 6.
- That copies of these resolutions be transmitted by the president of the council to Mrs. Lincoln and Mr. Seward.
President of the Council.
Attest: