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

Municipal Council of Messina

Messina, June 21, 1865

[Translation.]

An address of condolence, dated the 21st of June, 1865, from the municipality of Messina to the consul of the United States of America.

To honor the name of a great citizen, one of the most liberal among nations, and to transmit his name to posterity, the municipal council voted in their sitting, the 13th of May last, and decided on giving the name of Abraham Lincoln to one of the principal streets which is shortly to be opened in the new quarter of Terranova in this city.

This is an attestation of affection to the United States of America, to honor the memory of their indefatigable President, who fell a victim to treachery, but surrounded by the light of a sublime idea, “the freedom of slaves.” It is, finally, an homage to the great principles of liberty, without which whatever may be the civil event is false and illusory.

Be pleased, worthy sir, to accept, and have accepted by his excellency President Johnson, who now represents the government of the United States, this testimony of grief and sympathy which the people of Messina tribute to the great American nation.

The Mayor, President,

G. CHANCIAFARA

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