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

Prussian House of Deputies

undated

English translation of the address of the members of the Prussian House of Deputies.

Sir: We, the undersigned members of the Prussian House of Deputies, beg you to accept the expression of our profoundest sympathy in the severe loss the government and people of the United States have suffered in the death of President Lincoln, and alike the expression of our deepest horror at the shocking crime to which he fell a victim.

We are the more deeply moved by this public calamity inasmuch as it occurred at a moment when we were rejoicing at the triumph of the United States, and as the simultaneous attempt upon the life of the faithful partner of the President, Mr. Seward, who, with the wisdom and resolution of true statesmanship, supported him in the fulfilment of his arduous task, betrays the object of the horrible crime to have been, by the death of these great and good men, to deprive the people of the United States of the fruits of their protracted struggle and patriotic self-sacrificing devotion, at the very moment when the triumph of right and law promises to bring back the blessings of a long-desired peace.

Sir. living among us, you are a witness of the heart-felt sympathy which the people have ever preserved for the people of the United States during this long and severe conflict. You are aware that Germany has looked with pride and joy on the thousands of her sons, who in this struggle have placed themselves so resolutely on the side of law and right. You have seen with what joy the victories of the Union have been hailed, and how confident the faith in the final triumph of the great cause and the restoration of the Union in all its greatness has ever been, even in the midst of adversity.

This great work of the restoration of the Union will, we confidently hope, not be hindered or interrupted by this terrible crime. The blood of the great and wise chieftain will only cement the more firmly the Union for which he has died. This the inviolable respect for law and love of liberty which the people of the United States have ever evinced in the very midst of the prodigious struggles of their great war abundantly guarantees.

We request your good offices for giving expression with your government to our sincere condolences and our sympathies with the government and people of the United States, and proffer to yourself, sir, the assurances of our distinguished consideration.

• Dr. FRESE,
• R. FRŒNING,
• HAEGER ZIEGLER,
• BARON VON VAERST,
• VON CARLEWIG,
• VON KATHEN,
• Dr. KALAN VON DER HOFE,
• VIESEN,
• KNUPFEL,
  And two hundred and fifty others.