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

Government of the Canton of St. Gall

[Translation.]

St. Gall, May 3, 1865.

To his Excellency Andrew Johnson,
President of the United States of America:

The people of the Swiss Confederation in general, and of our canton in particular, from the commencement of the sanguinary civil war which at one time threatened to destroy the integrity of the great free nation of the United States of North America, up to the present time, when the bitter contest of the South against the highest interests of the country is coming to a close, have always felt the warmest sympathy and expressed the best wishes for the unwavering maintenance of the unity of the great transatlantic sister republic, when remembering the perfect friendship and uninterrupted commercial intercourse that has long existed between the Swiss Confederation and the United States of America.

Thanks to the guidance of the Almighty, and to the determination and energy of the supreme government of the Union and its brave people, the bloody civil war is now at an end; and its result is the triumph of freedom and the rights of man and the strengthening of the unity of the great North American States.

And now, in sending our sympathy for jour many victories and our best wishes for the continued prosperity of your country, we only perform a pleasant duty, incumbent upon us at the conclusion of your sanguinary contest for existence. But as our joy for the victories of your valliant hosts is sincere, so is the condolence we offer at the death of your President, Abraham Lincoln, whose life was devoted to the welfare and liberty of his people.

While we abhor the cruel deed that sacrificed the man most respected of the nation, we entertain the assured hope and firm conviction that the destinies of the people of the North American Union will he guided with the same spirit of strength, wisdom and conciliation possessed by the illustrious deceased. We ask your excellency to receive the humble expression of our high esteem and personal consideration.

In the name of the confederate canton of St. Gall:

• SAILER, Chief Justice.
• ZINGG, State Secretary.