Mr. Adams to Mr. Hunter. No. 943.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR The death of the President and the fearful circumstances under which it was brought about have occupied the public mind, all over this kingdom, almost exclusively during the past week. At the desire of the Americans residing in this city, I called a public meeting of all such as might happen to be here, for Monday last. It was very well attended. I have the honor to transmit a copy of the proceedings. I have the honor to transmit a number of addresses, resolutions, or other form of public action, taken by various corporate bodies in England, Scotland, and Ireland on this subject, and forwarded to me down to this time, according to the list which is attached to this despatch. As a further evidence of the extent of the public feeling, I transmit a considerable number of newspapers from different parts of the kingdom which have been sent to me as containing comments upon the late calamity. A very large number of persons have called at this legation, including most of the members of the corps diplomatique, in token of their sentiments on this occasion. The labor devolved upon the members of it in acknowledging all these demonstrations is not small. It will also become a serious question to decide upon the most suitable mode of responding to them. On mature reflec tion, I should rather recommend one brief, comprehensive communication, which I might be authorized to print, in some form or other, and send to the respective parties concerned. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM HUNTER, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. Acting Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. [Extract.] A REQUIEM FOR ABRAHAM LINCOLN: AN ADDRESS TO THE LIBERALS Of Europe. "Awake! thou shalt and must!" BROTHERS: One of our best friends, and one of the best men the world has ever seen, has been called suddenly from us. We will not say that he is dead, for there is no death for such as he : nothing but life-a glorified and immortal life both on earth and in heaven. It will be as wise as consoling for us to reflect that this good man, instead of dying, as his wretched enemies have supposed, has attained to a higher existence-has gone to a companionship more worthy of his exalted merits-has been welcomed home like a good servant to repose from his labors-and is henceforth to be known as one of that sublime brotherhood of sages and heroes who have died that men may be wiser and better. * * * I. THE GLORY OF MR. LINCOLN. Grandest among the sages and heroes of this generation! the most perfect embodiment of the genius of a free and mighty people! the noblest benefactor of his species that has ever toiled and suffered among men! the glorious father of a whole world's regeneration! the great prophet of the speedy emancipation of every man on the earth who is burdened and wronged there is no mortal name beneath the stars that can be placed beside that of Abraham Lincoln. He has lived and died not for America alone, but for the people of England, the people of France, the people of Germany, the people of Italy, the people of every land under heaven. He has lived and died, not only for American unity and brotherhood, but for the unity and brotherhood of all the groaning and oppressed peoples of Europe. As simple as a child in the sublime faith that moved him, as sound in every attribute as the sturdy oaks of his native hills, as kindly towards all mankind as a loving mother to her children, as unselfish and as spotless in all his attribute as an angel from heaven, it is not for nought that he has been elevated in the providence of God to the highest pinnacle of glory, where the eyes of all the sons of men can behold him, as a bright and deathless example. When the foremost of the Liberals who had called him to his high office were calling sternly for judgment upon the rebels, he knew how to temper judgment with mercy; when all around him were discouraged by unexpected reverses, his faith remained calm and unshaken. When sympathizers with rebellion obtruded themselves upon him, and told him that certain proposed measures would be the certain destruction of his country, he smilingly bowed them out of his presence, and went on with his labours as steadily as though these croakers of evil had never existed. When a hundred different cliques and parties endeavoured to sway him in as many different directions, he wisely selected the right course, and placed his foot firmly upon the precise road that his far-seeing wisdom and humanity pointed out to him. A mental and moral giant, he did not waste his strength upon the little expedients of politicians, but he charged directly upon the great towers of human wretchness, assaulted incessantly the strongholds of the misguided men who had taken up arms against human liberty; and nobly and gloriously did he carry his warfare to the hour of victory. Patient and long-suffering, animated by a trust in God that gave him sufficient endurance for the onerous duties devolving upon him, looking hopefully towards heaven for the regeneration of mankind, and loving even those who had pointed their weapons at his throat, it was in keeping with all his thoughts and actions that he spoke kindly of Lee and others in the confederacy, in the last hours preceding his assassination, and thus grandly sealed the yearnings and tender affection he had so long displayed towards the brave but mistaken men who had attempted the life of the republic Brothers! the world is too small to furnish a grave for Abraham Lincoln, and the spirit of the glorious martyr must continue to dwell among us! II. THE POWER AND GRANDEUR OF THE AMERICAN REPUBlic. In the land beyond the sea, where the spirit of Abraham Lincoln still animates his people, there is honor and glory. There is weeping, too, there is sorrow too great for utterance, but there is also a hope as radiant as the morning of that blessed eternity to which we are all hastening. The great prophet has indeed left us, but the true seer of God lives forever in the fulfilment of his aspirations, and greater than all surviving voices is that voice which has been so rudely silenced. Over the sea, towering supremely above all the mighty things of the world, there is a redeemed and ennobled nation, quickened into universal life by the spirit of its great leader, and ordained by Almighty God to be the bulwark and the impregnable fortress of universal freedom. The initial battles of a universal regeneration have been won! If Mr. Lincoln did not live to perform all that he intended, and all that we had reason to expect of him, he did certainly live to set in motion the forces that will soon sweep from the face of the earth the enemies of mankind who hated and abused him. A great change for the better has already been accomplished, and it only remains to carry Mr. Lincoln's work to its completion. If the dungeons built by tyranny have not been destroyed, they have at least been shattered by the lightnings of progress, and the light of liberty is to-day shining into them, never more to be darkened. Glorious light! all hail! If we are not all of us fully awake to the duties devolving upon us, and if we have not yet entered fully into possession of our promised land, and if we are still loaded unjustly with burdens grievous to be borne, and if many of us are still driven to and fro like cattle, the glad truth is nevertheless manifest that the spirit of God is working lovingly among us, and that the long-desired morning of the world's regeneration will soon dawn upon us. If there is yet sin and suffering around us, and if weary men are still toiling hard and long for the bare necessities of existence, and if the most vital titles and claims of manhood are yet denied by our governments, and if cruelty and injustice are still potent in many of the affairs touching our personal honor and happiness, it is nevertheless easy to see that the idea of a government of the people for the people will soon be realized among all the civilized nations of the earth. Once more, O glorious era of freedom and freemen, all hail! Fraternally your brother, LEON LEWIS, A Citizen of the United States. [Translation.] LONDON, NO. 3 PERCY STREET, BEDFORD SQUARE, May 5, 1865. MR. PRESIDENT: In presence of the sombre tomb which encloses the body of citizen Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States of America, and member of the Grand Lodge of New York, the undersigned, delegates from the lodge of Gymnosophists in London, have the honor of transthitting to you the expression of their fraternal regret for the loss of one of the greatest citizens of the republic of America. Abraham Lincoln is no more! He has given his blood for the social restoration of the most pitiable portion of humanity. Death to him is not annihilation; but the beginning of a new life, that will endure as long as the memory of man. The lodge to which we belong has decided to wear mourning for a month, in commemoration of that heroic and unfortunate death, and takes this occasion of requesting you, Mr. President, to accept the expression of the regrets which we send in the name of our brethren, and our best wishes for the prosperity of your country and your own personal happiness. [MASONIC SEAL.] J. P. BERJEAN, (33,) Grand Venerable Master of the Lodge. CRESPELLE DESIRE, Treasurer. DAUTEAUBEL, Brother Collector. His Excellency ANDREW JOHNSON, A common council holden in the chamber of the Guildhall, of the city of London, on Thusday, the 27th day of April, 1865, Hall, mayor Resolved unanimously, That this court desires, before proceeding to the business of the day, to express its profound sympathy with the people of America, at the loss sustained in the death, by assassination, of Mr. Lincoln, the President of the United States, and to record its detestation of the atrocious crime which has been perpetrated. WOODTHROPE. BEE HIVE OFFICE, 10 Bolt Court, Fleet street, London. At a meeting of the working men of London, held at St. Martin's hall, on Thursday evening, May 4, 1865, Mr. Thomas Bayley Potter, M. P. in the chair, it was Unanimously resolved, That in addition to expressing their deep sympathy with the people of America for the great loss they have sustained, this meeting also desires to convey to the President, government, and people of the United States, their congratulation on the decisive successes which have lately attended the federal arms, affording a just hope of a speedy suppression of the rebellion, and the entire extinction of the accursed slave institutions, and therefore adopt the following address: To the President, government, and people of the United States: We, the working men of London, send you greeting! For more than four years have we watched, with the deepest anxiety, the momentous and stupendous struggle in which you have been engaged; we have sympathized with your reverses, rejoiced over you successes, and hailed with delight your late decisive triumph over the men who raised the standard of rebellion, not for the advancement of liberty, but that they might establish in your midst an empire with the avowed object of maintaining, extending, and perpetuating the accursed slave institution, for so long a period the dark spot in your national history. We were about to congratulate you on your late glorious victory, and on the extirpation from your great republic of that foul stain of slavery, when we were shocked at receiving the intelligence that the man who had done so much to bring about this desired end, gradually and constitutionally, who had pursued steadfastly his anti-slavery policy, braving alike the opposition of the open foe, the fears of the timid, the prejudice of the ignorant, and the abuse of the aristocrat, had fallen a victim to the fiendish attack of an assassin, on the eve of witnessing the consummation of his great and glorious labor, and while the words of conciliation and mercy to the vanquished enemy were yet hovering on his lips. People of America, we deeply feel with you the great loss you have sustained by the untimely death of your late illustrious President, Abraham Lincoln, who had endeared himself to his country and mankind, especially to the toiling millions of the civilized world, not less by his pure and stainless character than by his great services to his country in its time of agonizing trial. We feel that the loss of such a man is ours as well as yours. We feel that the loss of such a man is not only a loss to the nation over which he presided, but a loss to the world at large. Raised by the force of his own character and genius from a humble position in the ranks of industry to be the first citizen of a great and glorious republic, his memory will be endeared to, and enshrined in, the hearts of the toiling millions of all countries, as one of the few uncrowned monarchs of the world. Abraham Lincoln has been sacrificed in the cause of negro emanci pation, and the freedom of the slave has been consecrated by the blood of his deliverer. People of America, in your grief and affliction we the working men of London, offer you our heartfelt sympathy. We also have to lament the recent loss of a man among us whose life was devoted to our interests, and whose political career, like that of your Abraham Lincoln, though less troubled, was equally pure and stainless, Richard Cobden. May we, acting in the spirit of these two great men, draw closer the bonds of unity between us, and may peace and good will always exist between our respective nations. That man is a traitor to humanity and freedom who would lift his voice or his pen to provoke hostile proceedings between England and America; that man, be he peer or plebian, be he in the senate or on the platform, or in the press, who would say or write anything in favor of a war between the two countries is little less a miscreant than that assassin who has so lately struck down the foremost man amongst you. Be assured, whatever you may have heard to the contrary, either in a parliament with which we have nothing in common, and in which we are not yet represented, or in the leading articles of the corrupt and venal portion of the press, the working men of Great Britain have always been sound upon the great struggle in which you have been engaged, and, while you have been fighting, they have been anxiously watching and awaiting that time, now it would appear so happily approaching, when the lights and dignity of labor shall be acknowledged to exist equally in the black man as in the white. It was for this Abraham Lincoln lived and labored. It was for this Abraham Lincoln died the martyr of freedom. May his glorious example be as a beacon light to his successor. May he and those associated with him in the government, carry out the principles and policy of Abraham Lincoln, tempering justice with mercy, and triumph with conciliation, and the blood and treasure poured out during the last four years, will not have been sacrificed and expended in vain. Accept, people of America, the pledge of sympathy and the hand of fellowship and fraternity, from the working men of England's great metropolis. Signed on behalf of the meeting: |