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

President Murillo to Mr. Burton.

[Translation.]

Bogota, June 21, 1865.

Mr. Minister: I am advised that, by the death of your great fellow-citizen, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson has entered upon the discharge of the presidency of the United States of America for a constitutional term.

From the time the mournful echo of the night of the 14th of April in Washington reached our (community; you have been able to note how deep and painful has been the sensation produced in it, My fellow-citizens have sadly lamented the loss of that high magistrate who, has associated his name with emancipation of four millions of men, and erasing the stigma of an odious institution, a true misfortune in itself; and I, who had the favorable opportunity, almost of intimate association, to appreciate the gifts and to receive proofs of his benevolent character, have united with lively emotion in the just grief of the American people.