Citizens of New York in Washington, D.C.
At a meeting of the citizens of New York, held in this city on the evening of April 17, 1865, the following preamble and resolutions were unanimously passed;
Whereas his Excellency Abraham Lincoln, the President of the United States, died on the morning of the 15th of April from wounds received at the hands of an assassin: Therefore,
Resolved, That in the death of our beloved President, our whole country has lost its best and dearest friend; that his life is the brightest page of our nation’s glory; his death the saddest of our nation’s sorrows; that we prayerfully ask Him who ruleth all the people of the earth, in His providence, to work out His purpose in this appalling calamity, that has gone so near to the hearts of the American people, and to decree and hasten that end which our lamented President so nearly consummated, and to which he died a matyr, namely, Christian liberty and the restoration and perpetuation of the American Union.
Resolved, That we tender to the bereaved wife and children of him who has been so suddenly stricken down our warmest sympathies and condolence; that we offer also to the highly esteemed Secretary of State, and each member of his family, our earnest hopes for their recovery to health and usefulness in the high places which they have so long and honorably filled.
Resolved, That we give our earnest assurance to his Excellency Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, that he will bring to his administration the same hearty adherence and support as we have always borne to that of his predecessor.
Resolved, That we wear the usual badge of mourning for the period of sixty days, and that we attend the funeral of our deceased President in a body.
Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be transmitted to the family of the late President, to the Secretary of State, and to his Excellency Andrew Johnson. Respectfully, yours,
Secretary Excelsior Union Club.
Hon. William H. Seward,
Secretary of State.