Municipal Council of Ashton-under-Lyne
At a meeting of the town council of the borough of Ashton-under-Lyne, in the county of Lancaster, held on Wednesday, the 10th day of May, 1865, John [Page 158] Galt, esquire, mayor, in the chair, it was moved by Mr. Alderman Mason, seconded by Mr. Councillor Wood, and resolved as follows:
The mayor, aldermen, and burgesses of the borough of Ashton-under-Lyne, in council assembled, having heard with profound grief of the brutal and cowardly assassination of Mr. Abraham Lincoln, the President of the United States of America, hereby record their feelings of horror and detestation at the malignity and treachery of the act which has deprived that great country of its Chief Magistrate; and express their heartfelt sympathy with the people of that country in their time of all-absorbing sorrow.
This council beg to offer their tribute of reverence for the memory of a great American whose ripened experience and humane nature pre eminently fitted him to reconcile the animosities of a divided people, and heal the wounds of a distracted nation.
This council fervently trust that the magnanimous policy of the late President may continue to guide the American people, that war and bloodshed may come to a speedy end, and that peace, prosperity, and happiness may again prevail.
This council also respectfully offer to Mrs. Lincoln their genuine affection and sympathy for her irreparable loss, and trust she may find sweet consolation in witnessing the grand results of the wise, unselfish, and patriotic career of her martyred husband.
The corporate seal was affixed in the presence of—