[Extract from the Freeman’s Journal, Dublin, Friday, April 28, 1865.]
The assassination of the President created intense excitement over England. He was respected by all, and among the working classes was as popular as he was in his own country. Simple in his habits—with no pride or pretension—accessible to all, and with a kind word for all—the warm friend of England, though from that country went forth some of the bitterest attacks on his person and character—his loss is the more deeply felt when the future is so uncertain and dark. All lament the good man and great statesman. We doubt whether modern history contains a grander character than the humble lawyer of Illinois. Others had more genius, and, perhaps, a deeper insight into the political future, though in that prescience which is one of the highest and rarest gifts of rulers Abraham Lincoln was far from deficient. In high moral qualities he was unsurpassed by any public character of the age. His hands were as free from corruption as his generous soul was indisposed to harshness. None of his enemies ever charged him with appropriating a dollar of the public money beyond his modest salary of four thousand pounds. His public virtue shone out as brightly as his private worth, and both made him the best beloved man in the United States. His loss is acutely felt in England and France, for his calm wisdom interposed a barrier against popular passions and mitigated national animosities. He sent as ambassador to England one of the first and most conciliatory of American statesmen, and his choice has been proved by the esteem in which Mr. [Page 369] Adams is universally held, and the skill with which he has conducted the relations between the two countries in many a perilous crisis. Whatever differences of opinion about the war may have existed in England, the horror which the murder excited has been universal. The House of Commons, as the representative of the people, testified in a manner which will be appreciated in the United States its sense of the calamity. At the sitting of the house on Monday members of all shades—English, Irish, and Scotch—liberal and conservative—signed an address of sympathy to Mr. Adams. Last night Sir George Grey stated that on Monday next he would move an address to the Crown, expressing the horror and condemnation the house felt at the assassination of the President, and praying her Majesty to convey that expression of feeling to the government and people of the United States. In the House of Lords Earl Russell, in graceful language, made a similar statement. Earl Derby wished to know whether in point of form such an address was regular. As to the substance, the noble earl concurred in the indignation and horror which the atrocious act excited among all ranks in England. The Queen will do her part. She entertains great regard for the American people, in which the Prince Consort shared. One of his last acts was to soften the tone of the despatches on the affair of the Trent, a fact stated by Earl Russell in the House of Lords. Her Majesty feels grateful for the universal hospitality the Prince of Wales received in the States, and we may be sure “the noble Queen,” as Mr. Seward called her in his last speech, will convey to the American government and people more than a formal expression of the duty imposed on her by the lords and commons. Such displays are calculated to do much good. They soften resentments, soothe the sorrows, and draw closer the bonds of friendship between nations. The American residents in London, in whom the late President had almost frantic admirers—we write, of course, of the northern section—met yesterday to express their sentiments on the mournful occasion, and the Americans (who are still more numerous) in Paris will follow the example. One of the most honored bodies in England—the Emancipation Society—founded in the middle of the last century, and which saw the consummation of its labors in the abolition of slavery, assembled for a similar purpose. In Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle, and other great cities and towns, meetings are about to take place to address the American people. The common council of London—the first municipal body in the world—will also give expression to their feelings. We rejoice to find Dublin active on the mournful occasion. The working classes will meet this evening at the Mechanics’ Institute. A preliminary meeting of gentlemen will take place to-day in Moles worth street, to prepare a requisition to the lord mayor to convene a meeting of the citizens on an early day.