[From the London Evening Star, May 2, 1865.]
The Parliament of Great Britain, in a spirit worthy of its ancient fame, has unanimously expressed its deep and earnest feeling of sympathy with the government and people of the United States in the hour of their dire affliction. The addresses to the Crown which were voted by both houses last night were no merely formal acts. They represented the solemn and deliberate sentiments of both branches of the legislature—they embodied that sense of grief which has weighed upon the heart of the nation ever since the perpetration of the atrocious crime has been known in this country. The appearance of the two chambers indicated the serious nature of the business which was announced for discussion. The attendance of members was unusually large, and the languor of an uneventful session was once more broken by a mournful episode. The crowd which assembled in Westminster Hall, and filled the corridors and lobbies, showed the deep interest which the subject excited among the classes who are never attracted to this quarter unless the popular mind is stirred by some deep emotion. While such was the temper of the spectators, we may justly affirm that those who more directly assisted on the occasion were moved by no vague curiosity to be present at the deliberations of Parliament, and that the chief actors performed their appointed task with befitting dignity and earnestness. It would be too [Page 394] much to say that the evil spirit of a faction which cruelly maligned the martyred patriot when he was living was quenched; but in the presence of the awful calamity which has befallen our American kinsmen, it at all events exhibited the grace of silence and held its peace. Even that faction, while it could not recant its recorded opinions or atone for the past, with the memories of which it must be forever dishonored, without doubt concurred heartily in those execrations of the assassin’s cruel deed which were uttered by the chiefs of the two great parties in the state. Both houses were absolutely unanimous in their expressions of horror at the crime; and no voice, no sound was heard which did not imply profound sympathy with the character of the illustrious man who, by the common consent of every civilized nation, has been elevated to a position in history which a long line of the world’s greatest heroes have coveted, but in vain.
It would be difficult to say who among the speakers last night gave proof of the most discriminating appreciation of the peculiar excellencies of Mr. Lincoln’s large-hearted nature. But although they differed in form; they agreed in essence. All combined to do justice to his manliness, his sincerity, and his generous feeling. Lord Russell, who appropriately reminded the assembly which he addressed that the late President was twice legally elected the Chief Magistrate of the American nation, declared that he was exactly suited by his natural disposition for the conjuncture which taxed his energies during his four years of power. With honesty and frankness he combined conciliation, the quality which would temper the pride of victory. The noble speaker was singularly felicitous in his eulogy of Mr. Lincoln’s moderation on the slavery question, the gradual but sure measures he adopted to effect the abolition of what he saw from the beginning was the one crime of his country, and the only source of her civil troubles; and he was equally just in pointing to the influence of that same moderation in smoothing over the difficulties which had arisen from time to time between the two governments. If Lord Derby spoke in more guarded terms on the political aspects of the American war, he was not less energetic in his reprobation of the dastardly murder which has disgraced the annals of that contest, and not less happy in the tribute he paid to the virtues of Mr. Lincoln’s character, that singular wisdom and prudence combined with conciliation, which he said had distinguished his conduct of public affairs. In the lower house Sir George Grey, in the unavoidable absence, through indisposition, of Lord Palmerston, proposed the motion in an admirable speech. The only expression of dissent was provoked by his perfectly true statement that the majority of this country have sympathized with the North during its arduous struggle. The few gentlemen below the gangway on the tory side of the house who sought to cast distrust upon the assertion, provoked a counter-cheer which served to make their own insignificance the more conspicuous. Sir George Grey dwelt forcibly upon the wise forbearance and generosity of President Lincoln—qualities which, as the speaker truly said, would, if he had lived, have added greater lustre to the fame he had already acquired. But to Mr. Disraeli once again attached the honor of elevating a mournful theme by the inspiration, not only of a genuine feeling, but of a classic eloquence. His words blended the graces of the orator with an acute perception of the noble traits of Mr. Lincoln’s nature and the true dignity with which death had invested him. It was a genuine power of discrimination and no mere trick of rhetoric which enabled him to point out that the homely and innocent character of the victim and the accessories of his latest moments “take the subject out of the pomp of history and the ceremonial of diplomacy, and make it touch the heart of nations and appeal to the sentiments of mankind.” Never did the conservative leader appear to greater advantage, never did his acknowledged genius seem to be more closely allied with all that is great and good in human sympathy, than when he affirmed that President Lincoln in a time of sore trial had performed his duty with “simplicity and [Page 395] strength,” and when he reminded the English people of his kinship with them, and expressed his faith that the United States would emerge from the ordeal of discipline and suffering elevated and chastened by what they had endured. The reassuring words, founded upon the experience of mankind, to which he gave utterance, may well make us believe that the assassin’s arm in striking down Mr. Lincoln had no power to injure the cause of which he was the elected representative; but his profound declaration of sympathy with the American people will do something more than allay groundless alarms. It will essentially assist to consolidate those friendly relations between England and America which Lord Stratford de Redcliffe and every other speaker desired to see established upon a firm and lasting basis.
The two houses have agreed to address the Queen, praying that she would communicate their sentiments as well as her own to the government of the United States. In advance of the action of Parliament instructions had been sent out to the British minister at Washington to make known the feelings of the imperial government. There was only one other manifestation of grief and indignation at the great tragedy which could have been desired, and that has been given. The Queen has with her own hand written a letter of sympathy to Mrs. Lincoln. The act is as graceful as it is touching. The royal widow seeking to afford consolation to her sister in affliction is an incident of which history will be proud. Every Englishman will feel that this last instance of tenderness on the part of the Sovereign—this truly gentle and womanly deed—binds him by a closer tie of loyalty and affection to the illustrious lady who sits upon the throne of these realms. It is an act which will serve as much as anything to bury all discord in a common grave. Queen Victoria is as much revered in America as she is in her own land; and we believe that if Mr. Adams had delivered his admirable speech to-day instead of yesterday, he would feel himself able to assert that no circumstance could have occurred which would be more certain to afford consolation to his countrymen or to reunite the two nations.