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

Mr. King to Mr. Hunter .

[Extract.]

Legation of the United States at Rome ,
May 13, 1865.

No. 39.]

Sir: I duly received a copy of the circular from the State Department, under date of April 17, directing all officers and others subject to its orders to wear crape upon the left arm for the period of six months, in honor to the memory of our late illustrious Chief Magistrate. Anticipating in this respect the wishes of the department, I had already caused the United States legation rooms here to be suitably draped, and, in common with all loyal Americans now in Rome, had assumed the customary badge of mourning, which will be worn during the time prescribed. It is a melancholy satisfaction to know that the grief we feel at the bereavement the republic has sustained meets with general and earnest sympathy in all parts of the Old World; and that in Europe, as in America, enlightened public opinion has already inscribed among the most illustrious names on the roll of fame that of our martyred President.

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I have the honor to be, with great respect, your obedient servant,

RUFUS KING.

Hon. William Hunter,
Acting Secretary of State.