Charles Francis Adams to William Hunter, Esq., Acting Secretary of State, Washington, D. C, May 4, 1865

Mr. Adams to Mr. Hunter

Sir: The death of the President and the fearful circumstances under which it was brought about have occupied the public mind, all over this kingdom, almost exclusively during the past week.

At the desire of the Americans residing in this city I called a public meeting of all such as might happen to be here, for Monday last. It was very well attended. I have the honor to transmit a copy of the proceedings.

I have the honor to transmit a number of addresses, resolutions or other forms of public action, taken by various corporate bodies, in England, Scotland, and Ireland, on this subject, and forwarded to me down to this time, according to the list which is attached to this despatch.

As a further evidence of the extent of the public feeling, I transmit a considerable number of newspapers from different parts of the kingdom which have been sent to me as containing comments upon the late calamity.

A very large number of persons have called at this legation, including most of the members of the corps diplomatique, in token of their sentiments on this occasion. The labor devolved upon the members of it in acknowledging all these demonstrations is not small. It will also become a serious question to decide upon the most suitable mode of responding to them. On mature reflection, I should rather recommend one brief, comprehensive communication, which I might be authorized to print, in some form or other, and send to the respective parties concerned.

I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,

[Enclosures.]

1. Resident Americans to Mr. Adams, April 27, 1865.

2. Mr. Adams’s reply, April 27, 1865. Proceedings of a meeting of Americans at St. James Hall, May 1, 1865.

3. The Morning Star. Proceedings of meeting, May 2, 1865.

4. Package of addresses to the President.

5. List of addresses to the President.

6. Packages of newspapers.

[Enclosure No. 5.]

Resolutions, addresses, &c., for the United States government, &c., from—

Chamber of Commerce and Shipping, Hull; Mauritian colored gentlemen resident in London; inhabitants of Darwen, Lancashire county; inhabitants’ of Bradford, Yorkshire; Bristol Workingmen’s Club; teachers of the Bristol ragged schools; Chamber of Commerce at Glasgow; city of Dublin; city of London; city of Liverpool; American Chamber of Commerce at Liverpool; Stourbridge Union; town of Bradford—inhabitants; Chamber of Commerce at Sheffield; Chamber of Commerce, Bradford; Sheffield Cutlers’ Company; Americans in Glasgow; city of Bristol; inhabitants of Kittering; borough of Leicester; Grand Trunk Railway Company; church of St. Marylebone, London; British Honduras Company; Bank of British Columbia; inhabitants of Liverpool; borough of Birmingham; city and borough of Canterbury; address to Andrew Johnson from the Union and Emancipation Society, of Glasgow; Carl Blind, and other Germans resident in London; Stafford—Auxiliary Union and Emancipation Society; borough of Wakefield, one copy for Andrew Johnson and one for William H. Seward; borough of Reading; Citizens of Norwich; borough of Buckingham; corporation of Cameron; inhabitants of Halstead; council of Wells; Kingston-upon-Hull; borough of Cambridge; Stourbridge; village of Staplehurst; committee of deputies of British Jews; Bolton; city of Glasgow; merchants and others of the Greek race resident in London; the vestry of the parish of St. Luke, Chelsea; Peterborough; burgh of Frith; city of Cork; county of Roxburgh; borough of Dorchester; county of Elgin; borough of Bath; inhabitants of Heighley, Yorkshire; Sunderland; magistrates and council of Forfar; county of Forfar; Earl of Dalhousie, lord lieutenant; inhabitants of Nottingham; merchants, bankers, and traders of the city of London; Foreign Affairs Committee, Sheffield; Montrose; Dewsbury Chamber of Commerce; Newcastle-under-Lyne, in the county of Stafford; Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and Manufacture; borough of Preston, in the county of Lan-caster; Leith Chamber of Commerce; borough of Evesham, in the county of Worcester; city of Winchester; city of York; borough of Dover; Bury, Lancashire; Stratford-upon-Avon; Dewesbury; borough of Congleton; Warrington, Lancashire; borough of Sheffield; Covent Garden theatrical fund; Colchester, Essex; the United Methodist Free Church, Hartlepool; Dramatic Reading at Leeds; city of Edinburgh; American residents in London.

(For enclosures mentioned in No. 5 see Appendix, separate volume.)