The members of the Senate and House of Representatives now assembled in Washington, humbly confessing their dependence upon Almighty God who rules all that is done for human good, make haste, at this informal meeting, to express the emotions with which they have been filled by the appalling tragedy which has deprived the Nation of its head and covered the land with mourning; and in further declaration of their sentiments unanimously resolve:

1. That in testimony of their veneration and affection for the illustrious dead, who has been permitted under Providence to do so much for his country and for liberty, they will unite in the funeral services, and by an appropriate Committee will accompany his remains to their place of burial in the State from which he was taken for the national service.

2. That in the life of Abraham Lincoln, who, by the benignant favor of Republican institutions, rose from humble beginnings to the heights of power and fame, they recognize an example of purity, simplicity and virtue, which should be a lesson, to mankind; while in his death they recognize a martyr, whose memory will become more precious as men learn to prize those principles of constitutional order and those rights, civil, political, and human, for which he was made a sacrifice.

3. That they invite the President of the United States, by solemn proclamation, to recommend to the people of the United States to assemble on a day to be appointed by him, publicly to testify their grief, and to dwell on the good which has been done on earth by him whom we now mourn.

4. That a copy of these resolutions be communicated to the President of the United States; and also, that a copy be communicated to the afflicted widow of the late President, as an expression of sympathy in her great bereavement.

The meeting then adjourned.


The funeral ceremonies took place in the East room of the Executive Mansion, at noon, on the 19th of April, and the remains were then escorted to the Capitol, where they lay in state in the rotundo.

On the morning of April 21, the remains were taken from the Capitol and placed in a funeral car, in which they were taken to Springfield, Illinois, accompanied by the Congressional Committee. Halting at the principal cities along the route, that appropriate honors might be paid to the deceased, the funeral cortege arrived on the 3d of May at Springfield, Illinois, and the next day the remains were deposited in Oak Ridge cemetery near that city.

President JOHNSON, in his annual message to Congress at the commencement of the session of 1865-'66, thus announced the death of his predecessor: