Abraham Lincoln,
President of the United States of America,
To His Excellency Senor Don Francisco Solano Lopez,
President of the Republic of Paraguay.
Great and Good Friend: I have received the letter which under date of 30 October, last, you addressed to me, announcing the death of the late most excellent President, Senor Don Carlos Antonio Lopez and of your subsequent elevation to the Presidency of the Republic by the unanimous vote of the Representatives of the nation.
I offer your Excellency my sincere sympathy in the sad bereavement which you have experienced in the death of your distinguished Father, under whose government the Republic of Paraguay enjoyed many years of peace and prosperity. The election of your Excellency to succeed him is the best proof of the satisfaction of the Republic with his administration.
I congratulate you upon this mark of the confidence of the nation, and sincerely reciprocate the desire Your Excellency has expressed for the continuance of the good relations so happily subsisting between the United States and Paraguay, to which desirable end my own best efforts shall not be wanting.
Wishing peace, progress, and prosperity for the Republic, and health and happiness to your Excellency I pray God to have you always in His most holy keeping.