Elder, William Henry, Bishop of Natchez, Natchez, Mississippi, to Archbishop John Baptist Purcell, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1864 April 5

Elder received Purcell's letter of Feb. 27th on March 10th with the enclosed letter from Europe and he thanks him and Father Daniel O'Regan. He is glad Purcell did not take offense at his previous letter and would have written this one sooner but the new Commander, General James Tuttle has been asking for the prayer for the Public Authorities. Elder just saw an item which appeared in the Catholic Telegraph, and encloses it, which states that a Southern Bishop warns them against encouraging clergymen to return to the south while the Confederate Government is in power because of the possibilities of being conscripted, and that even the pastors in charge of congregations may be forced into the war. Elder wonders if it was his letter to Purcell about Mr. Bennet that may have been misunderstood, because he knows the item to be incorrect whether he was the bishop referred to or one of the other four or five. He asks Purcell to induce the Editor to correct his mistake by retracting the statement, and he feels he will do this because he is zealous primarily towards religion. Elder would like three copies of the edition in which the retraction appears. He has never heard of any clergymen receiving anything but respectful treatment from any of the Confederate authorities. The exemption law exempts all clergymen who were engaged in the ministry before May, 1862, which is another defect in the Telegraph item. He feels he has an excuse for his language and asks Purcell what his reaction would be is such an item would appear in a Catholic Southern paper referring to an untrue letter sent by a bishop along the Ohio River. Elder says that if some Southern bishop did write the letter to the Telegraph, the letter and its contents are false but that would still not excuse the editor for publishing it. He hopes he will remain a true friend of Purcell, and that each may respect the others' conscience, intelligence, and rights. :: II-5-b A.L.S. 4pp. 8vo.