Benoit, Father Julian Administrator, Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Archbishop John Baptist Purcell, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1871 August 17

With regard to the bishopric of Fort Wayne, Benoit's mind was soon made up. He wrote to Cardinal Barnabo telling him that he was not fitted for the situation and there were better men from whom to pick the bishop. But if he willingly acknowledges that he is not a fit subject for the position and if he forgives anyone who says the same and thanks them for it, it is no reason for priests or bishops to represent him falsely as a thief and as a faithless priest. If he has been guilty of some fraud, against whom? and where? If he has paid a lawyer to keep silent regarding the injuries against the rights of orphan children, the lawyer must be known and the right of the children violated by him must be known. If he has ever said to Father John Corbe that he would rather be a lawyer than a priest, let him prove it. But Corbe has already admitted to the Bishop of Vincennes Maurice de St. Palais that Benoit did not say these things. He does not want to be Bishop of Fort Wayne because he is unfit for the post, but he does need his reputation and want to preserve his good name and when slanderous tongues attack his character, they should be brought to proof or made to acknowledge the misrepresentation. Whatever men may say, they cannot make him a thief or a priest without faith before God. If Almighty God requires him to sacrifice the good name he has acquired in the 31 years at Fort Wayne, His will be done. He thanks Purcell for his kind and consoling letters. :: II-5-e A.L.S. 4pp. 12mo.