Cornay, Octave and G.A. Briant, Pattersonville, Louisiana, to Archbishop Anthony Blanc, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1850 December 30

They received Blanc's recent letter. They regret very much that he could not send a teacher such as they asked for. Youth will lose much in instruction of the heart and spirit; for all their republicanism and American prejudice they still grant to the most ignorant clergyman a knowledge twice as great as that possessed by the ordinary secular teachers. It is also a loss for the Catholic people who lose a permanent pastor. They thank him for his offer to procure a lay teacher; they have created the public schools. Their intention was to obtain at the same time a priest for their church which stands idle. :: V-5-n A.L.S. French 3pp. 4to.