Elder, Bishop William Henry, Natchez, Mississippi, to Archbishop Anthony Blanc, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1858 December 29

Enclosed Blanc will find receipts for Brownson's Review and the New York Tablet with authority to pay to O'Donnell. If Blanc does not have the receipt for the Philadelphia Herald, Elder will hunt it out. The trustees have negotiated a sale of the site of the old Catholic church in Commerce Street. They have been waiting for Elder's signature; he has never received any authority from Rome to sell it. He asked it from the Cardinal seventeen months ago and again last summer. Elder thought he might sanction it: 1. he does not see any service of the lot to the Church; the price of $3500 is very much needed for the Cathedral; 2. the legal title is not in the Bishop but in the trustees; Elder's place as a trustee depends on the votes of the congregation; 3. he thinks the church was not consecrated; he is told it was a frame building and even had stores in it. In so delicate a matter where Elder's consecration oath is in question, he feels afraid to act on his own judgment. If Blanc's judgment approves, Elder will sign the deed. The lot fronts on the street but is completely shut in so it is of little use except to the owner of the property around it and he is the purchaser. Elder is happy to hear of Blanc's improvement. Elder answered Blanc's letter about the Council from Sulphur Springs. VI-1-o - A.L.S. - 6pp. - 4to., 16mo., 32mo. - {2}