Bishop Lynch's Civil War Pamphlet on Slavery
1998; The Catholic University of America Press; Volume: 84; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/cat.1998.0243
ISSN1534-0708
Autores Tópico(s)American History and Culture
ResumoBISHOP LYNCHS CIVIL WAR PAMPHLET ON SLAVERY DAVID C R. HEISSER President Jefferson Davis in 1864 appointed Bishop Patrick Neison Lynch of Charleston, South Carolina, to be Commissioner of the Confederate States of America to the States of the Church. An ardent Confederate, Bishop Lynch undertook a mission to Europe to win recognition by the Holy See.As part of his contribution to the Southern cause he wrote a tract on slavery which was published in Italian, German , and French, but never in English.1 This article discusses Lynch's participation in the Confederate propaganda effort, considers his ideas in the context of the time, and presents representative selections from his original English text. Lynch accepted appointment on March 3, 1864; on April 4 Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin instructed the Bishop to seek recognition and, more importantly, to work for "enlightening opinions and molding impressions" of European leaders. Lynch was to receive a monthly salary of $1,000 plus $500 for travel.2 In Patrick Lynch the Confederate *Dr. Heisser is Reference/Documents Librarian in the Daniel Library, The Citadel, Charleston, South Carolina. His research has been supported by the Diocese of Charleston and the Cushwa Center for the Study ofAmerican Catholicism, at the University of Notre Dame. The author is conducting research for a biography of Bishop Lynch. 'The Diocese of Charleston will publish the full English text. 2Lynch to Benjamin, March 3, 1864, in "Reports of Bishop Lynch of Charleston, South Carolina, Commissioner of the Confederate States to the Holy See, American Catholic Historical Researches, 22 (1905), 248 (hereafter: Lynch, "Reports"); original commission, April 4, 1864, signed by Davis and Benjamin.Archives ofthe Diocese ofCharleston (hereafter : CDA); Benjamin to Lynch, April 4, 1864, in James D. Richardson (comp.),A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Confederacy, including the Diplomatic Correspondence, 1861-1865 (2 vols.; Nashville, 1906), II, 470-473 (hereafter: Richardson , Messages); Leo Francis Stock, "Catholic Participation in the Diplomacy of the Southern Confederacy," Catholic Historical Review, XVI (April, 1930), 17; Willard E. Wight, "Bishop Patrick N. Lynch, Confederate Propagandist," unpublished paper given at the Forty-fourth Annual Meeting of the American Catholic Historical Association, Washington , D.C., December, 1963,pp. 3-4 (hereafter: Wight, "Lynch"); Henry Francis Wolfe,"WarTime Mission to Rome," Catholic Banner (Charleston, South Carolina), 49, no. 32 (I960), 13A. Lynch told Benjamin he hoped to conclude his mission in six months. 681 682BISHOP LYNCHS CIVIL WAR PAMPHLET ON SLAVERY government chose an acknowledged leader of the Catholic Church in America. Born in Ireland, he was brought up in South Carolina and studied for the priesthood at the seminary of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (Propaganda Fide), the department of the Roman Curia that administered the Catholic Church in America. Lynch had received his doctorate in Rome and spoke fluent Italian. He knew Alessandro Cardinal Barnabe, Prefect of the Propaganda Fide and an influential advisor to Pope Pius LX.3 When Fort Sumter fell to the Confederates Lynch ordered a Te Deum sung in his cathedral.4 He championed Southern independence in a public exchange of letters with Archbishop John Hughes of New York.5 Jefferson Davis admired Lynch for his work with sick and wounded servicemen and prisoners of war, and the Bishop was a member of the President's entourage during the latter 's 1863 visit to Charleston.6 In an appeal to his faithful for prayers for peace Lynch praised the Confederate government and armies.7 During April, 1864, the Bishop ran the blockade and sailed to Europe .8 In Paris he met with Confederate agent John Slidell and propagandists Henry Hotze and Edwin De Leon, a fellow South Carolinian. Emperor Napoleon III gave Lynch an audience on June 14, and a few days later the Bishop traveled to Rome, arriving on the 26th.9 He took lodgings in that city, where he was to entertain prominent people and acquire a reputation for hospitality.10 To Giacomo Cardinal Antonelli, 3On Lynch see Richard C. Madden, "Lynch, Patrick Neison," New Catholic Encyclopedia ,VUl, 1111-1112; idem, Catholics in South Carolina; A Record (Lanham, Maryland, 1985), chapters V-VI. On Barnabö see "Barnabö (Alessandro)," Dictionnaire d...
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