Letter (No. 69) of Dudley Mann to J. P. Benjamin

Source: United States, Naval War Records Office
Title: Official records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. / Series II - Volume 3: Proclamations, Appointments, etc. of President Davis; State Department Correspondence with Diplomatic Agents, etc.
Publisher: Government Printing Office
Publication date: 1922
Place of Publication: Washington
Pages: 973 - 974

Copied from: Cornell University's MoA Multivolume Monographs, Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion (1894 - 1922)

ROME, December 9, 1863.

[No. 69]

SIR: The cardinal secretary of state, Antonelli, officially transmitted to me yesterday the. answer of the Pope to the President.

In the very direction of this communication there is a positive recognition of our Government.

I congratulate you. I congratulate the President. I congratulate his Cabinet in short, I congratulate all my true-hearted countrymen and countrywomen, upon this benign event. The hand of the Lord has been in it, and eternal glory and praise be to His holy and righteous name.

The document is in the Latin language, as are all documents prepared by the Pope. I can not incur the risk of its capture at sea, and, therefore, I shall retain it until I can convey it, with entire certainty, to the President. It will adorn the archives of our country in all coming time.

I expect to receive a copy of it in time for transmission by the steamer which carries this (via New York) at Nassau.

I shall leave here by the 15th instant, and will proceed to Paris and from thence to Brussels and London.

The example of the sovereign pontiff, if I am not much mistaken, will exercise a salutary influence upon both the Catholic and Protestant governments of western Europe. Humanity will be aroused everywhere to the importance of its early emulation.

I have studiously endeavored to prevent the appearance of any telegraphic or other communications in the newspapers in relation to my mission. The nature of it, however, is generally known in official circles here, and it has been mentioned in one or more journals.

The letters, in my opinion, ought to be officially published at Richmond, under a call for the correspondence by the one or the other branch of Congress. In the meantime I shall communicate to the European press, probably through the London Times, the substance of those letters.

I regard such a procedure as of primary importance in view of the interests of peace, and I am quite sure that the holy father would rejoice at seeing those interests benefited in this or any other effective manner.

I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

A. DUDLEY MANN

Hon. J. P. BENJAMIN,
Secretary of State, C. S. A., Richmond, Va.

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