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The Charles P. McIlvaine letters were written in the 18th and 19th century and therefore may contain language that we understand today as harmful or offensive. You may encounter paternalist descriptions of Native Americans, racial slurs, or sexism. For more information, see our policy page.
Description
Bp. McIlvaine sent his pastoral letter to Seward and it was received and given to the President; loyalty of Church to the Const and Union government; connection of patriotism and Christianity
Date
10-29-1862
Keywords
letter, McIlvaine, Seward
Recommended Citation
Seward, William H., "Newspaper Reproduction of Letter to Charles Petit McIlvaine" (1862). Charles Pettit McIlvaine Letters. 211.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/mcilvaine_letters/211
Rights Statement
Transcript
The following is a transcript of the letter reproduced in the right column:
Department of State,
Washington, 29th October, 1862.
To the Right Rev. Bishop McIlvaine, Presiding Bishop, pro tem., of the House of Bishops, of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States.
Right Rev. and Dear Sir:—The copy which you sent to me of the Pastoral Letter of the Bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, has been submitted to the President. He authorizes me to assure you, that he receives with the most grateful satisfaction the evidence which that calm, candid and earnest paper gives of the loyalty of the very extended religious communion over which you preside to the Constitution and the Government of the United States. I am further instructed to say, that the exposition which the highest ecclesiastical authority of that Communion has given in the Pastoral Letter, of the intimate connection which exists between fervent patriotism and true christianity, seems to the President equally seasonable and unanswerable.—Earnestly invoking the Divine blessing equally upon our religions and civil institutions, that they may all together safely resist the storms of factions and continue hereafter as heretofore to sustain and invigorate each other and so promote the common welfare of mankind.
I have the honor to be, Right Rev. and Dear Sir,
Faithfully Yours,
William H. Seward