Plou to [Address:] Etienne Plou , Juris, June 29, 1871

[Untitled]

His Excellency the Minister of the United States in France:

Sir: I know what interest your excellency has shown in favor of Monseigneur Darboy, archbishop of Paris, and I know what gratitude the friends of the Catholic Church will feel toward you for it. Permit me, sir, in invoking this interest, to beg your excellency to take a step which will be, without doubt, of service to Monseigneur Darboy. The celebrities of the bar of Paris having left the capital, monseigneur has had the goodness to choose me as his counsel. I consequently asked of the Citizen Raoul Regault, procureur of the commune, the permission required to visit him at the prison of Mazas. I have had two consultations with monseigneur. These interviews enabled me to take certain steps having a character of public interest, and I had hoped that they might be renewed from time to time, when the commune of Paris suppressed all the permissions which had been accorded to visit the priest-prisoners, and authorized the Citizen Ferré, one of its members, to grant henceforth such authorizations as he should judge to be proper. Notwithstanding my earnest request to him, notwithstanding my character of counsel, which should have prevented a refusal—for a prisoner cannot be deprived, without barbarity, of advice of counsel—I have been able to obtain nothing from Mr. Ferré, who exhibits an unyielding severity. I have, therefore, the honor, appealing to my sincere devotion to monseigneur the archbishop, (and without this being suggested to me by any one,) to beg your excellency to consent to employ your great influence to obtain from Citizen Ferré the permission which he refuses me without giving any reason. I ask pardon of your excellency for importuning you in this manner, and I hope that you will excuse my indiscretion for the sake of the motive which dictates it.

I am, with great respect, sir, your obedient servant,