AUDE. Arnaud Ferdinand de La PORTE (1756 - 1824), Bishop of - Lot 330

AUDE. Arnaud Ferdinand de La PORTE (1756 - 1824), Bishop of CARCASSONNE from 1802 to 1824. Letter signed by the Bishop of CARCASSONNE, Carcassonne July 28, 1814, to Mr. COSTA, parish priest of RODÈS (Pyrénées-Orientales) 2 pages large, in-8°, on the end of Imperial Worship and the importance of Civil Marriage: "We have, my dear Curé, consulted the Pope on the Indulgences for August 15 (Saint Napoleon's Day); in any case, he has not replied; you will not make any announcements on the 1st Sunday in August; (although there is no difficulty in praying for the King instead of the Emperor) and you will confine yourself to what was done in the past for Louis XVIII's vow. If he replies and I have time to communicate his answer to you, I'll do so on the spot. As for what you tell me about weddings, you'll have to be patient a little longer. It seems that this session of the Legislature will not end without something being decided in this regard. It was not I who decided that the Civil Contract should always precede the Religious ceremony, it was prudence that demanded this precaution before the Law itself had pronounced; And I well remember that at the time of my arrival from England, a very old and respectable family, who in those days would not hear of civil marriage, gave a charming young lady, a wealthy heiress of a fine name and fortune, to a young man who stayed with her for a long time after the blessing, and left one morning, leaving a bill in which he said he was tired of his pleasures with Mademoiselle such-and-such, that not being married to the Commune, his marriage to the Church was a pure formality which achieved nothing, and to which he had submitted only to spend a dozen days at such-and-such a château, etc. These are the inconveniences that would probably happen once in a thousand times; but they are possible, so we must wait. I've just received my mail. He brings me an order from the King, which I imagine will be in all the papers. With this ordinance, the King cancels the decree of February 19, 1806 concerning the celebrations known as St Napoleon and the Re-establishment of Worship and the Anniversary of the Coronation and the Battle of Austerlitz. There are therefore more difficulties: no indulgence will be published, and only the ancient solemnity for Louis XVIII's vow will be observed. You can tell your neighbors. I renew to you, Mon Cher Curé, the assurance of my esteem and affection. + L'Évêque de Carcassonne."