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Augustin Cochin's L'Abolition de l'esclavage and the Emancipation Proclamation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2009
Extract
Ironically shortly before and after Lincoln proclaimed emancipation, the Great Emancipator received as much criticism as praise for what he did or did not do. This article examines how the 1861 award-winning L'Abolition de l'esclavage by Augustin Cochin helped persuade Americans and his fellow Frenchmen that the abolition of slavery was both morally and practically right. Cochin, the empirical moralist, had a deeper appreciation of Lincoln than many of the President's critics—on both sides of the Atlantic. The article also offers new material and insights on the relationship between French and American liberal thinkers during the Civil War.
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References
1 Booth, Mary L., Preface to The Results of Emancipation by Augustin Cochin, 2nd ed., trans. Booth, Mary L. (Boston: Walker, Wise & Co., 1863), pp. vi–vii.Google Scholar
2 For a brief, but excellent account of Lincoln's motivation and the factors which led him to proclaim emancipation see Franklin, John Hope, The Emancipation Proclamation (New York: Doubleday, 1963).Google Scholar
3 Cochin, Augustin, The Results of Slavery, trans. Booth, Mary L. (Boston: Walker, Wise and Co., 1863), p. 1.Google Scholar
4 For an excellent interpretation of their methods and their objectives see Gavronsky, Serge, The French Liberal Opposition and the American Civil War (New York: Humanities Press, 1968).Google Scholar
5 Cochin, , The Results of Slavery, pp. 2–3.Google Scholar
6 Augustin Cochin to Brownson, 23 April 1857, Orestes A. Brownson Papers, University of Notre Dame Archives, Notre Dame, Indiana (hereafter cited as Brownson Papers).
7 Some American historians such as Fredrickson, George M. (The Inner Civil War [New York: Harper], 1965)Google Scholar see Brownson as a conservative during the Civil War. Certainly this view was not shared by most French and American Catholics nor is it completely accurate.
8 Augustin Cochin to Brownson, 30 July 1861, Orestes A. Brownson Papers.
9 See Brownson, Orestes A., “The Great Rebellion,” Brownson Quarterly Review, 18 (07 1861)Google Scholar in which Brownson suggested that if the war continued perhaps the slaves must be emancipated, but he was still uncertain what results emancipation would bring.
10 Brownson, Orestes A., “Slavery and the War,” Brownson Quarterly Review, 18 (10 1861), 510.Google Scholar
11 Brownson, , “Slavery and the War,” Brownson Quarterly Review, 18 (10 1861), 520–24.Google Scholar
12 For two typical opposing views on Brownson's article and emancipation, see The Liberator, 31 (11 10 1861)Google Scholar and the Freeman's Journal and Catholic Register, 23 (4 10 1862).Google Scholar
13 Charles Sumner, letters to Orestes A. Brownson, 2 February, 1862; 25 May 1862; 20 July 1862; 1 September 1862; 12 October 1862; 27 December 1863, Brownson Papers.
14 Brownson to Charles Forbes, comte de Montalembert, 25 June 1865, Brownson Papers.
15 R. J. Howard and “Missouri Union Men,” letter to Orestes A. Brownson, 10 November 1861, Brownson Papers.
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18 In her letter accompanying the return of the second volume of Cochin's French edition to Brownson, Booth apologized for the apparent loss of the first volume, adding, “I feel indebted to you for my interest in the enterprise” Booth to Brownson, 2 October 1862, Brownson Papers.
19 Howland, Harold, “Booth, Mary Louise,” Dictionary of American Biography (New York: Charles Scribner, 1929), I: 454–55.Google Scholar
20 Among the best reviews were The Christian Examiner, 74 (01 1863), 142–43;Google ScholarThe North American Review, 96 (01 1863), 277;Google ScholarAtlantic Monthly, 11 (03 1863), 395–97;Google ScholarThe New Englander, 22 (04 1863), 354–57.Google Scholar Since Brownson had already reviewed the French edition of Cochin's L' Abolition de l'esclavage, his review of The Results of Emancipation stressed the quality of Booth's translation. See Brownson Quarterly Review, 20 (04 1863), 251.Google Scholar
21 Howland, Harold, Dictionary of American Biography, pp. 454–55.Google Scholar
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24 The New Englander, 22 (04 1863), 354.Google Scholar
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26 The Christian Examiner, 74 (01 1863), 143.Google Scholar
27 The New Englander, 22 (04 1863), 356.Google Scholar
28 No American writer had attempted such a comprehensive study of the effects of emancipation. Among the Europeans only the French abolitionist, Victor Schoelcher, used statistical evidence which he combined with a passionate humanitarian zeal. However, his works dealt primarily with the French colonies and were never translated. Also, they were published in the 1830's and 1840's; therefore did not contain much of the material available to Cochin.
29 Cochin to Brownson, 30 July 1861, Brownson Papers.
30 Cochin, , Results of Emancipation, p. 9.Google Scholar
31 Ibid., p. 14.
32 Ibid., p. 17.
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34 Ibid., p. 56.
35 Ibid., p. 56.
36 Ibid., p. 99. We have quoted these passages in length to demonstrate the quality of Cochin's writing and to point out how close his analysis of the American abolitionists is to many contemporary views of them.
37 Ibid., pp. 112–13.
38 Cochin to Brownson, 23 September 1857, Brownson Papers.
39 Ibid.
40 Cochin, , Results of Slavery, p. 377.Google Scholar
41 Cochin, , Results of Emancipation, p. 3;Google ScholarCochin, , Results of Slavery, p. 377–81.Google Scholar
42 Cochin, , Journal des Débats, 9 08 1862,Google Scholar as quoted in Results of Slavery, p. 153. We need not comment on the similarity between Cochin's works and Lincoln's later great address at Gettysburg except to note that the two men, so different in background, shared similar moral convictions.
43 Ibid., pp. 154.
44 Ibid., pp. 156.
45 Ibid., pp. 157–58.
46 For the European reaction see Franklin, John Hope, The Emancipation Proclamation, pp. 70–78;Google Scholar for the French reaction see Gavronsky, Serge, The French Liberal Opposition and the American Civil War, pp. 184–85.Google Scholar
47 Booth to Orestes A. Brownson, Brownson Papers.
48 Ibid.
49 C. S. Henry to Victor Cousin, 20 February 1863, Cousin Collection Bibliothéque Cousin, Sorbonne, Paris.
50 Booth to Brownson, Brownson Papers.
51 Augustin Cochin, Letter to Mary L. Booth, 7 February 1863, quoted in Booth's Preface to the Results of Slavery, pp. iv–v.Google Scholar
52 Réponse de Mm. de Gasparin, Laboulaye, Martin et Cochin á la Lique Loyale et Nationale de New York (New York: William C. Bryant, 1864), p. 7.Google Scholar
53 While American critics praised the Results of Slavery, the work received less attention than the Results of Emancipation. In most instances the comments were limited to a restatement of the strong recommendation given to the earlier volume. The reviews of the Results of Slavery emphasized Cochin's insight regarding the war and his ability to interpret American institutions for the Europeans. See, for example, The North American Review, 97 (07 1863), 286.Google Scholar
54 The editor of the Atlantic Monthly stressed the significance of the papal action and then added, “It is worthwhile to note that the most logical and effective assailants of slavery that these last years have produced have been devout Catholics,—Augustin Cochin in France and Orestes A. Brownson in America” {Atlantic Monthly, 11 [03 1863], 397Google Scholar).
55 Lettre de Monseigneur l'Eveque d'Orleans au clerge de son diocèse sur l'esclavage (Libraire Catholique de Peresse, 1862), p. 7.Google Scholar
56 Booth, Mary L., Preface to Results of Emancipation, 2nd ed., p. viii.Google Scholar
57 Bishop Felix Dupanloup, Letter to Augustin Cochin, 2 April 1865, Oeuvres de M. le Comte de Montalembert, IX: 378–79.Google Scholar
58 Letter to Felix Dupanloup, 3 May 1865, Augustin Cochin 1823–1872 ses lettres et sa vie, II, ed. Cochin, Henry (Paris, Libraire Bloud and Gay, 1926), 66–67.Google Scholar
59 Letter to Felix Dupanloup, 3 January 1866, Augustin Cochin 1823–1872 ses lettres, II: 91.Google Scholar
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