792 
volume to an enlarged edition of his friend, 
“the Rev. Job Orton’s ‘* Letters toa young 
Tam,’ Sie)’ 
Your moft humble fervant, 
Shrew/feury, Joshua EDDOWES. 
Offober 35 1799+ hee 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
GENTLEMAN, who dces. not 
Ne fear. to avow his liberal. motives 
Dleragntine” 
\ 
whenever it may be neceflary to do ata has | 
tranfimitted to me the fellowing pafiage by 
a French author, which he has taken from 
the fecond volume of ‘* Memoirs, bifforical 
and philofophical, of Pius Vi.” page 103, of 
the French edition, with a view that it 
fhall not pafs wholly uncentradiéted, and 
thereby she an unmerited cdium on the 
Government of. the United States of 
America. 
fhaveoftea been queftioned od, indeed stouch- 
ing the religious freedom of the American Ee 
ple ; 3 2nd many well-meaning perfons feem 
to think (both on this fcore, and many 
others which appear to me to be grofsly 
mifreprefented), that the Americans them- 
felves fub{cribe a tacit affent to: the dift 
credit of their country, becaufe their public” 
officers who refide here have been at no 
pains to obviate fuch malicious mili epre- 
dentations, as have eften appeare ed in print. 
Thefe good folks feerh to be little aware 
how much it becomes official dignity and 
_-con{tious redtitude-to difdain a notice of 
ancendiary writings, the feeble efforts of 
which muft perifh in the glare of falfe- 
hoods which they are employed to for ree, 
and fink with the drofs of their own infig- 
nificance; and they teem to be but par- 
tially informed touching raany matters of 
public notoriety in that country, which 
can derive no other advantage from\zzy in- 
dividual veucher, than, what may arife 
from fuch a fubftitute, defigned to remedy, 
in fome degree, the im perfect means of 
cifributing the knowledge of local facts 
through a more elevated m medium of tefti- 
mony. In confideration of fuch deficiency, 
fiam willing to makea few remarks on the 
F; : 7.4 ra 7; 4 
following ne of the Memoirs of Pope 
Pius V1. 
<¢ Prefque toutes es puiffances fembloient 
avoir le pian, finon de méconnoitre.tout-a- 
fait, dw moins de réduire beaucoup la jurifdic- 
tion {piritueile-de la cour de Rome. On 
compte facilement les exceptions que quelques 
unes d’elles ont faits a cette regle. On ne 
fera pas peu furpris d d’en trouver une de l’autré 
coté des mer, chez un peuple nouveau, mais 
déja tage, fidele aux principes de tolérance 
univerfeile qui formoient une de fes principales 
Catholic Bifbop in America. 
[ November, 
loix fondamentales, ne reconnoiffant pas de 
religion dominante, mais’ protégeant™ toutes 
celles dont les fe€tateuts étoient venus fe ré- 
fugier dans fon fein. Depuis deux fiécles, 
‘Amérique: Septentrionale avoit été VDafyle 
d’un grand nombre de catholiques chaffés de 
différens pays par la perfécution. Tant que 
_ces.transfuges avoient été, comme leurs com- 
patriotes adoptifs, fous la domination oppref- 
five de’ Angleterre, leur exiftence civile avoit 
été €quivoque et précaire.  Soumis enfin 4 un 
gouvernement régulier et prote@teur, ils fon- 
gérent a affurer Pexercice de leur culte, par 
la. nomination dun éveque. Le cdngrés, 
quoique compefé en trés-grande partie de phi- 
lofophes et de proteftans, ne fe fit pas de feru- 
pule d’étre leur interpréte aupres du. pape: 
Ils lui demandétent, en 1789, un évéqueé pour 
les catholiques de k Amérique, feptentrionale 
en lui abandorinant pour toujours le. droit de 
le nommer. Pie VI. qui n’étoit pas accou= 
tumé a une pareille déférence de la part’ des 
puiffances catholigues elles-mémes, accueillit 
cette offre, mais ee abufa pas.’ I] laifia aux 
membres du clerge catholique le foin de nom- 
met leur €véque pour cette premiere fois, er 
fe réfervant feulement le droit de confirmer 
celui quwils auroient nommé. Leur choix 
tomba fur Jean Carrol, qui fixa fon fiege a 
Baltimore, et prit le titre de légat du pape. | 
*¢ Tautorité du faint-fiege fasfoit ainfi au 
loin quelques conquétes, tandis que fes pertes 
s’accumuloient autour de luis et on pouvoit 
dire de Rome moderne, ce que aie — de 
Rome ancienne :” 
6° Tes plus grands ennemis, Rome, font 2 a tes 
, por ese 
<* Alrog ali the temporal powers feemed 
to havé formed the Plan, if not of utterly 
denying, at leaft of coniiderably abridging, 
the f {piritual | jurifdi@ion of the court of Rome: 
and it were no difficult tak to enumerate the 
few exceptions to this rule which fome of 
their number have furnifhed. But it wiil be 
matter of no {mall furprife to find one of thofe 
exceptions beyond the ocean, ina nation young 
indeed in the date of her political exiftence, 
but already old in wifdom—faithfully obfer- 
vant of the principles of univerfal toleration, 
which formed one of the chief of her funda- 
mental laws—acknowledging no paramount 
mode of worfhip, but affording protection to 
all religions, whofe profetiors had taken re- 
fuge within her territories. . During two cen- 
turies North America had been the: afylum of 
a confiderable number of catholics whom per- 
fecution had driven from different countries. 
So long as thofe refugees had, together with 
their adoptive countrymen, doneiaadd fubje& 
to the opprefiive yoke of England, their civil 
exiftence had been equivocal and precarious. 
At length breathing under a regular and pro- 
tefling government, they determined to fe- 
cure the exercife of their mode of worfhip by 
the nomination of a bifhop.” The congrefs, 
although for the moft part confifting of philo- 
fophers and proteftants, did net fcruple to act 
