The Correspondence of John Carroll and Charles Plowden, 1779–1816

The correspondence between Bishop John Carroll and Fr. Charles Plowden offers an "insiders'" look at the establishment of the Catholic Church in the United States and the circumstances of the project of bringing about English Catholic emancipation. Carroll was the chief architect of the former; Plowden was a spirited, and public, and published, participant in the latter. Their correspondence is filled with details about their activities, and mutual encouragement, as each of these ex-Jesuits encountered the upheavals precipitated by wars (American Revolution, French Revolution, Napoleonic); the contemporary intellectual, theological, philosophical challenges of the Enlightenment and Age of Reason; anti-Catholic (and anti-Jesuit) sentiment and prejudices; the long wait for renewal of the Society of Jesus; the situation (and prerogatives) of the papacy; and the vagaries of early modern postal service.

The Carroll side of this correspondence has been printed (although not completely accurately), but the Plowden side, far more strident and provocative, has mostly been unnoticed. Plowden's letters, and published writings, with Carroll's comments on them all, provide significant insights into the intricacies of the English Catholic excitement, including internal tensions, accompanying the early modern crusade for religious emancipation in Britain.