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A letter from Pope Pius VI to the French nation. Translated from the original by V.R. Goynard du Bournay

1789 Subjects: Human rights Forms: Correspondence, reminiscences, etc., Parodies (Literature) Translation Status: Pseudo-translation, Unknown English

Authors of source text

Anonymous (106)

Contributions

uncertainty V.R. Goynard du Bournay
translator
John Bell
publisher

Related resources

is translation of
Unknown 37 has translation

Notes

The only trace found of this publication is a review in Analytical Review, vol. V, p. 225:

'This celebrated Pope is here made to speak a language very unusual in his times, when he sojourned on this earth. He renounces the tyrannical claims of the Papal See, and encourages the French nation, and the whole world to proceed in the glorious cause of liberty. This letter from his departed Holiness, is written in a rhapsodical strain; without the nerve of satire, the sting of wit, or the pleasantry of humour'.

Judging from the review, it was a satirical publication that mocked papal tyranny in light of the principles of the French Revolution. Not clear whether there ever was a French or Italian original.

Strangely, the reviewer writes of Pius VI as if he were a celebrated pontiff from the past. In reality he was still very much alive in 1789.