Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1855-09-15

oh your letter, / shall refer to Its material
parts with every disposition to do you
the most ample justice consistent with
truth, remarking only that, in my opin-
ion, your letter was not needed for your
own yindication.
As to the principal subject of your let
ter-the substance Of the conversation
had with me by the Pope's Nuncio at
Madrid, in reference to the appointment
of Mr.. Campbell as amember of the cab
met have nothing to vary, add to or
detract from the contents of my letter to
you of the 9th July, or of that to Mr..
Ellis of the Odd July, which latter has
been published. 1t is true that the
Nuncio was the first person who told me
of this appointment, and that this took
place before the organization of the cab
met was generally known at Madrid. But
it is not true that the conversation oc-
Cured before the 4th of March, Or before
the cabinet was formed, or before intel
ligence of this fact had been received at
Madrid. Information of the formation
of the cabinet had been received at Mad
rid on that very day, but it had not yet
reached the public mind, nor had itthen
reached me, until informed by the Nun
clio. You ask in your letter, how is this
possible? The answer is plain, and may
solve the doubts which you seem to have,
and remove the error into which you
have, unintentionally, fallen on the sub
ject. There is telegraph from Paris to
Madrid, aud from the French and Span
ish frontier, which is some $50 miles,
more or less, from Madrid. This tele-
graph (Which is not electric, but of sig
mails, or was them is owned by, and is
under the direction of the Spanish gov
eminent, as well as the {" correo," or
mail express, from Bayonne to Madrid
In this way the government often and in
fact generally, obtains information of
important events one, two, or even sew
eral days, before intelligence is received
in the usual and regular modeof convey
ance by the mail remember striking
instance of this in the circumstance that
the death of Gen. Taylor was made
known to the government by telegraph,
and that the then Minister Of FOREIGN
Affairs, in an unofficial note, c5mnuni-
Gated the melancholy event to me the day
preceding its public announ cement By the
press of Madrid, and several days before
it was finally confirmed by the regular
arrival Of American papers and letters
at the iegation.. 30, ii the cass Of the
conversation referred to with the Nuncio,
the government had doubtless received
information of the formation Of the cabi-
net at Washington, either by telegraph
or express, in advance of the intelligence
made public by the ordinary means, and
some person connected with the govern
mcnt or with that department of it having
control of the dispatches and the mail,
believing that it would be agreeable to
the Nuncio to have this information, es-
pecially as member of the cabinet was
reported to be Catholic, mentioned it
to him; and it so happened that l saw
him soon afterwards, when hementioned
the fact to me, before it was known to
the public generally, who were still in ig-
norance and doubt as to the matter. -
Whether the news was actually received
by telegl aph Or by written dispatches to
the government, as was often the case,
and then made known to the Nuncio by
some person having knowledge of the
fact, as have stated, | cannot now pre-
tend to say. Nor is it material ! am
sure there was no improperly in the
mode in which he was informed, and
that there was no surprise on my mind
about it, nor, | presume, with any other
person familiar with the facts. Whether
other names Of the cabinet were men,
toned or not, or whether Mr.. Campbell
was mentioned by him as having charge
of the Post Office Department, | cannot
now certainly remember, though my be-
lief is that he did SO state. All, however
was made known to me very soon there
after, and | think the next or succeeding
day was made known to the public gen
orally. At this distance of time do not
remember the exact day. There was
nothing extraordinary at all in the whole
affair, as extraordinary as it certainly
would have been if the Nuncio had men
toned the circumstances to me in such a
way and under such circumstances az to
induce me to believe he had a previous
knowledge that the appointment would
be mad and much more had there been
any reason to believe that he was cogni-
zant of any political bargain or intrigue
TO that effect, as there certainly would
have been if he had informed me before
he received information of the appoint
ment being actually made. The whole
amount Of it is simply this: That he
happened to receive this information as
to the formation Of the cabinet u short
time before | did, and before it was &C.
morally known atlIadrid who constituted
its members.
The reason why l remember the cir.
cumstance at all is, that he expressed his
pleasure at the appointment of Catholic
to Office, and his admiration Of that fea.
ture Of our republican government which
excludes no one from Office on account Of
his religious opinions. He did not, as
you misunderstood me to say, according
to your letter, express qualification that
his church was so strong and influential in
the United States as to obtain such an
honor" but he more than once, on SUBJ
sequent occasions, alluded to the princi-
, pie Of religious liberation az one Of the
Fundamental bases Of our political insti-