This article contributes to current debates about the role of religion in governance in the late eighteenth century British Atlantic world by examining the Pitt ministry's policies regarding Catholic subjects in England, Quebec, and Ireland in an early modern context. Starting with an overview of early modern attempts to find a compromise between Catholic subjects and their Protestant rulers, this article shows how the Pitt ministry reused these earlier approaches in its efforts to respond to Catholic subjects during of the age of revolution. Focusing on the English Catholic Relief Act of 1791, the Canada Constitutional Act, and the ministry's unimplemented plans for Catholic emancipation, the article argues that these policies were all shaped in part around the idea that Catholic subjects could be allowed greater freedoms, and even access to political influence in some cases, if their faith was contained through Gallican-style restrictions. These restrictions varied from requiring new oaths to attempting to establish the government's right to select Catholic bishops. Each policy resulted in notably different outcomes based on the location and potential power of the Catholic subjects that they affected. The common goal, however, was to attenuate the Catholics’ connection to the papacy and increase government influence over the Catholic Church in British territory while also upholding the ultimate supremacy of the Anglican Church.

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有限的自由：早期现代背景下的天主教徒和皮特事工的政策

本文通过在早期现代背景下研究皮特部关于英格兰、魁北克和爱尔兰天主教科目的政策，为当前关于 18 世纪晚期英国大西洋世界治理中宗教角色的辩论做出贡献。本文首先概述了现代早期在天主教臣民与其新教统治者之间寻求妥协的尝试，展示了皮特部如何在革命时代回应天主教臣民的努力中重用这些早期方法。文章着重于 1791 年的英国天主教救济法案、加拿大宪法法案以及该部未实施的天主教解放计划，认为这些政策的形成部分是围绕着可以允许天主教臣民享有更大自由的想法，甚至在某些情况下获得政治影响力，如果他们的信仰受到高卢风格的限制。这些限制从要求新的誓言到试图确立政府选择天主教主教的权利不等。根据受其影响的天主教臣民的位置和潜在权力，每项政策都会导致明显不同的结果。然而，共同目标是削弱天主教徒与教皇的联系，增加政府对英国领土天主教会的影响，同时维护圣公会的最终至高无上的地位。根据受其影响的天主教臣民的位置和潜在权力，每项政策都会导致明显不同的结果。然而，共同目标是削弱天主教徒与教皇的联系，增加政府对英国领土天主教会的影响，同时维护圣公会的最终至高无上的地位。根据受其影响的天主教臣民的位置和潜在权力，每项政策都会导致明显不同的结果。然而，共同目标是削弱天主教徒与教皇的联系，增加政府对英国领土天主教会的影响，同时维护圣公会的最终至高无上的地位。