I have given an account to my court of the overture contained in the letter that you did me the honor of writing to me on 22 September last.2 His Holiness, no less mindful of the fitness of your proposal than concerned that the prerogatives of the Roman Catholic inhabitants and subjects of the United States of America are continually preserved, orders me to declare to you that ships under the flag of the United States that land in the ports of Civitavecchia on the Mediterranean or Ancona on the Adriatic will find there all the welcome that they might desire, with the reciprocal understanding, of course, that the ships and goods of the subjects of the Holy See will be treated in the same manner in the ports of the United States. To this declaration I must add by explicit order of His Holiness that the subjects of the United States of America will find in the ports under the dominion of the Holy See mentioned above a person designated by His Holiness to give them all the assistance that they might require.

I am pleased to be charged with declaring to you the intentions of my court, which can only be agreeable to the United States of America.

I have the honor of being with perfect respect, gentlemen, your very humble and very obedient servant