Opening of the Nineteenth Century.
Never did the shadows of night gather with more sorrow and hopelessness
around the afflicted Spouse of Christ, than on that sad August 29, 1799,
when, in the prison house of Valence, the form of the gentle Pius VI.
lay still and cold in death. Gazing out from that Chamber of silence,
upon the races of men, she might well be tempted to apply to the
troubled world that expression whereby the prophet characterized the
abode of eternal misery: _Ubi nullus ordo, sed sempiternus horror
inhabitat_; "where no order, but sempiternal horror dwelleth."
Politically, all Europe was in a frenzy of hope and despair, of triumph
and defeat, of luxury and of poverty. The directing reins had been torn
from the hands of government, and wild, uncouth, savage, insane mobs
held high carnival over the ruins of desecrated homes. In the Sanctuary
itself the forces of disorder had pushed their way, Jansenist, Gallican,
Josephist and every other form of fanatical heresy fighting for
possession of those altars from which they had driven the ministers of
the living God. The Church, indeed, had been so utterly buried beneath
the accumulated ruins of her external institutions, and so utterly
prostrated through the humiliations poured out upon her, that a
triumphant world was almost forgetting that she was, indeed, a power to
be dealt with. And now, when the news that her visible head was laid
low, was spread abroad, the exultation of anti-Christianism knew no
bounds. In Paris, in every dark alley and lane, as well as in the halls
of the mighty the voice of congratulation was heard, for that he, who
had stood forth a barrier against the immoral slavery of whole peoples
to the passions of the demagogue and the anarchist, was now silent
forever. Jacobin, Constitutionalist, Jansenist, Gallican, Caesarist and
Protestant, all united in the conviction that Catholicity was at an end,
and that the superannuated institution of the Papacy had fallen into a
grave from which no power human or divine might ever again resuscitate
it. They had forgotten the promise made by Christ of old: "For, behold,
I am with you all days even to the consummation of the world."
In the meantime divine Providence had so ordered the course of European
affairs as to confound all the schemes of the enemy. Just as Napoleon
Bonaparte was on his way to the distant campaign of Egypt, the great
Powers coalesced in one desperate attempt to overthrow the domination of
France, Russia and Austria, with their combined forces, drove the French
from Northern Italy, and finally Austria alone contrived to wrest from
French control all those rich provinces for the conquest of which
Bonaparte had expended so much blood and treasure. Thus, it so happened,
that when the great General returned from his Egyptian wars, all Italy
was in the hands of the Austrians and Neapolitans. In Europe at the same
time, George III. was reigning in England, Francis II. in Austria, Paul
I. in Russia, while the Directory at Paris dominated directly or
indirectly all the more insignificant States.
In the Church itself the administration of all external ecclesiastical
affairs was rendered almost impossible. The Cardinals were dispersed in
all directions; ten of them with Cardinal Albani, Dean of the Sacred
College found refuge in Naples, whence they sailed at the invitation of
Austria to Venice.
_CONCLAVE OF VENICE._
In the hush that followed the death of Pius VI. the great question began
to be asked: How and where shall the Conclave be held? It is true, the
political changes of the past year had left Italy entirely free for such
deliberations; and moreover, the martyred Pope, before reaching his
place of exile, in 1798, had provided with singular wisdom for just such
an event. In his Encyclical, _Quum in superiori anno_, written while at
Florence, he had enjoined upon the Cardinals that, in the event of his
death in exile, the Conclave for the election of his successor should be
held in that city which, while in the dominions of a Catholic sovereign,
should contain the largest gathering of Cardinals, together with any
others who should join them. This provision of the late Pope seemed thus
to point to Venice, especially as the Emperor, Francis II., graciously
offered for that purpose the Benedictine Abbey of San Georgio, on an
island directly opposite to St. Mark's Square. There, accordingly, it
was determined to hold the Conclave.
Out of the forty-six Cardinals of the Sacred College thirty-five
repaired to Venice. Among these were many of international celebrity, as
statesmen or writers upon questions of general importance. Towards the
end of November the Conclave had practically begun its preparatory
business; Mgr. Hercules Consalvi was elected its secretary, and among
his first official acts was that of sending to the European Powers a
notification of the death of Pope Pius VI. Among those thus remembered
was the exile of France, Louis XVIII., known at the time as the Count
of Provence, and living in Poland. As the elder brother of the murdered
Louis XVI., he was regarded among the Courts of Europe as the rightful
sovereign of France.
Before the Conclave was formally opened the usual interest of the Powers
began to be felt, although only Austria made any public avowal of its
determination to interfere in regard to the choice of a new Pope. France
itself was not altogether indifferent as is shown by the correspondence
both of Napoleon and of his Minister, Talleyrand. It was only two years
previously that the General, then at Mombello, in Italy, wrote to his
government: "The Pope is yet unwell. I beg you to send me new powers
with reference to the Conclave, so that when it becomes necessary, I may
communicate them to the French minister at Rome. We have the right to
exclude one cardinal; and that one should be Albani, if he is put
forward." Later still in the same year, 1797, he wrote to his brother,
Joseph, at the time French ambassador in Rome: "Should the Pope die, do
all in your power to prevent the election of another, and bring about a
revolution. If that is impossible, do not permit Cardinal Albani to be
considered. You should not merely use the right of exclusion; you must
threaten the cardinals, declaring that I will march immediately on
Rome." During the progress of the Conclave, Talleyrand wrote, on
February 18, 1800, to Musquiz, the Spanish ambassador in Paris,
protesting against the influence of Austria in the Conclave, declaring
for reasons of no account except to himself, that the election from such
Conclave must be illegal, and signifying that it would be for the
interest of Spain to refuse to acknowledge such an election. As,
however, there was only one French cardinal in Venice at the time,
namely Maury, who was then entirely in the interests of Louis XVIII.,
it is easy to see that any direct influence from France would hardly be
considered.
[Illustration: PIUS VII.]
In the case of Austria the matter assumed greater importance. It is true
that Austria had proven itself no generous upholder of Papal
prerogatives for the fifty years past; yet, in the present hour, the
prestige of Papal influence was something desirable especially by
countries which still claimed to be Catholic. Moreover, the Sovereign of
Austria was still adorned with the title of Emperor of the Holy Roman
Empire which he was not to lose until six years later; he was thus
bound, in a way, to the interests of the Papacy. Still more, it was in
his dominions, and under his protection that the Conclave was to be
held. Hence, his determination to make use of every privilege, real or
apparent, which he deemed inherent in his house.
It was with this purpose in view that the Emperor, Francis II.,
presented detailed instructions to Cardinal Herzan, who was to represent
Austrian interests in the Conclave. The instructions are very sweeping
in their scope, and were they followed out, the Conclave would have
proved only a formality for ratifying the choice of Austria. They are as
follows: "We oppose most seriously the election of any cardinal from the
dominions of Spain, Sardinia, Naples, or Genoa; or any cardinal who has
given evidences of devotion to the interests of any one of the three
crowns mentioned. We oppose all cardinals of French origin, and all
those who have shown any disposition to espouse the cause of France.
Especially do we formally and absolutely exclude Cardinals Gerdil,
Caprara, Antonelli, Maury, and those of the Doria family. Our paternal
heart discerns only two cardinals whose qualifications promise a
capability to encounter present difficulties.... In the first place
stands Cardinal Mattei, in whom we place more confidence than in any
other.... Our second choice is solely Cardinal Valenti." Unfortunately
for the hopes of the Emperor, neither of the two cardinals mentioned was
elected.
[Illustration: CARDINAL BELLISOMI.]
The Conclave was formally opened on December 1, 1799. The cardinals were
divided into three parties, one of which under the leadership of
Cardinals Antonelli and Herzan espoused the candidacy of Cardinal
Mattei; a second party was led by Cardinals Braschi and Albani; and in
the interests of the papal prerogatives, gave their preferences to
Cardinal Bellisomi at first, and later to Cardinal Gerdil; a third party
called the volauti or unattached, voted independently; among these
latter were the French Cardinal Maury, and the Neapolitan, Ruffo. In the
first ballotings the votes stood 22 to 13 in favor of Bellisomi. When it
became evident that the latter cardinal would soon secure the necessary
two thirds of the votes, Cardinal Herzan contrived to turn the tide.
Unfortunately for his interests, however, the favor of the Sacred
College began to look to Cardinal Gerdil, one of those whom the Emperor
had formally and absolutely excluded. Thereupon, Cardinal Herzan applied
his right of veto, thus placing Cardinal Gerdil outside all possibility
of election. Austria, however, could utilize its power of veto only once
in a Conclave; hence the cardinals were now practically free to act in
disregard to the wishes of Austria. In the meantime the favor had again
turned to Bellisomi, and Cardinal Herzan begged as a matter of courtesy
that the Austrian Court be asked in regard to its attitude towards the
popular candidate. Much time was expended in sending a courier to Vienna
and awaiting his return. In the meantime, Mgr. Consalvi, secretary of
the Conclave, contrived to arouse interest in an entirely new candidate,
a man whose saintly life and great learning was added to the fact that
he appeared wholly outside the quarrels of the nations. This was
Cardinal Chiaramonti, Bishop of Imola. Cardinal Maury took up the
suggestion with enthusiasm, and employed all his eloquence to impress
the Sacred College with the idea. As the Conclave had now lasted for one
hundred and four days, the cardinals already weary of procrastination,
were only too eager to manifest their approbation. When the final ballot
was taken, on March 14, 1800, Cardinal Chiaramonti received every vote
except his own. He was accordingly elected Pope, taking the name of Pius
VII.
_POPE PIUS VII._
Barnabas Louis Chiaramonti was born at Cesena, in the Legation of Forli,
August 14, 1742. His father was Count Scipio Chiaramonti; his mother
Jane, was a daughter of the Marquis of Ghini. The boyhood of the future
Pope was without any of those marvelous incident which usually give
promise of coming greatness. That he was nurtured in a love of God and
of religion is evident from the character of his gentle mother, who in
1762, entered the Convent of the Carmelites, at Fano, where she died, in
1771, with the reputation of a saint. Indeed, many years later, the
cause of her beatification was suggested to her illustrious son, then
Pius VII., who with his characteristic delicacy, put the proposition
aside lest his filial love might seem to dictate where motives of
disinterested justice ought to preside.
At the age of sixteen, after finishing his course of studies at the
College of Ravenna, Barnabas, feeling the call of God, abandoned the
allurements of the world, and entered as a novice at the Benedictine
Abbey of Santa Maria del Monte, near Cesena, where he received the name
of Gregorio. His career of studies was completed in 1768, when he
defended a series of theological propositions in the presence of
Cardinal Ganganelli, destined the following year to become Pope Clement
XIV. After his ordination to the priesthood he acted as professor in the
Colleges of his Order, especially at Parma and at Rome. He was thus
engaged at the Monastery of St. Calixtus in 1775, when Cardinal Braschi,
his townsman and relative, ascended the throne of St. Peter, as Pope
Pius VI. Through the good offices of the new Pope, the young monk was
made an abbot of St. Paul outside the Walls; but this title thus
conferred without the concurrence of the regular Chapter of the Order,
while assuring some privileges, did not dispense the incumbent from
obedience to the titular abbot. His conduct in the delicate post, thus
thrust upon him, so charmed Pope Pius VI., that on his return from
Vienna in 1782, he took the humble abbot away from his monastery and
raised him to the episcopal See of Tivoli. For three years he governed
that diocese with such rare wisdom and intelligence that the Sovereign
Pontiff decided that he ought to be placed in a position wherein his
abilities and zeal might have a wider field. Accordingly, in 1785, he
was transferred to the See of Imola, and in the same year was created a
cardinal.
He was Bishop of Imola more than ten years, when the Austrians, pursued
by the armies of Bonaparte, took refuge at Bologna. His conduct in the
wars that followed was dictated by the feeling of duty divinely
committed to him. His courage in the face of the opposing armies won
from Bonaparte an expression of admiration and praise; for when that
General, on entering Ancona, found that the Bishop of the place had
fled, he exclaimed in the presence of suite. "When I was at Imola, I
found its Bishop at his post." In the uprising at Lugo against the
French invaders, Cardinal Chiaramonti was at hand counselling patience
on the part of the Italians, and later begging mercy when the French
were preparing for sanguinary revenge. At times, as in his Christmas
sermon of 1798, he encouraged the people to accept, at least under
existing circumstances, the Democratic form of government then forced
upon them, as being in no way "opposed to the Gospel, and requiring in
fact the sublime virtues which are taught in the school of Jesus Christ,
and which if practised religiously by you will redound to your own
happiness, and to the glory and spirit of your Republic." During the
year following the saintly Pope Pius VI. died at Valence and Cardinal
Chiaramonti, a few weeks later repaired to Venice to become Pope Pius
VII.
The general satisfaction manifested over the election of Pius VII. was
not shared by Austria. Apart from the fact that her choice had been
disregarded, it began to be rumored about that the new Pope was not
altogether unwelcome to France, and that the new Consul not only
admired but sought him. Nor was Austria slow in displaying marks of her
displeasure. The ceremonies of the coronation and consecration coming so
soon after the election, it was naturally supposed that the great
Cathedral of St. Mark's would be offered for that purpose. This favor,
however, the Emperor refused to grant, so that the new Pontiff was
restricted to the insignificant monastery church of St. George for a
function that called for the splendors of a mighty temple.
Austria went still farther in her vulgar reprisals. Her government had
the hardihood to ask the Holy Father to visit Vienna before returning to
his own States, alleging that "such a journey would prove an
incalculable benefit to the Holy See, that the personal acquaintance of
the Emperor would be very useful to His Holiness, and for the good of
both Church and State, and that, since the Pope happened to be at
Venice, he ought not lose so precious an occasion of undertaking a
journey, the expenses for which should be payed out of the imperial
treasury."
The Holy Father, though declining the offers of the Austrian Monarch,
wrote to him within a week after his election, in terms full of fatherly
affection, and ignoring altogether the cowardly treatment he had just
received from that source. The answer of Francis II. was one of empty
felicitation, which he proceeded at once to falsify by his subsequent
actions. At that very time he sent to Venice a diplomatic agent, the
Marquis Ghislen who declared that it was his master's formal intention
to retain possession of the three Legations. It will be remembered that
in 1797, the Pope, Pius VI., by the Treaty of Tollentino, ceded to
France the Legations of Bologna, Ferrara and the Romagna. In the signing
of this treaty Cardinal Mattei represented the Holy See. In 1799, the
Austrians gained possession of the Legations by conquest over the
French. It was for this reason that Austria desired to see Mattei
elected to the papal throne, imagining that in such an event he would
honor his signature to the document of Tollentino, by permitting Austria
to keep her spoils of war. As the new Pope appeared too earnest a
defender of papal rights, it was considered necessary to inform him in
this categorical manner of Austria's intentions with regard to the
conquest territory. The Pope opposed most strongly these claims, and
announced his resolution of proceeding immediately to his own States.
The natural route for such a destination would lead overland through the
disputed Legations; but again Austria stood in the way compelling the
Pope to proceed to his own territory by sea. In fact, on June 6, 1800,
Pius VII. embarked on the Bellona, a small vessel which the Austrian
government had placed at his disposal without the courtesy of providing
its crew or provisions. The ship was so utterly unseaworthy, and the
hap-hazard crew so inexperienced that the voyage which ought to have
taken only twenty-four hours, consumed twelve days. Landing at Pesaro,
in his own States, the Pope proceeded to Ancona, where the vessels of
England and Russia harboring there, rendered him military honors. From
Ancona to Rome the journey of the Holy Father proved to be a triumphal
march. He arrived in the Eternal City on July 3, 1800, in the midst of a
people intoxicated with joy. As he knelt before the great altar of St.
Peter's, his heart expanded with gratitude to God, who, after permitting
the exile of His Vicar for two long years, was now graciously providing
for a new era for His afflicted Church.
One of the first acts of Pope Pius VII., after his election was the
appointment of an official to act as his Secretary of State. Even in
this matter the intermeddling policy of Austria made itself felt, for
on being denied in so many other pretensions, the Emperor sought at
least to control the Papacy through its chief functionary. Hence its
request sent to the new Pope that he would favor Austria by appointing
Cardinal Flangini to that post. The Holy Father answered that as he had
not at present any State he could not appoint a Secretary of State; he
would, however, name a pro-secretary, and in fact had already provided
for such an official. The ecclesiastic chosen for this emergency was
that Mgr. Ercole Consalvi, who had already acted as secretary for the
Conclave.
_CARDINAL CONSALVI._
This celebrated man was born at Rome, June 8, 1757, of a noble family.
The eldest of five children, he was left an orphan in his earlier years.
He was educated at Urbino, by the Piarist brothers founded by St. Joseph
Calasanzio in 1617. After four years at this school, he entered the
school at Frascati, lately opened by the Cardinal Duke of York. The
latter was a grandchild of King James II. of England, and a brother of
Charles Edward the Pretender, known in Italy as the Earl of Albany. When
Charles Edward died, the Cardinal-Duke assumed the title of Henry IX.,
King of France and England.
The young Consalvi became a favorite with the princely protector who
recognized in his young protege a gift of character, self-reliance and
enthusiasm. During his term at Frascati, the future Secretary
distinguished himself by his literary productions in prose and verse. In
1776, he entered the great ecclesiastical academy in Rome, where his
abilities brought him to the notice of Pope Pius VI., who in 1783 raised
him to the dignity of a cameriere segreto, with the duty of providing
for audiences at the Vatican. In 1784 he was made a domestic prelate.
Promotions followed rapidly in the Curia; in a few months he became a
member of the Governmental Congregation, and a secretary of the great
hospital of San Michele. Still later he became a member of the
pontifical _segnatura_. In 1786 he was offered the post of nuncio to
Cologne, which he declined in favor of Mgr. Pacca. He next became a
member of the Roman _Rota_, the tribunal of Justice. Again, he was made
Assessor of the Department of War wherein he effected much good during
the times of the French invasion of Italy.
[Illustration: CARDINAL CONSALVI.]
It was shortly after the celebrated Treaty of Tollentino, that the
unhappy affair of General Duphot occurred. On December 28, 1797, that
officer, while commanding a mob of infuriated soldiery, was fatally shot
by one of the Pontifical troops, and although no blame could be placed
upon the government of the Pope, nevertheless the assassination was
taken up as an excuse for hostility on the part of the French, who
descended upon Rome, took possession of the city, and drove Pius VI.
into that cruel exile which caused his death. Upon Consalvi especially,
because of the position he then occupied in the Department of War, the
full anger of the invaders fell. After an imprisonment in the Castel
Sant Angels, he was subjected to many humiliating hardships. He was
hurried off from Rome to Civita Vecchia with some Cardinals for the
purpose of being transported to Cayenne. At Civita Vecchia, however,
they were liberated with permission to go where they might choose,
except to the Roman States. If found in that territory they were to be
punished with death. Consalvi was again taken prisoner and confined in
the Castel Sant Angelo. At this time it was determined to inflict a most
trying humiliation upon him; he was to be led through the streets of
Rome, mounted upon an ass, and beaten by ruffians hired for that
purpose. Escaping this indignity through the scruples of a French
official, he was sent to Naples. Thence, he was permitted to go to
Venice, in which journey he met the Holy Father, Pius VI., then at
Florence on the sorrowful way to death. It was while at Venice, that he
learned of the death of the Sovereign Pontiff and remaining there took
part in the Conclave that elected a successor.
_PROPOSALS OF BONAPARTE._
In the meantime affairs in France were gradually assuming an aspect of
peace and religious freedom. By the _coup d'Etat_ of the 18 Brumaire.
Bonaparte, returning from his Egyptian campaign, overturned the
Directory, and effected a new government, December 15, 1799. The new
power was to be presided over by a First Consul (Bonaparte) with two
colleagues. Subordinate to these were the Senate of eighty members, the
Tribunate of one hundred; and a Legislative Assembly of three hundred.
The new government by proclaiming Bonaparte First Consul for life made
him thereby a dictator, and placed practically the whole powers of the
nation in his hands. It was with the glory of his triumphant elevation
still fresh within his soul that the young conqueror set out early in
the following year for the campaign of Italy. On June 14th, 1800,
occurred the decisive victory of Marengo, whereby the French gained in a
single day in Italy almost all that they had lost during the course of
the last two years. The Austrians driven beyond the Mincio lost the
Legations, and were finally forced to accept the Adige as the boundary
of their possessions in Northern Italy.
In the midst of his glory the religious sentiment which had ever lain
dormant in the heart of Napoleon came to the surface, inspiring him to a
course of action which was to have immense importance in the future
history of France. His intentions are best summed up in a letter which
Cardinal Martiniana, Bishop of Vercelli, sent, at the request of
Napoleon, to Pope Pius VII., just then entering the Eternal City after
the Conclave of Venice. The contents of this letter are found in another
letter sent by Cardinal Maury to Louis XVIII. to inform him of the turn
events were then taking in the affairs of Rome and of France:
"The Consul Bonaparte paid a visit to Cardinal Martiniana (at
Vercelli). He desired him to go to Rome and announce to the
Pope that he wished to make him a present of 30,000,000
French Catholics; that he desired the return of religion to
France; that the intruders of the first and second order (the
constitutional bishops and priests) were nothing but a parcel
of dishonored rascals of whom he was determined to rid
himself; that the dioceses were formerly too numerous in
France, and that their number ought to be restricted; that he
desired to establish an entirely new clergy; that some of the
old bishops were almost forgotten in their dioceses where
they had hardly ever resided; that many of them had emigrated
for no other purpose than to cabal, and that he did not care
to have them return; that he would consider in their regard
only their dismissal, although he was willing to grant them a
proper salary; that, while waiting until he could donate
funded property to the clergy, he would assure them of a very
honest living, and that the poorest of the bishops should
receive 15,000 livres a year; that the exercise of the Pope's
spiritual jurisdiction should be carried on freely in France;
that the Pope alone should institute the bishops, who should
be nominated by whoever should administer the sovereign
authority; finally, that he desired to re-establish the Pope
in the possession of all his States."
This letter of Cardinal Martiniana was brought to Rome by Count Alciati,
nephew of the Bishop of Vercelli, and was presented to the Holy Father
shortly after his entrance into the Eternal City.
Very naturally the proposition of the First Consul met with hostility
and protest from many quarters, notably from Louis XVIII., and from the
old Catholic party under the leadership of the emigrated bishops. Every
conceivable objection to such a treaty was placed before the Holy Father
in the hope of influencing him to reject the overtures of the French
ruler. He was reminded that the First Consul was the same Bonaparte who
had imposed upon the Holy See the Treaty of Tollentino with its
spoliation of Papal territory, its seizure of 30,000,000 francs, and
other like exactions; it was the same Bonaparte who but a short time
before had become a Mussulman in order to gain the good graces of the
Eastern peoples. Moreover, what real favor might the Pope expect from
that French government which he had ignored at the time of his election
by neglecting to send to France the notification of that fact,
especially when he had taken pains to recognize the rightful authority
of Louis XVIII., by including him among the sovereigns to whom letters
of greeting were sent upon his accession to the Papal throne? To the
great mass of the French Catholic people the Church and the throne were
inseparably bound together; they had existed together for fourteen
centuries; they had fallen together amidst the horrors of the
Revolution, and hence if one was again to rise to its ancient place of
power and usefulness it should only be in conjunction with the
restoration of the other. Added to this was the personal claim of Louis
XVIII., expressed in very decided terms, whereby he declared himself as
the only ruler of the French people whom the Holy See should recognize,
as he was the only one the Pope had hitherto recognized; hence if the
Concordat of 1516, contracted by Leo X. and Francis I., was to be
abrogated and supplied by another, this work belonged by right to the
successor of that king and not to a usurper. In presenting these and
similar objections to the Pope the exiled king had a worthy
representative in the person of Cardinal Maury, a man of singular
eloquence and of great personal influence, all of which was brought to
bear upon the mind of the Holy Father and the members of the Sacred
College.
Pope Pius VII., however, regarded the project from a different
standpoint. Much as he desired the restoration of the Bourbons and of
Louis XVIII. in particular, of whom he had said to Cardinal Maury, "I
would give my life to restore His Majesty to the throne," nevertheless
the interests of religion appealed more strongly to his heart than the
claims of any human affection. The letter of Cardinal Martiniana thus
appeared providential in the midst of the difficulties that beset him,
and from which neither Austria, Naples, Spain, or any other human power
could liberate him. With every reason to expect hostile measures from
Bonaparte, he could not but feel relieved by these expressions of
cordial good feeling; nor could he help reflecting that this was the
first time for many years since a French general had sent to Rome any
other message than those of threats and exaction. The proposition of the
First Consul opened up before him visions of future peace and prosperity
for the universal Church, and seemed like a very answer from heaven to
the prayers he had offered up ever since the day of his election. His
gratification, therefore was expressed in the letter which he sent in
return to Cardinal Martiniana.
"We can certainly receive no more agreeable news than that
which is contained in your letter. The overtures it speaks of
on the part of the First Consul cause us the greatest
consolation, since they promise to bring back so many
millions of souls to the fold of Christ, of whom we are the
unworthy vicar. We shall regard it as our glory and an honor,
and at the same time as something of benefit to the whole
world, to behold the re-establishment in France of that most
holy religion which has been the source of her happiness for
so many centuries. You may say to the First Consul that we
lend ourselves willingly to a negotiation whose object is so
important.... Your presentation of his ideas gives us a
well-founded hope that we shall be able to arrange affairs
satisfactorily. However, your penetration must certainly
perceive all the difficulties they present in themselves and
in their application. But we confide in God's mercy and in
His assistance in favor of the Church.... Observing that the
First Consul has taken you into his confidence, we gladly
accept you as a negotiator counting upon your zeal for the
re-establishment of religion. With the object of hastening
that result, and reflecting upon the extreme difficulty of
explaining by letter affairs so intricate and so delicate, we
have resolved to send you as soon as possible a person who
has our confidence and who will be able to explain our
intentions more easily, and to aid you in the
negotiations...."
The person spoken of in this letter of Pope Pius VII., was Mgr. Spina,
titular Archbishop of Corinth, a prelate well versed in the study of
canon law, of a mild and pious disposition, one who had accompanied the
late Pope during his exile and was with him in his last hours, and who
had formed some little personal acquaintance with Bonaparte, as the
latter was returning to Paris after his campaign in Egypt.
_PRELIMINARIES OF THE CONCORDAT._
[Illustration: ARCHBISHOP SPINA.]
Mgr. Spina set forth on the way to Vercelli on September 20th, 1800, and
after many reverses, being at one time arrested at Modena, he arrived at
his destination. It was the understanding of Pius VII. that the
negotiations should be opened at Vercelli, or near at hand. The
consternation of Mgr. Spina was therefore very great when, on reaching
that city, he was confronted with the information that the First Consul
had determined to transfer the place of meeting to Paris, a movement
inspired no doubt by the twofold reason of making the whole proceeding
seem to proceed from the petition of the Pope rather than from his own
initiative, as also to prevent the appearance on the part of the French
government of "going to Canossa." The Holy Father upon being informed of
this new move of the First Consul yielded in the interests of peace, and
directed Mgr. Spina to proceed as soon as convenient, in the company of
Padre Caselli, General of the Servites, to Paris. The two negotiators
arrived in that city on November 5th following.
[Illustration: CARDINAL CASELLI.]
Of the two Papal representatives Spina alone was regarded as a
negotiator, Father Caselli acting merely in the capacity of a companion,
but having no voice in the deliberations. Even Spina himself was limited
in his faculties, having no actual power of treating or of affixing his
signature to the definitive documents. He was simply a delegate charged
with exploring the ground, listening to the propositions, and of
suggesting freely, but obliged to send his report to Rome _ad audiendum
et referendum_.
The Papal commissioner was not long left in uncertainty as to the
character and intentions of the French officials with whom he had to
deal. Of these the most conspicuous were the First Consul himself,
Talleyrand, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gregoire, the constitutional
Bishop of Nancy, and the Abbe Bernier, the official negotiator in the
deliberations.
The First Consul, then in his thirty-second year, was just beginning
that role of supreme dictator which was to last to the end of his
successful career. In the matter of religious convictions much has been
said both in his favor as well as against, though the most probable
opinions concede in him a certain undercurrent of religious belief,
vague indeed, and clouded by the passion for glory and supremacy which
possessed his soul. There was enough of Christian sentiment within him
to make him esteem the faith of his youth as the most sacred thing on
earth and worthy of his best efforts. These convictions, however, were
weakened and at times entirely overcome by the overpowering allurements
of a life wherein glory was offered at the price of honor, and power was
purchased in the surrender of moral restraints. Hence, although it may
be said that the ruling motive of Bonaparte in proposing the Concordat
was political in its nature, it would be wrong to deny that a sense of
religious propriety and affection for his old faith entered also into
the influences which moved him. Young, popular, penetrating in his
genius, and subtle in his political doctrines, he comprehended the
necessity of procuring peace of conscience for the people, and saw
clearly the immense benefit the State would derive from an
understanding with the Church, as well as the personal advantage that
must accrue to himself therefrom.
A few days after his arrival in Paris the Archbishop of Corinth was
received by the Minister of Foreign Relations, who obtained an audience
with Bonaparte almost immediately. "The welcome of the First Consul was,
I must confess, a welcome full of enthusiasm. He spoke very respectfully
of His Holiness and manifested towards him very favorable dispositions.
He did not, however, conceal his displeasure that His Holiness had not
officially notified him in his capacity of First Consul of the fact of
his elevation to the Papacy, as he had the kings of England and Prussia
and the emperor of Russia."
The audience was terminated by the order of conferring with the Minister
of Foreign Affairs--and the party designated by him--upon all matters
regarding the Concordat. It lasted fully half an hour, and was very
satisfactory to the Papal Delegate.
Another figure destined to play an important part in the framing of the
Concordat was the celebrated character of the Revolution, Charles
Maurice Talleyrand, the former Bishop of Autun, an apostate who had
added to his iniquities the crime of marrying a divorced Protestant. The
whole work of this strange personage consisted in placing obstacles to
the completion of an understanding between the French government and the
Holy See. In fact, it was only during his absence from Paris, while he
was taking the waters of a bath, that the negotiators could finally
place their signatures to the definitive document. Gregoire, the
constitutional Bishop of Nancy, performed with Talleyrand, the office of
instructor in ecclesiastical matters to the First Consul. A Gallican of
Gallicans, an intense hater of the old regime, jansenistic and
puritanical in his perverted piety, and obstinate in his adhesion to the
principles of the Revolution, neither he nor the Minister of Foreign
Affairs was a worthy interpreter of the mind and doctrines of the
Church, especially in an affair of such great importance. It is, no
doubt, due to the influence of these two ambitious men that the First
Consul showed himself at times, during the discussions, somewhat hostile
to the interests of the Church, and disposed to throw over the whole
tenor of the Concordat the restrictions of pure Gallicanism.
[Illustration: THE ABBE BERNIER.]
The Abbe Bernier, doctor in theology, and former cure of St. Laud of
Angers, was the most intimate of all the officials concerned in the work
of the Concordat. A man of retired and mysterious ways, living alone in
the third story of a house in a side street of the city, he carried into
the discussions a mind fully attuned to the demands of Bonaparte, and
directed by the instructions Of Talleyrand. He was far from being a
Revolutionist, having played an important part in the Royalist army
during the war of the Vendee, an episode in his life which was never
fully forgiven by Bonaparte; yet he could be relied upon by his master
as one who would grant to the Pope the least possible concessions, while
exacting from the Holy See as much as one could under the circumstances.
Against these minds, all astute and all varying in their religious and
political doctrines, Mgr. Spina found himself practically alone. After
many discussions, beginning at the first week of November, 1800, and
lasting for six months,--during which time many drafts of the Concordat
had been drawn up only to meet with rejection,--the deliberations seemed
nearing their close by the completion of the fourth draft. When this
document was at length finished the Papal negotiator received peremptory
orders from Talleyrand to at once affix his signature, in spite of the
fact that it contained articles which could not meet with the Papal
approval. Mgr. Spina protested in vain that he had no faculties for
signing, and begged a delay sufficient for sending the document to Rome
for examination. The Minister of Foreign Affairs continued obdurate
until the Papal Delegate appealed to the First Consul. The latter
granted the delay, but required that the messenger chosen for the
journey should bear personal instructions from him. When these
instructions were opened at Rome, March 10, 1801, they were found to
contain an entirely new draft of the Concordat drawn up by the First
Consul himself, thus setting aside definitely that fourth form for the
signing of which Talleyrand had betrayed so much animosity.
While preparing the text of this document the First Consul had been
casting his eyes around to discover some one capable of representing him
at Rome in the discussions which must inevitably follow the reception of
the new Concordat. An aged Breton, loyal to his country, moderate and
full of tact, who had already performed some important missions in
Italy--such was M. Cacault, the person chosen by Bonaparte for this
purpose. He was already in his sixtieth year, and notable as a member of
the _Corps Legislatif_, a man in whom the First Consul could place the
utmost confidence. When departing for Rome, during the last week of
March, upon asking of Bonaparte how he should treat the Pope, the
General answered: "Treat him as if he had two hundred thousand men."
Cacault arrived in Rome on April 8th, and entered at once upon his
duties as Minister Plenipotentiary of the French government at the Court
of the Holy See.
* * * * *
The Holy Father conceived fully the importance of these new moves of the
First Consul, and began at once to give to them the attention they
merited. The draft of the Concordat was first submitted to the scrutiny
of three cardinals--Antonelli, Carandini and Gerdil--who were charged
with the duty of studying the text and proposing such additions or
changes as they might deem necessary. Their work was then submitted to
a commission of twelve cardinals under the presidency of the Pope, and
entitled the Particular Congregation. These twelve ecclesiastical
princes had all been victims of the Revolution, suffering especially in
1798 all the evils of ruin, exile and imprisonment. It can thus be
easily conceived that their sentiments towards Bonaparte and the
Republic were tinged with something of acerbity, which, however,
vanished under the claims of justice and that expediency which the
unhappy conditions of the Church demanded. To ensure perfect immunity
from all external influences, the members of the Commission were at once
subjected to the oath of secrecy of the Holy Office. "The slightest
revelation would produce most disastrous consequences. Each cardinal
must study the questions by himself without consulting either theologian
or secretary. Each should cast a vote written by his own hand and should
exercise the greatest care that no familiar or acquaintance should
either by day or by night, obtain the least information upon this
affair, which is certainly one of the gravest with which Holy See has
ever had to treat." (_Consalvi to the Cardinals of the Commission._)
In spite of the fact that the First Consul desired the prompt signing of
his document, and was already planning to celebrate its completion
during the same ceremonies which would accompany the formal ratification
of the peace of Austria, nevertheless the work of the cardinals dragged
out for nearly two months. In Paris the delay was the cause of
excitement and anger. Mgr. Spina was harassed with questions and
reproaches; Bernier was loud in his complaints; while Talleyrand in a
fit of jealousy declared that the fault was Cacault's who thus hoped to
draw to himself the glory of concluding the Concordat. The impatience of
Bonaparte was expressed in the commands which he gave to Spina on the
twelfth of May, while waiting for the advent of the Papal messenger
bearing the results of the cardinals' deliberations:
"Rome wishes to draw out this affair as long as possible in
the hope of some political change which might favor her
pretensions. I love and esteem the Pope very much, but I have
little confidence in the cardinals, and in particular
Cardinal Consalvi, who has broken his word with me, and is an
enemy of France. He promised that the courier would arrive by
the end of April; here it is the twelfth of May and he has
not appeared; perhaps he has not even left Rome. More than
that, my project of the Concordat has been changed and I
shall not consent to that. Cacault writes that the Pope is
unwilling to admit the article concerning the bishops and
wishes me to send him the list of those whom I rejected,
together with the reasons for their exclusion. Now, I declare
that I do not want any of the former bishops, and I shall not
yield upon that point. Why does the Court of Rome allow
itself to be influenced by these non-Catholic powers? It
confers with Russia, with Prussia, with England. Do the
affairs of the Catholic world concern heretics and
schismatics? It is I alone and the King of Spain who have the
right to enter into such matters. You have just wounded
Spain, and committed an awkward mistake in re-establishing
the Jesuits at the request of the Tzar Paul I. Take care; it
may cost you dearly to put yourself thus under the protection
of Russia. For doing that the King of Sardinia has just lost
Piedmont.
"It is with me that you should arrange matters; it is in me
that you should place your confidence; it is I alone who can
save you. You demand the restoration of the Legations? You
wish to be rid of the troops? Everything will depend upon the
answer you make to my demands, especially with regard to the
bishops. I was born a Catholic, I wish to live and die a
Catholic, and I have nothing more at heart than the
re-establishment of the Catholic worship, but the Pope is
acting in a way that serves me as a temptation to become a
Lutheran or Calvinist, and to draw all France along with me.
Let him change his behavior and listen to me. If not, I shall
establish a religion, I shall give the people a worship with
bells and processions, I shall ignore the Holy Father, he
shall no longer exist for me. Send a messenger this very day
to Rome to tell him that."
On the following day Spina, Talleyrand, and Bernier, each sent a letter
to Rome, with accounts of the First Consul's anger. The fears of the
Holy Father at the news thus received were still further intensified by
the orders contained in a letter written by Talleyrand to Cacault and
dated the nineteenth of May:
... "I have formal orders from the First Consul to inform you
that your first move in regard to the Holy See must be to
demand of the Pope, within the term of five days, a
definitive determination in regard to the project of the
convention and the Bull in which the convention is to be
inserted, which have been proposed to him for adoption. If in
the respite which you are charged to offer, the two projects
are adopted without any modification the two States bound
together by the ties of peaceful relations whose importance
and necessity the Holy See ought to perceive now more than
ever.... If changes are proposed to you, and the granted time
expires, you will announce to the Holy See that your presence
in Rome having become useless for the object of your mission
you see yourself obliged with regret to betake yourself to
your general-in-chief, and you will leave at once for
Florence."
[Illustration: CACAULT.]
M. Cacault made haste to transmit this ultimatum to the Holy Father, who
received it with mingled feelings of astonishment and anxiety. Though
fully determined never to yield upon points that concerned the dogmatic
teachings of the Church, nevertheless he was careful not to act without
first consulting his advisors in the Sacred College--the twelve
cardinals of the Particular Congregation. Their sentiments agreed fully
with his own. They thought it necessary for M. Cacault to withdraw from
his diplomatic post, but the principle involved was altogether too
important to permit of mere temporal considerations. The turn taken by
events brought back to the mind of the Pope the unhappy episodes of
1798, the exile and death of Pius VI., the certainty of eventual schism
in the Church not only in France but throughout Europe. There was
apparently much to be gained by a passive yielding to the demands of the
First Consul; but the loss on the other hand would prove incalculable,
besides meaning eventual ruin to the whole Church. It was not surprising
therefore that after considering the matter from every standpoint the
Pope finally intimated to the French minister his unalterable resolution
of maintaining the position he had taken at any cost.
It was in this junction that the genius of M. Cacault was called into
play. Fully acquainted with the temperament and disposition of Bonaparte
he determined upon a measure that at first seemed foolhardy, but which
upon mature reflection commended itself to the Roman Court. He would
carry out the instructions of the First Consul to the letter, but at the
same time he would so arrange matters that the affair in question should
be settled to the satisfaction of every one concerned. His plan, in
short, was to induce Cardinal Consalvi, the Papal Secretary of State, to
proceed at once to Paris, and there personally conduct the discussions,
feeling certain that the diplomatic skill of the young statesman could
effect the result when all other means would be destined to failure.
_DIPLOMACY OF CARDINAL CONSALVI._
Full of this idea the French minister approached the Cardinal, and urged
upon him the duty of hastening at once to Paris, to superintend
personally the disentangling of the situation.
"The First Consul does not know you," he said, "he knows
still less your talents, and your tact, your persuasiveness,
your coquetry, your desire to bring this affair to
completion; go to Paris.... Go tomorrow, you will please
him, you will both understand one another; let him see that a
cardinal can be a man of spirit, you are the one to conclude
the Concordat with him. If you do not go to Paris I shall be
obliged to break with you--remember there are ministers there
who persuaded the Directory to transport Pius VI. to Cayenne.
There are counsellors of state who are pleading against you,
and generals who sneer and shrug their shoulders. If I break
with you, Murat, a second Berthier, will march on Rome."
The words of M. Cacault made a deep impression upon the Cardinal, and
together the French minister and the Secretary of State went to lay the
plan before the Holy Father. The latter, desolated by the thought of
losing if only for a time his beloved Secretary, yielded only after the
necessity of the move had been demonstrated and had received the
approval of the Sacred College.
On June 6th, the day following the expiration of the time allotted by
Bonaparte, Cardinal Consalvi departed from Rome, seated in the same
carriage with Cacault, who, in accordance with his instructions, was
taking the way to Florence. In the latter city the two diplomats
separated, the former continuing his journey to Paris, where he arrived
on June 20th, and took up his lodgings at the Hotel de Rome, in company
with Mgr. Spina. The Cardinal writes in his _Memoires_:
"My first thought on the following morning was to inform
General Bonaparte of my arrival and to learn at what hour I
might have the honor of seeing him. I asked at the same time
in what costume he wished me to present myself. This question
was necessary, since at that time the ecclesiastical dress
was no longer in use in Paris, or in the whole of France. The
priests were clothed as laymen; the churches consecrated to
God were now dedicated to Friendship, to Abundance, to Hymen,
to Commerce, to Liberty, to Equality, Fraternity, and to
other divinities of the democratic reason. Every one was
entitled citizen; I was so addressed myself during my
journey, even though covered with the insignia of the
cardinalate. I would not discard that garb for a single day,
though I thereby gave proof rather of courage than of
prudence.
"The Abbe Bernier returned immediately with the information
that the First Consul would receive me at two o'clock that
afternoon, and that, as to the costume I was to appear as a
cardinal as far as was possible."
At the stated hour Consalvi appeared at the palace.
"I entered," he said, "a salon in which I perceived only one solitary
individual who advanced toward me, saluted me in silence, and then
striding on before introduced me into a neighboring hall. I did not then
know who this personage might be, but I learned later that it was the
Minister of Foreign Affairs, M. de Talleyrand, a name too well-known in
the annals of the Revolution to need any additional description from me.
I imagined he was about to lead me to the private cabinet of the First
Consul and I was congratulating myself in the hope of being alone with
him. But what was my surprise when, on opening that last door, I saw
before me in a vast hall a multitude of persons disposed as if for a
scene in a drama. In the centre of the hall were symmetrically arranged
the various corps of the state government (which were, as I afterwards
learned, the Senate, the Tribunate, the Corps Legislatif, and the High
Courts of the Magistrature) and, at the sides, generals, officers of all
degrees, ministers, grand state functionaries, and before all others,
detached and isolated, three persons whom I learned later were the three
consuls of the Republic.
"The central figure came forward a few steps toward me, and it was only
by conjecture that I divined that it was Bonaparte, a conjecture that
was confirmed by the attitude of Talleyrand, who still kept company
with me and presented me to him. I was about to utter some words of
compliment, and to speak of my journey; I had scarcely approached him
than he at once opened up the conversation, and said curtly: 'I know the
object of your journey to France. I want the conferences to be opened
immediately. I give you five days, and I warn you that if, at the
expiration of the fifth day, the negotiations are not terminated, you
will return to Rome, while as to myself, I have already determined on
what I shall do in such a hypothesis.'"
The calm dignity of the Cardinal triumphed over the haughty bearing of
the Consul who permitted himself to yield somewhat. The audience lasted
an hour and a half, and left the Roman prelate quite satisfied that he
might employ as much time as the proper discussion of the affair should
demand.
It was the 13th of July before the negotiators at last came to a
definite agreement. The Concordat had reached that stage in the
discussions when it could at length receive the signatures of the
various officials interested. The night of the 13th was fixed as the
date when that happy consummation was to be effected, and it was settled
that all the negotiators were to meet for that purpose at 8 P. M., at
the house of Joseph Bonaparte, brother of the first Consul.
So certain were the officials of the Government that the affair was now
concluded, that the announcement of the fact appeared in the _Moniteur_
of the day, in an article concluding with the words: "Cardinal Consalvi
has succeeded in the object which brought him to Paris." Moreover, the
First Consul had confided to his intimates that on the following day,
July 14th, the anniversary of the fall of the Bastille, the formal
announcement of the signing of the Concordat would be made at a grand
banquet to be held at the Tuileries, at which three hundred or more
guests would be present, including the six signers.
In the meantime the party of opposition to the Concordat had not been
idle. Under the inspiration of Talleyrand a spurious imitation of the
document agreed upon was gotten up, and after a note brought by
d'Hauterive--one of the creatures of the Minister of Foreign Affairs--to
the First Consul, was substituted for the real paper, under the
impression that Consalvi would be led to sign it in the haste required
for the accomplishment of the other consequent events. The Cardinal goes
on to relate his discovery of this deception:
"Seated around the table," (in the house of Joseph Bonaparte)
"a few moments were devoted to the question as to who should
subscribe first, as it seemed that the honor belonged to him
(Joseph) as the brother of the Chief of the Government. In
the mildest manner, yet with all the firmness required by the
occasion, I remarked that my quality of Cardinal and
representative of the Pope would not permit me to take second
place among the signers; I observed, moreover, that under the
old Government of France, as in all such cases, the cardinals
had undisputed precedence, and that I could not yield in a
point which did not concern me personally but the dignity
with which I was vested. I must in justice admit that, after
some difficulty, he yielded with good grace, and agreed that
I should sign first, while he should follow in the second
place, then the Prelate Spina, followed in order by the
Counsellor Cretet, Padre Caselli, and finally the Abbe
Bernier.
"Thereupon we immediately prepared for the work in hand, and
I took up the pen to affix my signature. But what was my
surprise when I saw the Abbe Bernier presenting me the copy
which he had unrolled, in order that I should begin with that
rather than with my own, and after glancing over it to assure
myself that it was correct, I perceived that the Concordat
which I was about to sign was not the one upon which not only
the negotiators, but the First Consul also, had agreed, but
one entirely different. The change in the first line caused
me to examine with greater diligence the remainder of the
document, and I discovered that the present copy not only
contained the very same draft which the Pope had refused to
admit without proper corrections, and which had given cause
for the recall of the French envoy through the refusal of the
Pope, but it changed the same in many points, having inserted
many things which had already been rejected before that draft
was sent to Rome.
"A proceeding of such a nature, incredible though a fact, and
which I will not permit myself to characterize--the thing
speaks for itself--paralyzed, so to speak, my hand before it
could sign. I expressed my surprise, and declared decisively
that I could not sign that document at any price. The brother
of the First Consul seemed no less astonished at what he
heard, and declared that he could not be persuaded of what I
said, since the First Consul had told him that everything was
agreed and that nothing remained to be done except to sign."
The firm stand taken by Cardinal Consalvi compelled the six
commissioners to undertake again a revision of the document in order to
be able to please if possible the First Consul, and thus end the affair
before the banquet of the following day. It was noon of the fourteenth
before they had come to a satisfactory agreement. The new copy was then
taken by Joseph Bonaparte who brought it to his brother, the First
Consul.
"He returned in less than an hour revealing in his
countenance the anguish of his mind. He informed us that the
French Consul was seized with a fit of great fury at the news
of what had happened; that in the impetuosity of his anger,
he had torn into a hundred pieces the draft of the Concordat
arranged by us; and that finally yielding to his prayers, his
solicitation, his reflections and his reason, he had
promised, although with unspeakable repugnance, to accept all
the articles agreed upon but as to one, which we had left in
suspense, he was as inflexible as irritated, charging me in
conclusion, that he looked for that article just as it was
written in the copy brought by Abbe Bernier, and that I had
only one of two things to do, either to admit that article as
it was and sign the Concordat, or to break definitely the
whole negotiation; that he was absolutely determined to
announce at the banquet of that day either the signing or the
rupture of the affair."
It was two o'clock in the afternoon when Joseph Bonaparte brought this
strange message. For two hours more this same messenger, aided by Cretet
and Bernier, endeavored to bend the unflinching will of Consalvi, but to
no purpose. He comprehended fully the great temporal evils that must
follow a rupture with France, the dangers to the peace and liberty of
the Pope and the welfare of the Church; but he knew at the same time
that his action would be precisely in accordance with the wishes of the
Holy Father, and therefore a matter of sacred duty. The discussion
remained in the same condition when at four o'clock the six
commissioners parted to prepare themselves for the banquet which was to
begin at five. That this occasion promised to be one of violent anger on
the part of Bonaparte was the thought of Consalvi as he entered the
banquet hall of the Tuileries. The scene is described dramatically in
his own words:
"Scarcely had we entered the hall in which the First Consul
was waiting, and which was thronged with magistrates,
officers, grandees of State, ambassadors, and most
illustrious foreigners,--guests at the banquet,--than he gave
us a welcome easy to imagine, he being already cognizant of
the rupture. He had hardly seen me than, with inflamed
countenance, and in a loud voice, he said: 'So, Monsieur
Cardinal, you wish to break the negotiations? Very well. I
have no need of Rome. I will act for myself. I have no need
of the Pope. If Henry VIII. who had not the twentieth part of
my power knew how to change the religion of his country
successfully, much more do I know how, and am able to do so.
And when I change religion in France, I shall change it in
nearly all of Europe wheresoever the influence of my power
extends. Rome will recognize the losses she must suffer, and
she will bewail them when it is too late. You are going,
well, that is the best you can do. You want a rupture, and
let it be so, since you wish it.'
"To these words uttered in public in a quick, loud tone of
voice, I answered that I could not overstep my powers, nor
agree on points contrary to the principles professed by the
Holy See. 'In things ecclesiastical,' I added, 'one cannot do
all that one can in temporal affairs in certain extreme
cases. Notwithstanding that, it did not seem to me possible
to say that the rupture was sought for on the part of the
Pope, since we were agreed upon all the articles, holding
only one in reserve, in regard to which I have proposed to
consult the Pope himself, even though his own (the French)
commissioners had dissented.' He (the Consul) interrupted me
to say that he wished to leave nothing imperfect, and that he
desired to conclude all or nothing. T answered that I had not
the right to accept the article in question, as long as it
remained precisely as he had proposed it, and without any
modification. He replied angrily that he wanted it just as it
was, without one syllable more or less. I answered that in
that case I should never sign it, because I could not at any
cost. He repeated: 'It is precisely for that reason that I
say that you want a rupture, and that I consider the affair
at an end, and that Rome will feel and weep over this rupture
with tears of blood.'"
After more words uttered in a like strain, the guests proceeded to the
banquet which was of short duration and clouded by the irritable temper
of the First Consul. After it was ended, however, a better spirit
entered into Bonaparte, and yielding to the solicitations of the Count
de Cobentzel, the peacemaker of the day, he agreed that the
commissioners might come together again for the last time on the
following day.
"Let them see if they cannot possibly arrange matters, but if
they separate without coming to a conclusion, the rupture
will be regarded as definitive, and the Cardinal may leave. I
declare also that I want this article to remain absolutely as
it is, and that I shall admit of no change."
And so saying he turned upon his heel.
The commissioners met accordingly on the following day at the house of
Joseph Bonaparte, and after twelve hours of discussion finally came to
an agreement of such a nature that the honor of the Holy See would be
guaranteed thereby, while at the same time the obstinacy of the First
Consul would suffer no perceptible wounding. It was at midnight when the
affair was at last pronounced completed, and the commissioners at once
affixed their signatures to the document.
"The Concordat was signed at two o'clock in the morning in
the house which I occupied in the Rue du
Faubourg-Saint-Honore. At the same hour I became the father
of a third child whose birth was saluted by the
plenipotentiaries of the two great powers, and his prosperity
predicted by the envoys of the Vicar of Christ."[1]
It was midnight instead of two o'clock A. M.
_TEXT OF THE CONCORDAT._
The Concordat, thus signed on July 15th, 1801, was conceived in the
following terms:
Convention between His Holiness Pius VII., and the French
Government.
The Government of the Republic recognizes that the Catholic
Apostolic Roman religion is the religion of the great
majority of the French citizens.
His Holiness also recognizes that this same religion has
derived, and at this moment expects anew, the greatest good
and glory from the establishment of Catholic worship in
France, and the especial profession thereof made by the
Consuls of the republic.
Consequently, after the mutual recognition, both for the good
of religion and the maintenance of internal tranquility, they
have agreed upon the following:
Article I.
The Catholic Apostolic Roman religion shall be freely
exercised in France. Its worship shall be public, conforming
to the regulations of internal administration which the
Government shall deem necessary for the public tranquility.
Article II.
A new circumscription of the French diocese shall be made by
the Holy See in concert with the Government.
Article III.
His Holiness will declare to the incumbents of the French
Sees, that it expects from them, with a firm confidence, for
the sake of peace and unity, sacrifices of every kind, even
to the resignation of their Sees.
If, after this exhortation they refuse this sacrifice,
commanded by the well-being of the Church (a refusal
nevertheless which His Holiness does not expect), the
dioceses of the new circumscription shall be provided with
new bishops in the following manner:
Article IV.
The First Consul of the Republic will, within three months
after the publication of His Holiness' bull, nominate to the
archbishoprics and bishoprics of the new circumscription. His
Holiness will confer canonical institution according to the
forms established in regard to France, before the change of
Government.
Article V.
The nominations to Sees, hereafter to fall vacant, shall also
be made by the First Consul, and canonical institution will
be given by the Holy See, in conformity with the preceding
article.
Article VI.
The bishops, before entering on their functions, shall take
directly in the hands of the First Consul, the oath of
fidelity, which was in use before the change of Government,
expressed in the following terms:
"I swear and promise to God, on His holy Gospels, to observe
obedience and fidelity to the Government established by the
constitution of the French Republic. I also promise to have
no understanding with, assist in no council, entertain no
league, either within or without, which shall be contrary to
the public tranquility; and if in my diocese or elsewhere I
learn that anything is plotted to the prejudice of the State,
I will impart it to the Government."
Article VII.
Ecclesiastics of the second order shall take the same oath,
in the hands of the civil authorities named by the
Government.
Article VIII.
The following form of prayer shall be recited at the end of
the Divine Office, in all the Catholic Churches of France:
Domine, salvam fac Rempublicam. Domine, salvos fac Consules.
Article IX.
The bishops shall make a new circumscription of the parishes
in their dioceses, which shall be of no effect until approved
by the Government.
Article X.
The bishops shall appoint to the parishes. Their choice shall
fall only on persons acceptable to the Government.
Article XI.
Bishops may have a chapter in their Cathedral, and a seminary
for their diocese, without any obligation on the part of the
Government to endow them.
Article XII.
All the metropolitan churches, cathedrals, parishes, and
others not alienated, necessary for worship, shall be put at
the disposal of the bishops.
Article XIII.
His Holiness, for the sake of peace and the happy restoration
of the Catholic religion, declares that neither he nor his
successors will disquiet in any manner the holders of
alienated ecclesiastical property, and that, consequently,
the right to said property, with the rights and revenues
attached thereto, shall remain incommutable in their hands or
those of their representatives.
Article XIV.
The Government will secure a suitable salary to the bishops,
and to parish priests whose dioceses and parishes are
comprised in the new circumscription.
Article XV.
The Government will also take measures to enable French
Catholics, when so disposed, to create foundations in favor
of churches.
Article XVI.
His Holiness recognizes, in the First Consul of the French
Republic, the same rights and prerogatives enjoyed at Rome by
the former Government.
Article XVII.
It is agreed between the contracting parties that in case any
successor of the present First Consul should not be a
Catholic, the rights and prerogatives mentioned in the
preceding article, and the nominations to Sees, shall be
regulated, so far as he is concerned, by a new convention.
The ratifications to be exchanged at Paris within forty days.
Done at Paris, 26th Messidor, year IX. of the French
Republic, July 15th, 1801.
H. CARDINAL CONSALVI,
J. BONAPARTE,
J. ARCHEVEQUE de CORINTHE,
FR. CHARLES CASELLI,
CRETET,
BERNIER.
Upon its appearance, the new treaty was naturally subjected to
criticism, adverse and favorable. That it meant a decided victory for
the Church over her old enemies was admitted on all sides, and all
hostility to its prescriptions could be reduced to the murmurings of the
Royalists, the emigres, the Gallicans, the constitutionals and the
various revolutionary parties. By the great mass of the Catholic people
it was hailed as a rainbow of promise after the desolating storms of the
past ten years.
"According to its first article the Catholic Apostolic and
Roman religion was to be exercised freely in France; the
Catholic Church was therefore to be free in her
organization, free in her preaching and teaching, free in her
discipline, in her ministers, in her right of acquiring such
property as would be necessary for the accomplishing of her
mission. She is no longer as under the old regime, intimately
allied with the State; she is no longer the Church of the
State; the separation of the temporal and the spiritual has
been effected.... But if in return one considers the words of
the text according to their real value, she is entirely free;
she need no longer fear trespassing from outside nor a
supervision that tends only to hinder her action; nor those
thousand and one interferences which were formerly
perpetrated by Gallicanism."
The article continues: "Its worship shall be public"--words which
naturally signify the exercise of religious ceremonies not merely within
the walls of the church, but exteriorly also, as in public processions,
carrying the Blessed Viaticum to the sick, and such like. Nor is it
strange that these practices should be permitted in a land where the
Catholic faith is the religion of the great majority of the people, when
in Protestant countries they are carried out solemnly and amid the
veneration of all.
The addition of the words--"in conforming to the regulations of internal
administration (reglements de police) which the Government shall deem
necessary for the public tranquility"--was one of the causes of the
delay in framing the Concordat; it was the clause against which the
First Consul declaimed so violently on the famous afternoon of July
14th, and it has served ever since as the foundation of an anti-liberal
jurisprudence.
"In practice it is the mayor who in each commune is charged
with maintaining public order and tranquility, and, by the
same title, whenever a mayor considers that a procession or
any other religious manifestation can occasion trouble and
disorder upon the public streets, he has the right to
interdict it. One must confess that in a country like ours
where the idea of liberty is so limited, it is sometimes a
means for the protection of the clergy and faithful against
injuries and outrages. But very often mayors have
interdicted, and permanently, only Catholic processions,
while they permit freethinkers to pass through the streets in
parades that are dangerous to the public. If a mayor acts
with such partiality, if he cannot support his interdiction
with some serious reason--like that municipal official who
would interdict a procession because the white veils of the
young girls might frighten horses--if a mayor, in a word,
acts by party spirit, and not in view of the public
tranquility, he violates the Concordat. True liberty of
conscience does not take account of the sentimental
susceptibilities of occasional nervous individuals, nor would
it impose upon anyone the obligation of dissimulating their
religious professions or philosophical opinions; on the
contrary it imposes on men the obligation of tolerating each
other reciprocally in the peaceful manifestation of their
beliefs. Hence, independently of the Concordat, is not such
liberty of conscience demanded for all citizens by the
Declaration of the Rights of Man?" (Croizil.)
The articles relating to the bishops excited the greatest amount of
dissatisfaction in many quarters. It meant the realization of that idea
which Bonaparte had expressed to Cardinal Martiniana in the year
preceding--the utter abolition of the old hierarchy--and the
substitution of one entirely new and conformable to the order of things
about to be established. Before the Revolution there were in France 136
Episcopal Sees. In the scheme of Bonaparte these were to be reduced to
fifty only, of which ten were to be metropolitan, although later, in
1801, he was pleased to add ten other sees to the number. Commenting
upon this reduction, Cardinal Mathieu observes:
"Sixty-six cities were thus subjected to a moral and material
decline from which they have never since rallied. Indeed,
each of these suppressed Sees was illustrated with memorials
of apostleship and holiness, with monuments, with religious
establishments of every kind which gave to the episcopal
cities an importance superior to that of their population and
made them so many interesting little capitals, wherein were
often hidden men of great merit. The dignitaries of the
secular and regular clergy, some families of impoverished
gentlemen or well-to-do bourgeois and professional people,
maintained therein an amiable society which kept up in the
most secluded provinces the best traditions of the old
regime--courtesy, a taste for literature and charity for the
poor. All these little centres of intellectual and moral life
were blotted out and the Concordat thus only sanctioned the
destruction effected by the Revolution."
It was mainly because of reflections like these that the old emigre
bishops received the news of these articles with so sad a grace.
The articles which treat of ecclesiastical property and the salaries of
the clergy will prove of interest especially at the present time, when
in the Law of Separation they have been so badly misinterpreted. Article
XII. reveals the fact that the Church was placed in _absolute_
possession of her property. The term "shall be placed at the disposition
of the bishops" signifies the same thing that it did when in 1789 the
property of the Church was confiscated by the then Government and, to
use the terms of that law, _mise a la disposition de la nation_, placed
at the disposition of the nation. There can be little doubt as to how
those words were understood in 1789, for the nation, acting upon the
law, immediately proceeded to the sale of all ecclesiastical property.
The words, therefore, signified that the nation was placed in full and
absolute possession of such property, and the precedent must in all
honor apply equally when the terms are used in favor of the Church. To
say, therefore, that the article gave to the bishops the mere use _ad
revocationem_ of such property is only to betray a desire to excuse a
robbery under the pretext of a misunderstanding. The Concordat thus
acknowledged the Church's absolute possession of her churches and other
religious establishments, a possession which will always remain hers
rightfully, and which she shall defend in her own way against any
attempt at alienation.
In the articles XIII. and XIV. the French Government acknowledges that
even the alienated property, _i. e._, the churches, etc.--which after
the confiscation of 1789 were sold, were even in 1801 the rightful
property of the Church; though, nevertheless, the Church, for the sake
of peace, therein agrees to waive her right. In so doing, however, she
requires as a condition that the State shall compensate her for the
same. This compensation is expressed in article XIV., wherein it is
declared that the State shall assure a suitable salary to the clergy. In
accordance with this disposition it follows that whenever--as at
present--the Concordat should be abolished the Church should revert to
her natural rights the compensation for alienated property being
discontinued, such property or its value should be restored to the
Church. In this matter the present Government of France has shown itself
not merely unfair but actuated also by a spirit of robbery.
The Concordat finished, Cardinal Consalvi began his preparations for
returning to Rome. He arrived in the Eternal City on August 6th. He had,
however, been preceded by a messenger bearing the precious document, who
arrived at the Vatican on July 25th. The instrument was immediately
subjected to the examination of a commission of cardinals, and only
after long and heated discussions was it finally accepted by the Holy
See. It was signed by the Pope on August 15th, 1801.
In accordance with the prescriptions of the Concordat the Holy Father
began at once the execution of that article which required the
resignation of the various sees by their actual or rightful incumbents.
The brief dispatched by the Pope to all the bishops of France, whether
resident in that country or living in foreign lands, necessitated that
an answer be received within ten days. Fourteen prelates residing in
London declared, on September 27th, that they could not consent for the
present to his demands, at least without having been heard. Twenty-six
bishops residing in Germany answered in the same terms on October 28th.
On January 21st the bishops who had taken refuge in England addressed to
the Holy Father a new refusal protesting "against the attempts which had
been made or which might be made against the rights of the Most
Christian King, their Sovereign Lord, rights which the laws of the
Church commanded the first among the Pontiffs to respect religiously,
and the defence of which was for the French bishops a duty rendered
sacred by their oaths of fidelity from which no power could release
them, and whose violation would be a criminal act." Some hesitation was
likewise manifested by the constitutional bishops resident in France, a
hesitation, however, which under the tactful management of Cardinal
Caprara, the new Legate a Latere at Paris, was finally overcome.
The Holy Father, after waiting patiently for several months for a
favorable answer to his demands, resolved at length to act
notwithstanding all protestations. In the Bull, _Qui Christi Domini_, he
declared that he derogated to the consent of the bishops who had refused
to sign their resignation, he interdicted in them every act of
jurisdiction, he abolished the old dioceses existing in France, and
erected sixty new sees in their place.
In the meanwhile the Concordat had been signed by Bonaparte, on
September 10th, 1801. It yet, however, required the ratification of the
governmental bodies before becoming law. Though signed on July 15th,
1801, it was not until April of the following year that this desired
consummation was effected. It was finally ratified on April 8th, by the
Corps Legislatif. The reason for the delay became apparent upon this
occasion, for then there appeared in conjunction with the Concordat, and
as if forming a part of it, a series of laws entitled _Organic
Articles_, which had been elaborated during those nine months without
the knowledge of the Pope, just as their publication was now effected
without his cognizance. The purport of these latter articles was to
destroy or contradict in great part the concessions granted by the
Concordat. Rome has never ceased to protest against them, and to demand
their abrogation or modification. In 1804 she seemed to have succeeded,
deceived by the promises of Napoleon at a moment when he desired the aid
of the Holy Father at the ceremonial of his coronation; in 1817, when a
new Concordat was attempted, the partial abrogation of these Articles
was one of the stipulations; their suppression was again proposed in
1848; and again in 1853. They remained, however, in spite of every
effort, a constant obstacle to the fulfilment of the concessions of the
Concordat and a source of perpetual trouble to the Church in France.
_TEXT OF THE ORGANIC ARTICLES._
Organic Articles of the Convention of the 26 Messidor, Year
IX.
Article 1. No bull, brief, rescript, decree, mandate,
provision, signature serving for provision, nor other
documents expedited by the Court of Rome, even though they
concern private individuals can be received, printed, or
otherwise put in force without the authorization of the
Government.
Article 2. No individual styling himself a nuncio, legate,
vicar, or commissary Apostolic, or who makes use of any other
determining title can, without the same authorization,
exercise upon French soil, or elsewhere, any function
relative to the affairs of the Gallican church.
Article 3. The decrees of the foreign synods, even those of
the general councils, cannot be published in France before
the Government has examined their form, their conformity with
the laws, rights and privileges of the French Republic, and
all that which in their publication could alter or interfere
with the public tranquility.
Article 4. No council, national or metropolitan, no diocesan
synod, no deliberative assembly, shall be held without the
express permission of the Government.
Article 5. All ecclesiastical functions shall be gratuitous,
except the offerings which will be authorized and fixed by
the regulations.
Article 6. Recourse to the Council of State shall be had in
every case of abuse on the part of superiors and other
ecclesiastical persons.
The cases of abuse are as follows: Usurpation or excess of
power, contravention of the laws and regulations of the
Republic; violation of the rules which are consecrated by the
Canons received in France; any attack on the liberties,
privileges, and customs of the French church; and every
undertaking or proceeding which, in the exercise of worship,
might compromise the honor of citizens, trouble their
consciences unnecessarily, or which might degenerate into a
source of oppression or injury to them, or become a public
scandal.
Article 7. Recourse to the Council of States shall also be
permitted whenever an attack is made upon the public
exercise of worship, and the liberty which the laws and
regulations guarantee to its ministers.
Article 8. This recourse is the privilege of all persons
interested. In default of a particular complaint, this duty
will devolve upon the prefects. Public functionaries,
ecclesiastics or other persons who wish to make use of this
appeal, will address a memorial, detailed and signed, to the
counsellor of State charged with all matters concerning
religion, whose duty it will be to obtain, in the shortest
time possible, all proper information, and upon his report
the affair will be taken up and finished in the
administrative form, or sent, as the case may demand, to the
competent authorities.
Article 11. The archbishops and bishops may, with the
authorization of the Government, establish in their dioceses
cathedral chapters and seminaries. All other ecclesiastical
establishments are suppressed.
Article 12. Bishops shall be permitted to add to their names
the title of Citizen or that of Monsieur. All other
qualifications are interdicted.
Article 16. No one may be nominated to bishopric who has not
attained the age of thirty years, or who is not of French
origin.
Article 18. The priest nominated by the First Consul shall
make haste to obtain institution from the Pope.
He cannot exercise any function before the bull containing
such institution has received the seal of the Government, and
before he has taken personally the oath prescribed by the
convention made between the French Government and the Holy
See. This oath shall be taken before the First Consul: a
formal attestation of the same shall be drawn up by the
Secretary of State.
Article 19. The bishops shall name and install the pastors;
nevertheless they shall not publish their nomination nor give
canonical institution until that nomination has been approved
by the First Consul.
Article 23. The bishops shall be charged with the
organization of their seminaries, and the regulation of that
organization shall be submitted to the approbation of the
First Consul.
Article 24. Those who shall be chosen to teach in the
seminaries shall subscribe to the declaration made by the
clergy of France in 1682 and published by an edict of the
same year; they will be obliged to teach the doctrine therein
contained; and the bishops shall address a formal attestation
of such submission to the counsellor of State charged with
all matters concerning religious worship.
The bishops will ordain no persons whose names have not been
submitted to the Government and approved by it.
Article 27. Pastors may not enter upon their functions before
they have taken in the hands of the prefect the oath
prescribed by the convention made between the Government and
the Holy See. A formal attestation of this act shall be drawn
up by the secretary general of the prefecture, and they shall
receive a copy of the same.
Article 32. No foreigner can be employed in the functions of
the ecclesiastical ministry without the permission of the
Government.
Article 39. There shall be but one liturgy and one catechism
for all the Catholic churches of France.
Article 40. No pastor may order extraordinary public prayers
in his parish without the special permission of the bishop.
Article 41. No feast, with the exception of Sunday, may be
established without the permission of the Government.
Article 45. No religious ceremony shall be held outside the
edifices consecrated to Catholic worship in such cities as
contain temples destined for a different worship.
Article 53. They shall not in their powers make any
publication foreign to religious worship, unless they be
authorized to do so by the Government.
Article 54. They shall not bestow the nuptial blessing except
on such as can prove in good and due form that they have
already contracted their marriage before a civil official.
Article 56. In all ecclesiastical and religious documents it
will be required to observe the equinoctial calendar
established by the laws of the Republic; the days shall be
designated by the names they hold in that calendar.
Article 64. The salary of an archbishop shall be 15,000
francs.
Article 65. The salary of bishops shall be 10,000 francs.
Article 66. Pastors shall be distributed into two classes.
The salary of pastors of the first class shall be 1,500
francs; that of pastors of the second class shall be 1,000
francs.
Article 67. The pensions which they receive, in execution of
the laws of the Constituent Assembly, shall be counted as a
part of their salary. The councils general of the large
communes can, out of their landed property or from the taxes,
accord an augmentation of salary if the circumstances require
it.
Article 68. Curates and assistants shall be chosen from
ecclesiastics pensioned in execution of the laws of the
Constituent Assembly. The sum of these pensions and the
product of offerings made to them shall constitute their
salary.
Article 69. The bishops shall draw up a list of rules
relative to the offerings which ministers of worship are
authorized to receive for the administration of the
sacraments. These rules drawn up by the bishops may not be
put in force without having been approved by the Government.
Article 70. Every ecclesiastic who receives a pension from
the State shall be deprived of such pension if he refuses to
perform the functions which shall be confided to him.
Article 71. The councils general of the department are
authorized to provide a suitable residence for the
archbishops and bishops.
Article 72. The presbyteries and the gardens thereto
pertaining shall, if they are not alienated, be turned over
to the pastors or to the assistants in charge of the same
missions. In default of such presbyteries the councils
general are authorized to provide them with a suitable
residence and garden.
Article 73. The foundations which have for their object the
maintenance of ministers and the exercise of worship can only
consist of rentals constituted in the State; they shall be
accepted by the diocesan bishop, and cannot be executed
except with the authorization of the Government.
Article 74. The immovable property, other than edifices
destined for residence and the gardens pertaining, cannot be
affected to ecclesiastical titles, nor possessed by ministers
of worship by reason of their functions.
Article 75. The edifices formerly destined for Catholic
worship, actually in the hands of the nation, shall be placed
at the disposition of the bishops by a written order of the
prefect of the department. A copy of this order shall be
addressed to the counsellor of State charged with all matters
concerning religious worship.
_PRESAGES OF PEACE._
The Concordat signed and ratified Catholic France settled down to the
enjoyment of comparative peace and security. It was, however, only the
security which follows the ravages of disease, the peace of
convalescence, full of weariness, languor and exhaustion. The fifty
bishops installed by the new decrees could not help a feeling of
discouragement as they viewed the situation. The Church, it is true, was
brought back to a position of honor and importance in the nation; but it
was, at the same time, weighed down by the heavy burdens of Gallicanism
and Caesarism; the former severing the ties that bound it to the head
and centre of Christianity, the Holy Father; the latter making it
subservient to the whims and fancies of a ruler, human at most and
liable through the schemes of politics to be hostile and intolerant. The
former was suited to the imperialistic ambitions of Bonaparte, who had
already begun to dream of the glories of the old regime; the latter was
couched in the fraudulent laws of the Organic Articles; the former was
to lose its force before the lapse of half a century; the latter was to
last as long as the Concordat itself.
Thus it was that the outlook at the beginning of the century was little
favorable to the just execution of the Concordat. With all
correspondence with Rome interdicted save under civil surveillance,
deprived of the right of assemblage, and bound by slavish ties to a
State official who alone could administer, reward, punish, teach, or
cause to teach, according to his own pleasure, all true liberty seemed
to have vanished as completely as during the dark times of the
Revolution. With churches, schools and colleges under the direction of
politicians, the right of ecclesiastical censure denied, and the number
of aspirants to the priesthood limited, the religious society of France
had become little more than an annex to the State, inferior in
importance and subordinate to it in all things. The religious
congregations were dispersed, the missionaries were forbidden to
exercise their zeal, and for the thirty millions of Catholics in the
country there were only eight thousand priests of whom fully two
thousand bore the taint of the constitutional oath.
The bishops themselves were for the most part victims of the
revolutionary tempest. Some of them had come forth from prison or from
the foot of the scaffold whereon they had seen their fathers, brothers
and friends brutally butchered by frenzied mobs. Others had come back
from an exile wherein they had guarded religiously the dear image of the
French Church and the hope of her speedy restoration. "But it was the
Church they had seen flourishing under the shadow of a kingly sceptre,
the Gallican Church with its gaudy livery and its royal servitude
decorated with the names of privilege and liberty. Accustomed to receive
favors from the hand of power, it was easy for them to transfer their
adulatory homage from the thrones of Louis XIV. and Louis XVI. to the
boots and spurs of him who, after all, had just opened to them the gates
of their country and filled his native land with glory."
_CORONATION OF NAPOLEON._
It is not wonderful, therefore, that the will of the Conqueror should
remain uppermost in all church affairs during the course of the
Consulate, when only a few courageous and noble souls dared to stand
forth in the defence of ecclesiastical rights and liberties. The
Consulate was termed the _Lune-de-miel_, the honeymoon, in this new
union of Church and State; but its joys, such as they were, were to feel
ere long the bitterness entailed by the unreasoning and imperious
exactions of an overbearing consort.
The soldier who had risen to the command of armies had been honored with
the title of First Consul; his head, yet uncrowned, was restless till it
should feel upon it the emblem of royalty. It was his ambition to be
called, and to be like Charlemagne, an emperor; he desired that the
consecrating oils in the great ceremony should be conferred by no less a
personage than the Holy Father himself, and he wished that the Pope
should perform this ceremony at Paris. The venerable Pontiff, when
apprised of this new demand of Bonaparte, was at a loss how to respond.
He looked for counsel to his most prudent friends, and above all to the
great Giver of light, and then weighing in the balance the great harm he
knew must come from a formal refusal, and the immense benefits he felt
must accrue to the Church from so slight a sacrifice, he determined,
leaving the issue to Divine Providence, to gratify this wish of the
General. He did not do so, however, before renewing his protest against
the obnoxious Organic Articles, and obtaining from Bonaparte a promise
of their speedy revokal.
In compliance with these resolves, the Holy Father set out from Rome on
November 2, 1804, and after a journey of nearly a month's duration,
through provinces once hostile, but now enthusiastic in their greetings,
he reached Fontainebleau on Sunday, November 25th. Here he was met by
Bonaparte who displayed at first an apparent desire to shower every
honor upon his illustrious guest. Yet even this short stay near Paris
was marked by the same evidences of fickleness and selfishness on the
part of the First Consul, as were shown in his every relation with the
Holy See. At one time it would seem as if nothing were too good for the
aged Pontiff, and the Consul, to demonstrate this conviction, would
display the most utter obsequiousness to his spiritual superior; an hour
afterwards the Holy Father was made to feel most keenly the sense of
humiliating dependence upon his tormentor. Yet the spirit of the martyr
bore up bravely through storm and sunshine. He met the delegation sent
to him from the French Senate with a calm undisturbed serenity that drew
expressions of admiration from men hostile to the very name of religion;
he forebore any words of reproach against the unwarranted demands of
Bonaparte. There were, however, some things upon which he insisted
strongly, and without which he would refuse, even on the eve of the
great day, to be present at the coronation. There were among the French
bishops men who had signed the Civil Constitution during the Revolution
in defiance of ecclesiastical warnings to the contrary. Still
unrepentant, they hoped under the protection of Bonaparte to continue in
the exercise of ecclesiastical jurisdiction without yielding proper
submission to the Holy See. To compel them to this latter course was the
determined policy of Pius VII. though the constitutional bishops found a
ready ally in the First Consul himself. The latter at first endeavored
to gloss over the objections of the Pope, hoping that in the excitement
of the day the coronation ceremony might take place before any action
would be taken in regard to the obnoxious bishops. But Pius VII. was far
too vigilant to become a victim to this deception. The aged Pontiff
demanded the act of submission as a necessary condition before the great
ceremony should proceed, and Bonaparte, tacitly acknowledging his
defeat, yielded. The constitutional bishops at his command repaired to
the presence of the Holy Father and complied fully with his wishes.
On the evening of December 1st, the Holy Father learned for the first
time that the new Emperor had never contracted an ecclesiastically legal
marriage with Josephine, his reputed wife. Despite the fact that all
preparations for the great ceremony had been completed, the Pope sent
word to Napoleon that he should refuse to take part in the coronation on
the morrow unless the Emperor and Josephine should contract their
marriage vows that very night in the presence of a duly authorized
priest of the Church. Again the Emperor, fretful and impatient as he
was, yielded to the demands of the Pope, and the marriage ceremony was
performed at midnight in the chapel of the Tuileries in the presence of
Cardinal Fesch, uncle to Napoleon. The following day, December 2nd, the
Conqueror of Europe, the great Dictator of France, realized the dream of
his lifetime. The solemn ceremony of his consecration and coronation as
Emperor of the French took place in the great cathedral of Notre Dame in
the midst of all the splendor which the united resources of Church and
State could afford. The ceremony began shortly after ten o'clock, when
Napoleon, proceeding with Josephine to the foot of the altar, in the
presence of the Holy Father made the solemn promise that he would
maintain peace in the Church of God. The two candidates for royalty
knelt upon cushions and received from His Holiness the oils and imperial
consecration. Napoleon then ascended the altar, and taking the crown
into his own hands placed it upon his head, after which he took up the
smaller crown of the Empress and bearing it to Josephine crowned her.
She received the diadem kneeling. The ceremony was concluded with the
_Te Deum_.
Pius VII. returned to Rome after what was to him a humiliating and
exacting journey. Indeed he could congratulate himself that he had at
all escaped perpetual exile at Paris. Before he had left that city, the
new Emperor, flushed with his recent glories, conceived the plan of
retaining the Pope at Paris. The latter, however, had prepared himself
for the demand and could answer courageously, that if they were to use
force they would have at Paris only a poor monk called Barnabas
Chiaramonti. Before he had left Rome he had arranged that in such an
emergency a new Pope would be immediately elected.
_THE AFFAIR OF JEROME._
Even at the entrance of the Eternal City, new complications met to annoy
and confuse him, which, however, he settled with his usual diplomatic
firmness and condescension. The affair of Prince Jerome was just then
attracting attention. The latter, a lad of nineteen, and brother of the
Emperor, had married while in America, December 24, 1803, a certain Miss
Patterson, a descendant of one of Maryland's best families. The ceremony
was performed by Archbishop Carroll, and was valid in the eyes of the
Church. Upon his returning to France with his young bride he was met by
the anger of his imperial brother, who as soon as possible wrote to Pope
Pius VII.: "I have several times spoken to Your Holiness about a
brother, nineteen years old, whom I sent on a frigate to America, and
who after a month's stay, married in Baltimore--although a minor--a
Protestant daughter of an American merchant. He has just returned; he
feels the extent of his fault. I have sent back Miss Patterson, his
alleged wife, to America. According to our laws the marriage is null. A
Spanish priest so far forgot his duty as to give the nuptial blessing."
Napoleon then proceeds to request the Pope to declare the marriage
invalid, giving as his principal reasons: That the lady was a
Protestant; that Jerome was yet a minor according to French law; that
the Gallican Church of France held it invalid, and that the marriage was
clandestine and null according to the Council of Trent. To all these
objections the Holy Father answered that the marriage was entirely
valid, that it was not subject to the Council of Trent, the decrees of
which had not been published in America, and that it was not in his
power to annul the same unless stronger reasons were brought forward to
warrant such action. To this determination the Pope adhered
unflinchingly, despite the threats and revengeful actions of Napoleon.
Even later, in 1807, when Jerome was married to a princess of
Wurtemburg, the Holy Father, far from consenting, renewed his
declaration as to the validity of the first marriage.
Napoleon, now at the summit of his political and military career, looked
forward to still other conquests. He had crowned himself Emperor of the
French at Paris; he received another crown at Milan, making him king of
Italy. Then came Austerlitz and Jena and Eylau to humiliate Austria and
Prussia and Russia. He became a king-maker by placing his brothers upon
the thrones of Naples, Holland and Westphalia. The battle of Wagram,
1809, brought Austria to the feet of the Emperor, who demanded in
marriage the hand of the Austrian Emperor's daughter, the Princess Maria
Louisa. Josephine, her claims long vanished, was divorced from Napoleon
upon the plea of State necessity. An emperor to be an emperor indeed,
must be able to look upon the children who shall carry his great name to
posterity. The marriage of Josephine and Napoleon had been fruitless in
this regard; reasons of State, therefore, demanded, according to
Napoleon, that a dissolution should take place, and that a new empress
be called to the throne. This reasoning of Napoleon was accepted by
Europe; only the Holy Father withheld his approbation and assent.
Josephine was divorced and the Emperor remarried to Maria Louisa. It was
on this occasion that the terms were coined in the ecclesiastical world
"the red and the black cardinals," at the great ceremony which was
performed by Cardinal Fesch in the Tuileries, April 2, 1810. Of the
twenty-nine cardinals then in Paris, thirteen, including Consalvi,
refused to honor the occasion with their presence. This mark of
disapprobation was punished by the Emperor who besides depriving them of
their salaries forbade them to wear the colors or insignia of their
cardinalatial rank. Hence their designation as the black cardinals.
These two divorces betray sufficiently the shallow honor of Napoleon in
dealing with the Church, a quality which other events of this period
brought more into evidence.
The vainglorious assumptions of the Emperor knew no bounds. Petted and
flattered where he was not feared, he often smiled as he heard himself
compared with Alexander, Caesar, or Charlemagne. He designed as a means
of greater glory the complete solidification of his empire under his own
supreme control. Only one obstacle lay in the way of his colossal
ambition. He chafed at the thought that there was yet in Italy one
little state which would hold out against his pretensions; and then,
hurried on by the lust of power, and blinded by prosperity, this
pretended successor of Charlemagne proceeded against the Pope. Again the
aged Pontiff remonstrated. He reminded Napoleon of his former injustice
in the matter of the Organic Articles; he reproached him for the
injurious dispositions of the Civil Code which he had introduced into
France, especially the law granting divorce, the tendency of which laws
was to render the discipline of the Church almost null; and now in the
face of this new danger, the projected subjugation of the States of the
Church, he reminded the Emperor of the judgments that the Almighty must
send upon those who disregard His Divine ordinances. The words of the
Pope, instead of moderating the intentions of Napoleon, served only to
fill him with violent anger. He determined thenceforth to cast aside all
promptings of conscience and to take immediate steps for the complete
subjugation of Rome. Benevento and Ponte Corvo at once fell into his
hands; his troops took possession of Ancona and all cities on the
Adriatic coast; Rome itself was invaded; the Papal militia was
incorporated with the French; the Pope was deprived of every official
necessary for the direction of ecclesiastical affairs, and surrounded by
a guard in his own palace of the Quirinal.
_EXCOMMUNICATION OF NAPOLEON._
For these outrages the Holy Father addressed Napoleon: "By the bowels of
the mercy of our God we exhort, we pray, we conjure you, Emperor and
King Napoleon, to change your designs, to clothe yourself again with
those sentiments which you manifested at the beginning of your reign.
Remember that there is a God and King above you; remember, and always
keep before your mind, that you will see very soon and in a terrible
manner how those who command others shall by Him be judged with the
utmost rigor." The holy Pontiff then published in the face of Europe a
solemn protest against the unjust pretensions of Napoleon.
In a frenzy of rage the Emperor made answer to this complaint from the
French camp at Schoenbrunn by declaring Rome an imperial and free city.
On June 10, 1809, the pontifical standard was taken down from Castle San
Angelo and the tri-color hoisted in its place. The same day Pius VII.
and Cardinal Pacca, hearing of the event, exclaimed sorrowfully, in the
words of the dying Savior: "Consummatum est." The Pope had long felt the
necessity of excommunicating his enemies, but had forborne up to this
time in the hope that the Emperor might display some spirit of
repentance. As soon as he perceived that such hope was groundless, he
only needed this crowning act of sacrilege to close the doors of his
heart, and to proceed to make use of the spiritual arms of the Church.
That same night the venerable Pontiff signed the Bull of Excommunication
against Napoleon and all concerned in this spoliation. A courageous man
was found who, before the morning, affixed this Bull to the doors of the
principal churches of Rome. It was of course torn down as soon as
discovered and carried to Napoleon, who was then in camp at Vienna.
Two years before, in July, 1807, the Emperor had asked scornfully: "What
does the Pope mean by the threat of excommunicating me? Does he suppose
that the arms will fall from the hands of my soldiers?" It was but a
few years later when the arms did actually fall from the hands of his
soldiers in the great retreat from Moscow when famine and cold tore them
from their grasp.
_ARREST OF THE POPE._
The Emperor now determined to proceed against the person of the Pope.
General Radet was commissioned to arrest the Holy Father and Cardinal
Pacca and to conduct them immediately away from Rome. The story of that
arrest and the indignities heaped upon the aged Pontiff during his
journey could not well be told in a few pages. We will then make it
suffice to narrate only the salient facts.
At six o'clock on the morning of July 6, 1809, the French troops burst
into the palace of the Quirinal. Radet, after a very few words of
explanation, seized the Holy Father, and hurried him, with his faithful
Cardinal Pacca, into a dingy carriage which was waiting in readiness.
The Pope was absolutely without proper provision of clothing or money.
There was no leave-taking, no words of consolation from his faithful
subjects, but as a criminal is dragged away to punishment, so was Pius
VII. carried out of Rome, across the Campagna to the north, until he
reached the place of his captivity at Savona. Here he remained for three
years, always under restraint and closely guarded.
_AT SAVONA._
In the meantime the imperial jailer made use of every expedient to break
down the firm will of his august prisoner. It was shortly after the
marriage of Napoleon and Maria Louisa that the Emperor, acting upon the
advice of the Austrian Prince Metternich, sent the Ritter von
Lebzeltern, envoy of Austria to the Holy See, to attempt a mediation. In
this meeting the Emperor proposed that the Pope should take up his
residence at Avignon, while retaining his title to the temporal
sovereignty; if he wished to reside in Rome, he must resign the temporal
sovereignty, though permitted in such case to keep up the outward forms
of Papal independence such as receiving and sending ambassadors and
envoys. He declared at the same time through Lebzeltern, that he had no
need of reconciliation with the Pope; that his bishops had the necessary
powers for the granting of matrimonial dispensations, that the _Code
Napoleon_ authorized civil marriage, and that in the prime difficulty of
all, the institution of bishops, he could set aside the action of the
Pope and make use of a national council. The answer of Pius VII. was
firm and uncompromising. He rejected the proposal of resigning his
temporal power, he demanded free communication with his bishops and the
faithful. He dismissed Lebzeltern without any concessions whatever,
leaving the case exactly as it stood before that envoy's visit.
The anger of the Emperor upon learning the mind of the Pope did not
prevent him from making another attempt at reconciliation. This time he
sent two of the red cardinals, Spina and Caselli, formerly the Papal
negotiators for the Concordat, who met with no greater success. Napoleon
now determined to take the reins of ecclesiastical government into his
own hands. He began this course by appointing Cardinal Maury, the Bishop
of Montefiascone, to the post of Archbishop of Paris. The measure met
with instant condemnation, especially from Pope Pius VII. who, writing
to the Cardinal, reproached him for betraying the Church: "You are not
ashamed," he said, "of taking part against Us in a contest which we only
carry on to defend the dignity of the Church." To these remonstrances of
the Holy Father the unhappy Cardinal paid no heed. For daring to thus
utter his condemnation of the Emperor's conduct and Maury's treachery,
Napoleon determined to punish the Pope. The apartments of the Holy
Father were broken into by imperial orders, all writing materials were
taken away, his books, even his breviary, were forbidden him, his
servants were sent away to Fenestrelle, his household expenses were cut
down (five _pauli_, about fifty cents a day for each person being
allowed for the maintenance of his household), the carriages he had used
were sent to Turin, and even the fisherman's ring was demanded and sent
to Paris. Before this was done, however, the Pope broke the ring in two.
Napoleon now began to seek precedents in history for the deposing of the
Pope. Not succeeding in this he began a systematic persecution of
priests and laymen suspected of too ardent piety, hoping thus to render
devotion to the exiled Pope odious. Chafing at the ill success of all
these subversive measures Napoleon determined upon a final scheme. He
recalled the independence of the Russian czar in matters of Greek Church
discipline; he reflected that George III. was undisturbed by any show of
independence on the part of the English hierarchy. Why, therefore,
should not Napoleon, the conqueror of Europe, make to himself a new
schism, a new hierarchy, institute his own bishops, and be free from the
troublesome superintendence of the Pope? The idea was inviting, and the
Emperor immediately took steps towards its accomplishment. A great
council was called at Paris. Its permanent presiding officer was
Cardinal Fesch, the uncle of the Emperor, and it numbered among its
deliberators one hundred and four French and Italian bishops. Like other
councils it discussed matters of universal importance, but its chief
debates concerned the canonical institution of the French hierarchy. In
this matter the council decided that no bishop might be considered
legitimate who had not obtained his canonical institution from the
great Father of the faithful. Yet that the council might not displease
the Emperor it was decided that a deputation of bishops be sent to
Savona to again beg the Holy Father to institute the candidates
proposed. Again the Pope renewed his refusal, though, for the sake of
peace, he agreed that if the sovereign Pontiff should delay such
institution for six months, it might then be granted by the metropolitan
or senior bishop. This was merely a delegation of power, not a cession,
and was granted only for the emergency of the time being.
The Council of Paris was, taken collectively, null, inasmuch as it was
convoked and carried on without the requisite conditions. Its decrees
were, therefore, without any binding force. In fact, even the Emperor
himself recognized this and was only too happy to find a pretext for its
dissolution.
_AT FONTAINEBLEAU._
Napoleon now perceived that if he was to gain anything over the will of
the Pope he must contrive to have his illustrious prisoner nearer to his
own person. Under the pretext, therefore, that the English ships were
hovering about Savona to liberate the Pope, the Emperor shortly after
the termination of the Council of Paris, caused the Holy Father to be
removed secretly to the palace of Fontainebleau. (June 16, 1812).
The conduct of the Emperor during the stay at Fontainebleau was in
keeping with his past behavior. Under a specious display of ceremonial
reverence towards Pius VII. he concealed a course of cruel treatment
unworthy of a man, much less of a sovereign. It is true, the palace of
Fontainebleau was not wanting in regal magnificence, that the table of
the Pope was all that might be desired, and that the servants who
surrounded him showed due respect for their spiritual ruler. At the
same time the Emperor himself acted the part of a bully and braggart
towards a weak and feeble old man. An insulting tone of voice ever
accompanied the most insulting demands, until the Pontiff worn out and
half delirious with agony was made to yield to the most unwarrantable
demands. Thus it was that upon the bed of sickness the Holy Father was
finally led to apply his signature to a Concordat which, in a state of
health, he would have repudiated in the most decided terms. It must be
remembered, however, that this yielding was not in an affair of faith
and morals, nor did it concern the Universal Church; it was a cession
for the time being of temporal rights, not even a final session, but one
made temporarily in the interests of peace, and as such did not affect
the Papal position as the teacher and ruler of all the faithful. The
Emperor, in his joy at this apparent victory, began at once to show
unwonted kindness towards the Pope, and as a sign of his good will,
permitted the old cardinals, the faithful black cardinals, to return
from prison and exile to comfort him in his captivity. This concession
proved unfortunate for Napoleon, for scarcely had they gained access to
the Sovereign Pontiff than they began to represent to him the immense
importance of the Concordat which he had signed. It was represented as a
renunciation of all those inalienable rights which belonged to him, not
personally, but as the Sovereign Ruler of the Roman States, a most
humiliating concession after all he had hitherto borne in their defence.
The Holy Father in deep sorrow protested that the document was not
definitive, but merely a preliminary statement, which should be
reconsidered before publication, so that the Concordat of that year was
really without Pontifical authority. Thereupon, he made known to
Napoleon his objections, retracted everything contained in the
Concordat, rendering it thereby null. This decision of the Sovereign
Pontiff only rendered the Emperor all the more furious, and incited him
to renew the discomforts of his prisoner. His cardinal advisers were
again sent into exile or to prison, while he commanded that the
Concordat of 1813 should be everywhere executed without further delay.
_RETURN OF THE POPE TO ROME._
But the hour had already sounded for the total ruin of the tyrant. He
who had trodden Europe under foot, now discovered Europe armed to meet
him. With Germany consumed by a superhuman resolve to be free; with his
old generals weary of fighting and struggling for the glory of a single
man; with even his own relative, Murat, a partial traitor; with
murmurings and threats resounding on all sides, Napoleon was not slow to
perceive that his fortunes were in a precarious state. The year went by
and battles were fought; some gained, some lost. The great campaign
against Russia, with its consequent humiliating retreat had given the
signal. The great Conqueror, who had once claimed a kind of sovereignty
over a large part of Europe, now found France hardly able to uphold his
imperial authority. In his desire to repair some of the wrongs he had
perpetrated he liberated the Holy Father, in the beginning of the year
1814. But the repentance came too late. Already the enemy stood before
the gates of Paris, and Napoleon learned that the day of his imperial
domination was at an end. In his despair he fled to Fontainebleau, and
there, in the very same chamber wherein he had confined his spiritual
superior, he signed the articles of his abdication (April 6, 1814). His
fate was soon sealed by those triumphant powers against which he had so
long contended, and he retired a humbler man to his place of exile upon
the island of Elba.
[Illustration: RETURN OF PIUS VII.]
Meanwhile Pius VII., who was by this time far on his way to Rome, was
waiting at Imola for the final ending of the great tragedy which was
taking place in France, and hearing of the downfall of his old-time foe,
he hurried on with all dispatch to Rome. He arrived there on May 24,
1814, and made a solemn entrance into the Eternal City, whence five
years before, he had been dragged away with so much violence. The joy
and enthusiasm of the people, augmented by the memories of recent
usurpation and tyranny, were unbounded. It was not alone that Rome had
regained her sovereign but the Church also had again her beloved head,
and all the Catholic world took part in the triumph of Religion over the
unbridled ambition of her enemies.
It is true the storm had not entirely subsided. Napoleon again broke
forth from captivity, and the Holy See for a moment trembled lest new
outrages might yet be perpetrated against the Church. But before the
danger could have been brought to its accomplishment, the newly arisen
Napoleon was again overthrown at Waterloo, June 18, 1815, after which he
was exiled beyond all hope of return, to the lonely island of St.
Helena, where he died on May 5, 1821, after six years of penance.
Peace now settled upon the troubled Church. Religion once more dried the
tears of sorrow, and the Pope, restored to the love of his faithful
people, began to give his attention to arts nobler than that of war; the
raising up of Catholic peoples in the knowledge of that God, Who, after
purging them in the land of bondage, had overwhelmed their enemies and
brought them to newer and richer prospects in the land of promise.
FOOTNOTE:
[Footnote 1: _Memoires of King Joseph._]