“The day after the signing of the famous Concordat of Fontainebleau, the Pope dined in public with me; but in the night he was ill, or pretended to be.  He was a lamblike, honest, and truly good man, whom I highly esteemed and loved, and who had some regard for me I am sure.  Would you believe it, he wrote me a week after signing the Concordat that he much regretted having done so, that his conscience reproached him for it, and urged me earnestly to consider it as of no effect.  This was owing to the fact that immediately after leaving me he had fallen into the hands of his usual advisers, who made a scarecrow out of what had just occurred.  If we had been together I could easily have reassured him.  I replied that what he demanded was contrary to the interests of France; and moreover, being infallible, he could not have made a mistake, and his conscience was too quick to take the alarm for him to have done wrong.

“In fact, compare the condition of Rome formerly with what it is to-day.  Paralyzed by the necessary consequences of the Revolution, could she have risen again and maintained her position?  A vicious government as to political matters has taken the place of the former Roman legislation, which, without being perfect, nevertheless contributed to form great men of every kind.  Modern Rome has applied to its political government principles better suited to a religious order, and has carried them out in a manner fatal to the happiness of the people.

“Thus charity is the most perfect of Christian virtues; it is necessary to give charity to all who ask it.  This form of reasoning has rendered Rome the receptacle of the dregs of all nations.  One sees collected there (so I am told, for I have never visited it) all the idlers of the earth, who come thither to take refuge, assured of finding an abundant support with much to spare.  And thus the papal territory, which nature has destined to produce immense wealth from its situation under a favorable sky, from the multiplicity of streams with which it is watered, and above all from the fertility of the soil, languishes for want of cultivation.  Berthier has often told me that large tracts of country may be traversed without perceiving the impress of the hand of man.  The women even, who are regarded as the most beautiful of Italy, are indolent, and their minds evince no activity even in the ordinary duties of life.  The inhabitants have all the languor of Asiatic manners.

“Modern Rome limits itself to preserving a certain pre-eminence by virtue of the marvelous works of art which it contains; but we have greatly weakened this claim.  Our museum is enriched by all the masterpieces which were a source of so much pride, and soon the magnificent edifice of the Bourse which is to be erected at Paris will eclipse all those of Europe, either ancient or modern.

“France before all.”