CHAPTER XXXI.

1805

Napoleon and Voltaire—­Demands of the Holy See—­Coolness between the pope and the Emperor—­Napoleon’s departure for Italy—­Last interview between the Pope and the Emperor at Turin—­Alessandria—­The field of Marengo—­The last Doge of Genoa—­Bonaparte’s arrival at Milan—­Union of Genoa to the French Empire—­Error in the Memorial of St. Helen—­ Bonaparte and Madam Grassini—­Symptoms of dissatisfaction on the part of Austria and Russia—­Napoleon’s departure from Milan—­ Monument to commemorate the battle of Marengo—­Napoleon’s arrival in Paris and departure for Boulogne—­Unfortunate result of a naval engagement—­My visit to Fouche’s country seat—­Sieyes, Barras, the Bourbons, and Bonaparte—­Observations respecting Josephine.

Voltaire says that it is very well to kiss the feet of Popes provided their hands are tied.  Notwithstanding the slight estimation in which Bonaparte held Voltaire, he probably, without being aware of this irreverent satire, put it into practice.  The Court of Rome gave him the opportunity of doing so shortly after his Coronation.  The Pope, or rather the Cardinals, his advisers’ conceiving that so great an instance of complaisance as the journey of His Holiness to Paris ought not to go for nothing; demanded a compensation, which, had they been better acquainted with Bonaparte’s character and policy, they would never have dreamed of soliciting.  The Holy see demanded the restitution of Avignon, Bologna, and some parts of the Italian territory which had formerly been subject to the Pope’s dominion.  It may be imagined how such demands were received by Napoleon, particularly after he had obtained all he wanted from the Pope.  It was, it must be confessed, a great mistake of the Court of Rome, whose policy is usually so artful and adroit, not to make this demand till after the Coronation.  Had it been made the condition of the Pope’s journey to France perhaps Bonaparte would have consented to give up, not Avignon, certainly, but the Italian territories, with the intention of taking them back again.  Be this as it may, these tardy claims, which were peremptorily rejected, created an extreme coolness between Napoleon and Pius vii.  The public did not immediately perceive it, but there is in the public an instinct of reason which the most able politicians never can impose upon; and all eyes were opened when it was known that the Pope, after having crowned Napoleon as Emperor of France, refused to crown him as sovereign of the regenerated kingdom of Italy.

Napoleon left Paris on the 1st of April to take possession of the Iron Crown at Milan.  The Pope remained some time longer in the French capital.  The prolonged presence of His Holiness was not without its influence on the religious feelings of the people, so great was the respect inspired by the benign countenance and mild manners of the Pope.  When the period of his persecutions arrived it would have been well for Bonaparte had Pius vii. never been seen in Paris, for it was impossible to view in any other light than as a victim the man whose truly evangelic meekness had been duly appreciated.