THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES RICHARD CORBET. Adderley. - HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL MEMOIRS i OF PIUS THE SIXTH, AND OF HIS PONTIFICATE, DOWN TO THE PERIOD OF HIS RETIREMENT INTO TUSCANY j CONTAINING CURIOUS AND INTERESTING PARTICULARS, DERIVED FROM THE MOST AUTHENTIC SOURCES OF INFORMATION, CONCERNING HIS PRIVATE LIFE, HIS DISPUTES WITH THE DIFFERENT POWERS OF EUROPE, THE CAUSES WHICH LED TO THE SUBVERSION OF THE PAPAL THRONE AND THE ROMAN REVOLUTION. TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH. VOL. II. LONDON: Printed by S. HAMILTON, Falcon-court, Fleet-flrect, FOR. C. G. AND J. ROBINSON, PATE R-NOSTER-ROW. 1/99- flT- . . '' CONTENTS CHAPTER XVIII. DISPUTES between the Court of Rome and the Tufcan Government, - page I CHAPTER XIX. Difputes between Pius and the Court of Naples, 28 CHAPTER XX. New Wounds in/lifted by the Court of Naples on the Privileges of the Court of Rome, 49 r CHAPTER XXI. Mortifications received by Pius from the Court of Na- ples Abolition of the Homage cf the Palfrey, yz CHAPTER XXII. Pius's Relations ivith different Powers of Europe with the United States of America *with Po- vj CONTENTS. land the King of Sweden the Republic of Ve- nice Portugal the Dukes of Modena, Parma, &c. - - 103 CHAPTER XXIII. State of the Roman Government, previous to the Period of its Overthrow, . iq6 / J CHAPTER XXIV. Connexions between France and Pius VI. down to the Revolution of 1789, - - 170 CHAPTER XXV. Ecclefiaftic Reforms undertaken by the National Af- fembly of France, 204 CHAPTER XXVI. Injuries received by France from the Court of Rome, - - 234 CHAPTER XXVII. EmbarraJJments and Inconjljlsncies of the Court of Rome, - - - a6i CONTENTS. vii CHAPTER XXVIII. Immediate Caufe of the Downfall of the Roman Government, - 324 CHAPTER XXIX. Confequentes of the Entry of the French into Rome, - - 341 CHAPTER XXX. Fate of Plus and his Nephews* - 357 CHAPTER XXXI. / Principal Reforms effeRed in the Roman State by the new Government y n 372 , CHAPTER XXXII. Conclujion> - 385 HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL MEMOIRS OF PIUS VL AND OF HJS PONTIFICATE. CHAPTER XVIII. Difputes between, the Court of Rome and the Tufcari Government. ITH greater gentlenefs of manner and fu- perior coolnefs of temper, Leopold profefled nearly the fame principles in administration as his brother : and it will ever be confidered as a memorable circumftance in the hiftory of the J)refent century, that two brothers, two princes of that fame houfe of Auftria whofe paflion? have fo often thrown the world into confufion and increafed the errors as well as the calamities of mankind, Ihould in concert have undertaken* each within his own dominions, to banifh de-> grading and oppreflive prejudices, and partly Jo VOL. II. JB fealife that hope, which has fo often been difap- pointed, of feeing philofophy feated on the throne. Notwithftanding a few miftakes, fuch as muft ever attend the firft fteps taken in a quite novel career, the reign of Leopold will ever be accounted one of the moft fupportable ; and Tufcany, indebted to him for her profperity, will long blefs his memory. But, to produce thofe beneficial effects which fhe (till enjoys, Leopold had to overcome many obftacles, to thwart many interefts, confequently to create many mal-contents. During feveral antecedent ages, the court of Rome, with her preteniions confecrated by the credulity of man- kind, and the abufes introduced by her ambi- tion cloked under the facred veil of religion, flood in the way to oppofe all thofe who at- tempted to illuminate and regenerate any por- tion of the human race. Leopold combated her with a perfeverance which was finally crowned with the moft complete fuccefs. Scarcely was Pius the Sixth feated on the pontifical throne when he perceived that he ihould find in that prince a formidable enemy. In 1775, Leopold ordained that all ecclefiaftical pofTefiions fituate in his Hates fhould thencefor- ward be fubjet to the fame contributions as other property ; and he fixed the age at which his fubje&s might be admitted into a religious order. In the following year he fupprefled all hermits who had not privileged hermitages (pri- vileged hermits !), and reftrained them all from begging. This was little toward the accom- plifhment of the vaft plan which he had in con- templation; but it was much for a beginning. The court of Rome fighed and murmured : that of Florence continued unfliaken in its purpofe : nor was this the only mortification that Pius was doomed to fuffer from it. How great was the alarm of that pontiff when, in 1778, he faw the grand-duke revive the an- cient pretenfions of Tufcany to the duchy of Urbino collecl: information refpecting the num- ber of perfons of both fexes in the different reli- gious orders, and the amount of their revenues enjoin them to give graiuitoufly the.firft ele- ments of inftruftion to youth oblige them to a ftricT: obfervance of the rules of their refpelive inftitutions, a flow though fure mode of dimi- niming their number exclude them from pub- lic places- and render their fuperiors refpon- fible for any fcandalous conduct of which they might be guilty, &c. It is a difgrace to human nature and to the Chriftian religion that fuch prudent meafures mould at any time have been confidered as innovations : but they were viewed as fo many eifays which prefaged more ferious B 2 reforms, and might therefore well alarm the court of Rome. Leopold, however, in accomplifliing thefe re- forms, was fometimes miftaken in his choice of the means and the inftruments he employed. He was in fea'rch of a man, at once intrepid and en- lightened, who, knowing the true limits which Chriftianity ought not to exceed, mould purify without deftroying it, and fhould co-operate with him in opening the eyes of his fubjets without incurring the rilk of too violently fhocking their prejudices. For, though as much a philofopher as his brother, yet, more moderate in his philo- fophy, he faw that religion was a ufeful ally to the throne, that it furnifhed a fupport and a fupplement to the temporal authority: he only wimed that it mould not prove its rival. But, to effecl: this great revolution without any con- vulfion, he flood in need of agents who mould unite prudence with intrepidity. The men who are bed qualified for fuch a talk are rather thofe who fhrink from the public eye than thofe who thruft thcmfelves forxvard to view. His choice fell on one of the latter description Scipio Ricci,bi(hop of Piftoja. That prelate was noted for his averfion to re- ligious mummeries, as well as for his bold enter- prifing 'character. Fond of innovation rather than of reform, he would perhaps have efta- blifhed the reign of fupcrftition in Tufcany if it had before been unknown. Finding it already eftablifhed, its overthrow was become the object of his ambition ; and he purfued his plan with much greater zeal than difcernment. After having fuccefsfully pafled through his academic courfe in Tufcany, but not without fome morti- fications which had begun to four his temper, he devoted himfelf to the ecclefiaftical profeffion, and early announced a with to aft a confpicuous part in the world. He was propofed to the Holy See by the grand-duke as candidate for the bifhopric of Pittoja, and repaired to Rome to folicit the iffuing of the bulls cuftomary on fuch occafions. There the perfons in whofe hands lay the diftribution of fpiritual favours fubjetied him to various difficulties, which irritated his irafcible humour ; and he returned to Florence highly diflatisfied with the court of Rome. His complaints, his projects of reform, were in per- fect accord with the grand-duke's fyftem : they fixed the attention of Leopold, who liftened to him with complaifance, confulted him, and en- couraged him in his reformatory ideas. Thus allured of his fovereign's approbation, he imme- diately went to try in his little diocefe the expe- riment of his philofophic innovations. Leopold, who wiflied for arguments and examples in favour of his own fyftem, fuffered him to proceed. Ricci now found himfelf pofleffed of extraordi- nary power, which he exercifed in a manner that fometimes excited ridicule, and at others fhocked the ideas of the public. He beftowed his attention on thofe minutiae which are of no importance unlefs fo far as people choofe to make them fo. We will quote a few inftances. His diocefe was full of thofe Jlations which ferve to retrace before the ages of the faithful the different paufes which our Saviour may be fuppofed to have made in his painful walk up to mount Calvary. Each of them was marked by an image, at the foot of which the devotees flopped to kneel down and pray. One of the bifhop's firft flops was to reduce thofe ftations to balf their former number: upon which the peo- ple exclaimed againft him as guilty of herefy. He wiihed to abolifli the worfliip of images: immediately he was branded as a Calvinift, a heretic, an atheift. In Tufcany, as in every other catholic country, the priefts, in celebrating mafs, pronounced certain words in a low voice : he maintained that the divine fervice was in- tended as much for the congregation as for the prieft, and that nothing ought to be concealed from them : he therefore gravely ordained that the clergymen mould pronounce in a loud voice all the prayers of the mafs. With the approba- tion of the Holy See, which was eafily obtained for fuch inftitutions, there had been eftabliflied in Tufcany a new fyftem of devotion directed to " the f acred heart of Jefus." The zeal of the bifliop of Piftoja was inflamed againft an efta^ blifliment which he thought incompatible with found theology: he wrote a pailoral letter to forbid it, and, fetting himfelf up as a cenfor of the Holy See, aflerted that the pope had fuflfered himfelf to be deceived. This happened in 1781, a fhort while before Pius's journey to Vienna. Pius, alarmed by thefe various attempts againft his authority, directed a brief to the bifliop to recall him to his duty. Mifled in turn by his 2eal, he ufed expreffions in it which the grand- duke confidered as very offenfive ; and war was declared. In a very energetic memorial which his minifter at Rome was obliged to prefent to the pope, he demanded of him a fpeedy andfignal reparation. " The times of Gregory VII. and Boniface VIII.," faid the grand-duke, " are no more. Sovereigns will no longer permit the pope to break through the refpecl which is due to them, or arrogate to himfelf the right of com- manding their fubje&s." Leopold ordered his minifter to depart immediately unlefs he ob- tained fatisfaclion. In times lefs fraught with tempefts for the B 4 8 Holy See, Pius's letter would have been deemed moderate. But Leopold was on the watch for a pretext : his philofophy had grown into a kind of paflion ; and the paflions are irafcible, and cannot brook delay. Yet what was the imme- diate caufe of this great rupture ? A pitiful ad- venture which ought never to have tranfpired beyond the gates of the cloifters. There were at Prato fome Dominican friars who acted as confeflbrs to a convent of Dominican nuns in their vicinity. This fpiritual relation had here, as in many other cafes, given to the ftronger fex a great afcendency over the weaker -, and irre- gularities of more than one kind had been the confequence. Suddenly the hypocritical bilhop of Piftoja was inflamed with faintly wrath : he aflerted that the Dominican nuns of Prato had been corrupted all who H during the jubilee fhould vifit four of the prin- cipal churches at Rome. A royal edit was iffued, which declared, that, to obtain thofe fpiritual favours, it was fufficient to perform that pious formality in four churches at Naples. In this inftance the fovereign fhowed himfelf evert more ridiculous than the pontiff: if he believed in the efficacy of indulgences, he could not, deftitute as he was of fpiritual power, think himfelf authorifed to determine the mode of ob- taining them : he therefore in his turn was guilty of ufurpation : but there are countries where philofophy is obliged to compromife with fuper- ftition. Tanucci adopted meafures of greater utility ; he fuddenly fupprefled feventy-eight monafteries in Sicily : he confolidated fome biftioprics into one, caufed abbeys to be conferred by the fole authority of the king, and directed the bifhops to fill by their own nomination the vacant livings in their diocefes. It was no longer poflible to forefee where the court of Naples would flop : even by that of Spain it was confidered as over- ftepping the bounds of prudence. The Spaniih minifter Monino was inftrufted to interpofe ; but cardinal Orfini confirmed Tanucci in his obftinate perfeverance. At this period the archbimopric of Naples became vacant, and proved the fource of a new S3 conteft between Plus and Ferdinand. The king claimed the right of nominating to it according to his own pleafure ; and the pontiff maintained that the nomination could not take effet with- out his concurrence. Cardinal Giraud, who had materially contributed to the elevation of Pius to the pontificate, and retained a certain afcendency over him, afted as mediator in bringing this difference to an amicable termina- tion, and without the intervention of Tanucci or Orfini. It was agreed that the king alone ftiould nominate to the archbimopric of Na- ples, and that, in return, the fee of Palermo, which was alfo vacant at the fame time, mould be conferred by the pope without the concurrence of Ferdinand. But when the ground of quarrels is of ancient date, and they are conne6ted with perfonalities, whatever truces may temporarily fufpend them are not of long duration. Tanucci and Orfini on the one hand, on the other the pope's fecre- tary of ftate and the Rezzonicos, mortified at Giraud's fuccefs, fought and foon found an op- portunity of breaking that which had been con- cluded on this occafion. A perfuafion was ex- cited in the mind of the pope that the new archbifhop of Naples was tainted with Janfe- nifm. To incur fuch an accufation, it was fuf- ficient that a man were known to be not a friend VOL. II. D 34 to the Jefuits* From a period of above three centuries back, the archbifhop of Naples had by invariable ufage been decorated with the Roman purple. Ferdinand afked that euftomary favour for his creature : Pius refufed it ; and hoftilities blazed forth anew* This event ex- a&ly co-incided with the wiflies of Tanucci, whofe buftling difpofition inftigated him to feek for broils with even greater eagernefs than his philofophy led him to purfue plans of reform. He was moreover ftung with jealous mortifica- tion on observing that the new Spaniih minifter, the duke de Grimaldi, lived on terms of clofeil intimacy with his coufm-german Pallavicini, the fecretary of ftate. He was apprehenfive of a fecret underflanding between them for the pur- pofe of inducing Charles the Third to recom- mend to his fon a more moderate conduft to- ward the court of Rome. The ufual effect of oppofition on his temper was to irritate him,, but never to make him recede from his purpofe. Accordingly he fent information to the pope, that a perfiftence in his refufal mould be fol- lowed by retaliation on the part of the Neapo- litan government ; that the archbifhops of Na- ples fhould never again be permitted to accept a feat in the Sacred College ; that they could readily difpenfe with Roman decorations j that the king $vould create an eccleliaftic order of which the 35 hiembers fhould be clothed in purple after the manner of the cardinals ; that, after all, the car- dirialitian dignity was nothing more than a fu- perfetation in the hierarchy, &c. Pius felt fome alarm, and had recourfe to pa- ternal remonftrahces, the mode in which he ufually concluded. His nuncio was inftru&ed to reprefent mildly to the king that his holinefs felt a confcientious repugnance to the exalta- tion of a Janfenift to the cardinalate. But he experienced an unyielding inflexibility in the Neapolitan court, where Tanucci ftiil maintain- ed his fway. In all his meafures, even thofe of the moft prudent caft, a love of mifchief bore fome (hare. He ftudied to procure a triumph for that chimerical Janfenifm which excited fuch uneafy fcruples in the bofom of the holy father. The new archbifhop of Naples was obliged to erafe from the paftoral letter by which he announced his nomination the cuftom- ary words " et apoftolic* fedis gratia *," which would have implied that he was indebted for it to the fee of Rome. About this time a Dominican friar, a profeflbr of theology, wrote a book which the Roman in- quifition prohibited under the pretence that it was tinctured with Janfenifm. The author was * " And through the favour of the apoflolic fee." D 2 36 degraded from his profeflbrial chair by cardinal Boxadors the general of his order, and fum- moned to appear before him. He obeyed : but fcarcely had he reached Rome, when the king or, to fpeak more properly,- TanuccioTdered him to return to Naples, to refume his chair, and to write a continuation of his work. The docile Dominican paid equal obedience to this new mandate ; and the mortification of the court of Rome was extreme. Every circumftance now fcemed to co-operate in exafperating the quarrel between the papacy and the Neapolitan government. The former had peaceably enough recovered the privilege of annually receiving from the latter a homage which was ftill more flattering to the vanity of the pontiff than thofe purely eeclefiaftic prero- gatives which were fucceffively wrefted from his grafp : I mean the prefentation of the palfrey. It is well known that Charles of Anjou, who was in great meafure indebted to the protection of the poj)e for the acquifition of the throne of Naples, wifhing at once to exhibit a proof of his gratitude and to fanftion his ufurpation by the (lamp of legitimacy, fubje&ed his newly- acquired kingdom to the annual payment of forty-thoufand florins to the fee of Rome, and, furpafling in obfequioufnefs his predeceflbrs of the Norman line, declared himfelf a vaffal of 37 the fovereign pontiff, binding himfelf to pre- fent to him every year a white palfrev, and en- tailing on all his fucceffors the performance of that degrading a6t of homage. At the period of thefe tranfa&ions the popes flood towering in the zenith of that power which at length gave fcandal to all Europe whorn they had fo long kept in thraldom. It may well be fuppofed that their arrogance took due advan- tage of To finking an inftance of fubmiflion. The fervile devotion of the temporal fovereigns even out-ran the pretenfions of the Roman fee. Thofe of Naples had prided themfelves in a difplay of munificence as a palliative of their degradation : nor had the popes negle&ed to claim thefe homages as matter of right, and to confider the moft trifling minutiae of them as an eflential part of their dignity. When that was at ftake, every thing, even the moft ridiculous cuftom, was accounted facred ; and the guilt of facrilege, as it were, attached to the man who mould dare in the flighted degree to infringe it. But neither the name nor the deed carried any terror to the foul of Xanucci. He only awaited a convenient pretext to emancipate the crown of Naples from the tributary fubje&ion in which he had found it funk. The following was the mode of tendering that tribute, which had in is the firft inftance been flipulated in a very vague manner by its vile and criminal author. Every year, on the eve of the feftival of the spoftles Peter and Paul, at the conclufion of vefpers, a kind of throne was erected for the pope in the area before St. Peter's church. A white palfrey was led to him, richly caparifoned, and (hod with filver. On the left fide of the faddle hung a purfe containing fix thoufand ducats, or a bill to the fame amount, payable at fight. Prince Colonna, the grand- conftable of the kingdom of Naples, had the charge of pre- fenting the palfrey, which for that purpofe was conduced to the foot of his holinefs's throne : prince Colonna then gave the animal a ftroke with a rod on the fore-legs ; whereupon the docile creature, having been long trained to the performance of this refpeftful feat, proftrated himfelf, and again rofe. His miffion now ful- filled, his illuftrious interpreter took the gold or the paper, prefented it to the pope, and thus clofed the ceremony. The court of Rome was careful to enhance the pomp of the fcene by the mod magnificent apparatus : and could it do lefs to honour that reirmant of the fovereign fu- premacy which it once had arrogated to itfelf over all Chriftendom ? The pontiffs, however, had not uninterrupted- iy enjoyed the proud gratification of this tri- bute. During the continuance of their grand conteft with the courts of the houfe of Bourbon, the prefentation of the palfrey had been fufpend- ed : after the reconciliation, the praftice was re- fumed : but even in the fecond year, in 1776, the performance itfelf was productive of a fcene which might have been followed "by its aboli- tion. A difpute of etiquette arofe between the pages of Cornaro the governor of Rome and thofe of prince Colonna, which had nearly inter- rupted the augujl ceremony. It was afferted at the time that the quarrel had been privately ex- cited by cardinal Pallavicini who was fufpefted of acting in collufion with the mifchievous Ta- nucci. Such a manoeuvre was by no means probable : yet Pius was fo far fatisfied of its probability that he conceived a yet flronger an- tipathy to his fecretary of ftate, whom he had never loved, and in whom he always viewed the man who had be.en his moft formidable compe- titor. However the queft'ion may be decided refpecling the charge againil Pallavicini, Ta- nucci took occafion, from the fcene which had occurred, to propofe the adoption of a much lefs pompous mode ofprefenting the palfrey and the money. But, for one of his fucceffors was rcferved the talk of accomplilhing fomething further. Tanucci, bowed down with the weight D 4 40 of years, foon afte.r retired from the minify ; an event which proved a fource of great joy to the court of Rome. The pope however had the prudence to refrain from teftifying the plea- fure which he felt on the occafion : and it was well that he obferved that caution ; for Tanucci, had relinquifhed on|y tfce title of prime minifter, and for fome time longer continued to enjoy all the power annexed to the ftation. But, before he retired from office, he prevailed on the king to adopt the meafure of which the pontiff was apprehenfive. The Neapolitan mi- nifter was directed to announce to the pope, that, for the purpofe of avoiding all future dif- putes on the fubjecl: of etiquette, the palfrey and the fix thoufand ducats mould thencefor- ward be prefented, not by the grand-conftable Colonna invefted with the character of embaiTa- dor extraordinary, but by a fimple agent. We have often feen with what fond affection Pius cheriflied the pomp of ceremonial. The Neapolitan declaration therefore wounded him in a very tender part ; and in his affliction he turned for relief to the Spanifh minifter, know- ing that Charles the Third, when he had not any fubjecl: of quarrel with him, fympathifed in his diftrefles, and that he retained confiderable influence over the young king his fon, and over Tanucci. His complaints did not meet with a 41 reception correfpondent to his hopes. The court of Madrid was not yet certain of his intentions with refpeft to the Jefuits, and accufed him of having given teftimonies of his condefcenfion to their partifans. The Spanifh minifter Florida- Blanca did not conceal from cardinal Pallavi- cini that he had himfelf little reliance on the efficacy of his intercefiion. That minifter, na- turally of an imperious temper, was extremely impatient of the ilighteft attack upon what he juftly confidered as his own work. Within a very mort time after, he was re- called home to occupy the flation of prime mi- nifter of Spain, and was fucceeded in his foreign miffion by the duke de Grimaldi. Pius, al- though he felt an efteem for Florida-Blanca, was neverthelefs rejoiced to fee himfelf relieved from the prefence of that auftere cenfor. The fecretary of ftate efpecially was delighted to learn that the poft of Spanifh minifter at Rome was to be filled by his near relative whom he called his protector, and with whofe eafy difpo- Jition he was acquainted. But the pope and his minifter were not benefited by the change. The count de Florida-Blanca entered on his miniftry with a thorough knowledge of the court of Rome, of its prejudices, of its ridiculous pretenfions, and its contefts with the Neapoli- tan court. Till that time he had acled in rigid conformity to rigid inftructions : thenceforward it was by himfelf that the instructions were to be given. As to the duke de Grimaldi, it was foon perceived at Madrid that he fuffered him- felf to be deceived by the Jefuitical party : and the confidence of the court was repofed in the chevalier Azara, who, at firft under the fimple title of agent, and after a few years under that of minifter, acquired at Rome the afcendency to which his knowledge and energetic character juftly entitled him. The count de Florida-Blanca who, previous to his departure from Rome, had been a witnefs of the profane chagrin excited in the pope's bofom by the threats of the Neapolitan court refpecling the palfrey, and had obferved him to figh at the idea that it would perhaps be under his pontificate that the Holy See fliould be de- prived of that glorious homage condefcended to exert all his influence for the purpofe of faving him from that mortification. His efforts were fuccefsful, and the famous ceremony was per- formed in 1777 with the accuftomed pomp. The pope teftified a puerile joy on the occa- fion ; and the people of Rome celebrated with enthufiafm what they confidered as a kind of victory. .That victory however was not in all points complete : and it was eafy to perceive that the court of Naples reluctantly yielded to a 43 foreign impulfe. The contlable Colonna, in presenting the tribute from the Neapolitan monarch, added, to the folernn expreliions con- fecrated by long cuftom, thefe words of fmifter omen, " for the prefent year," and faid that " the prefentation of the palfrey was only a teftimony of devotion toward Saint Peter and Saint Paul.'* Hereupon the pope, though taken unaware, immediately replied, " We accept the palfrey as a feudal offering due from the crown of Naples :" and the attending crowd applauded this reply by repeated cries of" viva I viva /" Such are the important objects with which fovereigns often feed their vanity ! On both fides fome diflatisfation prevailed. At Naples the grandees murmured, and complained that the advantage fo courageoufly gained by Tanucci was bafely relinquiihed by his fuc- ceflbr. That fucceflbr, the marquis della Sambucca, did not however fpare the feelings of the court of Rome in other refpects : he purfued Tanuc- ci's plan, or rather the fpirit of Tanucci conti- nued t animate and guide the Neapolitan go- vernment. In the fame year all the bifhops in the kingdom were forbidden to receive bulls from Rome under any pretence whatever. Not- withltanding the conftitutional independence which Sicily was entitled to enjoy with refpeft 44 to the See of Rome, the popes, ever dextrous in taking advantage of any negligence in the fe- cular governments, had fucceeded in caufing their bulls to be accepted by the bifhops of that ifland, and even obtaining the royal exfe- quatitr. This abufe was profcribed. The vigi- lance of old Tanucci would not fuffer even in the marquis della Sambucca the ilighteft dero- gation from the treaties which bound the court of Rome. That new minifter wiflied to tolerate in the kingdom of Naples two ex-Jefuits, his relatives. Tanucci fecretly complained of the circumftance to the court of Madrid ; and im- mediately Charles III., who ftill continued to exercife his paternal authority at Naples, very ferioufly recommended to the king his fon not to fuffer that exception from the general law which banifhed the defunct fociety from his dominions. At this period his recommendations ftill poifefled over the king of Naples all the in- fluence of commands. Sambucca's two proteges were fent after their brethren into the papal ter- ritory. Thus an abfent and foreign monarch gave the law at Naples through the organ of a minifter who had ceafed from his functions : and this fingular phenomenon fuggefled to a traveller who was at that time paffing through the Neapolitan dominions, that " the kingdom of Naples refembled the empire of the fhacles,." 45 The interpolation of Charles, however, for fome time faved the pontiff from new mortifi- cations, and effected a temporary fufpenfion of his difputes with the Neapolitan court. On each iide fome flight teftimonies of condefcenfion were given. The king deigned to afk the pope's confent to the fuppreffion of a rich Carthufian monaftery ; and the pope deigned to acquiefce, but on condition that, in taking pofleffion of the property belonging to it, he fhould make provifion for the fupport of its monkifh inmates. The prefentation of the palfrey took place in 1778, but with the fame mortifying reftritions as in the preceding year. The king had ftill an exifting caufe of complaint againft the Holy See : the pontiff perfevered in his refufal to grant the Roman purple to the archbifhop of Naples. Ferdinand loft his patience, and fud- denly put a ftop to the difpenfations which the datario ftill continued to grant. By this meafure the pope faw one branch of his revenue cut off: yet he checked the emotions of his refentment, and hoped that time would operate much in his favour : but time was his moft cruel enemy ; it was employed in maturing the plans of thofe new hoflilities which his opponents were pre- paring for him, and which the pontiff himfelf ceafed not to provoke by his own obftinacy. The king of Naples, conformably to preceding 46 regulations, himfelr', by virtue of his right of advowfon, nominated to all the bilhoprics which became vacant in his dominions. The pope refufed to confirm his choice, and ftill main- tained that the nomination belonged to the Holy See : he did not however nominate ; and thus the diocefes remained deftitute of fpiritual fuperiors, and the people murmured againft the court. At the fame time Pius affected to be- tray a want of confideration for prince CimitHe, the Neapolitan plenipotentiary, and neglected to cultivate the good-will of the marquis della Sambucca who had fhe'wn a difpofition to fup- port him. That minifler had fent to Rome one of his fons, whom he deftined for the clerical profeflion; and the pope, under pretence that the young man was guilty of irregularities in his conduct there, refufed to give him an abbey for which he made folicitation as if the Jon of a nri- wjler flood in need of perfonal merit to entitle him to any favour xvhatever ! Never had the fcruples of Pius been fo unfeafonable. Thefe various incidents had fuch an eflecl: in exciting mutual animofity, that in 1780 the one party was determined on a complete rupture, while the other looked forward to fuch an event with refignation. Prince Cimitile, who. had for fome time been abfent, fuddenly returned to Rome, and declared to the pope, that, unlefs the 47 vacant fees were filled without delay, he would entirely quit his court. The pontiff, who had his alternate fits of firmnefs and weaknefs, diet not. on this occafion fufTer himfelf to be intimi- dated by the threat: but, miftaking obftinacy for dignified fleadinefs, " What !" faid he to his friends " that court of Naples treats me with greater contempt than a village pried." There was a circumftance, however, which encouraged him to that difplay of refolution, and rendered it lefs meritorious. He was fupported by Bernis and the chevalier Azara : their courts were difpleafed to fee that of Naples betray a greater portion of malevolence than of firmnefs in the attacks which it made on the papacy. The former, as a cardinal, felt a perfonal intereft in the maintenance of its immunities, of what he called its acquired rights. The latter, though more of a philofopher than his friend, as not being bound by the fame duties or the fame trammels, was neverthelefs obliged to follow the inftrutions of his pious court. In concert they warded off feveral ftrokes which the court of Naples aimed at the pontiff; and it was to their interpofition alone that his vanity was indebted for a repetition of the homage of the palfrey in 1780. But at Naples the plan of re- form was determined : the execution might in- 43 deed; in compliance with fome temporary cir- cumftances, be poftponed ; fome hopes might be encouraged; fome relaxation might take place on particular pretenfions : the hand was fufpended, but it ftill continued armed. CHAPTER XX. New Wounds infiitled by the Court of Naples nit the Privileges of the Court of Rome. _rxT Naples the mod alarming projects were in agitation. In 1781 there was queftion of nothing lefs than abolifhing all the regulations of the Roman chancelleryof fending bodies of troops toward Benevento, and Ponte-Corvo and (if thefe menacing fteps mould not be fuf- ficient to extort from the pope's obftinacy a confirmation of the bifliops nominated by the king) of convoking a provincial council com- pofed of all the prelates in the kingdom, and there making choice of three bifliops who mould be empowered to proclaim, in the pope's name, the nomination to the vacant fees. The court of Spain again interfered to prevent the fcandal which was about to be given to all the catholic part of Europe by a fovereign who was ac- counted one of the moft religious. Prince Ci- mitile was again ordered to return to Rome. There, without the participation of the cardinal fecretary of (late whofe intentions were fufpet- ed, the Neapolitan minifter negotiated with car- VOL. II, X 50 dinals Giraud and Conti an agreement which fof a time dried up the fource of fome difputes. This tranfitory reconciliation again procured for the pontiff, in 1781, the fo much contefled en- joyment of the homage paid to the Holy See on the eve of the feftival of Saint Peter. That com- penfation confoled him for the diminution which he faw effected in the kingdom of Naples of that prodigious fwarm of monks, whofe number, even to his eyes, appeared in the fame difad- vantageous light as to thofe of the Neapolitan reformers. -There were found -will it be be- lieved?^ there were found fixteen thoufand mendicant friars diftributed i feven hundred convents. Pains were taken to reduce their number to two thoufand eight hundred and eight : the bithops were directed to watch over their conduct, and to reprefs the fcandalous ex- cefles in which they indulged themfelves. A pitiful difpute on a point of etiquette foon after revived the dormant animofities. Prince Cimitile was only a minifter of the fecond rank j and, as fuch, he had, according to the ceremo- nial of the Roman court, no claim to the title of Excellency^ w r hich however is fo ridiculoufly la- viflied in Italy: but he had a right to it, as a knight of the order of Saint Januarius. Neverthe- lefs they had the meannefs to refufe it to him ; adding y,an ordinance in which the king was made to fpeak with a boldnefs of language at which kimfelf muft have been aftoniflied. It fet forth that his majefty, after mature examination, was thoroughly convinced that the fubjeftion of the religious focieties to generals reliding out of his dominions was " an abufe, a violation of the ""rights of the biihops, the offspring of thofe " ages of darknefs and fpiritual calamity, of thofe " falfe decretals forged by an impoftor who had fe fuffered himfelf to be led aftray by his blind * affeclion for' the court of Rome." This meafure, and especially its motives, proved a thunder-ftroke to the Holy See and its adherents. Theologifts are confulted : the ge- nerals of the religious orders affemble in the pope's palace, and draw up a pro left in oppofi- tion to the raft ordinance of the Neapolitan monarch. Unavailing clamours ! The mal -con- tents could not on this occafion expert to receive fupport from the court of Spain : that court had itfelf been for fome years meditating a fimilar reform. The court of Rome, however, found in the new Neapolitan miniftcr a greater propensity to conciliation than they had at firft expected. The marquis Caraccioli and the cardinal Buon- compagni entertained for each other a, rccipro- 77 cal eftee'm. Both prudent and enlightened men, fuperior, each in his refpe&ive country, to the furrounding crowd of their contemporaries, they would perhaps have been of the fame opinion if they had been placed in the fame fphere of life. They mutually fought each other's acquaintance. Caraccioli broached a direct correfpondence with the cardinal, for the purpofe of amicably terminating the differences which kept their courts at variance. After they had begun to underftand each other a little, the pope fent count Galeppi to Naples without any oftenfible commifllon, but (imply to hear whatever the Neapolitan government might be difpofed to fay to him : for the Roman court were not daz- zled by thofe advances j and it was with good reafon that they were not. At the moment v/hen a reconciliation feemed approaching, the tribunal of Santa Clara pronounced that three of the biihoprics which were the fubjefts of the conteft, being of royal advowfon, ought to be fubjeft to the king's nomination. The arch- bilhop of Naples whofe exemplary virtues were alloyed by a fanatic zeal for the court of Rome, the entire Sacred College, and the pon- tiff himfelf, loudly exclaimed againft the deci- fion ; and there was queftion of proceeding to violent meafures. But the prudent friends of Pius calmed his mind, and he checked his re- 78 fentment left he fhould caufe a mifcarriage of the negotiation which was about to be com- menced. It began under happy aufpices. Galeppi was highly pleafed with the queen's difpofition. Dextrous, infmuating, fuccefsfully adopting every tone and efpecially that of confidence, fhe en- chanted the incipient negotiator. He had ima- gined that Caraccioli's influence was to be his principal, his only, refource : yet he found the queen even more conciliating than the minifter. But while he fuffered himfelf to be dazzled by thefe appearances, a fequeftration was laid on the very abbey which cardinal Buoncompagrii poflefled in the kingdom of Naples, and part of its revenues appropriated to ufeful eftablifh- ments: a laudable reform, without doubt, though the time and the object were ill chofen. Was this ftep the effect of duplicity ? or did it pro- ceed merely from the want of reflection ? Thefe are queftions not eafily to be anfwered even by thole who have had the clofeft and moft fre- quent accefs to the queen of Naples. That procedure, liable at. kaft to the charge of incivi- lity, was yet quite recent when the queen, per- haps moved by compaffion, wrote with her own hand to cardinal Buoncompagni, that, notwith- flanding appearances, the king was defirous of an accommodation with his holinefs. Soon after, 79 fome efforts were made to difplay a. confiftent with this affurance : recommendation was given to obferve a degree of tendernefs to- ward the court of Rome, at lead in point of form ; and the tribunals were directed to fliew fome regard for the religious orders. At length Galeppi fucceeded in removing a firft difficulty. In September 1786, it was agreed that the king mould thenceforward no- minate to all the biflioprics in his dominions ; that the pope mould be empowered to difpofe of fixty thoufand ducats of church-revenues in favour of Neapolitan fubjefts, and of fix-thou- fand toward the fupport of his nuncio at Na- ples. Galeppi would have wiftied to obtain further fucceffes, and efpecially to effect a fuf- penfion of the fuppreffion of monafteries : but his efforts were of no avail. Perhaps, however, they might not have been unfuccefsfal if he had chofen to leave the bufinefs entirely in the hancL of the marquis Caraccioli, who, to the great nftonifliment of the world, was become at his court the principal advocate of the papacy he who, both in England and in France, had fo often indulged his wit at the expenfe of religion who had fo flightingly treated its minifters in Sicily who had more than once been heard to fay at Paris, " If ever I become minifter to the " king of Naples, I'll find means to render him 80 " Independent of the grand mufti of Rome." But Galeppi wimed to multiply his means : a hun- dred agents were employed in the bufmefs of his negotiation : it failed, and he returned to Rome in April 1787, carrying with him a plan of accommodation which the apoftolic chancel- lery refufed to admit. Inftead of being aftonifhed at the condefcen- fion of a court of which the two mod influential men difplayed a boldnefs of principle fo alarm- Ing to the caufe of orthodoxy inftead of ap- pearing grateful for it Pius afferted that he had done every thing in his power to fatisfy the king of Naples, and that it would not be his fault if an accommodation mould not take place. It was particularly to the French and Spanifh mi- nifters that he held this language, hoping that their courts would interpofe in his favour. But, at Madrid as well as at Verfailles, people were tired of thofe inceffantly reviving difputes, of thofe alternations of ftubbornnefs And com- plaifance, of reafon and extravagance. Pius therefore faw himfelf abandoned to his own rc- fources, and called in the aid of his favourite remedy : Buoncompagni was directed to coni- pofe a long memorial, in which he endeavoured to prove the legitimacy of the pontiff's preten- tious, and efpecially the inviolable jurisdiftion of his nuncio at Naples: A prelate was appointed to * 81 convey this memorial to Galeppi, who had re- turned to his poft : but by the king's order it was coolly and briefly anfwered that the pope's pretenfions were inadmiffible, and that it was no longer poflible to think of an accommoda- tion. For a long time back every thing had been done at Naples in fits of peevifhnefs. In all the operations of the government it was eafy to difcover the influence of a woman, who alter- nately vibrated between benevolence and ani- mofity, and followed at one time the temperate counfels of Caraccioli, at another the violent fuggeftions of A6lon, but oftener the impulfes of her own caprice. After fuch a repulfive anfwer, could any man have expe&ed to fee the negotiations once more renewed before the conclufion of the year ? Pius, it is true, made the firft advances, and came forward with more moderate pretenfions. Caraccioli fignified, that, fince the pope mewed himfelf more reafonable, it became eafy to ef- fet a reconciliation, of which the king himfelf was extremely defirous ; but that it was necef- fary to lay afide all thofe little wiles, all thofe fubtilities, which had caufed the preceding ne- gotiations to mifcarry. The cardinal fecretary of ftate thought him- felf the perfon moft capable of realifing the new VOL. II. G hopes which the pontiff was beginning to enter- tain ; and with that idea he repaired to Naples in the month of October. A fufpicion prevailed that a zeal for the interefts of the papacy was not his real motive for undertaking that journey. Gorani, in his Secret Memoirs of the Courts of Italy, aflerts that he was principally attracted to Naples by his defire of revifiting a woman with whom he had been very intimately acquainted at Bologna ; and the libertine conduct of th,e cardinal gives credibility to the aflertion. He probably accomplished the object in which his heart Was concerned ; but he failed in that which would have flattered his vanity. He was extremely pleafing in his manner : he was well received ; and he propofed a plan of conciliation in which the pope made fome new facrifkes: but they were not deemed fufficient. Gorani relates that Buoncompagni, fully per- fuaded that he mould find the king more ac- commodating than his miniflers, requefted of him a private audience, at which, after having with his infmuating eloquence urged to him his apoftolic arguments, he thus concluded his ha- rangue " Your majefty may reft aflured that " your condefcenfion to the Holy See is the only " mean of avoiding a multitude of unpleafant cir- " cumftances, and of acquiring in all events a " faithful and fteady friend."" Cardinal/' re- plied the king" I have liftened to you as long " as you thought proper : do you now liften to " me in turn. I was not afraid to difpleafe the " king of Spain my father when I felt it my duty " to defend the rights of my crown. Can you " then imagine that I (hall entertain any fear in " defending them againft the pretenlions and fub- " tilities of your fovereign ? No ! nothing can pre- " vail on me to confent to the demands of Pius " VI., becaufe I deem them unjuft." We think ourfelves authorifed to queftion the authenticity of this dialogue, as bearing too lit- tle conformity to the characters of the fpeakers. The cardinal's friends have never had any know- ledge of it : and befides, if he had carried home from Naples fo explicit a declaration, how could the pontiff, immediately after Buoncompagni's miffion, have indulged in that fecurity which the bed-informed obfervers remarked in him ? However that point be determined, the cardinal returned to Rome without having made any progrefs in the bufinefs; and the year 1787 concluded amid cold demonftrations of mutual good underftanding. And now commenced that year which was to inflict on the pope the moft painful of all morti* fications that it was poffible for him to expe- rience. The month of June was far advanced, and no meafures had yet been taken for th 84 folemn 'prefentalion of the palfrey. No new caufe of complaint had arifen on either fide : how then account for the delay ? for his holi- nefs could not even for a moment admit the idea of a total omiflion of the accuftomed ho- mage. Saint Peter's eve at length arrived : the conftable Colorma, the hero of the ceremony > has not yet made his appearance: but " the an- " nual tribute at lead: will be fent." The annual tribute is equally invifible. Pius was deeply affected : he would have wifhed to avoid expofmg himfelf to ridicule by the utterance of impotent complaints : but he dreaded the bnrft of univerfal indignation. The fatal hour is come: he afcends his throne with mournful countenance furveys the fur- rounding affembly of cardinals, and an im- menfe auditory who participate his dejection pronounces a difcourfe, which he endeavours to render impreffive by pathos of tone, and in which he accumulates arguments that to him appear unanfwerable. He reminds his audience that he has " done every thing to conduct the 41 negotiations to a happy conclufion: he has writ- " ten conciliatory letters j but the king of Naples " has not anfwered them ; and,- without any " previous notice, he now offers him the affront of *' fudderly discontinuing a homage which he had " conftantly paid him fuice his acceffion to the 85 " throne a homage guarantied by die exprefs " promife of his father Charles III. a homage " enforced by feveral bulls, and, among others, " by that of Julius II. which denounces the threat " of ecclefiaftical cenfures againft the king who " mould omit it." He quotes thofe bulls, repeats the paffages from them, not now in that thun- dering voice which he was fond enough of af- fuming in, the midft of his court on ftate occa- fions, but in that melancholy and almoft fup- pliant tone which is employed to move an in- cenfed conqueror. The few moderate men who heard him were ftruck with admiration on obferving how fuc- cefsfully he had been able to reftrain or at leaft to foften the expreilion of his chagrin $ while the crowd of fanatics beftowed on his forbear- ance the name of bafe pufillanimity. But when, at a diftance from the fcerie of action, we repre- fent to ourfelves an old man, a fovereign, fighing through vexation becaufe a horfe has failed to come and pay him his periodical obeifance, we no longer participate either the admiration of the one party or the indignation of the other, but look down with pity on the weaknefs and vanity of frail mortals. In the evening of that finifter day, at the mo- ment when the Neapolitan ambafTador fhould have prefented himfelf, the ff cat of the Apoftolic c 3 Chamber gravely made his proteftrefpefting the delay of the cuftomary homage. The pope ad- mitted the proteft, and thought he thereby faved his honour and his rights. He next wrote to the king of Naples a letter in circumfpect lan- guage, but in a pathetic ftrain, which however had loft all its force on thofe to whom it was now addreflfed. He communicated this produc- tion to the Spanifh minifter, who greatly ap- plauded the form he had given to it. The che- valier Azara and the cardinal de Bernis ftill con- tinued to be his confidants and comforters ; though, to avoid involving them in difficulties, he had ceafed to apply to them for advice. The two fage minifters, who were witnefles of his affliclion, were very capable of appreciating its objet, but could not forbear giving him teili- nionies of their fympathy. On the feventh of the following July, Ricciar- delli, the Neapolitan charge-des-affaires, came to prefent to cardinal Buoncompagrii the twelve thoufand Roman crowns which his court once more condefcended to pay as a tribute. " The " principal circumftance of that homage is its " folemnity," replied the cardinal, rejecting the proffered fum. After the expiration of a fort- night, Ricciardelli delivered to him a memorial fetting forth, that the pope having refufed to receive the twelve thoufand Roman crowns 87 the king his mafter, defirous, as in preceding years, to make a pious offering to the apoftles Peter and Paul, had ordered him to depofit it in a public bank where it fhould await the difpo- fal of the Apoftolic Chamber. The cardinal con- ceived he was fupporting the dignity of the pa- pacy by replying in another memorial that the pious offering, without the palfrey, did not fulfil the engagements contrafted by the king of Na- ples and his predeceflbrs to the Holy See ; that, in confequence, the fijcal of the Apoftolic Chamber had made a fecond proteft, and that the bank in which the fum was depofited had received directions to hold it at fignor Ricciar- delli's difpofal. The latter fent back the me- morial, the proteft, &c. becaufe he could not receive them without an order from his court. This conteft of empty formalities did not how- ever terminate the difpute. The king of Na- ples ftooped to pick up the gantlet which the cardinal had flung down before him. He an- fwered his memorial at great length, and in the ftyle of a lawyer: he intimated that the dif- ferences might have been terminated if Galeppi had employed lefs of fubtility and more of iin- cerity in his negotiations, and if cardinal Buon- compagni had been authorifed to conclude defi- nitively : he did not refufe the cuftomary obla- tion j but he thought the pomp of the ceremony c 4 88 at lead unneceffary, fmce it was not exprefled in the at of inveftiture : that at itfelf was fuper- fluous, fmce the Neapolitan monarchs poffeffed their kingdom by the right of conqueft, and its enfeofment was a ufurpation, which could only be borne in ages of ignorance and bar- barifm. Never before had any catholic prince fpoken in fo bold language to the court of Rome, whofe aftonifhment was now almoft equal to their af- fliclion. Cardinal Borgia, fecretary of the Pro- paganda and a learned theologift, was appoint- ed to reply to it. But what arguments could he advance in oppofition to force combined with reafon ? Quotations, the authority of fathers of the church and of the councils, ancient Concor- dat a, recent regulations ! In this memorial, xvhich was alternately learned and pathetic, the pontiff enumerated all the lleps he had already taken to effet a reconciliation with the court of Naples : but he could not, he faid, without ren- dering himfelf contemptible, fuffer a cruel wound to be inflicted on the authority of the Holy See. The Neapolitan fovereign condefcended to reply to this erudite homily. He was obliged to pay fome deference to the prejudices of his fubjecls as well as to fatisfy his own fcruples. He was willing, as the French monarchs had 89 often done before, to kifs the pontiff's toe, and at the fame time to bind his hands in chains. He affumed a tone of franknefs and candor, which probably was intended as mockery by thofe who dictated his reply, though from his mouth it was fmcere. In mild and almoft hum- ble terms he represented that he confidered the pecuniary tribute as fulfilling the whole of his duty to the Apoftolic See ; that the pomp of the ceremony was not matter of obligation ; that the prefentation of the palfrey was a cuftom which could not be traced farther back than the preceding century. The truth was, that no exprefs mention of that ridiculous formality had been made in the at of inveftiture given to the .prefent fovereign, though it had been mentioned in that granted to the king his father, who gua- rantied it for himfelf and his fucceffors. It was ferving the court of Rome according to their tafte, to engage with them in a polemic difcuflion. Pius and his fecretary of ftate, who were feldom in unifon, differed in opinion re- fpefting the proper form to be given to the an* fwer which the king of Naples expected. The pontiff wiflied to fwell it out to a voluminous memorial, under the perfuafion that arguments derive additional flrength from their bulk. Meanwhile, to fill up the time that muft elapfe U'fore the quarrel were decided, the Neapolitan 90 government perfevered in the purfuit of its plan, gave orders for the fequeftration of all the ab- beys and fimple benefices, aflumed the right of nominating to them all, and burft the laft re- maining ties by which the religious focieties were yet bound to their generals. The Holy See fufpended its labours, and tried, if poffible, to flop the court of Naples in its too rapid career. About this period, an in- cident of a private nature gave birth to new dif- putes. The archbimop of Naples had diffolved the marriage of the duchefs di Mattalona *, and, without the concurrence of the Holy See, had given her a certificate declaring her at li- berty to marry again. A bi(hop of Motula had afterward taken up that caufe. This, accord- ing to Pius, was a violation of all the rules of ecclefiaflic difcipline : wherefore, to apply a fpeedy remedy to thefe diforders, he drew up two briefs, the one for the duchefs, the other for the bimop, and directed his internuncio to deli- ver them to the parties. The duchefs refufed to receive that which was addreffed to her, and refufed in fuch a tone as forbade all attempt to infift on the point. The internuncio was dif- concerted, and faid within himfelf, " Let us act " more adroitly with the bimop : let us lay for * In page /5 fhe is defignated by the name of Maddalorj. * f him an ambufcade from which he cannot " efcape without caufmg open fcandal." Ac- cordingly he took him unaware, and, with his brief in his hand, attempted to offer him a fort of violence. The bilhop of Motula was a man of rough manner : he rudely thruft back the emiflary, and even made ufe of language difre- fpeclful to the Holy See. The poor internuncio had ftill lefs reafon to boaft of the fuccefs of his fecond attempt, which, though unfuccefsful, ir- ritated the court of Naples, from whom he fud- denly received an order to quit the kingdom within eight and forty hours. The name of trea- Jon was given to the audacity by which he had been prompted to introduce, without the king's confent, thofe acts emanating from a foreign power. But the fame hand which figned this fentence fought to alleviate its confequences, and recommended the internuncio to the pope's clemency, becaufe, faid his majefty, his conduct had been irreproachable in every inftance ex- cept that criminal attempt. The court of Naples, with its ufual incon- fiftency, foon palling from rage to repentance, wrote to the pope, as to difarm his refentment, and propofed to renew the negotiation : but the wound was already inflicted. Pius fenfibly felt this affront, which prefaged to him many others in fucceilion. Cardinal Buoncompagni unbo- , - 32 V Ibms his painful feelings to the cardinal de Ber- nis, and fupplicates him to procure the interpo- fition of the eldeft fon of the church * in behalf of her chief. This happened toward the con- clufion of the year 1788, a period when Louis XVI. was himfelf involved in considerable dif- ficulties : his interceffion therefore was feeble, and of very little efficacy. An unfortunate combination of circumftances accumulated the fubjecls of difpute between the Roman court and that of Naples. The order of Malta was at this time rent by divifions which "extended to thefe two courts. The ambiguous ex'ftence of that ordei was a fruitful fource of diflbnlion. The grand-mafter, as a temporal iovereign, was a vaflal of the crown of Naples : as chief of an order, he was fubjecl: to the Holy See : hence a frequent claming of jurifdilion. At this period, exifted at Malta a very violent quarrel between a knight named de Loras and the commander Dolomieu. The latter having difpleafed the court of Na- ples, had, at the inftigation of his adverfary, been banifhed from the kingdom of 'the Two Sicilies. Returning to Malta, he there fuffered a fecond difgrace, which was a confequence of the former : he was deprived of his office of re- * His moft Chriftian majefty, the king of France, 9* prefentative in the fuperior council of Malta. From this fentence he appealed to the Roman Rota, as the tribunal to whofe jurifdi&ion were fubject all the judgements of the order. The Rota had the boldnefs to abfolve the com- mander, and alleged, as the motive of its deci- fion, that the caufeof Dolomieu's condemnation was hidden, and " did not appear to be of a " criminal nature." This was, to fay the leaft of it, a daring mea- fure, confidering the fituation in which the pa- pacy then ftood with refpet to the Neapolitan court. The latter took offence at it, and, long accuftomed to difregard the reftraints of delica- cy in its relations with the foveroign pontiff, im- perioufly demanded the reverfal o-f a decifion " equally inconfiderate as erroneous and ab^ " furd." The cardinal fecretary of ftate, who by this time was thoroughly weary of his poft at the helm in the midft of fo many ftorms, would not venture to undertake the talk of writing an anfwer, as defired. A congregation of cardinals was confulted, who pronounced that, in criminal caufes of the knights of Malta, appeals to the court of Rome muft always be admitted. Cardinal Buoncompagni, confident in this decifion, replied that the Rota was au- thorifed to al as it had done, and that it by no means merited the imputations thrown out againft it. The court of Verfailles protected Dolomieu : but his adverfary, excelling him in the arts of intrigue, had found means to intereft great perfonages in his own behalf, and pro- cured powerful recommendations from all quar- ters. The court of Rome attempted to ftrug- gle againft fo formidable a party : but even the friends of the Holy See were of opinion that it too frequently received appeals from the grand- mafter, and that by fuch affe6tation of para- mount authority it only exafperated the govern- ments which already had caufes of complaint againft the papacy. The Neapolitan govern- ment in particular was thereby rendered more averfe to conciliation. The pope meanwhile had concluded his vo- luminous performance, and now condefcended to communicate it to cardinal Buoncompagni, who, not having expected that mark of confi- dence, felt himfelf flattered by it, though he ne- verthelefs feverely criticifed his holinefs's pro- duction. " That memorial," faid he to his friends, " is briftled with quotations, overloaded " with authorities : the pope has fucceeded in " rendering it at once tirefomely dull and in- " conclufive : the king of Naples will never " take the trouble of perufing it : but he will " caufe ft to be anfwered with equal prolixity $ " and thus, inftead of remedying the difeafe, we * : Ihall find that we have only increafed its " virulence." The memorial, however, without undergoing any alteration, was difpatched in February 1789, and produced the effei which the cardinal had predir.ed. At the approach of the feftival of the apoftles Peter and Paul, the epoch of that ceremony of which the fufpenfion was productive to his holi- nefs of fo many fleeplefs nights, he wrote to the king of Naples, in hopes of reviving fome fcruples in his breaft. Vain attempt ! the pal- frey did not make his appearance ; and the ffi cal renewed his proteft, but with yet greater fo- lemnity than on the preceding occafion ; recall- ing to memory that the offering of the pious do- nation was to be made " cum prxfentatione para* " phreni albi decent er ornati, per ipjum regem vel per " ejmfpeciakm legation regio characters mtmitum, non '* alicui miniftro pontificio vel camera apojtolicse, fed " IPSI ROMANO PONTIFICI, PUBLICE, et cum " folith Jolemnitatibus, ac in R EC o G N ITI o N E M ME" " MORATI DOMINII *." Such were the ex- preffions of the engagement renewed by the king * With the prefentaticn of a white palfrey decently caJ- parifoned, by the king himfelf or by his fpecial embaflatlor veiled with the regal chara&er, not to any of the pope's mi- nifters or to the Apoftolic Chamber, but to the Roman pcntijf in per/un, publicly, and with the ufual folemnities, and as an ent of the cfvrtjaidfwire'ignty. don Carlos: and who could think of breaking through a cuftom fo folemnly fanHoned? Yet the Neapolitan agent continued inflexible : he depofited the annual tribute in a public bank, as he had done in 1788 : the fifcal renewed his pro- teft ; and the agent refufed to receive it. After a few days, the Neapolitan agent fent a paquet from his court to the prelate Federici, one of thofe fubordinate characters who have acquired the confidence 'of their employer and who often abufe it. Federici^ who temporarily fupplied the place of the fecretary of ftate, was more irritable than the pope himfelf, or had lefs command of his temper. He refufed to receive the paquet: it was fent to him a fecond time ; and a fecond time he refufed to accept it. Pius was not informed of this repeated breach of ci- vility until the mifchief was irreparable : the in- telligence wounded him to the foul. " Perhaps " he had been made to reject a propofal of ac- " commodation ! perhaps that paquet contained " king Ferdinand's anfwer to his memorial !" Cardinal Spinellii who, fmce the death of Or- fini, was protector of the crown of Naples at the court of Rome, happened at this time to be at Naples. That prelate pofTeffed a good heart, pure intentions, a native fund of found fenfe, and refined penetration ; nor could Pius have chofen a fitter perfon to be his interpreter. Ac- 97 cordingly he commiifioned Spinelli to exculpate him from the involuntary offence, which was imputable to Federici alone. But the court of Naples, confidering itfelf as fuperior to the af- front, was equally regardlefs of the apology : it quietly advanced in its predetermined career, and fpared none either of the fpiritual or tem- poral ufurpations of the court of Rome. The duchy of Caflro and Ronciglione, lying within the territory that was called Saint Pe- ter's Patrimony, had formerly belonged to the Farnefe family, and had, under fome frivolous pretext, been Confifcated by the Apoftolic Cham- ber. The king of Naples,, who, as heir of the houfe of Farnefe, continued to bear the title of that duchy, determined at this period to recover the properly of his ancestors. This was a new fource of uneafinefs to the pope in that me- morable year 1789, when the national aflembly of France began to give the fignal for thofe mortal wounds which were to be infli6ted on the papacy. The other catholic governments forefaw the approaching evil : they faw with fecret forrow that the boldnefs of reform would overftep the bounds which they had wilhed to reach, and that the phiiofophic audacity of the French nation threatened the very exiftence of that fpiritual authority which it might be the intereft of the temporal fovereigns to modify, VOL. II, H -98 butnot totally to overthrow. However power- ful a monarch may fee.l himfeif by his own ftrerigth, in critical, moments he wiihes to fave his auxiliaries : thofe governments, therefore, were feen to fufpend their hoftili.ti.es againft the pontificate, without however making any retro- grade motion. Such' was the conduct of the Neapolitan court in the year 1789: it did not furrender its conquefts; but it forbore to add to their number. * In the month of July 1789, the king of Na- ples at length replied to Pius's long memorial ina refpetful and affectionate ftyle which announced a defire of accommodation. But, with regard to the prefentation of the palfrey, he explained himfeif in a manner which forbade the pontiff to entertain any further hope on the fubje6l. He reverted to the times of the ufurpations and hoftile invafions of Innocent IV. and Alexander IV., " days of violence," he faid, " which ought " never to be remembered without horror. And " although he himfeif (Ferdinand) had ftill per- " mitted the prefentation of the palfrey, he had " not formed any engagement to have that cere- of which that keen quick-fighted courtier did not fail to un- derftand the real meaning. The academy of the Arcadians alone gave him a reception calcu- lated to remind him of his royal rank. The pope, however, did not omit any of thofe tefti- monies of affectionate regard which ought to have been more plealing to him than ats of oftenta- tious homage. After a few months' flay at Rome, he departed for Naples, taking his route through the Pontine marines. He admired the works there, and be- VOL. II, I 114 ftowed the mod pompous eulogiums on tliem after his return ; for, from the caftle of Caferte, where he fpent fix: weeks, he went back to Rome in time to aflift at the religious folemni ties of Paffion-week. Never before had they been celebrated with greater brilliancy than oii this occafion. The great number of diftin- guimed foreigners who then happened to be at Rome ferved further to enhance their pompous fplendor. Guftavus, who had fet out with a re- folution of admiring every thing, was ftruck by the majefty with which the pontiff gave his be- nediction to the people on Holy Thurfday and Eafter-day: and, to fuftain with uniformity his aflumed character of protestor of the catholics, he declared aloud that the proteftants were to blame for condemning the pomp of thofe cere- monies ; and that, fmce religion was neceffary, it was right to clothe it with every external de- coration which could render it auguft and im- .preflive. He feemed at this moment to have forgotten that religion is more refpecied in thofe countries where it appears in the moft fimple garb. He teftified a curiofity for every thing connected with the catholic mode of worfhip ; and the pope fliowed great alacrity in gratifying him. He caufed him to affift at the admiflion of a novice, in the convent of capuchin nuns : he even granted him the privjlege fo difficult llo to be obtained of entering the interior recefies of a nunnery: it remained acceffible to him at all hours of the day; but GuQavus made a mo- derate ufe of that permiffion. He determined to treat the Romans with a fpe&acle quite novel to them, and which put their toleration to the" teft in a fingular manner. A Swedifh bilhop, the baron Taube, his chief almoner, came from the remote regions of Swe- den to perform for him the functions of his mi- niftry. Perhaps Guftavus was afraid left his fubjects fhould think him perverted by the fociety of the Roman idolaters, and wiihed to (how him- felf faithful to the proteftant mode of worfhip even in the centre of catholicifm. He caufed a chapel to be fitted up in his palace : the chief almoner pronounced in it a difcourfe to prepare his flock for communion : on the morrow, at the conclufion of a pathetic fermon, he celebrated, divine fervice according to the rite of the con- feflion of Augfburg ; and the king, accompanied by his Swedifh attendants and fome foreign Lutherans, received the facrament, while a crowd of Romans, who more ftrongly felt the impulfe of curiofity than of fanaticifm, flood affembled at the gate of his palace and in the adjacent ftreets, without expreiling any other emotions than thofe of aftonifliment. On this occafion Pius exhibited a proof of his 12 116 tolerance which gave offence to none but bigots, It would have been difficult for a pope to have fhown himfelf more of a philofopher. During this fecond refidence at Rome, Gufta- vus had the fatisfa&ion to find that his pretended defireof remaining incognito was fomewhat lefs indulged. When he went on a vifit to the col- lege of the propaganda, which is deftined to Jhed the light of the catholic faith over all parts of the globe, and of courfe maintains con- nexions with all the nations which dwell on its furface, Guflavus received from its members a compliment which he might in vain have ex- pected any-where elfe : he was prefented with his own eulogium in verfe, written in forty-fix different languages f His furprife was lively, and expreffed in a lively manner. It was recollected, fomewhat too late, that the grand-duke and duchefs of Ruffia, though travelling like him under modeft titles, had con- fented that the dome of Saint Peter's cathedral fhould be illuminated in compliment to them. Why then was a lefs brilliant reception given to the king of Sweden? The cardinal de Bernis and the chevalier Azara fpoke on the fubjet to the pontiff. Some perfons of inferior grade ob- je&ed on account of the expenfe to be incurred by that magnificent fpeclacle ; and the circum- itances of the papacy were fuch at this period, 117 as did not warrant a difregard to the fuggeftions of prudential oeconomy. But Pius delighted, above all things, in the pompous mow of exhi- bitions ; and he wiihed to leave an advantageous impreffion of his own behaviour on the mind of Guflavus. Accordingly the dome of Saint Pe- ter's was illuminated. This happened at the termination of the Swedifti monarch's fecond refidence at Rome. Previous to his departure, the royal traveller made to the pope a prefent of three boxes of Brafil wood, which were accepted with a pleafure bordering upon enthufiafm ; for fuch was Pius's ufual manner of receiving what- ever was calculated to add to the embelliftiment of his mufeum. Thofe three boxes contained two hundred and twenty-two medals, of which eighty-nine were of gold, and the remaining hundred and thirty-three of filver. They were a colle&ion of the effigies of all the Swedifh kings who had diftinguiflied themfelves in any department whatever. It was not without fenfations of regret that Pius faw Guftavus depart j and the pontiff and the king tenderly embraced each other at the moment of feparation. The former had been fincere in the teftimonies of his arTe&ion : for, as Jofeph II. had feveral times obferved, he was, " at bottom, a good kind of man." Gufta- vus had only ated an affumed character j but '3 us he had played his part well ; for he was an ex- cellent actor. While the pope received fuch pleafmg treat- ment from a prince on whom he had no claims, he flood expofed to the perfecutions, frequently indeed deferved, of thofe governments from which he had a right to look for fome refpect at lead. The Venetians, in particular, were very troublefome neighbours to him as a tem- poral fovereign, and, as father of the faithful^ very indocile fons. No nation of Italy, however, had greater rea- fon to be fatisfied with the relations by which it was linked to the court of Rome. In the courfe of three centuries and half, five Venetians had occupied the chair of Saint Peter : the moft emi- nent dignities of the church had been profufely lavifhed on natives of their republic ; yet it had been involved in unceafing broils with the popes. Benedict XIV., who was not a man of refentful temper, entertained againft the Venetians an in- curable averfion : even the benevolent Ganga- nelli was never able to fucceed in conciliating their friendfliip ; and Pius VI., who feemed predefined to experience every kind of trouble and oppofition, had, in the very firrt year of his pontificate, reafon to complain of their conduct toward him* A great number of abbeys and prebends were under the protection of their 119 nobles. Suddenly the fenate fecularifed thofe eccleflaflical foundations, and decreed the incor- poration of their poffellions with thofe of the nobility. This was the firft fignal of a quarrel which an event of flrange fatality could alone have termi- nated that is to fay, the overthrow of both go- vernments. Pius, whofe authority at this time was yet unimpaired, afTumed a menacing tone, and faid to the Venetian ambaflfador, " Unlefs " the fenate revoke their decree, I will not ac- " knowledge the new patriarch of Venice. It t( is time that your republic declare whether it " choofe to remain in Saint Peter's bark, or to " quit it." He could not then forefee, that, within the period of his own exiftence, Saint Peter's bark and the Venetian bucentoro* fliould both be daflied to pieces againft the fame rock. The embafTador oppofed threat to threat : " Were it fo," faid he, " I would foon quit *' Rome, and your nuncio fhould be fent back " to you." " It is of little confequence to " me," replied the pontiff, " to have at my " court the embaflador of a ftate which ftiows " fo little refpeft for the Holy See, while I ele- " vate its fubjecls to the higheft dignities of the " church." * The doge's ftate veflel. 14 t 120 In the following year the animofities were in- creafed to fuch a degree that Pius, defirous of emulating the warlike exploits of one of his pre- deceflbrs, the impetuous Rovere *, ferioufly talked of declaring war againft the republic of Venice. But the two cardinals of the name of Rezzonico, who were theinfelves Venetians, in- terpofed : the pope calmed his paffion, and fub- mitted the examination of his caufe to five of the moft enlightened cardinals. Of their num- ber Caftelli alone fpoke the accents of peace : the other four maintained that the patriarch ought not to be confirmed unlefs the fenate re- drefled the grievances of the Holy See. But the fenate, who had interefted in their favour the courts of Vienna and Naples, anfwered in the haughty language of difdain, and mowed them- felves difpofed to break off the negotiation. The pontiff, whofe fits of courage were not of long duration, foon came to terms, and pro- claimed the patriarch in the Confiftory. In rer- turn for this conceffion, he thought himfelf en- titled to require that all edifts militating againft the jurifdi&ion of the Holy See mould be re- voked. But the fenate,- far from being moved according to his hope, fupprefled at difcretion * Julius II. who occupied the pontifical throne from Octo- ber 31, 1503, to February 21, 1513. 121 every convent which they thought ufelefs : nor had Pius any other confoiation than that of learning that the Venetian commonalty loudly murmured againft that aflembly, which fuffered itfelf to be guided by the impetuous ardor of the younger fenators. But of what confequence was the commonalty at Venice? The fenate, regardlefs of its murmurs, continued to purfue their reformatory plan, and, after the example of feveral other fovereigns, limited the age for tak- ing vows, diminilhed the number of convents, and fet bounds to their invafive covetoufnefs. Like the cat in the fable, they enjoyed a double pleafure from thefe innovations they were pro- moting the interefts of their own ftate, and at the fame time mortifying the pope, who too late perceived, that, in this univerfal conspiracy againft his authority, there was no enemy whom he was authorifed to difregard as unworthy of notice, An incident of a purely temporal nature, which occurred in 1780, furnifhed a new caufe of difUirbance in addition to the many which al- ready exifted. The Ferrarefe territory, it is well known, bordered on that of Venice. Near Ro- vigo, a river which formed the. boundary, often overflowed. The Venetian fenate determined on the erection of a dike to check its ravages. This falijtary meafure excited the ilUhumour of 122 the court of Rome ; and a body of troops was lent againft the workmen, of whom fix were killed in making oppofition to the military force. The fenate demanded a fignal fatisfaftion, threatening, in cafe of refufal, to obtain it by force. On this occafion Pius fufFered himfelf to be intimidated : he threw the blame of that tranfaclion from his own flioulders on thofe of his legate, who in his turn exonerated himfelf by producing the order which he had received from cardinal Pallavicini. But the Venetian fenate, confident of being fupported by the courts of Vienna and Verfailles, had already fent troops to the fcene of aclion j and nought re- mained for the pope but to yield. His foldiers, who were accufed of having exceded their or- ders, received punimment, and the works of the dike were refumed. The limitary ftream was effectually coerced from ever again overflowing : but the refentment of the fenate, not fo eafily reftrained, continued to burft forth on every occafion. The republic of Venice had in Dalmatia a number of fubjecls profeffing the Greek faith, and ftill continuing in feparation from the church of Rome. It had ever afted toward them with toleration : to treat them with favour was a fure mode of mortifying the court of Rome; and the Venetian fenate eagerly feifed 123 4he opportunity. In 1782 they invited to Venice an archbifhop of the Greek feft, and gave him a church for the celebration of divine fervice ac- cording to his own liturgy. The pope imme- diately exclaimed againil the fcanda', and hurled his fpiritual thunders againft the church that was thus profaned. The Venetians laughed at the holy father's wrath, though they con- defcended to enter into explanations for the pur- pofe of proving how unreafonable it was. The refult of the difcuffion proved that the exiftence of that Greek church was not an innovation, and that the only novelty in the whole affair was the folemnity with .which the divine fervice had now been celebrated in it. The pontiff was obliged to fubmit : but his thoughtlefs impetuofity was not calculated to accelerate an accommodation. The fenate caufed a confiderable diminution to be made of the fums which the Venetians were afccuftomed to pay to the court of Rome. The pope fighed at the lofs, and it was natural tliat he (hould. The fenate fupprefled fome rich monasteries, and applied their revenues to the endowment of hofpitals that were deftitute of refources. The pope (ighed again : but did he deferve that any one fhould fympathife in his afflictions? At length the French revolution, which even in its fir ft ftage wore an afpecl highly formidable 124- to princes and ariftocratic governments and re- ligious eftabliihments, warned the catholic fo^ vereigns and ftates to confpire in one common caufe : yet Rome and Venice Hill continued at variance. An arrangement concluded in 1749 feemed to have put a final period to the difputes refpe&ing their boundaries on the banks of the jPo. It fecured to each of the two ftates the free navigation of that river, obviated on each Jide the ravages of its exundations, and prevented the infalubrity of both its banks. But the Ro- mans infringed thofe wife regulations: they changed the courfe of the flream according to their own convenience, by oppofing to it artificial obftru6tions : on the left more bordering on the Venetian coaft, they opened for it a new mouth, through which the mafs of its waters flowed off and inundated the territory of the republic. The former mouth was (topped up; the naviga- tion was injured in confequence: the accuftomed approaches of the Po became dangerous and jm- prafticable : foreign navigators complained, and fhunned the fpot. The fenate of Venice had, in their turn, juft caufe of complain^ and de- manded reparation. The court of Rome had now recourfe to her ufual expedient, and, by a tedious and fophifti- cal (latement, laboured to prove the goodnefs of Jier caufe, and the innocency of her operations. 125 The Venetian fenate haughtily afferted the rights of their fovereignty appealed to treaties talked of compulfory meafures exculpated themfelves to foreign nations by afcribing to the arbitrary proceedings of the papacy the impeded ftate of the navigation. Difcuflions took place ; conferences were held ; menaces were thrown out. But more momentous interefts intervened to claim the attention of both governments and fufpend their conteft. The powers who have fucceeded them, have inherited that quarrel: for concord did not pcefide at their firft appear- ance on the theatre of Italy. Will the court of Vienna and the Cis-Alpine republic agree better refpecling the mouths of the Po than the Vene- tian fenate and the Roman government ? At lealt it may fafely be aflerted that the two latter, in making their exit from the ftage of political exiftence, did not mutually regret each other. This double caufe of difagreement exifled only for fome of the catholic powers : but there was not perhaps one of them, great or fmall, re- mote or proximate, which had not at the fame period its difputes with the Holy See refpecting ecclefiaftic concerns. Even Portugal, which, of all the European nations, feemed the moft fer- vilely devoted to the papacy, occasionally added to the load of embarraflments under which Pius laboured. His pontificate was during two or 126 three years contemporary with the miniftry of of the marquis de Pombal, that imperious mini fter, who, full of the fpirit of the times, dared to attempt feveral phiiofophic innovations amid a people Ids illumined by the light of philofophy than any other nation in- Europe. Scarcely had Pius taken his feat on Saint Peter's chair, when Pombal attempted to deprive him of the colla- tion of all the benefices in Portugal. A compro- ipife was however entered into: the king re- ferved to himfelf the annual fum of a hundred and twenty thoufand crowns to be levied on the vacant church livings ; and fifty thoufand were granted to the pope for the maintenance of fix hundred Portuguefe Jcfuits who had been ba- nimed to his dominions. The death of Jofeph I., which was foon followed by the difgrace of the marquis de Pomba], delivered the court of Rome from a formidable antagonifh Immediately the fcene was changed. The queen had fecretly fighed over the various wounds which the ex-minifter had inflited on the Holy See, and now hafled to cure them. She kept up a regular correfpondence with Pius -re-cilablifhed his' nuncio in the enjoyment of all the privileges of which he had been ftripped reftored to liberty feveral fanatics who had fuffered perfecution under the defpotifrn of the preceding miniftry reftored feveral devotional 127 inftitutions which it had abolillied. The queen, good-natured, fmcerely pious, but eafily influ- enced, obeyed the fuggeftions of thqjpnarquis de Pombal's enemies. Superftition now began to re-appear with triumphant fway : the papacy, threatened with fo many lofles, received fome confolations ; and Portugal was about .to re- plunge into the darknefs from which it had be- gun to emerge. In ,17 78 Pius obtained from the court of Lif- bon a new concordatum, by which the collation of all the prebends was equally divided in thirds to the queen, the bifhops, and himfelf. Soon after, the patriarchal fee of Lifbon, which Pom- bal had deprived of almoft all its honours, reco- vered its former fplendor, its revenues, its nume- rous and opulent chapter. The partifans of the Jefuits were countenanced ; and even an idea was for fome time entertained that the Jefuits themfelves were to be again taken into favour. Pius's enemies had induftrioufly difleminated that report : the minifters of the courts of the houfe of Bourbon were alarmed by it ; and the chevalier de Menefes, the Portuguefe minifter, was directed formally to contraditt it. The only meafure which the court of Lifbon thought pro- per at the moment to take in favour of the Je- fuits and the See of Rome, was to grant mode- rate penfions to the former, and thus relieve the 128 Apoftolic Chamber from the burden of their" maintenance, of which it had till that time borne almoft the entire weight. Thus paffed fix or feven years of the moft per-, feft good underftanding between the courts of Lifbon and of Rome. While all the other fove- reigns, whether religious or not, were making ecclefiaftic reforms, abridging the power of the clergy, and curtailing the revenues of the Holy See, the queen of Portugal alone continued to found convents, re-eftablifhed the inquifition, and, obedient to the fuggeftions of her hufband * who. was a zealous partifan of the defunft fo* ciety, fufTered an occafional ray of hope to cheer its profcribed and fcattered members. All the other catholic powers, if they did not threaten a rupture with the Holy See, at leaft made no fcruple of fetting bounds to the fums which their fubje&s, whether of the clergy or the laity, paid to it as the purchafe of bulls for benefices, of difpenfations, &c. The Portuguefe alone, after the example of their fovereign, multiplied their demands for fpiritual favours, of which they paid the price not only without murmur but with pious alacrity. In every other catholic country, the prelates, whether opulent or other- wife, teifed the datario with applications for a re- * Don Carlos, du&ion of the tax on their bulls : but the datdrio experienced no fuch importunity from the bene- ficed clergy of Portugal, who, on the contrary, fliowed themfelves the moft devoted and mod generous of thp fons of the church. To folicit. for any abatement of thofe dues, which they confidered as fo legitimate and facred, would have appeared to them a facrilege. Some flight dorms, however, difturbed the tranquillity of that fo peaceful horizon. In fpite of prieftly oppofition, fome rays- of philofophy burft through the gloom which fat brooding over Portugal. The prince of Brafil, lefs prieft- ridden than his mother, had fuffered himfelf to be perverted by the perufal of fome foreign books. In 1787 he had the boldnefs to order Portuguefe tranllations of the books of the normal fchools of Vienna, and to introduce them into fchools which he had himfelf eftablifhed. Soon after, he caufed certain pofitions, which were difagree- able to the Holy See, and which he had found in a journal printed at Berlin, to be fuftained at the univerfity of Coimbra fuch as the follow- ing " The fovereign may refume grants made " to the church" the other hand, he had to wait ibmetimes fix: months for the iffuing of his bulls. In either event, the cardinal-protestor was fure of receiv- ing his propina. : and, after all, he was, under that pompous title, nothing more than an agent em- ployed by his nation in ecclefiaftic and benefi- ciary affairs, and particularly thofe of which the decifion was confined to the confiftory. From thefe details it mutt evidently appear that the cardinal de Bernis was perfonally in- terefted in preferving the revenues of the Holy See. The fingle article of the propine annually yielded to him, on an average, from twenty-four to thirty thoufand livres. He was not greedy: but the high ftyle in which he was rather accuf- tdmecl than obliged to live did not allow him to be perfectly difmterciled. It was therefore al- ways with a fort of repugnance, though always with fuccefs, that he applied for abatements : and this was during feveral years his moft im- portant employment, and the only contrariety he experienced at Rome. ' We lhall but flightly mention the oppofition in 1775 by the French clergy to the project of uniting the ufelefs -order of the Antonines with that of Malta. Louis XVI. had already agreed with Pius on that bufmefs : the briefs which the pontiff \vas to iifue were prepared ; when fud- dcnly the French prelates, animated by laudable 177 zeal for what they termed the interefts of the church, addreffed very urgent remonftrances to the pope on the fubjeft of the intended union. We will not trouble our readers with a detail of the erudite theologic arguments by which they endeavoured to awake fcruples in the breaft of his holinefs : it will be fufficient to obferve that Pius found himfelf very much embarrafled on the occafion, and thought it his duty to fufpend the ifTuing of the briefs, and appoint a congre- gation to examine that queftion of fo un-impor- tant a nature. He ferioufly faid to Bernis, who liflened to him, confoled him, encouraged him, and fometimes fcolded him, * f That meafure is " indifpenfable, if I wifh to avoid expoiing my- " felf to reproach or remorfe." The court of Verfailles thought proper to allow him time for reflexion. The pope, already ill advifed, gave to the bull of incorporation a new form which dif- pleafed our miniftry, who teftified their difplea- fure with confiderable warmth : and this was perhaps the only time previous to the revolution, when France affumed toward him a menacing tone. Vergennes wrote to Rome " Let them " not drive us to extremities : let them not force els. Each party afferted their pretenfions, but without ill humour. Some fl ght triumphs were gained: none was extorted by force: none left behind it any vefliges of animofity. The agents- general of the clergy claimed the immunities of their body in favour of the cardinal de Rohan. This was one of thofe confervatory ats which prove nothing, and which do not pledge to any thing. The internuncio Pieracchi reprefented that his? million had entirely failed of its object 20! if the pope's brief and the letter from the Sa- cred College remained in the hands of the go- vernor of the Baftille without being feen by the cardinal. He was permitted to communi- cate them to him : for which purpofe he repair- ed to the Baftille, and read them to the cardi- nal, but without allowing him to take copies of them. The term of the cardinal's tribulations now approached : in the beginning of June, he was, by a decree of the parliament, acquitted of the crime laid to his charge : from which moment all the pretenfions of the Holy See fell to the ground. But, although the cardinal de Rohan had been acquitted by a court of juftice, Louis's grounds of complaint againft him ftill remained undimiflied. He was baniihed to his abbey of Chaife-Dieu, and commanded to refign -the office of grand-almoner. The Holy See, however, had not the fame reafons for continu- ing its fe verity after the decree which had de- clared him innocent : the honour of the Sacred College could defire nothing further; and the pope, in a confiftory held on the i8th of June, re-infhted him in his cardinalitian dignity. But he could not fcreen him from ridicule and ihame, or remove the prejudice which fuch an adventure excited againft the whole Sacred College. 202 This was the only conteft of a fcrious nature which the court of France had in eleven years with the court of Rome. But the Holy See was doomed to be tormented by all the powers of Europe in their turns : and it was from that which had ihown it the greateft tendernefs, and for which it had teftified the greateft regard, that it was fated to receive the moft violent wounds and at length the wound of death. Such, beyond the Pyrenees, that animal, armed by nature and his own courage *, is feen exhi- biting to a circus crowded with curious gazers the fpettacle of a combat in which twenty af- failants alternately attack him, defy his formi- dable arms which their dexterity renders ineffec- tual, briftle his brawny neck with painful aj.- rows, and make the blood dream down his vi- gorous flanks : his ftrength is exhaufted : the bell has tolled his laft hour : the vulgar comba- tants retire : the matador alone advances within the lifts: all eyes are fixed upon him: his eyes are riveted on his victim, whofe motions h.e watches, whofe craft he foils, till at length, up- lifting his arm guided by dexterity and nerved with vigour, he ftrikes, and the viclim falls to the ground. * See a defcription of the bull-fights in any book of travels in Spain. 203 x Thus, during fifteen years, had the enemies of the Holy See fapped the foundations of the papal throne -, and, during that ftruggle, France had flood aloof. At length flie appears, and is to occupy the fcene. 04 CHAPTER XXIV. Ecdejlajlic Reforms undertaken by the National Ajfembly of France. JTA-LTHOUGH the government of France had remained an inactive and fometimes even a be- nevolent ipectaior of thofe contefts which the court of Rome haci hitherto had to fuftain againft fo many foyereigns jealous of their temporal au- thority, the fenfible part of the nation was never- thelefs impreflfed with the principles of which thofe fovereigns made a tardy application. It was by her hiftorians, her canoiiitts, and efpe- cially her philofophers, that they had been pro- fefled with the greateft energy. It was in her language, which was become the univerfal lan- guage of enlightened Europe, that they had been developed and brought down to the level of every mind : and there was not perhaps, during this latter half of the eighteenth century, a coun- try in Europe where men were more tired, than in France, of the pretenfions of the Holy See, more afhamed of the tributes paid to it by cre- dulity, more mocked by the conduft of the priefts, the opulence of the higher clergy, and 205- that innumerous mob of monks who did not even atone for their inutility by leading an exemplary- life. Among the fuperior clafles, who alone had any influence on the government, a perfect unanimity of opinion and of vvifhes prevailed refpedting tbofe abufes. But to reform them was no eafy talk. Although the reafon of every enlightened man called for their abolition, there were num- bers, and thefe not the leaft powerful, who were interefted in their prefervation. Louis XV.>, amid the diforders of a fottiih life, had retained a fort of mechanical devotion. A certain in- frincl: taught him that his own power was con- nected with that of the church : he did not wifli that it fliould become his rival : but he was not forry to fee it reigli under him and for him. His fucceflbr, who felt a much more genuine devo- tion, had inherited the fame maxims. Befides, u:ider both reigns, the clergy, who conftituted one of the three orders of the (late, and even the only one which conilantly had a kind of organi- fation, flood as watchful fentinels around the throne, and by their fupp:>rt repaid the fupport they received from it, whenever their own im- munities did not come in collifion with the re- gal authority. A few fparks of philofophy had even reached a part of that order, who were called the fupe- rior elergy : and by thefe prelates, much morfc ambitious than philofophical, certain reforms had long fmce been projected ; but they were' fuch as, while they diminifhed the prerogatives of the Holy See ; were to increafe the power of thofe projectors. They did not wilh a rupture with the pontiff, whom they confidered as the Centre of catholic unity : but neither did they choofe to live in fervile dependence on him. They were fufficiently perfuaded, for inftance, that to the fpirrtual authority belonged the right of granting marriage-difpenfations - 3 but they thought themfelves competent to grant them. They participated the general wifh refpefting the multiplicity of convents and the enormity of their wealth : they wifhed to purify and thin the ranks of that numerous hoft of ecclefiaftic mili- tia, but not entirely to difband it. Reduced within proper bounds, they thought it ufeful for the defence of the' church, and even, in a certain degree, contributory to their own confequence, as their vanity took a pleafure in contemplating that hierarchy of which themfelves occupied the moil elevated grade. Thus they were not averfe to reforms: on the contrary, they wifhed for them not yet aware, that, in treading that flip- pery path, one has not always the power of flopping where he choofes. Nay, even among the lower clergy, who were the objects of their difdain, there were men more clear-fighted than they with refpect to the common interefts of the whole ecclefiaftic body. Long will be remembered the anfwer given by a monk to Monfieur de Lomenie, fince a car- dinal an anfwer, which, under the fhape of a trifling play of words, contained a ftriking pro- phecy which fubfequent events have fo fully ac- complifhed. Monlieur de Lomenie, at that time archbifliop of Touloufe, was prefident of the board of commiffioners appointed by the clergy to promote-the reformation of the monafteries. Converting one day on his plan with a monk who did not entirely co-incide with him in opinion and who to the'beft of his power defended the caufe of his brethren, the archbiihopinfifted, and peeviflily faid, u Yes ! 'tis a determined point : it is ab- ** folutely neceflfary to reform this monkery*.'' " Take care !" replied the other : " after the f< monkery, they will proceed to the prieftery, and " at length, my lord, to the bljhopry? But the fuperior clergy were connected by too many links with the throne, and thought their ^xiftence too fecure, to admit of (imilar prefen- timents. Befides, how could they forefee the * Molnaille, a contemptible mob of monks : prttrailk and tnltratile (here rendered pricjlery and bijbopry) are words of fi- milarly contemptuous import, coined from prefre a fr'teft, and miire a mitrt. 206 concatenation of events which were foon to ve- rify them ? With an ahnoft philofophic courage, therefore, they purfued that kind of reformation which was not likely to reach themfelves. Tbe court of Rome began to be alarmed at their proceedings in the year 1787, the period when the papacy differed the mod painful wounds from all quarters except France.^ The French clergy were affembled in one of thofe periodical meetings where they determined the amount of the contributions which they fhould pay to the king under the denomination of a free gift ; and they had manifefied a difpofition to attempt the fuppre-iTion of certain abufes. The pope was on the point of addreffing to them a moni- tory letter to divert them from thofe innovations which were gaining ground in feveral ftates. He communicated his intention to the cardinal de Bernis, who combated it with that afcen- dency which he always poffeffed over Pius, and which increafed on critical occafions ; and he fucceeded in perfuading his holinefs that the meafure was " at leaft ufelefs." In fat, our government was now in its turn entering the career of reforms alarming 'to the Holy See. We had obtained the fuppreffion of the order of Celeftines in France: during the courfe of the fame year, 1787, we demanded, and in a tone which admits not a refufal from 209 a Weaker power, that the Celcftines of the Comtat of Avignon mould alfo be fuppreflfed : and, without giving to the pope any notice of our intention, we feifed the property which thofe monks pofieflTed in our territory. The court of Rome fighed at that violent proceeding, and efpecially at the ungracious manner in which it took place: but they fighed infecret,not choofing to alienate a government whiqh had hitherto been the proteclor and comforter of the Holy See. At the fame time a decree of the privy- council fuppreiTed the ancient Obfervance * of Cluni : and it was only by the voice of public fame that the pope was informed of the trans- a&ion ! It is true, we did nothing more than exert our juft rights : but we had not accuftomed Pius to fuch mortifications. Still more poignant was his grief when he flrft received intelligence of an edict tending to meliorate the fituation of the proteftants in France. Even cardinal Buoncompagni himfelf, temperate as he was in every thing which did not immediately affect the inrereils of the holy Roman church, viewed that aft with the eyes of a catholic prieft. He did not fcruple to be ambitious, jealous, avid of glory, to purfuc a * Some of the religious orders were fplit into fes and par- ties, the one valuing themfelves on a more rigid obfcr-'janct of their original rules, than the others. Hence the term. VOL. II. P 210 licentious courfe of life fo feverely prohibited by that religion whofe welfare was fo dear to him : he fancied that God was much lefs offended by his irregularities than he would be on feeing a period put in France to the perfecution of fome millions of peaceable fubje&s, who did not think as he thought, but who led a fomewhat more exemplary life. Already he trembled left the indulgence mould be carried fo far as to al- low them the public exercife of their mode of worfhip. He recovered, however, from his alarm on ob- fcrving that the edict proceeded no farther than granting them the civic character, to infure the legitimate exiftence of their children. " But fur>is do not, on 21S " an average, annually amount to more than " four hundred tboufarud Iivres*j that the im- " portation of our fugars and coffee into the " Ecclefiaftical State caufes a return of four times " that fum to France; that all Rome are clad " in our (tuffs of Lyons ; that if the pontiff were " to give to the Englifii that preference over us " which they folicit, and which in a fit of re- *' fentment he might be induced to grant, we " fhould lofe more than we could gain by the " fuppreflion." Thefe arguments might have appeared plaufi- ble to a court which had reafon to fear fetting the example of reform : but they had no weight with an affembly whom the voice of the people imperioufly commanded to undertake the work of reformation; and the payment of the an- nats was one of the firft abufes removed by the dates-general. At the news of this event, a deep and uni- verfal confirmation prevailed in the capital of the catholic world. Bernis himfelf, the cool, the moderate, the philofophic Bernis, could not without extreme difficulty fubmit to this firft blow ftruck at his immenfe revenue. The fup- preilion of the annats alone deprived him of * About fixteen thoufand fix hundred and fixty-fix pounds fteiiing. 219 between twenty and thirty tboufand livres per annum. That of the tithes foon followed, and proved yet more fatal to him. The chief part of his income from the archbimopric of Alby, from his priory of La Charite-fur-Loire, and of his two other abbeys, was in tithes. He bitterly complained of a treatment " fo unforefeen and " fo unmerited," as he aflerted. " He certainly " enjoyed a brilliant fortune : but all Europe " knew in what manner he had employed it y his exceffes, contributed not a little to acce- 268 Jerate the downfall of the Roman government, It was through him alone that the pope held correfpondence with the congregation, all whofe reports Barber! diftorted in obedience to the dic- tates of his own paffions. He thus engrofled all the authority which ought to have been veiled in the congregation : he exercifed acts of per- fonal vengeance : he fubferved every fufpicion ; he let loofe every hatred ; and, while he conti- nued to difguft Romans and foreigners, the friends and the enemies of France, the pontiff alone confidered himfelf as indebted to him for his own falvation and that of the ftate. Every individual bowed fubmiinve, every tongue was filent, at lead in his prefence. Notwithftanding the clamours of the factions oppofed to France, the chevalier Azara ftill re*- tained not only fome afcendency over the pope, but alfo the confidence of the Roman people. He condefcended to make one laft effort to ex- tricate the Holy See from the danger in which a fucceflion of imprudencies had involved it. He confented to become its mediator with the youth- ful conqueror who menaced its territories, and repaired to Buonaparte at Milan. All Rome in anxious expectation awaited the refult of his conferences with that general. The populace loucjly expreflcd their willies for the prefervation of peace ; they affembled in crowds before the door of duke Brafchi,. whom they fufpefted of entertaining a defire different from theirs ; nor could they otherwife be appeafed than by afftir- ances that the duke-nephew had on the contrary determined his uncle to commence a negotia- tion. But the progrefs of the conferences was much lefs rapid than that of our arms. Intelligence was received at Rome, that, on the firft of Mef- fidor (June 19, 1796), a divifion of the French army had entered the papal dominions. On the frontier of the Bolognefe and Modenefe territo- ries flood the fort of Urbino, which we could not leave in our rear. It was fummoned to fur- render. This fort was garrifoned by five hun- dred foldiers, " fine-looking fellows," faid Buo- naparte in his relation of the affair, " and well " clad: but they were pope's-men !"' The fort furrendered. This was our firft conquer! in the Ecclefiaftical State. Soon after, we became mafters of Bologna, Ferrara, and even Ancona. Thus the Holy See loft, within a few days, two of its legcitine governments, its two fineft pro- vinces, which it has never fince recovered, and where no individual has regretted its yoke. The news of thefe events caufed a great fer- ment among the Romans. They affembled in groups which difplayed the features of anxiety rather than of fedition. The government, how- 270 ever, was alarmed by thefe appearances : the fecretary of ftate addreffed a proclamation to the mal-contents, and fpoke to them in the lan- guage both of the temporal and fpiritual powers, which flood in need of mutual fupport to.fuc- ceed in (till retaining any authority. " As Chrif- " tians," faid he to them, " have recourfe to " God : as fubje&s, place confidence in your " fovereign, who leaves nothing unattempted " to fecure peace.*' About this time the priefts of the' Ecclefiaftical State crowded to the temples, to the public fqiiares opened to their flocks the treafures of celeftial liberality promifed forty thoufand years of indulgence to whoever mould affift in repelling the French, " the fcourges of the church *. The general anxiety, however, continued to operate with undiminiflied poignancy. Already * Thus they commented on a brief iflued by the pope, which had been profufely difleminated through the country, and which is worthy of being preferred, as one of the mofr curious monuments of atrocious fanaticifm. It is as follows : - of the French Revolution," vol. ii. page 183' 271 the principal Roman families were feen re- tiring from the city. The cardinals were pre paring to follow them, when a courier arrived, who had been difpatched from Bologna by the chevalier Azara, with the news of the armiftice which he had juft concluded. The facrifices which he had been obliged to make were pain- ful : it coil the pope the two legatine govern- ments of Bologna and Ferrara, his fined paint- ings, his mod beautiful ftatues, and a contribu- tion of fifteen millions : but thefe were the only terms on which he had been able to arreft the tide of Gallic conqueft. This armiftice fupplied the enemies of the chevalier Azara with new means of bringing him into difcredit, and even rendering him odious. According to their reprefentations, that mini- fter " had facrificed the Holy See : his condut %< was dictated by his hatred of the Romans, and " by his irreligious principles, evidently fimilar " to thofe which the French arms rendered tri- " umphant." But this was not a feafon for de- clamatory invetive : it was neceflary to devife means of fulfilling the condition of the fatal ar- miftice. The pope immediately fent v for the cardinal camerlingo and the governor of Rome : he convoked the congregation of ftate : he deli- berated : he refigned himfelf to his deftiny, and in the night of the 28th of June difpatched a 272 plenipotentiary to Paris. The perfon chofen foi* that million was Pieracchi, who had already been internuncio in France ; and with him was affo- ciated Evangelifti, whom the Chevalier Azara had taken with him to Bologna as his fecretary. Thefe political fteps were followed by public- prayers, thankfgivings, and proclamations : but the chief difficulty was not yet furmounted. The contribution promifed to France mud be raifed without delay. The ordinary refources were exhaufted, nor could taxation furnifh new. Pius propofed in a fecret confiftory to take the remainder of thofe firms of money which had been treafured in the caftle of Saint- Angelo fince the pontificate of Sixtus V. On any other oc- cafion fuch a meafure would have been deemed facrilege : under prefent circumftances, the ter- ror was now fo profound and univerfal that the pope's propofition was unanimoufly adopted. But thofe treafures of the caftle of Saint-An- gelo were hardly fufficiertt to pay the firft inftal- ment: for the fubfequent payments it became necefTary to employ other means. The churches and all the pious foundations were obliged to deliver up all their ornaments and vcffels of gold and filver which were not abfolutely indifpen- fable for the celebration of divine fervice. An edict was ifiued, inviting all the pope's fubjecls to carry to the treafury all their fuperfluous plate. 273 Four Roman noblemen were charged with the collection. The prince Doria fent in a gratui- tous donation which was valued at half a million. To divert the minds of the Romans from brooding on thofe fubje&s of anxious concern, prayers were called in to their aid, and indul- gences, and miracles in particular, which feemed to be multiplied in thefe critical moments. At Ancona, notwirhftanding the prefence of the French who were fo little inclined to fuperfti- tious credulity, there was not a Madonna that had not exhibited fymptoms of animation; and the faithful were firmly perfuaded that to the interceffion of the Virgin alone they were, in- debted for that armiftice which coft them fo dear and yet was fo earneftly defired. At Rome, as it was highly proper, the miracles were even more brilliant than at Ancona. There, all the Madonnas opened and fhut and rolled their eyes : near fome of them, withered flowers re- covered their bloom, dry branches refumed their verdure ; and the multitude flocked "in crowds to the fight, admired, and attefted what they had feen. It was amid this phrenfy of devotion that the chevalier Azara entered Rome on his return from Bologna, Notwithftanding the inftigations of the chevalier's enemies, the pontiff received him with eager warmth, gave him feveral fccret VOL. II. T 274 audiences, and received from him counfels of* Which fubfequent events have proved that he had not the wifdom to avail himfelf. Pius's intellects were at this time in a date nearly bor- dering on alienation : but there was fomething gloomy in his delirium. Thofe miracles, which by all his flock were confidered as fo aufpicious omens, to him appeared fure tokens of the divine wrath : to appeafe it, lie ordered vifits, in the form of proceflions, to fix churches. In thofe religious ceremonies, ladies of the higheft rank bore the facred banner ; and the cardinal della Sommaglia, well fitted by his natural caft as by his ftation for acting every fort of character, did not difdain the tafk of carrying the crofs. Such was the manner in which the court of Rome was preparing to receive the French com- miflioners who were coming to execute the con- ditions of the armiftice. The cardinal Zelada thought it his duty to teftify the warmeft defire of giving them a good reception: and although it was well known what he thought of the fi- tuation of the Holy See, he had the effrontery to declare in a hypocritic proclamation that the armiftice was " an effect of God's mercy, " fmce it was, after all, an advantage to facri- *' fice a part for the fake of preferving the reft." He moreover threatened with the fevereft pu- ffilhrtients whoever fhould dare to offer even the 275 flighted infult to the French commiffioners or any of their fuite. By this conduct the court -of Rome announced very pacific intentions, but at the fame time betrayed confiderable diftruit of the difpofitions of the Roman people, and feemed to prepare for itfelf an apology before- hand. In the .month of July* arrived the firft of the ex- pefted commiffioners, citizen Miot, our minifter in Tufcany. The chevalier Azara, who after having tranfafted the afTairs of the court of Rome now did the honours for it, went to meet the Gallic commiffioner as far as Ponte-Molle, and intro- duced him into Rome under the efcort of a pi- quet of cavalry, and preceded by a French courier decorated with that tricolor cockade which, a few months before, had fo violently excited the indignation of the Roman people. Miot was at fiift received with all the ap- pearances of warm cordiality, and diftinguiflied by thofe honours which are ufually referved for embafladors extraordinary. All the cardinals, fo well fchooled in the arts of diffimulation, came to vifit him. The chevalier Azara procured him. an audience of the pope, which lafted nearly an hour: the converfation wholly turned on in- different topics, nor was any except tranfient mention made of the conditions of the armi- ftice. Pius folemnly declared that they were, in T a 276 his eyes, " una cofa facrofanta * :" but experience foon taught us what degree of fmcerity accom- panied thofe words pronounced with a peniten- tial air. Afterward, for form-fake, Miot had a conference with the cardinal Zelada. The latter was fo enfeebled by age and folicitude as hardly to retain the ufe of fpeech : he therefore no- minated a prelate to fupply his place in the con- ferences relative to the armiftice. The other French commiflioners fucceflively arrived. Their prefence caufed a lively fenfa- tion at Rome : they were viewed with an eager curiofity which had nothing ofFenfive in it. They naturally awaked unpleafing recollections: but what comparifon between a fet of pacific com- miflioners for the moft part men of temperate prudence and thofe formidable conquerors from whom the city ought to have deemed herfelf thrice happy to have only received laws at a di- ftance ? Cacault, who ha df long been employed in Italy, clofely followed Miot to Rome ; and, at the end of July, the conferences refpecling the execution of the armiftice were begun in the chevalier Azara's hotel. At thofe meetings the pope employed, as his interpreter, the fijcal Barberi, whofe intractable difpofition was al- ready too well known. He ftill poflefled para- mount influence, and exerted it in fuch manner * A moft facred obje&. 277 as to increafe the number of wrongs chargeable on the pope. They had not yet reached the term of their final completion. At this period we received a flight check, and were obliged to relinquifli for fome time the fiege of Mantua. Pius's perfidious counfellors faw that this was a favourable moment to repair at lead a part of his lofles ; and, notwithftand- ing the energetic reprefentations of the chevalier Azara, the pontiff difpatched a vice- legate to retake poffeffion of the legation of Ferrara. This little triumph was of fhort duration. The vice-legate, on his arrival, found the Ferrarefe tolerably quiet, and imagined that they were difpofed to replace themfelves with pleafure under the papal yoke : but he faw them rife in infurre&ion when he attempted to fubftitute the arms of the fovereign pontiff to thofe of the French republic. Soon afterward the tide of Gallic victory refumed its wonted courfe : the vice-legate's million was at an end ; and he thought himfelf very fortunate in being allowed to return to Rome. Meantime the refpeclful attentions which had in the firft inftance been mown to the French cornmiflioners were fucceeded by infults as foon as our fituation began to appear critical. Miot, returning to his poft at Florence after a month fncnt in Rome, became the objet of a popular T 3 278 commotion in his way through Spoleto ; nor did he without difficulty efcape the rage of the po*. pulace who were ftirred up againft him. Even at' Rome, two of our commiffioners, who had quietly flopped to view the column of Trajan, were-firft aflailed with a volley of ftones thrown by children, and afterward, in attemp'.ing to make their efcape, -heard the alarming -cry of ft Kill them! they are Frenchmen ! they are " commiflioners !" In fact they were in imminent danger of lofing their lives ; and, for their pre-* fervation, they were folely indebted to the in- terference of a Roman officer who conduced them to the governor of the city. The latter ftammered out an apology in the following hy- pocritic ftrain " You -m'uft attribute this com- tc motion, which we difavow and regret, to the " unfavourable intelligence received concerning fi the French armies." ob- tained from him the promife of ten thoufand men and one of his generals. We already had ftrong reafons for fufpeting this perfidious un- der- plot, when Buonaparte found pofitive proof of it in an intercepted letter from the cardinal 299 Bufca to monfignor Albani who fo faithfully ferved at Vienna the anti-gallican faction in Rome. The cardinal very explicitly faid in that ] e tter " So Ion g as I am allowed to hope for " affiftance from the emperor, I will temporife " with refpeft to the proportions of peace made " to us by the French." And in another place " Still true to my opinion, and jealous of my " honour, which I think hurt by treating with " the French while there exifts a negotiation " pending between us and the court of Vienna." He fpoke in it with great franknefs refpecling general Colli: he impatiently awaited his ar- rival, he calculated with monfignor Albani the means of exciting a civil war in France, (f with-* " out too deeply implicating the Holy See," Sec. After fuch a difcovery there was no longer any delicacy to be obferved toward the court of Rome. On the thirteenth of Piuviofe (February 18, 1797) Buonaparte, from his head-quarters at Bologna, declared, that, the pope having for- mally refufed to execute two articles of the ar- miftice concluded on the fecond of Meffidor preceding having inceffantly continued to ex- cite people to the crufade againft France - having even caufed his troops to advance within ten miles of Bologna having commenced hof- tile negotiations with the court of Vienna and, finally, having refufed to anfwer the pacific 300 overtures made by citizen Cacault, miniller oi the French republic, &c. the armiftice was broken. Immediately after the promulgation of this fpecies of manifefto, the French army invaded the Ecclefiaftical State, feifed upon Irnola, Forli, Cefena (the pope's birth-place); and, in the eutfet, Pius fuffered the lofs of four or five hundred men killed, a thoufand prifoners, four pieces of artillery, &;c. Colli, however, was exempt from the difgracc of thefe firft di falters. He had not reached Rome until the twelfth of January; when he immediately beftowed his attention on the orga- uifation of the papal forces. But our warriors gained fo rapid fucceMes that the commander in chief of the troops of the Holy See was foon left without an army to command. In few days the French made themfelves matters of Ro- magna, the duchy of Urbino, and the marqui- fate of Ancona ; and on the thirtieth of Pluviofe (February 18) Buonaparte dated his difpatches from his head-quarters at Tolen^ino, fome leagues beyond Loreto : for the celebrated image of the Virgin at that place had performed no miracles to check the rapidity of our career. The Santa Cafay which contained it, was fituate on an emi- nence commanding the fhore of the Adriatic^ from which it is two miles and half diftant- Defended by a feeble wail, two (mail forts, and a garrifon of twelve men, what refources did it poffefs for refinance on every fide, and particu- larly on that of the land"? But the beach is un- approachable except by boats : and that wall, thofe forts, the proximity of the fortrefs of An- cona the ftrength of the church containing the treafures, which is folidly built, and fecured with brazen gates the Santa Caja itfelf being coal ;d vvith marble and Ihut with iron doors all thefe circumftances combined were fufficient to pre- fcrve the revered image from the rapacity of the inHcbls. The pope little fufpeted by \vhat kind of infidels this monument of fuper- ftition was to be plundered : it fuffered that fate from the hands of the French fo eafily victorious. A lavifh profufion of diamonds ornamented the Virgin and the infant Jefus : but devotees are credulous and far from quick-fighted , and the profane vifit of Buonaparte was necelTary to convince the world that the greater Dumber of thofe diamonds were equally falfe as the divinity to whom they were confecrated. Meanwhile what were the Romans doing ? They had at firft fuffered their imaginations to be dazzled bv the molt brilliant iliufions on feeinjr ' O that the emperor ferioufly attended to the inter- eils of the Holy See : anti-gallican hatred was fuffered to rage uncontroled : I-'renchmca were. 302 imprifoned : our commiflioners were infulted, and particularly our minifter Cacault. But, on hearing of the triumphant march of the Gallic army, Rome trembled, and turned her attention toward the means of appeafmg the refentment of the exafperated conqueror. That conqueror, however, was lefs formidable than the Romans fuppofed him: he did not wifli to overturn the pontifical throne ; and he now gave a fecond proof of his difpofition in that refpeA. When, in the preceding year, after he had invaded the legatine governments of Bologna and Ferrara, there broke forth an infurre&ion in ^he latter, the little town of Lugo, which had been the principal focus of the diforder, was indeed treated with great rigor : but the hand of vengeance flopped there : for Buonaparte aimed only at producing repentance, witnefs, his treatment of cardinal Mattei, archbilhop of Ferrara. Sprung from one of the principal families of Rome, and elevated to the higheft dignities of the church, Mattei was as fimple as a village- prieft, and with all the fincerity of his heart a fanatic. At the approach of the French, he had mounted his pulpit and declaimed againft them with truly apoftolic zeal. Buonaparte, victorious in fpite-of his eminence's holy oratory, fent for 303 him, reprimanded him, and ordered him to pri- fon. On the morrow he fummoned him to his prefence, and made him undergo a long admo- nition, to which the good cardinal made no other anfwer than a humble peccavi*. Buona- parte, affe&ed by his docility, propofed to him, as an atonement for his offences, to go in per- fon to Rome, there to negotiate a folid peace, and thus to fave his country and his fovereign. Mattei embraced the offer with enthufiafm, and promifed every thing that was required of him, provided that the fpiritual rights of the Holy See fhould remain inviolate. He more than once repeated (t We can refignedly fub- " mit to every temporal facrifice : but, for God's " fake, dear general ! let us not meddle with fpi- " ritual matters." In this difpofition he fet out for Rome, where at firft he experienced an in- different reception becaufe he made profeffion of pacific fentiments which did not accord with thofe of the Holy See : but it was foon glad to employ his interpofition. He had now continued at Rome fince the month of October 1796: and, on the news of Buonaparte's fucceffes, he wrote to that con- queror a pathetic letter which did not fail to produce its intended effect. Buonaparte an- * I have tranfgrefled I have done wrong. 304 fw'sred it on the twenty-fifth of Pluviofe: "I " recognife," faid he to the cardinal, " in the " letter that you have taken the trouble of writ- " ing to me, that fimplicity of manners which " charafterifes you." The general then entered into fome details refpe&ing the caufes of com- plaint which the court of Rome had given to France, and concluded with thefe words " I " am willing once more to prove to entire Eu- " rope the moderation of the directory of the " French republic, by granting him * five days " to fend a negotiator, provided with full powers, " who mall repair to Foligno, where I mail " be," &c. Inftead of a fingle plenipotentiary, the pope without delay fent him four his nephew the duke Ludovico-Brafchi, and the marquis Ca-< millo Maffimi, merely for the fake of adding dignity to the tranfadtion the cardinal Mattei, as perfonally known to Buonaparte ^and mon- fignor Gkileppi, an acute and dextrous negoti- ator, and, of the four, the one upon whom he placed the greateft reliance. They had an in- terview with Buonaparte at Tolentino, inftead of Foligno, the place before appointed. The conferences at firft proceeded flowly. The plenipotentiaries attempted to higgle about * The pope. $05 a few millions: but Buonaparte, who was equally in hafte to levy a fort of contribution on the Eo clefiaftical State, and to return and place himfelf again at the head of his army to invade the here- ditary dates of the emperor Buonaparte, tired of the tedious progrefs of the Roman negotiators, faid to cardinal Mattei on the eighteenth of Fe- bruary 1797, " If you do not to-morrow give un- " referved cc nfent to all my proportions, on the ft following day I'll march againft Rome." On the morrow the good cardinal waited on the ge- neral, faying, " We confent to the whole." Immediately they began to draw up the ar- ticles : they dined : after dinner the treaty was concluded: they figned it: they fupped, em- braced each other, and feparated. The next day Buonaparte, with the officers of his ftaff, was on his way to Auftria, having left behind him general Victor, who, with an 'army of fifteen thoufand men, formed a line acrofs the Eccle- fiaftical State, from Perugia to Ancona, and remained there until the articles of the treaty were carried into execution. The principal of thofe articles were in fubftance as follow The pope (hall pay thirty-one millions. He fliall furnifli fixteen hundred horfes fully caparifoned. He (hall grant a penfion to the family of BafTeville. VOL. ii. X 306 There fhall be a treaty of commerce con- cluded with France. All Romagna (hall be free 5 and there fhall be a French garrifon at Ancona. While this treaty was 'under negotiation, the greater part of the Ecclefiaftical State was oc- cupied by the French arms j and all was con- fufion at Rome. Terror had filenced refent- ment. There was neither courage nor unani- mity in the councils.: not a man to be found who was capable of dire&ing the meafures which circumftances required. The pope in particular was panic-ftruck ; and* while his deputies were letting out for Tolentino, he was making his preparations for retiring to Naples. A confi- derable treafure was to have been fent before him to Terracina. On the report of that pro- jecl, the people flocked in crowds to the bank to exchange their cedole, which they offered at a difcount of feventy per cent. The treafure dif- appeared : the pontiff was diverted from his project ; and, to give a different dire&ion to the peo'ple's thoughts, he lavifhly treated them with procefficns, the forty hours' prayers, and pulpit invective againft the French. With refpeft to general Colli, he foon per- ceived that he had been placed at the head of troops who ran away at the flighteft fhadow of danger. He had reafon to congratulate himfelf o'n the refolution which the pope had taken of so? terminating fo unfortunate a war with all pof- fible fpeed : but he had the mortification of feeing the pontiff's deputies fet out to beg a peace at Tolentino without giving him any no- tice, and the treaty afterward figned without any intimation to him of what was going for- ward. Never had a campaign been of Ihort- er duration, never miflion lefs fuccefsful. He hafted to quit a theatre where he had found neither glory nor refpeft. The pope had much ftronger claims to pity, if indeed companion be due to merited misfor- tunes. He faw the fabric of his hopes over- thrown, three of his provinces irrecoverably lon% his coffers empty, his fubjefts difcontented, and already exhaufted by the pecuniary efforts which, the armiftiee had required. New exertions however were neceffary to fulfil the conditions of the recent treaty. On the twenty-fourth of February, the cardinal Bufca published a mourn- ful proclamation, in which he reminded the pontiff's fubje&s, that, " on the fixth of July " preceding, they had been called upon to de.- " liver up the whole of their plate ; that after-