but the reception given him by the Tuscans was not at all similar to what
he had experienced at Paris. The people received the royal pair as
sovereigns imposed on them by France. The ephemeral kingdom of Etruria
lasted scarcely six years. The King died in 1803, in the flower of his
age, and in 1807 the Queen was expelled from her throne by him who had
constructed it for her.

At this period a powerful party urged Bonaparte to break with the Pope,
and to establish a Gallican Church, the head of which should reside in
France. They thought to flatter his ambition by indicating to him a new
source of power which might establish a point of comparison between him
and the first Roman emperors. But his ideas did not coincide with theirs
on this subject. "I am convinced," said he, "that a part of France would
become Protestant, especially if I were to favour that disposition.
I am also certain that the much greater portion would remain Catholic,
and would oppose, with the greatest zeal and fervour, the schism of a
part of their fellow-citizens. I dread the religious quarrels, the
family dissensions, and the public distractions, which such a state of
things would inevitably occasion. In, reviving a religion which has
always prevailed in the country, and which still prevails in the hearts
of the people, and in giving the liberty of exercising their worship to
the minority, I shall satisfy every one."

The First Consul, taking a superior view of the state of France,
considered that the re-establishment of religious worship would prove a
powerful support to his Government: and he had been occupied ever since
the commencement of 1801 in preparing a Concordat with the Pope. It was
signed in the month of July in the same year. It required some time to
enable the parties to come to an understanding on the subject.