The Pope, forewarned by the Bishop of Nantes, awaited his Majesty; and as
the most important points had been discussed and arranged in advance, and
only a few clauses accessory to the main body of the Concordat remained
to be decided, it was impossible that the interview should have been
otherwise than amicable, a truth which is still more evident when we
reflect on the kind feelings of the Holy Father towards the Emperor,
their friendship for each other, and the admiration inspired in the Pope
by the great genius of Napoleon. I affirm then, and I think with good
reason, that the affair was conducted in a most honorable manner, and
that the Concordat was signed freely and without compulsion by his
Holiness, in presence of the cardinals assembled at Fontainebleau. It is
an atrocious calumny which some one has dared to make that, on the
reiterated refusal of the Pope, the Emperor placed in his hand a pen
dipped in ink, and seizing him by the arm and hair, forced him to sign,
saying that he ordered it, and that his disobedience would be punished by
perpetual imprisonment. The one who invented this absurd fabrication
must have known little of the Emperor's character. A person who was
present at this interview, the circumstances of which have been so
falsified, related them to me, and is my authority on the subject.
Immediately on his arrival at Fontainebleau, the Emperor paid a visit to
the Holy Father, who returned it next day, remaining two hours at least;
and during this time his Majesty's manner was calm and firm, it is true,
but full of respect and kind feeling for the person of the venerable
Pope. A few stipulations of the proposed treaty alarmed the conscience
of the Holy Father, which the Emperor perceived; and without waiting for
any arguments declared that he would renounce them, and every scruple
remaining in the mind of the Holy Father being thus satisfied, a
secretary was called, who drew up the articles, which the Pope approved
one by one, with most paternal benignity.