Leaving Rome in company with M. Cacault, Cardinal Consalvi arrived at Paris at night, after a tedious journey of fifteen days, and took up his abode with Mgr. Spina and his theologian, P. Caselli, afterwards Cardinal. Early in the morning he sent to acquaint Bonaparte of his arrival, and to learn at what hour he could have the honour of seeing the First Consul. He inquired also in what costume he should present himself, as at that period the ecclesiastical dress had been abandoned by the French clergy. These communications were made through the Abbé Bernier, who, from having been one of the leaders in the war of La Vendèe against the Republic, had taken a great part in the pacification of these provinces upon the terms offered by the consular government, and had thereby secured for himself the favour of Bonaparte. He was appointed negotiator on the part of the government, and brought to his task much theological knowledge, diplomatic skill, and the advantage of being agreeable to both the contracting parties. This ecclesiastic soon returned to Consalvi with the intimation that the First Consul would receive him that same morning at two o'clock, and that he was to come in the fullest possible cardinalitial costume. The Cardinal, however, did not gratify him in this latter particular, believing it to be his duty to present himself in the dress usually worn out of doors by cardinals when not in function. He was introduced to Napoleon under circumstances well calculated to embarrass a less evenly poised mind than his own. "I know", said the First Consul, "why you have come to France. I wish the conferences to be opened without delay. I allow you five days time, and I warn you that if on the fifth day the negotiations are not concluded, you must go back to Rome, as I have already decided what to do in such a case". Consalvi replied with calm dignity, and was soon afterwards conducted to his hotel. On the same day the Abbé Bernier came again to Consalvi, and asked him for a memorial setting forth the reasons which had constrained the Pope to accept the project which had been presented at Rome by M. Cacault. Although wearied by his long journey, the Cardinal spent the watches of the night in drawing up the memorial, which on the following day was communicated by the Abbé Bernier to Talleyrand, who, in turn, was to report upon it and lay it before the First Consul. The design of the memorial was to justify the refusal of the Concordat in the terms in which it had been drawn up by the French Government, and to show how reasonable and just were the modifications insisted on by the Pope. This design was not attained. Talleyrand wrote on the margin of the first page of the memorial these words, well calculated to confirm Napoleon in his idea that the Pope's minister was actuated by personal enmity towards the French Government: "Cardinal Consalvi's memorial does more to throw back the negotiations than all that has hitherto been written on the subject". These words, although they produced an unfavourable impression on the First Consul, did not however retard the negotiations. The fatigue of these negotiations was very great. Twice each day for many days beyond the five granted by Bonaparte, the Cardinal held conferences with the Abbé Bernier, always in the presence of Mgr. Spina and P. Caselli. The nights were frequently spent in drawing up and correcting memorials to be presented to the government. It was at this period in the negotiations that the limit which the Pope had placed to the Cardinal's powers was found to be of the greatest practical advantage. The Abbé Bernier, when any difficulty occurred, incessantly declared that, however strong his own convictions, he could decide nothing of himself without referring the matter to the First Consul. On the contrary, the Cardinal was never allowed to despatch a courier to consult the Pope and receive his commands. The pretext for this prohibition was, that the Concordat should absolutely be finished the next day. Under these circumstances, his limited powers were the only means left to Consalvi by which he might resist the pressure brought to bear against him. The orders he had received from the Pope were, not to break off the negotiations and refuse the Concordat because he could not make it as favourable as might be, but, on the other hand, not to sign it by overstepping those instructions given him before he left Rome, of which we have spoken above. For twenty-five days the conferences continued. Every nerve was strained to avert a rupture on the one hand, and undue concessions on the other. The consequences of a rupture were frequently laid before the Cardinal during these days, which he calls "days of anguish", by the Count de Cobenzel, Austrian ambassador at Paris. He was asked to consider that if the First Consul should break with Rome, and definitely separate from the head of the Catholic Church, he would, as he had often threatened, force Germany, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and Holland, to become the accomplices of his apostacy.
Finally, after incredible fatigue, after sufferings and anguish of every kind, the day came which brought with it the long-looked for conclusion of their task. The Abbé Bernier, who reported every evening to Bonaparte the results of the daily conferences, at length announced that the First Consul accepted all the disputed articles, and that on the following day they should proceed to sign two authentic copies of the treaty, one copy to remain in the hands of each of the contracting parties. The project thus accepted, was substantially the same as the one which, having been amended at Rome, had been rejected by the French government before the Cardinal's journey, and which had led to M. Cacault's withdrawal from Rome within five days. It was arranged that the signatures should be six; three on each side. The Cardinal, Mgr. Spina, and P. Caselli, were to sign on behalf of the Holy See; Joseph Bonaparte, brother of the First Consul, Cretet, councillor of state, and the Abbé Bernier, on behalf of the French government. It was further arranged that the Abbé Bernier should call for the three ecclesiastics at a little before four o'clock on the following day, 14th July, and conduct them to the residence of Joseph Bonaparte, where the solemn act was to be completed.
"There", said Bernier, "we shall be able to do all in a quarter of an hour, as we have only to write six names, and this, including the congratulations, will not take even so long". He also showed them the Moniteur of the day, in which the government officially announced the conclusion of the negotiations. He added, that on the next day, anniversary of the taking of the Bastile, the First Consul intended to proclaim at a grand dinner of more than three hundred guests, that the Concordat was signed, and a treaty concluded between the Holy See and the government, of far more importance than even the Concordat between Francis I. and Leo X.
Shortly before four o'clock the next day, the Abbé Bernier made his appearance, having in his hand a roll of paper, which he said was the copy of the Concordat to be signed. On their arrival at Joseph Bonaparte's, they took their places at a table, and after a short discussion as to who should be the first to sign, Joseph yielded that honour to the claims of the Cardinal. He took the pen in his hand, and then followed a scene which must be described in his own words: "What was my surprise when I saw the Abbé Bernier place before me the copy which he took from his roll, as if to make me sign without reading it, and when on running my eye over it, I found that it was not the treaty which had been agreed on by the respective commissioners and accepted by the First Consul himself, but one altogether different! The difference I perceived in the first lines led me to examine the rest with the most scrupulous care, and I satisfied myself that this copy not only contained the project which the Pope had refused to accept, but that it moreover included certain points which had been rejected as inadmissible before the project had been forwarded to Rome at all. This occurrence, incredible but true, paralysed my hand when about to sign my name. I gave expression to my surprise, and declared in plain language that on no account could I accept such a document. The First Consul's brother appeared equally astonished at hearing me speak so. He said that he did not know what to think of what he saw. He added that he had heard from the First Consul himself, that every thing had been arranged, and that there was nothing for him to do but affix his signature. As the other official, the state councillor, Cretet, made the same declaration, protesting his total ignorance, and refusing to believe my statement about the change of documents, until I had proved it by confronting the two copies, I could not restrain myself from turning rather sharply towards the Abbé Bernier. I told him that no one could confirm the truth of my assertion better than he could; that I was exceedingly astonished at the studied silence which I observed him to keep in the matter; and that I expressly called upon him to communicate to us what he had such good reason to know.
"With a confused air and in an embarrassed tone, he stuttered out that he could not deny the truth of my words and the difference between the copies of the Concordat, but that the First Consul had given orders to that effect, affirming that changes were allowable as long as the document was not signed. 'And so', added Bernier, 'he insists on these changes, because upon mature deliberation he is not satisfied with the stipulations we have agreed upon'.
"I will not here relate what I said in answer to a discourse so strange.... I spoke warmly of this attempt to succeed by surprise; I resolutely protested that I would never accept such an act, expressly contrary to the Pope's will. I therefore declared that if, on their part, they either could not or would not sign the document we had agreed upon, the sitting must come to an end".
Joseph Bonaparte then spoke. He depicted the fatal consequences which would result to religion and to the state from breaking off the negotiations; he exhorted them to use every means in their power to come to some understanding between themselves, on that very day, seeing that the conclusion of the treaty had been announced in the newspapers, and that the news of its having been signed was to be proclaimed at to-morrow's grand banquet. It was easy, added he, to imagine the indignation and fury of one so headstrong as his brother, when he should have to appear before the public as having published in his own journals false news on a matter of such importance. But no arguments could persuade the Cardinal to negotiate on the basis of the substituted project of Concordat. He consented, however, to discuss once more the articles of the treaty on which they had agreed before. The discussion commenced about five o'clock in the evening. "To understand how serious it was, how exact, what warm debates it gave rise to on both sides, how laborious, how painful, it will be enough to say that it lasted without any interruption or repose for nineteen consecutive hours, that is to say, to noon on the following day. We spent the entire night at it, without dismissing our servants or carriages, like men who hope every hour to finish the business on which they are engaged. At mid-day we had come to an understanding on all the articles, with one single exception". This one article, of which we shall speak later, appeared to the Cardinal to be a substantial question, and to involve a principle which, as has often been the case, the Holy See might tolerate as a fact, but which it could never sanction (canonizzare) as an express article of a treaty. The hour when Joseph Bonaparte must leave to appear before the First Consul was at hand, and "it would be impossible", says the Cardinal, "to enumerate the assaults made on me at that moment to induce me to yield on this point, that he might not have to carry to his brother the fatal news of a rupture". But nothing could shake the resolution of the Papal minister or lead him to act contrary to his most sacred duties. He yielded so far, however, as to propose that they should omit the disputed article, and draw out a copy of the Concordat in which it should not appear, and that this copy should be brought to Bonaparte. Meantime the Holy See could be consulted on the subject of the article under debate, and the difficulty could be settled before the ratification of the Concordat. This plan was adopted. In less than an hour, Joseph returned from the Tuileries with sorrow depicted on his countenance. He announced that the First Consul, on hearing his report, had given himself up to a fit of extreme fury; in the violence of his passion he had torn in a hundred pieces the paper on which the Concordat was written; but finally, after a world of entreaties and arguments, he had consented with indescribable repugnance, to admit all the articles that had been agreed on, but with respect to the one article which had been left unsettled, he was inflexible. Joseph was commanded to tell the Cardinal that he, Bonaparte, absolutely insisted on that article just as it was couched in the Abbé Bernier's paper, and that only two courses were open to the Pope's minister, either to sign the Concordat with that article inserted as it stood, or to break off the negotiation altogether. It was the Consul's unalterable determination to announce at the banquet that very day either the signing of the Concordat, or the rupture between the parties.
"It is easy to imagine the consternation into which we were thrown by this message. It still wanted three hours to five o'clock, the time fixed for the banquet at which we were all to assist. It is impossible to repeat all that was said by the brother of the First Consul, and by the other two, to urge me to yield to his will. The consequences of the rupture were of the most gloomy kind. They represented to me that I was about to make myself responsible for these evils, both to France and Europe, and to my own sovereign and Rome. They told me that at Rome I should be charged with untimely obstinacy, and that the blame of having provoked the results of my refusal would be laid at my door. I began to taste the bitterness of death. All that was terrible in the future they described to me rose up vividly before my mind. I shared at that moment (if I may venture so to speak) the anguish of the Man of Sorrows. But, by the help of Heaven, duty carried the day. I did not betray it. During the two hours of that struggle I persisted in my refusal, and the negotiation was broken off.
"This was the end of that gloomy sitting which had lasted full twenty-four hours, from four o'clock of the preceding evening to four of that unhappy day, with much bodily suffering, as may be supposed, but with much more terrible mental anguish, which can be appreciated only by those who have experienced it.
"I was condemned, and this I felt to be the most cruel inconvenience of my position, to appear within an hour at the splendid banquet of the day. It was my fate to bear in public the first shock of the violent passion which the news of the failure of the negotiations was sure to rouse in the breast of the First Consul. My two companions and I returned for a few minutes to our hotel, and after making some hasty preparations, we proceeded to the Tuileries.