The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-23 00:00:00

Cardinal Gonsalvi's Introduction to the

First Consul,

" At the appointed hour," writes the Cardinal
himself in his Memoirs, "the Master of the Cere-
monies of the Court arrived at my hotel, as the
Abbe Bernier had apprised me; he took me in his
carriage, and, alone with him, I arrived at the
Tuileries. I wes introduced into a room on the
ground floor, called the Ambassadors' Salon. The
Master of the Ceremonies told me to remain there a
moment till he should give notice of my arrival. I
remained alone, seeing nothing around me but a
profound solitude. Without doubt they had intro-
duced me purposely into this silent and deserted
quarter of the palace in order that at every step my
surprise might be greater and greater, &so the feel-
ing of embarrassment which naturally ought to
have resulted from it. And, in fact, the Master of
the Ceremonies, returning a few moments after,
and having announced to me that I could pass on
to the interview with thePirst Consul, showing me
by a sign of the hand a little door which opened on
the vestibule of the great staircase of the palace, I
experienced really the same surprise which a sud-
den change of scene causes at the theatre when out
of a cottage, a wood, a prison, or from any similar
situation, we pass to the dazzling spectacle of a
Court the most magnificent and the most crowded.
It was the day, as I since learnt, when the levee at
the Tuileries took place, which at that period was
repeated every fortnight, and at which were pre-
sent the three Consuls who formed the Government,
the heads of the State—that is to say, the Senate,
the Tribunate, the Legislative Body, the dignitaries
of the palace, the Mlniaters, Generals, and other
functionaries—and an immense number of the mili•
tary and of spectators. The First Consul wished
me to be present at the audience for the first time
on this solemn occasion, in order to give me, as I
believe, an idea of his power, inspire me with as-
tonishment, and, perhaps, also with fear. It will
not be difficult to imagine that a person arrived at
Paris the night before, without having received
notice, without knowing anything of the usages, the
customs, or the dispositions of the personages in
whose presence he was about to appear, and who
was looked upon as in some sort the responsible
author of the bad result of the negotiations carried
on till then, should, at sight of such a parade, as
imposing as it was unforeseen, experience profound
emotion and even visible embarrassment. Not being
able to imagine that my first interview would be
accorded in public, and entirely unaware of the cir.
cumstance of the ceremony of this levee, I thosght
the crowd that filled the vestibule and the staircase
had come from a motive of curiosity, having learnt
(without my being able to guess how) my preseota-

,on at the Tuileries. The sound of the drums on

the upper steps of the staircase, the apartments
and antechambers filled with personages in rich
attire, the great dignitaries who crowded them,
and whom it was impossible not to recognise from
their costume and bearing, penetrated me with
a continually increasing surprise, I arrived at

last in an apartment where I saw a personage
alone, who advanced towards me and bowed
without saying a word; then, accompanying and
preceding me, he introduced me into a neighbour-
ing room. I did not then know who this person-
age was, bat I learnt aftewards that he was M. de
Talleyrand, Minister of Foreign Affairs, a name too
well known in the annals of the Revolution for my
needing to add anything to it here. I thought he
was going to introduce me into the First Consul's
cabinet, and I calmed myself with the hope that I
could at last be alone with him, But what was my
surprise when, this last door thrown open, I saw,
in a vast apartment, a multitude of personages,
ranged in order, as if for theatrical effect ! At the
back of the room were seen, in symmetrical array,
the different bodies of the State (which were, as I
since learnt, the Senate, the Tribunate, the Legis-
lative Body, and the high tribunals of the magia-
tracy), and, on each side, generals, officers of every
rank, Ministers, great State functionaries, and, in
front of every one, detached and isolated, three per-
sonages, whom I knew later to be the three Con-
suls of the lOpublic. The person who was in the
middle advanced, alone, some steps towards me,
and it was only by conjecture that I felt that it was
Bonaparte, a conjecture speedily confirmed by
the attitude of the Minister Talleyrand, who,
although al ways at my side, presented me to
him. I then wished to say something by way of
compliment, and to speak to him on the subject of
my journey; but he did not give me time, for I
was hardly near him when he addressed me at once,
and said in a quick tone, know the object of your
journey to France. I wish the conferences to be
opened immediately. I give you five days' time,
and I warn you that if, on the expiration of the
fifth day, the negotiations are not terminated, you
must return to Rome, as I have already made up

mind in view of such an hypothesis.' Such were,
without a word more, the first words that Bonaparte

addressed to me with en air which was neither
affable nor rude ; then he remained silent awaiting
my answer. I then said, That the sending by his
Holiness of his principal Minister to Paris was a
proof of the interest he took in the conclusion of a
Concordat with the French Government, and that
I flattered myself with the hope of being sufficiently
happy t 6 terminate it in the space of time which he
desired.' Whether it was that this first answer was
not displeasing to him, or that he had not conceived
a too unfavourable idea of me on perceiving that,
with the grace of God, I was not embarrassed by
the unusual spectacle of this imposing parade, or,
again, that he had resolved beforehand to do, after
our meeting, what he did in fact do, certain it is
after this exchange of words he entered suddenly
upon the subject, and during more than halt an.hour
in the same attitude, and in presence of every one,
he spoke
of the Concordat, of the Holy See, of reli-
gion, of the existing state of things, and even of the
rejected articles, with inexpressible vehemence and
fluency, without, however, any anger or harshness
of language."