The Merry Past 



curred in France during the preliminary discussions 

 on the Concordat, under Napoleon. At that time 

 everything was going well when an ecclesiastic of high 

 rank, who gave his assent to all the other clauses, 

 opposed himself most sternly to that which sanc- 

 tioned the marriage of those priests who, during the 

 Revolution, had presented themselves before the 

 altar of Hymen. In vain did the First Consul re- 

 monstrate in the strongest possible manner — the 

 invariable answer was, '* that a priest should never 

 forget his vow of chastity^ and that nothing on earth 

 could either excuse or absolve its violation " ! At 

 last considerable tension having begun to prevail, 

 the inexorable advocate of celibacy quitted the Palace 

 of the Tuileries in an abrupt manner, leaving Bona- 

 parte a good deal ruffled by his seemingly unconquer- 

 able opposition. 



Just at this moment, however, Fouche, then 

 Minister of the Police, chanced to appear upon the 

 scene, and being informed as to what had happened, 

 immediately said, " Leave the matter to me, and I 

 engage that ' our man ' shall sign the clause within 

 three days." 



As likely as not this minister, a man of consummate 

 address, was perhaps spurred forward on such an 

 occasion by his own personal feelings, for he himself 

 had been a married priest ! Knowing, from experi- 

 enced sagacity, the haunts and foibles of every man 

 of note in Paris, Fouche immediately instructed 

 agents to watch the recalcitrant ecclesiastic, and at 

 dusk, on the evening of the same day, the stern church- 



9 



