ivity of
the Roman Church in France, which was the work of her government, with
the widely different fate of her faithful adherents at Rome under the
humane control of Bonaparte.

Moreover, it was the French citizen collectors, and not the army, who
continued to scour every town for art plunder. It was believed that
Italy had finally given up "all that was curious and valuable except
some few objects at Turin and Naples," including the famous
wonder-working image of the Lady of Loretto. The words quoted were
used by Bonaparte in a despatch to the Directory, which inclosed a
curious document of very different character. Such had been the
gratitude of Pius for his preservation that he despatched a legate
with his apostolic blessing for the "dear son" who had snatched the
papal power from the very jaws of destruction. "Dear son" was merely a
formal phrase, and a gracious answer was returned from the French
headquarters. This equally formal letter of Bonaparte's was forwarded
to Paris, where, as he knew would be the case, it was regarded as a
good joke by the Directory, who were supposed to consider their
general's diplomacy as altogether patriotic. But, as no doubt the
writer foresaw, it had an altogether different effect on the public.
From that instant every pious Roman Catholic, not only in France, but
throughout Europe, whatever his attitude toward the Directory, was
either an avowed ally of Bonaparte or at least willing to await events
in a neutral spirit. As for the papacy, henceforward it was a tool in
the conqueror's hand: he was determined to use it as an indispensable
bulwark for public decency and political stability. One of the
cardinals gave the gracious preserver of his order a bust of Alexander
the Great: it was a common piece of flattery after the peace to say
that Bonaparte was, like Alexander, a Greek in stature, and, like
Caesar, a Roman in power.

While at Ancona, Bonaparte had a temporary relapse into his yearning
for Oriental power. He wrote describing the harbor as the only good
one on the Adriatic south of Venice, and explaining how invaluable it
was for the influence of France on Turkey, since it controlled
communication with Constantinople, and Macedonia was but twenty-four
hours distant. With this despatch he inclosed letters from the Czar to
the Grand Master of Malta which had been seized on the person of a
courier. It was by an easy association of ideas that not long
afterward Bonaparte bega