Page:On papal conclaves (IA a549801700cartuoft).djvu/99

 In the beginning of 1797 the States of the Church were invaded by the French armies, which carried all before them with so great rapidity that, on the 19th February, the Pope's plenipotentiaries signed the politically-disastrous treaty of Tolentino. Yet humiliating as its terms were for the Sovereign of Rome, the Pope could accept them with a feeling of relief, for the conditions imposed involved merely secular losses; whereas he had been threatened with a demand for the recantation of the solemn Pontifical Brief condemnatory of the civil constitution of the French Church. The acquiescence in this demand would have been tantamount to a sacrifice of principle which the Church could not have made without denying her nature altogether. The Pope conveyed the Cardinals, in Council, and their vote was distinctly against giving way on this head; rather than yield thereon, they were of opinion that the worst