Before the Rule of the Oblates could be approved, it had to be studied by a number of cardinals. Eugene began to make contact with each one so as to explain what it was all about.<\/p>\n
\nIn the meanwhile, I am calling on the Cardinals who are summoned to give their opinion. Making an approach to one in particular seemed to me a very thorny matter;<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Eugene is referring here to Cardinal Fesch, uncle of Napoleon, who had retired to Rome after his nephew had been toppled from power and sent into exile. Eugene had always been strongly opposed to Napoleon and his principles, and thus to meet with his uncle was not something that he would normally have chosen to do:<\/p>\n
\n\u00a0human prudence might perhaps have required that I make an exception in his regard but not to see him and make him hostile to the cause which depends on me would amount to the same thing. So I have been to see him without revealing to him my inmost thoughts – that would not have made my visit agreeable to him. What I foresaw happened; he was very appreciative of my gesture and immediately invited me to dinner. That was the embarrassing part of the affair but you know I have a certain noblesse of soul which makes me defy opinion: I would have thought it cowardly to refuse, so I accepted. I am not any less a good royalist for that and an infinitely better royalist than those who could blame and denounce me if they knew.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Letter to Henri Tempier, 28 December 1825, EO VI n 214<\/em><\/p>\n
Eugene was a royalist \u2013 a supporter of the legal hereditary king of France, whose throne Napoleon had usurped. Some would have criticized Eugene for having visited with the Cardinal, but under the circumstances, he did not see it as a betrayal of his principles to be polite. A favorable verdict on the Oblate approbation was infinitely more important than his personal opinions on Napoleon\u2019s uncle.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cReligion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.\u201d \u00a0 \u00a0Napoleon Bonaparte<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Before the Rule of the Oblates could be approved, it had to be studied by a number of cardinals. Eugene began to make contact with each one so as to explain what it was all about. In the meanwhile, I … Continue reading