Next came the great event of the journey of Pius VII. to Paris, to officiate at the coronation of the Emperor. One day a letter came to Rome from the Cardinal Caprera, then legate at Paris, containing an announcement as unexpected as it was important. The Legate stated that the Emperor had summoned him to an audience, and had represented to him that all orders of the state, and the best friends of the Church, believed it likely to be of service to religion that he should be crowned by the Pope under his new title of Emperor of the French; that this was also his own opinion; that the state of France made it impossible for him to co to Rome to receive the diadem there, and that consequently the ceremony could not be performed unless the Pontiff should consent to come to Paris for the purpose, as some of his predecessors had done; that, by reason of the advantages which would accrue from it to religion, the Pope would remain satisfied with his journey beyond all his hopes; that the matter should be laid at once before the Holy Father; and in case he consented, that the government would forward a formal invitation with all the solemnity and pomp befitting such a guest and such a host. The imperial representations were backed by the Cardinal Legate's own remarks. He added that he was in a position to declare that great benefits would follow the Pope's compliance, whilst the worst consequences might be speedily expected from a refusal; that a refusal would be felt very much, and would never be forgiven; that excuses based on the health or the advanced age of the Pope, on the inconveniences of the journey, etc., would be looked upon as mere pretexts; that a tardy reply would be equivalent to a refusal; and that it was idle to raise objections on the etiquette of the reception and sojourn at Paris, for the writer knew, on the best authority, that the reception of the Holy Father would equal, and even surpass, in magnificence all former occasions; but the Emperor was not willing to undergo the humiliation of binding himself by a formal treaty to do that to which his own heart naturally inclined him.