The conduct of the Emperor during the stay at Fontainebleau was in keeping with his past behavior. Under a specious display of ceremonial reverence towards Pius VII. he concealed a course of cruel treatment unworthy of a man, much less of a sovereign. It is true, the palace of Fontainebleau was not wanting in regal magnificence, that the table of the Pope was all that might be desired, and that the servants who surrounded him showed due respect for their spiritual ruler. At the same time the Emperor himself acted the part of a bully and braggart towards a weak and feeble old man. An insulting tone of voice ever accompanied the most insulting demands, until the Pontiff worn out and half delirious with agony was made to yield to the most unwarrantable demands. Thus it was that upon the bed of sickness the Holy Father was finally led to apply his signature to a Concordat which, in a state of health, he would have repudiated in the most decided terms. It must be remembered, however, that this yielding was not in an affair of faith and morals, nor did it concern the Universal Church; it was a cession for the time being of temporal rights, not even a final session, but one made temporarily in the interests of peace, and as such did not affect the Papal position as the teacher and ruler of all the faithful. The Emperor, in his joy at this apparent victory, began at once to show unwonted kindness towards the Pope, and as a sign of his good will, permitted the old cardinals, the faithful black cardinals, to return from prison and exile to comfort him in his captivity. This concession proved unfortunate for Napoleon, for scarcely had they gained access to the Sovereign Pontiff than they began to represent to him the immense importance of the Concordat which he had signed. It was represented as a renunciation of all those inalienable rights which belonged to him, not personally, but as the Sovereign Ruler of the Roman States, a most humiliating concession after all he had hitherto borne in their defence. The Holy Father in deep sorrow protested that the document was not definitive, but merely a preliminary statement, which should be reconsidered before publication, so that the Concordat of that year was really without Pontifical authority. Thereupon, he made known to Napoleon his objections, retracted everything contained in the Concordat, rendering it thereby null. This decision of the Sovereign Pontiff only rendered the Emperor all the more furious, and incited him to renew the discomforts of his prisoner. His cardinal advisers were again sent into exile or to prison, while he commanded that the Concordat of 1813 should be everywhere executed without further delay. _RETURN OF THE POPE TO ROME._