The words of d'Azara produced a favorable impression upon the General, though at first they had but little real effect. On June 19th, d'Azara was summoned to meet the representatives of the Directory at Bologna, where a demand for 40,000,000 livres was made together with the cession of Ancona, the occupation of Bologna and Ferrara, provisions for the soldiery, one hundred pictures or statues from the Papal museums, five hundred manuscripts, and the treasures of Loretto, or failing the latter, a fine of 1,000,000 francs. After many discussions the sum of payment in money was fixed at 21,000,000 livres. To arrange all matters in a more satisfactory manner the Holy Father sent Mgr. Pierracchi as plenipotentiary to Paris. Here the messenger of the Pope was received in so barbarous and insulting a manner that he was obliged to leave the French territory with all haste. [Illustration: TREATY OF TOLLENTINO.] So discouraging did affairs now appear to the Holy Father that for a time he thought seriously of abandoning Rome for the present and taking refuge in the Island of Malta. However, he determined to effect if possible a new accommodation; this attempt proved as unsuccessful as those which preceded it, and the Holy Father in his desolation declared before a commission of the cardinals: "Let the Directory consider well the motives which constrain the conscience of His Holiness to such refusal, a refusal which he will be obliged to sustain at the peril of his life." The representatives of the Directory to whom this protest of His Holiness was brought, at Florence, could not but admire the courage with which it was inspired. The matter was now taken up personally by Bonaparte himself, whose influence led finally to the signing of a treaty at Tollentino, February 19th, 1797. By the terms of this convention the Pope revoked all treaties of alliance against France, he recognized the Republic, he ceded his rights over Venaissin, he abandoned to the Cis-Alpine Republic the Legations of Bologna, and Ferrara, and all of Romagna; Ancona was to remain in the possession of the French; the Duchies of Urbino and Macerata were to be restored to the Pope on the payment of 15,000,000 livres. A like sum was to be paid conformable to the armistice of Bologna, not yet executed. These 30,000,000 livres were payable, two-thirds in money and the rest in diamonds and precious stones; 300,000 francs were to be paid to the heirs of Basseville. We shall not linger in relating the great difficulties the Holy Father experienced in raising the immense funds required by this treaty. The generosity of the Roman people, the cardinals, and the prelates of Italy, was displayed in a manner to reflect lasting honor upon their names. The whole transaction dealt a severe blow to the peace and security of the aged Pontiff from the effects of which he never fully recovered. _ARREST AND DEATH OF THE POPE._