Talleyrand, despite the weakness of his own position (he was as yet little more than the chief clerk of his department), soon came to a good understanding with Bonaparte, and secretly ex pressed to him his satisfaction at the terms which the latter dictated at Campo Formio (Oct. 17, 1797). The coup d'etat of Fructidor (September 1797) had perpetuated the Directory and led to the exclusion of the two "moderate" members, Carnot and Barthelemy; but Talleyrand saw that power belonged really to the general who had brought about the coup d'etat in favour of the Jacobinical Directors headed by Barras.
With the renewal of war on the continent Talleyrand had little or no connection. His powers as' minister were limited, and he regretted the extension of the area of war. Moreover, in the autumn of 1797 his reputation for political morality (never very bright) was overclouded by irregular dealings with the envoys of the United States sent to arrange a peaceful settlement of certain disputes with France. Talleyrand refused to clear himself of the charges made against him as his friends (especially Madame de Stael) urged him to do; and the incident probably told against his chances of admission into the Directory, which were discussed in the summer of 1798. A year later he resigned the portfolio for foreign affairs (July 20, 1799), probably because he foresaw the imminent collapse of the Directory. If so, his premonitions were correct. Their realization was assured by the return to France of the "Conqueror of the East" in October. The general and the diplomatist soon came to an understanding, and Talleyrand tact fully brought about the alliance between Bonaparte and Sieyès (q.v.) (then the most influential of the five Directors) which paved the way for the coup d'etat of Brumaire. (See FRENCH REVOLUTION and NAPOLEON I.) Talleyrand's share in the actual events of the i8th, 19th Bru maire (9th, loth of November) 1799 was limited to certain deal ings with Barras on the former of those days. About midday he took to Barras a letter, penned by Roederer, requesting him to resign his post as Director. By what means Talleyrand brought him to do so, whether by persuasion, threats or bribes, is not known; but on that afternoon Barras left Paris under an escort of soldiers. With the more critical and exciting events of the 19th of Brumaire at St. Cloud Talleyrand had no direct connec tion; but he had made all his preparations for flight in case the blow failed. His reward for helping on the winning cause was the ministry for foreign affairs, which he held from the close of December 1799 on to the summer of 1807. In the great work of
reconstruction of France now begun by the First Consul, Talley rand played no unimportant part. His great aim was to bring about peace, both international and internal. He had a hand in the pacific overtures which Bonaparte, early in the year 1800, sent to the court of London; and, whatever may have been the motives of the First Consul in sending them, it is certain that Tal leyrand regretted their failure. After the battle of Marengo an Austrian envoy had to come to Paris in response to a proposal of Bonaparte, and Talleyrand persuaded him to sign terms of peace. These were indignantly repudiated at Vienna, but peace was made between the two Powers at Luneville on Feb. 9, 1801.
As regards French affairs, Talleyrand used his influence to help on the repeal of the vexatious laws against émigrés, non juring priests, and the royalists of the west. He was also in full sympathy with the policy which led up to the signature of the Concordat of 1801-2 with the pope (see CONCORDAT) ; but it is probable that he had a hand in the questionable intrigues which accompanied the closing parts of that complex and difficult nego tiation. At the end of June 1802 the pope removed Talleyrand from the ban of excommunication and allowed him to revert. to the secular state. On Sept. io, 1803, owing to pressure put on him by Bonaparte, he married Madame Grand, a divorcée with whom he had long been living.
During the meeting of Italian notables at Lyons early in 1802 Talleyrand was serviceable in manipulating affairs in the way desired by Bonaparte, and it is known that the foreign minister suggested to them the desirability of appointing Bonaparte presi dent of the Cisalpine Republic, which was thenceforth to be called the Italian Republic. In the negotiations for peace with England which went on at Amiens during the winter of 1801-2 Talleyrand had no direct share, these (like those at Luneville) being trans acted by Napoleon's eldest brother, Joseph Bonaparte (q.v.). On the other hand he helped the First Consul in assuring French supremacy in Switzerland, Italy and Germany. In Germany the indemnification of the princes who lost all their lands west of the Rhine was found by secularizing and absorbing the ecclesiastical states of the empire. This unscrupulous proceeding, known as the Secularizations (February 2803), was carried out largely on lines laid down by Bonaparte and Talleyrand; and the latter is known to have made large sums of money by trafficking with the claimants of church lands.