EMPIRE. PORTALIS (Jean-Etienne-Marie). 1746-1806. Jurist, ed - Lot 100

EMPIRE. PORTALIS (Jean-Etienne-Marie). 1746-1806. Jurist, editor of the Napoleonic Code, Minister of Religious Affairs. 2 L.S. to the Bishop of Coutance. Paris, April 1806. 2 ½ pp. on bifeuillet in-4, minister's letterhead. Circular letter from the minister to the bishops of France concerning prayers to the sovereign. "(...) I am informed that in some parts of the Empire, the Ecclesiastics neglect to make the prayer for the sovereign contained in the Canon of the Mass and used in the ancient Monarchy." He invites the priests of his diocese to comply with this directive, and to replace the title of King with that of Emperor. In a second letter, the minister thanks the bishop for his reply to the Papal Legate "concerning the feasts of St. Napoleon and the re-establishment of religion".