 On December 29, 1797, the 250th Roman Catholic Church Pope Pius VI moved quickly and sent a formal apology to the French Directory for the death of Brig General Duphot.However, the apology was not accepted by the 1st Republic, and thus his death gave Bonaparte the pretext he needed to occupy Rome, abolish the Papal States and set up the Roman Republic - in "Le Mémorial de Sainte-Hélène", Napoleon said of him "he was a general of the greatest promise.He was virtue itself.