The Diplomatists of Europe

by M. Capefigue

It must be recollected that Napoleon was then about to depart upon his Russian expedition, and it may easily be imagined that contending parties would give occasion to extreme anxiety during his adventurous campaign: how great was that entertained by the prefect of police! his nights were devoted to quieting the alarms excited by false bulletins, and strengthening the confidence of the people, for the prestige that surrounded Napoleon was beginning to disappear, a certain spirit of independence and animadversion was gradually gaining ground, and numerous caricatures, bons mots, and epigrams, attacked the moral power of the Emperor.

The romantic enterprise of General Mallet took place at this juncture; it was a prodigious act of boldness, shewing how slight was the tenure of Napoleon's power; one hour more, or one man less, and the most powerful empire of modern times would have been at an end! M. Pasquier has been reproached with having allowed himself to be surprised by the insurrection, but, in the first place, he had nothing to do with watching the formation of plots, that duty devolved upon M. Savary, the minister of police; and besides, to do justice to all parties, what vigilance can possibly foresee or control the plans conceived by one man in the silence of a prison? General Mallet was armed with a military power which it was in vain to resist, and M. Pasquier was surprised at the prefecture, hurried into a voiture de place and conveyed to the prison of La Force, with injunctions that he should be detained there until the provisional government was established. He was not liberated until after the suppression of the conspiracy, having steadily refrained from making any concessions to the conspirators, but merely submitting to the fate prepared for him by a military insurrection. A magistrate who gives way to the commands of unlawful authority, is guilty of betraying his trust; he ought to remain steadfast in his duty, even should violence cast him into a dungeon.

Napoleon formed a favourable judgment of the conduct of M. Pasquier, and continued him in his appointment of prefect of police, while M. Frochot, prefect of the Seine, was dismissed by the council of state, assembled to examine into the degree of culpability and negligence, to be attributed to the different functionaries in the sad affair of Mallet. The Emperor viewing matters from his elevated position, judged the prefect of police to be perfectly undeserving of blame or censure, as he had merely yielded to force, and it was utterly impossible for him either to foresee or to prevent a disturbance conducted in so unusual a manner; the most subtle and watchful mind could not have suspected the meditations indulged in by so adventurous a person as General Mallet; besides which, as I said before, General Savary had charge of the political police. This severe trial soon afforded M. Pasquier an opportunity of rendering an important service to the city of Paris, by the creation and organisation of the gendarmerie, which, under a different name, has on so many occasions greatly contributed to maintain the peace and security of the capital. He had before, in the year 1811, remodelled the corps of firemen,[27] whose devotion to their duty and noble courage deserves the highest praise.

The difficult circumstances of the times were increasing; if the management of the Parisian police was a hard task while the glory and prosperity of Napoleon were at their height, how much more delicate, and consequently more odious and watchful, was its office during the season of reverses and misfortune? Parties were now in commotion, people were no longer silent upon their desire of a change, and the probability such might be the case, and the enemy was rapidly approaching the capital: M. Pasquier fulfilled his duties to the very last moment, by the wise and firm administration of his office; he reduced the duties of his prefecture to the maintenance of public tranquillity, and the careful management of every thing relating to the repose and well-being of the city; thus returning to the original charge he had received from the Emperor,—attention to the safety and cleanliness of Paris, which were formerly almost the only duties required from the lieutenant of police.

When the artillery was heard in thunders upon the capital, the senatorial party and Talleyrand invited him to support the political alterations produced by circumstances, but it was not until the evening before the allies entered Paris, that he, like M. Chabrol,[28] prefect of the Seine, joined the movement which led to the restoration. The enemy were about to enter Paris, and it was necessary the public safety should not be endangered by any popular tumult; the influence of the prefect of police was therefore most essential, but it was merely passively exerted with regard to political events; it received an impulse from them, but did not communicate any. Talleyrand had formed a just estimate of the character of M. Pasquier, and attached great importance to obtaining his concurrence. It was he who prepared the proclamations urging the citizens to the maintenance of order; and he entered into a communication with Count Nesselrode and the allied generals, then taking possession of Paris. His connexion with diplomatic affairs dates from this difficult period, as well as his political career under the restoration; and when afterwards appointed minister for foreign affairs, the reminiscences of Paris in the year 1814 rose to his mind and were of great service to him in assisting the diplomatic arrangements of his cabinet.

A conciliatory character was manifested at the accession of the Bourbons, and the police ceased to possess the importance attached to its active administration during the reign of Napoleon; it was no longer a fit situation for a man of such abilities as M. Pasquier, he therefore resigned the prefecture, and was appointed by the king one of the council of state, and received, a few days afterwards, the situation of inspector-general of the bridges and causeways, an active and important appointment in a country where so much remained to be done for the improvement of the roads, and internal communication of the kingdom. He displayed in his new office the activity and laborious attention which characterised the imperial school, and the principal part of the great enterprises with regard to roads were executed under his direction. In France we think a great deal of public speeches and very little of improvement; and it is a singular fact that we, who are the most intelligent and industrious of nations, are at least twenty years behind our neighbours in every thing relating to roads: even Germany and Switzerland are far in advance of us. The commissioners for bridges and causeways, while they spend large sums of money, are faulty in their mode of administration, and do not make the most of their resources; M. Pasquier exerted himself to improve this vast branch of the public service, but his appointment was of short duration, for the march of Napoleon upon Paris put an end to all executive existence, and he was unemployed during the hundred days.

When the white flag of Louis XVIII. floated above the tower of St. Denis, M. Pasquier offered his services to the king; he was included in the first ministry of Talleyrand as keeper of the seals, and exercised at the same time the functions of minister for the interior, an appointment of extreme delicacy and difficulty in the crisis of that period. France was invaded by 700,000 strangers, the public mind was in a state of constant agitation, and the principles of the restoration had excited a deplorable reaction in several of the provinces; it thus became necessary to organise the system of the prefects, to repress the too ardent zeal occasionally exhibited, prevent the sanguinary vengeance of parties, and prepare and advance the election of upright persons of moderate views, in order to heal the wounds of the country. Nothing is easier than to judge people with severity after a lapse of years, and when events are long over; and thus the services rendered by some statesmen in seasons of peril are soon forgotten, or are but imperfectly appreciated by people, who are in the full enjoyment of peace and security, and therefore inclined to exercise a mathematical rectitude in their judgment of facts. If we look back upon the year 1815, after the double invasion and heavy military contributions, we shall see that it was impossible for a government to display more exemplary moderation, before the face of a victorious party, to whose conditions it had been compelled to submit. M. Pasquier followed the fortunes of Prince Talleyrand; he gave in his resignation and was succeeded by M. de Barbé-Marbois.

He had however, always been strongly inclined towards the moderate system which gained the ascendant under the Richelieu ministry, and shortly after its formation he was appointed one of the commissioners for the liquidation of the foreign debts; it was a post of great confidence, for if the laws of honesty were set aside, enormous fortunes might soon be amassed. M. Pasquier's integrity was unimpeachable, and he was the worthy colleague of M. Mounier, the most honest man belonging to the noble Richelieu school.

He was elected by the department of the Seine as their representative, and on taking his seat in the chamber of deputies, after the ordonnance of the 3d of September, he was nominated president; from this parliamentary position, he again passed into the ministry in the month of January 1817, the Duc de Richelieu having caused him to be appointed keeper of the seals.