with the ambassador's new appointment. It was intended he should use
all his influence to support the menaced Tory interest; his intimacy
with the Duke of Wellington was well known, but it was considered that
a merely provisional title, would not be sufficient to confer the
necessary _éclat_ and importance upon the Russian ambassador, for which
reason he was to receive the definitive and official appointment. As
soon as the mission should be accomplished, when the Duke of Wellington
should have been dissuaded from his inclination to unite with Austria
on the Eastern question, and the Tories have been actively supported,
Pozzo di Borgo was to be reinstated in his appointment in Paris, and
permitted to follow his tastes and habitual pursuits in the country
he considered as his home. This despatch afforded some consolation to
the ambassador, who was affected by a feeling of sadness in breaking
the ties that bound him to a society in which he had so many intimate
friends, but in these mournful separations he was now supported by the
hope of a speedy return. Every thing around was dear to him, even the
palace whose gradual embellishment he had taken pleasure in watching;
the verdure of the gardens, the shade of exotic trees, the fragrant
flowers, the vast and well-chosen library of Italian authors, whose
works he was so fond of reciting from memory, and the views of Corsica
suspended in his apartments, the gulf of Ajaccio which recalled the
early youth of the friend of Paoli.
When admitted to any degree of intimacy with Count Pozzo, you were
particularly struck with the energy of his manners and his vigorous
mode of expression; his handsome though swarthy countenance was shaded
by greyish hair, always arranged in a picturesque manner, as Gerard has
represented him in one of his admirable portraits. His conversation was
at first reserved and guarded, but gradually became animated and full
of imagery and wit which sparkled through a slightly Corsican accent;
his memory resembled a vast bazaar, full of the varied recollections
of a long and troubled life. If you were desirous of seeing the mind
of Count Pozzo in its full glory, you had only to speak to him of
Corsica, ask him questions concerning the history of Paoli, or turn the
conversation upon the national republic established in the island, and
the _Consulta_ which chose him as secretary to the government, and then
you would be struck with the animation of his voice and gestures; his
piercing eyes seemed to seek in your mind the emotions that glowed in
his own, till you actually felt as if present with him at the assembly
where the Corsican people proclaimed their independence. He did not
indulge in anecdotes to the degree Talleyrand used to do in his long
evening conversations, but he was more serious and truthful in his
reminiscences, and did not play with facts, but always took a serious
view of them. Without the habitual tact that characterised him, he
might have been drawn into further confessions, for he was scarcely
master of himself when speaking of his early political life. He was a
man whose memory was so full of facts, that they oozed out at every
pore; a spirit I took great delight in consulting, because the great
struggle of Europe against Napoleon was shadowed forth by him, in a
very different point of view from that assumed by the bad pamphlets of
the imperial school.
I saw him depart for London in the full enjoyment of his powerful
faculties, retaining his eagle glance, the elevated expression of
his noble brow, and his bright searching eyes, while his mouth was
expressive of mildness and goodness. But he was evidently out of
spirits, and he quitted Paris with the idea that some misfortune would
occur before he should see it again. In London he transacted the
affairs of his government with the same devotion and activity as ever,
but he took no pleasure in his employment; the friendship of the Duke
of Wellington, his companion in more than one battle-field, was his
only enjoyment; they passed whole days together at Apsley House talking
over the affairs of Europe, and their recollections; speaking, the one
of the caprice of the people who broke his windows, the other of the
ingratitude of a court incapable of comprehending that order, and peace
with a powerful nation like France, are essential to the tranquillity
of Europe.
Weary of so long a diplomatic career, he had at last obtained
permission to seek the retirement he so ardently coveted, when a letter
from the Emperor apprised him of the intended journey of a Czarewitch
to London, and requested him to act as a guide to the young prince
during his stay in England. This involved a degree of responsibility
and of moral fatigue which shortened the life of Count Pozzo. How would
the heir to the Russian throne be received by the English nation,
so capricious both in their affections and their hatred? The trial
terminated happily, but it may be safely asserted that the last remains
of strength possessed by the ambassador sunk under the exertion.
I saw him on his return to Paris: what a sad alteration from his former
self! and what mere worms we are in the hand of God, who disposes at
His pleasure of the mind and intellects of man! He no longer found any
enjoyment or ease except in the society of his nephew, Count Pozzo di
Borgo, and his amiable niece, a daughter of the noble house of Crillon.
Was the old ambassador desirous of shewing that he had never ceased
to be a Frenchman, by quartering his Corsican coat-of-arms with the
escutcheon and honourable devices borne by the brother-in-arms of Henry
IV.?
M. PASQUIER.
The administration of the Empire was, generally speaking, strong, full
of energy and unity of purpose; it was composed of two elements, the
ruins of the republican party now rallied around the dictatorship of
Napoleon, and became submissive under his iron rule, such as Treilhard,
Merlin, and Thibaudeau, and the pure and elevated remains of the
old monarchical school, like Molé, De Fontanes, and De Narbonne.
According to the custom observed in all governments possessed of any
portion of strength and intelligence, Buonaparte collected around
himself all the persons whose names were honourably connected with
past events, or exercised any influence over the present or the past;
he indulged neither in fear nor repugnance, because he had perfect
confidence in his own power of restraining and managing every thing.
Before the revolution of 1789, some parliamentary families existed,
who transmitted the highest magisterial offices from one generation
to another, forming a sanctuary in which public morals, duties, and
learning, were preserved and perpetuated. There were no doubt some
little party prejudices among them, together with a tendency towards
the feelings of the patricians of Rome; considering themselves to have
succeeded to the assemblies of the states-general. But though the
parliament sometimes threw difficulties in the way of the executive
government, still they maintained the spirit of liberty and probity
through the lapse of ages, and people considered them as a political
guarantee, upon occasions when a degree of confusion and disorder
prevailed in the constitution of the country.
The family of the Pasquiers were descended from Etienne Pasquier, a man
of great talent and erudition, author of a celebrated work entitled
"_Recherches sur la France_." His character was very remarkable from
the versatility of his talents and occupations; he wrote clever verses,
and displayed the greatest ability in the important correspondence
in which he was engaged, and during the troubles of the League, he
strove to find a middle course from whence he might offer himself as
a timid mediator among the opposing parties. In my writings upon the
events of the sixteenth century, I have often spoken of that good
Etienne Pasquier, with his ingenious talents and the exquisite tact he
displayed in the evil times of civil war.
The direct progenitors of the subject of this memoir held an
appointment in the parliament, and his father, Etienne Pasquier,
councillor in the parliament of Paris, was denounced at the
revolutionary tribunal and condemned to death on the 21st of April,
1794. His son was brought up at the College of Juilly, a fine
institution, which has produced many distinguished characters. I have
always admired the mild and careful system pursued by religious bodies,
where the education of the heart and mind is as carefully attended to
as that of the head, and which invested each professor with so paternal
a character, that even the most ungrateful of his pupils could never
entirely shake off the recollection; witness Voltaire and Diderot.
M. Pasquier had scarcely left college before he was appointed to
a situation in the Parisian parliament, according to the custom
observed in families of the legal profession, where the office of the
father was inherited by the son. He did not long continue to wear the
parliamentary habit; he was, however, enabled to be present at the
solemn debates which took place in that assembly, and were terminated
by the convocation of the States-general, and he there received his
first lesson in political life. The magistracy were carried away in the
general tempest, and the parliaments were destroyed by the revolution;
the resistance to the royal prerogative had originated with them, and
both were abolished at the same time.
Popular excitement is always ungrateful, and deals its first blow upon
those by whom it has been assisted or fostered, thus affording an
important lesson to demagogues or flatterers of the populace.
M. Pasquier did not emigrate during the revolutionary troubles; he
was proscribed like all persons bearing a historic name, and at the
age of twenty-six years he received a summons to appear before the
committee of public safety, which was soon after succeeded by his
being placed under arrest at St. Lazare, on the evening before the 9th
Thermidor. The close of the reign of terror restored him to liberty,
and the restoration of the property of condemned persons enabled him
to retire to the estates of his family, which like those possessed by
all the parliamentary races were covered with thick woods, in whose
impenetrable retreats they were accustomed to seek shelter, in the evil
days of exile, from their accustomed employments.
When order was restored under Napoleon, M. Pasquier returned to Paris,
and appeared in society, especially at the house of M. Cambacérès, who
was partial to the old magisterial families, and his remarkable talents
soon brought him into notice. At that period the Emperor was desirous
of establishing a monarchical system upon elevated principles, and
sought every where among men and things the materials for his purpose;
every noble or influential name attracted his attention, for he was
well aware of the power exercised by hereditary rank, and knew that
past recollections have as much influence as present energy in the
restoration of States. The Arch-chancellor Cambacérès agreed in the
Emperor's sentiments; and he, who was himself one of the enlightened
magistrates of the _Cour des Aides_ at Montpelier, suggested the name
of M. Pasquier for the situation of Master of Requests. It is rather
a remarkable circumstance that the memorial of the Arch-chancellor
contained the names of three candidates, MM. de Molé, Pasquier, and
Portalis; they all received appointments on the same day, and have
never been separated in the course of their political life, their
career having been facilitated and its importance augmented by the
strong political friendship that subsisted between them, in spite of
the difference in their age and capacity.
M. Pasquier, while master of requests at the _Conseil d'Etat_, was
distinguished by his laborious attention and assiduity, at the time
when improvement had assumed a serious and reflective form; he had
passed his fortieth year when he was appointed attorney-general of the
great seal, and afterwards Councillor of state. The State council was
a powerful and important school; the Emperor, who entertained a strong
antipathy towards all bodies that deliberated under the sanction of
publicity, had a perfect horror of the representative system, and
public speaking; he liked to collect suffrages, to listen to all
opinions, reserving to himself the right of deciding upon them, and
weighing them against each other in such a manner, that an imperial
decree should never sanction an equivocal project or a bad measure. The
council of state, composed of very eminent men, was the real _corps
politique_; and even the title of Master of requests was not a common
rank granted to aspirants of an inferior grade. In this anxious and
laborious situation, the Masters of requests, attached to a section of
the council, devoted their existence to it, and the great end and aim
of their executive career was the situation of Councillor of state, a
title of which the characters best known to fame were ambitious.
This close and incessant every-day application suited perfectly the
studious mind of M. Pasquier; a generation of young men had sprung up,
whose souls were entirely given up to assiduous attention to business,
and who devoted themselves to the active and deliberative portion
of the administration. The Master of requests had already received
the title of Baron and officer of the legion of honour in reward of
his services, when the dismissal of M. Dubois, after the melancholy
burning of Prince Schwartzenburg's palace, left vacant the prefecture
of police, an appointment originally instituted during the Consulate.
The police was divided into two parts:--the political police, which was
charged with the general safety of the kingdom and the surveillance
of political parties, constantly in a state of commotion even under
the heavy hand of Napoleon; it was always intrusted to the minister
of a department, and the situation was at that time filled by General
Savary; and the prefecture of police, an appointment of a more simple
order, circumscribed within the walls of Paris, whose chief had charge
of the _édilité_, that is to say, of the safety and cleanliness of
the city and the inspection of the markets and provisions, all duties
of considerable importance. The prefect of police also regulated the
bulletins concerning the state of the public mind, so as to act as
a check upon the minister of police. During the time of the Empire,
each of these situations involved serious duties and considerable
responsibility.
When appointed to the prefecture of police, M. Pasquier devoted himself
entirely to the discharge of his official duties, and voluminous
writings still exist upon the provisioning of the capital, and the
method of multiplying magazines in the time of abundance; this had now
become a question of great anxiety, occupying the serious attention
of the government, for in the year 1811, the first symptoms of an
alarming scarcity made their appearance. The price of bread had reached
an exorbitant height, and people were constantly on the brink of a
disturbance owing to the dearness of grain of all kinds. I have perused
and analysed with the greatest attention the important writings of M.
Pasquier under the empire, deposited in the archives of the prefecture
of police.[26]
[26] See "L'Europe pendant le Consulat et l'Empire de Napoleon."
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.
[27] Sapeurs-pompiers.
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.
[28] The Comte de Chabrol had been appointed prefect of the Seine
upon the dismissal of Frochot after Mallet's conspiracy, and had
distinguished himself by the most inflated expressions of devotion
to the Emperor. "What is life," said he, "compared to the immense
interests which rest upon the sacred head of the heir of the Empire?
For me, whom an unexpected glance of your imperial eye has called
from a distance to a post so eminent, what I most value in the
distinction is the honour and right of setting the foremost example
of loyal devotion!"--_Editor._
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.