YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Gift of
Mrs. John Hopkins
Kennedy

MEMOIES OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIEE
VOLUME I

ETIENNE-DENIS DUC PASQUIER
(ohancetloz ofcrtance
SflZembei of the Ef tench. SQcademy
£&oxn§8,pldsn767 3)iedjuly5 1863

A HISTORY OF MY TIME

MEMOIRS

CHANCELLOR PASQUIER

EDITED BY
THE DUC D'AUDIFFEET-PASQUIER 1 11

TRANSLATED BY CHARLES E. ROCHE

THE REVOLUTION— THE CONSULATE - THE EMPIRE

Volume I 1789-1810

WITH PORTRAITS

NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1893

COPYRIGHT, 1893, BY
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS.

PREFACE
After a perusal of all that I have written during the
last eight years, the first question I asked myself was what
title I should give to the voluminous product of my labor.
I next sought to form an idea of the judgment likely to be
passed upon it, should it see the light of publication.
At all events, that day will not come, if my wishes are
respected, until some time after my death.
The title of Memoirs is well worn; moreover, I do not
fill a sufficiently important place in this lengthy narra
tive, and the events which I relate therein are of too
great a magnitude for me to give myself undue promi
nence. On the other hand, the title of History is somewhat
imposing, and, is my book on a level with so pretentious a
title, when I have remained silent about many matters,
and, at times, passed rapidly over important events?
If, on the one hand, I have sought to curtail the recital of
the well-known incidents of the Revolution, I have entered
into fuller detail with regard to the Restoration. It has
been my task to sketch the history of Europe's general
policy during a period when the facts were of the highest
importance, such as the revolutions in Spain, at Naples,
and in Piedmont. Greece, so rich in memories of a glori
ous past, has laid the foundations of an apparently secure

vi PREFACE
independence. Therein lie the germs of events which may
perchance make the nineteenth century memorable.
After pondering awhile over the best manner of charac
terizing the contents of these pages, I have concluded that
the most appropriate title would be : A History of my Time.
A thing of more importance than the choice of a title for
the work, is for me to know how far I have succeeded in
filling in the frame of my picture, and, especially, what will
be the impression left on the mind of the reader concerning
the author himself. I beg my readers will kindly believe
that what has given me the least anxiety has been to lay
claim to and bring into relief whatever slight literary
merit it may possess. I am, without any reservation, pre
pared to submit to any judgment, however severe.
It would avail me but little to plead that the small
amount of natural talent with which I may have been en
dowed was not developed by serious studies in my early
days, and that subsequently the state of idleness and dis
couragement into which I was thrown by the first ten years
of the Revolution completely diverted my attention from
such serious study as would have remedied this disadvan
tage. The whirlpool of events into which I found myself
dragged absorbed my attention in too high a degree to ren
der it possible for me to regain lost time, and create unto
myself what might be deservedly called a style; but, such
an admission would not find acceptance; critical readers
might remark that the whole of the book has not been the
production of one single effort, and that a strict chronologi-

PREFACE vii
cal order has not been observed. There will be others who
will object that the space given to the several parts of the
book is somewhat out of proportion to their actual impor
tance. I must crave indulgence on all these points. That
which gives me the greatest concern is the opinion likely to
be conceived as to the manner in which I have judged men
and things, especially as to the connection and harmony I
have given my impressions, and the spirit of sequence which
has presided over the judgments passed by me according to
the various circumstances of which I am the narrator.
I began writing in 1822, so it cannot be a matter for
doubt that my opinions about matters political had at that
date undergone considerable change since 1787, the time of
my entering the Parlement. My ideas, my sentiments had
travelled in an opposite direction from that in which the
mind commonly progresses. Youth's bent is almost ever
towards ideas of independence and liberty, and not unfre
quently are these ideas absorbed with passionate fervor.
A riper age proves to youth that there are certain social
conditions which call for the expansion of authority, and
when old age makes its appearance, that authority generally
finds youth enrolled under its banner.
Like everybody else, I followed at the outset of my career
the inspirations of my youth; but the scenes of which I
was a spectator during the months of July and October,
1789, quickly brought me back to my first allegiance, a
royalty which, if not absolute, should at least be the pre
ponderating element.

viii PREFACE
The horrors of 1793 and 1794, the disgusting spectacle
presented by the government of the Directoire, could have
no other effect than to keep me in that frame of mind ; and,
as a natural consequence, the unlimited power of the chief
of the state both under the Consular and Imperial Govern
ments, appeared to me at first sight merely in the light of
a guarantee of security without which social order could
not exist.
Then it was that I resolved to again take part in public
affairs. It was not long ere I was to look at things from
quite another standpoint. I soon saw the shoals upon
which absolute power was bound to wreck itself.
Further, I began to learn better to appreciate at their
real significance the consequences of the Revolution, to
better understand the actual situation, and consequently,
France's needs. Hence did I Welcome the Restoration as
an era which was to bring France back to the form of gov
ernment best suited to it, and that, a modified monarchical
system, such, in a word, as the Charter of Louis XVIII.
soon gave promise of.
Having once entered upon this line of thought, my judg
ments and my actions have ever been in harmony with my
opinions. Thus is explained, in 1822, the date at which I
began writing, the state of mind whieh has dictated all my
words, and which has governed all my deeds.
Was I to make all the judgments which have emanated
from my pen coincide with my present views of men and
events? I might, with regard to each and every fact, and to each

PREFACE IX
and every deed, award praise or condemnation, in conform
ity with those principles which have come to be mine own;
but, I have taken special pains to avoid so doing. Had I
acted thus, I should then have written history as those
alone can write it who have come into existence a long time
after the events which they narrate, and for whom those
events have never been a subject of either pain or joy.
On the contrary, I have thought that by reproducing my
opinions, my sentiments, and even, in so far as feasible,
my judgments on each epoch, without modification whatso
ever, I would, in several instances, make known that which
too frequently remains unrevealed, viz. the actual frame
of mind of one's contemporaries, whether taken up and
studied in their entity, or as such and such a part more
or less important of the social order of which they consti
tute the elements.
If viewed in this connection and accepted as an indica
tion, even my doubts and my changes of mind may still
constitute history, and not the least instructive part of it
at that.
With this frank explanation, there now remains for me
but to take leave of my work, and resign myself to criti
cism, strong in the justice that I can do myself of having
written about everything and everybody, without feeling,
without hatred, without envy; and that my sole aim has
been the truth, which I have told without subterfuge, with
the view of being of service to those who seek her and who
know how to extract from her those teachings with which
she abounds.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I
PAGE
Chancellor Pasquier's childhood — His early education — Relations
existing between his mother and J. J. Rousseau, and between his
grandfather and Voltaire— He enters the College of Juilly con
ducted by the Oratorians — His fellow-students,. Mole, d'Etampes,
M&y, Arnauld, the author of Marius a Minturnes — His holidays
spent at the chateau de Coulans, near Le Mans, and at the chateau
of Tubeuf with Mme. Berryer, the mother of Mme. de Lamoignon
— Mgr. Grimaldi, Bishop of Le Mans — Mme. de La Chatre — The
part taken by the Chancellor's grandfather in the trials of M. de
Lally and of M. de Labarre — An answer to the diatribes of Vol
taire and La Harpe — An unpublished letter of apology from
Voltaire — A young man's education under the old regime — In
the world of magistracy — The cultivation of science and letters
among the members of the Paris Parlement  1

CHAPTER II
Councillor Pasquier's entry into the Parlement — The Assembly of
Notables — The Ministry of M. de Calonne, then that of M. de
Fourqueux, and lastly M. de Brienne — The Parlement resists the
edicts — Composition of that assemblage — The grand' chambre —
The grand banc of the presidents a mortier — Messieurs de Saint-
Fargeau, d'Aligre, de Trudaine — The Parlement calls for the
States-General — The Due d'Orleans exiled — Imprisonment of
Councillors Sabattier and Freteau — Continuation of the war be
tween the Parlement and the Court from 1787 to 1788 — Forcible
carrying off and arrest of Councillors d'lilpre'menil and Goislard
de Monsabert — The Edict summoning the States-General — Dis
missal of M. de Brienne — Suicide of M. de Lamoignon — M. Necker
reappears in public affairs — The Abbe Sieyes — Opening of the
States-General — Thoughts on the regime which preceded the Rev-
xi

xii CONTENTS

PAGE
olution- France's happy state from 1783 to 1789 - Corruption
of the Court: excesses of luxury, looseness of manners, an irre
ligious, critical, and Utopian spirit abroad  22

CHAPTER III
Councillor Pasquier at the taking of the Bastille, with Mile. Contat,
of the ComfSdie-Francaise — The theatre as the school of youth —
The " premiere " of Beaumarchais's Figaro — Gre'try's successes
at the Opera-Comique — The day following the 6th of October
at the Tuileries; aspect presented hy the king and queen — The
public state of mind in 1789— Royalist tendencies of the National
Guard— The club de Valois — Grievous futility of the first emi
gration—The royal family's flight to Varennes — Fearful anxiety
caused in Paris by the king's departure — M. de Saint-Fargeau's
characteristics : his hatreds, his phlegm, his violence — Final dis
solution of the Parlements — The new judiciary order— A protest
from the old magistracy— The death of the Constituent Assem
bly—Decrees against the emigres, against the priests — The pil
lage of the grocers' shops in Paris — The first appearance of the
Phrygian cap  55

CHAPTER IV
Aspect of the Palais-Royal, the centre of the revolutionary move
ment: the cafe's, the gambling houses, the dissolute women —
Louis XVI.'s mild protest against the outrage of the 20th of June
— M. de La Fayette's isolation — Renewed activity of the revolu
tionary party — The fete of the Federation — The beautiful Mme.
Fontenay, afterwards Mme. Tallien — The Queen at the Italian
Opera — The attack on the Tuileries, August 10 — Anarchy's tri
umph — The September massacres — The Prussians enter Cham
pagne — Reasons for the sudden retreat of the Duke of Bruns
wick — Affection for the monarchical system shown by the princes
upon the downfall of royalty — The trial of Louis XVI. — Popular
songs expressing pity for the king — The day of judgment and
sentence — The execution on January 21 — Councillor Pasquier at
the foot of the scaffold — Deep emotion of the crowd and public
grief — The murder of M. de Saint-Fargeau — Fury of the men of
the revolutionary party — The law affecting the suspects — Coun
cillor Pasquier's marriage  78

CONTENTS xm

CHAPTER V
, PAGE
M. Pasquier, Senior, cast into jail — A prison looked upon as an asy
lum — Certificates of residence and of good citizenship — Tribula
tions of Councillor Pasquier, while seeking refuge at Montge", near
Juilly — Generous sentiments of the bourgeois class of Paris —
Mme. Tavaux — The citoyenne Mottei — Levasseur's gratitude —
Pen-picture of this conventionnel — Citizen Felix, the brother of
Lepelletier de Saint-Fargeau — Trial and execution of M. Pasquier,
Senior — Councillor Pasquier arrested at Amiens — Sent to Saint-
Lazare with Mme. Pasquier, on the 8th Thermidor — A prison
during the Reign of Terror — The 9th Thermidor — The prisoners
set at liberty — Fouquier-Tinville before the tribunal and on the
scaffold — Ovation to Tallien and Mme. Tallien at the Odeon
theatre — France after Thermidor — The Vendeans — M. and Mme.
Pasquier's life at Croissy — Their intercourse with Josephine de
Beauharnais — Mme. de Beauharnais, Josephine's sister-in-law —
Exorbitant prices of provisions — Scarcity of food .... 99
CHAPTER VI
The 13th Vendemiaire — The Convention surrounded by 60,000 men
— General Bonaparte — Failure of the uprising owing to the lack
of a Royalist leader — -The primary assemblies and the new elec
tions — The daughter of Louis XVI. leaves the Temple — The reign
of the Directoire — Barras and Mme. Tallien — The kindliness of
Mme. de Beauharnais — The return of the emigres — The need of
enjoyment felt — Mme. de Stael's salon — Benjamin Constant —
M. de Talleyrand, Minister of Foreign Affairs — The 18th Fructidor
— Transportation of fallen foes — General Pichegru — Uprisings in
Maine and in Brittany — The chouannerie — The Treaty of Cam-
po-Formio — General Bonaparte's plans and the Directoire's mis
trust — The expedition to Egypt — The Republic of Geneva united
to France — Carnot's opinion in this matter — Italy occupied by
French troops — State of the finances in 1799 — Establishment of
the military conscription — The coalition between Austria, Eng
land, and Russia — General Suvaroff in Italy — Retreat of the
French — An odious act of revenge performed by Barras — Bona
parte's return to France — The men who took part in the 18th Bru
maire — Constitution of the Consular Government — Attributes of
the three Consuls — Bonaparte's feelings towards the CmigrCs —
The infernal machine — Georges Cadoudal and Saint-Re'jant, his
emissary  130

xiv CONTENTS
CHAPTER VII PAGE
Bonaparte's negotiations with the Holy See — Violent opposition in
the Army — Plot to assassinate the First Consul — Proclamation of
the Concordat at Notre-Dame — Advantages accruing to France
from the Treaty of Amiens in 1802 — Reconstruction of the Fi
nances — Legislative work — The life consulate — Rupture between
England and France, and plots hatched by the British Cabinet —
Pichegru's conspiracy — Louis XVIII. 's rejoinder in this connec
tion — Arrest of Cadoudal, Pichegru, Moreau, and the Polignacs —
Pichegru's suicide — Unfounded accusations brought against Bona
parte in this respect — Kidnapping of the Due d'Enghien at Etten-
heim — M. de Caulaincourt's irresponsibility in the affair — The
ultimate fate of the Due d'Enghien discussed — Opinions of Fouche,
Talleyrand, Lebrun, and Cambaceres — The First Consul's final
determination— Light on the circumstances surrounding the event
— Illegality of the sentence passed on the Due d'Enghien — The
part played in this affair by Savary, Talleyrand, Murat, and Real
— Josephine's grief on hearing of the execution — Napoleon, in
spite of his remorse, never admits the injustice of the act — M.
d'Hauterive apostrophizes M. de Talleyrand, the instigator of the
crime — Foueh^'s famed saying  168
CHAPTER VIH
Trial and sentence of Cadoudal, Moreau, and Polignac — Commuta
tion of Moreau's penalty— The salons of Mme. Pas'toret and of
Mme. de Beaumont — Charm of the social gatherings of the period
— M. de Chateaubriand and Mme. de Beaumont, the daughter of
M. de Montmorin — France falls into disfavor with the rest of
Europe through the execution of the Due d'Enghien — Advantages
derived therefrom by the British party — Bonaparte created Em
peror—Motives inducing Pope Pius VII. to come to Paris to crown
Napoleon — The new power given legitimacy to by religion — The
third coalition against France — Admiral Villeneuve — M. Daru
—The camp at Boulogne raised, and the sudden moving of the
army into the heart of Germany — The Battle of Austerlitz —
France's state of enthusiasm— Entry of M. Pasquier as maitre
des requites into the Council of State  215
CHAPTER IX
France's state at the birth of the Empire — Organization of the im
perial regime — Absolutism dominant — The deliberative assem-

CONTENTS xv

blies — The freedom of the press and the liberty of the subject
— Happy results abroad of the battle of Austerlitz — Negotiations
for a marriage between the Princess Amelie of Bavaria and Eu
gene de Beauharnais — Confidential letter from M. de Talleyrand
to M. de Thiard regarding this union — Rapid elevation of the
members of the Emperor's family — Joseph, King of Naples —
Murat, Grand-Duke of Berg — Louis, King of Holland — Naval
engagement off Trafalgar — England's supremacy on the seas —
Devoted adherence of the clergy to the Imperial Crown — France's
new organization — The twofold legislation necessary towards con
stituting society — Private influences welcomed by Napoleon —
Lebrun and Cambaceres — Fouche painted — M. de Talleyrand's
public and private life — M. Portalis, Senior — M. Maret, Due
de Bassano — M. de Laplace — M. Chaptal  239
CHAPTER X
The Corps legislatif — The Tribunat — Creation of the Council of
State and the nature of its work — The comite du contentieux —
Principal members of the Council of State — Messieurs Def ermon
and Lacuee, presidents of committees — Messieurs Gaudin and
Mollien, Ministers — Councillors Regnaud, Treilhard, Berlier,
Merlin, and Real — Measures demanded against the Jews — An
assembly of prominent Jews called together in Paris — Messieurs
Mole, Portalis, and Pasquier, as Commissioners of the Emperor in
that Assembly — The "Portuguese" Jews — Declaration made by
the doctors and the rabbis — M. Furtado of Bordeaux — The in
terest charged on money and usury — The practice of Jews among
themselves — Sacerdotal power of the rabbis — The Talmudists —
Convening by the Emperor of a great Sanhedrin and its meeting,
February 9, 1807 — Declaration of doctrine of the great Sanhedrin
on the civil and political duties of Israelites and the organization
of Jewish society in France  273
CHAPTER XI
War with Prussia — France's enthusiasm after Jena — General desire
for a durable peace — Napoleon's threatening attitude at Berlin —
The continental blockade — Its hardships and prodigious results —
Matters leading up to war with Spain — Napoleon again prepares
for war — Napoleon's vast amount of correspondence — An aggres
sive march made by the Russians — Battle of Eylau — An opinion

xvi CONTENTS
PAGE
of General Jomini — The siege of Dantzig— The victory of Fried
land— The peace of Tilsit — Napoleon's influence over the Em
peror Alexander— Prussia's humiliation — Gustavus IV., King of
Sweden, deprived of his crown — Denmark becomes France's ally . 309
CHAPTER XII
Napoleon's return to Paris— A Te Deum sung with great pomp at
Notre-Dame — Marriage of Jerome, the new King of Westphalia,
with a daughter of the King of Wurtemberg — Magnificence of
the ceremony — M. de Talleyrand appointed Vice-Grand Elector
— Strained relations between the Emperor and that diplomat —
M. Pasquier appointed procureur general to the conseil du sceau
des titres— The methods of M. Decres, Minister of Marine —
Abuses of the Imperial administration and denials of justice — The
case of M. Pichon, ex-consul of France in America . . .327

CHAPTER XIII
Secret treaty concluded between Napoleon and Godoy, Prince of
Peace, and favorite of Charles IV. of Spain — Portugal invaded by
the French — Abdication of the old King of Spain — His throne
given to Joseph Bonaparte — Occupation of Rome by the French
troops — Pius VII. addresses a comminatory brief to Napoleon —
General uprising in Spain against the French, followed by the
insurrection of Portugal — Junot's retreat before the British army
— M. de Talleyrand once more comes upon the scene, on the occa
sion of the interview agreed upon between Napoleon and the Em
peror of Russia — The Congress of Erfurt — A study of the serious
political questions discussed at this meeting of the two sovereigns
— A letter from the Emperor Alexander to the Emperor Napoleon
— A scrutiny of the diplomatic action of M. de Talleyrand ; his
astounding duplicity and the reasons of his complaisance towards
Austria — The Come'die-francaise, with Talma, at Erfurt . . 342

CHAPTER XIV
The Emperor's return — M. Pasquier entrusted with an investigation
between Metz and Mayence — Entry of Marshal Victor's army

CONTENTS xvii

corps into the latter city — A protest from Jean Bon Saint-Andre",
Prefect of Mayence, and former member of the Committee of
Public Safety — Organization of the new nobility of France —
The creation of majorats with endowments — Mme. de Montmo
rency compelled to accept the title of countess against her will
— Unopposed re-establishment in France of hereditary distinc
tions — The members of the conseil du sceau — Occupation of
Madrid by Napoleon — Retreat of the British army, driven by
Marshal Soult — Reasons governing the Emperor's hurried return
to Paris — Austria's fresh warlike preparations — Cessation of all
hostility between M. de Talleyrand and M. Fouche, Minister of
Police — Harmony existing between these two individuals in an
ticipation of Napoleon's likely death — Murat chosen by them
as his successor — The discovery of this intrigue communicated
to the Emperor by M. de La Valette and Prince Eugene — Napo
leon violently harangues M. de Talleyrand in the Throne-room —
Temporary falling into disgrace of this diplomat .... 364

CHAPTER XV
War with Austria — Battle of Essling — Death of Marshal Lannes —
The Roman States united to the French Empire — Pius VII.'s
bull of excommunication — The Pope carried off by the French
authorities — Victory of Wagram — Napoleon's return and sojourn
at Fontainebleau — Dissolution of Napoleon's and Josephine's
marriage — The last evening spent at Fontainebleau by the dis
carded Empress — M. Pasquier appointed Councillor of State —
Projected marriage between Napoleon and the Grand-Duchess
Anne, the Emperor of Russia's sister — Austria's alarm at this pro
jected alliance — Overtures made by the Viennese cabinet, with the
object of tendering Napoleon the hand of an archduchess of Aus
tria—Reasons which governed the Emperor in preferring such
an alliance — Convocation of an extraordinary Council — Opinions
expressed at it by Fouche, Talleyrand, and Cambaceres — Arrival
of the future Empress at Compiegne — Celebration of the religious
wedding at the Louvre — Napoleon's anger at and reprisals against
the cardinals who absented themselves from the ceremony — Grand
public fete on the occasion of this union — A dinner given unex
pectedly to M. de Metternich, and to the Czar's ambassador —
Strange and offensive explanations given to the Court of Russia to
justify Napoleon's renunciation of the hand of Alexander's sister . 384

XVlii CONTENTS

CHAPTER XVI PAGE
Suffering endured by Holland consequent upon the continental block
ade — Appointment of a commission of investigation presided over
by M. Pasquier — M. de Labouchere sent to London on the secret
initiative of King Louis, with tbe object of bringing about a gen
eral peace — A like attempt made by M. Fouche, with M. Ouvrard
as agent — Complete failure of these overtures to the British Cab
inet — These proceedings, taken unknown to the Emperor, arouse
his anger — M. Ouvrard arrested, and M. Fouche sent to Rome as
Governor, his place as Minister of Police being taken by the Due
de Rovigo — M. d'Hauterive's report on this intrigue — M. de
Labouchere called to Paris by the Emperor — The King of Holland's
version of this attempted negotiation ¦ — A pen-portrait of Louis
Bonaparte — His faults and qualities — Queen Hortense — A con
flict of policy between Louis and Napoleon — M. Decazes attached
to the cabinet of Madame mere — Amsterdam occupied by French
troops — King Louis's indignation at this— His abdication and
final departure — Holland united to the French Empire — Napo
leon's characteristic speech to the son of Kiug Louis — Personal
characteristics of the Bonapartes — Lucien, Prince of Canino —
Joseph Bonaparte — Jerome Bonaparte — Napoleon's three sisters :
Elisa, Pauline, and Caroline — M. Foucb€ again incurs disgrace
— M. de Las Cases and M. Fievee in the Council of State— Details
regarding the appointment of M. Pasquier as Prefect of Police 412

CHAPTER XVII
The new Prefect of Police installed in office — Appointment, the same
day, of Cardinal Maury to the archbishopric of Paris — Pen-por
trait of this prelate — Constituent elements of tho Superior Coun
cil of Police — M. Frochot, the Prefect of the Seine — A tour of
inspection through the prisons— Two of the prisoners at Bicetre:
M. Desol de Grisolles, a former Chouan, and M. Nervagot, the
precursor of false Dauphins — A prison registrar who had kept his
place at Saint-Lazare from the days of the Terror— The Emperor's
audiences: the grand lever and the petit lever— Daily reports sent
to the Emperor by the Minister and by the Prefect of Police —
Obstructions in the streets and boulevards of Paris — The farming
out of games of chance — The Emperor's five or six police systems
checking each other — The guard exercised by the police over
the Tuileries — Measures for the safety of the Emperor — The pry
ing into the secrecy of correspondence  439

CONTENTS xix

CHAPTER XVIII PAGE
Official announcement of the pregnancy of the Empress Marie-Louise
— The Pope's refusal to grant hulls of installation to several bish
ops — An ecclesiastical commission called together by Napoleon
to remedy the embarrassment thus created by the Holy See — Find
ings of this commission with regard to apostolic bulls, to an appeal
to a general council, and to pontifical fulminations — New appoint
ments made by the Emperor to the vacant sees of Paris and of
Nancy — Briefs issued by Pius VII. against these appointments —
Cardinal Fesch's opposition to Napoleon's wishes — The Paris
Chapter agitates against Cardinal Maury — Violent allocution by
the Emperor, on New Year's Day, 1811, to the Vicars-General,
and his apostrophe to the Abbe d'Astros, whose arrest is ordered
— Napoleon's violent outburst, at the Council of State, against
M. Portalis, the confidant of the Abbe d'Astros — This councillor
exiled, in spite of M. Pasquier's intercession — A search made in
the very closet of the Pope at Savona — Arrest of several prelates
and members of the Sacred College — The French clergy thrown
into a state of terror ...  460

CHAPTER XIX
Inner administration of the Prefecture de Police — Singular use made
of confiscated books — The fate of political writings — Secret
agents of the Government — Inspector-General Veyrat — The clerk
Perlet — General Danican — Reforms and improvements brought
about by M. Pasquier — Measures concerning domestic servants —
Personnel of the medical dispensary attached to the Prefecture —
The Fire Brigade reorganized on a military basis — The provision
ing of Paris — The relations existing between the Prefect of Police
and his subordinate commissaires ....... 480.

CHAPTER XX
Retreat in Spain of Massena, the greatest warrior after Napoleon —
Consequences of the dissensions between Ney and Massena —
Marmont in command — Marshal Suchet in Catalonia — Birth of
the King of Rome — Joy of Napoleon and the nation — Haughty
speech of the Emperor at the opening of the Corps legislatif —
Convocation of a National ecclesiastical council — A deputation of

xx CONTENTS
PAGE
bishops sent to Savona to wait upon the Pope — First sitting of
the council, in the Archiepiscopal Palace in Paris, on the 17th of
June — Serious difficulties between the Fathers of the Council and
Napoleon — Energetic opposition shown by the Archbishop of
Bordeaux and several bishops — Dissolution of the Council by a
decree dated the 10th of July — Arrest, and imprisonment at Vin
cennes, of the Bishops of Tournay, Troyes, and Ghent — Deplor
able effect produced by these deeds of coercion — Fears of a schism
— Negotiations to ward off such a danger — Fresh meeting of the
Council — A delegation of prelates again sent to the Pope, who
finally grants a brief of approval — The papal brief rejected by
the Council of State — Pius VII. refuses to make any further con
cessions — The imprisoned bishops restored to freedom on condi
tion of resigning — Impolitic conduct of Napoleon towards the
Church  • 494

CHAPTER XXI
The gambling-house lease — Accusations brought against M. de
Rovigo — A committee of investigation appointed in tbe matter
— New regulations governing gambling-houses — M. Pasquier
and the Due de Rovigo — The harvest of 1811 — System adopted
with regard to the distribution of bread — Necessity for protective
measures against the dishonesty of bakers and consumers — The
reserve stock of provisions placed under official control — Bread
becomes scarce — Gradual increase in the price of articles of food
— Napoleon's desire to re-establish a " maximum " law — His dis
trust of merchants — M. Pasquier's propositions to the Comite
des subsistances — Official report of the proceedings of the ex
traordinary council held at the Emperor's, with a view of warding
off distress — Riots and pillaging by famished bands — Severe
measures of repression — The price of wheat determined by law . 520

CHAPTER XXII
The draft of 1812 and the new organization of the National Guard —
Napoleon's grievances against Russia — Treaties of alliance be
tween France, Prussia, and Austria — Sweden's political situation
under the pressure exercised over it by Napoleon — Negotiations
and final understanding of Bernadotte with Russia and England —
Fetes and magnificent balls during the winter of 1811-1812 —

CONTENTS xxi

Secret societies formed by the students of Northern Germany — A
plot to assassinate Napoleon — A Leipsic student reaches Paris
with this object in view; his arrest and imprisonment — Treason
committed by an official of the War Office bribed by Russia —
Vidocq, the detective, discovers a counterfeiter — The manufac
ture on an extended scale of counterfeit notes of the Bank of
Russia and of the Bank of Vienna, countenanced by the Emper
or's police — Conversation between M. Pasquier and Napoleon,
on the eve of the latter's departure for the Russian campaign . 542

MEMOIES OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER

CHAPTER I
Chancellor Pasquier's childhood — His early education — Relations existing
between his mother and J. J. Rousseau, and between his grandfather
and Voltaire — He enters the College of Juilly conducted by the Ora-
torians — His fellow-students, Mole, d'Etampes, Mezy, Arnauld, the
author of Marius a Minturnes — His holidays spent at the chateau de
Coulans, near Le Mans, and at the chateau of Tubeuf with Mme. Berryer,
the mother of Mme. de Lamoignon — Mgr. Grimaldi, Bishop of Le Mans
— Mme. de La Chatre — The part taken by the Chancellor's grandfather
in the trials of M. de Lally and of M. de Labarre — An answer to the
diatribes of Voltaire and La Harpe — An unpublished letter of apology
from Voltaire — A young man's education under the old regime — In
the world of magistracy — The cultivation of science and letters among
the members of the Paris Parlement.
The old regime, the one preceding the Revolution of 1793,
was not a sealed book to me ; I was already of this world
ere its downfall.
My memory, which has always served me pretty faith
fully, still supplies me with details which may perhaps prove
not uninteresting to those desirous of becoming acquainted
with the habits, usages, and manners of a century from
which they are only separated by a little over fifty years,
but which, nevertheless, in consequence of the number of
stupendous events that have followed one another, are as
little known to the present generation as if two or three
hundred years had rolled by. l

2 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
This is especially the case with regard to the time of the
Empire, the ideas and manners of which are unknown. All
that one remembers of that period are its battles, and this,
but imperfectly. The Restoration, which is so near us, and
of which was born the constitutional regime, has barely left
behind the memory of the July ordinances, and of those
three days which brought about its downfall. Is it there
fore a matter of surprise that the closing years of Louis XV.
and the whole reign of Louis XVI. should be so completely
unknown? I saw the light of day in 1767, in the midst of surround
ings which seemed to presage a peaceful life, and a large
fortune which never descended to me; my early education
was to feel the effects of the craze inspired by the methods
taught by Rousseau, and I accordingly suffered greatly there
from. Under the pretence of hardening me to the inclem
encies of the weather during a couple of severe winters (I
was then in my fourth and fifth years), I was taken to the
gardens of the Tuileries, while but lightly clad. There,
it was asserted, I should surely obtain warmth by taking
exercise. I was told to run about ; but the cold deprived
me of the necessary strength to obey, so the result of this
system was to make me one of the most chilly of mortals.
It was an all-powerful and doubtless excusable influence
which the passionate eloquence of the citizen of Geneva
exercised in those days over imaginations, especially over
those of women. I have learnt since then that my mother
had felt unable to resist the very natural desire of seeing
at short range that so celebrated, so extraordinary Jean-
Jacques. In order to meet him, she had availed herself of
the pretence, then in general vogue, of taking to him some
music for the purpose of having it copied. My mother was
a woman of bright intellect, and the charm of her conversa
tion was potent enough to cause the alleged philosopher to

HIS EARLY EDUCATION 3
express a desire of meeting her again. The exile into
which the Parlement went in 1771 put an end to this inter
course. I was vaccinated at a time when few people submitted to
this operation. An English physician, Horloch by name,
whose settling down in Paris preceded that of the Sutons,
was called in in the case of one of my mother's brothers,
who was ill with smallpox. No hope was entertained of
saving him, yet Horloch pulled him through. My mother,
while in a state of pregnancy, also became a victim of this
pitiless disease; her physician, the famed Bouvard, had
given as his opinion that my father must resign himself
to lose either wife or child. Horloch's services were once
more called into requisition, and he saved both lives. Fol
lowing upon so pronounced a result, he proposed to vacci
nate me. My father consented, but he was unable to obtain
my mother's consent to my sister's submitting to a like
operation. Shortly afterwards, my sister was very ill with
smallpox, and as a result, bore its marks all her life.
This opposition of my mother's would be difficult to
understand, were it not for the fact that in those days,
among truly religious people, and my mother was of the
number, there were many who thought that it was tempting
God to give to a human creature an ailment which might
perhaps not have come in the course of nature. Such was
also the opinion of a considerable portion of the clergy.
My bringing up was to bear the twofold imprint of the
old ideas, of the customs of a world which was about to
disappear, and of the essentially innovating spirit of irre-
ligion and of philosophy which had developed during the
last fifty years. That spirit met with but scanty recogni
tion in the bosom of my family, wherein was deeply im
planted the entirely opposite trend of ideas of the old
magistracy of which my grandfather, who died in 1783,
was the faithful representative.

4 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
A fellow-student of Voltaire, with whom he had been in
the class of rMtorique, under the most famed of the professors
of the great Jesuits' College, Father Poree, he had not been
carried away by the teachings of the Voltairean and ency
clopaedic school, whose influence came to nought in the face
of his sound reason and his firmly established principles in
the matter of religion. His sincere piety bore no trace of
exaggeration. He avoided argument over these matters,
and was content to testify to his belief by a faithful observ
ance of its practices. I can recall a circumstance which
has since often presented itself to my mind. He was nearly
eighty years of age, and I was then about twelve, when I
went to spend my holidays with him at the chateau de
Coulans. At that time, he exercised a particularly watchful
care over my education. Every Sunday we heard mass in
one of the chapels of the chateau, and, one Sunday, the
server being absent, I saw my grandfather, after casting
a most significant glance at me, leave his seat, and kneel
down at the place of the server, who, fortunately, soon
arrived and relieved him of that fatiguing posture.
My early education was not fortunate as regards the
knowledge of things pertaining to man. Its most painful
stumbling-block was, at its outset, a strange peculiarity of
my memory. Although this faculty, in my case, is able,
in certain matters, to retain facts to an extended degree,
and has most faithfully served me during the course of my
career, it has always rebelled against keeping anything
word for word. My troubles in this respect began at an
early age. My mother, who enjoyed in the highest degree
the faculty which I lacked, could not understand how it was
that I should be deprived of it; hence, from my earliest
childhood, she sought to impose upon me tasks which I
could not possibly accomplish, with the result of my incur
ring many a scolding, and punishments innumerable.

AT COLLEGE AT JUILLY 5
The education of children, which is at present conducted
in so gentle a fashion, was then, on the part of the greater
number of parents, carried on with great severity. Just as
it is to-day, its fault was not to take sufficiently into account
a child's natural aptitudes, to exact of each and every
child the same things, the same efforts. It often arises
that by demanding of children certain work of which they
are incapable, one neglects faculties from which great benefit
might be derived.
Upon reaching the age of seven, I was given a tutor.
Two of them followed in succession; the first one fell
somewhat too much into my mother's mistake with regard
to the limitations of my memory; he was a learned man,
and very painstaking with me, but he was hard and severe.
He sought to obtain of me more than my delicate state of
health and the amount of attention I could give to study
would allow. His place was taken by the man who perhaps
resembled him the least. This scheme was not a fortunate
one, for both tutors failed to fulfil the expectations of my
parents. At the same time, it is hardly to be denied that
private tuition is seldom a success, not one of the least of
its defects being the changes of system to which the pupil
is exposed.
I must add, that, barring a few rare exceptions, such an
education is, to my mind, full of dangers, and that most
frequently its effects on health and character are most
disastrous. In the matter of health, the lack of exercise
is fatal to the development of physical strength, and gives
birth to that sense of being bored which, at all periods of
life, is so hard to endure.
I was eleven and a half years old when I was sent to
Juilly. In those years studies were gotten through at a
rapid rate, which makes it allowable to believe, with some
show of reason, that they were not of the most extended

6 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
kind. The Juilly College was presided over by the Ora-
torians, and was the most renowned of their educational
institutions. Father Petit, who was at that time the Father Superior,
enjoyed a well-deserved consideration ; he had several clever
colleagues, among them Father Mandar, whose reputation
in the pulpit was sufficiently established for him to appear
on the list of preachers to the king. He was entrusted
with the duty of preparing the pupils for their first com
munion, and I owe it to him that I performed this great
act of my life with the deepest assent of both heart and
reason. The impression left in my mind on that day was
as dear as it was solemn, and the recollection of it has
oftentimes come back to me full of charm.
It is well enough known that the Oratorians were more
in touch with Jansenism than with Molinism. To that was
due the selection made, by my mother, of a college under
their direction ; her profound devotion had gained her over
to Jansenism, whose doctrines and practices she followed.
This party's most prominent members, by their intellect
and by their knowledge, had grouped themselves about her;
from their inspirations she derived not only the rules
governing her life, but the sense of duty with which she
sought to inspire her children. Father Mandar had not
made of me a doctor of divinity, but a neophyte full of
faith and of good resolutions.
Vacation time restored me to my family for a couple of
months. My mother questioned me as to my knowledge
of religion, and found me deplorably ignorant. In order
to remedy this state of affairs, she placed in my hands a
Naples catechism in three or four volumes, which I was
obliged to devour during my holidays. This catechism was
the text-book passionately adopted by all who were some
body in the ranks of Jansenism. The compulsory study of

VACATION DATS AT COULANS AND TUBEUF 7
it was to me head splitting, and through it my mind became
so confused, that the calm and regularity of college life,
and especially the gentle simplicity of the teachings of the
Fathers alone restored it to its natural state.
It is difficult not to think that those who to-day maintain
that public education is nowadays conducted on as religious
a basis as ever it was, did not see with their own eyes what
was taking place during the epoch which they cite for
purposes of comparison, or do not preserve a right recol
lection of it. The religious bodies were more particular
in this respect than were the secular colleges, but the
difference between them was a small one; even in the
institutions where philosophical ideas were dominant, out
ward manifestations of devotion were too strictly exacted
for it to be possible to neglect them.
I had for school-fellows, Mole, d'Etampes, Mezy (the last
named remained my most intimate friend to the day of his
death), Arnauld, of the Academie francaise; his intellect
was then still undeveloped, and he was morose and melan
choly. No astonishment ever equalled mine, when, a few
years later, after the performance of Marius a Minturnes, I
discovered that the playwright was no other than my old
schoolmate. His subsequent career is well known.
Our holidays were wont to take place at the time of the
adjournment of the Parlement. My grandfather would
take me with him to Coulans or to Tubeuf, to the house of
his oldest female friend, — Mme. Berryer.
Great used to be the joy of the old High Chamber coun
cillor, to return home after the long months of his laborious
life. He would say farewell to his records as the schoolboy
said au revoir to his dictionaries. This peaceable and happy
life, following upon duties bravely grappled with, restored
the man to the softening joys of the family circle ; country
life and healthy enjoyments gave new vigor to his old age

8 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
by making him experience once more the emotions of his
younger days.
The demesne of Coulans, which had been in the posses
sion of my family for a long period, and which had been
created a barony in its favor, is situated at a distance of
three leagues from Le Mans, in a province which was
within the jurisdiction of the Paris Parlement, and this
circumstance was greatly responsible for the consideration
enjoyed by its occupants. The social life of members of
the Parlement, when their estates were far distant from
Paris and especially from Versailles, was on a grand scale,
and the highest of the nobility paid them great attentions.
Conveyancing and the settlement of estates gave rise to
numerous lawsuits. Their influence was often sought after;
the members of the many inferior governing bodies showed
much zeal in doing them homage. Everything conspired
towards securing for them, when they showed themselves
worthy of it, the most honored and envied existence.
My ancestors had done everything to deserve this, and so
it came that in the town of Le Mans, in the neighborhood
of their home, they had many friends, selected from among
the most distinguished people of the province. Le Mans,
although far from being a town of importance, could never
theless produce the best elements of society, for, in the
ranks of the nobility, of the magistracy, of the haute bour
geoisie, and landowners, there were to be found men of
worth, educated, distinguished in manner, women of bright
intellect, agreeable, fond of pleasure, and inspiring all their
circle with a taste for it. It was an easy-going and some
what giddy society, whose faults, — and this illustrates the
manners of that epoch, — were overlooked with more than
indulgence by the higher clergy.
The bishopric of Le Mans was one of those most coveted.
Its revenues were considerable; the episcopal palace was a

MGR. GRIMALDI 9
very fine one, which had, as a dependency, a charming
country-seat about one league distant from the town. This
see had for some time been occupied by prelates of high
birth, grave men who scrupulously fulfilled the duties of
their holy ministry. Upon its becoming vacant in the last
years of the reign of Louis XV., it was given to the Abbe
Grimaldi, a young ecclesiastic, the scion of a great house,
most agreeable as to his personality, his intellect, and his
remarkably graceful manner. A very pleasant companion,
he showed himself capable of a devoted friendship to those
whom he honored by counting them among his friends, and
he gave a proof of this in the choice of the vicars-general
with whom he saw fit to surround himself. They were, gen
erally speaking, younger sons whom fortune had not favored
much, and who had entered the Church merely as a way to a
happier condition of affairs. While on terms of friendship
with them during the years he spent at the Seminary of
Saint-Sulpice, he had promised to summon them to be with
him, as soon as he should be a bishop. He made good his
promise, and on his arrival at Le Mans, he was accom
panied by a flock of vicars-general, who quickly set the
bishopric on a footing entirely different from that to which
people had hitherto been accustomed.
They contracted acquaintances in the several social cir
cles, becoming specially attached to those wherein they
could contract the most agreeable connections. The bishop
viewed this life of excitement, if not with a complacent, at
least with a very indulgent eye. His pastoral excursions
through his diocese were few and far between, and long did
he tarry in the chateaux where he found a society to his
taste. The chateau de Coulans was one of those which he felt
pleasure in visiting. His visits began at the time the
Parlement was exiled by M. de Maupeou. The ready wit

10 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
of my mother was a source of infinite delight to him, and
the lectures she read him in no unsparing fashion were
always listened to with the best of temper.
Mgr. Grimaldi embellished his country-seat, and made a
delightful habitation of it; his garden was laid out in Eng
lish fashion, doubtless a novelty in the province. He left
the bishopric of Le Mans to pass on to a higher see, that
of Noyon, when the Revolution drove him to England,
where, I believe, he ended his days. While in that country
not only was he strict in the observances of his religion,
but austere, and very intolerant towards the bishops, his
colleagues, and to the priests, who, in 1800, believed it to be
their duty not to refuse their support to France's government.
The regiment at that time stationed at Le Mans was the
dragons de Monsieur, commanded by M. de La Chatre. The
officers under his orders were most brilliant and distin
guished, and belonged to the best families; they enjoyed
high favor at Court, and were all men of elegance and
fashion. M. de La Chatre owned at a short distance from Le Mans
a somewhat fine demesne, and his chateau of Malicorne, to
which Mme. de La Chatre frequently came to play the part
of hostess, was the rendezvous of all the grand folks of the
province, it may be even added, to speak like Corneille,
the abode of gallantry.
Mme. de La Chatre's austerity was not of a very imposing
sort; a leader of fashion, she was ever in quest of all that
tended to give enjoyment to chateau life, and she sought
to bear with patience her separation from a man who had
shown her a most passionate attachment. It is not to be
wondered at that quarrels, duels, and scandals became of
frequent occurrence in a district formerly so peaceable,
several of them ending tragically.
We were in the habit of spending the last days of our

MME. BERRY ER 11
vacation at Tubeuf, a spacious and fine chateau built of
brick, surrounded with a broad moat, standing in the midst
of an extensive park containing pine trees hundreds of years
old. A life of simplicity was passed within its walls, there
being none of that elegant display which had already made
such progress. The furniture had once been magnificent,
but was now out of fashion. I can still remember the
furniture of the drawing-room, the arm-chairs and hangings
of yellow satin brought from China forty years before, and
ornamented with silken knots, which Mme. Berryer's shuttle
had woven. According to the custom in olden days, there
was a large household; two or three old valets engaged in
working tapestry were always to be found in the ante
chamber of the principal drawing-room.
Mme. Berryer, the widow of the M. Berryer who had in
succession filled several important official positions (he had
even been a cabinet minister under Louis XV.), was the
mother of Mme. de Lamoignon. She was the possessor of
a large fortune. The delicate state of her health bound her
down to the strictest of diets, and so she lived in the most
frugal manner, while her table was sumptuously supplied.
She clung to life by a mere thread, in spite of which, borne
up by a moral energy seldom met with, she lived to see the
first years of the new century. Endowed with an acute and
well-balanced mind, having spent her life among men
engaged in public affairs, having in consequence seen and
learnt much, she possessed in the highest degree the talent
to manage her salon, and to give to each member of it his
place, while always occupying the position which was hers.
This dignified social circle did not, however, set its face
against amusements of good taste, and of an intellectual
kind. Thalia had her stage in a little theatre set up in the
orangery. I can remember having, at the age of eleven or
twelve, played a part in one of those pieces which could

12 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
certainly not give offence to the most severe sticklers for
propriety, as it was the work of one of the many clergymen
attached to the seigniory of Tubeuf.
The demesne of Tubeuf was one of those in France
wherein the seignior had the patronage of the greatest
number of livings, eleven or twelve, I think, all of them
richly endowed. The exercise of so extended a right
brought with it a great responsibility, which Mme. Ber
ryer always fully recognized. In order therefore to lighten
the burden of it, she had taken all proper precautions,
and had surrounded herself with a sort of council which
enlightened her in regard to her appointments, a mat
ter on which she was, moreover, in full accord with her
bishop. The large family of M. de Lamoignon (he had three sons
and four daughters, of whom two, at the time whereof I
speak, were already married) was in the habit of spending
a few days at Tubeuf in the month of September, and then
returning to Basville, where M. de Lamoignon was working
out his ruin.
M. de Lamoignon's third daughter, Mile. Louise, had
been entrusted to the care of her grandmother, Mme.
Berryer. She was a charming creature, and I can still
remember, in spite of the sixty-six years which have since
elapsed, the gentle and sincere girl with whom I spent most
of my evenings, sitting by her side at a large harpsichord
whereon she practised the music taught to her by Balbatre,
then the teacher most in vogue.
The magnificent matrimonial alliance which Mile. Louise
de Lamoignon was shortly to contract was due to the con
fidence inspired by the education which she had received
under the wing of her grandmother. It was doubtless
natural that the name of Lamoignon should ally itself with
that of Mole ; but the gravity that pervaded the manners of

L ALLY'S CASE 13
the hdtel Mole and of the chateau of Champlatreux, would
have ill accommodated itself to a young girl educated amid
the noisy tumult of Basville.
I lost my grandfather in the winter of 1783. He did not
fall a victim to any properly defined malady ; on the day of
his death, his friend, Mme.. Berryer, had parted from him
at one o'clock, after a lengthy conversation which had left
no apparent traces of fatigue; at two o'clock he had passed
away. His end was a peaceful one. God had reserved
such an end for him, as a compensation for the work and
turmoil of his long career. The parliamentary struggles, in
the last years of the reign of Louis XV., had brought much
worry and work in their wake; they were brought to a
termination by the suppression of the Parlement, and by
the exile of all its members, during the ministry of M. de
Maupeou. Among the cases in which my grandfather played an
important part, two had more especially caused him much
pain and trouble, viz. the trial of M. de Lally, at which he
was rapporteur, and that of Labarre, with regard to a
sacrilege committed at Abbeville. However violent might
be the criticisms to which the decisions in these two cases
gave birth, he had made it a law unto himself not to reply
to them, respecting in so doing the feeling which animated
the efforts of the son of M. de Lally, to obtain a reversal of
the judgment which had condemned his father to death.
Once only, provoked by the diatribes of M. de Voltaire, he
wrote to him, complaining of the unfairness of his attacks.
After his death, I found Voltaire's reply among his papers,
and it is still in my possession.
In 1801, the "same calumnious statements were reproduced '
in the Correspondence of La Harpe, which was being pub
lished in the Journal des Debats. I thought it my duty to
reply as follows, while publishing Voltaire's letter : —

14 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
As you have seen fit, Sir, to print in your journal the article of the
Correspondence of M. de La Harpe, having reference to the death of
M. de Voltaire, you will doubtless not refuse to print also a letter of
Voltaire himself ; it will do duty as an answer to that article, in so
far as my grandfather is concerned. Reasons specially inherent to
the duties of his position, and, above all, the testimony of his con
science to which he owed the bold contempt in which he ever held
calumny, were the cause that made him decide not to make public
this letter, even after the death of M. de Voltaire. His principles did
not allow him, contrariwise to the example shown since by so many
people, I will not say, to make bad use, but even to make use of every
thing written to him in the intimacy of the closet, and in the freedom
of a confidential and private correspondence. He sought, doubtless,
for his own satisfaction, to draw from M. de Voltaire an avowal
which he felt sure the latter could not refuse, looking to the strength
and clearness of the evidence he would place before him, but he
stopped short at that, and considered himself sufficiently avenged.
It must have cost M. de Voltaire an effort to write that letter, and
to entrust to a man who had cause for complaint against him the
secret of his inconsistencies, and of his levity in matters so serious and
of so high an importance.
M. de Voltaire did not have any cause to repent having trusted
to the generosity of a character to which he felt bound to pay the
tribute of his sincere esteem, nay, even his reverence.
I do not know what it was that can have led M. de La Harpe to
introduce random assertions into a correspondence styled by him a
literary one. The indiscretion with which he allows himself to recall
memories which years long past and so many recent misfortunes had
effaced from the mind, to once more lay bare wounds which had had
time to heal, this indiscretion alone made me decide upon resenting
the ill-considered attack, which I had so little cause to expect.
Still I delayed doing so, as long as I saw the attack buried in the
numerous pages of four stout volumes ; but now that, standing out
by itself in the feuilleton of a journal of repute, it has necessarily
acquired greater publicity and more prominent notice, I should cer
tainly fail in what I owe to the memory of an ancestor whom I have
so many reasons to cherish and to reverence, were I not to make use
of the means I hold to crush the calumny which relentlessly pursues
him twenty years after his demise. It is, as I believe, a sacred duty
for me to perform, and, if any one could be found to cast a doubt on

A LETTER FROM VOLTAIRE 15
the lawfulness of my efforts, I should wish for no other judge than
M. de Lally-Tollendal himself, than that courageous son, who, in so
unfortunate a case, has known how to do so much for the memory of
his father, who received everybody's praise for it, and considerations
for -whose feelings has caused me, for over the three months during
which this correspondence has been published, to preserve a silence
which I at last break only with the deepest regret.
M. de Voltaire's Letteb.
"Ferney, September 20th, 1776.
" Sir, — I have to acknowledge the receipt of the letter with which
you honor me. My eighty-year-old eyes experience much difficulty
in reading it, and my aged reason gives me to understand that I ought
never to have written.
"I can clearly see that the greed of a few publishers has imputed
to me several works which are not mine, and has tampered with those
of which I have unfortunately been the author. I have seen four
editions of the writing of which you speak, and those four editions
are absolutely dissimilar.
"If I might reasonably hope or fear to live a few years more, I
would bring out myself a correct edition which I would acknowledge,
and you would certainly not have any reason to be dissatisfied with it.
"My family, Sir, which has had the honor of frequently enjoying
your society, has taught me what is due to your personal merit, to
your eloquence and to your real goodness of heart, and I feel such
confidence in that goodness that I will frankly confess to you the way
in which the matters you refer to were brought about.
"It is the son of the brave, unfortunate, and indiscreet officer of
whom you speak, who, under the influence of the most legitimate, if
not the most excusable, despair, wrote the memoirs of which use has
been made, and you will no doubt find an excuse for a son who
seeks to vindicate his father.
"Since you encourage me, Sir, to make to you avowals of which
I feel sure that a man of your rank and years will not take unfair
advantage, I will, moreover, tell you that a most upright friend of an
unfortunate young man, who would have become one of France's best
officers, having escaped the terrible fate that overtook this young
friend of his, as imprudent as upright, spent two whole years with
me between France and Geneva.

16 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
"This yojing man, who was treated as cruelly as his friend, has
become one of the best engineers in Europe. I was fortunate enough
to procure a situation for him from a, great king who is cognizant of
and rewards his merit. I beg it as a favor that you will forgive him
also. And verily, all that we must do at the age which you and I,
Sir, have reached, is to spend our last days in forgiving. When, on
the brink of the grave, one looks back upon all one has seen during
the course of one's life, one shudders at the thought of so many fear
ful happenings. Happy he who can say with Horace : —
' Senior ac meliorjit accidente senectd.'
"I wish you, Sir, abetter state of health than mine, a prolonged
enjoyment of the esteem in which you are held, of rest after all your
labors, and the indulgence so necessary in the case of mankind, whose
weakness and misery you are familiar with.
"I have the honor to be, with great respect, sincere esteem, and
reverence, Sir. ..."
It is unnecessary to point out to you, Sir, or to those who will read
the foregoing letter of M. de Voltaire, that it does not constitute one
of those disclaimers which he so frequently indulged in in the periodi
cals of the day with regard to works to which he did not dare affix his
name. Here it is, on the contrary, in a case wherein he had been
pleased to play an important part, wherein, far from having anything
to fear, he had seen nothing but the renown to be derived from it ;
it is on the simple but terrible provocative challenge of an honest
man to speak the truth that he becomes troubled, that his conscience
forces from him a private disavowal ; it is when he is unable to reply
to the reasons put before him, to the remonstrances addressed to him,
and that, quietly and without publicity, it is thus that he determines
upon making another shoulder the responsibility of a work in which
he gloried perhaps but a few minutes before, and upon begging on
behalf of another the forgiveness which he did not dare to hope for for
himself ; thus it is, I repeat, that when no other power than truth and
his conscience compel him to do so, he is lavish with the assurance of
his esteem, consideration, reverence, in the case of the man whom he
has so cruelly injured, and to whose honor he does not fear to entrust
testimony so damaging to himself.
People may now judge between Voltaire and my grandfather.
After leaving college, I took up the study of law without

EDUCATION UNDER THE OLD REGIME 17
giving any great attention to it. With all the young men
of that period, it seemed to me that the best use to which I
could put my time was to ride, to fence, and to take lessons
in dancing. Rarely did Christian de Lamoignon, de Mon-
breton, and I go and listen to the lectures of M. Sareste.
We did not lose much by this conduct, for the first work
which he put into our hands, and upon which he was wont
to comment for our benefit, was the Contrat social. This
incident fully illustrated the ruling spirit abroad in those
days. Things had greatly changed since the days when
clever jurists, the pride of both the French bar and bench,
trained themselves for the future.
How does it happen that from so imperfect an instruc
tion, there should have sprung men who, in every walk of
life, especially in the magistracy, where a solid grounding
is necessary, filled important posts during difficult times,
with distinction? The reason therefor is a simple one. A
man's entry into public life began then much earlier than
it does now; he entered upon his career at an earlier age;
at the age of fifteen he went into the army; at fifteen into
the navy; and the officers of that body were considered to
be the best educated in Europe. It is true that a man had
to be somewhat older before joining the engineers ; at the
age of twenty, its officers were practically and theoretically
well versed in their duties ; the place they held in 1792 in
the French army proves the truth of this assertion. One
could enter the ranks of the magistracy at the age of
twenty; at twenty -five, one enjoyed a deliberative voice in
the councils.
The custom prevailing in the Parlements was followed
in the case of the inferior jurisdictions, and it is well known
how numerous they were. The same may be said with
regard to the Cour des comptes, the Cour des aides, etc. In
the civil service proper, i.e. in the department of all the

18 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
financial bureaus, there was no rule governing the age of
admission, and, generally speaking, they were open to one
at a very precocious age. One could not exact of young
men who sought to enter the various public services condi
tions for admission as severe as those set for those who
nowadays present themselves after a course of studies
which has brought them to their twenty-second or twenty-
third year. Was this for the better or for the worse?
With regard to the army and navy, I have already stated
that in regard to scientific attainments French officers were
superior to those of other nations. And yet, they did not
know the tenth part of what those who nowadays come out
of the preparatory schools are familiar with.
There is the fullest justification for saying that Vauban
himself could not have passed the examination in which a
candidate for admission to the Polytechnic School must
nowadays be successful.
Great store has ever been set on the special technical
education acquired at school, but that alone is not sufficient.
There remain physical and moral qualities to be acquired
elsewhere. There are two educations, the one supplement
ing the other. The first is the result of special or of
classical studies; but, following upon it, comes the educa
tion which is the result of the centre in which the young
man lives on leaving school, of the examples, of the
impressions, of the traditions which he gathers. Nowa
days, this latter education has lost the better part of its
value and of its power. The young man who does not
begin to enter life till he is twenty-two or twenty-three
years old, thinks that there is nothing left for him to learn;
he entertains oftentimes the most absolute confidence in
himself, and the most profound disdain for all who do not
share the ideas, the opinions he has already conceived unto
himself.

CHARACTER OF THE PARIS PARLEMENT 19
It was different under the preceding regime.
Youth, to whom the world was open at so early an age,
entered it with diffidence, unable even to hide its short
comings from itself. To this must be added the fact that
the world into which a young man had to make his way,
was full of intellect and distinction, solidly established on
the basis of an unchangeable hierarchy, consecrated by
time, and that in it one was born, one had to live, and one
was to die.
I will select as an example the world into which I was
admitted at the age of seventeen, that of the magistracy in
which the Paris Parlement held so large a place. In spite
of the influence already at this date exercised over it by the
manners of the century, the daily habits preserved a some
what serious demeanor, blended in the case of a goodly
number of families with a sufficiently elegant mode of
living, in the case of many with a pronounced taste for the
enjoyments of the mind, and in the case of a few with an
extensive acquaintance with the highest sciences. Thus
it was that the Parlement could boast of possessing within
its body President Sarron, the whole of whose leisure time
was devoted with much success to astronomical research,
and M. Dionis du Sejour, who followed d'Alembert closely
in the higher regions of geometry. Literature had like
wise its votaries, for M. Ferrand wrote tragedies, while
M. Favier even allowed himself to produce comic operas,
but be it admitted, not under his name. That of Paul et
Virginie was one of his children.
Hence it was that more than thirty salons where there
was no lack of agreeable and solid conversations opened
their doors to me. These conversations took all the more
hold of one, because they were carried on, as a rule, among
persons who were in the habit of meeting frequently and
of exchanging ideas. Large assemblages were rare; no more

20 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
than thirty or forty people were wont to be brought
together. No sooner had I been admitted into this social circle
than I felt my ignorance and a strong desire to remedy
it. It was at that time that there came to me a taste for
assiduous and careful reading, a taste that has never since
left me.
I thereupon began to attend the classes of the newly-
established lyde.
The professors were M. de La Harpe, M. de Fourcroy,
M. Garat, M. de Parcieux, in fact, nearly all the men who
had made a reputation in the domains of science or of
letters. The best element of Parisian society flocked to
attend their lectures, deriving therefrom, in addition to a
deal of personal instruction, subjects for conversation. It
is difficult to form a conception nowadays of this intellec
tual movement.
Previous to 1788, politics occupied but a small place in
it; but new works, theatrical plays, the heaviest as well as
the lightest productions of literature, were continually taken
up and reviewed, to become the objects of opinions and
controversies, wherein well-trained minds would display all
their resources. I seem to live over again the day on which
appeared the Voyage du jeune Anacharsis, a work which of
itself furnished material for a whole winter's conversations,
and, in fact, it would have been hard to supply more agree
able subject matter.
As regards myself, that second education at the hands of
the world, the power of which I have noted, began from the
very moment that I returned to the paternal mansion. Not
a day passed there but that, either during or after dinner,
some conversation took place between my father and some
of his friends or colleagues, over such matters as had during
the day engaged the attention of the Palais, either in the

INDIRECT EDUCATIONAL TRAINING 21
courts, or in the interior of the grand' chambre. In these
discussions, both sides of the questions were taken up, and
the merits of the advocates, of the rapporteurs, and of the
opinions emitted, were appreciated at their value.
These teachings left a strong impression on a mind
which could full well feel their value, and which ardently
desired to be some day in a condition to take part in them.
Once having entered the Parlement, and ere enjoying
deliberative voice in it, it was very instructive to be pres
ent for five years, during all the debates. This novitiate
completed that second education, the value of which I have
tried to demonstrate.

CHAPTER II
Councillor Pasquier's entry into the Parlement— The Assembly of Nota
bles—The Ministry of M. de Calonne, then that of M. de Fourqueux,
and lastly M. de Brienne— The Parlement resists the edicts — Composi
tion of that assemblage — The grand' chambre — The grand banc of the
presidents it mortier — Messieurs de Saint-Fargeau, d'Aligre, de Trudaine
— The Parlement calls for the States-General — The Due d'Orleans
exiled — Imprisonment of Councillors Sabattier and Freteau — Contin
uation of the war between the Parlement and the Court from 1787 to
1788 — Forcible carrying off and arrest of Councillors d'Epremenil and
Goislard de Monsabert — The Edict summoning the States-General —
Dismissal of M. de Brienne — Suicide of M. de Lamoignon — M. Necker
reappears in public affairs — The Abbe Sieyes — Opening of the States-
General — Thoughts on the regime which preceded the Revolution —
France's happy state from 1783 to 1789 — Corruption of the Court:
excesses of luxury, looseness of manners, an irreligious, critical, and
Utopian spirit abroad.
I became a councillor of the Parlement of Paris in the
course of my twentieth year. It occurred in the month of
January, 1787, at a time when all minds were engrossed
with the proposed convocation of the assembly of notables.
M. de Calonne had required special powers from Chancery
to allow of his last loan of eighty millions appearing on the
public ledger. He needed another sixty millions to meet
the expenditure of 1786, and, not daring to brave the Parle
ment once more, he had conceived the idea of an assembly
of notables from whom he hoped to obtain, for his various
projects, a kind of national sanction which would make
him independent of parliamentary resistance. He had the
intention of obtaining approval for the conversion of the
impdt des vingtiemes into a territorial subvention to be
22

PASQUIER ENTERS THE PARLEMENT 23
derived in equal proportions from all properties, even those
of the clergy. He was desirous of seeing the customs'
barriers moved to the very limits of the kingdom, of finally
abolishing statute-labor, and of replacing it by a pecuniary
tax to be assessed on a just basis.
With a view of securing a better acceptance of these
changes, he proposed to create provincial assemblies in all
the provinces which did not possess legislative bodies of
their own. There was perhaps some good in these plans,
but M. de Calonne's levity of mind was an obstacle to his
taking such measures as were necessary for their adoption.
He had not given sufficient attention to the composition of
that assembly, and had, under a pressure which he knew
not how to resist, suffered men most likely to raise troubles
for him, to enter it. It was in that assembly that M. de La
Fayette made his debut. The ground chosen by him was
of a nature to conciliate popular favor. He prayed for the
suppression of the lettres de cachet and of state prisons. A
little later, he supplemented this prayer with one that
Protestants should have their civil status restored to them,
and with another calling for the immediate convocation of
the nation's representatives.
As to M. de Calonne, his plans were not completely
matured at the time of the opening of the assembly; uncer
tainty still reigned with regard to certain of them, even at
this important moment. This was known, and necessarily
taken advantage of. Everybody knows how he was over
thrown by the very notables whom he had called together ;
how, after the short-lived ministry of M. de Fourqueux, the
intrigues of the Court, which had placed at the head of
affairs this remarkably incapable man, with the sole object
of finding time to get ready other batteries, were at last
successful, in spite of Louis XVI.'s personal repugnance, to
place M. de Brienne, archbishop of Toulouse, at the head of

24 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
the ministry. He was at first entrusted only with the
administration of the Treasury, but it was not long ere he
was appointed Prime Minister.
The judge who held the position of Keeper of the Seal
was inclined to give him countenance in his mad enter
prises. He bore one of the greatest names in the ranks of
the magistracy, and had succeeded in establishing for him
self a reputation far in excess of his actual worth. M. de
Lamoignon had, during the last days of M. de Calonne's
administration, taken the place of M. de Miromesnil. He
had long cherished the hope of securing that important
position, which was to bring him that of chancellor, as the
advanced age of M. de Maupeou was liable to render this
post vacant at any moment. He reckoned also on this
windfall to once more establish on a good footing his for
tune which was in a sad state, owing to a most imprudent
use of it. This extravagance may well be taken as mani
fest proof of the decadence into which had fallen the spirit
of the magistracy, once so jealous of the high esteem secured
to it by the gravity of its manners and the regularity of its
private life.
For instance, how is it to be conceived that Mile, de
Lamoignon could not reconcile herself to having married
the sole inheritor of the name of d'Aguesseau, because this
alliance did not give her the opportunity of being presented
at Court? It was but too true that M. de Lamoignon would
never withhold his support from any measures tending to
render secure for him a post which he could not relinquish
without falling into an abyss. Hence he devoted all his
forces to the support of the archbishop, whom he gave to
understand that he could rely upon him to conquer, in case
of need, all parliamentary opposition, and, in particular
that of the Paris Parlement, where he believed he had
a powerful following at his back.

COURT AND PARLEMENT 25
M. de Brienne, full of faith in this pledge, after having
provided for immediate requirements by the creation of
annuities to the extent of 60,000,000 livres, got rid of the
Assembly of Notables. Then, in order to meet his engage
ments, as well as the ever-increasing calls for funds, he
seized upon all M. de Calonne's plans, and drew up the
edicts which he shortly afterwards laid before the Paris
Parlement. No difficulties were encountered as regards the foundation
of the provincial assemblies, and a decree granting free
trade in the matter of cereals ; but the Stamp Acts and the
question of a territorial subvention were not so easily
disposed of. Then did the all-powerful opposition of the
Paris Parlement make itself felt. I had been a member of
that assembly for seven months, and I saw in that opposi
tion the beginnings of the series of facts which were to lead
us without interruption to the Revolution of 1789.
I do not intend to follow step by step the progress of the
disputes which arose at that time between the Court and
the magistracy. I do not wish to tell over again that which
is to be found in all the Memoirs of the time, and which is
set forth in a special and most detailed fashion in the work
of M. Sallier, like myself a former councillor in the Parle
ment. I will merely present on this subject a few sum
marized views which I think will prove of assistance to a
better understanding of events in their whole.
The Paris Parlement doubtless showed temerity in its
opposition, and especially in the means which it adopted to
render it effectual. It yielded too easily to a craving for
popularity, to which its natural importance should have
rendered it indifferent. Not only did it refuse to register
the taxes ; it also declared itself forever incompetent to
grant such registration, and in so doing committed the
greatest of mistakes, by disposing of a future that did not
belong to it.

26 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
It was more than imprudent to call for the States-General
in a peremptory fashion, it was doing violence to royal
authority, and, in conformity with the principles of the
magistracy (I am here speaking the latter's language, and
viewing the matter from within its ordinary spirit), the
Parlement should never have allowed itself to countenance
such violence. I am certainly not blind to the faults of
this Parlement, of which I was a member; but, in thus
openly confessing them, I may claim the right of being no
less sincere with regard to those of the Court. I say the
Court advisedly, because that is where the seat of govern
ment really was in those days. How many blunders, what
incapacity did its conduct not reveal ! M. de Calonne took
the initiative of all innovations, set the pace, and then
refused to follow the movement to which it has given birth.
Yet this was the sole way to direct it. Instead of calling
diplomacy to his aid, he has recourse to force, while of all
the springs which he handles, precisely those fail him on
which he ought to have been able to place the greatest
dependence. In the very first days, the Parlement escapes his control,
especially and almost solely because it is at one and the
same time a House of Peers.
To render this situation wholly intelligible, I must enter
upon a few details regarding the composition and the
internal economy of the Parlement in those days.
The head of that body, which was styled the high cham
ber, did not have within itself any talent out of the
ordinary, and not one of its members was held in high
esteem. Its exile in 1771 had hastened the end, or had
brought about the withdrawal of many old magistrates.
Since then, men had entered the chamber between the ages
of forty and fifty, instead of from fifty to sixty as formerly.
The grand banc, that is the bench set apart for the presidents

COMPOSITION OF THE PARLEMENT 27
d, mortier, was still occupied by men bearing the great names
of the magistracy, who set the example of a virtuous and
respected life ; but among them no man of prominent worth
was to be found, and especially no gifted speaker, except,
perhaps, M. de Saint-Fargeau. Yet, whether owing to indo
lence, from fear of committing himself, or from still other
motives, which the termination of his career explains, M. de
Fargeau hardly ever put that talent to any use.
The First President was M. d'Aligre, a man of parts,
a good enough judge, but whose authority had been lessened
by his passion for increasing his fortune. Owing to these
several reasons, the grand' chambre, and the magistrates
forming part of it, did not obtain from the rest of the House
the recognition which should have been theirs.
Youth had shaken off the yoke- of its elders. Abandoned
to itself, in love with the new ideas, it had in its midst a
few fairly gifted men, several of whom might even be
considered good speakers, but who were almost to a man
dominated by the impetuosity of their imaginations. Not
having any other mentors, is it to be wondered at that this
youth should have been carried away by the seductive
examples cast in its path by the greatest names of France,
the La Rochefoucaulds, the d'Harcourts, the Luynes, the
d'Aumonts, the Luxembourgs, the Praslins, and so many
more? A peculiarity well worthy of notice in the constitu
tion of that epoch consists in the various elements compos
ing the Paris Parlement, as far as the Cour des pairs is
concerned. Out of one hundred and fifty magistrates, one
half at most belonged to families consecrated for years gone
by to the higher functions of the magistracy; the other half
owed its somewhat recent origin to magistrates of secondary
rank, and to men drawn from the high financial circles.
All were called upon, in the sittings of the House, to
share the functions of men invested with the highest digni
ties of the state.

28 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
In a debate, the vote of the least of the conseillers
d'enquete counted as much as that of the oldest due et pair,
as that even of a prince of the blood, for the princes of the
blood had a seat in the Cour des pairs. Such an arrange
ment, under a monarchy, was undoubtedly the most popular
oj the most liberal, to use the language of to-day, that could
be conceived.
Nevertheless, this apparent liberality could, and was,
oftentimes turned to good account on behalf of the royal
power, as the influence of the princes of the blood and of
the dues et pairs could not help making itself strongly felt in
a body so organized, and was as a matter of course exerted
in favor of the Crown. Was it perchance cast against the
Crown, the danger, it is true, became all the greater; but,
when this occurred, was not the government always to blame
for it? Its incapacity in that respect was manifested more
than once during the course of the eighteenth century. For
fifty years past one had witnessed the sight of dues et pairs,
of princes of the blood even, taking part in wretched dis
putes engendered almost in every case by false measures,
and sometimes even by religious persecutions. In this
direction, the quarrels arising out of Jansenism and Molin-
ism were of a serious kind ; for they, more than anything
else, fostered the spirit of resistance, and accustomed the
public mind to it during the reign of Louis XV. The
unfortunate Louis XVI. was to succeed to this deplorable
inheritance. In 1787, nearly all those who were of some prominence in
the peerage, nearly all those who with the magnificence of
that high rank combined a cultured and distinguished mind,
joined the ranks of the parliamentary opposition. I cannot
forget how powerfully the minds of the young magistrates
were affected by the attraction of following such leaders.
They found themselves of a sudden bound up by party ties

THE STATES-GENERAL 29
in these great names, in these noble lives. Now everybody
knows how party spirit serves to bring together and even to
fuse social conditions. Heads were quickly turned by this
seductive and novel intimacy ; it took little to win us over ;
a kind word, a graceful show of setting value on our
opinion, soon settled all difficulties ; then, when we returned
to our homes, our minds were still exercised over the re
membrance of all that had taken place during the sittings
of the Chamber. At the close of the sittings, some twenty
of us were in the habit of dining together, most frequently
at the table of our colleague, M. de Trudaine, whose head
was to fall on the scaffold.
Those who were more clever, or who had more advanced
ideas than the others, took care to fan the flames of our
effervescence. Thus, it was at one of those dinners, at
which M. d'FJpremenil was present, that the Abbe Sabattier,
who was somewhat intimate with the Due d'Orleans, for the
first time breathed the word States-General. The word
surprised us at the outset, but it soon became current.
When repeated a few days later at a sitting of the Chamber,
it met with divided favor; but perhaps there was no banc
where it caused less astonishment than on that of the Peers.
The wise heads of the grand' chambre were thrown into a
state of perturbation by it. I cannot forget the words of
one of those old magistrates, who, on passing behind my
bench, and noticing that I was somewhat excited, stopped and
said : " Young man, a similar idea was frequently broached
in the days of your grandfather, and this is what he then
always told us: 'Gentlemen, this is no child's play; when
ever France sees the States-General for the first time, she
will also witness a terrible revolution.'" This and many
other warnings which were given to us by men whose
opinions were entitled to some weight, had the effect of
causing a goodly number of us to hesitate. The majority

30 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
were led astray by the false move of a man of talent who,
on that day, began the series of blunders he has since com
mitted. That man was M. Ferrand. He was a ready
speaker, was held in high regard, and possessed influence;
it was he who ordinarily drew up the remonstrances. In
order to get rid of the convocation of the States-General,
he hit upon the plan of showing how the power of the
Parlement would necessarily be lessened by that of the
States-General. This idea, which might have had some weight with a few
calm and thoughtful minds, if, taking them aside, he had
presented it to them in an adroit fashion, produced on the
assembly as a mass an effect altogether contrary to that
which he had looked forward to. From the moment that
our interests were clearly at stake, we could see nothing
finer than to sacrifice them to what we looked upon as the
public weal. Our feelings of generosity got the better of
us, and there was no way of holding us back. On that day
did I begin a course of experience with large assemblies. I
was struck by what had just happened, and I was often to
bear it in mind in the future.
So the Parlement called the States-General, and declared
itself incompetent to vote any taxation. Its removal to
Troyes is a matter of history, as well as its return to Paris,
after having formed a regular coalition against all the other
Parlements of France.
Two months later, the ministry renewed the struggle.
At a time when it had derived so much benefit from
adopting a conciliatory policy, it saw fit, without a shadow
of necessity, and when it was least to be expected, to have
recourse to force and to coercion. Without previous warn
ing, immediately after the vacation, when the members of
the Parlement had hardly had time to meet, it prevailed
upon the king to hold a royal sitting, at which were sub-

THE DUC D'ORLEANS EXILED 31
mitted two edicts of the highest importance, the one gov
erning the civil status of Protestants, and the other
providing for the issuing of a series of loans covering a
space of five years. These loans formed a grand total of
420,000,000 livres. The last-mentioned measure was cer
tainly of the boldest. Its adoption would have presupposed
absolute confidence in the government, and this confidence
could only be established by a previous submitting of a
financial scheme conceived in the most clever fashion, and
for the carrying out of which perfect guarantees would be
presented. It was apparently with the object of inspiring confidence
on this score that the edict — • and herein lay another piece of
imprudence — embodied the promise of calling the States-
General together ere the five years would have expired.
The bait was too clumsily set and did not deceive anybody.
The king having allowed each one to freely express his
opinion, the edict met with strong opposition, but no divi
sion took place on the question. Many have thought that
if it had been put to vote, it would have received a majority.
Such, however, is not my opinion. And so, after a debate,
in appearance unrestrained, the chancellor declared, by
order of the king, the registration of the loans, in the same
way as if a lit de justice had been held.
Then it was that the Due d'Orleans, protesting against
such coercion, asked that a note should be made on the
register to the effect that the measure had been passed by
the most express order of His Majesty. Such was his first
open act of opposition, and it was one of the most serious
import. Never had a government played so well into the
hands of its opponents.
This declaration of hostilities had great results outside,
while it considerably angered the Court circle. Next day,
the Due d'Orleans was exiled to Villers-Cotterets, and in

32 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
order that nothing should be lacking to inflame the public,
two of the Parlement's councillors, Messieurs Sabattier and
Freteau were carried off and imprisoned in fortresses. Their
only offence consisted in having availed themselves of the
permission granted by the king of freely expressing their
opinion in his presence. I was present at this royal sitting,
and it is hardly necessary to dwell upon the deep impression
it left with me, and how indignant I felt over its results.
If I obtrude my impressions and feelings on this occasion,
it is for the reason that, as at that time I had no settled
political convictions, it is reasonable to infer that what I
felt must have been felt no less strongly by the mass of the
people. Nevertheless, I cannot hide from myself that my young
mind was greatly shaken by the talent of our brilliant
speakers, and that I was specially intoxicated with that of
M. d'lSpre'me'nil. He had surpassed himself during the royal
sitting, and had only escaped the outrageous treatment which
had befallen his two colleagues, owing to the impression
which he had made upon the king himself. Another mem
ber of the Parlement was, with him, saved from the minis
terial vengeance by the personal will of the king. This
was M. Robert de Saint- Vincent. This fact is worthy of
record, because it affords one more proof of the good faith
of Louis XVI. M. de Saint- Vincent had spoken with more
vehemence than any one, but his speech was couched in a
familiar and even trivial style, and the king thought he had
discerned in it a character of loyalty and of out-spokenness
which he could not find trace of in the honeyed utterances
of M. Freteau, and in the witty sentences of the Abbe
Sabattier. The latter was, moreover, reputed to be one of
the secret advisers of the Due d'Orle'ans.
The king himself defended M. de Saint- Vincent against
his ministers, to whose tender mercies he abandoned the

THE PARLEMENT'S REMONSTRANCES 33
two others. That unfortunate monarch had shown to little
advantage in this parliamentary drama. His uneasiness
during the speech of M. d'Epremenil had only served to
demonstrate that he lacked courage to follow his own
impressions, and, at the moment when the Due d'Orleans
made his protest heard, he had hardly been able to utter a
few words to say that such was his will, and that hardly in
royal tones.
It became evident that the convocation of the States-
General, within a short time, was inevitable.
If, therefore, the government had been endowed with the
slightest foresight, it would have merely contented itself
with the means of bringing about this convocation without
too much jarring, and preserving sufficient power to be able
to weather the storms which this event might bring about.
M. d'Epremenil had, during the royal sitting, made a propo
sition, which was with the foregoing object in view, the
best the Parlement could offer. He was in favor of grant
ing the registration of the loans for the first two years, but
on condition that the king would promise formally to call
together the States in 1789. It was that proposition which
had shaken the king's mind. His ministers had noticed it,
and to the fear they experienced over it may perhaps be
attributed the eagerness with which they drove His Majesty
to measures which left no further "chances open for negotia
tions. The war between Parlement and Court went on during
the end of 1787 and the first months of 1788. This war
was waged on the Parlement's side with a moderation of
manner and of speech which tended greatly to heighten the
advantage of the position it took in the eyes of the public.
Its personal quarrel did not prevent it from fulfilling its
duty towards the state, the monarch, and individuals, and
it did not once more fall into the mistake it had committed

34 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
on former occasions of suspending the administration of
justice. Far from this being the case, the Parlement showed
an increased activity in order to meet all the demands made
upon it. After the royal sitting, it took up the edict on the
civil status of Protestants, and accomplished its duty with
a wisdom worthy of praise. Certain changes in the wording
of the edict having been found necessary, M. de Malesherbes,
the father of the edict, promptly endorsed the request for
them in the King's Council, and the edict was registered
on an almost unanimous vote.
This fact is really deserving of attention, the Paris Parle
ment being perhaps at that time the assemblage of men
among whom religious principles held sway more than
elsewhere, and among whom the greatest attachment to the
faith of our fathers was to be found. Profound knowledge
went together with these principles, and this makes it all
the more cause for regret that so priceless an advantage
should so soon have been disdained and rendered of no
value. The setting at liberty and the return to the Parlement of
the kidnapped ministers was asked for unceasingly. The
king's answers, as inspired by his ministers, were not only
always couched in the sense of a refusal, but even in very
dry form. As a result, instead of an isolated matter being
debated, general questions were taken up. Remonstrances
were drawn up in the matter of compulsory registrations,
lettres de cachet, and the danger resulting from a power which
should be kept within bounds by its sole will. These
remonstrances, ever respectfully couched, nevertheless set
forth strong arguments in their support. Hence they acted
powerfully on the mind of the nation, and then it was
that the Parlement enjoyed in the highest degj"je public
esteem and popular favor. At an earlier date, svhen the
seat of this assemblage had been transferred to Troyes,

THE GOVERNMENT'S EMBARRASSMENT 35
riotous demonstrations had occurred on the Pont-Neuf and
in the environs of Paris. In March and April, 1788, the
inner halls of the Palais became the scene of demonstrations
all the more dangerous that they did not have their origin
with the populace. It was no longer the basoche alone, i.e.
the young lawyers and procureurs' clerks, but truly the
educated and best trained youth of the capital who sur
rounded the locality wherein were held the meetings of the
Chamber, and who cheered the magistrates, whenever they
declared themselves in a more pronounced fashion for the
opinions most in favor for the time being.
I must fain confess that many of us were very grateful,
nay, more so than was proper, for these marks of approval,
and that some of us did not even stop at provoking them by
means of communications that were indiscreet, to say the
least of them. As a result of this, whereas, in the hall
wherein the sittings were held, one heard only a language
of independence contained within the limits of a decorum
which no member of the assemblage would have dared to
overstep, it was quite a different matter in the surrounding
halls, and notably in that of the Pas perdus.
There, the speechifying and the talk were more than
daring; they were seditious. However far I was carried
away in those agitated days, it was nevertheless difficult
for me not to entertain considerable anxiety with regard to
the consequences of what I witnessed. What I had read
about Cardinal de Retz would recur to me, and I could
readily perceive that our mode of acting resembled too
closely that of the Fronde.
One day in particular, having been struck more than
usually with this similarity, I was on the point of saying so
in the midst of the sitting of the Chamber, at the moment,
when, according to usage, the clerk of the House called out
my name, so that I should announce my opinion. I lacked

36 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
the necessary courage, and I contented myself, as usual,
with being of the same opinion as Mr. So and -So or the
other. Had I yielded to my impulse, I should have created
no little scandal, yet the result of my temerity would have
been to show that I, while yet a very young man, had en
joyed an amount of foresight lacking only in too. many
others whom it suited better than me.
Yet, I must do my colleagues the justice of saying that
not one of them, even among those most carried away, would
not have thought of the Fronde without expressing a mortal
fright. The purity of our intentions gave us a feeling of
security; moreover, we placed in progress that silly confi
dence which was destined to deceive so many of us; and
lastly, it must be confessed, we were very giddy, and some
what thoughtless. Ours was the inexperience sprung from
a prolonged vacation; ours was the thoughtlessness born of
a craving for the enjoyments of life, from which the most
serious matters were powerless to turn us; our mornings
were spent in the Chamber, our evenings at the bal de
I' Opira. True it is that the youngest of us would there meet the
most sedate, the most august personages. One evening I
was approached by a masked person of great wit, who took
a pleasure in pointing out to me in piquant fashion the
points of resemblance between the pleasures of the ball and
those of the sitting of the Chamber at which he had seen
me in the morning. This masked person was no other than
Monsieur, who was to be Louis XVIII. When, in 1815, I
had the honor of being one of his ministers, he enjoyed
recalling the incident to my mind, a proof, among numerous
others, that His Majesty was in possession of one of the
most tenacious memories in his kingdom.
From day to day did the government embark upon a sea
of fresh troubles. No longer could one remain blind to the

THE GOVERNMENT'S EMBARRASSMENT 37
impossibility of realizing the succeeding loans the registra
tion of which had so unfortunately been imposed at the
royal sitting. This source of income must of necessity be
abandoned. The tax of the vingtidme, provided for at
Troyes, was collected in the provinces with the greatest
difficulty. The other Parlements, noticing the small amount
of success the complaisance of the Paris Parlement had
reaped, sought to throw every possible obstacle in the way
of that collection, several of them going so far as to refuse
the registration of the edict authorizing it.
There had been a series of removals and banishments,
and of summonings to Versailles. Then it was that, upon
the magistrates hurling the word despotism at the king's
ministers, the latter answered with the word aristocracy.
Nay, the word was embodied in an answer from royalty
itself. Thus did there originate from the king's very lips
the charge so often repeated by the revolutionary echoes.
Still, it was not by indulging in such recrimination that
the government could get out of the untenable position in
which it had gotten itself; remedies more drastic were
necessary. They got no further in that respect than the celebrated
project of creating the Cour plhxih-e. M. de Lamoignon,
had, alone, not been able to plan the carrying out of this
conception. He had called upon several assistants (the
Abbe Maury was one), a few of whom showed apparently
but little discretion. The plans became known. On the
3d of May, 1788, the Paris Parlement, at a sitting at
which the Pairs were present, issued a decree, wherein,
after reciting the fundamental points of the monarchical
constitution of France, it revealed to the nation what was
being hatched in the King's Council against public rights,
and protesting beforehand against everything that should
be done. It may be said of this document, which was most

38 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
cleverly devised, that it strangled the Cour pliniere even
ere its birth. Those who had drawn it up had had cog
nizance of the edicts which had been prepared.
No sooner had the foregoing decree come to the knowledge
of the ministers than it aroused their ire, and they immedi
ately resolved upon casting into prison M. d'Epremenil,
who was looked upon as its principal author. With him
was coupled, it would be hard to say why, M. Goislard de
Monsabert, against whom there was no other grievance than
that he had, a few days before, denounced before a sitting
of - the Chamber, a certain act of extortion committed by the
exchequer with regard to the collection of the vingtiemes.
This gave the ministerial vengeance a childish character,
and it became to the last degree odious when Messieurs
d'Epremenil and Goislard having, to escape arrest, taken
refuge in the grand' chambre of the Palais, were forcibly
taken from the very midst of the assembly of the Chamber
by an officer of the gardes bearing orders from the king.
This abduction, the investing of the Palais which had
preceded it, the incidents of this so to speak siege, which
lasted some twenty-four hours, drew upon the heads of
those who had not feared having recourse to such means,
both hatred and contempt. It is hard to understand how,
on the point of dissolving the Parlement, the ministry had
not felt that it should abstain from a vengeance hence
forward without object, and whieh could only increase the
predicament of its situation. Messieurs d'Epremenil and
Goislard had been on the point of flying by the subter
raneous passages of the Palais, which opened on the river.
I saw them in their disguise, but at the moment at which
they were preparing to carry out their escape, they were
well enough advised to abandon the idea. They were taken,
the one to Saint-Michel, the other to the isles of Hyeres.
On the 8th of May was held at Versailles the lit de

THE "LIT DE JUSTICE" OF MAY 3 39
justice, at which we read £,nd promulgated, to the number
of six, the laws which did away with the old magistracy, to
place in their stead the grands bailliages, which were to
render all forms of justice, and the Cour pliniere, which was
to take the place of the Parlement with regard to the fram
ing and recording of laws. In order that there should be
no lack of giving offence in bringing about these reforms,
the wrong was committed of giving to this act of royal
almightiness, the form of a private vengeance.
The king's speech began with these words: "Gentlemen,
there are no faults which my Parlement has not committed
during the past year." It was, therefore, to punish the
Paris Parlement, or, to speak more truly, a few of its mem
bers of whom it was thought there was reason to complain,
that was compassed the destruction of that French magis
tracy, so worthy of respect, which had rendered such great
services to the state, and whose roots were entwined with
the foundations of the monarchy? And the man who was
the principal author of that portentous measure was a de
scendant of the illustrious house of Lamoignon, which
derived all its lustre from the Paris Parlement !
In spite of so many errors, the lit de justice was not
disturbed by any act which might denote the slightest
resistance to the royal will. The reading of the king's will
was listened to with the most respectful silence. I wit
nessed the scene, which made all the greater impression on
me, for the reason that during the whole of the time it
lasted, one might have thought oneself transported into the
midst of one of the Court festivities.
There was scarcely any place in the throne-room for the
members of the Parlement, so great was the number of
ladies who, in all the brilliancy of their finery, set off all
sides of the room. Hardly was the ceremony over, when
the vexations of the ministers began.

40 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
The members of the grand' chambre, who were to become
a part of the Cour pliniere, and who had been ordered to
remain at Versailles, wrote to the king, to assure His
Majesty that it was impossible for them to assume the new
duties assigned to them.
On returning to Paris, the councillors of the other Cham
bers sought to meet at the Palace, but it was guarded by
soldiery. After having met at the residences of the doyens,
they all wrote to the Keeper of the Seal, protesting individ
ually against what had happened at the lit de justice.
At first, the ministers believed, or deluded themselves
into believing, in order to persuade the king of it, that this
resistance was a mere matter of form, and that it would die
a natural death. If this delusion was sincere, it must have
been of short duration, for, in a short time, it became
impossible for them to remain ignorant of the fact that the
demeanor of the magistracy had been the same throughout
the length and breadth of the kingdom, and that in several
large towns, the king's commissioners, intrusted with bring
ing down the edicts for registration, had been spat upon,
and sometimes even ill-used. With but few exceptions,
the inferior magisterial bodies followed the Parlement's
lead. The Chdtelet de Paris was the most important of
these bodies, and upon no other's support had the KeepeT
of the Seal counted so much. It was the one which
declared itself against him in the most uncompromising
manner. In addition to the natural feelings which dictated this
resistance, an important lesson had been read at the very
outset of the reign of Louis XVI., and its ever-present
memory had sufficient power to maintain the courage of the
weakest. In spite of its four years' existence, the death of
the Maupeou Parlement was, at the time, hailed with
delight, and the return to power of the one so severely

THE COURT'S DELUSION 41
proscribed in the preceding years, was saluted with cheers.
All the men composing it had, moreover, severely expiated
their mistaken obsequiousness toward those at the helm of
state, for, although twenty years had gone by since that
event had happened, public opinion still seemed to pursue
them with relentless animadversion. Now the work of
M. de Brienne and of M. de Lamoignon was assuredly not
of a nature to inspire greater confidence than that of M. de
Maupeou, and it could not be denied that the cause of the
Parlements, in 1788, was popular in a quite higher degree
than in 1771.
The Assembly of the Clergy united in a protest with the
nobility. It was in Brittany and in the Dauphine that the
nobility gave voice to its sentiments with the greatest force.
The example given by the gentilshommes of these provinces
was no less vigorously followed by those of Burgundy,
Franche-Comte, the Languedoc, and the Beam.
In vain did the king's commissioners and the military
commanders make a display in the provinces of all the
powers placed at their disposal; in vain did lettres de cachet
rain upon the most recalcitrant; resistance went on increas
ing from all quarters. In order to restore peace to the
public mind, the only resource left to the government was
to renew its pledge to call together the so ardently prayed-
for States-General.
On the 15th of July, the ministers made public an
edict in which they announced the convocation of the
States-General for the following month of May. They
called upon all bodies, as well as upon all individuals, to
express their ideas as to the best way of composing, of
constituting them. This was a useless display of weakness.
A month had hardly gone by, from the day of the publica
tion of that edict, when the ministry, shorn of power and
of consideration, had to abandon the reins of government.

42 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
The new order of judicature had failed to become an accom
plished fact.
The dearth of funds in the Treasury had reached a point
which precluded meeting any obligations, or of making any
outlay on behalf of the public service, and it had become
necessary to suspend many payments. As a rVrelude to all
the ills which were to overwhelm France, a fearful hail
storm had devastated the most productive provinces. A
fund was opened to meet the most pressing needs, but the
little money produced from it was quickly spent. M. de
Brienne had not feared to violate so sacred a trust. He had
to be sacrificed to public indignation, and his dismissal was
decided upon at the end of August. He went his way,
loaded the while with honors, dignities, with the promise
of a cardinal's hat, and in the enjoyment of the richest
benefices. M. de Brienne's place could not be taken by any other
than M. Necker, whose personal credit had become indis
pensable in order to meet the most pressing needs.
M. Necker was therefore called, and this, in the face of
the king's repugnance to him.
In vain did M. de Lamoignon make an effort to retain his
post in the new administration. He had to fall with M. de
Brienne, with whom he had shared all responsibility, and
he too withdrew from public life, bending under the load
of royal favors. He was promised a duchy for his eldest
son, while, in addition to the usual retiring pension, a sum
of 400,000 francs was granted to him by way of gratuity.
That amount was all that the Royal Treasury could at the
moment dispose of. He demanded that one-half of it
should be paid down to him. This relief was not sufficient
to cover his debts ; in despair he committed suicide in the
grounds of Basville.
The return of M. Necker at the head of affairs, under

M. NECKER' S RETURN TO POWER 43
circumstances so critical, was a veritable triumph. That
of the Parlement was no less brilliant. It was signalized
by bonfires, illuminations, in a word, by every sort of a
display of popular rejoicing, which, in some places, bore
too close a resemblance to the outbursts of a victorious
faction. The foregoing ministry had been imprudent enough to
declare, as shown previously, that there was no regular form
for the convocation, composition, and constitution of the
States-General. It had called upon the whole of France to
express its opinion on that important matter.
The all-important question of the proportion in which the
three orders were to be represented took precedence over all
others. What is the Third Estate ? asked the Abbe Sieyes
in a pamphlet which made a deep impression at the time.
After reading it, one discovered that the Third Estate meant
everything, or pretty nearly so. Did M. Sieyes himself have
the slightest glimpse of all that his pamphlet implied?
This may be doubted, when, so shortly afterwards, he was
to be seen taking up in so trenchant a fashion the defence
of the clergy's possessions. He had, nevertheless, put his
finger on the sore part of the social system, and touched
upon the great question of the age, both in France and
beyond its boundaries.
In the midst of all this effervescence, the Paris Parlement
thought that it belonged to it to determine the rules to be
followed. It rendered a decree stating that the methods
followed for the calling together of the States in 1614, the
last that had met, were still those which should prevail, if
one did not wish to run to innovations, the consequences of
which were not to be foreseen.
This decision, unfortunately for the Parlement, was not
in accord with the most general sentiment of the country,
nor especially with that of the leading minister, M. Necker,

44 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
who called the notables previously brought together by
M. de Calonne, and made the announcement by means of a
royal edict, that it was the intention of His Majesty to
consult them on this important point.
This led immediately to a struggle between the Parlement
and the ministry, of quite a different nature from those of
the preceding years. The result was to give men who were
better equipped the opportunity they had been waiting for
to destroy an influence, the direction of which they fully
saw would not become theirs. The effect of their manoeu
vres was so rapid, that before the end of 1788, it was,
generally speaking, a well-established fact that the Parle
ment was retracing its steps, that it was abandoning the
interests of the nation, and that it no longer desired the
calling of the States-General.
The truth pf this charge lay in the fact that the Parle
ment, left again to itself, felt the foreboding of a revolution,
and did not wish it to be believed that it was going to give
it any help. I have a perfect recollection of the discus
sions which took place in this connection. They presented
an entirely novel aspect. No longer was there any excite
ment, any enthusiasm, any attempted or marked eloquence.
Men reasoned coldly, and it seemed as if a veil of sombre
hue had been spread over the assembly. Its importance
was wiped out, no one gave it a thought, nobody was any
longer under its spell. The States-General loomed up in
too near a future for people's thoughts to turn to anything
else. I took part in the opening of the States-General, and, in
spite of the pomp with which the royal power was still sur
rounded, I there saw the passing away of the old regime.
The regime which preceded '89, should, it seems to me,
be considered from a twofold aspect : the one, the general
condition of the country, and the other, the relations exist-

FRANCE'S PROSPERITY FROM 1783 TO 1789 45
ing between the government and the country. With regard
to the former, I firmly believe that, from the earliest days
of the monarchy, France had at no period been happier than
she was then. She had not felt the effects of any great
misfortune since the crash which followed Law's system.
The long lasting ministry of Cardinal de Fleury, doubtless
inglorious, but wise and circumspect, had made good the
losses and lightened the burdens imposed at the end of
the reign of Louis XV. If, since that time, several wars,.
undertaken with little skill, and waged with still less,
had compromised the honor of her arms and the reputation
of her government; if they had even thrown her finances
into a somewhat alarming taste of disorder, it is but fair
to say that the confusion resulting therefrom had merely
affected the fortune of a few creditors, and had not tapped
the sources of public prosperity; on the contrary, what is
styled the public administration had made constant prog
ress. If, on the one hand, the state had not been able to
boast of any great ministers, on the other, the provinces
could show many highly enlightened and clever intendants.
Roads had been opened connecting numerous points, and
had been greatly improved in all directions. It should not
be forgotten that these benefits are principally due to the
reign of Louis XV. Their most important result had been
a progressive improvement in the condition of agriculture.
The reign of Louis XVI. had continued favoring this wise
policy, which had not been interrupted by the maritime
war undertaken on behalf of American independence.
Many cotton-mills had sprung up, while considerable prog
ress had been made in the manufacture of printed cotton
fabrics, and of steel, and in the preparing of skins.
The progress made in the natural sciences, and the several
branches of mathematics, came greatly to the aid of these.
Chemistry was already giving people a glimpse of the assis-

46 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
tance it was very shortly to render to all useful arts. Men
like Lavoisier, BerthoUet, Fourcroy, and their pupils, were
entering upon their career with giant strides. The. Revolu
tion took Lavoisier's life, but the training of his fellow-
workers who survived him, and who did good service like
his own, took place during the reign of Louis XVI., to
which they belonged. Great attention was paid to their
labor by this monarch, who also encouraged agriculture
by every means at his command. The importation of
merino sheep, that precious breed which has done so much
to bring wealth to the farmer and to the manufacturer of
woollens, must be placed to his credit. He had established
model farms, thus placing at the disposal of agriculturists
the resources of theory, and facilities for their application.
Large edifices were being erected in Paris, while considera
ble building was taking place in the villages. Foreigners
flocked to the capital where reigned a display of elegance
which has never been surpassed.
I saw the splendors of the Empire. Since the Resto
ration I see daily new fortunes spring up and consoli
date themselves; still, nothing so far has, in my eyes,
equalled the splendor of Paris during the years which
elapsed between 1783 and 1789. Magnificent residences
stood then in the Marais quarter and in the ile Saint-Louis.
What is the Faubourg Saint-Germain of to-day compared
with the Faubourg Saint-Germain of that period? And
then, with regard to outdoor luxury, for those who can re
member a field-day, or a race-day at Longchamps, or merely
the appearance of the boulevard, did not the stream of
equipages with two, four, or six horses, all vying in mag
nificence, and closely packed together at these places of
rendezvous, leave far behind the string of private or livery
coaches, among which appear a few well-appointed turnouts,
that are to be seen in the same localities nowadays?

FRANCE'S PROSPEROUS STATE FROM 1783 TO 1789 47
Far be it from me to shut my eyes to the reality of the
public prosperity which we are now enjoying. I am cog
nizant of the improvement in the condition of the country
districts, and I am aware of the fact that all that rests on
this solid foundation, even though its appearance may be
somewhat more humble, is much to be preferred to a
grander exterior that might hide a less assured solidity.
I do not seek to disparage the present time — far from it.
I am ready to admit the advantages which have accrued, in
many respects, as the results of the Revolution; as, for
instance, the partition of landed property, so often assailed,
and which, so long as it does not go beyond certain limits,
tends to increase wealth, by introducing into many families
a well-being hitherto unknown to them. But, nevertheless,
when I question my reason and my conscience as to the
possible future of the France of 1789, if the Revolution had
not burst, if the ten years of destruction to which it gave
birth had not weighed heavily upon that beautiful country,
if Santo Domingo, for instance, had continued pouring its
treasures into it, if the successive betterments to which
I have alluded had not been checked by great catastrophes,
I am convinced that France, at the time I am writing, would
be richer and stronger than she is to-day.
Unless I am mistaken, it is Rivarol who has said of
nations in the situation which I have just depicted : They
are a prey to the malady of prosperity. The idea could not
find better expression. He did not finish his picture with
showing, as he ought to have done, how that malady like
wise invades governments in no less dangerous a fashion.
What was at that time France's form of government? It
was no longer that of the ancient feudal monarchy, under
which the throne, surrounded by its puissant vassals, kept
the nation at a great distance from its steps ; under which
the power emanating from this throne impressed the popu-

48 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
lar masses, even the intervening classes, with a respect that
verged on superstition; under which the sovereign might
at times be exposed to the acts of rebellion of some of the
more turbulent among these high vassals ; under which such
acts of rebellion might give birth to the Ligue and to the
Fronde, but under which they ever ended with some treaty
benefiting those who had shown themselves the most to be
feared, the cost of such treaty coming as a matter of course
out of the pockets of the nation and of the country.
Richelieu, and after him, Louis XIV., had got the upper
hand of these disturbances, and had broken down these
feudal potentates. The structure, of which they were the'
component parts, and which they helped to support, had
been supplemented by one of pomp by a monarchy all for
show, if one may employ such an expression, wherein the
king alone had remained great and the cynosure of all
eyes. Louis XIV., by fashioning it to his measure, had
imparted to it something of his imposing air. In spite of
the reverses at the end of his reign, in spite of the acts of
littleness given by him to the public gaze during the closing
years of his life, it cannot be said that this proud air had
lost all its glamour at the time of his death.
The royal power, under the Regency, under Louis XV.,
and under Louis XVI., passed through so many weak or
incapable hands; it was, moreover, subjected to so many
intrigues of the Court and even of the boudoir, that, as a
result, there was a considerable diminution of the prestige
with which the supreme power can dispense less, under a
monarchical government, than under any other.
It was the administration of the public departments
whieh had produced a state of prosperity; but it was, on
the other hand, the government which had given birth to
the Revolution under whieh it was to fall, and yet this
government was neither a hard nor a vexatious one. All

THE "LETTRES DE CACHET" 49
things connected with it, which were not de jure tempered
by the laws, were so de facto by the usages and customs of
the day. The right of property was respected; for the
immense majority of Frenchmen there was almost complete
individual liberty. Still, this liberty was not inviolate,
since, in spite of repeated protests from the Parlement, the
power of arrest, imprisonment, of exile, was exercised by
means of lettres de cachet.
During the last years of the reign of Louis XV., the abuse
of this power had been all the more frequent and outra
geous, for the reason that it had been had recourse to, not
only to obtain the triumph of such and such a religious
opinion, of itself hardly worthy of attention, but also to
gratify the hatred, the revenge, the caprices of one or the
other of the sovereign's mistresses, perhaps even of the
very ministers who had this terrible weapon at their dis
posal. This odious scandal had ended with Louis XV. At
the accession of Louis XVI., M. de Malesherbes had been
instrumental in opening prison doors to prisoners of State ;
and, during the course of his reign, up to 1787, the use of
lettres de cachet had been moderate enough to be looked upon
rather as the violation of a principle, and an insult to
justice, than as any real injury to society. Moreover, the
lettres de cachet were, for the most part, hardly ever called
into use except at the urgent request of families desirous
of putting a stop to the follies of some of their members.
The famed Mirabeau had been imprisoned at Vincennes at
the request of his father.
Still, one cannot help recording a revolting abuse of this
power to carry off and imprison citizens arbitrarily, which
occurred in 1785. M. de Beaumarchais, while in the
midst of the triumph of the performances of his Figaro,
was having trouble with the lieutenant de police with regard
to a preface which he wished to insert in a published

50 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
version of his play ; he was also charged with having com
posed a song, sharply satirizing a- charge of the Archbishop
of Paris. He was arrested, and, by virtue of a lettre de
cachet, imprisoned at Saint-Lazare.
The Paris Parlement had seen two of its members seized
during one of its sittings, and immediately cast into prisons
of the state, while several deputies from Brittany, who had
come to Paris to lay at the foot of the throne certain de
mands of the body to which they belonged, had likewise
been incarcerated in the Bastille.
It must be acknowledged that, with the exception of a
few persons whose actions caused the government particular
irritation, the rest of the citizens practically enjoyed the
most complete liberty. One was free to speak, to write, to
act with the greatest independence, and one could even
defy the authorities in perfect security. De jure the press
was not free, yet anything and everything was printed, and
hawked about with audacity. The most sedate personages,
the magistrates themselves, who ought to have curbed this
licentiousness, actually encouraged it. Writings the most
dangerous, and the most fatal to authority, were to be
found in their possession. If, from time to time, some of
the most zealous and conscientious of them denounced any
flagrant case in the halls of the Parlement, their action was
almost treated as ridiculous, and oftenest led to no result.
Those who will not grant that this was liberty, must per
force admit that it was license.
The influence of the local authorities, in their daily re
lations with citizens, from which all of us have suffered so
frequently for the last thirty years, was not perceptible, —
it was unknown. What remained of the feudal power was
hardly more than a word bereft of its meaning. It had
become merged into that of the Crown. '
There still remained certain pecuniary manorial rights ;

EXCELLENCE OF POLITICAL CONDITIONS 51
but they constituted a form of property as good as any
other, and which could be held by a commoner as well as
by one of noble birth. The power of the seigniors over the
bodies of their vassals no longer had any existence except
in fiction; about all that was left to the seigniors of the old
feudal power, was the shadowy obligation to protect these
same vassals.
At the time of his accession, Louis XVI. completely did
away with anything that might still be found oppressive
in the exercise of this power. Hence there was between
the nobility and the other citizens, just as there was be
tween those citizens and the clergy, but one question in dis
pute, that of pecuniary privileges, and of the one the two
first orders enjoyed of not being taxed as was the third
order, either in form or at fixed rates.
The influence of the clergy did not make itself felt any
more heavily on the individual than did that of the nobility.
The concessions just granted to Protestants, in the matter
of their civil status, had met with no obstruction on the part
of the ecclesiastical power. Nothing could illustrate better
how tolerant it had become. The higher clergy became
reconciled to the views known as the Ught of the century.
With regard to the curis who came into actual contact with
the people, they merely extended their paternal care of their
flocks, which also absorbed the better part of their income.
Whence came then that passion for reform, that desire
to change everything which made itself manifest at the
close of the eighteenth century? It was due rather to a
great stirring up of ideas than to actual sufferings ; so much
had been written about these ideas, they had been so greatly
discussed, that doubt had been cast upon all things. The
sovereign authority had been in a more particular manner
broken in upon, and the Court of Louis XVI. had not known
how to restore the waning prestige of royal majesty, even

52 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
in the matter of that exterior glamour, which oftentimes
suffices to insure the obedience of the masses.
The Court, sceptical and corrupt, was composed of the
descendants of the most noble families of France, but also,
on the other hand, of parvenus, in whose case favor had stood
in lieu of services. The arrogance of their pretensions was
in Universe ratio to their merit, and their insolent haughti
ness had rendered them odious.
An idle life and the need of money was the source of
many scandals ; the Memoirs of the day are full of them ;
so I need not say any more on this score. Unfortunately,
in a country like France, the Court cannot become corrupt
by itself. For some time past the intercourse between Paris
and the Court of Versailles had been too frequent, too
intimate, for th'e example of the one over the other not to
be all powerful.
Shall I speak of the many cases in which ruin was brought
into families by the extravagant luxury which stalked
about in public places? Were I to rush into anecdotical
narrative, I should seem to be inditing a satire. It will
be sufficient for me to say, that when I made my entry into
the world of society, I was, so to speak, introduced in par
allel fashion to the lawful spouses and the mistresses of
my kinsmen and of my family's friends, spending Monday
evening with one lady, Tuesday evening with the other,
and I was but eighteen years old, and born of a family of
the magistracy!
The irreligious, critical, and philosophical spirit, the
inexplicable craze for all sorts of Utopian chimeerffi, the
lowering of the moral standard, especially the loss of re
spect for institutions consecrated by time, and for old
family traditions, all fostered the development of the pas
sions which were soon and forever to sweep away the old
French society, the old rigime.

THE FIRST POPULAR UPRISINGS 53
The convocation of the States-General was preceded in
Paris, and then in other parts of the kingdom, by popular
uprisings, the origin of which could be traced to the par
liamentary quarrels. They had been for two years tol
erated by the magistrates who ought to have suppressed
them. One of the most serious was that which took place in
the Faubourg Saint-Antoine against a paper manufacturer
named Reveillon, whose place of business was burnt down.
This popular demonstration merits our attention, for it
evidently served to get ready the means which shortly
afterwards secured the triumph of the insurrections of
the 14th of July. I saw it at close range; it came like a
surprise to the Parisian world of fashion in the midst of
the pleasures of a race which was taking place in the wood
of Vincennes. As soon as the occurrence was known there
everybody hastened back to Paris, taking good care to avoid
the terrible faubourg. One of the young fellows, in whose
company I was, determined to go through it.1 Two or three
of us resolved upon not letting him go alone. We were on
horseback, and we came safely out of our foolhardy under
taking, owing to the fact that a like number of ragamuffins
jumped up behind us. These strange companions brought
us safely to the edge of the boulevard, where they left us.
This uprising was evidently an artificial one; the poor
wretches who took part in it knew neither what they
wanted nor what they did, and it was clear that their fury
was of the manufactured-to-order kind.
I was still going about the boulevards at five o'clock that
evening, when two or three companies of the Swiss Guards
and of the gardes francaises passed that way, marching
1 This young man was M. d'Oilliamson, whose tragic end was remarka
ble from the fact that he was the last 4migr6 shot in France for having
left the country.

54 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
against the faubourg with three or four cannon and with
lighted fuses. They soon quelled the disturbance. This
was the first occasion on which a military force supported
with cannon had been seen in our time in the streets of
Paris. Such a display had a great effect. One hardly
foresaw then to what an extent one was to get accustomed
to it. It has been seen that the gardes frangaises were still
to be depended upon, but the sight of their loyalty became
a warning to the party which was working to bring about
the Revolution. It saw that the time had come to begin
tampering with the spirit of that body, and the result is but
too well known.
The States-General met, therefore, amid such fearful
preliminaries, and everything led one to foresee serious
troubles in no distant future. And, indeed, how could it
be supposed that the very men, who had not been able to
direct the public business with all the resources of an
authority for so long a time undisputed, would be more
fortunate or more skilful, in the presence of an assembly
of twelve hundred members, in which the most opposite
interests and ambitions were to join issue?
The only question upon which all were to agree was the
necessity of overthrowing everything that was in existence.
The first illusion to vanish was the one which had induced
people to put faith in the influence exercised by Necker.
I listened to the reading of a bulky memorandum, wherein
he believed he had outlined for the States-General their
course, and dictated the rules which were to govern them.
Hardly had the sitting been adjourned, when the memoran
dum passed out of mind ; no one referred to it.

CHAPTER III
Councillor Pasquier at the taking of the Bastille, with Mile. Contat, of the
Comedie-Francaise — The theatre as the school of youth — The "pre
miere" of Beaumarchais's Figaro — Gretry's successes at the Opera-
Comique— The day following the 6th of October at the Tuileries;
aspect presented by the king and queen — The public state of mind in
1789 — Royalist tendencies of the National Guard — The club de Valois
— Grievous futility of the first emigration — The royal family's flight to
Varennes — Fearful anxiety caused in Paris by the king's departure —
M. de Saint-Fargeau's characteristics: his hatreds, his phlegm, his
violence — Final dissolution of the Parlements — The new judiciary
order — A protest from the old magistracy — The death of the Con
stituent Assembly — Decrees against the emigre's, against the priests —
The pillage of the grocers' shops in Paris — The first appearance of the
Phrygian cap.
I was present at the taking of the Bastille. What has
been styled the fight was not serious, for there was abso
lutely no resistance shown. Within the hold's walls were
neither provisions nor ammunition. It was not even neces
sary to invest it.
The regiment of gardes francaises which had led the
attack, presented itself under the walls on the rue Saint-
Antoine side, opposite the main entrance, which was barred
by a drawbridge. There was a discharge of a few musket
shots, to which no reply was made, and then four or five
discharges from the cannon. It has been claimed that the
latter broke the chains of the drawbridge. I did not notice
this, and yet I was standing close to the point of attack.
What I did see plainly was the action of the soldiers,
invalides, or others, grouped on the platform of the high
55

56 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
tower, holding their muskets stock in air, and expressing
by all means employed under similar circumstances their
desire of surrendering.
The result of this so-called victory, which brought down
so many favors on the heads of the so-called victors, is
well-known. The truth is, that this great fight did not for
a moment frighten the numerous spectators who had flocked
to witness its result. Among them were many women of
fashion, who, in order to be closer to the scene, had left
their carriages some distance away.
I was leaning on the gate, which, on the place de la
Bastille side, opened into the garden of Beaumarchais's
house. On this gate he placed, a few days later, the
following inscription : This little garden was planted in the
first year of liberty. By my side stood Mile. Contat, of the
Comedie-Francaise. We stayed together till the very end,
and then I gave her my arm back to her carriage, which
had waited in the place Royale. The prettiest woman imag
inable, Mile. Contat united to the charms of her person,
to her admirable talent, one of the most brilliant of minds.
Mme. de Stael is the only one I have known who could
rival her in flashes of ready wit.
Mme. de Coigny, who deservedly enjoyed fame in this
respect, was certainly not her superior, and, I do not think,
even her equal. I do not recollect how it came about, but
there was a constant intercourse between them. They fre
quently corresponded with each other, and, when they met
after the theatre, Mme. de Coigny never failed to seek
Mile. Contat, and to improve the opportunity by paying
her a few pleasing compliments.
Her dressing-room at the Comedie-Francaise, which was
furnished with the greatest taste, was always besieged by
all the distinguished men in the house. The same happened
in her salon, of a night. To mention some of the members

INFLUENCE OF THE STAGE 57
of the Court : M. de Narbonne, the Vicomte de Segur, the
Marquis de Chauvelih, M. de Lauzun, M. de Saint-Blancar,
Archambaud de Perigord; among men of letters, the Abbe
Delille, Chamfort, Beaumarchais, Collin d'Harleville,Vigee,
Defaucherais. As ever under like circumstances, the women were not of
the same rank. Mile. Raucourt, and the leading actresses
of the Theatre-Francais, would come sometimes, and also
the principal actors then in vogue: Mole, Fleury, d'Azin-
court, and lastly Talma, up to the time when he deserted
the Comedie-Francaise to join the Palais-Royal troupe.
Mile. Contat made herself remarkable, in the midst
of this brilliant circle, by a perfect ease and correctness
of manner. Everything about her person was stamped
with an incontestable superiority. When seeing her so
thoroughly at home in the centre of this social circle,
wherein were to be met so many people of prominence, I
have often said to myself that there was no cause for
wonderment at the exquisite naturalness and the piquant
animation with which she impersonated Celimene.
The theatre held a great place in the social life of that
period. The masterpieces of the French style were per
formed three times a week. Everybody that was anybody
at Court or in society fought for seats. During the
entr'actes, all met in the foyer. The habitues would
indulge in the most excited discussions and criticisms ; old
•traditions and new ideas had each their partisans; it was
an excellent school for youth. I seldom missed a perform
ance. In this way, while enjoying myself greatly, I went
through a two years' course of theatrical literature.
I was present at the first performance of Beaumarchais 's
Figaro. Never was there a more brilliant one. The desire
to witness it was so great that several ladies of the highest
rank spent the previous night in the actresses' dressing-

58 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
rooms. The police had refused to license the production of
the play ; but this obstacle had been removed at the press
ing request of the queen. The Court and the nobility were
about to present their breast to the most cruel and terrible
shafts of criticism.
The truth is, that the political portion of the work, — its
consequences so serious for the future, — were, at the out
set, what least attracted attention. People were bent on
enjoyment. A perfect shower of wit, the play of the actors
(never perhaps has such a combination of talents been seen
together), the perfection of the staging, severally contrib
uted to the unheard-of success which maintained itself for
over a hundred performances.
At the Opera-Comique, the success of the season was
Gretry's. Richard Coeur de lion drew all Paris, and the
romance of Blondel, " 0 Richard, 6 mon Roi, l'univers
t'abandonne ! " became shortly afterwards the song of the
faithful servitors of a king more to be pitied than Richard,
and more worthy than him of their love, of their pity, and
of their devotion. But the time is fast approaching when
this pleasurable life is to cease. It is about to be brutally
crushed out by the Revolution, which is to sweep away
forever not only political organization consecrated by cen
turies of glory, but a society whose manners, whose intel
lect, whose refinement had held such a sway over Europe.
The days of the month of October followed upon the
taking of the Bastille, and the horrible scenes which had
accompanied it.
Two days later, I was in the rue de Richelieu, which was
filled with a seething mob. Not knowing what had brought
this concourse of people together, and seeking to get away
from it, I nearly fell down, through having stumbled on the
body of M. Foulon, which lay in the gutter, and which I
had not noticed. The horde which dragged this corpse

THE DAY FOLLOWING OCTOBER 6 59
about during part of the day was merely enjoying a rest.
Next day, I saw drive up the place de Greve the gig from
which the hood had been torn off, and which contained the
unfortunate Berthier, who, ten minutes later, had ceased
to exist.
And lastly, when the king made his entry into his capital,
I followed him from the city's gate to the dome of bayonets
and drawn swords under which he ascended the steps of the
Hotel de Ville.
Chance led me to the opening of the States, with a young
man whose name has become somewhat famous. This cir
cumstance led to a certain amount of intercourse between
us, which was in the future to be of some importance. He
was the son of a rich merchant at Bordeaux; his name was
Ducos. In 1791 he became a member of the Legislative
Assembly, and subsequently one of the Convention. In
1789, he had been in Paris for a few months, after a long
residence in Holland, during which he had had plenty of
opportunity for watching the struggle which had ended in
the triumph of the Orange party over the republicans.
He had strongly sympathized with the defeated party,
and had imbibed its principles. I have known few men
possessed of a more brilliant intellect, of so vivid an im
agination, and yet of so amiable a character.
Following upon our first coming together, and owing to
several bonds of union, we met pretty frequently during the
months which elapsed between the opening of the Assembly
and the 6th of October. The events which came under
our notice during this interval made a somewhat similar
impression on both of us. As the saying was then, they
made more of an aristocrat of me, and in spite of Ducos's
primary tendency, they almost did the same for him; but
he soon left for Bordeaux, found there connections which
brought him back to his first love, and he came back to
Paris what was called a patriot.

60 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
The general impression left on my mind by the horrors of
the 6th of October was strengthened by the one I had felt
while performing a most melancholy duty. The day follow
ing that upon which the royal family were dragged captives
to the Ti ileries, the Parlement was, according to custom,
called upon to go and present its respects to them. There
were but few of the members of that body in Paris, and I
was among the few of those whom the First President could
bring together about his person. The traces of violence
which met our eyes, the confusion existing in the palace,
the cast-down and disheartened appearance of the household,
the haughty and triumphant attitude of the individuals
who, under the orders of M. de La Fayette, had captured
the palace guards and through whose ranks we were com
pelled to wend our way, had but feebly prepared us for the
heart-rending scene which awaited us as soon as we had been
brought into the presence of our unfortunate sovereigns.
It seemed that ten years had passed over their heads in the
space of ten days.
The king's face bore the imprint of resignation. He
understood that he had not reached the end of his misfor
tunes. Indignation shone through the queen's grief, which
displayed somewhat more firmness. Her son was sitting in
her lap, and in spite of the courage of which she had given
so many heroic proofs during the past forty-eight hours,
one could not but feel that that son was for her a safeguard
to the protection of which she committed herself. When
she received us, it was plainly to be read in her eyes that
she clearly saw in ours to what an extent the sorrowful
congratulations which we brought were in contradiction
with the feelings of our innermost hearts, and how we
suffered at having to speak those meaningless sentences,
consecrated by usage in days of happiness, and at not being
able to speak others.

STATE OF THE PUBLIC MIND IN 1789 61
The emotion whieh this scene filled me with was as deep
'as lasting. All that in my mind and heart attracted me to
and inspired me with a taste for a wise and lawfully regu
lated liberty faded away in the presence of the painful
spectacle which aroused my indignation. Each succeeding
day, indeed, witnessed the increasing of disasters, spolia
tions, and crimes of all kinds. My sentiments were offended
by the lack of respect shown to all that I had accustomed
myself to hold in reverence. I was neither giddy enough
to divest my mind of this spectacle, nor enough of a stoic
to consider it as a necessary condition of the great destinies
which awaited regenerated France.
God forbid, however, that I should refuse to recognize
to-day the sincere and doubtless legitimate enthusiasm
which had in those days taken hold of many upright minds
and noble hearts. I must fain admit that that enthusiasm
must have had a great sway, as, in '89, '90, and '91, the
great majority of France undoubtedly testified to its adhe
sion to the Revolution by its sentiments, indications, and
by its hopes.
The year 1789 witnessed the disappearance of the peace-
fulness of that social life which had so long been France's
charm. Political feuds, angry discussions, and passions
brought an element of disturbance into society, and were
not long in dispersing the elements of it. The manners of
the period would not be understood, if one did not take into
account the important part played by the fair sex in sharing
these emotions. Their empire over people generally made
itself manifest through the shades of cockades, through
their predominating tint. It was, above all, the uniform
of the National Guard, the donning of it, or the refusal to
do so, which was the most characteristic symptom of a
man's opinion.
At the outset, the National Guard appeared to Royalists

62 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
as merely an instrument of insurrection. The Paris Guard
had been taken to Versailles on the 6th of October by"
M. de La Fayette, and although one could not lay to its
door the misdeeds of that dreadfully memorable night, for,
on the contrary, it had checked their career, it nevertheless
brought the king back to Paris in triumph, — such a tri
umph! Hence it shared the odium which its commander
had incurred. Yet, such as I have found him since, I have
no hesitation in saying that had the command of those sol
diers fallen to any other than M. de La Fayette, who was
never able to make anything out of them but an instrument
of parade, the instrument of his vanity, who never knew
how to put it to a practical use until the moment when he
was about to abandon its command; that if, for instance,
M. de Bouille, or a man of his mould, had been at its head,
there was a time when it would have turned affairs into
another channel, and when it might even have rendered the
king independent of the insubordination of his army.
I have had the opportunity of forming an opinion con
cerning that garde, although not a member of it. It was in
the following way : I had an uncle, as worthy a man as
ever breathed, and with no friendly feeling towards the
Revolution. He was a postmaster, and had accepted the
command of the battalions of his quartier, which was also
mine. I am under the impression that M. d'Oigny, the
Postmaster-General, had conveyed to him the king's order
that he should take it. However this might be, he had
come latterly to take pleasure in his command, and, as he
dwelt in my family, the doors of our house were open to
all officers of high rank in his battalion.
I was therefore constantly in the company of these
gentlemen. We chatted together, had discussions, .and even
angry disputes. At first, they were wroth with me for
declining to wear the grenadier's (private) busby, and for

THE CLUB DE VALOIS 63
even refusing to take command of a company; but we ended
in being good friends none the less, and I must admit, that
at the expiration of six months they were, with but a slight
shade of difference, just as good Royalists as myself. They
gave proof of it afterwards at all times, and most particu
larly on the 10th of August. As a result of this, the better
part of them lost their heads on the scaffold during the
Reign of Terror.
It remains to be pointed out that this battalion belonged
to one of the most commercial quartiers of Paris, and that
it represented perfectly the opinions of the bourgeoisie of
that city. Nearly all the other battalions were, towards
the end of 1790, of a like mind, and all, almost without
exception, would have been in the same frame of mind, if,
instead of continually turning the National Guard into
ridicule, it had been openly taken up; if, for instance, the
queen had been able to bring herself to show full faith in it.
In spite of my Royalist opinions, a certain amount of
easy-going inherent to my character, which has never failed
me, caused me to live in good enough harmony with a few
men whose opinions did not harmonize with mine, in spite
of the remonstrance which my conduct too often drew upon
me from my family and friends. I was in the habit of
meeting several of them at the club de Valois, the only one
perhaps where a similarity of opinion was not a sine qua
non for the purposes of admission. To this circumstance
is it due that I studied a little more deeply both sides of
the question, read continuously the journals of all shades
of opinion, and thus I received, at that early date, a few
lessons of toleration in politics, for I came to understand
that a man of intellect, of honest feelings, and of respected
character might view matters political in a different light
from myself, without being for that a scoundrel, or a man
fit only for the gibbet. From that very moment I also took

64 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
a dislike to the coarse and even insulting jokes which too
often were the favorite pastime of us aristocrats. I could
oftentimes see how unjust they were, and always feel the
harm they did.
It must also be admitted, that while I was convinced that
we were defending the good cause, I could not help recog
nizing that our adversaries managed their affairs much more
cleverly than we did. A large number of us had come to
the conclusion (I did not share their mistake) of believing
that in order to reach the best, the worst had to be waded
through. This mistaken notion governed the greater part
of the Right, in the Constituent Assembly. I frequently
attended its sittings, and but too often noticed the deplor
able spectacle resulting therefrom. Everything, or nearly
everything, was done by the party opposed to the Revolution
in the excitement of the moment; nothing was the result of
reasoning. Who, for instance, reasoned out the emigration? It has
oftentimes been asked how so extraordinary a resolution
came to be taken; how it had entered the minds of men
gifted with a certain amount of sense that there was any
advantage to be derived from abandoning all the posts
where they could still exercise power ; of giving over to the
enemy the regiments they commanded, the localities over
which they had control ; of delivering up completely to the
teachings of the opposite party the peasantry, over whom,
in a goodly number of provinces, a valuable influence might
be exerted, and among whom they still had many friends;
and all this, to return for the purpose of conquering, at the
sword's point, positions, a number of which at least could
be held without a fight.
No doubt it has been offered as an objection, that the
peasantry set fire to chateaux, that soldiers mutinied
against their officers. This was not the case at the time of

THE FIRST EMIGRATION 65
what has been called the first emigration, and, at any rate,
such doings were not general; but does danger constitute
sufficient cause for abandoning an important post? Nay,
is it not even true that this very danger, which attained its
highest point at the outset, was on the wane at the very
moment when the emigration was at its height? What is
the answer to all this? Merely what follows. The vol
untary going into exile of nearly the whole nobility of
France, of many magistrates who were never to unsheath a
sword, and lastly, of a large number of women and chil
dren, — this resolve, without a precedent in history, was not
conceived and determined upon as a State measure ; chance
brought it about. A few, in the first instance, followed the
princes who had been obliged, on the 14th of July, to seek
safety out of France, and others followed them.
At first, it was merely in the nature of a pleasant excur
sion. Outside of France, they might freely enjoy saying
and believing anything and everything. Nothing prevented
them from hurling anathemas at the Revolution, for in al
most all directions were to be found people who gave utter
ance to like sentiments. The wealthiest were the first to
incur the expense of this trip, and a few brilliant and amia
ble women of the Court circle did their share to render most
attractive the sojourn in a number of foreign towns close
to the frontier.
Gradually, the number of these small gatherings in
creased, and it was then that the idea arose of deriving
advantage from them. It occurred to the minds of a few
men in the entourage of the Comte d'Artois, and whose
moving spirit was M. de Calonne, that it would be an easy
matter for them to create a kingdom for their sovereign
outside of France, and that if they could not in this fash
ion succeed in giving him provinces to reign over, he would
at least reign over subjects, and that this would serve to

66 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
give him a standing in the eyes of foreign powers, and
determine them to espouse his cause.
The women talked duty and honor to the men, threatened
laggards with an undying ridicule, and derisively presented
them with distaffs. They went so far as to imagine that
they were followers of Saint Bernard, the preachers of a
new crusade. But the crusaders of Saint Bernard's day
sallied forth to conquer a foreign land, and did not go away
to come back and conquer their own.
Thus, in '89, '90, and '91, there were a few who were
compelled to fly from actual danger; a small number were
led away by a genuine feeling of enthusiasm; many felt
themselves bound to leave, owing to a point of honor which
they obeyed without reasoning it out ; the mass thought it
was the fashion, and that it looked well; all, or almost all,
were carried away by expectations encouraged by the wild
est of letters, and by the plotting of a few ambitious folk,
who were under the impression that they were building up
their fortunes. All these reasons acted upon this too confi
dent mass so much to be pitied in the future. The greater
part of it honorably, courageously, and resignedly endured
its unhappy lot abroad; but its misfortunes nevertheless
constantly pressed on France, and are to the present day
the cause of its experiencing a sense of uneasiness, the
effects of which will be felt for a long time.
The king blamed the conduct of his brothers in leaving
France, in that they took with them so many persons upon
the support of whose devotion he could have reckoned. He
felt that their conduct increased the distrust of his enemies,
and consequently the pressing dangers which threatened
him. The emigration was doubtless repugnant to his
rectitude and to his reason. But, did he ever possess
sufficient strength to oppose it plainly?
The unfortunate ease with which he wavered in his reso-

THE FLIGHT TO VARENNES 67
lutions, the spirit of contradiction so frequently manifested
in his words and his actions, was never better shown than on
the occasion of his unfortunately conceived flight to Va-
rennes. On leaving Paris, he had stated that he was no
longer free, that he could no longer tolerate a situation so
humiliating and so contrary to law, and two months later
we see him giving his sanction to the Constitution, with
out having the courage to proclaim that this sanction, if he
granted it, was of no value, unless at least an appearance
of liberty were granted to him. He does not know suffi
cient to derive any advantage from a situation which would
have considerably embarrassed his opponents.
I noticed, during the twenty -four hours which followed
the flight of the royal family, the effect produced by this
unexpected bit of news. At first, as no one entertained
any doubt as to the successful result of the undertaking,
the king was twelve hours in advance of any would-be pur
suers. How could it be supposed that, whatever road he
took, steps had not been taken to insure the success of his
journey, whether, as was generally believed, he wished to
cross the frontier, or whether he intended to establish his
residence in some important town in the kingdom? In
either case, the citizens of Paris considered their position a
most critical one. They had always looked upon the pres
ence of the king in their midst as a guarantee against the
danger and the acts of vengeance which might threaten
them. Added to this feeling was the real attachment felt toward
the king's person and his family by the National Guard.
For the past two years, the National Guard had repeatedly
enjoyed the honor of coming into contact with them, an
honor of which every bourgeois of Paris still felt proud.
Herein lay, therefore, many stumbling-blocks in the way
of the men of the Revolution, and they hardly knew whom

68 • MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
they could depend upon, or place confidence in. The army
was no less a source of anxiety to them. It would take so
little to change the minds of the soldiers, who, upon seeing
the king in the midst of them, might once more turn Royal
ists, nay, even rabid Royalists.1
I happened to dine that day with the President of the
Assembly, M. de Beauharnais, and Messieurs de Barnave,
Menou, Lameth, and lastly, M. de Saint-Fargeau. All of
them had sought refuge in a very small room, adjacent to
the club already spoken of.~ These gentlemen, freshly
arrived from the Assembly, felt the need of breathing
freely, and of divesting themselves for a while of the sol
emn part which they had been compelled to act up to as
long as the sitting had lasted. They were not restrained
either by my presence or by that of several other habitues
with whom I was dining. Their conversation bore all the
characteristics of absolute discouragement. They did not
know which way to turn, and I saw plainly that they were
completely in the dark as to the road taken by the king.
Hence it is that I am convinced that M. de La Fayette, with
whom they were all on terms of intimacy, was equally
ignorant of it, and that all the surmises which have been
indulged in on this score, rest upon no foundation whatever.
One man only among these gentlemen astonished me. It
was M. de Saint-Fargeau, president a mortier and a member
of the Paris Parlement. On that day he gave vent, for the
1 An incident, the truth of which I can vouch for, shows what ex
cellent grounds there were for this apprehension. The regiment of the
Couronne, garrisoned at Lille, had, for some days, been in a state of
mutiny toward its colonel, M. de Lameth, and had confined him to his
quarters. He was the eldest of four brothers, and the only one who was
an aristocrat. I have what follows from his own lips. The news reaches
Lille that the king has left Paris, and that he is at Metz, and in command
of its garrison. Three hours later, the regiment sends a deputation to its
colonel entreating him to place himself at its head, and to lead it to Metz
near the king's person, arguing that the regiment of the Couronne must
necessarily be one of the first to afford him protection.

M. DE SAINT-FARGEAU 69
first time, to the feelings of hatred and violence which
dwelt in his innermost heart. His outward appearance
was cold, and stamped with the hereditary magisterial
phlegm of his family. He had asserted himself but little
at the sittings of the Assembly, and although he was a
gifted speaker, I do not think I have heard him utter three
consecutive sentences in the midst of that body. Upon
becoming a member of the States-General, he had stayed,
as long as the three orders had remained apart, in the ranks
of the nobility, that is, opposed to a fusion of the three
orders, and consequently to the alliance most necessary to
the progress of the Revolution.
By degrees, but ever without opening his lips, he went
over to the majority in the Constituent Assembly, in other
words, to the bosom of the party which was making the
Revolution, and voted constantly with them. But, beyond
this assent, he did not actively interfere with matters,
and would spend most of his evenings at the club, remain
ing silent on 'all political topics, wholly engrossed in losing
considerable money at the game of billiards, and without
being disturbed by it.
On that evening, he broke his silence for the first time,
and upon Messieurs de Beauharnais and Menou admitting
that they were to blame for the too great pressure that had
been put upon the king, we were greatly surprised to hear
him break out into the most vehement invectives against
both king and queen. In vain did his colleagues try to
calm him down, and to bring to his comprehension that the
time for wisdom and moderation was at hand; their efforts
were fruitless. He rose from table and left the dining-room
with all the signs of a furious anger. Such was the man
who later on, not only voted the death of Louis XVI. but
who, through his zeal in securing votes to that end, contrib
uted more than any other man towards compassing it. The

70 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
day after the scene which I have described, he resumed his
phlegmatic appearance, and seemed to think of nothing but
his game of billiards. So he remained until the 10th of
August, 1792. From that date we never met again.
I have good grounds for coming to the conclusion, that, in
spite of the bold front shown by the leaders of the Constit
uent Assembly, they were at least in a state of consterna
tion. Everybody knows of the changed aspect of affairs
on the following day.
The captivity of the king inspired a few faithful Royal
ists with the touching idea of offering hostages to take his
place in jail. It was undoubtedly madness to imagine that
such a proposition would be entertained; and yet, the
greater number made it in entire good faith. I knew sev
eral of them, particularly one M. Bernard, President of the
Cour des aides, a man sixty years of age, and who enjoyed
a yearly income of at least 60,000 livres. Barely had
the letter conveying his offer gone on its way, when he
left his home whieh was near Chartres, and came to Paris.
He took pains to notify the mayor of his locality of his
dwelling-place, so that he might ever be found in case of
necessity, and hardly left his room from a fear of making
those who might come in quest of him wait. In spite of
his sixty years, he emigrated shortly afterwards, and en
tered as a private a military company, recruited from the
nobility, at Coblentz. He died in harness. When a man
thus sacrifices his life to his principles, he is entitled to the
respect even of those who do not share theirs with him.
Our Revolution produced more men of that stamp than is
generally believed.
One of the acts of the Constituent Assembly was to have
painful consequences for me. Although the annihilation
of the Parlements had been resolved, it had not proceeded
as rapidly as desired, because something had to be estab-

THE CHAMBER DURING VACATION TERM 71
lished in their stead, and this could not be done without
much labor and some forethought. One of the first acts of
the Assembly was to decree that the chambers (courts)
sitting during the vacation term, and which were at work
in October, 1789, should be the only ones, until such time
as it should be otherwise ordained, to try and render judg
ment upon all civil and criminal cases. Consequently, the
Parlement did not meet again in the ¦ following month of
October, and thus did it pass out of existence.
The Chamber sitting during the vacation term in Paris
was burdened with an immense amount of work, during the
time this kind of interregnum lasted, and it accomplished
its task in such a fashion as to reflect great honor upon its
members. The Assembly had decreed that the preliminary judicial
investigation in the matter of crime should be public. In
many respects this was an excellent thing, but it had until
then never been practised in France. The drawing up of
the first report in conformity with this system, fell to the
lot of my father. It was, I believe, a case of uttering forged
assignats (paper money), or documents of that kind. The
charge was brought against two brothers belonging to a
most respectable family in the ranks of the bourgeoisie, the
brothers Agasse. A few youthful follies had led them to
commit the deed, and one could not help becoming inter
ested in their fate, and feeling deeply for their family.
They were condemned to death, and the sentence was carried
out. Their execution became the starting-point of a hot
struggle between the well-rooted opinion that a criminal
conviction reflected dishonor on a whole family, and the
principle laid down by the Assembly that criminal offences,
and the punishments that follow them, are entirely a per
sonal matter.
It was a fortunate thing for this principle that the first

72 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
who furnished the application of it should be members of
so honored a family. A large and remarkable amount of
practical sympathy was shown to it, and, in this particular
instance party lines were somewhat obliterated in the force
of so terrible a blow. This fact does honor to the kind
liness of French character, and so I make mention of it.
There were, alas, in those days, so many occurrences of a
different nature.
Thus it came about that the principle triumphed, and the
Agasse family was allowed to hold up its head, and retain
its position in society. My father contributed in no small
degree towards such a result, owing to the way in which
he drew up his report, and in so doing, he found some
compensation for all that was painful in the duties which
he had to perform. They came to an end at last. The
new judiciary order was installed, and the chambre des
vacations was dissolved. With it passed away the last ves
tige of the Parlement.
The National Assembly, when pronouncing the dissolu
tion of that chamber, could not help doing homage to its
conduct, and to the services which it had rendered.
But, ere they went their different ways, at a moment
when they-were together for the last time, when they were
about, so to speak, to represent the funeral procession of
that old and honored French magistracy, were they to
silently steal away? The matter was discussed at the
house of M. de Rosambo, the President of the Chamber.
The advice of M. de Malesherbes, M. de Rosambo's father-
in-law, was sought.
The only question broached at first was a declaration, a
sort of farewell from the old magistracy of France to
Frenchmen, a kind of public testimonial it thought itself
entitled to render unto itself; that in surrendering into
other hands the sacred deposit of justice, it was handing it

A PROTEST FROM THE OLD MAGISTRACY 73
over pure and unblemished, such as it had received it from
the sovereign power. It did not hesitate to express a hope,
in the interest of the public, that those to whom it was to be
entrusted in the future, should never make worse use of it.
This idea was put on paper in many shapes. I saw the
various drafts. Some of them were indeed grand. But, as
a result of being so many times drawn up, the declaration
lost its original character. It was thought that a protest
was more proper, even indispensable ; that one could not give
assent, without some reservation, to so stupendous an act as
that of the complete annihilation of those Parlements which
had for so long a period upheld, almost single-handed, the
rights of the citizens and the prerogatives of the Crown.
Was it not patent that this annihilation had for its princi
pal object the breaking down of all barriers which might
still interpose between the throne and the man of new
ideas? When such ideas are once given expression to, the
strength to resist them is generally lacking. A protest
was therefore drawn up and adopted without difficulty.
Then arose the question as to what was to be done with it.
My father was in favor of making it public, and I supported
him in this resolve as far as lay in my power. We argued
that there still existed the absolute freedom of printing
anything one saw fit. The journals of the day were filled
with protests of all kinds, and that these protests on which
we set so little store, could only acquire any value through
the effect produced by them on the public mind. We were
also agreed as to its being undignified for us to let our
protest see the light of day, in the case of the Parlement
being re-established, if we kept it hidden from view for the
nonce. Such a triumph, achieved as it would have been
without risk of danger, would have something childish about
it, to say the very least.

74 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
My father, convinced of the soundness of these reasons,
spared no efforts in getting his colleagues to view matters
in the same light; but he was unable to bring them to his
way bf thinking, and it was decided, by a large majority,
to preserve secret the protest. To M. de Rosambo was
entrusted the care of putting the document in a place of
safety. Two years later, it was delivered up by the man who had
joined him in seeking to hide it, and it gave rise to the war
unto death which the Committee of Public Safety declared
against all the members of the chambre des vacations in the
first place, and, in the second, against all members of the
Parlement. It is possible, it is even probable, that had
this pretext not been afforded, others would have been
found; but, after all, the one furnished by that unfortunate
document was as serviceable as any other. Had it been
published at the time of its drawing up, it would, like so
many others, have been forgotten the following day,
whereas, when it became known for the first time in the
last days of 1793, it almost constituted a new crime.
Having promulgated the Constitution, nothing remained
for the Constituent Assembly but to withdraw entirely from
the public scene. I was a witness of the spirit of joyous
hope which filled the breasts of the Royalists on seeing the
constituent deputies become ordinary citizens once more.
In vain did the daily returns of the elections, which were
taking place to provide for their successors, show that these
successors would prove much fiercer and more formidable
enemies; the warning note was not heeded.
I had a special opportunity to form an opinion of what
might be expected therefrom. M. Ducos, in whose company
I had, as I have already told, followed a portion of the
events of 1789, came to Paris as a deputy from Bordeaux.
Although our intercourse had suffered an interruption of

THE GIRONDINS 75
over a year, he had hardly reached town, when he wrote
me a pressing note to call on him at his hotel, where he lay
tired and ill. I found him surrounded by the whole of that
deputation from the Gironde which played so important a
part in the Legislative Assembly, and during the early days
of the Convention, those men whose names were Vergniaud,
Guadet, Gensonne, Boyer-Fonfrede, and so on. He kept
me to breakfast with them, and in their company I spent
the whole of the morning.
All of them were intoxicated with visions of future suc
cesses, and they did not take the trouble of hiding from me,
although I had been introduced to them as an out and out
Royalist, if not their plans, at least their ideas, which were
of the republican order. I was none the less struck with
their madness. The eloquence of Vergniaud made itself
felt even in the course of ordinary conversation, and it
seemed to me destined to become the most formidable
weapon of the party whose cause he was embracing. I
noticed with surprise the profound contempt which these
gentlemen professed for their predecessors, the Constituents,
and the manner in which they looked upon these narrow-
minded people, imbued with prejudice, who had never been
able to turn circumstances to any account.
What I heard at that breakfast convinced me that we
were about to encounter far greater perils than those which
had beset us for three years past.
A month afterwards I was compelled to forego the society
of Ducos and of his friends, as o.ur paths were too divergent ;
and, in truth, the march of events soon became more rapid.
The month of October was made memorable by the massa
cres at Avignon, where the ice-house was packed with the
corpses of those charged with having opposed the reuniting
of this part of the country with France. Ere the year had
run out, a decree was issued requiring Monsieur to return-

76 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
to France within two months, failing which he was to be
deprived of his eventual right to the Regency.
A first decree had already been promulgated against the
imigris, and there was this to be noticed about it, namely,
that although the debate over it had been a lengthy one,
yet not a single voice had been raised against the injustice
of its measures. The only serious difficulties that had
arisen were with regard to the extent of the penalties to be
inflicted upon those who should prove refractory.
This decree was the first subject of open disagreement
between the Legislature and the king, who refused the royal
sanction to it. Shortly afterwards, he also vetoed a decree
directed against the clergy. This decree had for its object
to deprive of both stipend and pension all priests who
should decline to take the civic oath.
A few days later, Petion was elected mayor, and Maunel
procureur syndic of the commune of Paris. These two men
were the faithful tools of a committee of surveillance
established within the bosom of the Legislative Assembly.
Through them, the revolutionary party was master of Paris.
The first day of 1792 was signalized by a decree which
placed under arrest, should they appear in France, the
king's brothers, and also the leaders of the Emigres, while
the High Court at Orleans was deputed to try them.
Another decree, bearing date February 9, placed all the
estates of the dmigris under the ban.
On the 23d and 24th of January, the grocers of Paris
were abandoned to the fury of the populace, which pillaged
all their shops with impunity. At as early a date as Feb
ruary 11, I saw crossing the grounds of the Tuileries a
deputation of pillagers who were on their way to the As
sembly, preceded by a red cap. It was the first public
appearance of this popular emblem.
. The deputation was admitted, whereupon it complimented

THE SUBSERVIENT ASSEMBLY 77
the legislators on the success of their work. The legislators
replied to these congratulations by allowing the mayor of
Ultampes to be butchered while in the exercise of his office,
and by passing a decree shielding from punishment the
leader of the Avignon assassins, Jourdan, nicknamed Coupe-
tMe (chopper of heads), and by proclaiming an amnesty in
favor of all crimes and misdemeanors perpetrated as the
result of revolutionary action.

CHAPTER IV
Aspect of the Palais-Royal, the centre of the revolutionary movement: the
cafe's, the gambling houses, the dissolute women — Louis XVI. 's mild
protest against the outrage of the 20th of June — M. de La Fayette's iso
lation — Renewed activity of the revolutionary party — The fete of the
Federation — The beautiful Mme. Fontenay, afterwards Mme. Tallien—
The Queen at the Italian Opera — The attack on the Tuileries, August
10 — Anarchy's triumph — The September massacres — The Prussians
enter Champagne — Reasons for the sudden retreat of the Duke of
Brunswick — Affection for the monarchical system shown by the princes
upon the downfall of royalty — The trial of Louis XVI. — Popular songs
expressing pity for the king — The day of judgment and sentence —
The execution on January 21 — Councillor Pasquier at the foot of the
scaffold — Deep emotion of the crowd and public grief — The murder of
M. de Saint-Fargeau — Fury of the men of the revolutionary party—
The law affecting the suspects — Councillor Pasquier's marriage.
The rapid progress of the Revolution was now plain to
all, and its power was about to be increased by a foreign
war. I spent my time at the club de Valois, which was
largely composed of men sharing my opinions, and we con
fided to each other our melancholy apprehensions. This
social circle had its habitat in the Palais-Royal, for so long
a time the starting-point of all the mad acts and of all
the atrocities which occurred during the first years of the
Revolution. You knew nothing, you saw nothing, you were
behind the times, did you not go by the Palais-Royal at
least two or three times a day.
It was there that I saw Camille Desmoulins standing on
the historical chair from which, on the 14th of July, he
preached his crusade against the Bastille. On the 6th of
October, I witnessed the arrival of a procession of furies,
78

THE PALAIS-ROYAL 79
carrying on pikes the heads of the gardes du corps massa
cred on the threshold of the king's and queen's apartments.
These were the same women who had preceded the escort of
the king and royal family, when he was brought back to
Paris " of his own free will."
There was a circus in the middle of the garden, the door
of which had an iron box with a slit. Into it were dropped,
unsigned, the crazy elucubrations which the authors did
not dare to openly acknowledge. The Abbe Fouche was
in the habit of delivering harangues there. It was not long
ere he was hurried away and dragged to the scaffold. Each
and every party came in turns to the Palais-Royal, in quest
of headquarters, and there all of them succumbed victims
to the party which had gained ascendancy the day before.
Thus, to refer to one of those incidents which made the
greatest impression on me, I saw M. d'Epremenil, the object
of my admiration in 1787, who at that date stood in high
favor with the masses, whose name was breathed within the
precincts of the Palais-Royal as that of a hero, whose por
trait was displayed in all shop-windows, dragged bleeding
through the streets, at the end of 1791. The National
Guard succeeded at last in rescuing him from the clutches
of the populace, and led him half dead to the hdtel adjoining
the Trisorerie. It was there that to M. Petion, mayor of
Paris, who had hastened to his side, he spoke the following
prophetical words: "And I too, sir, have been carried in
triumph by the people ! "
Only one thing did the glory of the Palais-Royal of that
period lack, and that was to number among the clubs of all
kinds within its precincts, the club of the Jacobins and
later that of the Cordeliers; but, at all events, the most
active intercourse did not for a single day cease between its
cafes, its political groups, and these two powerful associa
tions.

80 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
But it is not merely in the respect of political or popular
scenes that the Palais-Royal afforded a spectacle, the like
of which would be with difficulty found in history, during
the whole of the time that the National Assembly, the
Legislative Assembly, and the Convention were in existence.
It was the scene of all that was disorderly and dissipated in
a society on the verge of dissolution.
Let the reader picture to himself one of the most infamous
resorts of the capital, enlarged so as to occupy the whole
space of the garden, of the galleries, and of the adjacent
buildings. Let him imagine the whole of that area invaded
in broad daylight, and as far into the night as the closing
of the gates would allow, by a swarm of disreputable women
whose effrontery knew no bounds ; certain little exhibitions
of the most disgusting kind, to. which they were always
admitted free of charge, because they helped to attract
spectators ; public gambling-houses of all kinds, established
in a dozen different corners. At first these resorts flour
ished with absolute impunity, and, when the law forbade
their existence, they placed iron gratings at the head of
every staircase, thus defying the representatives of the
law, who, with so many obstacles in their way, reached the
tables only to find them swept of everything. There
remains to be mentioned the numerous restaurants where
occurred the orgies that were a necessary prelude to plots,
pillagings, and uprisings.
We had in our club two party men who were entirely
opposite to each other. The one was the Vicomte de
Noailles, a deputy of the Constituent Assembly. He was
about to take service in the army which was to penetrate
into Belgium under the orders of General Dillon, and was
busily engaged getting all necessary military equipments.
The other was M. de La Briffe, an officer in the rigiment
du Roi, who was returning to Coblentz, whence he had come

THE KING'S MILD PROTEST 81
in quest of funds, and to provide himself with everything
that was requisite for going into campaign. They went
about together to look for the horses they needed, giving
each other the benefit of advice and of their mutual dis
coveries. As for myself, I helped both of them in this
pursuit. It is a far cry from such almost knightly good-
fellowship to the sanguinary frenzy which, four months
later, required the shooting down of imigris, when they
were taken sword in hand.
With regard to our club de Valois, composed as it was
of men of such opposed sentiments and opinions, there was
one remarkable thing about it, the memory of which is
worth preserving. During its four years' existence, sev
eral very lively quarrels took place within its walls, and,
as a sequel, challenges followed out of which the parties
were easily talked; but neither during its existence, nor
afterwards, did any deed emanate therefrom, which could
reflect dishonor on any of its members. Quarrelsome
arguments were indeed frequent, but as among gentlemen ;
and when, during the reign of the Committee of General
Safety, a list of the members was asked for, as likely to
furnish an excellent document from which to draw, in mak
ing up the list of the suspects, the list could not be found,
nor could the memory of any of the servants of the estab
lishment make good the deficiency.
Louis XVI. contented himself with protesting, by means
of a proclamation dated June 22, against all the outrages
heaped upon him, and with declaring that force would never
obtain his sanction for decrees which he judged inimical
to the public weal. This was deemed sufficient action in
defence of the monarchy, and yet the outrage committed
on the 20th of June was the most favorable opportunity
afforded for rallying about the throne a host of men only
too ready to come to its assistance.

82 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
But a signal was necessary, and this signal could only
come from the throne. The throne made no sign. The
constitutional party of the Constituent Assembly alone
made a demonstration in the king's favor, but it had no
longer any actual weapon at its disposal. Its principal
leader, M. de La Fayette, was, it is true, at the head of an
army; but it was not long ere it was discovered how little
that army was under his control. On the 16th of June he
wrote a very strong letter to the Assembly, and on the 28th,
he appeared at the bar of the House to ask, in behalf of
that army, that the authors of the outrage of the 20th of
June should be brought to punishment. His principal
hope, in risking this step, was based on the National Guard,
whose feelings he thought to stir up by the sight of its old
commander. He had apparently flattered himself that it
would close around him, and had no doubt that it would
help him, when the time came to lay down the law to the
factious elements. In that respect, the undertaking was an
excellent one; but it was badly conceived, and could only
have been successful by a concerted action with the king,
seconded by the ministry, and by the court.
Far from all this taking place, M. de La Fayette remained
completely isolated. The National Guard did not venture
to commit itself under a leader who was no longer in com
mand of it, whom it saw only in passing fashion, and the
only result of his step, the most honorable perhaps of his
life, was the loss of the little influence which still clung
to him.
After the terrible day of June 20th, the revolutionary
and anarchical party became all the more active and ener
getic as the weakness of the party which opposed it became
manifest. It contemptuously rejected the petitions which
reached it from the provinces, and disbanded not only the
staff of the Paris National Guard, but those of the National

THE FETE OF THE FEDERATION 83
Guard in towns of fifty thousand inhabitants, knowing full
well that these staffs might be the nucleus of certain ele
ments of resistance. It next proclaimed the country to be
in danger, and took part with Manuel and Petion against
the departmental administration of Paris, which had sus
pended them, and ordered that they should be reinstated.
To crown all, it disarmed respectable people everywhere,
and gave arms to the dregs of the population.
It was expected that the 14th of July, the anniversary of
the renewal of the federation, would be marked by some
crisis, but nothing occurred. A few preparations were still
lacking, and the catastrophe was postponed.
I took part in that celebration. Accidentally I met there
the beautiful Mme. de Fontenay, afterwards famous as Mme.
de Tallien. She then shared all my fears regarding the pres
ent, all my anxiety for the future. I have often recalled
this occasion, wherein we found ourselves in the enjoyment
of a sort of intimacy, and which was so close to the time
when our destinies were to carry us away by divergent
routes. Hers led her by way of the prison cells of the
Terror to a marriage with the Prince de Chimay, after shar
ing the couches of Tallien, of Barras, and of Ouvrard.
Whatever may be said and thought of her private life, all
those to whom it befell to know her well, cannot, in addi
tion to the homage due to her wonderful beauty, well deny
her a sincere recognition of her goodness of heart, and of
the happiness she ever experienced in helping people in the
most troublous and dangerous moments.
It was in such company that I saw Louis XVI. swear, for
the last time on the altar of the country, fidelity to the
Constitution. I still see Panis and Sergent, with their tri
color sashes, riding about the Champ de Mars. They had
more power than their sovereign, and for them only did the
crowd of sans-culottes, who bore inscribed on their hats
" Long live Petion ! " respectfully open a way.

84 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
With the king, the federes took oath to respect the Con
stitution, and three days later several of them appeared at
the bar of the Assembly, and boldly demanded the suspen
sion of the executive power in the person of the king.
They also called for the impeachment of M. de La Fayette,
the punishing of the directorate of the Department of the
Seine, and the renewal of the judiciary. To all these
requests, the President, M. de Vaublanc, contented himself
with the answer that the public weal should not be de
spaired of.
Similar demands were preferred during the following
days, and at last it became so evident that the factious
element was in possession, that the members of the direc
torate of the Department of the Seine, the only administra
tive power in the capital which was not in its hands, thought
it incumbent on them to resign. M. Roederer, the procureur-
syndic, alone remained at his post.
During the same period, massacres, which remained
unpunished, took place in several towns of Provence,
notably at Aries. They were the forerunners of the arrival
in Paris of that famous battalion of Marseillais, which
played so decisive a part on the 10th of August.
Never perhaps did any party proceed in so bold and open
a fashion at the greatest work of destruction ever entered
upon. Theories and empty phrases became a thing of the
past; it was a mere question of going straight to the goal.
People were impatient to strike a blow; they said so openly,
and the threat was quickly followed by the deed.
What could those whose mission it was to curb this
audacious activity do to oppose it? What means had they
for resisting it? People were, alas, indulging in the wildest
illusions ! During those last months I saw our unfortunate
queen, at a performance of Italian opera, greeted with the
cheers of a society audience which was eager to give her

THE TENTH OF AUGUST 85
such small consolation. I saw this audience go wild when
Mme. Dugazon sang with Mermier the Ev&nements imprivus
duo, which ends with the following words : " Oh, how I love
my master! Oh, how I love my mistress!" And, upon her
return to the Tuileries, there were those who did not
hesitate to tell her that she had just listened to a genuine
expression of the feelings of her subjects towards her.
Men most clever and dignified lost much precious time in
obscure and insignificant intrigues, and in seeking to bribe
a few deputies.
Because they had safely emerged from the events of the
10th of June in spite of their not having foreseen them,
they fondly imagined that if they but kept watch, scarcely
anything else was to be dreaded. So many, moreover, were
mad enough to think that it was all nothing more than a
temporary trouble which had to be gone through, and
depended upon the assistance promised by the Duke of
Brunswick, whieh they thought was close at hand. All
that was needed, they said, was a little patience !
Yet, in the meanwhile, preparations were bravely and
faithfully being made, it must be admitted, to resist in case
of need, an attack upon the Tuileries. The king had still
at his disposal a regiment of the Swiss Guards, and a few
battalions of the National Guard, whose loyalty was un
doubted. These ready means of defence were increased by
a number of devoted followers, to whom free access to the
chateau had been granted, and who had firmly resolved to
make a rampart of their bodies in defence of the royal
family. Together with the Prince de Saint-Maurice, I resolved
upon joining this faithful band. On the morning of the
9th of August, we wrote to M. de Champcenetz to ask him
for cards of admission. They had not reached us by even
ing, and during the night between the 9th and 10th of

86 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
August, we made several vain attempts to get into the
chateau, which was then being threatened. If I make a
note of this fact, it is not because of its actual importance,
but because of a couple of circumstances pertaining thereto,
one of which was of a fatal nature, while the other was
fortunate to a singular degree. The card which I had asked
for on the 9th of August reached me by the local post two
days later, when all was over. How was it that it should
have been so long delayed in transmission, without being
intercepted? How was it, then, that it did not bring about
my arrest? It was a piece of good luck which I have never
been able to explain. Fate was not equally kind to the
Prince de Saint-Maurice. His readiness to serve the king
had had no other result than mine, with the exception that
his card did not reach him, and that he never discovered
any trace of it. He lost his. head on the scaffold, under the
accusation of having been one of the defenders of the
Tuileries. Both of us witnessed the whole scene. The king passed
us as he crossed the garden of the Tuileries, yielding to the
advice of going to the Assembly, in order to place himself
under its protection. As we left, cannon was being fired
across the garden. It was a short-lived fight, but its effect
was to destroy the most powerful and ancient dynasty
reigning in Europe.
The inevitable consequences of this event were a fearful
state of confusion, and an actual dissolution of society. No
longer did any one feel any security. No one expected to
see the next day. My own safety was most seriously com
promised by an imprudent detail of costume. On the
morning of the 11th, I made the mistake of going out with
my hair trimmed and gathered up with a comb. I had
forgotten that this mode of wearing the hair formed part
of the uniform of the Swiss Guards. This slight indication

A NARROW ESCAPE 87
was sufficient for two or three hundred angry men to pounce
upon me on the boulevard de la Madeleine. I was unable
to make myself heard, and so was dragged to the place
VendQme, where the mob was stringing up to lamp-posts
all the Swiss and other fugitives from the chateau they
could lay their hands on.
I was rescued by a little drummer of the precinct, who
recognized me. It was he who was in the habit of notify
ing me when it was my turn to go on guard duty, and as I
never answered the call, I was in the habit of paying him
somewhat liberally for finding a substitute for me. He
fought his way into the midst of the raving horde, com
manded silence by a vigorous beating of his drum, shouted
that I was not a Swiss, and gave my name and place of
residence. On the strength of his testimony I was escorted
home in triumph. I expressed my gratitude towards the
little drummer by bearing the expense of his outfit as a
volunteer. The best thing to be done was to fly from the scene of
so many horrible things. My family resolved upon this
course, but the gates of the city were closed, and passports
were most difficult to obtain. I had for four or five days
tried to compass this end, when Ducos, whom I had not
seen for several months, heard of my efforts. I deeply
regret not having kept the note he wrote to me on the
occasion. It contained a few words of reproach delicately
expressed, and of sorrow at the fact that our differences of
opinion had kept us so much apart that I did not come to
him in my predicament.
I called on him, and he did all he could to procure for
me the necessary documents with which to leave Paris.
This gave me the opportunity of seeing him several times.
On each occasion I plied him with questions, and learned
with interest of the plottings which had brought about

88 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
the sanguinary catastrophe we had just witnessed. In the
exultation of his triumph he revealed everything, and he
told me a thing which the Memoirs of Mme. Roland have
since confirmed, namely, the resolution reached at one of
their caucuses, to sacrifice one of their number, and to have
him murdered, in order to impute his assassination to the
Court, if no other means were forthcoming to excite the
people against it.
One Grangeneuve, I believe, had made the sacrifice of
his life, and was to be the victim. The room occupied by
Ducos looked out upon the place Vendome. One could see
from his window the men who were engaged in demolishing
the magnificent equestrian statue of Louis XIV. I did not
hesitate to appeal from such vandalism to his high-minded-
ness, even to his very pronounced taste for the fine arts.
He replied: "Fear not. Liberty erects a hundred times
more monuments than she levels. " In spite of this language
of the enthusiast, it was an easy matter for me to perceive
that the conquerors were not free from anxiety. Ducos
was one of those who during the course of the Revolution
brought about many occurrences which they did not wish to
see repeated the next day.
I was not able to leave Paris until the 29th. I had barely
reached Abbeville, where I had decided upon seeking an
asylum with my family, when I heard of the September
massacres. In the meanwhile, the Prussians were pouring
into Champagne. How was it that this invasion of foreign
troops, which must have been planned with so much care,
which was taking place under circumstances apparently so
favorable, was nevertheless so quickly checked? In those
days one hardly knew how to explain this phenomenon.
As is always the case when extraordinary things happen,
the words treachery and corruption were on many lips.
The revelations which were made later do not leave in

THE PRUSSIANS IN CHAMPAGNE 89
doubt the case of the first check met with by the coalition,
the consequence of which made Europe a battle-field for
over twenty years.
The sovereigns had considered the enterprise upon which
they had entered as one so easy of accomplishment, that it
had never entered their minds to call a truce to their
rivalry. Prussia and Austria were more intent upon the advan
tages to be derived by each of them from the campaign,
than upon its success, the principal result of which seemed
to them assured. The French princes, and the imigris with
whom they had consulted, had inspired them with their
own confidence, and had constantly repeated to them that
they had but to show themselves, for the fortified towns to
open their gates to them, for the regiments to disband, even
if they did not, as soon as they saw them, come and flock
round the old French standard.
It so happened that Austria bestowed her attention above
all on the acquisitions she meditated making in Flanders, in
order to aggrandize her provinces in the Netherlands, and
that a gap opened in the centre of Champagne by an army
of 60,000 or 70,000 Austrians and Prussians under the Duke
of Brunswick was considered sufficient to cause a counter
revolution to break out in France.
But when it was seen that the most important of the
fortified towns refused to answer a call to surrender, and
showed their intention of standing a siege, that the troops
of Dumouriez, after bearing the brunt of a first attack,
showed a bold front in lieu of disbanding, the Duke of
Brunswick began to ponder over matters. His army, which
had reached the heart of Champagne, was suffering greatly
from sickness engendered by a somewhat rainy autumn, and
was getting weaker every day. In the case of defeat, he
could see no road by which to retreat except the narrow gap

90 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
he had opened, thus being compelled to pass once more
through a thoroughly exhausted district. He argued that
one could not, with an army of 60,000 men, risk continuing
his advance on a capital of 800,000 souls, whose population
might be driven to a desperate defence, and which, more
over, was covered by an army less to be despised than had
been thought. He had, moreover, to take into consideration
the displeasure of his sovereign, who was indignant at Aus
tria's feeble co-operation. He therefore resolved on entering
upon a course of negotiation with the French general. Du-
mouriez did not throw many obstacles in the way of a retreat,
for which he prayed as earnestly as did his opponent.
I returned to Paris with my family in the course of
November. The information that I had gleaned in the
Northern Departments, those comprising the old provinces
of Normandy, Picardy, and Flanders, caused me to return
to Paris painfully convinced that if up to the night of the
10th of August the king could have been prevailed upon to
place himself at the head of the Swiss Guards, strengthened
by two or three battalions of the National Guard, and had
then made his way to that part of the country, he would
not have had to despair of his cause or of his life.
The aspect of these departments was all the more note
worthy, from the fact that in spite of so many strange
events, it has changed little and remains about the same at
the time I write. It was not a royalism as ardent as that
of La Vendee, but it embodied a firm attachment to order,
to duty, and to the sanctity of an oath ; it represented an
incarnate horror of any recourse to violence. Assuredly
the sentiment prevailing was in favor of the Constitution,
but the Constitution with royalty as a part of it, and
people were all the more prepared to defend the latter,
for the reason that they felt sure that its abolition would
bring about the downfall of the other.

THE KING'S TRIAL 91
It is clearly demonstrated to me that at the time Louis
XVI. succumbed, he had many more partisans in France
than when, a year before, he retreated by way of Varennes.
Unfortunately, he was not informed as to his actual posi
tion, and the national feeling was wrongly gauged at the
Tuileries. And so, through blunder after blunder, through
misfortune after misfortune, we found ourselves, at the
end of 1792, delivered up defenceless to the plans of the
victors of the 10th of August and of the assassins of the
month of September.
The trial of the king was the first thing to which they
devoted their attention. Must I speak of the agonizing
days whieh this trial made me go through? Yes, indeed;
for if ever this manuscript is published, if even it is merely
preserved in my family, I do not wish it to remain unknown
that my father and I contributed, in so far as lay in our
power, to the defence of our unfortunate king. My father,
who was particularly intimate with the family of M. de
Malesherbes, and had in his parliamentary career enjoyed
frequent intercourse with Messieurs Tronchet and De Seze,
advocates in the Paris Parlement, was, as a matter of
course, in a position to tender him every assistance that
lay within his power. He took part in their private delib
erations, and during the course of the trial he occupied a
seat in the tribune set aside for the king's defenders, tak
ing notes with them, and assisting them in their task.1
During that time, I never left the public tribunes and the
hallways of the House, going about in quest of information,
gathering the slightest straws which showed how the wind
blew, and bringing them all to my father, who would com
municate them to the other gentlemen. It was then, that
having seen with my own eyes the shameful manoeuvres of
1 In this connection, see p. 401, Vol. II. , of the Histoire du proces de
Louis XVI., published in 1814 by Maurice Me"jean.

92 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
M. de Saint-Fargeau, I became convinced that he, more than
any other man, brought about the death of the king.
For a short while people let themselves be lulled by
illusions. The streets (who would believe it?) re-echoed
songs expressing pity for the fate of the king. There was
one written to the air of Pauvre Jacques. It closed with
these words : Louis n' eut ni favori ni maitresse (Louis
never had either favorite or mistress). But popular senti
ment was not powerful enough to have any influence within
the precincts of the hall of the Convention. There it was
merely the pitiless taking of votes.
In the tribune of the king's defenders, the result was
being reckoned up, according to what was thought to be the
opinions of each member, according to certain promises that
had been made, and the result of these calculations pointed
to an acquittal. The noble soul of M. de Malesherbes,
especially, could not abandon the hope of which he so
needed the support.
I can still see him, the day the vote was taken, checking
off the votes on his note-book as they were recorded, and
passing from fear to hope, then from hope to despair. The
words he spoke at the bar of the House, when the vote was
finally recorded, sufficiently showed how up to the last
moment it had been impossible for him to realize the
perpetration of so great a deed of iniquity.
Louis XVI. was fated to die, environed as he was with
the hatred of many. But how different it would have been
had he fallen under the knife of a few assassins! The
crime could then have been laid only to the door of a few
disowned wretches, condemned even by those who had
incited them to the deed, and we should not have known
those regicide conventionnels, who, as long as their life lasted
did not want the Bourbons under any circumstances.
A few attempts which could and ought to have been made

THE KING'S EXECUTION 93
to save the king were not attempted or were carried out too
late. In this respect, blame fairly attaches to all the
cabinets of Europe. A solitary man displayed some zeal.
It was M. Oscarit, the Spanish Minister. He was without
instructions from his government, and no financial or other
resources were placed by it at his disposal. I saw him
frequently at the house of the Lecoulteux family, and I
was aware of his distress. He found help in that family,
which advanced a no inconsiderable sum to him. With it
he bought over a few votes, but there were bigger men than
those he secured to be bought over. It was necessary to
get at Danton, Santerre, and others of that calibre. For
this, several millions would have been necessary, and then
perhaps . . . ?
It remains for me to say that I saw the tragedy which
was enacted on the 21st of January. I lived in a house
which faced on the boulevard, at the corner of the church
of the Madeleine. My father and I sat opposite each other
all morning buried in our grief, and unable to utter a word.
We knew that the fatal procession was wending its way by
the boulevards.
Suddenly a somewhat loud clamor made itself heard. I
rushed out under the idea that perhaps an attempt was
being made to rescue the king. How could I do otherwise
than cherish such a hope to the very last? On reaching
the goal I discovered that what I had heard was merely the
howling of the raving madmen who surrounded the vehicle.
I found myself sucked in by the crowd which followed it,
and was dragged away by it, and, so to speak, carried and
set down at the scaffold's side. So it was that I endured
the horror of this awful spectacle.
Hardly had the crime been consummated when a cry of
" Long live the Nation ! " arose from the foot of the scaffold,
and, repeated from man to man, was taken up by the whole

94 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
of the vast concourse of people. This cry was followed by
the deepest and most gloomy silence. Shame, horror, and
terror were now hovering over the vast locality. I crossed
it once more, swept back by the flood which had brought me
thither. Each one walked along slowly, hardly daring to
look at another. The rest of the day was spent in a state
of profound stupor which spread a pall over the whole
city. Twice was I compelled to leave the house, and on
both occasions did I find the streets deserted and silent.
The assassins had lost their accustomed spirit of bravado.
Public grief made itself felt, and they were silent in the
face of it. They respected this sentiment at least during
the day of the execution ; but the truce was a short one, and
the murder of M. de Saint-Fargeau, by showing them the
imminence of personal danger, soon inspired their ferocity
with its accustomed energy.
I dragged along a weary existence in Paris from January
until May. In the latter month I left alone to go back to
Abbeville, a few days before the 31st of May. There were
a thousand reasons for my not escaping an already too
common fate, had I fallen into the hands of the commis
sioners to whom was entrusted the duty of gathering in the
suspects. It was at that time that the prisons began to fill.
The fury of the men of the Revolution was fed by a
multiplication of dangers. Within an interval of four
months they had experienced the defection of Dumouriez
and the rebellion of Lyons. The fortified town of Conde
had been carried by the coalition, whom this victory brought
within forty leagues of the capital. On the other hand, the
rising in La Vendee had reached a serious point, through
the capture of Saumur, and lastly, a departmental army
was being organized, in the Calvados, by the efforts of the
suspects, who had escaped the proscription of the 31st of
May. This army was preparing to march against the Con-

FURY OF THE MEN OF THE REVOLUTION 95
vention, thus constituting the most important danger
threatening it ; but the peril was averted because people in
Brittany and in Normandy soon discovered that these
deputies were not seeking to re-establish royalty. This
discovery paralyzed the support which the suspects had at
first received. They have themselves admitted the truth
of the charge in the writings they have left.
In the month of March, the revolutionary tribunals were
organized, together with the Committees of General Police
and of Public Safety. The imigris, the aristocrats, and the
enemies of the Revolution were all outlawed, and a revolu
tionary army was especially entrusted with hunting them
down. The law of the suspects spread out a huge net from which
no one might hope to escape. Fresh prisons were opened
in all directions, and they could scarcely hold the number
of unfortunate people stowed away in them. The Conven
tion let loose all over the country deputies chosen among
the most ferocious and vicious of the Mountain's member
ship. France was handed over defenceless to these repre
sentatives of the people, clothed with the most unlimited
powers, and disposing, at their own free will, of the liberty
and life of any individual whom it pleased them to call a
counter-revolutionist. In every department, in every town, they found docile
executors of all their acts of savagery, — a score or so of
wretches, all or almost all sprung from the dregs of the
population, hardly able to write their names, but invested
with the title of members of the Revolutionary Committee.
For the purpose of having their orders carried out, they
called into requisition the help of the inert mass of citizens,
which knows only how to sigh and obey, and thus, during a
term of eighteen months, the very man who was to be
arrested on the following day, took part in the arrests of

96 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
the foregoing one. He who was to perish during the next
week, often escorted to the scaffold, while shouldering a
pike, the victims of the current week. Officers, soldiers,
generals, officials, rich and poor, all stood alike in fear of
these modern proconsuls, and all fled who had the means of
flight at their disposal. But it was very hard to escape
their vigilance when one belonged to the proscribed class.
I had in the first instance found a pretty safe refuge at
Abbeville, owing to the generous and humane character of
the residents of that town and the people of the surrounding
districts. I soon had to leave, upon the arrival in those
parts of the representatives Lebon and Andre Dumont, to
whom was entrusted the care of extirpating from the
departments composing ancient Picardy, the bad spirit said
to be reigning therein. There was no room for hesitation;
I had to fly before them.
I returned to the environs of the capital, and hid myself
in the village of Champigny, three miles distant from it.
I occupied a room that had been secured for me by the
physician of the commune in the chateau of the former
seignior who had emigrated, and whose estates had been
confiscated to the nation. This chateau was occupied by a
number of peasants who, like myself, had made it their
home by renting from the municipality such rooms as could
still boast of doors and windows.
I occasionally left my place of retreat to go and pay a
visit to my family in Paris, where I was even compelled to
remain for several days in succession for the purpose of
getting ready for my marriage. When one ponders over
the events of that epoch, when one recalls the life one led,
the dangers which constantly surrounded one, everything in
a word which ought to have crushed the soul and rent the
heart, one finds it difficult to understand how it was possi
ble to dream of anything else but one's dangers, that one

THE COUNCILLOR'S MARRIAGE 97
dared to give a thought to entering upon a matrimonial
union. Providence keeps in store for men many kinds of re
lief proportionate to the trials to which it subjects them,
and the relief which it granted them during these terrible
days consisted especially in the faculty of stupefying one
self in the matter of the most assured perils. This faculty
seemed to gain all the more power as these perils became
more formidable. It was certainly not resignation. That
would have been a virtue, and such a virtue is not at all
common. I did not hesitate to defy the dangers which were
then the adjuncts of a marriage. With the aid of some
influence derived from petty quarters, I was enabled to make
my appearance at the municipality at dawn and when there
were few people about. So, taking with me only some old
servants as witnesses, I emerged safely from this difficult
undertaking. There was at the time but one municipality, whose sit
tings took place in the Hotel de Ville, and before whom all
marriages took place. The wedding of a prisoner under
arrest as a suspect was to take place at the same time as my
own. He had been granted permission to leave the prison
in company with two guards, for the time necessary for the
ceremony. He probably had cogent reasons for being so
greatly desirous of plighting his troth, and the paramount
one was probably that he foresaw his coming doom. Al
though we were not familiar with the particulars of his
situation, it was none the less a touching one, which
impressed us deeply. This ceremony was a dismal accom
paniment to our union, which was, it will be seen, sur
rounded with little pomp. We took as much pains to
conceal it as in normal times one took to hide a criminal
deed. The nuptial benediction was given to us by the Abbe

98 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
Salamon, conseiller clerc in the Paris Parlement. He hailed
from the comtat d' Avignon, and had secretly received from
Rome the powers of the nunciatura. He gave us the nec
essary dispensation, in view of the degree of consanguinity
which already united us. I remained with my wife at
Champigny, hiding as best we could our humble happiness.

CHAPTER V
M. Pasquier, Senior, cast into jail — A prison looked upon as an asylum —
Certificates of residence and of good citizenship — Tribulations of Coun
cillor Pasquier, while seeking refuge at Montge, near Juilly — Generous
sentiments of the bourgeois class of Paris — Mme. Tavaux — The citoy
enne Mottei — Levasseur's gratitude — Pen-picture of this conventionnel
— Citizen Felix, the brother of Lepelletier de Saint-Fargeau — Trial
and execution of M. Pasquier, Senior — Councillor Pasquier arrested at
Amiens — Sent to Saint-Lazare with Mme. Pasquier, on the 8th Ther
midor — A prison during the Reign of Terror — The 9th Thermidor —
The prisoners set at liberty — Fouquier-Tiu ville before the tribunal and
on the scaffold — Ovation to Tallien and Mme. Tallien at the Odeon
theatre — France after Thermidor — The Vendeans — M. and Mme. Pas
quier's life at Croissy — Their intercourse with Josephine de Beau
harnais — Mme. de Beauharnais, Josephine's sister-in-law — Exorbitant
prices of provisions — Scarcity of food.
The steps I had been compelled to take in connection
with my marriage had somewhat inured me to the dangers
incumbent upon a sojourn in the capital. I was in the habit
of going there to spend a day with my father. On one
occasion, while we were at dinner, the Abbe Salamon rushed
in to tell us that the protest drawn up by the chambre des
vacations had been given up to the authorities by M. de
Rosambo's valet, and that the Committee of General Safety
had at once ordered the arrest of all the subscribers to that
document, and, at the same time, of several other councillors
of the Parlement.
M. Salamon thought I was among the latter. He was
about to hide himself, and had had the courage to go all
over the city to warn those of his brother councillors whom
99

100 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
he knew to be still within its walls. This act of devotion
was all the more meritorious from the fact that no one
incurred greater danger than he, owing to the religious
functions which he had been practising secretly for several
months past, the discovery of which exercise could not but
fail to bring him to the scaffold at once. He urged us to
fly, and not to lose a moment in hiding ourselves.
My father and I therefore went in different directions,
after a fond embrace, and with hardly the strength of utter- '
ing a single word. We were never to meet again. I
returned to Champigny. My father hid himself at La
Muette, where he had dwelt during the course of the pre
ceding summer. Two days later, he gave himself up, fear
ing that my mother might be arrested in his stead. Hardly
was he within the walls of his prison, which had as inmates
M. de Malesherbes, all the members of the Rosambo family,
and a large number of his friends, when he experienced a
feeling of relief, which, better than anything one might
say, depicts the horrors of the existence we had been com
pelled to lead for over a year. Indeed, outside of prison,
one dared not meet, see, speak, nay, almost look at anybody,
so great was the fear of mutually betraying each other.
Relatives, and the most intimate friends, dwelt apart in the
most absolute isolation. A knock at the door, and one sup
posed at once that the commissioners of the Revolutionary
Committee had come to take one away. When once behind
the bolts, it was different. One found oneself, in a certain
sense, once more enjoying social life, for one was in the
midst of one's relations, of one's friends, whom one could
see without hindrance, and with whom one could freely
converse. The great judicial massacres (I am speaking of
the month of January, 1794) had not yet taken place. Few
days, however, went by without some victims; but the num
ber of those behind the bars was so great that to each one

THE COUNCILLOR SEEKS REFUGE AT MONTGE 101
of them all danger seemed somewhat distant. And lastly,
no sooner were many of them in jail than they ended in
believing that they were safer there than out of doors. One
could no longer (so at least they imagined) accuse them of
conspiring; and, were the foreign armies to make great
progress, as there were good grounds for supposing, they
would, while in prison, be more out of the reach of popular
frenzy than elsewhere.
So powerful a hold did these impressions take on the
mind of my father, that having a few days later found the
means of reaching me by letter, he urged me to reflect upon
my situation, to well consider if the life that I was leading,
and which he knew from experience, was not a hundred
times worse than his own. Then, assuming that I would
determine to get myself arrested, he informed me of an
arrangement that he had entered into with the porter of the
prison to reserve for him alone, for a few days longer, the
room which he occupied, so that we could dwell together.
I demurred to this, and a few days afterwards I left
Champigny. In company with my wife, I sought another
asylum at Montge, ten leagues from Paris, and near Juilly,
the old college of the Oratorians where I had been brought
up. I am not going to speak of all my tribulations during
the last part of that winter. They resemble those of
many others so often told elsewhere.
The respectable proprietor who gave me a shelter, and
had the courage to keep me in hiding, was a most humane
man, and of an excellent and good-natured character. A
patriot in 1789, he was still one in a small degree, while
abhorring the. cruel deeds perpetrated daily. For the sake
of his peace of mind, it was necessary for him to believe in
them as little as possible, and to explain them away, even
to justify them. Hence, each time that the Moniteur would
bring us the list of those whose heads had fallen under the

102 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
revolutionary knife, he would seek in their antecedents, in
the alleged motives of their sentence, some reason that
might make the crime of their death appear less odious. It
was always, according to him, some particular case which
did not bring with it any consequence to be feared by those
who were not similarly situated. This kind of reasoning
would lead to the liveliest discussions between us; but it
did not prevent him from continuing to give a shelter to us,
as well as to another family whose position was in many
respects similar to our own, and which humored as little
as I did our host's weaknesses.
Fortunate, a thousand times fortunate would have been my
fate, if I had had only that painful contradiction to endure,
but the difficulties of my* situation were daily increasing.
In order to render that of my father less dangerous, by
exposing him to be looked upon as the father of an emigre',
I was compelled to send to my mother, every three months,
certificates of residence, which she might produce in case
of need. Just then a law was passed which forced me to
procure a certificate of a new kind, and which had to go
back to 1790. In consequence of this, I had to return to
Paris. I was fortunate enough to come safely out of this
new ordeal, and to escape the clutches of the two Revolu
tionary Committees.
It would ill become me to remain silent concerning all
the help and relief I received at the hands of that worthy
Parisian bourgeoisie class. As I could not without danger
take up my abode in my father's house, or in a lodging-
house, I was hidden in succession by several shop-keepers
in the streets in which I had dwelt, and particularly by a
Mme. Tavaux, a mercer, who lived close to the house which
my family had so long occupied in the rue Bourg-l'Abbe".
Her husband had been under arrest three months, and he
was greatly in jeopardy owing to his behavior on the 10th

THE CITOYENNE MOTTEI 103
of June, while a member of the National Guard. This
did not prevent Mme. Tavaux, not only from giving me
an asylum for two or three nights, but from taking all
possible trouble to find for me the witnesses required in
order to procure my certificate. The greater number of
those whom she thus brought together had no acquaintance
with me whatever, and yet, on her mere word, they ventured
to compromise themselves in the most dangerous fashion,
so as to get me out of my difficulty. Thus did I reap the
fruit of a few slight services rendered by my people in
other days.
I had just secured one of the precious certificates of resi
dence which I had so eagerly sought. It had been granted
to me by the General Assembly of the section, held in the
church of the Trinite. I was about to depart, when a little
man quietly approached me, and drew me aside under pre
tence of saying a few words. I followed him without fear,
believing him one of the witnesses procured on my behalf,
and whom I did not know. He turned out to be a member
of the Revolutionary Committee, and, without further ado,
he handed me over to a guard close by. The latter was
ordered to take me before the Committee, and I remained
in his custody until the members of it had assembled. No
sooner had I been questioned, than it became an easy mat
ter for them to elicit the fact that I was an ex-councillor
of the Paris Parlement, and that my father was already
under arrest. There was consequently no room for doubt
that I was a good capture, and I was notified, in spite of
all my protestations, that I was to be taken to the Luxem
bourg prison.
As it was necessary to make out a warrant for my arrest
and order of committal, I was, while this was being done,
taken into a room, where I was placed in custody of the
same guard. Fortune willed that a young and rather good-

104 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
looking woman should come into it just about the same
time. She was in a gay mood, and seeing me look rather
disheartened, she could not resist the temptation of asking
me the reason for being so downcast. I had no difficulty
in enlightening her. As soon as I had told her my story,
she exclaimed : " What's that? There is no personal charge
against you, and they are going to send you to prison
because you are your father's son! What nonsense! Wait
a bit, I will go and talk to them." No sooner said than
she knocked at the door of the Committee, imperiously
demanded admittance, and walked in as if in her own
house. Now this woman was no less a person than the
citoyenne Mottei, the wife of the president of the Com
mittee, and she exercised a powerful influence over her
husband, who, on his side, held absolute sway over his col
leagues. I soon heard an animated discussion wherein the
voice of Mme. Mottei rose above all others. She came out
at last, told me that she had done her best, and that there
was a chance of my case taking a favorable turn.
I was indeed recalled by the Committee, and was exam
ined anew, but much more carefully and more in detail. It
was then, fortunately for me, discovered that I had never
been a member of La Fayette's liberticide National Guard.
In conclusion, the president informed me that as there was
no personal charge against me, the Committee was inclined
to set me free, if I could find some genuine patriot who
would vouch for me. After thinking for a few moments, I
bethought myself of Levasseur, and I gave his name. The
mention of his name caused no little astonishment. They
could not bring themselves to believe that I had such a
sponsor ; but as I insisted upon such being the case, it was
settled that two members of the Committee should conduct
me the next morning into the presence of the people's
representative, and that meanwhile I should pass the night

THE " CONVENTIONNEL " LEVASSEUR 105
in the violon. Such was the name given to the temporary
prison attached to each guard-room. I managed to write
from there to my mother and sister, telling them of my sor
rowful plight, and of my determination to avail myself of
Levasseur's protection. By six o'clock next morning both
women were in his presence.
An excellent physician, but of unprepossessing appear
ance, and of somewhat rough character, although not de
ficient in many noble qualities, Levasseur, at the outset of
his career in Le Mans had met with but little success in
his practice. My father and mother, who appreciated him
better than did his fellow-citizens, did their best to get
him taken at his worth, and succeeded at last in establishing
his reputation. He was truly grateful, became one of the
habitues of the chateau de Coulans, and was associated with
my mother in the care she gave and caused to be given to
all the poor dwelling on her estate. His veneration for her,
and his attachment to my father, were shown from that day
on every opportunity. During a serious illness of my
father, he did not leave his bedside for over a month, and
very likely was instrumental in saving his life. When the
Revolution broke out, he flung himself into it with a zeal
which doubtless greatly influenced his daily habits, and from
that time we saw a great deal less of him.
The turmoil which soon disturbed the province of Maine,
one of the most troubled provinces of the time, compelled
our family to leave it almost altogether during the course
of the years 1790, 1791, and 1792, We were in Paris at
the time of the meeting of the Convention, and, on our
return, Levasseur had already signalized himself by a viru
lence which did not permit his holding the slightest inter
course with us. Shortly after, he voted for the death of
Louis XVI., and his vote raised between us an unsurmount
able barrier. He had been entrusted with several missions

106 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
near the armies, and had acquitted himself thereof with an
amount of zeal and energy which had in special fashion
enhanced his revolutionary reputation. Such was the man
upon whom my mother and sister were about to call. He
was manifestly ill at ease in his reception of them. Then,
after uttering a few remarks on the difficulties attached to
their request he said, addressing my mother: "But there
remains something still more difficult, madam, and that is
for me to refuse you anything. I will do what I possibly
can." I was taken into his presence between eight and
nine o'clock in the forenoon. At first his greeting was
almost brutal. He scarcely seemed to know me again.
He inveighed violently against aristocrats, counter-revolu
tionists, the execrable spirit of the old nobility, and
especially that of the ex-parliamentarians. My escort
augured badly for me from such beginning, and their coun
tenances began to cloud. "But," he went on to say, "one
must treat everybody fairly, even such people as those, and,
as this man here, I can well recall that, when I was talking
with my friend, the martyr of liberty (Lepelletier de Saint-
Fargeau), two days before his assassination, precisely of
that detestable Paris Parlement, which he knew better than
did any other, he distinctly told me that among the 150
members composing it, there were not more than seven or
eight who were fit to understand him, and among these
seven or eight he named the citizen here present. Such
a tribute is a valuable one, but it is for you to appre
ciate its worth."
Great was the surprise of the members of my Revolu
tionary Committee on hearing such a name mentioned, and
on having it invoked on my behalf. There was a little
brief parleying, as the people's representative had much
business to attend to, and so we had to leave at short notice,
but it was already settled that I might be set at liberty.

THE "CITOYENNE" LEPELLETIER 107
Still, I was not at the end of my troubles. Levasseur lived
in the rue Saint-Honore, close to the club of the Jacobins,
and, after leaving his house, as we were passing by the place
Vendome, it suddenly dawned on my two acolytes that con
sidering that I had been so well thought of by liberty's
martyr, I must also be well acquainted with his brother,
the citizen Felix. It so happened that the citizen dwelt in
the place Vendome, and they suggested — a thing I did not
dare refuse to do — that I should go with them, and ask for
an invitation to breakfast. Happily for me he was out, for
no man was more my enemy.
Having escaped this danger, I imagined that nothing was
left for me to do but to go and receive my papers at the
hand of the Committee, to take leave of them, and return to
my place of refuge in the green fields. Alas, it was not to
be so ! I .was told that my papers would be returned to me
only on the following day. Some degree of suspicion still
prevailed against me, and it was resolved to obtain some
further information about me from citizen Felix. That
was the worst thing which could happen to me. After
much hesitation, I determined upon following the advice of
my mother and sister, and of calling upon him. I returned
to the place Vendome, and was told at the citizen's resi
dence that he would probably not return home for the day,
but that if I was particularly desirous of seeing him, I
could find him at his niece's, in the rue Culture-Sainte-
Catherine, where he was in the habit of taking his dinner.
I lost no time in at once going to the other end of the city.
It here becomes necessary to give an idea of my costume,
which consisted of what was then styled a carmagnole, that
is, a short jacket and a pair of trousers of the same
material. The material of my clothes was of the coarsest,
viz. a heavy, dark brown, and shaggy swanskin. From the
fact that for the last three or four days I had been con-

108 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
stantly going about the streets in the rain and in the mud,
I was bespattered up to my knees. In this state I called
at the hotel of Mile. Lepelletier, rue Culture-Sainte-
Catherine. I asked to see her uncle. He had not arrived,
but it was thought that he would make his appearance ere
long. I begged permission, which was granted, of sitting
down by the stove in the porter's lodge, while awaiting his
arrival. I was sitting there very quietly, when after a
certain amount of going to and fro between the hdtel and the
lodge, a young valet wearing a carmagnole, — but such a car
magnole, the most elegant, the neatest, one could well
imagine, — came in and said to me : —
"Citizen, the citoyenne Lepelletier has just learned that
a sans-culotte was here awaiting the arrival of her uncle.
She cannot bear the thought of his remaining in this place,
and begs he will walk into the drawing-room." I asked to
be excused from such a courtesy, but on the message being
transmitted to me a second time, I was compelled to yield,
and I entered those large and magnificent rooms, in which I
had been so often in other days.
I found MUe. Lepelletier in one of the little rooms at the
end of a long suite. She was just out of childhood, but
seemed advanced for her years. By her side was a pleas
antly mannered governess, who welcomed me most politely.
As can be imagined, the conversation was somewhat embar
rassed. I remained two mortal hours. It was plain that
the citizen Felix would not dine there that day, so I took
leave, and was going away greatly disappointed, when the
governess followed me into one of the salons, and while
begging forgiveness for her indiscretion, told me that she
was greatly mistaken if she did not know me, that I might
possibly have something important to say to or ask of her
pupil's uncle, and that, if I was not afraid of trusting her,
she was willing to place herself at my disposal. So kind

DEPARTURE FOR MONTGE 109
an offer could not be declined. I told her my name, where
upon she had much to say in connection with her having all
along felt sure she had recognized me. She well remem
bered having met me in this hdtel with my grandfather and
my father. Then, upon being informed of what I had to
ask of the citizen Felix, she told me not to be alarmed, that
he would certainly come during the course of the evening,
that he could not refuse his niece anything, and that I should
be commended to him by her in such a way that he could
not but help doing what was right.
And indeed, next day, matters happened as I prayed for,
but without my learning any details. After a final consul
tation, the Revolutionary Committee no longer hesitated to
restore to me my certificates of residence and my passport,
which it had seized, and to which it attached its visa. I
left next morning for Montge, with more reason than ever
for blessing Providence, which had once more saved me
from danger.
As I was desirous of thanking the courageous citizens who
had so generously been my witnesses, Mme. Tavaux directed
my attention to one of them, whose trade consisted in mak
ing and selling cockades and bonnets de police (forage caps).
She advised me to purchase one. I, of course, did so, and
asked him to select for me the finest in his stock. He
handed me a superb bonnet de police, the top of which, lap
ping over, formed a bonnet rouge (Phrygian cap) while its
blue border was ornamented on the one side with the like
ness of Marat, and on the other with that of the martyr of
liberty. As a matter of course, I took great care not to
object to this selection. Having next day to go beyond
the city's gates by the Dammartin coach, and, as this trip
was not without its dangers, I thought it well to supple
ment the protection afforded by my passport by donning
my magnificent bonnet.

110 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
If it produced on the guards at the gate all the effect that
I could desire, it did not fail to terrify all my poor fellow-
travellers, who, for a league or two, believed that they had
in their midst at the very least a commissioner of the Com
mittee of Public Safety. To their great relief, however,
their fright was dissipated, through a somewhat extraor
dinary circumstance. Among the passengers was a member
of the Convention, and, who would believe it, one of the
best of men, one Bailly, a former Oratorian, under whom I
had pursued a part of my studies, and who had since then
got married and settled in Dammartin. He protected the
whole canton, and several of those who were in the diligence
lived literally under his wing.
It ended in mutual recognition, and when the others saw
that I was on a sort of footing of intimacy with him, a quite
different idea was formed as to my personality, and so the
journey came to an end under far better auspices than it
had begun.
I was to meet Levasseur again later on. In 1799 he
returned to his native city, poor, and burdened with a
family, having no other resource than his medical profes
sion, for his honesty ever remained unsullied during the
revolutionary storm. He experienced great difficulty in
making a living, because he was shunned by all those classes
of society which could afford to pay decently for medical
attendance. I had returned to my father's estate, and as I
needed some care, I could hardly follow the lead of those
who judged Levasseur severely, after the service he had
rendered me. So I summoned him. He did not respond to
my call, but sent me another physician, whom he entrusted
with a message to the effect that it was better for both of
us not to meet again.
It would have been as he wished, according to all proba
bilities, had it not been for the prefect whom Napoleon sent

DEATH OF THE SENIOR PASQUIER 111
into the Department of the Sarthe during the Hundred
Days. Levasseur was weak enough to accept some kind of
a position, the result of which was that one day I met him
in the hdtel of the prefecture. We simply exchanged a few
words of common politeness, and he took pains to cut this
mere act of courtesy short. Six months later, the law pro
nouncing the banishment of all regicides forced him to go
to Belgium. While there his practice probably brought
him in a better income than it did in France. Ever true to
his inflexible character, he recently published some Me
moirs, wherein is to be found for the first time the glorifica
tion of the conduct of the conventionnels who, in 1793 and
1794, installed the Reign of Terror.
I need not say with what joy I found myself once more
in the village of Montge, the tranquil state of which was in
strong contrast with the agitation whieh reigned in Paris.
I was still dwelling in that peaceful village at Eastertide,
at which period occurred the execution of all the parlia
mentarians who in 1789 and 1790 had composd the chambre
des vacations in Paris, of M. de Malesherbes and of his
family. It was at Juilly, in the very spot where the days
of my childhood had run in so pleasant a course, that I
learnt of the blow that had struck me. The death of my
father was announced to me by the Oratorians, who still
occupied the college, of whom several had contributed to my
education, and through whom alone I still kept up some
intercourse with the outer world. The kindly interest they
showed me, the share which they took in helping me to
bear my misfortune, will never fade from my memory.
I have since gleaned a few details about the closing scenes
of my father's life. He was beloved in what is called the
"Palais," in other words, among the advocates, the pro-
cureurs, and the members of the magistracy of minor rank.
All these men had preserved some connection, not to say

112 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
influence, with the new tribunals, however repellant they
might be to them ; at any rate they attended their sittings.
Fouquier-Tinville, the public prosecutor before the revo
lutionary tribunal, had been a, procureur both at the Chatelet
and in the Parlement. Several of his former colleagues
still spoke to him occasionally, and one must do them the
justice of acknowledging that it was always in the hope of
helping some one in distress. One of them told me that on
the day of the sentencing to death of M. Dalleray, a former
lieutenant civil, he dared to ask Fouquier-Tinville, whom he
met on the Pont-Neuf, as he came out of court, if he had
ever known a more upright man than the one whose death
he had just compassed. "No," replied Fouquier, putting
his hand to his forehead, and immediately crossing to the
other side of the bridge. It was M. Dalleray who made the
following beautiful rejoinder to the tribunal. Upon being
asked if he was not aware that the law forbade the send
ing of money to any imigri, he replied : "lam cognizant of
such a law; but I know of one which takes precedence of
it, and which enjoins upon a father to feed his children."
The men of the Palais therefore joined in a concerted
action to save my father, and they extracted from Fouquier
and the president of the tribunal the promise that if there
was any possibility of separating his case from that of his
colleagues, if he himself could supply the means towards
this end, it should be so managed that his acquittal would
follow. My father was notified of this. His colleagues
had made choice of him to indite an address to be presented
in common to the tribunal, and he had already drawn it
up. I cannot say that he rejected the means of salvation
offered him, for he would not even listen to the proposition.
Nevertheless, when he was before the tribunal, he was the
only one of all those indicted together to whom the presi
dent gave freedom of speech, as a consequence of the agree-

ACCOUNT OF M. MURAIRE 113
ment entered upon. He then read what he had written as
their common plea of justification, and obtained the reward
which he deserved, that of dying as he had lived.
I have since then frequently met a man who had taken
cognizance of that document, ere it was read. This was
M. Muraire, First President of the Cour de cassation under
the Empire, and who, in 1794, was confined in the same
prison as the members of the Paris Parlement. They were
of the opinion that it would be well to seek his advice in
the matter. Their confidence could not have been better
placed. Consequently M. de Rosambo and my father
obtained leave from the jailer to have an interview with
him, on the night preceding their removal to the Concier
gerie, and they brought him their work. M. Muraire has
told me that it was remarkable for a noble candor, joined to
the highest expression of dignity, but what he could not
conceive was the faith that their knowledge as magistrates
had finally given them regarding the strength and justice
of their case. Once before a tribunal, they could not be
brought to believe but that justice and the judgment would
be one and the same thing. In spite of all they knew and
all they saw, they could not agree to look upon as mere
assassins the men sitting on the bench they had themselves
so long occupied. M. Muraire was never able to speak of
this scene without the tears welling up in his eyes.
I spent two months of fearful mental suffering in the
locality where I had received the awful news. It was, I
can never forget it, in the midst of some of the first days
of a beautiful spring. All these dreadful misdeeds were
being perpetrated with impunity under the rays of a most
glorious sun. Alone with my grief, I would often wander
for whole days through the wood and among the hills sur
rounding our retreat. I looked up to Heaven, calling upon
it to avenge the crimes of the earth. Sometimes I thought

114 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
that they could not go unpunished, that justice was due us,
and therefore it would be meted out.
During the course of the month of June, I was notified
that my hiding-place had been revealed by a man-servant
whom I had discharged eighteen months before. The Com
mittee of General Safety had issued a warrant for my arrest
which was to be executed next day by the Commissioners
of the Revolutionary Committee of Paris, to whom was
specially entrusted the hunting down of all members of the
Parlement. The Commissioners failed to find me, for dur
ing the night I left with my wife for Picardy. I was still
able to find in that hospitable province many helpful people,
who were ready to give me the most generous assistance as
soon as I informed them of my dangerous predicament.
These people were proprietors of stage-coaches, innkeepers,
and farmers. During nearly a whole month I wandered
between Amiens and the frontier, trying to emigrate. This
was the only means left to me of escaping from danger.
The battle of Fleurus, won by the French, had extended
the frontier for a distance of twenty leagues, thus rendering
the execution of my plan altogether impracticable. The
news of this battle reached me at Abbeville, on the day
previous to the one I had selected for leaving France. I
was to have been taken in charge by some men who were
generally employed in helping the priests, who courageously
came from Belgium to bring religious ministration even to
Paris. My plan of escape undone, I was compelled to return to
Amiens. Here I was met in an inn by members of the
Revolutionary Committee of Paris, whose duty it was to
arrest me. They had nevertheless lost trace of me, were
no longer thinking of me, and had come to Amiens on
another expedition. They arrested me, also my wife, and,
placing us in separate postchaises, brought us back to Paris,

THE COUNCILLOR REARRESTED 115
each of us having for travelling companion one of their
odious selves. My companion was a little cripple, physi
cally as hideous as his soul was perverse. He greatly
enjoyed telling me that he had known me since childhood,
and that he had leased chairs in our parish church. He
took pains to add that he would ever remember the gener
osity of my grandfather and father who had often given
him a louis by way of a New Year's gift. He was a fervent
disciple of the new philosophy, and his memory was stuffed
with passages from the works of Voltaire and Jean-Jacques.
Then on passing a certain chateau, which was being demol
ished, he remarked: "No chateau ever falls but one sees
twenty cottages arise in its stead."
On our passing through the village of Sarcelles, he gave
me a curious example of that regeneration of morals towards
which'he and his compeers daily worked so zealously. On
my pointing out to him a country residence of somewhat
finer appearance, and better kept than those we had seen so
far, for everything, in those days, presented an appearance
of decay and neglect, he replied : " I should well think so.
It is the house of our friend Livry. We often visit him.
He still possesses, it is true, an annual income of 50,000
livres, but he is a first-class fellow. We have just married
him to the citoyenne Saulnier, with whom he had so long
cohabited. (She was premiere danseuse at the Opera.) Come
now, we said to him, it is time that this disgraceful state of
affairs should cease. To the winds with family prejudice!
The ci-devant marquis must marry the dancer. So he
married her, and did wisely, for he might otherwise have
already danced his last jig, or at the very least be rusti
cating in the,shade of the walls of the Luxembourg prison."
Happily, our two guards combined with the lofty sentiments
of which I have just given an idea, a passionate fondness
for money, and this was our salvation.

116 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
In order to despoil me of the few assignats which I still
possessed, they confined us, on reaching our destination, in
a little house situated close to the committee's headquarters.
They kept us there about a week on condition that we
should pay our daily expenses at an extortionate rate.
Thus my entry into Saint-Lazare was delayed, and I was
taken thither only on the evening of the 8th Thermidor.
Had I been imprisoned there two days earlier, I might pos
sibly have been taken away in one of those carts which
during those two days carried over eighty people from the
prison to the foot of the scaffold. Every one connected
with the Paris Parlement, one of my brothers-in-law, and
several of my friends, perished on the day of my entering
prison. Had I arrived earlier, I could not have escaped
their fate.
In this prison were still two of my brothers-in-law and a
brother, hardly more than a child, but who had, in spite of
this, been a prisoner for eight months. What a sight that
prison presented ! Gone were the days when my father had
almost looked upon the prison of La Bourbe as a place of
refuge. Death had since then claimed so many victims that
no one could be deceived as to his impending fate.
In order to proceed more rapidly, a pretended belief in
conspiracies alleged to be hatching in the prisons, with the
object of overthrowing the Republic, was brought into play.
This principle once admitted, the consequences followed as
a matter of course; but what added to the horror of this
mendacious discovery, was the means employed for giving
practical effect to the principle. In every one of the large
prisons were a certain number of scoundrels, apparently
detained as prisoners like the others, but who were really
there to select and draw up a list of the victims. Several
of them had become known as spies, and incredible as it
may seem, their lives were spared by those in the midst of

AT SAINT-LAZARE 117
whom they fulfilled their shameful duty. On the contrary,
the prisoners treated them gently and paid them court. I
had scarcely passed the first wicket, and was following the
jailer who was taking me to the room I was to occupy, when
I found myself face to face with M. de Montrou, already
notorious through a few somewhat scandalous intrigues,
and whose adventures have since created such a stir in
society. He came close to me, and without pretending to
notice me, whispered into my ear the following salutary bit
of advice: "While here, do not speak a word to anybody
whom you do not know thoroughly."
On reaching with Mme. Pasquier the lodging destined
for our use, and which had been vacated by the two victims
of the previous day, we were soon surrounded by our rela
tions, and by a few friends who hastened to offer us all the
assistance they could. We were enjoying, as far as one can
enjoy anything when in a similar position, these proofs of
kindly interest and friendship, when one of my brothers-in-
law, who was looking out of the window, exclaimed : " Ah,
here is Pepin Degrouettes about to take his daily walk.
We must go and show ourselves. Come along with us." —
"Why so?" I queried, whereupon I was told that he was
the principal one among the rascals whose abominable role
I have described. They were designated by the name of
"moutons," a name consecrated by prison slang. Every
afternoon he would thus take a turn in the yard, and it was
for him the occasion of passing in review, so to speak, the
flock which he was gradually sending to the slaughter
house. Woe unto him who seemed to hide, or to avoid his
look ! Such a one was immediately noted, and he could be
sure that his turn would come next. Many a gallant man's
death became a settled thing, because he was a few minutes
late in coming down into the yard and passing under the
fellow's notice. The surrendering of oneself to his discre-

118 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
tion was apparently a way of imploring mercy at his hands.
We went through the formality, and it constituted a scene
which I never can forget. I can still see him, a man four
feet seven inches, or four feet eight inches high, hump
backed, of twisted form, bandy-legged, and as red-headed
as Judas. He was completely surrounded by prisoners,
some of whom walked backwards in his presence, earnestly
soliciting a look from him.
We were told a few days later, that when the last list
was made up, he and his acolytes had experienced a feeling
of pity for my young brother whose name was on it, and
that they had stricken it out. His lively, frank, and open
demeanor, and the habit of seeing him for so long (he was,
in spite of his youth, the doyen of the prison), had inspired
them with a kindly feeling of which they could not divest
themselves. To this must be attributed his not having
shared the fate of young Mailly, who was sent to the scaffold
for the offence they had committed in common, and which
consisted in throwing in the face of the concierge of the
prison some rotten herrings, telling him ironically that he
might feast on them. Young Mailly had not yet reached
the age at which the law sanctioned the infliction of the
death penalty. This was to be later on one of the crimes
with which Fouquier-Tinville was charged, and which
brought about his downfall.
The evening of our entry into Saint-Lazare and the fol
lowing day were passed in exchanging painful confidences
with the members of our family, with whom we were once
more united, and we had much to tell each other. The kjnd
of isolation in which I had lived with Mme. Pasquier since
our arrest had left me ignorant of the atrocities of the past
week, and none had been more bloody.
We all considered ourselves doomed victims, and did not
think that there remained the slightest chance of salvation,

THE NINTH THERMIDOR 119
when the morning of the 9th Thermidor dawned. The day
passed without the slightest echo of what was happening
outside penetrating our prison walls. On the morning of
the 10th, a few of us were informed by turnkeys whom we
had remunerated for certain personal services, that Robes
pierre had been brought to the prison during the night, and
that those who had him in custody sought to have him
incarcerated there, but the concierge refused to receive him.
This alone was a sufficient proof that a most important
event was taking place, and, during the course of the day
we succeeded in obtaining newspapers which told us all.
How great were our feelings of uncertainty, anxiety, and
anguish, during the next few days! Was not the tribune
of the Jacobins and that of the Convention still re-echoing
but too often words of violence, and were not the most
odious motions still being made? I can remember the day
when a powder-magazine exploded in the plain of Grenelle.
The concussion was terrible and half the windows in Paris
were broken, while the walls of Saint-Lazare actually
trembled. The wind blew from that quarter, and we were
soon enveloped in clouds of smoke. What thoughts did
not our imagination give rein to, ere we learnt the true
reason of this commotion! For over an hour, nothing was
dreamt of but a new revolution and the massacres which
were to follow in its wake.
All these agonizing anxieties weighed more heavily on
me than on any one else, for I was still to remain in prison
for some length of time. It was then that I learnt that it
is .easier to endure a situation bereft of all possible illu
sions, than to face alternate feelings of hope and despair
about a final result which can never be fully grasped.
My wife and I had entered Saint-Lazare completely
resigned to our fate, and, in a measure, indifferent to it.
We had fought for ourselves courageously and persever-

120 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
ingly, but fate had conquered, and nothing remained for us
but to submit to the inevitable. When, at the end of a
month, the prison doors which had been thrown open to so
many remained closed to us, when we scarcely had as com
panions of our captivity any others than the terrorists who
had come to take the places left vacant by their victims, a
profound feeling of melancholy took possession of us, and I
do not know how we could have fought against it, if our
freedom, which came to us at the end of three or four weeks,
had delayed much longer. Yet, many had been the efforts
made to obtain it, some of them through most influential
channels. Thus, Mme. de Fontenay, who shortly after
became Mme. Tallien, attempted to befriend us; but, so
long as the men who composed the Committee of General
Police previous to the famous day were in the ascendant, it
was found impossible to end our captivity.
Among these efforts one there is which has left a most
touching memory with me. It was taken spontaneously by
the inhabitants of the village of Montge, where I had
during several months found so precious a place of retreat.
They assured those whom it concerned, that during my stay
in their midst I had given them valuable aid in their
enforced manufacture of saltpetre, and that I had won their
friendship. So they prayed that I might be set free, "on
the grounds of being their friend." I found this document
a long while afterwards in the files of the Convention, at
the time when I was engaged in taking from them all
documents having reference to myself. I have kept it
preciously for twenty-five years, together with the official
report of my arrest.
When I left Saint-Lazare, I found that the march of
events had been rapid, and that their trend was more and
more pronounced in favor of order and justice. After
having been violently repressed, the more enlightened and

RETURNING GOOD FOR EVIL 121
the more respectable portion of the population was about
to enjoy once more the right of living openly. How can
I describe the joy of the friends and relations come back
to life from prisons, or from obscure hiding-places, who
had lost all hope of meeting again, who mentally inquired
as to the fate of beloved ones, and about those whom they
had lost. Their sweetest consolation was to be able to
weep together over those who had fallen under the revolu
tionary scythe. The first use to which they put their
freedom was to make a public display of their grief and of
their lamentations. During the Terror, and especially dur
ing the last six months of its reign, no one dared to wear
mourning for those who had perished on the scaffold.
Mingled with so many heart-rending recollections was the
joy felt over a deliverance which might more appropriately
be styled a resurrection. Assuredly, never did two more
contrary and equally powerful emotions ever contest for
the possession of the human heart.
None of the terrible laws made during the two past years
were abrogated, but this did not trouble people. The
greater part of the assassins, both leaders and hirelings,
were still in possession of their lives ; they mingled unpun
ished with their victims. Who was there to call them to
account for the blood which they had shed? Contempt
protected them against hatred, and so, escaping public ven
geance, they vanished from sight.
A week after I left prison, I was called upon by the
wretch who had conducted me thither. He had taken
almost as much trouble to find my place of residence, as,
two months earlier, he had to discover my asylum. He
came to ask me to testify in writing to the kindly manner
in which he had treated me. This document might stand
him in good stead in case of need. I gave him a certificate
to that effect. All or nearly all of us were in the habit of

122 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
doing the same thing. There is something lacking in one's
existence if one has not known the joys of such a revenge.
Fate led me to the Palais de Justice on one of the days of
Fouquier-Tinville's trial. I was unable to resist the desire
of seeing with my own eyes this great act of divine justice,
so I went in. The trial was taking place in the old grand'
chambre of the Paris Parlement, in the very room in which
I had been admitted into the ranks of the magistracy, where
I had taken my first oath, and where the first scenes of the
Revolution had burst upon me. In that room had sat the
revolutionary tribunal. In it had come as prisoners,
the Queen, Mme. Elizabeth, M. de Malesherbes, the mem
bers of the Paris Parlement, and lastly, my father. Thence,
all of them had started for the scaffold, in company of so
many more. And it was in that place that I saw sitting in
the dock, into which he had so long brought his victims,
the monster the mention of whose name had so often made
me shudder.
He answered coldly to all the criminal charges made
against him. He had, it has been said, a secret faith in a
revolutionary upheaval that was to burst a few days after,
and which was fortunately nipped in the bud. Sitting
below him were the obscure assassins designated under the
denomination of jurymen of the revolutionary tribunal.
They bowed their heads, and seemed completely cast down.
I certainly did not think I was to see that man again, yet
fate had it in store for me that certain business should
take me to the Hotel de Ville the day of his execution, and
I saw his head fall. He struggled against his doom like
the coward that he was.
The man to whom public opinion attributed the merit of
having brought about the reaction was Tallien. It was he
who overturned Robespierre, who caused the Reign of
Terror to cease, who tore down the scaffolds, who threw

TALLIEN 123
open the prison doors. In the face of the vastness of this
public service, his past became obliterated, and France
forgot the cruel proconsul who played the tyrant in Bor
deaux, one of the promoters of the September massacres,
and the regicide. There are sentiments which efface or
dominate all others, and such were the feelings of gratitude
experienced towards that man.
I saw him, after the rumor of a threatened assassination,
and after a few days' disappearance, the reason for which
was not thoroughly understood, reappear at the Odeon
Theatre. It was known that he was coming, and people
were awaiting his arrival. Never was a theatre so filled.
The body of the building could not hold the crowd; the
stairways were as packed with humanity as the parterre.
At last he came. What a welcome ! What cheering ! The
occupants of the boxes, of the parterre, men and women,
all climbed on top of their seats. They could not look at
him enough. He was young and rather good-looking, and
appeared calm and self-possessed. With him was Mme.
Tallien who shared his triumph. In her case, too, every
thing had been forgotten, and public opinion seemed to
have lost all its severity towards her.
Similar demonstrations in their favor were repeated dur
ing the whole of the latter part of that year. Never was
any service rendered, however great, so well appreciated,
and repaid with so lively and touching a gratitude. How
was it that such emotional outbursts could ever be for
gotten? And yet, during the years preceding his demise
(he died in 1820), Tallien dragged along in the most remote
corner of a public promenade his melancholy and painful
existence. He was eaten up by physical disease, looked
hideous and repulsive, lived abandoned and disowned,
having, to keep his wretched life together, no one but an
old woman who had remained faithful to him, and a miser-

124 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
able dole granted to him for pity's sake by the royal
government. The reason of all this is that at Quiberon,
and on the 13th Vendemiaire, he once more became the
Tallien of 1792 and 1793. He was nothing but an
unworthy instrument of which Providence had for once
deigned to make use for a good end, and which it had
allowed to drift back to its perverse nature.
He owed to the remembrance of the 9th Thermidor the
only means of subsistence which remained to him, and the
permission to reside in France, when all the other regicides
were made to leave it. Personally, I was enabled, shortly
before his death, to pay my debt of gratitude to him for the
good service he had rendered to me as well as to others,
and I found real enjoyment in so doing. The pecuniary
aid which had been granted to him was stopped, I know not
why. I heard of this, and so made good his loss, thus
rendering his last hours less painful. While on his death
bed, he let me learn of his gratitude in a most touching
fashion. While final efforts were being made at home to take the
power away from the men who had made so shameful a use
of it, abroad the state of things had undergone a complete
transformation. A new future was unrolling itself before
our eyes. It was no longer the nation of 1792, with an
army poorly inured to war, with hardly any soldiers. The
country's soil had given birth to soldiers. It had lacked
officers and generals. War had formed them. Great mili
tary talents had sprung up side by side with heroes.
It was no longer an invaded France, with its capital
threatened by the enemy. Far from it : Belgium had been
subdued, Holland was about to be invaded, and French flags
fluttered already on the left bank of the Rhine. The war
was still in progress in Vendee. The first years of this
insurrection afford perhaps a spectacle unique in history,

VENDEANS AND CHOUANS 125
that of a blending of ancient virtues with modern social
ideas and Christian faith. The Greeks of Leonidas, the
soldiers of the Theban legion, and the comrades of Bayard
seemed to be marching together under the same flags, in
that part of the country. There all was grand, noble, and
unsullied, both with regard to the aim in view and the
means employed to attain it. It was, in all its sincerity, a
war of indignation waged against crime by honor and reli
gion. There, no feeling of personal interest was allowed to
make itself manifest. The only ambition known in the
camp of men like Bonchamp, Cathelineau, Lescure, and La
Rochejaquelein, was to secure the triumph of the most just
of causes, to die defending it, to die for country, king, and
God. The victories and defeats of this insurrection have been
recorded. Every one has heard of the triumphs and dis
asters of that heroic Vendee. At the time of which I speak,
she appeared to be rising from her ashes, in spite of the last
and greatest of her disasters. Her example had brought
about, under the form of chouannerie, the uprising of Brit
tany and the surrounding provinces. In that quarter,
therefore, rested the hopes of the Royalists, for it was time
to abandon those based on the war which was being waged
against the stranger.
In the midst of the agitation produced by all these
events, we, who had so long been tempest-tossed, were
sighing for quiet. The termination of the Reign of Terror,
which had given me my liberty, had not restored my prop
erty, which had been confiscated under the sentence passed
on my father. My wife's fortune was not in a much better
condition, and the depreciation of the assignats left us
almost without resources. Under such circumstances, a
residence in Paris could not be thought of. I found a little
house at Croissy, near Saint-Germain, and there we settled

126 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
down. A few months later, my sister joined us. My
mother no.longer needed her tender care, for she had passed
away, her feeble thread of life having snapped under an
illness born of all the sorrows which had harrowed her
heart. From that time onwards, my sister remained our
faithful companion, and nothing was ever able to sepa
rate us.
Happy in my home, I spent more than two years in a
kind of retreat, reduced to the strict necessaries of life, and
cultivating my garden, the produce of which helped us to
live. The village of Croissy had been spared the disturb
ances brought about by the Revolution. No great mis
fortune had befallen its inhabitants during the time of the
Terror, and it owed its tranquil state to a married priest,
its former cure", who had become its mayor. He was really
an excellent man, but his morals were more than easy.
Unmindful of his ecclesiastical obligations, he had married,
but was trying to obtain the forgiveness of his sin by doing
all the good he could. His marriage had, during the most
perilous epoch, given him considerable influence.
He was active and courageous, and did not fear exposing
himself in order to render a service. His commune was
consequently a safe place of refuge for any one seeking it,
and he had not hesitated to take under his protection one
of the best known of clergymen, and consequently one of
those most threatened with danger. M. de Pancemont, the
former cure" of Saint-Sulpice, who died bishop of Vannes,
lived hidden in a house in the village during the years 1793
and 1794. He was still there when I came. I have known
few men who were more saintly. The simplicity of his char
acter would at times cause me to compare him with the well-
known character created by the Abbe Prevot, the doyen of
Kyllerine, whose physical ugliness he shared. In regard to
his behavior towards the married curi to whom he was under

M. AND MME. PASQUIER AT CROISSY 127
so great an obligation he displayed admirable delicacy ahd
consideration. He spared no efforts to bring him back
into the right path, but forgave him as much as possible,
educating his children whom he had baptized, and procuring
for them godfathers and godmothers who might take care
of them some day and bring them up in the right way.
Hence it is that Mme. Pasquier held one of them over the
baptismal font, together with M. de Channorier, the prin
cipal landowner about Croissy.
The latter also was endowed with a kindliness out of the
common. He was well repaid for it by the affection and
gratitude of all the residents of the canton. He went
abroad for a short time, during which his possessions were
kept intact for him by the people and by the curb.
Our life was therefore cast in pleasant lines among such
people, especially after the severe trials through which we
had been. We had as a neighbor Mme. de Beauharnais,
whose high fortunes we were far from foreseeing. Her
house adjoined ours. She no longer came to it but once a
week, in order to do the honors of it to Barras, and the num
ber of friends he was wont to bring with him. At early
morn we were in the habit of seeing the arrival of baskets
full of provisions, shortly afterwards followed by mounted
gendarmes patrolling the road from Nanterre to Croissy,
for the young directeur most frequently came on horseback.
The house of Mme. de Beauharnais displayed, as is some
what the custom with Creoles, a kind of showy luxury.
Side by side with the superfluous, there was oftentimes a
lack of the most necessary articles. Poultry, game, and
rare fruits would be piled up in the kitchen (we were then
passing through a time when provisions were very scarce),
while, on the other hand, there were not enough saucepans,
glasses, or plates, and she borrowed these from our poor
little household.

128 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
Our intercourse was limited to these neighborly acts,
although Mme. Pasquier had met Mme. de Beauharnais
prior to the Revolution. We saw more of her sister-in-
law, the wife of the eldest of the Beauharnais, and the
mother of Mme. de La Valette, whose touching devotion
saved the life of her husband during the Revolution. She
was an exceedingly distinguished woman, both in intellect
and character, and in all respects the superior of her sister-
in-law. Her life had always been blameless, in spite of
the fickleness of her husband, and, when she was taken to
prison, she was one of those women whose noble and cour
ageous attitude was most noticed.
Fate treated the two sisters-in-law in a very different
fashion, reserving all its favors for the one, all its slings
and arrows for the other. On leaving prison, Mme. de
Beauharnais senior, in order to recover a portion of her
property (her husband having emigrated), had obtained a
divorce, a thing which in those days presented no diffi
culties for the wives of bmigris. She was aided with most
touching devotion, in the numberless and difficult steps she
had to take in order to protect her interests, by a mulatto,
a member of the Convention, who resided in a house be-
longing to her. She fell in love with him, and committed
the folly of marrying him, thus breaking with her whole
family. In later years General Bonaparte interested himself in
her daughter, and provided for her education in the estab
lishment which was directed by Mme. Campan. Previous
to his departure for Egypt, he married her to his confi
dential aide-de-camp, M. de La Valette. As to Mme. de
Beauharnais, she went to dwell with her husband in the
south of France, where she died in obscurity and abandoned
by all, a few days before the fall of the Empire,
We suffered in our peaceful retreat from the dearth of

FRANCE'S IMPOVERISHED CONDITION 129
provisions, the result, in the first place, of a poor harvest,
and especially from the depreciation of the assignats, and
the disastrous law of the maximum (fixing the highest
price at which provisions, etc., were to be sold). It is
hard to conceive such cares when one has not had to con
tend with them. France resembled a fortified city after a
long siege, when there is a lack of everything at one and
the same time. The products of the soil and groceries
brought their weight in gold. Even soap was sold at
exorbitant prices, and then part of it was clay. The most
serious and hardest privation to endure was that of bread.
One must have suffered from it in order to conceive the
patience required of the unfortunate beings who neverthe
less endured it with admirable fortitude.
I cannot pass in silence one of those deeds which, in the
course of my life, have been a source of deep and pleasur
able emotion. When our distress was at its highest, in
spite of the difficulties of transportation, the insensate price
of wheat, the sequestration still in force on our Coulans
property, and the crushing taxes which our farmers were
compelled to pour into the state's coffers, these good people
set off with a cartload of 'the precious cereal. It reached
us without hindrance, owing to the numerous precautions
they took during the journey, to the care exercised in
entering Croissy, and in coming to my house in the dead of
the night. They left two hours later, after having, unknown
to anybody, piled up the sacks in a well-hidden shed.
Fortunately, I dwelt on the outskirts of the village.

CHAPTER VI
The 13th Vendemiaire — The Convention surrounded by 60,000 men —
General Bonaparte — Failure of the uprising owing to the lack of a
Royalist leader — The primary assemblies and the new elections —
The daughter of Louis XVI. leaves the Temple — The reign of the
Directoire — Barras and Mme. Tallien — The kindliness of Mme. de
Beauharnais — The return of the emigres — The need of enjoyment felt
— Mme. deStael's salon — Benjamin Constant — M. de Talleyrand, Min
ister of Foreign Affairs — The 18th Fructidor — Transportation of fallen
foes — General Pichegru — Uprisings in Maine and in Brittany — The
chouannerie — The Treaty of Campo-Formio — General Bonaparte's
plans and the Directoire's mistrust — The expedition to Egypt — The
Republic of Geneva united to France — Carnot's opinion in this matter —
Italy occupied by French troops — State of the finances in 1799 — Estab
lishment of the military conscription — The coalition between Austria,
England, and Russia — General Suvaroff in Italy — Retreat of the French
— An odious act of revenge performed by Barras — Bonaparte's return
to France — The men who took part in the 18th Brumaire — Constitu
tion of the Consular Government — Attributes of the three Consuls —
Bonaparte's feelings towards the emigres — The infernal machine —
Georges Cadoudal and Saint-Re j ant, his emissary.
The 13th Vendemiaire came to trouble our peaceful
existence. Paris gave the signal, which was answered by
the whole of France. The Revolution was about to be
attacked in its stronghold, and to be defeated in the very
city where it had found its principal force, where lay the
machinery of its government, and where a defeat spelt
absolute ruin. One victorious day in Paris would prove
more decisive than many battles on the banks of the Rhine.
I was in the thick of this upheaval of the 13th Vende
miaire. I had thrown all my energies into the primary
130

THE THIRTEENTH VENDEMIAIRE 131
assembly held at Le Pecq, I had invoked there the language
of independence and the principles of liberty, for we had
the advantage of having them on our side in fighting the
Convention. The question at issue was the carrying into
effect of the new constitution, called the Constitution of the
Year III. The Convention had decided that the renewal
of its membership should be carried out gradually, by the
going out and the coming in of a third of its members in
each succeeding year. It showed itself in that more astute
than the Constituent Assembly, which had sought to lay
down that none of its members should be again eligible.
The primary assembly at Le Pecq "protested strongly
against this decision. This was partly my work, and so I
was entrusted with laying its wishes before the cantonal
assembly of Saint-Germain, and then before the sections of
Paris. This mission took me to town three days before the
fight, and I left just after seeing it begin, in other words
lost, so short was its duration. I was never in a better
position to realize to what a degree the best and strongest
positions can become useless, when there is no one present
with sufficient brains to take advantage of them. I had
come to Paris, imbued, like so many others, with the con
viction that a strong hand was directing the movement.
But what did we find? Nothing but a crowd animated by
the best and most courageous intentions, together with a
number of prattlers in the tribunes of the sections. All
were bestirring themselves, urged on by a common senti
ment, each one asking of the other: "What must be done?
When are we to act? "
At least 60,000 men of the National Guard were provided
with arms. All the surrounding towns were prepared to
come to their rescue, but where was the general of this
army? What name inspiring authority could we bring
forward? If but a Bonchamp or a La Rochejaquelein had

132 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
appeared on the scene! Had one even been sure of any
general who had served with distinction in the republican
army! Villot, for instance, would have more than sufficed,
and then, it would have been all over with the Convention.
But who turned up at the eleventh hour? A M. Danican,
who had sprung from nowhere, whose name had remained
unspoken up to that moment, whose public life began and
ended on that day. Who appointed him? I never could
understand nor find out. What I did see plainly was his
complete inaction and his deplorable incapacity.
During the morning of the 13th the Convention, sur
rounded by 60,000 Parisian bayonets, no longer reigned
except over the chateau and the garden of the Tuileries.
Discord was in its ranks, and, moreover, we had in its midst
partisans, whose presence, although in a minority, was none
the less precious. At its disposal were only some three or
four thousand men, commanded, it is true, by General
Bonaparte, but at whose back, in spite of all contrary
belief, the rest of the French army did not stand. The
army was not taking any hand in the event, a fortunate
circumstance which was not repeated, for, from that day
and as a result of it, the army and its generals began to
take a part in home affairs, not to relinquish their inter
ference for some time to come.
When to this circumstance is added the fact that the
greater number of interests whieh were later to render so
difficult the coming to any arrangement had not yet sprung
up; that the greater part of the possessions of the imigrbs
had not been sold; that those which had been paid for with
assignats at the time of their greatest depreciation, were
still held by their original purchasers, it is hard to say
what must cause the most astonishment, the blindness, the
carelessness, or the incapacity which allowed so good an
opportunity to escape. At five o'clock in the evening, the

PEOPLE AGAIN TERRIFIED 133
*
opportunity had slipped past. A few cannon shots fired
against the steps of Saint-Roch had been sufficient to settle
the question.
I left at six o'clock, and went to Saint-Germain, to bring
my friends the first news of the disaster. I met, when near
Courbevoie, the battalions of the National Guard of that
city going to the rescue of that of Paris. There was noth
ing left for them but to turn back. People soon became as
terrified as they had been hopeful. They expected a re
newal of the Reign of Terror, and their fears were only too
well justified by a step taken in the hour of danger, by the
ringleaders of the Convention. They opened the prison
doors to the most violent revolutionists, whom it had been
necessary to keep under lock and key for some months past,
in order to restrain their fury and render vain the plots
which they had on several occasions fomented. Yet, the
results of that day were not as serious as might have been
expected. The victors apparently scented the danger of
abusing their success. They could not help being struck
with the almost unanimous feeling which was revealed
against them. Besides, the new elections were close at
hand, and the electors chosen in the primary assemblies
left no room for doubting that at the very least a spirit of
moderation would animate the new third of the members.
Nothing, indeed, will better illustrate the spirit govern
ing the electoral assemblies than the remarkable fact that
M. Boissy d'Anglas, the most important and honored mem
ber of the party of moderation in the Convention, the man
who had distinguished himself by a motion to restore the
property of those who had been sentenced to death, was
re-elected by at least four-fifths of the departments.
The electoral college to which I belonged met at Ver
sailles. It was three days before there were enough of
us present, and when the time came for us to choose our

134 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
representatives, great was our embarrassment. No one
dared to present the names which had been put forward a
few days before. Had things taken a different course on
the 13th, I might probably have been among those elected.
In spite of this mishap, I was still in a position to exercise
a somewhat marked influence, of which I made use to bring
forward the names of men open to less suspicion than
myself, but who might nevertheless be of service in present
ing our views. I contributed to the election of Messieurs
Lebrun and Troncon-Ducoudray, and so was instrumental
in sending the one to die at Sinnamary, while I opened for
the other the road to honors, power, and riches.
After the 13th Vendemiaire and the disastrous expedition
of Quiberon, came the regime of the Directoire, such as
established by the new constitution. Many people saw in
the creation of two Councils a balance of power which would
prove a safeguard against the storms and excesses of a
solitary assembly. People were in so great a need of rest
that they hailed with joy anything that might resemble a
shelter. This faith was not deceived as cruelly as it
deserved to be.
The Directoire was installed on the 1st of November,
and on the 19th every heart that was truly French was
really gladdened. Negotiations long carried on came to a
happy conclusion. The daughter of Louis XVI. was allowed
to leave the Temple, and was escorted to the frontier, to be
exchanged against prisoners who in various ways had fallen
into the hands of Austria, which had kept them in strict
seclusion in some of its fortresses. They were the con
ventionnels he Camus, Quinette, Lamarque, and Bancal,
whom Dumouriez had handed over at the time of his defec
tion; Messieurs de Semonville and Maret, arrested on the
borders of the Tyrol and of Italy, as they were proceeding
as ambassadors of the French Republic, the one to Naples,

THE DIRECTOIRE 135
the other to Constantinople. The exchange took place
at Bale.
Up to that time, the princess had not much reason to be
pleased with the behavior of her relations of the House of
Austria. When it came to taking leave of the persons who
had accompanied her from Paris, the idea of finding herself
handed completely over to strangers became painful to her,
and her heart, which had remained French, was painfully
rent with the idea that she was about to leave her own
country, probably forever.
This act of justice and humanity, which was so long in
coming, produced a good impression. But the Directoire
knew not how to persevere in the path which this happy
beginning seemed to open for it. It occasionally showed
itself cruel, and oftentimes ridiculous and corrupt.
Barras was its sovereign, while Mme. Tallien and several
other women did the honors of it. It was in the Salon of
the Directoire that Mme. de Beauharnais laid the foundation
of her high fortunes. There she met General Bonaparte.
It would not be fair not to admit that the choice he made
of that woman was a happy one. At the very outset of
her career, she showed herself, such as she was ever in
the future, gentle, kind, compassionate, and helpful. No
sooner did she have any influence, than she made use of
it to render aid to and to defend those who were in distress.
It was mostly the emigre's who were in the habit of avail
ing themselves of her generosity and of her zeal, whether it
was that they sought to escape a military commission, or
help in their efforts to have their names erased from the
list of bmigris, and have their estates restored to them. It
was the time when they began to flock home, having almost
all of them exhausted their resources, or being unable to
endure any longer their aversion of owing to strangers the
mainstay of their existence. The hope of still finding

136 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
some slight remnants of their fortune, of securing some
inheritance, the desire of seeing their own people and their
country, made them run all the risks attendant on their
return. It is true that these dangers became less every
day, for there was a concerted union of efforts to put an
end to their pitiful and painful position. The flocking of
the Emigres to Paris was noticeable to a degree. The thirst
for pleasure which reigned then was one of the charac
teristics of the time. I am far from justifying it, and yet
it entered perhaps into the natural order of things more
than is generally believed. It was not all improvidence
and giddiness; there existed also the necessity of a little of
that relaxation which it is absolutely necessary for human
beings to enjoy, especially after emerging from trials so
hard and of so long a duration.
Nothing to-day remains unknown or mysterious in con
nection with the 18th Fructidor. It may nevertheless be
appropriate to devote some attention to the part played
therein by a certain number of liberty's friends to whom I
shall have to recur pretty frequently in the course of my
narrative. They deplored the aberration of which France
had been the victim since the 10th of August, but the
reaction which was inclining minds to the idea of arbitrary
power was to them a cause for alarm. In their eyes the
return of the regime which had preceded 1789 was fraught
with the greatest perils, and they enjoyed sufficient per
spicacity to believe that such a return was among the
probabilities, should the party of moderation be in the
ascendant. The hdtel of Mme. de Stael was the place of rendezvous
of those holding this opinion, whose most talented advocate
was M. Benjamin Constant, while it had as its prop in the
government M. de Talleyrand, who had just been appointed
Minister of Foreign Affairs through Mme. de Stael's influ-

THE EIGHTEENTH FRUCTIDOR 137
ence over Barras. He was one of those who most feared
the return of the Bourbons, aware as he was that his past
precluded the idea of his ever being forgiven by them.
This little coterie (this gathering can hardly be dignified
with any other appellation) enjoyed a somewhat important
influence. It helped to spur the Directoire on, and to hasten
its decisions. It is true that after the perpetration of the
18th Fructidor, it protested against its consequences. It
had prayed for the day, but not for what was to happen on
the one succeeding it. I must make an exception of M. de
Talleyrand in this connection. He was not the man to
indulge in such silly visions, and to believe that when one
had once trampled on sacred rights, one could place them
on a pedestal next day, and then defy their resurrection.
The Directoire proved itself more consistent than the
salon of Mme. de Stael. Yet, owing to the moderation then
prevailing in revolutionary methods, it transported its fallen
foes, instead of sending them to the scaffold, trusting to the
deserts of Sinnamary to put an end to their existence.
General Pichegru, the conqueror of Holland, was sent to
those inhospitable shores, together with his colleagues, to
expiate his mad confidence, and so he disappeared from the
scene of politics, to return to it only to meet with a tragic
end. No more painful recollection haunted him probably
during the term of his dreadful exile, than that of the
weakness of Moreau, who had succeeded him in the com
mand of his army, and who, without any respect for his
own glory, was not ashamed, after the 18th Fructidor, to
disown his former chief, and to supply his enemies with
the proofs of his counter-revolutionary plans. They were
but too plainly set forth in a correspondence which had
been seized in the baggage-wagon of an Austrian general,
and which Moreau forwarded to the Directoire.
I was no longer in Paris, nor in its neighborhood, at the

138 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
time of the 18th Fructidor. A month before I had left my
place of residence in Croissy to go and live in the province
in which were my estates, which had just been restored to
me. On quitting the capital, I left the different parties in
face of each other, but I did not carry away with me any
hope for the success of the Royalist party, to which I
belonged. The faith of my friends had this time not proved
contagious, as it had at the time of the 13th Vendemiaire.
I could perceive only too clearly, in spite of a few seduc
tive appearances, our positive weakness and the strength of
our enemies, and so I heard of the result without surprise.
This second period of the Directoire's regime proved
much harder for it to weather than the first. The Depart
ment of the Sarthe, where I had come to dwell, and which
formed part of the former province of Maine, was one of
those which attained great importance through the civil
war of the West. The town of Le Mans had been the scene
of a pitched battle, which resulted in the almost total
destruction of the Vendean army, after it had crossed the
Loire. The country did not take any part in the insurrec
tion, and the Vendeans gathered few partisans while pass
ing through it. They met with the same reception
throughout nearly the whole of Brittany, which, like
Maine, was only to rise in insurrection six months later,
after these two provinces had allowed the Vendean army to
be crushed without in any way coming to its help. The
absolute lack of a common leadership was cause that the
Royalist party failed to gain any striking advantage, and
paralyzed the most courageous and the most generous efforts.
Moreover, the uprising of the Departments of Brittany
and of Maine was of an entirely different nature from that
of the Vendee. No large armed bodies ever came into
existence. There were merely a number of little bands
which would meet at a given signal, now in one direction,

THE CHOUANNERIE 139
and again in another. Such a system could not engender
any decisive results ; but, on the other hand, it was hard to
overtake and to crush out the insurgents. These little
bands had each their own leaders, each one independent of
the other, and they were as hard to manage as to put to
fighting purposes. This is what has been designated as the
chouannerie. Upon my arrival home, a patehed-up peace was concluded
between the chouans and the Republic. The neighborhood
was still suffering from the presence of a few irregular
bands, which had taken to habits of brigandage, rather than
to fighting. They pretended not to have heard of any
conclusion of peace, and, from time to time, they would
attack stage-coaches, and spread terror in the rural districts.
A fresh importance was given to them by the 18th
Fructidor, and a secret undercurrent soon made itself felt.
It was an entirely novel spectacle, the one afforded by
that portion of France which dared to show a bold front
to the Revolution, which forced it to compromise in spite
of its victories, and where, as a result, people had contracted
and preserved a liberty of thought and speech unknown
elsewhere. It was in the nature of a surprise for all those,
who, like myself, had spent all the years of the Revolution
in Paris, and in localities where it had always been able to
enforce obedience. Here the conquered ones still showed
a noble pride and independence, and defeats were titles to
honor even in the eyes of the victors. How often did I
not listen with pleasure to the narrative of the battle of
Le Mans, and of the exploits of the brave and high-minded
La Rochejaquelein, whose name was on everybody's lips!
What a sight it was for me to look upon those country
districts which I had left in a state of peace, where no
fight had been waged up to that time for over two centuries,
and which I now saw covered with graves hardly closed!

140 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
In all directions, even in my park, and in the farmyards, was
I shown the resting-places of these Vendean peasants, who
proved such admirable models of a courage, of a fidelity, of
a resignation of which history cannot but ever preserve the
recollection. There is no doubt that the battle-fields of a
civil war inspire one with feelings hitherto unknown. The
lessons they inculcate are of a deeper and more solemn
nature than any others. The fallen ones whom one mourns
have in them something great, dark, and terrible. The
tears shed over them have a bitterness of their own, and
time can hardly wipe out these sorrowful impressions.
The country's state of exhaustion was indeed great. The
losses, especially of men of note capable of exercising great
influence and of commanding a following, had been numer
ous, and of too recent occurrence to countenance the fear of
a new uprising of any strength, nor was such an uprising to
be desired, for it could not contribute to the success of the
Royalist cause, and would, of necessity, give birth to much
useless misery.
Not the slightest illusion could be indulged in after the
fatal results of the last appeal to arms made by Charette
and Stofflet and after the Quiberon disaster. A few leaders
of minor rank still labored, if not to bring about an upris
ing, at least to create a belief in one. They thus hoped
to increase their own importance. There was no lack of
encouragement from abroad, and secret communications
found their way from British shores, urging a renewal of
the civil war in the provinces of the West, a war to which
so little assistance had been furnished, and from which no
advantage had been derived, when so much might have
resulted from it. The Vendean and Breton peasantry, whom
there had been attempts to drive to insurrection from time
to time, and the unfortunate members of the gentry, which
the London cabinet sent for the fourth and fifth time on

THE EMIGRES 141
the shores of Poitou or of Brittany, had deserved well
enough of the king's cause not to be so lightly sent to
slaughter. These uprisings became a pretext for acts of coercion.
During the month following the 18th Fructidor, and upon
a rumor of Royalist movements in a certain number of
departments, the banishment of all the nobles and the con
fiscation of their properties was resolved upon. In lieu of
the latter, they were to receive a peddler's bundle, with
which they were to be driven across the frontier.
Already were the emigres, who had returned in great
numbers during the preceding months, compelled to seek
safety in flight once more, under the penalty of seeing the
unrepealed blood laws affecting them enforced. Nothing
could be more insensate than this latest motion against the
nobility, and yet it emanated from a committee the prin
cipal figure of which was the celebrated Abbe Sieyes. It
was he who, during the reign of the Constituent Assembly,
at the time of the seizure of the clergy's possessions, had
exclaimed: "They seek to become free, when they do not
even understand the meaning of equity ! " Still, he had
not dared to undertake drawing up the report, So this duty
devolved upon M. Boulay, the newly elected representative
of the Department of the Meurthe. It was all the more
surprising to see him undertake such a mission, from the
fact that he had joined the Assembly with an honorable
reputation, and that he had not bound himself by any
engagement to the party of the Revolution. Great was the
fright caused thereby.
On being informed of what was about to happen, I went
to Paris, for the purpose of procuring some little funds, so
that if it became necessary for me to leave France, I should,
at least in the beginning, not feel the pangs of distress.
Three weeks later the motion was finally rejected.

142 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
A great and fortunate event had happened across the
frontier. General Bonaparte had signed a treaty of peace
with Austria at Campo-Formio. Uniting in himself the
powers of both negotiator and general, he had made free
use of both, and had paid as little heed to the express
commands of the Directoire with regard to the bases and
terms of the treaty, as to its directions for the carrying out
of the campaign.
His mind had, for some time back, dwelt on the idea of
destroying the ancient Republic of Venice, and he had
taken from what remained of it sufficient to compensate
Austria for its final cession of the Netherlands to France,
and of the districts of Milan and Mantua, and the duchy of
Modena to the Cisalpine Republic, which was erected into
an independent State. Austria bound itself not to raise
any obstacles to France's frontier, which was to include
Mayence which she had not then occupied, being extended
to the banks of the Rhine. The last named agreement
could, however, only be ratified finally with the Germanic
Empire, and to that effect a congress was called at Rastadt
in Suabia. This was, with but one slight exception, almost
the conclusion of a continental peace, for England alone
remained in arms. The Directoire had so willed it, for it
had as early as the 18th of September hastened to break off
the negotiations carried on for several months past at Lille
with Lord Malmesbury, England's plenipotentiary.
Bonaparte was appointed plenipotentiary to the Rastadt
congress, that he might bring to an issue the work of
pacification which he had wrought so far. He went there,
on leaving Italy, but hardly did more than put in an
appearance. The high and imperious position which he
had already taken, would not have allowed him to follow
with the necessary moderation, the painfully fastidious
discussions which were bound to occur in an assembly of

BONAPARTE AND THE DIRECTOIRE 143
Germanic plenipotentiaries. He left his colleagues to do
the work, and hastened back to Paris.
The Directoire welcomed him with a gratitude that was
feigned, and did its best to dissemble, under the outward
appearance of the highest admiration, and of a confidence
without limits, the vexation so strong a position inspired it
with. Italy's conqueror was immediately assigned to the
command of the troops which were supposed to be gathering
by the ocean side, and the aggregation of which was to take
the name of "army against England." This constituted
the first "recorded threat of landing troops on the British
coast, for the abortive expedition of General Hoche on the
Irish coast cannot be viewed from this standpoint.
The general was presented to the Directoire in the court
yard of the Petit Luxembourg, where an autel de la patrie
had been erected. He was introduced to the five Directors
by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, M. de Talleyrand, who
took occasion to deliver a speech wherein, honoring in
Bonaparte "his undying love of country and of humanity,"
he praised " his contempt for luxuriousness and pomp, this
miserable ambition of ordinary souls! The day was ap
proaching when it would become necessary to entreat him
to tear himself away from the quiet peace of his studious
retreat." It was noticed that General Bonaparte hardly partook of
any dish at the dinner whieh followed this ceremony. This
abstinence was attributed to his feeling unwell, but I learnt
since from his confidential aide-de-camp, M. de La Valette,
that Bonaparte had considered this precaution necessary in
the face of the dangers which he believed threatened his
existence. Whether or not his suspicions were based on
any foundation, one cannot but help recording them, for
they must have greatly affected the resolution he was about
to take.

144 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
Winter had hardly set in, when he abandoned the idea of
an expedition to England. The almost insurmountable
obstacles connected with it could not escape him. Never
theless, he felt that he must not suffer the public enthusi
asm, of which he was the object, to cool off.
The Directoire mistrusted and hated him. Of that, he
could not entertain any doubts. The Directoire was capable
of anything; he knew that also, so there was nothing better
for him to do but to remove himself, at least for a short
while. In view of his plans for the future, was he not
gaining a great advantage by abandoning this wretched
government to itself? The measure of its follies was not
yet full. So he again turned his thoughts towards an
expedition to Egypt. He had bethought himself of it
during the last months he spent in Italy. Of this, there
can be no doubt. He had, even in those days, secured
sufficient information as to the means for bringing it to a
successful issue, and he had, moreover, kept spies at work
in the island of Malta. No sooner had he fully made up
his mind, than it was an easy matter for him to get the
Directoire's consent to the expedition, for it was no less
ready to give him the opportunity of leaving, than he was
to grasp it. All things were therefore placed at his dis
posal, preparations were made with a rapidity heretofore
without precedent, and with a secrecy one cannot too much
admire. The times were favorable for finding men willing to run
great risks in foreign lands, so little was the security
promised at home by the government.
General Bonaparte left Toulon by the 19th of May.
Who was there, who, with the knowledge of the strength
of the English squadrons cruising about, would have dared
to say that there was any chance of his succeeding in cross
ing the Mediterranean? Nelson, it is well known, twice

RIOTING IN ROME 145
came very near meeting the expedition, and had he done so,
its destruction would have been certain.
War was still going on in Europe at the time General
Bonaparte was sailing away from the shores of Provence.
Riots which had occurred, or, rather, which had deliberately
been fomented in Rome, in the course of which the French
ambassadorial residence had been violated, and General
Duphot had fallen a victim to the popular frenzy, had
furnished the French troops with the impatiently waited
for opportunity of advancing on the capital of the Christian
world. They entered Rome on the 18th of January, and
established a hold on it by occupying the castle of San
Angelo. On the 15th of the following month, the Roman
Republic was proclaimed, and the Pope, forcibly removed
from the Vatican, was carried away into Tuscany, and
imprisoned in a chartreuse.
France interfered in Switzerland's affairs under the pre
text of restoring a tranquillity which had been only dis
turbed by an insurrection of the Vaudois against the
government of Berne, an insurrection clearly fomented by
the intrigues of the Directoire. The French troops invaded
the Vaud country on the 28th of February, the day in which
the union of Mulhouse with France was proclaimed. This
was a free city, which formed part of the Swiss Confedera
tion. Fribourg was next taken, after a battle fought on the
2d of March. Berne was occupied on the 9th, after several
bloody engagements, and Switzerland's liberty and inde
pendence fell together.
It was on this occasion that Carnot, in a pamphlet which
he published from the seclusion of his retreat in Germany,
wrote this so pithy sentence : " The Directoire sought for the
place where it could find the greatest number of free men
to kill, and so it pounced on Switzerland." On the 26th of
April, the Republic of Geneva became united to France.

146 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
General Bonaparte was not as foreign as might be
inferred to these deeds, the odium of which he preferred
to leave to the Directoire, but which certainly chimed in
with his political views and his military combinations. At
the time of his passing through Switzerland, on his way to
Rastadt, he had spoken a few significant words, which had
not escaped his lips unadvisedly. He had expressed dis
content with the conduct of the Swiss government during
his campaign in Italy. This discontent was the herald of
ulterior plans, and might, in case of need, serve as a reason
and as an excuse for putting them in execution.
In Italy, the king of Naples unwisely undertook to attack
the French troops occupying his kingdom. His army of
40,000 men, commanded by General Mack, was successful
for a few days only, during which, it ,is true, Rome fell
into its hands; but it was soon driven out of the city, and
ere two months had elapsed French troops were under the
walls of Naples, and soon entered the city in triumph.
In northern Italy, the king of Sardinia, Charles Emman
uel, had just succeeded his father Victor Amadeus. Less
resigned than his predecessor to France's rigorous methods,
he soon afforded the opportunity for suspecting that,
together with the king of Naples, he was ready to join the
coalition which was doubtless being negotiated between
Austria, England, and Russia. He had not long to wait
for his chastisement. War was declared against him on
the 5th of December, and on the 10th his capital was occu
pied. Without any other resource left to him but to take
refuge at Cagliari, in the island of Sardinia, and wishing
to live there in peace, he accepted the terms imposed upon
him of ceding to France all his rights over Piedmont.
Thus, by the end of 1798, or in the first days of January,
1799, almost the whole of Italy, from Naples to the Alps,
was occupied by the French armies. Their number was not

THE MILITARY CONSCRIPTION 147
in proportion with the weight of the burden which they had
to carry, nor with the dangers which were about to threaten
them unceasingly, for the coalition of which I have fore
shadowed the existence could not but fail to act by the time
spring came around. Everybody could foresee it, and the
Directoire, which had so plainly provoked the formation of
this coalition, had to provide the means for resisting it.
From a financial point of view, the Directoire's position was
exceedingly bad, for it had been compelled, at the beginning
of 1798, to have recourse to a forced loan of eighty millions,
alleging for that purpose the expenses to be incurred in
making preparations for the invasion of England. As
regards the military situation, the .Directoire was not much
better off. The French army, composed exclusively of the
men the supply of whom had been furnished through the
requisitions of the Convention, had suffered considerable
losses during the bloody and lengthy wars it had been
through during the past six years. It was therefore greatly
diminished in numbers, and besides, General Bonaparte had
just taken with him the best part of it, what might be
considered its Mite. Moreover, there was no regular methpd
of recruiting, and it was with the view of filling this void
in the legislation, that the establishment of a military con
scription, such or almost such as existed to the end of the
Empire, was determined upon.
The law creating this institution was passed on the
report of General Jourdan. So it happened that the good
fortune of Bonaparte should will that the foundation of the
military power, which he was soon to raise to so high a
degree, should be laid in his absence without the primary
severity of the legislation, which was to give birth to it,
being laid to his door.
Austria began to act on the offensive during March, and
on the 25th of that month, the Archduke Charles won an

148 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
important battle over General Jourdan, a short distance
from Constance. In order to guard against the consequences
of- this defeat, the command of the army was given to
General Massena, whose forces joined those already in
Switzerland, and who took up his position in the neighbor
hood of Zurich, maintaining himself in it, and defending it
with so much glory. Over in Italy, General Scherer allowed
himself to be beaten on the 25th and the 30th of March,
under the walls of Verona, by General Kray, who was at
the head of 60,000 soldiers.
A few days later, General Suvaroff, with 40,000 Rus
sians, joined this army, and from that date he directed the
campaign on behalf of the coalition. He pursued it with
the vigor and activity characteristic of him. This first
appearance of a new force on the scene of war was one of
the most important happenings of the epoch. France had
repeatedly been threatened with it, without the threat hav
ing been carried into effect, but it was now about to play a
most important part.
In face of such overwhelming odds, there was nothing
left for the French but to beat a retreat. It was accom
plished with difficulty, but it proved less disastrous than it
might have been in view of existing conditions, had not
General Moreau, who was serving in a kind of volunteer
capacity, been with the army. No time was lost in turning
over the command to him. He could hardly make good the
mistakes of the incapable Scherer, but he succeeded in
lessening somewhat their consequences.
During the month of May, Sieyes, on his return from
Prussia, took the place of Rewbell in the Directoire;
Treilhard, Larevelliere-Lepeaux, and Merlin of Douay were
replaced by Roger-Ducos, an obscure conventional, by
Gohier, the least known of all the magistracy, and lastly,
by General Moulin. Barras alone remained out of the first

THE DIRECTOIRE'S INCAPACITY 149
set. He had latterly signalized himself by an odious act of
revenge. There existed in the Palais-Royal a cafi, which
was the meeting-place of a number of young men who had
little fondness for the Directoire, and whose sarcastic
remarks disturbed its peace of mind, whenever they reached
its ears. Barras invited a few officers to dinner at his
house, and placed them under the orders of Colonel Four
nier, one of the worst characters in the army. During the
course of the evening, they were led by him to the cafi
mentioned. They entered it with drawn swords, and at
once began slashing right and left. A number of the
habitues were wounded, and among them General Oudinot.
He was quietly partaking of ice-cream, and it was doubtless
intended that he should be struck. He complained pretty
loudly in the beginning against such an outrage, but the
affair was stifled, and the criminal deed remained unpun
ished, for it originated from too high. Oudinot and several
of his friends had not lost the memory of it, when later on
they helped to overthrow the Directoire.
Anxious to procure at any price the funds of which it
stood in pressing need, the Directoire had recourse once
more to a forced loan. With regard to the malcontents,
and especially the Royalists of the western departments, it
flattered itself with containing and repressing them, by
causing to be voted a law authorizing it to lay hands on
hostages in all localities wherein the slightest disturbance
should occur. I narrowly escaped becoming a victim of
this law, even before its promulgation.
A commissioner of the Executive had been assassinated
in the street of Le Mans by a few chouans, who had been
bold enough to enter the city. Thereupon the local authori
ties sought fit to arrest a few landowners in the surrounding
country, who were supposed to favor in a special fashion
the Royalist party, with a view of holding them as hostages

150 MEMOIRS OE CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
for their own safety. As these were signs that these tactics
were likely to be renewed frequently, I hastened to return
to Paris, happy to be back in it, for, in reality, one was
much safer there than anywhere else. This can easily be
accounted for. The secret of the weakness of the Directoire
was seen all the better at short range. At a distance, it
still looked imposing, and the provincial revolutionists did
not lack zeal in carrying out its behests. The Paris revo
lutionists were wiser, and did not care to commit themselves
on its behalf.
The Councils (the two Chambers), in spite of the weeding
out to which they had been subjected, still contained the
elements of a party of moderation which was only seeking
an opportunity to shake off its shameful harness. To that
party was due the rejecting of the measure proposed by
Messieurs Sieyes and Boulay (of the Meurthe) against the
nobility. Hence was persecution less harsh in Paris, where
an amount of secret protection, whieh was not without its
effect, was to be obtained at times. Meanwhile anarchy
was spreading.
The triumphs of the coalition had been put an end to in
Switzerland by Massena, and by Brune in Holland. But,
although they had been able to defeat the foreigner, they
were not sufficiently strong to overturn the government.
To accomplish that end, it was necessary that General
Bonaparte should return to France.
Fate led me one evening to the theatre next to a box
occupied by two very pretty women who were unknown to
me. During the performance a message was brought to
them. I noticed that it caused great and joyous commo
tion. They left, and I soon afterwards learnt that they
were the sisters of Bonaparte, and that he had landed on
French soil. A courier had brought the news. The effect
produced on me by the knowledge of this fact, and on the

BONAPARTE'S RETURN 151
greater number of those who received it, simultaneously
with me, was in no way proportionate to the consequences
which were to follow. We did not at that early date place
much reliance upon the views and the intentions of Italy's
conqueror, and this was not to be wondered at. He had
come under our notice for the first time on the 13th Vende
miaire. To him was greatly due the 18th Fructidor, and
the form of government which had come of it.
The expedition to Egypt, which has since spoken so
strongly to the imagination, was then hardly looked upon
as anything else but a mad undertaking. The destruction
bf our fleet at Aboukir by Nelson, the siege of a paltry town
like St. Jean d'Acre, which he had been compelled to raise,
and the information which we had received by way of
England, had considerably shorn of their glory the effect of
the bulletins from the army of the East. People seemed
to see more braggadocio than earnestness in them, and the
adventurer apparently predominated over the great general.
What had especially struck people in these bulletins, was
a certain declaration of faith in favor of the Mahometan
creed, the effect of which, though it might be somewhat
great in Egypt, had, in France, only called forth ridicule.
I state all this, because a number of people, believing
apparently that they were adding to their hero's greatness,
have since sought to present him as ardently and impa
tiently expected. I am of the opinion that they have not
spoken truly, while deceiving themselves with regard to
the effect which they have sought to produce. To my mind,
Bonaparte is far greater, when he is considered as arriving
when no one expects him or dreams of him, when he faces
the disadvantages of a return bearing resemblance to a
flight, when he triumphs over the prejudices which this
return raises against him, and when in the space of a month
he lays hand on every form of power. He is far greater,

152 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
I maintain, when surrounded by all the obstacles he has
triumphed over, than when an attempt is made to present
him as the cynosure of all eyes, and having but to come
forward to become lord of all.
Owing to the very natural lack of resolve on the part of
the Directoire, to whom, moreover, little time was vouch
safed wherein to come to any fixed purpose, Bonaparte
reached Paris at the same time as the news of his landing.
From that very moment his behavior showed prodigious
cleverness. In the first place he knew sufficiently how to
keep all the parties in so uncertain a state with regard to
his plans, that although something important was expected
to happen, everything connected with it remained unknown
up to the very last moment.
He put into application the method he so often made use
of afterwards, and which no one perhaps has ever better
put into practice, that of making the most opposite opinions
unite and march together to his own goal. Thus, with the
exception of the Royalists, none of whom had yet joined
forces with him, and a few Revolutionists who had been
abandoned by their principal leaders, all those who had
been prominent in public life since the death of the Constit
uent Assembly helped to bring about the 18th Brumaire;
in other words, those who had made the 18th Fructidor, and
those who had submitted to it. The army of the Rhine
and the army of Italy, both so jealous of each other,
followed the same road towards the goal and kept step
together. Generals Jourdan and Bernadotte, among those
whose names were known to fame, were the only ones who
held aloof. The former was held back by his republican
principles; the latter, by his personal ambitious views.
Sieyes came to the rescue, and with him Roger-Ducos,
of whom he could dispose as he saw fit. Sieyes was the
principal dupe on the eventful day. He did not see that

THE EIGHTEENTH BRUMAIRE 153
his metaphysics were about to vanish in the presence of the
practical genius of the general.
The indecision of Barras, or rather Bonaparte's shrewd
ness in creating and fostering it, ridded him of a man who
would have claimed first rank, but who had become so
debased that any contact with him was in itself compromis
ing. Barras was allowed to keep the money he had stolen,
and it may be that more was given to him. He was fortu
nate enough to lead a peaceful and obscure life, following
upon the highest position, and he apparently found in the
enjoyment of such an existence some compensation for the
power he had lost. In such a wise did this man live
through the consular and the imperial regime, which trans
mitted him to the royal government such as it had found
him. The men most taken into the confidence of General Bona
parte, and who were best informed as to his plans during
the days preceding the 18th Brumaire, were, besides his
brother Lucien, Messieurs Roederer, Regnaud de Saint-Jean
d'Angely, Cambaceres, and Talleyrand. In addition to
these, some hundred and fifty men at least were initiated
into his secrets, to a higher or lesser degree. In spite of this,
the Directoire was taken unawares. The military guard of
the Directoire took sides against it, without its president
(Gohier) entertaining the least suspicion of this defection.
This guard, composed of an infantry regiment which had
belonged to the army of Italy, and of a cavalry regiment
commanded by the Corsican Sebastiani, formed the nucleus
of the military forces Bonaparte could dispose of, and
ensured the success of his enterprise.
General Lefevre, who was in command of the Paris gar
rison, went over to him unreservedly. This service was
never forgotten, and the recollection of it is to be found
during the brilliant period when Napoleon distributed

154 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
among his adherents so many of the batons of a Marshal of
France. Many accessions to fortune, among those which
occurred during the Consulate and the Empire, are to be
explained in the same fashion, and their foundations rest
upon claims to gratitude dating from the same epoch.
Whether as First Consul or as Emperor, Bonaparte ever
showed his gratitude in this respect.
It is unnecessary to dwell to any extent on the scenes of
the 18th and 19th Brumaire (November 10th and 11th, 1799).
They have been so often told, and no one can have forgotten
General Bonaparte's apostrophe, on the 18th, to the parti
sans of the Directoire, as spoken to an emissary of Barras :
" What have you done with that land of France which I left
to your care in so magnificent a condition? I bequeathed
you peace, and on my return I find war. I left you the
memory of victories, and now I have come back to face
defeats. I left with you the millions I had gathered in
Italy, and to-day I see nothing in every direction but laws
despoiling the people, coupled with distress. What have
you done with the one hundred thousand French citizens,
my companions in glory, all of whom I knew? You have
sent them to their death. This state of things cannot last,
for it would lead us to despotism. We require liberty
reposing on the basis of equality."
It is a known fact, that on the 19th, at Saint-Cloud, the
firmness of General Bonaparte, so often tested in the battle
field, was for a moment shaken by the vociferous yells with
which he was greeted by the Conseil des Cinq-Cents, and in
the face of which he deemed it prudent to beat a retreat.
His brother Lucien was the president of this Council, and
the firmness of the parliamentarian was in this instance
more enduring than that of the warrior. Lucien weathered
the storm, and prevented the passing of a decree of outlawry.
Bonaparte soon returned, supported by a military escort

THE CONSULAR GOVERNMENT 155
commanded by Generals Murat and Leclerc. The soldiers
had been electrified by a rumor that the life of Bonaparte
had been attempted in the chamber of the Council. The
appearance and the attitude of this faithful armed band
quickly cut the Gordian knot. The chamber was soon
evacuated, and many of the members of the Council, anx
ious to take the shortest road, fled by the windows.
So Bonaparte remained master of the situation by means
of a method bearing some resemblance to that put in use by
Cromwell to rid himself of the Long Parliament. Still, the
French general preserved a greater respect for the appear
ances than his forerunner, and he took care to shelter
himself behind a semblance of legality.
The Conseil des Anciens, which was, almost to a man, on
his side, and the remnants of the Council which the sight
of bayonets had sufficed to disperse, met at Saint-Cloud the
same night. The result of the deliberations of that night
in the two Councils was the abolition of the Directoire, the
expulsion of seventy-two members belonging to the over
thrown party in the two Councils, the establishing of a pro
visional government composed of three consuls, and, lastly,
the adjournment of the Councils till the 23d of January
following. A legislative commission of fifty members was
appointed to act ad interim.
The three provisional consuls were Sieyes and Roger-
Ducos of the Directoire, and General Bonaparte. This
provisional state of government lasted only six weeks,
during which the consuls and the Legislative Commission
prepared and drew up the France's Constitution. This was
the fourth in ten years. It was promulgated on the 24th
of December, and is known as the Constitution of the Year
VIII. Its result was to establish the consular government.
A new era dawned for France with this form of gov
ernment. The face of things was entirely changed, and

156 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
everything began to tend to a new goal. The powers of
the clubs, and of deliberative assemblies, was succeeded by
the most absolute authority placed in the hands of one man.
Thus, with but slight shades of distinction, will the march
of events ever progress henceforth, and one form of excess
will ever call forth its very opposite.
Nevertheless, absolute power, however much it was
prayed for, did not become firmly established without
encountering serious obstacles. Bonaparte's first footsteps
were remarkable for the prudence, the sagacity, and the
talent he displayed. At the outset, he merely devoted his
attention to indispensable matters, planting stakes along
the road he was to travel, and thus making it more secure.
His consular government was, in the first place, organ
ized in such a fashion as to break up as much as possible
the revolutionary framework. His good fortune willed that
the ideology of Sieyes, which ever and ever gave birth to
new combinations, should render him most valuable aid
in this undertaking. Thus, the power of the deliberative
assemblies, already shorn of much of its strength by the
creation of the two Councils which had taken the place of
the Convention, was still more circumscribed by being
divided into three parts. The first was composed of life
members whose deliberations were held in secret. The
second, which was elective, and renewed in part every year,
was doomed to silence. The third was likewise elective,
but was allowed the mere freedom of speech and the making
public of its debates. It was free to give advice, but its
vote was never taken into consideration. It was evident
that this third branch was a mere hors-d'oeuvre, and that
when it should be in the way, it could be done away with,
without any indispensable component part of the machinery
being cut off.
A noteworthy fact is the so readily established accord

RETIREMENT OF SIEYES 157
among all those who took a share in the organization of the
representative branch of the government. Nothing demon
strates better to what a degree the excesses of these assem
blies, notably the Legislative Assembly and the Convention,
had terrified the public mind, and how a return to such
excesses was dreaded. Equally unanimous was the resolve
to put a curb on popular elections. Nothing better could
be devised to that end than the primary assemblies, the can
tonal assemblies, the electoral colleges in the departments
and in the arrondissements, whose power was limited to
designating a certain number of candidates, from which the
life body known as the Sinat conservateur made a selection.
And so all this was conceived and adopted without
straining by Sieyes and by all the ardent friends of liberty.
The same was not to occur when it came to establishing the
basis of what was called the executive power. This was
the rock upon which Sieyes and Bonaparte split, but, as a
matter of course, the general gained his point. There was
not, as Sieyes wished for, either a great elector, or two or
three consuls placed on an equal footing. The result was,
after all, a first, a second, and a third consul, Bonaparte
naturally getting the highest rank. Sieyes having declared
that the position of second or third consul was not to his
liking, Bonaparte was little troubled at his repugnance, and
chose for himself two more practical and more accommodat
ing colleagues.
The Abbe Sieyes therefore entered quietly into the Sinat
conservateur, and finally lost all importance and considera
tion by his acceptance, as the price of his "valuable ser
vices," of the national estate of Crosne, which gave rise to
the following rather merry lines : —
Sieyes a Bonaparte a fait present du trone,
Sous un pompeux debris croyant l'ensevelir ;
Bonaparte a Sieyes a fait present de Crosne
Pour le payer et l'avilir !

158 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
The attributes of the three consuls were as follows: to
Cambaceres was given the direction of all legislative work,
while Lebrun took charge of the financial administration.
As to the First Consul, he scrupled not to declare openly
that he reserved unto himself everything proper to the
exercise of the executive power, all things relating to the
army and to war, adding thereto, as a necessary conse
quence, he said, all things pertaining to foreign relations.
The formation and the organization of the Council of
State was next taken up, and Bonaparte succeeded in
embodying in it all those whose useful talents in every
direction, and especially in the civil service, had come to
the fore through the Revolution. This Council was the
mainspring of the administration of the First Consul and
of the Emperor. It contributed, in a powerful degree, to
France's home organization. Moreover, the methods and
ways of this branch of the administration, when set in
motion in the countries which the fortunes of war united
shortly afterwards to the Empire, had such happy results
in almost all localities wherein they were put into force,
that they oftentimes caused the ills following upon con
quest to be forgotten.
Matters which since 1789 had been submitted to collective
deliberation, were left to the decision of a single individual.
Administration by department and by arrondissement be
came administration by prefect and by sub-prefect.
The consequences of such a change were of great import.
The principle of unity -of action in the midst of all terri
torial divisions, responsibility well defined and reascending
up to the supreme head itself, promptly restored order in
the government. At first, this all-important result was far
from being grasped and appreciated as it should have been.
It was the democratic principle sapped at its very root, and,
from the outset, the undoing of the work of the Constit-

WORK OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT 159
uent Assembly. The Assembly's efforts had all tended
to diminish authority, to weaken supreme power, while,
under the new order of things, this power was actually
re-established. What gave the greatest pleasure was the disappearance
of a number of petty officials, who were both worthless
and incapable, and at whose mercy the administration of
departments and arrondissements had been for the past ten
years. They were all the more inclined to make the
weight of their authority felt, because they had almost
all of them sprung from the lowliest strata of society.
People found it to their advantage to have to deal with
but a single representative of the central power, whose
interest it would be to possess the esteem of those he gov
erned, in order to be able to retain his important position.
Moreover the creation of councils, for the departments and
for the arrondissements, had shown some consideration for
the collective needs of local interests, and this concession
was considered sufficient.
The new government did yet another thing, the grandest
perhaps under the circumstances surrounding it, the credit
for whieh belongs entirely to Bonaparte. It forgot the past,
and announced that its only enemies would be those who
were so of their own seeking. This resolve was carried out
in the choice of the men called upon to fill the numerous
offices which were at the government's disposal, those of pre
fects, sub-prefects, prefectoral councillors, members of the
Tribunat, of the Corps legislatif, of the Council of State,
and of the Sinat conservateur.
Bonaparte had a peace of his own to make with the
victims of Fructidor, and it cost him next to nothing. The
decrees of transportation were repealed, and those of the
exiles of Sinnamary who still survived were permitted to
see their native country once more. Had Pichegru's escape

160 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
not taken place before the amnesty, he would doubtless have
been allowed to return with his comrades in misfortune,
with M. de Marbois, for instance, and he might have later
commanded an army in Germany at the very time M. de
Marbois was at the head of the Treasury Department.
The case of the Emigres, owing to their devotion to the
House of Bourbon, was a harder one to dispose of than
that of the fructidorises. The First Consul felt no hatred
towards them, for he never experienced any hatred or affec
tion not dictated to him by his self-interest, and his present
interest was plainly that of drying up this source of all in
ternal dissensions, and of depriving the foreigner of aux
iliaries who continually furnished him with more or less
dangerous communications and intelligence at home.
It had already been noticed that during his Italian cam
paigns, he had shown no severity to the imigris who had
fallen into his hands, and his friendly disposition towards
them could not have undergone any change. He gave proof
of this, first by causing all vexatious processes being carried
on against them to be stopped, and next by favoring the
erasure of their names from the proscribed list, and the
restitution of their estates to them, in cases where these
had not been sold.
Mme. Bonaparte showed herself from the outset an easily
approachable and active intermediary in the matter of peti
tions of this kind. Her kind heart naturally inclined her
to this, and it well suited the policy of her husband that he
should appear as yielding to her influence in these matters.
It was for him a means of giving satisfaction to many
interests, of toning down many angry feelings, and of
acquiring friends throughout the length and breadth of
France. It was principally in the western provinces that
the satisfaction thus given became a powerful factor towards
definitely ensuring their pacification. Yet, side by side

BONAPARTE AND THE CHURCH 161
with the advantage to be derived from this conduct, Bona
parte had to beware of disturbing the purchasers of estates
sold under the Revolution. They were numerous, strong,
powerful, and otherwise 'to be feared than the emigrls.
But if there was an art in which he excelled, it was that
of combining the measure of satisfaction to be granted to
each one, and of fairly balancing clashing interests. The
purchasers of estates found the safest of guarantees in the
numerous persons interested in defending them, and who
formed part of the government.
The most rabid revolutionists, the regicides themselves,
had their guarantee in the Council of State, by the presence
in it of men like Merlin, Berlier, Real, and Boulay, and
even in the Ministry, in the person of M. Fouche, Minister
of Police.
The presence of Second Consul Cambaceres instilled
confidence into the minds of the clever and laborious men
of business who had made their way during the Revolution
into the mind of the new magistracy, and also to some ex
tent into that of the old, of which he had been a member,
and for whom he never disguised his esteem and even his
feelings of sympathy.
There remained, in these early days, but one interest con
cerning which no one had so far pronounced any intentions,
the one affecting religious worship and the clergy. But
there could hardly be any doubt that the general, who by
his treaty of Tolentino with the Pope, had shown the im
portance which he attached to spiritual influence, did not
still more bear it in mind at a time when it could be of
such material help to him. In nothing, after all, did his
prudence and cleverness so reveal themselves as in this
connection. Over and above the political views which were soon to
direct his attention towards everything relating to ecclesi-

162 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
astical affairs, his mind was harboring secret aspirations.
His heart preserved in its recesses a few old feelings which
it had probably imbibed in the first years of his childhood,
which made themselves felt on several important occasions
in his career, and on which the last hours of his life shed
no uncertain light.
A few months after the treaty of Campo-Formio, his
sister Pauline, the wife of General Leclerc, and who since
became Princess Borghese, was confined at Milan, the chief
town of the Cisalpine Republic. The ceremony of register
ing the birth of the child took place with great pomp at
Government House, but the christening had previously
taken place in a church belonging to members of the
Capuchin Order who had not sworn fidelity to the Republic.
The child had been taken there on the previous evening,
and with it went Messieurs de Semonville and Dufresne de
Saint-Leon, who had been chosen to act as witnesses.
Everything took place in accordance with the formal orders
of General Bonaparte, who sent them from Paris.
As a matter of course the army became the object of his
most serious attention. One might have thought that it
would be content with having at last a general at the head
of the government, and yet it was in its ranks that was
to be found the greatest number of malcontents. It was
unavoidable that so elevated a fortune should not excite
the envy of the other generals, all inclined to believe them
selves of equal merit with the fortunate First Consul.
General Moreau was in the first rank of the malcontents.
In spite of these hostile sentiments, more or less dis
sembled, and in the midst of difficulties without number,
Bonaparte had to set in motion all France's military
resources, in order to give back to its arms the superiority
which if, since his departure for Egypt, they had not
altogether lost, they had at any rate allowed to fall into

BONAPARTE AND THE ARMY 163
question. He soon made up his mind to undertake every
thing to be able to take the offensive once more, and to
maintain his rights to the nation's confidence, by winning
fresh victories. The prestige of military glory had alone
elevated him to his present position, and was alone capable
of making it more secure. He gave out the various com
mands with great sagacity, gave apparently to Moreau the
most important one of all, and soon after showed, by
winning the battle of Marengo, that decisive events ever
occur where the superior man is in command.
What it least becomes me to do, is to write the history of
battles, so I do not dwell on this brilliant feat and on that
of Hohenlinden.
I saw Bonaparte's return to Paris after the battle of
Marengo. I was at the Tuileries an hour after his arrival,
at the very moment when he showed himself at the window
of his study to acknowledge the cheering. The day was
one of the finest of a dying-out spring. Enthusiasm was at
its height, and deservedly so. The results secured were so
great, and seemed to render our future secure. We could
now hope to see the completion of all the beneficial work
begun on the 18th Brumaire. What strength did not vic
tory give to the man who had had but to show himself to
reconquer Italy in a day! Who could henceforth stand in
the way of his will?
The battle of Hohenlinden won by Moreau within sixty
leagues of Vienna, after a campaign in whieh the talents of
that general had been made manifest in a brilliant fashion,
but completed the work accomplished at the battle of
Marengo, and Austria was glad to accept a peace on the
terms proposed, and which were signed at Luneville.
Meanwhile, the First Consul cleverly succeeded, by flat
tering the self-love of the Emperor Paul, in separating him
from England, and thus transformed into an alliance to his

164 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
advantage the enmity which had existed from the beginning
of the Revolution between France and the great northern
power. To crown all, he signed a concordat with the Holy
See, and, at home, foiled many schemes antagonistic to him.
But he also ran great dangers which his good fortune, if
not his shrewdness, saved him from.
The plots originating with the Jacobins were the least
formidable. They were,' generally speaking, conceived by
the dregs of the revolutionary party, and could only have
met with success through some of the rabid members of the
party sacrificing their lives in the execution of a plot. If
I am not mistaken, there were two plots of this kind. They
rendered the First Consul good service in that they
increased his claims to the interest taken in him by all
citizens who desired a quiet existence, and who were all the
more induced to make his cause their own, when seeing
him threatened by men who inspired them with feelings of
the greatest terror.
The attempts of the Royalist party exposed him to far
more serious dangers. The government had come to terms
with the greater number of chiefs in Vendee proper, in
Poitou, Maine, and Normandy. Several of them held com
munications with Fouche, the Minister of Police, and came
to Paris pretty frequently. Among those who held aloof
there remained only Georges Cadoudal and a few of his
more determined officers in the Department of Morbihan.
On the other hand, the arrangements entered into with the
Holy See, and the negotiations well on the way with the
important members of the old clergy, left no room for doubt
that by providing for its return the First Consul would soon
have at his command the most efficacious means for pacify
ing the country districts with Royalist leanings, and for
again gaining their confidence. Georges decided upon risk
ing everything to get the start of this event, and it was

THE INFERNAL MACHINE 165
then that he sent to Paris the determined men who did not
hesitate in having recourse to an infernal machine.
When, ten years later, I was Prefect of Police, I discov
ered, when going through the documents relating to this
affair, a paper whieh revealed to me the energetic character
of the man to whom Georges had entrusted the execution of
it. His name was Saint-Rejant. At the time when he was
arrested in a hiding-place, where he thought himself safe,
a letter which lie was writing to Georges was found on his
person. He complained therein of several untoward cir
cumstances, and especially of certain orders badly carried
out, which had caused the attempt to fail. But in spite of
the little success of his first undertaking, although badly
hurt by the explosion of the machine, and although he
could entertain no doubt that after such a demonstration
the police would become more vigilant than ever, he never
theless announced his intention of making another attempt
very shortly, and expressed a hope of being successful. At
the same time, he complained greatly of a person whom he
sufficiently designated, but whom he did not name, and who
had apparently refused him assistance.
Several years after the Restoration I chanced to discover
who that person was, and I name him because, not without
some show of reason, it has been believed that he took an
active part in the plot. It was M. Limoelan, who is to-day
a missionary in the wilderness of Canada. He was in Paris
at the time of the attempt, and was entrusted with furnish
ing funds to the conspirators. But the outrage, such as it
had been premeditated, had inspired him with horror, and
far from contributing to its perpetration, he had tried to
dissuade those who were to commit it. From that day, he
began to separate himself from the party which he had until
then served most faithfully.
Both public and government had not hesitated in charg-

166 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
ing the Jacobins with the outrages. They had quite
recently engaged in a similar enterprise which had been
nipped in the bud. A pretty large number of the most
fiery revolutionists were at once arrested. When the truth
was known they were nevertheless considered a good prize,
and, if I am not mistaken, were transported a short while
later. But the truly important man, whom this mistake placed
in the most critical position for a few days, was M. Fouche.
His well-known and open connections with the Jacobin
party caused him to be suspected in so high a degree, that
'it has been asserted that M. de Talleyrand, who was at that
time his enemy, suggested to the First Consul to have him
arrested and shot within twenty-four hours. This did not
prevent them, a few days later, from coming together, and
even becoming united by the closest bonds.
The real culprits having been discovered, the Royalist
party received therefrom the worst blow which could reach
it. The outrage estranged from it not only the government
and the First Consul, but the mass of the nation likewise.
The comprehensiveness of this reprobation was nevertheless
most unfair. The affair of the infernal machine was quite
at variance with the sentiments of the greater number of
the leaders, and even of the Vendean soldiers and chouans.
Search was made for all of them, and several were arrested.
Although having personally nothing to do with this
deplorable affair, I ran, for a few days, some danger of
being compromised through it in the following manner : I
had been begged by an intimate friend to give a shelter, for
two or three nights, to a leader of chouans, who was all the
more suspected, because he had so far refused to make his
peace, and had somewhat high-handedly broken off the
negotiations which had been begun. It was M. de Brulart,
one of the most zealous and most determined men of the

M. DE BRULART 167
party, whose armed bands he had commanded in Nor
mandy. I was assured under oath that he was a stranger to
the infernal machine, and I consented to take him under
my roof. He came to my house during the dead of the
night. It was the seventh or eighth which he had passed
in various hiding-places. He carried about his person an
arsenal of pistols and poniards, ever prepared for a desper
ate hand-to-hand fight.
He not only assured me once more that he had not been
concerned in the outrage perpetrated by Saint-Rdjant, but,
from my house, he wrote a letter to the First Consul, in
which he explained matters away in the most express way,
and being particular to state, in order to give proof of his
truthfulness, that he had entered into another plot, that he
intended to attack him bodily, in the midst of his escort,
some day when he was on his way to Malmaison, when he
was to be killed during the struggle that ensued, if there
was otherwise no way of securing his person. This at least
was war above board.1 M. de Brulart left my house after
having spent two nights in it. I believe it was about time,
as suspicion was getting aroused in the house, which I was
not the only person to occupy. He found means to escape
from Paris a few days afterwards, and I was not to see him
until after the Restoration.
1 This is probably the plot in which M. Hyde de Neuville, who ever pro
tested against having participated in that of the infernal machine, during
the same period, took a part.

CHAPTER VII
Bonaparte's negotiations with the Holy See — Violent opposition in the
Army — Plot to assassinate the First Consul — Proclamation of the Con
cordat at Notre-Dame — Advantages accruing to France from the Treaty .
of Amiens in 1802 — Reconstruction of the Finances — Legislative work
— The life consulate — Rupture between England and France, and plots
hatched by the British Cabinet — Pichegru's conspiracy — Louis XVIII.'s
rejoinder in this connection — Arrest of Cadoudal, Pichegru, Moreau,
and the Polignacs — Pichegru's suicide — Unfounded accusations brought
against Bonaparte in this respect — Kidnapping of the Due d'Enghien
at Ettenheim — M. de Caulaincourt's irresponsibility in the affair — The
ultimate fate of the Due d'Enghien discussed — Opinions of Fouche",
Talleyrand, Lebrun, and Cambaceres — The First Consul's final determi
nation — Light on the circumstances surrounding the event — Illegality
of the sentence passed on the Due d'Enghien — The part played in this
affair by Savary, Talleyrand, Murat, and Real — Josephine's grief on
hearing of the execution — Napoleon, in spite of his remorse, never
admits the injustice of the act — M. d'Hauterive apostrophizes M. de
Talleyrand, the instigator of the crime — Fouche"'s famed saying.
The treaty with the Holy See was almost concluded. It
was, no doubt, an important step in the direction of a sin
cere reconciliation with that part of France to which the
Revolution had done the greatest injury. But, at this
juncture, Bonaparte was threatened with another danger.
He met in the army an opposition which he had cause to
fear more than that from any other quarter, for in its midst
were found his most devoted partisans.
The signal for the explosion was given by the appearance
of a papal envoy, who was received at the Tuileries with
the honors due his rank. Such a spectacle could but have
the effect of inflaming the fury of the fanatics who, since
168

PLOT TO ASSASSINATE BONAPARTE 169
1789, had made themselves noticeable by their hatred of the
Catholic religion. They argued that this reception was
tantamount to a return of clerical domination. Secret
meetings were soon held, at which many officers of high
rank were present, and among them, a few generals of
prominence. Moreau was no stranger to the matter, al
though he abstained from attending. Things went so far
that the assassination of the First Consul was resolved
upon. When I was Prefect of Police, I received from the
Due de Rovigo, then Minister of Police, the details which
follow. One Donnadieu, of inferior military rank, declared him
self ready to strike the blow, so there was nothing more to
do but to find the opportunity. The resolution had been
taken, while General Oudinot, a man of honor, was present,
and it made him indignant. He considered it his duty to
call on General Davout, who commanded the Consul's body
guard, and, at the outset, merely told him to exercise a
closer vigilance over the First Consul's safety. On being
closely questioned, Oudinot finally named Donnadieu as a
proper subject for surveillance. This intimation sufficed
for Davout, who at once arrested Donnadieu, who, upon
being taken to the Temple and placed in solitary confine
ment, volunteered to reveal the plot, and named all those
who had been present at the meetings he had attended.
Steps were at once taken to disperse the conspirators, who
were sent away to a greater or lesser distance. Some of
them were placed under arrest, while others were sent into
exile. Among the latter was General Monnier, of the
Army of Italy, who up to that time had been entirely
loyal to Bonaparte. He commanded a brigade in Desaix's
division, and had powerfully contributed to the victory at
Marengo. Yet he was one of the most ardent promoters
of the plot. He did not again hold any command until the

170 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
time of the Restoration, and then, as a matter of course, he
became as zealous a Royalist, as in 1800 he had been a
rabid revolutionist. During the Hundred Days, he at
tached himself to the Due d'Angouleme, and was created a
peer at the second Restoration. I had known him in 1792.
A member of my family had obtained for him from M. Nar
bonne, then Minister of War, a company in some regiment
or other. He did not prove ungrateful. When I met him
in 1814, he did not seek to hide from me what had caused
his disgrace in 1800.
General Lecourbe likewise belonged to the Donnadieu
conspiracy. He left the Temple shortly afterwards, and
being somewhat fearful that his comrades might scent that
he had helped to betray them, he begged for an excuse
and means by which he might absent himself for a time.
Davout supplied him with funds, and helped him to cross
over to England, instructing him to pass himself off as an
escaped prisoner from the Temple, to pose as a malcontent,
and to find out what was going on in the party which was
still in England's pay.
He followed these instructions, spent several months in
England, and returned by way of Holland. On landing in
that country, he placed in the hands of the officer com
manding the gendarmerie, a communication which was at
once forwarded to Paris to the Inspector-General of that
military body. This document was the first clue to the
great conspiracy, once more being woven by Georges,
wherein Moreau was implicated, and from which resulted
the fatal termination of the Due d'Enghien's life.1
1 1 feel that I must say once more that all these particulars were fur
nished me by the Due de Rovigo, at a time when he had no interest in dis
torting the truth, and when such au intention could not be laid to him.
He went so far as to show me documents in support of the truth of his nar
rative. A somewhat amusing anecdote in connection with this affair,
deserves, methinks, to find a place here. If I tell it. it is because main

THE CONCORDAT 171
I was present at the ceremony of the proclamation of the
Concordat at Notre-Dame. Never did Bonaparte appear
greater than on that day.1 It was the most signal triumph
that could be won over the revolutionary idea, and all
triumphs which came after it were merely — I make no ex
ception — its natural consequences.
The joy of the overwhelming majority of France silenced
even the boldest malcontents. A number of people, who,
previous to, this triumph, had not ventured to express their
feelings in the matter openly, no longer dissembled them ;
and it became patent that Bonaparte had, better than
those "who surrounded him, seen into the depths of the
nation's heart.
He could have obtained from the Pope, so I was told in
the most positive fashion, far greater concessions than those
granted.2 Cardinal Consalvi had in this connection more
facts are never better confirmed than by an acquaintance with their par
ticulars. While Donnadieu was in the Temple, it was rumored that he
had died there, and, as a matter of course, a violent death. On hearing
of this, General Oudinot hastened to call upon General Davout, with the
object of reproaching him bitterly for permitting such a crime to be com
mitted on the person of a man whose intentions had only been made known
through the warning which Oudinot had seen fit to give. He found Don
nadieu engaged in a most confidential talk with Davout, who laughed at
his discomfiture.
1 It was noticed, at the time of this great triumph, that he saw fit to
gratify his self-love with a ceremony which could hut appear futile to
those who did not see in it a shadow of his coming plans. As the Second
and Third Consuls were to accompany him during the ceremony, the clergy
had asked him whether the censer was to be waved in their case as well as
in his own. He answered, " No." This honor was therefore rendered to
him alone. It was known, moreover, in his intimate circle, that besides
saying no, he added the following derisive words : ' ' The smoke of incense
is yet too strong for them."
2 Nevertheless, it is but fair to state that M. de Talleyrand, in all the
negotiations in which he was engaged, having for their object the bringing
about of a complete reconciliation with the Holy See, showed himself
animated by a sole desire of insuring their success. "Was he, unknown
to himself, moved by the recollection of some of his former bonds to the
Church ? Was he merely yielding to a conviction of the extreme impor
tance of a religious peace, which alone could make secure the power to

172 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
extended powers than merely those of which he availed
himself, especially in connection with the marriage and
divorce of priests.
The First Consul was so informed; but he replied to
those who told him of it, and who urged him to take ad
vantage of it: "Do you wish me to have manufactured
a religion of caprice for my special use, a religion that
would be nobody's? I do not so understand matters.
What I want is the old Catholic religion, the only one
which is imbedded in every heart, and from which it has
never been torn. This religion alone can conciliate hearts
in my favor; it alone can smooth away all obstacles." It
will be seen further on how far he was right when he thus
spoke, and his mistakes become all the more striking as he
strays from the path which this language should have made
him follow to the end.
I left Paris after the conclusion of the Treaty of Lune-
ville with Austria, and the Concordat with the Holy See.
Negotiations had been entered upon with England, and
soon resulted in the signing of the Treaty of Amiens, on
March 25th, 1802. Spain and the Batavian Republic
joined in signing this treaty which brought complete peace
to Europe, and put an end to the war which the French
Revolution engendered, and which had lasted since 1792. 1
France emerged from it with happy results, surpassing
everything that the highest flights of fancy could ever have
which he had given himself up? Did he, at that early date, see the ad
vantage he could derive therefrom for himself, and the kind of freedom it
would give back to him, a freedom the use of which some notice will have
to be taken hereafter ? . . . History does not supply the means for sound
ing the mysteries of the human heart.
1 If M. de Talleyrand is to be believed, this treaty of peace served the
First Consul beyond his desires, for on receiving news of it, he is credited
with having said to his Minister: "Well, well! What a beautiful fix we
are in now. Peace has been declared." The anecdote is a piquant one,
but all that I can guarantee is that it was told by M. de Talleyrand.

THE TREATY OF AMIENS 173
conceived. She retained possession of the Austrian Nether
lands and of Dutch Flanders. She controlled the naviga
tion of the Scheldt and received a part of Dutch Brabant,
the whole of that part of Germany situated on the left bank
of the Rhine, the bishopric of Bale almost in its entirety,
Savoy, together with Geneva and Nice, Avignon, and with
it the Comtat.
She kept, over and above the territory recognized as her
own, the State of Parma, and all the continental posses
sions of the king of Sardinia. She erected the Grand
Duchy of Tuscany into the Kingdom of Etruria, and made
a gift of it to the Duke of Parma. She administered the
affairs of the Italian Republic, and exercised a domination
over the Helvetic and Ligurian Republic, composed of the
territories of which Geneva was formerly the capital.
Lastly, she was mistress of Holland. The colonies, of
which she had been despoiled by England, were restored to
her. She added to the possession of the French portion of
San Domingo, the Spanish portion, previously ceded to
her by Spain.
This peace was indeed purchased at Holland's expense,
the islands of Ceylon and of Trinidad remaining in Eng
land's possession.
What was not the power of this chief, whose title was
yet so modest, and who, without France making the small
est sacrifice, could obtain such valuable concessions from
his allies?
On leaving the capital, I returned to the Department of
the Sarthe, whence I had been driven, two years previous,
by the law relating to hostages. The situation had indeed
altered, and I was to enjoy the blessings of a life as calm
and happy as the one I had led there in years gone by had
been agitated and hard to bear.
After the Treaty of Amiens, France enjoyed at last the

174 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
rest of which she stood in such need. During the too short
duration of these happy days, the attention of the govern
ment was directed principally towards interior organization
and administration. This was the period when the work
of material restoration which the country so needed was
given an impetus which has not ceased at the present time.
It is impossible to conceive, if one had not been a witness
of it before and after the 18th Brumaire, of the widespread
ruin wrought by the Revolution. To the state of dilapi
dation deliberately brought about, was to be added that
resulting from mere enforced neglect during a period of
ten years. As an instance, there were hardly two or three
main roads in a fit condition for traffic. Not a single one
was there, perhaps, wherein was not found some obstacle
that could not be surmounted without peril. With regard
to the ways of internal communication, they had been in
definitely suspended. The navigation of rivers and canals
was no longer feasible.
In all directions, public buildings, and those monuments
which represent the splendor of a state, were falling into
decay. It must fain be admitted that if the work of
destruction had been prodigious, that of restoration was no
less so. Everything was taken hold of at one and the same
time, and everything progressed with a like rapidity. Not
only was it resolved to restore all that required restoring in
various parts of the country, in all parts of the public
service, but new, grand, beautiful, and useful works were
decided upon, and many were brought to a happy termina
tion. This certainly constitutes one of the most brilliant
sides of the consular and imperial regime.
It was necessary to put the financial system in order,
and to create a revenue proportionate with the expendi
ture. A few upright and industrious men, among whom
the Minister of Finance, M. Gaudin, later Duke of Gaeta,

RECONSTRUCTION OF THE FINANCES 175
had already rendered immense services to the state and
to the chief of the government. M. Gaudin published, in
1818 or 1819, a work wherein he sets forth with scrupu
lous exactness the state in which he found the Treasury,
and the footing on which he succeeded in placing it. It
would be hard to conceive a more interesting and a more
instructive tableau. And yet, they did not succeed in get
ting rid of arrears, the liquidation of which extended over
the first ten years of the century. The result was an ill-
concealed state of bankruptcy, until the day when it
became an accomplished fact by means of a decree of
forfeiture to which it was not dared to give an official
publication. Unstinted praise must be awarded to the legislative work
done by the Council of State at the very outset of its organ
ization. It was accomplished under the direction of three
men of the highest merit, Messieurs Tronchet, Portalis, and
Cambaceres. They presided over the drawing up of the
civil code, several volumes of which made their appearance
annually, and the ensemble of which, in spite of a few weak
spots, still remains a monument of civil legislation, the
most perfect and comprehensive of modern times.
The First Consul was in the habit of taking an active
part in the discussions, and it is generally admitted that
his natural lights shone therein to quite a remarkable
degree. He sought to introduce into the institutions and
customs of the country a spirit less removed from monarchi
cal forms and ideas. But much remained for him to do in
order to carry out this intention. One of his happiest
conceptions in this vein was the creation of the Legion of
Honor. He gave offence to many republicans accustomed
to look upon as an infringement on equality all outward
mark of distinction, when not coupled with some official
position. The great results accomplished by the institu-

176 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
tion of this decoration are a sufficient refutation of all
adverse criticisms.
The First Consul took advantage of the state of peace
to change his temporary consulship into a life one. This
change gave rise to an opposition somewhat loudly ex
pressed on the part of those who adhered more closely to
the principles of the Revolution. Carnot was among those
who opposed it, and the opposition found the greater num
ber of its mouthpieces in the Tribunat.
A falling out with England took place in May, 1803.
Bitterness of speech and violence in deed soon rose to the
highest pitch between the two countries. England, accord
ing to her invariable custom, seized everything she could
on the high seas, — ships, merchandise, and individuals, —
and this before the breaking off of negotiations was com
plete, even before it had fully taken place.
By way of reprisal, the First Consul caused all English
men travelling in France to be arrested. This way of act
ing was after all no more iniquitous than England's, except
that the latter's methods were consecrated by custom. But
a custom, however long it has been in vogue, does not con
stitute a right. The most that could be said against the
mode of reprisal conceived by Bonaparte, was that it was
insignificant, and affected an interest too slight in England's
eyes, to induce the government of that country to return to
the paths of justice. It was consequently useless.
No means existed of striking a blow at Great Britain on
the seas, where her forces were too considerable to allow of
a protracted struggle being maintained, so it became neces
sary to threaten her in another direction. This compelled
taking up once more the idea of landing an army on her
shores, an idea which had already been broached during
the months preceding the expedition to Egypt, and which
the First Consul had made pretence of recurring to during

A FALLING OUT WITH ENGLAND 177
the interval which elapsed between the Treaty of Luneville
and that of Amiens ; but this time it was taken up with
far greater ardor. The whole of France's resources were
set in motion. England, on her side, made such serious
preparations for defence that it may be concluded that she
did not consider the danger which threatened her as an
imaginary one.
The chances operating against the success of the expedi
tion were doubtless in a majority, but a few favorable ones
existed. The hazards of the sea are so great ! In order
that the French flotilla should be able to cross without
hindrance, it was sufficient that the English Channel should
be kept clear for five or six days. Now this might occur
either through a yiolent storm, which would compel the
British fleet to seek port, or by an engagement resulting
favorably, and the French navy was still in a position to
bring about such a consummation.
It then becomes possible to take into consideration the
landing of forty thousand French soldiers, at a point fifty-
six leagues distant from London, and to ponder over the
results, at a time when England was still without an army
hardened to war, while the prestige attached to the French
armies was yet so dazzling.
Yet another road to success presented itself; but its value
was not recognized, and it was disdainfully cast aside.
Fulton, an American, the inventor of steamboats, came over
and did the honors of his invention to the First Consul,
who peremptorily declined to have anything to do with it.
Never was he more badly served by his instinct.
What might he not have been able to accomplish, had he
been the first to avail himself of this new means of reach
ing his most mortal enemy? But was the invention in so
advanced a state as to allow of its being put to such an
extended use as would have been necessary to secure the

178 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
transportation of an army to England's shores? This may
be doubted. Moreover, almost insurmountable difficulties
stood in the way of the immense amount of manufacture
necessary to this end, the elements of which were lacking
in those days. But later, and during the prolonged strug
gle which ended only with Napoleon's reign, how many
opportunities were there not for putting to use this wonder
ful invention? Surprise will doubtless be felt that a genius,
such as that of the First Consul's, should not have at once
grasped the range of the offer made him by Fulton.
The perspective of so great a danger was doubtless cause
that the British Cabinet resolved upon giving all possible
encouragement to the attacks directed against the person of
its most formidable enemy. England thought it allowable
to act towards Bonaparte, as she would have blushed to do
with respect to the sovereign of Prussia or of Austria. In
a measure, she put him beyond the pale of the law of
nations. It was a perilous example to set to a man pos
sessed of so great a power, who was certainly not over
scrupulous, and who might, moreover, be inclined to
believe that the legitimate right of self-protection placed
him above all laws.
Assuredly, the undertaking which had brought Pichegru,
Messieurs de Polignac and de Riviere to Paris, and to
which Moreau was no stranger, was not to be put to execu
tion with the aid of infernal machines. Georges was still
one of the principal agents in this undertaking. He had
directed the plot of the 3d Nivose, and the First Consul,
on discovering him in the midst of the new conspirators,
was certainly justified in believing what was in store for
him, from that which had already been attempted.
The undertaking, the principal agents of which I have
just named, was conceived and pursued with the consent of
the Comte d'Artois alone, for that of the king was never

PICHEGRU'S CONSPIRACY 179
obtained, at least in any specific fashion. He was merely
content to give his reply in the following quotation : —
" . . . Et, pour gtre approuvSs,
De semblables projets veulent Stre acheves."
This way of answering will be readily believed by all who
were privileged to come in contact with Louis XVIII., and
who were acquainted with his habits. It came to me
through M. Royer-Collard, who had received it from the
Abbe Andre, at that time the king's private secretary.1
I was in Paris when the conspiracy was unearthed. All
I knew about it in those days was that which was known to
everybody; but, when I was Prefect of Police, in 1810, I
had at my disposal all the documents relating to it. They
were still in the files of the prefecture, and I went through
them carefully. Besides, the Due de Rovigo did not hide
from me many particulars personal to him, and I obtained
from M. Real, on several points, explanations which always
confirmed my other discoveries.
What I have previously said regarding the information
supplied by Donnadieu,- as to an important plot which was
being hatched in London, had doubtless not been forgotten.
It would seem that the clue thus given did not lead to any
great discoveries. Later on, the spies scattered through
Germany called attention to certain goings on between the
emigres and England's agents, indicative of new and secret
1 This abbe, if he is to be believed, was the actual framer of Louis
XVIII. 's dignified answer to Bonaparte, when the latter transmitted him
the offer of an establishment on a grand scale, of whatever nature he might
desire, if he hut consented to abdicate his rights to the crown of France.
What is certain, however, is that the abbe preserved a rough draft written
in the king's hand, wherein the answer was altogether different, and
which contained the ridiculous proposition of a duel. At the death of the
Abbe' Andre, the government made a careful search of his papers, among
which it hoped to find this document as well as several other most impor
tant ones, but he had apparently taken his precautions, for nota scrap was
found.

180 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
projects. But little importance was attached to this note
of warning.
In those days, the Ministry of Police was combined with
that of justice, the portfolio of which was held by M. Reg
nier, a good lawyer, but hardly capable of fulfilling the new
duties thrust upon him, for he lacked both activity and per
spicacity. But the heads of departments, who had served
in the police under M. Fouche, and who were all accustomed
to follow up the slightest indications, finally succeeded in
inspiring him with the liveliest fears. A more frequent
intercourse had been noticed between the shores of England
and Brittany. Several individuals had been arrested on
landing, but nothing had been learned from them. • They
claimed that they were former chouans, who, tired of liv
ing in a foreign land, were returning to their native country.
M. Real, Councillor of State, and more especially in
charge of the political police in the northern departments
and in those of Brittany, was struck by the frequency
of these new arrivals, and, with his customary warmth,
made a private report of the fact to the First Consul.
Several of the men arrested were imprisoned in the Temple ;
but in vain were they questioned, they would say nothing.
It then occurred to Bonaparte to select one of them at
haphazard, and to bring him before a military commission.
It was thought that the fear of death would make him
speak. This idea perhaps saved Bonaparte's life. Fate
willed it that the man chosen should be one Querelle, a
surgeon, an adherent of the chouan party, but possessing
less nerve than the others. Taken before a military com
mission, sentenced to death, and led to the place of execu
tion, he begged for his life at the very last moment, and
purchased it at the cost of most valuable revelations. He
made known that Georges was in Paris, together with sev
eral of his trusted fellow-conspirators, and left no doubt

GEORGES CADOUDAL AND HIS ACCOMPLICES 181
as to the existence of a formidable plot. Aided by his
information, the police at once began hunting down the
conspirators, but Querelle knew only those who belonged to
the chouannerie. He merely knew that a landing was to be
made in Normandy, under the cliffs of Biville, and he
seemed convinced that a French prince was to form part of
the enterprise.
General Savary, later on Due de Rovigo, commanding
the picked corps of the gendarmerie, was immediately sent
to the coast to keep an eye on the landing. In order to
better fulfil his mission, he went there in disguise, taking
with him as guide an old chouan, who had been completely
won over by the police.
Everybody knows how Georges and his principal accom
plices were arrested in Paris. The unfortunate Pichegru
was delivered up through an infamous act of treachery.
As the result of confessions extorted from several of those
arrested with him, it was learnt that he had seen Moreau
several times, and that he had come into contact with
Georges on at least one occasion. Something had there
fore to be done with regard to Moreau. It might be that
he had seen Pichegru, his former comrade in arms, for
some very innocent purpose. He owed him the rise of his
fortunes, and had done him several wrongs, for which he
might wish to make reparation, or, at the very least, to
explain away. But with regard to the meetings with
Georges, how could they be otherwise accounted for except
by motives an explanation of which the government was
justified in demanding? Consequently Moreau was arrested,
and to M. Regnier was entrusted the task of questioning
him. It would appear (I have every reason to believe) that the
First Consul reckoned on the weakness of his character,
and that he intended granting him a pardon if he but

182 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
obtained from him half a confession. When once impli
cated in so serious a fashion, he was no longer to be feared,
whereas the trial of a man of such importance is always
a troublesome and embarrassing affair. M. Regnier's bad
management was the cause of the failure of this plan. He
gave the interrogatory a turn which compelled Moreau to
assume an attitude of firmness little in accord with his
habitual temperament. Nothing was therefore left but
to include him among those who were tried by the criminal
tribunal of the Seine sitting without a jury. A decree of
the Senate had just suspended for two years, but plainly in
view of the present occasion, the participation of juries in
trials relating to attempts made against the life of the First
Consul. This measure was in itself of an odious character, and it
became all the more detestable when applied to so important
a personality as Moreau. At all events, the resolution come
to in his case had unfortunate results for Bonaparte. A
considerable portion of the army and all or almost all the
Bretons, hot-headed men, and accustomed to look upon
Moreau as an honor to the province, were led to take an
interest in the conspiracy, through the necessity of coming
to his defence. Moreover, the emotion of the Royalist
party could not help being great, when so many men of
note belonging to its ranks were implicated in the plot.
Just as the case was coming to trial, Pichegru was found
strangled to death in his cell at the Temple. As a matter
of course, his death was attributed to an assassination
ordered by Bonaparte, with the object of ridding himself
of a foe of firm and vigorous character, and who in defend
ing himself might cause trouble. Such an idea was no
• sooner conceived than the masses were ready to take it up
with eagerness. I have read with the greatest care all the
official reports connected with the case. I have spoken to

PICHEGRU'S SUICIDE 183
the principal police officials of that time, and all the in
formation which I have thus carefully gleaned agrees with
that obtained by me regarding this point from the Due de
Rovigo. I have, I believe, good grounds for declaring that
Pichegru committed suicide. He felt completely crushed
under the weight of the misfortunes which had pursued him
since the 18th Fructidor. His courage had deserted him.
The latest act of treachery, that of the man who had de
livered him up, had deprived him of all nerve. He thought
the anxieties of a trial too great for him to endure. He
could but anticipate being found guilty, and of owing his
life to his greatest enemy, so he preferred death.
It has been argued that it was not possible for him to
strangle himself as he did. I have had proof to the con
trary, for one Levaillant took his life in the same fashion
in the prison attached to the prefecture of police, when I
dwelt there. Again, if one looks at -the matter dispassion
ately, what interest had Bonaparte to commit such a crime?
Pichegru had not any serious defence to present to the tri
bunal. He had been arrested in flagrant conspiracy,- with,
so to speak, the arms of a conspirator in hand. During the
course of the trial, the prosecution could recall the act of
treachery of which he had been suspected when last he
commanded an army, and which had led him to willingly
allow himself to be beaten, and to sacrifice the troops under
his orders.
If the fact was not sufficiently proven to call forth a
judicial investigation, it was at least easy to establish suffi
cient presumptions for depriving the general of the Repub
lic of the credit he might still enjoy with his former
comrades in arms, and to make him lose all claims to
respect. He was certain to be condemned to death, and
this placed him at the mercy of the First Consul, who had
everything to gain by waiting for so favorable an issue.

184 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
Assuredly, as between Pichegru and Moreau, it was
Moreau whom it would have been advantageous to assas
sinate. He had quite more powerful means of defence, and
much more influential partisans than Pichegru. It cannot
be denied that there were strong inferences to be deduced
from his conduct, but the trial proved that there were not
sufficient proofs against him to call for a sentence of death.
And yet, Moreau was not assassinated in his cell, al
though it would not have been any more difficult to get rid
of him thus than of Pichegru. The naked truth is already
sad enough without making the picture any darker. It
must not be believed that I pretend to say that the First
Consul did not commit as grave a blunder in the case of
Pichegru as of Moreau. He could have caused the great
est honor to reflect upon himself had he acted rightly in
their case. But, if he was possessed of a mind capable of
grasping everything, his heart was bare of that which could
enlighten it as to the advantage to be derived from gener
ous impulses. If, on the arrest of Pichegru, Bonaparte had
remembered only the conqueror of Holland, and had rescued
him from despair by showing some consideration for his
misfortune; if, instead of handing over Moreau to the
rigors of a criminal prosecution, he had, in consideration of
the many services he had rendered, shown a noble forget
fulness, and held out to him a friendly hand, such conduct
would have won all hearts.
This brings us to the most odious phase of this affair.
As will often happen, fatality may have begun the work
which political perversity carried to completion. This
becomes a certainty, if one gives unreserved credence to
what M. Real and the Due de Rovigo told me about the
case in 1811.
Their story is as follows : The servant of Georges, from
whom, as I have already stated, much information had been

THE DUC D'ENGHIEN 185
obtained, had pointed out the place where the principal
leaders of the conspiracy were wont to assemble. It was
in a cul-de-sac near Saint-Roch. He had given the names of
all those who were present, with the exception of that of one
man who was unknown to him, whose name had never been
pronounced in his presence, but whose presence created the
greatest stir. He was in the habit of going in quest of
him, and bringing him to the place of meeting with the
greatest precautions. He furnished a description of him
which did not indicate in a positive fashion who he really
was. Nevertheless, after many useless conjectures as to
the identity of this important personage, the possibility of
his being one of the princes of the House of Bourbon was
entertained, and Bonaparte but too readily sprang at the
idea. All police action in the matter was concentrated in the
hands of M. Regnier. He prepared and did everything,
and he doubtless contributed, in no small measure, towards
aggravating the circumstances of this deplorable affair. I
have it from M. de Cambaceres that at one time he suc
ceeded in thoroughly alarming the First Consul; in this,
he was admirably seconded by the secret communications
of M. Fouche, who was thus preparing his own elevation
to the Ministry of Police.
The supposition once entertained that the individual
could be no other than one of the princes of the House of
Bourbon, it remained to find out which one it could be.
The dwelling-place of the Due d'Angouleme was known
beyond doubt ; the Due de Berry was awaited on the coast
of Brittany. Thus, suspicion could not rest on either of
them. The conclusion naturally reached was that it must
be the Due d'Enghien. He generally dwelt at Ettenheim,
in Baden, at a very short distance from the French frontier.
For some time past it had been reported that the assem-

186 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
blage of imigris in the environs of his residence was larger
than usual, and a fatal mistake in a name had caused the
belief that Dumouriez, whose enterprising character was so
well established, formed part of the assemblage. Infor
mation had been received from London that he was about
to leave that city to go to Berlin. It so happened that at
the time it was presumed he had reached his destination,
one Desmoutier, an imigri well known as a devoted adher
ent of the House of Bourbon, and employed by it in many
negotiations, left Berlin for a town in the neighborhood of
Ettenheim. The spies of the French police had confounded
his name with that of Dumouriez, and so they reported that
he had arrived, or was about to arrive, on the banks of the
Rhine. Under such serious circumstances, it was natural enough
to believe that a gathering thus constituted, and having at
its head, by the side of the prince, a man like Dumouriez,
did not exist without possessing some information as to
what was being concocted in Paris, and without prepara
tions being made to take advantage of events.
Was there any cause for coupling with such a proba
bility the circumstance, hard to credit, but not altogether
out of consideration, of a mysterious trip undertaken to
Paris by the prince, with a view of coming to an under
standing with the conspirators, and giving them his coun
tenance and support? This was a matter which had to be
verified. It was sought to do so, but this was not an easy
task. General Moncey, later a Marshal of France, at that time
in chief command of the gendarmerie, and in this capacity
greatly in requisition in the case of inquiries, thought him
self competent to solve this difficulty. There was in the
gendarmerie a non-commissioned officer, formerly employed
in the Conde family, and therefore acquainted with all its

THE DUC D'ENGHIEN KIDNAPPED 187
servants. He claimed to be able to find out if the Due
d'Enghien had made any secret journey at the time
indicated. The proposition was accepted, the officer went on his
mission, and returned with the information that the Due
d'Enghien had certainly made a very mysterious journey,
precisely during the days when the secret councils of the
conspirators were being held in Paris. The fact was true;
but the motive of the prince's trip had been to call on Mile.
de Rohan, to whom he was believed to be secretly married.
Upon obtaining this clue, Bonaparte at once took the
necessary steps to secure the person of the Due d'Enghien
and that of the alleged Dumouriez, who was no other than
M. Desmoutier, also the other persons who were supposed
to be gathered at Ettenheim or in the neighborhood. It is
more than probable that he only set real importance on
getting the duke, and that he merely gave the order for the
other arrests as a pretext for that particular one, and to jus
tify it by the importance it seemed to give the whole affair.
In order to carry out this act of kidnapping, it was neces
sary to violate foreign territory; but this obstacle was not
allowed to stand in the way. If the Due de Rovigo is to be
believed, the accommodating spirit shown on this occasion
by the Duke of Dalberg, at that time minister plenipo
tentiary from the Grand Duke of Baden, was the source of
the favor he enjoyed with Bonaparte, and procured for him
the estates he was afterwards given in Germany, in com
pensation for those which his family had lost. But why
should not these estates have been granted to him, in the
ordinary course, at the request of his uncle, the Prince
Primate, of whom Bonaparte was very fond, who was one
of his most faithful partisans in Germany, who had
entered into all his views, and who had countenanced all
his wishes?

188 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
The assertions of the Due de Rovigo in this connection
have always seemed to me to be lacking proof and verisi
militude. The Duke of Dalberg published in 1824 three
documents from his correspondence with the Court of Baden
in those days, and they prove that he did not urge upon
that Court the granting of any concession. They reveal
some tardiness in keeping it informed of the march of
events, and the Due de Rovigo has maintained that such
tardiness was concerted with the French Minister of
Foreign Affairs; but it may also be attributed to the fact
that the Duke of Dalberg was himself but poorly informed.
There is nothing extraordinary in this, owing to the un
importance of his position in Paris.
The particulars of the expedition to Ettenheim are too
well known to be here repeated. It was successful in so
far as the carrying off of the Due d'Enghien and the mem
bers of his suite by General Ordener was concerned. It
was fruitless with regard to the persons whom General de
Caulaincourt was to arrest at Offenbourg. These two gen
erals had been sent from Paris, bearing special orders from
the Minister of War. It was generally believed at the time
that M. de Caulaincourt, who enjoyed the special confidence
of the First Consul, had been deputed to preside over the
whole expedition, and that he was in a certain way its chief.
Everybody knows how, in 1814, he labored to destroy this
opinion. It is impossible not to be convinced that M. de Caulain
court had not the slightest conception of the terrible issue
of the kidnapping in which his mission gave him an ap
pearance of co-operating. I am firmly convinced that if he
had but foreseen it, he would never have consented even to
this apparent connection with it. When on arriving from
Strasburg he learnt, on stopping at Malmaison, what had
taken place at Vincennes, great was his despair. I heard

M. DE CAULAINCOURT 189
this at the time from people who witnessed it. He ex
pressed his indignation so forcibly that those present hardly
knew what countenance to assume. Unfortunately, he soon
after committed the mistake of accepting a high position at
Court near the man who had just compromised him, and
this weak subservience did him much harm, for it gave him
an appearance of complicity.
Such was the sentiment I heard expressed a few years
later by a man of honor truly devoted to Bonaparte, whose
creature he was, but who had none the less preserved a most
noble independence of spirit and character. It was M. de
La Valette, Postmaster-General, and as such better in
formed than any one else with regard to the most secret
matters. "After so unfortunate an occurrence," he said to
me one day, towards the close of a conversation which was
all in defence of M. de Caulaincourt, " there remained but
one thing for him to do. He should have left at once and
gone back to the army, never again to leave it."
One cannot help regretting that such a stigma became
attached to the life of a. man, who, during the rest of his
political career won so many claims to public esteem and
even gratitude.1
1 Since I have written these pages, M. de Caulaincourt has published,
under the head of Examens des calomnies repandues sur M. de Caulain
court, due de Vicence, a more conclusive justification of his conduct than
any hitherto known. As the result of setting side by side all the docu
ments and the orders given, it appears that no direct and personal com
mission was given him with regard to the Due d'Enghien, and that one
may go so far as to say that he was ignorant of what was about to take
place. His personal conduct, in the undertaking which he directed, was
stamped with a marked generosity towards the emigres who were sur
rounded by the troops under his command, and who, almost to a man,
owed him their liberty. This conduct, so much in conformity with the
sense of honor he showed on so many other occasions, proves in a, most
conclusive fashion that he cannot have knowingly lent his assistance to the
outrage committed on the person of the Due d'Enghien. He is, therefore,
greatly to be pitied, for how can one prevent his name, after it has been
coupled with that catastrophe, and has remamed bound up with it for such
a length of time, being separated from it to the extent required by justice ?
(Note written in 1824.)

190 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
The Due d'Enghien was carried off and brought to Paris.
The news of the success of the expedition was quickly
transmitted by the telegraph; but, to the honor of the
French character it must be stated, that if it caused general
anxiety, this anxiety did not go so far as to dwell on the
terrible catastrophe which was to follow.
I had personally received a warning which should have
prepared me for it. The very day on which the news of
his carrying off was received, a ball was given at the Hotel
de Luynes. M. de Talleyrand was present. Some one asked
him in a whisper : " But what are- you going to do with the
Due d'Enghien? " He answered: "He is to be shot." A
lady who stood by heard both question and answer, and
reported them to me next morning. I thought her hearing
had deceived her, or that it was merely a mocking answer
given by M. de Talleyrand to an indiscreet question. It
was, in any case, said in consequence of a determination
already taken, and of which the world was ignorant.
The First Consul had discussed with his most intimate
councillors the question of what was to be done. This is
what really occurred, according to what I have been told
by those better situated to know. A council was held on
the 9th of March. It is almost certain that previous to
this council, which was a kind of official affair, a more
secret one had been held at the house of Joseph Bonaparte.
At the first council, to which were convened only a few
persons, all on a footing of family intimacy, it was dis
cussed by order of the First Consul, what would be proper
to do with,, a prince of the House of Bourbon, in case one
should have him in one's power, and the decision reached
was that if he was captured on French territory, one had
the right to take his life, but not otherwise.
At the council held on the 9th, and which was composed
of the three Consuls, the Chief Justice, the Minister of

THE DUC D'ENGHIEN'S FATE 191
Foreign Affairs, and M. Fouche", although the latter had
not then resumed the post of Minister of Police, the two
men who expressed contrary opinions were M. de Talley
rand and M. de Cambaceres.
M. de Talleyrand declared that the prince should be sent
to his death. M. Lebrun, the Third Consul, contented him
self with saying that such an event would have a terrible
echo throughout the world. M. de Cambaceres contended
earnestly that it would be sufficient to hold the prince as
hostage for the safety of the First Consul. The latter
sided with M. de Talleyrand, whose counsels then prevailed.
The discussion was a heated one, and when the meeting
of the council was over, M. de Cambaceres thought it his
duty to make a last attempt, so he followed Bonaparte into
his study, and laid before him with perhaps more strength
than might be expected from his character, the conse
quences of the deed he was about to perpetrate, and the
universal horror it would excite. He told him that all
Europe might rise in arms against France, in the face of
this violation of the law of nations, of this shedding the
blood of kings, and that the First Consul, until then foreign
to the crimes of the Revolution, would be imitating them.
He spoke in vain. In the privacy of his study, Bona
parte expressed himself even with greater violence than he
had done at the council. He answered that the death of the
duke would seem to the world but a just reprisal for what
was being attempted against him personally; that it was
necessary to teach the House of Bourbon that the blows
struck with its sanction were liable to recoil on its own
head; that this was the only way of compelling it to abstain
from its dastardly schemes, and lastly, that matters had
gone too far to retrace one's steps. M. de Talleyrand sup
plied this last argument.
During this private talk, Bonaparte took care to let M.

192 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
de Cambaceres see that he was desirous of making those
who attached themselves to his fortunes understand that
all rapprochement between himself and the House of Bour
bon was henceforth impossible. Nothing could have had
greater weight with the principal partisans of the Revolu
tion than this assurance, and it is well known that Bona
parte still thought it best to consult the feelings of some of
them. It has been said that in the fit of anger brought on by
the opposition of the Second Consul, Bonaparte so far for
got himself as to say to him : " It ill becomes you to show
yourself so sparing of the blood of your kings, you who cast
a vote for the death of Louis XVI. ! " " Such is not the
case," is said to have been the Second Consul's rejoinder.
M. de Cambaceres, when relating with much detail this
terrible scene, would never admit the truth of this final
incident. Nevertheless, there are good grounds for believ
ing that it was in connection with it that he drew up a
memorandum explaining his vote during the trial of the
king, which memorandum he handed to the First Consul,
and which he subsequently showed to those whose respect
he thought it worth while to preserve. I was one of those
he thus honored with his confidence. The memorandum
left the impression on my mind that M. de Cambaceres had
really intended to save the king, and that his contradictory
vote had been so contrived as to rally the timid men from
whom an open resistance could not be hoped for. At the
time of the Restoration, this memorandum was brought
to the king's notice, and later on, its author had to thank
the explanations it contained for being exempted from the
measures enforced against the regicides.
Meanwhile, the Due d'Enghien was nearing Paris, on his
way to Vincennes.
That which here follows is, in the first place, derived

SAVARY' S MISSION 193
literally from the narrative of the Due de Rovigo, two
years before the Restoration.
It will be recalled that General Savary had been sent to
the Normandy coast to watch the landing which had been
announced as about to take place. It did not occur. A
timely warning had been received at the seashore of what
had happened in Paris, and the ship, bearing several per
sons, among others, it was supposed, the Due de Berry,
sailed away.
And yet the general had manoeuvred so as not only to
arrest the prince, should he land, but even to induce him
to do so. He had personally gone to the cliff at Biville,
made all the preconcerted signals, which were known to
him. The signals were seen and answered; but, fortu
nately for the expedition, the wind was violent, and in the
wrong quarter for a couple of days, so that the landing
became an impossibility, and this delay was sufficient to
send to the captain of the brig a warning, which made him
go out to sea again.
The mission of General Savary (such was at that time
the name of the Due de Rovigo) had no longer any object.
He had been back in Paris for twenty-four hours, and had
gone to Malmaison, either to report on this mission, or to
resume his duties as aide-de-camp, on the morn before the
night when sentence was pronounced and carried into exe
cution. The First Consul was closeted with M. de Talleyrand,
and Savary had to wait for the end of their conference ere
he could speak with him. On being admitted into Bona
parte's presence, as soon as he was at leisure, he was
ordered to go and take command of a detachment of the
gendarmerie d'elite, which had already gone to Vincennes,
and of the entire garrison of the chateau. He was also
entrusted with a letter which he was to deliver to General

194 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
Murat on his way thither, which letter contained more
explicit instructions as to what he was to do at Vincennes.
Thus, if the Due de Rovigo is to be believed, he did not
receive from the First Consul any direct order with regard
to the sentence or the execution of the Due d'Enghien.
On seeing General Murat, whom M. de Talleyrand was
leaving just as he arrived, he was informed by that general
that a military commission had been called together to try,
that very night, at Vincennes, the Due d'Enghien, and to
him, Savary, was entrusted the keeping guard over the
prisoner, and to carry into execution, without the slightest
delay, the sentence of the commission, whatever it might be.
Savary went to Vincennes, after these orders had been
several times repeated to him. The commission met im
mediately afterwards. It was composed of a number of
unfortunate officers, who, with the exception of the presi
dent and the judge-advocate, were only informed of what
was expected of them on entering the chateau. The presi
dent himself has always asserted, but the fact is hard to
believe, that he was even ignorant bf the name of the
prisoner whom he was to try. One thing is certain, and
that is, that great care had been exercised in order that the
officers selected should receive their orders too late for
them to take any concerted action, or to seek and obtain
advice. They all held the rank of colonel. It will be seen
later how they acted in connection with their finding.
The sentence, which was one of death, was immediately
carried out. Everything was over before seven o'clock in
the morning. Savary's duties, as commander of the gen
darmerie at Vincennes, having apparently ended with this
execution, he at once left for Paris. This is the place to
record a fact, which, if true, has a rather important bearing
on the case.
Savary related it to me several times, in 1812, always in

MEETING BETWEEN SAVARY AND R&AL 195
the same words, and his narrative was, moreover, confirmed
to me in all its particulars, by M. Real. As already stated,
he was on his way to Paris to render an account of his
mission, when he met, at the gates of the capital, M. Real,
dressed as a Councillor of State, with white stockings, and
buckles to his shoes; such are the very words of the Due
de Rovigo. He was journeying towards Vincennes, and
seemed to be in a great hurry. " Well, and where are you
going? " called Savary to him, stopping his own carriage.
"I am going to Vincennes," said M. Real, bringing his own
alongside that of Savary, " and am going there by order of
the First Consul to question the Due d'Enghien." — " What
are you talking about? Is the First Consul not aware that
the Due d'Enghien's trial took place, as ordered, last night;
that he was sentenced to death, and that the sentence has
been carried into execution?" — "How can such a thing
have happened?" exclaimed M. Real. "I had so many
questions to ask the prince. So many things might have
been discovered by examining him ! One more opportunity
let slip. Now, nothing will be known. The First Consul
will be furious ! "
There was nothing left for M. Real to do after this meet
ing but to return home, while Savary proceeded on his
journey, to report to Murat that he had faithfully executed
his orders. Then he went to Malmaison, to carry the same
news. Such is his narrative as repeated to me several
times in 1811, 1812, and 1813, faithfully reported.
I have now to recur to the more particular circumstances
of the sentence and of the execution. Concerning this
portion of my story, 1 have nothing to guide me but the
accounts given, in secret confidence, by the members of the
commission, by residents in the chateau of Vincennes, and
by soldiers forming part of the garrison. Generally speak
ing, these accounts have been confirmed, since the Resto-

196 . MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
ration, by discoveries then made. Hence I believe that
credence can be attached to them.
As soon as the commission assembled, it was made ac
quainted with the documents which supplied the grounds
of the accusation. They comprised several reports from
M. Real, a letter from the prefect of Strasburg, a report from
the officer of gendarmerie already mentioned as having been
sent to Ettenheim ; a bundle of letters and papers belonging
to the prince, and seized at the time of his kidnapping;
and, lastly, copies of a proclamation destined, it was
alleged, to cause the garrisons in Alsace to rise. While
the members of the commission were taking cognizance of
all the documents, preliminary proceedings were already in
full swing, every step being taken with the most odious
haste, in order that the victim might not have the slightest
opportunity of collecting his thoughts, and enable him to
prepare his defence.
As an instance of this, the judge-advocate called on him
while he was still in bed, in order to question him for the
first time. Hardly had this examination been reduced to
writing, when it was laid before the commission. It con
cluded with a formal request of the Duke that he be
brought before the First Consul, and for the suspension of
the preliminary investigation. It was therefore suggested
that the First Consul be written to, but the Due de Rovigo,
who was present, strongly opposed the idea. He argued
that such a step would run counter to the proposed goal;
that it would greatly displease Bonaparte, and would be
more likely to call forth all his severity rather than his
indulgence ; that duty must be performed before everything.
Such is, at any rate, the story told by Colonel Bazancourt.
After a somewhat lengthy discussion, the commission
unfortunately yielded to this almost peremptory order. It
tried to make itself believe that the knowledge it would

THE JUDGMENT 197
acquire of the facts of the case would give greater strength
to its intercession, for which better cause could then be
shown. The commission therefore proceeded with its task,
and the Due d'Enghien was brought before it, and subjected
to a second interrogatory. This interrogatory took place,
almost in its entirety, in the presence of the Due de Rovigo,
who sat behind the president's chair.
Colonels Barrois and Bazancourt, both on the commis
sion, have moreover stated that they lost no opportunity to
impress the prince with the necessity of denying the facts
with which he was charged, and especially of his not con
fessing to a fixed determination to bear arms against France
and to serve under the British flag. Their advice was not
heeded. The prince persisted with courageous frankness
in admitting that such was his intention, but indignantly
denied everything that might lead one to suppose that he
in the slightest degree gave his adhesion to any attempt at
murder. Together with this frank statement, he renewed
his request to be brought into the presence of the First
Consul, and, in this connection, his utterances were noble
and touching.
There is reason to believe that in reaching French soil
he had preferred a similar request. His examination over,
he was taken back to prison. According to custom, the
sitting was held with closed doors, and the judges were
asked by the president if the facts seemed to them proved.
They are to be seen such as they are recorded in the Moni
teur of the 22d of March; but who can, after proceedings
so enveloped in darkness, guarantee that truth was respected
even in so solemn a publication?
The judges having declared the acts proven, they were
next asked by the president what punishment could be meted
out, in accordance with the Code. A lengthy discussion
ensued on this point. Colonels Barrois and Bazancourt

198 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
were in favor of applying an article of the Code which
only provided for imprisonment. The other judges were
equally desirous that it should be so. Even then the
sentence would have been utterly unjust. In spite of this,
the conclusion was reached that the law clearly provided
for a sentence of death in the case of the facts that had
been proven.
There is every reason to suppose that the judges inclined
to this belief, owing to the prince's declaration that he was
firmly resolved to continue serving against the present
government of France. He had declared himself on this
point in the most energetic fashion, even adding " that he
had recently asked for a command in the English army,
and that as long as the usurping government existed, one
might expect to find him under the flags of the powers
ready to wage war against it. It was a duty imposed on
him by his rank, and by the blood which flowed in his
veins." Such a declaration could have no other effect than to
create an unfavorable impression on the minds of military
men; but, at any rate, it disposes of the fable, so carefully
spread by some of Bonaparte's agents, that the prince had
written to him asking him for a command in the French
army. Assuredly there was nothing in this noble and coura
geous avowal which could afford legal grounds for sentenc
ing him. He was merely giving expression to an intention,
and when was an intention ever held to be a fact? Had
the prince been arrested sword in hand? Had he been
arrested on French soil? Could the sincerity of his lan
guage leave the shadow of a doubt on his protest against
being even suspected of having participated in any attempt
at murder?
Attention must be paid to an important omission in

THE JUDGMENT 199
the drawing up of the sentence. It is easy to find proof
thereof in the Moniteur of the 22d of March, 1804, already
quoted. It is that of the ordinary clause, the judge- ad vacate
will cause the sentence to be carried out within twenty-four
hours. The members of the commission which tried the Due
d'Enghien, and in particular Colonels Barrois and Bazan
court, have always maintained that they had persisted in
their refusal to allow this order of execution to be inserted
in the sentence. Its place was consequently filled by
another injunction, for which there was no precedent, viz. :
The judge-advocate shall at once read the sentence to the con
demned man in the presence of the guard under arms. Not
to omit a single detail, it remains to be added that the Due
de Rovigo still contends that the text of the sentence, such
as printed in the Moniteur, was not the actual one; that it
was drawn up afterwards; and that the first copy of the
minutes of the sentence, minutes signed by all the members
of the commission, bore that the execution ivas to take place
immediately. This document was subsequently found. It appears that
it was kept by General Hulin himself. How then can be
explained that the mention of this order for an immediate
execution is not to be found in the official portion of the
Moniteur? Might it not be for the reason that one could
not avoid seeing that such a prescription was not in suffi
cient accord with the letter of the law, which sets forth
that no sentence passed by a military commission shall be
carried into effect without having been brought to the
knowledge of the divisional military commander, and
ordered by him?
The formal order, generally given to the judge-advocate
of a military commission, would thus have to be interpreted
to mean that the commission should refer the matter to the

200 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
military commander, in order to obtain from him the
necessary orders.
On the other hand also, the formula — the judge-advocate
shall at once read the sentence to the condemned man, in pres
ence of the guard under arms — was it not hit upon and sug
gested as being equivalent to the order for an immediate
execution, and as a substitute for it?
The members of the commission have always protested
that the draft embracing the order for an immediate execu
tion was not, in spite of their having subscribed to it, the
one which they intended to adopt finally, that it was to
have been destroyed, that it was preserved inadvertently,
and that the only authentic one, the only one filed in the
record, is the one, copy of which is to be found in the Moni
teur. It still remains to be said, in order to make complete
this series of iniquities, that this record, which should have
been in the archives of the Ministry of War, was removed
therefrom, and no trace of it has been found. If the judges
are to be believed, they consequently felt certain that the
reading of the sentence, such as they pronounced it, did not
carry with it the order for execution, which could only be
proceeded with, after a copy of it in due form should have
been delivered to the divisional military commander, whose
orders could alone cause the soldiery to take action. Thus,
by neglecting to deliver this copy to him immediately, they
believed they could gain the time necessary to take the
steps which their sense of honor and their conscience de
manded of them.
As soon as they had pronounced sentence, they unani
mously decided upon writing to the First Consul, in order
to lay before him the prince's request that he be brought
into his presence. They intended begging him to accede to
this request, and to end their letter with a strong appeal
to his clemency.

TnE SENTENCE AND THE EXECUTION 201
General Hulin proceeded without further delay to indite
such a letter ; but, while he was at work on it, the Due de
Rovigo, who had entered the court-room, asked what they
were writing, pounced upon the general's pen, and tore it
from his hands, at the same time addressing the members
of the commission collectively in the following terms:
" Gentlemen, your occupation is gone. The rest concerns
me." Then, leaving the court-room hurriedly, and slam
ming the door after him, he left the unfortunate judges
positively dumbfounded.
Nevertheless, they were about to renew their discussion
as to what they should do or attempt, and General Hulin
was leaving the building to step into his carriage, with the
intention of driving at once to Malmaison, when he met
General Savary walking ahead of the Due d'Enghien,
whom he was leading down the stairway.
His first idea was that the prince was merely being taken
to the court-room to have his sentence read to him. All
the same, he went back to his colleagues. He was hardly
by their side, and was giving them his impressions, when a
report of musketry fire was heard. The days of the august
victim had been cut off. Close upon this, Savary made his
appearance in the court-room once more, but this time pale
and disconcerted. He told them that all was over, adding :
" It must be admitted that he died like a brave man ; but
why was he against us?" To sum up, it will be seen that
in the first place the execution was carried out without any
formal order on the part of the commission, if, at least, one
is to believe the official copy of the sentence wherein no
mention is made of such an order, and next, without the
president having delivered a copy of the sentence, which,
according to law, should have been given to the judge-
advocate, and which, beyond doubt, should have been trans
mitted by him to the military commander-in-chief.

202 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR 'PASQUIER
It must not be lost sight of that the law leaves to this
commanding officer alone the care of fixing the place and
hour of execution, and the number of men to take part in
it. Is it likely that such a duty could be imposed on him
without his holding some authentic document establishing
the fact that he was acting only by virtue of a legal requi
sition, and that he was allowing the soldiery under his
orders to take part in an execution by virtue only of a
judgment rendered in due form?
There is no room for doubt that the copy of the judg
ment was not signed by General Hulin before ten o'clock
on the morning of the execution; in other words, four
hours after it had taken place. I am as certain of this
incident as one can be of a thing which one's own eyes have
not witnessed.
What is singular and exceedingly strange in this unfort
unate affair is that the men who seemed desirous of sav
ing the prince, were precisely the judges who sent him to
his doom. From the very first they committed an error
which could not be retrieved, viz. the one of declaring
themselves incompetent to try a prisoner, over whom, set
ting aside the privilege of his august blood, no tribunal in
France had any jurisdiction, as he was not arrested on
French territory.
It is evident that their deplorable weakness was to lead
them where it did from the moment they lacked the courage
to bear the loss of their rank, and suffer a three months'
imprisonment. According to their account, the measures
they took to give themselves time to intercede were com
pletely set aside, first by the zeal of the judge-advocate,
evidently in harmony with Savary, who did not fear taking
upon himself to require the execution; next, by the haste
shown by Savary in obeying this requisition.
No doubt can exist that he received a peremptory order

ILLEGALITY OF THE CONDEMNATION 203
to hasten the final issue. He certainly did not act on his
personal responsibility, but carried out the order he had
received with the most fearful and culpable fidelity, for, as
shown, he trampled under foot, not only the custom in such
matters, but even the formalities and the most imperative
regulations. Moreover, three hours were all that was necessary to
obtain from Malmaison an answer to the pressing request
made by so noble a victim, of being at least allowed to see
the man who held his life in his hands.
Savary did not see fit to grant this three hours' respite
to the last offspring of the family of the great Conde, and
it was a soldier who so coldly shed blood so thoroughly
French, and so illustrious! He even had the grave dug
several hours before sentence had been passed. He him
self led the prince to execution, and lowered himself to
presiding over the details of the execution. He leant
against the parapet of the moat while it took place. It
was he who saw to it that all trace of it was removed, and
he came from it carrying the effects of the dead man ; for,
unless I am mistaken, he reached Malmaison holding in his
hand the watch belonging to the prince, and a letter which
the latter had entrusted to the officer commanding his
guard, with the pressing request that he should see that it
was delivered to Mile, de Rohan.1 This letter, a last token
of his affection, was accompanied by a lock of his hair.
All the foregoing particulars concerning the arrival of
the Due de Rovigo at Malmaison were given to me repeat
edly, and always in the same words, by Mme. de Remusat,
who was then in attendance on Mme. Bonaparte. Their
truth, therefore, is indisputable.
1 Three days later, the letter and the parcel came back into the hands
of M. Re'al, through the president of the commission, General Hulin. How
had they travelled in this direction ? I know not, nor do I know if they
ever reached their destination.

204 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
Such is then the part taken by the Due de Rovigo in this
bloody tragedy. He never felt either qualms of conscience
or worry over it. Everybody has read the pamphlet he
published in 1824 or 1825, wherein he repeats the admis
sions previously made on a memorable occasion. While in
St. Petersburg, after the Treaty of Tilsit, being entrusted
with the mission of announcing the arrival in that city of
M. de Caulaincourt, Napoleon's ambassador, the following
is the manner in which he defended himself against the
imputations cast in that capital on the future ambassador,
in the matter of the death of the Due d'Enghien. " You
are mistaken," he said. "It is true that it was Caulain
court who had him kidnapped; but it was Murat who had
him tried, and I who had him executed."
Did this formal order, which he so punctually obeyed,
come to him from Murat, or did he receive it directly from
the First Consul? Did Murat take upon himself to give
such an order, or did he merely carry out the instructions
which reached him from Malmaison, and the confirmation
of which was once more brought to him by Savary him
self? If I am not misinformed, the letter of which he was the
bearer is still in the possession of Murat's friends, and it
contains the most formal orders, not only to have the duke
tried and sentenced, but not to suffer any delay to occur in
his execution, and to anticipate all necessary preparations.
Considering that this letter exists, and I have strong rea
sons for being sure of it, it will sooner or later see the
light of day.1
It is hard to believe that Savary knew nothing of its con
tents at the time of its being entrusted to him, and that he
did not at least receive some formal order from the First
1 It is probably in the possession of M. de Mosbourg, Murat's Minister
of Finance at Naples.

THE PART TAKEN BY SAVARY AND REAL 205
Consul. Would he have shown so much zeal to a mere in
junction from Murat? Would he, after meeting M. Real,
have returned so full of confidence to Malmaison, had he
thought that the First Consul would feel displeased with
the news he brought?
What is to be thought of and deduced from this mission
of M. Real? It is impossible for me to doubt its existence.
At the time when I was informed of it by the Due de
Rovigo and M. Real, neither had any motive for deceiving
me. Neither of them were in the least concerned about the
part they had taken, and they consequently did not seek to
distort the facts. To them it was merely an historical fact
which they narrated naively, and from which they deduced
separate conclusions.
M. Real, ever ready to see plots in everything, inclined
seriously to the belief that great trouble had been taken to
prevent him from holding the interrogatory, by means of
which, he alleged, he could have obtained much information
that would have proved disagreeable for a good many people
of prominence ; and being an old friend of Fouche", and his
creature, his hatred for M. Talleyrand was great, and he
had brought himself to believe that there existed some
treachery on his part, some understanding between him and
the conspirators abroad, upon the track of which he might
have got, had the prince been heard. According to M.
Real, it was therefore quite natural that, in order to head
off this danger, M. de Talleyrand had contributed by his
councils and by secret manoeuvres to hasten the issue.
The Due de Rovigo maintained that M. de Talleyrand,
having provoked more than anybody else the kidnapping
and the trial of the prince, had been, above all things,
anxious to see him condemned and executed; that to the
last he feared some weakening on the part of the First
Consul, and that he had dreaded the influence of certain

206 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
counsels contrary to his own, and receiving the support of
Josephine's entreaties. From that moment, persevering in
his object to render Bonaparte irreconcilable with the
House of Bourbon, he not only persuaded him to tolerate
no delay in the trial and the execution, but even forced
from him the orders sent to Murat, and personally called
on the latter to teach him his lesson, and to conquer the
scruples which his weakness of character ever gave reason
to dread.
Indeed, I have had given to me very positive informa
tion concerning Murat's refusal to obey the first order
transmitted to him, regarding which he gave utterance to
the following words, in the presence of some of his intimate
friends: "Are they seeking to soil my uniform? I will
not tolerate such a thing."
It was found impossible to obtain from him, in accordance
with this first order, that he should appoint the- members
of the military commission and call it together, and Bona
parte was compelled, a few hours later, to send to him from
Malmaison the names of the officers who were to form part
of it. The list of these names formed perhaps a part of
the dispatch brought to him by Savary. Perhaps also the
special object of M. de Talleyrand's visit had been to obtain
his signature, which he ended in giving.1 These several
incidents explain the two meetings of the Due de Rovigo
with M. de Talleyrand, at Malmaison and at Murat's, on
the day preceding the fatal night.
When the Due de Rovigo, in the course of conversations
with me, was thus throwing light on the conduct of M. de
Talleyrand, he in no wise intended to cast blame on him.
1 Murat was not, as it has generally been sought to make people believe,
present at the execution. I am, moreover, certain that he did not go to
Vincennes, and did not even leave his Paris residence. Besides, he was,
at the time, rather unwell, and confined to his room.

JOSEPHINE'S GRIEF 207
The relations existing between them at the time were most
friendly, and M. de Talleyrand had then no more active and
zealous defender against the prejudice and mistrust of the
Emperor. What is then to be finally and fairly believed?
It is not possible to suppose that the First Consul was
foreign to the orders which Savary so hastily carried out.
He had certainly willed and ordered himself all that was
done. Not only did he will it, but he had not heeded re
peated entreaties, asking him to listen to the voice of
mercy. In order to be proof against yielding to these prayers, he
had closeted himself in his study during the greater part of
the day preceding the execution, and had given orders that
no one should be admitted.
However, his wife went in to see him, and I have it from
M. de Remusat, who was acting as chamberlain on that
day, and whom she almost compelled by force to open the
door to her, that the most lively scene took place between
her and her husband. He vouchsafed no other answer to
her entreaties than the following one : " Begone ! You are
a mere child, and do not understand anything about politi
cal exigencies." And again, on awaking at five o'clock in
the morning, he said to Mme. Bonaparte, who lay beside
him : "By this time the Due d'Enghien has ceased to live."
She became hysterical, and cried a great deal. All the
sympathy she got was: "Come, now, try and sleep; you
are childish." It is she, who at eight o'clock, furnished
these particulars to Mme. de Remusat.
How can one admit, after all this, that the mission en
trusted to M. Real was sincerely meant? He was the
bearer of a four-page letter of instructions, dictated by the
First Consul himself.
This fact came to me, in the first place, although indi
rectly, in a burst of confidence on the part of M. Maret

208 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
himself, and, since his death, I have been shown a letter
which he wrote to Murat on the night preceding the judg
ment. In this letter, preserved by Murat's friends, M.
Maret informs him, in the most positive fashion, that he
has just sent, by order of the First Consul, M. Real, Coun
cillor of State, with the necessary instructions to guide him
in his interrogatory of the Due d'Enghien, with which he
is commissioned. And yet, no time was allowed the man
who was to be subjected to this questioning to submit to it.
Bonaparte was in too great a hurry to await its taking
place, so anxious was he to end all, and in sending one
order post haste on top of the other, he rendered the com
plete execution of some of them impossible.
Is it so very hard to realize the hesitation and the irreso
lution which must have struggled together in the mind of
the man who finally came to so odious a determination?
There are certain deeds which must cause mental pertur
bation, in spite of the most hardened policy. The per
turbation felt by Bonaparte was, nevertheless, soon got rid
of. So far from any word escaping his lips, either at the
time, or during the following clays, which might give to
understand that he had been served beyond his desire, he,
on the contrary, loaded with favors his principal advisers
and tools in the matter. It is, however, but fair to state
that those least well treated were the members of the mili
tary commission. All, or nearly all, of them remained
stationary in their rank, and did not gain any promotion
until several years later, a sign that their behavior had not
given satisfaction.
The crime consummated, Bonaparte at once busied him
self with devising means to derive advantage from it.
With the object of making it appear less odious, it was
necessary that it should be looked at in the light of an in
dispensable measure for the protection of the State. His

NAPOLEON DOES NOT BELIE HIMSELF 209
obstinacy in never belying himself in this respect is all the
more remarkable that it endured to the close of his life.
His will, wherein he speaks as follows, is a proof of it : —
" I had the Due d'Enghien arrested and tried, because it
was necessary to do so for the safety, and in the interests,
of the French people, at a time when the Comte d'Artois
openly admitted that he had sixty paid assassins in Paris.
I would do so again, in like circumstances. "
And yet, in his later years, Napoleon never lost a chance of
throwing on M. de Talleyrand's shoulders the responsibility
of the influence he had exercised over him in the matter.
While at Elba, he charged him with the full weight of it,
in the presence of some Englishman or other, who has em
bodied his remarks on the subject in an account he gave of
his visit to the island.
At Saint Helena, he spoke in a like sense to O'Meara,
with the object that O'Meara should commit his words to
writing. He almost dictated his explanation to M. de Las
Cases. It seems that he dictated it without reservation to
M. de Montholon. Previous to this, at the time of his
rupture with M. de Talleyrand, when he took from him the
post of high chamberlain, in 1809, it is a fact that during
the violent scene that took place between them on this
occasion in the presence of several people, his advice to
kidnap the Due d'Enghien, and to send him to his death,
was one of the deeds of perfidy which he most furiously
cast in his face.
It is hard to judge of the worth of recriminations between
two men intimately associated for so long, whose rupture
was so marked, and one of whom ended in so severely
punishing the other.
Unfortunately for M. de Talleyrand, his letter to the
Minister of Baden is an anticipatory apology of the crime,
and if one may justly argue that the unfortunate officers

210 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
ordered to try the Due d'Enghien should have declared
themselves incompetent, how is it possible to concede that
M. de Talleyrand, that a man bearing such a name, and
holding such a position, should not have hesitated before
he wrote such a letter?
With regard to Bonaparte, I am convinced, in spite of
his words, that remorse for the deed haunted him. It fol
lowed him to the brink of the grave, and it is the poignant
recollection of the crime which dictated to him, in his will,
the oft-quoted sentence wherein I can find nothing but an
obstinate determination to preserve to the end the attitude
enjoined upon him by his pride.
M. de Montholon has told me that this sentence was not
embodied in the will at first, and that Napoleon inserted it
two or three days before his death only. He then asked
for his will of its custodian, opened it, made this addition
to it, and carefully sealed up the will himself, without
permitting any one to get a sight of what he had just
added. The desire of taking advantage of so solemn an opportu
nity to make the Comte d'Artois bear the weight of the ac
cusation contained in that sentence, the thought that this
accusation would prove the best possible excuse for his own
deed, would seem to be the motive governing this crowning
act of infamy.
What I can certify to is, that having gone to London in
1825, and having seen the will, I found in it the confirma
tion of M. de Montholon's assertion. The sentence having
reference to the Due d'Enghien had evidently been inter
polated subsequently to the first draft, between two other
sentences, and it had even been a matter of difficulty to
find space for it.
Nothing can equal the stupor wliich reigned at Malmai
son during the days succeeding the calamity. Bonaparte

STUPOR WHICH FOLLOWED THE CALAMITY 211
was at his wits' ends to dissipate it, and I have it from
Mme. de Remusat that it would be hard to conceive the
trouble he condescended to take, during the days following,
in order to make himself less repulsive.
It was all in vain. The deed was done, and it was to
strike further and deeper than he had anticipated.1
1 A most remarkable fact was confided to me, shortly after its occur
rence, which characterizes in a distinctly particular fashion the effect
always produced on the mind of the Emperor by the memory of the Due
d'Enghien's fate, whenever it was recalled to him.
It was during the Hundred Days. The Due d'Angouleme was being
held prisoner by M. de Grouchy, in spite of a formal capitulation. Gen
eral Belliard came into the presence of the Emperor just as the news of
this reached him. The Emperor made all the greater haste to communi
cate it to the general, as he was aware that the latter had on several occa
sions expressed feelings of esteem and of attachment towards the Duke,
and that previous to the 20th of March, their intercourse had been pretty
frequent. " So," said Bonaparte to him, " your friend the prince is under arrest,
and Grouchy is sending him to Paris." — " But there was a capitulation,"
exclaimed Belliard. "Why is it being violated? And especially, why
should the prince be brought to Paris? It would be most unfortunate,
were this done, and I beg your Majesty will countermand it. There is yet
time to do so. The Duke has announced his intention of going to live in
Spain, and there is no reason to prevent him." — " And why, Sir," replied
the Emperor, "should I not profit by the advantages which fall in my
way ? Wherein do you see that it is so great a misfortune for me to keep
in my possession so precious an hostage ? " — "In the first place, there is
the violation of a capitulation," answered Belliard, "and this constitutes
in itself a most unfortunate beginning for the re-establishment of your
government. And then, who knows what may happen? There is the
danger which the prince may incur while passing through France in the
present excited state of the popular mind. On the one hand, some would
venture all to rescue him, while others would be equally determined to
leave nothing undone towards preventing his gaining his freedom. And,
were he to perish in the struggle between the two parties, have you not
cause to dread such a death, recalling as it would that of the Due
d'Enghien?" At these last words, the face of the Emperor underwent a complete
change, and assumed an expression terrible to behold. He paced up and
down his study several times, and then, coming to a halt in front of the
general, he angrily muttered the following words: "Yes; you are prob
ably right. There is no objection to his going to Spain." Then came the
freezing " Good day, Sir," and the slight bow, which, when Napoleon was
in his worst moments, was the signal of dismissal.

212 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
As too much cannot be done to clear up the truth with
regard to events of such magnitude, and the part taken by
each one in them, I subjected the man who seemed best
fitted to stand all tests, to one, and I must confess that he
did not come out of it to his credit.
In 1814, when M. de Caulaincourt, after the 30th of
March, published a defence of his co-operation in the arrest
of the Due d'Enghien, I ventured to blurt out to M. de
Talleyrand that I was still in the dark with regard to some
of the details of that unfortunate affair, although I had
obtained many important particulars from the lips of the
Due de Rovigo. I then referred to the fatal mistake caused
by the report of the man sent by Marshal Moncey to Etten
heim. The impassible face of M. de Talleyrand thereupon
became contracted as I had never seen it before. He did
not answer a word, and, as a matter of course, I put a
timely stop to my questioning.
But, on the other hand, I have from M. d'Hauterive the
following, the truth of which he vouches for. According
to him, M. de Talleyrand is said to have furnished the Due
de Bourbon with a proof which satisfied the latter. Its
purport plainly established the fact that no sooner had it
been determined to arrest the Due d'Enghien, than he dis
patched a messenger to Mile, de Rohan to inform her of
this decision, and to supply her with the means of saving
the prince. The messenger, it would seem, was delayed by
accident or by sickness at Strasburg, and thus reached his
destination too late. On the strength of such proof 
I am still speaking according to M. d'Hauterive,  the Due
de Bourbon restored M. de Talleyrand to his good graces
and the fact remains that he has since been frequently
invited by the prince.
And yet, the story of the messenger is not an impossible
one It may be, at all hazards, that in spite of so manv

M. D'HAUTERIVE AND TALLEYRAND 213
steps undertaken towards quite another goal, it entered
into the mind of a politician of that stamp, to have in
reserve a resource which might some future time prove
serviceable. This would not be the only occasion in his
life when he had recourse to a similar precaution. But
then, the illness of the messenger, this untoward accident,
can they be believed in? Was M. de Talleyrand the one
actually to incur so great a danger as the one likely to
result from so positive an act of treachery on the part
of a man in his position? A messenger does not travel
unnoticed. Messengers have frequently been intercepted,
and France's Minister of Foreign Affairs knew this better
than any one else.
In support of the likelihood of this episode, M. de Talley
rand may claim that he never was cruel, and indeed no act
stamped with cruelty has ever been formally laid to his
door. It may be, therefore, that he experienced a feeling
of remorse, which caused him to take the step which he
subsequently knew how to turn to his advantage.
M. d'Hauterive, although anxious to shield him, could
not help acknowledging to me that on the day the Moniteur
informed France of the crime of Vincennes, the news it
contained filled all the officials of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs with the most fearful consternation. None of
them, it would seem, had anticipated such an issue. M.
d'Hauterive was one of the higher officials of the depart
ment. He went downstairs, Moniteur in hand, and' asked
to see the Minister. His principal colleagues had done
likewise, and they met together at the entrance to M. de
Talleyrand's closet.
When the latter made his appearance a few minutes later,
it was impossible for him, upon entering the room where
he was being awaited, not to be struck with the painful
impression stamped on every face, and especially with the

214 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
look of indignation he could read in M. d'Hauterive's eyes.
"What is the matter with you? Why are your eyes stand
ing out of your head? " he said to him quickly. " What is
the matter with me?" answered M. d'Hauterive. "Why,
the same as must be the matter with you, if you have read
the Moniteur. What an abomination ! " — " What then, what
then !" replied M. de Talleyrand. "Are you crazy? What
is there to make so much fuss about? A conspirator has
been arrested near the frontier, brought to Paris, and shot
dead. What is there so extraordinary in all this?"
I learnt the news, at the Comedie Francaise, in the course
of the evening. I was strolling about the stage during an
entr'acte. Mile. Contat called me, led me to her dressing-
room, and there, letting herself drop into a chair, burst
into tears, saying: "The Due d'Enghien was shot this
morning. Hardly anybody knows of it yet, but I am sure
of it. Whither to fly, whither to hide oneself?" I could
not credit it. But M. de Talleyrand's answer at the ball
given by Mme. de Luynes at once sprang to my mind, and
I left hastily, in order to procure further particulars.
Next morning, at eight o'clock, the news was being cried
in the streets. After an hour, the cries were silenced, by
order. Public indignation was seen to be rising as they
pursued their calling. " The death of the Due d'Enghien,"
said Fouehe", "is worse than a crime. It is a blunder."

CHAPTER VIII
Trial and sentence of Cadoudal, Moreau, and Polignac — Commutation of
Moreau's penalty — The salons of Mme. Pastoret and of Mme. de Beau
mont — Charm of the social gatherings of the period — M. de Chateau
briand and Mme. de Beaumont, the daughter of M. de Montmorin —
France falls into disfavor with the rest of Europe through the execution
of the Due d'Enghien — Advantages derived therefrom by the British
party — Bonaparte created Emperor — Motives inducing Pope Pius VII.
to come to Paris to crown Napoleon — The new power given legitimacy
to by religion — The third coalition against France — Admiral Ville-
neuvs — M. Daru — The camp at Boulogne raised, and the sudden mov
ing of the army into the heart of Germany — The Battle of Austerlitz
— France's state of enthusiasm — Entry of M. Pasquier as maitre des
requites into the Council of State.
The first result of the outrage perpetrated at Vincennes
was to change, in a most marked fashion, public sentiment
with regard to the conspiracy of Georges, Pichegru, and
Moreau. At the time it was laid bare, all sympathy had
gone out to the First Consul, and the arrest of Georges was
considered a piece of good news. But, after the murder
of the Due d'Enghien, the horror inspired by the crime,
a horror increased by the suspicions which the death of
Pichegru gave rise to, public opinion quickly underwent
a change. It was no difficult matter to recognize., this at
the time the great trial began.
The manner in which the trial was conducted brought
much sympathy to the greater number of the accused men.
All of them showed remarkable fortitude, and several of
them admirable devotion to the cause they served. The
youth of Messieurs de Polignac rendered this devotion all
215

216 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
the more touching. Georges gave proof of great character.
There was something noble in the manner in which he
spared Moreau, whose waverings had, to all appearances,
caused the ruin of all. Moreau was greatly inferior to
Georges; still, he rose to the situation on the last day of
the trial. He was ably defended.
Stringent precautions were taken by the police to prevent
within the precincts of the court, and about its approaches,
an explosion of popular feeling in favor of the accused men,
especially in the case of Moreau. The zeal of General
Savary once more broke forth on this occasion in a manner
only too prone, not only to excite more fully the feelings
of those who bore an attachment of some kind or the other
towards the accused men, but also of that great mass of
citizens which requires, as a first guarantee of its dearest
interests, that the authorities should at least show some
respect for the independence of the courts of law.
No sooner had the judgment been rendered, when a uni
versal feeling of pity was shown for the condemned men.
In the case of General Moreau, it was but too clearly seen
that the penalty of imprisonment imposed on him was
merely a compromise between the desires of the First Con
sul, who would have liked to have seen him sentenced to
death, leaving the right to pardon optional with himself,
and the conscience of the judges, who had found strong
presumptive evidence against the general, but who could
not discover sufficient proof to justify them in pronouncing
a sentence of death.
Nevertheless, men in government circles pretended to
believe that Moreau had escaped such a sentence merely
owing to the intrigues of his friends with the tribunal,
where their principal mainstay was the brother of the Gen
eral Lecourbe I have previously spoken of in the matter of
the Concordat, as one of Bonaparte's most persistent foes.

A PERIOD OF CALM 217
The First Consul commuted the penalty of imprison
ment into one of banishment to America. Moreau, a free
man in America, was less to be feared by him than Moreau,
a prisoner in France.
The courageous efforts made by all those surrounding
Bonaparte to obtain the remission, or at least the mitigation,
of the penalties inflicted on the other prisoners cannot be
passed over in silence. Mme. Bonap'arte, the ladies of her
household, Mme. Murat, the officers of the household, the
aides-de-camp, the generals commanding the Guards, all
joined in this action. M. de Riviere was spared, owing to
the entreaties of Mme. de Murat, while Messieurs de Polig
nac owed the mitigation of their sentence to Mme. Bona
parte, supported by Mme. de Remusat.
It was, moreover, impossible for the First Consul to see
that a certain amount of indulgence was necessary in order
to calm the too patent exasperation aroused against him by
the events which had happened in the last four months.
Hence he showed himself, in the matter of pardons, as gen
erous as it was compatible for him to be. It was thought
that even Georges might feel the benefits of his clemency;
but Bonaparte could not bring himself to furnish such a
weapon against himself to a man who had made such per
severing and rabid attempts on his life.
The death of the Due d'Enghien completely changed the
disposition of many Royalists towards Bonaparte.
Previous to the crime perpetrated at Vincennes, many
among us were arguing that it was time for us to emerge
from the life of obscurity and idleness to which we had
been relegated for the past fifteen years. We had had time
to feel how dangerous it was to allow power being handed
over to those unfit to exercise it. The government had
been wise and sagacious enough to encourage these senti
ments.

218 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
Generally speaking, the prefects of the departments had
shown great consideration towards the oldest and principal
landowners. The new methods of conducting elections;
these elections of presidents of cantons made from the
ranks of the most honorable men, whatever their ante
cedents; a small quantity of concessions, albeit of little
importance in themselves, but bearing the sign of inten
tions at variance with those which had for so long a time
governed matters, had contributed greatly towards leading
us into the new path thus opened. We entered upon it
by slow degrees, but still we entered upon it.
The presidency of my canton led me to the electoral
assembly of Le Mans, and I was nominated for the Corps
Ugislatif. This happened in the autumn preceding the con
spiracy. I therefore went to Paris, if not resolved, at least
strongly tempted to have myself appointed by the Senate
a member of the Corps legislatif. It would have been an
easy matter for me to succeed. I had the support of a few
influential men, among others, Tronchet, one of the defend
ers of Louis XVI. The Corps Ugislatif was presided over
by M. de Fontanes.
We met in a few Salons wherein the scattered elements
of French society were beginning to reassemble. For a
long time, the house of M. de l'Etang, whose fortune had
escaped all the measures of the Revolution, was the only
meeting-place, even during the darkest days, of the surviv
ors of the literary and learned world, and of the few for
eigners who feared not the risk of coming to our distracted
country. Mme. de Pastoret did the honors of her uncle's
salon. She was endowed with much natural wit, in spite
of a sorely neglected education, and shone brilliantly in the
distinguished circle which was that of her husband and of
her uncle. Messieurs de Talleyrand, de Montesquiou, and
de Pange, were among those who most assiduously culti-

THE SALONS ONCE MORE OPEN THEIR DOORS 219
vated her. She was in the habit of saying everything that
came to her mind, and in so original a fashion that one
forgave her everything. For a long time a faithful pupil
of Rousseau, she had no other principles than those of the
philosophical school. Later on, after being admitted to
the society of the Duchesse d'Angouleme, the many exam
ples of the highest virtues she there met with inspired her
with feelings of piety which clung to her till her demise.
At the time I first became a visitor to her house, her
husband, one of the fructidoris4s deputies, was abroad. I
met there M. Cuvier and M. de Humboldt, who had just
returned from America (he surprised people by his variety
of information, and his inexhaustible fund of speech, which
was doubtless admired, but of which one soon tired) ; M.
Suard, the worthy representative of the intellect of the old
Academie francaise; M. de Vaisnes, one of the survivors
of the Due de Choiseul's social circle at Chanteloup; Mme.
de Stael, Mme. Cottin, Saint-Lambert, Mme. d'Houdetot,
and Mme. de La Briche, together with M. Mole, her son-
in-law. The latter was then but twenty years of age, but
he was remarkable by the elevation of his mind, to which
was added a fine and noble presence.
The return of the imigris, checked for a while by the
18th Fructidor, was resumed, owing to the feeling of secu
rity inspired by the consular government. I met once more
many gentlewomen of fashion whom I had known pre
vious to 1792, viz. the Duchesse de Montmorency, Mme. de
Caumont, Mme. de Contades, and the Princesse de Vaude
mont, nie Montmorency. She had married a prince of the
House of Lorraine, and was allied to almost all the reigning
families of Europe. Passionately fond of society, she was
not very particular in the choice of her acquaintances, and
indulged in the belief that her long pedigree gave her a
right to impose all her whims. In her salon were to be

220 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
met men of all parties, to wit, M. Fouche" and M. de Talley
rand, who guaranteed to her political immunity, M. de La
Valette, aide-de-camp to the Emperor, and the most un
compromising Royalists.
During the space of thirty-five years, all foreigners of dis
tinction, all the members of the diplomatic corps, enjoyed
her intimacy. She knew every secret, but she never be
trayed a confidence, and never was unfaithful to a friend.
Her faults and her caprices were those of the times, and
harmed only herself.
I came to make the acquaintance of Mme. de Beaumont
in the following way : I had let her have the apartments
which I occupied in the rue de Luxembourg. The charms
of her manner and her superior intellect soon drew me to
her. She was the daughter of M. de Montmorin, one of
the last ministers of Louis XVI. The regime of the
Terror had dealt her heavy blows, for' her father, her
brothers, and her sisters had perished on the scaffold.
Alone of her family she had survived its horrors, hidden
in a cottage in the neighborhood of Montbard. On her re
turn to Paris in quest of the remnants of her fortune, she
soon surrounded herself with a picked social circle. I must
name as its most shining light, Mme. de Vintimille, one of
the best educated and most intellectual of women. She
possessed, moreover, the most elevated and sound judicial
mind of any person I have ever come into contact with. Of
no one else's friendship have I done myself so proud, and
no other has ever formed so great a part of my life. Mme.
de Saussure would often come with Mme. de Stael, whose
life she has since written with so much talent, and with
the imprint of a sincere affection. M. de Fontanes was
another of the habitues, also M. Joubert, whose intimate
relations with Mme. Beaumont were of a touching and
devoted nature. He was a superior man, broad-minded, and

MME. DE BEAUMONT 221
endowed with a natural originality, void of all affectation,
reserved, and never seeking to display himself. I must
likewise recall Messieurs Gueneau de Mussy, Chenedolle,
and Mole, among those who almost daily called between
seven and eleven o'clock of the evening at the rue de Lux
embourg. Lastly, there was M. de Chateaubriand, who
was to fill so great a place in the life of Mme. de Beaumont.
The principal charms of these gatherings lay in the in
dulgence and complete freedom presiding over them. The
joy of meeting once more smoothed away all difficulties.
Shades of opinion and opposite views which would never
have been endured previous to 1791 were tolerated. All
quarrels, hatreds, and ill feelings, which were to live anew
during the Empire and the Restoration were put on one side.
We enjoyed life in those days, free from such plagues
and without restraint, and could speak of everything with
no other curb to our words than that of respecting the sen
timents of others. I know of hardly any subjects which
were not handled in this little salon: home and foreign
politics, past and present ; the nature and the worth of the
several constitutions; the religious requirements of the
new society; lastly, classical literature, the great masters
of the time of Louis XIV. ; the literature, the renascence
of which was being heralded by Atala and by Le gfoiie du
christianisme ; and, to crown all, lively discussions regard
ing the respective merits of MUe. Georges and Mile.
Duchesnois. I will here give a copy of one of Mme. de Beaumont's
letters, because it portrays the society which I am trying to
describe. July 16.
I owe you an apology, Sir, for having so long delayed answering
you. Unfortunately, my excuses are but too good, as all my time
has been taken up with business and leave-takings.

222 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
M. Julien and I are all that remain of the social circle in which
you found pleasure last winter, and we are forever saying to these
rooms which are so proud of their former visitors : " Deplorable Sion,
qu'as-tu fait de ta gloire ? "
They are soon to be deserted. In a few days I am going to take
the waters. I do not know what effect they will have on me, but
their virtues will indeed be great in my eyes if they succeed in getting
me out of the state in which I am. It is by faith ye shall be saved,
and so I must believe. I am trying to do so. M. Joubert left only
three days ago. He was in a pretty flourishing state of health.
I have at last breakfasted with Mile. Duchesnois, and am literally
charmed with her. I am unable to forgive those who find her stupid ;
she is simple, naive, and absent-minded ; but, if you once succeed in
attracting her attention, you quickly see her eyes sparkle, her face
become more beautiful, and she discourses pleasantly and with few
words. She grasps full well all things that are properly submitted to
her ; all that there is to do is to touch the right chord. She conducts
herself with the greatest dignity with men, and is very respectful to
women. Such behavior is certainly not that of a stupid person. I do
not expect to see her act again previous to my departure, and I had
so looked forward to seeing her as Ariane ! You may picture to your
self my disappointment.
I hope that the formidable Geoffroy will not come and persecute
me as far as Mont-Dore. I shall find enough boresome and importu
nate people there without him. You happily do not know, Sir, how
all these jaws down in Auvergne can wag. Had Samson come across
one of them, he would have done far better work, and the Philistines
would never have been heard of any more. As long as I am not
compelled to frequent them, it is all I wish for. After the society I
am leaving, there remains nothing worth enjoying except solitude, for
it is a means of finding it again.
I must not conclude without thanking you for writing to me in
so very beautiful a hand. I had no trouble in deciphering every word,
and no greater praise can I award to you. It goes once more to prove
that you have a reserve fund of compassion for your neighbor's
ignorance. Adieu, Sir. I beg you will accept the assurance of my tender
feelings towards you. I shall be most happy if ever we are all once
more united. , . T>
M. B.

M. DE FONTANES 223
In spite of our all being in various ways sufferers from
the Revolution, although it was still the object of our
strongest reprobation, although we remained the devoted
adherents of the Royalist cause, we began to feel that the
time was fast approaching when it would become us to
stifle our feelings of distaste and aversion, in view of the
necessity of encouraging and helping any government
showing itself sincerely animated with the desire of re
storing order in France, and bringing about a return to
those principles which could alone guarantee protection
to society.
It was impossible not to give the consular government
credit for its good intentions. We were all fairly well dis
posed to take advantage of any opportunities that might be
offered us to emerge from our isolation. M. de Chateau
briand accepted the post of first secretary of legation under
Cardinal Fesch, France's ambassador in Rome. Mme. de
Beaumont followed him to that city, after a brief sojourn
at the waters at Mont-Dore, whither she had gone to stay
the ravages of consumption, which was rapidly killing her.
She died in Rome, a few months later.
M. de Fontanes had called the First Consul's attention to
the talents of M. Mole ; as to myself, I felt disposed to take
his advice, and to take advantage of the interest which
both he and M. de Cambaceres showed me.
The death of the Due d'Enghien came and put an end to
all these good intentions.
Not only did I decide upon ceasing all advances, but I
begged all those whom I had approached in this connection
to forget that I had spoken to them about such matters.
M. de Fontanes, in spite of his anxiety to introduce into the
Chamber over which he presided men who shared his opin
ions, and with whose sentiments he was in sympathy, could
but approve of my determination. He had himself just

224 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
performed an act of courage, the memory of which deserves
to be preserved. Some one had taken the liberty of alter
ing in the Moniteur some of the words he had spoken in his
address to the First Consul, and to substitute others which
seemed to give his sanction to certain doings of the govern
ment. On the following day, in spite of the entreaties of
his friends and relations, who trembled for his fortune, he
did not hesitate to demand of the editors of the journal the
insertion of an erratum stating what he had actually said.
The reward of so noble a behavior was everybody's respect.
Moreover, as ever happens in such cases, the man to whom
it gave most offence was compelled to bow to public sen
timent, and to stomach the lesson without a word.
Shortly afterwards the Emperor, noticing that M. de Fon
tanes looked downcast, said to him : " You are still thinking
on your Due d'Enghien, are you not? " — " So are you," was
his rejoinder. On yet another occasion, when the Emperor
was communicating to him the account given by his minis
ter at Vienna of the report of a talk he had had with the
Emperor of Austria, and having added : " You see how he
judges the event." — "What does it prove?" said M. de
Fontanes. "Well then, what does it prove?" repeated
Bonaparte. " That you are going to be Emperor of Ger
many within a year," quickly answered M. de Fontanes.
The same sentiments which dictated this language to M.
de Fontanes caused M. de Chateaubriand to resign the post
he was to fill at Sion, while M. Mole postponed the carry
ing out of his plans. Thus we all went back to obscurity,
without our having taken any concerted action.
Throughout Europe, the impression created by the death
of the Due d'Enghien was profound. It was especially the
case at St. Petersburg. Paul I. had passed away, and his
demise had almost severed the somewhat narrow bonds,
which, in the last year of his life, had been formed between

M. PORTALIS 225
him and the First Consul. His successor resented without
restraint, and with all the indignation of a great soul, the
blow which had just been dealt all sovereiga families.
Every cabinet had manifest cause to complain of this
violation of the law of nations. The Emperor Alexander
gave expression to his feelings in a particularly severe
fashion. It at once became evident that British policy
would soon find a new ally in this direction. Austria,
although less outspoken than Russia, gave, nevertheless,
sign of an unfriendly disposition towards France. In
Prussia likewise, the death of the Due d'Enghien caused a
revolution in men's minds.
I have it from M. Portalis, then first secretary of the
French legation in Berlin, that never did he witness more
lively and more genuine joy than that shown by Frederick
William, when suddenly bursting in upon the queen, and
telling all who were present of the arrest of Georges in
Paris. The news had just been brought to him by a special
messenger. But the news of the outrage, which quickly
followed, gave quite another bent to his ideas. His indig
nation, smothered by policy, did not burst forth like that
of the Emperor of Russia, but it was none the less real.
The First Consul was compelled to take notice of this
indignation, the explosion of which was full of dangers.
Through M. de Talleyrand, he ordered his ministers in
foreign countries to send him faithful bulletins of public
feeling in their respective localities.
At Berlin, M. Portalis was entrusted by the ambassador
with the task of drawing up the bulletin, but the truths it
contained were so hard and unpalatable that the ambassa
dor (M. de La Forest) entertained doubts as to the advisa
bility of forwarding it to Paris. However, he finally made
up his mind to do so, but he abstained from signing it,
merely enclosing it as an annex to his dispatch.

226 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
After a fortnight had gone by, M. de Talleyrand wrote to
him to cease sending these bulletins. Several months later,
after having been received by Bonaparte, who had become
Emperor (this took place at Mayence) the ambassador
thought he had the right to ask M. de Talleyrand why he
had been treated so coldly. The latter replied: "What
else can you expect? Those infernal bulletins of yours are
to blame, but I will make him listen to reason, and the
matter will blow over."
To return to Berlin. The British party had still a
stronghold in that city. It made good use of the new state
of feeling, and was powerfully seconded by the queen,
who had the support of almost all the important and dis
tinguished men of the country. To say the very least,
Prussia was strongly wrought up, and Pitt was about to
renew the strongest and most formidable of coalitions.
The new Emperor was busily engaged at Boulogne in prep
arations for the invasion of England, just as a terrible
storm was about to burst.
Feeling convinced that before entering upon so great a
struggle abroad, it was necessary to render more secure the
crown whieh he had just placed on his brow, Napoleon
omitted nothing that would tend to enhance its prestige,
nor to create new interests which would be bound up with
its maintenance and defence.
It will be remembered that on assuming imperial dignity,
he had announced that the question of its becoming heredi
tary would be submitted to an expression of the popular
will. Registers were opened in all directions for that pur
pose. The result of such an appeal could not be open to
doubt. Strength was added to it by the Church's conse
cration. It was on this occasion that he derived the great
est benefit from the consideration he had shown for the
Holy See, from the Concordat which he had concluded with

THE CONSECRATION OF THE EMPEROR 227
it, and from the credit he had given himself in the eyes of
the Holy Father of being the restorer of Catholicism in the
finest of his domains, the kingdom of France.
It was already noticed, at the time of his promotion,
that the archbishops were the first to tend him their con
gratulations. He asked the Pope to come and consecrate
him in Paris. The request must have been the subject of
considerable debate in the Roman Council, and it is un
necessary to say what were the thoughts that filled His
Holiness's mind at such a proposition. Still he had plenty
of precedents bequeathed to him by his predecessors. They
were of ancient date, it is true, but they were none the less
to the point in the eyes of the pontifical cabinet.
What assuredly guided Pius VII. 's decision, in spite of
his natural -disinclination, were the advantages which he
believed the cause of religion would derive from so signal
an act of personal condescension. He did not know of any
duty more incumbent upon him than that of getting back
for the Church of France, as much as lay in his power, the
favors, the power, and the glory it had enjoyed in its
palmiest days. Ere he could attain this object, or even
come near doing so, he had much to ask for, much to ob
tain. It became especially necessary for him to win over
the man who disposed of Italy's fate, whose legions were
within a ten days' march of the capital of Christendom,
and of whom a refusal might make an open foe, while a
consent might forever bind him to the holiest of causes.
These important considerations made away with the Pope's
reluctance. He came to Paris, and Bonaparte was conse
crated in December, 1804.
As a matter of course, the Emperor had taken all possible
steps, in order that the pomp of his consecration should be
invested with the importance of a ceremony, the spectacle of
which had not been given for so many years to the nations
of the world.

228 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
He set himself to giving greater importance to all insti
tutions surrounding him. He gave a more solemn conse
cration to that of the Legion of Honor, and created posts,
titles, and ranks, with which to reward those who had up
to that date served him the most usefully and the most
faithfully. He made Marshals of France of several of his officers.
This dignity, the memory of which was essentially monarch
ical, seemed truly to be one of the necessary adjuncts of the
crown. The creation of this rank caused a great stir in
the army. Bringing, as it did, every ambition into play,
it gave the chief of the state an opportunity of showing, in
the selections he made, that merit, in order to reap the
highest reward, must be coupled with undoubted fidelity to
his person.
On the occasion of his consecration, he likewise organized
his Court with that imposing pomp which excited Europe's
wonder. He made renewed attempts to attract to it all the
bearers of illustrious names of old France whom he could
win over.
Never was there any ceremony more full of pomp,1 nor
more extraordinary. The presence of the Sovereign Pon
tiff and the Roman clergy gave to it a character of grandeur.
Religion, only a short while ago persecuted and proscribed,
towered above all other powers, and was alone capable of
giving the triumpher whom it crowned a sort of legitimacy.
What a profound revolution in the course of ideas and in
1 Napoleon gave orders to commemorate by a magnificent work, embel
lished with all that engraving and printing could produce in greatest per
fection, the various incidents of this ceremony. The work was prosecuted
without respite, but so much care was bestowed on it that it was not com
pleted at the time of his abdication. It is a remarkable fact that orders
having been given during the Hundred Days to resume work on it and to
hasten its completion, the whole edition came into the hands of the Royal
Government, in an entirely finished state, after the Second Restoration.
There had not even been time to begin the distribution of it.

NAPOLEON A LEGITIMATE SOVEREIGN 229
the march of events! Where was the man who did not
believe that from that day on the alliance entered into
between the Imperial Crown of France and the Roman
Pontificate would endure for many long years?
And yet, on the day following Bonaparte's consecration,
there was a break in the state of harmony existing between
him and the Pope. It is a fact that the falling out became
a marked one at once, and that it continued to assume in
creased proportions up to the time of the Pope's departure,
and this, to such a degree, that the presents intended for
him were never delivered.
In this respect, France was far from entering into the
sentiments of her new master. Profound veneration and
feelings of sincere attachment were shown the Sovereign
Pontiff. Crowds flocked into all the churches. There was
an immense concourse of people under the windows of his
apartments in the Tuileries; and, when he was returning
to his states, there was the same eagerness to see him, and
the same proofs of respect followed his parting steps to the
last. The sojourn of the head of the Church in France con
tributed greatly to revive religious sentiment, and, in this
respect, left behind traces whieh have not been effaced.
The fruits derived by the Emperor from the papal conse
cration proved of infinite value to him, and to the end of
his career he experienced its benefit. It silenced opposi
tion, and justified submission to the state of things, by
enjoining it. What right had a Frenchman to understand
his duties differently from the head of the Catholic Church?
What could the Royalists say, who, up to that time, had
never separated the cause of royalty from the cause of
religion? Whatever may have happened afterwards, whatever the
part I may have taken later, nothing will prevent me from
saying to-day that, after 1805, Bonaparte was the legiti-

230 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
mate sovereign of France in the eyes of the nation taken
as a whole.
It is an easy matter to imagine the effect produced in
Europe by the consecration and the coronation. It is cer
tain that the event seemed for a time to lessen the opposing
efforts of the enemies of Bonaparte, henceforth to be called
the Emperor Napoleon. But the clever intrigues of Mr.
Pitt and British gold triumphed over this hesitancy, and
while the new Emperor was having himself consecrated
King of Italy, while he was adding Genoa to the French
empire, while he was giving the principality of Lucca to one
of his sisters, and was organizing the state of Parma as a
dependency of France, Russia and England had already
entered into an alliance against him. Austria was soon to
join it.
Prussia still remained undecided, at least to all outward
appearance. This alliance constituted the third coalition
which France had to face.
The territorial increases which I have just enumerated,
were, it cannot be denied, justified by the repeated and
recent increases obtained by Austria, England, and Russia.
The matter is plainly and forcibly set forth in a memoran
dum which I found in the files of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, and of which I will here give the text. Preceding
it is a letter enclosing the document. It is couched in the
following terms : —
Sir, the Emperor has dictated to me the enclosed memorandum,
which he has ordered me to transmit to you.
Signed: E. Meneval, private secretary.
Saint-Cloud, 10 Thermidor (June, 1805).
Memorandum for M. d'Hauterive.
The Emperor desires that M. d'Hauterive should write a short
pamphlet entitled : Changes that have taken place in Europe during
the last twenty-five years, with the purpose of making known :

THE INVASION OF ENGLAND 231
England's gains, either by territory in India, or by commerce, or
again by its innovations in maritime legislation ;
That Sweden and Denmark no longer amount to anything ;
Russia's gains through the partition of Poland, in the Crimea, in
Georgia, at Corfu, through its influence in Wallachia, in Moldavia, in
the Morea, and through its occupation of the Phasis ;
That Prussia, in spite of what it may say, has become a second-
rate power ;
Austria's gains through the partition of Poland, the concentration
of its forces, the acquisition of Venice, the annihilation of the Porte
against whom it was formerly compelled to keep a standing army, as
the Porte has no longer any power, and as the Georgians create a
diversion on its frontiers.
France's gains, its losses through the new doctrine which Eng
land has caused to be adopted with regard to the navigation of the
high seas, the declaration of the Porte, its natural ally, and lastly the
loss of its possessions in India and of the fine colony of San Domingo,
this latter one almost lost to it forever.
When M. d'Hauterive has written this pamphlet, he is to come
and read it to the Emperor.
The pamphlet was begun, but not finished. Probably the
Emperor attached less importance to it in the turmoil of
events which were soon to lead him to the battle-field of
Austerlitz. Bonaparte was at Boulogne, when he learnt at one and
the same time of the first setting in motion of the Austrian
army, and of the return to Ferrol of the French squadron
commanded by Admiral Villeneuve. This squadron, which
had left Toulon with all indications pointing to operations
against the British West Indies, and with the object of
getting itself followed, by deceiving them as to its destina
tion, by the greater part of the British naval force, had fully
carried out the first part of its mission. It had retraced its
steps after a call at Martinique. It remained for it but to
rally the French and Spanish squadrons which lay in readi
ness to follow it, in the ports of Ferrol, Rochefort, and

232 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
Brest. Thus strengthened, the squadron was to make a
sudden appearance in the Straits of Dover, where it would
have found a British fleet greatly inferior to it in numbers.
It might, in consequence, if not overpower it, at any rate
so disable it, that the passage across the channel would have
been free for a few days.
The success of the landing would have thus been rendered
almost secure, and the arrival of this squadron was awaited
by the Emperor with the liveliest anxiety. Although most
cleverly conceived, this plan of campaign was thwarted by
a British squadron which intercepted Admiral Villeneuve
off Ferrol.
I was told what follows by M. Daru. The Emperor sent
for him the moment he received the bad news that his
admiral, on leaving Ferrol, had shaped his course towards
Cadiz, instead of toward Brest, as he had been instructed
to do. M. Daru was compelled to listen to the Emperor's
most bitter invectives against the incompetency and bad
management of the unfortunate Villeneuve, whom he was
probably blaming beyond what he deserved.
But, this first burst of anger having subsided, M. Daru
received orders to take a pen and get ready to write.
Thereupon, the great general, at once dismissing from his
mind the subject of his recent irritation, renouncing the
plans he had pondered over for a couple of years, and to
which he had devoted so much care, so many efforts, and
so large a sum of money, gave up his mind to an entirely
new order of ideas, and entering into the state of calmness
necessary for him to combine his plans, dictated at one
stroke all the orders necessary for transporting into the
heart of Germany the army whose camp could be seen from
the British shores. These orders embraced every detail, and
revealed wonderful forethought. The number of marches,
the locating of each and every corps, and their position on

THE BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ 233
the vast battle-field which was to unroll itself to them, were
calculated with the utmost precision. Never, perhaps, did
the genius of military operations on a large scale, strength
ened and animated by a force of character rising above all
events, manifest itself to a higher degree. M. Daru, when
telling me this, fifteen years later, was still dumbfounded
with admiration.
So great and rare a talent had its due reward, for never
was there a grander and more complete success than this
one. The camp at Boulogne was broken up, and the French
army was soon on the banks of the Danube. One might
think that the whole of Europe was, for that army, but an
enlarged parade ground. In less than three months from
the dictating of that letter, the surrender of Ulm, a series
of fights each one surpassing the other in its brilliant
results, the taking of Vienna, crowned by the battle of
Austerlitz, raised the glory of the French armies and of the
Emperor, to a degree surpassing anything seen heretofore.
Mr. Pitt was so overcome by so crushing a triumph, that
he conceived from it a feeling of despair to which was at
tributed the illness which shortly afterwards ended his
career. Bonaparte was free to believe that the death of
this statesman, whose policy seemed to be the only one
capable of coping with his own, would deliver him from
his most formidable enemy.
The state of peace following upon the battle of Austerlitz
brought him to Paris in triumph. These were among the
most brilliant days of his career. It could no longer be
denied that he was the greatest general of modern times.
He had demonstrated that victory was even easier for him
in Germany than in Italy, and that he had left far away in
his rear the exploits of the Pichegrus and the Moreaus.
Yet I can remember that even in those days, an officer of
great merit, General Campredon, whispered into the ear of

234 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
a few trusted friends that the position in whieh the army
had been forced to give battle at Austerlitz, was the result
of a too rashly risked march, which victory did not wholly
justify. And it is a fact that Napoleon was dragged into
the fight, by a desire of supporting at all costs General
Murat, who, after crossing the Danube, had ventured for
ward with the maddest rashness. And so, even in these
glorious days, a trained eye could distinguish at that early
date the weak side of this great military talent, and point
out in advance the evils of that blind confidence which was
one day to level the edifice of Napoleon's miraculous good
fortune. The question also springs to one's mind whether Admiral
Villeneuve's defeat, which destroyed all Napoleon's hopes
of crossing over to England, and which, in spite of his
burning desire, kept him on French soil, does not consti
tute one of those remarkable examples of the good luck
which, in those days, clung to all his steps.
And, indeed, what might not have happened to him, when
once landed on the British shore with the pick of his troops,
while master of the seas for necessarily but a short time?
What would have become of France if Austria's huge army,
under Prince Charles, emerging from Bavaria, had deployed
its forces on the banks of the Rhine, which it would proba
bly have crossed, for one cannot discover the forces which
could have made any effectual resistance?
France would have been invaded, and, in the midst of
this terrible conflict, what would have become of its divided
parts? On which side would have lain the greatest dan
ger? The only answer to be set against these questions is
the one he himself gave to several persons who took the
liberty of submitting the situation to him, viz. : " If my
landing had been crowned with success, the enthusiasm
aroused thereby in France would have been such that the

THE COUNCIL OF STATE 235
women and children of Strasburg would have sufficed to
repulse the Austrians." Does not such a reply seem more
brilliant than sensible?
A sense of happiness and the intoxication of success took
hold of all France. People rushed from every corner of the
Empire to Paris, in order to see the conqueror and his new
Court, and to gaze with admiration upon its festivities. A
great social event, which deserves to be recalled, was a ball
given by the Marshals at the Opera on a grand scale, and
with much magnificence. All the most prominent people
of the capital were invited to this ball, no distinction being
made in favor of pedigrees. The Emperor honored the
ball with his presence, and showed particular attention at
this great reunion towards the element belonging to old
France, evidently seeking to win it over to him. He
labored to attract it to his Court, and was desirous of seeing
it accept the highest offices.
This Council of State served him well in this respect.
It was an excellent school. The ideas which the former
Royalists might bring into it were no disturbing element,
for its majority was devoted to the new ideas. The Em
peror often presided over it and watched its doings. Dur
ing the preceding year he had conceived and put into
execution the idea of auditeurs, which he in the first place
selected from young men belonging to the best families,
and who possessed both means and brains. M. Mole was
one of these. Through him I became familiar with the
nature of the work.
I felt that the duties of auditeur were hardly consistent
with my age, and with the rank which I had held in the
magistracy, so I was about to go and spend the summer
season on my estate (this was in June, 1806), when I learnt
of the coming creation of mallres des requites. It did not
seem extraordinary, when viewed from the standpoint of our

236 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
old magistracy's hierarchal ideas, for a councillor of the
Parlement to become a maltres des requetes, so I thought
that I could properly accept such a position.
Ever since the radiations, the erasure of the names of
the imigris from the list of those proscribed, I had remained
on good terms with M. de Cambaceres, who was now arch-
chancellor, and president of the Council of State. I
chanced to be invited to one of his dinners, and this gave
me an opportunity of broaching to him the subject of the
approaching creation of the maltres des requites. He
divined the mood I was in, urged upon me to take advan
tage of the opportunity thus offered me of returning to
public life, pointed out to me the advantages to be derived
therefrom, and told me that he would see to it that my
request should be favorably entertained, were I to decide
upon preferring it. I begged him to allow me to think the
matter over for a few days, as I wished to consult with my
friends and relations.
The need whieh I had experienced two years earlier of
emerging from my state of idleness, and which a fearful
occurrence had caused to disappear, had made itself felt
once more. It was not, however, without great hesitation
that I determined upon taking this step. I feared the dis
content of the society in whieh I lived, and in which were
many intolerant persons who would not bring themselves
to overlook the step I was going to take. But there were
so many strong reasons to oppose to their criticisms. Was
it possible to forget one of the hardest lessons taught us by
the Revolution? Had it not taught us that our reason
commanded us to sacrifice our repugnance in order to work,
with all our might, against the return of such calamities as
we had seen? ' Was not the best method, the only one per
haps of attaining such a result, that of bringing back to the
fold of the government the men who could help it to resist

M. PASQUIER RE-ENTERS OFFICIAL LIFE 237
revolutionary ideas? Did wisdom consist in repelling the
advances made in this direction by the government, when
it showed that it felt the necessity of such a rapprochement ?
How to resist the desire of not frittering away one's whole
life in a state of absolute inaction? Were there not already
many examples worthy of imitation?
So I called on M. de Cambaceres, who undertook to pie-
sent my request, and I was appointed maitre des requites
on the creation of the new institution. From that day, I
entered on a new path, and, without ever abandoning my
principles, facts have oftentimes presented themselves to
my mind in a light different from the one in whieh I had
been accustomed to look upon them till then. I have noth
ing to dissemble in this connection, and, in the course of the
narrative which is to follow, I am going to pass judgment
on myself as sincerely as on others. But I am of opinion
that I should state that once having taken service under the
imperial government, and having made up my mind to do
so only after grave deliberation, and because it seemed to
me that I was acting as rightly and as serviceably towards
my country as towards myself, I served that government
in all sincerity and loyalty, and without any mental reser
vation. The cause of the House of Bourbon was the cause of mis
fortune, and had received my first attachment. I belonged
to it by my birth, by my convictions, by the sacrifices I had
made. It was impossible for me not to preserve the pro-
f oundest sympathy for it ; but I had come to the conclusion
that if this cause should ever triumph again, it would be
at a very distant date, and after events which it was im
possible to foresee. The best interests of my country
seemed to me, therefore, clearly to demand that every
means at one's disposal should be utilized towards better
ing, by aid of one's support, the existing order of things,

238 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
and to bring it into the best possible harmony with the
principles of sound reason and eternal justice.
Such was the law I laid down to myself upon joining the
Emperor's Council of State, and I hope that I have never
wittingly deviated from it.

CHAPTER IX
France's state at the birth of the Empire — Organization of the imperial
regime — Absolutism dominant — The deliberative assemblies — The
freedom of the press and the liberty of the subject — Happy results
abroad of the battle of Austerlitz — Negotiations for a marriage
between the Princess Amelie of Bavaria and Eugene de Beauharnais —
Confidential letter from M. de Talleyrand to M. de Thiard regarding
this union — Rapid elevation of the members of the Emperor's family
— Joseph, King of Naples — Murat, Grand-Duke of Berg — Louis,
King of Holland — Naval engagement off Trafalgar — England's su
premacy on the seas — Devoted adherence of the clergy to the Imperial
Crown — France's new organization — The twofold legislation necessary
towards constituting society — Private influences welcomed by Napo
leon — Lebrun and Cambaceres — Fouche painted — M. de Talleyrand's
public and private life — M. Portalis, Senior — M. Maret, Due de
Bassano — M. de Laplace — M. Chaptal.
I consider it timely to throw a light on the general situ
ation at the period when I began to take an active share in
public affairs.
For some time past, absolute power had been established
on a firm basis. Such had been the work of the Revolu
tion, as, for a long while public authority had been in the
hands of a few individuals, who had exercised it to the
vexation of the rest. At the period which we now reach,
this power was undoubtedly centred in one man. Napoleon
had finally succeeded in getting it into his hands, by
winning over some, by making playthings of others, and
subjugating all with his uncontested superiority. While
retaining the shibboleths of the Revolution, he had shown
his skill in partly destroying its work. Its promises were
no longer anything but mere words, yet, in spite of all his
239

240 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
deceit, the country, instead of feeling angry with him,
daily showed him increased confidence. As an instance of
this, the deliberative assemblies, the Senate and the Corps
Ugislatif, continued to exist after the 18th Brumaire, pre
serving the while their republican labels. Formerly, they
disposed of all things, and everybody bowed to their
mandates. Now, they were nothing but the docile instru
ments of the hand which governed them. A senatorial
commission existed, ostensibly for the purpose of securing
the freedom of the press ; while in reality the press was
never more muzzled. Another commission was supposed
to watch over the freedom of the subject, yet prisoners of
state were not unknown. True, the number of them was
net as great as one has been led to understand; yet they
were detained without trial, and were the victims of the
most arbitrary measures. There remained but one thing
of the inheritance handed over to him by the Revolution,
which the new head of the government took over and
defended with the utmost sincerity, and that was the pri
vate interests created by the Revolution, the security of
which he guaranteed.
Thus, all positions and fortunes acquired during the past
thirty years were not only confirmed, but augmented, at
least those of such men as went over to him unreservedly.
It was in this fashion that he succeeded in laying hands on
everything, on the civil service, justice, army and navy,
and the public coffers. Peace reigned at home and glory
abroad by virtue of this concentration of power.
God forbid that I should become the apologist of such a
system, but France had been driven to take refuge under
its protecting wing. France's good fortune willed it that
the man whom she had permitted to seize upon so much
power was strong enough to shoulder the burden. Had,
for instance, Napoleon died on the battle-field of Austerlitz,

THE IMPERIAL REGIME 241
or lost his life by one of the plots hatched against him, the
chaos of anarchy would once more have taken hold of
France, and anarchy may well be styled the worst of
despotisms. France would doubtless have become a victim
to internecine strife, and would have seen the outbreak of
rival ambitions, whose struggle would have led to fearful
results. Most fortunately for the country, the life of this most
necessary man seemed at that time as safe abroad as it was
at home. Abroad, the results of the battle of Austerlitz
had greatly increased his power, which was looked upon as
being all the more firmly established from the fact that
he had, in making terms of peace, been shrewd enough to
secure important advantages for his allies, thus seeming to
credit them with a good-will which existed more on the
surface than in reality. He had thus gained, even in Ger
many, the good-will of a puissant party on whom he might
depend for good and useful service. By enlarging Bavaria,
Wurtemberg, and the Duchy of Baden with a considerable
part of the territory he had wrested from Austria, he had
elevated the two former to the first rank among kingdoms.
The Elector of Bavaria had won this mark of high favor
in a special fashion, by consenting to the marriage of his
daughter, the Princess Amelie, with Eugene de Beauharnais,
Napoleon's adopted son. This matrimonial alliance was
the first of many which the members of his family were to
contract with the sovereign houses of Europe. It is worthy
of note that this union laid the foundations of the most solid
of fortunes which came to the new imperial house of
France, and which best withstood the reverses which hum
bled its head in the dust.
An exceedingly curious document revealing the manner
in which this affair was managed, fell into my hands, and
so I subjoin it in a footnote. It is a letter written by

242 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
M. de Talleyrand, Minister of Foreign Affairs, to M. de Thi
ard, chargi d'affaires at the Court of the Elector of Bavaria.
The arrogance of style and the pretensions to be read be
tween the lines of this document are too characteristically
significant for it not to deserve some attention. It will be
seen from it that negotiations in the matter began shortly
after the taking of Ulm, and previous to the occupation
of Vienna, which occurred on the 13th of November, and a
long time before the battle of Austerlitz, which was fought
on the 2d of December.1 1 Paris, 17th Brumaire, Year XIV.
(October 8th, 1805.)
ToJlf.de Thiard: (This letter was written in cypber.)
I have to acknowledge, Sir, your two letters, of the 15th Vendemiaire,
and of the 2d Brumaire, having reference to the matter I spoke to you
about. From what you say to me it is plain that the special negotiation
you are engaged in is daily acquiring greater importance, and becoming
more and more pressing. It is time to reach the goal at once.
The stumbling-block you have found in its path is certainly of a nature
to inspire one with a fear of some kind of resistance which may have some
grounds for its being, or may be merely a pretext. But your suggestion,
that it be got rid. of by appealing for that purpose to the Elector of Baden,
is not to be thought of. So indirect a proceeding cannot be taken into
account, as it is beneath the dignity of a Court like ours.
A successful intrigue in such matters cannot be acknowledged, while an
unsuccessful one would be difficult and even impossible to keep hidden.
The only becoming line of conduct to be followed is to broach the matter
to the Elector of Bavaria himself. You will ask a private interview of
him through M. de Montgelas, and you will then in plain terms propose to
him matrimonial alliance between his family and that of His Majesty.
The Emperor has given proof of his desire to protect the House of Bavaria,
and he can offer no better and no more lasting guarantee of his sentiments
towards the Elector. The Emperor has no marriageable prince in his own
family. Young Beauharnais can settle down to matrimony, and when this
occurs, His Majesty will do for him all that he would do for one bearing
his name. His Majesty has already made known his views with regard to
the succession to the throne.
The senatus-consultum having reference to the imperial accession has
made it plain to all Europe that the heir presumptive, in the princely
branch, is Louis. This disposal of the succession, so fully settled upon,
places the Prince de Beauharnais (I may even now give him this title) in a
particularly advantageous position. He is brother-in-law of our Imperial
Prince, uncle of the heir presumptive, stepson of the reigning Emperor,

THE EMPEROR'S FAMILY 243
It was not without some anxiety that thoughtful minds
watched the Emperor's persistent attempts to work at the
elevation of the members of his family, an elevation which
gave all the more cause for anxiety that, in order to main-
and only son of the Empress : so much for rank ; to all this are to be
added all the advantages to be derived from such a position.
As regards the Elector, his position will be made secure forever, and
strengthened with a most plausible prospect of all such progressive aggran
dizement for which the future may afford opportunity. He will acquire a
powerful protection against the jealousy and ambitious designs of the
great Courts, of his rivals, and of his neighbors. As to the Princess, a
condition of life, which the most liberal sovereign in existence will be
pleased to create with a magnificence in harmony with his feelings of affec
tion, and an establishment in regard to which her wishes and those of the
Elector shall be fully taken into consideration, as regards the shape it is to
take, its location, its extent, and lastly the benefit she will reap of coming
to Paris at a time when good taste, elegance, and dignity are calling back
the French nation to all the refined enjoyments of the mind, and of herself
selecting from a new Court the persons and means most fit to re-establish
its empire. Such is the light in which you are to present the successful
issue of the direct negotiation which you are hereby commissioned to trans
act with the Elector.
The reverse aspect of the case is easily understood. A refusal, or a
show of repugnance, would be the hardest thing in the world to palliate or
repair. The most powerful prince in Europe, while a man of the highest
elevation of character and magnificent in the display of his affections, is
at the same time irreconcilable when contradicted, and he possesses in
common with the rest of mortals greater power to do harm than to do
good, and he does not admit of any obstacles. His strong will embodies
all the advantages and disadvantages which its possession brings to man
kind. There is no need for me to go into detail as to the consequences
emanating therefrom, and to point out their possible application, in order
to make my meaning perfectly clear to the Elector of Bavaria. But I have
particularly to beg you will draw his attention to the inevitable conse
quences of any indiscretion on his part, for this negotiation must ever
remain a secret, except in the case of its success. A refusal would be
tantamount to a misfortune which the Elector should seek to spare unto
himself. The making of it public would but have the effect of hastening
the evils which he then could not help calling down on his House. I do not
see any objection to M. de Montgelas' learning of the matter, so you may
tell him in detail of your doings, and consult with him as to whether it is
better he should speak with the Elector before or after you. It will give
the secret strength if he becomes a participant in it, for more than any one
else will he feel its importance. If my direct intercourse, which dates far
back with the Elector, and of which he is fond of showing me his recollec
tion on every occasion, is liable to cause my personal opinion to influence

244 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
tain it, France might constantly find herself engaged in
new wars, or at the very least embroiled in diplomatic diffi
culties of the most troublous kind. For instance, the king
dom of Naples had been wrested from the House of
Bourbon, by way of reprisal for the more than ill-consid
ered attack which King Ferdinand had ventured to make
on the French troops in Italy, at the very time when he
had bound himself by treaty to remain neutral between
France and Austria. Following this conquest, which had
merely been a day's work, the crown of Naples had fallen
to the lot of the eldest of the Bonaparte family, the one
known as King Joseph. It was on this occasion, if I am
not mistaken, that for the first time the Emperor spoke
the haughty words: "The dynasty which occupied the
throne of Naples has ceased to reign." About the same
period, the Grand-Duchy of Berg was created in favor of
Murat, his brother-in-law; almost immediately afterwards
his brother Louis was proclaimed King of Holland, follow
ing upon a treaty concluded with or rather forced upon
the Batavian government. These three important deeds
his decision in any degree, then make use of my name in any way you
may deem best. With regard to the obstacle which you have foreseen as
likely to come from the Court of Baden, it seems to me that the simplest
course is to suggest to the Elector of Bavaria that he give the hand of his
youngest daughter to the Elector of Baden. The respective ages of the
pair are not in contradiction with such a solution, and thus would all inter
ests be reconciled. Were the Elector to offer you the hand of his youngest
daughter, your reply would be that the respective ages of the pair are not
in harmony, and you would not entertain the proposition. If you have the
opportunity of speaking to the young Princess, or of getting some one to
speak to. her, get her on your side by encouraging her predilection for
what is French. M. de Montgelas is to be informed of your steps, and
take action on his own account. Tell him that it would be within the
bounds of possibility to create the establishment of M. de Beauharnais
out of the former territory of the House of Bavaria on this side of the
Rhine. I have the honor, etc.
Signed : Ch. M. Talleyrand.

TRAFALGAR 245
undoubtedly went beyond all rules of prudence, not to
say those of a healthy policy.
A solitary enemy still remained, and that was England.
It was, moreover, to be expected that Russia, although dis
sembling her intentions, would ere long become her ally.
Mr. Fox, who had succeeded Mr. Pitt, was soon to die,
and with him was buried all hope of peace. England had
lost within a year her two foremost statesmen, and was
witnessing the breaking up of the last coalition formed by.
Mr. Pitt, but as a compensation for this check to her policy
she could boast of the destruction of the French and Spanish
naval forces at Trafalgar. The engagement had been
fought in sight of Cadiz, at about the same time as the
battle of Austerlitz, by Admiral Villeneuve, who had rallied
the Spanish squadron commanded by Admiral Gravina.
Moved to action by far too peremptory orders from M.
Decres, Minister of Marine, and anxious to retrieve his
defeat off Ferrol, the unfortunate Villeneuve persisted in
leaving the roadstead of Cadiz in spite of the presence
of the English squadron under Nelson, and had prevailed
upon the Spanish admiral to follow him. The engagement,
although fought by the French and Spaniards in a most
disadvantageous position, was a long and terrible one, and
great valor was displayed on both sides. Nelson was killed
in the hour of his triumph, Admiral Gravina succumbed to
his wounds, while Villeneuve, driven to despair, took his
own life a few months later. He had in vain sought death
on the day of the battle. There is no question that with
Trafalgar England's supremacy on the seas became and
remained undisputed.
Alone, England could not attain anything on the Con
tinent. It was necessary that she should have allies, and
they were not to be found readily after so many disastrous
campaigns. Nevertheless, she kept up an active inter-

246 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
course with Russia; but, in order that it should bear fruit,
it was necessary to get Prussia to join them, for that coun
try could alone furnish the battle-field. Prussia still
enjoyed the prestige of the military creations of Frederick
the Great. The campaign in Champagne had brought
Prussia little credit, but its failure was attributed rather
to bad political moves than to the unskilful handling
of her armies.
Since then, the Prussians had shown some talent in the
siege of Mayence ; their troops were in a fine state of effi
ciency, yet officers versed in military affairs contended
that an army whose noted generals were men from sixty
to eighty years of age, and the greater part of whose young
officers had never been shot over, was in a poor condition
to cope with the young and virile army of France, which
army had for the past fourteen years slept on battle-fields,
and which had just surpassed itself in the campaign culmi
nating in the victory of Austerlitz. Hence did the storm
gathering in that quarter cause but small alarm in France.
At home, every show of opposition had been crushed.
Bonaparte had inherited all the force and strength created
by the Revolution, and was surrounded with a number of
eminent men who no longer had any ambition but to serve
him. The army was his beyond recall. Each day saw the
scions of the best families, of those who up to that time had
longest held aloof, enter the ranks. And indeed it was
hard for a young man to witness such a harvest of glory,
and not to wish to reap his share of it.
Positions in the civil service were beginning to be a
source of ambition for all classes. As to the clergy, with
the exception of a small number of dissentients, who might
still cause a few consciences some little trouble, but which
had no influence in the state, it certainly proved itself one
of the most devoted auxiliaries, and so, one of those most

COMPLETE ADHESION OF THE CLERGY 247
precious to the imperial crown. The papal consecration
had, to its eyes, settled every question, and the charges
given out subsequent to that date all bear striking proof of
this. There is one of these which I have particular cause
to remember, emanating as it did from the pen of M. de
Broglie, Bishop of Ghent, at the opening of the Austerlitz
campaign. I can recall that while praising Napoleon to
excess, the noble prelate naively declared that he was an
enemy to all adulation.
This favorable mood of the clergy bore nowhere more
influence than in the western provinces, where the work of
pacification was complete and civil war had become alto
gether extinct. Moreover, consequent upon the counsel
and preaching of the priests, the departments which had so
long fought the troops of the Republic supplied as quickly
as elsewhere their contingents to the Emperor's armies.
Great care was, moreover, bestowed in the administration of
these departments. New roads were opened, and the same
hand which restored the Place Bellecour in Lyons, built a
new town in La Vendee.
Old France had been destroyed, and new France needed
an organization. Everything was budding in the latter,
and elements were not lacking, but nothing was in its
proper place. It is easy to remark that the new chief of
the state had this advantage on his side, viz. that no
institution having taken root in France since the begin
ning of the Revolution, there was nothing standing in his
way, and that he could therefore give free rein to his con
ceptions ; but I really think that he would have considered
himself more than fortunate had he been able to lay his
hand on some old institution, on some time-honored social
custom, even some national prejudice which had stood the
brunt of centuries, and upon which he could have laid the
foundations of an edifice.

248 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
More than once, it must be said in justice to him, he
expressed his regrets to that effect, showing himself in this
respect far superior to the men of talent who surrounded
him, whose training had taken place during the Revolu
tion, and who had derived from it their prejudices in favor
of a general levelling, thus rendering all building up an
impossibility. They were merely capable of destructive
work. Two things are requisite to constitute and organize a
social system. It requires doubtless a written legislation
in harmony with its material position; but, by the side of
such legislation, there must be found an entirely different
one composed of usages, customs, accepted ideas, and lastly,
of manners, and this latter one is the only one which gov
erns social life in so many cases where the laws cannot
make themselves felt. Concerning written legislation, I
have already pointed out with what happy results the First
Consul had devoted his attention to it with the aid of his
Council of State. As Emperor he could but pursue his
work as First Consul, and it can be truly said that he never
ceased giving his best attention to it. At the time of my
entering the Council of State, the Civil Code and the Code
of Civil Procedure were completed, and the Commercial
Code was under discussion. The Penal Code and the Code
of Criminal Procedure were in course of preparation.
In a century where knowledge was widespread, at a time
where for a period of almost fifteen years, every idea and
principle of legislation had been publicly ventilated and
discussed, when advantage could be derived from experi
ence, when the Council could boast of lawyers of the first
rank, such as Messieurs Tronchet, de Cambaceres, and
Portalis, it could not be considered a rash undertaking
nor one disproportionate to the means at hand to recast all
the country's legislation.

FRANCE'S NEW ORGANIZATION 249
The principal and real merit of the Emperor lies in hav
ing conceived the necessity of the undertaking, and in hav
ing pushed it forward with the activity characterizing all
his doings, and which he had the faculty of communicating
to others. The stupendous amount of work which he got
out of his Council of State, during the first six or seven
years, is sufficient to frighten one's imagination. Nor can
it be denied that he knew so well how to apply his intel
lect to matters which must have been completely foreign
to him, in such a manner that not only was his interfer
ence not out of place, but that he often brought to them
most useful knowledge.
To turn to the other legislation, the need of which I have
also pointed out, the one that is not made with nor learnt
in book^. With regard to this one, the difficulties were far
greater, and, in the beginning, the Emperor stood almost
alone in his views regarding it. Not only was he badly
served, but barely understood by the majority of those
about him. Some of them were governed by a blind fear
of what was styled the old regime ; the limited intellect of
others did not permit of their conceiving that there was a
mean to be preserved between this old regime, which their
thoughtless wishes would have recalled to life, and that of
the Revolution, which they justly held in execration.
Nothing was more difficult than to make the men of the
Revolution understand that the only way of consolidating,
and of securing against the vicissitude of events newly
acquired positions and fortunes, was to make class distinc
tions de facto if not de jure, and to create within the higher
or lesser ranks of the social order a certain number of
those hereditary institutions by which a throne must of
necessity be surrounded, if it is itself to become hereditary.
Most extraordinary was the state of mind of the men of
the Revolution who had gone over to the Emperor. They

250 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
had fully accepted the idea of an absolute power committed
to the hands of one man. The altitude of this power was
so prodigious that it no longer dazzled their eyes. More
over, at the time of their consenting to serve under him
they had known enough to set a high price on their ser
vices. But, in order that the throne should not be for them
a source of alarm, they would have liked to see it standing
by itself, and they were irritated by the ranks which in
terposed themselves between them and the throne. But
the man who occupied it was too shrewd not to understand
that anything which stands alone and unsupported cannot
last long in this world. He therefore sought props in all
directions, securing them from the old as well as from the
new France, for he was not the man to believe that ten
long centuries had been actually wiped out by the. events
that occurred in ten years. It therefore became necessary
and indispensable to bring about a fusion between the past
and the present, and until such a fusion took place, it could
rightly be said that the new work was not complete.
Among the men closest to the Emperor, and to whom
some influence in his decisions may be attributed, were his
consular colleagues, Messieurs Lebrun and de Cambaceres,
who, at the birth of the Empire, had become respectively
archtreasurer and archchancellor. It would be difficult to
find two men of such opposite characteristics. The first
named, a former secretary of Chancellor Maupeou, and the
author of the truly remarkable preamble to the Chancellor's
edicts of 1771, a distinguished man of letters, a charming
translator of Tasso and of Homer, was a devoted adherent of
all the philosophical principles of the eighteenth century,
and he had embraced the Revolution of 1789 with all the
ardor and good faith of an adept. He had not played any
prominent part in it, although a member of the Constituent
Assembly. A gentle and humane man, and a foe to all deeds

CONSUL LEBRUN 251
of violence, he deplored the evils which the Revolution
brought in its train. He had a horror of its crimes, and
despised those who committed them. Still, he could not
help believing that the misery which these crimes engen
dered were at the very least atoned for by the inestimable
benefit conferred by the abolition of all hereditary distinc
tions and privileges, by the doing away with the old judi
ciary, especially the Parlements, towards dispersing which
he had labored in 1791. He dreaded all religious power
and influence, and if his peace of mind was still liable to
be disturbed, it was from the fear of again seeing the
advent of such a state of affairs. Lastly, no one has ever
surpassed him in his dream of a state of perfect equality,
and hence it is that the slightest encroachment on this
equality in the matter of the division of an estate, seemed
to him a monstrous thing. He was the father of a large
family, and nothing could have induced him to give one
of his children the slightest advantage over the others.1
Titles and honorary distinctions were in his eyes mere
playthings, and he could not help shrugging his shoulders
every time he would see any store set on them.
When the First Consul took him as a colleague he was,
since the 13th Vendemiaire, a member of the Conseil des
Cinq-Cents, where he had always ranked among its mod
erate men. His line of conduct had been sufficiently cau
tious to save him from being transported, in spite of his
intimate relations with several of the fructidor isis, notably
M. de Marbois.
The selection of M. Lebrun as Third Consul was there
fore looked upon as one of the pledges given by the Gen-
1 It was the greatest difficulty, at least during the last years of his life,
to induce him to consent to the settlement of a majorat, in order to secure
for his son his place in the pairie, as his successor. I am even inclined to
believe that this majorat was created by the son himself out of his own
resources.

252 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
eral First Consul of the moderation of his intentions. It
was also a valuable acquisition to his government, as he
was highly educated, a good administrator, and possessed
of a rare talent for writing, which more than once was put
to good use. His most shining specialty was that of deal
ing with financial matters, of which he had made a search
ing study. It is true that his knowledge in this respect
had been acquired perhaps to too great an extent in the
purist school of economy, thus rendering its results less fit
for application. Nevertheless, while still making liberal
allowance for doctrinal exaggeration, there was still much
to be derived from what he knew about questions of tax
ation, and especially about the public credit. Napoleon,
who knew how to do justice to his talents, appointed him
archtreasurer in the first days of the Empire.
M. de Cambaceres, Second Consul, and then archchan-
cellor, was the very opposite of M. Lebrun. A councillor
at the Cour des aides of MontpeUier previous to 1789, he
had been a personage of some importance in that body, and
this importance would have been still greater, if to his pub
lic worth had been joined somewhat more dignified man
ners. A stranger to any system of philosophy, endowed
with one of the most positive minds that ever existed, he
had allowed himself to be carried away by the first waves
of the Revolution, rather than plunging into them.
The advantages he could derive therefrom were counter
balanced by many dangers, which would doubtless have
held him back, had it not been that the party of the Revo
lution was the strongest. His was a nature governed more
by prudence than by courage. Nevertheless, he did not
become a member either of the Constituent Assembly or
of the Legislative Assembly. Up to September, 1792, he
contented himself with filling, in the department of the
Herault, several judicial or administrative positions of

CONSUL CAMBACERES 253
more or less importance. His political career really
began on the day he entered the Convention. He soon
made his mark by his remarkable aptitude for work, and
by his genuine acquaintance with all questions of jurispru
dence. He became a member of several committees, but
it was the king's trial which drew public attention to him.
His behavior during this trial affords some strange contra
dictions. He began by declaring the king guilty, next denied the
Convention's right to try him. After this, he voted for
his imprisonment and even his death, but this latter alter
native only in the case of a foreign invasion, and, to crown
all, he asked that the sentence, which was one of death,
should be carried out within twenty-four hours after it had
been pronounced. The explanation of all these inconsis
tencies is to be found in the struggle of his mind between
his pusillanimity and his conscience. In them are to be
seen the vain efforts of a man of enlightened mind and
timid soul not to become accomplice in a crime which
caused him to shudder with fear, without too greatly en
dangering his own safety.
Never daring to employ, in order to attain this object,
any other but indirect means, beginning with a concession
which he did not dare to refuse to the exigencies of the
party which was soon to win him over to its side, M. de
Cambaceres tried to group together all the timid souls
in sympathy with his own, and with this feeble support he
thought to check unbridled passions. Convinced too late
of the uselessness of this effort, he fell so low as to seek for
giveness for his badly managed resistance, and purchased
this forgiveness at the cost of a cowardly desertion of the
august victim whom he no longer entertained a hope of
saving. His obsequiousness towards the revolutionary party led

254 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
*
him to the post of Minister of Justice, a post he still occu
pied on the 18th Brumaire, and which caused him to be
raised to the consulate. But if on the one hand such was the
source of the high position he subsequently attained, there
is no doubt that the recollection of those early years con
stantly poisoned all his enjoyments. The care he has taken
to wash his hands of the death ol Louis XVI. sufficiently
shows that it has been the torture of his life. He has
ever been alive to the fact that the measure of indulgence
he stood in need of would not be readily granted to him by
the men on whose final judgment the verdict of posterity
will be based. M. de Cambaceres joined the consulate with
a lesser feeling of security than M. Lebrun. His appoint
ment, it must be admitted, was a sop thrown by Bonaparte
to the revolutionary party, to. the most odious and com
promised men, and yet this man who attained power under
such auspices soon became one of the most zealous partisans
of a return to ideas of order and to monarchical principles
about the First Consul. The judicial occupations of his
youth, the study of law to which he had devoted himself,
made him well acquainted with these ideas and principles,
and his mind was imbued with them. Revolutionary life
had caused him to put them aside, but without effacing
them from his mind, and no sooner did the opportunity
present itself to take them up again, than he grasped it
with the prudent and discreet joy which constituted the
basis of his character.
When later on he reverted to ideas of religion, no sur
prise was felt, even by those who had made him a study.
The deviations which his conscience reproached him with
were the cause of his hatred and detestation of the Revolu
tion. His memory dwelt with pleasure on the times which
preceded it. When in his private circle, he enjoyed recall
ing and extolling the advantages of the social organization

CAMBACERES AS CONSUL 255
of those happy and tranquil days. The existence of the
old magistracy was especially a subject of perpetual regret
to him. In that, differing greatly from his colleague, M.
Lebrun, he did not admit of a monarchical state without a
nobility, without a clergy, without hereditary ranks and
dignities, and without an uncontested transmission by
right of primogeniture of an amount of wealth sufficient
to secure to families the preservation of the honorary
inheritance. As these social combinations could not be borrowed from
the old regime on which his thoughts were forbidden to
dwell, he toiled diligently to have them emanate from the
consular or imperial power, engrafting as much as he could
the new creations on what remained of the old ones, fully
aware, moreover, that it was the only way of obtaining
perfect security for men in positions similar to his own.
On this point, consequently, his ideas chimed in with those
of Napoleon.
It must be said, moreover, that all the excellent reasons
suggested to him in favor of this system by the perspicuity
of his judgment and by his superior lights, derived addi
tional strength from his pettiness of spirit, for he prized
social distinctions not only because of their political worth,
but also on account of the personal enjoyment he derived
from them. Never did titles, crosses, and ribands give
anybody more pleasure than they did him. His whole
delight lay in displaying them. He was in the habit of
parading with childish glee, not only in salons but even in
public places, his orders in gold, pearls, and diamonds;
yet, in spite of all this childishness, his was the best
equipped mind in the Imperial Council. He was all the
more a great lawyer in that his knowledge, although of con
siderable extent, did not govern him in absolute fashion,
but obeyed the mandates of that exquisite understanding
and superior intellect which alone make the legislator.

256 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
He enjoyed likewise the knowledge and perspicacity of
a statesman, but he was far from possessing the firmness
of character and will power which are the necessary at
tributes of a legislator. The secondary r61e to which he
had been called did not indeed require these qualities.
Still, there is reason to believe that had he shown a little
more courage in expressing his thoughts, and more firm
ness in defending his opinions, he would on many occasions
have induced the chief, to whose fortunes he had attached
himself, to come to many a valuable determination. He
rendered great service to him, and nobody ever deserved
better the confidence he enjoyed at his hands.
While repeatedly the chief depositary of his power,
albeit in so far only as that power could be delegated, during
Napoleon's frequent absences under the Consulate and the
Empire, he ever exercised it with the amount of cleverness
necessary for it not to suffer damage at his hands, at the
same time revealing to no small degree the caution required
so as not to give offence to the jealous touchiness of the
man who was the fountain of that power.
M. de Cambaceres showed himself kind and inclined to
be helpful in his intercourse with humanity, so far as his
natural timidity would permit. He was ever faithful to
his friendships, forgetful of injury, but never of services
done, in that vastly the superior of his colleague Lebrun,
who, egotistical and wrapped up in himself, had scarcely any
thoughts but for himself and his family.
Next to M. de Cambaceres, two members of the ministry,
Messieurs Fouche and de Talleyrand shared or exploited
the confidence of the First Consul and of the Emperor.
The other ministers, although men of great importance
each in the sphere of administration assigned to him, never
exercised more than a restricted influence on great ques
tions of state policy.

M. FOUCHE • 257
M. Fouche, one of the conventionnels who had voted for
the king's death, one of the most rabid proconsuls in the
days of the Reign of Terror, was for a long time the verita
ble representative of the Revolution about Bonaparte. He
it was who spoke on its behalf, and he was fully entitled
to do so, for there were hardly any of its crimes in which
he had not participated. He had become its accomplice
coldly, dispassionately, and without any fixed object in
view, living from hand to mouth in the midst of all its
abominations, and never losing the presence of mind to see
everything, notice everything, and remember everything.
The directeur Barras, with whom his relations had been
of a very intimate kind, took him out of the ranks of the
Jacobins, whom he had joined at the time of the commo
tion of Prairial, Year III., and after having entrusted him
with several succeeding diplomatic missions, apparently
in order to give him time wherein to get rid of his bad
habits, finally made him Minister of Police. The 18th
Brumaire found him at this post, and although the work of
that day had been accomplished without his having a part
in it, and, in some respects, without his knowledge of it,
ever ready to be on the winning side, he had not hesitated
to offer his services to the lucky general. Bonaparte
showed just as little hesitation in accepting them, and in
retaining M. Fouche as Minister of Police, he at one and
the same time sought to give to the dethroned party the
guarantee promised to it, to secure to himself the means of
governing that party, by preserving a connection with it
that would keep him informed as to its inner workings, and
to obtain immunity from the attempts of the Royalist party
by having a vigilant watchdog whose zeal in such a cause
would be beyond doubt.
Nevertheless, Bonaparte's natural mistrust warned him
never to repose entire confidence in such a man, and that it

258 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
would be necessary to set a watch on the man who was
about to be entrusted with the duty of watching others. It
was from that day that he began to employ several police
systems exercising a respective check on each other, always
trying to surpass each other in zeal, thus filling his mind,
one against the other, with prejudices, the consequences of
which were always serious.
M. Fouche's part was a difficult one, but it was the only
one for which he was fit. Void of any solid education,
incapable of conceiving two consecutive ideas and of dili
gently applying himself to any task, he never could have
filled any other ministry than that of police, which is
more carried on by conversation than by the work of the
closet. It is sufficient to be acquainted with the intrigues
of the day and their ramifications. In those days, it was
specially necessary to be familiar with the names of many,
and principally those of men whose life in the past gave
cause to foresee what they might be capable of in the
future. In this connection, M. Fouche's antecedents gave
him all kinds of advantages. I have already stated that
he had seen everything, known everything. I add that
he cared seriously for nothing. Without affection for any
body, of a duplicity and of a perfidy never equalled, capable
of sacrificing for the smallest interest the man who might
consider himself the day before his best friend; possessing
in the highest degree, if not the ability, at least the im
pudence of a liar; gifted with a light, superficial mind,
often happy in repartee, and maintaining always the out
ward appearance of .an imperturbable coolness, it cost him
nothing to betray all those who had dealings with him,
beginning with Bonaparte, though he had served him, in
the first period of his elevation, with a fidelity that had
all the appearance of devotion.
As the best way of retaining the good graces of so sus-

M. FOUCHE 259
picious a master, and one so difficult to please, will ever be
to make oneself necessary or act so as to create such a belief
in one, it will be easy to form an idea of all the lying
reports and of all the perfidious hints with which M.
Fouche must have for so long, and especially during the
first years, thrust upon the First Consul. Hence, how
many fatal resolutions may there not be imputed to him,
and how numerous are the excellent measures the execution
of which he delayed, if he did not stifle them all together?
The man had not, it must be confessed, his equal in the
art of making dupes, and he never practised this art more
cynically than in the case of the Royalists and of the
imigris. For years I witnessed both parties, firmly con
vinced that they were subjected to severe treatment in
spite of him, that it was the work of the chief of the state,
that Fouche was their sole defender; and when, in after
years, I was able to take cognizance of their reports
emanating from his closet, and of the orders he had given,
I discovered facts contradicting his assertions, in other
words, reports almost always couched so as to envenom
the simplest matters, orders of extreme severity, and all
this signed by himself.
In the very beginnings of the Consulate, M. Fouche had
met in the person of M. de Talleyrand a most formidable
antagonist, and this circumstance caused a marked in
fluence on his behavior. He showed himself all the more
attached to the revolutionary party because his rival seemed
to be disposed to act independently of it. One may well
believe that in the case of two men of such calibre, it was
not a question between them of principles or even of opin
ions. Long ago both of them had made up their minds to
know no others save those appropriate to circumstances.
The bone of contention between them was the possession of
influence in public affairs and with the chief of the govern-

260 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
ment; the opportunity and means to govern him, to enmesh
him, and to get all they could out of him for their own
advantage. They had not yet had time to find out to what
a degree their scheme was studded with difficulties, npt to
say impracticable. Of the two, M. Fouche took the longest
time to undeceive himself as to their common mistake, and
in that showed gross stupidity. With strange vanity, he
thought that the First Consul would never be anything
but a more firmly established directeur and with a more
solidly constituted power than that of his predecessors.
He was under the impression that the consular government
could never be anything else than the extension of the gov
ernment of the Revolution, only better defined and better
carried out, and that the instruments called into use dur
ing that Revolution were, with but a few exceptions, the
ones still to be employed.
M. Talleyrand's innate perspicacity, the advantage which
he derived from his previous condition of life, of having
seen things from a higher pinnacle, of penetrating their
significance, of judging them with a more practised eye,
had soon made him see that a victorious man of Bonaparte's
mould was not going to drag along in the ignoble tracks of
the men whose place he had taken; that he had higher
ambitions ; that although it might suit him to be the Revo
lution's heir, it in no way suited him to continue its work.
His mind once settled on this point, the clever courtier,
for M. de Talleyrand again became one from that day,
neglected no opportunity of gaining the confidence of the
man whom he wished to charm and captivate. Entering
without effort, but never too brusquely, into what he might
know or divine of his most secret views, he made the road
easy to him, without appearing to trace it. This conduct
met with full success, and brought to him who practised it
an uncontested influence. The charm of his seduction was

M. DE TALLEYRAND 261
all the more powerful for being clothed with manners which
were rare in those days. Added to a natural wit, ever
stamped with a piquant originality, M. de Talleyrand
possessed the distinguished and easy manners of the court
ier, of the grand seigneur of former days, and he greatly
contributed to the taste which his master was soon to
acquire for such manners. In this respect, he had the
merit of coming forward as the natural and easy connecting
link between old France and new France, between the old
and the new regime. One thing is certain, and that is he
could without danger be made use of for such a purpose, as
there was no fear of his ever going too far. It would have
been hard to meet with a man more on his guard than he
was against a return to the former order of things.
M. de Talleyrand might remain content with a First
Consul playing the part of Csesar; but the throne of Bour
bon was too formidable in his eyes, for him not to take good
and special care to drive away from the mind of the First
Consul everything liable to lead him to accept a part simi
lar to the one which Monk had played on the opposite side
of the Channel. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs offered
him great facilities for warding off such a danger. It gave
him repeated opportunities for discussing the political
situation of France, the strength of that situation, and
what it might become when exploited by a genius so rare
as his and ever seconded by a victorious arm,1 and as the
i Iu order to better conceive the art and the species of abandon, with
which M. de Talleyrand knew how to flatter Napoleon, it would be neces
sary to read a letter which has just come under my notice, and which
he wrote on the occasion of Napoleon's birthday. It is dated from the
watering-place of Bourbonne, and its main subject is a journey which the
Emperor and the Empress had just made through the northern provinces
of France. In it he blamed the newspapers for having spoken of this
journey, the like of which, he argued, was not recorded in history, as they
would have spoken of Louis XVI.'s trip to Normandy. He censured them,
moreover, for having diverted public opinion from this important occur-

262 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
art of conversation is one wherein he excels, as he knows
how to lead up to everything he is desirous of saying, I
have no doubt that with the object of avoiding the danger
which he dreaded in those days, he did not during the first
years do too much towards magnifying and extolling the
ambitious genius which he later on sought to control, and
which laughed so cruelly at his impotent efforts.
At the time when I once more entered public life, Talley
rand had not yet been awakened from his dream. The
fortunate Minister of Foreign Affairs had seen the days of
the Consulate pass by without his meeting with any diffi
culties; he had contributed towards the establishment of
the Empire, and his name was attached to some of the
highest diplomatic negotiations. He witnessed the growth
of his reputation for talent and ability ; he had grown in
favor, and had left far behind him his colleague M. Fouche,
whose importance grew lesser as the unhappy times which
had given it existence rolled past. He was still at the
head of the Ministry of General Police; he had been re
moved from his post for a few months, but the conspiracy
of Georges Cadoudal had restored it to him, and he was
indebted to that conspiracy for the return of an influence
all the more to be regretted in that it ever seemed to owe
its birth to public misfortunes.
It is not an easy task to paint the portrait of M. de
Talleyrand. How is one to reproduce such changing
colors? The more one studies his character, the less one
rence, by speaking of the tour of a few Councillors of State through the
departments, of the one, among others, which had been undertaken by M.
Regnaud, whose wife had accompanied him. "Oh I" he exclaimed in
this connection, " how much are not books and journals in need of a cen
sorship I " The letter closes with the customary protestations of respect
and devotion, and he begs leave to supplement them with the expression
of an attachment which he ventures to style tender. It is a license which
he allows himself on a day which seems to him to justify a little more
abandon in his language. (This footnote was written in October, 1829.)

M. DE TALLEYRAND 263
fathoms it. The fact is, that it is actually difficult to find
in him anything settled and stable. Although endowed to
a remarkable degree with certain qualities of the mind, it
is hard to discover any quality of mind or heart that can
be ascribed to him. Capable of immoderate desires rather
than of violent passions, susceptible of receiving every kind
of impression, a prey to all sorts of tastes, even the most
despicable, no means was repugnant to him when the ques
tion arose of gratifying his desires and contenting his
tastes. The world has perhaps never produced a man lacking
more in delicacy of sentiment, and more incapable of being
influenced by any idea of morality. No one ever so made
sport of the world's opinion. He defied it constantly
both in his public and private life, in his morals as in his
political conduct. The desire of shaking off the restraints
of a condition of life which he had embraced regretfully,
and to which he had been condemned through a natal
deformity, and the need of an unbridled licentiousness
seemed to have thrown him into the arms of the Revolu
tion more than any of the liberal sentiments which he some
times sought to parade, and which he far oftener trampled
under foot. A bishop and a grand seigneur in 1789, it cost
him little to be one of the earliest deserters from his caste
and from his vows of ordination, and no one followed this
path with a firmer step and carried his head higher, sacri
ficing with equal readiness to the Revolution, the goods and
chattels of the one, and the honors and privileges of the
other. But, if from amidst the ruins with which he sur
rounded himself there survived in him a sentiment of any
kind, it was the sentiment of pride he derived from his
birth and from the rank which he had occupied in the
Church. Yet this did not prevent everything appertaining
to him, even his episcopal character, being placed at the

264 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
disposal of the Revolution. Since 1789, the only use he
made of this sacred character was to transmit it, in viola
tion of every right, to the new bishops who did not hesitate
to violate the rules of the old Church of France, and again
to celebrate on the Champ de Mars the Mass of the first
federation. M. de La Fayette has recently told how the Bishop of
Autun, when mounting the steps of the altar with the
sacred vase in his hands, saw him there in command of the
National Guard, sword in hand, near the steps, and passing
as near him as possible, the Bishop whispered to him : " Do
not make me laugh. " Such a trait needs no comment.
This worthy chaplain to all the immoralities of the Revo
lution became, moreover, with the aid of the assignats, one
of the principal financiers of the Constituent Assembly,
leaving its halls only to go and gamble away these assignats
on the green baize of a gambling-house which was opened
in the pavilion de Hanovre by a M. de Castellane, who was
the first to give Paris the scandal of a public gambling
place. His fate willed it that during the existence of the
Legislative Assembly he should receive secretly a diplo
matic mission which took him to England, where he
succeeded in putting himself on the footing of director and
overseer of M. de Chauvelin, the beardless ambassador
whom the French cabinet sent to England in those days.
Thus situated, his residence abroad saved him from the
perils and evils- of all sorts which he had in so great a
measure helped to bring down on his country. He was in
Paris on the 10th of August, but he soon crossed the Straits
again, to be followed by a decree of accusation hurled
against him by the Convention. He was expelled from
England at the time of the declaration of war which fol
lowed the execution of Louis XVI. He was the only
French citizen of any note then taking refuge in England,

M. DE TALLEYRAND 265
against whom Mr. Pitt made use of the powers conferred
on him by the Alien Act. Thus, no other resource was
left to M. de Talleyrand than to make a journey to America.
He came back to France after the Terror, being guaranteed
immunity by a decree which his former friends wrested
from the Convention. Chenier was the principal mover in
the matter. The terms of the petition which he presented
to the Convention to obtain this favor, and the speeches
which were delivered in his praise by his friend would
make curious reading nowadays.
His life then became consecrated to obscure intrigues,
until the day when Mme. de Stael lifted him out of distress
by introducing him to the Directeur Barras, who shortly
afterwards gave him the portfolio of foreign affairs. He
ill repaid the service rendered to him by Mme. de Stael
when the day came for her to draw imperial anger to her
self. Barras's new minister was soon to join hands with
his protector in bringing about the 18th Brumaire, when
the men who had given him the warmest welcome on his
return to France were to be sacrificed.
It was about this time that he took a step the precise
date of which escapes me. He sent M. de Fontanes to the
king, Louis XVIII., for the purpose of tendering him his
services. As sole reward he asked for the Duchy of Peri
gord, and to be made free of his ecclesiastical bonds. The
king granted him the first request wthout making any diffi
culty ; with regard to the second one, he replied that it was
a matter concerning the Pope. Negotiations were soon
broken off.
M. de Talleyrand did not allow his public post to stand
in the way of his private interests. A week after his
becoming minister, he had acquired five or six hundred
thousand francs. This talent for making money never
abandoned him ; he exercised it with a like good fortune on

266 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
all occasions, and no treaty is known in the framing of
which he took a part which did not furnish him an oppor
tunity. The Treaty of Luneville, wherein it was stipulated
that Austria would redeem the paper-money which she had
issued in Belgium, gave him the means of reaping enormous
benefits, for he bought up this paper-money ere anybody
knew of the stipulation.
Secularization in Germany, and the arrangements which
the new territorial partitions occasioned, became a fresh
source of profits, and a much greater one than the first. I
have heard them valued by well-informed people at four
millions at least. It must be said in justice to M. de
Talleyrand that he did not keep all to himself the fruits
of his venality. He felt it was necessary to allow many of
his co-workers a share in them, for it was a good way of
securing useful and faithful instruments. His gains must
have been immense, for they were sufficient to meet his
enormous expenses, and through them he built up the
fortune which he still enjoys. It may perhaps be said that
in nothing did he show himself wiser and more consistent.
What would he be to-day without that fortune? Let us
for a moment suppose him poor, and then try and form an
idea of his existence. It is more than likely that the
remainder of his days, would, like those of many hardly
less worthless than himself, be passed in oblivion and
neglect. I have said that he was deficient in delicacy of sentiment.
He does not even possess the kind necessary to resent
offence for any length of time. The sentiment of an honest
pride which springs in the human breast from a sense of
offended dignity does not exist in him, and his entire moral
personality seems clothed with a hard and polished cover
ing over which insults and contempt glide without penetrat
ing it. Hence it is that there does not exist any affront

M. DE TALLEYRAND 267
which he will not brush from his memory if he perceives
the slightest advantage in becoming reconciled with the
person who should be to him an object of resentment.
This seems so natural to him that his surprise is ever fresh
when he sees his advances rejected. In his eyes, he who
rejects them merely shows a lack of intelligence. But, if
he is deficient in this delicate organization of heart and
soul, there remains another to which he can lay claim, and
that is the delicacy of good taste. Many mots and phrases
are quoted from his lips which denote the most subtle and
surest tact. It is this which first gave him his reputation
in society.
I must therefore give him credit for this merit, while
confining it, however, to the occasions when he has been
able to prepare his language and his phrases; for, when
taken unawares through some irritating circumstance, or,
if he is not warned to keep a guard on his anger, it finds
vent in the coarsest words.
Numerous are the instances in which he has offended
every propriety. At the head of the list of his offences in
this line must stand his marriage, and it is at the same
time the most inexplicable of them all, for one cannot
imagine what the particular seduction was which led him
to it. To marry an old mistress, who has been the mistress
of twenty others ; to marry her when the last vestiges of
her good looks have almost vanished, when nothing remains
to her but a glaring and well-recognized stupidity, of a
nature to cover her with undying ridicule !
It has been thought that this woman was the depositary
of his wealth, or the possessor of some secret of the highest
importance, and that the price of her secrecy was the return
she claimed as her just due. Some even go so far as to
believe that Bonaparte carried his Machiavelism to the
extent of compelling the man of whom he made use in his

268 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
most important operations, but whose intrigues he dreaded,
to a deed which by discrediting him completely, would put
it out of his power to be noxious. And indeed I know for
a fact that Mme. Grand went to Malmaison, in order to
throw herself at the feet of the First Consul, and implore
him to see to it that justice should be done her. I also
know that the First Consul remarked, on her leaving him,
that this woman had just shown him to what a high degree
the wish to gratify a passionate desire could impart elo
quence even to the most stupid of women.
Without either adopting or rejecting any one of these
surmises, or even probable explanations, I must remark that
for him who knows M. de Talleyrand, it does not in any
way seem impossible to attribute the larger share of this
strange determination to the ascendant which importunity
exercises over weakness, to the desire of finding some Httle
amount of peace in a domestic arrangement, the habit of
which he did not know how to shake off; lastly, to a
supreme indifference to public opinion and that custom of
defying it which makes it a matter of course not to sacri
fice anything to it. But, one thing is certain, and that is,
if there was a circumstance of his life on which M. de
Talleyrand never opened himself to anybody, on the sub
ject of which he never allowed himself to be penetrated by
his friends, that is the one. I have heard it said by M. de
Choiseul-Gouffier, one of his intimate acquaintances, that
he had employed all his acuteness (and he had much) in
trying to bring Talleyrand to make some explanation
on this subject, and he never succeeded. It remains to
be told that the marriage took place furtively at Epinay,
in the Valley of Montmorency. M. de Monville, a former
councillor of the Paris Parlement, who owned property in
the village, had arranged matters with the parish priest.
M. de Monville's kindness in the matter (it was, I believe

M. DE TALLEYRAND 269
made easy by M. Louis) brought him a peerage in 1815,
when M. de Talleyrand was President of the Council.
If it is asked how such a man came to play so important
a part for so many long years, the answer is that he ap
peared at the right time for himself, in the midst of the
most troublous times, and of the most complete social dis
organization. At any other time, his wit, in spite of its
brilliancy, would have merely brought him the ephemeral
successes which the salons can give, and it would assuredly
not have placed him in a position of governing public affairs
in an order of things wherein sound and conscientious tal
ents, and the respect of self and of public opinion would
have been the conditions requisite for any man holding an
important political position.
Added to this, this wit which I so readily grant him,
and the brilliancy of which I do not contest, has not been
strengthened by, and is not capable of serious study, and
could never bind itself down to a work requiring persever
ance and a continued attention. While possessing in a
high degree the art of disjointed conversations, he would
not be capable of speaking consecutively in any public
assembly for a quarter of an hour, resembling in that his
colleague and rival, M. Fouche. But, he knows admirably
how to pounce upon an idea; whether it comes to him
spontaneously, or whether another has supplied him with
it, he takes possession of it, looks at every side of it, ex
tracts from it all the brilliancy that it contains, and dis
plays it under numerous and varied aspects; it furnishes
him food for a long time, and he exhausts it unto satiety.
And the reason of this, I venture to say, is that his own
stock of ideas is much less rich than is generally believed.
By way of compensation, he possesses the faculty of ex
ploiting with rare cleverness all who serve him, all who
are about him. People who are intimately acquainted with

270 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
him tell me that he employed the pens of others even for
the writing of certain part of his Memoirs. He thus makes
up very cleverly for the work which he does not do himself,
by substituting for it that which he causes to be done to
order, and his exquisite tact points out to him any word
which must be expunged, while teaching him to add the
right word.
He felt at home with the First Consul, with the Emperor,
for all that was required of him was to listen closely, to
grasp matters with discernment, and to combat with nicety
and caution what might seem unusual and exaggerated in
the ideas presented. It was a struggle in which the clever
modes of expression, a thing in which he excelled,1 were
of great use to him. When, after having discussed matters
with the Emperor, he would receive the foreign ambassa
dors, he had at his disposal a rich store to draw from. All
that remained for him to do was to tone down the too great
harshness of certain speeches by giving them a milder
form, and the charm of his conversation made it easy for
him to dispose of this difficulty. It was well known that
he had many occasions to surmount it, and people gave him
credit for the brilliant ease with which he acquitted himself
of the task.
Napoleon himself always appreciated his merits in this
connection, and he was still wont to say, after he had
parted company with him, that he was an excellent minis
ter for parleys. Nothing better explains how his reputation
became so generally established, and how it gradually in
creased for such a length of time. We shall see him later
on left to his own conceptions, and compelled to keep him-
1 1 have heard a man of intellect (M. de Narbonne) say, that if M.
de Talleyrand had on several occasions told some pretty plain truths to
the Emperor, this was to be attributed in a far lesser degree to a feeling
that they would prove serviceable, than to the pleasure he enjoyed in
seeing the Emperor permit such a liberty, owing to the way he put them
before him, and the happy way with which he gave expression to them.

M. MARET AND M. PORTALIS 271
self up to the level of the greatest and of the most unex
pected position. Then shall we be able to decide, with a
full acquaintance of the facts, if the judgment I here pass
on him is or is not based on sufficient grounds.
Next to the four personages whom I have made known
there remains about the First Consul and the Emperor
nothing but a few more or less able, devoted, and docile
instruments, whose services proved of great use, but to
whom it is not possible to attribute, except under special
and temporary circumstances, a lasting part in the direc
tion of public affairs.
M. Maret, afterwards Due de Bassano, and at that time
Secretary of State, always held, from the first days of the
Consulate, a position of trust which derived all the appear
ances of intimacy from the nature of its functions. His
services were appreciated, and his assiduous and almost
indefatigable ardor for work was of undoubted value.
Nevertheless, it is impossible not to admit, that up to a
period to be dwelt on later, his mind had not been con
sidered capable of undertaking any heavier burden than the
one involved in executing to the letter orders given him,
and a rapid and facile putting into shape of such ideas as
had been agreed and settled upon.
On a much higher plane, M. Portalis, Senior, Councillor
of State, and later on Minister of Public Worship, had
exercised at the time of the concluding of the Concordat
an important and salutary influence on the manner in
which the clergy was reorganized. He also took a promi
nent part in the framing of the Civil Code, of all monu
ments of legislation of those times the one approaching
nearest to perfection. Here, therefore, we find a man who
gave potent aid on great occasions. Bonaparte thought a
good deal of his acquirements, and greatly admired his
natural, brilliant, and flowing eloquence. The art of
speech was ever a weapon in the eyes of this great con-

272 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
queror, who often referred to it as such. Yet it cannot be
said that with all these endowments and in spite of so
many services of a special nature, M. Portalis enjoyed
a sustained influence in the direction of public affairs. He
was one of those whom Bonaparte looked upon as too far
committed to a line of conduct which he was prepared to
enter upon and follow by degrees, but into wliich he did
not wish to be driven precipitately. He feared that he
might, in this respect, surrender too much of himself to the
seductive language of his Councillor of State or Minister.
M. de Laplace and M. Chaptal, both for a time entrusted
with the portfolio of the Ministry of the Interior, were
soon set aside. The mathematical rectitude of the former,
in spite of the superiority of his intellect, rendered him
utterly incapable for the work required of a public admin
istrator. The latter knew and understood nothing but
what pertained to the useful arts combined with natural
sciences, and especially chemistry. Moreover, he lacked
in his private life, as well as in his behavior as a public
man, the sentiment of the proprieties, so necessary to the
intercourse which a Minister of the Interior is called upon
to preserve with all classes of society.
It is hardly worth while to speak of the trial that was
made of M. Lucien Bonaparte in the same position. His
independence of mind and character of which he was to
give so many proofs in the future, made him altogether
unfit for taking from and carrying out the orders of a
brother, whom he could not resign himself to see in a posi
tion so superior to his own.
The disagreements between the Emperor and his family,
the difficulties which arose from these disagreements, and
the obstacles which they threw in the way of the establish
ment and the keeping up of his power, constitute an im
portant portion of his history.

CHAPTER X
The Corps Ugislatif — The Tribunat— Creation of the Council of State and
the nature of its work — The comite du contentieux — Principal mem
bers of the Council of State — Messieurs Def ermon and Lacuee, presi
dents of committees — Messieurs Gaudin and Mollien, Ministers —
Councillors Regnaud, Treilhard, Berlier, Merlin, and Re'al — Measures
demanded against the Jews — An assembly of prominent Jews called
together in Paris — Messieurs Mole, Portalis, and Pasquier, as Commis
sioners of the Emperor in that Assembly — The "Portuguese" Jews —
Declaration made by the doctors and the rabbis — M. Furtado of Bor
deaux — The interest charged on money and usury — The practice of
Jews among themselves — Sacerdotal power of the rabbis — The Tal-
mudists — Convening by the Emperor of a great Sanhedrin and ita
meeting, February 9, 1807 — Declaration of doctrine of the great San
hedrin on the civil and political duties of Israelites and the organization
of Jewish society in France.
Among the members of the Council of State were a num
ber of men, who, although they did not occupy prominent
positions, nevertheless rendered valuable services. The
great legislative and administrative work of the day was
elaborated in that body, and with it rested the general
supervision of all the branches of the administration. In
this respect, the part played by the Council of State was an
important one. In the course of the two successive organi
zations of the Imperial government, the Council of State
was the only body really intrusted with supplementing the
altogether illusory action of the representative machinery
of government, for it alone was in a position to do so.
In a properly organized government by representation,
the three principal objects of the existence of deliberative
Chambers, are to impose taxation, to frame laws in a spirit
273

274 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
best suited to the social state of the country, and to exercise
supervision over the acts of the government. It is an un
doubted fact that the organization of the Corps Ugislatif,
under the consular as well as under the Imperial regime,
was in no respect such as to allow of its fulfilling these
several attributes. Was it feasible to grant an enlarged
sphere of action to it, at a period so close to the stormy
days and evils of all kinds which had been drawn down on
France by the preceding assemblies, whose debates had been
public? Was there not good cause for dreading the being
exposed once more to similar perils ? Such a fear must have
been a most natural one in those days, for the reason that
it was so generally felt. As I have already pointed out,
there was not to be found among the men who helped to
create the consular government, several of whom could be
looked upon as most liberal minded, a single one who hesi
tated in the slightest degree with regard to what was the
right course to follow in this connection.
With regard to the creation of the Tribunat, which seemed
destined to afford a compensation for the silence imposed
on the Corps Ugislatif, the idea was altogether an unhappy
one, and in lieu of the good results anticipated from it being
realized, it often gave birth to serious difficulties. This
melancholy truth soon became apparent, and it needed, for
its manifestation, but a very short trial of a body which did
nothing but go on debating, while no final result was ob
tained from all this talk. This body, on whom no respon
sibility weighed, was certainly not one to be greatly feared.
Good and wise counsels might occasionally emanate from
it; but it was to be expected that they would be swept away
in a flood of useless, if not dangerous, speechifying. It
became necessary to go a step further. When everything
has to be created, when the time comes to renew in their
entirety the legislation and administration of a great state,

THE CORPS LEGISLATIF AND THE TRIBUNAT 275
it cannot be expected that such an object is to be attained
by means of a large, deliberative assembly, with its public,
and oftentimes riotous, debates. Such debates must of
necessity bring passions into play, and it would be difficult
to get a sustained piece of work out of its naturally inco
herent results.
Neither constitutions nor legislations have been the work
of the multitude. In modern as in olden times, when they
have not been the result of the manners and usages conse
crated by centuries, they have issued from the brains of a
little group of men who have known how to impose their
acceptance on their fellow-creatures. Hence it would have
been, in my opinion, impossible to obtain from the Corps
Ugislatif, such as constituted by the Charter of Louis
XVIII., the compiling of the Civil Code which Bonaparte
bequeathed to France. The truth of this is patent if one
will only consider the difficulties which would arise in
getting the Chambre des pairs and the Chambre des deputis
to come to an agreement on so many different subjects, and
to unite in spirit in a debate which would necessarily extend
over several years.
If I am right in what I say, it is easy to understand how
Bonaparte reaped from the discussions of his Council of
State far more important results than those he could have
derived from even the freest debates of his Corps Ugislatif.
Freed from all restraint, he obtained from his Council, in
the first place, quick work, a thing of the highest impor
tance, and in the second, a cohesion in the ideas and in the
application of principles which he would have vainly sought
elsewhere. It enabled him to entrust the principal direction
of the work relating to special subjects to men whom he
rightly looked upon as experts, and as eminently qualified
for the task. Such is the means he took, especially as
regards the Civil Code, and the results go to prove that this

276 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR. PASQUIER
method was the best. When it came to the framing of the
other codes, several of these distinguished men had passed
away, and so it became necessary to divide the work among
a greater number of committees, and in spite of a general
discussion of the subjects in the Council, the results proved
less satisfactory.
Full freedom of speech reigned in the Council, which went
straight to the goal, and did not waste its time in idle talk.
Its discussions were undoubtedly governed by far different
rules from those which formerly prevailed in the Paris
Parlement, and yet, nothing has ever better recalled to my
mind, the solemnity, the wisdom, and the sound learning
of that famed body, and so I had great cause for congratu
lating myself, when thrown among such entirely new sur
roundings, upon being able to call to my assistance some
of the recollections of the body in which I had received my
first parliamentary training.
Previous to any law being officially presented, a confer
ence was generally held between a number of Councillors
of State designated by the Emperor, and a like number of
commissioners taken from the Corps Ugislatif. The pur
port of the law was set forth and discussed at these confer
ences, wherein the number of the participants was never in
excess of the one considered sufficient for men of business
to explain themselves and to come to an agreement. Hence
it was that on many an occasion the preliminary draft of
a law underwent the most valuable modifications.
The services rendered by the Council of State in the
administration of civil affairs were of a most important
nature. The imposition of new taxes, their mode of assess
ment, and especially the organizing of the entire system of
indirect taxation were the results of the most learned and
practical discussions. But it must not be thought that the
tax-payers' interests were unrepresented on such occasions ;

WORK DONE BY THE COUNCIL OF STATE 277
far from it, their part was always taken with zeal and talent,
and if the supreme chief was at times too greatly inclined to
listen to the inspirations of his all-powerful will, he never
could, when committing blunders, plead that he had not
been sufficiently enlightened and cautioned. It is only ren
dering him justice to acknowledge that he allowed perfect
freedom of debate, that expression could be given to every
view, and that he listened to all that was said with attention
and patience, without seeming to take offence at what must
have displeased him, even in regard to matters in connec
tion with which he could least afford to surrender his
absolute power. As an example, I mention the military
conscriptions, against the excessive number of which I have
often heard objections raised with noble independence, and
especially by M. Regnaud.
Again, there are those numberless regulations governing,
public administration, which placed on a new basis almost
everything that had been destroyed by the Revolution.
It but remains for me to show the wholesome check
exercised by the Council of State over the acts of the
Government, and how, in so doing, it undertook a duty
belonging by rights to the Corps Ugislatif. I do not, how
ever, pretend to say that it fell to its lot to supplant
entirely the salutary watchfulness of public opinion, en
lightened by the publicity of that body's acts and debates ;
but, in the absence of such a supervision, the following is
what occurred. With the exception of those cares apper
taining in a direct fashion to the sphere of politics, and
especially politics affecting an invasion, such as the decrees
establishing the continental blockade, those relating to the
final repudiation of the national debt at the time of the
general liquidation, and several others of a like nature;
outside of such cases, I repeat, the ministers of the First
Consul or of the Emperor never presented to him for

278 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
signature any decree of importance, without its having first
been submitted to the committee of the Council, whose
attributes it was to take cognizance of the subject-matter
of the decree. This happened in all matters affecting the
Ministers of Justice, Finance, of the Interior, of War, and
of the Navy.
Hence these committees exercised a rather troublesome
and sometimes very severe supervision over the ministers,
who submitted to it with ill-disguised annoyance. They
found in them opponents almost always as well informed as
themselves, who would sometimes entertain the idea that
they were at no distant time to be called upon to fill their
positions, and whom it always pleased greatly to make a
display of their ability, by showing care not to overlook
any errors or mistakes that came under their notice.
Did the Emperor receive any vigorous protests against
the doings of his ministers, against the administration of
his directors-general, or against his prefects, he would
transmit them to the Council of State, where they gave rise
to an investigation, oftentimes of the most severe kind.
This appeal to the Council became far more serious matter
for the ministers as well as for the administrators, when
placed within the reach of private individuals through the
comiti du contentieux (law committee to investigate disputes),
and this, independently of the matters referred to the
Council from the Emperor's closet. The creation of this
committee was an event in the history of the Imperial
government. Constituted as it was, under the presidency
of the chief justice, of those maltres de requites, who were
of his making, the latter, having to show what they were
capable of, entered zealously upon the fulfilment of the
duties entrusted to them. Generally speaking, they were
governed by conscientious and strict equity, and, in addition
to righting many wrongs committed by the administration,

THE " COMITE DU CONTENTIEUX" 279
they rendered not a few decisions from which private in
dividuals derived great benefit, and the result of which was
to cause public officials to pay greater attention to avoiding
illegal acts.
But what signalized especially the institution of the
maltres des requites, was the putting an end to the abuse
which officialdom had acquired of encroaching upon the
jurisdiction of the tribunals, by extending beyond all limits
that of the prefectoral councils. Messieurs the prefects
were all the more inclined to endorse the action of these
councils that they showed themselves docile to their chief's
will. The comiti du contentieux put an end to this irregularity,
and in a short time succeeded in clearly drawing a dividing
line between the administrative and judicial powers. The
ministers themselves were not exempt from the warnings of
the committee, which received the endorsement of the
Council of State, and many private individuals derived
most valuable support from it when seeking to obtain the
fulfilling of contracts they had entered into with the several
ministers. I do not pretend that everything was done
which should have been done in this connection. The evil
was too deeply rooted to permit of its being disposed of
by the sole influence of the comiti du contentieux, however
zealous it might be in the fulfilment of its duties. Nor do
I pretend that side by side with the services it rendered,
the Council of State does not deserve blame for acts of
weakness and of favoritism, for I unfortunately witnessed
many an example of this; but I believe I may truly say
that, in spite of these blemishes, few congregations of men
are to be found, which have given in their discussions, and
in the conclusions they reached, better proofs of an inde
pendence which was always enlightened, and oftentimes
stamped with great liberality.

280 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
The Council was naturally so constituted that only the
firm hand of such a chief could create and maintain it, if
not in a perfect state of homogeneity, at least compel it to
accomplish a series of undertakings leading to a common
goal. During the first six years of its life, the Council
gathered into its bosom nearly everything that the Revolu
tion had produced in the shape of men distinguished by
merits or talents which had most frequently shone in oppo
site camps. It was necessary that these conflicting ele
ments should amalgamate in the Council.
By way of example, the Constituent Assembly had given
to it M. Mounier, who was the first to plainly show himself
opposed to the Assembly's deeds of violence, and who had
fled from the scenes of the 14th of July and of the 6th of
October. Sitting with him were Messieurs Roederer and
Regnaud, who both had been reckoned among the most
ardent spirits of the revolutionary party. The Legislative
Assembly had supplied M. Francais de Nantes, one of its
most fiery speakers ; M. Dumas, one of royalty's most zeal
ous defenders during the days preceding the 10th of August;
M. Bigot de Preameneu, who during the same period made
his reputation through the wisdom of his principles, and
M. Muraire, who expiated through a long imprisonment
during the Terror, the talent and the moderation he dis
played in 1792. His seat adjoined that of M. Merlin, the
author of the law against the suspects; the Council received
from the Convention M. Defermon, one of those proscribed
on the 31st of May, and again, M. Berlier and M. Treilhard,
who both had voted the death of Louis XVI., and who both,
dating from the 31st of May, had perseveringly voted with
the extreme section of the Mountain.
The simon-pure Jacobins had contributed M. Real; the
king's defence, M. Tronchet; the Conseil des Anciens and
the Conseil des Cinq-Cents, M. Portalis and M. Simeon, both

PRINCIPAL MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL 281
victims of the 18th Fructidor; M. Lacuee, who, although
deeply implicated, had escaped the disasters of that day,
and M. Boulay (de la Meurthe), one of the day's principal
artisans, that M. Boulay whose arrogance so contrasted
with the bearing of M. de Segur, who by the elegance of
his manners and the urbanity of his language, seemed to be
the representative of the graces of the old regime. I content
myself with mentioning merely the names the coupling of
wliich together affords the greatest contrast. I must add
to this list of prominent civilians several most distinguished
soldiers, such as Generals Gouvion Saint-Cyr, Dejean, Des-
solle, Andreossy, and also Admiral Gantheaume. Lastly,
there were the several men called from foreign lands as the
territory of the Empire became extended, who introduced
ideas and customs entirely at variance ' with those of the
French people. They were for the most part chosen from
among the most prominent men of the annexed territories.
To name a few of many: M. de Saint-Marsan, who repre
sented Piedmont; M. Corsini, Tuscany; M. Bartolocchi,
Rome; M. Alopeus, Holland, and others. At the time of
my entering the Council, death had removed from its midst
Messieurs Tronchet and Mounier.
The men called upon to fill the highest positions in the
various branches of the civil service and of the government
were most often taken from the Council. Nearly all the
ministers had sat in it; but, as a natural consequence, it
was recruited from those who showed talent in any branch
whatsoever of the public service. For instance, Messieurs
Beugnot, Montalivet, and others had entered it by way of
their prefectoral positions. Some there were who had made
themselves prominent and acquired greater importance than
others, the most prominent among these being Messieurs
Regnaud, Defermon, Bigot de Preameneu, and Lacuee,
president of the committees, and Messieurs Berenger, Treil
hard, Cretet, Boulay, and Beugnot.

282 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
M. Regnaud enjoyed an uncontested superiority over his
colleagues, by virtue of his many varied acquirements, his
ready aptitude for work, and his fluency of speech. Un
fortunately, his loose life, his extravagant tastes, and the
need of money which harassed him continually, in spite of
the repeated generosity of the Emperor, blocked the way to
his appointment as Minister of the Interior, a post which
otherwise would surely have fallen to his lot. No one
affected a greater freedom of expressing his opinions than
he did, and his cleverness of speech furnished him the
means of maintaining them without too greatly compromis
ing himself; on certain occasions he would defend them,
with noble constancy, under most delicate circumstances.
He was the most sincere man in the Council in his liberal
mindedness, here taken in the truest sense of the word.
He knew not the feeling of envy, and ever showed himself
ready to recognize and to encourage merit wherever he
found it. The weak side of his mind was a childish dread
of priests and of religious power. This dread, which had
so little cause to be at the time when he was a prey to it,
plainly derived its origin from the prejudice which reigned
previous to the Revolution, and which had been one of its
principal causes.
M. Berenger, who was no less independent, likewise
enjoyed a great fluency of speech, but he was drier, less
agreeable to listen to, and ever ready to defend ideas which
were plainly pardoxical. His opposition to everything that
ran counter to his opinions and principles was all the more
appreciated because he was a member of the Finance com
mittee, and it was in that committee that the blindest
devotion to the master's will was met with.
As the president of that committee, M. Defermon had
considerable influence. Possessing merely the knowledge
of the every-day practician (previous to the Revolution he

M. DEFERMON 283
had been a procureur within the jurisdiction of the Rennes
Parlement), his language was of the most ordinary kind.
Still he had been greatly esteemed in the Convention, owing
to the fearlessness which he had displayed. He was a
Treasury Commissioner when Bonaparte called him to .the
Council, with the object, unfortunately, of placing him in
charge of the liquidation of the national debt. In that
connection, his narrow mind dictated to him financial meas
ures greatly to be deplored. In his private affairs a man
of admirable delicacy, whose honesty was beyond doubt,
ever excellent in his social intercourse, good, humane, and
charitable in spite of his limited means, he quickly became
unfair in his dealings with the creditors of the state. He
would never see in them anything but dishonesty, and as
he was ever prone to imagine that they reaped illegal
profits, nobody influenced Bonaparte more in his violation
of the engagements he had entered into. If M. Defermon
stood so well in the master's eyes, it was because Bonaparte
found in him so docile an instrument in carrying out his
mandates. The presidency of the Finance Committee afforded many
opportunities for attaining a success of this kind, and yet,
the matters referred to it always came from the two best
governed ministries, those of Finance and of the Treasury.
Messieurs Gaudin and Mollien were, in every respect and by
every possible qualification, far superior to the man who
thought he was entitled to show them how to do their work.
How comes it that the Emperor did not at once discover
the immeasurable distance which separated them? It was
long ere he realized it. However, the time came when this
illusion was bound to vanish, and I chanced to learn how it
came about. If I here anticipate dates, it is in order to
better complete my pen-portrait. The liquidation of the
arrears having been accomplished, in other words, bank-

284 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
ruptcy having been declared, the Emperor thought himself
bound to reward the man who had so fully understood and
carried out his intentions, and so he made him comptroller
of the domaine extraordinaire, a position which carried with
it the prerogative of dealing directly with the Emperor,
This gave the latter the opportunity of seeing M. Defer
mon actually engaged in an administrative work which
required a man to take everything unto himself, and where
there was no longer any question of merely being the
controller of others. From that moment, his incapacity
was quickly to make itself patent. As Prefect of Police, I
was in Napoleon's closet, one day, when he was giving vent
to his extreme dissatisfaction with M. Defermon's methods.
"And yet, this is the man who, had I not subjected him to
the present test, I would have chosen to fill the place of
M. Gaudin ! How easy it is to be deceived by demonstra
tions of clumsy zeal ! " he said to me.
In spite of this wise reflection, the Emperor was, at the
time he uttered it, under the charm of a man who was
hardly worthier of his confidence than M. Defermon. This
was M. Lacuee, the president of the War Committee, who
was soon to become, in addition to this, director of the
conscription. He had given proof of a zeal without limits,
and was to all appearance indifferent to the sacrifices
demanded of the country. I can never forget what he told
me on the day when, for the first time, he wore the grand
cordon of the Legion of Honor. This mark of favor intoxi
cated him. Never did the Emperor appear so great to him,
and he wound up his praise of him to me in the following
terms : " What can France not aspire to become under such
a man? To what a high degree of glory and happiness can
not he raise her, provided, of course, we get yearly two
hundred thousand men out of the conscription, and, indeed,
considering the vastness of the Empire, this should be an
easy task ! "

MESSIEURS LACUEE, TREILHARD, AND MERLIN 285
Among all those who had a voice in the Council, no man
existed whose methods, were more opposed to adulation than
M. Treilhard,. who, still under the influences of the Palais,
brought into all his speeches the severity of an inflexible
pleader. One cannot deny him great acquirements in
matters of jurisprudence; he had proved this in the days
of the Constituent Assembly; but the conventionnel and the
former directeur occasionally made themselves manifest in
his opinions, as well as in those of M. Berlier, a man of far
greater intellect than himself, and especially endowed with
a rare talent for speaking. But it was impossible not to
detect in him a chronic feeling of uneasiness, and it was
plain that the recollection of certain events in his life, and
especially of the part he had taken in the death of Louis
XVI., made him feel constrained on many an occasion. I
always appreciated this feeling; it was a proof of regret
forced from him by his conscience. In this respect, he
differed greatly from his colleague, M. Treilhard, who never
seemed to have any recollection of the part he had played
in the tragedy. Nor was M. Merlin's memory troubled
with it. The latter deserves some further mention.
M. Merlin owed his appointment as procureur at the Cour
de cassation, as well as that of Councillor of State, to his
great knowledge in matters of jurisprudence. Having,
when a member of the Cour de cassation, no other duty but
to call for the application of laws already clearly defined,
and acquainted with them all down to their smallest details,
he was, it must be acknowledged, fully qualified for his
duties; but, in the Council, his usefulness was limited, as
everything he said could have been better and more readily
found in the book on which his reputation rested, his
Ripertoire de jurisprudence. I never saw him contribute
any theory or any conclusive argument to any discussion.
His enunciation was labored and harsh. Not only had

286 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
science not enlightened his mind, but it seemed to have
dried up his heart. I never knew a man who could less
distinguish between what was just or what was not. Every
thing seemed to him well and good, so long as it was the
consequence of the letter of the law. It was ever with a
smile on his lips, with his face beaming with satisfaction,
that he would seek in his vast store of legal erudition the
text of the law which prescribed some rigorous measure or
sentence of some sort. It will be readily understood that
such conduct caused him to be generally shunned. He was
never on a footing of intimacy with anybody in the Council,
not even with M. Real, who generally occupied the seat
adjoining his.
The latter's character bore a stamp which was pre
eminently its own. Never blushing over his former Jaco
binism, proud even of recalling it, he had taken up the
Emperor in default of any revolutionary government, and
he quietly drifted along, serving him and defending him
with the same means which he had formerly placed at the
disposal of the one and indivisible Republic. Endowed
with much natural wit, and not so bad-hearted as one might
suppose from a kind of joviality which never abandoned
him, even when engaged in carrying out the harshest meas
ures, he occasionally gave proof of generous sentiments
expressed with rather expansive feeling. He was better
than the life he had led, and the formerjdefender of Babeuf
had likewise defended a few imigris whom he had succeeded
in saving.
A few months after my joining the Council of State,
M. Berthier de Sauvigny, one of my kinsmen, having been
arrested on a charge of conspiracy, and being implicated in
most serious fashion, the taking of preliminary proceedings
in the case fell to M. Real. I spoke to him frankly about
the case, and while in no way seeking to palliate M.

THE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL OF STATE 287
Berthier' s actions, I begged him to save the unfortunate
man who was more thoughtless than guilty. He promised
me he would do so, adding that it afforded him pleasure to
do something for a new colleague, and he kept his word.
He was what we might call a thoroughly good fellow, and,
as such, one could not help feeling occasionally grateful to
him for the warmth with which he defended the still living
remnants of his former friends. He bewailed the unfortu
nate condition of most of them, and the state of neglect in
which the government left them.
One will find in the four last pen-portraits which I have
drawn, an almost perfect picture of what the most stormy
times of the Revolution had bequeathed to the Council.
Outside of these men there was a long list of others who
had reached the goal after a life oftentimes hard, bringing
with them the tribute of their acquirements and talents,
and having nothing of their past to regret. Such were
M. Bigot de Preameneu, so pure, so learned, who did not
have a principle, who breathed not a sentiment which was
not worthy of praise; M. Daru, whose intellect was so
many-sided, and who enjoyed a facility for work never
surpassed; M. Muraire, M. Pelet de la Lozere, M. Faure,
M. de Sussy, M. d'Hauterive, and so many others, whose
work was always useful, when it was not brilliant.
The president, M. de Cambaceres, possessed in the highest
degree the talents required in so elevated a position, always
directing the debate without imposing restraint on it, inter
fering only when it became absolutely necessary, and ever
in a manner most calculated to throw a light upon the
subject; sober of speech, for he never uttered a word with
the object of making his importance felt, he would sum up
and set forth matters with a lucidity compelling the least
enlightened mind to grasp and understand them. The
influence of such a president on the progress of an assembly

288 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
is greater than can be expressed. We had an opportunity
of discovering this during a short absence which he was
allowed to enjoy. His place was taken by M. Lebrun.
With him, things soon got into a state of confusion, and
the Council was only able to accomplish one-half of what it
would have done with M. de Cambaceres. No sooner did
the latter return, than all difficulties seemed to vanish as
if owing to his mere presence.
The first occasion on which the Emperor showed the trust
he was inclined to repose in the maltres des requites, was
that of a debate relating to the conditions of life of the
Jews, and to their methods in the provinces, where they
were to be met with in greater numbers. They were
charged, not without cause, with having for some years
past, and especially in Alsace, practised usury to such a
degree that had they been allowed to collect all that was
owing to them, they would have become the proprietors of
the better part of the lands of that province. Their repre
hensible and traditional industry had been principally exer
cised to the detriment of the farmers, and it had been
singularly fostered by the hard times through which the
little landowners had passed, and especially by the heavy
burdens which had weighed down on the departments bor
dering on the Rhine as a result of succeeding wars.
An Imperial decree, bearing the date of May 30th, 1806,
had already suspended for a year the proceedings taken by
these merciless creditors ; but this provisional measure had
been adopted merely to give time and means of pronouncing
as to the validity of the various claims, with a perfect
knowledge of all the facts. It was an arbitrary measure,
as, without granting a hearing to the interested parties,
each and every claim, of whatever nature, had been included
in a common reprobation, without separating the just from
the unjust ones, for the sole reason that they were made by

MEASURES DEMANDED AGAINST THE JEWS 289
a certain class of French citizens, for how could one deny
the Jews citizenship?
It belonged to them by virtue of all the laws passed since
the Revolution. They bore all the burdens of citizenship,
and notably that of military service. They indeed sought
to avoid the conscription, taking advantage of the fact that
for a lengthy period, no regular registration had been made
of their births, and the greater number had neglected mak
ing to the municipalities the declarations prescribed in this
respect. And lastly, the absence of patronymic names,
which are not in their customs, favored them marvellously,
when the time came to make up a miltary contingent. But
these difficulties had been overcome, at the time when the
Emperor determined upon suspending the enforcement of
their claims.
This measure became the subject of a hot debate in the
Council of State. The Committee of the Interior, which
was entrusted with the framing of the decree, was unfav
orable to it; its president, M. Regnaud de Saint- Jean
d'Angely, had in a special fashion opposed it as contrary to
the principles of civil rights, and as infringing upon the
freedom of worship. And, indeed, was it not a manifest
violation of this freedom, to deprive a citizen, because he
was of the Jewish persuasion, of any one of the advan
tages guaranteed by a law common to all? In the eyes of
M. Regnaud, to protect the Jews was not merely an act of
justice, but it was a safeguard against the Catholic priests,
the particular objects of his mistrust.
It so happened that, acting from an entirely different
standpoint, a young auditeur of the same committee, en
trusted with the preliminary work in the matter, did not
hesitate to express himself with much warmth in favor of
the measures demanded against the Jews. The Emperor
became informed of this, and the good-will he bore towards

290 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
this auditeur — it was M. Mole — increased considerably.
The day on which the matter was discussed in the Council,
he granted him the unusual favor of allowing him to speak1
and ordered that his report be printed. A decree suspend
ing the pressing of the Jews' claims was thereupon drawn
up in conformity with the ideas embodied in the report; but
it was decreed in addition that an assembly of Jews, residing
on French territory, should be convened in Paris, on the
15th of July following.
The members of this assembly, whose number was speci
fied in an appendix to the decree, were to be designated by
the prefects, and selected from among rabbis, men of prop
erty, and other Jews most prominent through their ac
quirements and reputation for honesty. The duties of the
members of this commission consisted in eliciting views
concerning the best means of bringing back the Jews to the
exercise of the various arts and useful professions, in order
that honest industry should take the place of the reprehen
sible methods with which they had from father to son, for
many centuries, earned their living.
When shortly afterwards the question arose as to the
appointment of the commissioners, the Emperor bethought
himself at once of M. Mole, who had, as a matter of course,
acquired this mark of confidence by the part he had already
taken in connection with the matter at issue. Moreover,
in addition to what I have already told anent the report
which he had read before the Council, the Emperor had
commissioned him with the preparing of a work entitled
Inquiries into the Political and Religious Status of the Jews,
from the Days of Moses unto the Present Times. This essay
was promptly written, and was inserted in the Moniteur,
1 The auditors presented reports to the committees, and were allowed to
take a part in their discussions ; in the Council, they merely listened to the
debates, without enjoying the right of speech.

APPOINTMENT OF A COMMISSION 291
eighteen columns of which it filled. It was really an
indictment of the Jewish nation. In it was set forth the
fact that usury did not owe its birth to the misfortunes of
the Jewish people, as so often maintained ; that it was not
only tolerated, but enjoined by the Mosaic law, and by the
principal doctors who had interpreted this law ; that it had
been so prescribed by the Jewish legislator in order to
render more complete the separation between his people
and other nations ; that, in consequence of this, the vice of
usury was to be considered as inherent to the character of
every true Jew, and so implanted in him that no earthly
power could ever eradicate it from him.
The two other commissioners were chosen from among
the maltres des requites: M. Portalis, the son of the Min
ister of Public Worship, was the second commissioner, and
I, the third. When the time came for us to take cognizance
of our instructions (I am speaking of M. Portalis and
myself), we could not help believing that the whole drift of
the Emperor's idea had not been fully grasped, and that
M. Mole and the Council of State had failed to penetrate
his thoughts. It was plain that the Emperor's object was
to make a great political stroke out of what was being
merely looked upon as a measure of repression. In fact,
the question at issue, according to the documents submitted
to us, was to ascertain from the Jews themselves, if their
religion really permitted them to take up citizenship in
such countries as were ready to grant it to them; whether
that religion did not embody prescriptions which rendered
impossible, or at the least very difficult, an entire submis
sion to the laws; lastly, whether there was any way by
which it was possible to turn to the advantage of society as
a whole the talents of a population which so far had shown
itself its avowed enemy.
Matters being considered from.this standpoint, it became

292 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
necessary to subject the Jews to a questioning in due form:
first, with regard to what they believed they were permitted
to do; and next, as to what they considered forbidden to
them. Was it to be accepted as an absolute fact that the
Jews were allowed by the Mosaic law to practise usury
against all those who did not belong to their persuasion?
Was it allowable for them to renounce this faculty in coun
tries wherein usury was prohibited by the laws? Could
their doctors and their rabbis give any guarantee towards
their obeying such laws? Could military service be recon
ciled with several of the observances of their religion, such
as that of the Sabbath, for instance, that of certain fasts,
and the abstinence from certain kinds of food? Might one
entertain the idea that they would consent sincerely to join
the ranks of the French army every time that the law should
call upon them to do so?
These two difficulties were the principal ones which had
to be solved, and they will give an idea of the benefit which
the Emperor sought to derive from an assembly, for which
there was no precedent in the annals of the world, since the
days of the dispersion of their tribes, after the taking of
Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple by Titus.
This assembly, which has passed away almost unnoticed, was
in reality a grand conception, and if the results were not in
proportion with the idea entertained of it, if it has not left
any deep marks of its existence, the fact must be attributed
principally to the rapid succession of events which absorbed
public attention. And yet, a most interesting spectacle
was afforded by the debates which took place in an assembly
of men eagerly devoted to a religion, the true spirit of
which is so little known, and animated with sentiments so
at variance with those governing Christian nations. They
were being asked to examine seriously up to what point
they could, while overcoming their most deeply implanted

M. MOLE, THE PRESIDENT OF THE COMMISSION 293
habits, take their place in the modern world, and partici
pate, without wounding their conscience, in the advantages
of European civilization.
I threw myself with a good deal of zeal into the fulfil
ment of the so unexpected task which devolved upon me.
As I write these lines, the recollection of this first step
towards acquiring a knowledge of the higher affairs of
humanity is still full of interest for me. The conqueror's
policy had certainly inspired Bonaparte in the matter of
this undertaking. While seeking, with the aid of all that
was most enlightened in the Jewish race, the means of lift
ing it out of the abject condition wherein it had languished
for so many centuries, he had probably said to himself that
so great an act of kindness would forever attach that race
to his fortunes, and that he would find auxiliaries disposed
to second his plans, wherever the race was to be found in
numbers. He was about to undertake another invasion of
Germany, whieh invasion was to lead him through Poland
and the neighboring countries, where all business transac
tions were almost exclusively conducted through the Jews.
It was therefore natural that he should believe that no other
auxiliaries could prove as useful, and that it was conse
quently necessary to win them over to his side.
Such was doubtless his frame of mind, at the time of the
promulgation of the Imperial decrees, which, in the course
of 1808, had a bearing on the religious organization, and the
exercise of civil rights of the Jews throughout the whole
extent of the Empire.
Soon afterwards, however, it entered the mind of the
victorious general, that, while at the head of the French
nation and of the French army, he needed no other auxili
aries than his sword, which was alone sufficient to dispose
of the fate of Europe, from the banks of the Neva to the
Columns of Hercules. The Jewish question had no longer
any interest for him.

294 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
M. Mole being the first in the order of appointment was
unanimously elected president of the commission. The
speech which he delivered on the 29th of July, the day of
the first meeting of the assembly, revealed a marked hos
tility towards the Jews, and was not of the kind to inspire
them with any confidence in the intentions of the govern
ment. The selection of the members of the assembly, to
the number of one hundred and twelve, had been, as I have
already stated, left with the prefects of the departments
wherein the Jews were sufficiently numerous for their
presence to have any real importance. This state of things
existed principally in the departments of the East and of
the South, especially in the one which had Avignon as its
chief town, then the department of the Seine, and lastly
that of the Gironde.
As was to be anticipated, the prefects had made choice
of such Israelites as enjoyed the highest reputation, and
also of those who were looked upon as likely to prove most
complaisant. It was especially among those hailing from
Bordeaux that it was expected to find the most enlighten
ment and the means of influence which would prove of
greatest service. These Jews, generally styled " Portuguese
Jews," were reputed to be the descendants of a large
Jewish colony which had centuries ago settled by the
mouth of the Tagus.
One of the most prominent of these Jews was M. Furtado,
a highly respected merchant in the Gironde. He was
chosen as president of the assembly. It quickly became
patent that the Portuguese Jews were an object of suspicion
to all their co-religionists, who looked upon them as apos
tates. President Furtado was more than any other viewed
with distrust. The Jews feigned to believe that he held
to his religion merely by the feeling which forbids a man
abandoning the religion in which he was born, unless led to

THE PORTUGUESE JEWS 295
do so by the strongest convictions. As a matter of fact>
such was not the state of M. Furtado's mind; his opinions
were based on philosophical indifference. The rabbis of
Alsace, and those of the former comtat of Avignon, who
ranked the highest in the matter of science, were wont to
say of their presiding officer that it was an easy matter to
see that all he knew of the Bible was through Voltaire. His
influence was null over an assembly of men animated with
the deepest religious convictions. It had been generally
supposed that they were governed solely by their pecuniary
interests, that they adhered to their religion merely as a
matter of custom, and especially because it made their
consciences feel easy on the score of living at the expense
of all countries which harbored them or tolerated their
presence, but one found oneself face to face with men vastly
superior to the common herd with which, generally speak
ing, public opinion classed them. Thoroughly conversant
with their religion and its principles, they were strengthened
in their attachment to it by the animadversion it drew upon
them, and their well-cultivated minds were replete with
every kind of knowledge. It was therefore no longer pos
sible to ignore the existence of a Jewish nation, the dregs
of which had so far alone come under notice, and which,
owing to the care bestowed in selecting the members of the
assembly, spoke a language worthy of being listened to.
The questions submitted by the Emperor were gone
into with grave deliberation. This hesitancy of course
displeased him, and brought forth lively remonstrances on
the part of M. Mole. His action was thus running directly
counter to the object in view. A circumstance affecting
him personally added greatly to the disgust which the way
he had of expressing himself inspired in the minds of those
whom he was to conciliate. It was generally admitted to
be the fact that his great-grandmother, a daughter of Samuel

296 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
Bernard, the celebrated Jewish financier who flourished
towards the end of the reign of Louis XIV., was of Jewish
origin, and there was no doubt as to the large fortune of
his family having come to it almost in its entirety through
this kinship. It is true that he claimed that the Judaism
of Samuel Bernard was a pure fiction, based merely on a
chance baptismal name certainly more in use among Jews
than among Christians.
We had got no further after a few weeks' labor than on
the first day. In addition to the difficulties inherent to the
subject-matter, and while admitting on almost all points the
fairness of the propositions submitted to them, the most
enlightened and most influential members of the assembly
informed the commissioners that the declarations asked of
them not only embarrassed them, and were delicate matters
for their consciences, but that, according to all appearances,
they would prove utterly valueless ; that they were in no wise
qualified to exact obedience from their co-religionists;
that, from the very fact that they had been selected by the
government, it was not possible to consider them the repre
sentatives of the Jewish nation, and as having the right to
make any stipulations in its name.
The name of the ancient assembly of doctors, known as
the Great Sanhedrin, was several times mentioned in their
utterances. This body, they contended, would alone have
been entitled to speak with authority in such matters, at a
time when the Jewish nation existed as a corporate body,
and it was still the only one qualified to take cognizance of
them. No sooner had the commissioners laid these arguments
before the Emperor, than he at once seized upon the idea,
and it was soon given out that he would much like to see
the calling together in Paris of a Great Sanhedrin, to be
constituted as much as possible according to the rules and

M. MOLE'S HOSTILITY TO THE JEWS 297
forms laid down by the Mosaic law. His intention was that
all the synagogues of his vast Empire and even for Europe
should be invited to send to this Sanhedrin doctors or dele
gates who were to unite with the assembly already in exis
tence, and whose labors should continue jointly with those
of the doctoral assembly. Thus, he argued, one could
flatter oneself with possessing the most legal representation
both of the Jewish religion and nation. This would be
tantamount to a resurrection of this nation, which could not
fail to see the importance of being worthy of so signal a
boon. Special meetings were held to draw up the questions to
be submitted to the Great Sanhedrin ; many were held, and
their sittings were long. A quantity of religious, histori
cal, and political questions were discussed, several of the
rabbis displaying a large amount of knowledge, and at
times, in connection with matters pertaining to their faith,
an eloquence full of warmth and inspiration. The respec
tive attitudes of the commissioners remained as heretofore :
M. Mole", ever threatening; M. Portalis and I trying to
reclaim, by means of more conciliatory forms, those which
our colleague did not cease to render refractory. M.
Portalis was already making his mark in these discussions
by his wise erudition based on the best authorities, and
characterized with a good faith of which he has since given
so many proofs. He produced an impression all the greater
on those whom it was necessary to persuade, that his posi
tion, as son of the Minister of Public Worship, seemed to
add greater weight to his words. As for myself, the com
missioners were, generally speaking, greatly moved by the
sight of my earnest attempts to bring about truly practical
results out of our decisions.
On one occasion the expression of their gratitude was so
effusive that it would be difficult for me to forget it. It

298 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
followed upon one of those sittings wherein M. Mole had
shown himself more bitter than usual, and when I had
endeavored to destroy the evil effects of some of his words.
Several of them came to me next day, and not knowing how
to express their gratitude, ended in telling me that ere six
months had passed, all Jews, even to those in far-off China,
should know how much all Jews owed me for the good I
was trying to do them, and for my kindly treatment of
them. These words have always struck me as remarkable,
in that they go to prove to what a degree these men,
scattered over the whole surface of the globe, separated by
such great distances, living under such various skies, and
amid manners and customs so dissimilar, keep up their
intercourse, identify themselves with their respective inter
ests, and are animated with one and the same spirit. And
truly, if one compares the results of all ancient and modern
legislation with that of Moses, one is amazed on seeing how
great has been the strength of the religious and political
bonds, with which he knew how to knit his people together,
since a dispersion, lasting two thousand years, has been
unable to sever them. The uniformity of Jewish belief
manifested itself in the most striking fashion in the debates
concerning usury. On this point there was not the slight
est difference of opinion among the doctors and rabbis.
Contrary to the opinion expressed in M. Mole's report, they
all agreed in looking upon the implication that usury prac
tised against strangers was authorized by the Mosaic law as
an undeserved insult. "Usury," they said, "was born in
our midst, owing to our unfortunate position in the world,
and to the necessity to which we have been reduced since
our dispersion, of almost continually having to struggle to
save the fragments of a fortune of which one was ever seek
ing to despoil us. Being thus at war with each and every

USURY AND LEGAL INTEREST 299
society among which our lot was cast, it is natural that we
should have sought to preserve everything that we could
conceal from our persecutors; that we should have taken
advantage of all the advantages afforded us by the needs of
those in whose midst we were living; but our political and
religious law is altogether foreign to the issue. Far from
it: it contains on that point a provision dictated by the
sentiment of fraternity which it has always sought to
engender among us. In order to be able to establish the
contrary, a wrong use has been made of a word which has
been misunderstood, and to which an interpretation has
been given which is all the more false, that it presupposes
the existence of a fact and of an idea unknown at the time
when this law was given to us.
" In those days, what has since been styled legal interest
of money was yet unknown ; hence, the word usury was not
to be found in our language, as it would have been without
any meaning. Any kind of interest derived from money
lent was legal in an equal degree, whatever its rate; this
interest was merely a matter to be settled between borrower
and lender. Hence it is that in the Hebraic language there
is only one word signifying interest, but none signifying
usury. "Now, what did the Mosaic law enjoin? It forbade the
Jews to charge any interest on money which they lent
among themselves, and allowed them to demand interest
only in the case of loans made by them to strangers. It
could not proceed to draw any distinction between interest
that was usurious and that which was not, for this distinc
tion was unknown in those days. Hence it is not true that
it ever sanctioned the practice of usury in the case of stran
gers, while forbidding it between Jew and Jew. What has
been said about usury is true only in the case of interest,
and the word signifying interest has been most unreasonably

300 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
translated as meaning usury. The law which binds or
which should bind Jews together remains the same at the
present day. A conscientious Jew should charge no inter
est on the money which he has lent to another Jew, and this
is in accordance with what is still taught by the strict
interpreters of the law.
"The commercial operations in which Jews have been
compelled to engage from one end of the world to the other,
have rendered difficult the strict application of this pre
cept, and doubtless the toleration which the doctors could
not help showing in this connection, may have led the
greater number of Israelites to imagine that as the law
prescribed a different mode of acting towards the brother
and the stranger, this difference was the one existing
between interest and usury. A belief so accommodating to
their cupidity was doubtless accepted with readiness, and
took root no less easily; but, as it is contrary to the spirit
and to the letter of the law, it will always be the duty of
the doctors to fight it whenever appealed to on the subject."
It was impossible for us not to admit, in the face of all
the information supplied us, that the Jews, however keen
in their special industry, were ever most charitable among
themselves ; that there was hardly any locality wherein one
could find any who were reduced to beg help of anybody
but their co-religionists; that, as regards everything not
strictly a commercial transaction, that is to say with regard
to all loans from Jew to Jew, it was almost the exception
that loans bore any interest, when made to satisfy the
pressing necessaries of life of any one of them. Lastly, we
were informed in such a manner as to leave no doubt in our
minds, that when a Jew, possessing no personal resources,
was compelled to attend to some urgent business at a great
distance from his place of residence, he could call on the
rabbi, or on the most prominent member, of the Jewish com-

POWERS OF THE RABBIS 301
munity, and, on stating his case, he would receive a cer
tificate with which he could go across Europe and reach the
extreme limits of Asia, welcomed and having his expenses
paid by the Jews who resided on the line of his journey,
and who everywhere treated him, not as a pauper to whom
alms are granted from a sentiment of pity, but as a brother
with whom one shares one's all.
We also acquired a new and correct idea of the nature
and extent of the powers of the rabbis. As we were laying
some stress on the extent of these powers, and on the use
which we urged them to make of them, persuaded as we
were that, having been given by God himself to his ser
vants in the Temple, they must have considerable authority
in the minds of a people whose form of government could in
many respects be looked upon as theocratic, they told us
that this was a mistaken idea which it became necessary for
them to correct. They demonstrated in the most positive
fashion, and by means of authorities which could not be
rejected, that all filiation with the tribe of Levi had been
totally lost at the time of the last dispersion; hence, there
no longer existed among them any priesthood, for priesthood
was inherent to that tribe, and that in consequence all
sacredotal sovereignty was extinct in them. This doubtless
constitutes one of the most extraordinary facts in the his
tory of this people so faithful to its traditions,- so attached
to its civil and religious customs, this absolute loss of so
precious a filiation, the preservation of which should have
called forth all the more care, as it alone could render
possible in times to come, the exercise of the most sacred
ceremonies of the Jewish religion.
Let it be supposed for an instant that, in conformity
with the hopes of every good Israelite, the Temple of Jeru
salem should ever be rebuilt, its sanctuary could never be
filled, the holy sacrifice could not take place in it, unless a

302 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
miracle coming from that God who gave the law on Mount
Sinai should come and reveal the true descendants of that
tribe. If there are no longer any Levites, priests, or pontiffs,
what are then the rabbis ? Nothing else but doctors accepted
by their co-religionists to read prayers and to perform cer
tain religious and occasionally judicial ceremonies, to per
form which, in Judaea itself, and at a time when the law
was more strictly observed, the heads of families were
considered sufficient. If this view be taken of them, it is
easy to understand that the influence of these rabbis, based
merely on the respect in which they are held, inspire no
other authority than that which is derived from the confi
dence felt in them, and hence how impossible it became for
us to get their counsels accepted as bearing the stamp of
authority. Such being the condition of things, it is suffi
ciently explained why the rabbis considered themselves
compelled to preserve the attitude of reserve which was not
understood at the beginning.
This authority of the doctors, the only one in existence
among the Jews since the days of their dispersion, the only
bond whieh unites them in their faith, is a phenomenon
altogether worthy of attention. From this authority has
emanated a supplement to the Mosaic law, known by the
name of Talmud. It is a somewhat raw compilation of at
times random interpretations of the sacred text. It has in
times past given rise to many controversies, and still sup
plies food for dispute, to which can be attributed to a great
extent the relaxation of the morals of the Jews. Generally
speaking, the rabbis made light of the Talmudists, and while
admitting the worth of some of them, seemed to look upon
them as most dangerous people.
Satisfactory answers to all the questions- submitted were
at last obtained from the assembly. On the 18th of

CONVOCATION OF THE GREAT SANHEDRIN 308
September, the Imperial commissioners informed the assem
bly that His Imperial Majesty, being desirous that these
answers should acquire in the eyes of Jews of all countries
and for all time the greatest possible authority, had resolved
upon calling together a Great Sanhedrin, whose functions
were to consist in transforming into doctrinal decisions the
answers given by the provisional assembly, as well as those
which might result from a continuation of the assembly's
labors. This message met with an enthusiastic reception, and
during the days ensuing its presentation, all the measures
requisite to carry out the new wish of the Emperor were
discussed, adopted, and carried out with both sincerity and
eagerness. In conformity with ancient practice, the num
ber of members of the Great Sanhedrin was fixed at seventy-
one, exclusive of its presiding officer.
All the rabbis already sitting in the assembly — they
numbered seventeen — were called upon to join it. Twenty-
nine others were taken from the synagogues of the Empire
and of the kingdom of Italy; lastly, twenty-six members to
be selected from among private individuals were chosen by
the assembly from among its membership by secret ballot.
The requisite letters and instructions were at once sent to
the French and Italian synagogues.
At the same time, the assembly sent to all its co-relig
ionists throughout Europe a proclamation which informed
them of the wonderful event of the convening of a Great
Sanhedrin, and which invited them to come to an under
standing, for the purpose of sending to Paris men known
by their wisdom, and by their love of truth and justice.
The effect of this proclamation was not such as had been
looked for, and it was almost null in the countries situated
beyond the boundaries of the French Empire, of the king
dom of Italy, and of a few states which felt French
influence.

304 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
There yet remained to be obtained from the assembly
that it should admit the necessity of an organization in the
practice of its worship, and it was necessary to secure its
co-operation towards such an organization. Now this was
the very thing most repugnant to it, for it was impossible
for it not to perceive that there was no matter in which it
would prove more difficult to obtain the acquiescence of its
co-religionists. And, indeed, was it not plain that the
government would not fail to take advantage of this op
portunity to interfere more or less in the inner governing
of the synagogues, and to attribute to itself the right of
supervision over the rabbis? Now, in the eyes of the
latter, this would be, to a certain extent, laying sacrilegious
hands on the Ark of the Covenant.
In spite of all these difficulties, which were increased by
the unfriendly methods of the president, a solution had to
be reached. We resolved, M. Portalis and I, to make an
experiment which was fully crowned with success. Taking
advantage of a day when M. Mole was away from Paris, we
called together the greatest possible number of influential
men at the house of M. Portalis, and there, after a session
which lasted over six hours, we succeeded, by sound argu
ments and by kind words, in getting them to adopt a draft
of regulations as good as we had a right to expect.
The general assembly adopted these regulations a few
days later. A motion was also passed begging His Imperial
Majesty to give his assent to these regulations, and to
contribute to the payment of the stipends of the rabbis. It
was moreover asked (a thing that could but be very agree
able to him) that he should be pleased to inform the local
authorities of the Empire and of the kingdom of Italy, that
he desired that they should come to an understanding with
the consistories, in order to remove the aversion felt by the
Jewish youth for the ennobling military career, and thus
secure its perfect obedience to the conscription laws.

MANIFESTO OF THE GREAT SANHEDRIN 305
The inaugural meeting of the Great Sanhedrin took place
on the 9th of February, 1807. The most prominent men
among the newly elect came almost all to a man from the
kingdom of Italy, and especially from the provinces which
were formerly a part of the old state of Venice. On the
9th of March, a proclamation was issued, whereby the
doctors of the law and the notables of Israel in congress
assembled made known that they had constituted them
selves as a Great Sanhedrin, in order to find in its body the
means and the strength to promulgate religious ordinances
in conformity with the principles of their holy law, and
all which might serve as both precept and rule of conduct for
Israelites. They declared "that this law contains religious
clauses as well as political clauses; that the former are
absolute, whereas the latter, being intended to govern the
people of Israel in Palestine, are no longer applicable as
they do not form a corporate nation. Thus, polygamy, which
was permitted by the Mosaic law, being nowadays merely
optional and out of usage in the West, is to be considered
as prohibited. In France the civil marriage ceremony shall
precede the religious one. No repudiation of a wife or
divorce is to take place, except according to the forms
prescribed by civil law. Marriage between Israelites and
Christians shall be considered valid. The Mosaic law
enjoining us to look upon as brothers all members of
nations believing in God the Creator, all Israelites shall
practise, daily and constantly, as an essentially religious
duty inherent to their creed, towards all men believing in
God the Creator, all acts of justice, and of charity prescribed
in the sacred books.
" Each and every Israelite, when treated by the laws as a
citizen, shall obey the laws of his country, and conform in
all transactions to the terms of the code in use in them.
When called upon to serve in the army, they to be dis-

306 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
pensed, while their term of service lasts, from all religious
observances which might not prove compatible with it.
Israelites should give the preference to the exercise of
mechanical and liberal professions, and acquire landed
property, as so many means of becoming attached to their
country, and of being held there in general esteem.
"In conformity with the Mosaic law, usury shall be
indiscriminately forbidden, not only as between Hebrew
and Hebrew, and as between Hebrew and a fellow-citizen
professing another creed, but also in regard to strangers of
all nations, such practice being an iniquity abominated in
the eyes of the Lord."
It would have been a hard task for any lawyer or moralist
to expound this last prescription with more care and force.
This so energetically conceived declaration was unanimously
adopted. The general assembly promptly joined to this
declaration an address to the Emperor, and a resolution
intended to render secure and complete the effect of the dec
laration. This led it, as a natural consequence, to express
a hope that His Majesty, thus assured of the happy results
which were to produce towards the repression of abuses, the
decisions just reached as a whole in so imposing a form,
would, in his great wisdom, be pleased to consider, if it
would not be advisable to put an end to the suspension of
proceedings taken for the recovery of mortgages, in the
departments affected by the decree of the 30th of May, and
that this should occur at the time of the expiration of the
delay laid down in that decree.
It therefore expressed a wish that His Majesty would be
pleased to take such measures as he would deem the most
efficient to prevent that it should in future become possible
for a small number of Israelites, by means of a few mort
gages which they might get registered, to do injuries to
private fortunes such as had previously given cause for

JEWISH SOCIETY ORGANIZED 307
complaint, and the shame of and the punishment for which
had but too often fallen upon the whole body of their co
religionists. Never were greater attempts made, with the
frankest and most sincere intentions, to obtain a reform
so long prayed for by all enlightened minds; and never
was such an opportunity tendered to the Jewish race since
its dispersion. Many centuries will perhaps roll by ere so
favorable an opportunity is again presented to them.
The Emperor, whose attention was diverted by political
matters from the undertaking which had so long occupied
his thoughts, neglected to take advantage of the overtures
made to him. The delay, which, by the decree of the 30th
of May, 1806, suspended the enforcing of Jewish claims,
was further extended. The notification of this, made by
simple ministerial circular, greatly disheartened the Jewish
population. Pursuant to the orders which we had received, the Great
Sanhedrin was dissolved on the 6th of April, 1807, and the
draft of a decree was submitted for discussion to the
Council of State. The ideas of the Emperor had undergone
a change unfavorable to the Jews, doubtless in consequence
of the impression produced on him by the Jewish popula
tions of Germany and of Poland. M. Mole's system was to
prevail, in spite of the efforts of M. Portalis and of myself.
Yet we succeeded in getting sanctioned in their entirety the
regulations which we had taken so much trouble to get
adopted with regard to the organization of Jewish worship,
and for its inner government throughout the breadth of the
French Empire and of the kingdom of Italy.
Provisions of a law dealing with the effects of the
suspensory decree, sent after a lengthy delay from the
headquarters of the Emperor, were of such severity that I
do not hesitate to say that they violated all rules of equity.
This ends all I have to say about this singular and

308 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
interesting episode of my de"but in my political career. It
was most instructive, not only through the actual facts I
learnt, but also through the insight it gave me into how
affairs were carried on or brought to a termination under
the man whom destiny had placed so far above our heads.
It was for me a first warning that there existed more un
certainty and instability than was generally believed in his
plans and in his determinations. And yet, as appertains
to genius alone, even his passing ideas left profound traces.
Two important results have remained pf this great under
taking, viz. the organization of Jewish society in France,
and the doctrinal manifesto of the Great Sanhedrin.

CHAPTER XI
War with Prussia — France's enthusiasm after Jena — General desire for a
durable peace — Napoleon's threatening attitude at Berlin — The con
tinental blockade — Its hardships and prodigious results — Matters lead
ing up to war with Spain — Napoleon again prepares for war — Napo
leon's vast amount of correspondence — An aggressive march made by
the Russians — Battle of Eylau — An opinion of General Jomini — The
siege of Dantzig — The victory of Friedland — The peace of Tilsit —
Napoleon's influence over the Emperor Alexander — Prussia's humilia
tion — Gustavus IV., King of Sweden, deprived of his crown — Denmark
becomes France's ally.
At the time I joined the Imperial government, in June,
1806, Napoleon had reached the height of power and glory.
His authority, which had been established at home by the
ascendant of his genius and the splendor of his early vic
tories, was still further strengthened by his recent triumphs ;
but it was also at the mercy of the dangers which his too
great faith in his star was to draw down upon him. His
enemies well knew the many opportunities which the luck
of war brings even to those whom it has been cruel to for
so long a time.
It was therefore in order that coalitions should follow
each other unceasingly, and that the new Emperor should
defy them with the tenacity and haughtiness of his preten
sions. Still, there was a perfect sense of security felt, not
only by those who were more or less associated with the
new government, but even by the greater and more notable
part of the nation. I shared in that feeling, although I
can understand its existence nowadays only by taking into
309

310 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
consideration the awful state of anarchy wherein we had
dwelt during the years preceding the Imperial regime.
With little anxiety, therefore, did I see the breaking out
of the war with Prussia, following close upon the one with
Austria. The spring of 1806 had been taken up with par
leying and negotiations, and, it must fain be said, with
mutual trickeries which at last led up to the explosion.
Fox was perhaps at that time the only statesman in Europe
who sincerely desired peace. Every hope reposing on his
honest intentions was destroyed by his death, and the
ministry which succeeded him showed itself as ardently in
favor of war as Pitt had been.
As I have spoken of trickery, it behooves me to mention
the occupation of Hanover. Prussia was bent on war, and
her preparations during September left no doubt whatever
as to her intentions; but, her mind once made up, and in
spite of her confidence in her own strength, she was not
blind enough to hesitate calling upon Russia for help, and
upon England for subsidies and support. Nothing of all
this could be denied her, and she experienced no difficulty
in obtaining it; but the enemy with whom she had to deal
was not the one to give her time to avail herself of all these
resources. He was not one to allow himself to be fore
stalled, and indeed he soon assumed the offensive. In the
twinkling of an eye his army was on the banks of the Saale,
at the gates of Saxony. This movement took place with no
less precision and rapidity, but with fewer obstacles to be
surmounted than in the campaign leading up to Austerlitz.
The result of the first engagements was at the very outset
disastrous for the Prussian army and royal family. Prince
Louis was killed in the first fight. He had been one of the
most ardent promoters of the war. In addition to his
remarkable bravery, he possessed all the qualities which
go towards making an idol of a prince in the eyes of his

THE WAR WITH PRUSSIA 311
soldiers, and many hopes were centred in him. What
followed was in harmony with the beginning. I am not
going to dwell on this prodigious campaign, whose rapidity
had in it something of the supernatural, as I have already
stated that I intended to leave to others the care of dealing
with the military portion of the period during which I
lived. I will therefore only speak of battles, victories, and
defeats, for the purpose of showing the moral effect pro
duced by them, and the political consequences arising
therefrom. Prussia, which for about half a century had advanced step
by step to the first rank among military powers, was laid
low at the first clash of arms. What remained of the old
generals of the Great Frederick, the Duke of Brunswick,
General Mollendorf, and so many others, either lost their
lives on the battle-field of Jena, or as a result of the rout,
the remnants of their former military reputation. Seven
teen days sufficed to place the French army in possession of
the Prussian capital, and the end of November saw it on
the opposite side of the Vistula, after taking Ciistrin,
Spandau, Lubeck, and Magdeburg, the last named reputed
to be the most strongly fortified town in the Prussian
kingdom, and occupying all the States belonging to it with
the exception of Silesia and the fortress of Colberg in
Pomerania. Enthusiasm rose to the highest pitch in France. Nothing
now seemed impossible. Still, in the midst of this quite
natural intoxication, it was possible to notice the strength
acquired by a certain feeling, which from that date did not
cease growing, but which the victorious Emperor too greatly
ignored, and which will later on explain the errors of the
last days of his reign.
France was no doubt proud of all these victories, but she
wished to reap the fruits, of them, and, to her eyes, the first

312 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
of them was peace, a glorious one, but especially a lasting
one. Moderation in the hour of triumph could alone ensure
such a result, and the French character, which is naturally
generous, indulged in thoughts of such a moderate use of
victory. So it was that people nourished the illusory idea
that the man who had risen so high could not be deficient
in the only quality liable to make his conquests secure.
At every battle won, at each town taken, the first impulse
was to suppose that this fresh success was the pledge of a
peace which would not be long in coming.
Was such a hope founded on reason? Did it, moreover,
harmonize with the character one might assume to be that
of the man who for the past ten years had not ceased taking
the most formidable chances, and who had always eome out
of his ventures in so singularly fortunate a manner? There
are good reasons for doubting this, but still the illusion
must have been a most natural one, for few people were
without it, even among the men who seemed the most closely
initiated into the secrets of our political situation. In the
Council of State, the veterans of the Revolution, whom long
experience should have rendered better advised, yielded to
the prevailing enthusiasm. It is so natural for the wish to
be father to the thought !
No sooner was Napoleon in Berlin, than he not only
acted and spoke as an angry conqueror, but affected the
speech and the attitude of a sovereign giving commands to
his subjects. Loyalty to the prince who had fled at his
approach was treated as an act of rebellion, and, in his
indignation against the opposition of a portion of the
nobility which still held communication with the unfortu
nate king, he exclaimed, in the very halls of the palace of
the Great Frederick : " I will so humble this Court nobility
that it shall be reduced to begging its bread." In his procla
mations and bulletins he constantly coupled threats with

THE EMPEROR AT BERLIN 313
insults. Misfortune, which should be sacred, was not even
respected in the person of the Queen of Prussia. This
conduct was far from affording any reassuring preliminaries
towards the peace so ardently prayed for. But all this was
nothing when compared with a measure taken in the hour
of the intoxication of victory, and which, by erecting a so
to speak insurmountable barrier between France and Eng
land, condemned each of these two powers to entertain no
hopes of peace and rest until its rival was completely
destroyed. I refer to the decree promulgated at Berlin on the 21st of
November, 1806, which laid the first foundations of what
the Emperor was to style, later on, the continental system.
The British Isles were declared in a state of blockade. All
correspondence and all commerce with them were pro
hibited. Every British subject, whatever his station in
life, found in countries occupied by the French or by their
allies was to be made a prisoner of war. All merchandise
hailing from British sources, and of whatever kind, was
declared a lawful prize.
There is no doubt that such a determination was inspired
by the ardent desire of wreaking vengeance on an enemy
who might justly be considered as the soul and mainstay
of every coalition formed against France. It is also certain
that so extreme a measure was looked upon as merely a fair
reprisal for the blockading by England of all ports situated
in states with which she was at war.
Napoleon flattered himself with the idea of having found
the means to deal a blow at his most deadly opponent in
the matter nearest his heart. Seeing himself master of the
greater part of the European coast, at least enjoying a
domination over the mouths of the principal rivers of
Germany, he persuaded himself that it depended on him to
close all Europe's market to England, and thus compel her

314 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
to take from him peace at his own terms. The conception
was no doubt a grand one, and the measure was no more
iniquitous than England's; but the difference lay in the
fact that the latter, in her pretensions to a blockade, was
not undertaking anything beyond her strength, and did not
stand in need of any other nation's co-operation to carry it
out. France, on the contrary, was entering upon an under
taking which could not be put into execution without the
voluntary or enforced co-operation of all European powers.
It was therefore sufficient, in order to render it fruitless,
and the future went to prove this, that a single one of these
powers, unable to submit to the privations imposed on it,
should either announce its firm determination not to lend a
hand in the matter, or should be content with finding ways
of eluding it. Granted that it was feasible to coerce all
countries into co-operation, there still would remain unwill
ing allies, who would need watching and checking. It
would become necessary to devise some remedy, or at least
some mitigation, in order that they might not weigh too
heavily, of the sacrifices to be endured under the regime of
privations about to be so universally imposed, and from
which the several contracting parties would have to suffer,
doubtless, to a various but very considerable extent.
Not only was England in a position to supply the Conti
nent with the numerous products of her industry, but she
also controlled almost the entirety of all colonial wares and
provisions. Hence it would,' in the first place, become
necessary to have recourse to all possible means calculated
to make continental industry supply that which English
industry would no longer furnish. Again, with regard to
colonial products, some of which, such as sugar and coffee,
were almost indispensable necessaries of life, and several
of which were the actual raw material on which depended

THE CONTINENTAL BLOCKADE 315
the manufactures which it was proposed to create, it was
necessary to devise a means for allowing them the right of
entry, but in a proportion calculated on the strictest neces
sity, and, if possible, by means of an exchange favorable to
the natural products of the Continent.
So it happened that, through the most persevering and at
times the most ingenious efforts, by the aid of a succession
of decrees, and with the help of that strange invention of
licenses which were nothing but organized smuggling,
continental industry, or rather French industry, backed up
with a million bayonets and with an auxiliary force of
coast guards, succeeded in meeting the demands of a vast
competition, and in deriving large profits.
In this respect, the results were prodigious, and as
happens not infrequently in the case of all the works of
genius, even in its vagaries, several of these results sur
vived the force which created them. The consumer, it
must be admitted, dearly paid for the progress and the
consolidation of this industry. For several years he had
to suffer from the exorbitant rise in price of the most
necessary commodities. As an instance of this, he paid,
for six or seven years, six francs for a pound of sugar, and
in the meanwhile the product of the best vineyards in
France remained unsold.
Another most serious event had occurred in Europe
simultaneously with the opening of that memorable Prus
sian campaign, but hardly any attention had been paid to
it. It contained the germ of that terrible Peninsular War,
which was the worm that ate its way into the power and
good fortune of Napoleon. Impatient to escape from the
ascendency of French power, the favorite who in those days
governed Spain thought he could discern in the new storm
which was breaking out in Northern Germany a good
opportunity for shaking off a yoke which pressed heavily

316 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
on him. On the 5th of October he issued a proclamation,
wherein, making reference to dangers and glory, to an
enemy who remained nameless, and to acts of treachery
which he did not specify, he uttered a call to arms. This
outburst was plainly directed against the head of the French
government, but the latter showed himself sufficiently pru
dent not to let it appear that he so understood it, and
postponing his vengeance, he feigned to believe that this
challenge, proceeding from an ally until then submissive,
could not be intended for himself. Nevertheless, one is
justified in assuming that from that day he vowed to
destroy the monarchy which thus dared to defy him, and
there can be no doubt that he was delighted with the pre
text thus offered him of depriving the Bourbons of the
crown of Spain, as he had deprived them of their sovereignty
in Naples.
The months of October and November, replete with the
brilliant successes which had placed on such a pinnacle the
glory and fortunes of Napoleon, saw therefore the birth of
two events, the consequences of which were to compass his
downfall: the continental blockade and the Peninsular
War. An ill-defined uneasiness took hold of our minds with
the advent of the end of December. No serious negotiation
for peace had been heard of. Saxony had alone lent a
willing ear to the overtures made to her, and which she was
not in a position to reject. She had completely abandoned
Prussia, and had entered into the Rhenish Confederation.
A decree issued at Berlin on the organization of the
National Guard in France seemed, moreover, to indicate
the intention of the chief of the state of securing at home
a reserve force which would allow him to dispose of his
active forces abroad, and shortly afterwards a levy of eighty
thousand conscripts, which was ordered to take place in

FRESH PREPARATIONS OF WAR 317
1807, gave proof that he intended to derive every possible
benefit from his triumphs.
And indeed, we were soon to learn that the Emperor had
determined upon remaining in the midst of his cantonments,
and was making Warsaw his headquarters. It was learnt
simultaneously that the last campaign had been a severe
one. Our troops had found themselves face to face with the
Russian army, and this had put an entirely new aspect on
the war. The right bank of the Vistula had been occupied
only as the result of bloody engagements; the fight at
Pultusk had been especially stubborn, and the French army
had there suffered heavy losses; for the first time it had
had to deal both with the cold weather and with the soldiers
of the North, and it had required all the vigor of Marshals
Lannes and Davout to win an advantage which merely
amounted to a retreat of the enemy, a retreat carried out
under the cover of night.
It became evident that the war was to become of an
entirely new kind, that we were about to face an adversary
whose temper was far stronger than that of the Prussian
battalions which had so easily been disposed of at Jena,
and that in the future victory would have to be dearly
purchased. The Emperor, but recently seated on his throne, must
have enjoyed a most audacious confidence in his prestige,
to dare to establish himself at so great a distance from
his frontiers, at the furthest line of his operations, at five
hundred leagues from his capital, at a time of the year
when the ways of communication are of the slowest and
most difficult, exposed to the dangerous effect which a bit
of bad news, whether true or false, might produce on the
greater number of his newly acquired subjects. To take up
such a stand, it was necessary that he should feel assured
that his government would go on with as much regularity

318 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
as if he were in the heart of his Empire, and solely engaged
in exercising supervision over its machinery. It was espe
cially necessary that nothing should happen to interrupt or
to delay the levies of men he required, either for filling in
the gaps caused by war, or for occupying so vast an extent
of territory.
Success must in all respects have gone beyond his expec
tations, for his confidence, however great, however exag
gerated it may appear, was not deceived.
The clever fashion in which he succeeded in causing it to
be believed, so to speak, that he was omnipresent, cannot
be too much dilated upon. Thus an uninterrupted com
munication between his headquarters and his ministers was
established by a service of estafettes, just such as might
have existed between Paris and Fontainebleau. The arch-
chancellor, who in his absence presided over all the council
meetings, who had full authority in all matters, kept him
informed of the minutest details, and the Emperor answered
everything, even what seemed of the least importance.
As an example, the result of the work of the comiti du
contentieux in the Council of State was laid before him every
week by an auditeur, who was at the same time entrusted
with the portfolios of all the ministries, and who returned
without delay with the necessary signatures. This was the
time when people began to get accustomed to these rapid
journeys, of which they had previously not entertained the
idea, and they came to regard as the most simple matter in
the world the terrible fatigue incurred in crossing the whole
of Europe from one end to another without any stoppages.
Gigantic things were coming in vogue.
At the time whereof I speak, Napoleon was always
accompanied in his campaigns by his Secretary of State,
M. Maret, and no man was ever endowed with more
indefatigable ardor for entering into the feelings and

NAPOLEON'S IMMENSE CORRESPONDENCE 319
seconding the wishes of a master. His great facility for
putting matters into writing, joined with a constant obse
quiousness, stood him in lieu of actual talent, and he ended
in acquiring an importance which more than once proved
fatal to the man he was serving in all sincerity of heart,
for no doubts were ever cast on his good faith.
If he praised or admired anything, it was because he
really thought it worthy of praise and admiration. Hence
it was that at headquarters it devolved upon him to have
charge of dealing with the work relating to the adminis
tration of the Empire and to attend to the immense corre
spondence which, in the midst of all his military and
political combinations, Napoleon kept up with so punctilious
a care concerning matters of all sorts, and in which he made
a show of giving his attention to the smallest details. One
cannot help pointing out that he often pushed this care to
the point of minuteness, or, to speak plainly, to that of
charlatanism. The numerous decrees on matters of small
moment which appeared in the Moniteur, dated from every
corner of Europe, bear out the truth of this assertion.
How could any one have allowed himself to become in
the slightest degree neglectful, when the example of an
indefatigable activity was presented from so high? In this
respect the Council of State was beyond all reproach. In
addition to its current work, the extent of which I have
made known, it was at that time engaged in drafting the
Commercial Code, and the debates consequent upon this
work were pursued with unflagging attention in the teeth
of events the most likely to preoccupy the mind. These
debates have remained all the more deeply engraved upon
my memory in that they were the first of the kind which I
attended. I was even compelled to take part in them, in
spite of myself, for I was almost forced to do so by the
archchancellor.

320 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
The maltres des requites could ask to be heard in all cases,
but up to that date, and owing to a timidity easily ex
plained, they had availed themselves of this privilege only
in cases on which they had to present reports. M. de
Cambaceres gave us to understand that it was time that
we should cease maintaining this attitude of reserve. M.
Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angely, learning that I had drawn
up a few remarks concerning imprisonment for debt, and
that it was my intention to re,ad them, said to me : " What
is this? You have written something and you are going
to read it? If you do such a thing, you are dooming
yourself never to acquire any importance in the Council.
Follow my advice, and throw your piece of paper into the
fire, and make a long speech. You will speak poorly the
first time, and perhaps on a few more occasions, but you
will end in getting accustomed to speaking, and if you have
any intellectual resources, you will soon carve your way in
public affairs." I followed his advice, and thus acquired
the little talent which rendered secure my political' exist
ence. Nevertheless, military operations were soon to be resumed
in all their activity. The month of January had seen only
a few isolated engagements between detached bodies of
troops ; but,, early in February, the Russian army having
made some rather threatening movements, the object of
which was plainly to hurl the French army across the
Vistula, the Emperor thought the time opportune to advance
against the Russians with the greater part of his forces.
Having met with substantial successes in the first encoun
ters, he did not hesitate advancing with a somewhat rash
rapidity up to Eylau, where he found himself opposed by
the principal army corps of the enemy, entrenched in a
strong position, and was compelled to enter into action with
a much too weak portion of his troops. For a long time

THE BATTLE OF EYLAU 321
the result of the day remained in the balance; its bloody
details are a matter of history. He finally remained master
of the field of battle, but this was the only advantage to
set against a heavy .loss of soldiers and even of distinguished
officers, a loss which was to be felt all the more in an army
so far distant from its principal base of support.1
1 The uncertainty of the day's issue was such that on both sides the
retreat was ordered during the night. Marshal Davout, who was bivouack
ing with the most advanced army corps, told a person, who shortly after
wards repeated it to me, that just as he was about to begin a retrograde
movement, an officer came to him from the outposts to tell him that there
was plainly great commotion in the enemy's bivouac. Thereupon Davout
went as close as he could to the spot where the noise could be heard, and,
on lying with his ear to the ground, he heard distinctly the rolling away of
cannons and powder-carts, and as the rumbling gradually decreased he-
became convinced that the enemy was in full retreat. He sent this informa
tion to the Emperor, who at once gave orders to his troops to hold their
positions, and it was in this fashion that the French army remained in final
possession of the battle-field.
I may add to this particular, which I am convinced is based on truth,
another fact about which I feel equally certain. General Jomini, the author
of several excellent works on tactics, and of a pamphlet wherein he showed
that the position of the French army, if defeated at Austerlitz, would still
have fiad some resources left, was, at the time, owing to this pamphlet,
somewhat in high favor with the Emperor. He was on his staff, and was on
the plateau of Eylau when, towards the close of the day, a large mass of
troops was seen forming behind the advanced bodies of the Russian army.
Feeling sure that this mass was destined to make a last effort on the plateau,
and one that would prove irresistible, he let the following words escape from
his lips: "I would greatly enjoy being in Benningsen's place." But the
latter, instead of attempting this new effort which would have won him the
battle, allowed his attention to be diverted by the arrival of Davout's corps,
which threatened him on one flank, and it was against this corps that the
heavy mass which had attracted Jomini's attention had been brought
forward. But his words were taken up, for next morning Marshal Duroc said
to him: " Well, Mr. Jomini, would you still enjoy being in Benningsen's
place? " " No," was the answer, " but in that of Prince Charles." These
two utterances of a man fully enlightened as to the conduct and chances of
great military operations make quite clear, not only the danger which the
Emperor ran at Eylau, but also his critical position beyond the Vistula,
after the battle, if Austria, whose hostility was not doubtful, had been
capable of a bold initiative.
Benningsen, who had missed so fine a chance of immortalizing himself,
fell into disgrace at the close of the campaign, and was compelled to seek

322 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
The Russian army, on the other hand, beat a safe retreat
on Koenigsberg, the capital of Eastern Prussia, and the
centre of its resources and supplies, the French army not
being in a position to attack it. Nevertheless, owing to its
admirable organization, and the powerful will of its chief,
it was able to remain in cantonments at a short distance
from the battle-field, in spite of the severity of the season.
Napoleon's obstinacy in remaining in this position is one
of the stoutest deeds ever performed in any war, and it
greatly overawed the enemy. He established his head
quarters in a little straggling village known as Osterode,
where he continued, with a tranquillity which nothing could
disturb, to engage in the customary labors of which I have
previously told. In order that nothing should be lacking
to characterize the calm state of his mind and the security
of his position, it was soon learnt that he had seen fit to
enjoy a pleasurable relaxation, by calling to him a Polish
gentlewoman of excellent birth, with -whom he had con
tracted a liaison while passing through Warsaw, and who,
as a consequence of this journey, had the honor of bearing
him a son. This is the only child, the fruit of his passing
amours, which can be attributed to him with certainty.
The news of the battle of Eylau had in the meanwhile
given birth to varying impressions throughout Europe, and
those felt in France could not be otherwise than painful.
The Russians, it was said, were plainly of another stamp
than the Prussian and Austrian soldiers, and had not the
Emperor shown great rashness in seeking them in their
a retreat in Germany, in the environs of Hanover, the town of his birth.
M. Beugnot, at that time Minister to the King of Westphalia, often saw
him in those days. Benningsen would always bring back the conversation
to the day so fatal to him, and would attribute his abandonment of the
battle-field to the false and even treacherous reports brought to him to the
effect that the Emperor had received important" reinforcements at night
fall.

THE BATTLE OF FRIEDLAND 323
very stronghold? I could plainly see anxiety invade the
minds of those who tried to show a bold front. And yet,
nothing had been neglected in the published reports to swell
the losses of the enemy and diminish our own, and to give
prominence to the courage and energy of our troops and the
skill of our generals.
The 64th bulletin had shown us the Emperor spending
several hours on the battle-field, on the morning after the
fight, " amid the dead and dying, who lay in heaps, all the
more brought into relief as they were spread out on a sheet
of snow. Such a spectacle is fit to inspire princes with a
love of peace and a horror of war."
The three months' sojourn at Osterode was not, it may
well be imagined, a three months' rest for the opposing
armies. If the two principal bodies remained during this
time in observation, and if they did not come to blows,
there was nevertheless continual fighting at the extremity
of the line of operations, and a number of engagements took
place which, at o her times, would have been considered as
battles, and would have sufficed to render famous the gen
erals under whose orders they were fought.
The Russians were usually the aggressors in these engage
ments, and they were always vigorously held in check or
repulsed. The French were besieging Dantzig. It was a
long and difficult operation. General Kalkreuth, who de
fended the city, did not capitulate until after fifty days'
siege from open trenches. This old general was one of the
last pupils of the great Frederick, and was the only one in
those days to preserve the honor of that famed school.
Dantzig having fallen on the 24th of May, important
operations began immediately, which, cleverly conducted on
both sides, ended with the decisive battle of Friedland,
which Napoleon won on the 14th of June. It is a matter
of history how, following upon this success, negotiations

324 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
were entered into beween him and the Emperor Alexander
at Tilsit, on the banks of the Niemen, and how the former
secured there a victory greater, perhaps, than any of those
in which he took pride. It was not enough that he should,
through the ascendency of his military genius, triumph on
many a battle-field over the most formidable of his rivals,
but he must subjugate him in the matter of negotiations, by
his dexterity of mind, his brilliant conversational powers,
and the seductive coloring which he had the art of impart
ing to the political combinations which he succeeded in
getting him to acquiesce in.
Thus not only did he extort from Alexander, under the
color of mediation, an alliance against England, and in
spite of the plainest interests of the Russian Empire, a
complete concurrence in the continental blockade, but he
was able to make him relinquish the role of generous ally
which so well suited his character, and cause him to take a
share in despoiling the unfortunate King of Prussia. In
vain did the latter beg as a favor that he should be
admitted to take part in their conferences ; in vain did the
queen bring into play all the seductive arts of her mind and
beauty; they were compelled to submit to the law of the
conqueror in all its pitiless severity.
No one had suffered more from recent events than Gus
tavus IV., King of Sweden. He had joined the British
alliance with Prussia and Russia. He was rash enough to '
renew the hostilities on the rear of the French army, at the
very moment when negotiations were being opened at
Tilsit. The consequences of this rash deed were, in the
first place, the loss of Swedish Pomerania, of the important
stronghold of Stralsund, of the isle of Rugen, and, as to the
king himself, the loss of his crown.
As he, of all kings, had alone pronounced in favor of the
rights of the House of Bourbon, as he had on several occa-

DENMARK 325
sions invoked them in his diplomatic correspondence with
Prussia and Russia, there is little doubt that Napoleon, who,
as a matter of course, was cognizant of this, took every care
to raise against him the opposition to which he finally
succumbed. Denmark, although not having to reproach itself with
any of the imprudent acts of the King of Sweden, and in
spite of its cautious behavior, was destined to see, as early
as the month of September, a storm break out over it, which
dealt a fatal blow at its maritime power. The continental
blockade furnished the opportunity. All means of injuring
each other seemed good henceforth to France and England.
As Napoleon's troops were occupying Hamburg and Lubeck,
the English could scarcely entertain any doubt that they
were there with the intention of furnishing Denmark with
a pretext to close its doors to British commerce, so they
resolved upon forestalling this move.
They had for a long time vainly urged the Danish Court
to unite with them against France. Despairing of ever
attaining their object, they sent to Copenhagen an expedi
tion under the command of Admiral Gambier and Lord
Cathcart. After some fruitless parleying, the bombardment
was begun, and in spite of the most vigorous reply from
the forts commanding the roadstead, and of the ships moored
there, all resistance became useless, when, after a three
days' fire, six hundred houses were burnt down, and a
capitulation became unavoidable. Admiral Gambier re
mained in possession of the Danish fleet, which he quickly
towed into British ports, having previously loaded it with
all the naval stores which he found in the arsenal.
Denmark, deeply hurt at so unexpected an attack, which
was, moreover, so contrary to all the usages of nations,
quickly threw itself into France's arms, and concluded a
treaty of alliance with it. The outrage which the British

326 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
government had perpetrated on a neutral power excited to
the highest degree the indignation of the Emperor Alex
ander. Casting aside the role of mediator, he no longer
hesitated in breaking off all intercourse with that govern
ment, and proclaimed anew the principles of armed neu
trality. He declared, moreover, that no intercourse should
exist between Russia and England until Denmark had
received satisfaction, and as long as peace was not concluded
between France and England.

CHAPTER XII
Napoleon's return to Paris — A Te Deum sung with great pomp at Notre-
Dame — Marriage of Jerome, the new King of Westphalia, with a
daughter of the King of Wurtemberg — Magnificence of the ceremony
— M. de Talleyrand appointed Vice-Grand Elector — Strained relations
between the Emperor and that diplomat — M. Pasquier appointed pro
cureur general to the conseil du sceau des titres — The methods of
M. Decres, Minister of Marine — Abuses of the Imperial administration
and denials of justice — The case of M. Pichon, ex-consul of France in
America.
Aeter so many battles fought, so many victories won,
and so many obstacles surmounted, after supplementing the
triumphs of the general with those of the diplomat, Napo
leon was leaving behind him one-half of Germany occupied
by his army and was master of the mouths of the Weser,
the Elbe, and the Vistula, when, on the 27th of July, he
re-entered his capital. His absence had lasted no less than
ten months. Never had he been away for such a length of
time. This return was celebrated with public fetes, which af
forded an opportunity for the display of every kind of civil,
military, and religious ceremony. Of them all, I particu
larly recall the Te Deum which was sung at Notre-Dame. I
was present at it with the other members of the Council of
State, and as I had a place in the choir, almost opposite the
throne, I studied the Emperor's physiognomy, in quest of
the impressions which it revealed. He was obviously
pleased with the religious sanction, which, in the eyes of
the people, consecrated his glory and his omnipotence; he
327

328 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
set a price on it, all the greater from the fact that up to the
time of his coming it had been absolutely denied to all the
works of the Revolution, and that it distinguished him
from all that had preceded him. I am of the opinion that
at no moment of his career did he enjoy more completely,
or at least with more apparent security, the favors of for
tune. Generally, in the midst of his greatest successes, he
affected an anxious air, as if he wished it to be understood
that his great designs were not yet accomplished, and that
people ought not to think that there remained nothing more
to do. The observation which I here record has been
repeatedly made by those who have come into close contact
with him, and who never found him less approachable than
at times when it was reasonable to suppose that some most
fortunate happening would open his soul to the sentiments
of a more expansive good-nature.
Generally speaking, it was better for any one having a
favor to ask of him to approach him in his moments of
worry, rather than on the days of his most brilliant suc
cesses. His character did not err on the generous side. I
think I see him still, as he was on that day, dressed in his
state costume, which, though a little theatrical, was noble
and fine. His features, always calm and serious, recalled
the cameos which represent the Roman emperors. He was
small; still his whole person, in this imposing ceremony,
was in harmony with the part he was playing. A sword
glittering with precious stones was at his side, and the
famous diamond called the Rigent formed its pommel. Its
brilliancy did not let us forget that this sword was the
sharpest and most victorious that the world had seen since
those of Alexander and Caesar. I remember that M. Beug
not, who sat by me, gave utterance to this thought. Both
of us were then far from dreaming that less than seven
years would suffice to break it.

JEROME, KING OF WESTPHALIA 329
Early in September was celebrated the marriage of
Jerome, the new King of Westphalia, with a princess, the
daughter of the King of Wurtemberg, and the grand
daughter, by her mother, of the King of England. It is
true that the erecting of the Duchy of Wurtemberg into a
kingdom was but the recent work of the Napoleonic power,
and this alliance might be considered as the wiping out of
debt by means of an act of gratitude; but the House of
Wurtemberg was none the less one of the oldest sovereign
houses of Germany, and by this union the Bonaparte race
was becoming related to a large number of reigning families.
This king who gave his daughter to Jerome could not be
ignorant of the fact that he had contracted a first marriage
in America, with a person of a most honorable family, and
that this marriage had been consecrated after the forms and
laws of the country where it had been accomplished. The
Emperor had declared this union null and illegal, since he,
as the chief of the family, had not given his consent to it ;
but could such a motive, borrowed from the customs of
certain sovereign families, be valid out of France, and
especially in America?
I was present at the ceremony, which took place in the
Tuileries, in the Gallery of Diana. All the magnificence
of the most sumptuous of Courts was exhibited on this
occasion. The quantity of pearls, diamonds, and precious
stones of all sorts, which added their brilliancy to the
ladies' attire, was really prodigious, and this was all the
greater a cause for surprise, when one remembered the dis
tress of the end of the century. A few years had sufficed,
then, to bring back the most excessive use of them.
The members of the diplomatic corps and foreigners of
high degree, who witnessed this ceremony in large numbers,
did not tire of expressing their admiration of it. In order,
apparently, that nothing should be lacking to the magnifi-

330 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
cence of the Imperial power, all eyes involuntarily turned
towards a person of rare beauty who appeared on that day
for the first time among the ladies of the Court. She was
a Genoese who had recently been appointed reader to the
Empress Josephine, and, at the close of the evening, every
body told everybody else that she was, for the time being,
the object of Napoleon's preferences.
It is but fair to state that, amid the throng of courtiers
who surrounded the sovereigns with their most servile
homage, those most noticeable through their excessive
adulation were the patriots of 1793, who had given them
selves up to the Imperial regime.
Nevertheless, no ceremonies, fetes, enjoyments, or any
amount of adulation were capable of diverting Napoleon's
attention from his political calculations and the cares of
his immense administration. As a judicious distribution
of favors was, to his mind, and with some show of reason,
one of the most powerful means of government, he took
care that it should occur among the men whose services
had been of most value to him. At the head of those he
affected to be most particularly pleased with was M. de
Talleyrand. Not only had his diplomatic talents stood the
test, but, at the most critical period of the campaign, he
had been left at Warsaw as quartermaster general. The
results of his zeal in fulfilling the duties of this important
post had evidently been considered priceless, for the Moniteur
had more than once informed the public of the Emperor's
satisfaction in this connection.1
1 Since writing the foregoing, I have acquired the certainty that the
battle of Eylau caused M. de Talleyrand to seriously reflect on the little
solidity of an institution which reposed solely on a life which was forever
being risked in the most perilous enterprises. ' ' What should we have done,
had he been killed ? What should we do if this were to happen any fine
day?" he said to the Duke of Dalberg, his principal confidant in those
days. And it was agreed that there was no other way out of it but to let
the succession devolve upon his brother Joseph, while at the same time

M. DE TALLEYRAND, VICE-GRAND ELECTOR 331
M. de Talleyrand thus seemed to have reached the highest
degree of favor, and nobody was surprised that he should
aspire to climb to the highest rank in the hierarchy of
Imperial dignities. He was merely a minister, and as such
had to yield precedence to the great dignitaries. This
inferiority was no longer to his taste, and he found a way
out of it.
The functions of Grand Elector and of Archchancellor of
State no longer existed; the titles of these dignities were
still being held, the one by Napoleon's eldest brother, who
had become King of Naples, and the other by Prince
Eugene, Viceroy of Italy. M. de Talleyrand had himself
made Vice-Grand Elector, thus ranking with the Arch-
chancellor and the Archtreasurer. -This promotion, in
appearance so natural, nevertheless involved important
consequences. It became incumbent upon him that he
should relinquish the portfolio of foreign affairs, an exi
gency which did not seem very disagreeable to him, as it
ridded him of a mass of routine work which bore heavily
upon him.
Moreover, as he considered himself necessary and even
indispensable, he too easily persuaded himself that the
superiority of his talents and the pretence afforded by the
functions of Archchancellor of State, which he was about to
exercise, were a sufficient guarantee that his influence would
stand forever. The selection of his successor, to which
selection he believed he had powerfully contributed, served
to increase still further his sense of security.
M. de Champagny, Minister of the Interior, who was
notifying Europe that France would immediately and unconditionally con
tent herself with the Rhine as her eastern frontier. From that date is
therefore to be dated the trend of M. de Talleyrand's ideas, which led him
to husband for future use resources of all sorts, and which consequently
made him enter almost immediately upon a line of treacherous conduct
towards the man he pretended to serve with such devoted zeal.

332 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
chosen to succeed him, was an able but timid man, and of
a weak character, and it is precisely for this reason that
Napoleon, tired with a minister to whom the public too
often attributed the success of his negotiations, had selected
him. He wished people to be henceforth fully convinced
that he alone conceived all plans, alone came to a deter
mination as to them, and alone presided over their execu
tion. From the day, then, that the portfolio passed into the
hands of M. de Champagny, the Emperor worked ostensibly
with him alone, and, while showing much good-will towards
M. de Talleyrand, he no longer held with him any but the
most indispensable conversations, taking special care that
he should never be able to interfere in affairs unless by spe
cial permission. He might therefore be consulted, but the
initiative was no longer his, and, if he secured it occasion
ally, it could only be by dint of craftiness. This changed
condition of affairs, although somewhat sudden, was at first
noticed by a few persons only, but it was nevertheless
strongly resented by M. de Talleyrand, whose displeasure
soon vented itself in the sarcastic remarks which he on the
slightest pretence made about his successor.
On the other hand, the Emperor, when thus treating a
man who had so long enjoyed his closest intimacy, from
whom he had concealed nothing up to that time, knew full
well that he was deeply wounding his feelings. Hence he
conceived from that time a greater distrust of him, and
constantly lent a willing ear to any malevolent insinuations
which might reach him concerning M. de Talleyrand. He
was aware that he had few scruples ; doubts of him there
fore found easy access to his mind, and he soon had more
reasons than one for entertaining them. On his side, M. de
Talleyrand must have searched carefully for the causes of a
coldness which was not sufficiently dissembled for him not
to notice it. Such was the origin of a falling out between

M. PASQUIER'S POSITION 333
these two men, a falling out which ended by degenerating
into an enmity, the beginnings of which I am all the more
anxious to place on record for the reason that its conse
quences bore the serious results with which everybody is
familiar. My own position remained the same, and nothing made
me foresee that it was liable to change. I owed my easy
admission into the Council to a position far anterior, and
to the desire felt by the Emperor of bringing into his
Council of State a few of the names of the old magistracy ;
but I was thirty-nine years of age, and had consequently
settled ideas on many subjects. A stranger to all the deeds
of the Revolution, I had nothing to hide, nothing that
required forgetting. My fortune, although small, was suffi
cient for me to enjoy a comfortable and honorable exist
ence. I was therefore completely independent, and not to
be classed with the creatures of the Imperial power, ever
disposed to sacrifice all to the author of their fortunes.
Napoleon possessed an admirable instinct for discerning
and appreciating the dispositions which animated those by
whom he was environed. Hence it was that from the
beginning he looked upon me as a man from whom one
could expect good services might be derived, but who would
never belong to him as completely as he liked. It was
entirely different with M. Mole, who, endowed with a
greater fortune than mine, had entered the Council at the
age of twenty-five. His youth, his inexperience of every
thing that had preceded the Revolution, of which he could
nevertheless recall the horrors, had led the Emperor to
hope that it would prove an easy matter, after completing
his political education, to get entire possession of him, and
to derive benefit from the advantages of an illustrious origin
and a most distinguished mind.
Hence it was that M. Mole, from the moment of his tak-

334 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
ing part in public affairs, became the object of a marked
predilection, which was never withdrawn. As for myself,
during Napoleon's prolonged absence, and during his Prus
sian and Russian campaigns, I managed, by dint of assidu
ous work in the comiti du contentieux, to attain an honorable
position in the Council, and to acquire some consideration.
My labors were fully appreciated by the Archchancellor,
and by the Chief Justice, who presided over the committee.
Both of them considered it their duty to bring my worth to
the notice of the master, immediately upon his return, but
this act of kindness had a contrary effect to the one antici
pated. It was, in his eyes, wrong for me to seek to rise by
my own efforts, and to undertake to make my way, ere he
had given the signal for this, and with a backing other than
his own. From that time I was treated with most marked
reserve. I was not allowed any opportunity for a private
interview, and was kept at a distance. Still, I could not
complain of any distinctly unkind act, but merely that all
marks of favor fell to the lot of such of my colleagues as
had been appointed at the same time as myself, and all of
them my juniors.
At first I did not feel deeply over these promotions,
which consisted in appointments to prefectures, doubtless of
great importance, but which tempted me little, for such was
not the career I wished to follow. It became quite another
matter when I saw M. Portalis and M. Mole made Councillors
of State, and especially when the latter was at one and the
same time appointed director-general of the ponts et chaus-
sies (bridges and highways). This post was considered as
opening the door to the Ministry of the Interior. I could
now no longer conceal from myself the fact that .whereas
these high favors were being distributed all around me, I
was still allowed to remain tied down to the comiti du
contentieux. Moreover, as my name was never the first

ABUSES OF ABSOLUTE POWER 335
called, I was, generally speaking, presided over by a col
league whose senior I was. He would undertake the draw
ing up of the report, and thus get credit for the whole work.
It was not until during the third year that I was
appointed to a rather agreeable position, as it kept me in
Paris ; but it was one which could not have much impor
tance in the Emperor's eyes, because it did not call for any
talent, and carried with it no real influence. It was the post
of procureur geniral to the conseil du sceau des titres. I
owed it to the repeated requests of the Archchancellor, who
was the president of this council, and who wished to have
in it a man whose methods were known to him, and in whom
he might repose confidence.
Nevertheless, it behooves me to add, in order to throw a
better light on my personal affairs, that to the little favor
shown me for so long a time was due a greater independence
in my judgments and the possibility of viewing everything
that went on around me with a more observant eye. At the
same time, it must not be thought that my ill luck gave
birth in me to a feeling of hostility from which would have
issued the habit of disparaging everything. Far from it, I
still remained an admirer of the extent and power of the
genius which presided over our destinies. I still looked
upon Napoleon as the only possible and necessary man, as
our only security against the return of a revolution the
mournful remembrance of which was ever present. But my
eyes were closed neither to his faults, nor to his abuses of
power, nor to the fatal counsels of his flatterers, nor to
the excesses committed by the depositaries of his power.
My long connection with the comiti du contentieux, the
numerous complaints which had reached it, and which I
had been compelled to look into carefully, although I was
not always free to make the cause of justice triumph, had
sufficiently enlightened me concerning the dangers of a

336 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
power as extended as was his own. A few examples will
suffice to illustrate this.
It had devolved upon M. Decres, on being appointed Min
ister of Marine, to order the construction and the armament
of the Boulogne flotilla. A certain contractor of Rouen had
undertaken to build the necessary praams, and, by the terms
of his contract, he was to be paid in three instalments, as
progress was reported ; he duly received the first two-thirds
on the strength of official reports, establishing that two-
thirds of the praams had been finished; but when they were
all built, there seemed to be no way of obtaining the pay
ment of the remaining third from the Ministry of Marine.
It was evident that there was no other reason for this
denial of justice than that of the uselessness of the barges,
as the idea of an invasion of England had been abandoned.
The unfortunate contractor, after having exhausted every
proceeding to recover his due, and after having vainly
begged for it, laid the matter before the comiti du con
tentieux, and the Chief Justice, president of this committee,
having, according to custom, communicated the petition to
the Ministry of Marine, called for all papers filed in its
offices in connection with the case. No answer having been
vouchsafed to repeated requests in this connection, I, as
reporter in the case, was sent personally to demand these
papers of the Ministry of Marine.
I sought the chief clerk, M. Jaurier, a man of sterling
worth and of most honorable character. I wondered some
what at his embarrassed mien and at the weakness of his
reasons for not handing over the papers to me, so I insisted
on seeing them. When he saw at last that it was impos
sible for him to deny my request any longer, he said to me :
" You shall judge whether it is possible for me to lay before
you such a record." I was thereupon shown the requests
made by the contractor, together with the reports of the

THE METHODS OF M. DECRES 337
department on his case, each one more favorable to him
than the other, but in the margin of which M. Decres had,
by way of decision, written the words: "Let him go and
hang himself." His initials had been placed with scrupu
lous care at the end of this beautiful sentence.
I informed the Chief Justice of this strange method of
explaining how decisions were reached, so without preferring
any further requests to the Ministry of Marine, the com
mittee rendered a decision favorable to the contractor's
claims. I then presented a report of the case to the Council
of State, which confirmed the committee's decision; but,
it will hardly be believed, the decree which required the
Emperor's signature, and which was sent to him in Ger
many, was never returned. The minister, when informed
of the decision of the committee, which was that also of the
Council of State, found a way to neutralize its effect, and
thus an odious bankruptcy was finally consummated.
Owing to this affair, . I fell out completely and openly
with M. Decres, who could not forgive me the warmth I
had shown in seeking to undo his injustice. For over three
years he never spoke nor even bowed to me, a line of con
duct which I heartily reciprocated. One day at last, while
seated next to me at the house of some princess or other,
he suddenly addressed me as follows : " Well, really, it is
quite enough that we should have remained at odds for
three years over a silly trifle; for two men of brains like
we are, it is time this should come to an end." As for
brains, he assuredly had plenty of them. " Would it then
be agreeable to you that we should chat a little together?
It will serve to dispel the sense of being bored." Upon
my replying that all show of rancor had been on his part,
that he was free to put an end to the matter whenever it so
pleased him, he began talking with me on all kinds of
subjects, and from that day on he made a show of speaking

338 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
with me more confidentially than with anybody else. A
most extraordinary example of this will be given further on.
The methods followed by M. Decres concerning the praam-
builder were also more than once successfully adopted by
M. Defermon, in connection with decisions reached by the
Council in opposition to his own and to the recommenda
tions of the Finance Committee, over which he exercised
despotic sway. Among one of the many melancholy exam
ples of the abuse he made of this power, may be quoted the
cancelling of the contract entered into with the parties to
whom the Canal du Centre had been farmed. They had
taken this canal in a state of complete dilapidation, and had
put it in good condition again. They had not hesitated in
incurring so heavy an expenditure, in consideration of the
long lease granted to them, I believe, for either twenty or
thirty years. Their profits had recently become consider
able, the trade between the North and South of France
having no longer any safe channel .but the canal, owing to
the risks incurred by maritime navigation. It was there
upon argued that as this chance had not been taken into
account in the contract, it constituted a reason for cancelling
it. There could not be any more flagrant and impolitic
violation of the good faith which should preside over
contracts. Nevertheless, the contract was cancelled, but
the Imperial decree sanctioning this act, stipulated that the
farmers should be freed from all responsibilities and that
they should render a statement of account.
Such a statement of account was indeed filed, but most
unfortunately also it was subjected to the scrutiny of the
Finance Committee, which refused to allow the very high
interest claimed, and' which had to be paid at the rate
current when money was borrowed for commencing the
work. In spite of the justice of these claims being clearly
proven, the committee persevered in its determination to
reduce the rate of interest to the legal one.

THE CASE OF M. PIC HON 339
The greater part of the Council was opposed to this inter
pretation, which M. Louis and myself fought with all our
might, but M. Defermon nevertheless carried the day, as
M. Decres had done in the case of the barge-builder, by
means of a direct correspondence with the Emperor. A
short time after, the man principally interested in the lease,
seeing no possible means by which he could meet his
engagements, blew out his brains. He had first written
to the reporter of the Finance Committee a letter which
must have cost the latter some suffering, for in it the un
fortunate man positively declared that his (the reporter's)
unjust treatment of him was alone cause of his having been
driven to so fearful an extremity.
As a last touch to the melancholy side of the picture of
the Imperial administration, which came within the juris
diction of the Council of State, I must say a few words
about the case of M. Pichon, who had been a consul in
America, and from whom it was sought to recover very
large sums, or rather to whom the refunding of sundry dis
bursements he had made, while in the United States, in
harboring the remnants of the expedition to Santo Domingo
were refused. The Finance Committee, with M. Defermon
ever at its head, persisted in not being able to find such
expenditure sufficiently justified or authorized, as if, in so
imperative a circumstance, it was possible to conform to
all the exigencies of red-tapeism, and to await instructions
which had to be sent across the Atlantic.
M. Pichon secured leave to come and plead his case
before the Council. He conducted it with rare ability and
with an imperturbable presence of mind. His defence took
up two sittings ; in my opinion, it was unanswerable. Yet the
decision went against him and on this occasion the majority
of the Council of State followed the committee's lead. The
Archchancellor contributed greatly to this result. Still, the

340 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
question had been fully discussed; M. Regnaud had not
spared himself in the matter, and the maltres des requites,
who generally took but little part in the discussion of
matters which had not been brought under the notice of the
Council by one of their number, had not hesitated in taking
part in the case in point. M. Louis spoke repeatedly in
opposition to the recommendation of the reporter, but our
efforts proved altogether fruitless, and it but remains to tell
here that in this instance the Council of State made itself
the instrument of Napoleon's revenge. He could not for
give the consul for not having prevented the marriage of
his brother Jerome, the marriage he had since so despoti
cally annulled, but which had nevertheless been the source
of much trouble to him. The reason governing the pro
ceedings and the adverse decision was but too patent, and
it became all the more manifest when, shortly afterwards,
King Jerome felt himself in honor bound to make some
compensation to the unfortunate M. Pichon, who was ruined
almost completely by the decree rendered against him,
besides being deprived of a post which he had filled with
honor. He was called to Westphalia, where he received
the title and performed the functions of Councillor of
State. These lapses from duty are not sufficient to make one
forget the services rendered by the Council of State and the
ability of its members. As long as the Imperial regime
lasted, it cannot be denied that the most talented men in
all branches were called to become a part of it. There is
no better proof of this than the one afforded by the number
of men which the Council supplied to the royal government
after the Restoration.
Thus, for instance, the maltres des requites to which I
belonged furnished five ministers: Messieurs Louis, Mole,
Portal, Chabrol, and myself. The grand footing on which

THE COUNCIL OF STATE 341
Napoleon had placed that council was such as to enlarge
the sphere of one's ideas and to give to one's faculties all
the development of which they were capable; and then
the highest legislative, administrative, and sometimes even
political matters were taken up in it. Did we not see, for
two consecutive winters, the sons of foreign sovereigns
come and complete their education in its midst?
These princes, one of whom was the hereditary prince of
Bavaria, and the other, the hereditary prince of Baden,
never missed a sitting at which the Emperor presided, and
sometimes even they attended when the Archchancellor
presided over the Council.

CHAPTER XIII
Secret treaty concluded between Napoleon aud Godoy, Prince of Peace, aud
favorite of Charles IV. of Spain — Portugal invaded by the French —
Abdication of the old King of Spain — His throne given to Joseph Bona
parte — Occupation of Rome by the French troops — Pius ATI. addresses
a comminatory brief to Napoleon — General uprising in Spain against
the French, followed by the insurrection of Portugal — Junot's retreat
before the British army — M. de Talleyrand once more comes upon the
scene, on the occasion of the interview agreed upon between Napoleon
and the Emperor of Russia — The Congress of Erfurt — A study of the
serious political questions discussed at this meeting of the two sovereigns
— A letter from the Emperor Alexander to the Emperor Napoleon— A
scrutiny of the diplomatic action of M. de Talleyrand ; his astounding
duplicity and the reasons of his complaisance towards Austria— The
Comedie-francaise, with Talma, at Erfurt.
During the autumn and winter of 1807-1808 the Em
peror's mind became absorbed with a twofold project: the
prosecution of the struggle against England, and the inva
sion of Spain. The most natural reprisals for the burning
of Copenhagen were doubtless an attack directed against
Portugal, England's interests being intimately wrapped up
in those of that portion of the Peninsula; but, to reach
Portugal, it became necessary to cross Spain, a thing not to
be done without the consent of that power; for if, in order
to march upon Lisbon, he once obtained a free passage
through Spain for his troops, this passage would be likely
to afford him opportunities of which he would assuredly
avail himself.
Everything was brought into play to make Charles IV. 's
weak government fall into the trap. His all-powerful
342

THE SECRET TREATY 343
minister, the Prince of Peace, sorely needed forgiveness
for his imprudent proclamation of the foregoing year. By
employing as go-between an intriguer, by name Yzquierdo,
who, for some time past, had been the favorite's agent near
the French Cabinet, they succeeded in secretly concluding
with him the most extraordinary treaty which has perhaps
ever been drawn up.
French troops, to the number of at least forty thousand
men, were to enter Spain immediately, in order to co-oper
ate with that- country in the conquest of Portugal. The
King of Etruria was to surrender his kingdom to Napoleon,
and receive in exchange the Portuguese province of Entre-
Douro-e-Minho, assuming the title of King of Northern
Lusitania. The Algarves and Alemtejo were to be erected
into a principality in favor of Godoy, Prince of Peace.
The King of Northern Lusitania and the Prince of the
Algarves were to hold Charles IV. as their protector or
suzerain. The Emperor of the French bound himself to
recognize the King of Spain as Emperor of the two Amer
icas. The remainder of Portugal was to remain in statu quo
until the advent of a general peace.
Hence the branch of the House of Bourbon which Napo
leon had put on a throne in Italy, was to lose this throne,
to exchange it for a sovereignty, which was to be conquered,
in Portugal, and side by side with which was placed the prin
cipality of the guilty favorite, who scrupled not to deliver up,
together with the security of his country, that of a royal
family which had loaded him down with so many gifts ; while
the king, who still sat on the throne of Spain, was not
shrewd enough to read in the fate of the King of Etruria,
the one in store for himself.
What were Godoy's titles to so exalted a position? His
scandalous liaison with the queen. Combinations of such
a character bear within themselves the principle of their

344 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
ruin, and it may be said of the one in point that none was
ever more fatal to him who conceived it and to those who
were vile and rash enough to become his accomplices. In
this treaty, concluded at Fontainebleau on the 27th of
October, 1807, is written beforehand the history of all
Spain's misfortunes, of the disastrous war of which it was
the scene, and of the events which proved the commence
ment of Napoleon's downfall.
Portugal was invaded by the forty thousand French,
whose safe passage through Spain had been guaranteed,
and, as a first consequence of this invasion, the King of
Portugal, his family, and his Court left for Brazil. Such
was the origin of the separation of the South American
colonies from their metropolis, for it was through giving
an asylum to their king flying from the approaching French
legions, that they learnt that their interests could be held
distinct from those of Europe.
Later on, it will again be their loyalty to the cause of
their legitimate sovereign which will lead the Spanish
colonies on the road to independence, and these great events
are ever to be the result of Napoleon's ambitious concep
tions. It was fated that the name of this man should be bound
up with the greatest events of the century. I was at Fon
tainebleau, when the sudden departure of M. de Luna
warned us of the storm which was about to burst over
Portugal. He was hurrying away, in order to conjure it by
begging his sovereign to make certain concessions which
alone could stay the Emperor's hand. The first of these
was a complete renunciation of the British alliance and the
absolute closing of ports to English ships, and, in order to
ensure the execution of this measure, the admittance into
the kingdom of a French army, which would garrison all
important towns. It was impossible to believe that such

FRENCH TROOPS ENTER ROME 345
conditions would be accepted, unless a complete state of
degradation were presupposed. No one expected, or, to
speak the truth, no one desired such a result in the Imperial
cabinet, for it might run counter to the carrying out of the
secret treaty.
It is not for me to relate the manoeuvres which brought
trouble and dissension to the royal family of Spain, setting
father, mother, favorite, and son at daggers drawn, nor the
happenings at Aranjuez, which led up to the abdication of
the old king and the departure of the royal family for
Bayonne; these matters are fully known. Everything was
consummated by June, 1808, and King Joseph left Naples
to come and occupy the throne of Spain, while the old king,
the queen, and the Prince of Peace went to live at Com
piegne. Towards the close of the year, it was the Pope's turn
to be subjected to Napoleon's imperious demands. Soon,
under the pretence that the Pope had refused to close the
ports of his States to England, and that he was tolerating
in Rome reunions of emissaries of powers hostile to France,
the French troops entered Rome. As an answer to this
deed of violence, Pius VII. addressed a comminatory brief
of excommunication to his spoliator. In this document,
Napoleon is still styled the consecrated and sworn son, and
the enumeration of the Pope's grievances against him ends
with the following sentence, which is so little in harmony
with the ideas of the day : " You will compel us to make,
in the humility of our heart, a use of the power which
Almighty God has placed in our hands."
Disregarding this threat, Napoleon, by a decree dated the
2d of April, annexed to the Kingdom of Italy the legations
of Ancona, Urbino, Macerata, and Camerino. On the fol
lowing day, the Pope's legate thought it behooved him to
leave Paris, and from that day up to the days preceding his

346 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
downfall, the Emperor lived in a permanent state of hos
tility, not only with the Pope as temporal sovereign, but
with the pontiff, the visible head of the Catholic Church.
Not the least worthy of notice in his history is the fact,
and it is perhaps the one which best goes to show to what a
point he had succeeded in establishing his authority at
home, of the facility with which, in spite of this state of
hostility, he retained, not only the loyalty of the Catholics,
who composed the immense majority of his subjects, but
also that of the clergy which had gone over to him only
after receiving the permission or even the order of the
Sovereign Pontiff to that end. The documents published
in those days by Champagny, the Minister of Foreign
Affairs, to account for the invasion of Spain and the seizure
of the Papal States, would afford curious reading nowadays.
It would be seen, as an example, that the pretext seized
upon to justify the last-named deed is attributed to the
refusal of His Holiness to enter into an Italian league, the
object of which was to secure quiet to Italy.
" Such a refusal," said the French Minister, " is a sufficient
justification of war; the first result of war is conquest, and
conquest's first result is a change of government."
Less than a year after the Treaty of Tilsit, the armies of
Napoleon invaded Portugal, and the House of Braganza was
reduced to seek an asylum in its American possessions.
The throne of Spain was given by him to one of his
brothers, while the Spanish branch of the House of Bour
bon was more or less disguisedly a prisoner in France.
The members of the same family settled in Italy, were
expelled therefrom, and their states united to the French
Empire. The Kingdom of Italy was enlarged with the
Roman legations, the remainder of the Papal States was
occupied by the French troops, and the Pope himself was
to all intents and purposes a prisoner in his capital. Lastly,

AFFAIRS IN SPAIN 347
the Kingdom of Naples was given to the Grand-Duke of
Berg, Murat. This left the Grand-Duchy at the disposal of
the Emperor. All this upsetting of the order of things,
and all this usurpation were, it was argued, consequent
upon the necessity of keeping up the struggle entered upon
with England. The effects of this policy were soon to make
themselves heavily felt.
Previous to Napoleon's departure from Bayonne, which
place he did not leave until he had the assurance that noth
ing could prevent the entry of his brother Joseph into
Madrid, the uprising in Spain had assumed a threatening
aspect. It originated at Cadiz, where the insurgents got
possession of the French fleet, which had sought a refuge in
that port ever since the battle of Trafalgar. This fleet,
which still consisted of six men-of-war and a frigate,
carried crews numbering together four thousand men, who
thus became prisoners.
The insurrection, which spread from town to town, was
directed with great ability by a junta having its head
quarters in Seville, and in spite of the eighty-four thousand
French soldiers scattered over the surface of the Peninsula,
and commanded by two marshals and Generals Duhesme
and Dupont, it could be truly said that the national resist
ance showed its head in all directions. It had been neces
sary for Bessieres to win the battle of Rio-Seco to enable
Joseph to reach Madrid.
The Emperor had left Spain, when he received the news
of the capitulation signed- at Baylen by General Dupont.
This was the first serious reverse in Napoleon's military
career. In order that nothing should be wanting to the
effect which it was to produce on the public mind, the news
arrived simultaneously with that of the evacuation of
Madrid by King Joseph. The progress made by the insur
rection had so frightened this prince that on the 20th of

348 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
July he made up his mind to leave his capital, where he
had resided only a week. His retreat did not end until he
reached Vittoria.
The insurrection of Portugal was to follow that of Spain,
and the loss of the battle of Baylen had destroyed all hope
of any assistance being given to the French troops which
occupied Lisbon. Very soon an English army landed near
Oporto, and General Junot, after losing a battle, found
himself compelled to consent to a capitulation which sent
him and his army back to France. The terms of the
convention were at least honorable, and they were faithfully
carried out by the English, who with little delay landed the
capitulating troops on French shores.
On returning, the Emperor travelled slowly through the
provinces on the line of his journey. He was welcomed
everywhere with loud cheers, and there was no town of
importance where guards of honor did not form sponta
neously, and fight for the favor of becoming his escort.
These guards of honor were, generally speaking, composed
of young men of fortune and of high social standing, and
the old nobility showed no repugnance to serve on them.
But what is deserving special notice is the way in which he
was received in the departments once the scene of the
Vendean war. There, the enthusiasm shown by the popu
lation was greater than anywhere else. This was a tribute
to the man who had put an end to the disturbances and
crimes of the Revolution, and had re-established Catholic
worship. No sooner had he reached his capital, when came the
announcement of his departure for Germany. He had
agreed to meet the Emperor Alexander at Erfurt, and so
he started on the 23d of September. This meeting, which
had been prepared months ahead, had become daily more
and more urgent. An understanding must be come to with

TALLEYRAND AGAIN UPON THE SCENE 349
regard to the new incidents which had occurred since the
signing of the Treaty of Tilsit; the consequences arising
therefrom had to be disposed of, and complete harmony
with Russia was all the more imperative from the fact that,
wishing to triumph over Spain's resistance, the necessity
of sending large reinforcements to that country had com
pelled Napoleon to recall a considerable part of the troops
which occupied the North of Germany. These troops were
already homeward bound, and the heads of columns were
already beginning to march across France.
The Emperor, it is true, did not neglect anything that
could weaken the power whose enmity he must especially
provide against, and he imposed on Prussia a convention
whereby it consented to the occupation of the fortified towns
of Glogau, Stettin, and Custrin by French garrisons, and
bound itself to keep a standing army of only forty thousand
men. It is interesting to note the extent of the foresight
of this mind, which prosecuted so many plans at one and
the same time, without ever relinquishing its hold on any
one of them, however far back its conception dated, owing
to difficulties arising in the execution of the one latest
conceived. M. de Talleyrand formed part of the suite of
the Emperor, whom he had not accompanied to Bayonne.
The part he had taken in the Tilsit negotiations, as well as
in those which had been carried on in Germany for the past
ten years, apparently made it believed that there was some
advantage to be derived from his presence and from his
former connections.
This is the place to dwell once more on the strange
position of this man, who always seemed to enjoy the
greatest confidence, and this at the very time when in
reality he did not inspire any, and did not obtain it; who,
on his side, appeared animated with the most sincere zeal,
when it was impossible for those who had any intercourse

350 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
with him to have any doubt as to his discontent. I often
saw him in those days at the house of one of my relations,
a woman of intellect, who, for some months past, had
become very intimate with him, and in whose salon he
spent many of his evenings; her social circle was small,
and consequently no restraint was put upon him. Owing
to this kind of intimacy, his actual frame of mind was
readily penetrated, and I easily observed that, consumed as
he was with a desire for fault-finding, he considered himself
but little bound by any engagements, the result of his
former deeds and utterances. Thus the Spanish business
could hardly escape his criticism, which was in this case
but too well grounded. His more or less biting sarcasms
bore on the lack of ability and on the blunders of M. de
Champagny and M. Maret. They stopped short at the
manner in which affairs were being managed, but did not
attack the transaction in the main, and this reserve was all
the more incumbent upon him from the fact that the idea
of invading the Spanish kingdom, and of expelling the
House of Bourbon, was not only not foreign to him, and
had never been condemned by him, but, from all appear
ances, it originally emanated from his brain.
There can indeed be no doubt that upon his arrival in
Poland, immediately after the insane warlike effusion of
the Prince of Peace, he was mainly instrumental in calling
the attention of the Emperor to the benefit that could some
day be reaped from it.
It was probably at that time that he gave utterance, while
in the Imperial tent, to a sentence which he was very proud
of, for I have heard him repeat it again and again. It ran
as follows: "The crown of Spain has, since Louis XIV.,
belonged to the family reigning over France, and there is
no cause to regret the cost in money and blood of setting
Philip IV. on the throne, for he it was who alone rendered

TALLEYRAND ON AFFAIRS IN SPAIN 351
secure France's preponderance in Europe. This crown is
therefore one of the finest gems of the inheritance of the
great king, and this inheritance must fall in its entirety to
the lot of the Emperor; he must not, he cannot, abate one
jot of his rights to it." I am likewise certain that this
phrase was oftentimes repeated by Napoleon himself. Both
of them then had equally adopted it, but with which of
them did it originate? Without speaking with certainty, it
may at least be said that it bears the earmarks of M. de
Talleyrand, and of his way of presenting subjects. It was
therefore quite natural that he had not determined upon
what attitude he should take at the time of the Bayonne
events. When the Emperor left that town,1 to return to
Paris, M. de Talleyrand received an order to go and meet
His Majesty at Nantes, and this order gave him the liveliest
satisfaction. As it was intended to make use of him at Erfurt, he was
warmly welcomed and made much of. On the occasion of
their first meeting, Napoleon even went so far as to make a
pretence of granting him a new lease of confidence, which
bore all the appearances of abandon. When I saw M. de
Talleyrand on his return from the interview, his physiog
nomy beamed with contentment. I dined with him on the
1 Since this has been written I have seen (in 1829) the correspondence
which passed between M. de Talleyrand and Napoleon, during the latter's
stay at Bayonne. It follows therefrom, that not only did M. de Talleyrand,
at that time, not show the slightest objection to the policy adopted by Napo
leon, but that, on the contrary, it met with his fullest approval. The way
in which Napoleon, in the course of this correspondence, traces the portraits
of all the members of the royal family of Spain is piquant in the extreme.
When informing M. de Talleyrand that he is sending Ferdinand to Valencay,
he enumerates with care all the precautions that are to be taken to prevent
his escape, and even goes so far as to busy himself with the distractions
which may be permitted him. And, he it noted, the principal one thrown
in his way was given him by a young person who lived at the time under
M. de Talleyrand's roof. This liaison, of which Ferdinand soon became
distrustful, did not last as long as it was desired to.

352 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
very day of his arrival, with some of those who had
returned from Bayonne, among others, with the Abbe de
Pradt, the Duke de San Carlos, and Canon Escoi'quiz.
M. de Talleyrand did not cease extolling the talents of the
last named, and the services he had rendered.
The Duke of San Carlos and the Canon were indeed
credited with enjoying Ferdinand's confidence to a high
degree, and both had, while harboring no bad intentions,
caused him to fall into the trap at Bayonne. M. de Talley
rand was at that time in so happy a frame of mind that he
seemed to look upon it as an honor that his fine chateau of
Valencay should have been chosen as the residence of the
Spanish princes. He spoke much of Bessieres's great
victory at Rio-Seco, and, with the Emperor, compared it to
that of Marshal Berwick at Almanza. "Both these vic
tories," he would say, "secured the crowns to the sover
eigns on whose behalf they were won."
The Congress of Erfurt is one of the most important
events of this epoch. It afforded Europe the spectacle of
a reunion of sovereigns and of statesmen rarely met with,
and, in spite of the splendor of this reunion, in spite of the
many eyes opened wide to observe everything, to discover
everything, the determinations "come to by the two Emperors
remained, with but slight exceptions, impenetrable. I am
able to some extent to rend asunder the veil which was at
that time thrown over the most important stipulations.
It is first of all necessary to state that, for several months
past, very important negotiations had been going on, on
the one hand in St. Petersburg, between the Emperor Alex
ander and M. de Caulaincourt, the French ambassador; and,
on the other, in Paris, between Napoleon and M. de Roman
zoff, the Russian ambassador. The object of these negotia
tions was to bring to completion that which had been
treated only superficially at Tilsit, and which bore notably

THE CONGRESS OF ERFURT 353
on the partition of Turkey, or at least on the sacrifices
which should be demanded of that empire, which was falling
into decay, and on the various contingencies which were
likely to arise from its disappearance.
Russia manifested great anxiety to make an end of the
Ottoman Empire. M. de Romanzoff- especially displayed
all the more zeal in the matter, from the fact that he seemed
to attach to such an issue the crowning act of glory of his
name. Napoleon was, on the other hand, desirous of
delaying this and of gaining time. It did not suit his
purpose that this Eastern question should be seriously dealt
with, ere he had brought to a happy termination the one
which occupied him in Spain, and so he used all means
likely to embarrass and delay negotiations.
Thus, for example, as he fully felt that the Emperor
Alexander could hardly consent to Prussia being com
pletely crushed, he required that in case Moldavia and
Wallachia should be finally incorporated with the Russian
Empire, Silesia should be ceded to him. What was he to
do with it? Was it his intention to add it to Poland,
and did it enter his thoughts that it afforded him the means
of placing Austria between two fires whenever he should
see fit to attack it, for it is a fact that this power was at
that time one of the principal objects of his animad
version? He had good cause to look upon it as ever
ready to join England and to declare itself against him.
He had caused M. de Talleyrand to precede him by a few
days, and he himself arrived, on the 27th of September,
some few hours only before the Emperor Alexander. The
Kings of Saxony, Bavaria, Wurtemberg, the King of
Westphalia (Jerome Bonaparte), the Grand-Duke Con
stantine, the Emperor Alexander's brother, Prince William
of Prussia, the heirs presumptive of Bavaria, Baden,
and Darmstadt, the Dukes of Saxe-Weimar and of Saxe-

354 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
Gotha, the Duke of Holstein-Oldenburg, and many other
princes arrived in succession. The ministers of the great
powers likewise went,, Austria sending M. de Vincent,
one of the men in whom it reposed full confidence. It
would even appear that the Emperor Francis had been
desirous of being present in person, but the overtures he
made to the effect to the Emperor Alexander having been
somewhat coldly entertained, he contented himself with
causing M. de Vincent to deliver to Napoleon a letter, the
object of which was to explain away, if possible, the war
like preparations which had for some time past been going
on in his dominions, and at which the French cabinet had
already taken considerable umbrage.
Matters had even gone so far that as early as the 15th
of August, M. de Metternich, the Austrian ambassador, had
been subjected, at a public audience at the Tuileries, to one
of those violent harangues which the Emperor never denied
himself the pleasure of whenever he was annoyed. It
cannot be said that his foresight on this occasion rested
on a weak foundation, for it has been since shown, beyond
doubt, that at that very time England had already drawn
closer the bonds of an alliance with Austria, which alli
ance was soon to become an offensive one on the part of
the latter.
It is also well to state that these warlike preparations,
the object of such suspicion to Napoleon, included the crea
tion of a new body of militia to be known as the Landwehr.
This militia, which bore some resemblance to the French
National Guard, was nevertheless much more soldier-like,
and seemed intended to correspond with the French military
conscription. It became the nucleus and the primary model
of those citizen levies, which later on rendered the upris
ing of the Prussian states so easy. However this might be,
the Emperor Francis's letter seemed to attain its object,

THE CONGRESS OF ERFURT 355
and the answer sent to it by Napoleon, although extremely
haughty, might lead one to suppose that he was satisfied
with the explanations he had received.
The reunion at Erfurt lasted until the 14th of October.
In addition to the interests of the King of Prussia, in whose
favor Alexander obtained some mitigation of the terms
previously imposed, three principal questions were dis
cussed and settled, viz. : the new measures which policy
demanded should be adopted with regard to England;
Russia's affairs with Sweden and Turkey; and lastly, the
recent increases of territory acquired by Napoleon both in
Italy and in the Spanish Peninsula. The acquisition of
Finland, and the projected union of Moldavia and Wallachia
with the Russian Empire were to compensate for the
occupation of Spain in favor of King Joseph, as well as
for the Italian provinces which were occupied by the French
troops. The possession of Finland had for a number of
years been greatly coveted by the Russian cabinet, which
looked upon it as necessary to the safety of the capital and
of the Empire's northern frontier. Hence it spared no
sacrifice to obtain possession of it, and to secure for itself
the spoils of its most faithful ally during the campaign of
1807, a king, more generous than wise, whose only wrong
was to have persevered in a struggle which was beyond his
strength, but into which he had been drawn only by his
zeal for the common cause.
The Russian cabinet understood perfectly well that stipu
lations of so odious a nature were to be revealed only at the
latest possible moment, but no difficulty was experienced in
getting the contracting parties to come to an understanding
in this respect. And everything that passed between them
with regard to the contingencies likely to arise from a com
plete partition of Turkey must have been covered with a
deep veil of secrecy, for there is no doubt that the subject

356 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
was broached. I possess a memorandum drawn up on this
subject by order of Napoleon previous to his departure for
the Congress, in which all the consequences of so serious
an event are carefully enumerated, set forth, and weighed.
It clearly proves what I have previously said, that the
question had already been taken up at the time of the Tilsit
parleys, and that it had again come to the fore at St. Peters
burg, in conversations held between Napoleon's ambassador
and Alexander's ministers. The conclusion reached after
much circumlocution is that nothing must be done in haste,
and to rest content with determining upon a plan of par
tition the execution of which is to be deferred until a
more favorable opportunity. This memorandum, which
was drawn up by M. d'Hauterive, must certainly have
been seen by M. de Talleyrand ere it was submitted to
the Emperor.
Nothing was published concerning the result of the con
ferences but a letter addressed to the King of England by
Alexander and Napoleon, to invite him to enter into nego
tiations liable to bring about that state of peace of which
the nations stood in so great a need. Following upon this
letter, the ministers of France and of Russia wrote to Mr.
Canning, the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs,
to notify him that plenipotentiaries had been appointed by
their respective sovereigns, and that they were prepared to
go to any town on the Continent where those of Great
Britain and her allies should be sent. If the idea may be
entertained that the Emperor Alexander deceived himself
as to the success of this step, it is at any rate beyond doubt
that Napoleon anticipated its complete futility. I may
state as a fact from everything I have heard say, then
and since, by the men closest to him, that his political
aims would have been singularly disturbed, had it been
otherwise. England was, moreover, as little inclined as he

ALEXANDER'S LETTER TO NAPOLEON 357
was to enter upon the paths of peace, and so found it an easy
matter to elude the proposition, by asking that the govern
ment which acted in Spain, in the name of Ferdinand VII.,
should be numbered among its allies, and should, as a
consequence, be represented by plenipotentiaries. This re
quest promptly brought forth an answer from the Russian
Minister of Foreign Affairs, who was in Paris at the time.
He declared peremptorily that it was totally inadmissible,
the Emperor, his master, having recognized Joseph Bona
parte as King of Spain, and having resolved upon never
separating his interests from those of his ally Napoleon.
In this answer, the Spaniards fighting in the name of
Ferdinand VII. were styled insurgents.
The French minister, M. de Champagny, replied in iden
tical terms, and the matter came to an end with a letter
of Mr. Canning's declaring that His Britannic Majesty was
determined not to desert the cause of the Spanish nation
and of the legitimate royalty of Spain, and that hence the
pretension to exclude from the negotiations the government
existing in the name of Ferdinand VII. rendered their
opening impossible. The complement of the stipulations
agreed upon at Erfurt by the two Emperors is contained
in two documents. The first is an agreement signed by
Napoleon and the Emperor of Russia on the 30th of Sep
tember, 1808, while the second is a letter from the Emperor
Alexander to the Emperor Napoleon, dated the 14th of
October, 1808.
Letter from His Majesty the Emperor Alexander to the
Emperor Napoleon.
Sire and Beothee, — Deeply sensible as I am to the friendship
which Your Majesty does not cease to show towards me on every
opportunity, it affords me much satisfaction, in order to furnish a
palpable proof of the friendship which I bear towards you, to declare
to Your Majesty that I am entirely disinterested in the execution of

358 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
the conditional article of the Treaty of Tilsit relating to Hanover
(Art. 5), and that I am prepared to endorse everything Your Majesty
will decide concerning the kingdom of Etruria and the other Italian
States. I hope Your Majesty will find in this a fresh proof of the feelings
I entertain towards you. And I pray God, Sire and Brother, to pre
serve Your Imperial Majesty in his good and holy keeping.
Of Your Imperial Majesty,
The affectionate brother,
Signed : Alexander.
The contents of these documents do not need commenting
upon. They illustrate to what a degree ambitions can come
to an understanding when it is a matter of sacrificing what
belongs to other people; but, on the other hand, we shall
soon learn how far confidence is to be relied upon when
granted to deeds conceived and subscribed to in such a
spirit. Let us now inquire into the effectual part enacted by
M. de Talleyrand in the actions and final results of the
conferences. Such an investigation cannot be devoid of
interest. He has himself seen fit to narrate the interview
between the two sovereigns with whom he enjoyed such
close intercourse at the time. His narration is before me,
as I write. Without giving absolute credence to it, it is
nevertheless impossible for me not to be struck with the
naivete of certain acknowledgments, concerning which his
abandon is all the more complete, from the fact that when
he was reducing them to writing, he was placing among his
proudest titles to honor, and especially among his claims to
the gratitude of the Bourbons, the most extraordinary por
tion of the revelations he saw fit to make. If, there
fore, he is to be believed, he began at Erfurt already
to betray the Emperor Napoleon and to enter with the
Emperor Alexander into relations which have since borne
such important results.

M. DE TALLEYRAND'S INTRIGUES 359
The following is what is alleged to have happened. M.
de Talleyrand, entrusted by the Emperor with drawing up,
previous to his departure from Paris, the draft of the agree
ment, submitted this draft to Napoleon, who, in spite of
his remonstrances, caused the adding thereto of several
measures to the detriment of Austria, whose ruin he was
evidently meditating. Upon their arrival at Erfurt, the
first days were spent in a round of calls and gaieties, which
did not leave any time for attending to business. Napoleon
did not wish to enter upon any transaction before feeling
sure that the prestige of which he so well knew how to
make a display, and from whieh he derived so much benefit
at Tilsit, should begin to produce its effect on the Emperor
Alexander. He had notified M. de Talleyrand that he did
not wish to have any intermediary between him and his
august ally, and that all matters were to be debated and
acted upon by the two as between man and man.
This could not be to M. de Talleyrand's taste, as his most
ardent desire was to attain personal importance. Chance
gave him the opportunity he was seeking. Having gone
one day, after Napoleon had retired for the night, to the
house of the Princess of Thurn and Taxis, where he intended
to spend the rest of the evening, he met there the Emperor
Alexander, who had come there with the same intention.
This chance meeting was a happy one for both of them;
the conversation of the French courtier could not fail to be
most agreeable to the Russian sovereign. They soon con
tracted the habit of meeting of an evening, and this habit
lasted as long as the conferences.
M. de Talleyrand had neglected nothing to convince
Napoleon of the fact that he was using to his advantage
only the facilities afforded to him by so precious a habit.
Yet, if one is to add faith to his own narrative, it served
him to caution the Emperor Alexander against the proposi-

360 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
tions made to him with a view of the abasement and subjec
tion of Austria, whose existence, he would repeatedly point
out, was indispensable to the balance of power, which, one
way or the other, must be established in Europe.
Things at last reached such a stage, — I am still speaking
through M. de Talleyrand, — that when Napoleon handed to
Alexander the draft of the agreement whieh he was asking
him to sign, it was M. de Talleyrand who pointed out to
him the serious objections to it, and drafted for him the
memorandum which he (Alexander) handed to Napoleon,
the result of which was to bring the agreement back to the
terms previously related. As the price of so extraordinary
a service, M. de Talleyrand, on the occasion of his last
conversation with the Emperor Alexander, obtained from
him the promise not only to agree to a matrimonial union
between his nephew Edmond de Perigord and the youngest
daughter of the Duchess of Courland, but that he should
undertake to bring the matter to a happy issue. He pointed
out that one of the advantages of this union would lie in
the fact that the Duchess of Courland would become a safe
and handy go-between, and above all suspicion, for the
secret intercourse which he was desirous of continuing.
Thus, on his own admission, he clearly betrayed Napoleon
at Erfurt.
But can full reliance be placed on this narrative, and was
it not, after the Restoration, so adapted as to give its author
the oldest claims to the gratitude of those whose cause he
had finally embraced? It is allowable to harbor every kind
of suspicion concerning a man whom his conscience never
troubled greatly, and the case of M. de Talleyrand priding
himself upon an act of treachery which he may, after all,
not have committed, if any advantage was to be derived
from such a thing being believed, does not present any too
extraordinary aspect. Nevertheless, I must concede that

M. DE TALLEYRAND AND AUSTRIA 361
in this instance I am inclined to believe him sincere. In
fact, I have no doubt of it, because I was, later on, in a
position to see that he entertained with the Emperor Alex
ander relations dating some time back, on which his behavior
in 1814 found a support. In addition to the Duchess of Cour
land, his constant intermediary with that sovereign was
M. de Nesselrode, from the day that the latter was sent to
Paris as first secretary of the Russian embassy, under M.
de Tolstoi". I am positive that M. de Nesselrode came with
a letter accrediting him to M. de Talleyrand in a special
fashion. But it will be asked how it happened that a personage
holding such high rank in Napoleon's government should
feel so great an interest on behalf of Austria, and why he
should have thought himself compelled to take its part so
warmly at Erfurt; for it would be too much simplicity to
believe that it was owing to his actual anxiety regarding
the balance of power in Europe. The following is, if I am
not mistaken, the real explanation of this singular conduct.
I have already stated that he wished over and above all
to again become necessary, even indispensable, and, with
this object in view, it was well that all opposition to plans
of invasion and to the ideas of domination which his sover
eign nourished regarding Germany should not be conquered.
To this must be added the fact that the transactions in which
M. de Talleyrand had best succeeded had always been those
in which he had been engaged with Austria, that the treaties
from which he derived the most fruit for himself were
always those concluded with that power, that he owed to
them the greater portion of his fortune, for no cabinet knew
better than the Viennese one how to make the necessary
sacrifices when the time came to do so. From this twofold
standpoint, it was therefore necessary that Austria should
be kept standing at all costs, even were its existence to
lead up to another struggle.

362 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
M. de Talleyrand adds, in his narrative of Erfurt, that
M. de Vincent was enabled to carry back to his Court the
precious assurance that nothing really hurtful to its inter
ests had been concluded between the Emperors. Napoleon's
resolve to take M. de Talleyrand with him was a blunder.
He had no actual use for him, and it was showing far too
great a confidence to a man whose secret discontent he
could not be ignorant of, and whose dangerous character
was so well known to him.
None of the seductions of a nature to impress favorably
those whom it was necessary he should captivate had been
neglected. The members of the Comedie-Francaise had
been ordered to Erfurt, where they played alternately com
edy and tragedy, and so, for a fortnight, this little town
enjoyed French plays nearly every night. Extravagance
and magnificence could hardly go beyond this, and so, great
was the delight of all those invited to enjoy so unexpected
a treat. Napoleon, when giving his orders to Talma, previous to
his departure from Paris, had promised him a parterre full
of kings, and it will be seen that he had kept his word.
He might have added that never would any parterre show
itself so well disposed. Among the actresses forming part
of the troupe were several pretty women, and if the Court
chroniclers are to be believed, this merit did not pass
unnoticed. Nay, it has even been stated that one of them
had for some little time engaged the attention of the most
eminent one of the personages among those whom Napoleon
wished to win over to his side.
Judging from all appearances, the happy result of his
efforts in this respect must have been undoubted, and it can
well be supposed that the seductions of Erfurt greatly sur
passed those of Tilsit. It was at Erfurt that, during the
performance of CEdipe, the Emperor Alexander, by turning

ALEXANDER AND NAPOLEON 363
towards Napoleon, gave so pointed an application of the
line : — L'amitie1 d'un grand homme est un present des dieux.
On the part of Alexander, this meant not only a complete
accord in political ideas, but a worship, and the devotion of
the strongest friendship. On his side, Napoleon admirably
exercised the art of deriving benefit from such demonstra
tions. His efforts ever tended towards not abating one jot
of his pretensions to superiority, and he attained this object
by caressing in a delicate manner the self-love of his power
ful and august ally. His efforts in this direction were all
the more constant from the fact that this superiority could
alone explain and render secure the most astounding and
most valuable of his triumphs. On no other occasion,
perhaps, did the suppleness and craftiness of his Italian
spirit shine to more brilliant adyantage.1
1 The fete given to Napoleon by the Duke of Saxe-Weimar during the
Erfurt conferences cannot be passed over, for it characterizes marvellously
well the incredible obsequiousness of those on whom the burden of his
omnipotence in Germany bore down. This duke conceived the idea of
giving him a hunting party on the very battle-field of Jena. The rout of
the stags and deer represented that of the Prussians, and the hecatombs
of denizens of the forest took the place of those of human victims.

CHAPTER XIV
The Emperor's return — M. Pasquier entrusted with an investigation
between Metz and Mayence — Entry of Marshal Victor's army corps
into the latter city — A protest from Jean Bon Saint-Andre, Prefect of
Mayence, and former member of the Committee of Public Safety —
Organization of the new nobility of France — The creation of majorats
with endowments — Mme. de Montmorency compelled to accept the
title of countess against her will — Unopposed re-establishment in
France of hereditary distinctions — The members of the conseil du
sceau — Occupation of Madrid by Napoleon — Retreat of the British
army, driven by Marshal Soult — Reasons governing the Emperor's
hurried return to Paris — Austria's fresh warlike preparations — Cessa
tion of all hostility between M. de Talleyrand and M. Fouche, Minister
of Police — Harmony existing between these two individuals in antici
pation of Napoleon's likely death — Murat chosen by them as his
successor — The discovery of this intrigue communicated to the Em
peror by M. de La Valette and Prince Eugene — Napoleon violently
harangues M. de Talleyrand in the Throne-room — Temporary falling
into disgrace of this diplomat.
With a complete feeling of security, did Napoleon return
to France in order to place himself at the head of the army
which had left Germany, and which was on its way to the
banks of the Ebro.
The marching of this army through France gave rise to a
succession of ovations of a nature to exalt the minds of the
soldiers. One incident in particular tended to convince
me that in regard to such enthusiasm, the departments fell
in no wise behind the capital. The Emperor, when going
to Erfurt, had wished to travel by a new road, which he
had ordered opened, for some months previous, between
Metz and Mayence. This road had not been completed, as
364

THE ROAD FROM METZ TO MAYENCE 365
he expected it would be, and he experienced considerable
difficulty in getting past several bad spots. He had, in
his haste, not hesitated to believe that the administration
was greatly to blame for this state of things, and that it
had at the very least shown gross negligence. In conse
quence of this he ordered the Archchancellor to dispatch at
once a maitre des requites, with instructions to go over the
whole line of the works, to become thoroughly acquainted
as to their condition, and to check every item of the
expenditure. The choice having fallen upon me, I was
compelled to set forth much against my will, for I was at
the time in pretty poor health, and, moreover, busily engaged
in learning the exact nature of my duties as procureur
giniral to the sceau des titres.
But I obeyed with the customary promptness, and, begin
ning my enquiry in the vicinity of Kaiserslautern, contin
ued it up to the gates of Mayence. I had excellent proof
that the road was in a vile state, as my carriage was
precipitated down a ravine at least a hundred feet deep.
The vehicle was completely wrecked, and I owed my life
to the fact that I had stepped out of it just a minute before
the accident. But I also became convinced that the admin
istration and the contractors were altogether undeserving
of blame, that it was merely a question of insufficient time,
and that the only mistake made had been that of allowing
the Emperor to take that road, because no one had dared to
tell him that it was not yet fit for being opened to traffic.
Anyhow, he had learnt this through the Minister of the
Interior and the directors of the ponts et chaussies (bridges
and roads), even before my journey was over, and so the
latter proved a bootless errand; all that it accomplished
was to afford me the opportunity of passing through a
beautiful country, and of seeing the banks of the Rhine. I
met on all sides regiments of all arms, which had just

366 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
crossed the river, and in all directions I witnessed the
eagerness with which the populations went out to meet
them. Triumphal arches, banquets, and balls awaited them
everywhere. Marshal Victor's army corps was among those which
were crossing the Rhine into France, and it entered May
ence on the same day as myself. It was known that this
corps, the worst disciplined in the army, was not in the
slightest degree held in hand by its commander, and it was
preceded by stories of the disorderly acts which had been
so plentiful during its march through Germany. Its arrival
was therefore looked upon with well-founded dread, for, an
hour after its entering the town, two men were killed.
I was at the house of the prefect when the news of the
murder was brought to him. He was one Jean Bon Saint-
Andre, a former member of the Committee of Public Safety,
and who, in the days when that committee flourished, had
more than once given proofs of a terrible energy. For
several years past at the head of his present prefecture, he
had drawn special attention to himself by the vigorous zeal
with which he protected those whom he governed, and who
suffered so cruelly from the continual passing of the mili
tary. No sooner did M. Jean Bon learn of the misdeeds of
the soldiery, than he wrote to Marshal Victor a letter which
he showed to me, and wherein he demanded prompt and
exemplary justice. This letter remaining unanswered, he
went to the dwelling of the marshal, who was out, or who
kept himself secluded. The rest of the morning was spent,
with just as little success, in messages and visits to the
various barracks. "Do what he may, he is not going to
escape me," said the prefect to me, "and you shall see it."
And indeed, having followed the marshal into the theatre,
he invited me to accompany him right into his box, of
which he caused the door to be opened. Then, in the

THE NEW NOBILITY 36.7
presence of his staff, he addressed him in very plain terms
as follows: "You are not here in the enemy's country;
were it even so, the behavior of your soldiers would still be
odious, and your weakness in overlooking it would have no
excuse. I will this very night dispatch a messenger to the
Emperor, and give him an account of what has occurred."
The air and tone accompanying these words proved to me
that M. Jean Bon preserved a recollection of the part he
had enacted as a representative of the people, when with
the troops of the Republic. The marshal's attitude re
sembled greatly that of a general of 1793, when in the
presence of one of the proconsuls of those days. He blurted
out a few words, promised to see that justice was done, and
begged earnestly that the messenger should not be sent.
The prefect made no promises, and I am ignorant as to
what he did, but I was told next morning that several
soldiers had been arrested, and similar occurrences were
not heard of again in the department.
On my return to Paris, I took hold of my new duties in
the conseil des sceaux et titres. It was a somewhat bold
conception, this attempt to give to France a new nobility,
and to dare set up this nobility in the face of the one,
which, although abolished by law, still lived in the memory
of all.
The elements were not lacking for the formation of the
new tables of nobility. Military glory is of all glories the
one which finds most ready acceptance of the titular honors
conferred on it, and the winners of battles have in all times
easily taken rank in the highest circles of society. They
have ever been the founders of the most illustrious families,
beginning with the reigning dynasties. But titles are noth
ing when unaccompanied by wealth, and there is no amount
of illustriousness which can resist poverty for any length of
time. The faculty of creating " majorats " was greatly ham-

368 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
pered by the necessity of conforming to the laws of succes
sion, and, moreover, the number of large fortunes was too
limited to allow of this privilege being within the reach of
any great number of persons.
The domaine extraordinaire, the free disposal of which
the Emperor had preserved, and which was composed, be
sides the domains set aside in the conquered provinces, of
monies derived from assessments on the enemy's land,
served as a fund for the endowments whieh the Emperor
distributed on so magnificent a scale among all the men
whom he wished to reward, in the first place, in his army,
from the marshals down to the officers ranking lowest, and
also in the different branches of the public administration
and the Court.1 All these endowments, which were made
majorats by the conseil du sceau, were at the same time
coupled with a title, and reverted to the Crown in case of
the extinction of the male line of the holder.
The Emperor's idea was not only to create a new nobility,
but to fuse it with the old one, and, to that end, he gave to
all the bearers of ancient names who had rallied under his
government titles other than those which they had borne
previous to the Revolution, and, in spite of their repug
nance, they were compelled to accept them.
Among those whom this method did not please was Mme.
de Montmorency, a lady-in-waiting on the Empress, whose
case caused much comment. Yet her request seemed a
1 There were even endowments, and these deserve special mention,
in favor of soldiers who were members of the Legion of Honor and for
those who had lost limbs. These endowments, which were naturally of
a humbler kind, formed a separate fund, which was administered in
common, in order to better insure the obtaining of his due by each bene
ficiary. I have not enumerated all the sources from which the endowments
were derived ; I have only pointed out the principal ones. The amounts
obtained from the Mont de Milan (pawnbroking establishments), for in
stance, provided much of the money belonging to the common fund of those
who had lost limbs.

EFFECT OF THE NEW TITLES 369
modest one. She had been created a countess, and she
begged to be allowed to be a baroness only, the latter
title being the one she bore in 1789, and which had
always been the preferred one of the elder sons of the
Montmorency family, jealous as they were of preserving
the qualification of premier baron chritien, -which had been
theirs from time immemorial. Napoleon remained deaf
to her repeated entreaties, and making allusion to certain
escapades of her youth said to her: "You are not a good
enough Christian for me to listen favorably to your claim."
To sum up, in spite of the jarrings inseparable from the
beginnings of an institution by which so many various
interests were affected, and which could, while satisfying
some, hardly fail to offend others, in spite of the ridicule
justly attached, it must be confessed, to the manner with
which some of the new titles were worn, even among those
of the highest rank, the new nobility was not long in secur
ing recognition throughout the country, and it experienced
a still lesser difficulty in obtaining such recognition abroad,
where it presented itself with the prestige of military glory.
In France, military men especially set great value on
this new system of rewards, and showed themselves most
keenly alive to its advantages. Several of them, it is true,
failed fully to grasp its spirit and meaning, for I have held
a good many petitions for promotion in the ranks of the
nobility, couched in the same terms as though the peti
tioners were asking for regimental promotion.
One thing is at any rate certain, and that is that the
creation of the new nobility accustomed France once more
to hereditary distinctions, and, at the time of the Restora
tion, this essentially monarchical institution facilitated, in
a singular fashion, the reinstatement of the old nobility into
its titles. It was a source of satisfaction to be able to insert
in the Charter so conciliatory a clause as the following one :

370 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
" The old nobility is to reassume its titles, the new nobility
is to retain its own."
This happy alliance removed all obstacles, and thus
did the omnipotence of Bonaparte once more pave the
way in which royalty was to follow, and which it would
have experienced some difficulty in opening, if left to its
sole endeavors. This important service, rendered at the
time of the Restoration by the nobility which was of
Napoleon's creation, has not prevented its importance
from since being considerably lessened by the cancella
tion of the endowments, thus depriving it of the ad
vantages of wealth, which more than ever, in the days
wherein we live, are indispensable for the keeping up of
social distinctions.
It remains only for me to speak of the persons composing
the conseil du sceau. Its president, M. de Cambaceres, laid
all the more stress on all its actions, for the reason that no
one was more than himself sensible to the gratifications of
vanity, and that, in this respect, everything seemed to him
a matter of importance. Three senators and two Council
lors of State sat with him. Among these senators was M.
Garnier, a former procureur, a great partisan of economic
doctrines, a man of intellect and worth, but whose ideas
had up to then been rather against than in favor of
nobiliary institutions. I am convinced that such is the
reason for his having been chosen, and that the Emperor's
object had been to begin with him the education of those
who were refractory. And soon indeed the title of count
which was granted to him, sounded most agreeably to
his ears.
The second senator was M. de Saint-Martin, a Pied
montese of high birth and very proud of his ancestry,
although he was looked upon as somewhat of a revolu
tionary in his own country. It was necessary that he

COMPOSING ARMORIAL BEARINGS 371
should receive an education differing greatly from that of
M. Garnier. The third, M. Colchen, was there merely to
complete the required number.
M. d'Hauterive, Councillor of State, former Oratorian, a
well-trained diplomat, seemed as fit as any one to undertake
the new duties which had devolved upon him. He was
content with bringing to them a kind of witty naivete which
always enabled him to see the good side of matters, to put
the best construction on them, but which did not always
allow him to estimate them at their just value.
His colleague, M. Portalis, who was endowed with more
positive and much more extended ideas, was, to speak the
truth, the only member of the council, who, with its presi
dent, was in a position to understand the new institution,
and who, while able to notice its weak sides, saw from
the very first the benefit to be derived therefrom. He
was therefore selected by M. de Cambaceres, together with
myself, to draft all the rules which were to govern the
actions of the council in its creation of titles and especially
in its establishment of majorats. These rules and regula
tions once laid down, the executive part of the business
could be carried on of itself, and offered hardly any serious
difficulties. It became part of our duties to propose the shape and
composition of armorial bearings. I speak of this only to
illustrate an act of singular pettiness on the part of a man
like Napoleon. He would never consent, in accordance
with the practice generally in vogue throughout Europe, to
escutcheons being surmounted with crowns of various kinds
according to the denomination of the title. He seemed to
see in the possession and use of this distinguishing mark a
usurpation of his rights. His sensitiveness on this point
could never be conquered, and we were compelled, in order
to find a substitute for the crown, to hit upon the idea of

372 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
panaches, the number of plumes of which varied from one
to seven, according to the elevation of the title. This did
not greatly please the Archchancellor, who thought that a
crown would have been the very thing for the panels of his
carriage. I was given the title of baron. I had no reason
to complain. It had evidently been forgotten that this
title belonged to my family previous to the Revolution.
On the 4th of December, Madrid was occupied by French
troops commanded by the Emperor himself. In order to
advance so rapidly, no less than three pitched battles had
to be won. The victories had been complete and weakly
contested, although the Spaniards had brought immense
masses of men into action, thus affording a positive proof
of the part which almost the entire population took in a
resistance the end of which did not then seem close at
hand. In Catalonia, for instance, it had required all the
military ability and all the energies of General Gouvion
Saint-Cyr to maintain his position and to get as far as
Barcelona. In Aragon, the town of Saragossa was prepar
ing for that memorable defence which lasted over nine
months, and which was, after a lapse of more than twenty
centuries, to recall those of Numantium and Saguntum.
The British army, which had hastened to the assistance
of the Spanish insurrection, soon retreated to Corunna,
driven back by Marshal Soult, to whom the Emperor had
left the care of compelling it to leave the continent. Napo
leon started for France, and was back at the Tuileries as
early as the 23d of January, 1809. We are not to see him
again on the other side of the Pyrenees, and during five
years of battles, Spaniards and French will be left to endure
to an equal degree, without his condescending to eome to
their rescue, all the evils which the twofold curse of civil
and of foreign war can entail.
What was the reason which had been powerful enough to

M. DE' TALLEYRAND'S LANGUAGE 373
compel him, in January, 1809, to return so hastily to his
capital, when so much remained to be done in order to
subjugate Spain? In spite of the assurances he had received
from Austria at Erfurt, it was impossible for him to remain
ignorant any longer of the warlike preparations which this
power continued to make with an activity which announced
most serious plans. He learnt finally that, yielding to
England's instigations, Austria was about to take advan
tage of his being so far away, to cross its borders, invade
Bavaria, carry the war to the banks of the Rhine, and thus
effect the liberation of Germany. The opportunity was a
magnificent one for attempting such an undertaking. The
reduction in the number of the French forces in the German
provinces could not be doubted from the fact that the Em
peror had been compelled to send the pick of his battalions
to the other side of the Pyrenees. And so everything was
on the move in Austria, when Napoleon hastened back to
cope with the new danger threatening him. This period of
his life is one of those when his mind must have been a
prey to the most profound perturbation.
Apart from this aggression, he had cause to entertain
the gravest suspicions concerning certain intrigues which
were being carried on in the very bosom of his government,
and which justified the belief that most mischievous inten
tions were being harbored against him. I have stated what
had been the dispositions and the secret doings of M. de
Talleyrand during his stay at Erfurt. The part which he
had there been permitted to enact, although he had pre
tended to be satisfied with it, had not given him any great
sense of security, for he had been able to perceive that the
great influence which had for so long been his over the affairs
and the line of conduct of Napoleon, was irrevocably gone.
Hardly had Napoleon crossed the Pyrenees and made a
few steps on the road to Madrid, when the bitterness and

374 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
discontent of M. de Talleyrand's mind came to the surface.
I could no longer have any doubt of this when I saw him
on my return from Mayence, at the house where I was in
the habit of meeting him. The most sinister predictions
were even then escaping from his lips, and he was among
those who seemed to believe that the Emperor himself
would experience difficulty in avoiding Spanish vengeance.
It was then that I heard him for the first time openly cen
sure what had been done at Bayonne. However, he did
not at the time go so far, and this is a remarkable fact, as to
condemn the invasion of Spain, but merely the manner in
which it had been carried out. Said he : " Nothing can be
more natural than that we should have driven the Bourbons
out of Spain; nothing perhaps was more imperative in order
to solidly establish the Napoleonic dynasty. But then, why
have recourse to so many ruses, to such deceit, to such
treachery? Why not have simply declared a war for whieh
so many reasons could have been found? In such a war,
the Spanish nation would have remained neutral to the end.
Intoxicated as this nation was at that time with Napoleon's
renown, it would have seen, without the least regret, the
downfall of a worn-out dynasty, and, after a few fights which
would have received a poor support from the regular army,
the whole of the Peninsula would have gladly passed under
the sceptre of a family which, in France, was already tak
ing the place so gloriously of the family which had given
Philip V. to Spain. In this fashion, it would have been an
easy matter to acquire the whole inheritance bequeathed by
Louis XIV."
This was undoubtedly very plausible language, and it
would have been a difficult matter to contest its accuracy;
but, for that very reason, it was bound to wound to the
quick the man whose conduct was being so severely judged,
and by whom? By his former minister, by one of the high

INTRIGUES OF FOUCHE AND TALLEYRAND 375
dignitaries of his Empire.1 Had M. de Talleyrand un
bosomed himself merely at the house of Mme. de Re . . .
and in the presence of the few whom he met there, the
dangers of such an indiscretion would not have been great,
but he was too excited and too trustful to confine the
expression of his daily thoughts within the limits of so
narrow a circle. He had a large number of acquaintances
composed of people of all kinds, many of whom should have
inspired him with distrust, and for cause. His thoughts
soon became known, and from that time they no longer
constituted a mystery in Paris for that crowd of persons
who get to know all matters that are whispered from ear
to ear. What was thus almost public property in the capi
tal could not but help reaching the Emperor. He was
informed of it, even previous to his arrival at Madrid, and
he learnt, moreover, very shortly afterwards, of a circum-
1 Napoleon had all the less cause to expect such a sudden change, from
the fact that there was nothing that foreshadowed it in the correspondence
then being carried on between M. de Talleyrand and himself, and wherein
it was impossible to find the slightest trace of disapproval or even warn
ing. So far from this being the case, I have recently seen (I am still
speaking in 1829) a letter from M. de Talleyrand, written on receipt of the
news of the fight at Somo-Sierra, and which Napoleon must have received
ou his arrival at Madrid. In this letter M. de Talleyrand showed himself
profuse in his prognostications of success, and expressed no doubts that the
effect of the approaching entry of the Emperor into the Spanish capital, fol
lowing upon so many brilliant victories, would cause all Spaniards to lay
down their arms, and that, as a, consequence, the establishment of the
Napoleonic dynasty on the throne of Spain would become an assured mat
ter. A certain passage in this letter — and it is not the least remarkable
one — had reference to certain faults the Emperor had had to find with the
Corps legislatif, and to which he had referred in writing to him. In it M. de
Talleyrand strongly doubted whether it would ever be possible to organize
in an entirely satisfactory fashion the existence of deliberative assemblies
to meet annually. The character of the nation seemed to him incompat
ible with such an institution, and yet he thought it would he well not to
disturb for the present that which existed, with the exception, perhaps, of
finding during the course of the year some method of better accommodat
ing it to the spirit and suitableness of a monarchical government. Now,
it was merely a dumb Corps legislatif which M. de Talleyrand considered
quite natural for Napoleon to feel himself hampered with.

376 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
stance which must have led him to ponder seriously of what
might not be plotted in France during his absence.
The estrangement which had persistently and for so long
endured between M. de Talleyrand and Fouche, the Minis
ter of Police, had suddenly come to an end. Both men had
apparently begun to look at matters from the same stand
point, and losing all confidence in the fortunes of Napoleon,
had said to themselves that if he were to disappear from
the scene, they alone would be in a position to dispose of
the Empire, and that it was consequently necessary that
they should determine upon his successor to their mutual
and best advantage. But, in order to attain this object, it
was necessary to come to a mutual understanding, to unite
in the use of their respective means of action, and to forego
an enmity for which the time had gone by. They had each
met the other half way, and their final reconciliation had
been, if I am not mistaken, brought about by M. d'Haute
rive, who was at the head of the department of the archives
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and who, as an old
Oratorian, had always remained on good terms with M.
Fouche. M. d'Hauterive had assuredly not seen the bear
ing of the work to which he was lending his co-operation,
and had merely yielded to the impulse, which he could
hardly ever resist, of taking a part in everything. He
believed he had done wonders in contributing to a peace
making which seemed to him likely to set everybody at
ease and be most agreeable to the Emperor.
The most astounding spectacle presented by this unex
pected accord was the open way in which two men who
should have been so prudent sought to glory in it openly.
It must either have been that they believed themselves very
powerful in their union, or that they felt pretty well satis
fied of the downfall of the Emperor. I can still recall the
effect produced at a brilliant evening party given by M. de

M. DE LA VALETTE' S R6LE 377
Talleyrand, by the appearance of M. Fouche, on the day
when he entered his former foe's drawing-room for the first
time. No one could believe his eyes, and the wonder was
far greater, when the affectation of harmony was carried to
the point of the two men linking arms and together walk
ing from room to room during the whole course of the
evening. Among those in Paris, who kept an eye open to
everything likely to interest Napoleon and who were in
constant correspondence with him, was one of his former
aids-de-camp, M. de La Valette, to whom he had given the
hand of his niece, MUe. de Beauharnais, and whom he had
since appointed Postmaster-General. He was a man of
intellect and endowed with a rare sagacity. M. de La
Valette felt towards his old general and benefactor the
most sincere attachment, and judged of his position all the
better that, in spite of his admiration for his talents, he
was not blind to his errors.
It so happened that at that time he looked upon the Em
peror's situation as a most critical one, and he must conse
quently have set great importance on what was happening
under his eyes, between two men whom he considered capable
of anything, one of whom, M. de Talleyrand, had never, in
spite of his great reputation, inspired him with either respect
or confidence, and the other, M. Fouche, had always been the
object of his most pronounced aversion.1 So he wrote to the
1 M. de La Valette knew better than any one else the men who had
played any part during or after the Directoire. Although a good soldier,
Bonaparte had made use of him much more in regard to closet work than
in regard to military operations. Concerning the former, he had ou sev
eral occasions had the fullest trust reposed in him, and especially at the
time of the 18th Fructidor, when he had been sent to Paris to watch the
course of events, and with orders not to bind his general to anything
unless success appeared to him certain, and only in so far as might suit
him. He had thus at an early date been iu a position to form his own
opinion of M. de Talleyrand, for the 18th Fructidor was principally of his
making. The marriage of M. de La Valette with the niece of the Empress

378 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
Emperor, telling him all he thought of a friendship which
could only have been formed with some political object
greatly opposed to his interests, and the fears he gave
utterance to were soon confirmed by a fact which threw the
most searching light on the mysteries of this intrigue, and
clearly revealed its tendency.
I have not had in my own hands the proofs of this fact,
but what I gleaned later from the lips of M. de La Valette
and of the Due de Rovigo do not permit my entertaining
the least doubt about it. In the event of Napoleon's death,
it was necessary to have at hand a man to take his place
immediately, whatever course might be determined upon in
the future. The two new friends cast eyes upon Murat,
who had just been made King of Naples, and whose insane
vanity had shown itself but little gratified by so great a
preferment, at a time when he was reckoning upon getting
the throne of Spain, which he thought himself alone fit to
occupy, and to which he considered he had a claim, as a
reward for the energy of his conduct at Madrid during the
Bayonne conferences. And indeed one cannot forget the
rebellion that he had stifled by such terrible methods,
which were to play so powerful a part in deciding the
uprising of the whole Peninsula.
M. Fouche had always been on most intimate terms with
him, and prided himself upon being able to manage him.
M. de Talleyrand considered that it would be even easier to
overthrow him than to set him up, and he at all events felt
sure that his presence would not long trouble him. As to
Mme. Murat, the Emperor's sister, her ambition was so
boundless that one could make her accept any and all terms.
Josephine had since then attached him, in the Imperial Court, to the
party of the Beauharnais family. He was on particularly friendly terms
with Eugene de Beauharnais, viceroy of Italy, who was an object of constant
jealousy on the part of the Bonaparte family, especially that of Murat and
his wife. This jealousy led to serious consequences later on.

M. DE TALLEYRAND IN DISFAVOR 379
She was to give sufficient proof of this hereafter. No hesi
tancy was felt in letting the new King of Naples know that
he was to hold himself in readiness to come to France at
the first call, in order to reap the high destinies which were
awaiting him. The letter, or the messenger bearing it, was
intercepted in Italy by Prince Eugene, who had no doubt
been warned by M. de La Valette to be on the lookout, and
to watch everything with scrupulous care. The prince did
not lose any time in sending to Spain the details of his
discovery, and this certainly contributed to hasten the
Emperor's return. It was indeed impossible to notice that
the rapidity with which he generally covered distances had
been much greater than was his wont, and that in spite of
the difficulties presented to the traveller. He had been
compelled to make- several parts of the journey on horse
back. In the first hour of his arrival, everybody thought that
his presence was merely due to the condition of affairs in
Austria. His fury with regard to the intrigues of M. de
Talleyrand and M. Fouche did not find vent until five or six
days later. He had evidently been desirous of ascertaining
for himself the truth of the facts. Moreover, he dissembled
with the latter of these individuals, leaving him on one side,
and concentrating his attack on the former. It is always
difficult to remove the occupant of the Ministry of Police,
as the post .naturally leaves many wires at the disposal of
the man who has held it for any length of time. Hence
Napoleon thought that it would be better for him not to
remove M. Fouche until such time as every precaution should
have been taken to make his resentment a thing no longer to
be dreaded. Moreover, he foresaw a coming campaign in
Germany, and he did not wish to disorganize any portion
of his home administration just as he was on the point of
entering upon its prosecution. He doubtless thought that

380 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
as soon as he had triumphantly conquered this new peril,
nothing would then hinder him from meting out such justice
as was advisable.
As to M. de Talleyrand, who had no special functions,
and who consequently did not take any active part either in
the public services or in the government, he did not hesitate
to let him feel the full weight of his anger. The first
warning of the impending storm appeared in the Moniteur
of the 30th, which announced that the post of High Cham
berlain had been given to M. de Montesquieu, and that
consequently it had been taken away from M. de Talley
rand, who had held it from the time of the first organization
of the Imperial Court. In spite of the reason alleged for
this change being that since his promotion to the position
of Vice-Grand Chancellor, he had exercised the functions
of High Chamberlain only provisionally, his disgrace was
none the less patent, as so flimsy a pretext did not deceive
anybody. Moreover, it was known almost simultaneously that this
action had been preceded by a most violent scene, in the
course of which, in the presence of several high officials
and of nearly all the ministers, the Emperor had treated
M. de Talleyrand as the lowest of men, and had hurled all
sorts of reproaches, one may even say insults, at him. I
was told this in the course of the evening by Mme. de
Rem . . ., who had received fromM. de Talleyrand himself
the account of all that he had been compelled to endure. This
terrible scene was again described to me several years later,
and in the same fashion, but much more in detail, by M.
Decres, one of the ministers who had witnessed it, and as
it is he whose conduct towards M. de Talleyrand was at the
time the most generous, as it was he who did not turn his
back upon him, his narrative is worthy of implicit belief.
What had more especially struck him, and which he could

M. DE TALLEYRAND IN DISFAVOR 381
not understand, even after so long a period had intervened,
was the seeming indifference of the man who had to listen to
all this, and who for nearly a whole half -hour endured, with
out flinching, a torrent of invectives for which there is prob
ably no precedent among men in such high positions and in
such a place.1
" You are a thief, a coward, a man without honor, you do
not believe in God; you have all your life been a traitor to
your duties, you have deceived and betrayed everybody;
nothing is sacred to you; you would sell your own father.
I have loaded you down with gifts, and there is nothing
that you would not undertake against me. Thus, for the
past ten months, you have been shameless enough, because
you supposed, rightly or wrongly, that my affairs in Spain
were going astray, to say to all who would listen to you
that you always blamed my undertaking there, whereas it
was you yourself who first put it into my head, and who
persistently urged it. And that man, that unfortunate (he
was thus designating the Due d'Enghien), by whom was I
advised of the place of his residence? Who drove me to
deal cruelly with him? What then are you aiming at?
What do you wish for? What do you hope? Do you dare
to say? You deserve that I should smash you like a wine
glass. I can do it, but I despise you too much to take the
trouble." The foregoing is, in an abridged form, the substance of
what M. de Talleyrand was compelled to listen to during this
mortal half-hour, which must have been a frightful one for
him, if one is to judge of it by the suffering felt at it by
those present, none of whom ever subsequently referred to
it without shuddering at its recollection. And yet, this
i The impassibility of M. de Talleyrand on this occasion was generally
known at the time, and there was no well-informed person who did not
hear it referred to.

382 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
man, who was thus ignominiously treated, remained at
Court, and preserved his rank in the hierarchy of the
highest Imperial dignities. Although in less close connec
tion to the Emperor than heretofore, he did not for that
reason become completely a stranger to affairs of state,
and we are soon to see him called upon once more to
give advice to his sovereign on an occasion of the highest
importance. When thus insulting him, Napoleon must nevertheless
have felt that he was making an implacable foe, and hence
why is it that he did not completely crush him? Such an
inconsistency is only to be explained by his exceeding confi
dence in his strength and fortunes, and also by his contempt
for the creature he was thus trampling under foot, of whom
he believed, very shortly afterwards, he could still at his
mere caprice make a useful and even docile instrument. It
is known, moreover, that it was part of his policy, and this
with some show of reason, never to dismiss any of the men
who had rendered him great services, who had, early in his
career, attached themselves to his fortunes, or who had
powerfully contributed to help him to reach the throne.1
1 The Emperor had a short time previously given a striking example of
the care he exercised in not departing from this line of conduct. Having,
during the foregoing month of November, created the Cour des comptes,
he had, contrary to general expectation, called to preside over it a man
who it was believed had fallen into the most complete disfavor. This was
M. de Barbe-Marbois. In spite of his many-sided worth, in spite of his
austere probity and of his honorable reputation, he had quite innocently
rendered the worst of services. While Minister of the Treasury during
the Austerlitz campaign, the funds in his hands had been so badly handled,
and so madly exposed to the speculations of M. Ouvrard, that the public
service had for a moment been on the point of coming to a standstill, and
that at a time when the consequences of such a misfortune would have
been most serious.
On his return to Paris, the Emperor had been compelled to dismiss his
minister. He even did so somewhat roughly, after an investigation of his
methods, which revealed the greatest incapacity for carrying out the
duties entrusted to him. But, on his return from Sinnamary, M. de Mar-

M; DE TALLEYRAND IN DISFAVOR 383
All these considerations, all these combinations, were later
on cruelly foiled ; but it must be admitted that it required
most serious events and chances which could not be reckoned
with beforehand to bring about the complete defection of
M. de Talleyrand, and that he showed patience enough to
bide his time for a long while, before giving free rein to
the feelings of hatred and revenge with which his heart
must have been overflowing. The history of his postpone
ment in this respect is almost as curious as that of his final
determination, and, calling attention later on to one of the
precautionary measures with which he guarded himself till
the time came when he was to act, I shall have occasion to
show to what a degree it was difficult for him to make up
his mind, and how the fright which constantly held posses
sion of him, even then drove him to have an excuse in store,
to present in case of need, to the man to whom he was going
to give the fatal blow.
I have shown some care in making known an incident
which remained a secret, but the consequences of which
were great. It is especially by throwing a light on such
facts that those who tell of what they have witnessed can
render real service to those who, wishing some day to write
history in a conscientious fashion, will take the trouble of
collecting and comparing the materials scattered through the
narratives of contemporaries.
bois had been one of the first of the men in that honorable group of the
Directoire's exiles to go over to Napoleon. He had served him unfortu
nately, but with a rectitude of intention on which no doubt could be cast.
He had even at one time enjoyed a somewhat close intimacy with him ; for
Napoleon, in the first days of the Consulate, had more than once come
unattended to spend his evenings at the Treasury building, and it was
owing to M. de Marbois's teachings that he had become initiated into the
workings of that huge governmental machine. Nothing of all this was
forgotten, and the day for remembering it in the most favorable way came,
indeed, when last looked for.

CHAPTER XV
War with Austria — Battle of Essling — Death of Marshal Lannes — The
Roman States united to the French Empire — Pius VII.'s bull of ex
communication — The Pope carried off by the French authorities —
Victory of Wagram — Napoleon's return and sojourn at Fontainebleau
— Dissolution of Napoleon's and Josephine's marriage — The last even
ing spent at Fontainebleau by the discarded Empress — M. Pasquier
appointed Councillor of State — Projected marriage between Napoleon
and the Grand -Duchess Anne, the Emperor of Russia's sister — Austria's
alarm at this projected alliance — Overtures made by the Viennese cabi
net, with the object of tendering Napoleon the hand of an archduchess
of Austria — Reasons which governed the Emperor in preferring such
an alliance — Convocation of an extraordinary Council — Opinions ex
pressed at it by Fouche, Talleyrand, and Cambaceres — Arrival of the
future Empress at Compiegne — Celebration of the religious wedding
at the Louvre — Napoleon's anger at and reprisals against the cardinals
who absented themselves from the ceremony — Grand public fete on
the occasion of this union — A dinner given unexpectedly to M. de
Metternich, and to the- Czar's ambassador — Strange and offensive ex
planations' given to the Court of Russia to justify Napoleon's renuncia
tion of the hand of Alexander's sister.
Napoleon, by his victory at Eckmuhl, frustrated all Aus
tria's plans. A noteworthy fact in connection with this
battle was that the triumphant army was composed princi
pally of Bavarians and Wtirtembergers ; under his direction,
allies were as greatly to be feared as the French themselves.
Vienna was occupied, the strongest positions carried, and
the Army of Italy, under the orders of Prince Eugene, after
haying routed the army corps commanded by one of the
archdukes, was advancing, in order to join the Grand Army,
of which it was to constitute the right wing. So that noth-
384

THE BATTLE OF ESSLING 385
ing should be lacking to increase Austria's ill-luck, war was
declared against it by Russia, as an answer to its invasion
of the grand-duchy of Warsaw.
On the 21st and 22d of the same month was fought the
battle of Essling. The engagement began ere the crossing
of the river was completely accomplished. The pontoon
bridge built across the Danube parted, and the fortunes of
the Emperor were in the balance for a while. He lost the
pick of his old Guards, whose intrepidity gave the army time
to regain the island of Lobau. Among the many brave men
who fell in this disastrous encounter, there was one espe
cially, Marshal Lannes, whose loss must have caused Napo
leon most poignant grief. His shining valor, his recognized
ability, and his faculty of taking in everything at a glance
in the thickest of the danger, placed him in the highest
rank. No man inspired the soldiers with greater confidence.
He was one of those whose place is not to be filled. A
companion of the fortunes and glory of Napoleon from the
very beginnings of his career, he was also, perhaps, among
all those who had risen side by side with him, the man who
bore him the most sincere attachment. His loss therefore
added considerably to the magnitude of the check. I have
it from General Nansouty, that, as he was recrossing with
his cavalry division the bridge which united the island of
Lobau to the mainland, towards noon of the second day's
fighting, he found the Emperor stationed at the head of the
bridge, and on his having reported to him the sorry condi
tion of affairs on the field of battle, he could extract no
other reply from him than the following one : " What would
you have? Rivers have never been crossed except with
bridges." These words suffice to show the blame he was
laying to himself; but, if he was downcast momentarily, his
strength of character soon made him reassert himself, and,
just as after the battle of Eylau, he showed a prodigious

386 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
firmness of attitude, and great vigor and prudence in his
resolves. The audacity shown by him in establishing his
camp in the island of Lobau was, if possible, more to be
admired than was his wintering on the banks of the
Vistula. The Emperor, by a decree dated from Vienna, united the
Roman States to the French Empire. The Pope merely
retained the faculty of residing in Rome, receiving an
allowance of two millions. It was stated in the preamble
to this decree "that the spiritual influence exercised in
France by a foreign prince, is in opposition to the indepen
dence of the state, derogatory to its honor, and a threat
against its safety; that the Emperor is merely recalling
the gifts made by Charlemagne, his illustrious predeces
sor, to the bishops of Rome, and of whieh they had made
a bad use, to the detriment of their spiritual duties and of
the interests of the peoples placed under their authority."
What a far cry from the day when Pius VII. had come to
anoint Napoleon! This spoliation was an odious one. It
was indeed strength oppressing feebleness. It was stamped
with an ingratitude which gave offence to those most inclined
to admire and to approve of everything. It is due to the
Council of State to say that it showed its dissatisfaction
with the decree in a marked fashion. M. Regnaud de
Saint-Jean d'Angely himself, in spite of his customary
hostility to the ecclesiastical power, waxed very wroth
concerning a deed which shocked his feelings of equity
and moderation.
On the 17th of May, Pius VII. replied with a bull of ex
communication to the decree which robbed him of his states.
This bull, which, without naming anybody, was directed
at one and the same time against the authors, abettors, and
accomplices of the usurpation, revealed the indignation
which had dictated it, and was little in harmony with the

PICTS VII.' S BULL OF EXCOMMUNICATION 387
ideas of the century.1 Was it indeed wise to let the world
hear once more such rash words as the following : " Sover
eigns must learn once more that they are, by the law of
Jesus Christ, subjects of our throne and of our commands,
for we also exercise a sovereignty, but a sovereignty far
more noble, unless one pretends that the mind must yield
precedence to the flesh, and the things of heaven to those
of earth." In spite of this act of imprudence, such a docu
ment had still the power to cause great perturbation in the
minds of zealous Catholics, as well as in the consciences of
those ecclesiastics who had received their new powers at the
•hands of the Pontiff who was making heard to them the
voice of his anger, and who called upon them to support
him in his retaliation. The greatest care was taken to pre
vent the bull penetrating into any portion of France. But,
if its entry into France could be stopped, it was difficult to
prevent its being circulated throughout Italy, especially in
the Roman States, where so many people, and principally
the ecclesiastics, engaged in its propagation.
The papal fulmination was therefore quickly known, not
only in Rome, but in the surrounding provinces, and even
down in the Kingdom of Naples. The ferment it caused,
soon assumed an aspect which gave alarm to the new King
of Naples, Murat, and to the French authorities entrusted
with the administration of the Roman States. The latter,
without having received any instructions from the Emperor,
forcibly removed the Pope from his palace, and placing him
in a carriage under escort of a few gendarmes, carried him
i The fact that no name was mentioned in the bull was of great impor
tance, because, in order to make it applicable to any individual person, to
the Emperor himself, a new act of the ecclesiastical power became neces
sary, and such an act could be suspended or stopped by a number of cir
cumstances. It could therefore be said that the thunders of the bull once
hurled, Napoleon had incurred excommunication, but that he had so far
not been reached by it.

388 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
with the utmost rapidity by way of the Alps to Grenoble,
where he was set down. One General Radet, who was in
command of the gendarmerie, was the principal agent in
this expedition. General Miollis was the commander-in-
chief of the French troops in Rome. He was a gentle, even
a timid man. I have never been able to understand how
such an outrage (for it is impossible to give any other name
to this violation of the most sacred rights of a man most
entitled to reverence) was ever perpetrated under his direc
tion and with his co-operation.
In spite of all that has been told me, and the credibility
which seems due to the persons from whom I received my*
information, I find it very difficult to be convinced that there
did not exist some most secret instructions which have not
yet seen the light of day, but which time must surely reveal.
What strengthens my opinion in this respect is that, not
only did neither Radet nor Miollis suffer any disgrace, but
that Miollis preserved his command to the end. The sole
disowning of their conduct is to be dedueecLfrom Pius VII.'s
rather prompt return to Italy. He was soon made to cross
the Alps once more, and Savona was assigned him as a
place of residence. ,It is well known how he was detained
there, in spite of a few honors rendered to his person and
dignity, in actual captivity, which endured until the day
when he was once more taken to France.
The stir caused throughout Europe by so unlooked for an
outrage was, happily for Napoleon, weakened by the victory
of Wagram. Once more the ability of the general, the vigor
of his lieutenants, the precision of the movements, and
France's shining valor had triumphed over all obstacles.
After two of the most bloody days' fighting of which history
preserves the recollection, the Archduke Charles, badly sup
ported by his brother John, who, coming from Hungary at
the head of an important division which did not reach the

NAPOLEON AT FONTAINEBLEAU 389
field of battle until the issue was decided, was driven back
to the Bohemian border. Yet, he retreated in good order,
and still presented so formidable a front that his conqueror
was glad to conclude an armistice with him. It was agreed
that negotiations for peace should be opened at once.
Peace was not concluded until the 18th of October, and in
order to secure it, Austria was forced to give up Trieste and
all her possessions on the shores of the Adriatic. In addi
tion to this she had to cede a most valuable piece of terri
tory to Bavaria, to enlarge the grand-duchy of Warsaw at
the expense of Galicia, and to give her consent to the
continental system.
As the price of her insignificant co-operation, Russia did
not blush to accept another 400,000 subjects who were taken
from the Polish provinces belonging to Austria. It was a
well settled part of Napoleon's policy to get Russia to
commit herself more and more in the eyes of the rest of
Europe. Nevertheless, and in spite of this astute combina
tion, the object in view was not attained, for the Emperor
Alexander soon showed himself more greatly alarmed at
the signs he saw of an intention to re-establish the kingdom
of Poland, than satisfied with an addition of territory to the
grand-duchy of Warsaw. It will later on be seen what a
degree of development was reached by this germ of discon
tent, and the influence it bore on the decisions of the St.
Petersburg cabinet.
The Emperor did not return direct to Paris, but went to
Fontainebleau, where he remained until the middle of
November. To that place flocked in large numbers not
only all those whose duties compelled them to pay court,
but also all those who were desirous of doing homage to
him. As a member of the Council, I could hardly dispense
with putting in an appearance at Court, and it was there
that I witnessed the beginnings of all the manceuverings

390 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
whieh were to bring about one of the greatest events of
the period, to wit, the dissolution of his marriage with
Josephine. For some time past, the greater number pf those about
him, and especially the members of his family, had been
urging him to repudiate a union which could not give him
an heir, and which precluded the idea of his dreaming of
certain most advantageous alliances. As early as the time
of his consecration as Emperor, the greatest pressure had
been put upon him to prevent him from strengthening the
bonds uniting him to Josephine, by having her crowned by
his side; but all these endeavors had been neutralized by
the natural and potent ascendency of a woman full of charm
and grace, who had given herself to him at a time when
nothing gave any indication of his high destinies, whose
conciliatory spirit had often removed from his path difficul
ties of a somewhat serious nature, and brought back to
him many embittered or hostile minds, who seemed to have
been constantly a kind of good genius, entrusted with the
care of watching over his destiny and of dispelling the
clouds which came to darken its horizon.
In the latter respect, there entered into the attachment.
Napoleon felt for Josephine a superstitious instinct but too
well justified by future events. There occurred, at the time
of his coronation, a most extraordinary and generally un
known circumstance, which goes to show how difficult it
was for him to oppose the wishes of the clever and seductive
companion, who, in spite of so many mutual acts of infidel
ity, still remained the first of his loves. His marriage to
her had been merely a civil one. The Pope insisted that it
receive the Church's consecration, as a ceremony of abso
lute necessity, without which it would be impossible for him
to crown the Empress at the same time that he crowned the
Emperor. Napoleon refused almost up to the very last to

NAPOLEON CONTEMPLATES A DIVORCE 391
accede to this request, either for the reason that he con
sidered it as condemning his past life, or that it was repug
nant to him to render indissoluble an engagement which
policy might some day make it advisable for him to break.
Perhaps even he suspected Josephine of having inspired the
Pope's demand. However this may be, he was compelled
to yield, and I have it as a fact, that on the night preceding
the consecration, he was married in his closet by Cardinal
Fesch and without witnesses. The Cardinal assured the
Pope that this ceremony had taken place. I cannot enter
tain any doubts regarding these particulars, for I have them
from M. Portalis, Junior, whose father, at that time Minis
ter of Public Worship, acted as intermediary in the matter
of all negotiations and arrangements with His Holiness.
And yet, five years had gone by since the day of Jose
phine's triumph, and if on the one hand this lengthy
possession of the highest rank seemed likely to greatly
confirm her rights to it, on the other hand also, the events
which had happened during that period had more than once
given birth to doubts and regrets in the mind of the
Emperor. For several months past especially, he was more
than ever shaken when considering the advantage to be
obtained by him through a matrimonial alliance with one of
the principal reigning families of Europe. Every political
alliance entered into by him so far had become disrupted
with terrible ease. Would such be the case with one
strengthened by a family bond? Russia, for instance, which
had given him such half-hearted assistance in his latest
struggle, would it not have given him more active support
had he been the husband of a Russian grand-duchess? At
a time when he was despoiling the Bourbons of the last of
the states over which they held sway, did it not become
necessary for him to inspire the other dynasties with some
sense of security by showing the stress he set upon uniting

392 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
their ancient rights with those which fortune and victory
had given him?
The members of his family whom he had seated on
thrones, felt to a greater extent than he did himself the
need of entering into the great family of kings, among
which they were so far mere interlopers, so to speak. All
the ministers and high dignitaries shared these views. M.
Fouche and M. de Talleyrand came to the fore on this occa
sion. M. Fouche took upon himself to approach Josephine
in the matter, and tried to persuade her to come forward and
herself suggest that which was expected of her. He failed
in his attempt, and so was disowned, but the first step had
been taken.
I was at Fontainebleau on that day, and the fact of such
a proposition having been made was soon revealed to me by
the state of agitation into which it threw the Court. I also
learnt, through my intercourse with several persons attached
to the Empress's household, that the scene between her and
Napoleon had been an affecting one, and that she still hoped
to defeat all the efforts made against her. I did not share
in her feeling of security, and, as I had experienced great
kindliness from her, at the time of the radiations (erasures
from the lists of proscribed imigris), when I was seeking to
obtain the benefit of them for several members of my family,
I could not help feeling deeply for her in regard to the
sorrows in store for her. I returned to Paris fully con
vinced that her fate was irrevocably settled, and that M.
Fouche" would not have taken such a part in the affair, had
he not felt certain of giving much satisfaction to the man in
whose name he had, in a certain measure, spoken. Indeed,
it was not long ere my previsions were realized.
Josephine's opposition was soon conquered, and, as early
as the 16th of December, a message was sent to the Senate,
announcing to that body the determination which Napoleon

THE COURT OF ROME AND THE DIVORCE 393
and Josephine had jointly come to, of dissolving their
union. The sole reason given was that for the better
security and happiness of the Empire, Napoleon should
have direct heirs, whom he could no longer expect from his
present consort. The cruel duty imposed on Prince Eugene,
Josephine's son, deserves passing notice. He was like
wise the Emperor's adopted son, nevertheless Napoleon
decided that he should join the Senate, and insisted upon
his taking his seat for the first time in that body, on the
very day when the decision was to occur, which was to make
so painful a change in his mother's status. Nay, he was
forced to provoke that decision, by adding to the endorse
ment which it gave to the Emperor's plans, the weight of
his personal adhesion and that of his sister, the Queen of
Holland, whose consent he guaranteed.
It was an easy matter to obtain from the Senate the
senatus-consultum which was to pronounce the dissolution
of the marriage between Napoleon and Josephine. But this
did not end things. The civil bond was doubtless broken,
but the religious one still remained in all its strength, and,
in view of Napoleon's ulterior plans, it was absolutely
necessary that he should be freed from it. The public
learnt from the columns of the Moniteur of the 14th of
January, 1810, that the diocesan authorities, after having
heard witnesses, and consequent upon proceedings wherein
all the prescribed formalities had been observed, had, by
virtue of a decision rendered on the 9th, declared void the
.spiritual bond uniting H. M. the Emperor Napoleon and
H. M. the Empress Josephine, and that this decision had
been confirmed by the metropolitan officialiti (ecclesiastical
tribunal) on the 12th. It was learnt subsequently that the
ground on which this decision rested was, that the union
not having been contracted in the presence of witnesses, or
in the presence of the parish priest, was radically null, in
conformity with the decrees of the Council of Trent.

394 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
The Pope has claimed that it appertained to himself alone
to pronounce in the matter of marriages of sovereigns. He
had indeed in his favor a famous precedent which did not
date so very far back in the history of the French monarchy,
in regard to what had been done in the matter of the disso
lution of the marriage contracted between Queen Marguerite
de Valois and Henry IV. But it has never been possible to
adduce any act of the Church establishing the principle that
sovereigns are not under the jurisdiction for the judging of
their religious acts of the same spiritual tribunals as their
own subjects. If several of them have, under similar cir
cumstances, seen fit to appeal to the Sovereign Pontiff,
political and not religious considerations have dictated this
course, and one cannot deduce therefrom anything against
the validity of the common law.
Never, perhaps, was there an occasion when courtiers
were more embarrassed as to the countenance they should
assume than on the present one. There was no alternative
but to signify approval of the master's resolve. The
household of the coming Empress would doubtless not be
the same as that of the discarded one, so here was a chance
for those who coveted positions in the new household. But
then, Josephine still occupied a high position. To cease
showing her attention was hardly honorable, and the Em
peror, who preserved towards her undoubted feelings of
affection, might be offended by too great a display of eager
ness to forsake her.
I can never forget the evening on which the discarded
Empress did the honors of her Court for the last time. It
was the day before the official dissolution. A great throng
was present, and supper was served, according to custom, in
the gallery of Diana, on a number of little tables. Jose
phine sat at the centre one, and the men went round her,
waiting for that particularly graceful nod which she was

M. PASQUIER, COUNCILLOR OF STATE 395
in the habit of bestowing on those with whom she was
acquainted. I stood at a short distance from her for a few
minutes, and I could not help being struck with the perfec
tion of her attitude in the presence of all these people who
still did her homage, while knowing full well that it was
for the last time ; that, in an hour, she would descend from
the throne, and leave the palace never to re-enter it. Only
women can rise superior to the difficulties of such a situa
tion, but I have my doubts as to whether a second one could
have been found to do it with such perfect grace and com
posure. Napoleon did not show as bold a front as did his
victim. I was appointed Councillor of State on the 8th of Febru
ary. I have already stated that up to that date few favors
had fallen to my lot. I hoped nevertheless to obtain ere
long the promotion which I thought I was entitled to.
Great was therefore my disappointment, when, on the 6th of
February, I read in the Journal des Dibats that M. Mounier,
auditeur and one of the Emperor's secretaries, was appointed
a maitre des requites, while M. Alexandre de Lameth, the
prefect of Turin, was named a Councillor of State. Acting
on the impulse of my vexation, I called immediately on the
Archchancellor, resolved upon tendering my resignation.
He appeased me, and told me that he would call the
Emperor's attention to the matter. He thereupon went to
the Tuileries, and without of course raising any objection
to the appointments of which he had just heard, expressed
his sincere regret at not seeing at the same time that of
M. Pasquier, whose claims were not inferior to those of
M. de Lameth, adding that this omission would be sorely
felt by the entire Council.
" And who has told you, " replied Napoleon, " that I have
created a new Councillor of State? " — " The appointments,"
rejoined M. de Cambaceres, " are announced in the Journal

396 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
des Dibats which I have here." The Emperor thereupon
waxed wroth against M. Maret, Secretary of State, who had
received orders not to make public these appointments for
some days, and indeed there was no mention made of them
in the Moniteur, but M. Maret had not been able to resist
speaking of them to M. Laborie, who had inserted them in
his Journal des Dibats. " Send for the draught of the de
cree," said Napoleon, and on its being brought to him, he
tore it up and flung it into the fire.
The same evening there was a Court gathering, and I
attended it. Towards the close of the evening, while stand
ing in company of M. Portalis in one of the doorways, the
Emperor passed by us, stopped, and affected to look at me
in a mocking fashion, which we were at a loss to explain.
On my return home, I received in the middle of the night,
the decree appointing me a Councillor of State, and next
morning I learnt that M. Malouet had likewise been promoted
in a similar fashion. So honorable an association gave me
great pleasure. There was never to be any further mention
of M. Mounier for the post of maitre des requites, nor of
M. de Lameth for that of Councillor of State, and their
promotion was completely shelved; the one was still audi
teur, and the other, maitre des requites, when the Empire
ceased to exist.
No sooner had the bonds uniting him to Josephine been
severed than the Emperor quickly began to pass in review
all the European states wherein he thought it feasible for
him to go in quest of a new consort. Saxony and Russia
were the only countries which he could hope would listen
favorably to his advances; but Saxony, in spite of the
antiquity of its reigning family, did not offer the advan
tages he was seeking. That country was too much under
his dependence for its consent to appear as being freely
given.

THE COURT OF RUSSIA 397
So Russia became at once his objective point, and M. de
Caulaincourt, our ambassador at St. Petersburg, was in
structed to sue for the hand of the Grand-Duchess Anne,
Alexander's sister. This negotiation seemed all the more
easy to carry on because, judging from all appearances, the
matter had already been slightly touched upon at Erfurt.
To this should be added the fact that M. de Caulaincourt
was in the best of positions to bring it to a happy issue.
He had established himself on the grandest and best footing
in Russia, and had, in so doing, marvellously well seconded
the views of his master. The Emperor Alexander had con
ceived a great liking for him. He was therefore listened to
with a favor which left no doubt, and which was all the
more necessary because from the very outset the proposition
met with a determined opposition on the part of the
Empress-mother, who, with almost the entire Court and
even the entire Imperial family, showed herself but little
satisfied with the prospect of such an alliance. Princess
Catherine, the eldest sister of the Grand-Duchess Anne, and
who enjoyed the greatest intimacy with the Emperor, her
brother, with him favored the proposition, which was finally
accepted, but only after a series of parleys. Requests were
preferred for a certain amount of delay, and it was stipu
lated that the Princess Anne should be married according
to the Greek rite, and should be free to remain a member of
the Orthodox Church. She was to have a Greek chapel
established for her at the Tuileries, or at least take with
her a priest of her religion. The Emperor Alexander cared
but little whether the grand-duchess should subsequently
embrace the religion of her husband, but he thought it due
to the attachment felt by the Russian nation for the Greek
form of worship, not to place his sister under the obligation
of being compelled to forsake its practices at once. It
would hardly have been thought that this precaution on his

398 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
part would be the cause of any serious difficulty, still, the
parleys which it led to, and the measures required to con
quer the opposition of the Empress-mother caused no incon
siderable loss of time at St. Petersburg.
The answer, which was in the shape of a despatch from
M. de Caulaincourt, dated January 21st, did not reach Paris
till the 5th of February. Now, much had happened in the
meanwhile, which had completely changed the aspect of
affairs. The Viennese cabinet, following in this the coun
sels of M. de Metternich, who before the recent war had
been Austria's ambassador to France, and casting from it all
useless feelings of resentment, and imprudent and impolitic
touchiness, had eome to see that an alliance between its
most formidable enemy and the Russian Imperial family
would be one of the greatest misfortunes for the House of
Austria; such a mishap might even have so far-reaching an
effect as to finally consummate its ruin, and the only way
of averting this danger was to offer Napoleon the hand of
an archduchess. Such a course was immediately resolved
upon, but how was such a proposition to be brought for
ward? What were the means for securing its ready ac
ceptance? The time was short, and every moment was
precious, for it was known that negotiations had already
been entered into at St. Petersburg.
A few words hinting at the matter were in the first place
spoken at Munich to M. de Narbonne, aide-de-camp to the
Emperor. This officer had been left behind in order to
watch at close range everything that was going on in
Austria, after the French army had been withdrawn from
it. Matters were not likely to make rapid enough progress
by this road. The following is the way in which the subject
was finally entered into on both sides. At the soiree where
Josephine was holding her Court for the last time, the First
Secretary of the Austrian Legation found himself by the

THE VIENNESE CABINET 399
side of Senator de Semonville, with whom he had been well
acquainted in Holland a few years before, and whose
intimacy with M. Maret was well known.
"Well, this is indeed the end of this one," said M. de
Floret to him, "but who is the coming woman? It is
reported that a messenger has arrived to-day from M. de
Caulaincourt, and that he bears the most favorable answers.
If this be true, the consequences of it may be very serious.
One may well tremble on seeing so much power and strength
about to become united in one hand." — "Nothing can be
more true," answered M. de Semonville; "but, after all, he
is acting his part skilfully, he is doing just the very thing
he ought to do, he prefers his request to the man who will
give him a hearing, and besides, what have you to complain
of, you who would not have had anything to do with him? "
— "Who says so?" immediately rejoined M. de Floret;
" it is quite the contrary." — " You are of course speaking as
M. de Floret, and not as the Secretary of the Austrian Lega
tion; it is your personal opinion and not the intentions of
your Court that you are confiding to an old friend, feeling
sure that he will not take undue advantage of the confidence
you have reposed in him." — "You need be in no fear of
abusing my confidence. I know whereof I speak, and I am
quite sure that I cannot say too much. I am acquainted
with the intentions of the Emperor, my master. He and all
about him would be highly gratified to see his daughter, the
Archduchess Marie-Louise, become your Empress."
The whole of this conversation was repeated to M. Maret
before the stroke of midnight, and the Emperor was in
formed of it next morning. Thereupon M. Maret was
ordered to find a suitable intermediary, whose goings on
would not arouse too much attention, and who should speak
almost officially, but without committing himself to any
extent, to the Ambassador of Austria, Prince von Schwar-

400 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
zenberg, on the overture which M. de Floret had seen fit to
make. M. Maret selected M. Alexandre de Laborde, who, while
an imigri, had served with distinction in the Austrian army.
He was a frequent visitor at the Austrian embassy and was
on good terms with all its personnel. The eagerness with
which his very first words were greeted, as soon as he made
clear the mission with which he was entrusted, left no doubt
as to the facility with which the matter could be concluded,
should Napoleon show a desire of entering into it frankly
and fully. There remained but for him to finally make up
his mind, and there was here food for serious thought. In
the beginning, he was swayed by the respective advantages
of the two combinations; nevertheless, it would seem that
his hesitancy did not endure for any length of time.
No doubt Russia would afford him a stronger alliance, and
one of greater weight in the scale of European politics, but
his principal object was to become a member of the family
of kings ; now, in this great family, the House of Russia was
but a newcomer compared with that of Austria. By select
ing an archduchess, he would unite himself to the oldest
sovereign race after that of France. He would be marrying
a granddaughter of Maria Theresa, whose daughter Louis
XVI. had married. There was no room for doubt that in
France so totally unexpected an alliance would strike the
public mind to a far greater extent than one with Russia.
Hence Napoleon was not long in making a choice.
In order to preserve on so great an occasion all the
appearances of having come to a decision after careful
deliberation, he deemed it advisable to call together an
extraordinary council, to which he summoned the King of
Holland, the Viceroy of Italy, Cardinal Fesch, the great
dignitaries, the ministers, and the presidents of the Senate
and of the Corps Ugislatif. The result of this conference

AN EXTRAORDINARY COUNCIL 401
was favorable to the marriage with an archduchess ; but it
was learnt that opinions had been divided, and that the
Archchancellor and M. Fouche' had expressed their prefer
ence for the union with the Russian grand-duchess. It also
leaked out that M. de Talleyrand, who had declared himself
in favor of. Austria, had played a most prominent part in
the debate. The reason for his decision was based princi
pally on the stability of the methods and of the policy of
Austria. "This power," he had said, "is the only one in
Europe possessing a cabinet whose influence outlasts each
and every reign, and which is, as a consequence, in a posi
tion to conceive, adopt, and carry out persistently any line
of action. Through the proposition which it makes to-day,
this cabinet gives proof that it wishes to associate itself
with the fortunes of the Imperial dynasty which reigns
to-day in France ; it recognizes the iniquity and folly of the
contrary system which it has followed for the past ten years,
and in pursuance of which it has made its last effort. Since
it has entered upon such a resolve, it will persist in it, if
this resolve meets with the reception to which it seems to
me entitled, and the Emperor Napoleon will bequeath to his
descendants all the advantages of the union into which
he is about to enter. I am fully aware that it will be
said in reply to this that Russia is of the same mind, but
here lies the difference. In that country, everything de
pends on the will of a single man; all things come to an end
with his reign, and everything assumes a new face with his
successor. I will suppose, therefore, that the Emperor
Napoleon marries the grand-duchess, and that we are, in a
year's time from now, assembled in this room and at the
same table; the door is thrown open, the arrival of a mes
senger is announced, and this messenger brings the news of
the death of the Emperor Alexander. As a result of this
death, the whole situation undergoes a complete change.

402 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
No longer are we sure of a Russian alliance. The influence
of Austria, Prussia, and England becomes paramount at St.
Petersburg, and all the advantageous results of the marriage
are a thing of the past. Let us assume the contrary
hypothesis. The Emperor marries an archduchess, when,
after a year's time, news comes of the death of the Emperor
Francis ; it is nothing more than a case of family mourning.
The political interests of both countries are bound up
together and do not undergo any modification, and the
Austrian cabinet continues to be as anxious to preserve
intact the alliance as does the French one. This considera
tion is so potent a one in my estimation that it does not
suffer me to hesitate as to the advice which I am now called
upon to give."
His advice was followed, and when the decision became
known to the people at large, it was welcomed all the more
for the reason that what was most desired as a result of the
impending marriage, was the finding in it the pledge of a
long and firmly established peace. Hence it carried with it
the vote of the masses, as it had carried the vote at the
Emperor's council. Yet, was there nothing to be set against
this blind approval? The following is what happened to
me in this respect during the course of the following week.
Finding myself alone with the Archchancellor, while wait
ing for the opening of the meeting of the conseil du sceau,
I spoke to him about the all-pervading question which had
kept all minds in suspense during the foregoing days, and I
ventured to express some astonishment with regard to the
advice which he was said to have tendered, but which had
not prevailed. Cambaceres answered: " The latter circum
stance is not a cause for surprise. When a man has only
one good reason to advance, and when it is impossible to
give utterance to it, it is a very simple matter that he
should be beaten."

THE COUNSEL OF CAMBACERES 403
I had to press him considerably in order to get him to tell
me this reason, and he agreed to do so only after I had
pledged my honor to keep it a profound secret. "Well,
then," he said, "you will see that my reason is so excellent
a one that a single sentence will be sufficient to make the
full strength of it understood. I am morally certain that
ere two years have gone by, we shall be engaged in a war
with the power whose daughter the Emperor will not have
married. Now, a war with Austria does not give one the
slightest anxiety, but I dread a war with Russia, for its
consequences are not to be calculated." Subsequent events
showed but too well which of these two statesmen had
better understood the situation. In the discussion of the
marriage, M. de Talleyrand was not and could not possibly
be enlightened and guided by as sincere a motive as that
which animated M. de Cambaceres.
On leaving the council the issue of which I have just told,
Napoleon ordered the Prince Eugene to at once enter into
negotiations with Prince von Schwarzenberg. The latter
was away shooting, but he was sent for, and matters were
all but settled the same evening. In order to expedite the
affair, it was thought best on both sides to adopt the condi
tions stipulated in connection with the marriage between
Louis XVI. and Marie-Antoinette. The agreement was
signed on the 7th of February by Prince von Schwarzenberg
and the Due de Cadore. There remained only Vienna's
ratification. It was not long in coming, and on the 27th of
February the Emperor was in a position to communicate to
his Senate the terms of his marriage contract. He simul
taneously announced that the Prince de Neufchatel was
already on his way to sue for the hand of the Archduchess
Marie-Louise, the Emperor of Austria's daughter. As
early as the 25th, there appeared in the Moniteur the decree
appointing the household of the future Empress. The

404 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
manner in which this household was formed is worthy of
notice, owing to the cleverness with which everybody's
feelings were taken into consideration, and the manner in
which all the proprieties were observed. The place of
Court Chaplain was given to an archbishop who bore the
name of Rohan, while a Beauharnais was appointed chevalier
d'honneur. Among the ladies-in-waiting such names as
Mortemart, de Montmorency, de Bouille, de Vintimille, and
de Canisy, were to be found side by side with those of
Bassano, de Rovigo, de Duchatel, and de Lauriston.
Newly created grandees were in this fashion considerably
set off by grandees of older date, and even Josephine's
household was represented. But, ranking over and above
all these ladies was one who had not entered into anybody's
calculations, and who had doubtless remained very quiet at
a time when so many ambitious people were bestirring
themselves to attain the rank of dame d'honneur (first lady-
in-waiting) which was set apart for her. This lady was the
Duchess de Montebello, the widow of Marshal Lannes,
killed at the battle of Essling.
Such a selection was the most striking testimony of grati
tude which could possibly be given to the memory of one
of the bravest and perhaps the most regretted by Napoleon
of all the generals which war had mowed down by his side.
This appointment was the greatest tribute he could pay his
army, and all pretensions were in duty bound to become
silent, stilled in the presence of a mark of favor so fully
justified. Moreover, it fell to a person of blameless con
duct, whose outward appearance would not have been out of
place vat any Court, and whose manners, in spite of the
lowliness of her origin, were stamped by a repose which
lacked neither grace nor nobility. She showed herself
endowed with the gift of becoming in the highest degree
agreeable to her sovereign princess.

THE EMPRESS MARIE-LOUISE 405
The new Empress arrived at Compiegne on the 28th. The
Emperor awaited his second consort with no little anxiety.
Accustomed as he was to all the favors of fortune, he would
have liked that the princess, whom the fickle goddess
brought to him, should unite with the advantages of high
birth those of an outward appearance at least pleasing.
He set little store upon what had been told him in this
connection, or even upon the portraits sent him. I have
been informed by M. de Laborde, who accompanied the
Prince de Neufchatel to Vienna, and whose return preceded
by a short time the arrival of the Empress, that he had been
subjected to a somewhat detailed interrogatory in this re
spect by the Emperor. This is how he summed up the case.
" Except for your first look at her, Sire, you will be a well-
contented husband." Her face was her weakest point; but
her figure was fine, although somewhat stiff. Her person
ality was attractive, and she had very pretty feet and hands.
The Emperor went out to meet her, joined her at a dis
tance of two leagues from Compiegne, entered her carriage,
and returned with her to the palace. They do say that on
the very same evening, he acted towards her as Henry IV.
had done towards Marie de Medicis at Lyons, and she
doubtless experienced all the less difficulty in yielding to
his desires, in that this contingency had been foreseen, and
that at Vienna, where such matters are well understood,
good care had been taken to admonish her that she was to
consider herself as duly married. The civil marriage took
place at Saint-Cloud on the 1st of April, and the religious
ceremony was celebrated next day in one of the great halls
of the Louvre, the one adjoining the gallery, and which was
converted into a chapel.
We were struck, as the Emperor passed us, by the air of
triumph which permeated all his person. His physiognomy,
generally grave, was irradiated with happiness and joy.

406 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
The ceremony, which was performed by Cardinal Fesch, the
Court Chaplain, was of short duration. But, what could
equal our astonishment, when we noticed that his face, but
a short while ago so radiant, had, on the return from the
ceremony, become clouded and threatening! What then
could have happened in so short an interval?
Seats of honor had been set apart for the religious cere
mony at the Louvre for the cardinals, who from the time
that the Pope had been removed to Savona, resided in Paris.
The first thing that caught Napoleon's eye, on his entering
the chapel, was that some of these seats had remained
vacant, thirteen cardinals not having responded to the invi
tation. No insult could be felt more keenly by him, and it
was all the more serious from the fact that it assumed the
shape of a sort of protest against his new marriage, and an
accusation of illegality.
I must say that his anger in this connection was only too
well justified during the course of the year, by a brief
which the Pope found a way to send to the Metropolitan
Chapter of Florence, and the object of which was to forbid
it from granting to M. d' Osmond, Bishop of Nancy, who
had been appointed Archbishop of Florence, the power of
exercising his functions. In this brief, His Holiness set
forth among other grievances he had against the Emperor,
the dissolution of his first marriage by the Paris clergy, and
pointed out the irregularity of this action, in that it had
been accomplished in disregard of the rights of the Holy
See. It was difficult for a mind as suspicious as Napo
leon's not to see in such an allegation, which was dragged
into an affair altogether foreign to the matters with which
it was incorporated, a premeditated intention of some day
contesting the legitimacy of his offspring, and consequently
their right to the throne.
With regard to the cardinals who had declined to be

DISGRACE OF THE CARDINALS 407
present at the marriage, they were arrested two days after
wards, and together with an order to leave for various towns
in the interior, they were forbidden to don the outward
signs of their dignity, and enjoined to be always clothed in
black. Their property was sequestrated, and the stipend
which they had enjoyed up to that date ceased to be paid to
them. In lieu of it they were offered two hundred and fifty
francs per month, as a dole, which was to be paid to them
at their place of exile. Two of them only accepted this
offer; the others lived by means of collections taken up
secretly on their behalf.
The absence of the cardinals was the only cloud which
darkened the magnificent day which saw the accomplishment
in all its pomp of Marie-Louise's marriage. The whole of
it was taken up with the most brilliant and varied scenes.
First came a kind of public presentation of his consort by
Napoleon to his people and to his army, by leading her on
to the balcony situated in the centre of the chateau of the
Tuileries, where she was greeted simultaneously with the
cheers of an immense throng of citizens and with those of
the Imperial Guard which marched past at her feet. Then
followed an Imperial banquet in the room generally used
for theatricals, which was converted into a banqueting hall;
next, a concert given in an immense amphitheatre erected
between the gardens and the chateau, and lastly a display
of fireworks, the magnificence of which was on a scale with
the immensity of the preparations made for it several weeks
previous, and which embraced all public buildings, in every
section of the city.
I cannot refrain from giving a place amid these imposing
scenes to an incident to which chance gave a most piquant
character. It was difficult to ascertain where and when the
persons who had been present at the wedding ceremony, and
who did not wish to miss a single part of the programme,

408 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
could dine. M. Regnaud, the president of the Committee of
the Interior in the Council of State, had foreseen this diffi
culty, and, in order to overcome it, had caused a very fair
dinner to be brought into the chateau. He had the tables
laid in his committee room, and all the members were
invited to partake of it.
We were already at table, when M. de Metternich came
by, as he was promenading with several members of the
Austrian embassy in an open gallery situated between our
room and the garden. He appeared to have resigned him
self in a somewhat melancholic fashion to the fact that he
was not to get any dinner that day, when M. Regnaud most
courteously invited him to join us. He made no difficulty
in accepting the invitation, and it thus happened that on so
memorable a day we were the only persons to whom it fell
to take charge of the foreigner who was most entitled to
consideration, to wit, Austria's Prime Minister, the man
who, to put it plainly, was henceforth destined to play so
important a part on so many occasions. During the whole
of the repast, he was in the best of spirits, and, as he was
about to rise from the table, he filled his glass, and advanc
ing to a window opening out on the gallery which alone
separated us from the concourse of people which filled the
garden, drank aloud to the health of the King of Rome.
This toast of good omen was welcomed with the most
lively and demonstrative exclamations of joy. Almost at
this very moment, Prince Kourakine, the Russian ambassa
dor, accompanied by some of his suite, and who also seemed
to have renounced all hope of getting any dinner, passed
by. The remains of our dinner were hardly fit to be offered
to any one ; still, they were got together, and, such as they
were, we placed them at his disposal. Our previous guests
surrendered their seats to our new ones, who hurriedly
made the best dinner they could from what had been left by

EXPLANATIONS GIVEN. TO RUSSIA 409
those whose hunger had been appeased. This somewhat
strange scene bore unfortunately a striking analogy to the
respective situations of the ambassadors who had in succes
sion partaken of our hospitality.
Two months earlier, the ambassador of Russia, who had
just shown himself content to accept the leavings of the
ambassador of Austria, took precedence of him everywhere ;
every honor, every mark of consideration had been his, as
being the only ally and real friend of France. A private
box in the first rank was reserved to him at all Court enter
tainments, and every means of pleasing him and showing
him attention was exhausted in his favor. How different
it was now ! The ambassador of Austria, at whom one then
looked askance, had become the family ambassador, and
enjoyed all the privileges of such a position, and all were
eager to render his position more agreeable and more
brilliant. Small consideration had been shown to the justly outraged
feelings of the Russian Court. Negotiations had been
entered into in other directions, ere its reply had been
learnt, and it was two days after the receipt of a favor
able one that the preference given to an Austrian arch
duchess was made public. As it ever happens, the Emperor
Napoleon, in order to palliate the wrongs which were on
his side, did not hesitate to impute others to the sovereign
with whom he was breaking off. The letter which his
Minister of Foreign Affairs, M. de Champagny, wrote on
the subject to M. de Caulaincourt, affords curious reading
now-a-days. The Minister, when informing the ambassador
that the extraordinary council which met on the night
between the 6th and the 7th, had voted almost unanimously
that the Emperor should marry the archduchess, was care
ful to give the reasons for such a decision being reached,
and, among those presented as having caused him to renounce

410 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
the hand of the grand-duchess, was the allegation that the
Emperor felt offended at the little eagerness shown by
Russia, especially when he compared it with that shown by
Austria.1 " What ! " exclaims M. de Champagny, " the Emperor of
Russia receives the overture made to him of placing the
youngest of his sisters on the greatest throne in the world,
by giving her as a husband the man who is the cynosure of
the world, the man whom it would be as difficult as it is
useless to characterize, and yet repeated delays seem to
have been sought, in order to avoid giving an answer ! Was
not each and every postponement offensive, when it kept in
suspense the fulfilling of the expectations of forty millions
of men, and the happiness of the chief of the Empire and
of the arbiter of Europe ? Delays, under such circumstances,
may be justly held as worse than a refusal."
As to the deference which it was begged should be paid
to the religion of the grand-duchess, it was also dealt with
in this letter as raising the most serious questions. M. de
Champagny wrote on this point that "the clause having
reference to the Greek priest, who was to be allowed to
exercise his sacerdotal functions in the very palace of
France's sovereign, was to be looked upon as implying an
inferiority which was likely to offend the French nation."
It is hard to understand how this could be. He even went
so far as to characterize as a serious obstacle, the difference
existing between the Greek and the Gregorian calendar, and
he labored to make it appear that troublesome consequences
would arise therefrom. The best reason which could doubt
less have been adduced to explain the preference granted to
an Austrian over a Russian princess, would have been the
youth of the latter. She was only fifteen years of age, and
1 This comparison is taken from another letter.

EXPLANATIONS GIVEN TO RUSSIA 411
had only been marriageable a very short time. The hope of
her quickly bearing children was therefore more remote
than in the case of the archduchess, who had already
attained her eighteenth year.
The ultimate result of thus bringing to an end a matter
in which self-love naturally played an important part, was
to create a bitter feeling, the principal and probably most
fatal consequence of which was that Napoleon, judging the
feelings of others by his own, must have been led to sup
pose that Alexander's mind harbored a resentment which
he himself would have experienced more than any other
man, and this conviction exercised from that day a great
influence on his policy.

CHAPTER XVI
Suffering endured by Holland consequent upon the continental blockade —
Appointment of a commission of investigation presided over by M. Pas
quier — M. de Labouchere sent to London on the secret initiative of
King Louis, with the object of bringing about a general peace — A like
attempt made by M. Fouche", with M. Ouvrard as agent — Complete
failure of these overtures to the British Cabinet — These proceedings,
taken unknown to the Emperor, arouse his anger — M. Ouvrard
arrested, and M. Fouche" sent to Rome as Governor, his place as Minister
of Police being taken by the Due de Rovigo — M. d'Hauterive's report
on this intrigue — M. de Labouchere called to Paris by the Emperor — The
King of Holland's version of this attempted negotiation — A pen-portrait
of Louis Bonaparte — His faults and qualities — Queen Hortense— A
conflict of policy between Louis and Napoleon — M. Decazes attached
to the cabinet of Madame mere — Amsterdam occupied by French
troops — King Louis's indignation at this— His abdication and final
departure — Holland united to the French Empire — Napoleon's charac
teristic speech to the son of King Louis — Personal characteristics of
the Bonapartes — Lucien, Prince of Canino — Joseph Bonaparte —
Je'rome Bonaparte — Napoleon's three sisters: Elisa, Pauline, and Caro
line — M. Fouche" again incurs disgrace — M. de Las Cases and M.
Fievee iu the Council of State — Details regarding the appointment of
M. Pasquier as Prefect of Police.
Holland had suffered more than any other of the states
which had cause to complain of the hardships of the con
tinental blockade. Its expostulations, its desire of being
freed from a legislation ruinous to it found vent in popular
riots which became daily more difficult to repress. The
Emperor, when determining upon a journey through the
Belgian and Dutch provinces, in company with the Empress,
secretly entertained a wish to judge for himself the state of
the public mind, and to see what were the steps necessary
412

M. PASQUIER PRESIDES OVER A COMMISSION 413
to keep in force measures which he would not renounce.
On the 15th of May, he issued an ordinance dated from the
chateau of Laeken, by which he created a commission com
prising eight members selected from among the men best
informed with regard to the administration and the interests
of the country. This commission, over which it fell to my
lot to preside, was to meet in Paris.
It was more especially instructed to supply such informa
tion as might be required by the ministers, as to measures
relating to the establishment of taxes on landed property,
the paying off of the debts of cities, the determining of
their expenditure and revenues adjusting Customs' regula
tions with the requirements of shipping and other interests of
the country, and to all measures likely to do away with all
friction between the authorities and the interests while
passing from the old to the new system of administration.
The commission was free to present any suggestions it
should see fit regarding the subject matter, and was to
remain in session until the final organization for the year
1811 was decided upon and promulgated. So great a con
sideration was not what one had been accustomed to, and
the reference to the Customs had been inserted with no
other object than to calm a feeling of alarm, the strength of
which required taking into consideration.
The selection of the members of the commission had been
an excellent one. They were all enlightened men and were
looked up to in their own country. I took all possible care
to assist them in their enquiries, and to give them every
information they stood in need of, and I was soon able to
observe how much the spirit of the Dutch nation, a nation
most industrious, and which seriously applies itself to busi
ness matters, is so eminently qualified for it. No useless
and troublesome chicanery was to be expected from such
intelligent and sincere men. They always went straight to

414 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
the fact, endeavored to overcome obstacles, and to devise a
mitigation of the evil of which they could not entirely get
rid, but they never became angered at the obstacles which
they considered could not be surmounted, and strove
patiently to make the best of an evidently bad situation.
In those extraordinary times, it was possible, without
leaving Paris, to study the characteristics of several nations,
and to grasp their varied idiosyncrasies ; for, with the excep
tion of England, all European countries having important
business to transact or important interests to defend in
the capital of the French Empire, took care to send thither
their most able men.
The Council of State would of itself have sufficed to
enable one to indulge in such a study, for the ever-increasing
extent of the Empire daily brought us new colleagues, and
there was a great difference between the manners, customs,
and trend of ideas of a bourgeois of the Hanse Towns and
those of a subject of the Pope, of a Roman, or of a Floren
tine. The commissioners and myself were constantly engaged
during the whole month of June with the work entrusted to
us. We had some hopes that a certain benefit would be
derived from it, when, in the first days of July, serious
events came to interrupt our labors.
More than ever was peace prayed for in France. The
obstacle, which above all others prevented this, prayer being
heard, was England. Was there then no way of conquering
its stubbornness? The Emperor could see none other than
the most rigorous enforcement of his continental system.
Many others there were who thought that cleverly con
ducted negotiations might convince a cabinet, which had
previously given its consent to the Treaty of Amiens, that
the present state of affairs was far more serious than that
existing in 1802, and that, if there still remained ways

ENGLAND AN OBSTACLE TO PEACE 415
of raising obstacles in Napoleon's path, the undertaking
was nevertheless a more difficult and hazardous one than
ever. Among those whose thoughts were occupied with
this question, and whose opinion was of the greatest weight,
were M. de Talleyrand and M. Fouche. But M. de Talley
rand had learnt to be prudent, and, if he took a part in the
proceedings into which his impetuous colleague entered,
nothing to this effect has ever been proven. Both men had
a powerful auxiliary in the King of Holland, who was per
suaded that it was the intention of his brother to make
him, in a very short time, descend from the throne on which
he had seated him, and to unite the whole of Holland to his
empire. Peace with England could alone avert this unfor
tunate contingency. King Louis felt sure, and with cause,
that the British cabinet had reason to fear above all, that
the whole of the Dutch shore-line might pass under the
direct sway of France. He therefore determined upon let
ting England know that such a danger was imminent, and
that there was no other way of escaping it except by a
speedy and general peace, or at least by sincere overtures
for negotiations.
It was in the last days of January, 1810. King Louis,
much against his will, was detained in Paris, and more than
ever worried by the exigencies of Napoleon. He deter
mined to send to his ministers in Holland an order to select
an able and discreet man, one who could safely be depended
upon, and to send him at once to London with instructions
based on the considerations I have just explained. Their
choice fell upon M. de Labouchere, a partner in the firm of
Hope, a Frenchman by birth and eminently qualified to
well carry out such a mission.
M. de Labouchere went to London, and had a talk with
the Marquis of Wellesley, the Minister of Foreign Affairs;
but in spite of the favorable dispositions shown him in the

416 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
first instance, he was not long in discovering that the British
cabinet was in no wise disposed to be the first to deviate from
the measures adopted in the struggle of the continental
blockade ; that, moreover, it did not see any great difference
between a formally declared union of Holland to the French
Empire, and the state of suzerainty into which it had fallen
by passing under the rule of a brother of the Emperor.
M. de Labouchere promptly informed those who had de
spatched him of this sorry result, and shortly afterwards
made his way back to Holland.
During the same period, M. Fouche was making a similar
attempt, but through a much less happily chosen agent.
M. Ouvrard, who was still joining issue with the Emperor,
with regard to the suits being pressed against him to re
cover from him the Treasury funds which he had lost
in speculations during the Austerlitz campaign, had just
been released from the prison of Sainte-Pelagie, where he
had been momentarily confined, pursuant to a decree which
declared him to be indebted to the state for several millions.
As he was desirous of making a trip to Holland, in order,
so he said, to settle his accounts with the banking firm of
Hope, he applied to M. Fouche for a passport. The letter
granted it on condition that he would undertake negotiations
for peace with England. Such is at any rate the story told
by M. Ouvrard in his Memoirs. But I have reason to
believe that he was thrown in M. Fouche's way by M. de
Talleyrand, with whom he had for a long time past had
dealings in connection with speculations on 'Change. How
ever this may be, M. Ouvrard positively asserts that he
merely consented to try and " discover whether the state of
mind in England would allow the entertaining of any hope
of negotiating a peace." So he left Paris, but did not get
any further than one of the Dutch ports, where he met
M. de Labouchere, who was returning from England. He

M. FOUCHE AND M. OUVRARD 417
soon learned of the unsuccessful endeavors of this negotia
tor, whose secrets he in part obtained by entrusting him
with his own, and he wisely resolved upon returning to
Amsterdam. M. Fouche had at the time another agent in London. He
was an English colonel, a prisoner of war whom he had
restored to liberty, on condition that he would serve him.
M. Ouvrard does not mention this agent. He merely states
that he found a way of entering into a correspondence with
the Marquis of Wellesley from Amsterdam, and that the
intermediary in this case was, in London, the banking house
of Mr. Francis Baring. The documents which reached him
from this source were, he goes on to say, at once transmitted
to M. Fouche, and, if he is to be believed, it would not have
been a difficult matter, according to the tenor of these docu
ments, to reach a basis of negotiation which would not have
differed greatly from one resting on the uti possidetis
formula. It is probable that M. Fouche shared this confi
dence, for he thereupon proposed to M. de Labouchere to
return to London. M. de Labouchere declined, convinced as
he was that there was then nothing to do. The Emperor
had thereupon reached Belgium, and it was there that he
learnt for the first time of the steps whieh had been taken
unknown to him.
The King of Holland, undismayed by the failure of M. de
Labouchere's attempts, took advantage of the presence of
his brother in Antwerp, and ventured to confide to him what
he had undertaken, what was still being done in the matter,
and tried by all possible means to convince him that, this
door still remaining open, it was to his interest not to allow
it to close ; that on the contrary, he should take advantage
bf it to definitely set on foot a negotiation from which the
best of results were to be expected.
There is no doubt that King Louis had acted most

418 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
thoughtlessly and that he strangely misunderstood Napo
leon's character, although he must have been pretty well
acquainted with it. However this may be, great was the
Emperor's fury as soon as he became aware that anybody
had been found audacious enough to interfere in a matter
of such paramount importance without any orders from
himself, and that none had feared exposing him to seeing
rejected with contempt overtures to which it would never
be believed he was a total stranger. During the whole of
the remainder of his journey, his mind was filled with the
painful discovery he had just made and with the care of
collecting every fact likely to throw fresh light on it. On
reaching Saint-Cloud, he commanded M. Fouche to deliver
to him all the documents transmitted by M. Ouvrard, and
then handed them over, together with those already in his
possession, to M. d'Hauterive, Councillor of State and the
custodian of the foreign archives, ordering him to examine
them minutely, and to present to him in the shortest possi
ble time a report on the conduct of the persons who had
had a share in the intrigue.
Without waiting for this report, he did not hesitate in
making M. Fouche" feel the full weight of his discontent,
on the occasion bf the first council held at Saint-Cloud.
Among other rebukes with which he overwhelmed him, the
one particularly noticed was that he had come to an under
standing with M. de Talleyrand towards the carrying out of
these guilty manoeuvres. Then adding irony to rebuke:
"You think yourself very deep," he said, "but in truth you
are nothing of the kind; it is Talleyrand who is deep, and
on this occasion he has made sport of you as he would of a
child. You have been nothing but his tool." M. Fouche"
did not flinch from taking all the blame upon his shoulders,
and declared that he had been solely inspired by his ardent
desire to be of use to the Emperor and to his country, and

M. FOUCHE ONCE MORE IN DISGRACE 419
by the conviction that he could render them the greatest of
services. While the council was in session, the Due de
Rovigo, aide-de-camp to the Emperor, and in command of
the picked corps of gendarmerie, was ordered to arrest M.
Ouvrard, who it was known had returned to Paris a few
days before. In order to lay hands on him, a proposition
was made to Mme. Hamelin, an intriguing woman of easy
virtue, with whom both men were intimate, that she should
arrange for a meeting at her house, under the pretence of
settling the differences which had arisen between General
Rapp and his wife, a daughter of M. Vanderberg, a former
partner of M. Ouvrard. The latter allowed himself to be
thus entrapped, and he had hardly entered Mme. Hamelin's
residence, when he was surrounded by gendarmes who con
ducted him to the Abbaye. On the following day M. de
Rovigo was appointed Minister of Police, and M. Fouche,
Due d'Otrante, Governor of Rome.
The Emperor had shown much hesitation concerning the
selection of this new minister, and M. de Semonville had
had cause to believe he had the preference. It was even
known that having come to Saint-Cloud to dine with M.
Maret, who showed activity in pressing his claims to the
position, he had, in the expectation of being sworn in
before the day was over, brought his senator's uniform with
him. But Napoleon's resolutions had changed in the course
of the morning. He had sent for the Due de Rovigo and
had announced his appointment to him, at the same time
forbidding him to breathe it to anybody. He too dined
on that day with the Secretary of State, where he met M. de
Semonville. The same evening it became the unpleasant
duty of M. Maret to draw up the decree which ignored his
friend, and it was the Due de Rovigo who was sworn in in
his stead. Napoleon had evidently dreaded the sharpness
and the wily ways of M. de Semonville, whom he had learnt

420 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
to know of old. He had feared to find in him a minister
whom he would, under other circumstances, have to distrust
almost as much as M. Fouche", and wanting as he did a man
who on all occasions would be nothing but a docile instru
ment, he had settled upon the aide-de-camp of whose fidelity
he had had repeated proofs.
When the selection became known, great was everybody's
astonishment. The Due de Rovigo was generally looked
upon as ever ready to carry out the wishes of his master on
the merest hint, however hard they might be in their results.
People whispered that such a master would have needed, on
the contrary, to find in the man called upon to render ser
vices of such a nature as those demanded of the Minister of
Police, dispositions which would incline him to moderation.
M. d'Hauterive was soon ready with the report expected
of him. He conclusively established that the measures
taken by M. Ouvrard, in pursuance of M. Fouche's orders,
revealed the worst form of imprudence, and one which might
entail for the man who had been guilty of it the loss of all
confidence, might in all justice be looked upon as criminal,
in case there should appear the slightest semblance of bad
intentions. He declared at the same time that it had been
impossible for him to discover such a semblance, adding that
nothing had indicated to him, in a way worthy of the
slightest belief, that M. de Talleyrand had connived at the
matter with the Minister of Police. In coming to such a
conclusion, he had evidently spoken merely from the docu
ments submitted to his examination, and had set aside what
he knew personally, for I have it from his own lips, that a
few days previously he had seen in the hands of M. de
Talleyrand one of the documents, which M. Fouche had
since been compelled to deliver to the Emperor. The latter
was so little pleased with M. d'Hauterive's report, that his
discontent broke forth as the latter was reading it to him,

THE DUC DE ROVIGO MINISTER OF POLICE 421
and that he tore the paper from his hands telling him that
it was no use continuing, and that he had not understood
anything about the matter.
If M. d'Hauterive is to be believed, for I have all these
particulars from himself, he showed on this occasion more
firmness than usually credited to him. He insisted on being
listened to, took back his report, and continued reading it.
Finally, Napoleon calmed down, and seeing full well that it
would be impossible for him to obtain any more light on the
matter, gave vent to his anger against M. Ouvrard, declaring
that now that he had him under lock and key he would so
keep him for a long while. "This scoundrel," he added,
"has already cost me two ministers." The regret thus
expressed might be sincere in so far as M. de Marbois was
concerned, whom he had been compelled to dismiss for all
his unfortunate financial combinations during the Austerlitz
campaign,1 but it could certainly not be so as regards
M. Fouche, of whom for over a year past he had wished to
rid himself,2 and against whom he entertained strong feel
ings of resentment.

1 M. de Marbois, the Minister of the Treasury during the Austerlitz
campaign, had been deceived to such a degree, and knew so little in regard
to the state of his affairs, that I have it from his successor, M. Mollien,
that the statement of them such as he received it bore the name of M.
Ouvrard as indebted to the Treasury for a sum of forty millions. The
commission appointed to look into this particular account found that this
indebtedness amounted to sixty millions, an amount which M. Ouvrard
did not repudiate ; but M. Mollien, on having himself looked at the figures
and checked them, increased the amount of the debt to over one hundred
millions, to one hundred and thirty millions, if I am not mistaken. Nor
did M. Ouvrard take exception to this amount.
2 M. d'Hauterive likewise told me that on leaving the Emperor's
closet after that scene, with M. de Champagny, who had been a spectator
of it, he could not help saying to him : " Great heavens! What a man your
Emperor is! The honor of working with him is pretty dearly bought! "
" You are hard to please," replied M. de Champagny, " if you are not satis
fied with the way in which things passed off. In our case, the beginnings
are often as bad, and it is seldom that matters end so well."

422 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
While this investigation was being proceeded with as to
M. Ouvrard, the Emperor caused a letter to be written sum
moning M. de Labouchere to his presence, as he was desir
ous of having him clear up certain matters of which he
alone was cognizant. Moreover, I was told by M. de
Labouchere, that the King of Holland, when notifying him
of Napoleon's commands, gave him full liberty in regard to
obeying them, pointing out to him that a journey to Paris
under such circumstances might not be unattended with
danger, and that perchance it might end in his being con
fined in the chateau of Vincennes, from which he, although
king, and in spite of the protection he owed his subjects,
would have no power to release him.
It is rather difficult to reconcile this warning with the
passage of his Memoirs where King Louis asserts that in
February he had opened the negotiation with which M. de
Labouchere had been entrusted only by the express com
mands of Napoleon, who had been desirous of trying this
indirect way. M. de Labouchere has told me positively
that this allegation was at variance with the truth, and that
his trip to England had been undertaken without the
Emperor's knowledge. If indeed the assertion of King
Louis is accurate, how could he have feared for the safety
of the man who had done nothing but execute a plan thus
conceived? What opinion then could he hold of his
brother, if he could anticipate so odious an outrage?
M. de Labouchere, strong in the knowledge of his inno
cence, did not allow himself to be intimidated, went to
Paris, and immediately upon his arrival called upon M. de
Champagny, and had a long talk with this minister, when
he held back nothing of what he had been entrusted with
and of what he had had occasion to do and say. The
Emperor, on his side, on receiving an account of this con
versation, recognized that M. de Labouchere in merely exe-

CHARACTER OF LOUIS BONAPARTE 423'
cuting the orders of his sovereign, was completely blameless,
and M. de Champagny received orders to treat him with
every consideration and even with distinction.
This is the time to state that an ever-growing misunder
standing had gone on between Napoleon and his brother
from the moment that the latter had ascended the throne,
and it was impossible that it should not sooner or later
bring about the most serious consequences. The character
of Louis Bonaparte is one of the oddities of the period, and
it deserves passing mention. The man possessed, it must
be admitted, some estimable qualities. In him were united
a sense of rectitude combined with sound morality, but he
was mistrustful and extremely touchy, and these elements
were increased by the sufferings inherent to a sickly
constitution. He had married Josephine's daughter, and
the naturally jealous bent of his mind soon led him to
conceive the most insulting suspicions concerning his wife,
which suspicions were soon justified by the far too easy
manners of the woman to whom he was mated. Violent
scenes repeatedly occurred between him and Hortense, and,
if there was anything which could make him insensible to
the misfortune of ascending a throne and attaining a posi
tion of which he foresaw all the bitter disadvantages, it was
the opportunity afforded him of removing his wife from the
far too loose Court of his brother and the hope that he
could, when in Holland, compel her to conform to a mode
of life more in harmony with his tastes and ideas.
He fared no better with royalty than with the married
state, his life being more taken up with its duties than with
its pleasures. He became Dutch, devoted himself to his
subjects, and defended their interests, heedless as to whether
he could do so with any chance of succeeding. Napoleon
had sent him to reign at Amsterdam in order to render it
sure that Holland would persistently remain obedient to his

424 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
will, and that his orders would be obeyed there as implicitly
as if the country formed one of his own provinces. King
Louis, on the other hand, sought to be an ally of France,
but an ally whose interests should be looked upon and
reckoned with as having an importance of their own. The
two brothers were bound to join issue in a very short while.
Napoleon waxed all the more wroth when he saw that his
brother made himself daily more agreeable and dearer to
the Dutch, whereas he, as a natural consequence, was becom
ing more and more disliked by them.
The documents relating to this untoward wrangling be
tween the two brothers, and the particulars of it, as told in
the Memoirs of the King of Holland, deserve to be read.
On being called to Paris towards the end of 1809, the King
had yielded only with the greatest repugnance to an invita
tion which resembled a command. He was fully alive to
the unpleasantness in store for him, and to the abuse he
would have to endure. His firmness was sorely tried. The
negotiation between himself and Napoleon was not a mere
diplomatic discussion, it was a family affair, and it assumed
all the bitterness inherent to domestic dissensions. Madame
mire oftentimes interposed between her two sons, and it
was in this connection that there appeared on the scene of
politics for the first time, a man who since then has often
played a brilliant part in it. It was M. Decazes, who,
attached to the cabinet of Madame, had more than once
been sent by her to Holland to deliver oral messages to the
King, and his success in the exercises of his missions had
obtained for him the appointment of private secretary to
that sovereign. It would appear that he succeeded in mak
ing himself useful and agreeable to both parties. In the
end, the unfortunate Louis was compelled to subscribe to
the treaty which deprived him of a portion of his states,
and by which, he bound himself to maintain a French gar-

ABDICATION OF THE KING OF HOLLAND 425
rison in the part which he was permitted to retain, which
garrison was to see that he remained faithful to the engage
ment he had entered into of preventing all commercial
intercourse between Holland and England. Now, it was
impossible to carry this out, especially if it was pretended
to execute it in all its severity.
King Louis had flattered himself, at any rate so he claims,
though one can hardly see why, that extreme measures
would be avoided. It turned out to the contrary. The
French troops which had entered the kingdom to defend it
at the time of the English invasion, not only showed no
hurry to evacuate it, but tightened their circle more and
more about the capital, which, so to speak, they invested,
and into which it was daily expected to see them enter. An
army of French coastguards likewise co-operated in this
blockade. The ambassador's place was taken by a simple chargi
d'affaires. The King of Holland received from his brother
a letter in which were the following sentences r " I will no
longer have a Dutch ambassador in Paris, I will not let you
send a minister to Austria. Neither will I allow you to dis
miss Frenchmen at present in your employ. I do not want
any more of your stock phrases. You have satiated me
with them for the past three years, and every hour shows
me their emptiness. This is the last letter of my life to you."
At last, as King Louis, in this, faithful to his engage
ments, was at Haarlem, busy looking after the preparations,
which he was at that time making against England, and the
armament of the fleet, which, according to the terms of the
treaty just concluded he was bound to equip, he heard of
the demand made by the commander of the French troops to
occupy Amsterdam. His indignation knew no bounds, and,
if he is to be credited, his first impulse was to defend his
capital to the last extremity. But when he saw that there

426 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
was not the slightest hope of his rash resolve receiving any
support, he determined upon abdicating, and of putting his
son in his place. He then took his departure during the
night of the 1st of July, en route for Austria, and went to
take the waters at Toplitz in Bohemia. His behavior on
this occasion was, it must be admitted, generous and dis
interested. Previous to leaving, he sold a small estate
which he owned near Utrecht, and carried away with a sum
of 10,000 francs in gold only a few diamonds which were
his own. He left, in order to meet the most pressing needs
of the regency, the untouched revenues for the month of
June. The Queen, his consort, was then in France, at the
baths of Plombieres. She never went back to him.
Napoleon's mind was soon made up. He sent an aide-de
camp to Holland to bring to him the young prince, his
nephew, created him Grand-Duke of Berg, and deprived him
definitely of the kingdom of Holland, which he added by a
decree to the French Empire. Sufficient notice has not been
taken of the admonition he addressed to the child when he
was brought into his presence at Saint-Cloud, and which the
Moniteur did not fail to publish : " You are never to forget,
in whatever position you may be placed by my policy and
the interests of my empire, that your first duty is to me,
your next, to France. Every other kind of duties, even
those towards the people whom I might entrust to your care,
come afterwards." These words, spoken to the son, em
bodied the explanation of and the commentary on the line
of conduct which he had pursued with the father, but they
likewise embodied the latter's fullest justification. Louis
protested from Toplitz, where he still was, against the act
which despoiled his son. Shortly afterwards he personally
handed this protest to the Emperor of Austria, saw that it
came to the notice of the Emperor of Russia, and finally
sent it to the French Senate.

NAPOLEON'S BROTHERS AND SISTERS 427
In spite of the vigor and defiance shown by such action,
every possible means was resorted to to induce him to
re-enter French territory and there take up his abode.
The French ambassador in Vienna, M. Otto, who received
orders to even give a threatening color to these requests,
informed him in writing, and in the Emperor's name, that,
as a French prince and a high dignitary of the Empire, he
was to return to France at latest by the coming 1st of
December, under penalty of being considered as violating
the constitution of the Empire, and being dealt with accord
ingly. M. Decazes was twice sent to him to obtain from
him by the use of gentler methods, the submission which
his brother so earnestly desired. It was all in vain. He
dared threats and remained obdurate to all entreaties.
Meanwhile he was reduced to the greatest isolation. The
persons who had accompanied him on his departure from
Holland left him one after the other; he was ill and alone
at Gratz in Styria, when he rejected for the last time the
propositions brought to him by M. Decazes. The Bona
partes, it must be admitted, were of no common mould;
their good qualities and their defects, their vices and their
virtues are not to be measured by the ordinary standards,
and bear the stamp of characteristics peculiarly their own.
What especially distinguishes them is an obstinacy of will,
and an inflexibility of purpose.
The Emperor had four brothers and three sisters. That
indomitable stubbornness just referred to had already
removed from his controlling power two of his brothers.
The one known as Lucien, and afterwards as Prince de
Canino, a title given to him by the Pope, had a fiery soul.
He was ambitious and greedily fond of money. Public
affairs had all the more attraction for him, in that he had
played an important part in them on the 18th Brumaire,
and he could lay the flattering unction to himself that his

428 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
firmness on that day so fraught with peril, had greatly con
tributed to its success. He deserted the Court at the time
his brother reached the summit of grandeur, and when he
was in a position to promise the highest destinies to all the
members of his family. On his becoming a widower, it
was impossible to cause him to renounce his matrimonial
views with a divorcie,, who had been his mistress for some
time past, and, sooner than yield, he went into a voluntary
exile from which he was not to return until after many
trials, which finally led him to England, at the time of
the misfortunes of 1815. During his stay in Italy, he
seemed to make it a point of honor of showing his loyalty
and devotion to the Pontifical Government, whose subject
he had become.
Joseph, the eldest of the family, had ascended the throne
of Spain after having occupied that of Naples. Witty,
voluptuous, effeminate although courageous, nothing in his
incredible fortunes was to him a cause for surprise. I
heard him, in January, 1814, make the extraordinary claim
that if his brother had not interfered with his affairs, after
his second entry into Madrid, he would be still governing
Spain. This is explained by another striking trait of the
character of the Bonapartes. No sooner had they set their
feet on the path leading to royal honors, than those most
intimate with them were never to see them for a single
instant belie the seriousness with which they took the
highest positions; they even ended in believing that they
had been called to them as a matter of course. They had
the instinct of their greatness. Joseph displays, at the
very outset of the elevation of his brother, such impatience
to see himself in possession of a rank worthy of him, that
Napoleon was wont to say laughingly: "I do believe that
Joseph is sometimes tempted to think that I have robbed
my eldest brother of the inheritance of the King our father."

NAPOLEON'S BROTHERS AND SISTERS 429
As regards Jerome, his brother had, at the time he left
college, already made great strides towards omnipotence;
consequently, he considered himself born on the steps of
the throne. This illusion was sufficient to give him in a
large measure the faults which are too often the result of
the way in which princes are educated. He had hardly
more than the time necessary for him to become notorious
by the extraordinary audacity of his fits of debauchery, and
he still managed to preserve attached to his fortunes and to
his person the princess with whom fate had mated him.
Of the three sisters, the eldest almost reigned in Tuscany
under the title of grand-duchess. She made herself beloved
there, and this fortunate province owed to her a gentle treat
ment denied all other countries then united with France.
She has left a pleasant memory behind her, in spite of the
irregularities of her private life, which she did not take
sufficient care to conceal. The Princess Pauline, wife of
Prince Borghese, was perhaps the most beautiful woman of
her time, and she hardly dreamt of giving prominence to
any other advantage than this one. She had been to Santo
Domingo with her first husband, General Leclerc. The
sun of the tropics had, they do say, been astonished at the
ardor of her dissipation. The fatigue consequent upon
such an existence shattered her health, and for a long time
she was carried about in a litter. In spite of her poor
health, she was none the less beautiful.
It remains for me to speak of Caroline, the wife of Murat,
and Queen of Naples, who bore a great resemblance to the
Emperor. Less beautiful than Pauline, although endowed
with more seductive charms, she possessed the art, without
being any more scrupulous than her sisters, of showing a
greater respect for the proprieties; besides, all her tastes
vanished in presence of her ambition. She had found the
Naples crown somewhat too small for her head, and greatly

430 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
coveted the Spanish one, but in the end she became resigned
to her fate, and wore with good grace the one which had
fallen to her lot; it may even be said that she did so with
no little amount of dignity. She was insane enough to
believe that her fortune could withstand the catastrophe
which swept away that of Napoleon. In that extraordinary
race, the most sacred engagements, the deepest affections
went for nothing as soon as political combinations seemed
to advise it; nevertheless, each one of its members pos
sessed to the highest degree the family spirit. Caroline
took a hand in bringing about the downfall of her brother
to whom she owed all her grandeur. It is perhaps she who
dealt him the final blow.
There can exist no doubt that the resentment harbored by
Napoleon over the negotiations undertaken with England by
his brother, the King of Holland, was the principal cause
for the breaking off of their intercourse and of the impor
tant consequences which this rupture brought in its wake.
The disgrace of M. Fouche had been, at the outset, if not
masked, at least toned down by his appointment as Gover
nor of Rome, but it soon assumed a far graver character.
The Emperor ordered him to return all private letters
written by himself or dictated by him, and whieh had been
sent to him during the time of his two ministries. Fouche
refused to obey, or rather alleged that he had burnt them.
Such an allegation was not admissible, and the motives
governing it were readily understood.
As he had gone to live for a few days on his estate of
Pontcarre, near Paris, the Prince de Neufchatel, M. Real
and M. Dubois were sent there to renew the request and to
search for the letters. They returned without obtaining
anything from him; their search was also fruitless. Napo
leon's anger thereupon rose to the highest pitch, and yet,
such was his situation in regard to that man that he was

M. DE LAS CASES 431
compelled to confine his vengeance to recalling his appoint
ment as Governor of Rome, and to an order of exile, the
place of which was fixed at Aix in Provence, the chief town
of his senatorial district.
M. Fouche left at once with his family and with a rather
large following; but, changing unexpectedly the objective
point of his journey, he continued his road right into
Tuscany, in order to place himself under the protection of
the grand-duchess, who was under many obligations to him.
In a very short time, this place did not seem to afford
him a sufficiently secure asylum, and he resolved upon
embarking secretly on a ship that was to carry him to
America. In his fright, he left behind him his family and
his riches, but his determination was conquered by the
qualms of seasickness. He therefore had himself put
ashore, and shortly afterwards entered into a negotiation,
through the grand-duchess, which resulted in his returning
the correspondence he had persisted in declaring he had
burnt, and in return for this he obtained a sort of immunity
against any enquiry into the acts of his administration. He
thereupon considered it safe to return to Aix, where he
remained about two years. The determination he finally
came to was perhaps the wisest, for he was never troubled
thereafter, and, at a critical moment, he saw himself once
more called into the cabinet of the man between whom and
himself he had sought to place the ocean. We shall find
him more than once in our pathway, and his presence will
never cease being of ill omen.
During the course of the summer, we were to see two men
destined to acquire a certain celebrity join the Council of
State; the one was M. Fievee, and the other, M. de Las
Cases, who were appointed maltres des requites.
I had, a few years before, on his return from England,
known M. de Las Cases. At that time, he was the imigri

432 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
who held the most rabid views about everything which had
any connection with the Revolution. He went so far in
this respect, that his friends thought him crazy and consid
ered it their duty to advise him to show some little pru
dence. Then, as in the future, one could not help giving
him credit for the manner in which he had endured poverty
abroad, where he had lived by the sweat of his brow, and
published an historical work, known as the Atlas Lesage. I
do not know how his sentiments had of late entered on so
different a course, but he joined the Council after a two
years' service as Chamberlain.
M. Fievee, who first became known through some very
light literary work, and later, by a confinement in the
Temple, which secured to him connections outside France
with the party of Louis XVIII., had, on leaving prison,
made his peace with Bonaparte. Sent to England upon the
Treaty of Amiens, he had, on his return, published letters
on that country which must have afforded great pleasure to
the man who had defrayed the expenses of his journey, and
it was known that from that time a regular correspondence
had passed between him and the Emperor, and it- was
equally well known that this correspondence was pretty
well remunerated.
M.- Fievee, not having any independent means, and living
as he did by his pen, was liable to be influenced. His entry
into the Council produced a somewhat bad effect, and his
haughty, not to say arrogant demeanor, contributed much
towards turning against him, those who did not view his
presence with pleasure. It was said among us that we were
about to have in our midst an officious individual who would
jot down our every word, who would report it, and that the
sense of security, which, in spite of our varied opinions, had
always been felt by all of us, owing to the esprit de corps
which is so natural to men exercising the same functions,

M. FIEVEE 433
would be a thing of the past. As a result of this impres
sion, and without there being any concerted action in the
matter, each one of us was as distant as possible to M. Fievee,
and his position bade fair to be an unpleasant one ; but, this
did not happen after all, and he had greatly to thank me
for it. I possessed concerning him certain information
communicated to me by M. de La Valette, the Postmaster-
General. M. Fievee's correspondence with the Emperor
passed through his hands, and he had often had the oppor
tunity of taking cognizance of it. He told me that it was
not of the nature generally reputed ; that, so far from this
being the case, it often contained important and boldly
expressed truths, and that it was greatly to be desired that
many persons should speak to the Emperor in the way
M. Fievee wrote to him. I placed the most implicit confi
dence in M. de La Valette's veracity, and so, on the strength
of his testimony, I did not hesitate to welcome M. Fievee,
to whom I had never spoken, more warmly than did my
colleagues. In those days, I enjoyed no little credit in the Council of
State. Free from any of those personal responsibilities
which are ever so difficult to bear, I had plenty of work,
and that of a kind which was agreeable to me. The sub
jects taken up by the Council were generally full of attrac
tion for me. During the course of that year, they were of
a very important nature. In addition to the laws and
decrees I have already mentioned, we had had to prepare
the draft of a mining law, which gave rise to important and
most instructive discussions; then there was the organiza
tions of the Imperial courts of justice, and lastly, questions
which daily arose on various subjects.
I enjoyed as contented an existence as could be. I did
not aspire to anything, as I still believed that I was not
looked upon favorably by the Emperor, and I formed my

434 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
opinion as to this from his having taken from me the place
of procureur giniral du sceau. I also came to the conclu
sion that I would be suffered to remain quietly in the body
of the Council, and that I would not be detached from it, to
be sent on one of those distant missions, which were then so
frequent, and for whicli I had no liking whatever. It suited
me better to retain the honorable position I had reached,
and, as I was a member of the Committee of the Interior,
if there was anything that I might envy, it would have been
the presidency over that committee, when M. Regnaud
should give it up through fatigue, or to take possession of
a higher position. He had himself on several occasions
given me to understand that he did not think there was
anybody but myself able to fill his place. I was therefore
leading this pleasant existence, when I saw it change in the
most unexpected fashion, and one the farthest from my
thoughts. I have already told to what a degree the appointment of
the Due de Rovigo to the Ministry of Police had been badly
received, especially in Paris. The position of Prefect of
Police was occupied by M. Dubois, who had held it from the
first days of the consular regime; he was a man of small
intellect; he was not wicked, but had no settled principles
as to anything. Absolutism could not have found a more
docile and faithful instrument. Occupied exclusively with
the idea of retaining his position and of increasing his for
tune, he was not very scrupulous as to the choice of the
means liable to secure for him this twofold advantage. He
had emerged from the law office of a procureur, where he
had finished his education; his manners and ways were
common, not to say vulgar, and in his liaisons was reflected
the bad taste which characterized his entire personality.
He had recently married the daughter of a chambermaid,
with whom he was known to have lived for many years in

REMOVAL OF THE PREFECT OF POLICE 435
a most scandalous intimacy. This marriage had served to
increase the discredit in which he was held, and people
found it hard to understand how such a man could for so
long a time keep a position of such importance. The
explanation of it lies in the enmity whicli existed between
him and M. Fouche.
The Emperor, who lived in a constant state of distrust of
the latter, found it useful and convenient to keep in close
proximity to him, and at a post which afforded easy means
of watching his doings, the man who would most enjoy the
pleasure of finding him at fault. When M. Fouche was
dismissed, M. Dubois doubtless considered this occurrence
as fortunate for himself, but it was the cause of his down
fall. From the moment that Napoleon found in the Due
de Rovigo a minister whose loyalty was undoubted, the
prefect's supervision over that minister became totally use
less, and he consequently became all the more struck by
the unpleasant features connected with M. Dubois. He was
likewise under the impression that his removal from office
would give a happy and just satisfaction to the city of Paris,
and thus compensate for the fright caused by the appoint
ment of the Due de Rovigo.
In the midst of all this occurred the fire at a ball given
by the Austrian ambassador. The Emperor had been dis
satisfied, on this occasion, both with the work of the fire-
brigade, and with the absence of the Prefect of Police during
the whole of the night. The dismissal of M. Dubois was
thereupon resolved upon, but his successor had to be found.
Nearly all the members of the Council, whose means and
activity would have been able to cope with the difficulties
of the position, were already engaged in duties from which
it would have been unadvisable to take them. It was
requisite to have a man who understood Paris life, and
whose name ensured respect with the citizens.

436 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
The Emperor was desirous that the new Prefect of Police
should prove quite acceptable to the city of Paris. He cast
about for a long time, and assuredly his first thoughts did
not dwell upon me. I believe that M. Maret, between whom
and myself there was nevertheless no intercourse at the
time, had something to do with instilling such an idea into
his mind. M. de Cambaceres (so at any rate he himself
told me) was informed only at the last moment that my
name was being mentioned in connection with the post. As
for myself, I had not the slightest suspicion of what was
taking place.
The Court was at Fontainebleau, and I had gone thither
on Sunday, the 14th of October. I was walking in the
gallery, awaiting the passing of the Emperor on his way
to hear mass, when M. de Semonville said to me : " You are
Prefect of Police ! " My first impulse was to laugh at this,
but soon I was seized with trembling, on beginning to think
that after all it might be true. A moment later, M. de
Cambaceres, who went by in the Emperor's suite, notified
me that he wished to speak to me after mass, and indeed,
in the course of a short talk I had with him, he told me I
was about to be summoned to the Emperor's closet, to he
sworn in as Prefect of Police. I replied that I could not
accept such functions, that they in no wise suited me, and
that I should be completely out of place. Whereupon he
gave me to understand that to refuse such an appointment
would result in arousing with good cause the suspicions of
the Emperor as to my lack of zeal for his service, and to my
little attachment towards himself. He pointed out to me
that if I was not suited for the place, the Emperor would
soon find it out, and would make use of me in, a way more
in conformity with my tastes. He assured me, moreover,
that I was not to worry about the kind of service that would
be required of me. Everything of a strictly private and

M. PASQUIER SWORN IN 437
intimate nature, or of a kind which I would not care for,
would always be reserved for the Due de Rovigo.
To end the matter, he pleaded so successfully with me
that I entered the Emperor's closet, without having fully
made up my mind to refuse the appointment. I intended to
decide according to the turn the conversation would take.
There have been printed, since the Restoration, several pam
phlets the titles of which escape me, asserting that Napo
leon, wishing to put me to the test, had asked me, after
informing me of the new fate he had in store for me, how
I would act in case a prince of the House of Bourbon were
discovered in Paris, and whether I would have him arrested,
a question which I am alleged to have at once answered by
saying that I would do my duty. M. de Las Cases, improv
ing on this story, has given, in the second volume of the
Memorial de Sainte- Hiline, a somewhat lengthy account of
the incident. He not only makes the Emperor ask me if I
would cause the arrest of the Comte de Lille, in case he
should be discovered in Paris, but if I would find him
guilty, were I appointed a member of a commission to try
him. According to M. de Las Cases, I am represented as
having answered both points in the affirmative, and, more
over, in extraordinary terms ! It did not dawn on him that
this odious fabrication degraded his hero as much as it
insulted me. Never did any allegation have less ground to
rest upon, and I absolutely deny the whole story.
Napoleon was alone, when I was shown into his closet,
and, to the end, there was no witness to our conversation.
Not only did he not subject me to any test, but he did not
even say a word that might cause me to think he wished to
do so. He himself set my mind at rest with regard to such
things as were likely to cause me to feel any qualms. I
pointed out to him that being foreign to the men and to the
intrigues of the Revolution, I was little fit for functions

438 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
which presupposed a thorough knowledge of such ante
cedents. Just as M. de Cambaceres had previously told me, he
answered that this would concern the Due de Rovigo, that
what he required and expected of me was to once more put
the prifecture de police on the footing of a magistrature, such
as it was at the time of Sartines and Lenoir. " You were
once in the magistracy yourself, " he went on to say, " and
it is my reason for selecting you. The man whose place
you are about to take has left you much to do in order to
reach this consummation, and much besides that must be
undone. You are to make a clean sweep of the present
police system. I will not refer to the dirty methods of
making money, which have disgraced M. Dubois. It would
be insulting you to put you on your guard against such
methods ; but, where the chief has shown so little delicacy,
it is fair to assume that his subalterns have fallen into the
habit of not letting a chance go by, and you will have to
keep a close watch on them. As for the rest, I place full
confidence in you, and I am sure you will ever be deserving
of such confidence."
It would have been difficult to hold back after listening
to words like these, uttered moreover by such a man, and
so, an hour later, I took the required oath. Moreover,
Napoleon was particularly anxious that it should become
known that it was as a magistrat that he had made choice
of me, and that he had determined upon converting the
prifecture de police into an actual magistrature, for so he told
several persons in the course of the day, among others,
M. Mollien and M. Daru, who more than once have repeated
it to me.

ETIENNE-DENIS BARON PASQUIER
Gouncillot of&tate, 5t>tefect ofSEoltce

CHAPTER XVII
The new Prefect of Police installed in office — Appointment, the same day,
of Cardinal Maury to the archbishopric of Paris — Pen-portrait of this
prelate — Constituent elements of the Superior Council of Police — M.
Frochot, the Prefect of the Seine — A tour of inspection through the
prisons — Two of the prisoners at Bicetre: M. Desol de Grisolles, a
former Chouan, and M. Nervagot, the precursor of false Dauphins —
A prison registrar who had kept his place at Saint-Lazare from the days
of the Terror — The Emperor's audiences: the grand lever and the petit
lever — Daily reports sent to the Emperor by the Minister and by the
Prefect of Police — Obstructions in the streets and boulevards of Paris
— The farming out of games of chance — The Emperor's five or six police
systems checking each other — The guard exercised by the police over
the Tuileries — Measures for the safety of the Emperor — The prying
into the secrecy of correspondence.
I was now Prefect of Police. This great change in my
condition surprised no one more than myself; nay, it did
more than surprise me, for it filled me with dread. The
most painful thoughts came uppermost in my mind. Still,
I received much encouragement, for everybody was glad to
see the police taken out of the hands of the man I had
succeeded. My ability might justly be put in doubt, but I
got full credit for my good intentions, and of the various
things liable to reconcile me to my fate, there was nothing
I could set greater store upon.
I did not disguise from myself that a few old social links
were about to snap. Friends, whose sentiments and opin
ions I had shared, would not forgive me for entering on so
close a footing with an order of things to which they had
not given their complete adhesion. There are in the life
of a public man few more painful circumstances than those
439

440 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
which bring such changes into his private relations. How'
ever, I did not experience too much cause for complaint;
for, with but few exceptions, I retained the friendships
which were dear to me. It was especially for my wife that
I dreaded society's marks of displeasure and disgust. I
also felt no little anxiety with regard to the impression
likely to be produced on her by this novel situation, so out
of the trend of her ideas. Her superior mind soon rose
above all secondary considerations. She thought only of
all the good she would be in a position to do, and the world,
which is not always unjust and ungrateful, soon did her
justice and gave her the place to which she was entitled.
I dined with the Minister of Police, the Due de Rovigo,
at the house of the Due de Bassano. I did not feel drawn
towards him, nor did he particularly care for me. During
the dinner, we exchanged the first words we had ever spoken
to each other. By him I was informed of the Emperor's
wish that I should be installed in office without delay.
This was to take place on the following day, at six o'clock
in the morning. I had to leave for Paris at once. I arrived
there at midnight, and at six, I met the Due de Rovigo at
the prefecture de police. M. Dubois was told that he must
hand over to me all the documents of the office. An hour
later he gave me all the keys belonging to the service, and
my work began. Men and things were equally unknown to
me, and I could not place any reliance on the information
supplied to me by my predecessor. He was in a disagree
able mood, and he plainly let me see that he was convinced
that I would never succeed in a line of business for which
I had so little preliminary training. Nevertheless, I showed
him all the courtesy I could reconcile with my duty.
I have always considered that it showed a want of delicacy
and a small mind to seek to puff oneself up at the expense
of the man whose successor one becomes. It is indeed nee-

M. PASQUIER INSTALLED IN OFFICE 441
essary to find out his mistakes, in order to avoid falling
into them, but it is always best to remain silent about them.
A few days were sufficient for me to reconnoitre the field,
and I soon acquired the happy conviction that the ensemble
of the personnel of the office was much better than I had
imagined. All the men who had made so sorry a mark
during the worst days of the Revolution, had already
resigned, and, if it had been possible for me to be ridded
of M. Veyrat, the inspector-general, and his son, two of the
worst rascals ever met with anywhere, I could have trusted
the rest of my staff. I soon learnt that it was useless for
me to indulge in such a hope, as this M. Veyrat was a
power, and that through his intimacy with Constant, the
Emperor's head valet, he was in the daily habit of sending
through him a report, the object of which was for purposes
of comparison with the one sent by the prefect. I could
not flatter myself that the Emperor would abandon for my
benefit a mode of surveillance which entered into his habits.
The clerical staff of the prefecture de police was good,
because its methods sprang from the days of the lieutenance
de police and from the municipal administration of the city ;
they had retained the good traditions, and also the old ways.
At the time of my arrival, there still remained some of the
employes who had served under M. Lenoir, among others,
one Henri, a valuable man, who showed great ability and
who was at the head of the detective branch. The employes
of the prefecture de police, differing greatly in this particular
from those of the prefecture of the Seine, were therefore not
of recent creation; hence, great was the difference existing
between them in the matter of acquirements, their manner
of carrying out their work, and even as regards scrupulous
honesty, for the disgraceful goings on during the time of
M. Dubois's incumbency must not, generally speaking, be
laid to the door of those employed in the offices; they are

442 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
almost invariably to be credited to the outdoor service, the
greater part of which was under M. Veyrat's control. It is
this branch of the service which gave me the most trouble,
and in spite of all that I did to improve and purify it, I had
not accomplished all I wished to do in that respect, when
the time came for me to relinquish my position.
On the day that I was appointed to the prifecture de
police, Cardinal Maury was appointed Archbishop of Paris,
Cardinal Fesch having positively refused to take charge of
that archdiocese. The new archbishop has created too great
a stir for me not to say something about him. He was as
happy at his elevation as I was unhappy at mine. I used
to meet him in the chateau of Fontainebleau, and I was on
every occasion annoyed by the boisterous expression of his
joy- He would constantly repeat the following sentence to me :
"The Emperor has just done justice to the two greatest
needs of his capital. With a good police and a good clergy
he can always rest assured of the public peace, for an arch
bishop is also a prefect of police." Such a juxtaposition
coming from archiepiscopal lips seemed to me in very bad
taste, but the fact is that in spite of his eminent intellect,
few men have shown less tact than he, and less of that
sentiment of the proprieties which is not to be dispensed
with when a man reaches the highest dignities, especially
those of the Church. Such as he showed himself in the
beginning, such he remained during the whole of the time
he occupied the Paris see. It cannot be said that he did
not do commendable things. His instructions to his flock
especially were nearly always conceived in an excellent
spirit. He knew full well what could, in those days, be
required from religious sentiment, and he did not seek to
obtain from it over and above what it could produce; but
his habits were common, nay, vulgar. His athletic build

CARDINAL MAURY 443
was of the kind which is only to be found in the lowliest
class of the population. His love of hearty living had
something vulgar about it, and in private conversation his
language was far too free, while his greed for money was
carried to a ridiculous degree. This last-named fault,
which, from time immemorial, had not been met with in
an Archbishop of Paris, could not fail to do him much
harm. His faculties had already become very weak. The ser
mons which he preached, his pastorals wherein praise of the
Emperor transcended all limits, and the speech he delivered
on being admitted to the Academie francaise, all recalled
to mind the last homilies of the Archbishop of Granada.
The Prefect of Police had the assistance of a council which
was composed of the Minister of Police, who presided over
it, the Prefect of Police, and two Councillors of State, Mes
sieurs Real and Pelet de la Lozere, who were especially
entrusted with the supervision of the general police of the
Empire, which was divided into two districts, these, how
ever, not including Italy, which of itself constituted a third
district, the supervision of which belonged to M. Angles, a
maitre des requites, who was a member of the Council of
State, also M. Saulnier, the General Secretary of the Min
istry of Police. M. Real was the only one who could be
considered in touch with the Revolution.
The Due de Rovigo knew no other law and rule than his
blind devotion to Napoleon, and had little thought for any
thing that was not connected with military glory. The men
who had belonged to deliberative assemblies were the objects
of his contempt. He did not like the men of the Revolu
tion, and it was always from among the Royalists that he
would willingly have sought recruits for the Imperial ser
vice. His marriage with Mile, de Fodoas, by giving him
family connections in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, had
greatly added to his natural inclination in this respect.

444 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
M. Pelet, who was a Protestant, having, in all the assem
blies whereof he had been a member, come out most honor
ably from very trying situations, was, by character and
principle, altogether opposed to rigorous methods. Hence,
the district under his charge always remained exempt from
those denunciations of people and those grievous scenes
which too often rendered miserable the district of his
colleague M. Real.
Italy could congratulate itself upon having fallen under
the sway of M. Angles, who, possessing the same principles
as M. Pelet, had, owing to his youth, the advantage over
him of not being hampered or restrained by any of the
memories of the Revolution. A certain sluggishness of
mind, and too nonchalant habits, nevertheless prevented
him from doing all the good he intended. The clergy and
the Roman nobility have to thank him for many acts of
consideration, and, in this respect, he and M. de Tournon,
the Prefect of Rome, acted together in thorough harmony.
M. Saulnier, the General Secretary of the Minister of
Police, and the last in the hierarchy of the members of the
council, had previously been the prefect of a department, on
which the gentle ways of his administration had left their
mark. A straightforward man not deficient in ability,
he was, by nature, opposed to all useless measures of
severity. The police council was wont to meet at least once, and,
occasionally, twice a week. Each member of it would give
an account of what had occurred in his district. Each and
every arrest made by any one of us, had, in order to remain
in force, to be approved by the minister, who then assumed
the responsibility of it. The Prefect of Police was more
frequently in the habit of seeking this approval than any
other, as the police of so large a city as Paris necessarily
brought with it a number of arrests which were not always

THE PREFECTORAL COUNCIL 445
necessarily turned over to the tribunals. This necessity
was at that time somewhat embarrassing, owing to the
arbitrary power resting with the government. After the
Restoration, it became somewhat difficult to reconcile it
with the methods of a government which respected legality,
and it then fell to me, as Minister of Justice, to make
individual rights harmonize with the needs of society in
this respect.
The existence of the police council, such as I have
described it, was doubtless a useful safeguard against the
abuses of authority ever too readily indulged in, when one
disposes of a power as formidable as the one entrusted to
us ; and, with the dispositions animating the greater number
of the members of this council, there can be no doubt that
they often threw obstacles in the way of useless acts of
severity, or mitigated those which it was not in their power
to prevent.
I was, to put it plainly, among all the members the one
whose actions were freest from control, for the reason that
the number of cases which I presented were too numerous
for them to be all gone into seriously; but I may do myself
the justice of saying that I never failed to draw attention to
those which appeared to me to be of a delicate nature.
Among my attributes there was one which did not come
within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Police, and in
connection with which I was immediately subordinate to
and under the orders of the Ministry of the Interior. I
have reference to the municipal police proper, in which must
be included the lighting up and the cleaning of the city, the
provisioning of the markets, the determining of the price of
bread, and the duty of making or enforcing a number of
regulations that are indispensable in order that the residents
of a large city should find all their needs and enjoyments
supplied. This portion of my functions, although over-

446 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
burdened with details and alone taking up a considerable
portion of my time, was nevertheless the one which I most
enjoyed, as it afforded me the opportunity of learning and
undertaking many useful things, and did not demand the
exercise of acts of severity, which are always painful. But
I had to show some firmness, for there were many abuses
which I had to put an end to. It had been in this quarter
especially that the disgraceful dealings had occurred which
had sullied the administration of my predecessor.
Another duty whieh from the outset claimed all the atten
tion I could give it, was the inspection of the jails. I was
responsible for their good order and for the security of the
prisoners. The concierges (door-keepers) and the jailers
were under my orders, but, owing to a strange division of
authority, all material matters, such as the feeding and
clothing of prisoners, and the keeping of the buildings in a
proper state of repair, came witliin the jurisdiction of the
Prefect of the Seine. Hence perpetual wranglings, recrimi
nations, and disputes ensued between the two offices, to the
detriment not only of the authorities, but also of the pris
oners. On entering upon my duties as Prefect of Police,
I found that correspondence was being carried on with
the Prefect of the Seine in a tone of deplorable bitter
ness. My earliest care was to put it on a better footing,
for I was convinced that a mutual good feeling between two
services which are to co-operate towards a common goal, is
the first condition necessary to ensure success. M. Frochot,
it cannot be denied, was one of the best of men with whom
to have any dealings ; he promptly responded to my over
tures, and we were ever after on the most friendly footing.
In the early days of my incumbency, I resolved upon in
specting the jails. It was a painful task, and made a deep
impression on me, especially in the case of my visit to
Bicetre. I discovered there a man whose misfortunes and

INSPECTION OF THE PRISONS 447
force of character moved me too deeply for me not to make
mention of him at this juncture. It was M. Desol de Gri
solles, who had been arrested as a Chouan, having partici
pated in Georges Cadoudal's plot. It was considered cer
tain that Georges had travelled from the coast to Paris
under his guidance, but proof having been lacking either to
bring him to trial or to establish his guilt, the Minister of
Police, on the suggestion of M. Real, had sent him to
Bicetre. The selection of this place of detention was, in
his case, an act of great injustice. A prisoner of state, he
should have been detained in a state prison, and not huddled
together with the common herd of criminals. However,
M. Real and M. Demarest pretended to know that nobody
had been more determined and eager to assassinate the
Emperor, or to have him assassinated, and so they had come
to the conclusion that he deserved the treatment of an assas
sin, who should consider himself only too fortunate in being
allowed to live. This idea had so completely taken hold
of the minds of the Emperor, M. Fouche, and the Due de
Rovigo, that in spite of all I could say and do for three
and a half years, it was impossible for me to obtain his
transfer to Vincennes, whither he persistently begged to
be sent.
The first time I saw him, he was confined in a cell on the
ground-floor, and this was at his formal request, not wish
ing, as he said, to live and be herded with the scoundrels
of which the jail was full. The place was a damp one,
and, as a result, his eyes were in a frightful state. I
pointed out to him that he might lose his eyesight, if he
continued to remain in so wretched an habitation, and I
offered to send him to the infirmary, where he could be
treated for his eyes. "No," he replied, "I should meet
there the same scoundrels. I beg you will have me trans
ferred to some other jail. It is the only favor I ask. I

448 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
will not accept any other." I gave him to understand that
this was beyond my power, as he was not detained in cus
tody by my orders. For still another year, he persisted
in remaining in that unhealthy place, and it was only at
the end of that time that I succeeded in prevailing upon
him to move into a little room at the end of a corridor, at
the top of the building. When the other prisoners had
been locked up in their cells, he was allowed, in conformity
with my orders, to stroll about the corridor. The Restora
tion alone gave him his freedom. During the Hundred
Days, he commanded a bqdy of Royalists in the Morbihan,
when he attracted notice by a moderation which was more
commendable in him than in anybody else. He was in the
end appointed Governor of the Castle of Pau, where he at
last found some little rest.1
This Bicetre jail contained another most extraordinary
individual; he, however, did not inspire me with any feel
ings of compassion. He was a young man, the son of a
tailor in some little town or other in Normandy. His
name was Nervagot, and he had conceived the idea of pos
ing as the Dauphin, the son of Louis XVI. He had, he
said, escaped from the Temple, and for a long time re
mained hidden in Brittany. As- the Dauphin, he had wan
dered through Poitou and Anjou, where he had made many
dupes. No doubt could be entertained as to his origin, for
his father had come and identified him; this, however, did
not prevent him from persisting in his falsehood, which he
maintained with effrontery to my very face. He died at
Bicetre, and was thus, it will be seen, the precursor of that
other false Dauphin, whose claims were quickly disposed of
by the courts of Rouen, in 1818. This latter one succeeded
1 The Revolution of July deprived him of this asylum, and he took
refuge at Bordeaux. I do not know what his means of existence are in
that place, but I think he lives in very poor circumstances.

INSPECTION OF THE PRISONS 449
in imposing upon those who should have been most on their
guard against so gross an imposture ; but the human mind is
so constituted, that it revels in the marvellous, and readily
accepts the most absurd things, when lacking anything
better. During my inspection oi Saint-Lazare, a house of deten
tion for females on whom sentence has been passed, and
which boasted of some very fine workshops, I was followed
everywhere, in addition to the concierge, by a little man
who filled the position of greffier (registrar), and who
seemed to be able to answer every question, I could put to
him. He remained all the time close to me, and seemed
desirous of attracting my attention. I was about to leave,
when, no longer able to control himself, he addressed me
as follows : " Monsieur le pref et does not seem to know me
again, and yet it was I who had the honor of welcoming
him here in 1794." I had, it will be recalled, been an
inmate of Saint-Lazare, into which the Terror thrust so
many of its victims, at that time, and I was one of those
doomed to a certain death. Robespierre's death had alone
saved me. It was doubtless an irony of fate which brought
me back, clothed with so great an authority, to the place
where I had been so cruelly oppressed, and this little man,
who had, while at the same post, passed through such vary
ing times and regimes, and was almost proud of it, who, to
call attention to himself, feared not to mention the position
of trust he had held during the Terror, what was he, after
all, but a faithful servant, having never seen in his occu
pation anything than a duty, and having never had any
care but to faithfully do the work which gave him his
daily bread? Hence, is it not wrong to ask of the common
run of mortals any other merit than this?
It was impossible not to notice, if one had cast no more
than a glance into the prisons of Paris prior to the Revolu-

450 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
tion,1 that there had since then been a remarkable improve
ment in their condition, especially in connection with sani
tary matters. But how much there still remained to do!
And, how much more, by the way, had the condition of
affairs in the hospitals progressed in comparison with that
of jails! To what causes could this difference be attrib
uted, if not to the fact that the hospitals are subject to a
voluntary and altogether beneficent management, solely
inspired by the desire of doing good? Would it then be
impossible to extend to the jails the benefit of this charita
ble and voluntary administration? I do not think so. The
need of measures of safety which must be rigorously ad
hered to in their case would not allow the leaving to an
administration of such a kind the latitude of power granted
to it in the matter of hospitals; but it would be an easy
matter to take a leaf out of its book, and even such a con
cession would still play a most important part.
After the prisons, I had to visit the hospitals. They
were not under my immediate supervision, but yet my
branch of the service had with them certain regular points
of contact and bore certain relations to them, which made
it necessary that I should beeome well acquainted with
their management. Moreover, I was, as Prefect of Police,
a member of the general Hospital Board, and I was desir
ous of taking my seat at this Board as often as I could with
convenience to myself do so.
My predecessor in office had never attended it, because
he would have been presided over by the Prefect of the
Seine, a thing he considered beneath his dignity. I set
aside this point of etiquette, which seemed to me all the
1 The Parlement of Paris every year sent three of its members to inspect
the prisons and to receive any complaints that the prisoners might have to
make. In 1788 I had accompanied my father during this visit. It was not
done in a thorough fashion, but it sufficed for me never to lose the memory
of the melancholy spectacle which then afflicted my sight.

AN INSPECTION OF THE HOSPITALS 451
more out of place in that the issue at stake was a work of
charity in which I found myself associated with men of
the highest respectability. They showed themselves much
gratified by the eagerness I displayed to co-operate with
them in their efforts to do some good, a thing which they
really accomplished, for, owing to their care, the hospitals
of Paris are doubtless in a better condition than all those
of which one has any knowledge in Europe.
The part which I was able to take in their labors, and
the services which I was placed in a position to render
them, contributed greatly towards the good feeling which
I was fortunate enough to obtain, and of which the bour
geoisie of Paris has given me proofs on more than one occa
sion. This class, if I may be permitted to make passing
mention of it, is one of the most worthy of respect that
is to be found in any capital city. I have always found it
a friend of order, very conscientious, and prepared to en
dure every sacrifice which public welfare requires. Its
morals are, generally speaking, good. One thing in partic
ular has always been a cause of surprise to me, and this is
the absolute chastity of a number of young girls who live
and sometimes grow up in close proximity to dens of
infamy. The Due de Rovigo had not been greatly pleased at my
appointment. It was not long ere I was to receive numer
ous proofs of his malevolent sentiments towards me. I
was in daily receipt of memoranda issuing from his closet,
which ever contained warnings or complaints about what
was being done in my office. He was in the habit of lend
ing an ear to these complaints, encouraged them, and took
upon himself to interfere in everything, and to exercise a
control over everything. Feeling strong in the little amount
of confidence with which M. Dubois had inspired the Em
peror, he had taken advantage of it to secure unto himself

452 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
the right of appointment to all important positions in the
outdoor service of the prefecture. These officials, no longer
holding their positions from the chief to whom they owed
obedience, showed as a matter of course less deference to
him. I was fully determined not to allow him this claim,
and I would have tendered my resignation, had not the Due
de Rovigo himself, through a fortunate combination of cir
cumstances, been brought to see that this right of making
appointments ought to be limited, in so far as he was con
cerned, to a mere matter of form, and that my recommen
dations, barring a few instances which could be foreseen
with difficulty, were always to be acted on. The Due de
Rovigo was surrounded by a crowd of flatterers of small
estate. It was an easy matter to turn the head of a minis
ter who, although of an intelligent nature, was completely
without education. He was in the habit of welcoming to
his breakfast table the editors of a few journals which he
liberally subsidized. It was at these breakfasts that were
generally started the number of complaints without basis
or measure with which I was worried. Once or twice I
was present. The eagerness to invite me had been all the
greater in that it would have given great pleasure to have
me commit myself out of my own mouth, and thus entrap
me. This reunion so inspired me with disgust, that in
order to remain absent from it, I quickly alleged the but
too well grounded excuse of my numerous occupations.
My most dangerous enemy in that evilly disposed circle
was invariably M. Demarest. He seemed to. have set him
self particularly the task of watching me, of playing the
spy on me, and of finding me in fault. His reports were of
a nature to increase the Due de Rovigo's prejudices against
me. Fortunately for me, I had on my side M. Maret, Due
de Bassano, who always did me justice. He had, as I have
already stated, contributed in a certain degree to my being

31. PASQUIER AND THE DUC DE ROVIGO 453
appointed. I went to see him immediately on his return to
Fontainebleau, and he invited me to call on him frequently.
He did not like the Due de Rovigo, who was at that time
rather in bad odor with his colleagues. He entertained a
poor opinion of his ability, and. he was, moreover, anxious
that this newcomer into the ministry should not make too
rapid steps in the master's confidence, a confidence which
he would have liked to be the only one to enjoy. His wife,
who had a great influence over his mind, detested the
Duchesse de Rovigo. Thus, everything was in my favor
in that quarter.
M. de Semonville, my former friend in the Parlement,
and M. Maret' s close friend, also helped to well establish
me in his mind, and I soon came to be on such a footing
that I spent most of my evenings, from ten o'clock to mid
night, at the Ministry of State ; I would sometimes remain
there till one o'clock in the morning. While there, I
always had an opportunity, while chatting and playing bill
iards with the Minister, of telling him what I thought it
well that the Emperor should know, and that which seemed
to me most likely to baffle the worries to which I was
subjected. I was also in the habit of asking advice of the Archchan
cellor on every occasion when he would permit me to do so,
for his prudence had caused him to recommend my show
ing great reserve in this respect. This fact is characteris
tic of the fears for their position from which the men who
occupied the highest posts under Napoleon were not exempt.
The first time that I saw M. de Cambaceres, after being
installed in the prifecture de police, he hastened to let me
know that I must henceforth see less of him than in the
past. "It would not be proper for me," he said to me,
"liable as I am to be in possession of most important
secrets which must remain confined to the Emperor and

454 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
myself, to preserve too intimate an intercourse with any
body, as this intercourse would naturally inspire fears as to
my discretion." The danger was never a great one, because
most fortunately what he had himself told me at Fontaine
bleau, was constantly realized, Napoleon's confidence in me
never having led him to submit me to dangerous and diffi
cult ordeals. Nevertheless, as Prefect of Police, I was
admitted every time I presented myself at the audience
which he was wont to give after rising, and there I met
those persons who enjoyed his intimacy to the greatest
extent. These were the marshals, the generals commanding
the Imperial Guard, men who had just returned from some
important mission, or others who came to receive his final
orders previous to assuming some important command.
Preceding this audience, which was known as the grand
lever, there was the petit lever, to which were admitted only
the servants of the bedchamber, and the household service,
at the head of which was the grand marshal of the palace,
Duroc. The Abbe de Pradt, Archbishop of Mechlin, had,
as chaplain, the right to attend the petit lever, and he fre
quently availed himself of his privilege. We were always
made aware of his presence by the length of his conver
sations with the Emperor, for it was with him that the
Emperor was more frequently in the habit of discussing
the affairs of the clergy.
The gatherings at the grand lever were often most inter
esting. The merest words of the master were seized upon
with avidity. It was seldom that he did not speak to every
body, addressing to each one some question which had ref
erence to his functions. Generally speaking, his satisfac
tion was reflected in his looks and by a certain affability of
manner, rather than expressed by words. His discontent
would find vent in dry, not to say harsh, remarks. When
one required to tell him something necessitating an inter-

THE AUDIENCES OF THE EMPEROR 455
view with him in private, it was the custom to beg the favor
of him through the gentleman-in-waiting who was on duty,
and he seldom refused it. I availed myself but little of
this favor, and never, I believe, during the first year of
my incumbency.
The few words which in those days passed between Napo
leon and myself were limited to questions as to certain de
tails of my service, which questions I well knew must be
answered in an exact fashion. As an instance, he was fond
of asking me : " How many boats carrying wine are now on
the river? How many bags of wheat are there in the grain
market," etc.? And I always had to give him the exact
figures, as mere guess work would never have been to his
taste. It so happened that my memory was precisely of
the kind less qualified to give him such satisfaction, and
the difficulty I experienced in giving him exact answers led
me to make out a little note-book which I generally carried
with me, and which contained the principal and most inter
esting statistics of my service. I showed this note-book
to the Ministers of the Interior and of the Police, and to
the Prefect of the Department of the Seine. All of them
were struck with its usefulness. The Prefect resolved upon
doing the same with regard to his service, and such was
the origin of the statistics of the Department of the Seine,
a work brought to so high a state of perfection by M. Cha
brol, and which is to-day a standard for all men who study
political economy
It was customary for the Prefect of Police to send every
evening to the Emperor a memorandum of the events which
had occurred during the day and which were worthy of
some attention, such as the number of arrests made, and
for what causes during the past twenty-four hours, and the
amount of provisions in the markets. The Prefect was
free to send under the same cover any comments which he

456 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
saw fit to submit to him, and it was, according to the cir
cumstance, a potent way of influencing his mind. My
predecessor had frequently had recourse to this method,
but I made use of it only on very rare occasions, being
quite content to abandon such a way of increasing one's
importance to the Minister of Police, who, like myself, used
to send in his report every night. As a result of the care
I took of thus confining myself in the most narrow circle
of my attributes, I never was taken into the intimate confi
dence of the Emperor, and especially on familiar terms
with him. He never granted me any of the marked favors
which he lavishly showered upon the men whom he be
lieved to belong soul and body to him. But, on the other
hand, I never had to endure from him any of those rebuffs,
nor any of those disagreeable words from which he did not
spare any of them. I always kept my place, and, if his
esteem, which I think I won, did not procure any great
advantage for me, it ever sheltered me from his outbursts
of harsh words.
I had hardly entered upon my new duties, when I was sub
mitted to a somewhat severe test as regards the activity
they called for. I was to enforce, at the earliest moment,
the execution of a decree which ordered the clearing of the
streets, the open spaces, and the boulevards of Paris, of
the building materials whieh obstructed them, and lay in
every direction, consequent upon the erection of build
ings of all kinds which were being put up from one end of
the capital to the other. This encumbrance had reached a
point which could no longer be tolerated, and had afforded
the opportunity of a rather piquant answer from the King
of Wurtemberg, who, on being asked by the Emperor what
he thought of the city of Paris, which he had just most
carefully surveyed, said: "Well, it is a very fine city for
one which has just been stormed by architects ! "

THE FARMING OUT OF GAMES OF CHANCE 457
This jest did not fall on barren soil, and the decree order
ing the clearing of the streets, soon made its appearance.
It was generally considered certain that it would be impos
sible to enforce it.
The architects especially, even the Emperor's, M. Fon
taine, the most sensible and intelligent of them all, de
clared the thing impossible. And indeed, from the Place
de la Bastille to the Place Louis XVI. inclusively, blocks
of stone filled so much space on the boulevards that three
vehicles could not pass abreast, while, in some places, it
was difficult for even two to do so. A worse state of affairs
existed on the quays. The Place des Victoires and the
Place du Carrousel were both covered with an immense pile
of these same blocks, through which streets had been opened
just wide enough for the traffic that was indispensable. I
first made an inspection of the various localities, and then
I designated the places other than the public roadway
where sheds and places of storage could be located, and I
next issued an ordinance showing how the matter could be
disposed of. Besides this measure, I repeatedly saw to it
myself, by going over the city in all directions, and, in the
course of a few weeks, the streets were completely cleared.
Towards the end of my first month at the prifecture de
police, the individual to whom were farmed the games of
chance called on me. He brought me a sum of five thou
sand francs, which he told me it was customary to pay M.
Dubois every month. I enquired of him for what purpose.
He replied that it was a voluntary gratuity, but which
should be considered as one of the perquisites of my office.
I told him to keep his money until further orders ; but, as
this disbursement had naturally been included in his calcu
lations of expenses, at the time he had entered into negotia
tions for his lease, I did not think it right that I should let
him enjoy the benefit of this item, and so, when rendering

458 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
an account of the case to the Minister of Police, to whom
was paid the amount agreed upon as the price of this odious
business, I begged him to get the Emperor's orders with
regard to the use to be made of this bribe. I at the same
time took care to lay the matter before the Archchancellor
and M. Maret, as I felt little confidence in the report which
the Due de Rovigo might make. However, he made just
the one I could desire. "I was well aware," said the Em
peror, after hearing the story, "that dear old Dubois got
money from every possible source, and it is the reason why,
in spite of his repeated entreaties, I would never place his
salary on the same footing as that of the Prefect of the
Seine." Some days afterwards, the Emperor instructed the
Minister of Police to accept the amount together with
the rest of the rental, and to add it to my salary.
One of the greatest difficulties I had to overcome resulted
from the perpetual check exercised by the five or six police
systems, several of which exercised their functions and
acted in a spirit of rivalry to one another. Thus, besides
the prefecture de police, there was that of the Minister, that
of the military commander of the division and Governor
of Paris, that of the Grand Marshal of the Palace Duroc,
and that of the commandant of the day of the Imperial
Guard. When at times this command fell to Marshal
Davout, one hardly knew to whom to listen. It was noth
ing but a continual series of complaints and denunciations.
To crown all, there was the police of the commander-general
of the gendarmerie. The narrow and finical mind of Mar
shal Moncey had full play by means of this one, forever
unearthing new subjects of worry and trouble. Again, one
had to be on his guard against private reports and informa
tion supplied by secret letters, the full number of which
has never been revealed.
The Emperor's distrustful mind has often been alluded

THE EMPEROR'S SEVERAL POLICE SYSTEMS 459
to, and indeed he was suspicious to an extraordinary extent ;
but, it may freely be said that it required an enormous
strength of character not to allow himself to give way to
this failing more than he did. Grand Marshal Duroc's
superior and often very judicial mind enabled him, better
than all others, to set a correct estimate on things, and with
no one were my official relations more pleasant. The man
ner in which he had arranged the household service, the
way in which he kept the palace in order, and the appropri
ate measures he took to ensure the Emperor's safety, were
truly to be commended. Hardly any guards on watch,
scarcely any visible measures of caution, and never the
slightest appearance of disorder or confusion. Every one
had his duty set, and remained within its limits. With
seven or eight sentries in the interior of the palace, two
guard-rooms, one in the court and the other at the foot of
the main stairway, and two or three purveyors (for the
table), everything was provided for.
I believe I can therefore truly say that no sovereign was
ever better protected than Napoleon. It must indeed be
remarked that the Grand Marshal had shown the wise pre
caution of insisting that very few people should dwell in
the chateau. Only those whose duties were in constant
demand had rooms there.
One of the most important matters among the several
measures which served to enlighten the police, was the
secret prying into letters. This could only be done at the
General Post Office, and the care of it was entrusted to a
man of honor and delicate sentiments. I make bold to say
that M. de La Valette never went further in the exercise of
this duty than was strictly required of him by the exigencies
of his position, that he never allowed himself to gratify a
mere idle curiosity, or to gain favor by furnishing food to
the animosities of his master.

CHAPTER XVIII
Official announcement of the pregnancy of the Empress Marie-Louise —
The Pope's refusal to grant bulls of installation to several bishops — An
ecclesiastical commission called together by Napoleon to remedy the
embarrassment thus created by the Holy See — Findings of this commis
sion with regard to apostolic bulls, to an appeal to a general council,
and to pontifical f ulminations — New appointments made by the Emperor
to the vacant sees of Paris and of Nancy — Briefs issued by Pius VH.
against these appointments — Cardinal Fesch's opposition to Napoleon's
wishes — The Paris Chapter agitates against Cardinal Maury — Violent
allocution by the Emperor, on New Year's Day, 1811, to the Vicars-
General, and his apostrophe to the Abbe" d'Astros, whose arrest is
ordered — Napoleon's violent outburst, at the Council of State, against
M. Portalis, the confidant of the Abbe" d'Astros — This councillor ex
iled, in spite of M. Pasquier's intercession — A search made in the very
closet of the Pope at Savona — Arrest of several prelates and members
of the Sacred College — The French clergy thrown into a state of
terror.
The pregnancy of the Empress had already become
known during the stay of the Court at Fontainebleau, and
it was officially announced to the Senate early in Novem
ber. A circular was simultaneously sent to the archbishops
and bishops to inform them of this happy event. It can
be said that the news of it gave general satisfaction, as it
was the presage of the best of guarantees towards the tran
quil state whieh was the most ardent hope of the people of
that great empire, but . . .
There appeared, in the first days of November, a decree
ordering that the archiepiscopal buildings of Paris should
immediately be put in a condition such as to render them
suitable to serve as a palace for the Pope. New troubles,
460

DIFFICULTIES WITH THE HOLY SEE 461
new anxieties, could therefore be expected. I have spoken
of the Holy Father's enforced residence at Savona and the
state of confinement in which he was kept, deprived of his
habitual and necessary councillors. I have also told what
happened in connection with the absence of the cardinals
from the wedding ceremony. Since that time, trouble had
arisen with regard to the bulls of installation asked for for
several bishops. Matters soon reached such a climax that
it was refused to grant a single one.
This necessitated turning over the governing of the dio
ceses, whereof the sees became vacant, to administrators
appointed by the Chapters. The precedent for this had
been set by Henry IV. , and had been followed during the
quarrels of Louis XIV. with the Court of Rome. But the
times were altogether different. France possessed in those
days a clergy of a high degree, as remarkable for its learn
ing as for its illustrious birth. The Gallican episcopate,
honored and reverenced throughout the Catholic world, was
a power in the state as well as in the Church. Moreover,
Louis XIV. was opposed to unquiet or exaggerated preten
sions, he merely became the attacking party for purposes
of self-defence, and his religious sentiments could not be
suspected. Napoleon, although not possessing all these
advantages, had nevertheless thought that it would be an
easy matter for him to take up his position on the same
battle-ground, and relying on the declaration of the clergy
in 1682 and the four articles drawn up by Bossuet, he per
suaded himself that he was to find in the tenets of the Gal
lican Church and in the ancient uses of the Church, an
assured way of emerging triumphantly from the perplexi
ties into which he had become involved through his repeated
acts of rashness and outrageous treatment of the Holy
Father. He had already, towards the end of 1809, called together

462 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
an ecclesiastical commission, with the object of finding a
way to provide for the needs of the Church. Its members
were Cardinals Fesch and Maury, the Archbishop of Tours,
the bishops of Nantes, Treves, Evreux, and Vercelli, of
Father Fontana, the former Superior-General of the Barna-
bites, and the Abbe Emery, the Superior of Saint-Sulpice.
These selections were, generally speaking, of a nature to
inspire the consciences of the faithful with confidence.
Cardinal Fesch, already favorably known through the
zeal with which he had on several occasions taken up the
defence of the rights of the Church, of the episcopate, and
even of the Holy Apostolic See, could boast of many things
to his credit, on this occasion. Owing to his relationship
to Napoleon, he never had any difficulty in approaching
him, and was enabled to give to his words an energetic
plainness which few people would have ventured on. The
bishop of Nantes, M. Duvoisin, a former professor at the
Sorbonne, and the author of a work on the principal truths
of Christianity, inspired a large amount of confidence. M.
Emery, the Superior of the Seminary of Saint-Sulpice,
enjoyed a high reputation of learning and piety; he was
the oracle of the French clergy. Lastly, Father Fontana
passed for being well versed in ecclesiastical matters, and
at the same time was strongly attached to the Holy See.
Several questions having been submitted to this commis
sion, the answers showed wisdom and ability, and were in
conformity with the ancient tenets of the Gallican Church.
Regarding the principal matter at issue, whieh was the in
stitution of bishops, the commission had contented itself
with stating that if the terms of the Concordat were posi
tively not going to be executed except by one of the parties
in it, and if it became, as a consequence of this, necessary
to proceed with another method of institution, it would
above all become necessary to ensure the Church's adhe-

THE ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSION 463
sion to it ; that a law repealed is no longer a law, and can
not again assume the shape of one except from the power
having repealed it previously.
Starting from this principle, the members of the commis
sion took the stand that no thought could be entertained of
re-establishing the Pragmatic Sanction, as seemed to be the
wish of the chief of the state, except on condition that the
ecclesiastical power should take a part in its establishment.
But how was its co-operation to be obtained? The commis
sion formally declared itself incompetent in this regard,
believing that in so delicate a matter, the wisest thing and
the one most in conformity with the established rules was
to call together a mutual council, in which the clergy of
the Empire would look into the proposed question, and
would determine such methods as it should consider proper
to meet the inconveniences arising from the papal bulls
being withheld. Such had been, in a similar circumstance,
the method proposed to Louis XIV., in 1688, by the Paris
Parlement. Napoleon was not sufficiently satisfied with
this answer. What he wished to know was whether the
national council would for a certainty possess in itself the
necessary authority to supplant the apostolic bulls, or
whether there would still have to be an appeal to his supe
rior power. The commission questioned anew, and thus
driven to its last intrenchments, was then brought to state
that it did not appertain to it to forejudge what the national
council would consider advisable and proper to do within
the limits of its powers ; that it was to be presumed that
the national council would address respectful remonstrances
to the Holy Father, and might induce His Holiness to enter
into an arrangement the usefulness of which would lie in
the good of the Church; that, should this hope be deceived,
the council might possibly consider itself empowered to
draw up a provisional measure to regulate the matter, while

464 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
declaring, however, that the Church of France would not
cease demanding the observation of the Concordat, and that
it would ever be ready to return to it, as soon as the Holy
Father or his successors would consent to execute it in so
far as it concerned the Holy See. In the contrary event,
there would remain as a resource of having recourse to a
general council, the only authority in the Church above
the Pope; but it might become impossible to get such a
council to assemble, either through His Holiness's refusal
to recognize it, or owing to a quantity of political circum
stances which it was easy enough to foresee. What would
then remain to be done? This was the knot of the ques
tion, and Napoleon wanted it eut in the most absolute way.
The commission finally gave as its reply " that after hav
ing proclaimed its constant faithfulness to the Holy See
and to the person of the Holy Father, after having insisted
that the discipline in force should be respected, the national
council might possibly declare that, owing to the impossi
bility of having recourse to an oecumenical council, and
owing to the immense danger which threatened the Church
of France, the institution given by the Metropolitan in
virtue of the powers delegated unto him by the council to
his suffragans, or by the oldest of them to the Metropolitan
himself, should take the place of papal bulls, until such
times as the Pope or his successors were prepared to con
sent to the execution of the Concordat." Such a provi
sional return to a part of the old ecclesiastical law seemed
sufficiently justified in the eyes of the commission by the
first of all laws, the law of necessity, which, it said, the
Pope had himself recognized, when, in order to restore
unity in the Church of France, he had risen superior to
ordinary rules, in suppressing by an unprecedented exer
cise of his authority the old ecclesiastical divisions, in
order to create new ones. The expedient indicated by the

BRIEFS ISSUED BY PIUS VII. 465
last part of the council's answer, was precisely the one
Napoleon was anxious to resort to.
Concerning the bull of excommunication, the commission,
after a most able debate as to the facts and principles in
volved, had no hesitation in declaring that " the censures
and excommunications contained in the bull of the 10th of
June were null, both in form and in fond, and that they
could not bind or compel consciences." The commission
had looked upon the question from a high standpoint, and,
since the bull of excommunication had been issued with
regard to the invasion of the Pope's temporal sovereignty,
it had taken pains to prove that as faith and discipline
did not rest essentially on that sovereignty, the resorting
to pontifical fulminations had, on this occasion, not been
justified. They had, in this connection, not been afraid to
point out that, under Louis XIV. and Louis XV., Avignon
had been occupied by French troops, and that the Pope had
then abstained from hurling thunderbolts of excommuni
cation. Napoleon still continued making appointments to sees
that had become vacant. Among many others, he ventured
to appoint M. d' Osmond, Bishop of Nancy, to the Florence
see, and Cardinal Maury to the Paris one.
The appointment of M. d' Osmond called forth a brief to
which I have already referred, and which must have con
siderably irritated the Emperor, as it stigmatized as irreg
ular the dissolution of his first marriage by the Parisian
clergy, and thus seemed to give his enemies the most pow
erful weapon with which to combat the legitimacy of the
children who might be born of his new union. Further
briefs were issued protesting against the occupation of the
Paris see by Cardinal Maury, and against his pretensions
to having the administration of the diocese delegated to
him by the Chapter. One of these briefs was addressed to

466 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
the Cardinal himself, for the Pope considered himself all
the more entitled to intimate his orders to that prelate
for the reason that, as a member of the Sacred College
and as Bishop of Montefiascone, he was certainly bound to
the Holy See by very close ties.
Albeit, the Cardinal did not pay any heed to the papal
injunction, and neglected nothing in order to secure pos
session of the administration of the Paris diocese, but he
encountered many difficulties, and met, on the part of the
Chapter, with many obstacles which at first caused some
surprise, the Chapter having, up to that time, shown itself
most docile. Yet, it would have been easy enough to ex
plain this opposition, had one but turned one's thoughts to
the potent influence which could have been, nay, whieh
must have been exercised on the minds of the canons, by
the example of Cardinal Fesch, who, on being appointed to
the same archbishopric previous to Cardinal Maury, had,
in spite of being invited to it by the Chapter, denied him
self all spiritual ministrations. This example was even
referred to by the Pope in his brief to the new archbishop.
Not one of the least singular things in the history of
Napoleon is the opposition which he was always to encoun
ter in the execution of his designs regarding the clergy and
the Holy See, from the man who it seemed should have
been most devoted to him, from the one whom he had pro
moted to so high a dignity only because of the idea that he
would always find in him a ready and docile instrument;
and indeed, when one merely looked at the past of that
man, his elevation to the cardinalate might be deemed a
scandal; but, there was in his character something of the
Bonaparte family, and, when once called upon to play the
part of a prelate and of an Eminence, he entered upon his
part as seriously and no less conscientiously than his nephew
Louis in the task which royalty had imposed on him. In

CARDINAL FESCH 467
vain did the Emperor lay siege to him with every means at
his command and in every possible form of speech, even
those of the most cruel pleasantries, making allusions to
the immorality of his youth and to his behavior during the
days preceding his return to the practices of his religion,1
he always remained immovable, warded off arguments, and
disposed of duties by alleging his duties, and intrenching
himself behind the profound conviction to whieh he had
had the happiness to return. His conduct, which was
always strictly proper, was, under all circumstances, as cir
cumspect as firm; and, while never failing in the outward
regard which he owed to his sovereign and to the author of
his fortune, it can be said that he was ever at the head of
the religious opposition which the Emperor continually
found in his path, to the end of his reign.
By dint of defending the interests and the just rights of
the Pope, Cardinal Fesch was led to adopt principles far
too ultramontane, and made it a practice to show favor to
ecclesiastics and laymen who even in secret professed such
principles. Thus it was that he became the patron of the
Jesuits, whom he unfortunately bequeathed to France,
when departing from French territory.
The agitation in the Paris Chapter consequent upon the
pretensions of Cardinal Maury began to manifest itself in
a more marked fashion during the course of November. I
knew of it, but I was not in any way compelled to take
notice of it. M. Portalis, the comptroller and censor of
the book-trade, with whom I was on intimate terms, called
on me in the middle of December, and told me that he
knew as a fact that a papal brief enjoining the Chapter
1 1 have heard from people who had witnessed it the account of a scene
of this kind, which had taken place at Fontainebleau, in the very drawing-
room of the Empress, and while some thirty persons were present. The
Emperor's sarcasms had reached the point of coarseness, but the counte
nance of the Cardinal remained unmoved.

468 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
from conferring powers of administration on Cardinal
Maury, and declaring null and void everything he might
do by virtue of any powers delegated to him by the Chapter,
had reached Paris. The Government had indeed heard of
the brief addressed to the Cardinal; but, as no one was more
interested than himself in keeping it a secret, he could not
be suspected of indiscretion in this connection. Hence if
it was that one to which M. Portalis had reference, it must
of necessity have been forwarded to some other person in
Paris. As a matter of fact, in spite of the close watch set
upon the Pope at Savona, not only this brief, but yet an
other couched in much stronger terms, had reached Paris
through an ecclesiastic to whom His Holiness had sent it
direct. M. Portalis, when telling me of this, added that he could
not reveal to me how the knowledge of so important a fact
had come to him, but he would say that, if proper meas
ures were not taken, the brief would, within the next few
days, go the rounds of Paris; he thought it most desirable
that this should be prevented; that, if the Minister of
Police saw fit to send for such and such ecclesiastics whose
names he gave me, and tell them that he was aware of the
existence of the brief, and that his mind was made up, in
case it was made public, to hold them formally responsible
for such pvrblication, one might rest assured that they
would find a way to prevent its contents being divulged.
As a matter of course, M. Portalis allowed me to go and
carry this piece of news to the Minister, and I hastened to
do so. The Minister seemed well pleased, told me that he
would profit by the information, and I was entitled to be
lieve that he had followed out the advice I had given him,
for, by the end of December, nothing had been heard of the
brief. Meanwhile the discord between the Cardinal and his

THE ABBE D'ASTROS 469
Chapter went on increasing. At the head of the recalci
trants was the Abbe d'Astros, a canon and vicar-general,
and closely related to M. Portalis. He had previously made
himself prominent by his opposition to the intention en
tertained by the Chapter of granting powers to Cardinal
Fesch, and there had, at the time, been some talk of send
ing him into exile. But the Cardinal, who would none of
these powers, and who was only too glad that he should be
spared the embarrassing trouble of making his refusal pub
lic, had obtained the repeal of the order.
In pursuance of the line of conduct I had set myself of
never interfering with matters not within my jurisdiction,
and as I did not seek for opportunities to talk privately
with the Emperor, I had exercised the greatest care of
action or word whieh might have implicated me any further
in the affair, when once I had delivered to the Minister of
Police the message entrusted to me by M. Portalis.
On New Year's Day, 1811, Cardinal Maury having ap
peared at the head of his Chapter to pay the chief of the
state the usual compliments of the season, Napoleon
grasped the opportunity to express his displeasure, and,
addressing himself particularly to the vicars-general, he
said: "Above all, sirs, you must be French; it is the way
of being at the same time good Christians. The doctrine
of Bossuet is the only sure guide; with it no one can go
astray. What I am now saying (pointing to the Abbe
d'Astros) is principally for your benefit, reverend sir. I
know that you are opposed to the measures dictated by my
policy, that you do not cease indulging in underhand prac
tices to neutralize its effect; but your designs are known to
me, and I will take care to thwart them."
After such an allocution, made in the presence of so
many witnesses, it was impossible not to expect some act of
severity. No sooner was the audience over, than the Car-

470 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
dinal, going up to M. d'Astros, asked him to accompany
him to the Minister of Police, who was desirous of discuss
ing certain matters with him. Had the Cardinal been
endowed with ever so little tact, or even with the least sen
timent of propriety, he would have perceived all the inde
cency and indelicacy of appealing to such an interference
between himself and his subordinate ; at the most, he should
have referred the matter to the Minister of Public Worship.
The Minister, assisted by M. Real, in the first place ques
tioned the abbe as to the motives governing his opposition,
and regarding the correspondence he was doubtless keep
ing up with Savona. M. d'Astros having replied in the
negative, or evasively, to all questions put to him, the
Minister finally asked him for his resignation, which M.
d'Astros declined to give. This refusal was the determin
ing cause of his arrest ; but, ere he was taken to Vincennes,
he was taken to his domicile, in order that he should be
present whilst his papers were being searched. Nothing
escaped this search, which was carried out so minutely that
the linings of his clothes were felt, and upon taking out
that of his hat, the unfortunate brief of which M. Portalis
had spoken to me was found. I think it was the one the
first copy of which had been sent to Cardinal Maury ; the
second copy was not discovered till later. When asked as
to the use he had made of this brief and to whom he had
imparted its contents, M. d'Astros, with inconceivable
weakness, mentioned three : M. de Calprade, a canon of
the Cathedral, the Abbe Guairard, the chief official of the
book-trade department, and M. Portalis, who was at its
head. What did he expect to obtain by this confession?
Perhaps it was that he wished to give a proof of his good
faith, and prove that he had not acted with any bad inten
tions by showing that he had limited his confidence to so
small a number of persons.

VIOLENT APOSTROPHE TO M. PORTALIS 471
I was totally ignorant of the discovery that had been
made and of the confessions of M. d'Astros, when on stop
ping at the residence of the Minister of Police, next morn
ing, on my way to the Council of State, I was greatly sur
prised to have him speak to me in the following terms : " If
you come across M. Portalis going tr) the Council, be care
ful not to advise him not to pursue his journey." I asked
him why he made this request, but I could obtain no ex
planation from him. On reaching the Council, I found M.
Portalis already at his place. Napoleon presided. Hardly
was he seated, when began a scene, which I could not help
thinking had been prearranged, as I recalled the words
which the Due de Rovigo had suffered to escape his lips.
Nevertheless, nothing was missing to give it the appearance
of an outburst of anger which could not be kept within
bounds. Having first asked if M. Portalis were present, the Em
peror immediately asked him in the harshest terms " how
he dared to present himself in the body of the Council,
after the act of treason of which he had been guilty."
Then, going into the details of this act of treason, which
consisted in having fostered and been cognizant of a rebel
lious correspondence with the Pope, with a foreign poten
tate, he declared that " there never had been seen more per
fidious treachery, that in the course of his life he had never
experienced any which had caused him greater disgust, and
this infamy proceeded from a man in whom he had reposed
the utmost confidence. He could not find words to express
his indignation."
What I am telling here in a few lines, was, in his mouth,
the subject matter of a philippic which it took him oveT
a quarter of an hour to deliver. His voice, his gestures,
his face, assumed the most fearful aspect as he progressed,
and, when he came to an end, everybody remained dumb

472 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
with horror and stupefaction. M. Portalis, overwhelmed
and crushed, could only stammer out a few words, in which
he expressed his conviction that he had not failed in any
of his duties, in not betraying a relative and friend of his
youth, and whom he had sought, moreover, to hold back
in the dangerous paths upon which he saw him entering.
These few words had hardly been spoken, when the Em
peror resumed with fresh vehemence his terrible allocution,
finding means to give vent to his fury in still- more biting
terms. I considered that it no longer became me to remain
silent, and taking advantage of the first lull in the conver
sation, I stated that it was my duty to complete M. Por
talis 's defence, and to supplement that to which his state
of emotion had not permitted him to give utterance. I con
sequently went on to narrate what had taken place between
us towards the middle of the foregoing month, and told of
the notification I had, on his recommendation, sent to the
Minister of Police. I added that the Minister had doubt
less made good use of the information, as the brief would
have remained enveloped in the utmost secrecy and would
still have been undiscovered, had it not been found at the
place of residence of M. d'Astros, who had not dared to
make use of it. I concluded by setting forth that the con
fidential communication made to me by M. Portalis should
be sufficient to remove all suspicion of treason from him,
and that it would be more plausible to make me appear
guilty rather than he, by arguing that I had not made
all the use of the warning which it was possible for me to
get out of it.
This extremely short plea, which put an entirely new
face on the question, and seemed to arouse the interest of
the Council to the highest degree, brought an expres
sion of intense feeling of annoyance to the face of the
Emperor. After an instant's silence, he began afresh,

PAINFUL SCENE IN THE COUNCIL OF STATE 473
seemingly paying no attention to my words, and continued
overwhelming M. Portalis with his reproaches. I was
desirous of asking to be heard once more, but was stopped
by my neighbor, M. de La Valette, who begged me to desist,
assuring me that at this stage I would be rather injuring
than mending matters. And truly, what hope was there
of prevailing with a character cast in such a mould, when
it had gone so far? The scene ended with the following
words: "Leave, sir, and let me never see you again."
M. Portalis having thereupon left the Chamber, the
entire Council remained silent for some minutes. The
silence was at last broken by Napoleon, who, in much gen
tler tones, expressed the deepest grief at having met what
he still persisted in calling treason in a body where he had,
up to the present, found nothing but loyalty and devotion
to his person, and which had consequently always received
the highest proofs of his confidence, and in the midst of
which he was in the habit of speaking and unbosoming
himself with entire freedom. The unfortunate occurrence
which had just taken place would doubtless be felt by all
the members of the Council as by himself, and he would do
them the justice of believing that they were deeply grieved
over it. " The Prefect of Police," he added, " has neverthe
less seen fit to come to the defence of M. Portalis, but he is
his friend, and some allowance is to be made for the feel
ing which prompted him to undertake the talk."
Thus, he did not give utterance to any formal expression
of doubt as to the facts which I had presented, and it is
evident that he had employed the time during which he had
remained silent, to make up his mind as to what course he
should adopt with regard to me. The trouble, should he
sacrifice me, of having to go in quest of a new Prefect
of Police, and perchance, the idea that it would be too con
temptible to punish an act of conscience and sincerity,

474 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
doubtless determined him in sparing me. Yet, in spite pf
this considerate treatment, and the graciousness of his
closing words to the Council, the harm had been done, and
all of us, Councillors of State, maltres des requites, and
auditeurs, felt an impression of wretchedness and fear which
it was not in his power to remove. The sight of omnipo
tence thus crushing its victim, without allowing him either
time or means for defence, has in it something dishearten
ing. It wounds to the quick one's feelings of self-respect,
and shocks the most submissive consciences.
M. Regnaud alone took upon himself to utter a few words,
the somewhat obscure drift of which did not please any
body, not even the Emperor, who interrupted him rather
abruptly, by taking up one of the orders of the day. Yet
this is the scene which M. de Las Cases, in his Mimorial
de Sainte- Hiline, has undertaken to present as one that was
entirely paternal and affecting. As a maitre des requites
he was a witness of it, and on these grounds he lays a
claim to the credibility which is granted to a truthful and
conscientious witness. Unfortunately for him, more than
eighty persons were present during the occurrence, and I
challenge him to find any two who will look at it in the
same light as he has done.1 But he was desirous of setting
his hero above all blame. Everything that I said and did
at that sitting has been passed in silence.
On my return home, I sat down to write to the Emperor,
and implored his clemency in terms I thought most likely
to make some impression on him. I repeated that if any
blame could be attached to anybody, it was to myself. I
therefore begged His Majesty to return to fairer sentiments
1 On the following day, M. de Cambaceres, who was nevertheless accus
tomed to the outbursts of imperial fury, said to M. d'Hauterive, who had
been too unwell to be present: " You are indeed fortunate. I am still ill
over it."

M. PORTALIS EXILED 47.5
towards a man who was at heart devoted to him, and who
was more unfortunate than guilty. I added this letter to
my police report, and it went to its destination at eight.1
Having performed this duty, I called on M. Portalis,
whom I found writing to Napoleon, but somewhat embar
rassed as to the way in which he could make his letter reach
the Emperor without delay. I took charge of the matter,
and carried it to M. Maret, who made no difficulty in con
senting to hand it to the Emperor, the same evening, be
tween 10 and 11 o'clock, the time at which he sat down to
work. He told me to call on him again next day, after 11
o'clock, and that he would let me know the result of his
undertaking. I also told him of the letter I had written,
and I must do him the justice to say that he showed him
self deeply moved and greatly pained over what had hap
pened at the Council that morning. On all occasions,
moreover, I found M. Maret to be a most kind-hearted
man. On my returning to see him at the appointed hour,
he told me that he had seen to it that the Emperor would
read M. Portalis's letter, as well as my own, which had not
been opened at the time he arrived. " It is most unfortu
nate," he went on to say, "that I did not enter the Em
peror's study until after the Minister of Police, who was
leaving as I went in. He was taking away an order of
exile, which I failed to get recalled, and which, I am fully
convinced, would not have been issued, had the two letters
been read previously."
I returned home with this painful information, and had
already retired for the night when I received a despatch
from the Minister of Police, enclosing this order of exile,
with the injunction to see that effect was given to it the
same night. On the first impulse I felt wroth at the Due
i This letter is to be found among the Archives.

476 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
de Rovigo for this affectation of entrusting to me a duty
which he might very well have left to one of the agents
directly under him — to his inspector-general, for instance,
of whom he was in the habit of making use on like occa
sions. On second thoughts, it struck me that perhaps it
was better that so painful a mission should be given to me
rather than to any other, as I might mitigate its form, and
it would enable me, while taking leave of my friend, to
receive his final instructions with regard to all the interests
he was leaving behind him in Paris. Matters passed off
as I had anticipated, and I gave him all assurances that I
could which were likely to console him. He left at 5
o'clock in the morning, on his way to Aix, in Provence,
where his family had long been known, and where his
father had left the most honorable memories.
The same day, I took care to be present at the lever,
where all eyes were turned towards me, for everybody was
anxious to see what kind of a reception I was to meet with.
The Emperor, on coming to me, merely remarked : " I am
afraid, sir, that you do not possess very clear notions of the
duties of a Councillor of State." — "In this respect, as in
every other, Sire, I believe that a man does not risk making
many mistakes, if he but listens to the dictates of his con
science." Such was literally my reply. He passed on without add
ing another word, and never since did he in conversation
with me refer to that wretched business. The words I
have just recorded are, moreover, the only ones which he
ever spoke to me in the way of reproach, during the whole
time that I came into contact with him. I have always
been convinced, together with M. Maret, that the Emperor,
who had been wrongly guided in this matter by the Due de
Rovigo's first reports, had very soon come to regret the ill-
temper into which he had allowed himself to be carried

M. PASQUIER DEFINES HIS POSITION 477
away. One thing remains certain, and is that although
he must have known that I was in constant correspondence
with M. Portalis, he never let me know that he felt any
displeasure over it, and when, three years later, the Comte
Mole, at that time Minister of Justice, suggested to him to
appoint as First President of the Imperial Court of Angers,
the man whom he so loudly proclaimed a traitor, he made
not the slightest objection, and signed his appointment
without any hesitation.
I had accomplished with firmness a duty enjoined on me
both by my conscience and my personal feelings. My
status became all the better from it, not only in the Coun
cil, but in the midst of everything composing the govern
ment, even of all that surrounded the Emperor. From that
moment, people were willing to see in the new Prefect of
Police a man who, under difficult circumstances, would have
the courage to speak the truth and to stand up in defence
of what was worthy of being defended.
The ministers showed me special consideration, and the
Due de Rovigo himself understood that I was a man who
had to be reckoned with, and that after having defied the
wrath of the Emperor, I would not much longer suffer myself
to be oppressed by him, so his methods towards me under
went a notable change. It became more and more established
in his mind, as well as in that of the Emperor, that no idea
was to be entertained of calling upon me for the carrying
out of the combinations and operations of higher police
duty. Hence, I never had cause to complain in this re
spect. In matters affecting the clergy, for instance (they
are those which gave rise to the most coercive measures),
my services were never called into requisition. If the
Minister occasionally sent to the prifecture de police in order
that they should be detained in a set of rather comfortable
rooms, known collectively as the salle Saint-Martin, prison-

478 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
ers whom he did not see fit to send at once to Vincennes, I
was always left free to treat them with proper consider
ation. It is thus that I have had confided to my care Mme. de
Quinsonas and that -worthy Dame de Soyecourt, who has
since devoted the better part of her income to found, in the
former Carmelite convent a community of nuns whose mis
sion is to offer up to God unceasing prayers in the place
consecrated by the blood of the priests who were butchered
in the month of September, 1792. I had her placed in a
room in the part of the building wherein I resided myself,
and she took a daily walk in my garden, but always under
the eye of a police agent. If I mention this daily prome
nade, it is because it gave some anxiety to M. Demarest,
who got the Due de Rovigo to mention the matter to me as
an act of leniency which might lead up to the lady's escape.
This occurred in the early days of my incumbency. I
replied that I assumed the responsibility of such a contin
gency. The exiling of M. Portalis was immediately followed by
the arrest of M. de Calprade and of the Abbe Guairard.
Orders were at the same time sent to Savona, by telegraph
from Turin, that the strictest search should be made in the
Pope's very closet. It took place while he was taking his
usual walk in the garden of the Archbishop's palace, and
resulted in the discovery of a first brief conferring extraor
dinary powers upon Cardinal di Pietro, and of a second one
commissioning Father Fontana, a member of the ecclesi
astical commission, and M. Gregorio, a Roman prelate, to
notify Cardinal Maury of the contents of the one which
concerned him.
This discovery resulted in a renewal of several measures
against the Pope, whose household was entirely broken up,
and who, from that time, remained alone with his physi-

RENEWED SEVERITY AGAINST THE CLERGY 479
cian, and a few servants who were in the pay of the French
government. It also brought about the arrest of Father
Fontana, of M. Gregorio, of Cardinal di Pietro, and two
other members of the Sacred College, Cardinals Gabrielli
and Oppisoni, who were already in exile at Saumur. They
were all brought to the Vincennes keep, and remained in
the strictest confinement, together with the Abbe d'Astros,
who, it was reported, was soon to be brought to trial.
It could in truth be said that terror was at that moment
hovering over the clergy of France, especially over that of
Paris, for there was talk of including in the trial of the
Abbe d'Astros, all those who, directly or indirectly, had
participated in circulating the brief. Cardinal Maury took
advantage of the opportunity to persuade the Chapter that
the only way of saving the Abbe d'Astros was to deprive
him of the powers with which he had been invested, and to
present to the Emperor an address embodying a satisfac
tory declaration of faith regarding capitulary administra
tion. He experienced some difficulty in obtaining such a
result, but, in the end, everything was settled just as the
Emperor and himself wished it. The address of the Chap
ter was drawn up ; it was well received, and was forwarded
to all the bishops in France and Italy, with a request that
they should concur in it. It met with all the success the
Government could expect, as, for some time, the columns
of the Moniteur were filled with declarations of adhesion
which poured in from every quarter.

CHAPTER XIX
Inner administration of the Prefecture de Police — Singular use made of
confiscated books — The fate of political writings — Secret agents of
the Government — Inspector-General Veyrat — The clerk Perlet — Gen
eral Danican — Reforms and improvements brought about by M. Pasquier
— Measures concerning domestic servants — Personnel of the medical dis
pensary attached to the Prefecture — The Fire Brigade reorganized on
a military basis — The provisioning of Paris — The relations existing
between the Prefect of Police and his subordinate commissaires.
I will leave aside for a moment general politics, and
give a few details on the inner workings of the Prefecture
de Police.
I had discovered, among other settled abuses, what be
came of obscene books. When seized by the police, they
were never destroyed, but merely stored in a room on the
second floor of the prefecture. M. Veyrat, the inspector-
general, and perhaps a few others, had the keys to this
store-room, and were not in the least backward in making
presents of the books to their friends. M. Dubois did like
wise. I have been told that on several occasions, when
giving a dinner to his colleagues, he had conceived the
idea of presenting each one of them, by way of a courtesy,
with a packet containing the most interesting specimens of
that kind of literature. But, this was not the most repre
hensible part of the affair, for a certain quantity of the
confiscated books always ended in being returned to the
booksellers or to the hawkers from whom they had been
taken, in consideration of a handsome figure paid either to
M. Veyrat or his agents, thus constituting a most lucrative
480

M. PERLET AND M. FAUCHE-BOREL 481
branch of trade. There was but one way of ending the
matter, and that was to destroy the books. I so ordered
it, and had them destroyed in my presence.
I decided that everything that was in that store-room
should be burned in the courtyard of the prefecture. Cer
tain precautions were necessary to guard against the con
suming of so great a quantity of paper endangering the
safety of the surrounding buildings. I remembered a large
iron gridiron whieh had served to burn up assignats in the
courtyard of the Treasury. It was still in existence, and
so I asked for the loan of it, and the operation was accom
plished without trouble in the space of three hours.
It is a noteworthy fact that books seized on political
grounds were always carefully reduced to pulp immediately
after their seizure. Two or three copies were kept to be used,
in case of need, as documentary evidence, or for purposes
of comparison. Hence it was that I found in the store
room the only two copies extant of M. de Bonald's first
work entitled La Tliiorie du pouvoir. It is perhaps the
most remarkable of all those which came from his pen.
The author himself did not possess a single copy of it, so
I let him have one, while the other, I must fain confess,
found a place on my own bookshelves. This was slightly
swerving from the path of duty, but I hardly consider my
action worthy of blame.
I was, during the course of my incumbency, to make a
still sadder discovery, but of an entirely different nature.
M. Fievee told me one day, at a meeting of the Council of
State, that I had on my staff a most unfortunate individ
ual, whom he commended to me in a more special fashion
for the reason that he was connected with him by ties of
blood. This man was a M. Perlet, his brother-in-law, a
clerk in the secretary's office at the Prefecture de Police.
He had been transported, on the 18th Fructidor, together

482 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
with Messieurs de Marbois, Pichegru, and many other vic
tims of note. This transportation had been the cause of
his ruin, as it had been fatal to the existence of a journal
of which he was at the time both editor and proprietor.
On returning to France after the 18th Brumaire, he had
tried every possible means of retrieving his fallen fortunes,
but nothing had succeeded with him, and he had been only
too glad to obtain a clerkship in the offices of the prefect
ure. "It is true," added M. Fie"vee, "that his conduct
since his return to France has not been altogether blame
less, and I do not pretend to say that he is all that he
should be, but some indulgence must be shown to an
unfortunate fellow who has been so sorely tried by circum
stances." I replied that my opinion on this point coin
cided with his own, and that if I found the opportunity
of doing anything for his brother-in-law, I would eagerly
seize it.
I sent the very next day for M. Perlet to come to my pri
vate office, informed him of my promise to M. Fievee, and
of my intention to act up to it. I was surprised at the
warmth of his thanks, which I could not help seeing were
stamped with a fulsomeness and an air of humility which
greatly displeased me, and almost made me regret the
kindly way in which I had spoken to him. This unfortu
nate impression was confirmed by a letter which I received
from him two days later. He informed me that, taking
advantage of certain connections whieh his transportation
had given him with men devoted to the Royalist cause, he
had become the secret agent of the Imperial Government,
and had, under the dictation of M. Demarest and M. Dubois,
kept up a correspondence in England with one of the best
known agents of the pretender to the French throne, M.
Fauche-Borel. The object of this correspondence was to
discover the secrets of the Royalist party, and more partie-

M. VEYRAT 483
ularly to learn who were the men whom it occasionally
sent across to France, and to be punctually informed of
their landing. He stated that he had discovered a way of
causing it to be believed that there was in Paris a Royalist
committee, whose organ he was, and in whose name he
always spoke. Finally, he had been sent to England, as
he said, "to become acquainted with the resources and
hopes of the Bourbons, and to finish discrediting with the
British Government, Messieurs de Puisaye and d'En-
traigues. The former was to be feared, as he enjoyed
potent means for fomenting dissensions and for sending
agents into France." He added: " I have succeeded in my
mission beyond expectation, and you will find proof of this
in the original letters which are on file in the pigeon-holes
of the prefecture."
Once set on the track by M. Perlet himself, it was easy
for me to glean a great deal more about the matter than he
had told me. I interrogated the chief clerk in the secre
tary's office, and the chief of the first division of police,
both of them most worthy men, whom I could trust. They
both spoke to me of this wretch in terms of disgust, informed
me that he was a Genevese, and as such a fellow-country
man of M. Veyrat, who had been the means of his entering
the secret police, and had introduced him to M. Dubois.
On his returning from England, M. Fauche-Borel, in order
to keep up the connection cemented with him in London,
had sent to him one of his nephews, one Vitel, who had
just arrived from India. The latter had no secrets from his
uncle's friend, Perlet, and went so far as to inform him
that his instructions were secreted in the hollow of his
walking-stick, which was of hazel, and hardly liable to
attract attention. After Perlet had got out of the young
man all he wanted to know, he had him arrested by his
friend Veyrat, who promptly examined the walking-stick

484 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
containing the incriminating documents, and the unfortu
nate Vitel was handed over to a military commission, sen
tenced to death, and shot on the plain of Grenelle.
Ever since that time a state of discord had existed be
tween the two wretches, at least to outward appearances,
and it did not call for any great effort of prudence on my
part not to believe in it. I learnt from the chief of the first
division that all the minutes of the correspondence were in
the possession of M. Veyrat, who was the depositary of a
vocabulary, written on a number of cards, and which served
to disguise the identity of the names used in that correspond
ence. I summoned M. Veyrat, at the very moment he
least expected it, and ordered him to bring me at once the
portfolios containing the minutes and the vocabulary. I
entertained the hope of thus taking away from him every
means of following, unknown to me, so odious a machina
tion; and indeed I did not hear another word about the
matter until the day came when the Due de Rovigo had
M. Perlet arrested, because he had detained for several
days, without communicating them to M. Demarest, two
letters which he had received from London. It thus be
came demonstrated to me that my precautionary measure
had availed but little, as, according to all appearances, M.
Demarest possessed a duplicate of the words agreed upon.
It was a pleasure for me to be thus rid of this wretch.
Among the documents which I made M. Veyrat deliver
up to me, were two whereof I must say something. One
was the minute of a letter written by Perlet, on the 3d of
August, 1806, to Fauche-Borel. This letter was the joint
work of M. Demarest, Perlet, and M. Dubois. This docu
ment was keenly interesting to me, for the reason that,
written as it was at the time of my being appointed a maitre
des requites, M. Dubois had made use of the opportunity to
make some enquiries about me, in order to find out whether

REFORMS AND IMPROVEMENTS 485
M. Mole" and myself did not keep up some relations with
the princes of the House of Bourbon. The passage having
reference to us was entirely in M. Dubois's handwriting,
and couched in most adroit terms.
The second document was a lengthy memorandum in M.
Perlet' s handwriting, but drawn up by General Danican,
an imigri, who resided in London. This memorandum
contained some rather interesting particulars on the life
led in England by all the French princes, their followers,
and also about the principal persons of note who at the
time were in communication with the British Ministry.
These persons were, as a general rule, spoken of disparag
ingly, especially M. de Puisaye and M. d'Entraigues. It
is probable that the memorandum was the joint production
of Danican and Perlet, as part of the latter's mission, and
that it must have doubtless been laid before some member of
the British Cabinet. When we thus find M. Danican, com
bining forces with M. Perlet and aiding him in his plans,
it would be a hard matter not to recall his temporary ap
pearance, as commanding officer of the National Guard of
Paris, on the 13th Vendemiaire, and it is difficult not to see
in this the confirmation of the doubts engendered about
him owing to his behavior at that period.
One sees in all its shamefacedness, in the account given
by Perlet of his trip, the role that he played as concerns
Louis XVIII., who had greeted him with the most affecting
kindliness. I was to come across this man once more. On
emerging from prison, in 1814, he had the audacity to
present himself at the Tuileries, and to request an audience
of the king. I heard of it, and made it my duty to prevent
His Majesty being imposed on in so shameful a fashion.
Perlet was shown the door.
The agents of the Prefecture de Police had retained habits
and methods recalling those of the Revolution. In vain

486 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
had the Consulate and the Empire succeeded to the Repub
lic and to the Directoire; in vain had the central office,
composed of men of low degree, been merged into M.
Dubois, Prefect of Police, then M. Dubois, Councillor of
State, then M. le comte Dubois ; the public was, in some of
the departments of his administration, treated almost as
highhandedly as in the days of happy equality. By plac
ing all individuals on the same level, one had at the same
time assumed the right of treating them all with equal
brutality. This mode of procedure had nevertheless be
come, it must be confessed, somewhat of an anomaly in a
country where dignities, titles, and decorations of all sorts
had ended in resuming their place and potency. It is hard
to realize how deeply the population of Paris was exercised
over these methods, and how grateful it felt towards me for
bringing them to an end.
The next matter to which I gave my attention was in
regard to the many domestic servants dwelling in the capi
tal, over whose conduct it was necessary to be able to easily
exercise supervision, in the interests of society as a whole,
and in those of their masters especially. A number of thefts
had been committed of late. It struck me that a remedy
to this would be the creation of livrets (pass-books) for
servants such as those given to workmen, in whieh should
be recorded their names and the character given to them
by their masters, each time they left a situation. It would
thus become impossible for them to conceal anything affect
ing their behavior, and all who took them into their employ
ment would always be able to obtain such information about
them as was found necessary. On the other hand, the
police would thus be enabled to ascertain, when they came
to get their livret, if some one of them had not been previ
ously guilty of some misdeed, or had not previously in
curred judicial punishment. The police could thus give

THE DISPENSARY OF THE PREFECTURE 487
useful warnings to men who would set great store by such
information, such as notaries, cashiers, bankers, in a
word, to those who, more than others, had reason to fear
being robbed by their servants. Nevertheless, the greatest
obstacles to the execution of a measure which they were so
interested in countenancing came from the masters' side.
They feared that this would afford the police an opportu
nity of prying into their homes. Hence it is that the
measure adopted by me was never fully carried out, and
this also explains the readiness with which the use of the
livrets was abandoned.
Nothing must be left undone in the administration of a
big city. There is a certain matter which may justly be
styled infamous, but in which important services may still
be rendered. The existence of filles publiques is a neces
sary, perhaps an indispensable evil, in order to avoid
greater licentiousness ; but these unfortunate creatures must
at least have some supervision exercised over them, and
their health must be the object of a care all the greater in
that it affects to a high degree the health of the youth.
The Paris police, which had generally been so careful
prior to the Revolution, had nevertheless always shown
in this matter a carelessness which it is difficult to explain.
It is true that filles publiques who were known to be suffer
ing from some disease were taken to a hospital; but it be
came necessary, in order that one should hear of a case,
for it to have already done widespread injury and given rise
to many complaints. My predecessor in office had con
ceived the happy idea of establishing a medical staff whose
duty it was to visit them, to examine them at their place
of residence, to supply them with the necessary treatment,
and to notify the police when it was necessary to seques
trate them. Unfortunately, this idea had been deprived of
its efficacy by the most revolting abuses. Each and every

488 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
fille publique was compelled to pay a monthly tax destined to
pay the police agents, the physicians of the board, and the
physic. The total of this tax amounted to about 30,000
francs ; it was more than sufficient to meet all needs, but it
was put to a totally different use. A surgeon, who was an
old college mate of M. Dubois, was placed at the head of
the board, and he alone received a salary of 10 to 12,000
francs, which did not prevent him from turning his posi
tion into a thorough sinecure. Must I tell it? The mother-
in-law and the wife of M. Dubois were not ashamed
to receive, each one of them, 2000 or 3000 francs out
of this fund, as an addition to their pin-money; the re
mainder was distributed among some subordinate agents,
who, as no supervision was exercised over them, neglected
their duties, or found in them an easy opportunity of levy
ing ransom on the poor creatures, by making them pay for
their silence.
It was some time before I became aware of this disgrace
ful state of affairs. The surgeon, M. Dubois's friend, was
soon sent about his business. I then placed at the head of
the dispensary a physician and a surgeon who were worthy
of confidence. I gave them the power of engaging such
assistants as they were in need of, and I announced that
all monies derived from the tax, left over after paying
regular salaries, would be distributed as bonuses to such
officials or surgeons who should bestow the most care, pay
the most visits, and accomplish the most cures. In noth
ing did I ever obtain more satisfactory results. Formerly,
out of eight filles publiques, there was one ill; when I left
the prefecture, the average had been reduced to one out of
every twenty-seven.
During the same period, it fell to my lot to carry out a
reorganization on which the city of Paris set great store.
The fire brigade, which had so long been famed for its ex-

REORGANIZATION OF THE FIRE BRIGADE 489
cellent work, had, during the past few years, completely
fallen from its high state. When the Austrian ambassa
dor's ballroom was destroyed by fire, the Emperor had ex
pressed the greatest discontent at the manner in which the
brigade had behaved. Hence, one of the first things he
enjoined upon me, on my becoming Prefect of Police, was
to busy myself in a serious fashion with the care of once
more bringing the brigade to a high standard. There was
a great difficulty in the way of accomplishing this. The
brigade, while being under me in all matters concerning
its active duties, defended in regard to its cost and organi
zation, and in the matter of the appointment of its officers
of the Prefecture of the Seine. The recruiting officers had
allowed many young men who had influence at their backs,
and some of whom had paid pretty dearly for the privilege,
to become members of the brigade. Once their names
were entered on the muster-roll, these young men, in order
to spare themselves the boredom and fatigue of active duty,
had fallen into the habit of getting old firemen to go on
and do watch in their stead, for a pecuniary consideration,
while the veterans approved of a regime whieh brought
them in a pretty good income. Owing to this, the new fire
men did not learn anything about their business, so that
when a fire broke out, they were unable to be of any great
assistance, and it took some time ere they could be mus
tered. Added to this, the chief of the brigade was a drunk
ard, and the greater number of officers ought to have been at
the Invalides. On the other hand, M. Frochot, the Prefect
of the Seine, a most trustworthy man, and most enlightened
in matters of theory, showed such indifference, and placed
such exaggerated trust in all who had anything to do with
him, that it was impossible that abuses should not multi
ply in his administration. He must indeed have been
the most good-natured of men, for no one perhaps has more

490 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
than myself opposed him in important matters, and yet, as
he could not charge me with seeking to do him injury, we
always lived on the best of terms.
Up to the time whereof I speak, the firemen had been
selected among bourgeois working at some trade on their
own account, when their services were not required; they
were not quartered in barracks, and merely under the obliga
tion of reporting at the guard-rooms on certain days. In
order to get information to guide me in making the neces
sary reforms, I had several talks with competent men,
especially with one Morat, the real organizer of the brigade
before the Revolution. He was the only one who had been
able to get any good out of it, and this had brought him
somewhat high renown1. He was a very old man, and was
very tenacious of his old habits and the free and semi-
1 It is, generally speaking, too readily supposed that institutions admitted
to be good and useful have always existed. In the matter of the public
service, it must nevertheless be conceded that, regarding some of the most
important matters, the benefits derived from them, generally speaking,
were not enjoyed until quite recent times. The progress made in this
respect has been slow, and the most important improvements do not often
date any further back than the latter half of the last century. Thus the
lighting up of the streets of Paris by means of lanterns placed at stated
intervals and giving a light of some intensity, did not occur until from
1760 to 1770. The fire brigade was not established on a firm basis by M.
Morat until from 1770 to 1780. Previous to that time, the principal assist
ance was given at fires by the mendicant orders; it was the Capuchin
monks who climbed on the roofs, rescued from the flames those who were
in danger of death, and saved the most precious chattels just as they were
about to be consumed. The first fire-pumps belonged to these religious
communities, who themselves dragged them to the place of danger. Lastly,
no better idea can be given of the carelessness existing in regard to this
matter than by relating the following fact of which I am able to guarantee
the authenticity : —
In spite of the trouble which M. Morat took for ten years, in spite of a
few enlightened protectors who came to his assistance, at the time of the
fire which destroyed the Opera in 1780 or 1781, this house had neither a
reservoir nor any pumps of its own. For several months previous, M. Morat
had earnestly endeavored to obtain the necessary funds from the civic
authorities, upon whom devolved all expenditure connected with the Opera,
but, under one pretext or the other, the granting of his petition had always
been rejected or adjourned.

THE MILITARY FORM ADOPTED 491
bourgeoise organization with which he had obtained such
good results, but times had changed.
I therefore came to the conclusion that an entirely mili
tary organization was the one to be preferred. Such an
organization would necessarily involve quartering the men
in barracks, and would at the outset call for a somewhat
heavy outlay of money, but it would also present the ad
vantage of holding forever at the disposal of the city a
picked corps, to which might also be entrusted the guard
over several of the large public institutions, thus afford
ing relief to the ordinary garrison already so overbur
dened with the number of guards it had to furnish. I
experienced some trouble in getting this idea adopted, but
it finally triumphed. The matter was discussed in the
Council of State, on a report from the Minister of the
Interior, and finally the Emperor approved of a decree
drawn up in conformity with my views, but he never
would consent to give any of his conscripts towards the
primary formation of the corps, not for its annual recruit
ing. He dreaded, above all things, to lay hands on the con
scription land. In spite of these obstacles, I succeeded ere
very long in establishing an organization on a good basis.
Following a first unfortunate selection, the general in
command of the Paris garrison suggested to me as the chief
of the new corps, an officer of Engineers, M. de Plazanet,
who had served his country with great honor to himself,
especially at the siege of Saragossa, where he had received
wounds completely invaliding him. It is to him that is
due the excellent footing on which was placed the Fire
Brigade, which he still commands, and which has never
given any cause for complaint.
I spent the spring and summer of 1811 in visiting the
public institutions and the several places which required
my special scrutiny. This tour of inspection was attended

492 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
by good results, and enabled me to put an end to many
abuses. I discovered many. As an instance, the trade in wood,
coal, and butcher's meat was in the hands of monopolies
equally detrimental to the interests of the consumer and
the producer. I attempted to reorganize the caisse (cattle
exchange) of Poissy according to a less vexatious and more
truly useful system. Was this caisse really indispensable?
I thought so for a long while, but I have my doubts about
it nowadays. It sometimes happens that institutions of
this kind, well conceived in their origin, continue to exist
long after their utility has become a thing of the past, and
nothing remains but their objectionable features.
In a general way, the following observations may be
made concerning the regulations governing the provision
ing of the capital. Their existence dates from before the
Revolution, which swept them away in 1789. At first,
this doing away with them was the cause of much confu
sion, which might have been remedied with the aid of a
little time and a lull in the stormy political horizon; but,
the assignats, popular disturbances, the Terror, then the
" maximum " law, and a general state of distress supervened
simultaneously. Then the scarcity of provisions reached
its extreme limit; one lacked everything, even things of
primary necessity. As soon as order was re-established,
after the 18th Brumaire, and when everything had to be
re-organized, the simplest way was found to be a return to
the methods in vogue prior to the Revolution.
The consequences of the absolute liberty allowed in
1789 to those who saw to the provisioning of the capital,
have been wrongly confounded with those which brought
about the Terror, the " maximum " law, and the lack of
capital, which latter was caused by the excessive use of
paper money. Hence it happened that regulations, which

THE PROVISIONING OF PARIS 493
should have been put in force temporarily only, were
adopted as a final measure. I feel convinced that the
defects of this system will in the end be realized, and that
it will be understood by degrees that the benefits of com
petition are to be sought for above all; this is what the
present administration has already attempted to do, on a
pretty large scale, for the meat trade, and I am of opinion
that it has entered on the right path.
I devoted much care to establishing frequent intercourse
between the forty-eight commissaires de police and myself.
I met them in conference every week, questioned them
about all kinds of matters, made them speak openly, and
even chat confidentially, and I was thus enabled to ascer
tain what their abilities were and to find out which of
these men were most worthy of my esteem and confidence.
I also acquired in this fashion a number of particulars
which would otherwise have escaped my attention. I must
be forgiven if I dwell so much on the past, and I would
like it to be of as much interest to the reader as to myself.
It is twenty -two years since I entered public affairs ; I have
held many positions, I have under difficult circumstances
rendered perhaps real services to my country, but the
satisfaction of having done good and prevented evil, in so
far as lay in my power, has never been felt by me to a
greater extent than when fulfilling the duties of Prefect
of Police. It is therefore natural that my thoughts should
once more delight in dwelling with no little complacency
on those days.

CHAPTER XX
Retreat in Spain of Massena, the greatest warrior after Napoleon — Conse
quences of the dissensions between Ney and Massena — Marmont in
command — Marshal Suchet in Catalonia — Birth of the King of Rome —
Joy of Napoleon and the nation — Haughty speech of the Emperor at
the opening of the Corps legislatif — Convocation of a National ecclesi
astical council — A deputation of bishops sent to Savona to wait upon
the Pope — First sitting of the council, in the Archiepiscopal Palace in
Paris, on the 17th of June — Serious difficulties between the Fathers of
the Council and Napoleon — Energetic opposition shown by the Arch
bishop of Bordeaux and several bishops — Dissolution of the Council by
a decree dated the 10th of July — Arrest, and imprisonment at Vin
cennes, of the Bishops of Tournay, Troyes, and Ghent — Deplorable
effect produced by these deeds of coercion — Fears of a schism — Nego
tiations to ward off such a danger — Fresh meeting of the Council —
A delegation of prelates again sent to the Pope, who finally grants a
brief of approval — The papal brief rejected by the Council of State-
Pius VII. refuses to make any further concessions — The imprisoned
bishops restored to freedom on condition of resigning — Impolitic con
duct of Napoleon towards the Church.
The period comprised between the end of 1810 and the
middle of 1812, was the calmest through which we passed
since the days of the Consulate. We did not run any of
those terrible risks to which the Prussian, Russian, and
Austrian campaigns had accustomed us, and whieh we were
to once more experience, but in more terrible form, during
the next three years. Since the end of 1809, the Spanish
peninsula remained the only battle-field where our soldiers
were struggling. The losses consequent upon this war were
enormous, but they were not fully known until such time
as other and far greater disasters rendered it imperative to
bring together all the military resources of the state.
494

MASSENA AND MARSHAL NEY 495
Each and every month of the year 1811 was made memo
rable, both in Spain and Portugal, by some engagement, or
by the storming or besieging of some city. I have already
spoken of the little success attending the siege of Cadiz,
and the failure of the expedition into Portugal. The
retreat of Massena occurred towards the beginning of
March ; it was the termination of the military career of that
great captain, France's first military commander after
Napoleon. Pichegru, Moreau, Kleber, Desaix, and Lannes
are rivals above whom it may seem audacious to place any
body. I have met them all, with the exception of Desaix,
but none of them has given me as completely as Massena,
the idea of a born warrior, possessing a genius for war, and
endowed with all the qualities which render victory cer
tain. His eagle eye seemed made to scan a field of battle.
One could understand, on seeing him, that the soldier
under his command never believed it was possible to retreat.
The battle of Zurich, the defence of Genoa, and that of the
village of Essling, are military feats which may be equalled,
but not surpassed.
The absolute lack of subordination on the part of Marshal
Ney, who was placed under his orders in the Portuguese
campaign,1 and the delay incurred in sending the reinforce-
1 The dissensions existing between the two marshals, both previous to
and after the retreat, reached such a point that Massena, towards the end
of the movement, determined upon depriving Ney of his command. It was
believed for a while that Ney would resist this degradation, but he finally
submitted to it. I heard, at the time, many interesting particulars con
cerning this state of discord and its fatal consequences. They were fur
nished to me by M. Lagarde, a man of parts, who was at headquarters as
general commissary of police. He was to exercise the functions appertain
ing to his post, as soon as the army had entered Lisbon. He was, more
over, a kind of supervisor whom it had been considered proper to place
near the military commanders, the necessity of such surveillance having
doubtless made itself felt owing to the strange undertaking attempted by
Marshal Soult, at the time of the preceding expedition. It is known that
Soult had pretended to have himself proclaimed king, under the title of
Nicholas I. M. Lagarde, in his narratives, attributed all the wrongs of
the affair to Marshal Ney.

496 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
ments which had been promised him, were the principal
causes of the failure of this campaign, which was at any
rate undertaken with far too few troops. His energy met
with almost insuperable obstacles ; the retreat was effected
across a country that had been laid waste, and in the face
of superior forces, without a single man being left behind,
or one of his guns abandoned. During this retreat, the
soul of Massena became possessed with a kind of disheart
ened feeling, which made him leave to Marshal Ney the
care of repulsing the attacks directed against his rear
guard. He was also blamed, with some show of cause, of
having, when re-entering Spain, let slip a magnificent
opportunity of wiping out the army of the Duke of Wel
lington. All these combined circumstances broke the heart
of the old warrior, and I do not entertain any doubt but
that all the mortification he had to endure contributed
greatly towards accelerating the disease of the lungs which
carried him off, and which rendered him unfit to serve in
the following campaigns. This was another irreparable
loss to Napoleon.
Had Massena and Lannes, during the Saxon campaigns,
respectively been in command of one of the large army corps
left behind in Silesia, or one whose destination was Berlin,
no one can say what might not have happened, and, without
wishing to cast any reflection on the men chosen in prefer
ence to them, it is allowable to think that the issue of the
battles would have been different. I often met Marshal
Massena, after his return from Portugal, and his conversa
tion always had infinite attraction for me. He had an
acute, quick, and sagacious understanding.
Marshal Marmont was placed at the head of the troops,
whose command Massena and Ney were relinquishing, and
the name of Army of Portugal was retained, in order to
fully establish the fact that the plan of conquering that
kingdom had not been given up.

MARSHALS MARMONT AND SUCHET 497
Yet, its frontiers were never, from that time on, to be
crossed by the French troops, and Portugal remained a kind
of fortress from which the British troops, led by tbe Duke
of Wellington, invaded Spain on several occasions.
During this time, Catalonia was the scene of the efforts
and triumphs of Marshal Suchet, the only one of all the
generals employed in this war who was constantly fortu
nate. His victory under the walls of Saguntum, his taking
of that city and Tarragona, gave him, in 1811, the baton of
a marshal. He had deserved it by the vigor of his opera
tions and the excellent order he had maintained in the
army corps under his command, and in the provinces he
had succeeded in conquering.
The rivalries which had proved so fatal to the direction
of military operations, induced the king to try the result
of a journey to Paris, in the course of the month of May.
He would have liked to obtain from his brother absolute
power over all the French troops occupying his kingdom.
Joseph had good grounds for complaint, but he seriously
deceived himself if he ventured to flatter himself with the
idea that his brother would consent to cede to him the ab
solute command he was asking for. There was nothing on
earth that Napoleon was less disposed to yield to another.
His army was the basis and the primary instrument of his
grandeur. The safety of his crown rested on the strength
and loyalty of that army, and he could not entertain the
idea that it should for even a single day, even the smallest
part of it, be withdrawn from his command, or that it
should give battle pursuant to orders emanating from any
other authority than his own. Moreover, did he himself
know what the march of events would lead him to do with
regard to the fate of Spain? Joseph therefore met with a
somewhat cool welcome; some few concessions were made
to his pride, but none pf them bore on his heart's desire.

498 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
and, after his return to Spain, matters went on as before,
with but slight difference.
The birth of the King of Rome took place on the 20th of
March. The whole of the Court, and all who held posi
tions of any importance, had been summoned on the preced
ing evening, and spent the night in the rooms adjoining
those of the Empress. For the greater part of those pres
ent, the birth of an heir to the Empire was, in a measure, a
matter of personal interest, as it would give stability to the
order of things in which their fortunes were bound up. At
six o'clock in the morning, we were informed that labor had
become suspended, that it was not known when the Em
press would give birth to a child, and that we might all
retire. The Empress was in actual danger, and she was
nearing the point when it sometimes becomes necessary, in
order to save the life of either mother or child, to sacrifice
one of them. M. Dubois, an eminent surgeon, who had
charge of the accouchement, had not concealed this fact
from the Emperor. History must render Napoleon the jus
tice of recording his answer, which became known at the
time. "Behave, sir, as you would in the case of a peas
ant's wife."
Hardly an hour had elapsed from the time of my return
to the prefecture, when I heard the first report of the can
non announcing that the Empress had been safely delivered
of a child. When the twenty-second report was heard, the
public joy revealed itself in the most lively and expansive
fashion wherever the people congregated. A loud cry of
"Long live the Emperor, the Empress, and the King of
Rome! " arose in all directions. We therefore did not de
ceive the Emperor, when, on returning to the chateau, we
conveyed to him the assurance that the happiness he felt
was reciprocated by the inhabitants of the city of Paris.
From all I saw, Napoleon probably never experienced a

BIRTH OF TBE KING OF ROME 499
more happy day in this life. His physiognomy was irradi
ated with jey. He himself carried the child into the room
wherein were assembled the most important members of
his Court and Government. There was something touching
and affectionate in his expression, which was not generally
to be found there. The Emperor, it was plain, had given
way to the father. Why did this victory of nature not
endure longer?
The infant's baptism was set for June. In the interval,
no event of any importance happened excepting the return
of M. de Caulaincourt to France. He was leaving his post
as ambassador at St. Petersburg, and as he had been a per
sonal favorite with Alexander, his recall, or, to speak more
in accordance with the language of the day, the leave of
absence which had been granted him, was a sufficient indi
cation that there was daily a little less anxiety to culti
vate a good understanding between the two cabinets. It
was patent to any one who could see beneath the surface
of things, that the part the ambassador of France to Russia
was henceforth destined to play, was to be one not at all
in harmony with the one performed by the Due de Vicence.
His personal character was, moreover, too sincere and
unbending for any hope to be entertained that the new
attitude and language required could be obtained from it.
About the same period, M. Maret, Due de Bassano, took
the place, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, of M. de
Champagny, Due de Cadore, who was appointed Minister
without portfolio. M. de Bassano, while endowed with no
less sincere zeal than his predecessor, felt positively en
thusiastic over the genius of the master whom he served.
It could be said of him that he had the same faith in Napo
leon as the most fervent Catholic can have in the infallibil
ity of the Church. To this impassioned devotion must be
added a comprehensive intellect and a great aptitude for

500 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
work. So it is that no one ever constantly stood in such
high favor, and, if his services were not always useful, they
never for a single day ceased being agreeable.
M. Daru took his place as Minister of State. These
changes, although they did not seem likely to affect me,
had nevertheless a marked influence on my present status
and the one to come. My very frequent intercourse with
the Due de Bassano did not suffer any interruption, and
so, when visiting him at his official residence, I became
acquainted with an entirely new set of people. I was in
the habit of meeting there the principal personages of the
Diplomatic Corps, I got a far better insight into the mys
teries of the imperial policy, and I began to judge of it with
more clear-sightedness, and, in consequence, with increased
doubts and fears.
Far from taking any hold of me, the enthusiasm of the
Due de Bassano made me distrustful, for I perceived that
owing to his ardent admiration of all his master's actions,
he could no longer judge of matters correctly. The mar
riage of the Emperor with the Archduchess had dazzled him.
He could no longer see any danger that could possibly
threaten the fortunes of Napoleon. This was the wrong
frame of mind for the man who ought to have made it his
duty to collect and convey to his master every scrap of
information likely to enlighten him, to have heard every
thing, to have listened to everything, for the man, finally,
who was called upon to carry on the correspondence with
the cabinet of St. Petersburg.
Few there were who could resist the prestige of the sov
ereign whose every action was crowned with success. I
can only name two men in the following of M. Maret who
did not share his illusions. One was M. de Semonville,
an old friend of M. Maret, and the other, Comte Louis de
Narbonne, a returned imigri, one of the wittiest and most

M. DE BASSANO AND THOSE ABOUT HIM 501
brilliant members of the Court of Louis XVI., whose Minis
ter he had been for a few months, in the opening days of
the Assemblie ligislative. He had, in his youth, been a
somewhat close friend of M. de Talleyrand, and after having
at the outset of the Revolution drifted into almost the same
line of opinion, Comte Louis, on his return to France, had
not received from his former friend the help he had ex
pected, so he was compelled to make his own way to the
Emperor. He had known how to make himself most agree
able, and had become his aide-de-camp. Napoleon en
trusted him with several diplomatic missions. All this
combined had, while increasing the distance which sepa
rated him from M. de Talleyrand, brought him into some
what close intimacy with M. Maret. This was equivalent
to falling out with the former, for great was the opposition,
not to say the hostility, between the former and present
Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the world knows to what
an extent the Due de Bassano was persistently harassed by
the sarcasms of the Prince of Benevento.
My former relations with M. de Semonville (we had both
been councillors in the Parlement) soon brought about an
interchange of our thoughts and premonitions. His own
were of a more sombre nature than mine, and I occasion
ally considered them rash, although I could hardly dispute
their accuracy. The three of us then formed a small and
intimate group in the salons of the Minister; we listened to
and observed everything, and as we felt a sincere desire
that matters should not reach a disastrous climax, we seized
every opportunity to let the Due de Bassano know the truth
about things. But, he was so greatly under the sway of his
illusions that there was no way of getting him to under
stand anything that was of a nature to weaken them.
Brilliant fgtes in connection with the christening of the
King of Rome took place in Paris and at Saint-Cloud.

502 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
The Emperor had wished that they should coincide with
the opening of the Corps Ugislatif, an event which took
place on the 16th of June. His speech on this occasion
deserves notice, for he seldom had delivered a more haughty
one, and never were his audacious encroachments more out
spokenly avowed.
The reunion to the Empire of the Papal States, of Hol
land, of the Hanseatic provinces, and of the Valais was re
ferred to in this speech as the consequent result of the
necessity he found increasing his maritime resources, and
separating the affairs of the Church from those of the
Empire. "I have granted to the Popes," he said, with
most derisive coolness, "palaces in Rome and in Paris. If
they have the interests of religion at heart, they will often
come and reside at the centre of affairs, and follow the ex
ample of Saint Peter, who preferred living in Rome to liv
ing in Holy Land." His speech concluded with a state
ment of the condition of affairs in Spain, where the
insurgents had been defeated in a number of pitched bat
tles, and where English blood had at last flown in a number
of actions which reflected glory on the French armies.
"When England is exhausted," he went on to say, "when
she shall at last have been made to experience all the ills
which she has for twenty years past inflicted on continental
nations, when one half of her families will be in mourning,
a bolt out of the skies will come and settle the Peninsular
War, the fate of her armies, and avenge Europe and Asia,
by ending this Second Punic War."
The history of those days, and especially of that extraor
dinary man, is nowhere better written than in these sol
emnly delivered words which read so strongly a few years
later. If this language imposed on the greater number,
what irritation and indignation must it not have aroused
abroad among those who were not yet completely crushed,

THE NATIONAL ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCIL 503
and who felt that they were still able to show him some
resistance? Hence is it to be wondered at that renewed
efforts were finally made, with one common accord, from
one end of Europe to the other, as soon as the day came
when the possibility of overthrowing the conqueror began
to be seen, and as soon as it became plain that fortune was
deserting him?
This same month of June, in which the promulgation
of which I have just given an extract appeared, witnessed
several other events that I cannot pass in silence. Napo
leon had made up his mind, following the result of the de
bates of the ecclesiastical commission and the answers he
had received from it, to call together a national council.
Letters of convocation had been sent out as early as the
25th of April, addressed to the French and Italian bishops.
A deputation composed of the Bishops of Tours, Nantes,
and Treves, had started simultaneously to wait on the Pope,
at Savona; its object was to announce this convocation, and
' to notify him that the Concordat of 1801 was no longer in
force, owing to his refusal to conform to its essential
clauses. They were tP add that in future the bishops
would be installed as previous to the Concordat, according
to forms to be determined by the forthcoming council, and
approved by the Emperor.
Still, if the delegates found the Pope in a conciliatory
mood, they were authorized to treat with him, in which
case two treaties would have to be agreed upon, each inde
pendent of the other. The first was to have reference to
episcopal installation, and Pn this point the Emperor was
willing to revert to the Concordat of 1801, but on two con
ditions, the first of these being that the Pope would install
such bishops already appointed to sees, and the second, that
in future the appointments should be submitted to the Pope
in the usual form, for the purpose of obtaining canonical

504 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
installation; that, in case at the end of these three months,
it had not been granted by His Holiness, the appointment
was to be submitted to the Metropolitan, who was to install
his suffragan, who in turn would equally have the power
to install, even in the case of an archbishop.
The purport of the second agreement was the settlement
of matters generally, and if, following upon this, the Pope
consented to observe all the conditions mutually agreed
upon, he might at will return to Rome or reside at Avig
non, with full power to administer spiritual matters, and
to even have about him resident representatives of the
Christian powers. He would receive two millions for his
maintenance, all of this, moreover, consequent upon his
binding himself to exercise in the Empire no power that
was contrary to the four articles of 1682. These points
once settled, it was expected that many minor difficulties
would soon be disposed of.
The delegates were also commanded to inform His Holi
ness, that under no circumstances would he again enter
into temporal possession of Rome. They were also to warn
him, that in case of his refusing to agree to the proposed
arrangements, the Church of France in National Council
assembled, would be free to act in conformity with the
precedents established in bygone days, and inspired by the
necessity of providing for the salvation of souls and the
good of religion.
In order to be better accredited, the three bishops had
armed themselves with a letter signed by several other
bishops at a meeting held at the residence of Cardinal
Fesch, and also with a private letter from this Cardinal.
In their letter, the bishops entreated the Pope to place full
confidence in the three delegates sent him, and the Cardinal
entered into a rather detailed exposi of all the advantages
which would accrue from his compliance with all the prop-

DEPUTATION OF BISHOPS SENT TO THE POPE 505
ositions which were to be submitted to him. He dwelt
in particular fashion on those which would be of benefit to
religion, and be experienced by the Churches of France and
of Italy, viz. : The freedom and independence of the head
of the Church, the return of the cardinals to the Court of
His Holiness, a satisfactory revenue derived from landed
property, the re-establishment of foreign missions, the pres
ence of the Ministers of the several powers at the Court of
His Holiness, an increase in the number of bishops, many
increased facilities for the exercise of worship, and lastly,
a liberal stipend for the ministers of religion.
The above were the precious benefits to which His Emi
nence called the attention of the Sovereign Pontiff, if he
complied with Napoleon's propositions. Several other car
dinals, archbishops, and bishops who were temporarily in
Paris, also wrote privately to the Pope.
The delegates were under orders to return by the 1st of
June. I will not enter into a detailed account of the nego
tiations which took place between them and the Pope at
Savona. They found him angered, and were on the point
of failing absolutely in their mission. But Pius VII. was
moved with compassion for the sufferings of the Church.
The letter of Cardinal Fesch had made a great impression
on him, and, when everything seemed broken off, he decided
on giving an oral approval to a memorandum of which he
kept a duplicate, and which contained the following con
ventions : —
"Taking into consideration the needs and desires of the
Churches of France and of Italy, etc., he would grant
canonical installation to Napoleon's appointees, according
to the forms prescribed at the time of the concordats of
France and of the Kingdom of Italy. He was prepared to
extend by means of a new concordat, the same conditions
to the Churches of Tuscany, Parma, and Piacenza. He

506 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
consented to the insertion into the concordats of a clause
by which he bound himself to deliver bulls of installation
to the bishops appointed by the Emperor or by the King,
within a period to be determined, which period was not to
be less than six months, and in case such installation was
withheld for longer than six months, for other reasons than
the personal unworthiness of the appointees, he would in
vest with the power of delivering bulls in his name the
Metropolitan of the vacant see, and failing him, the senior
Metropolitan of the ecclesiastical province. However, he
had only determined to make these concessions in the hope
which the bishops had led him to entertain, that they would
pave the way to arrangements which would re-establish
peace and order in the Church, and would restore to the
Holy See the independence and dignity appertaining to it.
The various arrangements having relation to Church disci
pline and the exercise of pontifical authority were to form
the subjects of special treaty for the negotiation of which
His Holiness was disposed to entertain propositions, as soon
as his freedom and his counsellors were restored to him."
It was on the 19th of May that this memorandum was
accepted as satisfactory by the episcopal delegates, who, re
joicing at so unexpected a success, hastened to return to
Napoleon, whom they flattered themselves they could pre
vail upon to feel the advantage there would be in remaining
content with that convention, the frank acceptance of which
might render the holding of the council unnecessary. But
matters had progressed too far, as the bishops convoked had
already come together. Besides, the Pope's consent was
merely a verbal one, he had not signed any document, and
the Emperor indulged in the hope of obtaining from the
council decrees which would provide a remedy for his em
barrassments in a much more certain fashion. He also
enjoyed the idea that the holding of a council was a conspic-

THE OPENING OF TBE COUNCIL 507
uous event which should not be lacking to his reign, and
he doubtless fondly imagined that it would not be much
more difficult to direct and govern such an assembly than
his Corps Ugislatif.
The opening of the council took place in the archiepisco
pal palace of Paris, on the 17th of June. Cardinal Fesch
claimed the presidency over it, as the privilege of his archi
episcopal see of Lyons, and as Primate of all Gaul. There
was much to be said against this, and there were well-
founded objections to this claim, which was finally allowed.
The Fathers of the council, to the number of eighty-seven,
of whom thirty-one were Italians,1 went in procession to
Notre-Dame, and there heard mass, which was celebrated
by Cardinal Fesch with great pomp.
The Bishop of Troyes, Abbe of Boulogne, preached the
sermon ; the Bishop of Nantes announced the decree open
ing the council, from the pulpit, and read the declaration
of faith of the Council of Trent. The president then re
peated aloud the oath prescribed in 1564 by the bull of Pius
IV., and the other prelates took the same oath at his hands.
These proceedings greatly displeased the Emperor. He was
considerably displeased with the sermon, in which the
Bishop of Troyes had spoken far too much of the Roman
Church, "the mother and sovereign of all Churches, etc."
The oath also was very distasteful to him, as it began with
the words " I swear and promise faithful obedience to the
Roman Pontiff, etc." However, he was given to under
stand that this was a matter of form which need not cause
1 Thirty-three Italian bishops had not been convoked, either because
they were in prison or in exile, or owing to their old age and their infirmi
ties. Of the Roman bishops but one had been summoned ; in France, there
was only one who had not been summoned, and that was the Bishop of
Seez. The Emperor, who was dissatisfied with his principles, had com
pelled him to resign and to live out of his diocese ; yet it could not be denied
that he remained the titular bishop, his resignation not having been accepted
by the Pope, and as such, he had the right to be present at the council.

508 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
him any annoyance. But fresh difficulties soon made their
appearance. Napoleon sent his Minister of Public Worship
to read to the council a decree whereby he approved of Car
dinal Fesch as its president, and which enacted that a com
mittee should be created for the purpose of regulating the
proceedings of the assembly, of which bureau the Ministers
of Public Worship of France and Italy were to be members.
The unexpected apparition of the Minister and the claims
arising out of the decree of which he was the bearer, caused
great perturbation. In the early centuries, the Christian
Emperors were indeed in the habit of sending to the coun
cils one or two commissioners with the object of preserving
order; but, for ages past, the care of this had exclusively
been left to those who presided over them. When attempt
ing to revive such a usage, the Emperor was but too plainly
making manifest his desire of influencing the decisions,
and it was not a good means of reaching the object he had
in view.
Cardinal Fesch moved that the prelates whom he had
previously commissioned to police the assembly should con
stitute the bureau, but his motion failed to find acceptance,
so, at the request of the Bishop of Ghent, M. de Broglie,
the council proceeded with making a fresh selection of
prelates. The Minister of Public Worship next read a
message from Napoleon, who complained bitterly of the
Pope's refusal to grant bulls of installation to the bishops
he (the Emperor) had appointed, of the briefs issued by
him against installations by the Chapters, of the bull of
excommunication which His Holiness had issued, and of
certain extraordinary powers granted to Cardinal di Pietro,
and wherein he declared that the Concordat having been
violated and no longer extant, a new method must be found
for canonical installations, and that the council was the
proper body to determine upon the one most suitable.

THE FATHERS OF THE COUNCIL AND NAPOLEON 509
This message created consternation among the Fathers
of the council, who had, up to that time, hoped to bring
about a reconciliation between the two parties, and who
were most anxious to see this hope realized. From that
moment, discouragement and a sentiment of distrust reigned
among them. Those prelates who passed as being more
particularly attached to the Emperor, became, from the mere
fact, objects of suspicion to their colleagues, and whatever
might be the rectitude of their intentions, they lost almost
all consideration. This feeling of hostility was directed in
a particular fashion against the man who by his virtues,
his lights, and talents, was best in a position to render
valuable services, the Bishop of Nantes, M. Duvoisin. He
endeavored, on the following day, to read in reply to the
message, an address wherein was dealt with at length the
question of excommunication. Its tenor was attacked by
the Bishop of Ghent, and the part having reference to the
excommunication underwent a change. In lieu of dealing
with the particular issue, it was agreed that one should
remain content with laying down general principles. Cer
tain passages relating to the four articles of 1682 and the
liberties of the Gallican Church met with strenuous opposi
tion at the hands of the Italian prelates, whieh went so far
as to take the shape of a protest which was presented by
the Bishop of Brescia, and signed by several of his col
leagues. The Bishop of Chambery moved that the council
should proceed in a body to Saint-Cloud, and demand the
freedom of the Holy Father. This proposition was at first
welcomed with the liveliest enthusiasm, and was on the
point of being adopted, when the majority drew back before
the fear of entering into a discussion with Napoleon, and
rejected a measure which would have honored the council
in the eyes of the man himself to whom it would have most
given offence.

510 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
In the end, the address was adopted, after everything
had been eliminated from it which had reference to the ex
communication. Napoleon declined to receive it in its
modified form, and ordered that the bishops were to give
their attention at once to the object for which they had
been convened, i.e. the methods to be substituted for the
papal bulls with regard to the installation of bishops.
I do not believe that Napoleon, in any circumstance of
his life, so little understood the position and character of
the men with whom he had to deal. It was evident that
in those days he found himself without such counsellors as
were able to correct the false ideas which swayed his mind
in this connection. The Minister of Public Worship, M.
Bigot de Preameneu, a worthy man, but weak and timid,
was incapable of taking any stand and firmly defending his
position. At the time of the conclusion of the Concordat,
M. Portalis, who then was Minister of Public Worship,
possessed all the general knowledge and talents necessary
to exercise a salutary influence, and it was also the time
when M. de Talleyrand still exercised great influence.
There is no cause, therefore, for surprise if matters were
conducted differently in 1801 and in 1811.
It was nevertheless necessary that the council should
pronounce itself on the question last set by the Government.
The Archbishop of Tours read the report drawn up in this
connection, at the end of the preceding year by the ecclesi
astical commission, and concluded by giving some particu
lars of what had recently occurred at Savona. He sub
mitted the memorandum orally approved of by the Pope,
and which up to that time had been studiously kept in the
background. The absence of any signature to it was
quickly noticed, and it was agreed that this memorandum,
in that it did not bear any character of authenticity, could
not be taken into consideration. It was in vain that Car-

DICTATION OF NAPOLEON 511
dinal Fesch produced a letter from the Pope, wherein His
Holiness highly praised the behavior of the delegates, and
begged the Cardinal to place faith in what they might say
on his behalf, the majority of the council steadfastly per
sisted in looking upon the memorandum as forced from the
Holy Father's good nature, and containing, not conceptions
irrevocably granted, but the mere bases of an under
standing. In order to bring the discussion to an end, Cardinal Fesch
made a proposition which met with a unanimous reception.
This motion was to the effect that previous to rendering any
decision with regard to the questions submitted to them, it
should beg leave of His Majesty to send a deputation to the
Pope, with the object of laying before him the deplorable
condition of the Churches, and of conferring with him as
to the best remedial measures to be adopted. On hearing
of this resolve, Napoleon was on the point of immediately
dissolving the council. He had made up his mind to
have a decree issued which would compel Metropolitans
to install bishops. But he was dissuaded from this coup
d'Etat by the Bishop of Nantes, and he contented himself
with a decree which was to be promulgated by the council
itself (he having dictated it), and whieh should be couched
in the following terms : —
" 1. — Under all circumstances, no episcopal see shall re
main vacant for over a year. The appointment, installa
tion, and consecration shall take place within that time;
2. — The Emperor shall appoint to all vacant sees, in con
formity with the terms of the Concordat; 3. — The Pope
shall grant canonical installation six months after the ap
pointment; 4. — At the expiration of these six months, the
Metropolitan shall become invested by the very fact of
the concession made by the Pope, and shall proceed with the .
canonical installation and the consecration ; 5. — The pres-

512 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
ent decree will be submitted to the approval of the Em
peror, and incorporated with the laws of the state ; 6. — The
council will beg His Majesty to permit a deputation of
bishops to visit the Pope, to thank him for having by his
concessions put an end to the evils of the Church."
The angry passions aroused in the council by the reading
of this decree assumed a violent character which nobody
had anticipated. At first, the Bishop of Nantes succeeded
in getting it almost unanimously adopted by the committee ;
but, on the following morning, a lively opposition mani
fested itself in the same committee ; there were many with
drawals, and in the end the proposed measure was adopted
on the express condition that " the decree, before becoming
law, should have the sanction of the Sovereign Pontiff."
Matters became more strained when the report of the com
mittee was read by the Bishop of Tournay to the council.
The Bishop of Nantes and the Archbishop of Tours had
declined to take charge of the matter.
Great was the confusion which followed this reading.
Debate was thereupon resumed as to the jurisdiction of the
council, and the extent of the powers appertaining to the
Pope. Some there were who argued that he had exceeded
his powers when issuing the bull of excommunication. At
these words, the Archbishop of Bordeaux, casting on the
table a copy of the decisions of the Council of Trent, open
at the particular passage giving Popes the right to excom
municate sovereigns, of whatever rank, in case of their lay
ing hands on the rights and privileges of the Church,
exclaimed: "Condemn the Church at once!" This action
produced the greatest excitement, and it was difficult to
foresee what might happen next, when Cardinal Fesch
adjourned the sitting, alleging as a reason for so doing that
time should be given each one to think over so serious a
matter. The same evening, Napoleon decreed the dissolu-

NAPOLEON DISSOLVES THE COUNCIL 51o
tion of the council. This was on the 10th of July. In
vain did Cardinal Fesch point out to him in every con
ceivable way the bad effect which such a measure would
produce ; he was not listened to, nay, more, he was accused
by his nephew of secretly favoring the plans of the oppo
sition. The Emperor was not satisfied with this display of his
authority. He had flattered himself that the council would
help him to do without the Pope. Deceived in this ex
pectation, and attributing this failure to a great extent to
the Bishops of Tournay and of Troyes, and to M. de Broglie,
Bishop of Ghent, who was also one of his chaplains, he
gave orders to the Due de Rovigo to arrest them and to
confine them- in a state prison, whieh orders were carried
out the very same night.
I received, on this important occasion, the fullest con
firmation of the assurance given to me that political police
operations should be left entirely in the hands of the Min
ister of Police. In fact, I did not know of the present one
until next day when it had been completely carried out.
The Due de Rovigo had sent at midnight for inspector-
general Veyrat, who, with two officers chosen by him and
belonging to the Ministry of Police, had arrested the three
bishops, and conveyed them to Vincennes. On my being
informed next morning that M. Veyrat had been absent for
the greater part of the night, I asked him to give an account
of himself, whereupon he told me in most nai've fashion all
the particulars of his expedition. In spite of his natural
roughness, he had not been able to remain unmoved, when
called upon to lay hands, so to speak, on such venerable
personages, and his narrative still bore traces of his emo
tion. Two of the prelates, the Bishops of Tournay and of
Ghent, had impressed him with the dignity of their de
meanor and the calmness of their resignation,

514 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
Although I was at that time far from being on an inti
mate footing with the Minister of Police, I was neverthe
less beginning to feel more at ease with him, and I could
not resist telling him that such violent measures seemed to
me likely to produce an unpleasant effect. He almost
admitted as much, and the proof of it must have been very
great to extort such an admission from him. He gave me
to understand that he had prevented others being included
in this measure of coercion, and that he had personally res
cued the Archbishop of Bordeaux from a like fate, a fact of
which I have since received confirmation. This was the
first time that I realized that the Due de Rovigo was not
altogether insensible to councils of prudence and modera
tion. Moreover, it would have been difficult to discover,
even among those most devoted to the Emperor, many who
approved of what he had just done.
It was considered outrageous that prelates called upon to
express their opinion, should be arrested for availing them
selves of the faculty granted them. Fears of a schism
began to be entertained, especially when it became known
that it was the intention of Napoleon to have the Corps
Ugislatif pass a law which would determine the methods
governing episcopal installation. Those prelates who were
most attached to him, and those who enjoyed his confidence
to some extent, were not among those least alarmed, so they
set everything in motion to ward off so great a peril. The
members of the recently dissolved council were, at their
suggestion, summoned in succession into the presence of
the Minister of Public Worship, who gave them to under
stand that the steps just taken might be recalled, if they
would give their adhesion to the proposed decree. Some
of them remained unshaken; the others, to the number of
about eighty, promised their acceptance of it, if, as was
promised them, the Emperor would on his part consent to
submit the decree to the approval of the Pope,

REASSEMBLING OF TBE COUNCIL. 515
After many parleys and negotiations, the decree of dis
solution was finally declared null and void, and the council
met once more on the 5th of August just as though it had
never been dissolved. Nevertheless, the bishops who had
been arrested were still behind bolts and bars,1 and several
others had taken their departure. In faith, what could
henceforth be the character of the decisions of an assembly
so barrassed and so mutilated? Could it be expected that
its actions would have any great or real authority? How
ever this might be, following upon a few more animated
discussions, wherein the Archbishop of Bordeaux persisted
in his opposition, the council rendered two decrees, the one
to the effect that the council was competent to enact a law
with regard to the installation of bishops, in cases of neces
sity ; the second bore reference to the same installation, and
differed little from the projected law of the Emperor, the
only exception being- its last article, which was couched as
follows: "The first decree shall be submitted to the ap
proval of the Pope." To that end, the Emperor is "to be
begged to allow a deputation of six members to wait upon
His Holiness, to obtain the confirmation of a decree which
alone can put an end to the evils afflicting the Churches of
France and Italy."
The delegates reached Savona towards the end of August.
M. de Pradt, the appointed Archbishop of Mechlin, was
one of them. In order to inspire the Pope with a little
more confidence in him, Napoleon had consented to five car
dinals and an archbishop in partibus, who was his chap-
1 In order to weaken the bad effect produced by the arrest of the bishops,
and the fact that they were still kept in close confinement, it was noised
abroad that they had not been arrested on account of the opinions they had
expressed, but for reasons not germane to the matters submitted to the
council. This falsehood, which did not deceive anybody, has nevertheless
been reproduced by M. de Las Cases, in the Memorial de Sainte-Helene.
It is sufficient contradiction of it to point out that the cloture of the council
and the arrests were ordered to take place at one and the same time.

516 MEMOIRS OF CBANCELLOR PASQUIER
lain in ordinary, to go on this visit. It was therefore in
their presence, and assisted by their counsels that the Holy
Father entered into a series of conferences with the dele
gated bishops. These conferences lasted about three weeks,
and on the 20th of September he finally consented to grant
a brief by which he confirmed the decree of the council, but
without mentioning the council by name, merely contenting
himself with adopting, "as in conformity with his views
and his desires, the articles agreed upon by the bishops
assembled in Paris," which articles were quoted in their
entirety. The brief opened with congratulations addressed
to these assembled bishops on their attachment to the Chair
of St. Peter. They were specially commended for their
filial submission, and their genuine obedience to the Holy
See and to the Roman Church, the mother and sovereign of
all others. Then came a final exhortation that they should
always seek advice of the Holy See, as the centre of Cath
olic unity, and ever remain submissive and invisibly
attached to it.
The brief having been settled, the delegation took advan
tage of the apparently conciliatory frame of mind of His
Holiness, to beg him to make certain alterations with
regard to points which had so far prevented their being
made public, in the bulls already granted to the Arch
bishop of Mechlin. They likewise begged him to grant the
necessary bulls of installation to save the bishops recently
appointed. The alterations were made as they wished
them, and bulls were forwarded to four of the appointed
bishops. The Holy Father wrote an autograph letter to Napoleon.
This letter was couched in terms of the greatest moderation.
Thereupon, the delegates, firm in the belief that they could
congratulate themselves upon the success of their mission,
feeling confident that the captivity of the Pope was about

FRUITLESS NEGOTIATIONS AT SAVONA 517
to cease, and with it all the ills of the Church, hastened
to write to Paris to inform the Government of so happy a
result. And, indeed, everything seemed settled satisfacto
rily, and they were authorized to return, but this order was
almost immediately countermanded. Several of them had
already left Savona, when the second messenger reached
the place. The Archbishop of Tours, and the Bishops of
Nantes and of Treves, who were still at a short distance
from the city, hastened to return to it. The Archbishop
of Mechlin and the Bishop of Evreux could not be caught
up with, and reached Paris, where, in lieu of the congratu
lations to which they had looked forward, they had to listen
to reprimands. The reason of this change is the following
one. A committee of the Council of State, entrusted with
the examination of the brief concerning the decree of the
council, had been of the opinion that it should be rejected,
its decision being based on the fact that as the Pope did not
mention the council by name in his brief, he thus appeared
as ignoring its authority, and also for the reason that he
had not expressed himself in a formal fashion with regard
to the bishoprics of the Kingdom of Italy and those of the
various countries already forming part and those likely to
form part of the Empire.
Napoleon, struck by these remarks, came to the conclu
sion that the delegates had completely ignored their in
structions, and expressed his liveliest displeasure in this
connection to the two delegates who had returned. Still,
he did not see fit to send them back to Savona, but conclud
ing not to make any use of the brief, he enjoined those who
had remained with or returned to the Pope, to make fresh
efforts to have the brief altered in conformity with the
instructions which they had received in the first instance.
The whole winter was consumed in fruitless endeavors
to obtain these fresh concessions from His Holiness, who

518 MEMOIRS OF CBANCELLOR PASQUIER
remained firm in his resolve not to alter the brief in any
form ; and, at the end of several months, the delegates con
sidered themselves fortunate in at last obtaining permission
to return to Paris. Thus was the result derived from the
council rendered altogether fruitless, after it had been
brought into existence with so much ostentation. Napo
leon, wanting everything or nothing, would not even permit
any use to be made of the bulls which the appointed bishops
had received, forbade them to have themselves consecrated,
yet nevertheless compelled them to take up their residences
in their dioceses, and to govern them as administrators by
virtue of powers conferred upon them as such by the Chap
ters, thus placing them in a most difficult and false position.
I must not omit stating that some four months after the
arrest of the Bishops of Tournay, Ghent, and Troyes, they
had been asked, while confined at Vincennes, to tender
their resignations, as the price of which their prison doors
were to be unlocked, and it would merely be required of
them that they should reside under police supervision, in
such cities of the Empire which they might select, provided
they were at a distance of forty leagues from the city. All
three accepted this proposition, resigned, and were sent to
the towns they had chosen.
I have given all the more space to presenting .as a whole
the facts and incidents connected with the council of 1811,
for the reason that, in spite of its extreme interest, the
events which followed have diverted attention from it. Sel
dom has it happened that so much infatuation has been
shown in recognizing that there are limits beyond which
even absolution cannot go. Taking it for granted that all
men and all assemblies could be governed in the same
fashion, by wishing to carry everything in a high-handed
way and stop short at nothing, the Emperor did not profit
by positive advantages which had been obtained against

BARREN RESULT OF TBE COUNCIL 519
all probability. Following upon his rough methods in his
treatment of the council, and after being powerless to ex
tort anything from it by force or fear, what more unheard-
of piece of good fortune than that of having obtained from
the Pope the brief having reference to episcopal installa
tion? No one before him could boast of such a concession.
It was all that was needed to render secure the proper gov
ernment of dioceses, and completely marked the dividing
line between the spiritual and temporal power. Even ad
mitting, which was very likely, that the Pope would some
day wish to recall his concession, it was sufficient that it
had existed and that it had been profited by for a period of
time, to make this recall very difficult for him. Was it
not likewise plain that it would hot be an easy matter to
deny the Italian dioceses that which had been granted to
the French ones?
Napoleon's line of action on this occasion was impolitic.
The restorer of Catholic worship in France, the Church
owed to him that it had risen from its ruins, and asked for
nothing better than to be allowed to go over to him com
pletely. From the Pope, down to the least important mem
bers of the clergy, all, with very few exceptions, accepted
his dynasty without any mental reservation, and all of
them believed it lay in his power to do more for them than
could anybody else. Everything combines to convince me
that had he adopted a less violent line of action, it would
have been an easy matter for him to find in religion the
most useful and powerful ally. He sought to guard and
even to exaggerate the liberties of the Gallican Church,
and this attempt had the same result as the one to increase
beyond all bounds the limits of the Empire. He ended
with not being able to secure to France her old frontiers,
and he delivered us almost defenceless over to the ultra
montane spirit, and the encroachments of the papal power.

CHAPTER XXI
The gambling-house lease — Accusations brought against M. de Rovigo —
A committee of investigation appointed in tbe matter — New regu
lations governing gambling-houses — M. Pasquier and the Due de
Rovigo — The harvest of 1811 — System adopted with regard to the
distribution of bread — Necessity for protective measures against the
dishonesty of bakers and consumers — The reserve stock of provisions
placed under official control — Bread becomes scarce — Gradual increase
in the price of articles of food — Napoleon's desire to re-establish a
"maximum" law — His distrust of merchants — M. Pasquier's propo
sitions to the Comite des subsistances — Official report of the proceed
ings of the extraordinary council held at the Emperor's, with a view of
warding off distress — Riots and pillaging by famished bands — Severe
measures of repression — The price of wheat determined by law.
In the last months of 1811, I became involved in a case
which crfeated no little stir. I can the less remain silent
about it because it affected an important question of public
morals and order, and that it almost compromised the posi
tion of the Due de Rovigo.
The lease of the games of chance, after running for some
years, had expired several months before ; it had been re
newed, but for a year only, on the same terms as in the
past, the Minister of Police wishing for time to consider
the bases of the new agreement he would be called upon to
sign. Convinced as I was of the harm done by the gam
bling-tables of Paris, I thought it my duty to call the
Emperor's attention to the matter, so I sent to him, in
September, the subjoined memorandum. I give it in its
entirety because it shows the matter in its full light : —
620

MEMORANDUM ON GAMBLING-BOUSES 521
The love of gambling is a moral disease, and requires treating in
the same way as physical ailments, which there is no hope of conquer
ing, but the effects of which one seeks as much as possible to curtail,
and which one labors especially to prevent from becoming contagious.
Now, this is not the course that has been pursued for the past fifteen
years. During this period, we have started from a principle which, to
say the least, is very specious. It is impossible, it has been argued,
to extirpate the passion for gambling, hence it becomes necessary to
induce those who are a prey to it, to gamble in a quasi public resort,
under the eyes of the authorities who can exercise a supervision over
their actions, restrain them in their wildest follies, and even turn aside
men whose means do not allow them to indulge in such a passion,
without its entailing upon them the most fearful consequences.
To attain this object, two, three, or at most four houses would have
been sufficient, but as many as fourteen, including the salon des etran-
gers,x have been opened, owing to the fact that no sooner did the
profit derived therefrom become openly recognized as a source of reve
nue, than it was treated in the same way as others. As it seemed
that there was nothing better to do than to increase this profit the
moment it decreased through this tax being levied on a certain class
of men only, the attempt has been made to induce another class to
contribute towards it.
So it has come about that for a certain time, society's idlers, con
tractors, generals, and all men who had become enriched during the
Revolution, alone frequented the gambling-houses. Little by little
these individuals were ruined, or saw the sources of their odious for
tune dry up, or, held back from a certam sense of decency arising from
the regular habits rigorously demanded by His Majesty of men called
upon to serve him or to come into contact with him. Gambling-
houses were therefore opened for merchants, clerks, for the masses,
and for servants. Instead of stakes in ecus, louis, and bank-notes,
came stakes of forty and even fifteen sous. Gambling-houses were
opened in all directions, in parts of the town where none had pre
viously existed, as for instance in the very centre of trade, in the rue
SaintrMartin. This crime was indeed a productive one, but then what
are not the evils which have resulted from it ! The disease, which
was previously confined to one class of society, has invaded the mass
of the population; a fearful amount of corruption has invaded the
1 There remain but eleven of them nowadays.

522 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
domain of morality, and the number of crimes has sensibly mcreased.
Gambling is so much the source of these troubles, that when a
theft of any importance is committed in a dwelling-house, the first
care of the police is to enquire if there resides in it any individual
frequenting gambling-houses, and if it discovers a single one so situ
ated, it seldom errs in laying hands on him.
What other remedy is there for so appalling an evil but to revert
to a system which should have never been abandoned? Three or four
gambling-houses are more than sufficient for society's idlers, who, if
they did not gamble in public resorts, would do so in private houses and
perhaps at greater risk, and for the foreigners, who are, almost to a
man, consumed with the gambling mania, and who thus become con
fined to a single house, to the great convenience of the police, which
has to exercise supervision over them.
It is all the more necessary to have such an outlet, which, if blocked,
would drive the votaries of the green cloth into society, where they
would quickly propagate their fatal malady. And, this is the place
to confess to a strange truth : gambling-houses, which have developed
the gambling mania in the middle and in the lower classes, have been
the means of checking it among respectable people. The reason for
this is plain. Gambling does not go on in private houses, because
there are public gambling-houses wherein a willing partner is always at
hand and on the other hand, people blush somewhat at the idea of en
tering these. A man occupying a judicial position would not dare to be
seen in such places, while a military man, when entering them, goes so
far as to remove his Cross of Honor. Hence there is no objection, nay,
it is even beneficial, to license three or four gambling-houses of a high
order; but, this concession made, all others must be absolutely closed.
It may safely be stated that nothing would prove more acceptable
to the respectable portion of Parisians, and the adoption of the fore
going system would not be liable to the objection already mentioned.
Tradespeople are not in the habit of gambling in their own circle, and
they will cease gambling, when they will no longer have any gambling-
houses at their very doors. This is still more true with regard to the
masses. Should they be desirous of gambling after the houses to
which they now resort are closed, they could indulge in their mania
only in resorts which the police is ever watching, i.e. in pot-houses
and in rooms hired for the occasion, and so forth.
The rich have salons into which it is difficult to gain admittance;
but supervision can always be exercised with ease over the poor, for

M. DAVELOUIS AND TBE DUC DE ROVIGO 523
their places of meeting are necessarily public resorts. The Prefect of
Police, should the idea which he now submits be carried out, has no
hesitancy in guaranteeing that ere three months had elapsed, there
would no longer be any gambling among the lower classes, and but
very little of it among the bourgeoisie (middle class). Such a result
would be most beneficial to the Parisian population. Doubtless the
money derived from the lease will be considerably less; but, if it
became necessary to substitute some tax to compensate for the loss of
this source of revenue, which is the tax which would not be prefer
able ? Is there a tax, the collecting of which is more expensive ?
Does any exist, the consequences of which afford greater cause for
dread? I was still in ignorance regarding the effect produced on
the Emperor by the foregoing memorandum, when an inci
dent occurred which gave increased importance to it. One
Davelouis, who had repeatedly been a lessee of games of
chance, sent in a tender to the Due de Rovigo, the highest
of all those received. But, for all that, the Minister
seemed to favor the one made by one Perrin, the latest
lessee, and it was said that a verbal understanding had
been eome to. Angered at seeing himself ousted, M. Dave
louis at once attributed the preference granted to his com
petitor to dishonorable personal motives, and, with the aid
of one Thurot, formerly a police secretary under M. Fouche,
and a man of great intelligence, but at the same time
hardly worthy of confidence, he had drawn up a memoran
dum for the eye of the Emperor, wherein were revealed
all the infamies attendant upon the farming out of the
games of chance; it embodied besides the most serious
accusations against the Due de Rovigo.
The latter, on hearing of this, sought to get possession of
the memorandum and to arrest its author, so at least Da
velouis has stated; but having, he claims, received timely
warning, he made good his escape just as the Minister's
officers were knocking at his door. It was at night. He

524 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
immediately fled to Saint-Cloud, spent the night in the
park, and at daybreak called upon the Secretary of State,
M. Daru, to whom he stated his case, requesting him to lay
it before the Emperor. M. Daru consented to do so, and
was instructed to send Davelouis back to Paris, with the
order to produce his memorandum within forty-eight hours.
The Due de Rovigo was peremptorily forbidden from inter
fering with his freedom. This was hard for the Minister
of Police to endure. In addition to this, he had to listen to
the cruel expressions of an anger which hardly knew what
control meant.
The Emperor, after reading the report of Davelouis,
appointed a committee to investigate the facts, and to de
liver an opinion on the following points : 1. — Is it proper
and advisable to authorize games of chance in the city of
Paris, or are they to be suppressed, and Paris placed, in
this respect, on the same footing as other towns in France?
2. — Have the measures taken in various towns of France to
suppress gambling been successful? What is the state of
affairs in this connection? The committee was composed
of the five presidents of committees of the Council of State,
the Prefect of the Seine, and the Prefect of Police. At
its first sitting, I was entrusted with the preliminaries and
selected to be its reporter. The Due de Rovigo could not
help feeling alarmed at this selection; he did not think
I entertained any friendly sentiments towards him, and
feared that I might still bear the recollection of all the
annoyances he had up to that time subjected me to.
The suppression of games of chance was what was upper
most in my mind, and so I gave little thought to private
bickerings. I placed before the commission the result of
my enquiries as to the great progress and of games of
chance in the capital, and the consequences of this deplora
ble encroachment. I also demonstrated how the two most

THREE GAMBLING-HOUSES SUPPRESSED 525
important cities of France, Lyons and Bordeaux, had pre
served themselves from this evil, and how much cause they
had to congratulate themselves over having done so ; then,
referring to the concluding remarks of my memorandum to
the Emperor, I ended by proving the absolute necessity of
suppressing all gambling-houses whose avowed object was
to draw the middle and lower classes.
With regard to the personal grievances of M. Davelouis,
and to the alleged infringements of his rights, I called
attention to the fact that the Emperor had, when ordering
a searching investigation, insisted on the profound secrecy
of our doings. Now, this second command necessarily
did away with the first, as such an investigation would
necessitate the taking of testimony, and an inspection of
the books having reference to the farming of the games of
chance. In conclusion, I dwelt on the little importance
of this private quarrel by the side of the all-important
question engaging our attention.
The committee, impressed with the documentary evi
dence I laid before it, ended by unanimously demanding
the total suppression of gambling in Paris. I drew up my
report, and presented it in person to the Emperor, who kept
it by him for some length of time, without announcing
what action he would take.
I have no doubt that at first Napoleon was in favor of the
sweeping change recommended by the committee, but the
dread of losing an important source of revenue soon filled
his thoughts, disinterestedness not being his dominant
quality. Nevertheless, I persist in believing that if the
committee had gone no further than my first conclusions,
it would have been difficult for him not to adopt them ; but
the proposition of an absolute suppression led him to tem
porize, and, after a while, he gave orders that an experiment
should be made. The Due de Rovigo was instructed to

526 MEMOIRS OF CBANCELLOR PASQUIER
grant a lease to Perrin, the actual lessee, but for one
year only. Three houses were closed, instead of three only
being left open, as I had expressed the desire. Those most
dangerous, those in the trade centre, were suppressed. The
i hours of the forenoon during which gambling was permitted
were curtailed one half, and the houses were compelled to
close somewhat earlier at night. After a year's trial, the
new system apparently gave such satisfaction that it was
resolved to let it remain in force. The Emperor was at the
time absorbed with the war against Russia, and had no
time to give any attention to such a matter.
Meanwhile, the Due de Rovigo had been consumed with
anxiety. He had become a Minister far too recently to be
in a position to treat with contempt so grave an accusation
as the one preferred by Davelouis. Many persons among
those approaching the Emperor, were only too favorably
inclined to place faith in it; he had few friends, and many
enemies. Had the committee paid any attention to the
imputations laid before it, it is very likely that the Em
peror would have dismissed him, and would have given him
a far-off army command. But, what would have been
gained by this, and who can tell what kind of a man his
successor would have been? Newcomers are always to be
dreaded in a position such as he occupied, because they
may safely be credited with a most natural eagerness to
give proofs of a zeal the effects of which are always some
what roughly felt. In the case of the Due de Rovigo, he
had passed that period; it was therefore good policy not to
seek to crush him. We all of us on this committee under
stood this perfectly, without there being any necessity for
us to exchange a word over the matter, and the report was
drawn up in consequence. Having once escaped this dan
ger, it is fair to say that the Due de Rovigo showed him
self truly grateful to those who had rescued him from it,

TBE DUG DE ROVIGO 527
and this feeling was particularly shown to me, to whom he
believed himself to be more particularly indebted. From
that time, his manner towards me underwent a total change,
and there was no longer any friction between us. In the
course of a conversation I had with him, he did not conceal
that he fully appreciated my behavior in the matter. " You
can see very well now, " I remarked, " that I do not aspire
to become Minister of Police, and you may rest assured that
nothing could ever induce me to accept the post. You may
therefore act in consequence, for you will seldom meet with
a Prefect of Police in the same frame of mind."
A few days later, I let him know how disagreeable were
to me the visits which M. Demarest was continually paying
me, as I could not look upon them as anything else but a
means of espionage employed against me and those who
frequented my house. These visits ceased at once, and
were never renewed. My influence on the mind of the
Due de Rovigo went on apace from that time, and I may
say that this influence had something to do with the moder
ation of which he gave proof during the last two years in
which he held office. He must be given his due. He lacked
neither intelligence nor genius, but he never would allow,
when aide-de-camp to Bonaparte, any objection to be raised
to the will of the sovereign whose every step he followed
and in whose atmosphere he breathed. When he became
Minister of Police, his habits had to undergo a change. He
only came into contact with Napoleon as did other minis
ters; he no longer went with him on his journeys, and
worked much less frequently with him. Compelled to see
a new set of people, and to keep house on a grand scale,
having now to read letters in which truth was necessarily
to be found occasionally, he reached much quicker than
could be expected of him the conclusion that there were
at times objections to and changes to be made in the com-

528 MEMOIRS OF CBANCELLOR PASQUIER
mands of his master. Enlightened as to the faults of the
one whom he had until then looked upon as infallible, the
forced confidant of the hatreds which he was arousing, his
duties as Minister of Police, as they gradually revealed
themselves to him to their fullest extent, opened his eyes.
He understood that there was no longer anything to be
gained by him in playing the part of agent of the misdeeds
of another, which he had enacted so far. He began to
argue with himself that there might be some danger in de
fying for too long a time the feelings of resentment which
could not fail to break out against him, if ever the hand
that upheld him began to lose its strength. He was there
fore glad that a feeling of confidence had sprung up be
tween us in succession to the distrust of former days. We
were about to pass through difficult times.
The harvest of 1811 had bid fair to be a plentiful one,
and as late as June, the best hopes had been entertained.
The system adopted with regard to the sale of bread was
based on its price being kept at a reasonable figure, so that it
should always be within the means of the poorest consumer.
When the price of cereals rose, the administration had to
come to the bakers' assistance, either by supplying them
with flour at a price in proportion with that of bread, or
with money sufficient to make good the difference.
The burden was a very heavy one for the administration.
If it had no stocks laid by, it was compelled to make pur
chases at the highest figures, and resell at a low price ; and,
by this transaction, it necessarily helped in raising the
price, a thing with which it had nevertheless to contend.
At all events, the expense of meeting so great a consump
tion was enormous, and, in order that it should increase
beyond bounds, it became imperative to guard against dis
honest practices, especially those of the bakers themselves.
Did they receive the quantity of flour they required, they

TBE RESERVE PROVISIONING 529
would seek to get more than this, and then dispose of this
surplus at current rates ; did they receive a pecuniary com
pensation, this last method was objectionable in that it ren
dered them altogether indifferent as to the price they paid
for flour, and that often they even succeeded, by coming to
an understanding with the sellers, to give it a fictitious
rise, in order to obtain then a more considerable compensa
tion. Next to the dishonest practices of the bakers were those
of the consumers, ever a prey to the fear of want, and
asking for over and above their needs, sometimes even sup
plying with the overplus which they succeeded in obtain
ing the villages in the neighborhood of the capital, thus
carrying on a most lucrative trade at the expense of the
administration. Again, the administration had to protect
itself against the many persons who daily flocked into the
capital, especially against those who brought provisions to
meet the other needs of the capital; it was necessary in so
far as possible, and this was not an easy matter, to prevent
them taking away in return not only the bread necessary
for their own consumption, but also that with which they
intended to supply to some extent the villages and towns
to which they were going back.
The fine appearance presented by the crops quickly faded
away in many of the provinces. Yet, in those nearest to
the capital, those of Brie,J5eauce, of nearly the whole of
Picardy, the harvest was still a good one; but what was
needed was that the surplus of this yield should make good
the deficit in the Northern and in the Southern provinces,
where the harvest was a very poor one.
No sooner was this state of things known, than the de
partments most favored by a good harvest made large
calls, and these departments were precisely those from
which the provisioning of the city is generally drawn, and,

530 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
as early as the month of August, I was compelled to call
the attention of the Minister of the Interior, M. de Mon-
talivet, to a condition of things which was daily growing
worse. At the beginning of September, he took the wise
precaution of forming a comiti de subsistances (committee
on food supplies), which was to consider the measures best
to adopt. I was appointed on this committee together with
M. Frochot, M. Real, and M. Maret, Councillor of State.
The last named had for some length of time past had charge
of the provisioning of the army in time of war, and since
about eighteen months, the Emperor had entrusted him
with the reserve provisioning belonging to the city of Paris.
What was at that time the amount of that reserve stock?
A contract had been entered into in 1807 with a firm styled
the " Compagnie Paulet " ; the principal member of it was,
I believe, one M. Vanlenbergh, a prominent and able corn
factor. This firm, which was compelled to always have in
stock 300,000 quintaux mitriques of wheat, had to co-operate
with the trade in provisioning the city of Paris. It was
bound to send to market, on a requisition from the prefect,
and to sell at current rates, all the grain and flour demanded
by such requisition. On such occasions, it was bound to
replace in its depots the quantities just sold, and to do it
by means of purchases made beyond a radius of thirty
leagues about the capital, or abroad, when feasible.
Out of the reserve stock thus organized, were supplied
the hospitals, the prisons, and the charitable institutions.
This furnished an outlet and use for its grain and flour, as
the need of a renewal of the stock gradually made itself
felt. It would seem that of recent years the market had
been all on the side of the contractors. The Emperor
always fell into the error of considering that large returns
were a kind of robbery of the state, and he never ceased
laboring to curtail them. It is thus that he saw fit to do

BREAD BECOMES SCARCE 531
on this occasion with the Compagnie Paulet, whose con
tract was cancelled by a degree dated April, 1810. The
undertaking carried on by them was supplanted by a
bureau, at the head of which was placed M. Maret. But
it became necessary to take over the management of the
depots, and, as a matter of course, he declined to take them
over until they had been inspected as to quantities and con
dition. This verifying gave rise to many difficulties, and
M. Maret did not take final charge of the stores until the
beginning of November.
During these six months, the demands of the hospitals,
prisons, and charitable establishments had been duly met,
but no stores had taken the place of those going out. The
prices were then not very favorable to the purchaser, and
M. Maret was therefore in no haste to give orders for any
purchases. He was not, like the Compagnie Paulet, subject
to the supervision of the Prefect of Police, so he was free
to act as he pleased. When troublous times came, there
remained in the reserve depots 115,000 quintaux metriques
of wheat, instead of 300,000, and 11,000 sacks of flour in
stead of 30,000. With such weak resources, the distribu
tion of this reserve had to be carried on very cautiously.
M. Maret did not care to take any risks before once more
bringing his stock to the proper figure, and so he began to
make purchases, and in spite of the assurances of his agents
to the contrary, he made some of them in the radius set
aside for provisioning the city.
Since the 15th of September, the bakers had been clam
oring for an increase in the selling price of bread; it had
already reached 14 sols, and no attention was paid to
their demands, as the Emperor was greatly opposed to this
price being exceeded. The bakers were informed that the
large profits they had made for so long past rendered them
able to endure a temporary loss.

532 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER

t

As a result of this refusal to raise the price of bread,
bread became scarce in the markets, in the suburbs, and in
the thickly peopled quarters, by the end of September.
The alarm went on increasing, and the price of cereals rose
as a consequence. Towards the end of October, it was
resolved upon to grant the bakers a premium of 5 francs
on each sack of flour, the purchase of which they could
show cause for. This measure was in vain ; bread became
more and more scarce; the doors of the bakers were be
sieged by crowds at early morn, and by nine o'clock their
shops had been emptied. All articles of food whieh can
take the place of bread increased in price in the same ratio
as flour, which was then being sold at 76 francs per sack,
which would bring the price of a four-pound loaf to about
16 sous.
At the beginning of November, it was decided, in the
hope of bringing about a falling of prices, to have a few
sales made in the public market from the reserve stock.
The amount of this stock was at the time of only 98,000
quintaux mitriques of wheat, and of only 24,000 bags of
flour. M. Maret had given orders for considerable pur
chases at Hamburg and on the banks of the Rhine, where
the harvest had been a fair one ; but these purchases merely
represented a distant relief, owing to the difficulties and
length of time attendant upon the deliveries, the blockade
of all ports being strictly enforced by England, thus render
ing transportation by sea almost impossible.
We. suffered greatly on this occasion from the lack of
intelligence with which the administration dealt with these
matters. This was due to the state of hostility, or at least
of distrust, in which the Emperor persisted in remaining
towards the trade. He remained stubborn in his decision
not to entrust anything to it, so firmly he was convinced
that one could not avoid being duped by it, and so he willed

EFFECTS OF IGNORING TBE MERCHANTS 533
that all transactions should take place through official
dom and by the agents of his government. Thus it was
that M. Maret, in the matter of his purchases at Hamburg,
Lubeck, and later even at Dantzig, sent his own men to
seek, buy, and forward the provisions. The loss of time
was, in the first place, considerable; again, the ability of
the men thus employed was oftentimes rather mediocre,
and finally, the results of their most zealous endeavors
could never equal the intelligent activity of the merchants,
whose correspondences and commercial relations are estab
lished beforehand, and who are always stimulated in carry
ing out the business transactions which they undertake by
•the vision of future profits. The mania of doing every
thing oneself was carried to the extent, in order to ensure
the transportation carried out under the supervision of the
administration from the Baltic to Paris, to locate at inter
vals, on this long line of canals and roads, a certain number
of auditeurs, whose duty it was to prevent delays. Now,
there was certainly nothing for which their education had
less fitted them.
The general administration of the food supplies of the
Empire changed hands by the appointment of a Minister of
Commerce, and it was taken from M. de Montalivet to be
given to M. de Sussy. We had no reason to cavil at the
change. M. de Sussy, for a long time Director of Customs,
had a better conception than M. de Montalivet of the nature
of the transactions which were required. Moreover, he
was more independent of spirit, and knew better how to
oppose the wrong ideas of the Emperor in this connection.
By the first of February, the trade price of flour had
reached 92 francs per sack, and the supply of the capi
tal could not be met under the price of bread, such as it
stood at the time, except by means of deliveries from the
reserve stock which furnished daily, at 79 or 80 francs,

534 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
up to 1300 sacks which it bought from all quarters
at the price current. Thereupon the Emperor called
to him the committee of food supply, which hence
forth was often to meet in his presence. Our discussions
soon acquired an importance all the greater from the fact
that we had to combat the idea of the Emperor, who wished
to place a general price on grain, in a word, a maximum.
His habit of seeing everything bend before his will, per
suaded him that such a measure would certainly encounter
some degree of opposition, but that it would end in being
carried out like any other, and he saw in it an end to all
perplexities. With the exception of M. de Montalivet and
M. Maret, who were always backward in giving expression
to their opinions, all the other members of the council
loudly proclaimed their opposition to such a measure.
Especially did M. Regnaud spare nothing to make patent
the extent of the dangers which would surely be incurred,
if one entered on so wrong a path, and I seconded him with
all my might and main.
I endeavored to show that there were only two remedies
for the evil : the one, to bring into the city as much wheat
as could be obtained from outside sources, and, to that end
to avail oneself of the services of all who were willing to
co-operate; then maintain and encourage its free circula
tion at home, and especially to render the public markets
safe enpugh for no one to fear bringing his produce for
sale to them. Although these views did not always har
monize with the absolute ideas of the Emperor, I must do
him the justice of saying that he never rejected them with
any show of displeasure, but that he even gave me credit
for the firmness of my opinions. As at the same time,
fortunately for me, no great state of disorder broke out in
the capital; owing to the vigilance and efficiency of the
police, this period was the one wherein I incontestably

MINUTES OF TBE COUNCIL 535
most enjoyed his consideration, and wherein he seemed to
lay the greatest stress on my services.
The price of a sack of flour soon reached 111 francs, and,
by the 1st of April it reached 125 francs ; on the 15th it was
as high as 150 francs, and wheat sold proportionately all
the dearer. Alarm then turned to terror. Purchasers out
bid the sellers themselves, however high their pretensions
might be, and everything sold in the market felt the effects
of this frenzy. Vegetables and small grains became price
less, and the crowd besieged the grocers' shops to get rice
and vermicelli. The same effervescence prevailed in all
suburban markets ; in some even, the people forcibly took
grain and proceeded to divide it. On the other hand, an
enormous quantity of bread was being taken from Paris
into the surrounding country, and, if this continued, it
would be necessary to feed from the government's store,
not only Paris, but those dwelling within a radius of ten
leagues of the capital. In view of this state of affairs, the
Emperor decided upon holding an extraordinary council of
supply. He summoned to take part in it, in addition to the
usual members, Comte Defermon, President of the Finance
Committee, M. Pelet, Councillor of State, and M. Dubois,
the former Prefect of Police.1 I have found among my
papers the minutes of the official report of the sitting held
at the Emperor's on this occasion, and I think I ought to
give it in full, as it may give an accurate insight of the
manner in which matters were worked on, looked at, and
solved in those days : —
His Majesty ordains the following measures : —
During the course of the night, the Prefect of Police shall send for
the forty or fifty persons, who, in Paris and vicinity, are in the flour
and grain trade. He shall demand of them to state the amount of
1 The Emperor evidently thought he would find in M. Defermon and in
M. Dubois the endorsement of his maximum system.

536 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
their purchases, and the stocks of wheat and flour they have in stock.
He shall verify their statements by an inspection of their ledgers, which
he shall initial. He shall then enquire of them what was to be the
destination of this wheat and flour, and shall bind them to take them
to the Paris market.
To-morrow morning, the Prefect of Police shall give an account to
the Emperor, at the sitting of the council on supplies, of the quantity
of wheat or flour revealed by such statement, and which can be
secured by this means, as well as the intended destination of these
commodities. His Majesty will thereupon decide as to where they
are to be forwarded.
The arrival of a large quantity of wheat or flour on the public mar
ket cannot fail to produce a favorable effect on the popular anxiety
and on the prices.
The prefect shall make known to these speculators and to others
whom it may concern, that it is not proper to deprive the city of its
provisioning and to engage in usurious speculations, for those who
make purchases at a price exceeding 100 francs for sack, can be
looked at in no other light than genuine regular monopolists. A
show of display of severity will make people understand that this
speculating on a rise in prices must cease, and that such speculation
is a dangerous policy. The prefect shall warn coach proprietors
and proprietors of public vehicles not to carry any bread out of
Paris. To-morrow morning one hundred sacks of flour shall be distributed
in the arrondissement of Paris, on a basis of 18 sols as the price
of the four-pound loaf. These one hundred sacks, which are to be
delivered to-morrow, shall be for Friday, the following day's con
sumption, and this system is to be followed until further order.
This concession shall furnish the grounds on which to justify the
prohibition of the exportation of bread.
To-morrow, at half-past four of the afternoon, the mayors of the
suburban villages shall be notified that in consequence of the re
serve stock having provided for the wants of the rural communes,
no bread shall be allowed to leave Paris, beginning the day after to
morrow. The officials on duty at the city gates shall be instructed to carry-
out this order with all possible discretion, and care shall be exercised
not to allow anything to appear in the journals or to be printed, having
any reference to this measure.

MINUTES OF TBE COUNCIL 537
His Majesty will hold a council on supplies at two o'clock to-morrow,
and will decide upon future measures in conformity with the state
ments laid before him.
The foregoing are the measures which are to be taken, beginning
to-morrow. His Majesty considers that the environs of Paris having this year
enjoyed a good harvest, the scarcity with which they seem to be
. threatened must be in part the result merely of the fears of the con
sumers, and that it cannot become an actual fact except through the
exportation of articles of food, as the administration has taken meas
ures to provide for the food supply of the city of Paris.
There doubtless exists in the departments adjoining the capital a
quantity of commodities which it is only fair that they should retain
in order to provide for the wants of their population.
This circumstance must not give rise to any ostensible measure
enforced to interfere with their distribution circulation, which it is
not intended to prohibit, but it must furnish the basis of a discretion
ary measure which the officials are to take.
Its object shall be : —
1. — To keep in each arrondissement the necessary quantity of com
modities; 2. — To have these commodities sent to market;
3. — To ensure that this wheat and flour shall be sold there at a fair
price, and one not beyond the means of the consumer.
In order to attain this object, the best way seems to be to call
together the principal farmers and holders of stocks of grain and flour
of each arrondissement, and ask them to retain for local consumption
the requisite quantity, and to gradually place them on the market at
a reasonable figure.
On the other hand, people who speculate in grain and flour are to
be notified that this kind of speculation will not be tolerated during
such hard times; that the government, which protects them against
public obloquy, will not allow them to abuse such protection, and that
it consequently behooves them to cease engaging in this kind of specu
lation. It is not a question of impeding the free circulation, but to induce
the holders of cereals to bind themselves to keep in the locality the
quantity determined upon as being necessary for the wants of the
arrondissement. The result will be that each department will have
the assurance that a quantity of cereals sufficient to meet home con-

538 MEMOIRS OF CBANCELLOR PASQUIER
sumption will come into the market gradually, and as required. The
overplus will continue being put in circulation.
The prices will have to be established on such a basis as not to
injure the consumer, while on the other hand, not to produce too
wide a margin between the price of wheat sold on the local market,
and that put into circulation.
The stock of cereals at present in the hands of speculators is to
remain in their possession; but, from this on, it is left to them on
condition that it find its way to the market.
The Minister of Industry and Commerce shall summon to Paris
the prefects of Versailles, Chartres, Melun, Beauvais, and Laon, to
meet him to-morrow at two o'clock. If by that time the prefect of
Laon has not made his appearance, he shall summon the sub-prefect
of Soissons, who is reported to be in Paris. He shall read to them
the circular the draft of which is to be submitted to-morrow to His
Majesty in council. This circular shall enjoin upon them to summon
the principal farmers and holders of cereals of their department, during
the course of next Saturday, and shall make this assemblage serve the
purpose of a jury which is to determine what is the quantity of cereals
or of flour which each one of the principal farmers or possessors can
put on the markets. They shall be made to sign an agreement to fur
nish the quantity of wheat necessary to supply the wants of the
department, by conveying it to the markets. This done, and a state
ment having been obtained of what each one shall have bound himself
to supply, the prefect shall inform them that they would give the
Emperor pleasure, if they would agree in no case to sell flour above
100 francs per bag.
It will be an easy matter to get them to understand that inde
pendently of their thus performing an act of patriotism, this request
is nothing more than fair, as the price of wheat must at all events
have a limit, and that it is impossible for the people to pay more than
100 francs.
This agreement to deliver at 100 francs will merely bear on the
wheat which is to go to the markets of the department, so it will be
so to speak, of a voluntary nature. The influence of this measure
would have a most beneficial effect on the public mind if only one
fourth ef the farmers in each department would set the example
of faithfully and gracefully giving their co-operation to it.
The knowledge that imparted to them that Paris is provisioned,
and that the reserve does not need their assistance, will no doubt be

RISINGS AND PILLAGINGS 539
the means of more promptly deciding them to the acceptance of this
reduction of the price.
If any one of the prefects believes that the executing of this meas
ure is likely to be carried out more quickly in his own department,
and will meet with less obstacles, the initiative might be left to him
with the object of stimulating the other departments to a like action.
A correct copy,
The Minister, Secretary of State.
Signed : le comte Daeu.
It was seven o'clock in the evening, when the sitting of
the committee on food supplies ended at Saint-Cloud, and
the tenor of the orders given to the Prefect of Police and
to the Minister of Commerce are those which have just
been read. Both of them were to render an account of
their execution next day at two o'clock. At other times,
and under a less powerful master, these two officials might
have asked for twice twenty -four hours wherein to report ;
but, in those days, one set to work at once to do every
thing, to attempt everything, in order to obey the com
mands received. The present commands were executed
within the specified time, and next day, at two o'clock,
we were at Saint-Cloud, bringing with us the results of
our labors.
The generally widespread knowledge that the Emperor
was desirous of becoming acquainted with the extent of
the evil and was seeking to remedy it, brought some peace
of mind with it. Dating from that time, the gates of
Paris were closed to all exportation of bread, and the hun
dred bags of flour distributed among the surrounding com
munes compensated for the severity of this measure.
The distress was increasing; in some departments it was
fearful. In Normandy, where bands of hungry mendicants
were marching through the country, the people were be
ginning to be stirred up in a dangerous fashion; in the

540 MEMOIRS OF CBANCELLOR PASQUIER
vicinity of Caen, there was a riot followed by pillage, and
several flour mills were burnt down. On such occasions
the blind madness of the masses rushes in and destroys that
which they should most zealously defend. This riot was
not quelled until after the arrival of a regiment of the
Imperial Guard sent post haste by coach. Its repression
was attended with great severity, for, in the executions
which followed as a consequence of it, women were not
spared. This is doubtless a sad extremity to resort to, but
who will deny that it is also the only means of averting
greater misfortunes.
Towards the end of April, one or two councils on food
supply were held, at which the Emperor dwelt more strongly
than usual on the necessity of taking some stringent meas
ure to secure the food supply of the people in the teeth of
the greediness of the holders of cereals and the monopo
lists, so it was proposed by him that the price of wheat
should be determined by law. In vain did we once more
point out to him the dangers and the uselessness of such a
measure. On the 12th of May there appeared in the Moni
teur a decree dated the 8th, issued without the council on
food supply having had any participation in its drawing up,
or even any knowledge of it, and which fixed in a defini
tive form the price of wheat in the six departments which
alone, at that time, supplied the trade. They were the
departments of the Seine, Seine-et-Oise, Seine-et-Marne,
Aisne, Oise, and Eure-et-Loir. The price of the hectolitre
of wheat was fixed, for those departments, at 33 francs.
It was allowable to add to this price, in the departments
which drew their supplies outside of this territory, the
amount of the cost of transportation which was determined
by the prefect, pursuant to the instructions of the Minister
of Commerce, and taking into account the distance to be
travelled, and the legitimate profits of trade.

NAPOLEON PROVIDES FOR BIS ABSENCE 541
Napoleon was just on the point of leaving, to take com
mand of his army. It was therefore a kind of farewell
which he saw fit to say to the most needy portion of his
subjects. He hoped he would thus ensure their tranquil
lity during his absence.

CHAPTER XXII
The draft of 1812 and the new organization of the National Guard —
Napoleon's grievances against Russia — Treaties of alliance between
France, Prussia, and Austria — Sweden's political situation under the
pressure exercised over it by Napoleon — Negotiations and final under
standing of Bernadotte with Russia and England — Fetes and magnifi
cent balls during the winter of 1811-1812 — Secret societies formed by
the students of Northern Germany — A plot to assassinate Napoleon —
A Leipsic student reaches Paris with this object in view; his arrest and
imprisonment — Treason committed by an official of the War Office
bribed by Russia — Vidocq, the detective, discovers a counterfeiter —
The manufacture on an extended scale of counterfeit notes of the Bank
of Russia and of the Bank of Vienna, countenanced by the Emperor's
police — Conversation between M. Pasquier and Napoleon, on the eve
of the latter's departure for the Russian campaign.
At the beginning of the year 1812, the Emperor called
for a draft of two hundred thousand conscripts. This draft
was a little later on followed by the organization of the
National Guard into three bans (levies), in which were com
prised all able-bodied men from the ages of twenty to sixty.
The first ban was composed of young men from the ages
of twenty to twenty-six. It was divided into cohortes
of one thousand men. This organization was nothing
else than a new means devised to raise another hundred
thousand men, by getting back all those the conscription
had spared during the past six years. The cohortes of
the first ban were immediately placed at the disposal of the
Minister of War. It is true that they were merely em
ployed in guarding the frontiers, preserving peace at home,
and garrisoning fortified towns and arsenals. But the
542

NAPOLEON AND RUSSIA 543
frontiers extended to the shores of the Baltic, and, even if
the condition of not having to do duty beyond them were
strictly observed, it afforded this advantage, viz., that the
regular army could be disposed of in its entirety for foreign
service. I make more particular mention of these two
levies made at one and the same time, not only on account
of their enormous size, but because to the eyes of an observer
situated as favorably as I was to see and hear everything,
it was for the first time noticeable that if they did not ex
cite a feeling of discontent akin to rebellion, they at least
were the cause of general and deep dissatisfaction. No
one could any longer feel safe, if men who considered them
selves totally exempt from military service were to be called
out. Napoleon could not fail to know of the bad effect produced
by this measure. I have not to reproach myself with having
concealed from him all that was being said in the bour
geoisie as well as in the lower classes, but nothing could
restrain him. The diplomatic intercourse between his
Minister and the Russian ambassador was daily becoming
more unpleasant. Napoleon entertained three grievances
against Russia : 1. — A ukase issued towards the end of
1810 by which the ports of the Russian Empire were opened
to all English vessels loaded with colonial wares, provided
they sailed under a foreign flag. This practically amounted
to breaking the Treaty of Tilsit and the subsequent agree
ments ; 2. — A protest on the part of the Emperor Alex
ander against the union of the Duchy of Oldenburg to
France, as if Russia had the slightest right to interfere
with the affairs of a prince of the Rhine Confederation ; 3.
— The warlike preparations which the Emperor Alexander
had begun early in 1811, in sending to the borders of the
Duchy of Warsaw five divisions of the army of Moldavia.
Then it was that, casting aside the reserve of the forego-

544 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
ing month of August, the Emperor resolved at last to listen
to the overtures made by Prussia. After much parleying
between the Due de Bassano and the Minister of that power,
a treaty of alliance was signed between it and France in
Paris in the month of February. The open clauses of this
treaty did not contain anything that might seem directed
against Russia, but the secret clauses were positive in this
direction, and they were strengthened by several special
agreements. The most important of them all was the one,
which, in the case of a war breaking out between France
and Russia, contained the engagement to furnish a contin
gent of twenty thousand men and sixty guns, independently
of the garrisons which were to occupy a number of fortified
towns which were mentioned.
Shortly afterwards, a definitive alliance was signed in
Paris between France and Austria. Following upon the
customary stipulations, the object of which was to effect
a mutual guarantee of their respective territories, the two
powers bound themselves mutually, in case of an attack, to
supply a help of thirty thousand men and sixty guns. They
also guaranteed, and this is noteworthy, the integrity of
the Ottoman Empire, and recognized the rights of naviga
tion of neutrals such as laid down and confirmed by the
Treaty of Utrecht. Several secret articles were appended
to this treaty. One of them excepted as casus foederis
France's war with England, and the one in the Peninsula
beyond the Pyrenees, but it included in explicit terms
one that might break out between France and Russia.
What could then be the Emperor's plans? Whither was
his ambition to lead him? Fortune, in becoming unfaithful
to him, has not allowed one to know in a precise manner.
If, as cannot be doubted, he meditated a fresh war with
Russia, the most elementary notions of politics seemed to
demand that France should neglect nothing to maintain and

SWEDEN'S POLITICAL CONDITION 545
render more efficient an alliance with the Swedish mon
archy. Unfortunately, the Emperor had entered on a
totally different path. Unable to reconcile himself to the
idea of recognizing the full independence of the sovereign
who had emerged from the ranks of his army, and who had
required his permission to mount the steps of his throne,
he would have liked to consider this sovereign as merely
one of his lieutenants, who would consent to sacrifice the
most evident interests of his new subjects to the combina
tions of his policy.
Hardly taking into consideration Sweden's poverty, which
the rash enterprises of the preceding reign had considerably
aggravated, Napoleon had not only ordered that country to
break off all alliance with England, but he had exacted that
it should at all risks, whatever it might have to endure,
declare itself the enemy of that power. Sweden had
obeyed, and, yielding to the impulse which had already led
it to place the inheritance of its crown on the head of a
French general,1 it had, towards the end of 1810, declared
war against England. The sacrifice was a great one, and
the Stockholm cabinet doubtless expected the poor compen
sation of a subsidy. This was a habit it had acquired from
the days of Cardinal de Richelieu to 1789, but Napoleon
thought such methods of influence beneath his dignity. He
had, at that time, become extremely thrifty; the Spanish
war had already made considerable inroad on his private
list, and he was desirous_ of husbanding all his resources
in view of the great undertakings he was planning.
Not content with refusing Sweden what that country
thought itself entitled to, he did not hesitate to multiply
1 1 must here say, once for all, that Bernadotte, Prince Royal of Sweden,
did not finally mount the throne until 1818, at the time of the death of
Charles XIII., but he nevertheless governed the country immediately on
his arrival, and nothing was done except by his orders and in conformity
with his views.

546 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
his demands, and sought first to obtain a certam number of
Swedish sailors to man his fleet, but this was denied him.
He then attempted to introduce into Sweden his Customs'
tariff, and demanded that French Customs' officials should
be established at Gothenburg. He next conceived the idea
of forming a Confederation of the North, akin to that of
the Rhine, and which was to include Sweden, Denmark,
and the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. All these propositions
having been rejected, he experienced thereat considerable
displeasure which was increased by the consideration which
England showed towards Swedish commerce. It thereupon
became evident that England regarded Sweden as a friend,
for the time being compelled to yield to the inexorable,
but which could not but return to it. Furious at what he
at once styled a culpable connivance, Napoleon authorized
his privateers to capture Swedish vessels, under the pretence
that they had no license register, or that it was an English
one. The smallest Swedish coasters were seized, even
those loading in German ports, and the Swedish sailors
were treated as prizes and prisoners of war; several sailors
were conveyed to Antwerp and to Toulon, and compelled
to serve on French ships.
Sweden was desirous of uniting Norway to its posses
sions. This proposition was not listened to. The occupa
tion of Swedish Pomerania and of the Island of Rugen took
place very shortly afterwards, in the course of January,
1812. The terms imposed on Sweden being such as could not be
accepted, this power had turned towards Russia, and had
entered into negotiations with Great Britain. As early as
the end of March, a treaty was concluded, whereby Russia
bound itself to bring Norway under the sway of Sweden,
either by way of negotiations or by force of arms. Sweden,
on its part, bound itself in case of a war between France

BERNADOTTE 547
and Russia, to make a diversion on whatever point in Ger
many should be judged convenient. Twenty-five or thirty
thousand Swedes were to be united with that object to fif
teen or twenty thousand Russians. The chargi d'affaires
in Paris at the same time handed to the Due de Bassano a
note wherein he protested against the occupation of Pome
rania, and informed him that his sovereign would hencefor
ward remain neutral between France and England. Dur
ing the course of the following summer, Sweden came to a
complete understanding with England, and the friendly
intercourse and trade relations were placed on the same
footing as they were on the first of January, 1791, and the
London cabinet hound itself to supply all the necessary
support to maintain the independence and security of its
ally in the event of its being attacked by any power what
soever. Immediately after this agreement having been
entered into, all Swedish ports were opened to ships of all
nations, for the import and export of foreign and Swedish
products. Never did Napoleon more abuse his power than in the
case of Sweden. Was he seeking revenge for an elevation
which was not of his doing, and which perhaps bore the
resemblance of a parody on his own?
On the part of Bernadotte there was the need of justify
ing, in the eyes of the Swedish nation, the favor done him
at its hands. He considered himself but little indebted to
his former chief, and resisting the latter's will, placed him
on a footing of equality which must have particularly flat
tered his ridiculously vain character. He must indeed have
been a happy man if his heart never reproached him with
the injury he did to his fatherland !
There was no longer any room for illusions. Europe was
about to become the theatre of a more serious struggle than
any it had previously witnessed. On the one side, France

548 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
dragged after it Prussia and Austria; on the other, Russia
had the support of England and Sweden. Who could pre
dict the issue of the conflict? It is interesting to follow
the Emperor's doings during the few days of calm still
remaining to him. He relied on no one for the direction
of the negotiations in which he was engaged from Savona
to St. Petersburg, and in this connection his ministers did
not write a line that he did not dictate. Worried with the
troubles caused by a scarcity of food, which could not have
made its appearance at a worse time, giving to the details
of the higher administration of his Empire the attention
he never denied them, he in nowise neglected the arranging
of the magnificent fetes which he apparently considered as
the necessary adjuncts of sovereignty. Hence, Court theat
ricals, social gatherings, f§tes, and balls were never more
numerous than during the winter of 1811-1812.
Among all these f§tes, I must particularly notice the
masked balls, the giving of which had become a custom
with Napoleon during the past two or three years, and from
which he seemed to derive much pleasure. He enjoyed
them all the more in that there was a certain foolhardiness
in braving the inconveniences and dangers attendant upon
them. The carnival was nearing its end, the Archchancel
lor and the Prince de Neufchatel had given their masked
balls, and the last one of the season took place at M. de
Marescalchi's, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
He had caused a large ballroom to be built of wood and
canvass in the garden attached to the somewhat small house
which he occupied in the Avenue des Champs-Elysees.
Fears had been entertained of the danger of a fire, and I
had had to take extraordinary precautions to guard against
it, but another danger threatened, which was unlooked for,
and which only became known after it had been passed.
The students in North Germany chafed with a feeling of

TBE STUDENTS OF NORTHERN GERMANY 549
restlessness which daily grew under the yoke to which they
were subjected, and indignant at the frequent vexations
which they had to endure, were seeking to free the German
fatherland by means of secret societies. Towards the end
of 1809, a member of these societies had been on the point
of assassinating Napoleon while he was attending a parade
and surrounded by his Guard, at Schonbrunn. The daring
shown in this youth's admissions, the courage with which
he had faced his doom, the declaration he made that if
his life was spared he would renew his attempt, attracted
great attention. One affected to consider this attempt as
an isolated fact, and as the result of a diseased brain. But
far from this being the case, this frenzy was contagious.
Two youths, belonging to the best families in Saxony,
left Leipsic at the beginning of 1812, fully determined
upon bringing to an issue che attempt which had been
unattended with success at Schonbrunn. One of them
renounced his part in the undertaking, just as he was about
to set foot on French soil, and returned to Saxony. The
other, whose name was La Sala, continued on his way, and
at Strasburg met with a commissary, who, quite inno
cently, gave him a seat in his carriage, and brought him to
Paris. Fortunately, he had spent some time in Strasburg.
His comrade, on his return to Dresden, had become a prey
to remorse, and thought it his duty to inform M. de Sneff,
the Saxon Minister of Foreign Affairs, of the plot which
was still to be carried into execution without him. M. de
Sneff had immediately dispatched a courier to Paris. At
midnight, he was with the Due de Bassano, who laid the
dispatch before me, thus putting me in possession of the
name and physical characteristics of the youth, and ena
bling me to give the necessary instructions for discovering
him. The detective who received his orders directly from
me was a very intelligent man, whose worth became known

550 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
on this occasion; his name was Foudras. Later on, I ap
pointed him an inspector-general. The very next morning,
he found M. de La Sala in a furnished lodging, and arrested
him before noon. The young man was well provided with
pistols and poniards. Moreover, he did not seek to excuse
himself; feeling that he had been betrayed, he made a full
confession. He expressed but one regret, and that was
that he had not arrived two days sooner, thus missing the
opportunity offered him by M. de Marescalchi's masked
ball. His fate had to be decided upon. I laid down in my
report that the best action to take was not to give any
prominence to the incident, but to bury it in the deepest
secrecy, as there was nothing more fatal than to accustom
the public mind to the thought that such outrages could be
easily planned and carried out. Nothing was to be gained
by bringing this young man to trial and having him shot;
it was better to treat him as a visionary. My opinion was
found good. La Sala was taken to Vincennes, whence he
emerged, together with other prisoners of state, at the time
of the Restoration.
Very soon afterwards, another very serious discovery was
made, and this one had a more tragic issue. For some time
past, the Russian Embassy had been the object of a most
active surveillance. The Due de Bassano had asked me to
lend him a trustworthy man, who was to report direct.
The man whom I sent him was the same detective whose
activity had given me so much satisfaction in La Sala's
affair. Matters had been arranged, when, for some reason
or the other, a Russian courier was arrested on the fron
tier. Upon searching his papers, he was found to be the
bearer of packages which were being sent to St. Petersburg
by M. de Czernicheff, aide-de-camp to the Emperor of
Russia, and who had been sent to Paris on a special mis
sion. These packages contained the most detailed statis-

AN EMPLOYE'S TREACHERY 551
tics as to the position and strength of all bodies of French
troops in Germany. Now, these statistics, originally drawn
up for the Emperor's personal use, could only have fallen
into the hands of the Russian envoy through a most culpa
ble breach of trust, the author of which had not been dis
covered, when on the day of M. de Czernicheff' s departure,
the detective who was watching his hotel, conceived the
idea of inspecting the room he had just left, and thoroughly
searching it. The Russian envoy had spent the night in
burning papers, the ashes of which filled the fireplace.
When stirring up these ashes, the detective pulled away a
little hearth-rug under which was found a note, which he
had doubtless intended to cast into the flames with the
others, but which had found its way under the hearth-rug.
This note plainly came from the man who had supplied the
statistics. The note was brought to the Minister of Police, then to
the Minister of War, who at once summoned all the heads
of departments, but none of them could recognize the hand
writing. It was then decided to take the document to the
Prince de Neufchatel, to whom, as Major-General of the
Army, the statistics were sent, and where they might con
sequently have been copied. The prince having submitted
the matter to his chief secretary, the handwriting was rec
ognized as that of a clerk who had in days gone by worked
with him in the War Office, and who was still employed in
its bureau of statistics. An hour afterwards, the clerk was
brought into the presence of the Minister of Police, and
confessed that he had carried on this guilty practice for
some eight or ten years. Every Russian ambassador in
Paris had in turn confided to his successor the secret of this
profitable corruption. The unfortunate clerk soon paid
with his life for a crime for which there was no forgive
ness. No government shows any mercy to such treacher-

552 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
ous deeds, yet every government does not fail to encourage
them, whenever it find it in its interest to do so. Napoleon
made pretence of being very wroth at a piece of treachery
which had been pursued, he said, at the very time of his
greatest intimacy with the Emperor Alexander.
During the same period, a singular discovery was made
at the Banque de France, where several counterfeit notes
had been presented to be exchanged for specie. As in
matters of this kind, it is always a wise plan to avoid
trouble, the money had been promptly paid over, and the
notes had been brought to the prifecture de police. On a
close examination of them, I found that they were not all
identically the same, and that they were not struck off
from copperplates. Indian ink had been used, and they
had been made by hand ; hence the danger of their multi
plying was far^less, as their manufacture by such a process
must of necessity be somewhat limited, but at the same
time harder to discover. A strict watch was set on the
banks of gambling-houses, and, a fortnight later, a man
was seen to lay a counterfeit note on the cloth. The man
was a miniature painter. It was not sufficient to know that
he had uttered a counterfeit note, there remained to learn
whether he had done so wittingly, and whether the note
was his handiwork. The chief detective took good care not
to have the artist's domicile searched, for he wished to
allow him sufficient time to manufacture another note.
Several days were therefore allowed to elapse, then, just as
he was entering his domicile, the police entered with him
and made a lengthy search. At first, it was all in vain.
Just as the detectives were about to retire, one of them1
caught a look that the artist had cast towards a stove
1 This detective was one Vidocq, whom the chief of detectives, M. Henri,
had, with my permission, taken out of the prison of Bicetre, where he was
held consequent upon two or three escapes from the penal establishments

COUNTERFEIT BANK-NOTES 553
which stood in the middle of the room. On raising its lid
there was found a note begun, together with the one used
as a model. The unfortunate man was generally in the
habit of making one every three weeks, using tracing paper
to do his work. As he did not have any accomplice, he
might have eluded discovery for a considerable length of
time, if he had contented himself with changing his notes
at shop-counters, and he might perhaps never have been
found out, if he had not changed them at a gambler's
bank. Strange to relate, there hung above the table at
which he worked a small framed engraving in a frame
representing the sentence and execution of a counterfeiter
of assignats. It was feared that were he brought to trial,
the publicity thus given to the case would be the cause of
spreading the knowledge of so easy a method of counter
feiting. The Banque de France itself drew attention to the
fact. He was consequently treated as a prisoner of state,
and taken to Vincennes.
This case of counterfeit notes leads me to speak of an
other similar enterprise, but one on a much larger scale
and in which the Imperial Government was implicated. It
followed the one I have mentioned, and came to my knowl-
of Brest and Toulon, whither he had been sent for forgery. He had
already, while at Bicetre, rendered rather important services to the police,
which had been indebted to him for several useful warnings based on the
intercourse which thieves who are under lock and key always manage to
keep up with those of the outer world. Hence M. Henri had believed that
if his freedom were granted him, he might assist in making some impor
tant discoveries in Paris, nor had he been mistaken. Few detectives have
proved so useful; in the end, under the regime of M. Delaveau, he has been
allowed to assume a recognized and open position, and to become at the
prefecture de police the chief of a branch of the outdoor service, and in
truth, this was hardly the right thing. It is even said that he works
directly under that official. In my day, he would have never been allowed
to cross the step of my antechamber, and he came into contact only with
the chief of the department who made use of his services. Such confidence
shown publicly and with so much abandon to a convict has had a bad
effect, and has on several occasions contributed to discredit the police.

554 MEMOIRS OF CHANCELLOR PASQUIER
edge in the most extraordinary manner, towards the begin
ning of the expedition to Russia. The commissaire de
police and the assistant, who together exercised a more direct
supervision over the printing establishments, informed me
one day that they had acquired positive proof that a num
ber of workmen were engaged, with the greatest secrecy,
for some night-work for which they were being very highly
remunerated. He had caused several of them to be shad
owed who went at dusk to an isolated house situated beyond
the city gates, in the plain of Montrouge. All the windows
on the ground floor of this house, which the police had
minutely examined, were protected with exceedingly strong
iron railings, and the doors were so built that it would
be a difficult matter to break them open.
I at once ordered that the house be surrounded in the
dead of the night, and I delivered a search-warrant in order
that the police could demand that the doors be opened to
them at early dawn, in conformity with the terms of the
law. The police agents, foreseeing resistance, asked to be
reinforced by gendarmes taken from a new corps which was
at my disposal. As anticipated, a show of resistance was
made, it became necessary to batter in the doors, and there
were a few men wounded on either side. As a result, there
was discovered the manufacture, organized on a large scale,
of counterfeit bank-notes.
This time, indeed, it was not the Banque de France, but
the Imperial Bank of Russia and even the Bank of Vienna,
which was affected, which goes to show in a positive man
ner that all this was taking place at the outset of the .cam
paign of 1813. The counterfeit notes, plates, and graving
tools were all seized and brought to the prifecture de police;
but hardly was this expedition over, when the Due de
Rovigo hurriedly called on me in a state of actual conster
nation. The whole of this pretty undertaking was being

; ;

COUNTERFEITING BY GOVERNMENT 555
carried on by the orders and under the direction of M.
Desmarest by a printer named Fain, whose brother was at
that time one of the Emperor's private secretaries. It then
became necessary to inform me that such a plan had been
hit upon in order to pay for the purchases of supplies made
by the French army in Russia.
Preparations were making for resorting to the same
methods when the war against Austria was entered upon.
I could not help saying to the Due de Rovigo that I had to
thank him greatly for having up to this time spared me the
knowledge of this, but that prudence should have at least
dictated to him to warn me that such and such a house
belonged to him, and that I might in consequence dispense
with finding out what was being done in it. He agreed with
me on the latter point, but with regard to the nature of the
thing itself, he told me that the Emperor was merely follow
ing the example set him by England. The alleged orders
he had received were of a kind not to be disregarded, con
sequently everything that had been brought to the prifecture
was taken away to the Ministry of Police, and he disposed
of the things as he saw fit. I have since learnt in a posi
tive fashion that these counterfeit notes were never of any
practical utility. A very small number of them were put
into circulation during the Russian campaign, and, at the
time of the retreat, a large quantity which was then worth
less were hurriedly cast to the flames.
But, do what one may, these ugly transactions always get
to the knowledge of the public, and, after the Restoration,
the one just spoken of became public property through the
claims preferred by a Hamburg firm against the Due de
Rovigo. This firm had formerly and by his orders re
ceived a large payment made with these counterfeit notes.
It claimed to hold him personally responsible for this, and,
if he managed to escape the disagreeable consequences of

556 MEMOIRS OF CBANCELLOR PASQUIER
this claim, the whole of the business and the part he had
in it were exposed to the view of the public. As to the
counterfeit notes of the Bank of Vienna, the rapid and
unfortunate result of the Saxon campaign did not allow
of a single one being put into circulation. The only result,
therefore, of the affair was a number of troublesome com
plications. During the two months preceding the Emperor's depart
ure, I spent most of my evenings at the house of M. de
Bassano. I witnessed all his illusions. His faith was
based on the Austrian alliance. He had come to look upon
Napoleon's marriage to the Archduchess as flattering to the
highest degree the pride of the Austrian Imperial family.
Again, he attached to this conjugal bond all such ideas of
intimacy as generally became established between simple
middle class families, which, so to speak, become one by a
marriage. The actions of the Austrian ambassador were
of a nature to confirm such a view ; no one ever made such
a display of constant and more minute attentions than did
the Prince von Schwarzenberg. He hardly absented him
self from the official residence of the Minister of Foreign
Affairs, or from the country-house whieh the Duke had
rented near Saint-Cloud, while his gallantry towards the
Duchess was indefatigable. He was not an intellectual
man, far from it; but his great name, his brilliant mode
of living, and his kindly and courteous ways made up for
what he lacked. He succeeded in inspiring so great a
confidence that Napoleon laid much stress on the com
mand of the auxiliary Austrian corps being entrusted to
him, thus under the impression that he would so obtain
the best guarantee for a faithful execution of the treaty of
alliance. All this went on under my very eyes, and indeed I de
served some credit in guarding myself in the midst of not

A CONVERSATION WITH THE EMPEROR 557
prejudiced surroundings, against being carried away by the
enthusiasm to which nearly all those about me gave way
to. It is nevertheless a fact that my fears for the Emper
or's future date from that period. I was singularly struck
by all the uncertainties which that future presented.
I had, on the eve of his departure, a very short conversa
tion with the Emperor, but it was not one of a nature to
dissipate my apprehensions. It took place after the audi
ence of the Uver; he had detained me, and, after a few
insignificant remarks with regard to the matters of my
administration in general, and to the more particular atten
tion I should bestow upon them during his absence, he
broached the question of the food supply. True to his
habit of looking upon as established facts those things which
he desired to have one believe with him, he remarked : " As
to the scarcity of food, that is a thing of the past; harvest
ing time will shortly be here, and, in a fortnight, you will
see the end of all your troubles." I told him that such was
not my view of the case ; that the crop, as regards the dis
trict about Paris, was never gathered before the middle
and often only at the end of July, and that, as a conse
quence, its product would not enter into consumption until
towards mid August; hence there were still three months
to be passed before this period was reached, and those three
months might be the hardest to tide over, as the stock of
provisions was ever diminishing. I added that it did not
avail concealing the fact that his absence would render the
situation more dangerous, because the action of the gov
ernment would necessarily lose a little of its strength.
" As an instance of this, " I urged, " on the occasion of the
rioting in the vicinity of Caen, Your Majesty himself gave
the necessary orders for sending to the spot with instruc
tions to act a regiment of the Guard. These commands
were executed with a rapidity and a vigor which might not

558 MEMOIRS OF CBANCELLOR PASQUIER
be found in so high a degree, when the Emperor will be
four hundred leagues away from his capital. Should, un
fortunately, a somewhat extended insurrectionary move
ment break out, is it not to be feared that it might produce
fatal consequences both at home and abroad? It is my
duty not to conceal from Your Majesty the dangers of which
I see the probability."
Napoleon appeared struck by these few remarks. When
I had ended speaking, he remained silent, and pacing to
and fro between the window and the fireplace, his arms
crossed behind his back, like a man who is pondering
deeply. I followed in his steps, when, facing me suddenly,
he uttered the words which follow : " Yes, there is doubt
less some truth in what you tell me; it is one more difficulty
added to the many I have to face in the greatest, the most
difficult undertaking I have ever attempted; but I must fain
bring to a termination what I have begun. Farewell, mon
sieur leprifet."
He knew, therefore, of the perils into which he was about
to fling himself. It may be that this conversation and the
few words I spoke to him as to the possibility of an insur
rectionary movement during his absence, may have contrib
uted, greatly against my intention, to the resolution he
took of leaving behind him the decree governing prices. It
is a most remarkable thing that he did not say a word
about it to me.
He left Paris on the 9th of May, and reached Dresden
very shortly afterwards. He remained in that city till the
end of the month; the Empress followed him there almost
immediately. The narrative of the campaign which fol
lowed his departure from Dresden, and which found its
termination in the disasters of a retreat in the midst of
which the finest and most valorous of armies was reduced
to nothing, has been written by the men most able to give

TBE RETREAT FROM RUSSIA 559
an account of it and to pass a just opinion on it, by men
who shared in its glories and its sufferings. I shall not,
therefore, attempt to tell what they have related a hundred
times better than I could do. I shall merely attempt to
render the impressions felt by those about me and which I
myself experienced.

END OF VOL. i

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