Étienne-Denis, duc de Pasquier (21 April 17675 July 1862), ''Chancelier de France'', (a title revived for him by Louis-Philippe in 1837), was a French statesman. In 1842, he was elected a member of the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, and in the same year was created a duke by Louis-Philippe.

Biography

Born in Paris in a family of the ''noblesse de robe'', with ancestors such as Étienne Pasquier, he was destined for the legal profession and was educated at the '' Collège de Juilly'' near Paris. He then became a counsellor of the ''parlement de Paris'', and witnessed many of the incidents that marked the growing hostility between that body and

Louis XVI of France Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...

in the years preceding the French Revolution of 1789. His views were those of a moderate reformer, determined to preserve the

House of Bourbon The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Kingdom of Navarre, Navarre in the 16th century. A br ...

in a renovated France; his memoirs depict in a favorable light the actions of his (an institution soon to be abolished towards the end of the year 1789, under growing revolutionary pressures). For some time, and especially during the

Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (French: ''La Terreur'', literally "The Terror") was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the French First Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and Capital punishment in France, nu ...

(1793–1794), Pasquier remained in obscurity; but this did not save him from arrest nor his father from execution in the year 1794. He was incarcerated for two months in the Saint-Lazare Prison shortly before the start of Thermidorian Reaction, and released after the fall and execution of

Maximilien Robespierre Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; ; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman, widely recognised as one of the most influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. Robespierre ferv ...

at the end of July 1794.

Empire

He did not re-enter the public service until the period of the

First French Empire The First French Empire or French Empire (; ), also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. It lasted from ...

, when the arch-chancellor Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès used his influence with

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

to procure for him the office of ''

maître des requêtes A Master of Requests () is a counsel of the French ''Conseil d'État'' (Council of State), a high-level judicial officer of administrative law in France. The office has existed in one form or another since the Middle Ages. The occupational titl ...

'' to the

Conseil d'État In France, the (; Council of State) is a governmental body that acts both as legal adviser to the executive branch and as the supreme court for administrative justice, which is one of the two branches of the French judiciary system. Establ ...

. In 1809, he became

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

of the Empire, and in February 1810 counsellor of State. In October 1810, the Emperor made him prefect of police of Paris. The main challenge of his career was the strange

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

of the republican general Claude François de Malet (October 1812); Malet, spreading false news that Napoleon had died in the Russian campaign, managed to surprise and capture some of the ministers and other authorities in Paris, among them Pasquier. However, the attempt's manifest failure enabled Pasquier to speedily regain his liberty.

Restoration and July Monarchy

When Napoleon abdicated in April 1814, Pasquier continued to exercise his functions for a few days in order to preserve order, and then resigned from the prefecture of police, whereupon

Louis XVIII of France Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. Before his reign, he spent 23 ...

allotted to him the '' Corps des Ponts et Chaussées''. He distanced himself from the Imperial restoration at the time of the Hundred Days (1815), and, after the final Bourbon Restoration, became Keeper of the Seal (July 1815). Finding it impossible to work with the

Ultra-royalist The Ultra-royalists (, collectively Ultras) were a Politics of France, French political faction from 1815 to 1830 under the Bourbon Restoration in France, Bourbon Restoration. An Ultra was usually a member of the nobility of high society who str ...

s of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

(the ''

Chambre introuvable The ( French for "Unobtainable Chamber") was the first Chamber of Deputies elected after the Second Bourbon Restoration in 1815. It was dominated by Ultra-royalists who completely refused to accept the results of the French Revolution. The n ...

''), he resigned office in September. Under the more moderate ministers of succeeding years, he again held various appointments, but refused to join the

reactionary In politics, a reactionary is a person who favors a return to a previous state of society which they believe possessed positive characteristics absent from contemporary.''The New Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought'' Third Edition, (1999) p. 729. ...

cabinets of the close of the reign of

Charles X of France Charles X (Charles Philippe; 9 October 1757 – 6 November 1836) was King of France from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. An uncle of the uncrowned Louis XVII and younger brother of reigning kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported th ...

. After the

July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after French Revolution, the first of 1789–99. It led to the overthrow of King Cha ...

(1830), he became president of the Chamber of Peers, a post which he held through the whole of the reign of Louis-Philippe (1830–1848). After the abdication of Louis-Philippe in February 1848, ''Chancelier Pasquier'' retired from active life and set to work to compile the notes and reminiscences of his long and active career. He died in Paris at the age of ninety-five on 5 July 1862.

References

Sources

* In turn, it cites as references: **''Mémoires du Chancelier Pasquier'' (6 vols., Paris, 1893–1895; partly translated into English, 4 vols.,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, 1893–1894) **L. de Vieilcastel, ''Histoire de la Restauration'', vols. i.iv. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pasquier, Etienne-Denis 1767 births 1862 deaths 19th-century police officers Writers from Paris Dukes of Pasquier 18th-century French lawyers French memoirists Prefects of police of Paris Members of the Académie Française People of the French Revolution Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour French interior ministers Members of the Chamber of Peers of the Bourbon Restoration Members of the Chamber of Peers of the July Monarchy French male non-fiction writers 19th-century French lawyers