When appointed to the prefecture of police, M. Pasquier devoted himself entirely to the discharge of his official duties, and voluminous writings still exist upon the provisioning of the capital, and the method of multiplying magazines in the time of abundance; this had now become a question of great anxiety, occupying the serious attention of the government, for in the year 1811, the first symptoms of an alarming scarcity made their appearance. The price of bread had reached an exorbitant height, and people were constantly on the brink of a disturbance owing to the dearness of grain of all kinds. I have perused and analysed with the greatest attention the important writings of M. Pasquier under the empire, deposited in the archives of the prefecture of police.[26] [26] See "L'Europe pendant le Consulat et l'Empire de Napoleon." It must be recollected that Napoleon was then about to depart upon his Russian expedition, and it may easily be imagined that contending parties would give occasion to extreme anxiety during his adventurous campaign: how great was that entertained by the prefect of police! his nights were devoted to quieting the alarms excited by false bulletins, and strengthening the confidence of the people, for the _prestige_ that surrounded Napoleon was beginning to disappear, a certain spirit of independence and animadversion was gradually gaining ground, and numerous caricatures, _bons mots_, and epigrams, attacked the moral power of the Emperor. The romantic enterprise of General Mallet took place at this juncture; it was a prodigious act of boldness, shewing how slight was the tenure of Napoleon's power; one hour more, or one man less, and the most powerful empire of modern times would have been at an end! M. Pasquier has been reproached with having allowed himself to be surprised by the insurrection, but, in the first place, he had nothing to do with watching the formation of plots, that duty devolved upon M. Savary, the minister of police; and besides, to do justice to all parties, what vigilance can possibly foresee or control the plans conceived by _one_ man in the silence of a prison? General Mallet was armed with a military power which it was in vain to resist, and M. Pasquier was surprised at the prefecture, hurried into a _voiture de place_ and conveyed to the prison of La Force, with injunctions that he should be detained there until the provisional government was established. He was not liberated until after the suppression of the conspiracy, having steadily refrained from making any concessions to the conspirators, but merely submitting to the fate prepared for him by a military insurrection. A magistrate who gives way to the commands of unlawful authority, is guilty of betraying his trust; he ought to remain steadfast in his duty, even should violence cast him into a dungeon.