Accordingly when the ministry of M. Decaze decided upon modifying the law of elections, M. Pasquier was offered an appointment; he did not resume the situation of keeper of the seals, but undertook the direction of foreign affairs; our situation with regard to our foreign relations having assumed a serious aspect, it was necessary they should be under the charge of a minister quite resolved to resist any tendency towards a spirit of revolution. M. Decaze lost office after the assassination of the Duc de Berry; and on the formation of the second Richelieu ministry, M. Pasquier retained the situation of minister for foreign affairs, only with the proviso that he was to consult the noble duke upon points relating to diplomatic matters. The Duc de Richelieu, from his connexion with the various cabinets of Europe, must have inspired great confidence in diplomatic proceedings of importance. From this period the existence of M. Pasquier was divided into two distinct portions, the one being passed at the tribune, and the other devoted to business. I am not acquainted with any session when the debates were more violent or more contested than that of 1820; the speeches were remarkable for their eloquence, the names of General Foy, of Camille Jordan, and Benjamin Constant, appeared, beside those of Casimir Périer and Lafitte; each question was decided by a small majority, and it was necessary to modify the law of elections, and determine upon measures rendered indispensable by the circumstances succeeding the death of the Duc de Berry. The superiority of M. Pasquier's abilities was evident during this long session, where he was incessantly in the tribune, opposing, in the most decided and authoritative manner, the orators of the liberal party. When an alarming tumult took place in the public square, M. Pasquier appeared at the tribune to denounce the instigators of the disturbances, undismayed by the threats and vociferations of the revolutionary _parti gauche_. He spoke without disguise or circumlocution, and as to the phrase with which he has been so much reproached, _sur l'arbitraire_,[29] is it any thing beyond a simple declaration of what the government was desirous of obtaining, and requested from the power authorised to grant it? Every thing that was obtained had demanded incredible efforts, and whatever may have been said of the session of 1820 by those under the influence of party spirit, it was undoubtedly the finest period of the representative system, recalling the times of Pitt, Grenville, and Dundas, opposed to Fox, Erskine, and Sheridan.