and on his arrival at Le Mans, he was accompanied by a flock of vicars-general, who set the bishopric on a footing entirely different from that to which the people had hitherto been accustomed. They contracted acquaintances in the various social circles, specially attaching themselves to those with whom they could enter into the most agreeable relations. 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 châteaux where he found society to his taste."
In the days before the Revolution, men entered upon professional life at an early age. At fifteen they entered either the army or navy; at twenty a man could be a well-instructed officer in the engineers; at twenty-one, could enter the magistracy; and it was at that age that Pasquier entered as a Councillor into the Parliament of Paris. This was in January, 1787, just about that moment when the distracted Councillors of the King were beginning to think of some means of rescuing the kingdom from bankruptcy; and when Calonne was summoning the Assembly of the Notables which was the forerunner of the States General.
