Nevertheless M. Mole solicited and obtained the general superintendance of highways and bridges, a post which he occupied in 1813, before he was appointed minister of justice.] The Duke of Gaeta and Count Mollien became again ministers of the finances and the treasury. They had obtained the confidence of the public by the ability, prudence, and integrity of their preceding administration; and the choice of them met with general applause. The Duke of Otranto had the charge of the police. He had been at the helm of the state in circumstances of difficulty and peril; he had learned to form a sound judgment of the public mind, and to foresee, prepare, and guide events. Having belonged to all parties in succession, he knew their tactics, their resources, their pretensions; and the whole nation, convinced of his experience, talents, and patriotism, hoped, that he would successfully concur in the safety of the Emperor and the empire. The recall of the Duke of Bassano to the ministry, as secretary of state, displeased the court, and also those credulous people, who, having no opinions but what are suggested to them, adopt praise and blame without discernment. Few men have been so ill treated, as this minister. Every one has taken pleasure in disfiguring his character and even his features. The Duke of Bassano had an open countenance, an agreeable manner of conversation, a politeness always uniform, a dignity sometimes affected, but never offensive, with a natural propensity to esteem men, courtesy in obliging them, and perseverance in serving them. The favour he enjoyed was at first the reward of unexampled readiness in business; of indefatigable activity; of pure intentions, lofty views, probity, proof against all temptation, and I will even add an iron constitution; for physical strength also was a quality in the eyes of Napoleon. Subsequently it became the just return for an attachment not to be shaken; an attachment, which, by its force, vivacity, and constancy, seemed to be a compound of love and friendship. I must own, I believe, that M. de Bassano most frequently shared and approved without exception the opinions of the Emperor; but it was not from interested or base motives: the Emperor was the idol of his heart, the object of his admiration: with such sentiments, how was it possible for him, to perceive the errors and faults of Napoleon? Besides, having continually to express the ideas of the Emperor, and to imbue himself as it were with the emanations of his spirit, he had identified himself with his way of thinking and of viewing things, and saw and thought as he did with the most perfect sincerity. Not but that he sometimes differed from him in opinion; yet whatever efforts he made, he always yielded ultimately to the irresistible ascendancy, that the genius of Napoleon exercised over him, as it did over every other person.