Thus Laplace was made Minister of the
Interior; but he had no sooner been appointed than it was seen
that a mistake had been made. Napoleon afterwards said of him,
that "Laplace looked at no question in its true point of view. He
was always searching after subtleties; all his ideas were
problems, and he carried the spirit of the infinitesimal calculus
into the management of business." But Laplace's habits had been
formed in the study, and he was too old to adapt them to the
purposes of practical life.
With Darn it was different. But Darn had the advantage of some
practical training in business, having served as an intendant of
the army in Switzerland under Massena, during which he also
distinguished himself as an author. When Napoleon proposed to
appoint him a councillor of state and intendant of the Imperial
Household, Darn hesitated to accept the office. "I have passed
the greater part of my life," he said, "among books, and have not
had time to learn the functions of a courtier." "Of courtiers,"
replied Napoleon, "I have plenty about me; they will never fail.
But I want a minister, at once enlightened, firm, and vigilant;
and it is for these qualities that I have selected you." Darn
complied with the Emperor's wishes, and eventually became his
Prime Minister, proving thoroughly efficient in that capacity, and
remaining the same modest, honourable, and disinterested man that
he had ever been through life.
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