“ He specially devoted himself to finance, being for a short time president of the customs commission before his appointment as minister of agriculture and commerce in March 1879 in the Waddington cabinet. He held the same portfolio in the first Freycinet ministry (1879–1880) and in the Jules Ferry cabinet (1880–1881) . He was minister of commerce in Freycinet’s second cabinet (1882) , of finance under E. Duclerc (1882–1883) , and under A. Fallières (1883) , retaining the same office in the second Jules Ferry ministry (1883–1885) . ”