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LIFE OF NAPOLEON
[Illustration:
BONAPARTE AT TWENTY-TWO YEARS OF AGE
After a portrait by Greuze.]
A LIFE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
With a Sketch of JOSEPHINE, Empress of the French. Illustrated from
the collection of NAPOLEON Engravings made by the late Hon. G. G.
Hubbard, and now owned by the Congressional Library, Washington, D. C.,
supplemented by Pictures from the best French Collections....
by
IDA M. TARBELL
New York
McClure, Phillips & Co.
M. CM. V.
Copyright, 1894, by
S. S. McClure, Limited
Copyright, 1895, by
S. S. McClure, Limited
Copyright, 1896, by
The S. S. McClure Co.
Copyright, 1901, by
McClure, Phillips & Co.
First Impression February, 1901
Second Impression April, 1901
Third Impression May, 1903
Fourth Impression Sept., 1905.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS
THE LIFE OF NAPOLEON:
CHAPTER PAGE
I. YOUTH AND EARLY SURROUNDINGS.—SCHOOL DAYS AT BRIENNE 17
II. IN PARIS.—LIEUTENANT OF ARTILLERY.—LITERARY WORK.—THE
REVOLUTION 27
III. ROBESPIERRE.—OUT OF WORK.—FIRST SUCCESS 43
IV. COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE.—DEVOTION TO JOSEPHINE 53
V. ITALIAN CAMPAIGN.—RULES OF WAR 61
VI. RETURN TO PARIS.—EGYPTIAN CAMPAIGN.—THE 18TH BRUMAIRE 89
VII. STATESMAN AND LAWGIVER.—THE FINANCES.—THE INDUSTRIES.—THE
PUBLIC WORKS 105
VIII. RETURN OF THE ÉMIGRÉS.—THE CONCORDAT.—LEGION OF
HONOR.—CODE NAPOLEON 119
IX. OPPOSITION TO THE CENTRALIZATION OF THE
GOVERNMENT.—PROSPERITY OF FRANCE 133
X. PREPARATIONS FOR WAR WITH ENGLAND.—FLOTILLA AT
BOULOGNE.—SALE OF LOUISIANA 143
XI. EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH PEOPLE.—KING OF ITALY 151
XII. CAMPAIGNS OF 1805, 1806, 1807.—PEACE OF TILSIT 163
XIII. EXTENSION OF NAPOLEON’S EMPIRE.—FAMILY AFFAIRS 179
XIV. BERLIN DECREE.—PENINSULAR WAR.—THE BONAPARTES ON THE
SPANISH THRONE 191
XV. DISASTERS IN SPAIN.—ERFURT MEETING.—NAPOLEON AT MADRID 199
XVI. TALLEYRAND’S TREACHERY.—CAMPAIGN OF 1809 211
XVII. DIVORCE OF JOSEPHINE.—MARRIAGE WITH MARIE LOUISE.—BIRTH OF
THE KING OF ROME. 221
XVIII. TROUBLE WITH THE POPE.—THE CONSCRIPTION.—THE TILSIT
AGREEMENT BROKEN 229
XIX. RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN.—BURNING OF MOSCOW.—A NEW ARMY 241
XX. CAMPAIGN OF 1813.—CAMPAIGN OF 1814.—ABDICATION 253
XXI. ELBA.—THE HUNDRED DAYS.—THE SECOND ABDICATION 265
XXII. SURRENDER TO ENGLISH.—ST. HELENA.—DEATH 279
XXIII. THE SECOND FUNERAL 295
SKETCH OF JOSEPHINE—EMPRESS OF THE FRENCH:
I. FAMILY.—EARLY SURROUNDINGS.—ALEXANDER DE
BEAUHARNAIS.—MARRIAGE.—SEPARATION FROM HUSBAND 325
II. JOSEPHINE IN THE REVOLUTION.—IMPRISONED AT LES
CARMES.—STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE.—MARRIAGE WITH BONAPARTE 334
III. BONAPARTE GOES TO ITALY.—JOSEPHINE AT MILAN
1796–1797.—TRIUMPHAL TOUR IN ITALY.—BONAPARTE LEAVES FOR
EGYPT 346
IV. BONAPARTE IS MADE FIRST CONSUL.—JOSEPHINE’S TACT IN PUBLIC
LIFE.—HER PERSONAL CHARM.—MALMAISON 360
V. THE QUESTION OF SUCCESSION.—MARRIAGE OF
HORTENSE.—JOSEPHINE EMPRESS OF THE FRENCH PEOPLE.—THE
CORONATION 371
VI. ETIQUETTE REGULATING JOSEPHINE’S LIFE.—ROYAL
JOURNEYS.—EXTRAVAGANCE IN DRESS 386
VII. JOSEPHINE NOT ALLOWED TO GO TO POLAND.—FEAR OF
DIVORCE.—THE RECONCILIATION OF 1807–1808.—THE CAMPAIGN
OF 1809 AND ITS EFFECT ON NAPOLEON 399
VIII. NAPOLEON RETURNS TO FRANCE.—JOSEPHINE’S
UNHAPPINESS.—NAPOLEON’S VIEW OF A DIVORCE.—THE WAY IN
WHICH THE DIVORCE WAS EFFECTED 413
IX. AFTER THE DIVORCE.—NAVARRE.—JOSEPHINE’S SUSPICIONS OF THE
EMPEROR.—HER GRADUAL RETURN TO HAPPINESS 423
X. EFFECT ON JOSEPHINE OF DISASTERS IN RUSSIA.—ANXIETY DURING
CAMPAIGN OF 1813.—FLIGHT FROM PARIS.—DEATH IN 1814 440
HANDWRITING OF NAPOLEON AT DIFFERENT PERIODS 453
TABLE OF THE BONAPARTE FAMILY 464
CHRONOLOGY OF THE LIFE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 469
INDEX 477
PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION
The chief source of illustration for this volume, as in the case of the
Napoleon papers in MCCLURE’S MAGAZINE, is the great collection of
engravings of Mr. Gardiner G. Hubbard, which has been generously placed
at the service of the publishers. In order to make the illustration
still more comprehensive, a representative of MCCLURE’S MAGAZINE and an
authorized agent of Mr. Hubbard visited Paris, to seek there whatever it
might be desirable to have in the way of additional pictures which were
not within the scope of Mr. Hubbard’s splendid collection. They secured
the assistance of M. Armand Dayot, _Inspecteur des Beaux-Arts_, who
possessed rare qualifications for the task. His official position he
owed to his familiarity with the great art collections, both public and
private, of France, and his official duties made him especially familiar
with the great paintings relating to French history. Besides, he was a
specialist in Napoleonic iconography. On account of his qualifications
and special knowledge, he had been selected by the great house of
Hachette et Cie, to edit their book on _Napoléon raconté par l’Image_,
which was the first attempt to bring together in one volume the most
important pictures relating to the military, political, and private life
of Napoleon. M. Dayot had just completed this task, and was fresh from
his studies of Napoleonic pictures, when his aid was secured by the
publishers of MCCLURE’S MAGAZINE, in supplementing the Hubbard
collection.
The work was prosecuted with the one aim of omitting no important
picture. When great paintings indispensable to a complete pictorial life
of Napoleon were found, which had never been either etched or engraved,
photographs were obtained, many of these photographs being made
especially for our use.
A generous selection of pictures was made from the works of Raffet and
Charlet. M. Dayot was able also to add a number of pictures—not less
than a score—of unique value, through his personal relations with the
owners of the great private Napoleonic collections. Thus were obtained
hitherto unpublished pictures, of the highest value, from the
collections of Monseigneur Due d’Aumale; of H. I. H., Prince Victor
Napoleon; of Prince Roland; of Baron Larrey, the son of the chief
surgeon of the army of Napoleon; of the Duke of Bassano, son of the
minister and confidant of the emperor; of Monsieur Edmond Taigny, the
friend and biographer of Isabey; of Monsieur Albert Christophle,
Governor-General of the _Crédit-Foncier_ of France; of Monsieur Paul le
Roux, who has perhaps the richest of the Napoleonic collections; and of
Monsieur le Marquis de Girardin, son-in-law of the Duc de Gaëte, the
faithful Minister of Finance of Napoleon I. It will be easily understood
that no doubt can be raised as to the authenticity of documents borrowed
from such sources.
The following letter explains fully the plan on which Mr. Hubbard’s
collection is arranged, and shows as well its admirable completeness. It
gives, too, a classification of the pictures into periods, which will be
useful to the reader.
WASHINGTON, _October, 1894_.
S. S. MCCLURE, Esq.
_Dear Sir_:—It is about fourteen years since I became interested in
engravings, and I have since that time made a considerable
collection, including many portraits, generally painted and engraved
during the life of the personage. I have from two hundred to three
hundred prints relating to Napoleon, his family, and his generals.
The earliest of these is a portrait of Napoleon painted in 1791,
when he was twenty-two years old; the next in date was engraved in
1796. There are many in each subsequent year, and four prints of
drawings made immediately after his death.
There are few men whose characters at different periods of life are
so distinctly marked as Napoleon’s, as will appear by an examination
of these prints. There are four of these periods: First Period,
1796–1797, Napoleon the General; Second Period, 1801–1804, Napoleon
the Statesman and Lawgiver; Third Period, 1804–1812, Napoleon the
Emperor; Fourth Period, the Decline and Fall of Napoleon, including
Waterloo and St. Helena. Most of these prints are contemporaneous
with the periods described. The portraits include copies of the
portraits painted by the greatest painters and engraved by the best
engravers of that age. There are four engravings of the paintings by
Meissonier—“1807,” “Napoleon,” “Napoleon Reconnoitering,” and
“1814.”
FIRST PERIOD, 1796–1797, _Napoleon the General_.—In these the
Italian spelling of the name, “Buonaparte,” is generally adopted. At
this period there were many French and other artists in Italy, and
it would seem as if all were desirous of painting the young general.
A French writer in a late number of the “Gazette des Beaux-Arts” is
uncertain whether Gros, Appiani, or Cossia was the first to obtain a
sitting from General Bonaparte. It does not matter to your readers,
as portraits by each of these artists are included in this
collection.
There must have been other portraits or busts of Bonaparte executed
before 1796, besides the one by Greuze given in this collection.
These may be found, but there are no others in my collection. Of the
portraits of Napoleon belonging to this period eight were engraved
before 1798, one in 1800. All have the long hair falling below the
ears over the forehead and shoulders; while all portraits subsequent
to Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt have short hair. The length of the
hair affords an indication of the date of the portrait.
SECOND PERIOD, 1801–1804, _Napoleon the Statesman and
Lawgiver_.—During this period many English artists visited Paris,
and painted or engraved portraits of Napoleon. In these the Italian
spelling “Buonaparte” is adopted, while in the French engravings of
this period he is called “Bonaparte” or “General Bonaparte.”
Especially noteworthy among them is “The Review at the Tuileries,”
regarded by Masson as the best likeness of Napoleon “when thirty
years old and in his best estate.” The portrait painted by Gérard in
1803, and engraved by Richomme, is by others considered the best of
this period. There is already a marked change from the long and thin
face in earlier portraits to the round and full face of this period.
In some of these prints the Code Napoléon is introduced as an
accessory.
THIRD PERIOD, 1804–1812, _Napoleon the Emperor_.—He is now styled
“Napoléon,” “Napoléon le Grand,” or “L’Empereur.” His chief painters
in this period are Léfevre, Gérard, Isabey, Lupton, and David (with
Raphael-Morghen, Longhi, Desnoyers, engravers)—artists of greater
merit than those of the earlier periods. The full-length portrait by
David has been copied oftener and is better known than any other.
It has been said that we cannot in the portraits of this period,
executed by Gérard, Isabey, and David, find a true likeness of
Napoleon. His ministers thought “it was necessary that the sovereign
should have a serene expression, with a beauty almost more than
human, like the deified Cæsars or the gods of whom they were the
image.” “Advise the painters,” Napoleon wrote to Duroc, September
15, 1807, “to make the countenance more gracious (_plutôt
gracieuses_).” Again, “Advise the painters to seek less a perfect
resemblance than to give the beau ideal in preserving certain
features and in making the likeness more agreeable (_plutôt
agréable_).”
FOURTH PERIOD, 1812–1815, _Decline and Fall of Napoleon_.—We have
probably in the front and side face made by Girodet, and published
in England, a true likeness of Napoleon. It was drawn by Girodet in
the Chapel of the Tuileries, March 8, 1812, while Napoleon was
attending mass. It is believed to be a more truthful likeness than
that by David, made the same year; the change in his appearance to
greater fulness than in the portraits of 1801–1804 is here more
plainly marked. He has now become corpulent, and his face is round
and full. Two portraits taken in 1815 show it even more clearly. One
of these was taken immediately before the battle of Waterloo, and
the other, by J. Eastlake, immediately after. Mr. Eastlake, then an
art student, was staying at Plymouth when the “Bellerophon” put in.
He watched Napoleon for several days, taking sketches from which he
afterwards made a full-length portrait.
The collection concludes with three notable prints: the first of the
mask made by Dr. Antommarchi the day of his death, and engraved by
Calamatta in 1834; another of a drawing “made immediately after
death by Captain Ibbetson, R. N.;” and the third of a drawing by
Captain Crockatt, made fourteen hours after the death of Napoleon,
and published in London July 18, 1821. These show in a remarkable
manner the head of this wonderful man.
The larger part of these prints was purchased through Messrs.
Wunderlich & Co., and Messrs. Keppel of New York, some at auctions
in Berlin, London, Amsterdam, and Stuttgart; very few in Paris.
GARDINER G. HUBBARD.
The historical and critical notes which accompany the illustrations in
this volume have been furnished by Mr. Hubbard as a rule, though those
signed A. D. come from the pen of M. Armand Dayot.
PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION
The Life of Napoleon in this volume first appeared as a serial in
Volumes III and IV of _McClure’s Magazine_. In 1895 on its completion in
serial form it was published in book form, illustrated by a series of
portraits from the Hubbard collection which had been used in the
magazine and by numerous other pictures drawn from the principal French
Napoleon collections. The illustrations in the present edition have been
selected from those used in the first. The variety and extent of these
illustrations are explained in the Preface to the First Edition here
reproduced. The Life of Napoleon is supplemented in the present work by
a sketch of Josephine. The absence of any Life of Josephine in English
drawn from recent historical investigations is the reason for presenting
this sketch. Until within a very few years the first Empress of the
French People has been pictured to the world as her grandson Napoleon
III desired that she appear—a fitting type for popular adoration—more of
a saint and a martyr than of a woman. The present sketch is an attempt
to tell a true story of her life as it is revealed by the recent
diligent researches of Frederic Masson and by the numerous memoirs of
the periods which have appeared, many of them since the passing of the
Second Empire. If the story as told here is frank, it is hoped by the
author that it will not be found unsympathetic.
[Illustration:
CHARLES BONAPARTE, FATHER OF NAPOLEON. BORN 1746; DIED 1785.]
[Illustration:
PENCIL SKETCHES BY DAVID, REPRESENTING BONAPARTE AT BRIENNE, BONAPARTE
GENERAL OF THE ARMY OF ITALY, BONAPARTE AS EMPEROR.]
LIFE OF NAPOLEON
CHAPTER I
NAPOLEON’S YOUTH AND EARLY SURROUNDINGS—HIS SCHOOL DAYS AT BRIENNE
“If I were not convinced that his family is as old and as good as my
own,” said the Emperor of Austria when he married Marie Louise to
Napoleon Bonaparte, “I would not give him my daughter.” The remark is
sufficient recognition of the nobility of the father of Napoleon,
Charles Marie de Bonaparte, a gentleman of Ajaccio, Corsica, whose
family, of Tuscan origin, had settled there in the sixteenth century,
and who, in 1765, had married a young girl of the island, Lætitia
Ramolino.
Monsieur Bonaparte gave his wife a noble name, but little else. He was
an indolent, pleasure-loving, chimerical man, who had inherited a
lawsuit, and whose time was absorbed in the hopeless task of recovering
an estate of which the Church had taken possession. Madame Bonaparte
brought her husband no great name, but she did bring him health, beauty,
and remarkable qualities. Tall and imposing, Mademoiselle Lætitia
Ramolino had a superb carriage, which she never lost, and a face which
attracted attention particularly by the accentuation and perfection of
its features. She was reserved, but of ceaseless energy and will, and
though but fifteen when married, she conducted her family affairs with
such good sense and firmness that she was able to bring up decently the
eight children spared her from the thirteen she bore. The habits of
order and economy formed in her years of struggle became so firmly
rooted in her character that later, when she became _mater regum_, the
“Madame Mère” of an imperial court, she could not put them aside, but
saved from the generous income at her disposal, “for those of my
children who are not yet settled,” she said. Throughout her life she
showed the truth of her son’s characterization: “A man’s head on a
woman’s body.”
The first years after their marriage were stormy ones for the
Bonapartes. The Corsicans, led by the patriot Pascal Paoli, were in
revolt against the French, at that time masters of the island. Among
Paoli’s followers was Charles Bonaparte. He shared the fortunes of his
chief to the end of the struggle of 1769, and when, finally, Paoli was
hopelessly defeated, took to the mountains. In all the dangers and
miseries of this war and flight, Charles Bonaparte was accompanied by
his wife, who, vigorous of body and brave of heart, suffered privations,
dangers, and fatigue without complaint. When the Corsicans submitted,
the Bonapartes went back to Ajaccio. Six weeks later Madame Bonaparte
gave birth to her fourth child, Napoleon.
“I was born,” said Napoleon, “when my country was perishing. Thirty
thousand Frenchmen were vomited upon our soil. Cries of the wounded,
sighs of the oppressed, and tears of despair surrounded my cradle at my
birth.”
Young Bonaparte learned to hate with the fierceness peculiar to Corsican
blood the idea of oppression, to revere Paoli, and, with a boy’s
contempt of necessity, even to despise his father’s submission. It was
not strange. His mother had little time for her children’s training. His
father gave them no attention; and Napoleon, “obstinate and curious,”
domineering over his brothers and companions, fearing no one, ran wild
on the beach with the sailors or over the mountains with the herdsmen,
listening to their tales of the Corsican rebellion and of fights, on sea
and land, imbibing their contempt for submission, their love for
liberty.
At nine years of age he was a shy, proud, wilful child, unkempt and
untrained, little, pale, and nervous, almost without instruction, and
yet already enamored of a soldier’s life and conscious of a certain
superiority over his comrades. Then it was that he was suddenly
transplanted from his free life to an environment foreign in its
language, artificial in its etiquette, and severe in its regulations.
It was as a dependent, a species of charity pupil, that he went into
this new atmosphere. Charles Bonaparte had become, in the nine years
since he had abandoned the cause of Paoli, a thorough parasite. Like all
the poor nobility of the country to which he had attached himself, and
even like many of the rich in that day, he begged favors of every
description from the government in return for his support. To aid in
securing them, he humbled himself before the French Governor-General of
Corsica, the Count de Marbœuf, and made frequent trips, which he could
ill afford, back and forth to Versailles. The free education of his
children, a good office with its salary and honors, the maintenance of
his claims against the Jesuits, were among the favors which he sought.
By dint of solicitation he had secured a place among the free pupils of
the college at Autun for his son Joseph, the oldest of the family, and
one for Napoleon at the military school at Brienne.
[Illustration:
LÆTITIA RAMOLINO, NAPOLEON’S MOTHER. BORN 1750, DIED 1836.]
To enter the school at Brienne, it was necessary to be able to read and
write French, and to pass a preliminary examination in that language.
This young Napoleon could not do; indeed, he could scarcely have done as
much in his native Italian. A preparatory school was necessary, then,
for a time. The place settled on was Autun, where Joseph was to enter
college, and there in January, 1779, Charles Bonaparte arrived with the
two boys.
Napoleon was nine and a half years old when he entered the school at
Autun. He remained three months, and in that time made sufficient
progress to fulfil the requirements at Brienne. The principal record of
the boy’s conduct at Autun comes from Abbé Chardon, who was at the head
of the primary department. He says of his pupil:
“Napoleon brought to Autun a sombre, thoughtful character. He was
interested in no one, and found his amusements by himself. He rarely
had a companion in his walks. He was quick to learn, and quick of
apprehension in all ways. When I gave him a lesson, he fixed his
eyes upon me with parted lips; but if I recapitulated anything I had
said, his interest was gone, as he plainly showed by his manner.
When reproved for this, he would answer coldly, I might almost say
with an imperious air, ‘I know it already, sir.’”
When he went to Brienne, Napoleon left his brother Joseph behind at
Autun. The boy had not now one familiar feature in his life. The school
at Brienne was made up of about one hundred and twenty pupils, half of
whom were supported by the government. They were sons of nobles, who,
generally, had little but their great names, and whose rule for getting
on in the world was the rule of the old _régime_—secure a powerful
patron, and, by flattery and servile attentions, continue in his train.
Young Bonaparte heard little but boasting, and saw little but vanity.
His first lessons in French society were the doubtful ones of the
parasite and courtier. The motto which he saw everywhere practised was,
“The end justifies the means.” His teachers were not strong enough men
to counteract this influence. The military schools of France were at
this time in the hands of religious orders, and the Minim Brothers, who
had charge of Brienne, were principally celebrated for their ignorance.
They certainly could not change the arrogant and false notions of their
aristocratic young pupils.
It was a dangerous experiment to place in such surroundings a boy like
the young Napoleon, proud, ambitious, jealous; lacking any healthful
moral training; possessing an Italian indifference to truth and the
rights of others; already conscious that he had his own way to make in
the world, and inspired by a determination to do it.
From the first the atmosphere at Brienne was hateful to the boy. His
comrades were French, and it was the French who had subdued Corsica.
They taunted him with it sometimes, and he told them that had there been
but four to one, Corsica would never have been conquered, but that the
French came ten to one. When they said: “But your father submitted,” he
said bitterly: “I shall never forgive him for it.” As for Paoli, he told
them, proudly, “He is a good man. I wish I could be like him.”
He had trouble with the new language. They jeered at him because of it.
His name was strange; _la paille au nez_ was the nickname they made from
Napoleon.
He was poor; they were rich. The contemptuous treatment he received
because of his poverty was such that he begged to be taken home.
“My father [he wrote], if you or my protectors cannot give me the
means of sustaining myself more honorably in the house where I am,
please let me return home as soon as possible. I am tired of poverty
and of the jeers of insolent scholars who are superior to me only in
their fortune, for there is not one among them who feels one
hundredth part of the noble sentiment which animates me. Must your
son, sir, continually be the butt of these boobies, who, vain of the
luxuries which they enjoy, insult me by their laughter at the
privations which I am forced to endure? No, father, no! If fortune
refuses to smile upon me, take me from Brienne, and make me, if you
will, a mechanic. From these words you may judge of my despair. This
letter, sir, please believe, is not dictated by a vain desire to
enjoy extravagant amusements. I have no such wish. I feel simply
that it is necessary to show my companions that I can procure them
as well as they, if I wish to do so.
“Your respectful and affectionate son,
“BONAPARTE.”
Charles Bonaparte, always in pursuit of pleasure and his inheritance,
could not help his son. Napoleon made other attempts to escape, even
offering himself, it is said, to the British Admiralty as a sailor, and
once, at least, begging Monsieur de Marbœuf, the Governor-General of
Corsica, who had aided Charles Bonaparte in securing places for both
boys, to withdraw his protection. The incident which led to this was
characteristic of the school. The supercilious young nobles taunted him
with his father’s position; it was nothing but that of a poor tipstaff,
they said. Young Bonaparte, stung by what he thought an insult, attacked
his tormentors, and, being caught in the act, was shut up. He
immediately wrote to the Count de Marbœuf a letter of remarkable
qualities in so young a boy and in such circumstances. After explaining
the incident he said:
“Now, Monsieur le Comte, if I am guilty, if my liberty has been
taken from me justly, have the goodness to add to the kindnesses
which you have shown me one thing more—take me from Brienne and
withdraw your protection: it would be robbery on my part to keep it
any longer from one who deserves it more than I do. I shall never,
sir, be worthier of it than I am now. I shall never cure myself of
an impetuosity which is all the more dangerous because I believe its
motive is sacred. Whatever idea of self-interest influences me, I
shall never have control enough to see my father, an honorable man,
dragged in the mud. I shall always, Monsieur le Comte, feel too
deeply in these circumstances to limit myself to complaining to my
superior. I shall always feel that a good son ought not to allow
another to avenge such an outrage. As for the benefits which you
have rained upon me, they will never be forgotten. I shall say I had
gained an honorable protection, but Heaven denied me the virtues
which were necessary in order to profit by it.”
[Illustration:
BONAPARTE AT BRIENNE.
The original of this statue is in the gallery of Versailles. It dates
from 1851, and is by Louis Rochet, one of the pupils of David
d’Angers.]
In the end Napoleon saw that there was no way for him but to remain at
Brienne, galled by poverty and formalism.
It would be unreasonable to suppose that there was no relief to this
sombre life. The boy won recognition more than once from his companions
by his bravery and skill in defending his rights. He was not only
valorous; he was generous, and, “preferred going to prison himself to
denouncing his comrades who had done wrong.” Young Napoleon found, soon,
that if there were things for which he was ridiculed, there were others
for which he was applauded.
He made friends, particularly among his teachers; and to one of his
comrades, Bourrienne, he remained attached for years. “You never laugh
at me; you like me,” he said to his friend. Those who found him morose
and surly, did not realize that beneath the reserved, sullen exterior of
the little Corsican boy there was a proud and passionate heart aching
for love and recognition; that it was sensitiveness rather than
arrogance which drove him away from his mates.
At the end of five and one-half years Napoleon was promoted to the
military school at Paris. The choice of pupils for this school was made
by an inspector, at this time one Chevalier de Kéralio, an amiable old
man, who was fond of mingling with the boys as well as examining them.
He was particularly pleased with Napoleon, and named him for promotion
in spite of his being strong in nothing but mathematics, and not yet
being of the age required by the regulations. The teachers protested,
but De Kéralio insisted.
“I know what I am doing,” he said. “If I put the rules aside in this
case, it is not to do his family a favor—I do not know them. It is
because of the child himself. I have seen a spark here which cannot be
too carefully cultivated.”
De Kéralio died before the nominations were made, but his wishes in
regard to young Bonaparte were carried out. The recommendation which
sent him up is curious. The notes read:
“Monsieur de Bonaparte; height four feet, ten inches and ten lines;
he has passed his fourth examination; good constitution, excellent
health; submissive character, frank and grateful; regular in
conduct; has distinguished himself by his application to
mathematics; is passably well up in history and geography; is
behindhand in his Latin. Will make an excellent sailor. Deserves to
be sent to the school in Paris.”