Napoleon's School-days[2].
[Footnote 2: The authorities for the period are Masson:
Napoléon inconnu. Chuquet: La jeunesse de Napoléon.
Jung: Bonaparte et son temps. Böhtlingk: Napoleon
Bonaparte: seine Jugend und sein Emporkommen. Las Cases:
Mémorial de Sainte-Hélène. Antommarchi: Mémoires.
Coston: Premières années de Napoléon, Nasica: Mémoires
sur l'enfance et la jeunesse de Napoléon.]
Military Schools in France -- Napoleon's Initiation into the
Life of Brienne -- Regulations of the School -- The Course
of Study -- Napoleon's Powerful Friends -- His Reading and
Other Avocations -- His Comrades -- His Studies -- His
Precocity -- His Conduct and Scholarship -- The Change in
His Life Plan -- His Influence in His Family -- His Choice
of the Artillery Service.
[Sidenote: 1779-84.]
It was an old charge that the sons of poor gentlemen destined to be
artillery officers were bred like princes. The institution at Brienne,
with eleven other similar academies, had been but recently founded as
a protest against the luxury which had reigned in the military schools
at Paris and La Flèche. Both these had been closed for a time because
they could not be reformed; the latter was, however, one of the twelve
from the first, and that at Paris was afterward reopened as a
finishing-school. The monasteries of various religious orders were
chosen as seats of the new colleges, and their owners were put in
charge with instructions to secure simplicity of life and manners, the
formation of character, and other desirable benefits, each one in its
own way in the school or schools intrusted to it. The result so far
had been a failure; there were simply not twelve first-rate
instructors in each branch to be found in France for the new
positions; the instruction was therefore limited and poor, so that in
the intellectual stagnation the right standards of conduct declined,
while the old notions of hollow courtliness and conventional behavior
flourished as never before. In order to enter his boy at Brienne,
Charles de Buonaparte presented a certificate signed by the intendant
and two neighbors, that he could not educate his sons without help
from the King, and was a poor man, having no income except his salary
as assessor. This paper was countersigned by Marbeuf as commanding
general, and to him the request was formally granted. This being the
regular procedure, it is evident that all the young nobles of the
twelve schools enjoying the royal bounty were poor and should have had
little or no pocket money. Perhaps for this very reason, though the
school provided for every expense including pocket money, polished
manners and funds obtained surreptitiously from powerful friends
indifferent to rules, were the things most needed to secure kind
treatment for an entering boy. These were exactly what the young
gentleman scholar from Corsica did not possess. The ignorant and
unworldly Minim fathers could neither foresee nor, if they had
foreseen, alleviate the miseries incident to his arrival under such
conditions.
At Autun Napoleon had at least enjoyed the sympathetic society of his
mild and emotional brother, whose easy-going nature could smooth many
a rough place. He was now entirely without companionship, resenting
from the outset both the ill-natured attacks and the playful personal
allusions through which boys so often begin, and with time knit ever
more firmly, their inexplicable friendships. To the taunts about
Corsica which began immediately he answered coldly, "I hope one day
to be in a position to give Corsica her liberty." Entering on a
certain occasion a room in which unknown to him there hung a portrait
of the hated Choiseul, he started back as he caught sight of it and
burst into bitter revilings; for this he was compelled to undergo
chastisement.
Brienne was a nursery for the qualities first developed at Autun. The
building was a gloomy and massive structure of the early eighteenth
century, which stood on a commanding site at the entrance of the town,
flanked by a later addition somewhat more commodious. The dormitory
consisted of two long rows of cells opening on a double corridor,
about a hundred and forty in all: each of these chambers was six feet
square, and contained a folding bed, a pitcher and a basin. The pupil
was locked in at bed-time, his only means of communication being a
bell to arouse the guard who slept in the hall. Larger rooms were
provided for his toilet; and he studied where he recited, in still
another suite. There was a common refectory in which four simple meals
a day were served: for breakfast and luncheon, bread and water, with
fruit either fresh or stewed; for dinner, soup with the soup-meat, a
side-dish and dessert; for supper, a joint with salad or dessert. With
the last two was served a mild mixture of wine and water, known in
school slang as "abundance." The outfit of clothing comprised
underwear for two changes a week, a uniform consisting of a blue cloth
coat, faced and trimmed with red, a waistcoat of the same with white
revers, and serge breeches either blue or black. The overcoat was of
the same material as the uniform, with the same trimming but with
white lining. The studies comprised Latin, mathematics, the French
language and literature, English, German, geography, drawing, fencing,
music, vocal as well as instrumental, and dancing.
[Illustration: In the Museum of Versailles. Marie-Laetitia Ramolino
Bonaparte "Madame Mère"--Mother Of Napoleon I.]
Perhaps the severe regimen of living could have been mitigated and
brightened by a course of study nominally and ostensibly so rich and
full; but in the list of masters, lay and clerical, there is not a
name of eminence. Neither Napoleon nor his contemporary pupils
recalled in later years any portion of their work as stimulating, nor
any instructor as having excelled in ability. The boys seem to have
disliked heartily both their studies and their masters. Young
Buonaparte had likewise a distaste for society and was thrown upon his
own unaided resources to satisfy his eager mind. Undisciplined in
spirit, he was impatient of self-discipline and worked spasmodically
in such subjects as he liked, disdaining the severe training of his
mind, even by himself. He did learn to spell the foreign tongue of his
adopted country, but his handwriting, never good, was bad or worse,
according to circumstances. Dark, solitary, and untamed, the new
scholar assumed the indifference of wounded vanity, despised all
pastimes, and found delight either in books or in scornful
exasperation of his comrades when compelled to associate with them.
There were quarrels and bitter fights, in which the Ishmaelite's hand
was against every other. Sometimes in a kind of frenzy he inflicted
serious wounds on his fellow-students. At length even the teachers
mocked him, and deprived him of his position as captain in the school
battalion.
The climax of the miserable business was reached when to a taunt that
his ancestry was nothing, "his father a wretched tipstaff," Napoleon
replied by challenging his tormentor to fight a duel. For this offense
he was put in confinement while the instigator went unpunished. It was
by the intervention of Marbeuf that his young friend was at length
released. Bruised and wounded in spirit, the boy would gladly have
shaken the dust of Brienne from his feet, but necessity forbade.
Either from some direct communication Napoleon had with his protector,
or through a dramatic but unauthenticated letter purporting to have
been written by him to his friends in Corsica and still in existence,
Marbeuf learned that the chiefest cause of all the bitterness was the
inequality between the pocket allowances of the young French nobles
and that of the young Corsican. The kindly general displayed the
liberality of a family friend, and gladly increased the boy's
gratuity, administering at the same time a smart rebuke to him for his
readiness to take offense. He is likewise thought to have introduced
his young charge to Mme. Loménie de Brienne, whose mansion was near
by.[3] This noble woman, it is asserted, became a second mother to the
lonely child: though there were no vacations, yet long holidays were
numerous and these were passed with her; her tenderness softened his
rude nature, the more so as she knew the value of tips to a
school-boy, and administered them liberally though judiciously.
[Footnote 3: The sources of these statements are two
letters of 5 April, 1781, and 8 October, 1783; first
printed in the Mémoires sur la vie de Bonaparte, etc.,
etc., par le comte Charles d'Og.... This pseudonym
covers a still unknown author; the documents have been
for the most part considered genuine and have been
reprinted as such by many authorities, including Jung.
Though this author was an official in the ministry of
war and had its archives at his disposal, he gives one
letter without any authority and the other as in the
"Archives de la guerre." Many searchers, including the
writer, have sought them there without result. Latterly
their authenticity has been denied on the ground of
inherent improbability, since pocket money was by rule
almost unknown in the royal colleges, and Corsican
homesickness is as common as that of the Swiss. But
rules prove nothing and the letters seem inherently
genuine.]
Nor was this, if true, the only light among the shadows in the picture
of his later Brienne school-days. Each of the hundred and fifty pupils
had a small garden spot assigned to him. Buonaparte developed a
passion for his own, and, annexing by force the neglected plots of
his two neighbors, created for himself a retreat, the solitude of
which was insured by a thick and lofty hedge planted about it. To this
citadel, the sanctity of which he protected with a fury at times half
insane, he was wont to retire in the fair weather of all seasons, with
whatever books he could procure. In the companionship of these he
passed happy, pleasant, and fruitful hours. His youthful patriotism
had been intensified by the hatred he now felt for French school-boys,
and through them for France. "I can never forgive my father," he once
cried, "for the share he had in uniting Corsica to France." Paoli
became his hero, and the favorite subjects of his reading were the
mighty deeds of men and peoples, especially in antiquity. Such matter
he found abundant in Plutarch's "Lives."
Moreover, his punishments and degradation by the school authorities at
once created a sentiment in his favor among his companions, which not
only counteracted the effect of official penalties, but gave him a
sort of compensating leadership in their games. When driven by storms
to abandon his garden haunt, and to associate in the public hall with
the other boys, he often instituted sports in which opposing camps of
Greeks and Persians, or of Romans and Carthaginians, fought until the
uproar brought down the authorities to end the conflict. On one
occasion he proposed the game, common enough elsewhere, but not so
familiar then in France, of building snow forts, of storming and
defending them, and of fighting with snowballs as weapons. The
proposition was accepted, and the preparations were made under his
direction with scientific zeal; the intrenchments, forts, bastions,
and redoubts were the admiration of the neighborhood. For weeks the
mimic warfare went on, Buonaparte, always in command, being sometimes
the besieger and as often the besieged. Such was the aptitude, such
the resources, and such the commanding power which he showed in either
rôle, that the winter was always remembered in the annals of the
school.
Of all his contemporaries only two became men of mark, Gudin and
Nansouty. Both were capable soldiers, receiving promotions and titles
at Napoleon's hand during the empire. Bourrienne, having sunk to the
lowest depths under the republic, found employment as secretary of
General Bonaparte. In this position he continued until the consulate,
when he lost both fortune and reputation in doubtful money
speculations. From old affection he secured pardon and further
employment, being sent as minister to Hamburg. There his lust for
money wrought his final ruin. The treacherous memoirs which appeared
over his name are a compilation edited by him to obtain the means of
livelihood in his declining years. Throughout life Napoleon had the
kindliest feelings for Brienne and all connected with it. In his death
struggle on the battle-fields of Champagne he showed favor to the town
and left it a large legacy in his will. No schoolmate or master
appealed to him in vain, and many of his comrades were in their
insignificant lives dependent for existence on his favor.
It is a trite remark that diamonds can be polished only by diamond
dust. Whatever the rude processes were to which the rude nature of the
young Corsican was subjected, the result was remarkable. Latin he
disliked, and treated with disdainful neglect. His particular
aptitudes were for mathematics, for geography, and above all for
history, in which he made fair progress. His knowledge of mathematics
was never profound; in geography he displayed a remarkable and
excellent memory; biography was the department of history which
fascinated him. In all directions, however, he was quick in his
perceptions; the rapid maturing of his mind by reading and reflection
was evident to all his associates, hostile though they were. The most
convincing evidence of the fact will be found in a letter written,
probably in July, 1784, when he was fifteen years old, to an
uncle,--possibly Fesch, more likely Paravicini,--concerning family
matters.[4] His brother Joseph had gone to Autun to be educated for
the Church, his sister (Maria-Anna) Elisa had been appointed on the
royal foundation at Saint-Cyr, and Lucien was, if possible, to be
placed like Napoleon at Brienne. The two younger children had already
accompanied their father on his regular journey to Versailles, and
Lucien was now installed either in the school itself or near by, to be
in readiness for any vacancy. All was well with the rest, except that
Joseph was uneasy, and wished to become an officer too.
[Footnote 4: Du Casse, Supplément à la Correspondence de
Napoléon Ier, Vol. X, p. 50. Masson, I, 79-84.]
The tone of Napoleon is extraordinary. Opening with a commonplace
little sketch of Lucien such as any elder brother might draw of a
younger, he proceeds to an analysis of Joseph which is remarkable.
Searching and thorough, it explains with fullness of reasoning and
illustration how much more advantageous from the worldly point of view
both for Joseph and for the family would be a career in the Church:
"the bishop of Autun would bestow a fat living on him, and he was
himself sure of becoming a bishop." As an _obiter dictum_ it contains
a curious expression of contempt for infantry as an arm, the origin of
which feeling is by no means clear. Joseph wishes to be a soldier:
very well, but in what branch of the profession? He could not enter
the navy, for he knows no mathematics; nor is his doubtful health
suited to that career. He would have to study two years more for the
navy, and four if he were to be an engineer; however, the ceaseless
occupation of this arm of the service would be more than his strength
could endure. Similar reasons militate against the artillery. There
remains, therefore, only the infantry. "Good. I see. He wants to be
all day idle, he wants to march the streets all day, and besides, what
is a slim infantry office? A poor thing, three quarters of the time;
and that, neither my dear father nor you, nor my mother, nor my dear
uncle the archdeacon, desires, for he has already shown some slight
tendency to folly and extravagance." There is an utter absence of
loose talk, or of enthusiasm, and no allusion to principle or
sentiment. It is the work of a cold, calculating, and dictatorial
nature. There is a poetical quotation in it, very apt, but very badly
spelled; and while the expression throughout is fair, it is by no
means what might be expected from a person capable of such thought,
who had been studying French for three years, and using it exclusively
in daily life.
In August, 1783, Buonaparte and Bourrienne, according to the statement
of the latter, shared the first prize in mathematics, and soon
afterward, in the same year, a royal inspector, M. de Keralio, arrived
at Brienne to test the progress of the King's wards. He took a great
fancy to the little Buonaparte, and declaring that, though
unacquainted with his family, he found a spark in him which must not
be extinguished, wrote an emphatic recommendation of the lad, couched
in the following terms: "M. de Bonaparte (Napoleon), born August
fifteenth, 1769. Height, four feet ten inches ten lines [about five
feet three inches, English]. Constitution: excellent health, docile
disposition, mild, straightforward, thoughtful. Conduct most
satisfactory; has always been distinguished for his application in
mathematics. He is fairly well acquainted with history and geography.
He is weak in all accomplishments--drawing, dancing, music, and the
like. This boy would make an excellent sailor; deserves to be admitted
to the school in Paris." Unfortunately for the prospect, M. de
Keralio, who might have been a powerful friend, died almost
immediately.
By means of further genuflections, supplications, and wearisome
persistency, Charles de Buonaparte at last obtained favor not only for
Lucien, but for Joseph also. Deprived unjustly of his inheritance,
deprived also of his comforts and his home in pursuit of the ambitious
schemes rendered necessary by that wrong, the poor diplomatist was now
near the end of his resources and his energy. Except for the short
visit of his father at Brienne on his way to Paris, it is almost
certain that the young Napoleon saw none of his elders throughout his
sojourn in the former place. The event was most important to the boy
and opened the pent-up flood of his tenderness: it was therefore a
bitter disappointment when he learned that, having seen the royal
physician, his parent would return to Corsica by Autun, taking Joseph
with him, and would not stop at Brienne. Napoleon, by the advice of
Marbeuf and more definitely by the support of his friend the
inspector, had been designated for the navy; through the favor of the
latter he hoped to have been sent to Paris, and thence assigned to
Toulon, the naval port in closest connection with Corsica. There were
so many influential applications, however, for that favorite branch of
the service that the department must rid itself of as many as
possible; a youth without a patron would be the first to suffer. The
agreement which the father had made at Paris was, therefore, that
Napoleon, by way of compensation, might continue at Brienne, while
Joseph could either go thither, or to Metz, in order to make up his
deficiencies in the mathematical sciences and pass his examinations to
enter the royal service along with Napoleon, on condition that the
latter would renounce his plans for the navy, and choose a career in
the army.
The letter in which the boy communicates his decision to his father is
as remarkable as the one just mentioned and very clearly the sequel to
it. The anxious and industrious parent had finally broken down, and in
his feeble health had taken Joseph as a support and help on the
arduous homeward journey. With the same succinct, unsparing statement
as before, Napoleon confesses his disappointment, and in commanding
phrase, with logical analysis, lays down the reasons why Joseph must
come to Brienne instead of going to Metz. There is, however, a new
element in the composition--a frank, hearty expression of affection
for his family, and a message of kindly remembrance to his friends.
But the most striking fact, in view of subsequent developments, is a
request for Boswell's "History of Corsica," and any other histories or
memoirs relating to "that kingdom." "I will bring them back when I
return, if it be six years from now."[5] The immediate sequel makes
clear the direction of his mind. He probably did not remember that he
was preparing, if possible, to strip France of her latest and highly
cherished acquisition at her own cost, or if he did, he must have felt
like the archer pluming his arrow from the off-cast feathers of his
victim's wing. It is plain that his humiliations at school, his
studies in the story of liberty, his inherited bent, and the present
disappointment, were all cumulative in the result of fixing his
attention on his native land as the destined sphere of his activity.
[Footnote 5: This letter, which is without date, is
printed in Coston, as taken from the newspapers; again
in a revised form in Nasica: Mémoires sur l'enfance et
la jeunesse de Napoléon, p. 71, who claimed to have
collated it with the original; and again in Jung:
Bonaparte et son temps, who gives as his reference,
Archives de la guerre, preserving exactly the form given
by Nasica. The Napoleon papers of the War Department
were freely, and I believe entirely, put into my hands
for examination. This letter was not among them; in
fact, my efforts to confirm the references of Jung were
sadly ineffectual.]
Four days after the probable date of writing he passed his examination
a second time, before the new inspector, announced his choice of the
artillery as his branch of the service, and a month later was ordered
to the military academy in Paris. This institution had not merely been
restored to its former renown: it now enjoyed a special reputation as
the place of reward to which only the foremost candidates for official
honors were sent. The choice of artillery seems to have been reached
by a simple process of exclusion; the infantry was too unintellectual
and indolent, the cavalry too expensive and aristocratic; between the
engineers and the artillery there was little to choose--in neither did
wealth or influence control promotion. The decision seems to have
fallen as it did because the artillery was accidentally mentioned
first in the fatal letter he had received announcing the family
straits, and the necessary renunciation of the navy. On the
certificate which was sent up with Napoleon from Brienne was the note:
"Character masterful, imperious, and headstrong."