Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1894-11-12
THE BONAPARTE FAMILY.
It Was Probably OF italian Origin and
Was Patrician.


Century the professor, after describing
the efforts Of the Corsicans under the
lead Of one of the national heroes, Pas
cal Paoli, to resist Genoese encroach-
ments and tyranny, says: Curiously
longing il his exile for "a second Sam
piero to have welded the physical pow
er while he himself should have be-
come the Lycurgus, Paoli's wish was
to be half way fulfilled in that war
rior greater than Sampiero was about
to be born in Corsica, one who should,
+! by the very union SO long resisted, come,
as the master of France, to WELD pow
er strong enough to shatter both tyran
MES and dynasties, thus clearing the
ground for a law giving closely related
to Paoli's own just and wise concep-
tiOns Of legislation
This scion was to come from the stock
which bore the name Of BOnaparte, or,
as the heraldic etymology later spelled
! it, Buonaparte. There were branches Of
the same stock, or at least Of the same
name, in many other parts of Italy.
/ Whatever the origin of the Corsican
Bnonapartes, it was neither royal from
the twin brother of Louis XIV, thought
!
! the Julian gems nor Greek, nor Saracen,
nor, i'll short, anything which some lat
er invented and lying genealogies de-
clared it to be- But it was really Ital
ian and probably patrician, for i'll 1880
q Tuscan gentleman Of side line de-
vlsed a scanty estate to his Corslcan
kinsman. The earliest home of the fam
lily was probably at Sarzana, in Tus-
cany, where for generations men Of that
name had exercised the profession Of
advocates
Moreover, they were persons of local
consequence in their latest seats, partly
because of their Italian connections,
partly i'll their substantial possessions of
land and partly through the official po-
sitions which they held III the city of
Ajaccio. Their sympathies as lowland-
ers and toWnspoOple We're with the cOun-
try OF their origin and with Genoa.
During the last years of tie sixteenth
century that republic authorized Jer
ome then head Of the family, to prefix
the distinguishing particle ''di' to his
name, but the Italian custom was averse
TO its use, which was not revived until
later, and then only for q short time.
grand duke of Tuscany issued formal
patents attesting the Buonaparte .nobil-
ity. 1t was Joseph, the graGdsire of Ma
poleon, who received them. Soon after
ward he announced that the coat Of
arms Of the family was q counts coro-
net, or two chevrons and two mullets,
with the two letters B p, signifying
Buona Parte, the tincture gules, the
charges azure, etc.
Such heraldic can't shows that either
the sovereign or the receiver was poor
herald This was in 1857. in 1859 the
same sovereign granted further the title
of patrician. Charles, the son of Joseph
received n similar grant from the arch
bishop Of Pisa III 100. These facts have
q substantial historical value, since by
reason of them the family was recOgniz-
ed as noble in It'll by the French au-
thorities and as q consequence the most
illustrious scion of the stem became
eight years later the ward of France,
which was still monarchical. Reading
between the lines of such q narrative, it
appears as if the short lived family of
Corsican lawyers had some difficulty III
preserving an influence propOrtionate to
their descent, and therefore sought to
draw all the strength they could from a
bygone grandeur, easily forgotten by
their neighbors in the moderate circum-
stances of the later day.
No task had lain nearer to Paoli's
heart than to unite III one nation the
two factions into which he found his
people divided Accordingly, when at
his request Carlo de Buonaparte, the
single slender stem on which the con-
sequential lowland family depended for
continuance, appeared at COrte, the
stranger was received with Hatter1ng
kindness and probably, as one account
has it, was appointed to post of emol
ument and honor as Paoli's private Sec
rotary. The new patrician, according
to custom common among Corsiclans
of his class, had already studied at both
Rome and Pisa, and in 1869 he was
made doctor of laws by the latter uni
versity. There are many pleasant anec-
dotes told to illustrate the good fellow
ship of the young advocate among his
comrades while a student on the main
land. There are likewise mythical mar
ratives of his persuasive eloquence at
home and of his influence as patriot
In short, an organized effort Of syco
phantic admirers, who would, if posi-
BILE, illuminate the whole family in or
der to heighten Napoleon's renown, has
invented fables and distorted facts SO
that the truth as to Charles character
is almost unacceptable.
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