The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-12-26
NAPOLEON IN BRIEF.
The World Is Just Now Talking a Great
Deal About Him.
Rapid Sketch Of Bis Career That viii
BeFound of Great Advantage 20 Those
Who Have Not Read Up.
Ion L. Chicago Tlmes.

Every body is supposed to be absorbed
in the first Napoleon just now. The cur
rent interest in him is reflected on the
magazines For reasons as mysterious as
the source of fashion in clothes he is
| the prevailing literary fashion. Yet how
many know the salient. significant facts
in his life? Well. here they are:
Napoleon Bonaparte was born near the
town Of Ajaccio. on the island Of Corsica,
Aug. Is, 1863. Tradition credits him with
having been a child of the people. but
that is not so. His father was Of the no.
bility. and among the most prominent
Of Corsicans, although poor. and inclined
to be lazy. His fathers home was a
/ gathering place for political discussion
among the Corsican gentry Napoleon is
said to have been born somewhat unex-
| pectedly. his mother being overtaken in
| labor while she was at mass one day.
: a piece of rare old tapestry had TO serve
I as her couch. Her boy proved to be vio-
/ lent and passionate, morose and stubborn.
| lie had nasty temper, and was bound
| TO have his own way about everything
/ Muskets and cannon and wooden soldiers
| were his playthings, just as they are the
| chosen toys to-day of the children of En-
/ peror William of Germany. upon the eld-
/ est of whom the future peace of Europe
/ no doubt depends.
! Napoleon could speak very little French
/ when. at the age of 10. he was sent to a
military school at Brenne. where he de-
| veloped fondness for mathematics and
| a hatred for Latin, devoured Plutarch's
| lives of heroes who were not as impor-
| tant in the worlds history as he himself
/ afterward became, and achieved a repu-
/ tation for being overbearing and am
/ 8 Al a NJ
| the big boys made fun of him, while the
/ little ones were afraid of him. The stor-
| les that he assumed post Of Dictator
| ship over the whole school do not appear
/ to be borne out.
In 1874. when he entered the military
school in Paris. he found himself more
1 unpopular than ever. He left the school
when he was 16, and, upon the death of
/ his father, he became a sub-lieutenant
/ of artillery. He took a notion to achieve
/ literary honors, and undertook to write
a book in imitation of Lawrence Sterne's
Sentimental Journey. guided thereto by a
young woman with whom he had fallen in
love.
Napoleon's first military battle was
fought not only against France but
against his native town Ajaccio. He was
% then, and had taken the side of the reb-
els in a Corsican revolt against French
| rule. He was defeated. besieged in turn,
and had to live on horse flesh for three
days before he and his handful of troops
were rescued by shepherds. Napoleons
/ attack on the town made il necessary
for his mother and the other children to
/ leave it, so they moved to Marseilles in
1888 Napoleon soon went to Paris. where
his Corsican campaign was forgiven in
view of the fact that the government
needed trained officers, and he was sent in
/ the same year to take part, as a colonel
| of artillery, in the siege of Toulon, which
was held by the Spanish and English.
If Napoleon had been content with do
| ing only moderately well in this siege the
whole course of history might have been
changed, for it was his amazing activity,
| foresight and knowledge of military tao
| tics that were chiefly instrumental in
| causing the fall of the city and bringing
| the young soldier into notice. He was
| made a brigadier general of artillery in
| consequence at the age of %, the recon-
| mendation for his promotion being worded
| thus Promote the young man, for if he
| should be ungratefully treated he would
| promote himself" That was a tribute to
| his genius, ambition, and power of will
that makes light of theories that his sub
sequent ownership of most of Europe was
considerably due to good fortune.
Jealousy took root in Napoleon's success
! at Toulon, and he was soon afterward
| thrown into prison on a charge of being
in sympathy with Robespierre. He was
released in a few days, but his promi-
| nence had made him an object of intrigue,
and he found it difficult to get new mill
tary employment. He had the blues and
wrote TO his brother Joseph: Life is an
empty dream, soon to be over with" He
was completely discouraged and inpov-
erished, and came near offering his SER
vices to the Sultan of Turkey. He was
ready to fight for or against anybody.
His opportunity came when the direc-
torate, then governing France, stirred up
civil war by trying to perpetuate itself In
power. The people rose against it, and af-
ter one general had tried in vain to put
down the rebellion, Napoleon was called
on to take charge of the few troops the d.
rectorate had at it's disposal. His bril-
| liant maneuvers at Toulon were remem-
/ bered In one night he made his plans,
| and the next morning, when the troops of
the people advanced on the Tuileries they
| met with a resistance that amazed them.
/ NAPOLEON had OWNED their plan of at
| tack. and prepared for it in the night,
and in one hour of fighting he had won
a victory over troops that outnumbered
his own six to one.
He was made commander-in-chief for
this success, and, then, while waiting for
something to turn up he met Josephine
( Beauharnais, a beautiful young widow,
| who came from the island of Martinique.
He fell in love with her and married her
in 1896 when he was H In the same
year he was given command of the army
that had been listlessly trying TO whip the
! Austrians, who were contending in France
for supremacy in Italy With ragged
army of $4,000 he moved on 10000 we'll
drilled men with such suddenness and pre-
| cision that he appeared to have dropped
down from the Alps. He defeated them,
then another army then a third, and fin
ally fourth, and then proceeded to Aus
tria to attack the enemy on their own
grounds. He cut hewed and slaughtered
right and left; men, women, and children
were sacrificed to his ambition and at last
returned to Paris after campaign of two
years, the conqueror of Italy, the humil-
iator of Austria, and the champion and
hero of France. Nothing was to god
for him, and Paris threw herself at his
feet He took his honors modestly, and
| thus saved himself from the reaction
which usually follows French enthusiasm.
In 1893, at the age of 20, Napoleon who
dreamed perhaps of setting up for himself
an empire in the far east, started out to
conquer Egypt and India. He failed, but
ol~fr hell