The Somerset reporter., 1894-12-10
NAPOLEON Al RRlENNE.


On Nrw Years day, 1913, TIE Boz
napartes arrived al Autun. For three
months the young Napoleon was train
ed in the use Of French Prodigy as he
was. the difficulties 81 that elegant and
polished tlqgUc were scarcely reached.
1t was with Il must imp rfect knowl-
| edge Of thei' language and sadly de-
! fcctiye pronunciation that he made his
appearance among his future school
mates at Bricnne. There were 30 OF
tlcm, although the arrangement and
| theory of the institution had conten-
plated only 100, Of whom half were to
b. foundationcrs. The instructors were
Minim priests, and the life was as Sc
we're as it could be made with such q
clientage under half educated and in
experienced monks. In spite of all ef-
forts to the contrary, however, the place
had an air Of elegance There was a Ger
tain schoolboy display proportionate to
the pocket money of the young mobiles
and a very keen discrimination among
themselves rs to rank, social quality
and relative importance. Those familiar
with the ruthlcssncss Of boys in their
treatment Of one another can easily con
COVE what was the reception of the
newcomer, whose nobility was unknown
and unreeognizcd in France, and whose
means were Of the scanticst
1t appears that the journey from Cor
.ica through Flororee and Mar,eille-
bad already wrought marvellous change
III the boy. Napoleal's teacher at Autun
described his pnrl as having brought
with him sebcr, thoughtful character
Ilc played with RIO one and took his
walks alone Eur be- was apt and vain
of his aptitude In three months he
learned the rndimentS of French, 10 uso
common phrases with some fiuency and
to write easy eXereisCs.
The boys Of Autun, says Abbe Chardon,
an one occasion brought tho sweeping
charge OF coWartIico against all inhablt-
ants Of Corsica in order to cXaspcrate
him. IF they had been but four to
onr " Wa the calm, phlcgmHtic az Tcr
Of the l0-year-old hoy they woald
never have taken Corsica, but when they
were 10 10 - "But you had fine
gencral-Paoli, interrupted the mar
rator eyes, sire, was the reply, TT
tered with IN air of discomfort and i'll
the very embodiment of ambition. II
would much lde To emulate him. The
description of the unnamed faun az
he then appeared is not tattering-
complexion sallow, his hair stiff, mis-
figure slight, his expression lustcrless,
bis manner insignificant. Moreover, he
spoke broken. French with All Italian ac-
cent
During his som preparatory studies at
Autun the father had been busy at Yer
sailles with further "supplications, y
among them one for supplement from
the royal purse to his scanty pay as dele
gate, the other for the speedy settlement
of his now notorious claim. The former
of the two was granted not merely to
NJ dc Bonaparte, but to his two col
leagues, in view of the excellent be-
havior otherwise subserviency - of
tho Corsican delegation at Versailles.
When in addition tho certificate of Ma
poleon's appointment finally arrived,
and the father set out to place his son
with proper outfit in his now school,
he had no difficulty in securing suf-
ficient money to meet his immediate
and pressing necessities, but more was
not Forthcoming. Professor Sloane's
Life of Napoleon" i'll Century.