Graham guardian., 1895-04-20
NAPOLEON'S CHARACTER.
Described by This Writer as Be-
ing Somewhat Shifty.
The Emperor Would Change His Point OF
View In an Instant Tf an Unfore-
seen Chance Was to BE Inn
proved.

I
| Prof. William M. Sloane gives an in-
teresting analysis of the youthful ma
ture of Napoleon in Century. Tho
period under consideration is that i'm
mediately following Napoleon's fight
from Corsica, when he had renounced
his firm allegiance to Paoli in the be-
lief that it would improve his own
chance for preferment. Prof. Sloane
says:
Not that the outcast Buonaparte was
any longer exclusively Corsican. 1t
is impossible to conceive of lot more
pitiful or fate more obdurate than
his had so far been. II ere was little
hereditary morality in his nature, and
none had been inculcated by training;
| he had no vital piety, nor even sin
cere superstition. A butt and an out
| cast at French school under the old
! regime, he had imbibed a bitter hatred
for the land indelibly associated with
such naughty privileges for the rich
and such contemptuous disdain for the
| poor. He had not even the consolation
of having received an education. His
nature revolted at the religious formal
ism of priestcraft: his mind turned in
| disgust from the scholastic huslzs of it's
superficial knowledge. What he had
| learned came from inborn capacity,
from desultory reading, and from the
untutored imaginings of his garden at
Brienne, his cave at Ajaccio, or his bar
rack chambers, What more plausible
than that he should first turn to the
land of his birth with some hope of
! happiness, usefulness, or even gloryl
What more mortifying than the stupc-
flying revelation that in manhood he
was too French for Corsica, as he has
been in boyhood too Corsican for
France
The story of his reception and adven-
lures in Corsica has no fascination; it is
neither heroic nor satanic, but belongs
to the dull and mediocre realism which
makes up so much of commonplace life.
1t is difficult to find even thread of
continuity in it; there may be one as to
purpose; there is none as to either con-
duct or theory. There is the passionate
admiration of southern nature for a
hero as represented by the ideal Paoli,
There is the equally southern quality
| of quick but transient hatred The love
of dramatic effect is shown at every
turn, in the perfervid style of his writ
ings, in the mock dignity of an edict
| issued from the grotto at Milelli, in the
empty honors of lieutenant colonel
without real command, in the paltry
| style of an artillery inspector with no
artillery but few dismantled guns.
But the most prominent characteristic
of the young man was his stiffness, in
both the good and bad senses of the
word. He would perish with mortifica-
tion rather than fail in devising some
expedient to meet every emergency; he
felt no hesitation in changing his point
of view as experience destroyed an idea
or an unforeseen chance was to be seized
and improved,
He was no spendthrift, but he had
scruples about money. He was proud
in the headship of his family, and reck-
less as to how he should support them,
or should secure their promotion. Sol
itary in his boyhood, he had become in
youth companion and leader, but his
true friendships were not with his So
cial equals, whom he despised, but with
the lowly, whom he understood. FL
nally, he was citizen of the world, d
man without a country, his birthright
was gone, for Corsica repelled him;
France he hated, for she had never
adopted him. He was likewise with
out profession, for he had neglected
that of soldier, and had failed both
as an author and as a politician. He
was apparently, ntoo, without a single
| guiding principle; the world had been
harsh stepmother, at whose knee he
had neither learned the truth nor
experienced kindness. He appears
consistent in nothing but making
the best of events as they oc
| Cured. So far he was a man
neither much better nor much worse
than the world in which he waa born.
He was quite as sunscrupulous as those
about him, but he was far greater than
they in perspicacity, adroitness, adapt
ability and persistence. During the
| period before his expulsion from Cor
sica these qualities of leadership were
scarcely recognizable, but they exist
ed. AS yet, to all outward appear
ance, the little captain of artillery
was the same slim, -proportioned and
rather insignificant youth; but at
twenty-four he had had the experience
of much greater age. Unconscious
of his powers, he had dreamed many
day-dreams, and had acquired a habit
of boastful conversation in the family
circle, but fully cognizant of the dan
gers incident to his place, and the un-
settled conditions about him, he was
cautious and reserved in the outside
world.
| This Is a Snake Story.
In the month of July four or five