The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1895-04-25
NAPOLEONIC STOCK.

! NAPOLEONIC STOCK.
HIS FATHER WAS A PATRlclAN AND
= HIS MOTHER A PEASANT. 4.,
lBut tho Latter Was Cast In . Herojs
I Mold. and From Her tho Son Got His
Tremendous Physical Enduranoe-.shs
Was Mother Of Large Family. IN
OF the father and mother of the en-
peror. Professor W. NJ. Sloane writes
as follows in Century @Y& g.. '
Certain undisputed facts throw .
strong light on Napoleon's father. His.
people were proud and poor; he endured
the hardships Of poverty with equanim-
fty. Strengthening what little influence
he could muster, he at first appears am
bilious and has himself described in his
diploma as q patrician of Florence, San
Miniato and Ajaccio. On the other hand,
with no apparent regard for his person
al advancement by marriage, he follow:
ed his own inclination, and in 1764. At
the age Of IS, rashly perhaps, but gal.
lantly, welded lowly and beautiful.
child Of Is, Letitia Ramolino
Her descent was the reverse Of her
husbands, although her fortune was
quite equal if not superior to his She
was Of peasant nature to the last day Of
her long life-hardy, unsentimental,
frugal and sometimes unscrupuluus.
Yet the hospitality Of her little home in
Ajaccio was lavish, after the manner
Of her kind. and consequently famous.
Among the many guests who availed
themselves of it was Marbeuf, COM
mander in Corsica Of the first army Of
occupation. There was long afterward
a malicious tradition that the French
general was Napoleon's father. The
morals of Letitia di Buonaparte, like
those of her conspicuous children, have
been bitterly assailed, but her own good
name, at least, has always been vindi-
Gated. The evident motive Of the story
sufficiently refutes such an aspersion as
it contains. Of the BRIDES extraordina-
~ beauty there never has been doubt.
She was a woman Of heroic mold, like
Juno in her majesty, unmoved in pros
perity, undaunted in adversely. It was
probably to his mother, whom he strong.
" resembled in childhood, that the IA
nous son owed his tremendous, even gi-
gantic, physical endurance. If in his
mother was reproduced the type of q
Roman matron, in the son would be re-
called the virtues and vigor of an i'm
perator.
After their marriage the youthful
pair resided in Corte, waiting until
events should permit their return to
Ajaccio. Naturally Of an indolent tenn
permanent, the husband was at first
drawn into the daring enterprises Of
Paoli and displayed temporary en-
thusiasm. but for more than year be-
fore the end he wearied Of them. At the
head of body Of men Of his own rank
he finally withdrew to Monte Rotondo,
and on May 20, 1859, q few weeks be-
fore Paoli's fight, the band made form:
al submission to the two French gem
erals, Marbeuf and ,Vaux, explaining
through Buonaparte that the national
leader had misled them by promises Of
aid which never came, and that, recog
nizing the impossibility Of further re-
sistance, they were anxious to accept
the new government, to return to their
homes and to resume the peaceful con-
duct Of their affairs. It was this pre-
cipitate naturalization of the father as
French citizen which made his great
son a Frenchman. Less than three
months afterward, on Aug: Is, his
fourth child, Napoleone di Buonaparte,
was born in Ajaccio.
The resources Of the Buonapartes. as
they still wrote themselves, were small,
although their family and expectations
were large. An only child, Letitia had
inherited her fathers little home and
his vineyards in the suburbs, for her
mother had married second time. Her
stepfather had been Swiss mercenary
in the pay Of Genoa In order to secure
the woman Of his choice he became
Roman Catholic and was the father Of
Mime. di Buonaparte's half brother, Jo-
seph Fesoh. Charles himself was the
owner Of lands in the interior, but they
were heavily mortgaged. and he could
contribute little to the support Of his
family. His uncle, a wealthy landlord,
had died ohildless, leaving his domains
to the Jesuits, and they had promptly
entered into possession. According to
the terms of his grandfather's will, the
bequest was void, for the fortune was
to fall in such case to Charles mother,
and on her death'to Charles himself
Joseph, his father, had wasted many
years and most Of his fortune in weary
litigation to recover the property. Moth
ing daunted, Charles settled down to
pursue the same phantom, virtually de-
pending for a livelihood on his wife's
small patrimony. He became an officer
Of the highest court as assessor and was
made in 1772 a member and later
deputy Of the council Of Corsican mobiles.
The peasant mother was most prolific.
Her eldest child, born in 1895, was a
son, who died in infancy; in 1907 was
born daughter, Marie Anne. destined
to the same fate; in 1858 a son, known
later as Joseph, but baptized as Nabu-