The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-02-11
NAPOLEON ON SUICIDE.
An Interesting Essay By the Great
Warrior Has Come to- Wight.
rParis COrrasDondance IN london. Ta1-

An Ii tefeStin5 i-SsilJ by the Great
Warrior Has Come to- Wight.
paris Correspondence to London Tel
graph.I
The Eclair publishes certain docu-
ments, for the most part written by
Napoleon, which, by order Of the En-
peror, had been handed to Cardinal
Fesch, and which have now been ex-
amined at the Laurentine Library at
Florence. They must be cIassed N two
categories; first, correspondence and
biogra phical notes; and, second, orig
NAL works. some of which are ready
for the press, and notes and thoughts
of young Bonaparte. Most of these
documents were written by BOnaOarte
himself and the others are copies cor
Tected by him. Among the papers are
thirty eight thick manuscript books,
filed from beginning to end with the
writing of Bonaparte. Almost all
bear dates and were written between
1856 and 1893. 1t appears that when
about seventeen years of age young
Bonaparte was tired Of life, and
thought of suicide. The following is a.
note on that subject, written by him
at that time:
Solitary amidst men, ] return to
my room to think alone. and TO dban-
don rSysef to my melancholy. Where
does it lead ma tOGaV2 Towards ,lea III.
In the springtime of life I may Np0pe
to live long. 1 have been absent (on
my country six or seven years. What
pleasure shall I have in four months.
In seeing once more my companions
and my parents? Can 1 not conclude,
from the sweet sensations awakened
by the remembrance of my childhood,
that my happiness win be complete?
What mad fellow urges me on to self
destruction? But what can be done in
this world? Since I have to, is it not
better to kill myself? If I was over
sixty years of age ] would respect the
prejudices of my fellow creatures, and
would wait patiently for nature t{ac-
complish its work; but since L CONF
menced to experience unhappiness, and
since nothing gives me pleasure, why
should I endure days in which 1 sue
coed in nothing?
How far men are from naturel
How cowardly, vile and cringing they
areI What is the spectacle shall wit
ness in my country? FellOW-cOuntry-
men, loaded with chains, all trembling,
kissing the hand that Expresses them.
They are no longer brave COToiCanS,
animated by heroic virtues and the en-
emies of tyrants. luxury and base
courtesans. Proud and full Of the no
BILE consciousness of his own personal
Importance, a Consican was formerly
happy. If he had occupied his day in
transacting public business, the night
was spent in the tender arms of a
dearly loved wife; his reason and en-
thusiasm obliterated all the troubles
of the day, tenderness and nature rem
dered the night comparable to that of
gods. But with liberty those happy
days have vanished like a, dream.
Frenchmen! Not content with having
despoiled US of all we loved, you rave
corrupted our manners. The skTrt
condition of my country and my pow
erlesSnes3 to change IL, are additional
reasons for me to leave a land where
1 am obliged by duty to praise men
whom l ought by virtue to hate. When
I arrive in my country, how am 1 to
act and what am 1 to do? When the
mother country has ceased to exist, a
good citizen should die. If [ had to
destroy but one man in order to de-
liver my fellow countrymen, would
start at once. I would plunge the
avengfng dagger up TO the hilt in the
breast Of the tyrant. My life is bur
den because live, and must prob3bly
always live, with men whose thoughts
and manners are as different from
mine as the silver moonlight is differ
ent from the light of the sun. can
| not, then, follow the only manner Oh
living that could make life bearable
for me, whence it follows that I fee
aversion for everything"