Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1895-03-30

Of the hour; and the character is FORM
ing while the first hesitant words are
coureG .ionl the primer The boy Napo-
leon had sroEnd his schoolroom-as
around .iis cradie-an agitated atmos-
pierre. 1t was banked with tie receding
clouds OF revolution. There was light
ming on the rim, and blood On the
fringes.
The majority Of the Corsicans had &C.
cepted the French nominations. Some
still remembered Genoa with affection;
and many sighed for independence.
Among the latter were the Buonapartes.
The feeling of regret for the lost cause
began to wane about the time that Ma
poleon was sent to school,; but there was
still IL his heart drop Of inherited bit
terness on account of the French con-
quest. Re looked back angrily at the
terrible conditions surrounding him in
his Childhood. As late as his twentieth
year he broke out in passion. II was
born," said ne, while my country was
dying. Thirty thousand French, vomited
on our shores, drowning the throne of
liberty in waves Of blood-such was the
horrid sight which first met my view.
The cries OF the dying, the groans Of the
oppressed, tears CT despair, surrounded
my cradle at my birth" The utrerance
shows how hardly the future emperor of
the French himself in youth became a
Frenchman.
When. from the sixth to the ninth
year of his age, the boy Bonaparte at
tended school in his native town, three
lines radiated before his feet One of
these was dim and clcuded, but Glorified
with patches Of extreme light Ii was
the way into the kingdom of that New
Philosophy which was just then reveal
ing itself with such brilliancy in France
A second and well trod way led straight
ly to the Church. Rome was great and
honorable. Her rewards of diligent am
bition were rich and certain. The young
aspirant who entered the colleges might
well expect emolument and reputation.
The third path led dangerously to the
military life. None might at that time
discern the coming upheaval of society,
with Its concomitant reign of the sword
Bus the agitations of the epoch We're
sufficient to encourage war, and to offer
a measure Of inducemcnt to follow in
the path OF military glory.
The taciturn schoclboy of Ajaccio had
these three open ways before him. From
the first, he was precluded by the dis
positions Of his family, intensified in
himself. He never had the scholastic
trait. His abilities as a pupil, and after
wards as military cadet, showed moth
ing of the philOsophe. Indeed he con-
ceived-how early in boyhood we know
not-a prejudice aSains: philosophy and
the philosophers rs we'll As for the
Church, ne had an inbred admiration
for Rome; but the kind Of life offered in
the priesthood was without attractions
for him personally. He was willing that
Joseph and other of his friends should
become priests and bishops; but not him
self. Neither the scholar gown nor the
priests surplice offered the slightest at
traction to his imagination.
The condition of the Buonaparte fam
lily about the years IS was critical.
Carlo, the father. had given an interest
cd adhesion to the French. He had his
hopes from the annexation. He would
keep his titles and recover the proper
ties formerly belonging to the family.
The Buonaparte estates in Corsica had
been mostly lost. Some had been confis-
Gated by the Genoese party and convert.
ed into Jesuit schools. The recent revo-
luton had reduced Carlos means almost
to naught. He was himself of no repu-
tation as an economist. His family had
rapidly multiplied. Two children died
in infancy between the birth of Napo-
leon and that of Lucien, in 1775. The
family was brought almost to penury.
Carlo de Buonaparte could not get
back his properties. The privilege of
writing his name with de did not COM
pensate for his losses. He struggled with
adversely, and sought the aid of infiuen.
tial friends. Among these the most
available was General Marbpuf The
latter in 1916 appealed ON behalf of his
Corsican friends to the authorities in
Paris for the privilege of educating the
Buonaparte boys in France at the ex-
ponse OF the royal treasury. This thing
might be done-provided the applicants
should be under ten years of age. and be
able to show four strains of noble blood
in their veinsi In the case of the boys
Buonaparte, this could not be proved;
and affairs in the homestead went from
bad TO worse.
AT this juncture history, rather than
man, came to the rescue. France was ON
the verge of bankruptcy. One finance
minister after another was appointed,
and one financial scheme after another
exploded in the hands of the inventors.
Ii became necessary to call together, at
Versailles, n council of the mobiles. Carlo
de Buonaparte was chosen a representa-
tive from Corsica. In going to perform
his duty at the French capital, he took
with him, to be distributed en- route,
his two sons. Joseph and Napoleon; also,
the boys half uncle. Joseph Fesch; also,
a cousin Of Letitia. the mother As for
FeSch, he was to Re left as student at
AK. The cousin had been appointed to
an Office in the church at Autun; and
at that place the distracted father deter
mined to drop his two sons at school
This was in the year i77s. The COM
pany set ont by way of Florence, Genoa,
Narseilles, Lyons. The youngest of the