Arizona silver belt., 1895-03-09
NAPOLEUNS CHARACTER.
Described by This Writer as Be~
 ing Somewhat Shifty.
Tho Emperor Would Change His Point of View In an Instant Is m Uufores seen Chance Was to He Im-
 proved,

Prof William NJ. Sloane gives an in- terosting analysis of the youthful na- ture of Napoleon in Century. The period under consideration is that i'm. mcdiatcly following NHpoleons flight from Corsica, when he had renounced his firm allegiance to Paoli in the be- lief that it would improve his own chance for prcferment. Prof, Sloane says:
 Not that the outeast Buonaparte was any longer exclusively 0 Corsican. It is impossible to conceive of lot more pitiful or fate more obdurate than his had so far been. TT ere was little hereditary morality in his nature, and none had been inculcated by training; he had no vital picty, nor even sin cere superstition. A butt and an out cast at a French school under the old regime, he had imbibed 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 huslls of its superficial knowledge. What he had learned came from inborn capacity, from desultory reading, and from the untutorcd 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 glory What more mortifying than the stupe- flying revelation that in manhood he was too French for Corsica, as he has been in boyhood too Corsiean for Francel
 The story of his reception and adven- tures 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. IL 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 a 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 Milelh, in the empty honors ot lieutenant colonel without a real command, in the paltry style of m artillery inspector with no artillery but few dismantled guns
 But the most prominent characteristic of the yoang man was his shiftineSs, ip both the good and bad senses of the word. He would perish with mortifica- tion rather than fail in devising some expadicnt tO meet every emergency: he felt no hesitation III changing his poinJ of view as experience destroyed an idea or an unforeseen chance was to be seized and improved.
 He was no spendthrift, but he had scruplcs about money. He was proud in the hcadship 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 q companion ard leader, but his true friendships were not with his so- cial equals, whom he despised but with the lowly, whom he understood. Fi- nally, he was a citizen of the world, a man without country, his birthright was gone, for Corsica repelled him; France he hated, for she had never adopted him. He was likewise with out a profession, for he had neglected that of soldier, and had failed botn us an author and as a politician. lie was apparently too, without a single guiding principle; the world had bean a harsh stcpmothcr, at whose knee h9 had neither learned the truth nor experienced kindness. He appears consistent in nothing but making the best of events as they oc currcd, So far he was man neither much better nor much worse than the world in which he war born.
 He was quite as interruptions as those about him, but he was far greater than they in per5picacity, 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, ill-proportioned and rather insignificant youth; but at twenty-four he had had the experience of a much greater age. Unconscious of his powers, he had dreamed many day-dreams, and had acquired 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 aud reserved in the outside world.