Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-04-07
pEsERET EVENING NEWS. THURSDAY, APRIL = 1898.

of the points established by NJ, Chuquct
are thus ret forth:
Are there any traces of genius in
the true, historic adolescence Of Ma
polCon? No. lie was an intelligent
and studious boy. aud that was ali.
The thrcc respects in which h differed
a little from his comrades, from an
intellectual point OF view, were his
passion for reading; his quickncss III
nssinllotIng what he read, and his In"
comparable memory In places where
he stopped he frequontcd the libraries
ana devourcd greedlly their books
Some one remurking this trait oncrCd
to get him a place ns Librarian Tn,
offer Napoleon declined, rcmarking that
when any one likes to rcnd he ig not
fitted to be a librarian. Such Il person
may be called book-cutcr
what did he read? Most OF all his
tory. OF general literature he read
very little There was nothing artistic
In his education. lie lvuC no poet
either ancient or modern. Novcrthe-
less. he once made some verses written
in the geometry Of Eczlut, the text
book he studied. Wrotched verses
they We're
AS to his facility of assimilation.
without being prOdiEiuus. 10 was re-
markable. He was q backward boy
when he entered the military school
at Brienne In i1I9; yet six ycurs after.
ward. nj the age OF Il, he received q
commission as lieutenant Of artillery,
without having passed through the
grade OF pupil officer which other
pupils In military schools had tn pass
through, and which sometimes lasted
two years. The alertness Of his mind
WAS recognized by all his masters save
one. who declared that Napoleon was
an 'imbeclle.'
AS to his memory. 1t was always
prodlgious even In his boyhood. Wher
he rs emperor presided at the council
which framed the civil code. the emf
nent lawyer Trcilhard, member OF
the council. was astoundcd at the citn-
tons from the Digest with which the
emperor riddled the deliberations. and
asked where Bonapartc had learned
the Digest Malefncturs learn the cod
or some parts OF it-in prison. Bona.
| pRrte was like them. He was put UNI
der arrest at Auxonue when is year,
old. and confined in u room In which
there was a copy of the Digest, tn,
/ only book in 1t. His Imprisonment
| lasted but twenty-four hours. Out of
| the book however. he got enough e
astunish Treilhard twelve years after
/ ward.
at is proved that all the time he was
| at school at Brienne he was constant
| ~ melancholy. 1t Is not surprising
| Pale. with "A yellow complexion, short
| thin, an insignificant looking creature
| with big. sharp-feltured head and
gray eyes. knowing hardly any French
he was the butt Of his companions, wht
| rldiculed him as q Cprsican. az an adj
| mirer Of Paoli as the bearer of ride.
! uluus Christian name. Thus he be-
| came norose, kept by himself and
, mixed as little as possible with the
other boys. showed himself naughty
| given to sharp answers He was
atrtH.. =
anything like gaiety,
these youthful experiences wert
| enough to harden the heart OF any man
Yet NJ. Chuquet has been able to prove
that, although Napoleon was consld.
| cred in his nfter-life the greatest
egntist In. the world. without grair
of tenderness. he had qualities of hear
| which are far from common. Recall
what an amount Of rancor and III vii
he must have amnssed at Brlenne ant
at the military school at Paris. whert
he was very badly trented. Recall
how this Corsican. who did not We
consider himself a Frenchmnn, anC
who was a follower OF Paoli to the mar
row of his homes, must have deteste,
his comrades. his professors, and even
his first companions In arms. TIL
career OF all these comrades and pro
fessors and companions In arms ha
| been traced by NJ. Chuquet. who dem
onstrates that all of them. withou
exception, We're admirably treated b
Napoleon at the height OF his power
J even beyond their merits. As to thos