The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-05-20

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aid rrl osis' n sHt IorotpH tho r,h"
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sisnrf ~ ,u ~ costumes, Jcrome ,ha In
teh'uf n ibiha ~ n'rlrtuS w ~ run,
VIM riiol thr sine,lttn " Wcatrlnlia for
bic htothrr Ihr political story ~ ihtt
Ihof, lvt4l MONARCHY hrl7rps io The ma
81 tho great Napoleon ri'h'r th1n to that
Of Jo'ouo &c. maladm n.s'rnior.
Jerome Rpnnrtrfe was horn In Alacuio
On Novemhcr Co.. list lie was the youngest
of the eight children surviving out ~
thirteen horn 10 Charles bp%nafarte, ~, ~
hn then was called, Carlo Mafiadi Buona-
par,o. hy Maria Iati1ia Ramolino There
ecema ~ have been no little resemblance
bet tween tho characters ~ Charlea and tho
youngest son, for the formers reputation
vas that 81 n vain and ostentatlouH man,
prodigal with his money, II IL certain
HAT ~ died very poor. OF the mothers
characteristics II Ia hard to fluid a sinElo
one In Jerome, though he remained Ear
longer under her care than did any OF his
Brother. Next TO Napoleon. he was the
objec, Of her special love, perhaps be-
cause Of tine greater resemblance TO his
father. Exceedingly little is known Of
Jerorne'4 early years. Some "reminiscences
dictated long afterward by his mother
described him az amusing himself 10y draw
ing comic figures on the wallis whereas
Napoleon in childhood had shown n PREFER
cnce for a drum and a wooden sword, and
had painted nothing but soldiers. or
education jerome had only what his mother
could give him, and that was little. for TO
the end Of her days this remarkable woman
could not write readily, and, though fluent
In Italian, always experienced great diff
Guilty in speaking the French language.
The boy Jerome was nine years old when
the members Of his family, who had sided
with the French Republic against the
Paolist party which brought about the
accession of Corsica, had to fly to France
and settle down in Marseilles to a hard
struggle with poverty. Nine. %Bonaparte
is described as rising early every morning
and apportioning the work of the day
which her daughters were to do, while
toward evening all sewed, and either
Louis read aloud from a paper or a letter,
or the mother related stories of the Cor
sican war for Independence. Before the
children went to bed, sne said an evening
PRAYER. Jerome may have been a listener
or a spectator, but it is more probable that
he was playing about the streets. for, ac-
cordine 10 contemporary writer's, he was
allowed to run completely wild. His
mothers vigilance over her youngest son
was impaired by the excessive indulgence
with which she always treated him.
The rise Of the Bonapartesfro their I'M
comfortable circumstances at Marseilles
was not so rapid as might be inferred from
the fact that Napoleon first made himself
famous at Toulon near the end of 1903. The
eieg of Toulon, however, marked a turning
point. though the turn was slow, Joseph n
Lucien benefited by the young ~Erigadier-
Generals success to get somewhat lucra-
tive appointments. Moreover, Joseph, hav-
ing become a Commissary-General, was en-
abled To render his family more than one
service after he married Marie Clary ,daugh-
ter of a rich Marseilles merchant, who gave
two queens to Europe-another daughter
marrying ~Bernadotte. and so being the an
cestress Of the Swedish royal line. 1t is
VIGIL h1IO"h Ni"N b'ioiS WV Va
Napoleon family were definitely assured
they had to pass through a crisis in which
they were nearly wrecked. Napoleon's
advancement had been due to the Robes
pierre faction, and, when the two Robes
pierres fell, the young General came within
a hairs breadth of following them to the
scafFold. Only with difficulty, and, perhars,
by tho aid of Salicetti, u fellow Corsican,
did he obtain release from Imprisonment
and restoration to his rank in the army.
1t was after the thirteenth Vendemidire,
when Napoleon had established himself
as a man of mark in Paris, that he sent
for his brother Jerome, then IL years
old, that the boy might begin to re-
ceive some education. The school selected
was the College 1rlandais, which had just
been started by an 1rishman, Patric ok
MacDermot, in an old ursuline convent at
Saint Germain-en-Laye, outside the capi-
tai. Na~poleon's primary reason for send
ing Jerome to this school WINS doubtless his
infatuation for the widow Josephine Beau
harnais, whom he was already oourtng,
and whom he married in the following
March. Josephine son, Eugene, had been
sent to MacDermot two years before, while
her daughter Hortense had been intrusted
TO the care of Nine. Campan. About Je-
rone's school days hardly anything has
been recorded. In 1898 he won a prize for
geography, and the report is probable
enough that masters and pupils alike were
proud Of having among them the brother
Of the already great Gen. Bonaparte. After
the first victories Of Napoleon in Italy
his whole family was better of and more
pocket money thar was good for him was
allowed to Jerome. Though still a mere boy
III thought himself a man, and, as Nine.
Junot expressesi it, "fdisdit des s~otises' when
ever he came to Paris. In the interval