Mr. Bonaparte of Corsica | Page 4

Joseph was a purely apocryphal infant, or, as some have suggested,
merely an adopted child; but that Napoleon did upon this occasion
content himself with second place is an incontrovertible fact. Nor is it
entirely unaccountable. It is hardly to be supposed that a true military
genius, such as Napoleon is universally conceded to have been, would
plunge into the midst of a great battle without first having acquainted
himself with the possibilities of the future. A reconnoitre of the field of
action is the first duty of a successful commander; and hence it was that
Napoleon, not wishing to rush wholly unprepared into the battle of life,
assigned to his brother Joseph the arduous task of first entering into the
world to see how the land lay. Joseph having found everything to his
satisfaction, Napoleon made his appearance in the little island of
Corsica, recently come under French domination the 15th day August,
1769. Had he been born two months earlier, we are told, he would have
been an Italian. Had he been born a hundred years later, it is difficult to
say what he would have been. As it was, he was born a Frenchman. It is
not pleasant to contemplate what the man's future would have been had
he been born an Italian, nor is it easy to picture that future with any
confidence born of certainty. Since the days of Caesar, Italy had not
produced any great military commander, and it is not likely that the
powers would have changed their scheme, confirmed by sixteen
centuries of observance, in Napoleon's behalf--a fact which Napoleon
himself realized, for he often said in his latter days, with a shudder: "I
hate to think how inglorious I should have become had I been born two
months earlier and entered the world as an Italian. I should have been

another Joseph--not that Joseph is not a good man, but he is not a great
man. Ah! Bourrienne, we cannot be too careful in the selection of our
birthdays."
It is the testimony of all who knew him in his infancy that Napoleon
was a good child. He was obedient and respectful to his mother, and
sometimes at night when, on account of some indigestible quality of his
food or other cause, it was necessary for his father to make a series of
forced marches up and down the spacious nursery in the beautiful home
at Ajaccio, holding the infant warrior in his arms, certain premonitions
of his son's future career dawned upon the parent. His anguish was
voiced in commanding tones; his wails, like his subsequent addresses
to his soldiers, were short, sharp, clear, and decisive, nor would he
brook the slightest halt in these midnight marches until the difficulties
which stood in his path had been overcome. His confidence in himself
at this early period was remarkable. Quick to make up his mind, he was
tenacious of his purpose to the very end.
It is related that when barely seven months old, while sitting in his
nurse's lap, by means of signs which she could not fail to comprehend,
he expressed the desire, which, indeed, is characteristic of most healthy
Children of that age, to possess the whole of the outside world, not to
mention the moon and other celestial bodies. Reaching his little hands
out in the direction of the Continent, lying not far distant over the
waters of the Mediterranean, he made this demand; and while, of
course, his desire was not granted upon the instant, it is the testimony
of history that he never lost sight of that cherished object.
After providing Napoleon with eleven other brothers and sisters,
Charles Bonaparte died, and left his good and faithful wife Letitia to
care for the future greatness of his family, a task rendered somewhat
the more arduous than it might otherwise have been by the lack of
income; but the good woman, who had much of Napoleon's nature in
her make-up, was equal to the occasion. She had her sons to help her,
and was constantly buoyed up by the expressed determination of her
second child to place her beyond the reach of want in that future day
when the whole world lay grovelling at his feet.
"Do not worry, mother," Napoleon said. "Let Joseph and Lucien and
Louis and Jerome and the girls be educated; as for me, I can take care
of myself. I, who at the age of three have mastered the Italian language,

have a future before me. I will go to France, and then--"
"Well! what then?" his mother asked.
"Nous verrons!" Napoleon replied, turning on his heel and walking out
of the house whistling a military march.
From this it will be seen that even in his in fancy Napoleon had his
ideas