Mr. Bonaparte of Corsica | Page 6

a great fighter
his school-companions were not long in finding out.
When not more than five years of age he fell in love with a little
schoolmate, and, being jeered at for his openly avowed sentiments, he
threatened to thrash the whole school, adding to the little maiden that
he would thrash her as well unless she returned his love, a line of
argument which completely won her heart, particularly in view of the
fact that he proved his sincerity by fulfilling that part of his assumed
obligations which referred to the subjugation of the rest of the school. It
was upon this occasion that in reference to his carelessness of dress, his
schoolmates composed the rhyme,
"Napoleon di mezza calzetta Fa l'amore a Giacominetta."
which, liberally translated, means,
"Hi! Look at Nap! His socks down of his shin, Is making love to little
Giacomin."
To this Napoleon, on the authority of the Memoirs of his Father's Hired
Man, retorted:
"I would advise you, be not indiscreet, Or I will yank YOUR socks
right of your feet."
All of which goes to show that at no time in his youth was he to be
trifled with. In poetry or a pitched battle he was quite equal to any
emergency, and his companions were not long in finding it out.
So passed the infancy of Mr. Bonaparte, of Corsica. It was, after all,
much like the extreme youth of most other children. In everything he
undertook he was facile princeps, and in nothing that he said or did is
there evidence that he failed to appreciate what lay before him. A
visitor to the family once ventured the remark, "I am sorry, Napoleon,
for you little Corsicans. You have no Fourth of July or Guy Fawkes
Day to celebrate."
"Oh, as for that," said Napoleon, "I for one do not mind. I will make
national holidays when I get to be a man, and at present I can get along
without them. What's the use of Fourth of July when you can shoot off
fireworks everyday?"
It was a pertinent question, the visitor departed much impressed with

the boy's precocity, which was rendered doubly memorable by
Napoleon's humor in discharging fifteen pounds of wadding from his
cannon into the visitor's back as he went out of the front gate.
At the age of six Napoleon put aside all infantile pleasures, and at eight
assumed all the dignity of that age. He announced his intention to cease
playing war with his brother Joseph.
"I am no longer a child, Joseph," he said; "I shall no longer thrash you
in play. Here-after I shall do it in sober earnest."
Which no doubt is why, in 1779, Napoleon having stuck faithfully to
his promise, Joseph heartily seconded his younger brother's demand
that he should leave Corsica and take a course of military instruction at
Brienne.
"I shall no doubt miss my dear brother Napoleon," Joseph said to his
mother; "but I would not stand in the way of his advancement. Let him
go, even though by his departure I am deprived of all opportunity to
assist him in his pleasing games of war."

CHAPTER II
: BRIENNE 1779-1785

As we have seen, the young Corsican was only ten years of age when,
through the influence of Count Marboeuf, an old friend of the
Bonaparte family, he was admitted to the military school at Brienne.
Those who were present at the hour of his departure from home say that
Napoleon would have wept like any other child had he yielded to the
impulses of his heart, and had be not detected a smile of satisfaction
upon the lips of his brother Joseph. It was this smile that drove all
tender emotions from his breast. Taking Joseph to one side, he
requested to know the cause of his mirth.
"I was thinking of something funny," said Joseph, paling slightly as he
observed the stern expression of Napoleon's face.
"Oh, indeed," said Napoleon; "and what was that something? I'd like to
smile myself."
"H'm!--ah--why," faltered Joseph, "it may not strike you as funny, you
know. What is a joke for one man is apt to be a serious matter for
another, particularly when that other is of a taciturn and irritable

disposition."
"Very likely," said Napoleon, dryly; "and sometimes what is a joke for
the man of mirth is likewise in the end a serious matter for that same
humorous person. This may turn out to be the case in the present
emergency. What was the joke? If I do not find it a humorous joke, I'll
give you a parting caress which you won't forget in a hurry."
"I was only thinking," said Joseph, uneasily, "that it is a very good
thing for that little ferry-boat