NAPOLEON AS A BOY.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 114, 12 May 1909, Page 2

NAPOLEON AS A BOY.

Napoleon Bonaparte was the central figure of the world just a hundred years ago. Neaz'ly everyone has read about him as a soldier, conqueror, Emperor, and statesman. It may be interesting to mention just a few of the incidents of his boyhood. He was born in Corsica, just when the island came under the rule of France. He hated the French, and had boyish dreams of driving them out of his beloved island. His childish sympathies were all with the gallant Corsican peasants, who, as mountain guerilleros, were fighting a hopeless battle against the invaders. So the aspiration for a soldier's life was, in a sense, born in him. His father, Charles Bonaparte, was not so true a patriot: He thought it more profitable to throw in his lot with the French. It shows how strangely the selfish calculations of a small-minded man affected the history of Europe. But for his father going over to the French, Napoleon would probably have joined either the navy or army of Great Britain. Through his father's submission, and the interest of the French commander in Corsica, he was at the age of nine sent to Briennej in France, to be educated at the King's expense. Here, again, we see the moving finger of Fate, one of the Bourbon Kings, completing, in Napoleon, the human instrument which was to. be the enemy of his dynasty, the scourge of France, as well as Europe. Napoleon's heroes at school were always soldiers and conquerors— first Leonidas, then Caesar, and Alexander. It was from what he read privately, rather than from his regular school studies that his character was formed, but that is .the case with nearly all strong-minded boys and great men. In his BVench school, he was a lonely boy, hating his schoolmates because they were French and. the coni querors of Corsica, but his schoolreading was much about the ancient glories of France and the conquests of Charlemagne. He was ready to lead his schoolmates in sham battles between the Romans and Carthaginians, but would never consent to be on the losing side. At school he was nicknamed "The Spartan," and those French schoolboys, in giving him the name, were really the first to discern his true character, for afterwards, even as Emperor and Kingmaker, he was always the Spartan. He was clever as a boy in designing and building snow fortifications in winter. His school inspector at Brienne described him as "submissive, honest, grateful, conduct very regular, distinguished by his application to matiiematics; weak in accomplishments. He will be an excellent seaman." Napoleon ' was never a master of languages, either at school or afterwards, because his mind was always upon the matter— the substance of his reading rather than its literary style. His career

was predestined from his cradle, always towards war and conquest. But the most remarkable thing after all was the manner in which, as a boy, he prepared himself by study and solid application for the wonderful conquests and achievements of his after life.—Donald Macdonald in the Melbourne Argus.