A glimpse of Napoleon as a young man, in the memoirs of Adèle d'Osmond, Comtesse de Boigne.
She writes:
In the month of January 1790, my father returned to France, and three months later we joined him there. I have forgotten to say that he had left the army in 1788 to take up a diplomatic career. Formerly he had been colonel of the infantry regiment of Barrois, in a garrison in Corscia. He went there every year.
One of these journeys gave rise to an episode which was of little importance at the time, but afterwards acquired interest.
He was at Toulon, staying with M. Malouet, the naval commissary and a friend of his, waiting for a change of wind to permit his embarcation, when he was informed that a Corsican gentleman desired to see him.
The gentleman was shown in, and after the preliminary courtesies, explained that he wished to return as quickly as possible to Ajaccio, and, the only felucca in the harbour being chartered by my father, he begged him to allow the captain to accept him as a passenger.
"That is impossible. Sir, as I have chartered the felucca, but I shall be very happy to take you on board as my guest."
"But, Marquis, I am not alone; I have my son with me and my cook, whom I am taking home."
"Well, Sir, there will be room enough for all of you."
The Corsican thanked my father profusely, and came to see him frequently for several days, at the end of which the wind changed and they embarked.
At dinner, to which my father invited the passengers, he requested an officer, M. de Belloc, to call the Corsican's son, who was wearing the uniform of the military school and reading at the end of the boat.
The young man refused.
M. de Belloc came back irritated, and said to my father, "I should like to throw the unsociable little fellow into the sea. He has an unpleasant face. Will you grant me permission, Colonel?"
"No," said my father, laughing; "and I am not of your opinion. His face shows character, and I am sure that he will be heard of some day."
"The unsociable fellow was the future Emperor Napoleon." Belloc has related this scene to me at least ten times, adding with a sigh, "Ah, if the Colonel had only allowed me to throw him into the sea, he would not be turning the world upside down today."
She writes:
In the month of January 1790, my father returned to France, and three months later we joined him there. I have forgotten to say that he had left the army in 1788 to take up a diplomatic career. Formerly he had been colonel of the infantry regiment of Barrois, in a garrison in Corscia. He went there every year.
One of these journeys gave rise to an episode which was of little importance at the time, but afterwards acquired interest.
He was at Toulon, staying with M. Malouet, the naval commissary and a friend of his, waiting for a change of wind to permit his embarcation, when he was informed that a Corsican gentleman desired to see him.
The gentleman was shown in, and after the preliminary courtesies, explained that he wished to return as quickly as possible to Ajaccio, and, the only felucca in the harbour being chartered by my father, he begged him to allow the captain to accept him as a passenger.
"That is impossible. Sir, as I have chartered the felucca, but I shall be very happy to take you on board as my guest."
"But, Marquis, I am not alone; I have my son with me and my cook, whom I am taking home."
"Well, Sir, there will be room enough for all of you."
The Corsican thanked my father profusely, and came to see him frequently for several days, at the end of which the wind changed and they embarked.
At dinner, to which my father invited the passengers, he requested an officer, M. de Belloc, to call the Corsican's son, who was wearing the uniform of the military school and reading at the end of the boat.
The young man refused.
M. de Belloc came back irritated, and said to my father, "I should like to throw the unsociable little fellow into the sea. He has an unpleasant face. Will you grant me permission, Colonel?"
"No," said my father, laughing; "and I am not of your opinion. His face shows character, and I am sure that he will be heard of some day."
"The unsociable fellow was the future Emperor Napoleon." Belloc has related this scene to me at least ten times, adding with a sigh, "Ah, if the Colonel had only allowed me to throw him into the sea, he would not be turning the world upside down today."
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An episode "which was of little importance at the time, but afterwards acquired interest." Familiar, yet unbelievable. Too trivial to be made up, which means it must be true.
It's familiar - of course one doesn't like to be interrupted when reading. Those of us who read constantly, obsessively, as a child - surely we would rather read than go to dinner - we carry our books with us everywhere - yes would read, even in a boat.
It's unbelievable - "I should like to throw the unsociable little fellow into the sea." Perhaps declaring, "This is the future Emperor of France!" How could this transformation be imagined? It's as unlikely as that of any of today's cinematic superheroes.
Must say, I'm curious - what book was Napoleon reading? Others have written at length about that: Napoleon the Reader: the Early Years. It's what you'd expect - Plutarch's Lives, Rousseau, Voltaire.
But here Napoleon is reading something really interesting! It's an example of what is called mise en abyme, or the Droste Effect - a picture of the cover of a book - upon which is an image of Napoleon reading a book - which has a picture on the cover - of Napoleon reading a book . . .
It's familiar - of course one doesn't like to be interrupted when reading. Those of us who read constantly, obsessively, as a child - surely we would rather read than go to dinner - we carry our books with us everywhere - yes would read, even in a boat.
It's unbelievable - "I should like to throw the unsociable little fellow into the sea." Perhaps declaring, "This is the future Emperor of France!" How could this transformation be imagined? It's as unlikely as that of any of today's cinematic superheroes.
Must say, I'm curious - what book was Napoleon reading? Others have written at length about that: Napoleon the Reader: the Early Years. It's what you'd expect - Plutarch's Lives, Rousseau, Voltaire.
But here Napoleon is reading something really interesting! It's an example of what is called mise en abyme, or the Droste Effect - a picture of the cover of a book - upon which is an image of Napoleon reading a book - which has a picture on the cover - of Napoleon reading a book . . .
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