School at Brienne. Striking lesson from his promotion. Golden chances.

the most promising youth to be found in the kingdom. Through the recommendation of the governor, Napoleon was sent to the school at Brienne, near Paris. In this promotion of the Corsican boy, is found one of the most striking lessons that can be impressed upon the minds of the young. He was promoted because he deserved to be promoted; because by his own efforts and zeal he had prepared himself to be promoted; because he had convinced his superiors about him whose attention he attracted, that he desired to know more, and that he had the resolution and the will to distinguish himself. The idea too often obtains, that some meet with eminent success because fortune favors them. But fortune generally favors those who work hardest and most merit success. The youth waits for some grand opportunity, when, by one long stride, he will acquire knowledge and correct habits of thought. He lets the little golden chances for improvement which each day brings with it, pass by unimproved, until sluggishness and imbecility of mind, and careless habits utterly preclude the possibility of his ad

vancement.

Not so with the youthful Napoleon. He commenced a brilliant career for himself. He did not wait for a rare opportunity, when some one should commence it for him. He was studious, he was at

Tears on leaving his mother.

Splendors of Paris.

1779.

tentive, he was thoughtful. He began early to make acquirements in knowledge, and persevered with zeal and energy in the course upon which he had entered; and when the time came he was not obliged to seek for the situation, but he was sought to fill it. Had his time been spent as most children spend theirs, in play, and sports, and frivolous amusements, with no thought, no aim, and no effort for improvement; had he not displayed the knowledge and qualifications necessary for the place, he would not have been recommended to the military school at Brienne.

The world is full of opportunities, but the trouble is we are not ready to embrace them. He was prepared for this which now presented itself, and entered at once upon the fulfillment of his destiny. Had the preparation been wanting, he might have lived and died in the island of Corsica, an obscure follower of some trade or profession, and the world never known of Napoleon Bonaparte.

It was at the age of ten, in 1779, that Napoleon was transferred to the military school. He shed bitter tears on leaving his mother whom he tenderly loved, and separating from his brothers and sisters, and the home of his childhood. On his way he passed through Paris, and saw the splendors with which that city abounded the monuments, the tem

British arms.

American colonies.

Lafayette.

ples, the palaces, the parks and fountains, and the throngs of people. Little did the poor boy then dream of the destiny which awaited him; that the proud city would one day resound with his name; that all that grandeur and magnificence would ere long be his; that kings and emperors, the proudest in Europe, would eventually be suppliants at his feet.

It was about the middle of our Revolution that this event transpired. From the part which the French people took in the contest, and the lively interest which they ever felt in the defeat of the British arms, it is probable that Napoleon now began to acquaint himself with the events transpiring among the American colonies. The new position in which he was placed would naturally favor the acquisition of such general knowledge of events, as would best fit him for that career which Providence had marked out for him. About this time Lafayette returned from America, to arouse the French people and the French king in behalf of the feeble colonies in their almost hopeless struggle. This galiant young Frenchman everywhere inspired the liveliest interest. His youth, his devotion, his manly attainments, the romantic project of aiding the weak and feeble in the wilderness, in a far off land, excited the warmest sympathies of his countrymen, and

Count de Maurepas.

Students in the schools.

wherever he appeared in public he was received with bursts of enthusiasm. The story of his adventures was repeated upon the stage. This feeling was not only felt by the people, but was shared by the king; so much so that the old Count de Maurepas remarked "that it was fortunate for the king that Lafayette did not take it into his head to strip Versailles of its furniture to send to his dear Americans

-as his majesty would have been unable to refuse him." There is perhaps no class of people in a nation so quickly or so strongly moved by an incident like this, as the students in its schools. The slightest variation in the rise and fall of public feeling is discernible in them. It is not unlikely that Napoleon shared in this feeling, and was incited to renewed exertions, that he might himself one day become a hero.

The entrance of Napoleon to the school at Brienne was the beginning of a new life. He had been accustomed to the quiet and seclusion of the island of Corsica, removed from the stir and commotion which increase as we approach the capital. None of the luxuries of wealth, or the refinements of courts, or the allurements to vice with which the more favored circles of society abound, had yet made his acquaintance. During that critical period in the life of every boy, he was secluded from the corrupting influences

Company of young Frenchmen. Best society. Scorn of those young noblemen.

of a great city, by which many a youth, ere he has passed the age of ten, is hopelessly ruined. But in his new home every thing was changed. He was in close proximity to the metropolis of France, where beats the heart of the nation, and where the strong pulsations are quickly felt. He found himself surrounded by a company of young Frenchmen, the sons of noblemen and of the aristocracy of wealth. They had plenty of money, and all those habits of luxury and refinement which are cultivated in the best society of the most polite nation in Europe. Of these Napoleon could not boast. Money he had not, for his widowed mother had seven children beside himself to support, and of refinement he had only that which his strong native sense on every occasion supplied. He was therefore looked upon by his companions with contempt. They had been accustomed to consider every person in any way dependent upon his own labors for support, as beneath them in rank, no matter how exalted the occupation in which he might be engaged. Hence they derided him for being the son of a Corsican lawyer. These reproaches, for which he could in no way be answerable, stung him to the quick. The scorn of those young noblemen sunk deep into his heart. Friendless and alone, far away from his home, with no one to bestow upon him sympathy and kindness, his only