. The life of Napoleon I, including new materials from the British official records . -six, and died twenty-one yearsafter the break-up of her sons empire — a striking proofof the vitality and tenacity of her powers. A kindly Providence veiled the future from the youngcouple. Troubles fell swiftly upon them both in privateand in public life. Their first two children died in in-fancy. The third, Joseph, was born in 1768, when theCorsican patriots were making their last successful effortsagainst their new French oppressors: the fourth, thefamous Napoleon, saw the light on August 15th, 1769,when
. The life of Napoleon I, including new materials from the British official records . -six, and died twenty-one yearsafter the break-up of her sons empire — a striking proofof the vitality and tenacity of her powers. A kindly Providence veiled the future from the youngcouple. Troubles fell swiftly upon them both in privateand in public life. Their first two children died in in-fancy. The third, Joseph, was born in 1768, when theCorsican patriots were making their last successful effortsagainst their new French oppressors: the fourth, thefamous Napoleon, saw the light on August 15th, 1769,when the liberties of Corsica were being finally extin-guished. Nine other children were born before the out-break of the French Revolution reawakened civil strifes, 1 The facts as to the family of Napoleons mother are given in fulldetail by M. Masson in his Napoleon Inconnu, oh. i. They correctthe statement often made as to her lowly, peasant origin. Massonalso proves that the house at Ajaocio, which is shown as Napoleonsbirthplace, is of later construction, though on the same MADAME BUONAPARTE (nAPOLEONs JIOTHEr).From the picture in tlie Town Hall, Ajaccio. I PARENTAGE AND EARLY YEARS 7 amidst which the then fatherless family was tossed to andfro, and finally whirled away to France. Destiny had already linked the fortunes of the youngNapoleon Buonaparte with those of France. After thedownfall of Genoese rule in Corsica, France had takenover, for empty promises, the claims of the hard-pressedItalian republic to its troublesome island possession. Itwas a cheap and practical way of restoring, at least inthe Mediterranean, the shattered prestige of the FrenchBourbons. They had previously intervened in Corsicanaffairs on the side of the Genoese. Yet in 1764 Paoliappealed to Louis XV. for protection. It was granted,in the form of troops that proceeded quietly to occupy thecoast towns of the island under cover of friendly assur-ances. In 1768, before the expiration of an informa
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectnapoleo, bookyear1901
