. A life of Napoleon Boneparte:. oeuf a letter of re-markable qualities in so young a boy and in such circum-stances. After explaining the incident he said: Now, Monsieur le Comte, if I am guilty, if my liberty has beentaken from me justly, have the goodness to add to the kindnesses whichyou have shown me one thing more—take me from Brienne and with-draw your protection: it would be robbery on my part to keep it anylonger from one who deserves it more than I do. I shall never, sir, beworthier of it than I am now. I shall never cure myself of an im-petuosity which is all the more dangerous beca
. A life of Napoleon Boneparte:. oeuf a letter of re-markable qualities in so young a boy and in such circum-stances. After explaining the incident he said: Now, Monsieur le Comte, if I am guilty, if my liberty has beentaken from me justly, have the goodness to add to the kindnesses whichyou have shown me one thing more—take me from Brienne and with-draw your protection: it would be robbery on my part to keep it anylonger from one who deserves it more than I do. I shall never, sir, beworthier of it than I am now. I shall never cure myself of an im-petuosity which is all the more dangerous because I believe its mo-tive is sacred. Whatever idea of self-interest influences me, I shallnever have control enough to see my father, an honorable man, draggedin the mud. I shall always. Monsieur le Comte, feel too deeply inthese circumstances t© limit myself to complaining to my superior. Ishall always feel that a good son ought not to allow another to avengesuch an outrage. As for the benefits which you have rained upon BONAPARTE AT BRIENNE. The original of this statue is in thegallery of Versailles. It dates from1851, and is by Louis Rochet, one ofthe pupils of David dAngers. 24 NAPOLEONS YOUTH 25 they will never be forgotten. I shall say I had gained an honorableprotection, but Heaven denied me the virtues which were necessary inorder to profit by it. In the end Napoleon saw that there was no way for himbut to remain at Brienne, galled by poverty and formalism. It would be unreasonable to suppose that there was norelief to this sombre life. The boy won recog-nition morethan once from his companions by his bravery and skill indefending his rights. He was not only valorous; he wasgenerous, and, preferred going to prison himself to de-nouncing his comrades who had done wrong. Young Na-poleon found, soon, that if there were things for which hewas ridiculed, there were others for which he was ap-plauded. He made friends, particularly among his teachers; andto one of his
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