Napoleon Buonaparte, the second son of Charles Buonaparte and Letitia Ramolini his wife, was born at Ajaccio, in Corsica, on the 15th of August, 1769: one hundred and six days after Arthur Wellesley first saw the light in the city of Dublin. This same year ushered in many celebrated names in history, but none comparable with the fame of these two heroes, whose advent, within so short a time of one another, will render the year 1769 famous for centuries to come.

The position of the Buonaparte family was modest and respectable, and ranked with the nobility of that small island. To attempt, as some French sycophants of the Imperial Court did, to trace the genealogy of the family from the ancient kings of the north of Italy, and thus invent a princely ancestry for their master, was looked upon, even by Buonaparte, as ridiculous; who when the pedigree was submitted to him, with his intuitive sagacity perceiving that he derived no real dignity from such attempts, exclaimed, "I am the Rudolph of my race!" thus protesting against regal consanguinity, and founding his nobility alone on the services he had rendered his country, which was therefore only to be dated from Montenotte.

Napoleon's father was educated at Pisa and Rome. He was a well-informed and eloquent man, who displayed also much energy on various important matters, and especially at the consultation extraordinary of Corsica, relative to the submission of that island to France. Charles Buonaparte afterwards appeared at Versailles at the head of the deputation from his province, on the occasion of the controversy that was raised against the two French generals who commanded in Corsica, M. de Marbeuf and M. de Narbonne Pelery. The reputation of the latter, so powerful at court, was superseded by the testimony of Charles Buonaparte, who, faithful to truth and justice, pleaded eloquently for M. de Marbeuf. This was the origin of the interest and protection which the Buonaparte family afterwards found in that commander. Placed, in 1777, at the Military School at Brienne, Napoleon applied himself especially to the study of history, geography, and science generally. He succeeded principally in mathematics. His taste for politics was remarkable. Ardent for the independence of his country, he evinced a species of adoration for Paoli, and mainly

* Count Rudolph of Hapsburg was the founder of the Austrian dynasty.

defended him against the opinion even of his father. Some biographers, reviewing his early history at college, describe him there as isolated and taciturn, alike without equal or friend; his precocious gravity and brusque and rigorous habits proclaiming a misanthropy and want of soul. Others, again, declare him by nature noble, kind, and affectionate, and that it was only at the close of his eventful career that disappointed ambition and blasted hopes resolved themselves into a morose and sullen deportment.

It has likewise been said that his taste for retirement, and that penchant for military art, which was as exclusive as premature, caused him to confine himself to his own garden, which was fortified against the attacks of his companions: one of the latter, however, denies this, and in contradiction relates the well-known anecdote of the fortress constructed of snow and besieged and defended with snow-balls, in which they all took part, though devised and conducted by Napoleon, who in that simple pastime displayed that military tact and skilful generalship which afterwards so distinguished him; and the willingness with which all submitted to his dictation at that early age, amongst so many varying dispositions as a college of boys presents, appears on reviewing it almost predictive of the influence he was one day to possess over the minds and destinies of a whole nation.

Many of the professors, in after years, affected to have foreseen in part his subsequent great career; and M. de l'Eguille, the Historical Master, asserted under the Empire that there was to be found amongst the reports of the Military School a note, in which he had foreshadowed the future success of his pupil in these words: "Corsican by birth and character, he will rise high should circumstances favour him." At the Assembly in 1785, he was elected by the Chevalier de Kéralio to the Military School in Paris. On his entrance there, Napoleon was not backward in showing surprise and regret at the effeminate and luxurious education which it gave to young men destined for the hardships of the camp and rigour of military service, and made reformation in this respect the subject of a memorial to his principal, M. Bertan, putting forth the elements of an institution which he was destined himself to realise in the fulness of his glory. The brilliant talents he manifested, distinguished him at Paris as they had done at Brienne. He left the Military School at Paris in 1787, and

entered as second Lieutenant the Artillery regiment De la Fère, then garrisoned at Grenoble.

In 1794, Buonaparte, as chief of the battalion, made his first campaign, in which he contributed so powerfully to the recapture of Toulon. From this period the progress of this extraordinary individual was so rapid as to leave him without a parallel in modern history. He was soon raised to the rank of General of Artillery, and in July, 1794, received instructions to repair to Genoa, for the ostensible purpose "to confer with that Government conjointly with the Ambassador of the French Republic." To these public credentials were added secret directions to examine the state of the works and military stores of the fortresses of Genoa and Lavona, and to unravel, as far as possible, the conduct of the French Minister Tilly, and the intentions of the Genoese respecting the coalition. The result of the fulfilment of this mission was, that he was arrested and sent back to Paris, where he continued under restraint fifteen days, when a resolution was passed, setting him provisionally at liberty, but directing that he should remain at headquarters; and subsequently, upon his refusing the post of Brigadiergeneral of Infantry at La Vendée, he was dismissed the service.

The inactivity to which his retirement into private life condemned him suited but little with his restless and sanguine disposition. Delays and disappointments becoming insupportable to him, he at one time contemplated quitting France for ever, and seeking in Eastern climes to realise those projects of ambition which were the dream and aim of his life, when the affair of the Sections which he so vigorously quelled-one of those incidents peculiar to the French nation-gave Buonaparte an opportunity of distinguishing himself apart from the rest, and the services rendered by him on that occasion secured him the command of the capital. His marriage with Josephine, widow of the Count de Beauharnois, took place March 9th, 1796, and was quickly followed by his appointment as General of the Army of the Interior and Commandant of Paris; and but a few months elapsed before he left Paris on his way to Italy, to assume the command-in-chief of the French army in that quarter; and the continued success which attended his progress, led to the Treaty of Leoben, the preliminaries of which were signed on the 18th April, 1796. Although the circumscribed limits of this memoir

will not admit of entering into a detailed account of Buonaparte's career throughout his important Italian campaign, it is imperative to make a sketch at least of those great military events which resulted in the above-mentioned preliminaries of Leoben, and finally to the signing of the treaty of Campo Formio. Buonaparte, as we have seen, arrived at the head-quarters of his army early in the spring of 1796, and after some time spent by the Austrians in various movements to deceive the French, hostilities commenced on the 9th of April, on which day General Beaulieu ordered 10,000 men to attack Voltre. This important post was bravely defended for some time by General Cerboni, at the head of 4000 men; but he was at length obliged to retreat, and on the following day Beaulieu, with 15,000 men, took up a position before Montenotte. On the morning of the 11th, Buonaparte succeeded in placing himself in the rear of the enemy; a sharp attack ensued, which ended in the complete rout of the Austrians, 1500 of their men being killed, 2500 made prisoners, and several standards. taken. To the battle of Montenotte succeeded that of Millesimo, on the 14th, in which the Austrians were again defeated, with the loss of 3000 men killed and 9000 made prisoners. These successes on the part of the French were followed by others, with a rapidity almost unequalled in the annals of war. On the 21st of April, Buonaparte encountered and defeated the Sardinian army, putting the French in possession of Meudon; and on the 25th the King of Sardinia, finding himself pressed on every side by the enemy, sent to Buonaparte to propose negociations for peace, which was finally effected by the relinquishment of Savoy and Nice. Napoleon then marched his army across the Po, feeling convinced that his conquests would not be secure until the Austrians were driven from all their possessions in Italy. The Imperialists waited for the French at the bridge of Lodi, who, upon the 12th of May, made their attack upon this formidable pass, scattering the Austrians, and spreading terror and death in every direction. This battle was followed by the surrender of Pizzighettone, Cremona, Pavia, and Milan, which was entered by the French on the 15th of May. To these triumphs were added those of Roveredo, Bassano, Arcole, the subsequent capture of Mantua, and surrender of Ancona and other places in the Papal States, when a treaty of peace was effected between the French republic

and the Pope. This had hardly been concluded when Buonaparte again encountered the Austrians, then under the command of the Archduke Charles. He attacked the village of Cainin, the headquarters of the Archduke, who was forced into a precipitate retreat, leaving the towns of Palma, Nuova, Udina, and all the Venetian territory, to the mercy of the victors. This led to a proposition of peace on the part of Austria, which ended in the pacification of Leoben, and in due time the treaty of Campo Formio. Thus ended the first Italian campaign, which spread the name of Napoleon like lightning through the civilised world, and, unhappily, emboldened him to those unprincipled and open aggressions, to the indulgence of that lawless and imperious spirit, which marked his future course and kept pace with his growing power. Next to Italy, Egypt became the stage for the display of Napoleon, who, on his return to Paris, was named Commander-in-Chief of the Army in the East. The squadron set sail on the 19th of May, 1798, and arrived before Alexandria on the 30th of June, where they learnt that Nelson had been on the coast two days before. On hearing these details, Napoleon overruled the remonstrances of the admiral, and disembarked, amidst many dangers and difficulties, on the 2d of July, at Marobam, about three leagues east of Alexandria. Two hours after, the Commander-in-Chief was in full march upon that capital with the divisions of Kleber, Bon, and Morand. On arriving within gun-shot of Alexandria the attack commenced, the walls were scaled, and in a short time French valour had triumphed over all opposition. Buonaparte devoted ten days in organising the city and district of Alexandria, and in preparing for the march of the army across the plains of Bohahirch. On the 10th of July they arrived at Rakenahairieb, and on the 22d beheld the Pyramids: a portion of the army on that day also encountered and defeated a considerable body of Mamelukes. The battle was fought at Embaheh, opposite Boulac, the consequence of which victory was the occupation of Cairo by the conquerors. In possession of the capital, the Commander-in-Chief engaged himself actively in the organisation of his conquests, when he learned that Ibrahim, the most powerful of the beys, was making head in Syria. Upon this, Buonaparte prepared to march in person against this formidable opponent, the results of which campaign and defeat of Ibrahim at El-Arych are well known to every one.