In the delirium with which he was seized in his last moments, he incessantly called Napoleon to come to his aid with his great sword. The grand uncle, Lucien, who on his death-bed was surrounded by all his relatives, said, addressing himself to Joseph, “You are the eldest of the family; but there is the head of it (pointing to Napoleon). Never lose sight of him.” The Emperor used to laugh and say, “This was a true disinheritance: it was the scene of Jacob and Esau.”
Having myself been educated at the military school of Paris, though at an earlier period than that at which Napoleon attended it, I was enabled, on returning from my emigration, to converse about the Emperor with the masters who had been common to us both.
M. de l’Eguille, our teacher of history, used to boast that the records of the military school contained proofs of his having foretold the great career which his pupil was destined to fill; and that he had frequently, in his notes, eulogised the depth of his reflection, and the shrewdness of his judgment. He informed me that the First Consul used often to invite him to breakfast at Malmaison, and that he always took pleasure in conversing about his old lessons.—“That which made the deepest impression on me,” said he, one day to M. de l’Eguille, “was the revolt of the Constable de Bourbon, though you did not present it to us precisely in its proper light. You made it appear that his great crime was his having fought against his king; which certainly was but a trifling fault, in those days of divided nobility and sovereignty; particularly considering the scandalous injustice of which he was the victim. His great, his real, his only crime, and that on which you did not sufficiently dwell, was his having joined with foreigners to attack his native country.”
M. Domairon, our professor of belles-lettres, informed me that he had always been struck with the singularity of Napoleon’s amplifications, which he said were like granite heated in a volcano.
Only one individual formed a mistaken idea of him; that was M. Bauer, the dull heavy German master. Young Napoleon never made much progress in the German language, which offended M. Bauer, who ranked German above all things, and he in consequence formed a most contemptible opinion of his pupil’s abilities. One day, Napoleon not being in his place, M. Bauer inquired where he was, and was told that he was attending his examination in the class of artillery. “What! does he know any thing?” said M. Bauer ironically. “Why, Sir, he is the best mathematician in the school,” was the reply. “Ah! I have always heard it remarked, and I have always believed, that none but a fool could learn mathematics.” “It would be curious,” said the Emperor, “to know whether M. Bauer lived long enough to see me rise in the world, and to enjoy the confirmation of his own judgment.”
Napoleon was scarcely eighteen years of age when the Abbé Raynal, struck with the extent of his acquirements, appreciated his merit so highly as to make him one of the ornaments of his scientific déjeûners. Finally, the celebrated Paoli, who, after having long inspired Napoleon with a sort of veneration, found the latter at the head of a party against him, the moment he shewed himself favourable to the English, was accustomed to say—“This young man is formed on the ancient model. He is one of Plutarch’s men.”
In 1785, Napoleon, who was appointed at once a cadet and an officer of artillery, quitted the military school to enter the regiment of la Fère with the rank of second lieutenant; from which he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant in the regiment of Grenoble.
Napoleon, on quitting the military school, went to join his regiment at Valence. The first winter he spent there, his comrades at the mess-table were Lariboissière, whom, during the empire, he appointed inspector-general of the artillery; Sorbier, who succeeded Lariboissière in that post; d’Hedouville, junior, afterwards minister plenipotentiary at Frankfort; Mallet, brother of him who headed the tumult in Paris in 1813; an officer named Mabille, whom, on his return from emigration, the Emperor appointed to a situation in the post-office; Rolland de Villarceaux, afterwards prefect of Nismes; Desmazzis, junior, his companion at the military school, and the friend of his early years, who after Napoleon ascended the throne, became keeper of the Imperial wardrobe.
There were in the corps officers more or less easy in their circumstances; Napoleon ranked among the former. He received from his family 1200 francs a year, which was then the amount of an officer’s full pay. There were two individuals in the regiment who could afford to keep cabriolets, or carriages of some kind, and they were looked upon as very great men. Sorbier was one of these two: his companions got him to drive them about, and they repaid the obligation by jokes and puns. Sorbier was the son of a physician at Moulins.
At Valence, Napoleon obtained an early introduction to Madame du Columbier, a lady about fifty years of age, who was endowed with many rare and estimable qualities, and who was the most distinguished person in the town. She entertained a great regard for the young artillery-officer, and through her acquaintance he mingled in all the best company in Valence and its neighbourhood. She introduced him to the Abbé de Saint Rufe, an elderly man of property, who was frequently visited by the most distinguished persons in the country. Napoleon was indebted for the favour he enjoyed to his extensive information, joined to the facility and force with which he turned it to account. Madame du Colombier often foretold that he would be a distinguished man. The death of this lady happened about the time of the breaking out of the Revolution: it was an event in which she took great interest, and in her last moments was heard to say that, if no misfortune befel young Napoleon, he would infallibly play a distinguished part in the events of the time. The Emperor never spoke of Madame du Colombier but with expressions of the tenderest gratitude; and he did not hesitate to acknowledge that the valuable introductions and superior company in society which she procured for him had great influence over his destiny.
The gaiety which Napoleon enjoyed at this period of his life, excited great jealousy on the part of his fellow-officers. They were displeased at seeing him absent himself so frequently from among them, though his doing so could be no reasonable ground of offence to them. Fortunately the commandant, M. d’Urtubie, had formed a just estimate of his character: he shewed him great kindness, and afforded him the means of fulfilling his military duties, and at the same time of mingling in the pleasures of society.
Napoleon conceived an attachment for Mademoiselle du Colombier, who, on her part, was not insensible to his merits. It was the first love of both; and it was that kind of love which might be expected to arise at their age and with their education. “We were the most innocent creatures imaginable,” the Emperor used to say; “we contrived little meetings together: I well remember one which took place on a Midsummer morning, just as daylight began to dawn. It will scarcely be believed that all our happiness consisted in eating cherries together.”
It has been said that the mother wished to bring about this marriage, and that the father opposed it on the ground that they would ruin each other by their union; while each was separately destined to a fortunate career. But this story is untrue, as is likewise another anecdote relative to a marriage with Mademoiselle Clary, afterwards Madame Bernadotte, now Queen of Sweden.
In 1805, the Emperor, when about to be crowned King of Italy, on passing through Lyons, again saw Mademoiselle du Colombier, who had now changed her name to Madame de Bressieux. She gained access to him with some difficulty, surrounded as he was by the etiquette of royalty. Napoleon was happy to see her again; but he found her much altered for the worse. He did for her husband what she solicited, and placed her in the situation of lady of honour to one of his sisters.
Mademoiselles de Laurencin and Saint-Germain were at that time the reigning toasts in Valence, where they divided the general admiration. The latter married Monsieur de Montalivet, who was also known to the Emperor at that time, and who was afterwards made Minister of the Interior. “He was an honest fellow,” said Napoleon, “and one who, I believe, remained firmly attached to me.”
When about eighteen or twenty years of age, the Emperor was distinguished as a young man of extensive information, possessing a reflective turn of mind and strong reasoning
