less than a year from his admission.[9]
He passed with no distinction, being forty-second in rank, but above
his friend des Mazis, who was fifty-sixth. His appointment,
therefore, was due to an entire absence of rivalry, the young nobility
having no predilection for the arduous duties of service in the
artillery. He was eligible merely because he had passed the legal age,
and had given evidence of sufficient acquisitions. In an oft-quoted
description,[10] purporting to be an official certificate given to the
young officer on leaving, he is characterized as reserved and
industrious, preferring study to any kind of amusement, delighting in
good authors, diligent in the abstract sciences, caring little for the
others,[11] thoroughly trained in mathematics and geography; quiet,
fond of solitude, capricious, haughty, extremely inclined to egotism,
speaking little, energetic in his replies, prompt and severe in
repartee; having much self-esteem; ambitious and aspiring to any
height: "the youth is worthy of protection." There is, unfortunately,
no documentary evidence to sustain the genuineness of this report; but
whatever its origin, it is so nearly contemporary that it probably
contains some truth.

[Footnote 9: The examiner in mathematics was the great
Laplace.]

[Footnote 10: Taken from the apocryphal Memoirs of the
Count d'Og ... previously mentioned. See Masson:
Napoleon inconnu, I, 123; Chuquet, I, 260; Jung, I,
125.]

[Footnote 11: Las Cases, I, 112. Napoleon confessed his
inability to learn German, but prided himself on his
historical knowledge.]

The two friends had both asked for appointments in a regiment
stationed at Valence, known by the style of La Fere. Des Mazis had a
brother in it; the ardent young Corsican would be nearer his native
land, and might, perhaps, be detached for service in his home. They
were both nominated in September, but the appointment was not made
until the close of October. Buonaparte was reduced to utter penury by
the long delay, his only resource being the two hundred livres
provided by the funds of the school for each of its pupils until they
reached the grade of captain. It was probably, and according to the
generally received account, at his comrade's expense, and in his
company, that he traveled. Their slender funds were exhausted by
boyish dissipation