amily was homeless and penniless;
their only hope for a livelihood was in cooeperation with the Jacobins,
who appeared to be growing more influential every hour. Through the
powerful friends that Napoleon had made among the representatives of
the Convention, men like the younger Robespierre, Freron, and Barras,
much had already been gained. If his nomination to the office of
general of brigade were confirmed, as it was almost certain to be, the
rest would follow, since, with his innate capacity for adapting
himself to circumstances, he had during the last few weeks
successfully cultivated his power of pleasing, captivating the hearts
of Marmont, Junot, and many others.

With such strong chances in his favor, it appeared to Buonaparte that
no stumbling-block of technicality should be thrown in the path of his
promotion. Accordingly, in the record of his life sent up to Paris, he
puts his entrance into the service over a year earlier than it
actually occurred, omits as unessential details some of the places in
which he had lived and some of the companies in which he had served,
declares that he had commanded a battalion at the capture of
Magdalena, and, finally, denies categorically that he was ever noble.
To this paper, which minimizes nearly to the vanishing-point all
mention of Corsica, and emphasizes his services as a Frenchman by its
insidious omissions, the over-driven officials in Paris took no
exception; and on February sixth, 1794, he was confirmed, receiving an
assignment for service in the new and regenerated Army of Italy, which
had replaced as if by magic the ragged, shoeless, ill-equipped, and
half-starved remnants of troops in and about Nice that in the previous
year had been dignified by the same title. This gambler had not drawn
the first prize in the lottery, but what he had secured was enough to
justify his course, and confirm his confidence in fate. Eight years
and three months nominally in the service, out of which in reality he
had been absent four years and ten months either on furlough or
without one, and already a general! Neither blind luck, nor the
revolutionary epoch, nor the superlative ability of the man, but a
compound of all these, had brought this marvel to pass. It did not
intoxicate, but still further sobered, the beneficiary. This effect
was partly due to an experience which demonstrated that strong as are
the chains of habit, they are more easily broken than those which his
associates