ther, Letitia Ramolini, a young
woman eminent for beauty and for strength of mind, during the civil
war--when the Corsicans, under Paoli, were struggling to avoid the
domination of the French. The advocate had espoused the popular side in
that contest, and his lovely and high-spirited wife used to attend him
through the toils and dangers of his mountain campaigns. Upon the
termination of the war, he would have exiled himself along with Paoli;
but his relations dissuaded him from this step, and he was afterwards
reconciled to the conquering party, and protected and patronised by the
French governor of Corsica, the Count de Marboeuff.

It is said that Letitia had attended mass on the morning of the 15th of
August; and, being seized suddenly on her return, gave birth to the
future hero of his age, on a temporary couch covered with tapestry,
representing the heroes of the Iliad. He was her second child. Joseph,
afterwards King of Spain, was older than he: he had three younger
brothers, Lucien, Louis, and Jerome; and three sisters, Eliza, Caroline,
and Pauline. These grew up. Five others must have died in infancy; for
we are told that Letitia had given birth to thirteen children, when at
the age of thirty she became a widow.

In after-days, when Napoleon had climbed to sovereign power, many
flatterers were willing to give him a lofty pedigree. To the Emperor of
Austria, who would fain have traced his unwelcome son-in-law to some
petty princes of Treviso, he replied, "I am the Rodolph of my race,"[1]
and silenced, on a similar occasion, a professional genealogist, with,
"Friend, my patent dates from Monte Notte."[2]

Charles Buonaparte, by the French governor's kindness, received a legal
appointment in Corsica--that of _Procureur du Roi_ (answering nearly to
Attorney-General); and scandal has often said that Marboeuff was his
wife's lover. The story received no credence in Ajaccio.

Concerning the infancy of Napoleon we know nothing, except that he ever
acknowledged with the warmest gratitude the obligations laid on him, at
the threshold of life by the sagacity and wisdom of Letitia. He always
avowed his belief that he owed his subsequent elevation principally to
her early lessons; and indeed laid it down as a maxim that "the future
good or bad conduct of a child depends entirely on the mother." Even of
his boyish days few anecdotes have been preserved in Corsica. His chosen
plaything, they say, was a small brass cannon; a