For although at Paris the young Napoleon is not perfectly contented, he knows that he is on the way to a modest independence. He is surrounded by foolish young men with whose extravagance he cannot keep up. But only his sympathetic sister Elizabeth at St. Cyr hears him complain of the difficulties that beset him.
Napoleon is naturally happier when at the early age of sixteen he finds himself a second lieutenant in the army. He rejoices at the prospect of helping his family out of his meagre income of less than two hundred and fifty dollars a year. But his responsibility is suddenly increased when Charles Bonaparte, his father, dies. The family is worse off than before, and when Joseph cannot straighten out their tangled affairs, Napoleon decides to undertake the task.
After eight years of absence we see Napoleon on leave from his regiment, returning to Corsica. He has hard work before him. There are four little children under nine, Louis, Pauline, Caroline, and Jerome, at home with their widowed mother. There are two, Lucien and Elizabeth, away at school. Only Joseph and Napoleon are on their feet, and on Napoleon, the stronger character, falls the brunt of the burden.
When the young lieutenant goes back to the army he takes Louis with him. He tutors him in mathematics, he shares his all with him. He deprives himself of many things really necessary to his position in order to help his family.
"I breakfast on dry bread," he writes. He stints himself for his family, he stints himself still further to have a little money for the books that he needs.
The claims of the family are pressing. Again Napoleon has leave of absence. In Corsica he tries in vain to get something for his mother from what is left of their property,—from salt works, from a mulberry plantation belonging to the estate.
It is five or six years since the death of Charles Bonaparte. Napoleon has been away from his post too long. In 1792, after an absence from his regiment of fifteen months, he loses his place in the army.
The picture now before us is a dark one. The young man is discouraged. Hardly knowing where to turn, he drifts toward Paris.
For two or three years he has been uncertain which side to take in the Revolution on which France is entering. Many things incline him toward the King's party. He is in Paris on that memorable June 10 when the King is deposed. He sees the terrible events of the 10th of August. While he sympathizes with the King, he perceives that the great question is one of the nation rather than the individual.
Intelligent young men are greatly needed in the army. Napoleon's ability is known. He receives a captain's commission, signed by the King, though really given by the Revolutionary Government. Soon he is at Toulon, where, by acting on his advice, the French drive the English from the harbor in December, 1793.