to write the
address from Ajaccio to Paoli, although the two men did not meet until
somewhat later. With the arrival of the great liberator the grasp of
the old officials on the island relaxed, and the bluster of the few
who had grown rich in the royal service ceased. The Assembly was
finally triumphant; this new department was at last to be organized
like those of the adoptive mother. It was high time, for the public
order was seriously endangered in this transition period. The
disturbances at Ajaccio had been trifling compared with the
revolutionary procedure inaugurated and carried to extremes in Bastia.
This city being the capital and residence of the governor, Buonaparte
and his comrades had no sooner completed their address to the French
Assembly than they hurried thither to beard de Barrin and
revolutionize the garrison. Their success was complete: garrison and
citizens alike were roused and the governor cowed. Both soldiers and
people assumed the tricolor cockade on November fifth, 1789. Barrin
even assented to the formation of a national militia. On this basis
order was established. This was another affair from that at Ajaccio
and attracted the attention of the Paris Assembly, strongly
influencing the government in its arrangements with Paoli. The young
Buonaparte was naturally very uneasy as to his position and so
remained fairly quiet until February, when the incorporation of the
island with France was completed. Immediately he gave free vent to his
energies. Two letters of Napoleon's written in August, 1790, display a
feverish spirit of unrest in himself, and enumerate the many uprisings
in the neighborhood with their varying degrees of success. Under
provisional authority, arrangements were made, after some delay, to
hold elections for the officials of the new system whose legal
designation was directors. Their appointment and conduct would be
determinative of Corsica's future, and were therefore of the highest
importance.

In a pure democracy the voters assemble to deliberate and record their
decisions. Such were the local district meetings in Corsica. These
chose the representatives to the central constituent assembly, which
was to meet at Orezza on September ninth, 1790. Joseph Buonaparte and
Fesch were among the members sent from Ajaccio. The healing waters
which Napoleon wished to quaff at Orezza were the influence of the
debates. Although he could not be a member of the assembly on account
of his y