e peace must be kept, and Buonaparte, upon whom, whether
justly or not, the blame for these recent broils rested, must be
removed elsewhere, if possible; but as the troublesome youth was the
son of an old friend and the head of a still influential family, it
must be done without offense. The government at Paris might be
pacified if the absentee officer were restored to his post; with
Quenza in command of the volunteers, there would be little danger of a
second outbreak in Ajaccio.

It was more than easy, therefore, for the discredited revolutionary,
on the implied condition and understanding that he should leave
Corsica, to secure from the authorities the papers necessary to put
himself and his actions in the most favorable light. Buonaparte armed
himself accordingly with an authenticated certificate as to the posts
he had held, and the period during which he had held them, and with
another as to his "civism"--the phrase used at that time to designate
the quality of friendliness to the Revolution. The former seems to
have been framed according to his own statements, and was speciously
deceptive; yet in form the commander-in-chief, the municipality of
Ajaccio, and the authorities of the department were united in
certifying to his unblemished character and regular standing. This was
something. Whither should the scapegoat betake himself? Valence, where
the royalist colonel regarded him as a deserter, was of course closed,
and in Paris alone could the necessary steps be taken to secure
restoration to rank with back pay, or rather the reversal of the whole
record as it then stood on the regimental books. For this reason he
likewise secured letters of introduction to the leading Corsicans in
the French capital. His departure was so abrupt as to resemble
flight. He hastened to Corte, and remained just long enough to
understand the certainty of his overwhelming loss in public esteem
throughout Corsica. On the way he is said to have seen Paoli for a
short time and to have received some encouragement in a plan to raise
another battalion of volunteers. Joseph claimed to have advised his
brother to have nothing to do with the plan, but to leave immediately
for France. In any case Napoleon's mind was clear. A career in Corsica
on the grand scale was impossible for him. Borrowing money for the
journey, he hurried away and sailed from Bastia on May second, 1792.
The outlook might have disheartened a weaker man. Peraldi, the
Corsican