wrote again to the straitened household in
Corsica, declaring, "He who cannot afford to make a lawyer of his son,
makes him a carpenter."

He chose for the moment to disregard the family ties which were
especially strong among the island community. "Let my brothers'
education be less expensive," he urged, "let my sisters work to
maintain themselves." There was a touch of ruthless egotism in this
spirit, yet the Corsican had real love for his own kindred as he showed
in later life. But at this period he panted for fame and glory so
ardently that he would readily sacrifice those nearest to him. He
could not bear to feel that his unusual abilities might never find full
scope; he was certain that one day he would be able to repay any
generosity that was shown to him.

The French Revolution broke out and Napoleon saw his first chance of
distinction. He was well recommended by his college for a position in
the artillery, despite the strange report of the young student's
character and manners which was written for the private perusal of
those making the appointment. {171} "Napoleon Buonaparte, a Corsican
by birth, reserved and studious, neglectful of all pleasures for study;
delights in important and judicious readings; extremely attentive to
methodical sciences, moderately so as to others; well versed in
mathematics and geography; silent, a lover of solitude, whimsical,
haughty, excessively prone to egotism, speaking but little, pithy in
his answers, quick and severe in repartee, possessed of much self-love,
ambitious, and high in expectation."

Soon after the fall of the Bastille, Napoleon placed himself at the
head of the revolutionary party in Ajaccio, hoping to become the La
Fayette of a National Guard which he tried to establish on the isle of
Corsica. He aspired to be the commander of a paid native guard if such
could be created, and was not unreasonable in his ambition since he was
the only Corsican officer trained at a royal military school. But
France rejected the proposal for such a force to be established, and
Napoleon had to act on his own initiative. He forfeited his French
commission by outstaying his furlough in 1792. Declared a deserter, he
saw slight chance of promotion to military glory. Indeed he would
probably have been tried by court-martial and shot, had not Paris been
in confusion owing to the outbreak of the French war against European
allies. He decided to lead the rebels of Corsica, a