1586 had kept several provinces of Burgundy subject to the king's
authority at the peril of his life and the loss of his property; and
that his family had occupied the first places in the magistracy
since the fourteenth century. All was correct, but it was observed
that the letters of nobility had not been registered by the
Parliament, and to repair this little omission, the sum of twelve
thousand francs was demanded. This my mother refused to pay, and
there the matter rested.]--

On his arrival at the Military School of Paris, Bonaparte found the
establishment on so brilliant and expensive a footing that he immediately
addressed a memorial on the subject to the Vice-Principal Berton of
Brienne.

--[A second memoir prepared by him to the same effect was intended
for the Minister of War, but Father Berton wisely advised silence to
the young cadet (Iung, tome i. p. 122). Although believing in the
necessity of show and of magnificence in public life, Napoleon
remained true to these principles. While lavishing wealth on his
ministers and marshals, "In your private life," said be, "be
economical and even parsimonious; in public be magnificent"
(Meneval, tome i. p. 146).]--

He showed that the plan of education was really pernicious, and far from
being calculated to fulfil the object which every wise government must
have in view. The result of the system, he said, was to inspire the
pupils, who were all the sons of poor gentlemen, with a love of
ostentation, or rather, with sentiments of vanity and self-sufficiency;
so that, instead of returning happy to the bosom of their families, they
were likely to be ashamed of their parents, and to despise their humble
homes. Instead of the numerous attendants by whom they were surrounded,
their dinners of two courses, and their horses and grooms, he suggested
that they should perform little necessary services for themselves, such
as brushing their clothes, and cleaning their boots and shoes; that they
should eat the coarse bread made for soldiers, etc. Temperance and
activity, he added, would render them robust, enable them to bear the
severity of different seasons and climates, to brave the fatigues of war,
and to inspire the respect and obedience of the soldiers under their
command. Thus reasoned Napoleon at the age of sixteen, and time showed
that he never deviated from these principles. The establishment of the
military school at Fon