John Abbott - Joseph Bonaparte

The writer trusts that he may be pardoned for relating the following characteristic anecdote of President Lincoln, as it so fully illustrates the object in view in writing these histories. In a conversation which the writer had with the President just before his death, Mr. Lincoln said:

"I want to thank you and your brother for Abbotts' series of Histories. I have not education enough to appreciate the profound works of voluminous historians, and if I had, I have no time to read them. But your series of Histories gives me, in brief compass, just that knowledge of past men and events which I need. I have read them with the greatest interest. To them I am indebted for about all the historical knowledge I have."

It is for just this purpose that these Histories are written. Busy men, in this busy life, have now no time to wade through ponderous folios. And yet every one wishes to know the general character and achievements of the illustrious personages of past ages.

A few years ago there was published in Paris a life of King Joseph, in ten royal octavo volumes of nearly five hundred pages each. It was entitled " Mémoires et Correspondance, Politique et Militaire, du Roi Joseph, Publiés, Annotés et Mis en Ordre par A. du Casse, Aide-de-camp de S. A. I. Le Prince Jerome Napoleon. " These volumes contained nearly all the correspondence which passed between Joseph and his brother Napoleon from their childhood until after the battle of Waterloo. Every historical statement is substantiated by unequivocal documentary evidence.

From this voluminous work, aided by other historical accounts of particular events, the author of this sketch has gathered all that would be of particular interest to the general reader at the present time. As all the facts contained in this narrative are substantiated by ample documentary proof, the writer can not doubt that this volume presents an accurate account of the momentous scenes which it describes, and that it gives the reader a correct idea of the social and political relations existing between those extraordinary men, Joseph and Napoleon Bonaparte. It is not necessary that the historian should pronounce judgment upon every transaction. But he is bound to state every event exactly as it occurred.

No one can read this account of the struggle in Europe in favor of popular rights against the old dynasties of feudal oppression , without more highly appreciating the admirable institutions of our own glorious Republic. Neither can any intelligent and candid man carefully peruse this narrative, and not admit that Joseph Bonaparte was earnestly seeking the welfare of the people ; that, surrounded by dynasties strong in standing armies, in pride of nobility, and which were venerable through a life of centuries, he was endeavoring to promote, under monarchical forms, which the posture of affairs seemed to render necessary, the abolition of aristocratic usurpation , and the establishment of equal rights for all men . Believing this, the writer sympathizes with him in all his struggles, and reveres his memory. The universal brotherhood of man, the fundamental principles of Christianity, should also be the fundamental principles in the State. Having spared no pains to be accurate, the writer will be grateful to any critic who will point out any incorrectness of statement or false coloring of facts, that he may make the correction in subsequent editions.

This volume will soon be followed by another, "The History of Queen Hortense," the daughter of Josephine, the wife of King Louis, the mother of Napoleon III.

Fair Haven, Conn.,

May, 1869.

Corsica.

Parentage.

The island of Corsica, in the Mediterranean Sea, sixty miles from the coast of Tuscany, is about half as large as the State of Massachusetts. In the year 1767 this island was one of the provinces of Italy. There was then residing, in the small town of Corté, in Corsica, a young lawyer nineteen years of age. He was the descendant of an illustrious race, which could be traced back, through a succession of distinguished men, far into the dark ages. Charles Bonaparte, the young man of whom we speak, was tall, handsome, and possessed strong native powers of mind, which he had highly cultivated. In the same place there was a young lady, Letitia Raniolini, remarkable for her beauty and her accomplishments. She also was of an ancient family. When but sixteen years of age Letitia was married to Charles Bonaparte, then but nineteen years old.

Birth of Joseph Bonaparte.

About a year after their marriage, on the 7th of January, 1768, they welcomed their first-born child, Joseph Napoleon Bonaparte. In nineteen months after the birth of Joseph, his world-renowned brother Napoleon was born. But in the mean time the island had been transferred to France. Thus while Joseph was by birth an Italian, his brother Napoleon was a Frenchman.

Journey to France.

Charles Bonaparte occupied high positions of trust and honor in the government of Corsica, and his family took rank with the most distinguished families in Italy and in France. Joseph passed the first twelve years of his life upon his native island. He was ever a boy of studious habits, and of singular amiability of character. When he was twelve years of age his father took him, with Napoleon and their elder sister Eliza, to France for their education. Leopold, the grand duke of Tuscany, gave Charles Bonaparte letters of introduction to Maria Antoinette, his sister, who was then the beautiful and admired Queen of France.

Fraternal Attachment.

Leaving Joseph at the college of Autun, in Burgundy, the father continued his journey to Paris, with Napoleon and Eliza. Eliza was placed in the celebrated boarding-school of St. Cyr, in the metropolis, and Napoleon was taken to the military school at Brienne, a few miles out from the city. The father was received as a guest in the gorgeous palace of Versailles. Joseph and Napoleon were very strongly attached to each other, and this attachment continued unabated through life. When the two lads parted at Autun both were much affected. Joseph, subsequently speaking of it, says:

"I shall never forget the moment of our separation. My eyes were flooded with tears. Napoleon shed but one tear, which he in vain endeavored to conceal. The abbé Simon, who witnessed our adieus, said to me, after Napoleon's departure, 'He shed only one tear; but that one testified to as deep grief in parting from you as all of yours.'"

Character of Joseph.

The two brothers kept up a very constant correspondence, informing each other minutely of their studies, and of the books in which they were interested. Joseph became one of the most distinguished scholars in the college of Autun, excelling in all the branches of polite literature. He was a very handsome young man, of polished manners, and of unblemished purity of life. His natural kindness of heart, combined with these attractions, rendered him a universal favorite.

Prince of Condé.

Autun was in the province of Burgundy, of which the Prince of Condé, grandfather of the celebrated Duke d'Enghien, was governor. The prince attended an exhibition at the college, to assist in the distribution of the prizes. Joseph acquitted himself with so much honor as to attract the attention of the prince, and he inquired of him what profession he intended to pursue.

Joseph, in the following words, describes this eventful incident:

Anecdote.

"The solemn day arrived. I performed my part to admiration, and when we afterward went to receive the crown, which the prince himself placed on our heads, I was the one whom he seemed most to have noticed. The Bishop of Autun's friendship for our family, and no doubt also the curiosity which a little barbarian, recently introduced into the centre of civilization inspired, contributed to attract the prince's attention. He caressed me, complimented me on my progress, and made particular inquiries as to the intentions of my family with respect to me. The Bishop of Autun said that I was destined for the Church, and that he had a living in reserve, which he would bestow upon me as soon as the time came.