508 MONTHLY REVIEW OF LIT1RATURE. 



gious memory of Paoli, I began to question myself how it was possible. That 

 same scene, repeated several times at each walk, and almost in the same terms, 

 ended by inspiring me with doubts. I was as much as I could be on the side 

 of my hero. I began by observing all the preparations for these daily walks 

 a monk went always to the cabinet of Paoli before he walked out : I slily fol- 

 lowed him, and I beheld him for several successive days descend into the mid- 

 dle of the crowd, and talk with the chiefs of those who were waiting for an 

 audience. It appeared evident to me that the precursor monk supplied, by 

 his confidential reports, the memory of the patron. I must own that discovery 

 displeased me ; although I observed how greatly that paternal friend rendered 

 so many good old men happy, the shadow of a deception offended my young 

 imagination, and cooled a little my enthusiasm. I quitted Rostino, and I re- 

 turned to Ajaccio, to keep our friends in their duties. Joseph ceased to have 

 any influence in the departmental administration. Napoleon rejoined the re- 

 presentatives of the people at Bastia. The opinion of Paoli influenced the 

 whole island. On the 26th of April, 1793, Corsica renounced France/* 



The young Bonapartes, unwilling that Corsica should be severed from re- 

 publican France, sent to Marseilles to solicit the aid of the Jacobins. Madame 

 Bonaparte seemed to Paoli a fair hostage likely to deter her sons from their 

 enterprise. She barely escaped from arrest. 



" Awakened suddenly in the middle of the night, she beheld her chamber 

 filled with armed mountaineers. She at first imagined that she was surprised 

 by her enemies ; but by the light of a torch of fir, which fell upon the coun- 

 tenance of the chief, she felt reassured : it was Costa of Bastelica, the most 

 devoted of our partizans. ' Quick, make haste, Signora Letizia ! Paoli's men 

 are close upon you ; you have not a moment to lose ; but here I am with all 

 my men. We will save you, or perish with you !' 



" Bastelica is one of the most populous villages in Corsica, situated at the 

 foot of Monte d'Oro, in the middle of a forest of chestnuts, the growth of cen- 

 turies : it contains inhabitants renowned for their courage and audacity, and 

 for unbounded fidelity in their affections. One of these intrepid hunters, while 

 traversing the chain of mountains which separates the island into two parts, 

 had encountered a numerous troop descending towards Ajaccio. He learnt that 

 this troop were to be introduced during the night into the town by the party 

 of Paoli; and to carry off our family prisoners to Mostino. He had even heard 

 it affirmed that they were to take all the children of Charles alive or dead. Ta 

 return like an arrow to his village, and inform the chief of our partisans, to 

 arm all who had a gun or a poinard, and to traverse with hasty strides the fo- 

 rest of Bastelica, was but the affair of a moment. After a forced march of 

 several hours, our brave friends entered the town during the night, about 

 three hundred in number, having only preceded our enemies by a few miles. 



" My mother and her children arose in haste, having only time to take their 

 clothes with them, and, placed in the centre of the column, they left the town 

 in silence, the inhabitants being still plunged in sleep. They entered into the 

 deepest recesses of the mountain, and, at break of day, they halted in a forest, 

 from whence they could; discover a part of the shore. Several times the fugi- 

 tives heard from their encampment the troops of the enemy traverse the neigh- 

 bouring valleys ; but Providence deigned to spare them from an encounter that 

 must have been fatal. On the same day the flames, arising in thick columns 

 from the middle of the town, attracted the eyes of our friends. ' It is your 

 house that is burning/ said one of them to my mother. 'Ah ! never mind/ she 

 replied, ' we will build it up again much better : Vive la France !' After two 

 nights of a march, skilfully directed, they at length perceived the sails of the 

 French vessels. My mother took leave of her brave defenders, and rejoined 

 her eldest sons on board the frigate of the representatives of the people. The 

 rage of our enemies was thus reduced to expend itself upon the stones of our 

 house." 



We cannot conclude this notice without alluding to the politics of the Prince 



