Page:Life of Napoleon Bonaparte.pdf/4

4 admonition, rather than joining in the pastimes of youth.

Such a singularity of temper was accompanied by many traits of genius, when that particular science presented itself which rivetted his whole attention; no sooner were the first principles of mathematics taught Napoleon by his preceptor, Father Patrault, than be applied himself with such unremitting assiduity, that his progress kept pace with the eager thirst he had evinced after knowledge. That branch was immediately followed by fortification, and the other military sciences, to all of which the student attached himself with diminished ardour; while his hours of amusement were spent in perusing the histories of ancient Rome and Grecce, whose instructive pages constituted an inexhaustible source of recreation and delight.

So great was Bonaparte's ardour for improvement, that, even while at school, he never suffered a day to pass with satisfaction to himself, in which he did not find his ideas extended and his knowledge increased. Thanking his mother, in one of his letters, for the grcat care she had manifested in forwarding his education and future advancement, he made use of the following emphatic words :-"With my sword by my side, and Homer in my pocket, I hope to carve my way through the world."

When about seventeen years of age, Napoleon had a narrow escape for his life. While swimming in the Seine, the cramp seized him, and after several ineffectual struggles, he sank. At the moment in question, he subsequently declared, that he had experienced the sensations of dying, and lost all recollection. However, after sinking, the current forced him upon a sandbank, where he lay senseless for some time, till restored to animation by the aid of his young companions, who bad witnessed the accident. In the first instance, they had given him up for lost, not