Page:Life of Napoleon Buonaparte.pdf/2



N B, the most celebrated soldier and conqueror in the modern world, was born at Ajaccio in Corsica, on the 15th August 1769, being the second of the five sons of Carlo Buonaparte, by Letitia Ramolini, (since so well known as Madame Mere,) a lady of great personal and mental attractions, by whom he had also three daughters. Carlo Buonaparte had studied law at Rome, but resigning the gown for the sword, he fought under Paoli against the French, and when Corsica surrendered, was reluctantly induced to live under the French government. On this submission, being much noticed by the new governor, the count de Marboeuf, he was appointed judge lateral of the tribunal of Ajaccio; and on his death, (from a cancer in his breast,) at the age of thirty-nine, the protection of the count was