Birth and infancy of Napoleon—The house of the Bonapartes at Ajaccio—A sartorial mishap—Increasing family of Letizia—Financial position of the Bonapartes—Character of Carlo Bonaparte—His extravagance and ostentation—His infidelities—Character of Letizia—Her self-sacrifice and devotion to the interests of her children—Her religious principles—Anecdotes of Napoleon’s boyhood.

It was noon on August 15, 1769, the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin, and a general holiday throughout Corsica. All the bells of the town had been ringing since early dawn; the churches were decorated with flowers, and the houses with flags and green boughs, and the narrow streets were crowded with the townsfolk and peasants from the surrounding country, dressed in their best clothes, all on their way to Mass. Holding her little half-brother Joseph Fesch—then six years old—by the hand, and followed by her sister-in-law Geltruda Paravicini, and her uncle Luciano, Letizia Bonaparte proceeded to the cathedral, the crowd making way for her with deference, for the courage and devotion she had displayed during the War of Independence had raised her to the position of a public heroine. Scarcely, however, had the service begun, when she found 24herself seized with the pains of labour. Rising from her knees, she made her way out of the building and, supported by her sister-in-law, regained her house, which was fortunately only a short distance from the cathedral; and here, on a couch in the salon ¹ —for there was no time to reach her bedroom—with the assistance of Geltruda and a maid-servant, Mammucia Caterina, she was delivered of her fourth child—a boy, with a big head and a very intelligent face, who screamed loudly, and soon began sucking his thumb, which was considered a good augury among the peasants of Corsica.