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ſtudy, and was ſoon in a ſituation to go thro? the neceſſary examinations. He acquitted himſelf with credit; and was then promoted to the rank of an officer in the regiment de la Fere, ſhortly before the revolution.
From the principles, which he had avowed ſo early, it is natural to believe that Bonaparte, at that memorable epoch, did not heſitate to declare in favonr of independence. Always unalterable in his diſlike of royalty, and devoted to the love of glory, his ambition did not neglect ſo favourable an opportunity to ſignalize, himſelf, as was preſented by the revolution. It is in difficult ſituations that a ſtrong mind can beſt force itſelf into notice; in that moment, when timid indeciſion betrays its own weakneſs, it never heſitates to ſeparate from the crowd, to triumph, or to die with glory, are the only alternatives, and from theſe nothing can turn it aſide. Notwithſtanding the danger of an early declaration in the beginning of the diſturbances, Bonaparte diſdained to feign. He declared himſelf in favour of freedom. Almoſt all his brother-oficers blamed him for ſo prompt a deciſion; and the ſpirit of party occaſioned ſoon after the moſt violent alterations between him and them, ſo that it was fortunate the loſs of their friendſhip did not coſt him his life.
