Indeed, to them was due, to a certain extent, his later misfortunes, and his fall from power.

The more generous he became, the more selfish did his brothers and sisters grow.

For their interests he neglected his own safety and the welfare of France.

His unselfishness was, indeed, his greatest selfishness; and the boy who uncomplainingly took his sister's punishment for the theft of the basket of fruit, stood also as the scapegoat for all the mistakes and stupidities and wrong-doings that were due to his self-seeking brothers and sisters, the Bonaparte children of Ajaccio in Corsica..