Old King Louis of France was dead; young King Louis--the sixteenth of the name--sat on the throne.

There was trouble in the kingdom.

There was a struggle between the men who wished to better things and those who wished things to stay as they were.

Among these latter were the governors of the French provinces or departments.
In order to have things fixed to suit themselves, they selected men to represent them in the nation's assembly at Paris.
The governor of Corsica was one of these men; and by flattery and promises he won over to his side Papa Charles Bonaparte, and had him sent to Paris (or rather to Versailles, where the assembly met, not far from Paris) as a delegate from the nobility of Corsica.

This sounded very fine; but the truth is, "Papa Charles" was simply nothing more than "the governor's man," to do as he told him, and to work in his interests.
One result of this, however, was that it made things a little easier for the Bonapartes; and it gave them the opportunity of giving to the two older boys, Joseph and Napoleon, an education in France at the expense of the state.
So when Charles Bonaparte was ready to sail to his duties in France, it was arranged that he should take with him Joseph, Napoleon, and Uncle Joey Fesch.