Civil war with all its horrors was there; the raging conflicts of
the parties tore apart the holy bonds of family, friendship, and
love. Brother fought and argued against brother, friend rose up
against friend, and whole families were destroyed, rent asunder by
the impassioned rivalries of sentiment and partisanship.
Denunciations and accusations, suspicions and enmities, followed.
Every one trembled at his own shadow; and, to turn aside the peril
of death, it was necessary to strike. [Footnote: "Memoires du Roi
Joseph," vol. i., p. 51.]
The Bonaparte brothers opposed General Paoli with violent
bitterness; bloody conflicts took place, in which the national
Corsican party remained victorious. Irritated and embittered by the
opposition which some of the natives themselves were making to his
patriotic efforts, Paoli persecuted with zealous activity the
conquered, whom he resolved to destroy, that they might not imperil
the young Corsican independence. Joseph and Napoleon Bonaparte were
the leaders of this party, and Paoli knew too well the energy and
the intellectual superiority of Napoleon not to dread his influence.
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