Other events now transpired which began to assuage his opposition to France.  Thanks to the eloquent efforts of Mirabeau, the Corsican patriots who had remained in exile since 1768 were allowed to return and enjoy the full rights of citizenship.  Little could the friends of liberty at Paris, or even the statesman himself, have foreseen all the consequences of this action:  it softened the feelings of many Corsicans towards their conquerors; above all, it caused the heart of Napoleon Buonaparte for the first time to throb in accord with that of the French nation.  His feelings towards Paoli also began to cool.  The conduct of this illustrious exile exposed him to the charge of ingratitude towards France.  The decree of the French National Assembly, which restored him to Corsican citizenship, was graced by acts of courtesy such as the generous French nature can so winningly dispense.  Louis XVI. and the National Assembly warmly greeted him, and recognized him as head of the National Guard of the island.  Yet, amidst all the congratulations, Paoli saw the approach of anarchy, and behaved with some reserve.  Outwardly, however, concord seemed to be assured, when on July 14th, 1790, he landed in Corsica; but the hatred long nursed by the mountaineers and fisherfolk against France was not to be exorcised by a few demonstrations.  In truth, the island was deeply agitated.  The priests were rousing the people against the newly decreed Civil Constitution of the Clergy; and one of these disturbances endangered the life of Napoleon himself.  He and his brother Joseph chanced to pass by when one of the processions of priests and devotees was exciting the pity and indignation of the townsfolk.  The two brothers, who were now well known as partisans of the Revolution, were threatened with violence, and were saved only by their own firm demeanour and the intervention of peacemakers.

Then again, the concession of local self-government to the island, as one of the Departments of France, revealed unexpected difficulties.  Bastia and Ajaccio struggled hard for the honour of being the official capital.  Paoli favoured the claims of Bastia, thereby annoying the champions of Ajaccio, among whom the Buonapartes were prominent.  The schism was widened by the dictatorial tone of Paoli, a demeanour which ill became the chief of a civic force.  In fact, it soon became apparent that Corsica was too small a sphere for natures so able and masterful as those of Paoli and Napoleon Buonaparte.

The first meeting of these two men must have been a scene of deep interest.  It was on the fatal field of Ponte Nuovo.  Napoleon doubtless came there in the spirit of true hero-worship.  But hero-worship which can stand the strain of actual converse is rare indeed, especially when the expectant devotee is endowed with keen insight and habits of trenchant expression.  One phrase has come down to us as a result of the interview; but this phrase contains a volume of meaning.  After Paoli had explained the disposition of his troops against the French at Ponte Nuovo, Buonaparte drily remarked to his brother Joseph, “The result of these dispositions was what was inevitable.” [13]