Lives of great men all remind us
We may make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us,
Footprints on the sands of time.--Longfellow.
It is hard to follow in the tracks of giants, but
nevertheless the sands of our time are filled with that kind of
footprints. The present century has beholden some of the most
astonishing elevations of all history. Slaves have become Roman
Emperors, but we hardly know what "slave" meant in those days. Within
the last hundred years we see a poor old dame with three sons called
Joseph, Napoleon and Jerome. We see a cooper's son called Michel Ney, an
inn-keeper's son called Joaquin Murat, a lawyer's son named Jean
Bernadotte, a military cadet named Louis Davout, and a lame boy called
Charles Talleyrand. Behold them mounting the ladder until, at the end of
thirty years, the roster stands thus. Joseph Bonaparte, King of Spain;
Napoleon Bonaparte, greatest warrior of modern times and Emperor of
France, which meant dictator of Europe; Jerome Bonaparte, King of
Westphalia; Michel Ney, Prince of the Moskwa and Bravest of the Brave;
Joaquin Murat, King of Naples; Jean Bernadotte, King of Sweden, and
founder of the present dynasty; Louis Davout, Prince of Eckmuhl, and, in
1811,