We see that son, beginning on that paltry patrimony, already the
possessor, in a few short years, of seventy millions in addition. We
help Elihu Burritt to say his letters at noon-time in a blacksmith shop,
and afterward, lo! he converses in thirty languages. We see Edgar Poe,
dying as poor as man ever died, yet leaving to the world a name as a
writer that Europeans persist is as yet the brightest in American
literature. See Horace Greeley, trudging across a State, anxious to get
a job for his board and clothes; then listen to his voice in the
councils of the President and in the hearts of the people. Remember
Salmon P. Chase, a poor Ohio boy, Governor, Secretary of the Treasury,
author of the best currency system so far conceived, and Chief Justice
of the Supreme Court.