CHAPTER III.

FORCE OF WILL IN CAMP AND FIELD.

Oh, what miracles have been wrought by the self-confidence, the self-determination of an iron will!  What impossible deeds have been performed by it!  It was this that took Napoleon over the Alps in midwinter; it took Farragut and Dewey past the cannons, torpedoes, and mines of the enemy; it led Nelson and Grant to victory; it has been the great tonic in the world of discovery, invention, and art; it has helped to win the thousand triumphs in war and science which were deemed impossible.

The secret of Jeanne d’Arc’s success was not alone in rare decision of character, but in the seeing of visions which inspired her to self-confidence—­confidence in her divine mission.

It was an iron will that gave Nelson command of the British fleet, a title, and a statue at Trafalgar Square It was the keynote of his character when he said, “When I don’t know whether to fight or not, I always fight.”

It was an iron will that was brought into play when Horatius with two companions held ninety thousand Tuscans at bay until the bridge across the Tiber had been destroyed—­when Leonidas at Thermopylae checked the mighty march of Xerxes—­when Themistocles off the coast of Greece shattered the Persian’s Armada—­when Caesar finding his army hard pressed seized spear and buckler and snatched victory from defeat—­when Winkelried gathered to his breast a sheaf of Austrian spears and opened a path for his comrades—­when Wellington fought in many climes without ever being conquered—­when Ney on a hundred fields changed apparent disaster into brilliant triumph—­when Sheridan arrived from Winchester as the Union retreat was becoming a route and turned the tide—­when Sherman signaled his men to hold the fort knowing that their leader was coming.

History furnishes thousands of examples of men who have seized occasions to accomplish results deemed impossible by those less resolute.  Prompt decision and whole-souled action sweep the world before them.  Who was the organizer of the modern German empire?  Was he not the man of iron?

NAPOLEON AND GRANT.

“What would you do if you were besieged in a place entirely destitute of provisions?” asked the examiner, when Napoleon was a cadet.

“If there were anything to eat in the enemy’s camp, I should not be concerned.”

When Paris was in the hands of a mob, and the authorities were panic-stricken, in came a man who said, “I know a young officer who can quell this mob.”

“Send for him.”

Napoleon was sent for; he came, he subjugated the mob, he subjugated the authorities, he ruled France, then conquered Europe.