Instead of shaking a "mailed fist" at the world,
young William of Hohenzollern might have been a mediatized
princelet on the lookout for an American heiress; there might
never have been a Leipzig or a Waterloo, as there certainly would
not have been a Sedan, and the heirs of Napoleon might now have
been ruling over an empire covering all Central Europe, from
the Tiber to the Baltic.
Nobody ever had greater cause for discouragement than George
Washington had when he led the straggling remnants of his army
across the Delaware in December, 1776. But in the very darkest
hour, when absolute ruin seemed inevitable and a British gallows
appeared the probable ending of his career, he struck a blow that
cleared the way to the highest place in the world's history.
Andrew Jackson was born in a cabin, suffered every sort of
adversity, lost his mother and two brothers from the sufferings
of war, was cut with a sword for refusing to clean a British
officer's boots, and grew up almost without education.
Abraham Lincoln, poor, ignorant, sprung from the lowliest stock,
deprived of all advantages for culture or for money making,
distressed by domestic troubles, might have had some excuse for
discouragement. But he kept on, with what results the world
sees.
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