THE MILITARY EPOCH
him by his father was service in the lowest ranks of some nobleman's retinue. As a boy he gave no indications of great capacity, his physical imperfections—a stunted stature, an exceptionally dark complexion, and a strikingly ill-favoured countenance—not being compensated by any show of diligence in study or aptitude in acquiring knowledge. Wayward, mischievous, unendowed with any attractive or seemingly promising qualities, he received no help from any friendly hand on the way to fortune. Yet in a sense his humble origin may be said to have aided him, for had he belonged to any of the great families whose struggle for supremacy was deluging the country with blood, the mere fact of his lineage must have arrayed against him a host of hostile rivals. Solely by force of military genius he conquered wherever he fought; by an innate perception of the value of justice and the uses of clemency he made content and tranquillity the successors of turbulence and disaffection; by an extraordinary insight into the motives of men's actions, he was able to detect and utilise opportunities that would have been invisible to ordinary eyes; by signal magnanimity he disarmed his enemies,[1] and by subtle appeals to the emotional side of human nature he won the homage of men who, until the moment of contact with him, had believed themselves his superiors. Himself swayed by strong emotions, he flashed readily
- ↑ See Appendix, note 4.
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