HOW TO GET STRONG
a lineal descendant of the last of the Irish kings, he added lustre to their fair name. Americans are proud of him, because he is one of the typical men whom Americans delight to honor; who, starting poor, with only two months' schooling, without money, without influence, entering one of the most intricate and difficult of the learned professions, by the sheer force of his own ability and unaided efforts he rose by successive steps—and every step an honorable one—to the first rank in that profession, the peer of Ireland's greatest sons—O'Connell, Burke, and Wellington; an American king, ranking with Washington and Franklin, Lincoln and Edison, and her other national benefactors—world's benefactors—each one a self-made man. Asked once if he thought he would have succeeded as well in any of the other professions, he promptly answered "Yes"; and to the inquiry how he would have done it, he said, "By study." Could there have been a battle of giants, involving questions of the greatest difficulty and highest moment, between the best lawyers Great Britain has ever produced and the best America has known—with each at their prime—England would likely have chosen Lord Erskine and Sir Samuel Romilly; yet Charles O'Conor and Daniel Webster would not only have taken absolute care of America's interests; but before the battle was over they would have made it clear to all intelligent observers that the great Britons were at last fairly outmatched.
LORD TENNYSON (1809–1892)
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