ation. In
fifteen days Napoleon, in his first Italian campaign, had gained six
victories, taken twenty-one standards, fifty-five pieces of cannon, had
captured fifteen thousand prisoners, and had conquered Piedmont.

After this astonishing avalanche a discomfited Austrian general said:
"This young commander knows nothing whatever about the art of war. He
is a perfect ignoramus. There is no doing anything with him." But his
soldiers followed their "Little Corporal" with an enthusiasm which knew
no defeat or disaster.

"There are important cases," says A. H. K. Boyd, "in which the
difference between half a heart and a whole heart makes just the
difference between signal defeat and a splendid victory."

"Should I die this minute," said Nelson at an important crisis, "want
of frigates would be found written on my heart."

The simple, innocent Maid of Orleans with her sacred sword, her
consecrated banner, and her belief in her great mission, sent a thrill
of enthusiasm through the whole French army such as neither king nor
statesmen could produce. Her zeal carried everything before it. Oh!
what a great work each one could perform in this world if he only knew
his power! But, like a bitted horse, man does not realize his strength
until he has once run away with himself.

"Underneath is laid the builder of this church and city, Christopher
Wren, who lived more than ninety years, not for himself, but for the
public good. Reader, if you seek his monument, look around!" Turn
where you will in London, you find noble monuments of the genius of a
man who never received instruction from an architect. He built
fifty-five churches in the city and thirty-six halls. "I would give my
skin for the architect's design of the Louvre," said he, when in Paris
to get ideas for the restoration of St. Paul's Cathedral in London.
His rare skill is shown in the palaces of Hampton Court and Kensington,
in Temple Bar, Drury Lane Theater, the Royal Exchange, and the great
Monument. He changed Greenwich palace into a sailor's retreat, and
built churches and colleges at Oxford. He also planned for the
rebuilding of London after the great fire, but those in authority would
not adopt his splendid idea. He worked thirty-five years upon his
master-piece, St. Paul's Cathedral. Although he lived so long, and was
exceedingly healthy in later life, he was so delicate as a child that
he was a constant source of anxiety to his parents. His gre