1914



TO MY WIFE
WHOSE LOVING INTEREST AND APT CRITICISM
HAVE BEEN TO ME OF GREAT VALUE
I DEDICATE THIS WORK


"It is the hour of fate,
And those who follow me reach every state
Mortals desire, and conquer every foe
Save death. But they who doubt or hesitate--
Condemned to failure, penury and woe--
Seek me in vain and uselessly implore.
I hear them not, and I return no more."

Ingalls, _Opportunity_.



PREFACE

Arthur Christopher Benson, in the introduction to his studies in
biography entitled "The Leaves of the Tree," says:--

"But when it comes to dealing with men who have played upon the whole a
noble part in life, whose vision has been clear and whose heart has been
wide, who have not merely followed their own personal ambitions, but have