It was an iron will that gave Nelson command of the British fleet, a
title, and a statue at Trafalgar Square It was the keynote of his
character when he said, "When I don't know whether to fight or not, I
always fight."

It was an iron will that was brought into play when Horatius with two
companions held ninety thousand Tuscans at bay until the bridge across
the Tiber had been destroyed--when Leonidas at Thermopylæ checked the
mighty march of Xerxes--when Themistocles off the coast of Greece
shattered the Persian's Armada--when Cæsar finding his army hard pressed
seized spear and buckler and snatched victory from defeat--when
Winkelried gathered to his breast a sheaf of Austrian spears and opened
a path for his comrades--when Wellington fought in many climes without
ever being conquered--when Ney on a hundred fields changed apparent
disaster into brilliant triumph--when Sheridan arrived from Winchester
as the Union retreat was becoming a route and turned the tide--when
Sherman signaled his men to hold the fort knowing that their leader was
coming.

History furnishes thousands of examples of men who have seized occasions
to accomplish results deemed impossible by those less resolute. Prompt
decision and whole-souled action sweep the world before them. Who was
the organizer of the modern German empire? Was he not the man of iron?


NAPOLEON AND GRANT.

"What would you do if you were besieged in a place entirely destitute of
provisions?" asked the examiner, when Napoleon was a cadet.