age of twenty, the possessor of two hundred francs. He had studied the
law, working in an attorney's office, where he had risen to be
superior clerk. He had taken his doctor's degree in law, had mastered
the old and modern codes, and could hold his own with the most famous
pleaders. He had studied the law of nations, and was familiar with
European treaties and international practice. He had studied men and
things in five capitals--London, Berlin, Vienna, Petersburg, and
Constantinople.

No man was better informed than he as to the rules of the Chamber. For
five years he had been reporter of the debates for a daily paper. He
spoke extempore and admirably, and could go on for a long time in that
deep, appealing voice which had struck us to the soul. Indeed, he
proved by the narrative of his life that he was a great orator, a
concise orator, serious and yet full of piercing eloquence; he
resembled Berryer in his fervor and in the impetus which commands the
sympathy of the masses, and was like Thiers in refinement and skill;
but he would have been less diffuse, less in difficulties for a
conclusion. He had intended to rise rapidly to power without burdening
himself first with the doctrines necessary to begin with, for a man in
opposition, but an incubus later to the statesman.

Marcas had learned everything that a real statesman should know;
indeed, his amazement was considerable when he had occasion to discern
the utter ignorance of men who have risen to the administration of
public affairs in France. Though in him it was vocation that had led
to study, nature had been generous and bestowed all that cannot be
acquired--keen perceptions, self-command, a nimble wit, rapid
judgment, decisiveness, and, what is the genius of these men,
fertility in resource.