him off to Paris to school. Poverty pinched this lad hard in his
little garret study and his clothes were shabby, but what of that? He
had made up his mind to get on in the world. For years he was chained
to his desk and worked like a hero. At last his opportunity came.
Jules Favre was to plead a great cause on a certain day; but, being
ill, he chose this young man, absolutely unknown, rough and uncouth, to
take his place. For many years Gambetta had been preparing for such an
opportunity, and he was equal to it. He made one of the greatest
speeches that up to that time had ever been made in France. That night
all the papers in Paris were sounding the praises of this ragged,
uncouth Bohemian, and soon all France recognized him as the Republican
leader. This sudden rise was not due to luck or accident. He had been
steadfastly working and fighting his way up against oppositions and
poverty for just such an occasion. Had he not been equal to it, it
would only have made him ridiculous. What a stride; yesterday, poor
and unknown, living in a garret; today, deputy-elect, in the city of
Marseilles, and the great Republican leader!

When Louis Napoleon had been defeated at Sedan and had delivered his
sword to William of Prussia, and when the Prussian army was marching on
Paris, the brave Gambetta went out of the besieged city in a balloon
barely grazed by the Prussian guns, landed in Amiens, and by almost
superhuman skill raised three armies of 800,000 men, provided for their
maintenance, and directed their military operations. A German officer
said: "This colossal energy is the most remarkable event of modern
history, and will carry down Gambetta's name to remote posterity."
This youth who was poring over his books in an attic while other youths
were promenading the Champs Elysees, although but thirty-two years old,
was now virtually dictator of France, and the greatest orator in the
Republic. What a striking example of the great reserve of personal
power, which, even in dissolute lives, is sometimes called out by a
great emergency or sudden sorrow, and ever after leads the life to
victory! When Gambetta found that his first speech had electrified all
France, his great reserve rushed to the front; he was suddenly weaned
from dissipation, and resolved to make his mark in the world. Nor did
he lose his head in his quick leap into fame. He still lived in the
upper room in the musty Latin Quarter, and remained a p