I do not think that any of you do. Certainly I do not.
Therefore, there is a little lesson to be learned, and it is this:
Never sneer at the fellow who accomplishes things, if he be of humble birth. His name may go down to history. Yours probably will not.
So, the next time that you are tempted to do this, think it over. If you do, you will not say, “Pish,—the Commoner!” But you will say,
“Well done! The Hero!”
So, good-by, Jean Bart, and may France produce your like again, if she can!
“Keep these legends, gray with age,
Saved from the crumbling wrecks of yore,
When cheerful conquerors moored their barques
Along the Saxon shore.”
—Thompson.