Chapter II.
Studying Law!
To that stage had Andrew Jackson came, in 1785, steered by the unseen forces which govern the world. It is doubtful whether he himself could have explained how he happened to drift into that profession rather than some other.
In the finding of one’s life-work there is much more of feeling around in the dark than is generally supposed. Cervantes did not begin to write Don Quixote until he had tried success by many routes, and had landed on the wrong side of a prison door. Bacon’s best work was done after his disgrace as an officer of state and after Queen Elizabeth had expressed the weighty opinion that he didn’t know much law.
Oliver Goldsmith, the neglected physician, wrote “The Deserted Village” and “The Vicar of Wakefield” after he had waited in vain for patients bringing fees.
Had Napoleon been a success as an author, he might never have meddled with politics.
Had General Lew Wallace been a success as a soldier, he might never have written “Ben Hur.”
Had U. S. Grant been a money-maker at the outbreak of the Civil War, he might never have commanded on the winning side at Appomattox.
Had Sam Houston been able to wear with credit the harness of social and political existence in Tennessee, he might never have thrown himself amid the wilder men of the Southwest and won fame as a builder of empire!