He showed that fame may be won and what services be rendered by a plain son of the people unaided by any gifts of fortune.

In this sentence Bryce praises an exemplar of democratic merit: someone of ordinary origins (“a plain son of the people”) who, without inherited wealth or patronage (“unaided by any gifts of fortune”), nonetheless achieves public distinction and performs meaningful civic “services.” The emphasis is not on celebrity for its own sake but on fame as a byproduct of usefulness—recognition earned through contribution. The line reflects a late‑Victorian liberal ideal that character, industry, and public spirit can overcome social and economic disadvantage, and that such lives serve as moral instruction to a broader public by widening the imagined possibilities of social mobility and public service.