Hope must have cradled him in his babyhood. He hurled a
defiance at Europe that fairly shook France to a delirium of patriotism,
and as he was drawing to a close he thundered; "What needs France to
vanquish her enemies, to terrify them? Naught but audacity!--still more
audacity!--always! audacity!" Fourteen republican armies sprang forth
full armed, as though Danton's words had been the fabulous dragon's
teeth sown ages before in the bright fields of mythology.
FRANCE WAS RIGHT,
therefore God inspired her. Be sure, when your flights are bold, that
you have the right. "Thrice armed is he who hath his quarrel just." Hope
has been defamed more than any other of the joys of life, just as the
most charitable become the target of the greater portion of the
malignity of fault-finding fellow-creatures. Treat Hope fairly, my young
friend, and she will never desert you, neither will she poison your
expectations, as did the hags who prophesied to Macbeth.
BE CORRECT.
Who sees with equal eye, as God of all,
A hero perish or a sparrow fall,
Atoms or systems into ruin hurled,
And now a bubble burst, and now a world.
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