l allow,
gentlemen, that few are the number of those that have reaped the reward
of their services, compared with those who have perished in war. The
dead are countless; whereas those who survived to be rewarded may be
numbered with three figures. Not so with scholars, who by their salaries
(I will not say their perquisites) are generally handsomely provided
for. Thus the labors of the soldier are greater, although his reward is
less. It may be said in answer to this, that it is easier to reward two
thousand scholars than thirty thousand soldiers: for scholars are
rewarded by employments which must of course be given to men of their
profession; whereas the soldier can only be rewarded by the property of
the master whom, he serves; and this defence serves to strengthen my
argument.

"But, waiving this point, let us consider the comparative claims to
pre-eminence: for the partisans of each can bring powerful arguments in
support of their own cause. It is said in favor of letters that without
them arms could not subsist; for war must have its laws, and laws come
within the province of the learned. But it may be alleged in reply, that
arms are necessary to the maintenance of law; by arms the public roads
are protected, cities guarded, states defended, kingdoms preserved, and
the seas cleared of corsairs and pirates. In short, without arms there
would be no safety for cities, commonwealths or kingdoms. Besides, it is
just to estimate a pursuit in proportion to the cost of its attainment.
Now it is true that eminence in learning is purchased by time, watching,
hunger, nakedness, vertigo, indigestion, and many other inconveniences
already mentioned; but a man who rises gradually to be a good soldier
endures all these, and far more. What is the hunger and poverty which
menace the man of letters compared with the situation of the soldier,
who, besieged in some fortress, and placed as sentinel in some ravelin
or _cavalier_, perceives that the enemy is mining toward the place where
he stands, and yet he must on no account stir from his post or shun the
imminent danger that threatens him? All that he can do in such a case is
to give notice to his officer of what passes, that he may endeavor to
counteract it; in the meantime he must stand his ground, in momentary
expectation of being mounted to the clouds without wings, and then
dashed headlong to the earth. And if this be thought but a trifling
danger, let us see whether it be equa