on
safety, and to blame me for having counselled war and yourselves for
having voted it. And yet if you are angry with me, it is with one who,
as I believe, is second to no man either in knowledge of the proper
policy, or in the ability to expound it, and who is moreover not only a
patriot but an honest one. A man possessing that knowledge without that
faculty of exposition might as well have no idea at all on the matter:
if he had both these gifts, but no love for his country, he would be but
a cold advocate for her interests; while were his patriotism not proof
against bribery, everything would go for a price. So that if you thought
that I was even moderately distinguished for these qualities when you
took my advice and went to war, there is certainly no reason now why I
should be charged with having done wrong.

"For those of course who have a free choice in the matter and whose
fortunes are not at stake, war is the greatest of follies. But if the
only choice was between submission with loss of independence, and danger
with the hope of preserving that independence, in such a case it is he
who will not accept the risk that deserves blame, not he who will. I am
the same man and do not alter, it is you who change, since in fact you
took my advice while unhurt, and waited for misfortune to repent of
it; and the apparent error of my policy lies in the infirmity of your
resolution, since the suffering that it entails is being felt by every
one among you, while its advantage is still remote and obscure to all,
and a great and sudden reverse having befallen you, your mind is too
much depressed to persevere in your resolves. For before what is sudden,
unexpected, and least within calculation, the spirit quails; and putting
all else aside, the plague has certainly been an emergency of this kind.
Born, however, as you are, citizens of a great state, and brought up, as
you have been, with habits equal to your birth, you should be ready to
face the greatest disasters and still to keep unimpaired the lustre of
your name. For the judgment of mankind is as relentless to the weakness
that falls short of a recognized renown, as it is jealous of the
arrogance that aspires higher than its due. Cease then to grieve for
your private afflictions, and address yourselves instead to the safety
of the commonwealth.

"If you shrink before the exertions which the war makes necessary,
and fear that after all they may not have a happy result, you