Confidence was bearer of the palm; for it looked like conviction of desert: And where the strong is well assured, the weaker soon allow it. Majesty and Beauty are commingled, in moving with immutable decision, And well may charm the coward hearts that turn and hide for fear. Faith, firmness, confidence, consistency,--these are well allied; Yea, let a man press on in aught, he shall not lack of honour: For such an one seemeth as superior to the native instability of creatures; That he doeth, he doeth as a god, and men will marvel at his courage. Even in crimes, a partial praise cannot be denied to daring, And many fearless chiefs have won the friendship of a foe. Confidence is conqueror of men; victorious both over them and in them; The iron will of one stout heart shall make a thousand quail: A feeble dwarf, dauntlessly resolved, will turn the tide of battle, And rally to a nobler strife the giants that had fled; The tenderest child, unconscious of a fear, will shame the man to danger, And when he dared it, danger died, and faith had vanquished fear. Boldness is akin to power: yea, because ignorance is weakness, Knowledge with unshrinking might will nerve the vigorous hand: Boldness hath a startling strength; the mouse may fright a lion, And oftentimes the horned herd is scared by some brave cur. Courage hath analogy with faith, for it standeth both in animal and moral; The true is mindful of a God, the false is stout in self: But true or false, the twain are faith; and faith worketh wonders: Never was a marvel done upon the earth, but it had sprung of faith: Nothing noble, generous, or great, but faith was the root of the achievement; Nothing comely, nothing famous, but its praise is faith. Leonidas fought in human faith, as Joshua in divine: Xenophon trusted to his skill, and the sons of Mattathias to their cause: In faith Columbus found a path across those untried waters; The heroines of Arc and Saragossa fought in earthly faith: Tell was strong, and Alfred great, and Luther wise, by faith; Margaret by faith was valiant for her son, and Wallace mighty for his people: Faith in his reason made Socrates sublime, as faith in his science, Galileo: Ambassadors in faith are bold, and unreproved for boldness: Faith urged Fabius to delays, and sent forth Hannibal to Cannæ: Cæsar at the Rubicon, Miltiades at Marathon; both were sped by faith. I set not all in equal spheres: I number not the martyr with the patriot; I class not the hero with his horse, because the twain have courage; But only for ensample and instruction, that all things stand by faith; Albeit faith of divers kinds, and varying in degree. There is a faith towards men, and there is a faith towards God; The latter is the gold and the former is the brass; but both are sturdy metal: And the brass mingled with the gold floweth into rich Corinthian; A substance bright and hard and keen, to point Achilles' spear: