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Article OF COURAGE, FORTITUDE, and FEAR. ← Page 2 of 4 →
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Of Courage, Fortitude, And Fear.
disagreeable ; the term virago conveys an offensive idea . Tha female warriors of antiquity , whether real or fabulous , Camilla , Thalestris , and the whole community of Amazons , were unamiable personages . But female courage exerted in defence of a child , a husband , br a near relation , would be true fortitude , and deserve the highest encomiums . The motives to fortitude are many and powerful . This virtue
tends greatly to the happiness of the individual , by giving composure and presence of mind , and keeping the other passions in due subordination . To public good it is essentia ]; for without it , the independence and liberty of nations would be impossible . It gives to a character that elevation which poets , orators , and historians ' , have in all ages vied with one another to celebrate . Nothing so
effectually inspires it as rational piety ; the fear of God is the best security against every other fear . A true estimate of human life ; it ' s shortness and uncertainty ; the numberless evils and temptations to which by a long continuance in this world we must unavoidably be exposed ; ought by no means to discourage or throw any gloom on our future prospects : they should teach usthat many things are
, more formidable than death ; and nothing is lost , but much gained , when , by the appointment of Providence , a well-spent life is brought , io an honourable conclusion . Let it be considered too , that pusillanimity and fearfulness can never avail us any thing . On the contrary , they debase our nature ,
poison all our comforts , and make us despicable in the eyes of others ; they darken our reason , disconcert our schemes , enfeeble our efforts , extinguish our hopes , and add tenfold poignancy to all the evils of life . In battle , the brave soldier is in less danger thaii the coward ; in less danger even of death and wounds , because better prepared to defend himself ; in far less danger of infelicity ; and has before him the animating hope of victory and honour . So in
life , the man of true fortitude is in less danger of disappointment than others are , because his understanding is clear , and his mind disencumbered ; he is prepared to meet calamity without the fear of sinking under it ; and he has before him the near prospect of another life , in which they who patiently bear the evils of this will obtain a glorious reward .
Fear , when it gains an ascendancjr in the mind , renders life a burden . The object of fear is evil ; and to be exempt from fear , or at least not enslaved to it , gives dignity to our nature , and invigorates all our faculties . Yet there are evils which we ought to fear . Those that arise from ourselves , or which it is in our power to preventit would be madness to depiseand audacity not to
, , guard against . External evils , which we cannot prevent , or could not avoid without ' a breach of duty , it is manly and honourable to hear with fortitude . Out of many instances of the fatal effects of fear recorded in writers , the following is selected as one of the most singular . " George Grochantzy , a Polander , who hadinlisted as a soldier in the service of the king of Prussia , deserted during the last
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Of Courage, Fortitude, And Fear.
disagreeable ; the term virago conveys an offensive idea . Tha female warriors of antiquity , whether real or fabulous , Camilla , Thalestris , and the whole community of Amazons , were unamiable personages . But female courage exerted in defence of a child , a husband , br a near relation , would be true fortitude , and deserve the highest encomiums . The motives to fortitude are many and powerful . This virtue
tends greatly to the happiness of the individual , by giving composure and presence of mind , and keeping the other passions in due subordination . To public good it is essentia ]; for without it , the independence and liberty of nations would be impossible . It gives to a character that elevation which poets , orators , and historians ' , have in all ages vied with one another to celebrate . Nothing so
effectually inspires it as rational piety ; the fear of God is the best security against every other fear . A true estimate of human life ; it ' s shortness and uncertainty ; the numberless evils and temptations to which by a long continuance in this world we must unavoidably be exposed ; ought by no means to discourage or throw any gloom on our future prospects : they should teach usthat many things are
, more formidable than death ; and nothing is lost , but much gained , when , by the appointment of Providence , a well-spent life is brought , io an honourable conclusion . Let it be considered too , that pusillanimity and fearfulness can never avail us any thing . On the contrary , they debase our nature ,
poison all our comforts , and make us despicable in the eyes of others ; they darken our reason , disconcert our schemes , enfeeble our efforts , extinguish our hopes , and add tenfold poignancy to all the evils of life . In battle , the brave soldier is in less danger thaii the coward ; in less danger even of death and wounds , because better prepared to defend himself ; in far less danger of infelicity ; and has before him the animating hope of victory and honour . So in
life , the man of true fortitude is in less danger of disappointment than others are , because his understanding is clear , and his mind disencumbered ; he is prepared to meet calamity without the fear of sinking under it ; and he has before him the near prospect of another life , in which they who patiently bear the evils of this will obtain a glorious reward .
Fear , when it gains an ascendancjr in the mind , renders life a burden . The object of fear is evil ; and to be exempt from fear , or at least not enslaved to it , gives dignity to our nature , and invigorates all our faculties . Yet there are evils which we ought to fear . Those that arise from ourselves , or which it is in our power to preventit would be madness to depiseand audacity not to
, , guard against . External evils , which we cannot prevent , or could not avoid without ' a breach of duty , it is manly and honourable to hear with fortitude . Out of many instances of the fatal effects of fear recorded in writers , the following is selected as one of the most singular . " George Grochantzy , a Polander , who hadinlisted as a soldier in the service of the king of Prussia , deserted during the last