serene faith.  And soon the trepidation for himself passes, for a great cause always makes great men, and many who set out in hesitation die heroes.  This it is that explains the strange and wonderful buoyancy of men, standing for great ideals, so little understood of others of weaker mould.  The soldier of freedom knows he is forward in the battle of Truth, he knows his victory will make for a world beautiful, that if he must inflict or endure pain, it is for the regeneration of those who suffer, the emancipation of those in chains, the exaltation of those who die, and the security and happiness of generations yet unborn.  For the strength that will support a man through every phase of this struggle a strong and courageous mind is the primary need—­in a word, Moral Force.  A man who will be brave only if tramping with a legion will fail in courage if called to stand in the breach alone.  And it must be clear to all that till Ireland can again summon her banded armies there will be abundant need for men who will stand the single test.  ’Tis the bravest test, the noblest test, and ’tis the test that offers the surest and greatest victory.  For one armed man cannot resist a multitude, nor one army conquer countless legions; but not all the armies of all the Empires of earth can crush the spirit of one true man.  And that one man will prevail.

III

But so much have we felt the need of resisting every slavish tendency that found refuge under the name of Moral Force, that those of us who would vindicate our manhood cried wildly out again for the physical test; and we cried it long and repeatedly the more we smarted under the meanness of retrograde times.  But the time is again inspiring, and the air must now be cleared.  We have set up for the final test of the man of unconquerable spirit that test which is the first and last argument of tyranny—­recourse to brute strength.  We have surrounded with fictitious glory the carnage of the battlefields; we have shouted of wading through our enemies’ blood, as if bloody fields were beautiful; we have been contemptuous of peace, as if every war were exhilarating; but, “War is hell,” said a famous general in the field.  This, of course, is exaggeration, but there is a grim element of truth in the warning that must be kept in mind at all times.  If one among us still would resent being asked to forego what he thinks a rightful need of vengeance, let him look into himself.  Let him consider his feelings on the death of some notorious traitor or criminal; not satisfaction, but awe, is the uppermost feeling in his heart.  Death sobers us all.  But away from death this may be unconvincing; and one may still shout of the glory of floating the ship of freedom in the blood of the enemy.  I give him pause.  He may still correct his philosophy in view of the horror of a street accident or the brutality of a prize-fight.

IV