Page:Selected Orations Swedish Academy 1792.djvu/27

Rh dreaded by the neighbouring potentates, and respected throughout all Europe—A monarch mighty among heroes; not for having, like ordinary warriors, encountered dangers, triumphed over opposition, and surmounted difficulties, but because he loved justice, because his prudence was not lulled to security by success, because he was never intoxicated by prosperity, because his exalted spirit never submitted to the slavery of his passions, and because his exploits ended in restoring to the rights of mankind two of the most powerful empires on the face of the earth. In addition to this, he possesses a reputation peculiar to himself; a reputation which will last, even though at some remote period of time, amid the probable revolutions in the fate of empires, future generations should look with less respect on those events which have established a balance between the powers of Europe. He has the fairest claim to the honour of invention, of having given a new face to the art of war, and of ranking in the number of his pupils all the great commanders which this quarter of the globe has produced since that period. Is it necessary to add, that humanity, which shudders at the very name of war, cannot raise her voice to impeach the fame of a hero, whose example never instructed mankind to add to the perils and destruction unavoidable in war; that unjustifiable cruelty of conduct, which the want of feeling and a ferocious self-interest too frequently produce?

remembrance of this day has drawn me into a subject much beyond my feeble powers: but before I quit it, I must beg leave to improve the opportunity, by expressing a fervent wish—May the language and Rh