Page:The World's Famous Orations Volume 1.djvu/80

 THE WORLD'S FAMOUS ORATIONS think then that you only bear rule over your own subject allies; but I declare to you that of the two parts of the world open for man's use, the land and the sea, of the whole of the one you are most absolute masters, both as far as you avail yourselves of it now, and if you should wish to do so still further; and there is no power, neither the king nor any nation besides at the present day, that can prevent your sailing [where you please] with your present naval resources.

This power then evidently is far from being merely on a level with the benefits of your houses and lands, which you think so much to be deprived of: nor is it right for you to grieve about them, but rather to hold them cheap, considering them, in comparison with this as a mere garden-plot and embellishment of a rich man's estate. You should know, too, that liberty, provided we devote ourselves to that, and preserve it, will easily recover these losses; whereas those who have once submitted to others find even their greatest gains diminish. Nor should you show yourselves inferior in both respects to your fathers, who with labor, and not by inheritance from others, acquired these possessions, and moreover kept them and bequeathed them to us; for it is more disgraceful to be deprived of a thing when we have got it, than to fail in getting it. On the contrary, you should meet your enemies, not only with spirit, but also with a spirit of contempt. For confidence is produced even by lucky ignorance, ay, even in a coward; but contempt is 30