PERSEVERANCE. 147

broke down in his first speech, and, as some
said, made a fool of himself? It is often the
case that a man whose first speech is wonder-
ful never makes another worth listening to:
of such men there is little hope. Do you
know that Frederick the Great ran away in
his first battle? It is said, and it is not un-

 

likely, that the Duke of Wellington showed
the white feather in India! Have you ever
heard the storysof two young officers who
were sent, under Wellington’s own eye, to
make a charge upon a body of Freneh cavalry
in Spain? As they rode together, one grew
pale, trembled, and his feet shook in his