34 LETTERS TO BROTHER JOHN. 



be said, that courage is but one of the moral quali- 

 ties: true; but it is one on which many others 

 depend. Courage results from a consciousness of 

 physical strength ; and cowardness, from a consci- 

 ousness of physical weakness. The strong will not 

 shun danger, because he feels himself competent to 

 resist and repel it. The weak man, knowing him- 

 self unable to surmount danger by an exercise of 

 strength which he does not possess, will resort to 

 other means of preservation to petty cunning, 

 wily stratagem, mean subterfuge, lying, and cir- 

 cumvention. Thus the virtues which are directly 

 opposed to these vices all depend upon courage, at 

 least to a considerable extent; and courage de- 

 pends on physical strength, the size of the heart 

 and lungs, the firmness of the heart's structural 

 fibre, and the liveliness and energy with which cir- 

 culation and animalization are performed. The for- 

 titude with which the Indian savage endures torture 

 at the stake, I shall endeavour to shew, by and by, 

 is clearly the result of his physical condition. It 

 may be objected, that we have numerous instances 

 of undoubted courage in men possessing but little 

 physical strength : but this objection will not hold. 

 When the noble scion of a noble house, the nurs- 

 ling of luxurious ease from his cradle, goes out to 



