Page:Thucydides, translated into English Vol 1.djvu/284

1 68 SPEECH OF PELOPONNESIAN COMMANDERS [ll and reluctant to fight, encouraged them in the following words : — 87 * The late sea-fight, Peloponnesians, may have made You are terrified by some of you anxious about the one our late mishap. But which is impending, but it really affords you were then uftpre- ^q just ground for alarm. In that pared. Your superior courage outweighs their battle we Were, as you know, ill-pre- superior skill, for with- pared, and our whole expedition had out courage skill is use- ^ military and not a naval object. For- less. We for our part •' . •' . . mil arrange the attack tune was in many ways unpropitious to better. But you must US, and this being our first sea-fight we all do your duty. ^^y possibly have suffered a little from inexperience. The defeat which ensued was not the result of cowardice; nor should the unconquerable quality which is inherent in our minds, and refuses to acknowledge the victory of mere force, be depressed by the accident of the event. For though fortune may sometimes bring disaster, yet the spirit of a brave man is always the same, and while he retains his courage he will never allow inexperience to be an excuse for misbehaviour. And whatever be your own inexperience, it is more than compensated by your superiority in valour. The skill of your enemies which you so greatly dread, if united with courage, may be able in the moment of danger to remember and execute the lesson which it has learned, but without courage no skill can do anything at such a time. For fear makes men forget, and skill which cannot fight is useless. And there- fore against their greater skill set your own greater valour, and against the defeat which so alarms you set the fact that you were unprepared. But now you have a larger fleet; this turns the balance in your favour; and you will fight close to a friendly shore under the protection of heavy-armed troops. Victory is generally on the side of those who are more numerous and better equipped. So that we have absolutely no reason for anticipating failure. Even our mistakes will be an additional advantage, because they will be a lesson to us. Be of good courage, then, and