I believe--I have already seen enough to be sure--that your labour
and that of your comrades will not be in vain; that you will be, as
you surely may be, the better men for that discipline to which you
have subjected yourselves.
You must never forget that there are two sides, a softer and a
sterner side, to the character of the good man; that he, the perfect
Christ, who is the Lion of Judah, taking vengeance, in every age, on
all who wrong their fellow men, is also the Lamb of God, who shed his
own blood for those who rebelled against him. You must recollect
that there are virtues--graces we call them rather--which you may
learn elsewhere better than in the camp or on the drilling ground;
graces of character more devout, more pure, more tender, more humane,
yet necessary for the perfect man, which you will learn rather in
your own homes, from the innocence of your own children, from the
counsels and examples of your mothers and your wives.
But there are virtues--graces we must call them too--just as
necessary for the perfect man, which your present training ought to
foster as (for most of you) no other training can; virtues which the
old monk tried to teach by the stern education of the cloister; which
are still taught, thank God, by the stern education of our public
schools; which you and your comrades may learn by the best of all
methods, by teaching them to yourselves.
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