No More Learning

"In great affairs I have always dreaded the counsels of the young.
Youthful ignorance and inexperience have been the ruin of many empires.
I, therefore, learn with pleasure that you have named a council of
elders, to whom you have confided this affair. I expected no less than
this from your wisdom, which is far beyond your years.

"The state of your republic distresses me. I know the difference that
there is between the tumult of arms and the tranquillity of Parnassus. I
know that the sounds of Apollo's lyre accord but ill with the trumpets
of Mars; but if you have abandoned Parnassus, it has been only to fulfil
the duties of a good citizen and of a vigilant chief. I am persuaded, at
the same time, that in the midst of arms you think of peace; that you
would regard it as a triumph for yourself, and the greatest blessing you
could procure for your country. Did not Hannibal himself say that a sure
peace was more valuable than a hoped-for victory! If truth has extorted
this confession from the most warlike man that ever lived, is it not
plain that a pacific man ought to prefer peace even to a certain
victory? Who does not know that peace is the greatest of blessings, and
that war is the source of all evils?

"Do not deceive yourself; you have to deal with a keen people who know
not what it is to be conquered. Would it not be better to transfer the
war to Damascus, to Susa, or to Memphis? Think besides, that those whom
you are going to attack are your brothers. At Thebes, of old, two
brothers fought to their mutual destruction.
Must Italy renew, in our
days, so atrocious a spectacle?

"Let us examine what may be the results of this war. Whether you are
conqueror or are conquered, one of the eyes of Italy will necessarily be
blinded, and the other much weakened; for it would be folly to flatter
yourself with the hopes of conquering so strong an enemy without much
effusion of blood.

"Brave men, powerful people! (I speak here to both of you) what is your
object--to what do you aspire? What will be the end of your dissensions?
It is not the blood of the Carthaginians or the Numantians that you are
about to spill, but it is Italian blood; the blood of a people who would
be the first to start up and offer to expend their blood, if any
barbarous nation were to attempt a new irruption among us. In that
event, their bodies would be the bucklers and ramparts of our common
country; they would live, or they would die with us. Ought the pleasure
of avenging a slight offence to carry more weight with you than the
public good and your own safety? Let revenge be the delight of women. Is
it not more glorious for men to forget an injury than to avenge it? to
pardon an enemy than to destroy him?

"If my feeble voice could make itself heard among those grave men who
compose your council, I am persuaded that you would not only _not_
reject the peace which is offered to you, but go to meet and embrace it
closely, so that it might not escape you. Consult your wise old men who
love the republic; they will speak the same language to you that I do.

"You, my lord, who are at the head of the council, and who govern your
republic, ought to recollect that the glory or the shame of these events
will fall principally on you. Raise yourself above yourself; look into,
examine everything with attention.