G. K. ChesterBelloc Reader 📚 (@ChesterBelloc)

"He is the bravest man, who is the best Christian. It is he who truly fears God, who is entitled to fear nothing else. He whose conduct is governed by the fear of God, is brave, because the powers of his soul are in harmony. There is no mutiny or war within, of fear against shame, of duty against safety, of conscience and evil desire, by which, the bad man has his heart unnerved. All the nobler capacities of the soul combine their strength, and especially, that master power, of which the wicked are compelled to sing: "It is conscience that makes cowards of us all," invigorates the soul with her plaudits. In conscious rectitude there is strength. This strength Gen. Jackson eminently possessed. He walked in the fear of God, with a perfect heart, keeping all his.commandments and ordinances, blameless. Never has it been my happiness to know one of greater purity of life, or more regular and devout habits of prayer. As ever in his great task-master's eye, he seemed to devote every hour to the sentiment of duty, and only to live to fulfill his charge as a servant God. Of this be assured, that all his eminence and success as a great and brave soldier were based on his eminence and sanctity as a Christian. Thus, every power of his soul was brought lightened and honest conscience. How could such a soul to move in sweet accord, under the guidance of an enfail to be courageous for the right?" RL Dabney's True Courage: A Discourse Commemorative of Lieut. General Thomas J. Jackson (1863) https://www.logcollegepress.com/s/Dabney-Robert-Lewis-True-Courage-A-Discourse-Commemorative-of-Lieut-Gen-Thomas-J-Jackson.pdf