text:  There is nothing more depressing to patriotic honour and loyalty than the cowardice of despondency even when a cause has touched the very brink of defeat; and we believe that no spectacle of firmness is more naturally congenial to the temper of our countrymen than the fidelity which still makes signal of its affection in circumstances desperate for resistance and which in mortal extremities will not relax its hold from a cause once conscientiously adopted