Emmanuel. The
condition of our lives is battle, and battle against terrible odds.
Neither you nor I should be content to waste our strength in fighting
shadows, in waging war on petty troubles of our own raising, knowing
all the while that the powers of evil are marshalled in a deadly array
against the powers of good. _Sed non praevalebunt!_"

The Cardinal's thin face assumed a strange look of determination, and his
delicate fingers grasped Giovanni's arm with a force that startled him.

"You speak bravely," answered the young man. "You are more sanguine than
we men of the world. You believe that disaster impossible which to me
seems growing daily more imminent."

Cardinal Antonelli turned his gleaming black eyes full on his companion.

"_O generatio incredula!_ If you have not faith, you have not courage,
and if you have not courage you will waste your life in the pursuit of
emptiness! It is for men like you, for men of ancient race, of broad
acres, of iron body and healthy mind, to put your hand to the good work
and help us who have struggled for many years and whose strength is
already failing. Every action of your life, every thought of your
waking hours, should be for the good end, lest we all perish together
and expiate our lukewarm indifference. _Timidi nunquam statuerunt
trapaeum_--if we would divide the spoil we must gird on the sword and use
it boldly; we must not allow the possibility of failure; we must be
vigilant; we must be united as one man. You tell me that you men of the
world already regard a disaster as imminent--to expect defeat is
nine-tenths of a defeat itself. Ah, if we could count upon such men as
you to the very death, our case would be far from desperate."

"For the matter of that, your Eminence can count upon us well enough,"
replied Giovanni, quietly.

"Upon you, Giovanni--yes, for you are a brave gentleman. But upon your
friends, even upon your class--no. Can I count upon the Valdarno, even?
You know as well as I that they are in sympathy with the Liberals--that
they have neither the courage to support us nor the audacity to renounce
us; and, what is worse, they represent a large class, of whom, I regret
to say, Donna Tullia Mayer is one of the most prominent members. With her
wealth, her youth, her effervescent spirits, and her early widowhood, she
leads men after her; they talk, they chatter, they set up an opinion and
gloat over it, while they lack the spirit to support it. They are