burned the hand and arm of Mutius? What impelled Curtius to plunge

into the deep burning gulf that opened in the midst of Rome? What,

in opposition to all the omens that declared against him, made

Julius Caesar cross the Rubicon? And to come to more modern

examples, what scuttled the ships, and left stranded and cut off the

gallant Spaniards under the command of the most courteous Cortes in

the New World? All these and a variety of other great exploits are,

were and will be, the work of fame that mortals desire as a reward and