Conqueror

“ A conqueror is all-powerful; he can overthrow the worship, as he can overthrow the government of a nation. What matters it to you, while empire, renown, and treasure are yours, what deities the people adore? ”

“ If victory be on my side, thou shalt be obliged immediately to forsake thy arms and the quest of adventures, and to return to thy own house, where thou shalt engage to live quietly and peaceably for the space of one whole year, without laying hand on thy sword, to the improvement of thy estate, and the salvation of thy soul. But, if thou comest off conqueror, my life is at thy mercy, my horse and arms shall be thy trophy, and the fame of all my former exploits, by the lineal descent of conquest, be vested in thee as victor. ”

“ As a conqueror stricken unto death would render up all the regions vanquished by his sword for one drop of water to his burning lips, how gladly would she have given all the knowledge bought with blood and fire, to feel one moment as those children felt! ”

“ It is one of the miracles of history that such a conquest should have occurred, the violent occupation of the empire by the invasion of an inferior race, with so little destruction of civilization, with so complete an absorption, in the end, of the conqueror by the conquered. ”

“ He mingles not with the herd, nor bows before the thrones of the mighty. Between him and the lords of the earth lies an everlasting feud that shall not be quenched until the last man lies dying and the Conqueror sways in shimmering coils above him. ”

“ I will advance under the banner of the cross, confident of victory.—What is it I seek?—not dominion, not power, nor the mere name of conqueror? I combat for the eternal good of the human race: I pant after no earthly honour ”

“ By conquest, which is a more immediate designation of the hand of God, the conqueror succeeds to all the painful duties and subordination to the power of God which belonged to the sovereign whom he has displaced, just as if he had come in by the positive law of some descent or some election. ”

“ As we look at this picture we learn that War and Conquest have two sides. At first sight we are attracted by the power and majesty of the Horse and his Rider, and we cannot help admiring them. There is something grand and noble in the might of a great nation, in the strong will and fearless courage of a great conqueror. We are stirred and thrilled when we see the march of great armies, and hear the tidings of great victories. There is a feeling of pride in belonging to a great Empire which has proved itself able to subdue the world. ”

“ This prince will not admit it; he gives a thousand reasons in justification of his conquests. But the desire for conquest proves him to be a conqueror, and one is not a conqueror without being ambitious. ”

“ The feelings that struggled in the bosom of the Conqueror were, at this instant, akin to those of the destroyer, as he sat upon 'the Assyrian mount,' overlooking the walls of Paradise, almost lamenting, and yet excusing to himself, the ruin he was about to bring upon that heavenly scene. ”

“ But lo! he cometh forth from the cloud of battle, with blood upon his garments! He is wounded, but he hath the tread and the aspect of a conqueror. He waves his crimsoned sword, and cries—“It is finished!” Courage, ye weepers at the cross! Courage, ye tremblers standing afar off! The Prince of your salvation is victor, and this bulletin of the war shall cheer myriads of believers in the house of their pilgrimage, and the achievement which it announces shall constitute an everlasting theme of praise! ”

“ No conqueror that I ever heard of has professed to make a cruel, harsh, and insolent use of his conquest. No! The man of the most declared pride scarcely dares to trust his own heart with this dreadful secret of ambition. ”

“ Great Conqueror, warrior-girt, Lord of all heroes, flow on thy way as he who winneth riches; With sharpened. arms, with swift bow, never vanquished in battle, vanquishing in fight the foemen. 4. Giving security, Lord of wide dominion, send us both earth and heaven with all their fulness. Striving to win the Dawns, the light, the waters, and cattle, call to us abundant vigour. ”

“ Nor can a conqueror reign more happily, whether he be a monarch, emperor, king, prince, or philosopher, than by making his justice to second his valour. His valour shows itself in victory and conquest ”

“ Never yet has a victor had sufficient inclination or sufficient knowledge rightly to judge the conquered. The more he abases them, the more justified does he appear. Who can know what mighty deeds, what magnificent institutions, and what noble customs of many a people of antiquity have been forgotten because their posterity was subjugated, and because, ungainsaid, the conqueror made his report upon them in accordance with his interests? ”

“ Conscript fathers, overcome by you and your commander by a victory at which neither god nor man can feel displeasure, we surrender ourselves to you, considering that we shall live more happily under your rule than under our own law, than which nothing can be more glorious for a conqueror. ”

“ This seems to be an allusion to a military triumph. The conqueror was placed on a very elevated chariot.
Led captivity captive - The conquered kings and generals were usually tied behind the chariot of the conqueror - bound to it, bound together, and walked after it, to grace the triumph of the victor.
Thou hast received gifts for men - "And gave gifts unto men;" [849] . At such times the conqueror threw money among the crowd. Thou hast received gifts among men, באדם baadam, In Man, in human nature; and God manifest in the flesh dwells among mortals! ”

“ And as mighty princes were accustomed to scatter largesses among the people, and reward their companions in arms with a liberal hand, when, laden with the spoils of vanquished nations, they returned in triumph to their capital; so the Conqueror of death and hell, when he ascended far above all heavens, and sat down in the midst of the throne, shed forth blessings of his grace and Holy Spirit, upon people of every tongue and of every nation. ”

“ Here the primitive reception of a conquering chief by shouts and leaps, which has, along with semi-civilization, developed into more definite and rhythmical form, vocal and saltatory, is accorded both to a reigning conqueror and to a conqueror subordinate to him. ”

“ My beloved, the emperor is our Lord Jesus Christ; the tournament is the conquest between God and the devils; the shields are some of the attributes of the Almighty, and the field is human nature. The shield bearing three golden apples, is the Trinity in Unity, against which the knight—that is, any man—strikes, when he commits a mortal sin. The reward of the conqueror is eternal life. ”

“ Their greedy assaults also one upon another while there is hope of Victory highly gratifies them both: and if one be conquer'd and slain, the Conqueror enjoys a fresh improvement of the pleasure of life, the Triumph over his Enemy. ”

“ The conqueror, whoever he may be, is entitled to have something to shew to prove his bravery and his triumph, and it would be ungenerous in a warrior to deprive an enemy of the means of acquiring that glory of which he himself is in pursuit. ”

“ By the latter mode he is allowed to beat the fallen man as long as he shows signs of life. When the fight is over, the men on the side of the victor chant their song of triumph, and the conqueror advances to the king, sits down before him in token of respect, and then rises and returns to his own party. ”

“ The proud war-horse, forcing its way among the thronging forms around it, suggests the resistless power with which Conquest goes on its triumphant way. The crown on the Rider's head is an emblem of the glory and dominion which conquerors win. In the other figures with the starry brows we may see the different nations, or the kings and queens, who have been touched and influenced by the spirit of War for Empire's sake. The leader of the Horse, and the other two forms behind him, may represent nations that are marching along on the path of Conquest. ”

“ The Conqueror trembled before that Conqueror to whom the princes of the earth must yield.
“It is said that, when he had reached the height of his fame, he declared that he would surrender his crowns and kingdom to know again ‘peace of mind, the love of a true friend, or the innocent sleep of a child.’
“When his last hour drew near, the nobles fled from his bedside. His servants pillaged the apartment where he died, and rolled the dead body from the bed, and left it lying on the floor. A good knight took it up, and carried it to St. Stephen’s Church, at Caen. ”

“ Those neighbouring kings who can be servants to the conqueror are a neighbouring king under the apprehension of an attack from a powerful king, one who is situated between the conqueror and his enemy, the rear-enemy of a powerful king, one who has voluntarily surrendered one-self to the conqueror, one who has surrendered oneself under fear, and one who has been subdued. ”

“ In the absence of a leader, the conqueror may win him over who is the inciter of the combination; or who is of a resolute mind, or who has endeared himself to his people, or who, from greed or fear, joined the combination, or who is afraid of the conqueror, or whose friendship with the conqueror is based upon some consanguinity of royalty, or who is a friend, or who is a wandering enemy,--in the order of enumeration. ”

“ Conqueror follows upon the heels of conqueror, nations are overthrown and cities topple down into the dust, but the conditions of existence{viii} are unaltered and irresistibly they fashion the new age in the likeness of the old. ”

“ Covered with reliefs, which are generally colored, the idols appear receiving the homage of the sovereign who founded the structure, together with the battles, sieges, and other events of the wars, out of the spoils of which the majestic pile was reared. Sometimes the king is portrayed returning as a conqueror in triumph, and dragging a long series of captives of different nations to the feet of the presiding divinity. ”

“ Now, my maxim would be precisely converse: if you attack with a prospect of superiority, do not grudge employing all the power at your command; excess of victory (14) never yet caused any conqueror one pang of remorse. ”

“ The title by conquest is acquired and maintained by force. The conqueror prescribes its limits. Humanity, however, acting on public opinion, has established as a general rule that the conquered shall not be wantonly oppressed, and that their condition shall remain as eligible as is compatible with the objects of the conquest. Usually they are incorporated with the victorious nation, and become subjects or citizens of the government with which they are connected. ”

“ To conclude, if he be so ignorant how things stand, as that he thinks fit to command the conquerors, as if they were conquered, that he may learn the better to judge which side carries away the victory, let him set upon us with his innumerable army ”

“ In front of the conqueror and close to his enemy, there happen to be situated kings such as the conqueror's friend, next to him, the enemy's friend, and next to the last, the conqueror's friend's friend, and next, the enemy's friend's friend. ”

“ The conqueror's crown of glory is set with many a gem,
But I join not in their triumph—there are plenty to shout for them;
The cause is the most applauded whose warriors gain the day,
And the world's best smiles are given to the victors in the fray.
But dearer to me is the darkened plain,
Where the noblest dreams have died,
Where hopes have been shattered and heroes slain
In the ranks of the losing side.
—Arthur E. J. Legge. ———
IO VICTIS
I sing the hymn of the conquered, who fell in the battle of life,
The hymn of the wounded and beaten, who died overwhelmed in the strife ”

“ Other conquerors operate from without, by sword and spear and catapult. I conquer from within, by hope and fear and lust and passion and terror. Unseen, unsuspected, unknown, with legions of invisible soldiers, I shall get possession of all their treasures, all their palaces, all their thrones! ”

“ The conquerors transplanted with them their independent and ferocious spirit to reanimate exhausted communities, and in their turn received a salutary mitigation, till in process of time the conqueror and conquered, having a common interest, were lost in each other. ”

“ Kingdoms are gotten by conquest. But here is the greatest conquest and triumph in the world, for a man to overcome himself. He that rules himself and his own spirit, is greater than he that taketh a city, Prov. xvi. 32. Other conquerors but overcome men like themselves, and yet are overcome by themselves, and their own passions, and so are but slaves indeed. But if ye deny yourselves, and resign yourselves to Jesus Christ, ye shall be more than conquerors, Rom. viii. 37. This then is the kingdom ye must seek first, and it is the first step to the throne of glory. ”

“ Conquerors should entertain no passions which they cannot rule; and love, time out of mind, has led conquerors captive. Theseus won his triumphs worthily, but he gave all up when he laid his heart under the feet of his Amazon princess. So wouldst thou be made slave by thy captive? Let me not see so mad an issue out of so great a triumph as thou hast won m Thebes. ”

“ Whether the conquerors are an early superior race or a refined spiritual power like Christianity, whether those conquered are primitive roving populations or splendid examples of the "blond beast," like German nobles of the early Middle Ages, conquest lies at the basis of the phenomenon, instincts that had been free and strong before turning while still strong against their possessor and making him ill. ”