So at least Frederick the Great thought.

His brother Henry, after the battle of Kolin, had advised him to throw himself at the feet of the Marquise de Pompadour in order to purchase a peace with France.

Again, after the battle of Kunersdorf his position seemed quite hopeless, but the King absolutely refused to abandon the struggle.

He knew better what suited the honour and the moral value of his country, and preferred to die sword in hand than to conclude a degrading peace.

President Roosevelt, in his message to the Congress of the United States of America on December 4, 1906, gave expression to a similar thought.