The Latin stanzas in illustration close with the lines,—
“Qualis, non Adamas ullo contunditur ictu,
Vique sua ferri duritium superat.”
i.e.
“As by no blow the Adamant is crushed,
And by its own force overcomes the hardness of iron.”
When the great Talbot was released from imprisonment (1 Henry VI., act i. sc. 4, l. 49, vol. v. p. 20), his companions-in-arms on welcoming him back, inquired, “How wert thou entertained?” (l. 39)—
“With scoffs and scorns and contumelious taunts.
. . . . . . . .
In iron walls they deem’d me not secure;