Observe, too, that this is all a modern affair; belongs not to the old heroic times, but to these dastard new times. ‘Happiness our being’s end and aim’ is at bottom, if we will count well, not yet two centuries old in the world.
meanly shrinking from danger, cowardly, dastardly
Heceleme
mean·ly shrink·ing from danger, cowardly, das·tard·ly