Sentence:  ... it takes a divine man to exhibit anything divine, Socrates, Alfred, Columbus, Wordsworth, or any other brave <WSD>preferrer</WSD> of the still voice within to the roar of the populace—a thing very easy to speak and very hard to do for twenty-four hours. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A person who likes one thing more than another; a person who favours something.