UNANIMITY - UNBELIEF-USURPER-VANITY. What Which they have made so populous. Oh world! Thy suing to these men were but the bleating Byron's Doge of Venice. Then was the evil day of tyranny, 535 Byron's Two Foscari. They have gone beyond Thou hast under-wrought his lawful king, Even their exorbitance of power; and when This happens in the most contemn'd and abject Upon the maiden virtue of the crown. States, stung humanity will rise to check it. it, Else you dare not deal thus by them or me. There is a populace, perhaps, whose looks Shaks. King John. A murderer, and a villain; May shame you; but they dare not groan nor Of your precedent lord :—a vice of kings: curs, you, save with their hearts and eyes. Byron's Two Foscari. Of sensual sloth-produce ten thousand tyrants, A cutpurse of the empire and the rule; VANITY. Shaks. Hamlet. Now 'gan his heart all swell in jollity, But for in court gay portance he perceiv'd A gallant show to be in greatest gree, VARIETY. Eftsoons to court he cast t' advance his first de- Wherefore did nature pour her bounties forth With such a full and unwithdrawing hand, gree. Spenser's Fairy Queen. Covering the earth with odours, fruits, and flocks Light vanity, insatiate cormorant, Thomson's Agamemnon. Ah, vice! how soft are thy voluptuous ways! A cherub-hydra round us dost thou gape, Miss Landon Cheeks are bright, then fade and die; Shapes of light are wafted hither, Then, like visions, hurry by. Then grieve not that nought mortal Endures through passing years. Did life one changeless tenor keep, 'T were cause indeed for tears. And fill we, ere our parting, A mantling pledge to sorrow; The pang that wrings the heart to-day, Time's touch will heal to-morrow. Percival Mrs. Ellet. Is there no constancy in earthly things? Beaumont and Fletcher's Monsieur Thomas. Thus run the wheels of state, now up, now down, And none that lives finds safety in a crown. Markham and Sampson's Herod and Antipater. O! life is a waste of wearisome hours, Which seldom the rose of enjoyment adorns; And the heart that is soonest awake to the flowers, Is always the first to be touch'd by the thorn. Moore. And when thou 'rt told of knighthood's shield, And English battles won, Look up, my boy, and breathe one word The name of WASHINGTON! Mrs. Gilman. - Such were Saratoga's victors—such Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied; The Yeomen-Brave, whose deeds and death have How far that little candle throws his beams! given A glory to her skies, A music to her name. So shines a good deed in a naughty world. Shaks. Merchant of Venice. To do is to succeed —our fight Halleck. I never did repent for doing good, Nor shall not now. Is wag'd in Heaven's approving sight- Whittier. Ay, nerve thy spirit to the proof, And blench not at thy chosen lot, Bryant. Like spectral lamps, that burn before a tomb, I wave a torch, that floods the lessening gloom Crown'd with my constellated stars I stand Beside the foaming sea, And from the Future, with a victor's hand, Shaks. Merchant of Venice. Heaven doth with us, as we with torches do; Shaks. Measure for Measure Shaks. Henry VI. Part III. For, in the fatness of these pursy times, J. Bayard Taylor.-The Continents. Her marble hero stands, built of such basis, While they recoil and wound the shooter's face. VILLAIN. Valour, employ'd in an ill quarrel, turns there s ne'er a villain dwelling in all Denmark, To cowardice, and virtue then puts on But he's an arrant knave. Happen what there can, I will be just; Virtue, those that can behold thy beauties, Given to make us wretched! ah! sad portion! Lord Lansdown's Heroic Love. But rest in everlasting piece of mind, Those that seek, from their youth, thy milk of And find the height of all their heaven is good. goodness, Their minds grow strong against the storms of fortune; And stand, like rocks, in winter gusts unshaken. The frowns of heaven are to the virtuous, like men spy, And often show the long-expected land Sir W. Davenant's Unfortunate Lovers. Whilst passion holds the helm, reason and honour Do suffer wrack; but they sail safe, and clear, Who constantly by virtue's compass steer. Davenport's King John and Matilda. This is true glory and renown, when God Looking on earth, with approbation marks The just man, and divulges him through heav'n To all his angels, who with true applause Recount his praise. Milton's Paradise Regained. Virtue may be assail'd, but never hurt; Surpriz'd by unjust force, and not enthrall'd; Yea, even that which mischief meant most harm, Shall in the happy trial prove most glory; But evil on itself shall back recoil. How strange a riddle virtue is! They never miss it, who possess it not; And they who have it ever find a want! Millon. Lord Rochester's Valentinian. ness. Rowe's Fair Penitent. Virtue never is defac'd! unchang'd By strokes of fate, she triumphs o'er distress, If there's a power above us, The man who consecrates his hours A good man, and an angel! these between, Young's Night Thoughts. end. The time that bears no fruit, deserves no name. The man of wisdom is the man of years. Young's Night Thoughts |