Such as neither of themselves can sing, What booteth it to have been rich alive? How many great ones may remembred be, Provide therefore (ye Princes) whilst ye live, For they be daughters of Dame Memorie, And do those men in golden thrones repose, The seven fold yron gates of grislie Hell, They able are with power of mightie spell To breake, and thence the soules to bring awaie And them immortall make which els would die * For deedes doe die, how ever noblie donne, Ne may with storming showers be washt away, In vaine do earthly Princes then, in vaine, Or Shrines, made of the mettall most desired; For how can mortall immortalitie give? Such one Mausolus made, the worlds great wonder, But Fame with golden wings aloft doth flie, And with brave plumes doth beate the azure skie, SPENSER. POVERTY in wedlock is a great decayer of love and contentation; and riches can find many ways to divert an inconvenience; but the mind of man is all. Some can be servile, and fall to those labours which another cannot stoop to. Above all, let the generous mind beware of marrying poor; for though he cares the least for wealth, yet he will be most galled with the want of it. FELTHAM. THERE the humble virtues love to rest Secure, and shelter'd in the peasant's nest; Like the sweet tenants of the hive, they dwell, Gentle companions of the poor man's cell. Bless'd memory tells, how warm his bosom glow'd For ills prevented, or for good bestow'd, While the small mite, in love, in pity given, Touch'd by his hand, became a gem in Heaven. REV. JOHN MITFORD. Ar twenty years of age the will reigns, at thirty the wit, and at forty the judgment. FROM the body of one guilty deed, A thousand ghostly fears, and haunting thoughts, proceed! WORDSWORTH. WE talk of a credulous vulgar, without always recollecting that there is a vulgar incredulity, which, in historical matters, as well as in those of religion, finds it easier to doubt than to examine, and endeavours to assume the credit of an esprit fort, by denying whatever happens to be a little beyond the very limited comprehension of the sceptic. WALTER SCOTT. HARSH Poverty, That moth, which frets the sacred robe of wit, BARCKLEY. VIRTUE, like a fragrant flower, imparts her charms to all who approach her. THE silver shower, whose reckless burthen weighs Too heavily upon the lily's head, Oft leaves a saving moisture at its root. WORDSWORTH. 'Tis much safer to reconcile an enemy than to conquer him. Victory deprives him of his Power, but reconciliation of his Will: and there is less danger in a Will which will not hurt, than in a Power which cannot. The power is not so apt to tempt the Will, as the Will is studious to find out means. FELTHAM. THAT Friendship, which from wither'd Love does shoot, Like the faint herbage on a rock, wants root; Love is a tender amity, refin'd: Grafted on friendship, it exalts the kind. But when the graft no longer does remain, DRYDEN. THERE are three modes of bearing the ills of life; by Indifference, which is the most common; by Philosophy, which is the most ostentatious; and by Religion, which is the most effectual. COLTON. |