DOUBT.
And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.—Matthew, xxviii. 17.
Then came the Jews round about Him, and said unto Him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.—John, x. 24.
Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple, and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow.—Acts, v. 24.
Attempt the end, and never stand to doubt;
Nothing’s so hard, but search will find it out.
Herrick.
But desperate is their doom whom doubt has driven
To censure fate, and pious hope forego;
Like yonder blasted boughs by lightning riven,
Perfection, beauty, life, they never know,
But frown on all who pass, a monument of woe.
Beattie.
Ah! thou knowest not the war of struggling thought
That agitates my soul. I find in all
Some peril still to dread. I choose, and then
My choice repent; and then again regret
Having repented; while protracted doubt
Wearies her mind, so that the ill from good
No longer I distinguish; till at length
The flight of time impels me to the worst!
From the Italian of Pietre Metastasio.
Doubt! anarch old, that staggers all—
The mighty vulgar as the small,
Claims from all hearts th’ allegiance won,
Yet satisfaction gives to none;
And still resisted, still must reign,
Dreaded, abhorred, reviled in vain;
Sole tyrant he, that still must thrive,
While any of his subjects live;
The stoutest arm he fastest binds,
Still strongest in the strongest minds;
Who struggles hardest, suffers most;
And tightens bands be cannot burst.
C. C. Colton.