REASONS.
All was false and hollow; though his tongue
Dropped manna, and could make the worse appear
The better reason, to perplex and dash
Maturest counsels; for his thoughts were low;
To vice industrious, but to nobler deeds
Timorous and slothful: yet he pleased the ear,
And with persuasive accent thus began.
Paradise Lost, Bk. II. MILTON.
Give you a reason on compulsion! if reasons were as
plentiful as blackberries, I would give no man a reason
upon compulsion. I.
King Henry IV., Pt. I. Act ii. Sc. 4. SHAKESPEARE.
Good reasons must, of force, give place to better.
Julius Cæsar, Act iv. Sc. 3. SHAKESPEARE.
Whatever sceptic could inquire for,
For every why he had a wherefore.
Hudibras, Pt. I. S. BUTLER.
I was promised on a time
To have reason for my rhyme;
From that time unto this season,
I received nor rhyme nor reason.
Lines on his Promised Pension. E. SPENSER.