Children of men, be virtuous, be wise,
Seek patience, justice, temp’rance, meekness, truth,
In age be courteous, be sedate in youth,—So
they advise, and when such things be read,
How can we wonder that their flocks are dead?”
This “cauld morality,” as Scott makes Mr. Trumbull call it in “Redgauntlet,” is contrasted with a really rousing sermon:
“Further and further spread the conquering word
As loud he cried—‘the Battle of the Lord.’
Ev’n those apart who were the sound denied,
Fell down instinctive, and in spirit died.