For blessings ever wait on virtuous deeds;
And though a late, a sure reward succeeds.
The Mourning Bride, Act v. Sc. 12. W. CONGREVE.
That virtue only makes our bliss below,
And all our knowledge is, ourselves to know.
Essay on Man, Epistle IV. A. POPE.
Pygmies are pygmies still, though perched on Alps;
And pyramids are pyramids in vales.
Each man makes his own stature, builds himself:
Virtue alone outbuilds the Pyramids;
Her monuments shall last when Egypt's fall.
Night Thoughts, Night VI. DR. E. YOUNG.
Abashed the devil stood,
And felt how awful goodness is, and saw
Virtue in her shape how lovely.
Paradise Lost, Bk. IV. MILTON.
So dear to heaven is saintly chastity,
That, when a soul is found sincerely so,
A thousand liveried angels lacky her,
Driving far off each thing of sin and guilt.
Comus. MILTON.
Adieu, dear, amiable youth!
Your heart can ne'er be wanting!
May prudence, fortitude, and truth
Erect your brow undaunting!
In ploughman phrase, "God send you speed,"
Still daily to grow wiser;
And may you better reck the rede,
Than ever did the adviser!
Epistle to a Young Friend. R. BURNS.
Though lone the way as that already trod,
Cling to thine own integrity and God!
To One Deceived. H.T. TUCKERMAN.
Virtue she finds too painful to endeavor,
Content to dwell in decencies forever.
Moral Essays, Epistle II. A. POPE.
Keep virtue's simple path before your eyes,
Nor think from evil good can ever rise.
Tancred, Act v. Sc. 8. J. THOMSON.