Noscamus, ut quemque adjuvet opulentia.[238]
The affinity of piety to mercy is exhibited in the part played by the priestess of Venus—
Manus mihi date, exurgite a pedibus ambae,
Misericordior nulla mest feminarum;[239]
and the natural trust of innocence and good faith in divine protection is exemplified by the confidence with which the shipwrecked women take refuge at the altar of Venus.
Tibi auscultamus et, Venus alma, ambae te opsecramus
Aram amplexantes hanc tuam lacrumantes, genibus nixae,
In custodelam nos tuam ut recipias et tutere, etc.[240]
Even the moral sentiment expressed is of a finer quality than the maxims of rough good sense and probity which we find, for instance, in the Trinummus. When Gripus tells his master that he is poor owing to his scrupulous piety—