With one hand touching heaven, with th' He may attain to, after he is dead. other earth. In soul he mounts and flies, In flesh he dies. But as his joys are double, So is his trouble; He hath two winters, other things but one; N the vicious ways of the world it mercifully falleth out that we become not extempore wicked, but it taketh some time and pains to undo ourselves. We fall not from virtue, like Vulcan, in a day. Bad dispositions require some time to grow into bad habits; bad habits must undermine good, and often repeated acts make us habitually evil. SIR THOMAS BROWNE. E who does good to one person from a benevolent principle, lays an obligation on the whole species, for he shows that he has the interest of mankind at heart, and he sets a good example. Our love of good men, therefore, partakes of the nature of gratitude; to be destitute of it is a proof of such depravity as even profligates would be ashamed of. JAMES BEATTIE. |