"What means this heaviness that hangs upon me? This lethargy that creeps through all my senses? Nature, oppress'd and harrass'd out with care, Sinks down to rest."

"The soul, secured in her existence, smiles At the drawn dagger, and defies its point."

"The ideal man bears the accidents of life With dignity and grace, the best of circumstances."

"Nature does nothing without purpose or uselessly."

"I'm weary of conjectures,—this must end 'em. Thus am I doubly armed: my death and life, My bane and antidote, are both before me: This in a moment brings me to an end; But this informs me I shall never die. The soul, secured in her existence, smiles At the drawn dagger, and defies its point. The stars shall fade away, the sun himself Grow dim with age, and Nature sink in years; But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth, Unhurt amidst the war of elements, The wrecks of matter, and the crush of worlds."

"Eternity! thou pleasing dreadful thought! Through what variety of untried being, Through what new scenes and changes must we pass!"

"It must be so — Plato, thou reasonest well! Else whence this pleasing hope, this fond desire, This longing after immortality? Or whence this secret dread, and inward horror, O falling into nought? Why shrinks the soul Back on herself, and startles at destruction? 'Tis the divinity that stirs within us; 'Tis heaven itself, that points out an hereafter, And intimates eternity to man."

"If there's a power above us, (And that there is all nature cries aloud Through all her works) he must delight in virtue."

"The stars shall fade away, the sun himself Grow dim with age, and nature sink in years, But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth, Unhurt amidst the wars of elements, The wrecks of matter, and the crush of worlds."

"The honors of this world, what are they But puff, and emptiness, and peril of falling?"

"Thanks to the gods! my boy has done his duty."

"O ye powers that search The heart of man, and weigh his inmost thoughts, If I have done amiss, impute it not! The best may err, but you are good."

"Content thyself to be obscurely good. When vice prevails, and impious men bear sway, The post of honor is a private station."

"How beautiful is death, when earn'd by virtue! Who would not be that youth? What pity is it That we can die but once to serve our country!"

"Curse on his virtues! they've undone his country."

"I will indulge my sorrows, and give way To all the pangs and fury of despair."

"When love once pleas admission to our hearts, (In spite of all the virtue we can boast), The woman that deliberates is lost."

"Why wilt thou add to all the griefs I suffer Imaginary ills, and fancy'd tortures?"

"See they suffer death, But in their deaths remember they are men, Strain not the laws to make their tortures grievous."

"To my confusion, and eternal grief, I must approve the sentence that destroys me."

"Talk not of love: thou never knew'st its force."

"Loveliest of women! heaven is in thy soul, Beauty and virtue shine forever round thee, Bright'ning each other! thou art all divine!"

"When love's well-timed 'tis not a fault of love; The strong, the brave, the virtuous, and the wise, Sink in the soft captivity together."

"The friendships of the world are oft Confederacies in vice, or leagues of pleasure; Ours has severest virtue for its basis, And such a friendship ends not but with life."

"Young men soon give and soon forget affronts; Old age is slow in both."

"Great Pompey's shade complains that we are slow, And Scipio's ghost walks unavenged amongst us!"

"A day, an hour, of virtuous liberty Is worth a whole eternity in bondage."

"My voice is still for war. Gods! Can a Roman senate long debate Which of the two to choose, slavery or death? No, let us rise at once, Gird on our swords, and, At the head of our remaining troops, attack the foe, Break through the thick array of his throng'd legions, And charge home upon him. Perhaps some arm, more lucky than the rest, May reach his heart, and free the world from bondage."

"Beauty soon grows familiar to the lover, Fades in his eye, and palls upon the sense."

"Were you with these, my prince, you'd soon forget The pale, unripened beauties of the north."

"'Tis pride, rank pride, and haughtiness of soul: I think the Romans call it Stoicism."

"If the following day he chance to find A new repast, or an untasted spring, Blesses his stars, and thinks it luxury."

"Better to die ten thousand deaths, Than wound my honour."

"Oh! think what anxious moments pass between The birth of plots, and their last fatal periods, Oh! 'tis a dreadful interval of time, Filled up with horror all, and big with death!"

"Thy father's merit sets thee up to view, And shows thee in the fairest point of light, To make thy virtues, or thy faults, conspicuous."

"'Tis not in mortals to command success, But we'll do more, Sempronius; we'll deserve it."

"Love is not to be reason'd down, or lost In high ambition, and a thirst of greatness; 'Tis second life, it grows into the soul, Warms every vein, and beats in every pulse."

"Thy steady temper, Portius, Can look on guilt, rebellion, fraud, and Cæsar, In the calm lights of mild philosophy."

"The dawn is overcast, the morning lowers, And heavily in clouds brings on the day, The great, the important day, Big with the fate Of Cato, and of Rome."

"Is there not some chosen curse, Some hidden thunder in the stores of heaven, Red with uncommon wrath, to blast the man Who owes his greatness to his country's ruin?"

"Rais'd of themselves, their genuine charms they boast, And those who paint them truest praise them most."

"O Dormer, how can I behold thy fate, And not the wonders of thy youth relate; How can I see the gay, the brave, the young, Fall in the cloud of war, and lie unsung! In joys of conquest he resigns his breath, And, filled with England's glory, smiles in death."

"So when an angel by divine command With rising tempests shakes a guilty land, Such as of late o'er pale Britannia passed, Calm and serene he drives the furious blast; And, pleas'd th' Almighty's orders to perform, Rides in the whirlwind, and directs the storm."

"Unbounded courage and compassion join'd, Tempering each other in the victor's mind, Alternately proclaim him good and great, And make the hero and the man complete."

"Nations with nations mix'd confus'dly die, And lost in one promiscuous carnage lie."

"Great souls by instinct to each other turn, Demand alliance, and in friendship burn; A sudden friendship, while with stretched-out rays They meet each other, mingling blaze with blaze. Polished in courts, and hardened in the field, Renowned for conquest, and in council skilled, Their courage dwells not in a troubled flood Of mounting spirits, and fermenting blood: Lodged in the soul, with virtue overruled, Inflamed by reason, and by reason cooled, In hours of peace content to be unknown. And only in the field of battle shown: To souls like these, in mutual friendship joined, Heaven dares intrust the cause of humankind."