Happy is that country where patriotism is
sustained and sanctified by piety; where authority respects and guards
freedom, and freedom reveres and loves legitimate authority; where
truth and mercy meet together, righteousness and peace embrace each
other.--TON.
It is impossible for the mind which is not totally destitute of piety,
to behold the sublime, the awful, the amazing works of creation and
providence; the heavens with their luminaries, the mountains, the
ocean, the storm, the earthquake, and the volcano; the circuit of the
seasons and the revolutions of empires; without marking in them all
the mighty hand of God, and feeling strong emotions of reverence
toward the Author of these stupendous works.--DWIGHT.
John Wesley quaintly observed that the road to heaven is a narrow
path, not intended for wheels, and that to ride in a coach here and to
go to heaven hereafter, was a happiness too much for man.--BEECHER.
We are surrounded by motives to piety and devotion, if we would but
mind them. The poor are designed to excite our liberality; the
miserable, our pity; the sick, our assistance; the ignorant, our
instruction; those that are fallen, our helping hand. In those who are
vain, we see the vanity of the world; in those who are wicked, our own
frailty. When we see good men rewarded, it confirms our hope; and when
evil men are punished, it excites our fear.--BISHOP WILSON.
PITY.--Pity, though it may often relieve, is but, at best, a
short-lived passion, and seldom affords distress more than transitory
assistance; with some it scarce lasts from the first impulse till the
hand can be put into the pocket.
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