thou hast. Thou wilt quarrel with a man for cracking nuts, having no other reason but because thou hast hazel eyes. What eye, but such an eye, would spy out such a quarrel? - Thy head is as full of quarrels, as an egg is full of meat; and yet thy head hath been beaten as addle as an egg, for quarrelling. Thou hast quarrelled with a man for coughing in the street, because he hath waken'd thy dog that hath lain asleep in the sun. Didst thou not fall out with a tailor for wearing his new doublet before Easter? With another, for tying his new shoes with old ribband? And yet thou wilt tutor me for quarrelling !

Benvolio. An I were so apt to quarrel as thou art, any man should buy the fee simple of my life for an hour and a quarter.

Romeo and Juliet. Act iii. Scene 1.

THE TEMPORIZER.

Hamlet. Thus has he (and many more of the same breed, that I know, the drossy age dotes on) only got the tune of the time, and outward habit of encounter: a kind of yesty collection, which carries them through the most fond and winnow'd opinions; and, do but blow them to their trial, the bubbles are out.

Hamlet. Act v. Scene 2.

SUFFERERS FROM NATURAL DEFECTS.

Hamlet. So, oft it chances in particular men,
That, for some vicious mole of nature in them,
As, in their birth, (wherein they are not guilty
Siuce nature cannot choose his origin)
By the o'ergrowth of some complexion,*

Oft breaking down the pales and forts of reason;

Or by some habit, that too much o'erleavens
The form of plausive manners :-that these men,-
Carrying, I say, the stamp of one defect;
Being nature's livery, or fortune's star,-
Their virtues else (be they as pure as grace,
As infinite as man may undergo,)
Shall in the general censure * take corruption
From that particular fault. The drachm of base
Doth all the noble substance often dout,†
To his own scandal.

Hamlet.

Hamlet. Act i. Scene 4.

SELF-GOVERNMENT AND ITS VALUE.

Thou hast been

As one, in suffering all, that suffers nothing;
A man, that fortune's buffets and rewards

Hath ta'en with equal thanks; and blest are those,
Whose blood and judgment are so well commingled,
That they are not a pipe for fortune's finger
To sound what stop she please. Give me that man
That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him
In my heart's core, ay, in my heart of heart.

Ibid. Act iii. Scene 2.

P

* Opinion.

+ Put out.

VIRTUE.

SHOULD BE ACTIVE.

Duke. Heaven doth with us, as we with torches do;

Not light them for themselves; for if our virtues

Did not go forth from us, 'twere all alike

As if we had them not.

Measure for Measure. Act i. Scene 1.

VIRTUE THE ONLY TRUE NOBILITY.

King. From lowest place when virtuous things proceed, The place is dignified by the doer's deed; Where great additions swell, and virtue none, It is a dropsied honour: good alone Is good, without a name; vileness is so: The property by what it is should go, Not by the title.

Honours best thrive

When rather from our acts we them derive
Than our fore-goers: the mere word's a slave,
Debauch'd on every tomb; on every grave
A lying trophy: and as oft is dumb,

Where dust, and damn'd oblivion, is the tomb
Of honour'd bones indeed.

All's well that ends well. Act ii. Scene 3.

VIRTUE COURAGEOUS.

Suffolk. True nobility is exempt from fear.

2nd part King Henry VI. Act iv. Scene 1.

Duke. Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful.

Measure for Measure. Act iii. Scene 1.

VIRTUE'S WIDE INFLUENCE.

Portia. How far that little candle throws its beams!

So shines a good deed in a naughty world.

Merchant of Venice. Act v. Scene 1.

VIRTUE CONFIDENT.

Say. The trust I have is in mine innocence,

And therefore am I bold and resolute.

2nd part King Henry VI. Act iv. Scene 4.

VIRTUE CONSISTS IN ACTS AND THEIR REFLECTION.

Ulysses.

Man-how dearly ever parted,*

How much in having, or without, or in,-
Cannot make boast to have that which he hath,

Nor feels not what he owns, but by reflexion :
As when his virtues shining upon others
Heat them, and they retort that heat again
To the first giver.

Achilles.

This is not strange.

The beauty that is borne here in the face,
The bearer knows not, but commends itself
To others' eyes: nor doth the eye itself
(That most pure spirit of sense) behold itself,
Not going from itself; but eye to eye oppos'd
Salute each other with each other's form.
For speculation turns not to itself,

Till it hath travell'd, and is married there,

Where it may see itself.

Ulysses.

No man is the lord of any thing,

(Though in and of him there be much consisting,)

Till he communicate his parts to others:

Nor doth he of himself know them for ought

Till he behold them form'd in the applause

Where they are extended: which like an arch reverberates

The voice again; or like a gate of steel

Fronting the sun, receives and renders back

His figure and his heat.

Troilus and Cressida. Act iii. Scene 3.

HAVING previously hinted (I hope not too disrespectfully) at the Deontological doctrines of human duty, it seems unnecessary to go over the very similar ground connected with the subject of virtue. I will merely observe, the word "virtue" is used in this work in its common acceptation amongst the civilized nations of the present day, viz. as signifying that course of action sanctioned by the Christian religion, and which (thanks to the Divine Author of that religion) in the end, will always be found to procure for man his highest possible happiness.

The doctrine of Deontology is, that man should act, in all cases, with the sole motive of procuring for himself the greatest possible amount of enjoyment; and that such expressions as "habits of virtue" are all nonsense!