It was well said by an early American
author,* now too much neglected, that--
"There is no virtue without a characteristic beauty. To
do what is right argues superior taste as well as morals;
and those whose practice is evil feel and inferiority of
intellectual power and enjoyment, even where they take no
concern for a principle. Doing well has something more in
it than the mere fulfilling of a duty. It is a cause of a just
sense of elevation of character; it clears and strengthens
the spirits; it gives higher reaches of thought. The world
is sensible of these truths, let it act as it may. It is not
because of his integrity alone that it relies on an honest man,
but it has more confidence in his judgment and wise conduct,
in the long run, than in the schemes of those of greater
intellect who go at large without any landmarks of principle.
So that virtue seems of a double nature, and to stand oftentimes
in the place of what we call talent."
[Footnote]
* Richard H. Dana, the elder.
[End of Footnote]
He was spared the fate of so many of our great New England
statesmen, that of closing his life in sorrow and in gloom.
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