THE VIRTUE OF ORDER AND DEGREE.

89

And this neglection of degree it is

That by a pace goes backward, with a purpose

It hath to climb. The general 's disdain'd
By him one step below, he by the next,
That next by him beneath; so every step,
Exampled by the first pace that is sick
Of his superior, grows to an envious fever
Of pale and bloodless emulation,

And 'tis this fever that keeps Troy on foot,
Not her own sinews. To end a tale of length,
Troy in our weakness stands, not in her strength.

Troilus and Cressida, Act i. Sc. 3, 1. 78.

Promptness in Action.

No good e'er comes of leisure purposeless,

And heaven ne'er helps the men who will not act.

SOPHOCLES, Fragments, 1. 288.

True dispatch is a rich thing; for time is the measure of business, as money is of wares; and business is bought at a dear hand where there is small dispatch. The Spartans and Spaniards have been noted to be of small dispatch: Mi venga la muerte de Spagna, (may my death come from Spain) for then it will be sure to be long in coming.

SIR FRANCIS BACON; Essay of Dispatch.

By how much unexpected, by so much

We must awake endeavour for defence;
For courage mounteth with occasion.

King John, Act ii. Sc. 1, 1. 80.

Let's take the instant by the forward top;
For we are old, and on our quick'st decrees
The inaudible and noiseless foot of Time

Steals ere we can effect them.

All's Well that Ends Well, Act v. Sc. 3, 1. 39.

Ebbing men, indeed,

Most often do so near the bottom run

By their own fear or sloth.

The Tempest, Act ii. Sc. 1, 1. 226.

PROMPTNESS IN ACTION.

91

That we would do,

We should do when we would; for this would' changes
And hath abatements and delays as many

As there are tongues, are hands, are accidents;1
And then this 'should' is like a spendthrift sigh,
That hurts by easing.

There is a tide in the affairs of men,

Hamlet, Act iv. Sc. 7, 1. 119.

Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune:
Omitted, all the voyage of their life

Is bound in shallows and in miseries.

On such a full sea are we now afloat;

And we must take the current when it serves,

Or lose our ventures.

Julius Cæsar, Act iv. Sc. 3, 1. 218.

Fearful commenting

Is leaden servitor to dull delay;

Delay leads impotent and snail-paced beggary.

Richard III., Act iv. Sc. 3, 1. 51.

Beware;

Those wounds heal ill that men do give themselves :

Omission to do what is necessary

Seals a commission to a blank of danger;

And danger, like an aguę, subtly taints

Even then when we sit idly in the sun.

Troilus and Cressida, Act iii. Sc. 3, 1. 228.

1 The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain. - Prov. xv. 19.

Our doubts are traitors

And make us lose the good we oft might win

By fearing to attempt.

Measure for Measure, Act 1. Sc. 4, 1. 77.

Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie, Which we ascribe to heaven: the fated sky Gives us free scope, only doth backward pull Our slow designs when we ourselves are dull.

Impossible be strange attempts to those
That weigh their pains in sense and do suppose
What hath been cannot be.

All's Well that Ends Well, Act i. Sc. 1, 1. 231.

The flighty purpose never is o'ertook

Unless the deed go with it.

Macbeth, Act iv. Sc. 1, 1. 145.

The folly of Rashness.

I knew a wise man, that had it for a by-word, when he saw men hasten to a conclusion, "Stay a little that we may make an end the sooner.” SIR FRANCIS BACON, Apothegms, 14.

Over-zeal

That still will meddle, little wisdom shows.

SOPHOCLES, Antigone, 1. 67.

Affected dispatch is one of the most dangerous things to business that can be it is like that which the physicians call predigestion, or hasty digestion, which is sure to fill the body of crudities and secret seeds of diseases. Therefore measure not dispatch by the time of sitting, but by the advancement of the business: and as in races it is not the large stride, or high lift, that makes the speed, so in business, the keeping close to the matter, and not taking of it too much at once, procureth dispatch.

And let your reason with your choler question1
What 'tis you go about: to climb steep hills
Requires slow pace at first: anger is like
A full-hot horse, who being allow'd his way,
Self-mettle tires him.

King Henry VIII., Act i. Sc. 1, l. 129.

1 He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly. - Prov. xiv. 29.