If an author would have us feel a strong degree of compassion, his characters must not be too perfect. - Anna Laetitia Barbauld

The cheerful light, the vital air, Are blessings widely given; Let nature's commoners enjoy
The common gifts of heaven.The well-taught philosophic mind
To all compassion gives; Casts round the world an equal eye, And feels for all that lives.<p>If mind, as ancient sages taught, A never dying flame, Still shifts thro' matter's varying forms, In every form the same, Beware, lest in the worm you crush A brother's soul you find; And tremble lest thy luckless hand Dislodge a kindred mind.

I read his awful name, emblazon'd high
With golden letters on th' illumin'd sky.

So when destruction lurks unseen, Which men like mice may share, May some kind angel clear thy path, And break the hidden snare.