Learning do but try to love
And then you surely will improve
(from an 1806 sampler)

See the early blossoms springing
See the jocund lambkins play
Hear the lark and linnet singing
Welcome to the new-born day
(from an 1828 sampler)

Amidst my learning and my care
Nothing can equal God most dear
Nor ought with him my heart to share
Quick as my fingers move this thread
Under just rules do act with speed
In wisdom paths still may I thread
Giving to virtue constant heed
Love to be good and therefore wise
Youth finds in these the greatest pride
(verse from Ann Quigley's sampler of 1814)

Let the mind your noblest thoughts engage
Its beauties last beyond the flight of ages
(verse from an 1816 sampler)

Virtue's the friend of life
The soul of health
The poor man's comfort
And the rich man's wealth.
(verse from an 1805 sampler)

This needlework of mine was taught
not to spend my time for naught.
(verse from a 1789 sampler)

Queen of fragrance, Lovely Rose
The beauty of thy leaves disclose:
The winter's past, the tempests fly,
Soft gales breathe gently thro the sky:
The lark sweet warbling on the wind
Salutes the gay return of spring
(Dr. Wm. Broome, 1820)

Be my Ambition only to excell
In the blest art, the art of doing well.
(from an 1804 sampler)

Consider well some by past days
On former Times reflect
And see if thou in all thy ways
Are truly Circumspect
(from a 1760 sampler)

Oft as thine eye shall fondly trace
Those fine lines I here exact
Whate'er the time where'er the Place
Remember me my Friends
(from a 1784 sampler)

By this Exemplar I am taught
How letters great and small are wrought
So by the example of the wise
May I true virtue learn to prize
(from an 1817 sampler)

If I am right Oh teach my heart
still in the right to stay
If I am wrong Thy grace impart
to find a better way
(from Patty Coggeshall's sampler of 1792)

The pink will fade, the tulip wither
But a virtuous mind will bloom forever
(from an 1816 sampler)

This sampler wrought with so much care
Adorned with colours so rich and fair
My little friend let it impart
A moral lesson to thy heart
With like industry may it thou gain
That peace which will my mind sustain
In every trying time of need
Then wilt thou be happy indeed.
(from an 1825 sampler)

The industrious bee extracts from ev'ry flower
Its fragrant sweets, and mild balsamic power
Learn here with greatest care and nicest skill
To take the good, and to regret the ill
(from a 1790 sampler)

How much to be prized and esteemed is a Friend
On whom we may always safely depend
Our joys when extended will always increase
And griefs when divided are hushed into peace
(from a 1799 sampler)

Adorn your heart, adorn your mind
With knowledge of the purest kind
(from an 1808 sampler)

Happy the maid whose artless mind
In works of innocence can find
Amusement and delight
The landscape on this canvass lay
By which the blended colors may
Give charm and please the sight
(from an 1826 sampler)

Industry taught in early days
Not only gives the teacher praise
But gives us pleasure when we view
The works that Innocence can do
The Parents with exalting joy
Survey it as no childish toy
But as a prelude that each day
A greater genius will display

Learning is a beauty bright,
In learning take great delight,
Beauty will soon fade away,
But learning never will decay.
(from an 1807 sampler)

The canvas thus in colours laid
Gives a just emblem of mankind
Thus education good or bad
Shows on the canvas of the mind
(from an 1827 sampler)

Be not wise  in thy own eyes,
Be just and wise and virtue prize
(from a 1724 sampler)

Other Sampler Verses

Awake my soul and with the sun
Thy daily stage of duty run
Shake of dull sloth and early rise
To pay the morning sacrifice
(verse from Isabel Redie's sampler of 1816)

Thou, Lord, hast led thy people through the deep,
as careful shepherds guide their flocks of sheep.
O lead us with thy grace, to that blessed place,
where we may see and know thee face to face.
(verse from Eleanor Robson's sampler of 1805)
 

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