Grocott & Ward, comps. Grocott’s Familiar Quotations, 6th ed. 189-?.
Chain
The chain that’s fixed to the throne of Jove,
On which the fabrick of our world depends;
One link dissolved, the whole creation ends.
Waller.—On His Majesty’s danger at St. Andero, Verse 168.
Vast chain of being!
From Nature’s chain whatever link you strike,
Tenth or ten thousandth breaks the chain alike.
Pope.—Essay on Man, Epi. I. Line 237.