Grocott & Ward, comps. Grocott’s Familiar Quotations, 6th ed. 189-?.

Moral

He left the name at which the world grew pale,
To point a moral or adorn a tale.
Dr. Johnson.—Vanity of Human Wishes, Line 221.

Our stage-play has a moral—and, no doubt,
You all have sense enough to find it out.
Gay.—What do Ye Call it? Epilogue.