EPISTLES PHILOSOPHICAL AND MORAL.

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LONDON: Printed for T. WILCOX, oppoſite the New-Church, in the Strand, M.DCCLIX.

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To The Firſt Miniſter of STATE, for the Time being.

[v]
HAIL mighty Pam! if ſong without offence
Thus hail the firſt court card in eminence,
Thou in whom kings find oft the ſov'reign ſway;
[vi]For kings at loo the leading knave obey:
Or if, content to play an humbler game,
Plain Jack we ſtile thee, more familiar name,
Thou, whoſe ſly blows the lower party feels,
While bent the high to catch thy tripping heels;
Great in thyſelf, whatever thou art call'd,
Nations by thee enfranchis'd or inthrall'd,
Holla'd to day to Palace-yard along,
Flatter'd at once in metzotint and ſong;
Or piqu'd, perhaps, while chimes the preſent line,
Ere yet turn'd out, as uſual, to reſign;
Branded by th' honeſt ſatire of the times
With all a miniſter's myſterious crimes!
[vii]To thee I pay my court, till in diſgrace,
And then as humbly to the next in place.
For know, what private worth ſoe'er thy boaſt,
I not addreſs thy perſon, but thy poſt;
Is there a time when ſtateſmen, good or great,
Look down with pity on the toils of ſtate;
Superiour to the boaſt of boaſted things,
The pomp of titles, and the ſmile of kings:
When, in the private hour of ſocial eaſe,
Ambition ſleeps, and truth itſelf may pleaſe?
At ſuch an hour, when ev'n politeneſs deigns
To taſte the rudeneſs of familiar ſtrains,
[viii]Preſuming thou, in honour to the muſe,
Indulgent once her labours may peruſe,
To thee thoſe honeſt labours ſhe commends:
At court while honeſt doubtleſs finding friends.
But, through thy levee if forbid to preſs,
In freedom's plain and anti-courtier's dreſs,
Light of her rhimes as of petitions made,
Should they be loſt, forgotten or miſlaid,
If not ſo vain to think thou ſhouldſt commend,
In either caſe permit me to defend.
Too well I know imputed as a crime
The gift of reaſon to the man of rhime;
[ix]To childiſh Fiction gingling numbers tied,
As bells that dangle by its infant ſide;
To uſeleſs whims poetick worth confin'd,
To ſtrike the ſenſe but not improve the mind.
Should on the daring verſe, then, cenſure fall,
From prieſt or prelate, waken'd in the ſtall;
Or ſhould the learned jurors take in hand
To burn the books they may not underſtand;
Scorn'd the loud torrent of the mob's abuſe,
With thee I leave my errour and excuſe.
Know then, my patron, once upon a time,
While yet a boy, I caught the itch of rhime:
[x]But, born with hatred to the ſing-ſong train,
Whoſe numbers charm, like empty notes, in vain,
While ſtrange to themes t' employ the muſe about,
The peccant humour broke but little out;
Till late, in waking dreams that trouble youth,
On one ſide prudence urg'd, on t'other truth:
Prudence, a worldly-minded dame, and ſly,
Who fix'd on earth ſtill kept her cautious eye;
While truth, whoſe open breaſt did mine inflame,
Look'd up to Heav'n; to heav'n, from whence ſhe came.
When now my eager heart her pow'r confeſs'd,
And thus her willing captive truth addreſs'd.
"Art thou, my friend, that enterprizing youth
[xi]"Who make pretenſions to the ſong of truth;
"By reaſon taught to leave, in early life,
"The wanton miſtreſs, for the faithful wife?
"Among the ſciences thy ſubject chuſe.
"Philoſophy's the sister of the muſe.
Prudence, who heard, made various hems and haws;
And, after due, deliberating pauſe,
Shaking her head, "beware raſh youth," ſhe cried,
"Let prudence here your early footſteps guide.
"Art thou ſo ignorant as not to know
"Truth leads us oft to poverty and woe?
"Let me adviſe—wouldſt thou ſucceed in rhime?
[xii]"Mark, at the proper ſeaſon, well thy time;
"Taking this maxim as a gen'ral rule,
"The knave is honeſt till he plays the fool:
"For times there are of ſuch malignant face,
"That ſharpers only riſe to pow'r and place;
"Times, when the mere huzza for publick good
"Breaks down all ranks of honour and of blood;
"When ſacred characters like bawds are us'd,
"And princes with impunity abus'd:
"The throne of majeſty a vulgar thing;
"While George, the cobler, damns great GEORGE, the king.
"In times like theſe, behold on ev'ry ſide
[xiii]"What pains we take offenſive truth to hide:
"Aſham'd to ſhow her baſhful face at court,
"See her ſimplicity the mob's rude ſport;
"Her lovers ſtigmatiz'd by gen'ral hate,
"As bold diſturbers of the church and ſtate.
"Wouldſt thou to this abandon'd tribe belong?
"What bard e'er heeded yet the TRUTH of ſong!
"Again, 'tis certain there may come a time,
"When impudence finds no excuſe in rhime;
"When even prudence may herſelf be juſt;
"Her int'reſt more to keep than break her truſt;
"When crowns are honour'd, and, in proper ſeaſon,
"Sh-bb-re, dread patriot, may be hang'd for treaſon:
[xiv]"A time, perhaps (years work the ſtrangeſt things)
"When the brave Scots may love their beſt of kings;
"When ſlighted ſcience may approach the throne;
"And Britons make true policy their own.
"What tho' their patriot hearts are known to fail,
"When dearth of barley threatens want of ale
"What tho' religion, arm'd by common-ſenſe,
"Breaks but its weapons in its own defence;
"Ev'n yet may piety be kept alive,
"And half expiring patriotiſm revive.
"At ſuch a ſeaſon, ſhould the muſe inſpire,
"If touch'd with caution, mayſt thou ſtrike the lyre,
"Perhaps uncenſur'd; but to look for praiſe!
[xv]"Know theſe, young bard, are no poetick days.
"But ſhould the age, as probably it may,
"Turn its looſe politicks another way;
"While, in religious mood, far puſh'd the ſchemes
"Of true born Britons, always in extremes,
"The times may yet return when frantick zeal
"Shall give its wooden ſword an edge of ſteel;
"When convocations ſhall in judgment ſit,
"To canvaſs th' infidelity of wit;
"On wicked KNOWLEDGE Britain's guilt to lay,
"And drive the deſtin'd victim far away.
"O, thus if ignorance ſhould rule, in turn,
"Bards loſe their ears, and martyr theiſts burn;
[xvi]"Ready reforming conſtables, at hand,
"Of ſcientifick vice to cleanſe the land;
"Have thou with truth nor morals aught to do.
"Things are not always fit that may be true."
Here Prudence ended—her advice was good:
But Truth had charms that could not be with ſtood.
Hers then the muſe—how far ſucceſs will ſhow
In times like ours her ſong be à propos.
So much indeed of prudence did I learn,
My fingers ne'er in politicks to burn.
Silent I ſat, amidſt the party rout,
When late the miniſtry turn'd in and out;
[xvii]When rag'd the furious gooſe-quills of the times,
To ſhame their country with their ſhameleſs rhimes.
Careleſs what turtle-eating ſon of White's
Might ſet the blunders of the ſtate to rights,
If Pollio, Gallus, Tully, or his grace,
Should all keep out, or who get into place.
I car'd not, I, tho' theſe, or none of theſe,
The king, the houſe, or mightier mob might pleaſe.
Blam'd I the peer, whom adverſe winds had blown
Round the wide world, to prop a monarch's throne;
Taught, in the hurricanes of ſouthern ſeas,
The ſtateſman's wiſdom and the courtier's eaſe;
By plunder'd Spaniards, the conſummate ſkill
[xviii]To ſteer a kingdom, like a bark, at will?
Tho' made too plain the lee-way of the realm,
Did I preſume to bid him mind the helm?
Nay, when the guardian genii of the land
To ſave our deſp'rate fortunes took in hand;
I ſung them not, tho' crown'd, by half the nation,
With civick wreaths, from town and corporation.
I ne'er, officious, crack'd my brains t'amend
Errours, the great alone might comprehend;
Plagu'd, with no ſongs of praiſe, our Lord the King;
Nor gave one faggot to the blaze of Byng:
But, free from panegyrick as abuſe,
Put all my little wit to private uſe.
[xix]Thus far of temp'ral politicks I'm clear;
Nor has the ſpiritual had more to fear.
Since goſpel witneſſes in form were tried,
Their valid evidence I ne'er denied;
Ne'er intermeddled with the jury's queſt,
Nor contradicted Littleton or Weſt.
When church and ſtate learn'd Warburton would join,
Tho' ſad th'affair, I made it none of mine:
Nor did I e'er, 'gainſt Leland's pen, preſume
To vindicate Lord Bolingbroke or Hume:
Made no pretence to freedom of debate;
Nor riſk'd, like harmleſs —n—t, Woolſton's fate.
And tho' for once, in this, a trick of youth,
[xx]Prudential views are ſacrific'd to truth;
Could I ſhake off thoſe vices rhime and ſenſe;
This firſt might likely prove my laſt offence;
Or, in thy cauſe enliſted once my pen,
I never more might trouble truth agen:
But to thy purpoſe turn my ready hand,
True to the law and goſpel of the land.
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ADVERTISEMENT.

[xxi]

THE ground work of the following Epiſtles being the fruit of a private correſpondence, it was found neceſſary, in preparing them for the preſs; to adapt them to more general uſe and amuſement. It may not, therefore, be improper to obſerve that, whatever theological ſubjects have fallen in the author's way, he hath purpoſely avoided taking part with divines of any ſect or party: leaving it to the ingenuous, of every perſuaſion, to determine how far their particular ſentiments may be ſupported by authorities, ſuperior to common-ſenſe and ſimple demonſtration. — As to his poetry; having no reputation to loſe, he is little anxious about what he may acquire. Indeed, it muſt be confeſs'd that perſpicuity and argument have been frequently conſulted, at the expence both of the dignity and harmony of his numbers, Elegance, however, would have been more attended [xxii] to, had the author's leiſure permitted; or, had his deſign been to diſtinguiſh himſelf as a poet; a character he is much leſs ambitious of than that of a philoſopher.

Unmov'd by ſophiſtry, unaw'd by name,
No dupe to doctrines, and no fool to fame.
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[xxiii]
CONTENTS.
  • EPISTLE THE FIRST — Page 5—42
    • OF truth in general.
    • Its criterion.
    • Its relation to opinion.
    • The uncertainty of the latter.
    • Neceſſary that both ſhould concur in Science.
  • EPISTLE THE SECOND — page 47—88
    • On Science, as our guide to truth.
    • The criterion beſt adapted to the opinion of individuals.
    • The abſurdity of perſecution.
    • Our pretenſions to divine, and the bounds of human knowledge.
  • EPISTLE THE THIRD — page 93—126
    • On the infatuation of mankind, reſpecting paradox and myſteries.
    • The effects and cauſes of ſuch infatuation.
    • The abſurdity of ſuppoſing ignorance and folly the means to promote the cauſe of truth; or that the freedom of ſcientifick inquiry is incompatible with the political welfare of ſociety.
  • [xxiv]EPISTLE THE FOURTH — Page 131—154
    • On the weakneſs of the human underſtanding
    • The abſtract exiſtence of the Deity
    • The incomprehenſibility of the divine nature, and the incongruity of pretended atheiſm.
  • EPISTLE THE FIFTH — page 159—202
    • On happineſs.
    • The apparent incapacity of mankind for its enjoyment.
    • The comparative pain and pleaſure of human ſenſations; and their relation to our phyſical and moral conſtitution.
  • EPISTLE THE SIXTH — page 209—256
    • On abſtract good and evil.
    • The phyſical perfection of the material univerſe, and the moral harmony obſervable in the diſpenſations of Providence.
  • EPISTLE THE SEVENTH — page 263—298
    • On moral principles
    • The reſpective influence of reaſon and the paſſions
    • The immorality of ignorance and the indiſpenſable duty of ſeeking knowledge.
  • EPISTLE THE EIGHTH — page 303—336
    • On the immortality of the ſoul; and the arments for, and againſt, a future ſtate.
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EPISTLE THE FIRST.

ARGUMENT.

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Of truth in general. —Its criterion. —Its relation to opinion. —The uncertainty of the latter. — Neceſſary that both ſhould concur in Science.

SUMMARY.

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UNiverſal belief being, in fact, an undiſputed criterion of truth, and all mankind neceſſarily believing thoſe poſitions which they conceive demonſtrable; ſcience, or demonſtrative knowledge, is ſuppoſed to be the leaſt exceptionable teſt of what is true or falſe, in general. —The abſtract certitude of the ſchools is, therefore, exploded. But, as particular opinions are not always the effect of knowledge, nor are ſyſtems conſtantly founded on ſcientifick principles, it is inquired if there be no other criterion, ſufficiently obvious to relieve the doubts and reconcile the oppoſite ſentiments of mankind. —The diſpenſations of providence, as well as the dictates of revelation, appear inadequate to the purpoſe; theologiſts being found too unſucceeſsful, in clearing up the ſacred page, and phiſiologiſts too ignorant of the ſyſtem of nature, for either to form opinions, equally adapted to the credulity of individuals. —Divines and philoſophers are cenſured, indeed, rather as, mercenary wranglers, or bigots to particular ſyſtems, than fair inquirers after, or teachers of, the truth. —A fair and ingenuous inquirer characteriz'd. —Such not frequently to be found; few being capacitated for ſo arduous a taſk. —Fortitude and moderation the grand requiſites: the ſcarcity of which in the minds of men, in general, ſerves to account for their want of ſucceſs in the attempt; as well as for their promptitude either to embrace [4] ſkepticiſm, as an antidote to errour, or conformity, to avoid the trouble of thinking. —Dogmatiſts and Skepticks cenſured: The former on account of their abſurd dependance on tradition and futile authorities: the latter for ſuperciliouſly rejecting, on the other hand, all authority and tradition, without diſtinction. —In our inquiries after truth, however, our belief is to be ſuſpended in regard to points beyond our knowledge. —In ſcientifick reſearches, alſo, the ſubtilty of metaphyſical arguments ſhould be with caution truſted, as inſenſibly leading us into errour and perplexity.

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EPISTLE THE FIRST.

[5]
WHILE zeal, beyond the grave, purſues
Whom prieſt and patriot abuſe,
With ſome the foſter-ſire of lies,
Extoll'd by others to the ſkies,
[6]St. John a, thus ſav'd and damn'd by fame,
An honour'd and a blaſted name!
Lorenzo aſks, ingenuous youth,
What is, and who believes, the truth.
The truth my friend, wouldſt learn of me?
'Tis that wherein mankind agree.
At leaſt no ſafer truth we know
Than that the world will grant us ſo.
"But when and where?" —the ſages tell,
Of yore 'twas buried in a well, b
So deep, that hid, for want of light,
From ev'ry peeping mortal's ſight,
The more ſuſpicious than the reſt
[7] Conceiv'd the ſtory was a jeſt;
And, as no ſoul could find it out,
That truth itſelf was all a doubt.
Philoſophizing train of thought!
Since by improving moderns caught;
Who tell us nature trick'd mankind,
When giving eyes ſhe left us blind:
Heav'n making fools, and thinking fit c
To play upon their want of wit.
But ſure we boldly may receive
As truth what all mankind believe:
Such univerſal faith a guide
In ſkepticiſm itſelf implied.
"Yet ſay in what the world unite,
[8] "Elſe uſeleſs this our rule of right;
"Elſe ſtill inquiry's at a pauſe;
"Still vague inveſtigation's laws."
Lorenzo, all, with you and me,
In points demonſtrable agree:
Conviction, right, or wrong, the teſt d
Of truth in ev'ry human breaſt:
While truths, demonſtratively ſo,
Who once believe profeſs to know.
On Science hence our ſearch muſt reſt;
That univerſal rule confeſs'd.
Laid then thoſe ſubtilties aſide
Where human certitude's denied,
[9] Inquiry ſafely may proceed
To form its ſcientifick creed.
Doth Solomon himſelf profeſs
His ſcience all uncertain gueſs, e
Th'egregious ſophiſter affirms
A contradiction, ev'n in terms.
Who can his ignorance ſuppoſe
Of that he's conſcious that he knows? f
Sayſt thou ſlow knowledge faith outflies;
Believers ſpurning at the wiſe;
Opinion, wing'd, feet, hand and head,
[10] In haſte, without her errand, ſped;
Or driv'n, inactive, here and there,
With ev'ry vagrant breath of air.
Wouldſt, therefore, know what ſyſtems err,
To whom opinions to refer,
Where trembling doubt and errour blind
At once a guard and guide may find;
At once ſucceſsfully apply,
And give to falſhood's face the lie?
No ſect, alas! profeſs the rule
That reconciles the knave and fool;
Unites the ignorant and wiſe:
Revering theſe what thoſe deſpiſe.
Whether from nature's general law
The outlines of our creed we draw,
Or think the truth be only given
[11] In revelation pure from Heaven,
It matters not; unleſs we find
Some active index in the mind,
Some ray of Heaven's unerring light,
To point, or here or there, aright.
Let Chriſtianity diſplay
Its wond'rous volume to the day;
The ſacred lines, however true,
Alike affect not me and you:
Th' accepted ſenſe of holy writ
Still reſting on th' accepting wit.
For who that read but comprehend
As taught by father, prieſt or friend,
Or tenets new, more nice than wiſe,
Peculiar to themſelves, deviſe.
How then prevails the ſacred text,
[12] If by the comment thus perplex'd;
If hereticks, of ev'ry kind,
Their tenets in the goſpel find;
If thus the ſpirit hide the flaw
That mars the letter of the law!
Let Nature's ſtriking ſcenes engage
The letter'd and unletter'd age;
Various as ev'ry varied tribe
The notions hence the world imbibe.
When meteors glow and comets blaze,
How wond'ring ignorance doth gaze;
Foretelling, ev'n in errour wiſe,
The judgments gath'ring in the ſkies!
Th' aurora g ſtreaming from the pole,
What groundleſs fear sthe weak control
[13] Hear them addreſs their angry God,
And take his mercies for his rod:
Whilſt thine, or Bradley's curious, eyes
As calmly view the threat'ning ſkies,
The plagues, the famines, wars they yield,
As Colin drives his team a-field.
Rolls the big thunder o'er the plain,
Melt the fierce light'nings clouds to rain,
Ah me! how impious, Crito cries,
To lift thy hand againſt the ſkies;
Thy lines of magick ſteel to form,
To brave the fury of the ſtorm;
With Franklin, h madly to defy
The thunderer's red right-arm, on high,
Bold Titan! to erect thy ſtand
[14] To wreſt the light'nings from his hand! i
Yet thoſe in phyſicks better read
At honeſt Crito ſhake the head;
In pity, or deriſion, ſmile;
Nature and truth their guard the while.
Thus, by unlike experience taught,
Peculiar are our modes of thought;
Explain'd, by Cuſtom's partial nod,
The voice of nature and of God.
Doſt thou apply to ſaint or ſage,
The guides of each believing age,
The truths, which myſteries conceal,
Or thoſe of ſcience to reveal?
[15] From far and near, what tales abſurd
Adulterate the written word!
How oft the pure, and perfect, text
Have baſe Theologiſts perplex'd!
What tranſcripts! what interpolation!
Eternal ſource of diſputation!
Alas, Lorenzo, few believe,
In fact, the doctrines they receive.
How few of ev'n the reverend tribe
The very canons they ſubſcribe!
Do ſuch their mother-church defend?
On her pluralities depend:
The mitre and the ſine-cure
Preſerving beſt her tenets pure.
For, rob the prieſthood of its gain,
What pillar will the church ſuſtain.
[16] What cement binds the crazy wall,
Whoſe ſapt foundation threats its fall.
Do ſuch profeſs to turn the key
On myſt'ries, hid from you and me;
Or of the oracles of old
The dubious phraſes to unfold;
To teach the truth to vulgar minds,
Which Heav'n's own blaze of rhetorick blinds?
Ah, think not theſe will e'er diſplay
Their ſecrets to the eye of day.
Tell me what artiſt will impart
To thee th' arcanum of his art.
Not one—but all, reſerv'd and ſly,
Affect to cheat th' obſerver's eye:
Their ſlighteſt knacks important made,
To raiſe the wonder of their trade.
Thus oft the reverend tiro, taught
[17] That none may ſerve their God for naught,
Caſts o'er his ignorance a veil,
Or maſks the moral of his tale;
Securely laughing in his ſleeve,
When fools the tale itſelf believe.
To ſave his calling from abuſe
His caution here, in fact, of uſe.
For once his art and miſt'ry k known
Who church-authority would own?
As, when ſublime conundrums hit,
We laugh to ſcorn the quibbler's wit;
So, in rever'd enigmas wiſe,
His riddling reverence we deſpiſe.
Sayſt thou, ſince reformation's hand
From ſpiritual ſlav'ry freed the land,
The ſacerdotal hydra chain'd,
[18] By truth opinions are reſtrain'd?
Look round, believing friend, and ſee
How pious Proteſtants agree.
In what leſs fickle do we find
The daughter's than the mother's mind!
For know th' abandon'd ſcarlet whore l
Our preſent alma-mater bore;
Whoſe beauty, modeſty and truth
Were all debauch'd in early youth,
While in ſeraglio, cloſe confin'd,
Sly prieſts conceal'd her from mankind.
And tho', when zeal to hide her ſin
[19] Had almoſt ſtript her to the ſkin;
To ſkreen her batter'd charms from ſhame,
She laid to truth her artful claim;
Yet, once ſecure, the cunning jade
Gave up its temporary aid;
Playing again her mother's game
With prieſts of ev'ry church the ſame. m
For tho', in pure exceſs of grace,
Miſs perk'd it in her mother's face,
Her diſobedience felt the ſmart,
When ſtabb'd her int'reſt to the heart.
What tho' ſhe flaunt no longer gay;
[20] Her tawdry trappings caſt away;
Her trim ſimplicity, at beſt,
Is vanity but ſprucely dreſs'd.
What tho' forbid to patch and paint,
And paſs the ſinner for a ſaint,
Yet ſtill the holy dame, afraid
That truth and reaſon ſpoil her trade,
Her pulpit-trumpet ſounds to arms,
And fills the zealot with alarms.
Awaken'd by her fearful cries,
Behold her doughty champions riſe;
Arm'd cap-a-piè each mother's ſon,
To ſave their parent, roaring run;
Conſcious how greatly to their coſt
Might church-authority be loſt.
While thus the orthodox in grain,
In ſpite of fate, their church maintain;
[21] The truth, a term of meaning wide,
To all the prieſt affirms applied;
No leſs the het'rodox than they,
From pride or av'rice, go aſtray:
As motives ſimilar prevail
With thoſe who brew or broach the tale.
Say, elſe, if ſelf-conviction true
The conſcientious Henley knew;
Fir'd by a pure religious zeal,
That champion of the publick weal,
For pence, the primacy to ſlight, n
To jeſt with ev'ry ſacred rite,
To trample, with avow'd deſign,
On laws both human and divine.
Say what his aim, whoſe dread rebukes
[22] Craz'd his poor neighbours of St. Luke's; o
Who, godly warfare proud to ſeek,
In ſuff'rance turns the ſmitten cheek:
As knaviſh Jews, to ſell their ware,
Abuſe and inſult tamely bear.
No worldly gain to Whitfield yields
The plenteous harveſt of Moor-Fields;
While from the gift of ſterling gold,
Like off'rings to the Lord of old, p
The coatleſs prieſt with Aaron vies, q
And modern tabernacles riſe?
Or, are fanatick weavers led
Becauſe his vanity is fed;
[23] A tickling tranſport that he feels,
To find his thouſands at his heels;
To hear the Io poeans ring,
Due to the hero, ſaint or king;
Which, ne'ertheleſs, the mob beſtow,
On ſainted pick-pockets, below.
If then, by poverty or pride,
The prieſt and parſon led aſide;
While theſe, th' inſtructors of mankind,
Our ignorance their intereſt find;
O ſhun, Lorenzo, ſhun the ſtreet
Where diſputant theologues meet.
See the wing'd cork, from ſide to ſide
Rebound, the truant ſchool-boy's pride,
With equal warmth, with equal noiſe,
So theſe, by turns, like truant boys,
Between what ſaint or father ſaith,
[24] Bang the light ſhittle-cock of faith.
But hark! what jargon ſtrikes our ear?
What hebrew madmen have we here?
What pen the frenzy ſhall deſcribe
Of Hutchinſon's or Behmen's tribe; r
Who, ſcorning reaſon's vain pretence,
Make war, a dire croiſade, on ſenſe?
If reaſon, then, reprizals make,
At once their cauſe and them forſake,
What wonder? yet, in truth, 'twere well
Might Bedlam ſpare one vacant cell;
Since no good chriſtian, yet, for Law, s
Hath ſtrown his darken'd room with ſtraw.
Theologiſts ſo prone to err,
[25] Doſt thou philoſophers prefer?
Theſe oft, an intereſted ſect,
Like poverty or pride affect.
Logicians, caſuiſts by trade,
At random draw their furious blade;
Taking, in gladiatorial pride,
The cudgels up on either ſide.
To them indiff'rent wrong or right;
Swiſs champions! theirs the taſk to fight:
And ſhare, with venal art, the prey;
The golden gettings of the day.
So Broughton's t heroes bruis'd and bled,
At once for honour and for bread:
And Powel's u virtuous thirſt of fame
Inur'd his iron lips to flame.
[26]The learn'd, prodigious wiſe indeed
The man by Heav'n inſpir'd to read!
Affecting merely to decide,
Indulge their magiſterial pride,
And, deigning ſcarce on ſenſe a look,
Profoundly dogmatize by book:
Save here thoſe champions of the gown,
Meek w Warburton and modeſt Brown. x
To real merit ne'er allied
The pedant's, or the parſon's pride,
By ſingularity of taſte
Good ſenſe and lit'rature diſgrac'd,
See wrangling Sophiſters, intent
On croſs-grain'd paradoxes bent;
As if to truth they made pretence
By wand'ring but from common-ſenſe.
[27]Among the witty and the wiſe,
Hence oft in words their difference lies;
While empty terms, for years, engage
The ſcholar's and the ſkeptick's rage:
Till, wearied out, they ſtare to ſee
In fact how nearly all agree.
So, poiz'd between two empty ſcales,
Now here, now there, the beam prevails,
That, as their falſe vibrations ceaſe,
In equilibrio reſts in peace.
Nor ſeldom, when in fact diſſent
Theſe ſlaſhing ſons of argument,
The ſubject-matter in debate
Beneath the pains t'inveſtigate.
Philoſophy at Arthur's y taught,
So Bond and Brag, diſputing, fought,
[28]Whether as near, from Change to Kew, z
To croſs the old bridge or the new.
"Could neither wheel nor chain decide?"
Alas, my friend, they never tried.
For neither of theſe learned youth
Car'd one braſs farthing for the truth:
But each, to make his judgment out,
Would drive full-ſpeed ten miles about.
The firſt-philoſophy aa in uſe
Thus argumentative abuſe:
While truth and falſehood, right and wrong,
Serve as the burthen of a ſong:
With ſophiſts, as with ſcolding wives,
Quarrel the buſineſs of their lives.
[29]Leave then; Lorenzo, vain diſpute.
Empty the triumph to confute.
Nor thoſe for truth's defenders take,
Who cavil but for cavil's ſake.
But is there, lay-man or divine,
In whom good ſenſe and temper join;
A prieſt of honeſt bb Clogher's mould,
Or theiſt moderate as bold,
To whom indulgent Heav'n aſſign'd
A truly ethick turn of mind;
Who dares the mob in ſcorn to hold;
Hath weigh'd the happineſs of gold;
Hath found the pond'rous cheat ſo light,
That avarice gets nothing by't;
Who rates the value of a name
[30]From th' inſignificance of ſame;
Not vainly ſeeking more to know
Than God, has giv'n to man, below;
Yet, whereſoe'er diſplay'd her charms,
Embracing truth with open arms.
On ſuch Lorenzo may depend,
For guide, philoſopher and friend.
"But where ſuch friend and guide" you cry.
Knowſt thou no ſuch? alas, nor I.
For O, the truth, in fact, how few
Have pow'r or talents, to purſue.
Alike th' abilities unfit
Of pedant dull or ſprightly wit,
Of captious criticks, ſcholiaſts vain,
Of ev'ry ſuperficial brain.
Indeed too oft ev'n genius gains
Its labour only for its, pains:
[31]Immortal bards not ſeldom here,
Dupes, from their mother's milk, to fear.
Tho' ſmoothly run the hackney'd lay
Along the beaten, moral way;
Should truth on cuſtom turn its back,
Or deviate from the vulgar track,
Like crabs, with retrogreſſive feet,
Such temporizing bards retreat;
Humming, their credit to maintain,
To worn-out tunes th' old catch again.
Ev'n thus thy fav'rite bard retir'd,
Whom ev'ry muſe at once inſpir'd,
Whoſe ſtrains immortalize the guide.
His ſcholiaſt piouſly decried,
Thy Pope, who, like a forward child,
In leading-ſtrings, ran bold and wild;
But, fearful of himſelf to ſtand,
[32]Seiz'd his old, tottering mother's hand. cc
Look back, Lorenzo, never thou,
When ſet thy hand unto the plough.
In vain we ſacrifice to truth
The ſportive giddineſs of youth,
If falſhood's painted charms engage
The doting levity of age.
Truth's thorny paths who fear to run,
Should e'er her dang'rous portal ſhun:
Nor ſet like heroes boldly out,
To founder in the deeps of doubt.
[33]Yet ne'er forget—tho' boldneſs thine,
Temp'rance that boldneſs muſt refine.
True temp'rance, rational and brave;
To ſtoick pride no ſullen ſlave:
Not ſuch as, gently meek and mild,
Betrays the weakneſs of a child;
Nor that, without or fear or wit,
By chance, ev'n blunderers may get.
The raſh, too angry to be bold,
By falſhood oft are bought and ſold.
The proud, too haughty to be wiſe,
See not where grov'ling errour lies.
The heedleſs counts without his hoſt,
Or runs his noſe againſt the poſt:
And oft their tim'rous indolence
The meek indulge, at truth's expence.
So hard to keep that middle way,
[34]From which inquiry ne'er ſhould ſtary;
While, for the taſk, as hard to find
A truly firm, capacious mind;
No wonder fools, the would-be-wiſe,
Suppoſe in doubt that wiſdom lies:
Or that, becauſe ſo ſhort their ſight,
Truth may be errour, wrong be right. dd
For ignorance, to ſooth its pride,
Muſt ſeek its own defects to hide.
[35]
Affecting, hence, all unbelief,
Is Scoto infidel in chief;
His hand and heart, his ears and eyes
Confeſſing what his tongue denies?
To truth in ev'ry ſyſtem blind,
Yet ſeeking it where none ſhall find;
Lorenzo, here his wit a cheat,
That mocks his judgment with deceit.
Where'er opinion gaily dreſs'd,
Runs gadding in her rainbow veſt,
Among her ſiſterhood, a crew
Of motley wives black, red or blue;
See ſkeptick faith, the truth in chaſe,
Run giddily, from face to face;
Now this, now that, by turns, enjoy;
Nor find them falſe till found to cloy.
Thus, with the fair he moſt admires,
[36]Full ſoon the wav'ring lover tires.
At morn, her ſmiles with joy he meets;
At night, affronts her in the ſtreets;
By looſe ſuſpicion wand'ring led,
Or ſpider fancy's flimſy thread;
Till, on ſome lying whore, at laſt,
He lights, and holds her dogmas faſt.
Oppos'd to theſe, nor ſtrange to find,
In uniformity combin'd,
Believing thouſands; who ſuppoſe
Truth with a mob for ever goes:
As if convinc'd the rabble rout,
Becauſe too obſtinate to doubt.
Yet cuſtoms old or faſhions new
Are all th' unthinking herd purſue.
The orthodox in dreſs and ſong
[37]As modiſh as to right and wrong. ee
Of cuſtom born, to faſhion bred,
Thus blind credulity is led:
While modes of faith, like modes of dreſs,
Mankind capriciouſly profeſs.
Yet all agreed, through ſhame or pride,
Nature's ſimplicity to hide,
Whate'er the faſhion of the time,
It holds the naked truth a crime.
Thus, to a man, we find the crowd,
To doubt too baſhful, or too proud,
In errour rather chuſe to fall,
Than boaſt no ſcheme of faith at all.
Impatient, hence, of ſtop or ſtay,
They blunder on the broadeſt way;
[38]Or make a guide, in ev'ry ſtreet,
Of fool or knave, the firſt they meet.
Authorities how blind and lame
Hence bring the credulous to ſhame;
While all revere the mould'ring page,
Where moths have ſpent their gothick rage.
Tales half deſtroy'd, the reſt ſo true!
So much inſpir'd the Lord-knows-who! ff
Couldſt thou, Lorenzo, build thy hopes.
On muftis, patriarchs or popes;
On names implicitly depend,
And mere authorities defend?
Split on this rock, miſtaken youth,
Loſt were thy voyage to the truth:
'Twere beſt to give thy labour o'er,
[39]Nor urge in vain thy genius more.
Lorenzo, credit not too ſoon
Fine tales and tidings from the moon:
Nor, howſoever learn'd or juſt;
In prieſt or prophet put thy truſt.
By Paul or by Apollos taught,
Still to one teſt their tenets brought,
Their doctrines, howſoever true,
Adopt not till they're ſo to you.
For oft, when ſtript of its diſguiſe,
Folly the wiſdom of the wiſe.
Yet ſuperciliouſly reject
No dogmas that the world reſpect.
'Gainſt ſuch too raſhly ne'er inveigh;
Nor caſt thy grandſire's wit away.
Diſdaining at the lamp to pore,
That lights us to the claſſick lore,
[40]The half-taught deiſt thus exclaims
At texts rever'd and hallow'd names,
Damning profane or ſacred writ,
That ſquares not with his ſhallow wit.
But while, through ignorance or pride,
Opinions thus the world divide;
Faith made the prieſt's and ſtateſman's tool;
By turns while truth and falſhood rule,
Or, with ſome temporizing view,
Nonſenſe, that's neither falſe nor true;
Canſt thou, at eaſe in doubt, my friend,
On points too dark thy faith ſuſpend?
Canſt thou the world's eſteem forego;
And burns thy boſom but to know?
Is truth thy only creed profeſs'd?
Canſt leave to providence the reſt?
Throw partial ſyſtems all aſide,
[41]And take thy knowledge for thy guide.
See where the ſtream of Science flows
From nature's fountain, whence it roſe;
Through hills and dales meand'ring led,
As clear as at the fountain head.
Stand thou not ſhiv'ring on the brink,
Once well embark'd thou canſt not ſink:
Nor can the current falſely guide,
While reaſon's banks incloſe the tide;
Whence truth, in ſight, on either hand,
Smiles on thy voyage through the land.
But, O, with caution, hoiſt thy ſail,
To court the metaphyſick gale;
Leſt, hurried on, thy heedleſs youth
Should loſe, with land, the ſight of truth:
Turn'd forth adrift, thy lot to take,
On errour's broad unfathom'd lake;
[42]'Mong ſtruck leviathans, in vain,
To plunge and flounder through the main:
Where tides nor ſet, nor currents ſteer;
But winds all round the compaſs veer;
While floating iſles, that cheat the ſight,
To faithleſs anchorage invite:
Hobbes, St. John, Hume and hundreds more,
Rich barks! all wreck'd upon the ſhore.
[figure]
[43]

EPISTLE THE SECOND.

ARGUMENT.

[44]

On Science, as our guide to truth—The criterion beſt adapted to the opinion of individuals— The abſurdity of perſecution—Our pretenſions to divine, and the bounds of human knowledge.

SUMMARY

[45]

SCience, though admitted as the rule of faith in matters relating to the inveſtigation of truth, is neither excluſive nor univerſal, affecting only our opinion in ſpeculative points. For, however refin'd are our credenda, we inſenſibly join, in our practical notions, with the reſt of mankind. —Whatever objection, therefore, ſcientifick inquirers may make to the ſyſtems of others, none can be made to their fixing the criterion of truth on knowledge: the certainty of which is, by implication, admitted in the general pretenſions of mankind to common-ſenſe. —This is the privilege of ev'ry mind, without diſtinction; enabling us equally to draw like concluſions from like premiſes. —All actual diſpute, therefore, ariſes from ſome miſunderſtanding, or different acceptation, of the matter in queſtion: as the moſt ignorant peaſant is equally certain of the proofs he comprehends with the greateſt philoſopher. —For the ſame reaſon, nevertheleſs, thoſe would be engag'd in a deſperate undertaking, who ſhould attempt to reconcile mankind to any one ſyſtem of opinion; the capacity and credulity of individuals being ſo very different, in conſequence of their diverſity of temperament, education and experience. —It is injurious and ridiculous, therefore, to inſult others, for thinking in the manner we ourſelves ſhould have done, under the ſame circumſtances. —It is ſtill more abſurd to reprobate the reſt of mankind for not believing what we ourſelves do not, nor can poſſibly [46] be made to, believe: as is the caſe when we would impoſe tenets, that either contradict themſelves, or are, in fact, downright nonſenſe—For it is impoſſible to believe apparent falſhood, or to be convinc'd of any thing, by a ſet of words, that convey no determinate meaning—Myſterious or unintelligible propoſitions cannot, therefore, be believ'd—If the truth of revelation, in general, be admitted, as what is reveal'd from Heaven muſt undoubtedly be true, the difficulty of knowing what is particularly ſo, or who are the truly inſpir'd, is yet inexplicably great. —Tho' the power of working miracles alſo be allow'd a proof of inſpiration, in the agent; the fallacy of pretended ones, and the ſuppos'd inſpiration of impoſtors, are almoſt invincible obſtacles to our diſcovery of the truth. —The ſuppoſition, alſo, that real miracles are tranſgreſſions of the laws of nature is not at all neceſſary to ſupport their veracity; but argues the contrary; and implies an injurious reflection on the omnipotence and preſcience of the Deity. —Whatever reaſonable objections, however, we may have againſt putting implicit faith in either pretended miracles or revelation; yet as the utmoſt extent of ſcientifick diſcovery falls ſo infinitely ſhort of a perfect knowledge of the deſigns and operations of Nature; we cannot philoſophically deny that God ſometimes produces effects, for ends beſt known to himſelf, by means wholly unknown to us. —To proceed, nevertheleſs, in our inquiries on the moſt certain grounds, the criterion of Science is to be neglected only in points indiſputably and intelligibly reveal'd.

[figure]

EPISTLE THE SECOND.

[47]
NOR to the fount of Hippocrene,
Nor groves of laurel ever green,
Nor where the wanton graces ſtray,
With flow'rs is ſtrown the muſe's way.
[48] Lorenzo, no, I more rejoice
At reaſon's bold, and manly, voice
Than at the ſofteſt, ſprightlieſt air
Mirth ever ſung to lighten care:
Truth's ſober tale more pleas'd to hear
Than all that tickle fancy's ear;
Tho' ſuch, to babbling echo ſweet,
Aloud the publick voice repeat.
Our numbers, then, let truth excuſe,
If rudely ſing th' unpoliſh'd muſe;
Careleſs of ornament, and proud
To differ from the ſing-ſong crowd,
So boaſtful of their poor pretence
To ſwell with ſound their ſtarveling ſenſe.
Truth hopes not for poetick praiſe:
To fiction ſacred are the bays.
Doſt thou, Lorenzo, ſtill demur:
[49]So fearful in thy ſearch to err,
If plac'd thy faith on points alone
Whoſe truth demonſtratively known;
Theſe much too few, and too confin'd,
To ſerve the purpoſe of mankind.
Let a trite moral here adviſe.
"Be not more credulous than wiſe."
Whatever doubts thy courſe impede,
Seek not to amplify thy creed,
By myſt'ries dark or dogmas old,
Becauſe to ſon from father told;
Severely to known truth confin'd,
Of little faith were all mankind.
Thy preſent, arduous taſk, my friend,
No vague determinations end.
Of practice ſpeculation wide,
Demands for thee a ſurer guide,
[50]If in the former prone to ſtray,
The juſtling world oppoſe our way:
While, in the laſt, are thouſands flown
Paſt the world's knowledge or their own.
"But hath this ſcientifick choice
"The ſuffrage of the general voice:
"The means conſiſtent with the end;
"That truth which you, yourſelf, commend? a
Lorenzo, ſee to common-ſenſe b
How juſt, how gen'ral the pretence.
To nation, climate, age or ſect,
Unlimited without reſpect:
Whence, howſoever wide we ſtray,
[51]When church, or ſyſtem, lead the way,
All, of neceſſity, agree
In what, alike, they hear and ſee.
For not a ſon of Adam's race
Innate conviction can efface
The highland loon, the lowland lout,
Wild Iriſh fierce, and Cambrian ſtout,
The boor that Rhynland's polder drains,
Tho' reaſon ſlumber in his brains,
All, all, like premiſes in view, c
The like concluſions ever drew.
For know that like our mother earth
Its human offspring, at its birth.
Where fertile clay and barren ſand
Compoſe the variegated land,
[52]Th' unequal ſtrata of the ſoil
Unequally demand our toil:
The rich that toil with gain repay;
Thrown on the poor our pains away.
In man's uncultivated mind
So varied is the ſoil, in kind.
The flow'rs of ſcience, freſh and fair,
On ſome expand, without our care;
On others ſcarce, by culture, grow
The buds, that wither as they blow.
Yet here eſſentially allied,
However elſe diverſified.
The fertile marl, the ſteril ſand
Alike the ſeed or plant, demand:
Denied no more ſpontaneous grain
To Bergen's rocks than Baioe's plain d
[53]So, not a truth innate our own, e
The ſeeds of knowledge muſt be ſown.
Experience ſlow muſt ſwell the root,
And tend the fibres as they ſhoot;
Or ſpeedier aid inſtruction grant,
And ſlips of foreign growth implant.
The mental and material claim
Here too eſſentially the ſame:
Grow ſeed or plant where'er it will
In kind 'tis propagated ſtill.
[54]No ſoil nor climate can produce
In tares the barley's potent juice:
To thorns no culture can aſſign
The purple honours of the vine.
Thus when, by ſimple nature's aid,
Put forth ſenſation's tender blade;
If, to perfection nearer brought,
It bloom and ripen into thought,
Wherever ſituate the root;
The ſame its intellectual fruit.
Its taſte, its form, perhaps, we blame,
But ſtill its genus is the ſame:
In this no poverty of ſoil,
No dullneſs ever mock'd our toil.
If vainly, then, in letter'd pride,
The ſcholar deep is dignified;
So falſe, ſo empty the pretence
[55]Of wits to more than common-ſenſe;
If plain to th' idiot as to you
Th' immediate object of his view;
While ev'n the blockhead truly knows
Far as his little ſcience goes;
Conſiſtent, ſure our confidence,
In ſearch of truth, on common-ſenſe:
That gen'ral index to mankind, f
To taſte and genius unconfin'd;
Pointing in all one common way;
By dullneſs ſhorten'd but its ray;
Of wit and knowledge all the end
In length that radius to extend:
In ſtubborn age, or pliant youth,
Its bearing in the line of truth;
[56]A needle conſtant to the pole,
Whence beams true faith upon the ſoul.
Doſt thou object "if common-ſenſe
"So plauſible an evidence,
"And all mankind of this poſſeſs'd,
"That any differ from the reſt."
Know thou when honeſt minds diſſent,
Miſunderſtood their argument:
Diff'rent the premiſes appear,
Elſe were the fix'd deduction clear.
Hence half our num'rous quarrels riſe.
We ſee not with each others eyes:
So that preciſely all alike
Nor terms, nor things conception ſtrike.
For ev'ry individual draws
His plan by mere perſpective laws;
Fix'd to one ſtation, time and place,
[57]In pow'r no full ſurvey to trace;
The falſe miſtaking oft for true,
Obſerv'd at diff'rent points of view.
So, when to cheat the partial ſight,
And prove in mirth that black is white,
With lights diſpos'd the ſhades between,
In folds is ſpread the artful ſcene;
Oppos'd, the colours ſtrike the eye,
And he affirms what you deny.
Here ſpotleſs all appears and fair;
Perceiv'd a total blackneſs there.
The demonſtration of his ſight
Who doubts? who knows not black from white?
Thus evidence ſupports diſpute;
Nor one the other can refute.
And yet is common-ſenſe to blame?
The premiſes were not the ſame.
[58]Were theſe alike, tho' ſay you err,
Both would infallibly concur:
For take each others point of ſight,
And ſet, at once, the matter right. g
Conceive not, then, becauſe we find
One ſource of truth in ev'ry mind,
We individuals think to ſee,
At ev'ry time and place, agree.
As well, amidſt yon grove of trees
While plays a conſtant eaſtern breeze,
[59]Each ſingle ſpray we hope to find
In one direction, weſt, reclin'd.
For, tho' to truth alike our claim,
Our taſte nor ſentiments the ſame.
For duſky green the jaundic'd eye
Miſtakes the clear-blue ſummer ſky;
The diſtant ſcene, however bright,
Is darkneſs to the ſhort of ſight;
To loaded ears as whiſpers ſtill
The clack and thunder of the mill.
Thus loſt, as colours on the blind,
On dullneſs qualities refin'd;
Than muſick to the deaf no more,
To ignorance th' abſtracted lore.
Hence oft objection calls us out,
To ſatisfy the blockhead's doubt;
Who not one proof, whereon depends
[60]His ſought ſolution, comprehends: h
The triteſt arguments, of yore,
In vain repeated o'er and o'er,
Proving how fruitleſs were the toil,
The jarring world to reconcile.
And yet, as but from time and place
Our ſev'ral modes of thought we trace,
Alas! how blindly do we run
Each others hereſy to ſhun;
Our own our glory and our pride,
While curſes all the reſt betide:
By pious children doom'd their ſire,
By ſires, their children to hell-fire:
Heirs to ſalvation's brighter ſphere
[61]So ſtrangely damn'd, and damning here!
Thus Calvin ignorantly raves
At ſouls which, therefore,Luther ſaves;
To both denied Lord Peter's keys;
Who ſhuts out hereticks like theſe.
And yet ev'n thoſe, who boaſt to feel
Their boſoms burn with chriſtian zeal;
Who dooming muſſulmen to hell,
With pride uncharitable ſwell;
In Naz'reth bred, or Bethle'm born,
Had laugh'd our Saviour's birth to ſcorn;
Mere Turks, denounc'd for you and me,
The bitter fruit of Zacon's tree
To eat with fiends below: the doom
Of Anti-Mahomet and Rome!
Yet, blind as Sampſon, when deſpair
Had ſunk his life below his care,
[62]The numbers wanton Gaza loſt
Deſtroy'd but at his proper coſt,
Half-witted Zeal, of all the teſt,
Itſelf condemns among the reſt;
For, if requir'd by gracious Heaven
Our ſervice but as knowledge given,
Should I in Pope or Mufti, truſt;
For proving to their tenets juſt,
Your rule to cenſure me, or mine,
Holds the like condemnation thine. i
Yet ſtill more wicked, weak and blind
This reprobating, zeal we find;
When, void of truth, abſurd and vain
The tenets zealots thus maintain.
Oh! how ridiculous and odd
[63]That zeal precipitate for God,
So ſhort of knowledge, k that, indeed,
It underſtands not ev'n its creed.
For know, whate'er the world pretend,
But few believe what they defend.
In modes of faith, tho' falſehood taught,
Nonſenſe is equally their fault:
Thouſands by forms of ſpeech deceiv'd
Ne'er yet by mortal man believ'd;
Creeds penn'd, as ſaid, at Heaven's command,
In terms no ſoul can underſtand;
Or ſuch, tho' thunder'd from on high,
That plainly give themſelves the lie.
But ſure, if words no ſenſe convey,
[64]Faith in their utt'rance dies away;
Nor can a ſingle ſon of Eve
Apparent falſehood e'er believe. l
Belief no vague declaimer's rant,
No bigot's creed, no ſophiſt's cant;
'Tis not the ſcripture text to quote;
To get our catechiſm by rote;
O'er homilies to ſpend the day;
At midnight, half aſleep, to pray;
To chatter matins at the dawn,
[65]Or gabble with the man of lawn:
True faith that conſciouſneſs of ſoul,
That times nor accidents control;
Save thoſe adapted and combin'd
To root conviction from the mind.
For know that neither threats nor blows
Sincere belief can e'er impoſe.
The monk's hot zeal, the jeſuit's ſkill
Lead not conviction as they will.
Go, turn inquiſitor and burn
The hereticks, all round, in turn;
The Turk, refuſing to reſign
His ſenſual paradiſe for thine;
The Indian, that in death pretends
To viſit but his former friends;
Unleſs his faith what you may tell,
Of joys in Heav'n and pains in Hell.
[66]Not one of all the ſuffering tribe
Thy ſentiments per-force imbibe.
Howe'er induc'd by hope or fear,
The mind is no free agent here:
To change their faith beyond the power
Of martyrs at their dying hour.
How idly, then, enthuſiaſts rave
Of ſyſtems, that will damn or ſave;
Or think true proſelytes to gain
By torture, gallows, whip or chain:
Since, ever conſtant to its cauſe,
True faith depends on nature's laws;
By nonſenſe nor caprice miſled,
The honeſt heart and ſober head.
How idly wild fanaticks preach,
While ignorant of what they teach.
The ſpirit ne'er affects the mind,
[67]Unleſs with th' underſtanding join'd;
Nor hath the word, if void of ſenſe,
To goſpel pow'r the leaſt pretence. m
Some certain meaning, hence, and plain
A ſaving faith muſt needs contain:
If fix'd its object, ſure, no leſs
The ſenſe of terms our creed expreſs:
A parrot, elſe, if none deceive her,
A ſound and orthodox believer;
Convinc'd as much as ever yet
The Athanaſian paroquet. n
Let not fanaticiſm deceive.
[68]None can a myſtery believe. o
Tho' plung'd by zeal in errour deep,
While common-ſenſe lies faſt aſleep,
Their faith raſh bigots ſtrangely boaſt;
The ſtrongeſt his who's cheated moſt;
Who leaſt for truth preſumes to ſearch;
But headlong runs into the church.
For, laid thy hand upon thy heart,
The formule of thy creed impart;
Doſt thou its ſubſtance comprehend?
[69]Lo! all its myſtery's at an end.
In ſpite of their miſguiding zeal,
Here to their hearts let all appeal:
Enough if juſt be their pretence
To honeſty and common-ſenſe:
Here reſts that umpire of mankind,
Conſcience, the God within the mind.
At eaſtern temples as, of yore,
Without the threſhold of the door,
In reverence, did the zealot uſe
To doff, and leave, his dirty ſhoes:
Like him, the modern faithful, taught
That reaſon is a thing of naught,
Leſt they ſhould ſoil the church with doubt,
Their underſtandings leave without.
For aſk who thus in myſtery truſt,
If Euclid's demonſtration's juſt;
[70]If truth the geometrick art,
Or ſubtile algebra, impart.
Unknowing what preciſely meant,
They honeſtly reſuſe aſſent;
Conſeſs they firſt muſt comprehend,
Before they credit or contend.
O ſelf condemn'd! O dead to ſhame!
Have theſe a conſcience void of blame;
Who take no worldly points on truſt,
But ſcruple till they know them juſt;
Yet their ſupreme concerns will reſt
On tenets half the world conteſt;
Conviction openly defie,
And with their tongues their hearts belie!
Theſe the true faithful ſhall we call?
Theſe have, alas, no faith at all.
For, howſoe'er with art they ſtrive
[71]To keep abſurdity alive,
Cloath'd in equivocal diſguiſe,
Or garb of truth, their ſpecious lies,
Still common-ſenſe, unrooted out,
Will find a flaw to fix a doubt:
And where one doubt is left behind
No firm belief informs the mind.
Yet is there whoſe officious zeal
Pretends a conſciouſneſs to feel,
A fix'd internal evidence
Of axioms, hid from common-ſenſe;
A ſtronger teſtimony given,
By inſpiration breath'd from Heaven?
Lorenzo, neither you, nor I,
What God reveals can e'er deny.
But here how needful to be wiſe
To know where revelation lies.
[72]Art thou thyſelf inſpir'd by Heav'n?
Tell me what certain proof is given.
Doſt thou intuitively view
What reaſon tells thee muſt be true?
No revelation here requir'd;
How proves ſuch truth that thou'rt inſpir'd?
For why inſpir'd, if but to tell
What reaſon might have told as well.
As truth beholds thy mental eye
What ſeems to all the world a lie;
Thy proof imagination ſtrong?
Here alſo mayſt thou ſtill be wrong.
From Heav'n if ever fir'd conceit,
Brandy has alſo done the feat.
Nay oft th' infatuate of brain,
Of Heav'n's preſum'd injunctions vain,
Have madly broke its dread commands.
[73]And dipt in blood their murd'ring hands.
If God or devil then inſpire,
Of reaſon ſtill we muſt inquire:
And reaſon doubtleſs would reply,
"Heav'n never yet reveal'd a lie."
On others gifts confiding more,
Doſt give thine own pretenſions o'er?
Doſt from th' inſpir'd thy faith receive,
And pin it on thy neighbour's ſleeve?
Reaſon or Heav'n muſt tell thee too,
If ſuch be more inſpir'd than you.
"Where then the proof?" I frankly own,
To me, yet uninſpir'd, unknown:
Such guides, to me, by madneſs fir'd,
As madmen,p with the Turks, inſpir'd.
[74]
In ſpite of Middleton and Hume,
Doſt thou on miracles preſume?
To revelation theſe thy guide;
Thy faith by wonders verified.
Go thou, and, eaſy of belief,
My comrade aſk if I'm a thief.
If inſpiration falſe and true,
Sure miracles ſuſpicious too:
And, hence, thy conduct moſt abſurd,
To take for one the other's word.
Our ſouls how long to damn and ſave,
Hath ſubtile prieſtcraft play'd the knave!
Its pupils train'd, from early youth,
T'equivocate and hide the truth;
To practiſe the deception nice,
Of tricking hand, or quaint device;
To cheat the palate, noſe and eye;
[75]And gild that dirty pill, a lie.
Yet doſt thou miracles maintain?
Be here thy definition plain:
The muſe diſdaining to reply
To ſuch as ſhock the naked eye. q
Events as miracles doſt own,
Whoſe cauſe immediate is unknown;
Or is thy faith eſtabliſh'd more
On actions ne'er perform'd before?
Alas, my much believing friend,
The times of yore might theſe defend;
When heretick free-thinkers roſe,
That dar'd the holy church oppoſe;
For infidelity renown'd,
Aſſerting that the globe was round;
Vile hereſy! whence, doom'd to hell,
[76] Upſal's good biſhop martyr fell:
Wretches, ſo impious as to hold,
The earth about its axis roll'd,
And, as the years their courſes run,
Still took its journeys round the ſun;
Vile hereſy! for which, 'tis ſaid,
Old Galileo too had bled,
Had not the ſage, more loth to die,
Recanting, damn'd it for a lie. r
In days of ignorance like theſe,
When legends had the pow'r to pleaſe;
While love of wonder ſalv'd deceit,
And gudgeons ſwallow'd whole the cheat;
How little ſtrange that monks and fryars
Should prove miraculouſly liars;
[77]Or converts to divines ſo ſad
Turn out miraculouſly mad!
But now, a century worn away,
Time working wonders ev'ry day,
The vaſt diſcov'ries years have made
Have ſpoilt the wonder-monger's trade.
Sayſt thou, events ſo ſtrange of yore
Since now miraculous no more,
True miracles thou wouldſt define
As real acts of power divine,
Th' effects of ſome immediate cauſe,
In fact tranſgreſſing nature's laws. s
[78]How!—did th' omnipotent, on high,
Let thoſe, his laws, at random fly:
Or was his providence ſo blind
To what omniſciency deſign'd,
That ſtill his ſov'reign will attends
To ſtrike his foes or ſkreen his friends;
That pow'r beyond th' Almighty's art
To nature's ſyſtem to impart:
Needful Heav'n's arbitrary fire
To blaſt a fig-tree or a liar?
[79] Lorenzo, be not thou ſo vain,
To think thus brittle nature's chain;
From which whatever link we ſtrike,
Tenth or ten thouſandth, broke alike, t
Connecting ſyſtems all deſtroy'd,
Unballanc'd worlds would ſtrow the void,
To atoms burſt; reſtor'd again
Old Chaos to his ancient reign:
Unleſs, in time, the God attend
The works of his own hand to mend.
Alas, how blaſphemous to ſay
That Heav'n can ſave no other way;
Or that, for trifles or in joke,
Creation's ſacred order's broke. u
[80]For do we not, in fact, confeſs,
If God may nature's laws tranſgreſs,
The wiſe creator wanted ſkill
His vaſt intentions to fulfil,
Or that th' intention, tho' his own,
Was in th' extent to him unknown:
Or, ſtill more impiouſly, imply
That Heav'n can give itſelf the lie.
Say, then, that miracles there be;
They're but miraculous to thee:
So many links conceal'd remain,
Which form the complicated chain,
True cauſes and effects between,
[81]In Nature's providential ſcene.
What tho' without an obvious cauſe
We ſee inverted cuſtom's laws,
Muſt we immediately infer
That nature from itſelf can err?
Commanded by the word divine,
Say water chang'd itſelf to wine;
Graves open'd wide their pond'rous jaws;
A breath the ſole apparent cauſe.
Ah, who ſhall boaſt, that God revere,
Creation's laws were broken here? w
Might not ten thouſand ſprings unite,
Cauſes too fine for mortal ſight,
Such varied wonders to produce;
To providential ends of uſe:
[82]Form'd when by Heav'n, its pow'r diſplay'd,
The earth's foundation firſt was laid:
Or when that Logos x was deſign'd
By miracles to ſave mankind.
Think not, Lorenzo, nature ſtrays
Whene'er the world is in amaze.
Extend thy view from pole to pole:
See one great miracle the whole;
Where all events their cauſe ſucceed,
As once the great, firſt cauſe decreed;
Where order ſtill from order flows,
And never interruption knows;
Capricious but to mortal ſenſe
The harmony of providence.
How ſtrangely, therefore, bigots err
Who wonders to plain facts prefer;
[83]With liſt'ning ear, who love to range,
And greedy eye, for all that's ſtrange;
Rejecting their creator's plan,
The voice of God for that of man.
Beſides, thy miracles confin'd
To former ages of mankind,
Nature in theſe our latter days
Unmov'd by pray'r, and deaf to praiſe,
Ne'er turning back, nor led aſide,
To help our wants, or ſooth our pride;
But keeping, pack-horſe like, its track,
Bearing the world upon its back:
Say ſuch to revelation guide;
For theſe on hear-ſay we confide:
In want of proof, on truſt muſt take
For honeſt jew or gentile's ſake;
Since, howſoe'er the truth conceal'd,
[84]None truſt in miracles reveal'd;
Unleſs learn'd Jortin's y ſcheme may paſs
Of dreaming Balaam's talking aſs.
Doſt thou, ſecure, hiſtorians truſt?
How know we if their tale be juſt.
From num'rous cauſes prone to err,
Dubious, alas, what theſe aver.
What from deception e'er can ſave
The man whoſe truſt is in a knave;
To falſehood he how oft a tool
Whoſe confidence is in a fool:
And ſhould, themſelves, the honeſt ſpeak;
The honeſt may be blind or weak;
Be led a viſionary dance,
[85]Like Peter, in prophetick trance, z
Or good St. Paul, that ſeldom knew
If what he ſaid was falſe or true;
Forgetful, if his word we take,
When faſt aſleep or wide awake. aa
My friend, no wonder, then, at all,
Adventures ſtrange ſhould ſuch befall;
Or that, by wild opinions, they
From truth are blindly led aſtray;
Who, like old wives in winter nights,
Hear, ſee, and feel, and chat with ſprights.
Their prudent caution, therefore, juſt
Who waking dreamers ſeldom truſt;
To whom light viſions fact may ſeem,
And fact itſelf an idle dream.
[86]
In reverence, yet, we all muſt own
The pow'r and will of God unknown;
Confin'd not to the narrow bound
Of reaſon's moſt extenſive round;
Active a thouſand ways beſide; bb
Beyond unknown how far and wide.
From grey experience, hence, conceal'd
The gifts of grace to babes reveal'd;
From Science hid that ſacred fire
Heav'n's choſen ſervants doth inſpire;
Who, highly favour'd from above,
Behold deſcend th' all-quickening dove,
Or cloven tongue; the ſpiritual boaſt
Of brethren in the Holy Ghoſt.
Lorenzo, then let you, nor I,
[87]Unleſs we can diſprove, deny.
And yet, in ſearch of truths unknown,
Experience be thy guide alone;
Nay held perception in ſuſpenſe
Till reaſon may confirm the ſenſe:
To Science only unconfin'd
When God, himſelf, informs the mind.
[figure]
[]

EPISTLE THE THIRD.

ARGUMENT.

[]

On the infatuation of mankind, reſpecting paradox and myſteries. —The effects and cauſes of ſuch infatuation. —The abſurdity of ſuppoſing ignorance and folly the means to promote the cauſe of truth; or that the freedom of ſcientifick enquiry is incompatible with the political welfare of ſociety.

SUMMARY.

[]

IT is remarkable that, notwithſtanding the univerſality of thoſe truths which are founded on common-ſenſe, mankind have ever been ſo infatuated as to reject this general and obvious criterion, for the more particular dogmas and myſterious paradoxes of pretended revelation. —The moral effects of this infatuation exemplified in our ſuperficial attachment to religion, our indolent ſecurity in time of proſperity, and our tranſitory aſtoniſhment and penitence under the immediate weight of misfortune. —An abſurd ſcheme of education the grand cauſe of that cowardice and imbecility of mind, which render us ſo ridiculous in ſpeculation and inconſiſtent in practice. —The miſapplication of their talents, therefore, who think by encreaſing ſuch weakneſs to promote the cauſe of truth, or the intereſt of religion and morality, is plac'd in a ridiculous light; as the juſt object of cenſure. —The ſuppoſition, alſo, that ignorance and implicit ſubjection to authority are neceſſary to the well-being of ſociety, or the political happineſs of mankind, is exploded; and ſhown to be exemplarily falſe and abſurd: polity in general, as well as religion and private virtue in particulars, being founded on truth and nature, and not dependant on the chimerical productions of fancy, the low artifices of faction, or the knaviſh cunning of deſigning falſehood.

[figure]

EPISTLE THE THIRD.

[93]
IF truth in ſcience we may find;
Its root implanted in the mind;
To this ſo juſt the world's pretence;
On the plain rules of common-ſenſe;
[94]Our mental faculties t'abuſe,
How proſtituted is the muſe!
How long have childiſh bards too long,
Their hours employ'd in idle ſong;
Buſied the lineaments to trace
Of wither'd fiction's painted face;
Where not a native beauty blows;
But cankers eat the budding roſe!
Yet, captive to her ſmiles and wit,
Pleas'd with their chains, her ſlaves have writ;
And all the labour'd pomp of verſe
Employ'd, her fables to rehearſe;
While thou, O ſacred truth! remain
The theme of ev'ry humbler ſtrain.
And yet, if true what each pretends,
How num'rous are her rhyming friends!
While ſuch her fond admirers prove,
[95]And tune their rival ſongs to love.
But, fools in fondneſs as in awe,
The truth, 'tis plain, they never ſaw;
And but themſelves her lovers boaſt,
Becauſe her name the publick toaſt.
So ſmit with ſacred truth and rhyme,
The bard and ſophiſt of the time; a
Long play'd, by turns, the wit and fool,
The monarch's and the printer's tool;
The jeſt the genius of the age,
Till hiſs'd and pelted off the ſtage:
Whence now no more his lyre he ſtrings
For tyrant bookſellers and kings;
But, fir'd with vanity and ſpleen,
Dotes on the truth unſought, unſeen;
[96]Chaunting, ſo happy to be free,
Enraptur'd rhymes on liberty.
Such lovers truth muſt e'er deſpiſe;
Who ſee her but with borrow'd eyes,
Who only play the lover's part,
No real paſſion at the heart.
For ſay, what lover's paſſion true
For beauty that he never knew?
So eaſtern monarchs love their wives,
Tho' barren ſtrangers all their lives.
So lov'd la Mancha's famous knight
The fair, for whom he ſwore to fight;
Fir'd by th' enthuſiaſtick rage,
With men and monſters to engage.
Yet, aſk'd, for whom this martial ſtrife;
"He never ſaw her in het life:
"Nor was he poſitive, God wot,
[97]"Whether, indeed, ſhe liv'd or not."
Thus bards too oft in truth's defence,
Break through the rules of common-ſenſe;
And; o'er his rival each t'aſpire;
Strive which ſhall prove the greateſt liar.
Strange to the liberty of thought,
Vile ſlaves! but ſeeking to be bought;
To lying faction early train'd;
A purchaſe by the truth diſdain'd.
Mean-time, as inſolent as vain;
They freedom's ſacred name profane;
And, boaſting, hug the chains that bind
That worſt of ſlaves, the ſervile mind.
Such, Dryden, thou, ſupreme in wit,
Immortal and unrival'd yet:
How honour'd; might not truth accuſe
Thy venal, proſtiuted muſe.
[98]
Sayſt thou 'tis ſtrange the world ſhould reſt
Content, by falſehood thus depreſs'd?
Alas, thou little knowſt mankind,
That, ſeeing, imitate the blind;
In ſpite of truth and open day,
In darkneſs chuſe to grope their way;
Suſpecting plainneſs of diſguiſe,
The obvious ſenſe of terms deſpiſe;
From ſound or derivation gleaning,
Some hard-word, deuteroſcope meaning:
While each impoſtor's word prevails
In myſtick parables and tales;
Neglected ev'n the voice of Heaven,
When rational inſtructions given.
Look back through each ſucceſſive age:
How honour'd the myſterious page!
What millions have been made the tools
[99]Of knaves, whoſe nat'ral prey are fools!
How ſtrangely trick'd deluded crowds
Who, truth expecting from the clouds,
And therefore gaping up in th'air,
On errour ſtumbled unaware!
Thus an aſtrologer of old,
In learned hiſtory we're told;
Contemplating the milky way,
Neglected that before him lay;
And led by wand'ring planets, fell,
Unluckily into a well.
Yet e'er with ſlander branding thoſe
Who ſought the naked truth t' expoſe:
Short ſighted mortals, in their pride,
Thus ſtrove their ignorance to hide;
By holding all beyond their view
Beyond inveſtigation too.
[100]
Lorenzo, our misfortune here
Th' effect of idleneſs and fear.
The ſluggard ſhuns inquiry's taſk,
Becauſe too great the pains to aſk;
Stifling th' emotions of his breaſt,
T' indulge his lazy brains in reſt.
A paradox, yet ſuch the fact,
"More fear to think than fear to act;
"In thought tho' danger we ſurmize,
"In act while real danger lies." b
In truth, my friend, 'tis ſad to find
Hence riſe the zeal of half mankind;
Religion but the compound vice
Of indolence and cowardice.
Ev'n pious chriſtians, much I fear,
Oft practically atheiſts here.
[101]How deaf and blind to calls of grace
When nature wears a ſmiling face:
But when ſhe frowns; in wild amaze,
Look how th' affrighted cowards gaze.
When clouds drop fatneſs on the plains,
In mildly ſoft deſcending rains;
In their due ſeaſon harveſts ſmile,
And plenty crowns the peaſant's toil:
As nothing rare, as nothing new,
We take the bleſſing as our due.
For O! proſperity's a lot
At eaſe enjoy'd, with eaſe forgot.
In June's warm ſun and April's ſhower
We trace not an Almighty power:
Ingrates! ſo light of Heav'n we make,
Nor think the hand that gives may take.
But ah! when threat'ning ſtorms ariſe;
[102]When thunders rattle through the ſkies;
When the tall mountain bows its head,
And earthquakes vomit up the dead;
Behold whole nations proſtrate fall
Before the mighty God of all.
T' appeaſe his anger now their care,
Lo, all is faſting, ſighs and pray'r;
Till, the dread ſtorm blown haply o'er,
They riſe and revel as before,
Forget, or ridicule, the rod;
And laugh to ſcorn the fear of God.
Nor only, mov'd when danger's nigh,
Our fears awake the gen'ral cry;
Imaginary ſcenes, alike,
The daſtard ſoul with terrour ſtrike;
While to the coward's opticks ſeem
Light ſtraws, as each a giant's beam.
[103]In honour thus of God above,
So weakly draw the cords of love;
While nature's groans, or fancy's fears,
Drive, headlong, down the vale of tears.
Lorenzo, wouldſt thou freely trace
Whence grows a cowardice ſo baſe?
At th' early dawn of moral ſenſe
Th' infatuation did commence;
And, propagated ſince by art,
We all have more or leſs a part.
Ere hermit bald or pilgrim grey
Had worn the ſolitary way;
Ere yet the monk had told his beads;
Ere yet credulity or creeds;
To ſchool, with ſober Reaſon ſent,
Young Genius to Experience went.
The latter, tho', as yet, 'tis true,
[104]No wiſer than the former two,
In charge the tender pupils took,
And with them read in nature's book.
So pedagogues unletter'd uſe
No claſs of blockheads to refuſe;
But gravely undertake t' explain
The arts themſelves muſt firſt attain;
Sufficient if the maſter goes
Before his blund'ring pupil's noſe.
Careful his vacant hours t'employ,
Now Reaſon prov'd a hopeful boy.
But Genius, inſolent and wild,
By nature an aſſuming child,
A treach'rous memory his lot,
The little that he learn'd forgot;
Nor gave himſelf a moment's pain
To con his leſſons o'er again:
[105]But, truſting to his forward parts,
Debauch'd with wit the ſiſter-arts;
Who, yet unſettled, young and frail,
Enamour'd, liſten'd to his tale;
And, ſince the cauſe of dire diſputes,
Turn'd out abandon'd proſtitutes:
By prieſt and prophet, once enjoy'd,
To baſeſt purpoſes employ'd;
For ages paſt, their only uſe
To vitiate reaſon or traduce.
For this, Tradition foremoſt came,
Inſtruction was her maiden name,
Now grown a ſmooth-tongu'd ſlipp'ry jade,
An arrant miſtreſs of her trade.
She told the ſtories, o'er and o'er,
That genius told the arts before,
Repeating lies, as liars do,
[106]Till in the end they think them true;
And when detected in her lie,
"Myſt'ry"—the biter's arch reply.
By this fine dame our mothers taught,
Their ſcheme of education wrought;
So train'd us early to deceit,
To look on reaſon as a cheat;
To lies firſt tun'd the op'ning ear;
Awoke our earlieſt ſenſe to fear;
With monſters and chimeras vain,
Fill'd the ſoft head and turn'd the brain;
Till the fond fools, to top their part,
Fix'd the rank coward at the heart.
Nor with our growing years releas'd;
The nurſe but moulds us for the prieſt;
Who, leſt his ward, grown ſly or ſtout,
Should find the knaviſh ſecret out,
[107]The bugbear from his reach removes,
And all th' old woman's tale improves,
Paſſions more riotous to quell,
Chang'd the dark hole for darker hell;
The truant damn'd for naughty play,
Black monday now the judgment day;
Gay hopes for promis'd toys are given,
And endleſs holidays in Heav'n.
The groundleſs fear and vain deſire,
Which hence mankind in youth acquire;
How deeply rooted do we find,
How fix'd th' impreſſions on the mind;
The weakneſs of thoſe childiſh fears,
Too oft increaſing with our years;
While ev'ry infant joy and ſtrife,
Improv'd, is carried into life.
For ſee the idiot and the wiſe,
[108]Each from his own fond ſhadow flies;
Like curs that run till nature fails,
A bladder faſten'd to their tails.
With idle fears the world t' abuſe,
Aſſiſtant here th' inventive muſe:
The tale of wonder early taught;
When playful, young and void of thought,
By ſtroling Fancy led aſtray,
The vagrant, troul'd the jovial lay.
Alas of mirth and pleaſure cur'd,
To horrour's browneſt ſhade inur'd;
By love of wonder ſince betray'd,
To lend fantaſtick Spleen her aid:
For whom her numbers, ſad and ſlow,
In diſmal melancholy flow;
Condemn'd to murmur all the day,
To ſigh and groan the midnight lay;
[109]The ſkull, the ſpade, the ſhroud, the herſe,
The doleful implements of verſe;
Or doom'd prepoſt'rous tales to tell,
By brain-ſick Fiction brought from hell.
For know th' unwary muſe was caught
While Fiction yet her friend was thought;
A hag, by Ignorance badly nurs'd,
With craving appetite accurs'd,
To Spleen's embrace, while yet a maid,
The dire chloroſis had betray'd.
Since when, the wretch has roam'd abroad,
Her ſullen tyrant's willing bawd;
A vile procureſs, to ſupply
The love of wonder with a lie.
Hence bards, that reaſon leſs than rail,
Affect to tell the woful tale;
Or vent their moralizing rage;
[110]As bugbears of a fearful age;
To truth pretending to be led
by megrims in the ſick-man's head;
As if with zeal prophetick burn'd
The wretch whoſe bliſter'd head was turn'd;
The fitteſt thoſe the truth to teach,
By fevers half-depriv'd of ſpeech;
Whoſe fault'ring tongues moſt loud complain,
When death or doctors ſhake the brain.
Nor ſeldom, by tranſition led
From dying moraliſts to dead,
Triſtful, in hypocondres vex'd,
The muſing parſon chews his text;
Some ſolemn ſcene of dullneſs ſought,
To aid his rectitude of thought;
The murky vaults, the haunted cells,
Where moping melancholy dwells,
[111]And fear, that kneels in piteous plight,
Her ſtraggling hair all bolt upright.
Fit comrades theſe as e'er could chuſe
The ſplenetick or maudlin muſe;
Her doleful ditties proud to ſing
Where ſadneſs ſpreads her duſky wing;
Where croaks the ſyren of the lake
The light-of-heart from eaſe to wake;
And ſolemn owls, in concert grave,
Join hoot the worldly-wiſe to ſave.
'Twas thus enthuſiaſtick Young;
'Twas thus affected Hervey ſung; c
[112]Whoſe motley muſe, in florid ſtrain,
With owls did to the moon complain;
Clear'd at the morn her raven throat,
To ſound the glibber magpye's note.
Mean-while religion gravely ſmil'd
To ſee grown piety a child;
In leading-ſtrings to find her led,
By thoſe her foſt'ring hand had bred.
For why confin'd the moral muſe,
To blaſted oaks or baleful yews:
O'er graves to make fantaſtick moan,
And deepen horrour's diſmal groan?
Say, hath alone the mould'ring tomb
For pious meditation room?
[113]Ah! wont with meek-eyed peace to rove,
Through church-way path or ſilent grove;
Her grateful influence round her ſhed,
Where groan the ſick, or ſleep the dead;
With truth and ſoberneſs ſerene,
Enliv'ning ev'ry ſolemn ſcene;
Diſarming terrour of it's pow'r,
To wander at the midnight hour;
Sweet philomel, harmonious ſpright,
The only ſpectre of the night.
Can love of truth impoſe the taſk,
To lurk beneath a gorgon maſk;
To ſtalk, in garb terrifick clad,
And ſcoul the weak and wicked mad;
Or drive the wretch, o'erwhelm'd with care,
In godly frenzy, to deſpair?
Is folly vice, fear makes it worſe;
[114]Reflection is the coward's curſe:
Unleſs remorſe in mercy given,
To damn ſelf-murderers to heaven.
Why, then, is ſought the midnight ſhade
From vice or falſehood to diſſuade?
Is night leſs vicious than the day?
Doth errour guide the ſolar ray?
Or is exhal'd, like morning dew,
The moral object or the true?
O, moſt ridiculous the ſcene,
Where ſuper ſtition feeds the ſpleen;
Where the gray ſpectre ſtalks to view,
As burns th' expirin taper blue;
Or dances o'er the dizzy ſight
The form of many a dreadful ſpright:
Mean-while a victim to his fears
The moon-ſtruck moraliſt appears.
[115]For when the brain wild fancy fires;
Reaſon moſt prudently retires.
As ſober men from drunkards part,
For ſuch companions griev'd at heart.
Awes, then, with tremulous reſtraint
The painted urn or plaſter ſaint?
Humbles the mutilated buſt
The rotten ſinner to the duſt?
Lorenzo, here, no errour make,
Nor cowardice for conſcience take
Alas, repentance, void of root,
May bloſſom fair yet fail of fruit:
Attrition vain and inſincere
Mere weakneſs all, unmanly fear.
In the dark grove what horrour reigns
To chill the blood in Chiron's d veins,
[116]When th' ignis fatuus glares, by night,
Terrifick witchcraft to his ſight;
Or, animated by his fears,
Alive the freſh-lopp'd elm appears;
A giant ghoſt the neſtling thruſh,
That ſhakes the formidable buſh;
Securely perching on whoſe breaſt,
The anxious black-bird builds its neſt;
Or, on its arm-extending ſpray,
The nightingale repeats her lay:
Th' heroick titmouſe or the wren
Leſs fearful than the ſons of men;
Who yet to conſcience give the lie,
And dare the pow'r of truth defy.
For know, no tremour can impart
Conviction to the ſkeptick's heart:
Nor takes, like agues, in a fright,
[117]Trembling impiety its flight.
Behold the tyrant's iron hand,
That holds in chains a captive land;
In whoſe firm graſp impriſon'd lies
Bold freedom, ſtruggling as it dies;
Cruſh'd by whoſe weight, the monarch bleeds
And ſceptres break like blighted reeds:
See this ſtrong hand let fall the rod,
And tremble if the bulruſh nod;
Belſhazzar's like, enervate fall,
If laid a finger on the wall:
The wretch, of God nor man afraid,
Yet trembling at an empty ſhade.
Nor only fear th' immoral crew;
The coward pious tremble too:
Philoſophy herſelf a fool,
Attended by her nurſe to ſchool.
[118]Such dupes to fear, at times, we find
The beſt, the wiſeſt of mankind!
For Oh! what antidote ſo ſtrong
As poiſon, that has work'd ſo long!
What drug eradicates the peſt,
Suck'd from the mother's tainted breaſt?
In vain the doctor we may try:
No doctor's fee our cure can buy:
Tho', tamp'ring with the dire diſeaſe,
Licentiates mock with preſent eaſe;
And emp'ricks, ſalving ev'ry ſore,
With noſtrums make, it rage the more.
Sayſt thou, "in, policy, afraid
"To ſpoil the prieſt's and lawyer's trade,
"The ſtateſman, topping the divine,
"Supports with pow'r the ſame deſign;
"To keep th' inquiſitive in awe,
[119]"Smacking his long-tail'd whip, the law;
"Or thund'ring in the vulgar ear
"Implicit faith and groundleſs fear:
"The noſtrums theſe of church and ſtate;
"To make a nation good and great."
Thus forfeit patriots that pretence
They make, as men, to common-ſenſe?
Can ignorance be underſtood
As needful to the publick good;
That free inquiry ſuch decry;
And boaſt their ſalutary lie?
Or, are they here by habit led,
And innovation's tumult dread?
So ſacred held the ſtated rules
Of cuſtom, lawgiver to fools!
Yet cuſtom's rules caprice hath broke,
And turn'd her ſtatutes into joke;
[120]Nor boaſt her laws, however old,
Reſiſtance to the pow'r of gold.
Shall ſcience, then, ſtill drag her chain,
And ſigh for liberty in vain?
Forbid it Heav'n! that thus the mind,
By tyrant policy confin'd,
Should bow while falſehood bears the ſway,
And give the cauſe of truth away.
Is this, Lorenzo, to be free?
Are theſe the ſweets of liberty?
That glorious priv'lege yours and mine,
In our own ſties, like ſenſual ſwine,
At will, to grumble, eat and drink;
But ah, prohibited to think!
Our, nobler appetites denied
Their proper feaſts, and damn'd for pride;
Forbad our reaſon to employ;
[121]Depriv'd of each ſublimer joy;
Robb'd of the privilege to know,
Man's chief prerogative below!
May Britons boaſt, of all mankind,
The nobler fortitude of mind;
To ſet blind prejudice apart;
To rend th' old woman from the heart;
To laugh at blind tradition's rules,
The mother and the nurſe of fools?
Have they with blood ſo dearly bought
Their boaſted privilege of thought;
To throw like ſchool-boys, tir'd with play,
The long diſputed prize away?
Ah! had not cuſtom often fail'd,
What barbariſm had ſtill prevail'd?
Deaf to the call of truth and grace,
Denying reformation place,
[122]What lengths ſtill ſtubborn faith had run,
To end what madd'ning zeal begun?
In honour ſtill of Moloch's name,
Our children might have paſs'd the flame;
By perſecution's faggot rais'd;
Religious fires in Smithfield blaz'd;
Or now, as in a Stuart's reign,
Been dy'd with blood Iërne's plain.
Nay ſtill how prepoſſeſs'd we find
With pious falſehoods half mankind.
Think from the ſtake how late repriev'd
Wretches, no charity, reliev'd:
Oh horrour! to the ſlaughter led,
For wearing rags and wanting bread;
Doom'd by inhuman, legal rage,
Martyrs to poverty and age. e
[123]
See ſtill th' enthuſiaſtick band
Cant, whine and madden o'er the land;
By ſcripture-craz'd fanaticks led,
Weſtley, or partners at their head.
See ev'n the learning of our ſchools
Perverted to bewilder fools;
The words of plainneſs to diſguiſe,
And baffle reaſon with ſurprize;
While truth and nature plead in vain
Againſt the comment of Romaine. f
Ah! think how fatal, ſoon or late,
Such crazy members to the ſtate:
How dang'rous to the publick weal
[124]Blind ignorance and fooliſh zeal.
Reflect in what a dreadful hour
Nonſenſe uſurp'd the hand of power;
When puritans the land o'er-run,
And ſacrilege was pious fun:
While wretches, for their country's good,
Dipt their vile hands in royal blood.
Is ignorance the curſe of God? g
Avert good Heav'n th' impending rod!
O leave, ye patriots, leave the mind
In ſearch of knowledge unconfin'd:
Leſt truth your cunning ſhould deſpiſe,
Returning to its native ſkies. h
[125]Good policy to truth's allied;
By ſcience guided not the guide.
Ceaſe too, ye bards, ſo wond'rous wiſe,
T'inſtruct by means you ſhould deſpiſe.
In ſober ſadneſs, much too long
Mankind have liſten'd to your ſong;
Have ſtrain'd the mental eye, to ſee
Your falſe, fantaſtick imag'ry;
With gaudy colours glaring bright,
To captivate the vulgar ſight;
The gaping idiot's grin of praiſe,
Or ſtare of ignorance to raiſe.
Nay, tho' approv'd your moral ends,
Ye ſtill are truth's miſtaken friends,
Ah! full as dang'rous to her cauſe
As even thoſe who ſpurn her laws.
No viſionary fears intrude
[126]Where triumphs moral rectitude.
Truth all the artifice diſdains
Of dungeons deep, and clanking chains;
Skulks not in life's ſequeſter'd way;
But walks abroad in open day.
'Tis Falſehood, her grim face to hide,
Shuffles on nature's darkeſt ſide;
Baffling, in terrour's murky den,
The ſcrutiny of honeſt men.
[figure]
[]

EPISTLE THE FOURTH.

ARGUMENT.

[]

On the weakneſs of the human underſtanding. —The abſtract exiſtence of the Deity. —The incomprehenſibility of the divine nature, and the incongruity of pretended atheiſm.

SUMMARY.

[]

AS it is neceſſary to our ſucceſs in ſcientifick reſearches that the mind ſhould be diveſted of its prejudices, in favour of tradition and cuſtom; ſo, however extenſive be the freedom of enquiry, it is equally neceſſary that the object of inveſtigation be adapted to the limits of the underſtanding: mankind always falling into errour and confuſion, in their attempts to diſcover the knowledge of things beyond their capacity. However true, therefore, may be many of our diſcoveries in the ſyſtem of Nature; God, the authour of that ſyſtem, is abſtracted from it and above our comprehenſion. — Hence our pretenſions to deſcribe, or define, the Deity, are palpably abſurd and ridiculous. For, tho' a created Being may aſcribe to its creator the moſt reſpectable of all known perfections, yet, as all its ideas of perfection are relative to itſelf, the attributes human beings aſcribe to God are neceſſarily the ſuperior qualities of humanity. —Notwithſtanding, however, the Deity is ſo far removed from our enquiries, and thereby confeſſedly no object of philoſophical knowledge, yet the actual diſbelief of the exiſtence of a God is denied: the arguments for and againſt atheiſts compoſing, in fact, a very ridiculous diſpute: as the impoſſibility of denying the being of a firſt cauſe is evident; and the reſt of the controverſy a mere cavil about words, of no determinate meaning.

[figure]

EPISTLE THE FOURTH.

[131]
RUL'D by no giant hopes or fears,
Whoſe ſtature grows with length of years,
In ſearch of truth expect to find
The labour ſuited to the mind;
[132]With genius, nature bearing part,
The ſtrict, yet gentle, nurſe of art.
Then aim not thou a point to hit,
Above the reach of human wit;
As if mankind could judge of aught
Beyond th' ability of thought.
Join not, Lorenzo, blindly thoſe.
Who firſt would nature's God diſcloſe;
Their moral and religious ſchemes
Building on theologick dreams;
Deduc'd the principles they own
From others equally unknown.
For, ſay the voice of reaſon true;
Be ours a juſt abſtracted view:
Be it the privilege of man,
To trace exactly nature's plan;
The ſcale of beings in his hands,
[133]To know the point at which he ſtands,
Compar'd with all he boaſts to know,
As well above him as below:
Yet, if, of human logick vain,
He link to Heav'n a kindred chain,
Concluſions idle ſoon he draws;
And Heav'n preſcribes by human laws.
Imagine thou in what degree
A ſeraph ſtands 'tween God and thee;
The neck how lowly doſt thou bend
Before thy bright ſeraphick friend?
But place thyſelf a mite unſeen
And being infinite between;
In this compariſon, ſays pride,
A ſeraph thou, to God allied.
Thy pride, Lorenzo, diſbelieve;
Let Locke nor Addiſon deceive;
[134]For tho' creation's varied plan
Aſſigns degrees reſpecting man,
Yet, bigot, know, and learn to fear,
God is beyond thy proper ſphere.
Created beings, all his care,
Doth he with them creation ſhare?
Ah no! the ſyſtem all our own,
God, the creator, ſtands alone:
At equal diſtance all his plan,
The mite, the ſeraph, or the man.
Is it not ſo, the paſſive clay
Of yon Corinthian column gay,
That gilt entablature or baſe,
Or marble of yon ſhining vaſe,
Reſemble more the artiſt's mind
Than if to meaner uſe conſign'd.
Abſurd! is Jones's genius known
[135]By the great model or the ſtone?
The pile, erect to Trajan's name,
Affected not by empty fame,
The croſs rever'd, the honour'd buſt,
And trodden floor are kindred duſt:
For all in one degree reſpect
Their ſov'reign lord, the architect.
How juſtly then ſoe'er we plead
That reaſon nature's book doth read,
As by its known eſtabliſh'd laws
Of each effect we trace the cauſe,
Thoſe laws can ne'er, themſelves, confine
The legiſlative power divine:
Whoſe will thoſe very laws decreed
And bad th' effect the cauſe ſucceed:
Agent, in ſome ſuperior ſcheme,
Of which in this we can but dream.
[136]
Bear Atticus the critick's rod
In vain we, then, define a God;
In vain we attributes beſtow;
Or reaſon, here, from what we know.
Tho' ſcience teach, religion warm,
What wild ideas ſtill we form?
Imperfect embrios of the brain,
That ſtrive to ſcale the Heav'ns in vain.
Too ſhort to reach beyond the ſky
The focus of the mental eye;
Too cold our moſt tranſporting zeal
To paint what heav'ns and light conceal.
Yet will the ſkeptick aſk me why?
Go, riſe and to the dog-ſtar fly.
Thou canſt not: nor the cauſe unknown.
Central attraction holds thee down;
A pow'r occult, which, ere thy birth,
[137]Faſt bound thee to thy native earth:
From which thou ne'er canſt hope to riſe
To lunar plains or ſolar ſkies.
Nor leſs, within it's ſphere, confin'd
The ſubtile eſſence of the mind.
What tho' it boaſt the pow'r to rove
In freedom through the plains above;
Tho' wing'd it's active feet to run,
With Merc'ry round the central ſun;
Giv'n it far diſtant worlds t' explore;
And ſeas of ſpace without a ſhore:
Yet, ſtill, within creation's round,
Within our narrow ſyſtem bound;
Of what's above or what without
We harbour univerſal doubt.
Say light prevails, no contraſt ſhade
Outlines the void we would prevade:
[138]If darkneſs reign no chearing ray
Delineates blind inquiry's way.
Hence, mortal man, muſt ever be
Thy authour, God, unknown to thee;
Deſtin'd thy erring way to trace
Through nature's parti-colour'd ſpace.
Let ign'rance, then, her idol dreſs
In juſtice, love, and happineſs;
Adorn with mercy's golden chain,
With all the virtues grace its train;
And then adore in humble plight,
Calling thoſe fopp'ries infinite.
The pagan thus, deſpis'd as blind,
Creates his idol to his mind;
Thinking his deity expreſs'd
By bird or beaſt he likes the beſt;
Then bows before the painted ſhrine;
[139]And calls his wooden God divine.
Caſt the preſumptuous thought aſide:
'Tis not humility but pride;
Unleſs that truly humble we,
T' adore the God humanity.
And ſuch it is: for whence ariſe
Our virtues but from moral ties;
Whoſe known relations thus define
That eſſence mortals call divine.
Lorenzo, ready for reply,
Lay not thy prompt objection by.
Thou ſayſt "thy friend himſelf deceives,
"Nor God adores nor God believes:
"For tho' the mind the pow'r deſcry,
"If left its eſſence in the ſky,
"If none imagin'd or diſplay'd,
"To nothing adoration paid:
[140]"In me no certain faith is found;
"My deity an empty found."
Not ſo: for, granting, I confeſs,
Thy attributes a God expreſs;
Thou ſayſt thyſelf "ſtill undefin'd
"The perfect, by th' imperfect, mind."
And to thy attributes muſt join
Thy infinite or thy divine.
As jugglers, who, t' enhance deceit,
To ſacred ſcience give their cheat,
While, with the curtain, ſtill they hide
The ſlight of hand too cloſely eyed:
So ſly theologues here impart
The hocus pocus of their art;
Holding religion's ſacred veil,
Where ſlights of underſtanding fail.
For know, alas, their wiſeſt plan
[141]Diſplays but a ſuperiour man,
Whom infinite the conjurer's rod,
Preſto, converts into a God.
Till, then, they ſolve our problem right,
And tell us what is infinite,
They ſtill muſt be reduc'd to own
Their compound deity unknown:
To all, or reaſoning or inſpir'd,
This infinite a term requir'd.
Differs Lorenzo, then, with me?
In terms alone we diſagree:
Perfection infinite is thine,
Indefinite perfection mine.
Condemn not, then, half underſtood.
I not deny that perfect, good,
All-gracious, merciful, and wife,
[142]God reigns, ſupreme, beyond the ſkies, a
Neither, 'tis true, my terms imply;
But, granting none, I none deny:
Requiring but to acquieſce
That thou thy infinite expreſs.
Idly doth Bolingbroke refine;
Granting that wiſdom is divine,
While, as abſurdly, he denies
Juſtice and goodneſs to the ſkies.
Ideas, equally our own,
Our goodneſs as our wiſdom's known;
To both as hard to reconcile
Or nature's frown or nature's ſmile.
[143]Alas! no attributes of thine
Can e'er the deity define;
Impoſſible to judge, or know,
Of God above from man below: b
Reſerv'd the proſpect of the ſkies
To gratify immortal eyes.
Lorenzo, let us reaſon right.
No finite ſpans an infinite;
Unleſs, with Matho, vers'd in arts,
We hold th' infinity of parts.
But none th' abſurdity will plan,
That God can be contain'd in man;
[144]Tho', as abſurdly, they ſuppoſe
Our partial gifts the God diſcloſe.
Joinſt thou, with Florio, the diſpute,
T' enhance each moral attribute?
Pretending "theſe, however crude,
"Divine perfection doth include:
"As ſpecies in a genus they,
"Or parts, which, join'd, the whole diſplay."
So, with the grandeur all t'inſpire
Of the gay manſion of his fire,
An idiot heir, his mother's fool,
Taught his ſynecdoché at ſchool,
Conceiv'd by part the whole was ſhown;
And took a ſample of the ſtone.
Convinc'd, doth Polydore, with me,
That God's indefinite agree,
Yet argue "that our partial view
[145]"May ſtill be relatively true:
"For, if no abſtract lights we gain,
"'Tis juſt our beſt to entertain;
"Our God to call that wond'rous cauſe,
"In nature trac'd, by nature's laws."
Miſtake not here nor God dethrone:
The firſt mechanick cauſe be known;
'Tis of ſome prior cauſe th' effect;
Which no known ſimilars reſpect.
The God we, then, by this define
Nor ſelf-exiſtent nor divine.
Be known creation's various ties,
Whence phyſical relations riſe;
Of each effect the various cauſe;
Attraction and repulſion's laws;
That primum mobilé be found
That drove Des Cartes' whirlpools round;
[146]Let matter, motion, ether, join,
To form thy attributes divine;
Striving if poſſible to riſe
To the firſt agent in the ſkies:
Be next explain'd to mortal ſenſe,
The wond'rous ſcheme of providence;
Down from thoſe great important ſprings,
On which rebounds the fate of kings,
To thoſe, ſo exquiſitely ſmall,
Deſtin'd to let the ſparrow fall:
Sayſt thou the knowledge hence deriv'd
Of him thoſe ſyſtems hath contriv'd?
Alas! from hence we only trace
The features of creation's face;
The front it bears to human kind;
But not its ſelf-exiſting mind.
Should we, preſuming to diſplay
[147]The ſpirit of the golden day,
Thus, call its eſſence its reſult,
Attraction, fire, alike occult;
Or ſay 'tis vegetation green;
Who'd think it is the ſun we mean?
So here t' abſurdity we fall
Nor thus define a God at all.
Yet while, to thee I freely own,
I reverence a God unknown;
Think not, through ignorance or pride,
A God was ever yet denied.
No atheiſt c e'er was known on earth
[148]Till fiery zealots gave him birth,
For controverſy's ſake, their trade,
And damn'd the heretick they made.
Doth Clody, impudent and vain,
Deny a God, in ſkeptick ſtrain,
And yet in ignorance advance
That nature is the work of chance?
Theologiſts, abſurdly wiſe,
With their anathemas deſpiſe;
For well may Clody theſe inflame,
Whoſe God exiſts but in a name;
A technick term, devis'd at ſchool,
I pity Clody as a fool.
To Epicurus' ſtrains belong
The cenſures of an idle ſong.
For ſay "united worlds might join
"By accident, and not deſign;
[149] "Atoms might luckily contrive,
"And ſtrangely find themſelves alive;
"Or, by ſome other ſcheme as wild,
"The world be fortune's fav'rite child."
Explain the terms—ſay what is meant
By atoms, fortune, accident.
What meanſt thou but th' efficient cauſe
Of nature's works and nature's laws?
O, think not, then, th' eternal mind
To term or epithet confin'd;
But take away or change the name;
And Clody's God and mine's the ſame.
Sayſt thou "in chance a pow'r defin'd,
"Fortuitous, abſurd, and blind,
"Unworthy that ſtupendous plan,
"Which nature's ſcenes diſplay to man;
"Where grace, with harmony allied,
[150]"And wiſdom ſtrike, on ev'ry ſide."
Alas! to Clody theſe unknown:
For wond'rous wiſdom's all his own.
In nature nothing he ſurveys;
That actuates his ſoul to praiſe:
In vain the planets ran their courſe,
Obedient to impulſive force;
Th' excentrick comets, far and wide,
Purſue the ſame unerring guide;
In vain deſcribes their varied race,
In equal times, an equal ſpace:
In vain through microſcopick eyes,
Innumerable wonders riſe;
On the green leaf whole nations crawl,
And myriads periſh in its fall.
Ah me! what bears the barren mind!
What beauty can affect the blind!
[151]Should Clody then his chance diſclaim,
And own a deity, by name,
The blund'ring deiſt would advance
A God, no wiſer than his chance.
Boaſts nature, therefore, no deſign?
Say whence, Lorenzo, yours and mine.
Did wiſdom's ſons themſelves create?
Their birth 'tis own'd they owe to fate;
To fate capricious blind and dull;
Deſign lock'd up in th' atheiſt's ſkull.
But ſay, my friend, how came it there?
Lit chance upon occaſion fair,
From odds and ends of matter join'd,
To form an intellectual mind?
Egregious blunder! groſs ſurmize!
"Nature's a fool yet man is wiſe."
Is there a mortal, ſound of brain,
[152]Who ſuch a tenet can maintain?
O, no—for words let fools conteſt,
Atheiſm's a mere, tho' impious, jeſt.
How obvious is the truth! and yet,
What learned volumes have been writ;
How ſcholiaſts labour to refute,
Where none do actually diſpute!
Of the firſt-cauſe, or fools or wiſe,
The pure exiſtence none denies;
But in it's eſſence e diſagree:
For who defines infinity!
Bluſh not, Lorenzo, then, to own,
Th' eternal God a God unknown;
Whoſe face, to mortal eye denied,
Can never gratify thy pride.
To him your votive altars raiſe,
[153]As Athens did in ancient days;
Nor dare pollute his ſacred ſhrine
With human ſacrifice divine;
But humble adoration bring,
And ſilent praiſe; fit offering!
So the Peruvian, pure in heart,
Strange to the guile, or guilt of art,
Unaw'd by tenet, text, or tale,
Erects his temple in the vale,
Sacred to th' univerſal mind,
The God and guide of human kind.
No firſtlings here affront the ſkies,
Nor clouds of ſmoking incenſe riſe:
No hypocrite with acid face;
No convert tortur'd into grace;
No ſolid ſkull, in wiſdom's cowl;
No hooded hawk, nor ſolemn owl,
[154]Nor blind, nor ominous invade
This ſpotleſs conſecrated ſhade:
But, as the native of the ſpray,
Man hails his maker, with the day;
By nature taught, Heav'n aſks no more,
In ſpirit and in truth t'adore.
[figure]
[]

EPISTLE THE FIFTH.

ARGUMENT.

[]

On happineſs. —The apparent incapacity of mankind for its enjoyment. —The comparative pain and pleaſure of human ſenſations; and their relation to our phyſical and moral conſtitution.

SUMMARY.

[]

NEXT to the abſurdity of puzzling ourſelves in the inveſtigation of matters beyond our capacity, and equally an obſtacle to our inquiries after truth, is the folly of our conſtant purſuit, and in ſpite of as conſtant diſappointments, our expectations of happineſs—The term is certainly left vague and ill-defin'd even by thoſe philoſophers who, pretending it to be attainable, affect to teach us how happineſs may be acquir'd—Its meaning is, nevertheleſs, obvious; and is determined from the tenour of its acceptation with the generality of mankind. In which ſenſe, it is ſhown to be hitherto unattain'd; and that, not only from the impoſſibility of externals to confer happineſs, but, from the evident incapacity of human beings to be made happy—It is hence, alſo, declar'd unattainable; and even the moſt laudable means whereby it is purſued, as thoſe of knowledge, religion, and virtue are experimentally, and logically, ſhown to be incapable of conferring happineſs. —In fact, ev'ry ſtate, age and condition of life having its ſeveral diſtinct anxieties and conſolations, it appears that a continued ſenſe of either happineſs or miſery is incompatible with our nature; as well as with the very eſſence of pleaſure and pain in general: our ſenſations of both which are merely comparative and reciprocally neceſſary to that of each other. Whence happineſs and miſery are evidently relative to, and dependant on, the conſtitution of the human frame; with which abſtract pain and pleaſure are totally inconſiſtent.

[figure]

EPISTLE THE FIFTH.

[159]
BEyond the ſcience of mankind,
In nature's fane our God enſhrin'd;
Content, Lorenzo, let us trace
The lines, the ſhaddow, of his face;
[160]In humble boldneſs ſeek to know
Our heav'n on earth; our God below.
To face the ſun, to beat the ſky
Demand an eagle's wing and eye.
Ah! let not, then, mere birds of night,
Whoſe wings, whoſe opticks check their flight,
Encourag'd by the morning ray
To riſk the ſun-ſhine of the day,
Their feeble pow'rs too highly rate,
And ruſh abſurdly on their fate;
As in the noon-tide beams they gaze
Struck blind by Heav'ns meridian blaze,
For ever after to their coſt
To grope; in endleſs errour loſt.
Adapted, then, inquiry's plan
To truths as relative to man,
Wouldſt thou, Lorenzo, comprehend
[161]Man's phyſical and moral end,
To future, to immortal views
Conducted by the faithful muſe?
Secure while yet in reaſon's ſight,
For thee ſhe takes her daring flight;
Born up on ſcientifick wing,
Attempts her boldeſt note to ſing;
For thee thoſe winding tracts t'explore;
Where ſeldom muſe hath dar'd to ſoar.
But, here, as truth we hope to find,
Be left each vain deſire behind.
Be thrown thoſe obſtacles aſide
Which expectation builds on pride;
While buſy hope and buſtling care
Erect their caſtles in the air;
Our fertile wiſhes ſafe to hold,
Fertile in pleaſure, fame or gold,
[162]A treaſure valued at no leſs
Than man's conſummate happineſs.
For know, if bliſs thy end and aim,
Truth but invalidates thy claim:
Th' excluſive privilege to know
The all we taſte of Heav'n below.
Is this a maxim wits profeſs?
"That man was born to happineſs:
"Tho' tow'rs of hope he fondly raiſe,
"Their ſtructure laſts him all his days:
"In expectation ev'n poſſeſſing
"The better half of ev'ry bleſſing,
"His bliſs for ever in his view,
"Whene'er he pleaſes to purſue."
My friend, with care ſuch maxims weigh:
Nor run with giddy wits aſtray.
In ſearch of truth may genius roam;
[163]But bliſs, if found, is found at home;
To region, clime nor ſoil confin'd
This boaſted ſeed of Heav'nly kind.
Ah! vainly boaſted, if below
The plant celeſtial cannot grow!
Say ſophiſts neither more nor leſs
Than happineſs is happineſs;
Yet will they boaſt this ſtate unknown,
This bliſs indefinite, their own?
The diff'rence plain 'twixt bliſs and woe,
Whate'er we feel we ſurely know:
What ſtate can, then, be ever thine
Which ſenſe nor ſcience can define.
That man, by others is't confeſs'd,
Ne'er is but always to be bleſt?
Yet would they teach, in moral ſtrain,
How all may happineſs attain?
[164]As well who ne'er was bleſs'd with light
May boaſt the happineſs of ſight,
The ſplendour of the ſolar ray;
Or teach his comrades blind their way;
As ſuch to thee make ever known
A ſtate of being ne'er their own.
Doſt thou to prove my judgment wrong
In anſwer quote thy fav'rite ſong?
True bliſs, thy Pope if we believe,
All hands can reach, all heads conceive:a
The happineſs of each confin'd,
In truth, to that of all our kind.
Know terms ſo gen'ral naught define.
The bliſs of all nor yours nor mine:
As yet diſtinctly underſtood
The publick and the private good.
[165]Nor doth it prove this maxim right
To ſay that both in one unite;
Unleſs their union be ſo plain
That, ſeeking one, we both obtain:
Since th'individual, for himſelf,
Applies to riot, fame or pelf:
In ſpite of all the wiſe can ſay,
We ſeek our bliſs a ſep'rate way;
Juſt as the preſent maggots bite,
Take our own meaſures for the right;
Or, having no peculiar whim,
Along the tide of cuſtom ſwim.
Mean-while, of bliſs tho' all diſpute,
None leave their darling ſubſtitute.
How ſhort of happineſs is gold!
The miſer cries; yet keeps his hold.
In women, ſighs the batter'd rake,
[166]What ſolid comfort can we take!
Ah! what in wine? Silenus aſks.
Yet cart the whore; go, ſtave the caſks;
"How ſhall the ſons of Comus live,
"If wine nor women life doth give!"
Thus publick happineſs our care
But for our own peculiar ſhare:
While ſons their father's ſchemes traduce;
And here all patriotiſm abuſe.
However then the ſpecious face
Of wit may countenance the caſe,
Bliſs inconſiſtently we call
The happineſs of one and all.
Nor is it yet preciſely meant
By good, eaſe, pleaſure or content.
Good might we variouſly explain.
Eaſe is deliv'rance but from pain.
[167] Pleaſure is actual joy confeſs'd:
And mere content but patient reſt;
A neutral ſtate, at beſt and worſt,
But negatively bleſt or curſt:
That which our happineſs we call,
Tho' that nor this, the ſum of all.
The world's plain meaning plainly this,
Some conſtant ſtate of actual bliſs.
No matter whether in degree
Alike beſtow'd on you or me:
Enough, if, void of fear or pain,
No motive lead us to complain:
Enough, whate'er the mode of joy,
If ſuch that it can never cloy.
Look round the world, and tell me true.
Where is ſuch happineſs in view?
From monarchs fled, as ſings the bard,
[168]His patron's virtue to reward,
Tell me, in truth, was St. John bleſt? b
Or did the bitter bard but jeſt;
Dipping his pen in worſe than gall,
An outed ſtateſman bleſs'd to call?
With equal truth the muſe might paint
My Lord of Bolingbroke a ſaint;
Run riot o'er his dubious fame,
And dub him with a patriot's name:
So worthy of his country's pràiſe!
So meek! ſo holy all his ways!
Nor, tho' to him, to him alone
A ſtate of perfect bliſs unknown,
Of each complexion, age, degree,
Mankind as far remov'd as he.
Go, aſk, my friend, from door to door,
[169]The high, the low, the rich, the poor;
In court, or cot, if here, or there,
Reſide the mortal free from care.
You aſk in vain, for joy and ſtrife
Diverſify all ſtates of life.
To wield the ſcythe with ſweaty brow,
With wearied arm to guide the plough,
To ſow in hope, to reap in joy,
Thine, labour, is the ſweet employ.
A life of reſt with pain t'endure,
To ſeek in health diſeaſe's cure,
To eat the grape, unprun'd the vine,
Laborious idleneſs is thine.
Yet idleneſs of care complains
And labour quarrels with its pains.
Nor only found, or made, diſtreſs;
Becauſe externals fail to bleſs:
[170]Lodg'd in ourſelves the taſte, and will,
That make externals good or ill;
No earthly bleſſing, hence, we find
An equal good to all mankind.
Belmore, the ſober'ſt thing on earth,
Dreads the broad laugh, and roar of mirth:
While Clerrio, with a length of chin,
Protracted by perpetual grin,
Tho'Socrates himſelf paſs by,
Muſt laugh in ridicule or die.
How elegant, how high refin'd
The palate of Cardella's mind!
How low, how vulgar Cotta's ſoul,
That feels no rapture in a vole!
See thouſands, as in love with ſtrife,
Purſue it, fretting, all their life;
And darken, with the clouds of ſpleen,
[171]The ſky of providence ſerene:
Wretched to find another eas'd,
And moſt unhappy when they're pleas'd.
How ſtrange! while ſome, with patient toil,
Raiſe comfort on a barren ſoil
Or pleaſure ſtrike, by native dint,
From cruel fortune's hardeſt flint;
The patriarch like, whoſe rod, we're told,
Earth's ſtubborn fetters burſt, of old;
When guſh'd the ſtream from Horeb's rock,
To water Iſrael's thirſty flock.
Hence not on earth a bleſſing ſent
Gives univerſally content.
For while ſo varied is our taſte,
Manna itſelf were ſhow'r'd to waſte.
With reaſon, therefore, we profeſs
God meant not here our happineſs:
[172]Elſe in the various bleſſings given
Sure various minds might find their heaven. c
But know, as different we find
Each individual's turn of mind,
As little with ourſelves we ſee
Ourſelves, at various times, agree.
So oft our views, our tempers change,
As through life's varied ſcenes we range.
At times, ſo diff'rent from himſelf,
The prodigal will hoard his pelf;
Spend greedily the night at play,
[173]To throw next morn his gains away.
At times ev'n miſers rob their ſtore,
And give their ſixpence to the poor.
At times ev'n trembling cowards fight,
And, deſp'rate, put the bold to flight:
While, ſick of fighting and of fame,
The brave, like belgick lions, tame.
How oft, my friend, in private life,
We love the maid we hate a wife.
How oft the ſcene, that gives delight
At morn, offends the eye at night.
'Tis not the want of that or this:
Poſſeſſion is the bane of bliſs:
And hence of happineſs we ſee
On earth th' impoſſibility.
Yet, with an intereſted view,
Doth ſtill Lorenzo truth purſue?
[174]Doſt thou ſuppoſe th'enlighten'd mind
In truth's reſearches bliſs may find?
That ſcience fancy may reſtrain,
And fix that weather-cock the brain?
Alas, deceive thy ſelf no more;
But give thy vain pretenſions o'er.
For, as a world of fruitleſs coſt
In vain inquiries hath been loſt;
A world of labour ſpent t'attain
To knowledge man may never gain:
So millions all their lives have ſpent,
Searching for bliſs in diſcontent:
For bliſs, which but a little thought
Had told them never could be taught.
Yet ſtill they aſk; yet ſtill they run
A race that never can be won.
Thus ſought, of yore, projecting fools
[175]The ſummum bonum of the ſchools;
And wiſer heads than thoſe of old
The ſtone converting all to gold;
Or vain adepts, much wiſer ſtill,
To wreſt from nature's hand, at will,
Promethean theft, celeſtial fire;
To animate their wood and wire:
Madmen, that not Monro could cure
Of circles and their quadrature,
Of thinking drunken nature reels,
Like a ſlung coach, on ſprings and wheels!
Doſt thou, inſtructed in thy youth
To place conſummate bliſs in truth,
Conceive it ſomewhere hidden lies,
Among the learned and the wiſe;
That hence our bliſs or miſery flow,
The truth to know or not to know?
[176]In vain the learn'd, in ſcience deep,
In ſearch of bliſs, their vigils keep;
In vain the univerſe explore,
Swift as their ſearch, it flies before,
Through ev'ry clime, on ev'ry wind,
And leaves the panting wiſh behind.
O, tell me, what connection ties
So cloſe the happy and the wiſe.
Did e'er the ſage in wiſdom find
The artleſs infant's peace of mind?
Proud, knowledge, e'er, or boaſtful art,
Reſtore to joy the broken heart?
Ah! what avails the truth to know,
When truth's the frequent ſource of woe;
While gilded fiction's dazzling rays
With ſun-ſhine beautify our days,
Or, mildly ſhed, its ſilver beams,
[177]Reflected, light our nightly dreams;
While pleaſure and its laughing train
Dance, by the moon-ſhine of the brain.
For what is knowledge, but to know
How ignorant our ſtate below?
The more we learn, the more to find,
Beyond our learning, ſtill behind:
Our fruitleſs wiſhes to increaſe,
Whene'er our mental proſpects ceaſe?
So far from happineſs, my friend,
Is ſcience, in its means, or end.
Sayſt thou that bliſs the world affect
The ſmile of God on his elect;
Confin'd to Abr'am's faithful ſeed;
And made dependant on our creed?
Go, aſk the ſaints, to whom are given
The beſt aſſurances of Heaven,
[178]The few diſtinguiſh'd here on earth
As children of a ſpiritual birth,
"How gloomy oft a ſtate of grace;
"How often hid their Maker's face;
"How oft, by ſatan and by ſin,
"Sore buffeted the man within."
Theſe all confeſs beyond the ſky
Their bliſsful heritage doth lie.
Say, is repos'd this Heav'nly truſt
Within the boſom of the juſt,
While virtue, in itſelf, you call
The happineſs of one and all?
Pretending ſtill, "tho' yours and mine
"No partial mode of bliſs define;
"Yet that our diff'rent taſtes unite
"In meaning well and thinking right:
"An univerſal moral this,
[179]"Conducting all mankind to bliſs!"
Alas, what ſophiſtry to tell
Of "thinking right, and meaning well:" d
Unleſs this rectitude of thought
With perſpicuity be taught;
This honeſt meaning plainly ſhown;
So oft admir'd! ſo little known!
At virtue if we're left to gueſs,
What is't to ſay 'tis happineſs?
The way to virtue as to bliſs;
If dubious that as doubtful this.
How fruitleſs therefore but to know
"Virtue is happineſs below!"
Sayſt thou, mankind are all agreed
That happineſs is virtue's meed?
The ſervice of the work inquire,
[180]And by the labour rate the hire.
Now virtue ſome to fact confine,
While others place it in deſign.
Theſe bleſt but for the good they do;
And thoſe for all they have in view.
But, if by virtue underſtood
The mere intent of doing good,
Thoſe fully virtuous may be held,
Who ne'er one lawleſs paſſion quell'd;
Whom ne'er temptation led aſtray,
Beyond the tenour of their way;
A ſober path by ſtoicks trod;
Nor friends to man, nor foes to God.
Conſiſtent with a ſtate of reſt,
If virtue's centred in the breaſt,
As happy thoſe may ſurely live
Who nothing give nor have to give,
[181]As thoſe who taſte, in ey'ry ſenſe,
Th' exertion of benevolence.
Some ſeeming diff'rence yet we find.
What pangs affect the tender mind?
What exquiſite ſenſations riſe,
To hear the orphan's piteous cries;
To feel the widow's piercing woe;
When no relief our wants beſtow?
Doth virtue here rejoice the heart
As when the gen'rous eaſe impart,
When pureſt tranſports warm the breaſt,
That glows to ſuccour the diſtreſs'd?
And yet, my friend, 'twere wond'rous hard,
If bliſs the virtuous rich reward,
In poverty that virtue's zeal
Should double all the pangs we feel;
Each gen'rous ſigh, each ſocial tear,
[182]But render want the more ſevere.
To virtue, therefore, if the deed
Our beſt deſigns muſt yet ſucceed,
Granting that happy ev'ry mind
In ſuch proportion as its kind,
Here in externals do we place
The happineſs of human race:
Enabled to relieve diſtreſs
As wealth, or pow'r, ourſelves poſſeſs;
For bliſs capacitated more
As bleſt with fortune's worldly ſtore.
Fix'd, by this ſcheme, the bliſsful ſtate,
Excluſive, to the rich and great:
The virtuous poor, but innocent,
Claim, at th' utmoſt, bare content.
Beſides, if individuals bleſt
As ſharers only with the reſt,
[183]True happineſs with thee to call
Not merely that of one but all,
What is inactive virtue's uſe?
Can it to ſocial good conduce?
Can it, thus fruitleſs and confin'd,
Be call'd a bleſſing to mankind?
If then we judge ſo much amiſs
Of virtue, and of virtuous bliſs,
If faith, tho' crown'd with alms and pray'rs,
Hath all its pangs, hath all its cares,
While, ev'n from knowledge, proſpects riſe,
That make us miſerably wiſe,
His perfect happineſs to reach,
No morals mortal man can teach:
Still Heav'n's beſt vot'ries muſt confeſs
No bleſſings here compleatly bleſs:
A compound ſtrange of bliſs and woe
[184]Man's variable ſtate below.
Some abſent ſomething ours to crave,
Ev'n from the cradle to the grave!
How idly, then, employ'd the mind
In ſearch of that we cannot find.
For human bliſs ſtands never ſtill;
Our good inſep'rable from ill; e
Whilſt all of pain and pleaſure ſhare,
Their hour of joy, their hour of care,
Adapted to each ſev'ral ſtate;
Fix'd and determinate as fate.
The world my friend, an ample field,
Of ſuch examples ſtore doth yield.
How throbs the infant's little breaſt,
[185]Beneath a load of care oppreſs'd;
The care that iſſues with a ſigh;
The tear yet ſtanding in the eye;
Or, caught in laughter's dimple ſleek,
Dry'd up in ſtealing down the cheek.
See next, among, the ſachel'd crowd,
Bold as a hero and as proud,
The little tyrant of his claſs;
How happy! till condemn'd to parſe,
Or ſob beneath the weightier curſe
Of ſcanning Lily's crabbed verſe. f
In youth how glows the vital fire
'Tween expectation and deſire;
Our ſanguine hopes our awkard fears,
[186]All ſuiting unexperienc'd years.
Still riper joys do manhood bleſs,
When full-blown fortune we poſſeſs?
We riot on the joyous ſtore,
Till health and ſtrength can charm no more;
When diſappointment and chagrin
Retaliate all our joys with ſpleen.
Proportion'd next to waſted age,
Inſipid joys and peeviſh rage,
Tho' dim th' exhauſted paſſions burn,
Take, to our lateſt gaſp, their turn.
Thus relative, my friend, we find
The pains and pleaſures of mankind:
Adapted all, in due degree,
To human ſenſibility.
For ſee, no more alive to ſmart
Than dead to joy the hard-of-heart:
[187]As far from rapture as deſpair
The fretful family of care.
Not ſickneſs, pain, nor death itſelf
Avarus dreads like loſs of pelf:
While Laviſh offers an eſtate
To ſtaunch a cut, ere yet too late,
Diſpel the head-ach, or remove
Th' effects of his intemp'rate love.
Was ever yet the child of mirth
Intenſely bleſt, or curſt, on earth?
Ah no! how lightly feel a pain
The light-of-heart, or light-of-brain!
The man, ſo happy as to think,
Life's bitter potion born to drink!
Behold the fooliſh, weak and blind
The ſprightlieſt, merrieſt of mankind;
While ſuffers oft ſuperior ſenſe,
[188]Ev'n from its own pre-eminence:
Thoſe follies that the wiſe: annoy
The deſtitute-of-wiſdom's joy.
The blockhead naturally free
From cares thy knowledge brings on thee,
While Heav'n your daily toil to ſeek,
Poor Ralpho works but once a week:
When left his plough and worldly cares,
He plies his ſunday's taſk at pray'rs.
Nor puzzled he in truth's reſearch,
Laid all his burthen on the church;
The friendly church, by Heav'n deſign'd
To help the weak, to lead the blind,
To check the raſh, to warm the cold,
T'engage the young, t'amuſe the old,
Th' unthinking from themſelves to ſave,
And bring them calmly to the grave.
[189]Bleſt ignorance! from care ſo free,
Hath it, Lorenzo, charms for thee?
Wouldſt thou to ſcience, empty name
If void of bliſs reſign thy claim?
Be like the aſs, that plodding goes,
Nor looks beyond his bridled noſe?
For me—O, rather ſhould I aſk
Life's moſt laborious, abject taſk.
Would ev'n the meaneſt lot ſuſtain;
Bear ev'ry tolerable pain:
To emp'ricks would intruſt my cure;
Ev'n to be pitied might endure:
Nay, plague me, Heav'n, in ev'ry ſenſe,
Ere take my ſhare of reaſon hence;
Of ſcience ere my ſoul deprive,
My little portion, whilſt alive.
Yet doſt thou ignorance deſpiſe?
[190]The joys of knowledge hence ariſe.
So ſtrange ſo little underſtood
The varied ſource of mortals' good!
To Heav'n my grateful vows be paid
That man in human frailty's made;
That grief and ignorance my lot;
In joy and ſcience ſince forgot;
Or beſt remember'd in the taſte
They give improvement's rich repaſt.
O ſay, induſtrious queriſt, ſay,
What raptures court you on the way;
What views delight, from time, to time,
As the ſteep hills of art you climb.
Such tranſports ne'er had fir'd my breaſt,
If born of ſciences poſſeſs'd,
As when, by want of knowledge fir'd,
To nature's lore I late aſpir'd;
[191]By ſlow degrees enlighten'd grew,
Her volume op'ning to my view;
To the weak mind as knowledge given;
Knowledge, that wings the ſoul for Heaven.
Lorenzo, is this doctrine ſtrange?
Seeſt thou not, while the ſeaſons change,
How much, as each in contraſt felt,
We freeze with cold, by heat we melt.
Thus exquiſite our ſenſe of woe
As more refin'd our pleaſures grow:
Pleaſure and pain, as light and ſhade,
By one the other ſtill diſplay'd.
Didſt never want? to thee denied
The bliſs of being ſatisfied;
In conſtant fulneſs but enjoye'd
Th' inſipid good of which we're cloy'd.
Say, plenty gives thee bread more white,
[192]It blunts the edge of appetite;
Or, giving wine, malignly firſt
Robs thee, diſtaſteful, of thy thirſt.
How ſunk, and terrible, to thee
The hollow, eye of poverty!
While Villius meets her with, a ſmile,
And ſings, or whiſtles all the while.
Tho' worn his hands, perplex'd, his head,
He reliſhes the ſweets of bread;
Nay patient ſees, in want itſelf,
His cruſtleſs cupboard's vacant ſhelf:
Full many a time, in pleaſant rue,
Dancing for joy without a ſhoe.
Is Fortunatus rich and gay?
Curſt with the modiſh itch of play;
Bubbled at White's, through luſt of gain;
Or jockey'd round New-Market plain;
[193]See with his barb his manors fly;
His leaſeholds totter with the die;
Braving the ſtorm of many a caſt,
His oaks a bet malignant blaſt,
His card-built villas, one and all,
Like infant architecture, fall.
From ſharpers, creditors and duns,
Not half the peril Villius runs;
Whom all the world to truſt refuſe;
Who nothing owns he dreads to loſe.
Ah me! what threat'ning danger nigh?
Why ſwells the tear in Delia's eye?
Eclips'd the faireſt of the fair
By ſad misfortune's drooping air;
Delia on whom kind Nature ſmil'd,
Ev'n at the birth her fav'rite child,
When, all the graces to combine,
[194]
She cloath'd them in one form divine;
Beſtowing grandeur, wit and wealth,
And fortune's beſt of bounties, health:
Nay, adding, in her gen'rous fit,
Good-nature even to her wit.
With all theſe bleſſings yet unbleſt,
Ah, tell me, fair one, why diſtreſs'd.
Alas! alas! the belle's reply
"Of Brilliante's birth-day ſuit I die.
You ſmile at miſery like this.
Match it with Delia's ſenſe of bliſs.
In rapture ever, with the gay,
To ſhine at concert, maſque or play;
Her greateſt happineſs to boaſt
Her name the fopling's reigning toaſt:
The all in life her wiſh regards
Summ'd up in faſhions, routs and cards.
[195]Ah, then, how pow'rful to diſtreſs
Th' important article of dreſs!
So deeply ſome may cares affect,
Thoſe trifling cares that you neglect,
Half the ſolicitude we ſee
Ridiculous to you and me?
Others there are as lightly hold
Dangers, at which our blood runs cold.
Lo where, beneath th' impending cliff
The Norway fowler moors his ſkiff;
Or, deſp'rate, fifty fathoms high
Suſpended, ſeems himſelf to fly;
While thus, from rock to rock, he ſwings;
And, blythe, his ſummer's ditty ſings.
As blythe the ſea-boy furls the ſail,
Regardleſs of the bluſt'ring gale;
Nor winds, nor waves, diſturb his ſleep,
[196]Amid the horrours of the deep.
The cordial draught, the downy bed
Had ne'er reviv'd the drooping head,
Had ſickneſs pale, and fainting grief
Ne'er wiſh'd for wearied nerves relief.
See Belmont on the ſofa laid;
What racking pains his limbs invade!
Take half his gout, the reſpite given
He calls a bliſsful taſte of heaven.
Give but a youth, diſperſing wealth,
Who riots on the bloom of health,
That bliſsful part, which yet remains;
And his a mortal's bitter'ſt pains.
Pains which no aggravation know!
Yet, ſo comparative our woe,
Inflict them when Cleora's kiſs,
Kind earneſt of approaching bliſs,
[197]Hath rais'd the glowing lover's fire
To flaming raptures of deſire;
Lo, diſappointment joins the curſe,
And turns this worſt affliction worſe.
Correct ideas let us gain.
Our ſenſe of joy we owe to pain;
So ſtrange a paradox is this!
And mis'ry to our ſenſe of bliſs;
While ſuch our varying ſtate below,
Ev'n joy degen'rates into woe;
And pains, in ſufferance, by degrees,
On their own pangs engender eaſe;
Their antidote, like ſcorpions, bring,
T' expel the poiſon of their ſting.
The tenſion of th' extended nerve,
Say Phiſiologiſts, may ſerve,
The means of pleaſure and of pain,
[198]This ſeeming paradox t' explain.
As ſtrung the harp with trembling wire,
So brac'd with nerves the human lyre,
While ſuch in tune, theſe ſages ſay,
The ſmiling hours in concert play:
But if, in change, too lax or tenſe;
Health ſtrikes no more the keys of ſenſe:
But, tremblingly alive all o'er,
The tortur'd ſtrings in diſcord roar:
While ſickneſs, with her harpy claws,
Stranger to each harmonious cauſe,
Labours, benumb'd, the jarring ſtrain,
That ſtuns our ear with deaf'ning pain.
Nor yet can health too oft repeat
Its muſick, howſoever ſweet;
While, by degrees, lo, ev'ry ſtring,
Depriv'd of its elaſtick ſpring,
[199]In gen'ral laſſitude, full ſoon
The whole machine grows out of tune.
Should, alſo, paſſion, ſenſe or art
Wind up too high the nervous part;
With noiſe the notes tumultuous tire;
Or breaking ſtrings unman the lyre.
Of pain or pleaſure on our frame
Th' effects, hence, frequently the ſame;
Thus, full of gladneſs or of grief,
In tears we find the ſame relief;
Alike the feeble nerve deſtroy
Exquiſite pain, extatick joy.
The bandit, ſtretch'd upon the wheel,
Th' extreme of torture ne'er can feel;
But, cruelty diſarming, lies
Or dead to ſenſe, or really dies.
So, rapture never meant to bleſs,
[200]Ev'n joy grows pain when in exceſs.
Indulg'd to print the burning kiſs
On Chloe's lips, how fierce the bliſs!
How keen the torture of her charms,
Careſs'd, to pant within her arms,
Melting in fulneſs of deſire,
Stretch'd on the rack of bliſs, t'expire!
Thus conſtitutional, below,
Is all our bliſs, is all our woe:
Each holding, intimately join'd,
Alternate empire o'er the mind.
Like Perſian monarchs, hardly known
Ere tumbled headlong from the throne,
Precarious and as ſhort its ſway,
Depos'd and ſceptred in a day,
Pleaſure begins its fickle reign,
[201]And tyrannizes into pain:
When, as to cruel pain we bow,
Its rod grows light we know not how.
Ah, cruel blow to human pride!
Is pain and pleaſure thus allied,
That all the ſweets of life grow ſour
Within the tranſitory hour!
Complains, Lorenzo? darts behind
No ray of comfort on his mind?
If thus with varied joy and ſtrife
Diverſified all ſtates of life;
If human being cannot know
A conſtant ſtate of bliſs or woe;
Worn by ſharp mis'ry to the bones,
While grief with intermiſſion groans,
And meagre want, half fed, the while,
[202]Grins forth her grateful, ghaſtly ſmile;
Tho' vain our hopes of bliſs, as vain
Our fears of unremitting pain:
Abſurd the miſchief-making care
That leads us blindly to deſpair.
[figure]
[]

EPISTLE THE SIXTH.

ARGUMENT.

[]

On abſtract good and evil—The phyſical perfection of the material univerſe, and the moral harmony obſervable in the diſpenſations of Providience.

SUMMARY

[]

THE inquiries, of philoſophers into the abſtract cauſe of evil have hitherto been attended with little ſucceſs. Indeed, no ſuch abſtract evil exiſts. For, whatever calamities human life be ſubject to, their evil depends merely on our own s;enſibility. Even phyſical evils, which are the leaſt controvertible, are evidently relative to their effects on the ſufferings, or enjoyments, of mankind. Whence they muſt not be accounted abſtract evils, or real defects in the general ſyſtem of things: of which we have at preſent but a partial view; and therefore cannot tell how far apparent imperfections may conduce to the perfection of the whole. That human life is ſubject, nevertheleſs, to palpable evils cannot be denied: but it ſhould be conſider'd that, as ſuch evils are but temporary, and are evil but in proportion to the pleaſure, or good, by which they are contraſted, we are not ſenſible of any abſtracted evil, unleſs a ſtate of humanity, on the whole, be attended with a greater portion, of pain than pleaſure. This is aſſerted by many; but is experimentally falſe. Indeed, on a fair and impartial eſtimate, our ſufferings and enjoyments ſeem to ſtand on an equal ballance. Hence, alſo, if there be no abſtract phyſical evil in the univerſe, there is as little reaſon for us to hold [206] the exiſtence of phyſical good; or to maintain that happineſs is the privilege of human life. That "whatever is is right," with reſpect to the whole, is allow'd; but that it is therefore good is another conſideration: goodneſs being a term relative to the happineſs of mankind, and not applicable to that general ſyſtem. The famous principle of the BEST is therefore futile and frivolous—As to moral good and evil: we owe a ſenſe of them purely to phyſical: for had mankind felt neither pain nor pleaſure, they would never, from the light of nature, have acquir'd the ideas of moral good or ill. Thoſe actions, therefore, are morally good which give riſe to more pleaſure than pain; and morally bad, vice verſa: Innocence being, ſtrictly ſpeaking, neither good nor evil; and indeed inconſiſtent with a ſtate of action. Moral evil appears, hence, to be, alſo, merely relative to man; and can by no means be conſider'd as a defect in the deſigns of Providence; unleſs we can be ſo abſurd as to ſuppoſe it in the power of created beings to counterwork the intentions of their ſupreme creator. On the other hand, moral good is equally relative, and can have no effect on the happineſs of the firſt cauſe, or plead any abſtract merit with the Deity. Moral good and evil, however, in the agent, is neceſſarily attended with temporary happineſs and miſery; in the [207] diſtribution of which, alſo, agreeable to relative merit, it is not improbable that impartial juſtice is done, even in this life, in the perfect diſpenſations of Providence. Our hopes or apprehenſions, nevertheleſs, of a future ſtate are not hereby cut off. On the contrary, this life may only be preparatory to a future; where the virtuous and vicious may be very differently diſpos'd of in the ſcale of exiſtence. But, whatever be our lot hereafter, it reſts on the good pleaſure of our creator: into whoſe hands philoſophy calmly reſigns the hidden concerns of futurity.

[figure]

EPISTLE THE SIXTH.

[209]
IS there who teach that human woe
Muſt from a ſource abſtracted flow;
Exiſting in creation's plan,
Some active ill the curſe of man;
[210]Some imperfection, or offence,
In phyſicks or in providence?
The queſtion old unanſwer'd lies.
"Whence did the curſe of evil riſe?"
By Wolfius left and twenty more,
As puzzling as 'twas left before,
To God or devil ſtill aſſign'd
The cauſe of ill by human-kind.
In diſobedience to his God,
Did man himſelf call down the rod?
Or did th' arch-fiend, from Heav'n that fell,
Inſpire the miſchief to rebel?
Yet, ſure, if pow'r preventive given,
No angel e'er had fell from Heaven;
Man had no tempter known to vice;
Serpent, nor Eve, in Paradiſe.
Lorenzo, in the pride of ſenſe,
[211] Inſtruction's deem'd impertinence.
She, therefore, daughter of the wiſe,
Hath long been ſhelter'd in diſguiſe;
Ent'ring, beneath the maſk of ſport,
The preſence, tho' forbid the court:
So fond with young delight to ſtray,
And moralize the wanton's play,
That ev'n her precepts ſtill prevail
In ev'ry fav'rite, goſſip's tale.
Yet ſo that thoſe who ſeek to learn
With eaſe the naked truth diſcern;
To genius but a pleaſing taſk
To ſport with allegory's maſk.
The moral, then, from tales deduct;
And let philoſophy inſtruct.
Angelick truths let angels ſcan:
Ours is the ſcrutiny of man.
[212]Ours but in reaſon's bounded courſe
Allow'd to try our native force;
Confin'd within life's little ſpace
The fleeteſt genius at the race,
In vain we urge beyond the goal
Th' ideal courſers of the ſoul.
Art thou, my friend, ſo ill at eaſe
That all thy proſpects here diſpleaſe?
Doſt thou, in peeviſhneſs or pain,
Of nature's ſyſtem all complain?
Of blunders there, confuſion here,
Too diſtant Heav'n, and hell too near!
In mood ſo ſplenetick, my friend,
Say what thoſe evils that offend:
Thy doubts propoſe, thy queſtions aſk,
And take omniſciency to taſk.
Giv'n thy ſagacity offence
[213]By all thou ſeeſt of providence,
The conſtitution prone to blame
Of nature's univerſal frame,
Doſt thou Heav'n's boaſted care deny
When tempeſts ſweep along the ſky;
Thy feather'd geeſe when whirlwinds bear
Aloft, and ſcatter, wide in air;
Or from the hills impetuous rains
Deſcend and ſtrip th' autumnal plains?
Concluding the machin'ry vile
When earthquakes ſhake our ſtable iſle,
When Etna and Veſuvius flame;
To nature each a burning ſhame!
Finds thy philoſophy as ſoon
Faulty th' attraction of the moon,
When death reſiſtleſs, roaring rides
In triumph o'er the ſwelling tides,
[214]Or, bathing in deſtruction, drowns
Flocks, herds and men and helpleſs towns;
Or bears them off ſome mountain ſteep
All headlong down, to glut the deep?
Or is thy wiſer cenſure bent
Againſt ſome comet's dire event?
In time to come, time out of mind,
To fall into the ſun deſign'd;
Suſpicious that, if planets turn
To comets, ours at length may burn;
And we be doom'd, ſome ſultry day,
To his devouring flames a prey!
Lorenzo, is this ſtrain admir'd,
Here mayſt thou rail till ſenſe be tir'd.
But judge not thou, as ſophiſts vain,
Of gen'ral good by partial gain:
Thinking when croſs'd our ſtubborn will
[215]Such is a providential ill.
For know, no abſtract cauſe exiſts
And battles in creation's liſts,
A formal enemy to man,
Since nature's tournaments began,
Inflam'd with enmity and power
God's human likeneſs to devour.
No—'tis impoſſible a cauſe
Should counteract creation's laws,
The hand of providence arreſt,
Or IIcav'n's determin'd pow'r conteſt:
As one or other muſt prevail,
And one, or both together, fail.
But nature knows no real ſtrife,
However jarring human life,
From evil and from errour free;
Theſe only relative to thee.
[2l6]In icy chains let winter bind
The glebe untrod by human-kind,
Fierce light'nings flaſh, and thunders roll
Their horrours only round the pole;
Let Malſtrooms roar, and Heclas blaze
Where fools nor cowards ſtand to gaze:
Let iſlands drown; let mountains melt;
Theſe are no evils till they're felt.
'Mid ſouthern ſeas and lands unknown
Should agonizing nature groan,
There only eaſe her future th [...]oes,
And harmleſs horrours. round diſcloſe;
Earthquakes would loſe their evil name,
And Heav'n no longer bear the blame;
Tho' evils now we loudly call
Lima's, and Ulyſippo's, a fall.
[217]
Lorenzo, of creation's plan
But parts are viſible to man;
Whence, ign'rant of their ſep'rate uſe,
We think them ſubject to abuſe:
Tho' all with art conſummate join,
Conducive to Heav'n's main deſign.
As parts to complex engines prove,
Inſpir'd by mechaniſm to move,
This retrograde, and that direct,
In diff'rent modes to one effect,
So, howſoe'er they claſh to ſenſe,
The ſev'ral ſprings of providence,
In concert, at their Maker's will,
Their ends harmoniouſly fulfil:
Upheld the weight, let fall the rod,
As urges the firſt mover, God.
How blind are, then, the ſmatt'ring fools,
[218]Juſt taught their geometrick rules,
The ſimple uſe of rule and line,
To theſe who nature would confine;
Its laws who elſe capricious call,
Or ſay "it acts by none at all;
"The macrocoſm's vaſt engine made
"By one that knew not half his trade;
"Its bungling engineer at hand,
"To help it forward, at a ſtand."
Impious! like Marli's, doth it take
The pains to mend it did to make,
Requiring endleſs coſt and care
To hold in tenable repair?
Ah! no, howe'er to us it ſeem,
Creation is a perfect ſcheme.
Lorenzo, let not words deceive.
All imperfection's relative;
[219]Since from conceiv'd amendments came
The patch-work we perfection name;
A term for ſomething underſtood
Productive ſtill of mortals' good.
But, of perfection abſolute
All nature is, beyond diſpute.
For all from God is here deriv'd,
And all is perfect God contriv'd.
"Man ſurely perfect then" you cry.
As man, moſt perfect, I reply.
The creature of his Maker's will,
Form'd his good pleaſure to fulfill,
Deſtin'd in th' univerſal plan
To fill his ſpace, and act, as man.
What tho' on earth the human mind
Involv'd in ignorance we find,
Impaſſion'd, fickle, giv'n to pride,
[220]Nor reſting e'er ſelf-ſatisfied,
Doth pow'r comparative t'improve
Perfection poſitive remove?
As well imperfect might we ſay
The riſing ſun at early day,
Since with ſuperior heat and light
It blazes in meridian height.
Form'd with progreſſive pow'rs to riſe
From out the duſt to tread the ſkies,
Perfect as ſuch humanity
However lowly in degree.
How ignorant and weak are thoſe
Who nature's authour, then, ſuppoſe
In providence remains a ſpy,
To guard his work with, watchful eye;
From fallen angels' baſe intent
The direful outrage to prevent;
[221]To reſcue, or preſerve, his plan
From that prodigious creature, man.
Like the young ſteed, that ſcours the plain,
Its nature wild and needs a rein?
Or halts it like a founder'd jade;
Lame by her frequent ſtumbling made?
Perhaps, Lorenzo, ſome miſtake
Concerning providence we make;
The pow'rs of nature to divide
From its imaginary guide:
For, if creation has, in fact,
Been long ago a finiſh'd act,
What end doth lab'ring time purſue?
Or what hath providence in view?
For ſure thou wilt not take the ſide
Of thoſe, whoſe ignorance and pride
Maintain the univerſe deſign'd
[222]Merely to gratify mankind:
A ſtage, as on a ſtroler's cart,
Where drolls itin'rant play their part,
In grinning mirth, or brawling ſtrife:
The tragi-comedy of life!
Was, then, heav'n's wond'rous pow'r diſplay'd;
This ſyſtem in perfection made,
Only to wear itſelf away?
Stupendous frame! for mere decay!
Its worlds to wander through the void,
Deſtroying till themſelves deſtroy'd;
Or, in ſome future, fabled, days,
To take imaginary blaze
At flames, that all to ruin turn,
Annihilating as they burn?
Riſk'd, then, the cenſure of my wit,
I hold the world unfiniſh'd yet:
[223]Time building what Heav'n's wiſdom plann'd,
Creation's work ev'n yet in hand.
Through nature's ſcenes in order range;
See all things in continual change;
All to ſome point progreſſive run,
To do, as well as be undone.
Exiſting for ſo ſhort a ſpace,
Thouſands we know but by their place,
Which chang'd, by changing form, we ſay
The things themſelves are paſs'd away.
No proofs of being objects bring,
Whoſe eſſence ever on the wing,
Flown from their forms, ere yet defin'd,
Leaves no identity behind.
But waving this, yet ſee we here
No abſtract cauſe of ill, to fear:
Since on the feelings of mankind
[224]Depends the ev'ry ill we find:
Whence, tho' our ſuff'rings ill we call,
They're no abſtracted cauſe at all:
For, ſtript creation of mankind,
No evil would be left behind.
To this will cavillers reply?
"We aſk not where thoſe cauſes lie;
"If in externals be th'offence,
"Or in the pravity of ſenſe:
"That real ill exiſts is plain,
"While man is ſenſible of pain."
In anſwer, my Lorenzo, here,
No vaunting ſtoiciſm fear:
Nor think thy friend ſo madly wiſe
T'affect his mis'ries to deſpiſe.
I ne'er preſume that point to teach,
Nor 'gainſt the voice of nature preach:
[225]None feel more tenderly than I:
Mine the ſoft heart and wat'ry eye,
The ſanguine hopes, the groundleſs fears;
Still unſubdued by ſenſe or years;
Ah, too ſuſceptible of pain
When vice, or folly, but complain!
Yet, ev'n while tears of anguiſh flow,
I hold no abſtract ill we know.
'Tis true, my friend, no man alive
Could, in his ſenſes, gravely ſtrive
The wretch in torture to perſuade
Of evil not to be afraid;
The murd'rer, mangled on the wheel;
To ſmile at harmleſs rope and ſteel;
Or that the blows, that loitering kill,
Cannot be phyſically ill.
Abſurd the argument and vain!
[226]Since all we know of ill is pain.
And yet, as, neither griev'd nor pain'd,
Of evil man had ne'er complain'd,
If, relative, our bliſs and woe
Reciprocally ebb and flow,
'Tis palpable that joy and ſtrife
Are but the modes of human life;
Which varied with conſummate ſkill
Proves, on the whole, nor good nor ill.
Sayſt thou the learned are agreed
The ills of life the good exceed?
Lorenzo, peeviſh, ſick, or vain,
How nat'ral is it to complain!
But ſure experience here denies
This thread-bare maxim of the wife.
Behold the weak, the blind, the lame,
The ſons of poverty and ſhame,
[227]The wretch, expiring by degrees
By amputations or diſeaſe;
Such whoſe vile lot, the world their foe,
Contempt and beggary below:
Shouldſt thou to this, or that, propoſe
In death a cure for all their woes;
Tell 'em, "oppreſs'd with human ſtrife,
"Wide ſtand the num'rous doors of life,
"With open arms, the wretch to ſave,
"Reſt welcomes mis'ry to the grave."
How few your recipé will try;
Tho' dying piece-meal loth to dye.
Nor merely from the fear of worſe,
Tenacious of a preſent curſe.
For ſay annihilation here
The all poor mortals have to fear:
How few would yet their ills incline
[228]Their ſenſe of being to reſign;
To part, on terms like theſe, with pain,
With pleaſure ne'er to meet again;
Ev'n nature ſhudd'ring at the thought,
To ſink inconſcious into naught.
In mere exiſtence ſure mankind
Muſt then intrinſick pleaſure find;
Some good equivalent muſt feel
To ſuch ſuppos'd exceſs of ill;
Since thus, by death, ſo loth to part
An aching head and bleeding heart.
May not, at leaſt, all human woe
Be ballanc'd with our joys below.
Doſt thou, Lorenzo, doubt of this?
How doſt thou meaſure earthly bliſs?
'Tis not by extaſy alone
Thy actual ſhare of joy is known:
[229] Duration adds to the degree
As much as its intenſity.
Joy for a moment's ſpace how ſmall!
Pain inſtantaneous, none at all;
Through life continued little leſs
Ev'n bare content than happineſs:
The joyous extaſy of bliſs
Dilating rarified to this.
Be it on individuals tried;
Each needs but to be ſatisfied:
The longing wiſh, the ſigh is o'er
When once content; we aſk no more.
Thus equal joy we often taſte
In ſhort-liv'd pleaſures, ſnatch'd in haſte,
As others, or, when raptur'd leſs,
For years, ev'n we, ourſelves, poſſeſs.
Hence oft aſſerted in diſpute
[230]That time ideas conſtitute;
Senſe of duration ſo confin'd
To that which paſſes in the mind.
Th'expectant lover thinks, in rage,
His Stellia's abſent hour an age;
While ſhort and ſweet the moments fly.
When love and ſhe ſit ſmiling by:
Nor giv'n their epithets in vain.
To fleeting joy, and lingering pain,
In minutes flown, each joyful day,
Each ſad one whiled in hours away.
Nay, tho' of life tenacious all,
Longevity no bliſs we call.
In diff'rent animals, at leaſt,
While ev'n the leſs the greater's feaſt,
'Tis probable their, joys and ſtrife
Are ſuited to their term of life.
[231]Whence equal pleaſure, equal pain,
May long-liv'd elephants ſuſtain
With young ephemerons, whoſe flight,
At noon beginning, ends at night:
During which momentary ſpace,
They riſe, love, battle and embrace,
Flutt'ring around, till, out of breath,
They drop into the arms of death.
From ſelf-experience doſt thou rate
The real hardſhip of thy fate?
Art thou with ev'ry friend at ſtrife?
Seeſt thou no gentle joy in life?
Doſt thou no fav'rite ſcheme poſſeſs,
To build contemplative ſucceſs?
Haſt thou no hope; no good doſt chooſe,
A good thou wouldſt not die to loſe?
Thy day, thus clouded at the dawn,
[232]Will brighter ſhine, its clouds withdrawn:
Or, is thy morn of ſun-ſhine paſt,
With clouds thy ev'ning's overcaſt:
Wouldſt of its brightneſs know th'amount?
Bring morn and ev'ning to account.
Stands nature then, ſo long abus'd,
Of abſtract evil thus excus'd;
As little truth is underſtood
By thoſe, who hold all nature good.
"Whatever is, is right." —it may.
But therefore good we cannot ſay;
Unleſs ſome perfect bliſs we ſee
Ariſe from partial miſery.
In ſpite of truth, in reaſon's ſpite
When vex'd, or pain'd, we all deny't:
Ne'er, till the pain be o'er, confeſſing
That was, which never is, a bleſſing,
[233]The term's, then, here miſunderſtood,
Right's not equivocal to good;
Goodneſs adapted and confin'd
To th' appetites of human-kind;
The right, unknown to you or me:
Tho' ſure what is is fit to be.
Let Plato, then, or Leibnitz prate
Of goodneſs influencing fate;
Or idle ſophiſters conteſt
Their boaſted principle the beſt:
By diſputants, on either ſide,
The partial term is miſapplied. b
[234]That God is good they know full well;
But what his goodneſs none can tell;
Unleſs to man, his kindneſs ſhown
Heav'n's good depends upon our own.
Lorenzo, merely to mankind
Thus evil phyſical confin'd;
Of moral next, a puzzling taſk,
An explanation doſt thou aſk?
Sayſt thou "Heav'n's care no more extends
"To phyſical than moral ends:
"The ſame the providential power,
"That rains the ſoft, refreſhing ſhower,
"That, in the womb of teeming earth,
"Its atoms quickens into birth,
"Doth in the moral ſcene connect
"The cauſe and conſequent effect;
"On virtue peace of heart beſtows;
[235]"Softens the good man's caſual woes;
"Abandons vice to fell deſpair;
"Or plagues with heart-corroding care:"
Concluding hence "that moral ill,
"Oppoſing nature's righteous will,
"Aloud for Heav'n's dread vengeance calls,
"The curſe that on the guilty falls."
So far Lorenzo, I with thee,
In part moſt readily agree;
That vice will leave a ſting behind,
And virtue its reward ſhall find.
Yet all, with good St. Paul, confeſs
"Without a law we can't tranſgreſs."
Now nature's law is Heav'n's command,
Whoſe will no mortal can withſtand.
How! lives earth's animated clod
To contravene the will of God?
[236]As well, advent'rous of his neck,
The laws of gravity to break,
Preſumptuous man might ſeek to fly,
A creeping earth-worm, to the ſky;
Or don the biſhop's winged ſhoon,
To trip it yarely to the moon. c
What curſe ſoe'er then vice provoke,
Creation's laws can ne'er be broke.
But know, by phyſical alone
Is moral good or evil known;
For, had not vice the pow'r to vex,
Its evil never would perplex.
Each moral thus a partial ill,
Permitted by th'eternal will;
[237]To mortals relative th'offence
And puniſhments of providence.
Lorenzo, ſtate the matter clear.
Be pain and pleaſure ſtrangers here.
Strangers to pleaſure and to pain,
Induce what motives to complain?
Suppoſe we, then, in nature's plan,
T'exiſt th'automaton of man,
Riſing from ſenſeleſs matter's arms,
Where perfect reſt nor grieves, nor charms;
Should Heav'n a conſciouſneſs beſtow,
Subject to good or ill below;
Not real pain or pleaſure give,
But only make the form to live:
As yet from all reflection clear,
Unnerv'd by hope, unaw'd by fear,
Suppoſe to action thus conſign'd
[238]This naked, unaffected mind.
Lorenzo, with preciſion hence
Let us infer the conſequence.
Ere yet exiſted moral ill,
The firſt ſole agent Was the will:
Reaſon without the pow'r to act,
To cenſure or adviſe a fact;
As from experience naught it knew,
Of good or bad, or falſe or true:
For reaſon its concluſion draws
From ſimilar effect and cauſe;
No inſtinct, faculty or ſenſe,
Inſuring actual innocence,
That bids us virtue's ſteps purſue,
Or points to bliſs it never knew:
Elſe giving reaſon here had Heaven
No leſs than actual pleaſure given:
[239]This not ſuppos'd—hence reaſon's uſe
Some known effect muſt introduce.
Now, as innate if we maintain
A love of bliſs and hate of pain,
Directed as the paſſions fir'd,
The will to pleaſure firſt aſpir'd;
The moral agent bound to chuſe
From pleaſure's moſt immediate views.
But, prone to cenſure and complain,
Suppoſe our firſt ſenſation pain;
Let pain or pleaſure be attain'd,
Of both an equal ſenſe was gain'd,
As the firſt tree of knowledge bore
Of good and evil equal ſtore;
For when the mind one pleaſure knew,
Its neutral ſtate of reſt withdrew:
Pleaſure and pain, by contraſt known,
[240]Criteria of each other grown.
Hence felt th'initiated mind
The ſting which pleaſure left behind,
And reaſon did to act commence
On th'information of the ſenſe;
Seeing the paſſions ebb and flow,
Now ſwoln with bliſs, now ſunk in woe,
Trac'd out the bounds, extremes between,
Of innocence that golden mean.
But ah, the fluctuating tide
Of paſſion doth this mean deride:
Conſiſtent only, 'tis confeſs'd,
With nature in a ſtate of reſt.
Here then from moral action came
The neceſſary ill, we blame:
Running ſelf-love, in full career,
Reaſon her guide not always near,
[241]Her ſatisfaction oft purſuing,
Tho' at her own and others' ruin.
Pronounce we, hence, a moral ill
Th'indulgence of the human will,
Whene'er from ſuch indulgence flows
More pain than pleaſure it beſtows.
In guilt original involv'd,
Here ſee the wond'rous myſt'ry ſolv'd.
To the firſt man no more confin'd
Than paſſions found in ev'ry mind,
Is, the plain cauſe of moral woe,
Sin, human frailty here below.
Lorenzo, evil underſtood,
The die's reverſe is moral good:
Whate'er more pleaſure yields than pain d
[242]The name of goodneſs doth obtain.
Unſatisfied, Lorenzo, yet,
Doſt thou loſt happineſs regret?
Doth, from our plan of morals, ſeem
Yet providence no perfect ſcheme,
Becauſe, perplex'd with fear or pain,
Ev'n virtue covets bliſs in vain?
Doſt thou againſt the cauſe object?
"'Tis diſproportion'd to th' effect,
"Thus in th'intemp'rance of the will
"To place the ſource of moral ill:
"Our paſſions but a nat'ral cauſe,
"Obedient to creation's laws,
"Here palpably too innocent
"The cauſe of mis'ry to be meant."
Muſt I repeat it o'er again?
From pleaſure flows our ſenſe of pain.
[243]Through life, each other's contraſt made,
Dependant theſe as light and ſhade.
Whence, tho' to moderation join'd
Content's ſerenity of mind,
While vice but ſports with higher glee
To ſink as low in miſery,
Proportion'd to the guilty joy
The pangs intemperance annoy,
Yet, on the whole, no abſtract ill
Doth here confront th'eternal will;
Of evil all th'effected ſtrife
But relative to human life.
Sayſt thou indeed "if man confin'd
"To fill the place by Heav'n aſſign'd,
"But partially to riſe, or fall,
"Why feels he miſery at all?"
Another queſtion anſwers this.
[244]What title have mankind to bliſs?
During thy life if, man and boy,
Thy ſhare of both thou mayſt enjoy;
If perfect reſt the certain mean
Our pleaſures and our pains between;
Null'd the momentum of our pain;
Who ſhall of providence complain?
Seeſt thou incumbering the ground,
The barren fig-trees flouriſh round;
While virtue ſtands the brunt of vice,
And knaves poſſeſs fools' paradiſe?
'Tis here indeed our errour lies.
Our virtue we too highly prize;
And adequate rewards to find,
Create them fondly to our mind:
Not ſatisfied on Heav'n to truſt,
Or think its diſpenſations juſt,
[245]Unleſs his conduct God ſubmit
To our inveſtigating wit;
Here toiling, as an humble drudge,
For man, his critick, lord and judge.
What merit in thy Maker's eye
That thou vain man art ſix foot high?
To Heav'n muſt all, with ſhame, agree
Unprofitable ſervants we;
Unworthy of celeſtial dreſs
The rags of human righteouſneſs:
The all that virtue has to boaſt
Claiming the world's regard, at moſt.
As virtue here ſo vice depends.
Ourſelves our guilt alone offends.
For know, proud man, no act of thine
Renders defective God's deſign:
No pow'r to human frailty given
[246]To injure unpreventing Heaven.
Preſume not at ſo high a price
To rate th' iniquity of vice.
Nor let the vainly-virtuous fool,
Projecting Heav'n by line and rule,
Sore laſh'd and waſting to the bone,
The crimes of health and eaſe t'atone,
Conceive by want of reſt and meat
Th' eternal purpoſe to defeat.
Preſume not at ſo vile a rate
To hold th' omnipotence of fate.
Yet who ſhall ſay that guilt is free,
Or promiſe vice impunity?
Since 'tis ſo plain the ſting of woe
To joy inordinate doth grow;
And none from virtue's paths would ſtray
If pleaſure did not lead the way.
[247]Can virtue alſo hence deſpair?
Since virtue's providence's care;
Compenſing pleaſure due to pain,
And this nor that beſtow'd in vain.
Let fools, when hard their preſent lot,
Think diſtant Heav'n has earth forgot;
In diſcontent aloud complain,
"That all our truſt in Heav'n is vain,"
Pretending God the world protects,
And yet its ſev'ral parts neglects.
Do thou, Lorenzo, better taught,
Never indulge ſo wild a thought;
Conceiving th' individual man
No charge on nature's gen'ral plan.
What tho' impoſſible that we
At once the whole and parts ſhould ſee;
To ſingle objects here confin'd
[248]Each fix'd attention of the mind;
Yet, ſhall we blaſphemouſly join
Heav'n's intellect with yours and mine?
Know thou the world's great architect
Its ſmalleſt part ſhall not neglect;
As needful in the ſtately pile,
As golden roofs th' abutments vile;
Nor, in their kind, more perfect they,
The parian ſtones, than potter's clay.
How ſadly, blund'ring in the dark,
Here St. John miſs'd his boaſted mark;
When, Heav'n's omnipotence t'enhance,
He almoſt gave the world to chance:
Suppoſing God too great to mind
The peccadillos of mankind;
Too inſignificant our claim
To deity's immediate aim.
[249]Or rather, from his reaſons given,
He thought the taſk too great for Heaven;
Too puzzling for th' eternal wit
To hold its ſtate and thus ſubmit;
Wherefore, like th'idiot at a loſs
To count, Heav'n takes us in the groſs.
Lorenzo, probable the ſcheme,
However ſtrange the doctrine ſeem,
Whate'er the next world give, in this
That virtue hath its ſhare of blifs;
While all accounts 'tween vice and woe
Are ſettled and diſcharg'd below:
No ballance to receive or pay,
Left, ſhuffling, for a future day.
Go, make an eſtimate of life;
Compare the ſums of joy and ſtrife;
Each in its ſeparate degree,
[250]Duration and intenſity.
Perhaps, upon the whole, you'll find
That neither's due to human-kind;
Nor loſs nor profit in the trade
Of life's commercial pleaſures made.
Mean-time how difficult to gueſs
At real objects of diſtreſs!
How difficult, in fact, to trace
Where real pleaſure hath a place!
See, ſhudd'ring at September's froſt,
In clothes of fur, Duke Chilly loſt;
Lamenting, with his belly full,
The tinker's half-cloth'd, ſtarving trull:
A jade, that, warmer than his grace,
Laughs at his pity to his face.
Accuſtom'd to the melting mood,
So, wiſhing ev'ry mortal good;
[251]Behold Tendrilla drown her eyes
At what the ſufferers deſpiſe.
How oft, the ſcene revers'd, again,
Apparent bliſs is actual pain!
How oft we hear much-envied ſtate
Groan beneath bulky grandeur's weight;
Of thouſands broke their nightly reſt
By that for which we call them bleſt!
Nay, as a God on earth ador'd,
See the dread inquiſition's lord,
Rais'd, in the pomp of prieſtly pride,
How envied, by his monarch's ſide!
And yet how mis'rable a part
He acts, if not extinct his heart:
How little leſs, at nature's coſt,
If ev'ry ſocial feeling loſt.
Mean-while the wretch, for whom we ſigh,
[252]In cruel tortures doom'd to die,
To pain ſuperiour, fear or ſhame,
Exulting, ſmiles amidſt the flame;
Makes his proud judge with malice ſwell;
And triumphs over death and hell.
Proportion'd to the weight of care,
Gives nature thus the pow'r to bear?
But partial judges we, 'tis plain,
Of others' joy or others' pain.
So vice and virtue could we trace,
Neither is ſtampt upon the face.
And who to read preſumes the art
The ſecret of another's heart?
Nay, ev'n that art how little known
To open, and peruſe our own!
Who then, ſo much a ſlave to ſenſe,
Shall here arraign Heav'n's providence:
[253]Thinking "the good the world may leave
"Ere virtue's portion they receive;
"Triumphant that the wicked go,
"Bleſt, or unpuniſh'd, here below:
"As if our end a ſlight event,
"Depending on mere accident."
Is this not atheiſm in the eye
Of thoſe who atheiſm moſt decry?
Who made the world, with equal ſkill
Can ſurely guide it, if he will.
Who, then, appearances ſhall truſt,
To tnink that Heav'n's on earth unjuſt;
When vice and virtue may relate
Solely to man's ſublunar ſtate;
And here, for ought we truly know,
Be paid their dues of joy and woe.
Yet think not thou I here deny
[254]That virtuous ſouls aſcend the ſky:
Or that the grov'ling ſons of vice
Shall be excluded paradiſe.
Prepar'd, my friend, the man, in life,
By varied means of joy and ſtrife,
Or, by redemption's wond'rous grace,
To view his Maker face to face,
In death compleated for the ſtate
Deſign'd him by the will of fate,
A place of conſtant reſt may find
The portion of the virtuous mind;
A place, comparatively ill,
For thoſe whoſe god their brutal will:
By Heav'n th' immortal being plac'd,
Conſiſtent with its pow'rs and taſte.
Such future ſcenes may ſure be given;
This call'd a hell and that a heaven;
[255]And juſtly vice and virtue, here,
Have that to hope and this to fear.
Still do I hear the growl of care?
"To be we know not what or where!"
Is it, becauſe we know not why,
So ſad a thing for once to die?
Is it ſo hazardous, my friend,
On God our maker to depend?
That God to whom we being owe,
Our friend and guardian here below;
Who, all along the vale of life,
In ev'ry ſcene of care and ſtrife,
Affords his providential arm,
To raiſe beneath, or ſhield from, harm?
Is it for him ſo hard to ſave
Our conſcious being from the grave?
Secure, Lorenzo, in the pow'r,
[256]That wak'd me at my natal hour,
To me, and mine, in life ſo juſt,
On this in death I mean to truſt:
Safe in the hollow of his hand,
Content to fall by whom I ſtand,
Of whom I kiſs the chaſt'ning rod,
And bleſs the father in the God.
[figure]
[]

EPISTLE THE SEVENTH.

ARGUMENT.

[]

On moral principles—The reſpective influence of reaſon and the paſſions—The immorality of ignorance and the indiſpenſable duty of ſeeking knowledge.

SUMMARY.

[259]

THE doctrine, by which virtue and vice are confeſſedly limited to this life, will doubtleſs excite the clamour of thoſe who pride themſelves, or ground their expectations of future happineſs, on their own merit. It may alſo be aſk'd, "To what purpoſe is it that mankind ſhould purſue virtue rather than vice, if all our pains and pleaſures depend reciprocally on each other, and our bad deeds neither actually offend, nor our good ones have any real merit with, the Deity." It is anſwer'd, that, as the merits and demerits of virtue and vice are partial and relative, ſo alſo muſt be conceiv'd their reſpective rewards and puniſhments. So that, whatever diſtinction may be made between the virtuous and vicious in a future ſtate, it muſt be purely owing to the good pleaſure of our creator, and not to the influence of our merit over his final determinations. —It muſt not be conceiv'd, however, that this doctrine countenances immorality. On the contrary, it proves, that (as we are led to vice ſolely by the motives of pleaſure, apparently attending the gratification of our deſires) were a conviction always preſent to the mind, that ſuch pleaſure muſt neceſſarily be attended with an equal degree of pain, ſuch conviction might prove an antidote to vice, and preſerve us, at leaſt, in innocence; the motive to action being thereby remov'd. As to actual virtue, indecd, it is not pretended that any rational [260] conviction whatever is, of itſe'f, a ſufficient motive to virtue: the uſe of reaſon being only to determine what is true or falſe, juſt or unjuſt; and not to excite us to embrace either. This is the buſineſs of the paſſions; which are, however, in themſelves, neither good nor evil: thoſe diſpoſitions of mind which are generally term'd virtuous being the frequent occaſion of our falling into vices, which oppoſite ones, tho' generally diſapprov'd or deteſted, would have ſecur'd us from. Thus compaſſion, benevolence and candour are the fertile ſources of vice; while hardneſs-of-heart, ſelfiſhneſs, and diſtruſt are as frequently the means of preſerving innocence. Nay the fierce, harden'd and turbulent paſſions enter ſometimes into the moſt virtuous characters; and a heart unaffccted by the preſent ſuff'rings of humanity is, not unfrequently, neceſſary to preſerve the rights and liberties of mankind. —In fact we are much deceiv'd, in the motives as well as in the practice of virtue; it being not only neceſſary that we ſhould mean to do good and take the beſt way our reaſon may direct us to effect it; but that we ſhould previouſly take thoſe meaſures which are in our power, to acquire the knowledge of the means of doing ſuch good. Wilful ignorance is declar'd therefore intentionally vicious; not having, tho' innocent in fact, the leaſt claim to merit; to which ev'n virtue itſelf hath but relative pretenſions. Indeed, as phyſical good in the conſequence is the meaſure of moral good in the action, the very appearance of merit in the agent in a great degree vaniſtes; our power of doing good depending [261] frequently on accident, and, not very ſeldom on downright knavery. On all which conſiderations knowledge is laid dow [...] as a fundamental and indiſpenſible moral principle; and, hence, the employment of our leiſure hours in inquiries after tru [...] is preſum'd to be not merely entertaining but morally virtuous.

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EPISTLE THE SEVENTH.

[263]
HARK! my Lorenzo, how they rage,
The pious of our pious age;
Thoſe who think Heav'n an eaſy fool,
Of wiſer mortals made the tool,
[264]Vile counters take for current coin;
Our filthy rags for robes divine:
We made its joint immortal heirs
For penance, paltry alms and prayers!
What racks their diſappointed zeal
Dooms the poor, culprit bard to feel;
A thief, whoſe rhimes the rents have ſtole,
Long mark'd on their celeſtial roll!
So angry bees take ſudden wing,
Furious the harmleſs boy to ſting,
Who, leſs in anger than in play,
O'erturn'd their labours in his way.
Have they the poor their farthings lent,
At more than th' uſual cent per cent;
Becauſe the promiſes of Heav'n
For principal and intereſt given;
Yet, loth to mortgage houſe or land,
[265]Dealing ev'n theſe with ſparing hand;
Hard times and taxes wont to moan,
T'excuſe their adding to the loan;
Spite of hypocriſy, confeſs'd
The world's ſecurity the beſt?
Vile us'rers! yet you think it hard,
Your virtue ſhould not meet reward!
I think ſo too—hence, hence, to hell:
With merit there 'mong devils ſwell.
Do here th' immoral pertly aſk,
What profits riſe from virtue's taſk?
Or wherefore vice we ſhould eſchew,
If what the muſe hath ſung be true?
That "vice and virtue, bliſs and woe
"Quit ſcores effectually below;
"While, unaffected, Heav'n ſurveys
"Its ends fulfill'd in human ways."
[266]Say they "if pain give pleaſure birth,
"To joy proportion'd grief, on earth,
"Our ſuff'rings all comparative,
"What matters how th' ungodly live?
"What can we gain by ſelf-denial,
"Or ſtanding virtue's fiery trial?"
Virtue's clear gain, my friend, 'tis true,
If any, hid from me and you,
Lodg'd in the dark decrees of fate,
A waits us in ſome future ſtate;
A gift Heav'n pleaſes to beſtow,
Wholly unmerited below.
So, whatſoever diff'rent ſtate
Should vice in future life await,
Hid in the counſels of th' All-wiſe,
The reprobating ſecret lies:
Predeſtination's dreadful plan
[267]Beyond the ſcrutiny of man.
Can yet Lorenzo weakly dream
That ours is an immoral ſcheme;
Becauſe we hold that joy and ſtrife
Are ballanc'd probably in life;
Whence equally nor bleſt nor curſt
The lives of th' unjuſt and the juſt?
Shines not the ſun alike, on earth,
On good and bad of mortal birth?
Falls not the plant-enliv'ning rain
Alike on mountain-heath and plain?
Tho' noxious there vile brambles ſhoot;
Here ſweeteſt flow'rs and choiceſt fruit,
To reaſon's ſober call, my friend,
Did the blind paſſions but attend;
While ever preſent to the mind
A full conviction we might find,
[268]"That in the luſt of mere deſire
"No certain pleaſure men acquire;
"But what in extaſy they gain
"They're ſure to loſe in future pain."
By truth enlighten'd, hence, to fly
The diſtant evil as the nigh,
Men were no longer prone to vice,
Now ſtript of all her charms t'entice;
But, arming in their own defence,
Would ſtand in neutral innocence.
Through reaſon let a ſenſual eye
Th' enchanting form of vice eſpy:
Equivocal in make and face,
Her left ſide doth her right diſgrace.
As form'd to give, and ſhare, delight,
One blooming cheek doth hearts invite,
While roguiſh loves in ambuſh lie,
[269]And dart their arrows from her eye.
A poliſh'd arm, a taper ſide,
Her thigh, that ſcarce her garments hide,
Her ſnow-white leg, and foot, ſhod neat,
The half of beauty's form compleat.
But ah, the contraſt ſide appears
Worn out with care and gray with years;
With wrinkled brow and ſquinting eye,
Scowling moſt haggardly awry;
While hollow cheek and noſtril maim'd,
Notch'd ear, burnt hand, and thigh-bone lam'd,
Diſplay a wretch, from head to tail
Diſeas'd with many a deſp'rate ail;
A form, which, wrapt in ſqualid dreſs,
Compleats the half of uglineſs.
Behold the charmer—this is Vice.
Embrace her. —Is thy ſtomach nice?
[270]Too often paſſion, ſingle ey'd,
Enamour'd with the fairer ſide,
The monſter claſps; till, turn'd her face,
We ſtarting fly her loath'd embrace:
Through reaſon's medium only ſhown
Her real form, in tints her own;
Which thus diſguſting to the ſenſe,
Could ne'er beguile our innocence.
Should virtue, then, diſown the muſe;
At leaſt let innocence excuſe:
The ſtricteſt moraliſts content
If mortals were but innocent.
In actual virtue, true, indeed,
I ſee no hopes we ſhould ſucceed;
If once by reaſon grown ſo tame
That naught our paſſions could inflame.
For ſay, deſires may not extrude
[271]A ſenſe of moral rectitude:
This only points, to what is right;
But ne'er to virtue can excite.
Reaſon, indiff'rent to th' event,
Merely beſtows its cold aſſent;
As far as truth's concern'd, in part,
Speaks to the head, but not the heart:
Reaſon beſtow'd, an humble friend,
Not to keep faultleſs, but to mend;
With hopes to cheer or fears to bind
Self-love, a glutton deaf and blind;
To give our ſcene of action light;
To check the ſenſual appetite;
To ſhow us what is good and fair;
And paſſion's blunders to repair.
To virtue ſenſe of right and wrong
Muſt of neceſſity belong;
[272]But from this knowledge who infer
The conſcious party, cannot err?
Nay, founded on ſuch ſenſe our claim
To bear of vice the moral blame;
The fool, the mad, do what they will,
Standing excus'd of moral ill.
Say, then, the virtuous muſt be wiſe;
Yet not in wiſdom virtue lies.
By other motives muſt the mind
To virtuous action be inclin'd.
"What other motive?" doſt thou aſk?
Lorenzo, difficult the taſk
T'unravel here the human mind;
Its moral principles to find.
Sayſt thou we all true virtue love;
And virtue that which all approve.
Suppoſing this, yet is't with you
[273]That very approbation too?
Is this, Lorenzo, what is meant
By virtue ſprung from ſentiment? a
By that ambiguous term of art
The native goodneſs of the heart?
Pride not yourſelves, ye Phariſees,
That acts of kindneſs give you eaſe:
Nor think, ye publicans, from Heaven
An evil inclination given.
Know that from diff'rent paſſions vice
And virtue take not ſep'rate riſe.
For, tho' deducing moral ill
But from th' indulgence of the will,
No paſſion, not the love of pelf,
Is really vicious, in itſelf:
The nobleſt in the human breaſt,
[274]Motives to action but confeſs'd,
Howe'er admir'd, howe'er approv'd,
From actual virtue far remov'd.
For a good heart, as put to uſe,
Or vice or virtue may produce:
A fertile ſoil, where, taking root,
Plants good and bad bear equal fruit.
Narciſſa boaſted once a mind,
The pureſt ſure of human kind,
Till growing paſſions taught her breaſt
To feel for all that ſeem'd diſtreſs'd,
To melt in tenderneſs of grief,
And ſigh to give, unaſk'd, relief.
Ah, ſince, by cruel arts betray'd,
How low is fall'n the hapleſs maid!
Too innocent to feel diſtruſt,
Or know how diff'rent love and luſt!
[275]Now, by her tempter ev'n accus'd,
See her abandon'd and abus'd;
Her open heart, her gen'rous mind
To proſtitution how reſign'd!
Of vices glorying in the ſhame
Her former ſelf had bluſh'd to name.
Alas, for pity! ſec, mean-while,
At loſt Narciſſa's ruin ſmile
Gremia, to pity never mov'd,
As little loving as belov'd;
In ſpite of all vile man could ſay,
In pious maidenhood grown gray,
Bleſſing her better ſtars, that ſhe
Still triumphs in her chaſtity;
Tho', with the planets, on her ſide
Ill-nature, uglineſs and pride.
See Phormio, ſtoically cold,
[276]In youth by conſtitution old,
Who never yet, his heart of ſtone,
Once made another's cauſe his own;
But, living for himſelf, or heirs,
Minds nothing but his own affairs:
Whoſe word not unbelieving Jews,
For more than Heav'n is worth, refuſe:
His credit ſacred, eaſt and weſt
His bills negotiating beſt;
Safe in whoſe hands were many a pound;
Too good a man to run a-ground.
O worthy, honeſt man! we cry;
While bankrupt knaves in dungeons lie:
So vile the rogue, who, ſcorning pelf,
Lov'd others better than himſelf!
Thus oft th'inflexible, the juſt,
The man that never broke his truſt,
[277]Indebted to inhuman art,
Or killing coldneſs in his heart;
While baſe and mean the quick-of-ſenſe,
From glowings of benevolence.
Lorenzo, feelingly I ſpeak
Of failings where myſelf am weak;
To whom adverſity ſevere
Hath ſold experience much too dear:
Hard hearted prudence far from me,
And narrow-ſoul'd economy,
To knave and fool too oft a prey,
No match for either in his way,
Till cheated, plunder'd, fill'd with ſhame,
Lit on my luckleſs head the blame.
How ſhort, Lorenzo, plainly, hence,
Of virtue is benevolence!
To mere good nature, while you live,
[278]No more that pompous title give:
The milk of kindneſs in a trice
Yielding the luſcious cream of vice. b
The dryeſt eye, the hardeſt heart,
May act as virtuous a part:
When turn'd, as adders deaf, the ear
From all that others feel or fear;
Thence, vicious ſloth, a whining cheat,
Is forc'd to work before it eat;
Misfortune, ſtruggling in its thrall,
Riſes more glorious from its fall.
Should to the prodigal the friend,
On whom his ſpendthrift hopes depend,
When aſk'd aſſiſtance or advice,
Reply, with looks as cold as ice,
[279]With all the inſolence of eaſe,
"Nay, friend, for me do what you pleaſe."
May this not teach the hand profuſe
Virtuous diſcretion's ſov'reign uſe;
And thus a coldneſs of the heart
A good to too much warmth impart?
How much leſs vicious oft the mind,
That ne'er, beneficent or kind,
For others broke one moment's reſt,
Nor cheer'd with comfort the diſtreſs'd,
Than he, whoſe open hand and heart
Eſpouſe the poor and needy's part,
Plunging in unforeſeen diſtreſs
Hundreds, in ſtriving one to bleſs.
Shortſighted, oft benevolence
Proves a ſad breach of innocence:
To virtue requiſite that firſt
[280]The virtuous mind be ſtrictly juſt.
Paſſions, the ſprings of joy and ſtrife,
Are but the elements of life;
And, as the ſtreams from mountains flow,
Smooth winding ſome through vales below,
While others, raging as they come,
Tear up their mother-mountain's womb;
Or, pouring down the hills amain,
Deluge, at once, the humble plain;
So ſome of theſe are gently mild,
While others, furious, bold and wild,
Foaming o'er reaſon's rock-built mounds,
Diſdain the check of moral bounds.
But ſee in paſtures ſtreams of uſe
When art corrects the flood's abuſe,
When, their due channels taught to keep,
In ſhallow brook or river deep,
[281]Smiling through dappled meads they go;
And paint the flow'rs they cauſe to grow.
Corrected thus, by reaſon's art,
The burſts, or meltings, of the heart,
In virtue's channels ſee them glide;
Her flow'rs the blooming margin's pride.
Is the ſmall ſpring thy fav'rite theme,
That trickles forth a ſhallow ſtream,
In murmurs ſoft, a purling rill?
What wilt thou do to drive the mill?
How wilt thou make to ride at large
Thy timber, or thy loaded barge?
As much as purling rills admir'd
The navigable ſtream requir'd;
The ſtream, whoſe turbulence abides
The roaring of the ſwelling tides,
Alike whoſe raging boſom ſwells,
[282]And back the threat'ning tide repels.
The hero, thus, the hardy brave c
How needful half the world to ſave;
Like Pruſſia's king, through ſeas of blood
Wading, for threaten'd Europe's good!
Virtuouſly uſeful to mankind
[283]The ſtrongeſt as the weakeſt mind,
Thus, one no better than the other,
The warmeſt heart's the cold one's brother:
And neither this nor that, in fact,
Are virtuous till as ſuch they act.
Yet here, appearances believ'd,
In virtuous actions oft deceiv'd,
How plain in th'hypocritick face
We read the characters of grace;
And falſely to youth's giddy tribe
Deſigning villainy aſcribe;
While time, and circumſtance, and place,
Our byaſs'd judgments here diſgrace.
Is there a man, whoſe tender heart
Takes in another's pains a part,
Who clothes the naked, feeds the poor,
And bribes the orphan to his door;
[284]So kind he cannot bear to ſee
Another leſs at eaſe than he?
Godlike benevolence! you cry;
And praiſe his virtue to the ſky.
But were this virtuous mortal poor,
Oblig'd to beg from door to door;
Could he not eat the bread at reſt,
Torn by the law from the diſtreſs'd;
Should his weak mind compunction feel,
In honeſt ways of trade, to ſteal;
Could not the ſoftneſs of his heart
Torture the horſe, that draws the cart;
Mangle the lamb before it die,
Or draw its heart's blood through its eye:
Who would not cry, "too proud to ſerve!
"Work, idle wretch, or work or ſtarve:"
To Bridewell's laſh the knave conſign'd,
[285]For vicious tenderneſs of mind.
Is there who, worn with vice, begins
To hide his multitude of ſins,
Leave of the wicked world doth take
And hermit turns for virtue's ſake;
Or, anxious for the ſouls of men,
Flies to the pulpit or the pen?
Behold another Paul! we cry,
A new apoſtle from on high!
Are there whom cares nor want exclude,
At little coſt, from doing good;
In pious practices that ſpend
Their fortune and their latter end;
The ſick who phyſick in diſtreſs;
And make the trav'ler's burthen leſs?
To theſe what virtue will refuſe
The praiſeful, elegiack muſe!
[286]But, ſay, doth tenderneſs of heart
Teach the divine's or doctor's art?
Too oft unletter'd preachers rave,
And damn the ſouls they meant to ſave:
Too oft, alas, the pious pill
Of charity, like Ward's, doth kill:
While lighten'd more the pedlar's pack
To clothe our own than ſave his back.
"Whence then is virtue," doſt thou cry?
In truth and nature, I reply:
Reaſon and paſſion both combin'd
To form true virtue in the mind.
Nor reſts it there in mere deſign;
To go where theſe may chance t' incline.
'Tis not ſufficient to ſet out,
Tho' meaning well, thy way in doubt;
Needful experience here to uſe,
[287]That paſſion reaſon mayn't abuſe;
Cautious in virtue's route to go
No farther than ſuch route we know:
Leſt, when, through ign'rance loſt our way,
Paſſion to vice ſhould wildly ſtray.
'Tis not enough to mean aright,
Unleſs that meant effect's in ſight:
Too apt to wander from the mark,
When blund'ring forward in the dark.
A poor excuſe to have it ſaid
The heart had put it in the head,
When miſchief done, inſtead of good,
For want of being underſtood!
To virtue pitiful our claim
When, at a venture taking aim,
More by good luck than ſenſe or wit,
The mark of moral good we hit!
[288]What virtue's in the madman's dream,
Or fool's impracticable ſcheme?
Whoſe, ſhould they ev'n ſucceed, at beſt,
Chance-medley morals are confeſs'd.
Knowledge, my friend, goes, hence 'tis plain,
Foremoſt in virtue's ſplendid train;
While reaſon and the paſſions, join'd,
Walk cloſely, hand in hand, behind.
Is't ſaid? "one mere good-natur'd deed
"All worth in ſcience doth exceed." d
On this weak maxim doſt object
We virtuous merit here neglect;
Thus honeſt ign'rance to contemn;
And inability condemn?
Sayſt thou "here no fore-knowledge given,
[289]Events are in the hands of Heaven;
"And, therefore, virtuous thoſe confeſs'd
"From what they know who act the beſt."
Lorenzo, no—unleſs 'tis ſhown
That ſuch no better might have known.
'Tis true, as individuals here
Are plac'd in, each his, proper ſphere,
Their knowledge more or leſs compleat
As genius and inſtruction meet,
Man by no ſeraph's rapture fir'd,
Virtue's, as knowledge giv'n, requir'd.
But think not thou that bounteous Heav'n
Hath barren underſtanding given;
Hath talents lent which, unapplied,
'Tis virtuous in the earth to hide.
No—with the pow'r of genius bleſt,
Improvement's claim'd, as intereſt.
[290]
Is there who turns away his ear,
Inſtruction's voice averſe to hear,
Moſt obſtinately bent to plod
Along the road his father trod,
Old cuſtom never to forſake;
Nor uſe of eye or ear to make?
Tho' right the wilful wretch we find,
Is his a virtuous turn of mind?
With God above, or man below,
How is't deſerving not to know?
Of virtue's merit, folly, huſh:
Nor put true wiſdom to the bluſh,
Remember virtue ſtill depends
Both on our motives and our ends.
What merit is't we gladly do
That which our hearts incline us to?
Or what that reaſon doth ſubmit
[291]To own the truth is right and fit?
For ſay that by the heart or head
Solely to virtue men were led.
If by the heart, and that alone,
What man e'er call'd his heart his own?
Right oft by impulſe forc'd to go,
Whether his reaſon leads or no:
Apparently againſt the will,
As oft conducting him to ill.
How meritorious, then, the beſt
That love or pity warms the breaſt?
For this, nor that, from vice can ſave;
Or if they could—'tis God that gave.
Is it from caution, practis'd long,
You ſeek the right and ſhun the wrong;
By juſt experience underſtood
How much your int'reſt to be good?
[292]What merits here the clod of earth
That nature ſmil'd upon its birth;
And gave it reaſon's foſt'ring aid
To teach it virtue as its trade?
Sayſt thou "when head and heart we praiſe,
"Doth this not virtue's merit raiſe?
"The man of vicious acts aſham'd—"
May yet for ſpiritual pride be blam'd.
"The elegantly juſt"—too nice
Perhaps for vulgar ſcenes of vice.
"The lowly-minded, kind and meek"—
Mean, pitiful, perhaps, and weak.
"The patriot, in his country's cauſe"—
A gudgeon, greedy of applauſe.
"The pious, that their God revere,"—
Only, perhaps, of Hell in fear;
Or, not by fears ſufficient driven,
[293]Puſh'd forward by the hopes of Heaven.
So little do we truly know
The cauſe to which we virtue owe;
To what bad principle or good
Ev'n we ourſelves have vice withſtood:
Nor can the beſt of mortals ſay
From what has yet directed may;
Or in a ſtate he never knew
Tell what his head and heart might do.
Who then their moral worth ſhall prize?
Shall ev'n the beſt the worſt deſpiſe?
Thin the partitions that divide
Ev'n vice itſelf from virtue's pride;
The virtuous boaſter weak and proud;
Like the tall ideot in the crowd,
Who, ſtalking with exalted tread,
Above his fellows rears his head:
[294]While from his more diſtinguiſh'd height
The harm upon his pate doth light.
The pride of virtue hence depreſs'd,
O learn to pity not deteſt:
Ev'n looking with a brother's eye
On wretches doom'd by law to die:
To Heav'n that hath the diff'rence made
'Tween thee and them, the honour paid!
The object more of pity, ſure,
The vicious mind no leech can cure,
Than ſuch whoſe mere corporeal part
Diſeas'd admits the doctor's art!
Nay, if by virtue underſtood
The act producing moral good,
And moral good and evil known
By ſenſe of phyſical alone,
The term of merit thrown aſide,
[295]Abaſh'd at once is virtue's pride:
Since ſuch moſt virtuous we muſt call
Who moſt promote the good of all.
Here virtue ſee, in fortune's power,
Dependent ev'ry day and hour!
So little reſts on good intent,
So much alas, on accident!
See to the publick good conduce
Of wealth and ſtate the ſimple uſe: e
Such pow'r of doing good a lot
By birth, caprice, or favour got:
A poſt of virtue oft the gain
Of knavery; honeſt hearts diſdain.
Proportional to ev'ry ſtate
[296]Sayſt thou its virtue we muſt rate;
Thoſe much to blame, tho' doing good,
Who fail to do the muſt they could?
Moſt needful, then, how far to know
Our pow'rs of doing good may go:
In ev'ry ſtation, place and time,
Neglectful ignorance a crime.
For ſay, if e'er preferr'd to place,
Should fortune take us into grace;
Tho' kings ſhould act the donor's part,
They neither give a head or heart.
'Tis true a ribbon, ſtar and garter
May make a flutt'ring fop look ſmarter;
SIR John ſounds big and mighty pretty
Among the plain Johns of the city;
But George himſelf, of many a knight,
Ne'er dubb'd one ſordid cit polite.
[297]Clever indeed could royal grace
Fit ev'ry placeman for his place!
If being voted for with ſpirit
Supplied our want of real merit,
Conferr'd taſte, judgment, obſervation,
Adapted to th'appointed ſtation!
Title and pow'r give conſequence,
But ah! ne'er gave one jot of ſenſe.
Knowledge, Lorenzo, hence confeſe'd
Of moral principles the beſt,
Well ſpent we hope our vacant days
In ſtudious ſearch of wiſdom's ways:
On reaſon while our ſteps attend,
Reaſon fair virtue's firmeſt friend!
Hail ſober guide! O teach my youth
To woo thy lovelier ſiſter truth;
For whoſe embrace my vows I pay,
[298]In ardent ſighs, throughout the day;
Nor, when the longeſt day is o'er,
Ceaſe, by the midnight lamp, to pore
O'er the dull tale, or tedious, page
Of ſaint or, more laborious, ſage:
Happy if ſaint or ſage could tell,
Where I with her might ever dwell:
With her for whom, and whom alone,
My genius for the verſe be knwon:
For truth content to loſe the bays;
The poet's for her lover's praiſe.
[figure]
[]

EPISTLE THE EIGHTH.

ARGUMENT.

[]

On the immortality of the ſoul; and the arguments for, and againſt, a future ſtate.

SUMMARY.

[301]

THE immortality of the ſoul, or doctrine of a future ſtate, is propos'd as the ſubject of inquiry. A doctrine, which, however true or falſe in itſelf, is both weakly attack'd and lamely ſupported by the philoſophical arguments generally made uſe of, for, or againſt, it. Compariſons drawn from the vegetable creation, however ſtriking, are partial and prove nothing. Moral arguments prove as little, unleſs we could firſt be made certain that vice and virtue are not duly puniſh'd and rewarded in this life; or, unleſs we could entertain adequate ideas of divine juſtice. With theſe, the metaphyſical refinements, concerning the ſoul's immateriality, are ſhown to be equally inconcluſive. Our natural deſire of exiſtence is expos'd, alſo, as a weak argument for the juſtice of our claim to immortality. On the other hand, that intimate connection between body and mind, and their apparent dependance on each other, are ſhown to afford rather a ſpecious plea in favour of the immortality of the ſoul, than, as frequently made to do, any argument againſt it—Setting, however, moral and metaphyſical ſpeculations aſide, man is conſider'd merely in the light of an animal. In which ſtate of humiliation, his pretenſions to a future ſtate are, notwithſtanding, evidently juſtified on the plain and reaſonable ſuppoſition that, the Creator hath given to all animals ſuch pow'rs and faculties as were neceſſary to the ſtate of being appointed them.—Now the evident purſuits of other animals tend ſolely to the gratification' of [302] themſelves or the mere preſervation of their kind. They have no intellectual ſyſtem that extends beyond the life of the individual; nor doth their experience ſerve to the improvement of their ſpecies. With man it is otherwiſe: The preſervation and gratification of the individual, however powerful their motives, are in him made ſubſervient to more general views: his caſe, health and life being conſtantly ſacrific'd to purſuits, that are of no uſe to him merely as an animal; but, on the contrary, ſerve to promote the intellectual perfection of his ſpecies; hence apparently intended for the enjoyment of a ſtate of exiſtence, to which thoſe faculties are adapted. In the powers of imagination and genius may alſo be trac'd that faint image of the Deity, in which man was confeſſedly made. So that philoſophy alone affords us ſufficient reaſon to believe the certainty of a future ſtate, without our having recourſe to conteſted authorities, the chimerical ſuppoſitions of errour, or the abſurdities of ignorance.

[figure]

EPISTLE THE EIGHTH.

[303]
O Blind to truth, to ſcience blind,
The ſceptick tribe of human-kind!
Who doubt, Lorenzo, if our lot
Be here to die and be forgot,
[304]Or if it prove our future fate
To know an intellectual ſtate,
In death to periſh, or to riſe,
Immortal, to our native ſkies. a
Allur'd by wit to neither ſide,
Be reaſon our impartial guide;
Let us, Lorenzo, fairly weigh
What argument hath here to ſay.
Haſt thou poor Dromio's ſophiſms got,
Who bids us vegetate and rot;
Man but a rank and uſeleſs weed?
Prove them alike and 'tis agreed.
But the analogy of parts
Is all that's prov'd by ſkeptick arts.
[305]Say that, "of vegetable race,
"We ſpread the root from place to place;
"The lovely flow'r of beauty blows;
"Twin ſiſter to the province roſe,
"Allures at morn the gazing eye,
"That ere the ev'ning ſees it die."
Say, "years diſrobe the mantled brow,
"As winter ſtrips th' autumnal bough;
"The rough, rude blaſt to both unkind,
"Both periſh by an eaſtern wind:
"Or, by the axe, untimely blow!
"Are laid their ſpreading honours low."
Admit, Lorenzo, this be true:
Go on—the parallel purſue.
Say, "the tall elms, you ſtately row,
"Sweet tranſports of ſenſation know.
"When zephyrs kiſs the lilly's breaſt
[306]"The lilly's rapture be confeſs'd."
Say "the broad oak, when thunders roar,
"Fears till the thunder-ſtorm be o'er;
"Conſcious of doubt and dread by turns,
"Stands trembling as the foreſt burns;
"Alive, awake, to nature's laws,
"From nature's ſcenes experience draws;
"Throbbing its trunk with hopes and fears,
"Grown old in wiſdom as in years!
Is this abſurd? abſurd indeed!
Lorenzo how unlike a weed!
To moral arguments doſt run?
Here ſhall we end as we begun.
Sayſt thou "the virtuous, when they die,
"In their own right aſcend the ſky;
"The wicked, here unpuniſh'd, go
"To torment in the world below;
[307]"Heav'n's juſtice elſe we ſhould arraign,
"And prove the virtuous good in vain,"
You take, my friend, for granted here,
What none by reaſon make appear;
That vice at God almighty's hands
Eternal puniſhment demands;
While endleſs bliſs, beyond the ſkies,
Juſtice beſtows, as virtue's prize.
Juſtice! Lorenzo, what, my friend,
By juſtice doſt thou here intend?
Her ſword ſhe holds; but, ſay, what ails
The equilibrium of her ſcales?
How low the one, tho' empty, lies,
To kick the beam while t'other flies!
Alas, I ſee by what compell'd;
In diff'rent mediums are they held;
One in material fluids buoy'd;
[308]The other in a perfect void:
Weigh'd in eternity and time,
The puniſhment againſt the crime!
Dare the ſelf-righteous tribe to ſay,
That Heav'n's no more than virtue's pay,
While vice demerits endleſs woe?
Needs God a friend? fears God a foe?
Holding vindictive rage in ſtore,
For his own ſake, on man to pour?
O, no—unhurt th'Almighty cauſe,
Or kept or broken human laws.
Ceaſe, then, preſumption, to contend
That mortals Heav'n itſelf offend,
Or, at an infinite expence,
Muſt anſwer a finite offence:
To pay the fine immortal made;
Which elſe unable to have paid.
[309]The dying wretch tho' tyrants cure
But tortures longer to endure;
With nature cruelty at ſtrife
When criminals are quit with life;
Can God, whoſe tender mercies flow
O'er all his varied works below,
Whoſe loving kindneſs all confeſs,
Whoſe name the diſtant nations bleſs;
Say, can this God, of boundleſs love,
Vengeful as earthly tyrants prove?
O ſhame, Lorenzo, ſhame to all
Such cruelty that juſtice call!
Such argument, beſide, is vain,
Unleſs the premiſes were plain;
Unleſs we firſt could make it clear,
That vice can ne'er be puniſh'd, here;
That virtue muſt be ever bleſt,
[310]For foll'wing but its intereſt;
Or that we truly could define
That juſtice mortals call divine.
By metaphyſicks doſt thou ſtrive
To keep the man in death alive?
Wouldſt thou, ſet moral pleas aſide,
The body from the ſoul divide?
Material that and born to die,
While this a native of the ſky;
Objects that none can hear and ſee
Hence claiming immortality!
But, ſay, is thy corporeal claim
Laid to the matter or the frame?
Is it the ſubſtance of the heart
Or make that is the mortal part?
Doth change of form bring death alone?
Form we muſt immaterial own.
[311]If to the eſſence of the clay,
Again, mortality we lay,
Doom'd the loath'd carcaſs to the worm,
The ſubſtance changes but its form:
Through modes of being giv'n to range,
Immortal in perpetual change,
Maiter by all the ſkeptick crowd
Eſſentially the ſame allow'd;
In death, in life, our ſhame, our pride,
In various forms but modified.
Say, then, the matter or the frame,
Or both, in body have a claim;
Nor mortal, nor immortal, we
From our materiality. b
[312]
Lorenzo, doth thy boſom beat
To claim in heaven th'immortal ſeat?
So fond of thy exiſtence here,
Doſt thou annihilation fear?
To fall as undiſtinguiſh'd clay
To dumb forgetfulneſs a prey?
The joys of paradiſe in view,
Sayſt thou "thy claim muſt needs be true,
"Elſe, wherefore doth thy fond deſire
"To immortality aſpire," c
Whate'er in hope be Heav'n's intent,
This is, my friend, no argument.
I, too, perhaps, ſo pleas'd to live,
[313]My very means of life might give,
All I am worth, from death to ſave,
If hope were buried in the grave.
But let Lorenzo never truſt
To wiſh or hope, however juſt:
Nor let a paſſionate deſire
To reaſon's ſober taſk aſpire.
Wouldſt thou falſe principles defend,
Becauſe they ſerve a pleaſing end?
Who loves the truth will ſure deſpiſe
Her cauſe to reſt on ſpecious lies.
What merit doth it add to worth
That knaves its virtues babble forth?
What added weight or conſequence,
In ſuff'rage, gives the fool to ſenſe?
Again, is't ſaid "ſo cloſely join'd
"In life the body and the mind,
[314]"Reciprocally form'd to bear
"Each other's weight of pain and care,
"Sharing alike the mutual joy,
"Which either wholly may deſtroy;
"Since thus together both concur,
"We know not either to prefer,
"If both be purpoſely combin'd,
"In uſe of body or of mind."
Are there who weakly, hence, ſuppoſe
"The ſoul no ſep'rate being knows;
"But, as the body doth decay,
"So wears the mortal mind away."
Yet wherefore might not at our birth,
Lodg'd in this tenement of earth,
Lock'd up for life th'immortal mind,
Its temporary priſon find,
Till paid our vital debt ſhould be,
[315]And death ſhould ſet the captive free?
Mean-while, in hope, in fear, in doubt,
Concerning friends and foes without,
Prone through its priſon grates to pry,
It ſees Time's ſcatter'd ruins lie,
In darkneſs and confuſion hurl'd,
The embryo of another world.
Why may not thus, on earth, be join'd
The body and the tenant mind?
Th'inhabitant, with coſt and care,
Keeping his manſion in repair,
Us'd to the dungeon where he lies,
And prone his preſent home to prize,
Unknowing whither doom'd to roam,
If once bereft of houſe and home.
What wonder, then, for help he calls
When danger threats his tott'ring walls?
[316]Nor ſtrange, if, heedleſs of their fate,
They tumble on his wareleſs pate:
Each other's mutual ſtrength and ward
The manſion and the manſion's lord.
What tho' we hold the ſoul to be
Attach'd to ſenſibility,
Concludes Lorenzo raſhly hence
The ſoul's as mortal as the ſenſe?
Alleging that "in life we find
"Perception to the organs join'd,
"Poor mortals of ſenſation void
"As theſe are damag'd or deſtroy'd;
"Therefore the ſoul on ſenſe depends,
"And with the failing organ ends."
Lorenzo, through a darken'd glaſs
Seeſt thou but faintly objects paſs?
More darken'd yet, doſt thou confeſs
[317]Thy certainty of viſion leſs?
With its tranſparency thy ſight
Decreaſing, till obſtructed quite.
Suppoſe it broke or let it fall,
Doſt think thou couldſt not ſee at all?
Ridiculous! when objects lie
All open to the naked eye.
Thus, may the ſoul, to body join'd,
Be deaf, irrational or blind:
But take th'obſtructing organs hence,
At liberty its native ſenſe,
By fits no more it hears and ſees,
As now by piece-meal and degrees,
In partial modes, adapted here
To organs of the eye and ear;
But, intellect, all ear, all eye,
It reads the wonders of the ſky,
[318]At once what nature can diſcloſe
Of ſcientifick ſecrets knows:
Now ſenſe and ſcience both combin'd
In each perception of the mind.
But here, Lorenzo, for a while
Lay by the metaphyſick foil.
With this, behind our darken'd glaſs,
Too apt to make a blund'ring paſs:
By much more anxious, on the whole,
To guard the body than the ſoul.
Too nice th' anatomizing art,
To take them dextrouſly apart,
Let us on both inquiry plan,
And ſcrutinize their compound, man:
Contented from his preſent ſtate
To reaſon of his future fate.
Doth Dromio ſay, to hold diſpute,
[319]"Man, if no plant, is yet a brute;
"A helpleſs animal in birth,
"His body form'd of kindred earth,
"An animal in his decay,
"His ſtrength and vigour paſt away;
"Equal the beaſt's ſagacious pow'rs
"Or ev'n ſuperior oft to ours."
The politick, induſtrious bee
Doſt own in wiſdom rivals thee?
Oeconomy ſecures from want
The careful and laborious ant,
While man, with all his boaſted ſenſe,
Riots at health's and life's expence,
Luxurious, caſts his cares aſide,
Or ſtarves through indolence or pride;
Here no preheminence his claim,
Inſects! in life and death the ſame!
[320]
Is there no medium in diſpute?
Muſt man be either God or brute?
Muſt we with burning ſeraphs join,
Or litter with the grov'ling ſwine?
Content to bear the ſlight diſgrace
Of mingling with the brutal race;
Agreed—for once, no longer proud,
Be men mere animals allow'd.
Say that, more helpleſs at his birth
Than ev'n the vileſt brute on earth,
Man, if denied the nurſe's care,
Might have run wild, a human bear;
Have beat the plains in ſearch of food,
Or ſought his ſhelter in the wood:
Devoid of language and of art,
Apparent brute in head and heart.
Yet ſtill, Lorenzo, as we find
[321]Some little difference, in kind;
Man, as an animal, is known,
By marks peculiarly, his own.
Tho' both, ſharp-ſighted, grave and fat,
Melinda and her tabby cat,
But a ſpecifick diff'rence ſeen
'Twixt Pug and Faddle, in the ſpleen,
The wild, the tame, the great, the ſmall,
Included in one genus all;
We muſt not hence, my friend, infer
Melinda's only born to purr;
Nor that, becauſe alike in ſhape,
Faddle by nature's but an ape.
What, if a monkey, taught in France,
A modiſh minuet could dance;
Or, miſchievous, ſhould play his tricks,
Vers'd in Pariſian politicks,
[322]Breaking thy china's brittle clay,
Tho' ſure to ſuffer for his play.
Wouldſt thou acknowledge, hence, to me,
The pert baboon, un homme d'eſprit?
Or own, on this ſagacious plan,
A monkey's nat'rally a man?
Let raſh polemicks idly prate
Of nature and a nat'ral ſtate,
The arts of ſocial life deſpiſe,
And think that brutes are only wiſe;
Pretending better had it been
If kings and prieſts we ne'er had ſeen;
If lawleſs, ignorant and wild,
Man had been left, while yet a child,
With brutes to ſhare a common fate;
More bleſt than in his preſent ſtate:
Go thou, and act a ſocial part
[323]Man's nat'ral ſtate's a ſtate of art c.
'Twas nature, when the world was young,
[324]Unloos'd our firſt, great grandſire's tongue;
Taught his wild ſons the force of ſpeech,
And gave the human pow'r to teach;
To ſocial converſe tun'd the ear,
Gave mutual love and mutual fear,
Inſpir'd the hero, warm'd the friend,
And bade the ſtrong the weak defend.
'Twas nature gave religion's rule,
And bade the wiſe conduct the fool;
In juſtice gave the law, to ſave
The weak and honeſt from the knave.
'Twas nature rais'd our thoughts on high,
In contemplation, to the ſky;
Taught us to beat the wilds of ſpace,
And worlds on worlds in ether trace;
Planets and ſuns unknown explore,
And hence their maker, God, adore.
[325]All this you artificial call,
I heed not empty terms at all.
Call it by whatſoever name,
'Tis human nature's ſpecial claim.
Say, from mere phraſes to depart,
How differs nature here form art?
Within the ſolitary wood
Rears the old brock her helpleſs brood;
For ſafety, ſcouring to her den,
At ſight, or ſound of dogs and men?
'Tis nature warns her not t'expoſe
Herſelf, or offspring, to her foes;
But ſends her to the ſafe retreat,
Where both enjoy their reſt and meat.
Why rears not man in foreſt wild,
Or acorn grove, his fav'rite child?
But, lodg'd in towns, and nurs'd with care;
[326]Protects and feeds his fondled heir.
Experter, ſure, were human race
If train'd in foreſts for the chaſe;
The chaſe that might our food provide;
And what need animals beſide?
Lorenzo, here we plainly find
The characters that mark our kind.
'Twas nature knowledge did impart,
Which time has ripen'd into art:
But call it art, or what you will.
'Tis nature, human nature ſtill.
As natural for us, my friend,
To bid the cloud-capt tow'rs aſcend;
To bid the floating caſtles ride
On moving mountains of the tide;
As for the bird and beaſt their food
To ſeek in thicket, plain or wood,
[327]To build the neſt, or dig the den,
Far diſtant from the haunts of men.
Science, diſprove it thoſe who can,
Is, therefore, natural to man:
To other animals denied
This beſt and worſt excuſe for pride.
There are, 'tis true, who gravely hold
"Grimalkin's no eſſential ſcold,
"That men and monkies differ wide,
"As Gods to ſtocks and ſtones allied:"
Striving to prove, by various means,
"That brutes are nothing but machines." f
But, can we e'er with theſe ſuppoſe
[328]Springs lodg'd within the terrier's noſe,
Direct his nimble feet to go
Where the old fox lies earth'd below?
Or that by mere mechanicks tray
Purſues his maſter's doubtful way?
For me, I frankly muſt impute
True ſyllogiſm to e'en the brute:
A pow'r of reaſon, ſpite of pride,
No more to them than man denied.
So much admitting, doſt thou ſay?
"I fairly throw my cauſe away,
"Unleſs to brutes Heav'n alſo give
"In immortality to live."
Lorenzo, no.—Tho' leſs refin'd,
My pleas are of another kind.
Low as the duſt tho' here we lie,
Yet death may raiſe us to the ſky.
[329]Is man a worm? 'tis here his fate
To winter his aurelia ſtate;
In time to burſt his cell deſign'd,
And leave his clay-cold caſe behind;
Flutt'ring on angel wings, to riſe
A bright papilio of the ſkies!
Diſtinguiſh'd from the beaſts, my friend,
Experience ev'ry doubt may end;
Granting "by nature all enjoy
"The pow'rs heav'n meant them to employ;
"Paſſion or inſtinct ne'er beſtow'd
"On man, or beaſt, a uſeleſs load;
"But ſerving animals, in kind,
"To th' end for which they were deſign'd."
This once ſuppos'd, here end diſputes.
Look round among our fellow brutes.
See to what point their labours tend;
[330]And how in death their talents end.
Perfect the bird and beaſt, we find,
Advance not here their ſev'ral kind;
From race to race no wiſer grow,
No gradual perfection know;
T'increaſing knowledge void their claim,
Still their ſpecifick pow'rs the ſame,
In th'individual centred all,
Tho' generations riſe and fall.
Mean-while, by obſervation wiſe,
The human genius never dies;
But, in tradition kept alive,
The wreck of kingdoms doth ſurvive;
Or, glowing in th'inſtructive page,
Improving, lives from age to age;
Ev'n giving thoſe who greatly know
An immortality below.
[331]What idle mourner droops his head?
Is Plato, Locke, or Newton dead?
With Plato ſtill his pupils rove
Along his academick grove;
With Locke we wing the naked ſoul,
And mount with Newton to the pole.
To animals of ev'ry kind
Are, then, their proper pow'rs aſſign'd;
To actuate, ſtrengthen or reſtrain,
Nor ſenſe nor inſtinct giv'n in vain?
Man, as an animal confeſs'd,
Diſtinguiſh'd plainly from the reſt,
Behold his pow'rs, his labours here
Preſumptive of a brighter ſphere!
Not merely to this life confin'd
The aim, and end, of human-kind!
Say, if our purpoſe but to live,
[323]What mighty help doth ſcience give?
What needed more the human brute
Than cooling ſprings and ſtrength'ning fruit?
Or, ſummer paſt, the diet ſpare
Of wholeſome roots, his winter fare?
How need our better reſt and health
Golconda's or Potoſi's wealth,
That ſacrific'd that health and reſt,
To fetch it home from eaſt and weſt?
Lorenzo, ſure, if human-kind
For this life only were deſign'd,
As well we ignorant had been
Of luxury, the bawd to ſin;
As well thoſe arts had been without
That give, while none can cure, the gout.
Ah! why was ſpeculation given
If not to teach the way to Heav'n?
[333]What need have animals below
The planets' paths above to know?
Or in what curves, meand'ring, rove
Satellites round the orb of Jove?
Lends art its microſcopick eye,
In nature's miniature to pry?
To ſee beneath the civil knife
The butcher'd atoms robb'd of life;
To know that 'ſcaping from the ſteel,
Thouſands may periſh at a meal:
While, conſcious ev'ry ſtep we tread,
We trample hoſts of beings dead.
Ah, why this knowledge giv'n, to raiſe
Our wonder to our Maker's praiſe;
Why hence inſpir'd our God t'adore,
If ſeen, in death, his face no more?
It cannot be.—Of Heav'nly birth,
[334]Science, no offspring of the earth,
To man hath Jacob's ladder giv'n,
Reaching, its foot on earth, to heav'n.
O, ſeize, with ardour ſeize the prize;
And claim thy kindred to the ſkies.
Genius, Lorenzo, yours or mine,
Faint image of the pow'r divine;
Endow'd with ev'n creative pow'r,
To form the beings of an hour,
To people worlds, to light the ſkies,
To bid a new creation riſe;
O'er all to wield the thund'rer's rod,
And act the momentary God!
Ev'n here my friend, in nature's plan
Own'd the divinity of MAN.
A truth that genius feels and knows,
As oft as with the God it glows.
[335]And ſhall t'oblivion be conſign'd
This portion of etherial mind?
O, no.—Come death in any form,
I doubt not to ride out the ſtorm;
The ſhipwreck'd body to ſurvive;
My thinking part ſtill left alive.
Mean-while, through all the modes of ſenſe,
Bear me, bold Contemplation, hence.
On thy firm wing, O, let me ſoar;
And idly hope and fear no more.
Bear me to th' ever-blooming groves,
Where genius with fair ſcience roves;
Where, in the cool ſequeſter'd ſhade,
Sits Reſignation, pious maid;
To Heav'n directed by whoſe eye,
When drooping nature calls to die,
Let this my lateſt wiſhes crown,
[336]On her ſoft lap to lay me down;
Whilſt mild content, and gentle peace,
Her handmaids, waiting my releaſe,
Strow, ſtealing round with ſofteſt tread,
Their grateful roſes o'er my bed,
No thorn among, to break my reſt;
By euthanaſian ſlumbers bleſt;
Without a ſigh, at cloſe of day,
To breathe, becalm'd, my ſoul away.
[figure]
Notes
a
The late Lord Viſcount Bolingbroke.
b
A trite ſaying of Democritus.
c
We know not, ſays Deſcartes, whether God hath not created us in ſuch a manner, that we are conſtantly deceiv'd, even as to things the moſt palpable and evident.
d
As the ſuppos'd demonſtration may be either falſe or true: it being ſufficient, to our argument, that all mankind agree to call that truth which but appears to be demonſtrated.
e
Forc'd by reflective reaſon, I confeſs, That human ſcience is uncertain gueſs. PRIOR's Solomon.
f
Or, according to Monſieur Huet, if we do not allow that to be evident which actually appears ſo, truth and falſehood are equally demonſtrable: and we may add, knowledge and ignorance ſynonymous terms.
g
Borealis.
h
B. Franklin, Eſq of Philadelphia.
i
Alluding to the manner of preventing the damage apprehended from thunder-clouds, diſcover'd by our late improvements in electricity.
k
Miſtery not Myſtery. See Johnſon's Dict, fol. edit.
l
The church of Rome— of which all the reform'd churches may be call'd the deſcendants: at leaſt, ſo far as they uſurp an eccleſiaſtical authority and require implicit obedience: in which light only, ſuch preſumption being deſtructive of their inſtitution as ſeminaries of truth and religion, they are cenſur'd in the text.
m
As the word prieſt is not frequently us'd in common diſcourſe to ſignifie a Proteſtant divine, ſo neither hath it here ſuch an indiſcriminate implication; meaning ſuch only as lay claim to that title by their maintaining the tenets of church-authority, and their endeavours rather to keep the world in ignorance than to diffuſe the knowledge of the truth.
n
If I would have chang'd my principles for intereſt, I might have been Archbiſhop of Canterbury before now. HENLEY, vivâ você.
o
St. Luke's hoſpital, for lunaticks, in Moor-Fields, near the Tabernacle and Foundery.
p
See Exod. ch. 35.
q
Alluding to their admitting coblers, porters, and beggars as well as regular divines, to the miniſtry.
r
Two of the moſt incomprehenſible writers that ever reflected ſcandal on the ſcience of divinity.
s
The Reverend Mr. William Law—a writer little inferiour to Bebmen himſelf.
t
A famous boxer.
u
An eminent toad-eater.
w
A fine genius and polite critick.
x
A moſt exemplary divine and patriot.
y
An academy well known to ſtudents in the politer ſciences of pitting, betting and whiſt.
z
Brundiſium minuci melius via ducat, an Appi. HOR.
aa
A term in vogue, given, by way of eminence, to the philoſophy of the preſent age.
bb
The late Biſhop of Clogher; an honour to his profeſſion, as well as to the age and country in which he liv'd.
cc
The church of Rome, to which Mr. Pope return'd, after having written his eſſay on man: for, that he was a true roman-catholick at the time of his writing that eſſay is a tale, adapted merely to the credulity and ignorance of a Racine. Unleſs indeed we have as little opinion of his judgment as his friend Bolingbroke had: who is ſaid to have ridicul'd him as one who underſtood nothing of his own principles, nor ſaw to what they naturally led.
dd
Cicero ſomewhere obſerves, there is no opinion, however abſurd, which has not been eſpous'd by ſome or other of the philoſophers. And nothing ſurely can be more ſo than the famous inſerence drawn from the weakneſs of the human underſtanding, i. e. that, becauſe we do not comprehend ev'ry thing, we in reality, know nothing. Agrippa, it is true, has declaim'd prettily, and the ingenious Biſhop of Avranches chopp'd logick as dextrouſly on the ſubject. Yet, alas, ſuch is the perverſeneſs of common-ſenſe that the greateſt part of mankind, even to this day, do inſiſt on the certainty of their knowing the right hand from the left.
ee
Whatever country you go into, let the religion be what it will, the unthinking part thereof are always the reputed orthodox. DED. to Eſſay on SPIRIT.
ff
There is nothing ſo contemptible, ſays Glanville, but antiquity can render it auguſt and excellent.
a
See the begining of the firſt Epiſtle.
b
By common-ſenſe is not meant any ſet of principles, or method of logicizing eſtabliſhed by cuſtom. But an innate capacity in all mankind to reaſon, or draw concluſions, from what they hear and ſee.
c
Premiſes not only alike in terms, but whoſe terms are alike underſtood.
d
The country near Baioe, celebrated by Pliny and others, as the moſt fruitful part of Italy, Nullus in orbe locus, ſays Horace, Baiis praelucet amoenis. Agreeable to the above ſentiment, it is at preſent called Terra di Lavoro
e
Tho' we have not, all, by nature, an equal capacity to acquire knowledge, our minds may, nevertheleſs, be juſtly conſider'd as originally tabuloe raſoe; in which there may be a very eſſential difference, however, as to their aptitude for impreſſion.
f
See Epiſtle the firſt.
g
From the conſideration of the different appearances of circumſtances and things to different minds, many of the Academicks fagaciouſly concluded there was no criterion, whereby we might diſtinguiſh between reality and appearance; truth and falſhood. A deduction ridiculous enough. For, in the words of Mr. Pope,
If black and white blend, ſoften and unite
A thouſand ways; is there no black or white?
h
Tous ceux, ſays a certain French author, qui ſont capable de faire des objectons, ne ſont pas toujours en etat de comprendre tous les principes, dont depend la reſolution de leurs objections.
i
Therefore thou art inexcuſable, O man, whoſoever thou art, that judgeſt: for wherein thou judgeſt another thou condemneſt thy ſelf.
k
I bear them record, ſays ST. PAUL, of the Jews, that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
l
A man may perhaps believe a propoſition to be true, tho' he cannot conceive how it can poſſibly be ſo: but he never can ſincerely believe a poſition that contradicts itſelf, or is evidently falſe. —Thus I may believe that one man has rais'd another from the dead, tho' I cannot underſtand by what means it can poſſibly be true; but I can never actually believe that two are but one, and that the ſame one is, at the ſame time, two; becauſe it is a contradiction in terms, and apparently impoſſible.
m
The nonſenſe of our modern ſaints is, therefore, equally reprehenſible with the affectation of ſpeaking in unknown tongues, ſo ſeverely cenſur'd, in the Apoſtle's firſt letter to the Cor. chap. 14.
n
That the Athanaſians believe nothing by the creed they profeſs, might be perhaps too harſh to ſay, as we confeſs that, after the way which they call hereſy, we believe it ourſelves: but that they deceive themſelves, in ſuppoſing they really believe what they ſay, is, for the above reaſons, very evident.
o
That is, a myſterious or non-intelligible propoſition; as the real aſſent, or diſſent, of the mind muſt neceſſarily ſucceed ſome determinate conception of the premiſes laid down: ſo that no man can poſſibly believe a poſition he does not underſtand.
p
More properly perhaps idiots. The ſentiment as it thus ſtands is Dr. Whichcote's.
q
i. e. palpable impoſtures.
r
According to the terms of Abjuration. Ego, Galileo, corde ſincero et fide non ficta, abjuro, maledico et deteſtor ſupradictos errores et baereſes.
s
This is Mr. Hume's definition of a miracle, to which, however, we do not ſubſcribe; as it appears to us to ſuperſede the very poſſibility of miracles: the reality of which cannot be philoſophically denied: As, from ſeveral late diſcoveries it appears, that the knowledge of mankind, in phyſical cauſes and effects, is not ſufficiently extenſive to eſtabliſh a negative againſt any pretended phenomenon whatever. It ſhould be conſider'd, alſo, that the truth of miracles does not depend on the reality of the facts repreſented, but on the veracity of that repreſentation. Neither doth the certainty of the fact appear at all needful to the end for which miracles were confeſſedly intended; for the apparent effect of a ſupernatural power would have the ſame influence on the ſpectator as a real one: as it is by appearance only we judge of reality.
t
See Pope's eſſay on man. Epiſ. I. Ver. 246.
u
The accounts, given us of the miracles of our Saviour and his Apoſtles, cannot, however, be denied, whether we ſuppoſe the facts really, or only apparently, to have happen'd: as in either caſe, the perceptible effects might flow from natural cauſes, unknown to philoſophy; yet adapted in the general ſyſtem of things to anſwer the ends of providence.
w
It cannot be denied, indeed, but God may act praeter tho' not contra ſcientiam naturae; the ſuppoſition, however, is not at all neceſſary to juſtifie our belief in miracles.
x
The word. St. John chap. I.
y
Or rather that of Maimonides, a Jew, of whom Dr. Jortin ſays, he borrowed it. The interpretation, however, is ingenious, and the Dr. has made the beſt on't. He ſuppoſes Balaam was in a trance or viſion.
z
See Acts Chap. 11. and 12.
aa
Cor. 2 Ep. Chap. 12. et paſſim.
bb
Providence, ſays South, acts by methods beſide and beyond the diſcoveries of man's reaſon.
a
Monſieur de Voltaire, remarkable for his regard to truth; and the profundity of his philoſophical ſpeculations.
b
Mr. Hume.
c
As I have profeſs'd to proceed on the Horatian principle, ‘Nullius addictus jurare in verba magiſtri,’ it may be obſerv'd, that in this work, no ſcruple is made of treating ſome reſpectab1e names with that freedom which becomes an advocate for the truth: the mention of which is conceiv'd a ſufficient apology, if any be neceſſary, for ſuch occaſional ſtrictures, as the ſubject led me to make on cotemporary writers.
d
A modern Centaur—See the preface to a book entitled the Centaur not fabulous.
e
The unhappy victims to an act of parliament, not long ſince repeal'd, by virtue of which many hundreds of poor wretches were formerly hang'd, or burnt, for witchcraft.
f
A famous Hutchinſonian divine, of the church of England.
g
Shakeſpear.
h
If men were not to declare their opinions in ſpite of eſtabliſhments, either in church or ſtate, truth would be ſoon baniſh'd the earth. Ded. to Eſſay on Spirit.
a
For, to deny that the moral perfections, aſcrib'd to God, are, in no degree or affinity whatever, his proper attributes, would be as unphiloſophical as to aſſert, on the other hand, that our ideas of goodneſs, juſtice, mercy, &c. are ſtrictly applicable to the deity.
b
At leaſt ſo far as to judge of his providential deſigns or ultimate determinations, from our ſuppos'd knowledge of his attributes: for how ſhall we know what may be conſiſtent or inconſiſtent with God's juſtice and goodneſs, when even moral goodneſs and juſtice between man and man, are points in diſpute.
c
By an atheiſt is meant ſimply one that denies the exiſtence of a God—Divines indeed give that name to ſkepticks and deiſts indifferenty. Dr. South, if I remember right, ſeems to have thought it more eaſy to be a ſpeculative than a practical atheiſt: though, in the ſtrict ſenſe of the word, whatever we conclude concerning the latter, the former appears to me impoſſible.
e
Eſſential attributes.
a
See Pope's eſſay on man.
b
See eſſay on man, Ep. 4.
c
If, ſays Mr. Pope,
— To all men happineſs was meant,
God in externals could not place content.
To me, I muſt confeſs, the various conditions of humanlife ſeem ſo admirably adapted to the ſeveral diſpoſitions ofindividuals, that, if our happineſs in this life were intended, the unequal diſtribution of the gifts of fortune affords themoſt plauſible means to effect it.
d
Pope
e
Virtue, ſays Mr. Pope, is the
—Point where human bliſs ſtands ſtill,
And taſtes the good without the fall to ill.
f
However puerile this example may ſeem, there has been more than one inſtance of a ſchool-boy's having actually been guilty of ſuicide; in order to avoid the diſcipline of the rod, or the ferula.
a
Liſbon, ſo called from its ſuppos'd founder, Ulyſſes.
b
But ſhould we even ſuppoſe the term to be us'd with propriety in this caſe, it remains to be prov'd that two different ſyſtems cannot be equally good, before we ſubſcribe to the doctrine of Leibnitz or Plato, viz. that out of an infinite variety of poſſible worlds, God hath choſen, or could not but chooſe, the beſt.
c
Biſhop Wilkins conceiv'd a poſſibility of our flying up to the moon; and that it would, in time, become as common for a traveller to call for his wings, as it was for his cotemporaries to call for their boots.
d
Not, indeed, ſolely to the agent, but to mankind, or the moral world in general.
a
See Hume, on the general principles of morals.
b
The milk of human kindneſs hath been not unfrequently us'd, as a florid term, for benevolence. See Fielding and others.
c
It ſhould ſeem that Mr. Pope ſuppos'd heroiſm incompatible with virtue, from the following lines, in his eſſay on man.
Heroes are much the ſame, the point's agreed,
From Macedonia's madman to the Swede;
The whole ſtrange purpoſe of their lives, to find,
Or make, an enemy of all mankind.
I will grant that many heroick actions have been atchiev'd, which have given juſt room for thoſe, who have no tincture of heroiſm in themſelves, to ſuppoſe the hero to be without either head or heart. But, however reprehenſible the conduct of heroes may have been in general, hiſtory may inform us that many of the diſtinguiſhing bleſſings mankind enjoy, have been effected by thoſe, whom narrow-minded moraliſts have ſtigmatiz'd as rogues and madmen.
d
One moral, or a mere well-natur'd deed,
Can all deſert in ſciences exceed.
Duke of Buckingham;
e
For—hence the poor are cloath'd, the hungry ſed, Health to himſelf and to his infants bread The lab'rer bears.—Pope.
a
By our being immortal is only meant, that the ſoul doth not periſh with the body; we being ſtrangers to any philoſophical proof of its abſtract, or eſſential, immortality.
b
This argument might be carried much farther, and the mere potential exiſtence of matter prov'd, to a demonſtration; but this would be perhaps, too abſtruſe to enter into poetical compoſition.
c
See the famous ſoliloquy in Addiſon's CATO; which may paſs for logick on the ſtage, and is perhaps good-enough theatrical reaſoning; but will hardly ſatisfy a philoſopher, in his cloſet: unleſs, indeed, ſuch a one as prefers the declamation of a Plato to the demonſtrations of a Newton.
c
The word natural, as Mr. Hume juſtly obſerves, is commonly taken in ſo many ſenſes, that its ſignification remains very looſe and indeterminate. The ingenious Rouſſeau of Geneva, after having declaimed heartily againſt la bonne chere, or, in plain Engliſh, diſplayed the terrible conſequences of eating beef and pudding, cries out, Voilà les funeſtes garands que la plupart de nos maux ſont notre propre ouvrage, et que nous les aurions preſque tous évités, en conſervant la maniére de vivre ſimple, uniforme, et ſolitaire qui nous étoit preſcrite par la nature. Si elle nous a deſtinés a etre ſains, j'oſe preſque aſſurer, que l'etat de réflexion eſt un etat contre nature, et que l'homme qui medite eſt un animal dépravé. What uſe is here made of the word nature! but I would aſk, if mankind ever were in this ſtate of ſolitude, how came it about they are united in a ſocial one? —were they led to it by inclination or neceſſity? If by inclination, nature evidently preſcribed it; if by the neceſſities peculiar to their ſpecies, a ſtate of ſociety was not only preſcribed but enforced by nature. Indeed, whoever before doubted of man's being, by nature, a ſocial animal!
f
There are, indeed, alſo, ſome pretended philoſophers, whoſe heads, ſo full of impenetrable matter, have been employ'd to prove MAN a machine too: but with theſe we will not diſpute.
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