[AN ESSAY ON MAN.] Alexander Pope Alexander Huber Editor Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
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Oxford This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. T5607 P852 K023079.000 Pope, Alexander, 1688-1744. An essay on man: being the first book of ethic epistles. To Henry St. John, L. Bolingbroke. London printed by John Wright, for Lawton Gilliver 1734 pp. []-74. [8],74p. : ill. ; 4⁰.

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[ AN ESSAY ON MAN . ]

NIL ADMIRARI

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EPISTLE I. AWAKE ! my ST. JOHN ! leave all meaner things To low Ambition and the Pride of Kings . Let Us ( since Life can little more supply Than just to look about us , and to die ) Expatiate free , o'er all this Scene of Man , A mighty Maze ! but not without a Plan ; A Wild , where weeds and flow'rs promiscuous shoot , Or Garden , tempting with forbidden fruit . Together let us beat this ample field , Try what the open , what the covert yield ; The latent tracts or giddy heights explore , Of all who blindly creep , or sightless soar ; Eye Nature's walks , shoot Folly as it flies , And catch the manners living as they rise ; Laugh where we must , be candid where we can , But vindicate the Ways of GOD to Man . Say first , of God above , or Man below , What can we reason , but from what we know ? Of Man , what see we but his Station here , From which to reason , or to which refer ? Thro' Worlds unnumber'd tho' the God be known , 'Tis ours to trace him , only in our own . He who thro' vast Immensity can pierce , See worlds on worlds compose one Universe , Observe how System into System runs , What other Planets , and what other Suns ? What vary'd Being peoples ev'ry Star ? May tell , why Heav'n has made us as we are . But of this frame the bearings , and the Ties , The strong connections , nice dependencies , Gradations just , has thy pervading soul Look'd thro' ? or can a Part contain the Whole ? Is the great Chain that draws all to agree , And drawn supports , upheld by God , or thee ? Presumptuous Man ! the Reason would'st thou find Why form'd so weak , so little , and so blind ? First , if thou can'st , the harder reason guess Why form'd no weaker , blinder , and no less ? Ask of thy mother Earth , why oaks are made Taller or stronger than the weeds they shade ? Or ask of yonder argent fields above , Why Jove's Satellites are less than Jove ? Of Systems possible , if 'tis confest That Wisdom infinite must form the best , Where all must full , or not coherent be , And all that rises , rise in due degree ; Then , in the scale of life and sense , 'tis plain There must be , some where , such a rank as Man ; And all the question ( wrangle 'ere so long ) Is only this , if God has plac'd him wrong ? Respecting Man whatever wrong we call , May , must be right , as relative to All . In human works , though labour'd on with pain , A thousand movements scarce one purpose gain ; In God's , one single can its End produce , Yet serves to second too some other Use . So Man , who here seems principal alone , Perhaps acts second to a Sphere unknown , Touches some wheel , or verges to some gole ; 'Tis but a part we see , and not a whole . When the proud Steed shall know , why Man restrains His fiery course , or drives him o'er the plains ; When the dull Ox , why now he breaks the clod , Now wears a Garland , an Aegyptian God ; Then shall Man's pride and dulness comprehend His action's , passion's , being's , Use and End ; Why doing , suff'ring , check'd , impell'd ; and why This hour a Slave , the next a Deity ? Then say not Man's imperfect , Heav'n in fault ; Say rather , Man's as perfect as he ought ; His being measur'd to his State , and Place , His time a moment , and a point his space . Heav'n from all Creatures hides the book of Fate , All but the page prescrib'd , their present state , From Brutes what Men , from Men what Spirits know , Or who could suffer Being here below ? The Lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to day , Had he thy Reason , would he skip and play ? Pleas'd to the last , he crops the flow'ry food , And licks the hand just rais'd to shed his blood . Oh blindness to the future ! kindly giv'n , That each may fill the Circle mark'd by Heav'n , Who sees with equal eye , as God of All , A Hero perish , or a Sparrow fall , Atoms , or Systems , into ruin hurl'd , And now a Bubble burst , and now a World ! Hope humbly then ; with trembling pinions soar ; Wait the great teacher , Death , and God adore ! What future bliss , he gives not thee to know , But gives that Hope to be thy blessing now . Hope springs eternal in the human breast ; Man never is , but always to be blest ; The soul uneasy , and confin'd at home , Rests , and expatiates , in a life to come . Lo ! the poor Indian , whose untutor'd mind Sees God in clouds , or hears him in the wind ; His soul , proud Science never taught to stray Far as the Solar walk , or Milky way ; Yet simple Nature to his Hope has giv'n Behind the cloud-topt hill an humbler heav'n , Some safer world in depth of woods embrac'd , Some happier Island in the watry waste , Where Slaves once more their native land behold , No Fiends torment , no Christians thirst for Gold . To be , contents his natural desire , He asks no Angel's wing , or Seraph's fire , But thinks , admitted to that equal sky , This faithful Dog shall bear him company . Go , wiser thou ! and in thy scale of sense Weigh thy Opinion against Providence : Call Imperfection what thou fancy'st such ; Say , here he gives too little , there too much ; Destroy all Creatures for thy sport or gust , Yet cry , if Man's unhappy , God's unjust , If Man , alone , engross not Heav'ns high care , Alone , made perfect here , immortal there ; Snatch from his hand the Balance and the Rod , Re-judge his Justice , Be the GOD of GOD ! In reas'ning Pride ( my Friend ) our error lies ; All quit their sphere , and rush into the Skies . Pride still is aiming at the blest abodes , Men would be Angels , Angels would be Gods . Aspiring to be Gods , if Angels fell , Aspiring to be Angels , Men rebell : And who but wishes to invert the Laws Of ORDER , sins against th' Eternal Cause . Ask for what end the heav'nly Bodies shine ? Earth for whose use ? Pride answers , " 'Tis for mine : " For me kind Nature wakes her genial pow'r , " Suckles each herb , and spreads out ev'ry flow'r ; " Annual for me the grape , the rose renew " The juice nectareous , and the balmy dew ; " For me the mine a thousand treasures brings , " For me health gushes from a thousand springs ; " Seas roll to waft me , suns to light me rise , " My footstool earth , my canopy the skies . But errs not Nature from this gracious end , From burning Suns when livid deaths descend , When Earthquakes swallow , or when Tempests sweep Towns to one grave , and Nations to the Deep ? No ( 'tis reply'd ) the first Almighty Cause " Acts not by partial , but by gen'ral Laws ; " Th' Exceptions few ; some Change since all began ; " And what created , perfect ? " — Why then Man ? If the great End be human Happiness , And Nature deviates , how can Man do less ? As much that End a constant course requires Of show'rs and sunshine , as of Man's Desires , As much eternal springs and cloudless skies , As men for ever temp'rate , calm , and wise . If Plagues or Earthquakes break not heav'ns design , Why then a Borgia or a Catiline ? From Pride , from Pride , our very reas'ning springs ; Account for moral , as for nat'ral things : Why charge we heav'n in those , in these acquit ? In both , to reason right , is to submit . Better for us , perhaps , it might appear , Were there all harmony , all virtue here ; That never air or ocean felt the wind ; That never passion discompos'd the mind : But All subsists by elemental strife ; And Passions are the Elements of life . The gen'ral Order , since the whole began , Is kept in Nature , and is kept in Man . What would this Man ? now upward will he soar , And little less than Angel , would be more ; Now looking downward , just as griev'd appears To want the strength of Bulls , the fur of Bears . Made for his use all Creatures if he call , Say what their use , had he the pow'rs of all ? Nature to these without profusion kind , The proper organs , proper pow'rs assign'd , Each seeming want compensated of course , Here , with degrees of Swiftness , there , of Force ; It is a certain Axiom in the Anatomy of Creatures , that in proportion as they are form'd for Strength their Swiftness is lessen'd ; or as they are form'd for Swiftness , their Strength is abated . All in exact proportion to the state , Nothing to add , and nothing to abate . Each Beast , each Insect , happy in its own , Is Heav'n unkind to Man , and Man alone ? Shall he alone , whom rational we call , Be pleas'd with nothing , if not bless'd with all ? The bliss of Man ( could Pride that blessing find ) Is , not to think , or act , beyond Mankind ; No pow'rs of Body or of Soul to share , But what his Nature and his State can bear . Why has not Man a microscopic eye ? For this plain reason , Man is not a Fly . Say what the use , were finer opticks giv'n , T' inspect a Mite , not comprehend the Heav'n ? Or Touch , if tremblingly alive all o'er , To smart , and agonize at ev'ry pore ? Or keen Effluvia darting thro' the brain , Die of a Rose , in aromatic pain ? If Nature thunder'd in his opening ears , And stunn'd him with the music of the Spheres , How would he wish that Heav'n had left him still The whisp'ring Zephyr , and the purling rill ? Who finds not Providence all-good and wise , Alike in what it gives , and what denies ? Far as Creation's ample range extends , The scale of sensual , mental pow'rs ascends ; Mark how it mounts to Man's imperial race , From the green myriads in the peopled grass ! What modes of Sight , betwixt each wide extreme , The Mole's dim curtain , and the Lynx's beam : Of smell , the headlong Lioness The manner of the Lions hunting their Prey in the Deserts of Africa is this ; at their first going out in the night-time they set up a loud Roar , and then listen to the Noise made by the Beasts in their Flight , pursuing them by the Ear , and not by the Nostril . It is probable , the story of the Jackall's hunting for the Lion was occasion'd by observation of the Defect of Scent in that terrible Animal . between , And hound , sagacious on the tainted green : Of hearing , from the Life that fills the flood , To that which warbles through the vernal wood : The spider's touch , how exquisitely fine ! Feels at each thread , and lives along the line : In the nice bee , what sense so subtly true From pois'nous herbs extracts the healing dew . How Instinct varies ! in the groveling swine , Compar'd , half-reas'ning Elephant ! with thine ; 'Twixt that , and Reason , what a nice Barrier , For ever sep'rate , yet for ever near : Remembrance , and Reflection , how ally'd ; What thin partitions Sense from Thought divide : And middle natures , how they long to join , Yet never pass th' insuperable line ! Without this just Gradation , could they be Subjected these to those , or all to thee ? The pow'rs of all subdu'd by thee alone , Is not thy Reason all those pow'rs in one ? See , thro' this air , this ocean , and this earth , All Matter quick , and bursting into birth . Above , how high progressive life may go ? Around how wide ? how deep extend below ? Vast Chain of Being ! which from God began , Natures Ethereal , human , Angel , Man , Beast , bird , fish , insect ; what no Eye can see , No Glass can reach : from Infinite to thee , From thee to Nothing ! — On superior pow'rs Were we to press , inferior might on ours ; Or in the full Creation leave a Void , Where , one step broken , the great Scale's destroy'd : From Nature's Chain whatever link you strike , Tenth or ten thousandth , breaks the chain alike . And if each System in gradation roll , Alike essential to th' amazing Whole ; The least confusion but in one , not all That System only , but the whole must fall . Let Earth unbalanc'd from her Orbit fly , Planets and Suns rush lawless thro' the sky , Let ruling Angels from their spheres be hurl'd , Being on Being wreck'd , and World on World , Heav'ns whole foundations to their Centre nod , And Nature tremble , to the Throne of God . All this dread ORDER break — For whom ? for thee , Vile Worm ! — O Madness ! Pride ! Impiety ! What if the foot ordain'd the dust to tread , Or hand to toil , aspir'd to be the Head ? What if the head , the eye or ear , repin'd To serve mere Engines to the ruling Mind ? Just as absurd , for any Part to claim To be Another , in this gen'ral Frame : Just as absurd , to mourn the tasks , or pains , The great directing Mind of All ordains . All are but parts of one stupendous Whole , Whose Body Nature is , and God the Soul ; That , chang'd thro' all , and yet in all the same , Great in the Earth as in th' Aethereal frame , Warms in the Sun , refreshes in the Breeze , Glows in the Stars , and blossoms in the Trees , Lives thro' all Life , extends thro' all Extent , Spreads undivided , operates unspent , Breathes in our soul , informs our mortal part , As full , as perfect , in a hair , as heart , As full , as perfect , in vile Man that mourns , As the rapt Seraphim that sings and burns ; To Him no high , no low , no great , no small ; He fills , he bounds , connects , and equals all . Cease then , nor ORDER Imperfection name : Our proper bliss depends on what we blame . Know thy own Point : This kind , this due degree Of blindness , weakness , Heav'n bestows on thee . Submit — in this , or any other Sphere , Secure to be as blest as thou canst bear ; Safe in the hand of one disposing Pow'r , Or in the natal , or the mortal Hour . All Nature is but Art , unknown to thee ; All Chance , Direction which thou canst not see ; All Discord , Harmony not understood ; All partial Evil , universal Good : And spight of Pride , in erring Reason's spight , One truth is clear ; " Whatever Is , is RIGHT . "

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EPISTLE II . KNow then thy-self , presume not God to scan ; The proper study of mankind is Man . Plac'd on this Isthmus of a middle state , A Being darkly wise , and rudely great ; With too much knowledge for the Sceptic side , With too much weakness for a Stoic's pride , He hangs between ; in doubt to act , or rest , In doubt to-deem himself a God , or Beast , In doubt his mind or body to prefer , Born but to die , and reas'ning but to err ; Alike in ignorance , his Reason such , Whether he thinks too little , or too much . Chaos of Thought and Passion , all confus'd ; Still by himself abus'd , or dis-abus'd ; Created half to rise , and half to fall ; Great Lord of all things , yet a Prey to all ; Sole Judge of Truth , in endless Error hurl'd ; The Glory , Jest , and Riddle of the world ! Go , wond'rous Creature ! mount where Science guides , Go measure Earth , weigh Air , and state the Tydes , Instruct the Planets in what Orbs to run , Correct old Time , and regulate the Sun . Go , soar with Plato to th' empyreal sphere , To the first Good , first Perfect , and first Fair ; Or tread the mazy round his Follow'rs trod , And quitting Sense call Imitating God , As Eastern Priests in giddy circles run , And turn their heads , to imitate the Sun . Go , teach Eternal Wisdom how to rule ; Then drop into thy-self , and be a Fool ! Superior Beings , when of late they saw A mortal Man unfold all Nature's Law , Admir'd such Wisdom in an earthly shape , And show'd a NEWTON , as we show an Ape . Could He who taught each Planet where to roll , Describe , or fix , one Movement of the Soul ? Who mark'd their points , to rise and to descend , Explain , or his Beginning , or his End ? Alas what wonder ! Man's superior part Uncheck'd may rise , and climb from Art to Art ; But when his own great work is but begun , What Reason weaves , by Passion is undone . Two Principles in human Nature reign ; Self-Love , to urge ; and Reason , to restrain ; Nor this a good , nor that a bad we call , Each works its end , to move , or govern all : And to their proper operation still Ascribe all Good ; to their improper , Ill . Self-Love , the Spring of motion , acts the soul ; Reason's comparing Balance rules the whole ; Man , but for that , no Action could attend , And but for this , were active to no End . Fix'd like a Plant , on his peculiar spot , To draw nutrition , propagate , and rot ; Or Meteor-like , flame lawless through the void , Destroying others , by himself destroy'd . Most strength the moving Principle requires , Active its task , it prompts , impels , inspires : Sedate and quiet the comparing lies , Form'd but to check , delib'rate , and advise . Self-Love yet stronger , as its objects nigh ; Reason's at distance and in prospect lye ; That sees immediate Good , by present sense , Reason the future , and the consequence ; Thicker than Arguments , Temptations throng , At best more watchful this , but that more strong . The action of the stronger to suspend , Reason still use , to Reason still attend : Attention , Habit and Experience gains , Each strengthens Reason , and Self-love restrains . Let subtile Schoolmen teach these Friends to fight , More studious to divide , than to unite , And Grace and Virtue , Sense and Reason split , With all the rash dexterity of Wit . Wits , just like fools , at war about a Name , Have full as oft , no meaning , or the same . Self-love and Reason to one end aspire , Pain their aversion , Pleasure their desire ; But greedy that its object would devour , This taste the honey , and not wound the flower . Pleasure , or wrong or rightly understood , Our greatest Evil , or our greatest Good . Modes of Self-love the PASSIONS we may call ; 'Tis real Good , or seeming , moves them all : But since not every Good we can divide , And Reason bids us for our own provide , Passions tho' selfish , if their Means be fair , List under Reason , and deserve her care : Those that imparted , court a nobler aim , Exalt their kind , and take some Virtue's name . In lazy Apathy let Stoics boast Their Virtue fix'd ; 'tis fix'd as in a Frost : Contracted all , retiring to the breast : But Strength of Mind is Exercise , not Rest : The rising tempest puts in act the soul , Parts it may ravage , but preserves the whole . On Life's vast Ocean diversely we sail , Reason the Card , but Passion is the Gale : Nor GOD alone in the still Calm we find , He mounts the Storm , and walks upon the Wind . Passions , like Elements , tho' born to fight , Yet mix'd and soften'd , in his work unite : These , 'tis enough to temper and employ ; But what composes Man , can Man destroy ? Suffice that Reason keep to Nature's road , Subject , compound them , follow her , and God . Love , Hope , and Joy , fair Pleasure's smiling train , Hate , Fear , and Grief , the Family of Pain ; These mix'd with art , and to due bounds confin'd , Make , and maintain , the Balance of the Mind : The Lights and Shades , whose well-accorded strife Gives all the Strength and Colour of our life . Pleasures are ever in our hands , or eyes , And when in Act they cease , in Prospect rise ; Present to grasp , and future still to find , The whole employ of Body and of Mind . All spread their charms , but charm not all alike ; On diff'rent Senses diff'rent Objects strike : Hence diff'rent Passions more or less inflame , As strong , or weak , the Organs of the Frame ; And hence one Master Passion in the breast , Like Aaron's Serpent , swallows up the rest . As Man perhaps , the moment of his breath , Receives the lurking Principle of death , The young Disease that must subdue at length , Grows with his growth , and strengthens with his strength : So , cast and mingled with his very Frame , The Mind's disease , its ruling Passion came : Each vital humour which should feed the whole , Soon flows to this , in Body and in Soul . Whatever warms the heart , or fills the head , As the mind opens , and its functions spread ; Imagination plies her dang'rous art , And pours it all upon the peccant part . Nature its Mother , Habit is its Nurse ; Wit , Spirit , Faculties , but make it worse ; Reason itself but gives it edge and pow'r , As Heav'n's blest Beam turns Vinegar more sow'r . The ruling Passion , be it what it will , The ruling Passion conquers Reason still . We , wretched subjects tho' to lawful sway , In this weak Queen , some Fav'rite still obey . Ah ! if she lend not Arms as well as Rules , What can she more , than tell us we are Fools ? Teach us to mourn our nature , not to mend , A sharp Accuser , but a helpless Friend ? Or from a Judge turn Pleader , to persuade The choice we make , or justify it made ? Proud of imagin'd Conquests all along , She but removes weak Passions for the strong ; So , when small Humours gather to a Gout , The Doctor fancies he has driv'n them out . Yes ; Nature's Road must ever be prefer'd ; Reason is here no Guide , but still a Guard ; 'Tis her's to rectify , not overthrow , And treat this Passion more as Friend than Foe : A MIGHTIER POW'R the strong Direction sends , And sev'ral Men impells to sev'ral Ends : Like varying Winds , by other passions tost , This drives them constant to a certain Coast . Let Pow'r or Knowledge , Gold , or Glory please , Or ( oft more strong than all ) the Love of ease , Thro' life 'tis follow'd , ev'n at life's expence ; The Merchant's toil , the Sage's indolence , The Monk's humility , the Hero's pride , All , all alike find Reason on their side . Th' Eternal Art , educing Good from Ill , Grafts on this Passion our best Principle : 'Tis thus , the Mercury of Man is fix'd , Strong grows the Virtue with his Nature mix'd ; The Dross cements what else were too refin'd , And in one int'rest Body acts with Mind . As Fruits ungrateful to the Planter's care On savage stocks inserted , learn to bear , The surest Virtues thus from Passions shoot , Wild Nature's Vigour working at the root . What Crops of Wit and Honesty appear , From Spleen , from Obstinacy , Hate or Fear ! See Anger , Zeal and Fortitude supply ; Ev'n Av'rice Prudence ; Sloth Philosophy ; Envy , to which th' ignoble mind's a slave , Is Emulation in the Learn'd and Brave : Lust , thro' some certain Strainers well refin'd , Is gentle Love , and charms all Womankind . Nor Virtue , male or female , can we name , But what will grow on Pride , or grow on Shame . Thus Nature gives us ( let it check our pride ) The Virtue nearest to our Vice ally'd ; Reason the Byas turns to Good from Ill , And Nero reigns a Titus , if he will . The fiery soul abhorr'd in Catiline In Decius charms , in Curtius is divine . The same Ambition can destroy or save , And makes a Patriot , as it makes a Knave . This Light and Darkness , in our Chaos join'd , What shall divide ? The God within the Mind . Extremes in nature equal ends produce , In man , they join to some mysterious use ; Tho' oft so mix'd , the diff'rence is too nice Where ends the virtue , or begins the vice , Now this , now that the other's bound invades , As in some well-wrought Picture , lights and shades . Fools ! who from hence into the notion fall , That Vice or Virtue there is none at all . If white and black , blend , soften , and unite A thousand ways , is there no black or white ? Ask your own Heart , and nothing is so plain ; 'Tis to mistake them , costs the time and pain . Vice is a monster of so frightful mien , As , to be hated , needs but to be seen ; Yet seen too oft , familiar with her face , We first endure , then pity , then embrace . But where th' Extreme of Vice , was ne'er agreed ; Ask , where's the North ? at York'tis on the Tweed , In Scotland at the Orcades , and there At Greenland , Zembla , or the Lord knows where . No creature owns it , in the first degree , But thinks his Neighbour farther gone than he . Ev'n those who dwell beneath her very Zone , Or never feel the rage , or never own ; What happier Natures shrink at with affright , The hard Inhabitant contends is right . Virtuous and vicious ev'ry man must be , Few in th' Extreme , but all in the Degree : The Rogue and Fool by fits is fair and wise , And ev'n the best by fits what they despise , 'Tis but by Parts we follow Good or Ill , For , Vice or Virtue , Self directs it still ; Each Individual seeks a sev'ral goal : But HEAV'N'S great view is One , and that the WHOLE : That counter-works each Folly and Caprice ; That disappoints th' Effect of ev'ry Vice : That , happy Frailties to all ranks apply'd , Shame to the Virgin , to the Matron Pride , Fear to the Statesman , Rashness to the Chief , To Kings Presumption , and to Crowds Belief . That , Virtue's Ends from Vanity can raise , Which seeks no int'rest , no reward but Praise ; And build on Wants , and on Defects of mind , The Joy , the Peace , the Glory of Mankind . Heav'n forming each on other to depend , A Master , or a Servant , or a Friend , Bids each on other for assistance call , 'Till one man's weakness grows the strength of all . Wants , Frailties , Passions , closer still allye The common int'rest , or endear the tye : To these we owe true Friendship , Love sincere , Each home-felt joy that Life inherits here : Yet from the same we learn , in its decline , Those joys , those loves , those int'rests to resign ; Taught half by reason , half by mere decay , To welcome Death , and calmly pass away . Whate'er the Passion , Knowledge , Fame , or Pelf , Not one will change his Neighbour with himself . The learn'd are happy , Nature to explore ; The fool is happy , that he knows no more ; The rich are happy in the plenty giv'n ; The poor contents him with the care of Heav'n . See the blind Beggar dance , the Cripple sing , The Sot a Hero , Lunatic a King , The starving Chymist in his golden Views Supreamly blest , the Poet in his Muse . See ! some strange Comfort ev'ry State attend , And Pride bestow'd on all , a common Friend ; See ! some fit Passion ev'ry Age supply , Hope travels thro' , nor quits us when we die . 'Till then , Opinion gilds with varying rays Those painted clouds that beautify our days ; Each want of Happiness by Hope supply'd , And each vacuity of Sense by Pride . These build up all that Knowledge can destroy ; In Folly's cup still laughs the bubble , Joy ; One Prospect lost , another still we gain , And not a Vanity is giv'n in vain : Ev'n mean Self-Love becomes , by force divine , The Scale to measure others wants by thine . See ! and confess , one comfort still must rise , 'Tis this , tho' Man's a Fool , yet GOD IS WISE .

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EPISTLE III . LEarn Dulness , learn ! " The Universal Cause " Acts to one End , but acts by various Laws . " In all the Madness of superfluous Health , The Trim of Pride , and Impudence of Wealth , Let that great Truth be present night and day ; But most be present , if thou preach , or pray . View thy own World : behold the Chain of Love Combining all below , and all above . See , plastic Nature working to this End , The single Atoms each to other tend , Attract , attracted to , the next in place , Form'd , and impell'd , its Neighbour to embrace . See Matter next , with various life endu'd , Press to one Centre still , the Gen'ral Good . See dying Vegetables Life sustain , See Life dissolving vegetate again . All Forms that perish other forms supply , By turns they catch the vital breath , and die ; Like Bubbles on the Sea of Matter born , They rise , they break , and to that Sea return . Nothing is foreign : Parts relate to Whole : One all-extending , all-preserving Soul Connects each Being , greatest with the least ? Made Beast in aid of Man , and Man of Beast ; All serv'd , and serving , nothing stands alone ; The Chain holds on , and where it ends , unknown ! Has GOD , thou Fool ! work'd solely for thy good , Thy joy , thy pastime , thy attire , thy food ? Who for thy Table feeds the wanton Fawn , For him as kindly spreads the flow'ry Lawn . Is it for thee the Lark ascends and sings ? Joy tunes his voice , Joy elevates his wings : Is it for thee the Linnet pours his throat ? Loves of his own , and raptures swell the note . The bounding Steed you pompously bestride , Shares with his Lord the pleasure and the pride . Is thine alone the Seed that strows the plain ? The Birds of heav'n shall vindicate their grain : Thine the full Harvest of the golden year ? Part pays , and justly , the deserving Steer . The Hog that plows not , nor obeys thy call , Lives on the labours of this Lord of all . Know , Nature's Children all divide her care ; The Furr that warms a Monarch , warm'd a Bear . While Man exclaims , " see all things for my use ! See Man for mine , " replies a pamper'd Goose : What care to tend , to lodge , to cram , to treat him , All this he knew ; but not that 'twas to eat him . As far as Goose could judge , he reason'd right , But as to Man , mistook the matter quite : And just as short of Reason , Man will fall , Who thinks All made for One , not One for All . Grant , that the pow'rful still the weak controul , Be Man the Wit and Tyrant of the whole . Nature that Tyrant checks ; He only knows And feels , another creature's wants and woes . Say will the falcon , stooping from above , Smit with her varying plumage , spare the dove ? Admires the jay the insect's gilded wings , Or hears the hawk , when Philomela sings ? Man cares for All : to birds he gives his woods , To beasts his pastures , and to fish his floods ; For some his Int'rest prompts him to provide , For more his Pleasure , yet for more his Pride : All feed on one vain Patron , and enjoy Th' extensive blessing of his Luxury . That very life his learned hunger craves , He saves from famine , from the savage saves ; Nay , feasts the Animal he dooms his feast , And 'till he ends the Being , makes it blest : Which sees no more the stroke , or feels the pain , Than favour'd Man , by Touch aetherial slain . Several of the Ancients , and many of the Orientals at this day , esteam'd those who were struck by Lightning as sacred Persons , and the particular Favourites of Heaven . The Creature had his feast of life before ; Thou too must perish , when thy feast is o'er ! To each unthinking being Heav'n a friend , Gives not the useless knowledge of its End ; To Man imparts it ; but with such a View , As while he dreads it , makes him hope it too : The hour conceal'd , and so remote the fear , Death still draws nearer , never seeming near . Great standing Miracle ! that Heav'n assign'd Its only thinking thing , this turn of mind . Whether with Reason , or with Instinct blest , Know , all enjoy that pow'r which suits 'em best , To Bliss , alike , by that direction tend , And find the means proportion'd to their end . Say , where full Instinct is th' unerring guide , What Pope or Council can they need beside ? Reason , however able , cool at best , Cares not for service , or but serves when prest , Stays till we call , and then not often near ; But honest Instinct comes a Volunteer . This too serves always , Reason never long ; One must go right , the other may go wrong . See then the acting and comparing pow'rs One in their nature , which are two in ours , And Reason raise o'er Instinct , as you can ; In this 'tis God directs , in that 'tis Man . Who taught the Nations of the field and wood , To shun their Poison , and to chuse their Food ? Prescient , the Tydes or Tempests to withstand , Build on the Wave , or arch beneath the Sand ? Who made the Spider Parallels design , Sure as De-Moivre , without rule or line ? Who bid the Stork , Columbus-like , explore Heav'ns not his own , and worlds unknown before ? Who calls the Council , states the certain day , Who forms the Phalanx , and who points the way ? God , in the Nature of each being , founds Its proper bliss , and sets its proper bounds : But as he fram'd a Whole , the whole to bless On mutual Wants built mutual Happiness : So from the first Eternal ORDER ran , And Creature link'd to Creature , Man to Man . What'ere of Life all-quickening Aether keeps , Or breathes thro' Air , or shoots beneath the Deeps , Or pours profuse on Earth ; one Nature feeds The vital flame , and swells the genial seeds . Not Man alone , but all that roam the wood , Or wing the sky , or roll along the flood , Each loves Itself , but not itself alone , Each Sex desires alike , till two are one : Nor ends the pleasure with the fierce embrace ; They love themselves , a third time , in their Race . Thus beast and bird their common charge attend , The mothers nurse it , and the sires defend ; The young dismiss'd to wander earth or air , There stops the Instinct , and there ends the care , The link dissolves , each seeks a fresh embrace , Another love succeeds , another race . A longer care Man's helpless kind demands ; That longer care contracts more lasting bands : Reflection , Reason , still the ties improve , At once extend the Int'rest , and the Love : With Choice we fix , with Sympathy we burn , Each Virtue in each Passion takes its turn ; And still new Needs , new Helps , new Habits rise , That graft Benevolence on Charities . Still as one brood , and as another rose , These nat'ral Love maintain'd , habitual those ; The last scarce ripen'd into perfect Man , Saw helpless Him from whom their life began : Mem'ry , and Forecast , just returns engage , That pointed back to Youth , this on to Age ; While Pleasure , Gratitude , and Hope combin'd , Still spread the Int'rest , and preserv'd the Kind . Nor think , in Nature's State they blindly trod ; The State of NATURE was the Reign of GOD : Self-Love , and Social , at her birth began , UNION the Bond of all things , and of Man . Pride then was not ; nor Arts , that Pride to aid ; Man walk'd with Beast , joint Tenant of the Shade ; The same his Table , and the same his Bed ; No murder cloath'd him , and no murder fed . In the same Temple , the resounding Wood , All vocal Beings hymn'd their equal God : The Shrine with Gore unstain'd , with Gold undrest , Unbrib'd , unbloody , stood the blameless Priest . Heav'ns Attribute was Universal Care , And Man's Prerogative to rule , but spare . Ah how unlike the man of times to come ! Of half that live , the Butcher , and the Tomb ; Who , foe to Nature , hears the gen'ral groan , Murders their species , and betrays his own . But just disease to luxury succeeds , And ev'ry death its own Avenger breeds ; The Fury-Passions from that blood began , And turn'd on Man a fiercer savage , Man . See him from Nature rising slow to Art ! To copy Instinct then was Reason's part ; Thus then to Man the Voice of Nature spake — " Go ! from the Creatures thy instructions take ; " Learn from the Birds , what food the thickets yield ; " Learn from the Beasts , the Physick of the field : " Thy Arts of building from the Bee receive ; " Learn of the Mole to plow , the Worm to weave ; " Learn of the little Oppian . Halieut. Lib. I. describes this Fish in the following manner . They swim on the surface of the Sea , on the back of their Shells , which exactly re semble the Hulk of a Ship ; they raise two Feet like Mafts , and extend a Membrane between which serves as a Sail ; the other two Feet they employ as Oars at the side . They are usually seen in the Mediterranean . Nautilus to sail , " Spread the thin oar , and catch the driving gale . " Here too all Forms of social Union find , " And hence let Reason , late , instruct mankind : " Here subterranean Works and Cities see , " There Towns aerial on the waving Tree . " Learn each small people's Genius , Policies ; " The Ants Republick , and the Realm of Bees ; " How those in common all their stores bestow , " And Anarchy without confusion know , " And these for ever , tho' a Monarch reign , " Their sep'rate Cells and Properties maintain . " Mark what unvary'd Laws preserve their State , " Laws wise as Nature , and as fix'd as Fate . " In vain thy Reason finer webs shall draw , " Entangle Justice in her Net of Law , " And Right too rigid harden into Wrong , " Still for the strong too weak , the weak too strong . " Yet go ! and thus o'er all the Creatures sway , " Thus let the wiser make the rest obey , " Who for those Arts they learn'd of Brutes before , " As Kings shall crown them , or as Gods adore . Great Nature spoke ; observant Men obey'd ; Cities were built , Societies were made : Here rose one little State ; another near Grew by like means , and join'd thro' Love , or Fear . Did here the Trees with ruddier burdens bend , And there the Streams in purer rills descend ? What War could ravish , Commerce could bestow , And he return'd a friend , who came a foe . Converse and Love mankind might strongly draw , When Love was Liberty , and Nature Law . Thus States were form'd ; the name of King unknown , 'Till common Int'rest plac'd the sway in One . Then VIRTUE ONLY ( or in Arts , or Arms , Diffusing blessings , or averting harms ) The same which in a Sire the Sons obey'd , A Prince the Father of a People made . 'Till then , by Nature crown'd , each Patriarch sate , King , Priest , and Parent of his growing State : On him , their second Providence , they hung , Their Law , his Eye ; their Oracle , his Tongue . He , from the wond'ring furrow call'd their food , Taught to command the Fire , controul the Flood , Draw forth the Monsters of th' Abyss profound , Or fetch th' aerial Eagle to the ground . Till drooping , sick'ning , dying , they began Whom they rever'd as God , to mourn as Man . Then , looking up from Sire to Sire , explor'd One great , first Father , and that first ador'd . Or plain Tradition that this All begun , Convey'd unbroken Faith from Sire to Son , The Workman from the Work distinct was known , And simple Reason never sought but One : E're Wit oblique had broke that steady light , Man , like his Maker , saw , that all was right , To Virtue in the paths of Pleasure trod , And own'd a Father when he own'd a God . LOVE all the Faith , and all th' Allegiance then ; For Nature knew no Right Divine in Men , No Ill could fear in God ; and understood A Sovereign Being but a Sovereign Good . True Faith , true Policy , united ran , That was but Love of God , and this of Man . Who first taught souls enslav'd , and realms undone , Th' enormous Faith of Many made for One ? That proud Exception to all Nature's laws , T'invert the World , and counter-work its Cause ? Force first made Conquest , and that Conquest , Law ; Till Superstition taught the Tyrant Awe , Then shar'd the Tyranny , and lent it aid , And Gods of Conqu'rors , Slaves of Subjects made : She , midst the Light'ning's blaze and Thunder's sound , When rock'd the Mountains , and when groan'd the ground , She taught the weak to bend , the proud to pray To Pow'r unseen , and mightier far than they . She , from the rending earth , and bursting skies , Saw Gods descend , and Fiends infernal rise ; Here fix'd the dreadful , there the blest abodes ; Fear made her Devils , and weak Hope her Gods : Gods partial , changeful , passionate , unjust , Whose Attributes were Rage , Revenge , or Lust : Such as the souls of Cowards might conceive , And form'd like Tyrants , Tyrants would believe . Zeal then , not Charity , became the guide , And Hell was built on Spite , and Heav'n on Pride . Then sacred seem'd th' Aethereal Vault no more ; Altars grew marble then , and reek'd with gore : Then first the Flamen tasted living food ; Next his grim Idol smear'd with human blood ; With Heav'ns own Thunders shook the world below , And play'd the God an Engine on his foe . So drives Self-love , thro'just and thro' unjust , To One man's Pow'r , Ambition , Lucre , Lust : The same Self-love , in All , becomes the cause Of what restrains him , Government and Laws . For what one likes if others like as well , What serves one Will when many Wills rebel ? How shall he keep , what sleeping or awake A weaker may surprize , a stronger take ? His Safety must his Liberty restrain ; All join to guard what each desires to gain . Forc'd into Virtue thus by Self-defence , Ev'n Kings learn'd Justice and Benevolence : Self-love forsook the path it first pursu'd , And found the private in the public Good . 'Twas then , the studious Head , or gen'rous Mind , Follo'wer of God , or Friend of Humankind , Poet or Patriot rose , but to restore The Faith and Moral , Nature gave before ; Re-lum'd her ancient light , not kindled new ; If not God's Image , yet his Shadow drew ; Taught Pow'rs due use to People and to Kings , Taught , not to slack nor strain its tender strings ; The Less , and Greater , set so justly true , That touching one must strike the other too , And jarring Int'rests of themselves create Th' according Music of a well-mix'd State . Such is the WORLD'S great Harmony , that springs From Union , Order , full Consent of things ! Where small and great , where weak and mighty made To serve , not suffer , strengthen , not invade , More pow'rful each as needful to the rest , And in proportion as it blesses , blest , Draw to one point , and to one Centre bring Beast , Man , or Angel , Servant , Lord , or King . For Forms of Government let fools contest , Whate'er is best administred , is best : For Modes of Faith let graceless Zealots fight , His can't be wrong whose Life is in the right : All must be false , that thwart this One , great End , And all of God , that bless Mankind , or mend , Man , like the gen'rous Vine , supported lives , The Strength he gains is from th' Embrace he gives . On their own Axis as the Planets run , Yet make at once their Circle round the Sun ; So two consistent Motions act the soul , And one regards Itself , and one the Whole . Thus God and Nature link'd the gen'ral Frame , And bade Self-Love and Social be the same .
EPISTLE IV . O HAPPINESS ! our Being's End and Aim ! Good , Pleasure , Ease , Content ! whate'er thy name : That Something still , which prompts th'eternal sigh , For which we bear to live , nor fear to die ; Which still so near us , yet beyond us lies , O'erlook'd , seen double , by the fool — and wise . Plant of Caelestial seed ! if dropt below , Say , in what mortal soil thou deign'st to grow ? Fair-opening to some Court's propitious Shine , Or deep with diamonds in the flaming Mine , Twin'd with the wreaths Parnassian Laurels yield , Or reap'd in Iron Harvests of the Field ? Where grows — where grows it not ? — If vain our toil , We ought to blame the Culture , not the Soil : Fix'd to no spot is Happiness sincere ; 'Tis no where to be found , or ev'ry where ; 'Tis never to be bought , but always free , And fled from Monarchs , ST. JOHN ! dwells with thee . Ask of the Learn'd the way , the Learn'd are blind , This bids to serve , and that to shun mankind : Some place the bliss in Action , some in Ease , Those call it Pleasure , and Contentment these : Who thus define it , say they more or less Than this , that Happiness is Happiness ? One grants his Pleasure is but Rest from pain , One doubts of All , one owns ev'n Virtue vain . Take Nature's path , and mad Opinion's leave , All States can reach it , and all Heads conceive ; Obvious her goods , in no Extreme they dwell , There needs but thinking right , and meaning well ; And mourn our various portions as we please , Equal is common Sense , and common Ease . Remember Man ! " the Universal Cause " Acts not by partial , but by gen'ral Laws ; And makes what Happiness we justly call , Subsist not in the Good of one , but all . There's not a blessing Individuals find , But some way leans and hearkens to the Kind . No Bandit fierce , no Tyrant mad with pride , No cavern'd Hermit , rest self-satisfy'd ; Who most to shun or hate mankind pretend , Seek an Admirer , or wou'd fix a Friend . Abstract what others feel , what others think , All Pleasures sicken , and all Glories sink ; Each has his share , and who wou'd more obtain Shall find , the pleasure pays not half the pain . ORDER is Heav'n's first Law ; and this confest , Some are , and must be , greater than the rest , More rich , more wise : but who infers from hence That such are happier , shocks all common sense . Heav'n to mankind impartial we confess If all are equal in their happiness : But mutual wants this happiness increase , All Nature's diff'rence keeps all Nature's peace . Condition , Circumstance is not the thing : Bliss is the same , in Subject or in King ; In who obtain defence , or who defend ; In him who is , or him who finds , a friend . Heav'n breathes thro' ev'ry member of the whole One common Blessing , as one common Soul : But Fortune's gifts if each alike possest , And each were equal , must not all contest ? If then to all men Happiness was meant , God in Externals could not place Content . Fortune her gifts may variously dispose , And these be call'd unhappy , happy those ; But Heav'n's just balance equal will appear , While those are plac'd in Hope , and these in Fear : Not present Good or Ill , the joy or curse , But future views , of Better , or of Worse . Oh Sons of Earth ! attempt ye still to rise By mountains pil'd on mountains , to the Skies ? Heav'n still with laughter the vain toil surveys , And buries Madmen in the Heaps they raise . Know , all the Good that Individuals find , Or God and Nature meant to meer mankind , Reason's whole pleasures , all the joys of Sense , Lie in three words , Health , Peace , and Competence . But Health consists with Temperance alone , And Peace , fair Virtue ! Peace is all thy own ; The gifts of Fortune good or bad may gain ; But these less taste them , as they worse obtain . Say , in pursuit of Profit or Delight , Who risque the most , that take wrong means , or right ? Of Vice or Virtue , whether blest or curst , Which meets Contempt , or which Compassion first ? Count all th' advantage prosp'rous Vice attains , 'Tis but what Virtue flies from , and disdains ; And grant the bad what happiness they wou'd , One they must want , which is , to pass for good . Oh blind to Truth , and God's whole Scheme below ! Who fancy Bliss to Vice , to Virtue Woe : Who sees and follows that great Scheme the best , Best knows his blessing , and will most be blest . But Fools the Good alone unhappy call , For Ills or Accidents that chance to All . See FALKLAND falls , the virtuous and the just ! See godlike TURENNE prostrate on the dust ! See SIDNEY bleeds amid the martial strife ! Was this their Virtue , or Contempt of life ? Say was it Virtue , more tho' Heav'n ne'er gave , Lamented DIGBY ! sunk thee to the Grave ? Tell me , if Virtue made the Son expire , Why , full of Days and Honour , lives the Sire ? Why drew Marseilles good Bishop purer breath , When Nature sicken'd , and each gale was death ? Or why so long ( in Life if long can be ) Lent Heav'n a Parent to the Poor and Me ? What makes all Physical or Moral Ill ? There deviates Nature , and here wanders Will . God sends not Ill , 'tis Nature lets it fall Or Chance escape , and Man improves it all . We just as wisely might of Heav'n complain , That righteous Abel was destroy'd by Cain , As that the virtuous Son is ill at ease , When his lewd Father gave the dire disease . Think we like some weak Prince th' Eternal Cause , Prone for his Fav'rites to reverse his Laws ? Shall burning Aetna , if a Sage requires , Forget to thunder , and recall her fires ? On Air or Sea new motions be imprest , O blameless Bethel ! to relieve thy breast ? When the loose Mountain trembles from on high , Shall Gravitation cease , if you go by ? Or some old Temple nodding to its fall , For Chartres head reserve the hanging Wall ? But still this World ( so fitted for the Knave ) Contents us not . A better shall we have ? A Kingdom of the Just then let it be : But first consider how those Just agree ? The Good must merit God's peculiar care ; But who but God can tell us , who they are ? One thinks on Calvin Heav'n's own spirit fell , Another deems him Instrument of Hell ; If Calvin feel Heav'n's Blessing , or its Rod , This cries there is , and that , there is no God . What shocks one part will edify the rest , Nor with one System can they all be blest . Give each a System , all must be at strife ; What diff'rent Systems for a man and wife ? The very best will variously incline , And what rewards your Virtue , punish mine . " Whatever is , is right . " — This world , 'tis true , Was made for Caesar — but for Titus too : And which more blest ? who chain'd his Country , say , Or he , whose Virtue sigh'd to lose a day ? " But sometimes Virtue starves while Vice is fed . " What then ? is the reward of Virtue , Bread ? That , Vice may merit ; 'tis the price of Toil : The Knave deserves it when he tills the Soil , The Knave deserves it when he tempts the Main , Where Madness fights , for Tyrants , or for Gain . The good man may be weak , be indolent , Nor is his claim to Plenty , but Content . But grant him Riches , your demand is o'er ? " No — shall the good want health , the good want Pow'r ? Add health and pow'r , and ev'ry earthly thing : " Why bounded pow'r ? why private ? why no King ? Nay , why external for internal giv'n , Why is not Man a God , and Earth a Heav'n ? Who ask and reason thus , will scarce conceive God gives enough while he has more to give : Immense the Pow'r , immense were the demand ; Say , at what part of Nature will they stand ? What nothing earthly gives , or can destroy , The Soul's calm sun-shine , and the heart-felt joy , Is Virtue's Prize : A better would you fix , And give Humility a Coach and six ? Justice a Conqu'ror's sword , or Truth a Gown , Or Publick Spirit , its great cure , a Crown ? Rewards that either would to Virtue bring No joy , or be destructive of the thing . How oft by these at sixty are undone The Virtues of a Saint at twenty-one ! For Riches , can they give but to the Just , His own Contentment , or another's Trust ? Judges and Senates have been bought for gold , Esteem and Love were never to be sold . O Fool ! to think , God hates the worthy Mind , The Lover , and the Love , of Human kind , Whose Life is healthful , and whose Conscience clear ; Because he wants a thousand pounds a year ! Honour and Shame from no Condition rise ; Act well your part , there all the Honour lies . Fortune in men has some small diff'rence made , One flaunts in Rags , one flutters in Brocade , The Cobler apron'd , and the Parson gown'd , The Fryar hooded , and the Monarch crown'd . " What differ more ( you cry ) than Crown and Cowl ? " I'll tell you , friend : a Wise man and a Fool . You'll find , if once the Monarch acts the Monk , Or Cobler-like , the Parson will be drunk , Worth makes the Man , and want of it the Fellow ; The rest , is all but Leather or Prunella . Stuck o'er with Titles , and hung round with Strings , That thou may'st be , by Kings , or Whores of Kings . Thy boasted Blood , a thousand years or so , May from Lucretia to Lucretia flow ; But by your Father's worth if yours you rate , Count me those only who were good and great . Go ! if your ancient but ignoble blood Has crept thro' Scoundrels ever since the Flood , Go ! and pretend your Family is young ; Not own your Fathers have been fools so long . What can ennoble Sots , or Slaves , or Cowards ? Alas ! not all the blood of all the HOWARDS . Look next on Greatness , say where Greatness lies ? " Where , but among the Heroes , and the Wise ? " Heroes are much the same , the point's agreed , From Macedonia's Madman to the Suede ; The whole strange purpose of their lives , to find Or make , an Enemy of all Mankind : Not one looks backward , onward still he goes , Yet ne'er looks foreward , further than his nose . No less alike the Politick and wise , All sly slow things , with circumspective eyes ; Men in their loose , unguarded hours they take , Nor that themselves are wise , but others weak . But grant that those can conquer , these can cheat , 'Tis phrase absurd to call a Villain great . Who wickedly is wise , or madly brave , Is but the more a fool , the more a knave . Who noble ends by noble means obtains , Or failing , smiles in Exile or in Chains , Like good Aurelius let him reign , or bleed Like Socrates , that Man is great indeed . What's Fame ? that fancy'd Life in others breath ! A thing beyond us ev'n before our death . Just what you hear you have , and what's unknown The same ( my Lord ) if Tully's , or your own . All that we feel of it begins and ends In the small circle of our foes or friends ; To all beside as much an empty Shade An Eugene living , as a Caesar dead , Alike or when or where , they shone or shine , Or on the Rubicon , or on the Rhine . A Wit's a Feather , and a Chief a Rod ; An honest man's the noblest Work of God : Fame but from death a Villain's name can save , As Justice tears his body from the grave ; When what t' oblivion better were resign'd , Is hung on high , to poison half mankind . All Fame is foreign , but of true desert , Plays round the head , but comes not to the heart . One self-approving hour whole years out-weighs Of stupid Starers , and of loud huzza's ; And more true joy Marcellus exil'd feels Than Caesar with a Senate at his heels . In Parts superior what advantage lies ! Tell ( for You can ) what is it to be wise ? 'Tis but to know , how little can be known ; To see all others faults , and feel our own ; Condemn'd in Business or in Arts to drudge Without a Second , or without a Judge : Truths would you teach , or save a sinking Land ? All fear , none aid you , and few understand . Painful Preheminence ! yourself to view Above Life's Weakness , and its Comforts too . Bring then these Blessings to a strict account , Make fair deductions , see to what they mount ? How much of other each is sure to cost ? How each for other oft is wholly lost ? How inconsistent greater Goods with these ? How sometimes Life is risqu'd , and always Ease ? Think , and if still the Things thy envy call , Say , would'st thou be the Man to whom they fall ? To sigh for Ribbands if thou art so silly , Mark how they grace Lord Umbra , or Sir Billy . Is yellow Dirt the passion of thy life ? Look but on Gripus , or on Gripus' wife . If Parts allure thee , think how Bacon shin'd , The wisest , brightest , meanest of Mankind : Or ravish'd with the whistling of a Name , See Cromwell , damn'd to everlasting Fame ! If all , united , thy ambition call , From ancient Story learn to scorn them all . There , in the rich , the honour'd , fam'd , and great , See the false Scale of Happiness compleat ! In hearts of Kings or arms of Queens who lay , ( How happy ! ) those to ruin , these betray , Mark by what wretched steps their Glory grows , From dirt and sea-weed as proud Venice rose ; In each , how Guilt and Greatness equal ran , And all that rais'd the Hero sunk the Man . Now Europe's Lawrels on their brows behold , But stain'd with Blood , or ill exchang'd for Gold : Then see them broke with Toils , or lost in Ease , Or infamous for plunder'd Provinces . Oh Wealth ill-fated ! which no Act of same E'er taught to shine , or sanctify'd from shame ! What greater bliss attends their close of life ? Some greedy Minion , or imperious Wife , The trophy'd Arches , story'd Halls invade , And haunt their slumbers in the pompous Shade . Alas ! not dazled with their Noontide ray , Compute the Morn and Evening to the Day : The whole amount of that enormous Fame A Tale ! that blends their Glory with their Shame ! Know then this Truth ( enough for man to know ) VIRTUE alone is Happiness below . The only point where human bliss stands still , And tastes the Good without the fall to Ill : Where only , Merit constant pay receives , Is bless'd in what it takes and what it gives : The joy unequal'd , if its end it gain , And if it lose , attended with no pain : Without satiety , tho' e'er so bless'd , And but more relish'd as the more distress'd : The broadest Mirth unfeeling Folly wears , Less pleasing far than Virtue's very Tears : Good , from each object , from each place acquir'd , For ever exercis'd , yet never tir'd ; Never elated , while one Man's oppress'd ; Never dejected , while another's bless'd : And where no wants , no wishes can remain , Since but to wish more Virtue , is to gain . See ! the sole Bliss Heav'n could on all bestow , Which who but feels , can taste , but thinks , can know : Yet , poor with Fortune and with Learning blind , The Bad must miss , the Good untaught will find , Slave to no Sect , who takes no private road , But looks thro' Nature up to Nature's GOD , Pursues that Chain which links th' immense Design , Joyns Heav'n , and Earth , and mortal , and divine ; Sees , that no Being any Bliss can know But touches some above , and some below ; Learns , from this Union of the rising Whole , The first , last Purpose of the human Soul ; And knows , where Faith , Law , Morals all began , All end , in LOVE of GOD and LOVE of MAN . For him alone , Hope leads from gole to gole , And opens still , and opens , on his Soul , Till lengthen'd on to Faith , and unconfin'd , It pours the bliss that fills up all the mind . He sees , why Nature plants in Man alone Hope of known bliss , and Faith in bliss unknown ? ( Nature , whose dictates to no other Kind Are giv'n in vain , but what they seek they find ) Wise is the Present : she connects in this His greatest Virtue with his greatest Bliss , At once his own bright Prospect to be blest , And strongest Motive to assist the rest . Self-Love thus push'd to Social , to Divine , Gives thee to make thy Neighbour's blessing thine : Is this too little for the boundless heart ? Extend it , let thy Enemies have part ! Grasp the whole Worlds , of Reason , Life , and Sense