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Men of those common Comforts of Life, which are a Kind of Support to us under the Want of Happinefs: Such as the more innocent of those Delusions. which he speaks of in the second Epiftle, where he fays:

'Till then, Opinion gilds with varying Rays Those painted Clouds, that beautify our Days, &c. L. 265..

Having thus prov'd how empty and unfatisfactory all these greatest external Goods, are, from an Examination of their Nature, the Poet proceeds to ftrengthen his Argument [from 1. 258 to 299] by these two farther Confiderations:

Ift, That the Acquirement of these Goods is made with the Lofs of one another; or of greater, either as inconfiftent with them, or as spent in attaining them:

How much of other each is fure to coft?
How each for other oft is wholly loft?
How inconfiftent greater Goods than these?
How fometimes Life is rifqu'd, and always Ease?

2dly, That the Poffeffors of each of thefe Goods - are generally fuch as are fo far from raifing Envy in a good Man, that he would refufe to take their Per fons, tho' accompanied with their Poffeffions. And this the Poet illuftrates by Examples:

Think, and if ftill thefe Things thy Envy call,
Say, would'ft thou be the Man to whom they fall? &c.

3dly, Nay, that even the Poffeffion of them all together, where they have excluded Virtue, only terminates in more enormous Mifery:

If all, united, thy Ambition call,
From antient Story learn to fcorn them all.
VOL. II.

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There,

There, inthe Rich, the Honour'd, Fam'd, and Great,
See the falfe Scale of Happinefs compleat!
Mark by what wretched Steps their Glory grows,
From Dirt and Sea-weed, as proud Venice rofe, &c.

Having thus at length fhewn, that Happiness confifts neither in any external Goods, nor in all Kinds of internal, that is, fuch of them as are not of our own Acquirement, he concludes [from L. 298 to 301] that it is to be found in Virtue alone.

"Tis not Titles nor Names that make either Nobity or Happiness :

You'll find if once the Monarch acts the Monk, Or Cobler like the Parfon will be drunk, Worth makes the Man, and Want of it the Fellow; The reft is all but Leather and Prunella.

In every Part of the whole Effay, he very ftrongly recommends Virtue, by firft fhewing the Beauty of it, and then by praifing of it. It is in that we taste the Good without the Fall to Ill: It is there he declares, that Merit receives conftant Pay; that it brings the greateft Joy if it obtain its End, and if not is exempt from Pain; that tho' it be ever fo blefs'd it never knows Satiety, and Distress cannot take away the Relifh of its Joy; that the very Fears of Virtue are more pleafing than the loud Laughter of Folly, and always increafing; for only to with for more Virtue is to gain it; and the fimple-minded Man, with Nature only for his Guide, found plainly in what Happiness should be plac'd:

Yet poor with Fortune, and with Learning blind, The Bad muft mifs, 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' immenfe Defign, Joins Heav'n and Earth, and Mortal and Divine.

Sees

Sees that no Being any Blifs can know,
But touches fome above, and fome below;
Learns, from this Union of the rifing Whole,
The firft laft Purpose of the human Soul;
And knows where Faith, Law, Morals, all began,
All end, in Love of God, and Love of Man.

And now having mention'd the Love of God, he makes Ufe of this Occafion to make Profeffion of his Faith; for tho' he would not have this plain virtuous Man be a Slave to any Sect, nor look further than Nature, yet here he feems to wish, that Hope may open ftill aud open on his Soul, 'till at last it comes to be Faith. Mr. Pope has us'd thefe Words Faith and Hope before, as if he meant the fame Thing, and doubtless moft Hopes are mix'd with a Degree of Faith, arifing from Probability; but whether that be fuch a Faith as Mr. Pope defires to be here meant, I fhall not take upon me to determine, he feems to intimate otherwife, when he fays,

Hope in known Bliss, and Faith in Blifs unknown. Which he affirms Nature has planted in Man, and arifes from his Self-love, which is focial and divine; and the good Man makes Happiness to himself out of the Bleffings of his Neighbours, nay of his Enemies:

Self-love thus push'd to Social, to Divine, Gives thee to make thy Neighbour's Bleffing thine: Is this too little for the boundless Heart?

Extend it, let thy Enemies have Part:

Grafp the whole Worlds of Reafon, Life, and Senfe,
In one clofe Syftem of Benevolence.
Happier, as kinder! in whate'er Degree,
And Height of Blifs but Height of Charity.
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This leads the Poet to a beautiful Comparison of a Pebble thrown into the Water, which at firft makes a fmall, and then a larger, and ftill larger Circle, 'till it goes over the whole Lake. This he applies to Self-love, tho' it better expreffes Social-love; but as Mr. Pope thinks, that by this Time he has prov'd them both to be the fame, he has no longer Need to make the Distinction. The Lines taking Self-love here to mean Social or Univerfal-love, cannot be excell'd:

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Self-love but ferves the virtuous Mind to wake, As the fmall Pebble ftirs the peaceful Lake, The Centre moy'd, a Circle strait fucceeds, Another ftill, and still another spreads; Friend, Parent, Neighbour, first it will embrace, His Country next, and next all human Race. Wide, and more wide, th' O'erflowings of the Mind Take ev'ry Creature in, of ev'ry Kind;

Earth fmiles around, with boundless Bounty bleft, And Heav'n beholds its Image in his Breast.

Immediately after this he addreffes his noble Friend, with whom he is fuppos'd to have been expatiating all the Time, over the Scene of Man; and having brought all his Proofs forward, after a very noble Submiffion, in which he begs to be taught by him, he confeffes to have wrote this Epiftle at his Inftance. In thefe laft Lines of this Epiftle have been notic'd feveral great Beauties.

1. The firft and chief is a Grandeur and Sublimity of Conception:

Come then, my Friend! my Genius come along,. O Mafter of the Poet, and the Song! And while the Mufe now ftoops, and now afcends, To Man's low Paffions, or their glorious Ends.

2. The Second, that pathetick Enthufiafm, which at the fame Time melts and enflames:

Teach me, like thee, in various Nature wife,
To fall with Dignity, with Temper rife,
Form'd by thy Converfe, happily to steer
From grave to gay, from lively to fevere,
Correct with Spirit, eloquent with Ease,
Intent to reason, or polite to please.

3. A certain elegant Formation and Ordinance. of Figures:

O! while along the Stream of Time, thy Name,
Expanded flies, and gathers all its Fame,
Say, fhall my little Bark attendant fail,
Pursue the Triumph and partake the Gale ?

4. A fplendid Diction.

When Statesmen, Heroes, Kings, in Duft repofe,
Whofe Sons fhall blush their Fathers were thy Foes,
Shall then this Verfe to future Age pretend
Thou wert my Guide, Philofopher, and Friend?
That, urg'd by thee, I turn'd the tuneful Art,
From Sounds to Things, from Fancy to the Heart;
For Wit's falfe Mirror held up Nature's Light;

And Fifthly, which includes in itself all the rest, a Weight and Dignity in the Composition:

Shew'd erring Pride, whatever is, is right;
That Reason, Paffion, anfwer one great Aim;
That true Self-love and Social are the fame
That Virtue only makes our Blifs below;
And all our Knowledge is ourselves to know?

;

These last five Lines are a Summary of the Whole: But whether Reafon and Paffion anfwer one great End or no, or whether Self-love and Social be the Bb 3 fame,

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