THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES FREDERIC THOMAS BLANCHARD ENDOWMENT FUND ^^Z BISHOP WARBURTON'S W O R K S. VOLUME THE SIXTH: COKTAINISO ONTROVERSIAL TRACTS. PART I. Vol. VI. THE WORKS O F T H E RIGHT REVEREND WILLIAM WARBURTON, LORD BISHOP OF GLOUCESTER. IN SEVEN VOLUMES. VOLUME THE SIXTH. LONDON, PRINTED BY JOHN NICHOLS: AND SOLD BY T. CADELL, IN THE STRAND. MDCCLXXXVIII. - ' 7 [ - 3 CONTENTS O F THE SIXTH VOLUME. A FIND ICATlON of the Author of the Divine Legation of Mofes, &c. from the Afperfons of the Country C!ergyma?i's Letter in the Weekly Mifcellany of February 24, i 737 ; p. i — 15. A CRITICAL and Philofophical Commentary on Mr. Pope's Effhy on Man. In which is contained a Vindication of thefaid Effay from the Mifrcprefentations of M, De Refiiel, the French Tranflator, and of M. De Croufaz, Profejfor of Pbilofophy and Mathematics in the Academy of Laufanne, the Commentator^ p. 17 — 168. REMARKS on a Book, intituled, " Future Rewards and <' Pmiifments believed by the Antients, particularly the Philofophers ; «' wherein fome OhjeBions of the Rev. Mr. Warburton, in his Divine " Legation ofMofes, are confidered, 1 742 ;" with a Poffcript, in An- fwer to fome Objections of Dr. Sykes; and a Letter to Bp. Sinallbrook, p. 169-249. REMARKS onfeveral Occafional Refledlions: In Anfwer to the Rev. Dr. Middleton, Dr. Pococke, The Mafter of the Chartcr- Houfe, Dr. Richard Grey, and others ; ferving to explain andjuflify divers Pajfages in the Divine Legation, ohjeSled to by thofe Learned a 2 Writers. iv CONTENTS OF THE SIXTH VOLUME. Ji'riters. Tow6h/jisaMJ, A general Review of the Argument of t'.e D vine Legation, as fir ca is yet advanced \ wherein is confdered the Re!qtion tj the fever dl Parts to each other ^ and to the Whole. To- gather ivith an Appendix^ in Anjwer to a late Pamphlet, intituled, -*» /In Examination of Mr. Ws Second Propofition" p. 251 — i']']. R E MA R KS onftveral Occafional Refiedlions ; In Anfwer to the Rc:;reni Dotfors Stebbing and Sykes ; ferving to explain andjiijlify the T'JDO Dijfertations in the Divine Legation, concerning the Com- rund to Abraham to offer up his Son ; and the Nature of the Jtwi/Jj theocracy ; ohje^ed to by thofe Learned Writers ; Part II. and hjl ; P 379— 53^- A VINDI- A VINDICATION OF T HE AUTHOR The divine LEGATION of MOSES, &c. FROM The Afperfions of the Country Clergyman's Letter in the Weekly Miscellany of February 24, 1737. Vol. VI. I 3 ] VINDICATION AUTHOR The divine LEGATION of MOSES, &c. AFTER having twice offered my Thoughts to the Public, on two very important SiibjeSls^ and had the Honour to be favourably heard, it mufl needs be a fufficient Mortification to me to be obliged to defcend to fo low a SubjeSl as myfelf. TJjat^ and the Deference due to the Public, had certainly reftrained this Appeal to it, had the Matter terminated there. But when the Accufation intended againfl me appeared vifibly defigned to render a projeded Defence of Revelation fufpeded ; which, I will prefume (and, as the Author of it, the Reader will excufe me for prefuming) may be of fome fmall Service to our Holy Faith, I thought it my Duty to vindicate myfelf, in this public Manner, from the horrid Accufa- tions of a Letter Writer in the Weekly Mifcellany of the 24th of February laft. Whether this was the true Motive of this Vindica- dication will be befl feen by the Temper in which it is written. B 2 The 4 A VINDICATION OF THE AUTHOR The Letter Writer begins with me in this Manner, ^ late IP"/ iter, the Author of the Dii'itic Legation of Mofes^ &c. is very fcvere upon^ ALL CUrgymen -who tJke the Liberty of cetifuring the Conduct of any OF THEIR Brethren. The Pafihge, on which this Accufation is loundcJ, is in p. 21 ♦ of the Dedication 1 appeal then to the Publicy whether my Siverity falls on thofe ivho cenfure the conduSi of any of tleir Brethren: or on thofe, who abufe the whole Body of the CUrgy, confidered as an Order irtflituted by Chriji^ and efablifJoed by the Stale. He goes on, If I am capable of underjlanding the Meaning and Drift of his Book, he had Reafon to apprehend it might draw upon him the Cenfures cf all the Clergy -who arefmcere Friends to Chrijiianity therefore it might be politic to -obviate the Force offuch Animadverjions before-hand. Had I been confcious of deferving the Cenfure of any honcft Man, I had done, like thofe who delight in Mifchief j I had wounded in the Dark. But when I chofe to write without a Name^ it was for very contrary Purpofes. Wlien I prefumed to publiOi (in Defence of the Eftablifhed Clergy) a Vindication of the Church of England, under the Title of The Alliance between Church and State, which furely might deferve their Pardon, left the World fliould Imagine I expeded more, 1 put it out without my Name. And now writing in the common Caufe of Chrijiianity, I have publicly owned it. For if ever the Sufpicion of being afliamed of the Faith of Jefus be more carefully to be avoided at one time than at another, it muft certainly be in this, when Infidelity is- become fo reputable as to be efteemed a Tcft of fuperlor Parts and Difcernment. He proceeds.—//.// add, that if he really means to defend Chr,Jl>an,ty, he hath pubh/I^ed the ^.eake/l Defence of M that I have ever read. How are we to underftand him here ? Muft we redlfy he Propofit.on thus.—//,/., ^,,,,,,;,,, ,,.^ ^^^^^^ ^^ ^ ^ J c Chr>juan,y then n . the weakefl? The Con fequence will tl.cn .ndccd be true. But I had cut ofFall Pretence ^0} begging Z * fiifl Edit. 8vo. Pre- FROM THE ASPERSIONS OF WEBSTER. 5 Premijfes. For I have formally and expreffly faid in the Beginnhig, and repeated it towards the End, that the Deiign of this Volume was only preparatory to the Defence of Revelation, and to prove the ufe of Religion in general^ and tli€ DoSlrifie of a future State in f articular to Civil Society. And had I not faid this, the Book itfelf would (hew that it is no more a Defence of Chrifianity than the firft Propofition of the three Terms is a Syllogifm. But if the Letter Writer means, what his Words exprefs, Xhat if I have aferious Purpof of d fending Chriftianity, this Volume is the weahejl Defence f his Premifles will be true indeed, but thea they will have no relation to his Conclufion. For it does not fol- low from thofe Premifles, that this is any Defence at all', any more than that, if 1 had a ferious Purpofe of building a Houfe, the Foundation-ftones were that Houfe. The Deference due to the Public, from fo obfcure a Writer as myfelf, was the true Reafon why this firfl: Part came out fepa- rately ; the Author not prefuming to obtrude a voluminous Work upon it till he had fome Aflurance of its Willingnefs to receive it. But the fame regard that obliged me to this Conduct, would not fuffer me to make a Secret of the Medium by which I pretended tO' eftabhfli my Demonftration, efpecially as it had the Fortune to be generally efleemed a Paradox. I therefore gave the Proof in form two Years ago in the Jlppendix to The Alliance between Church and State.. There it is to be found ; and had the Letter Writer, in- ftead of indulging his monftrous Sufpicions of the Author, turned himfelf to making Obje£tions to his Argument, he might poffibly have then as much ferved Truth as he now has violated Charity, He goes on, — Ue is a warmer Advocate for Dr. , who denie-' the Divine Infpiration of the Scriptures, than for the Scripture' ^'^^'J^- felves. How warm an Advocate I am for him, we fhal' ^^^ ^J ^"d by ; how true an Accujer the Letter Writer is of "i^i, we fliall examine at prefent. Dr. fays*, // is >t-'CESSARY to believe of the Scriptures in general that they are d'omely Injpired ; and that ■ * Remarks on a Reply to the Defence "i a Letter to Dr. W. p. 6g. alli 6 A VINDICATION OF THE AUTHOR all wl.ich he denies Is, ihai the Scriptures are of abfolute and mi- v.rja! Infftration*. He flicws that Ttlhtfon and Grottus were of t!jc fame Opinion, who, he charitably prefumes, were Chrijiians. And as lie tells his Friends and Acquaintance the fame he tells the Public, the Letter Writer mufl: excufe me, if I believe a Man whofe Candour, Sincerity, Benevolence, and Charity I have experienced, before him, who has not given me the Pleafure of remarking in him any of thofc Chriftian Qiialities. But I would not have the Letter Writer infer, that, becaufe he has been pleafed to make me Dr. *s Advocate, I am to be rcfponfiblc for his Opinions. I differ widely from him in the Matter of Infpiration, and as widely in fome others. But we can differ from each other, and avow and maintain our Difference of Opinion, without Violation of common Humanity, Friendfhip, or Chriflian Charity. I will give the Letter Writer another Liftance of Difference in Opinion between us, from this very Book he fo much condemns. The Writer of the Defence of the Letter to Dr, W. p. 45, fays, // the Notion of the Divine Origin of the Law and hfpiiation of Mofes to be refohed into FiBion, or Fahle, or Politic jI Lying ? No, far be it from me to think or fay fo. But this per- haps one may ■ venture to fay, that the Suppofition of fome Degree of fucb Ficlion may pojibly he found neceffary to the fohing the Difficulties of the Mofiic Writings, without a?iy Hurt to their Authority, or Ad- vantage to Infidelity. I am, as I fay, of a different Opinion. The Writer endeavours to fupport /?^/V by feveral Arguments ; amongfl which one is, the Profeffions and Example of the ancient Sages and Legijlators. Now, in the fecond Seftion of my Third Book I have ''-.uired into the Principles that induced the ancient Sages and Lcg,lla.,,.s to deem it lawful to deceive for the Public Good ; in the Dilcove.^ of ^hich, I think, 1 have made it evident that thofe Rc.f.nor Pnnc:^i,, ^^^^^ ^^^^^ ,^^ pj^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ ^nd I ropagators of tn, y,.^./^ ^.^ Chrifiian Religions. This Truth ' ^"'"'" °" ' ^^P'y '» '-c Defence of a Letter to Dr. W. p. 70. (as FROM THE ASPERSIONS OF WEBSTER. 7 (as well as feveral others interfperfed throughout this Firft Volume,, and which may perhaps give Offence to the indifcreet Zeal of the Letter Writer) is in my next Volume applied and inforccd to the Overthrowing that Opinion that fome Degree of Fi£lion may be ne- eejfary^ &c. And even in t/jis I could not forbear, in the mofi: ccnfpicuous Place of my Book, to (hew the UCe of it, as may be feen by thefe Words of the Contents, B. III. S. 2. TAe Princl- fles, that induced the ancient Sages to deem it lawful to deceive for Public Good in Matters of Religion, are explained and shewn to BE SUCH AS HAD NO PlACE IN THE PROPAGATION OR GeNIUS OF THE Jewish AND Christian Religion. But I am a warm Advocate for Dr. . In what ? I have called' him a very formidable Adverfary to the Free Thinkers, And I think I had Reafon : For the Arguments he hath ufed for the Truth of Chrijlianity agalnft Tindal have never yet been anfwered by them, nor I think ever can. I fay for the Truth of Cbrifianity ; for his Reafonings, from p. 59 to 64*, relate only to its Truth, and can: be underftood in no other Senfe. After this, to think he would have Chrifianify fupported only becaufe it is ufeful, is fuch a Way of interpreting a Writer as my Charity will never fuffer to fol- low. The Opinion I have of Dr. 's Abilities, and of the Sincerity of his Profeffions, were the true Reafons of that Efteem I exprefs for him; being defirous of allaying all Difguft, if any hath arifen in him, from the Treatment of his lefs candid Adverfaries ; and of engaging him to a further and more compleat Vindication of our Holy Faith, at a. Time when the good Difpofitions of the meaneft Advocate for Revelation Tnould not, I think, in Prudence be dif- couraged : Nay, was I fo unhappy to think of Dr. — — - as tha Letter Writer is difpofed to do, I (liould yet be inclined to beiiave myfelf very differently towards him. I fhould be fo far from eilranging him further from the Faith by uncharitable Anathemas,. * Letter to Dr. W. that:- S A VINDICATION OF THE AUTHOR tl»at I fliould do all I could to court and allure Iiim to Chriftianity^ by tbinkin^wtlUfits Profejors. Thus much, I conceive, Chrijiian Charity would require; and how tar Chrijiian Policy would per- luade, let the Learned fny, who know what Ornament his Pen would be to the ChriAian Faith, and his Acquaintance of what Ex- ample his Morals to Chriftiai^ Pra£lice. But the Letter Writer, having taken it into his Plead, that Dr. 's true Sentiments are, that Chnftianiiy can only be defended as ukful in the prefent Circumftances of Life, makes, as it would leem, this Imagination the Key to my real Sentiments and Defigns in defending Revelation. Hence thofe ftrange Expreflions If I am capable of underjlanding the Meaning and Drift of his Book — he mujl fxcufe me, if I fufpcSl his Faith and condemn his Book . >This I am Jure of the Author muJl be afubtile Enemy to Revelation, or a very indifcreet Friend 1 mufl own he has left me in no Doubt. Now if thofe be Dr. 's true Sentiments, which yet I no more believe than that Tindal was a Chrijiian in his Heart, I (hall not fcruple to fay that he whom I called one of the moft formidable of the Free-Thinkers Adverfaries, is indeed one of the weakeft: and moll contemptible. But if they be mine, after all I have faid in this Volume, I will not fcruple to fay, that That Charafler would be far too mild for me ; and that it would be but Juftice to efteem me the moft abandoned Writer that ever appeared in any Caufe. Let us now take \\\\iKey, and apply it to what I have written. And it will indeed thoroughly ferve the Letter Writer's declared Pur- pofe to Ifjfen my Credit. For it will make the whole Volume a Heap of Abfurdities and Contradiftions. But lay afide this vifionary Key, and let me be interpreted by thofe common Rules that all Mankind have ever ufed in underftanding one another, and then it will be feen I could not poffibly have had any other Intention than to PROVE Moses to be a true Prophet sent immediately and EXTRAORDINARILY FROM GoD.—I pretend to do it from Mofeis Omiffion FROM THE ASPERSIONS OF WEBSTER. 9 Omiffion of the Do£lrine of a future State ; which under an unequal Providence, is (as I have fhevvn in this Book, that being the only End of writing it) abfolutely neceflary to Society. From whence I conclude Mofes's Pretenfions were true : who alTured the Ifraeliles that God had chofen them to be his People, had condefcendcd to be their King, and would confequently govern them by an EOUAL, that is an extraordinary Providence ; which Con- clufion (that appears almoft felf evident) I employ my fecond Volume to fupport, illuftrate, and free from Objedions. Hence it appears on what Account I fo much infifl: on the Uf::- fulnefs and NeccJJity of Religion in general, and the Doftrine of a future State in particular to Society. The Courfe of my Argument, and all the Rules of Logic, obliged me to this Condudl : And in- deed I thought it the peculiar Happinefs of my Argument that they did fo ; for I fuppofe, till the Infidels be convinced that Reli- gion is tifeful to civil Society, they will never be brought to believe it true. I now hafte to the other Part of the Letter-writer's Charge, left he (hould be tempted, in his Impatience, to repeat it ; and fiy again, that / am a warmer Advocate for Dr. than for the Scriptures. The Reader, who has never feen my Book, will natu- rally conclude from thefc Words, that either I had undei "valued Scripture, or at leaft negleded a fair Opportunity of vindicating if. He will be furprifed to be told that the latter Part of the Charge v/as only for compleating the Antithcfis. So indeed it appears to me ; but the Reader fliall judge for himfelf. There are but two Places in this Volume, in which I had Occa- {ion to make Obfervations on the Scripture ; the one is at p. 1 1 7, where I endeavour to ihew that the Argument which the Com.- mentators ufe to prove the Pentateuch (again ft ^/«(5/2/ and others) to be written by Mofes, is a very ftrong and folid one. The other is at p. 83. where I fay, that the New Teftament does not contain any regular or compkat Syfem or Digef of moral Imws ; the occa- VoL. VL C fional ,o A VINDICATION OF THE AUTHOR Jianal Precept t there delivered, how excellent and divine Joever, arijing only from ConjunHures atid Circumjlances that were the SubjeBs of tboft Preachings or tm tings, in ivbich fucb Precepts are found. For the refi, for a general Knowledge of the whole Body of moral Duty, the great Pandeti of the Law of Nature is held open by it to be fearched and fludied. Finally, fays the jipoflle Paul, whatfoever Things are true, (^c. I fuppofc then, if the Letter Writer had any particular Meaning, this was the Place that was to juftify him in faying that I was no xoarm Advocate for the Scriptures. But does the New Tefiament contain any fuch compleat or regular Syflem ? will the Letter Writer fay fo ? will any one befides fay fb ? How weak and indifcreet a Friend foever he may pleafe to think me of Religion, I will affure the Reader, that as I make it one Point of my Religion to fay nothing but what I think the Truth, fo I do not ufe to throw about thofc Truths at random. The Obfervatioa was here neceffary to overthrow the mofl: pernicious Doftrine that ever infcfted Society. If it was true, then, it was not unthnely urged. But had the Letter Writer had a little Patience, he would have feen in the fecond Volume (as that will be the Cafe of many other Truths interfperfed throughout the firft) that, by the Affiftance of this very. Truth, I (H'crthrow a prevailing Notion, which I fuppofe He, no more than /, will think very orthodox, namely, thai Chrifiianiiy is only a Republication of the Religion of Nature. This, I can affure the Reader, is the Cafe of all other Principles occafionally laid down in this firft Volume, which are not only here ufcd to prove the Ufefulnefs and Truth of Rehgion in.gene- ral, but are in the next Volume applied to prove the Truth of Revelation in particular. To give one Inftance at prefent, in the fixth Sedion of the fecond Book, I have attempted to ex- plain the Nature of Paganifm, as diftingullhed from true Re- velation; where I have (hewn, that though they abounded FROM THE ASPERSIONS OF WEBSTER, ii in pretended Revelations, they were utter Strangers to the Idea of one Revelation's being founded upon, or the Completion of another. This Principle I apply and in force in the fecond Volume againfl the fourth Chapter of Collins's Grounds and Retifons of the Chrifiian Re- ligion, where he lays it down for one of his fundamental Principles (againft all Antiquity and Faft) that it is a common and neccffary Method for new RevelatioJis to be built and grounded on precederit Reve- lations. See p. 20 — 26. The Letter Writer proceeds— —Mr. Warburton modejlly fays, they \the Englifli Clergy"^ have undertaken to prove Chrijiianity without underjlanding it. As in the Cafe before, about cenfuring the Condud of Clergymen, the Letter Writer turned what I faid in general of the Body, particularly, to Individuals ; fo here, by a flrange Perverfity, he turns what I faid particularly of fome cer- tain Perfons, generally, to the Englifj Clergy. My Words are thefe, p. 2. Who, in this long Controverff between us and the Deijls, hath not applied to certain late Advocates of Revelation what %vas formerly faid of Arnobius and La6tantius, that they undertook the Defence of Chrijiianity before they ttnderjlood it ? But have none but E?tgliJlome?i wrote of late in Defence of Chrifiianity ? Have no Enghjlimen but the Englif} Clergy wrote in Defence of it ? If neither of thefe Queftions can be anfwered in the Negative, I would alk a third, What poflelled the Letter- Writer to bear Witnefs againft me, to the World, that I have any where faid that the Rnglifi Clergy have undertaken to prove Chrifianity without underjlanding it ? I folemnly declare, that in the Paffage above quoted I meant no Engljli Clergyman what- foever. So far from that, I exprefsly fay, in p. 1 9 of the Dedi- cation, that the Clergy of the efablijhed Church are they who have been principally watchful in the Common Caufe of Chrif- iianity, and MOST successful in repelling the Infults of its Ene- mies. I muft appeal then, this fecond Time, to the Public for Jujlice. C 2 As :z A VINDICATION OF THE AUTHOR As I was cold in Deteiice of Scripture in general, fo my nexr Charge is, that I have umhrvalucJ the Evidence arlfing from Mi- racles. Would the Reader know how ?^- Hardly, by faying, as I cxprci;iy do, p. 3, that Men have proved our Religion adlualiy divine thereby. But this went for nothing, becaufe I faid in the fame Place, that the external Evidence (in which Miracles are included) is na/ capable of Jlri£l Demonjhation ; hue that the In- ternal is. Now here might be fome Pretence for %ing I over-value J internal Evidence : But by what Kind of Logic it could be inferred that, therefore, I undervalued Miracles, I know not. The Letter Writer next turns (as it would feem) from me to- thofe who deny the Divinity of Chrifl-, the Merits of his Death, the Obligation and EfcSls of the Sacraments., and the Do&rine of Grace. But it is but feeming. He appears willing tliat thefe {A'iz Opinions (hould be thought mine: For having charged me with horrid Crimes, without S-hadow of Proof or Probability, he would cover the Scandal by infinuating me guilty of Heterodoxy ;• or why elfe did he lead his Reador to the very Door of Calumny, by artfully joming me, as undervaluing Miracles, to one of thefe, who he fays denies the Truth of one of them ? But the Letter Writer fhould have confidered, if this was his Defign, that in this very Book I affirm more than once or twice, that the DoSlrine of Redemption is the Foundation, and of the very Eflcnce of Chrijlianity. He fhould have known that all or moft of thofc true Chrlfhan Doftrines mentioned above are cx)ntained, in the DMrine of Redemption. There are, and thofe efteemed fincere Chriflians too, who would have taken the Names of Infidel and Heretic for Favours at the Hand of the Letter Writer. But I am of a different Humour. Thefe Titles have no Charms for me. I have lived fome Time in the World ; and, blcffed be God, without giving or tahing Of- fence. This Time has been fpent in my PariOi Church (for I am a Country FROM THE ASPERSIONS OF WEBSTER. 13 a Country Clergyman, and refide conflantly on my Cure) in the Service of my Neighbour, in my Study, and in the Offices of filial Piety, *' Witli lenient Arts t^cxtcnd a Mother's Breath, " Make Languor fmile, and fmooth the Bed of Death, " Explore the Thought, explain the afkiug Eye, " And keep awhile one Parent from the Sky." Excefs of Zeal in fuch as the Letter Writer, and Defeat of Re- ligion in others of better Breeding, fo efface thefe Feelings of Nature,, that I could hardly have known how to have told them, had 1 not both the Example, and the fine Words too, of one of the politefl: Men of the Age to keep me in Countenance.- The Time fpent in my Study has been employed in confirming my own Faith againft the erroneous Opinions the Letter Writer has. raked together, and iben. In planning a Work to confirm my Brethren. All the Reward I ever had, or ever expeft to have here, is the Teflimony of a good Confcience within Doors, and a good Name without. The firft no Man can take from me ; the other, this Letter Writer, ia the moft unchriftian. Manner, has at- tempted to invadci But I heartily forgive him : And inftead of putting un- charitable Conflrudlions on his fecret Intentions, will believe,. though I know no more of him than, by his Letter, that he is fincere, and only unhappily agitated by a furious Zeal for the Caufe of God and Religion ; inftead of tiiinking he ought to be hindered from any farther Advancement in the Church. Jf the Want of that be the Caufe of his- Spleen and Virulency, I heartily wifii it may be fpeedily removed : nay, that the Letter he has wrote againlt me may contribute towards it. Inftead of vjing. any -warm En- deavours to lifen his Credit, which he profefles in fo many Words- to be his Purpofe againft me, I wifti him all Increafe of Reputa- tion and Honour ; and inftead of infuking him with the Words he ,4 A VINDICATION OF THE AUTHOR he I'ccins to apply to mc— / fray for the Forglvenefs and Convert (iaa of till bad M:r:, I will allure him, that I pray for /6//« as a Brother. I have only one WorJ more to r.dd : I have prefumed to appeal to the Public, ill a Matter indeed that little concerns it, yet per- Ijaps of feme Moment in the Confequence and Example. But whatever Neccflity I now found myfelf under of not fubmitting to fo f.ilfc a Ch.irge, the Public need not be under Apprehenfions that I flinll ever give them a fecond Trouble of the fame Kind. It muft be fomc ftrange Provocation indeed that can make me repeat it. For if I can yor§-/Uf Injuries of this Kind, it is fure no hard Tafk to delpife them. In a Word, I have made my Defence againft thcfc Calumnies now once for all ; and my Enemies muft pardon me, if I decline to be drawn In, into a Controverfy of this Nature ; or to be drawn of from the Subjeft I have comrtienced in Defence of Revelation. And, by the Grace of God, no iinchrijfian Treat- ment (hall ever make me languid or remifs in vindicating the Truth of the Chrijlian Catife. Whether I am a weak Defender of Chrijii- an'uy murt be fubmitted to the Judgment of the Public. But I am perfuadcd that That Public will fufpend all Severity of Judgment till they fee the whole Performance : and then, I hope, thofe who now think I have advanced a Paradox that cannot be fupported, will be of another Opinion. But if it fhould not be my good Fortune to make out my Point to their Satisfadion, yet I (hould hope they will pafs a more equitable Conftrudlion on the Attempt than the Letter Writer has thought fit to do ; and make all favour- able Allowances for the Newnefs and Difficulty of the Subjeft, and the many incidental Points touched upon, which will, I hope, be thought by all Perfons of Equity, Candor, and good Learning] to have their Ufe. In the mean Time, I can fay with great Truth, and, I hope I may do it with Modejiy, that wh^it I ofl^r to the 1 ubhc concerning ^he Divine Legation of Mofis Is not a hafty fud- <lci Thought, and what has appeared flattering to me upon its firft Appearance Appearance only; as fuch Things often ftrike, which, upon Review, give no Satisfiiidion. But this has been long the Subjeft of my Thoughts; often laid by, and then again, at proper Intervals, re- fumed, reviewed, and turned on all Sides. What then I have been in no Hafle to approve after carefully weighing and examining ^a;fry Part, I fhall hope the equitable Reader will be in no Ilafte to condemn or fufped: while he has feen only one. A CRITICAL A CRITICAL AND PHILOSOPFIICAL COMMENTARY O N Mr. P O P E's essay on MAN. IN WHICH IS CONTAINED A VINDICATION of the said ESSAY From the Misrepresentations of Mr. D E R E S N E L, the Frenc/j Tranjlator, A N D O F Mr. DECROUSAZ, ProfcfTor of Philofophy and Mathematics in the Academy of Laufannr, the Commentator. ^ Vide quam iniquifunt div'morum munerum cejiimatores et'iam quidam " Professi Sapientiam." Sen. Vol. VI. D [ '9 ] WORTHY FRIEND RALPH ALLEN, Esq, S I R, IG I V E myfelf the pleafure of converfing with you. In this Form ; as I fee you lefs under the Idea of a Patron, than of a joint Labourer with me in the Service of Mankind. For while I attempt to explain the Theory of this divine Philofophy of Univer- Jal Benevolence, you illuftrate it by your Pradlce. At moil there- fore I can but offer you the Essay on Man, fet in a jufl: Light, as a Mirrour for your Cabinet ; where you may behold the perfect Image of your own Mind : And the Works of this Artill, who is beholden only to T^ruth for their Polifh and their Luftre, you are too well acquainted with to fufpe£t them of Flattery, To preferve the Luftre of this Mirrour was the fole Purpofe of the following Letters. For the dull Breath of Malice had attempted to defile its Purity ; and, by ftaining it with the black Imputation of Fatalijm, to tarnifh every Virtue it refleded. It hath been obferved in Phyjics, that Nature never gave an Ex- cellence, but (he at the fame time produced its contrary, with Qualities peculiarly adapted to its Deftrudion. As we fee how this ferves the wife Ends of Providence, by keeping us in that State Da of 20 D E I- K N C E OF MR. P O P E, oilnftrfealon and Dcfendcnce in which it hath plenfed the Author of all Things to place us, wc need not be much furprifed to find the hinc Phicnoincnon in the moral World: In no Inftance more apparent than in the Dotlrine of Fate, which, ahnoft coaeval with the Pra^ilce of ViirruE, is ytt altogether the Ueftrudlion of it. But as there is not tliat Decay, nor Degeneracy of Good, in the natural as in the moral IVorld; fb neither is there that increafe of E\'il. I i\y this chiefly with regard to the Doctrine of Fate, which hath been Hill growing, from Age to Age, in Abfardity and Im- piety : And therefore no Wonder, that Virtue, whofe fpecific Bane it is, fliould proportionably ikken and decline. Indeed, it flopped not till it became hke the Tree in the Chal- daans Vifion, which reached to Heaven, and extended over the wh'jle Earth ; and received all the irrational and impure Creation, Birds, Bea/is, and Infcoh, to its Shade and Shelter. To confider Fate m its Growth and Progrefs, it divides itfelf into four principal Branches. The ftrjl and earlieft is that wliich arofe from the Grange and prodigious Events in the Life of Man : Where the amazed Be- holder obferving the Ends of human Wifdom fo perpetually defeated, even when fupported by the likelieft Means, concluded that nothing Icfs than an over-ruling Fate had traverfed his well-conduded De- ligns. This early Conclufion concerning God's Government here, Uom Obfervations on Civil Events, was again inferred in After- .!gcs, by anotiicr Set of Men, with regard to his Government here- after, from their Contemplations on Religious ; while, from an utter Inability to penetrate the Dcfigns of Providence in its par- tial Revelations to Mankind, they concluded that Fate or Pre- dejlination had determined of our future, as well as prefent Happincfs. Thefe, which are only different Modifications of the fame imaginary Power, may be called the popular and reh- Gious Fate. The IN ANSWER TO CROUSAZ. 21 They^ro«rt' kind arofe from a fuppofed moral Influence of the heavenly Bodies : founded in an early Superftltion that the Hero-Gods had migrated into Stnrs. It was firft underftood to be confined to Communities, as fuch were the more immediate Care of thefe Heroes while living : But the fame Confiderations which produced the firft Species of Fate, in a little time, extended it to Particulars. And this is the civil or astrologic Fate. Hitherto, Free-will was only curbed, or rendered ufelefs. To annihilate it quite, needed all the Power of Pbilofophy. So true is the Obfervation, that without Philofophy Man can hardly become either thoroiif^hly abfurd or. miferable. The Sobbiji^ in his profound Inquiries into human Nature, and on what it is we do, when we judge, deliberate, and refolve, came at length to this fhort Conclufion, That the Mind is no more than a Machine, and that its Operations are determined in the fame Manner that a Balance is inclined by its Weights. This abfolute Neceffity of Man's Anions is the third Species of Fate, called the PHILOSOPHIC. From this, to the lajl, that is to fay, the Neceflity of Gods, was an eafy Step. For when, from the very Nature of Mind and Will, the Philofopher had demonflrated the Abfurdity of Free- dom in Man, the fame Conclufion would hold as to all other Beings whatfoever. And this is the atheistic Fate. Thefe, Sir, were the glorious EfFeds of Pride: which our in- comparable Friend, with fo good Reafon, efteems the Source of all our Mifery and Impiety. The Pride of accounting for the Wa\s of Providence begot the two firfl: Species : and the Pride of comprehending the EJfences of Things, the two latter. \t^h ! mifcra mens hominum, quo te ¥ at A fapijjime trahunt I In the Name: of Paul,, if one might be allowed to a(k, What Jlmll deliver us from the Body of this Fate ? which hangs about the Soul like that Punifhment of the ancient Tyrant, who bound dead Bodies to the living. I anfvver, the Religion of Jesus : which hath intruded us ,, DEFENCE OF MR. POPE, X,, n. clearly in the Nature of M.«. ns in the Nature of G.^; in ,I,c 5./^>'/. n-> well as i.. the Objdl, of Worfhip. A IVorJlnp found- ed as Rcafon aud Confcience tell us it ought, on thefe two great I'riiuiplcs, t!ic Freedom and the Weakness of Man. The firft, making our Approach to God a reasonable Service ; the latter, Go<rs Approach to us a Covenant of Grace. And this, Sir, is tliat ghrioHi Go/pel, which you are not afliamed to adore, as able to put to Silence the Ignorance offoolijh Men. And, in faft, the Japlonabk Reafoner is now gone over to the Caufc of Liberty ; but ftill true to his overweening Pride ^ is gone over— in the other Extreme. Let the Fatallft talk what he pleafes of the Mind's being a BMance\ if its Operations be mechanical, I am furc it is more like a Pendulum^ which, when well leaded, is incelTantly fwinging from one fide to the other. For the vain Reafoner is now as much difpofed to deny the Weaknefi of the Mind, as before to deny its Freedom. Hence it is, we fee the Cbrijiian Doarine of Grace defpifed and laughed at ; and the Means inAituted by its Founder for obtaining it, as impioufly as fo- phiftically, explained away. Yet without human Freedom Religion in general is a Farce ; and but on the Truth of human JVeaknefs, the Religion of y^J, a Falfehood. With regard then to Free-will, what need we more than the Declaration of Religion ? The fimple-minded Man naturally fup- pofes it ; the good Man feels it ; the thinking Man underftands it ; and nothing but vain Philojophy holds out both againft Nature and Grace: Not fo openly indeed as formerly; but flill as ob- ftinatcly. The ableft Advocates of Neccffity now inveloping it in Sj^.ms ; and infinuating it in all the artful Detours of what they call ^ fufficient Reafon. None have gone farther, or with more Succefs, into this Con- trivance than the famous Lf/^«/>z ; who, with great Parts and Ap- plication of Mind, had an immoderate Ambition of becoming Founder of a Seft. He firft attempted to raife a Name, like the Heroes IN ANSWER TO CROUSAZ. 23 Heroes of old, by the Invafion of another's Property : But being detefled and repulfed, he turned hu-nfelf to Invention; and framed an Hypoth.Jis m direfl Oppofition to that theory which he before feemed willing to have made his own. This Hypothefts, founded in a refined Fatalifm, he chofe to deliver by Hints only, and in piece- meal ; which, at the fame time that it gave his Scheme an Air of Depth and Myflery, kept its Abfurdities from being obferved. So that it fooa made its Fortune amongft the German Wits ; who were not out of their way when they took the fame deep and cloudy Road with their Mafter. It was no Wonder then, that this fhould raife a Jealoufy in the Advocates of Religion, and make the warmer fort of them (not the bcft at a charitable Diflindlion, though great Logicians) to miftake their Friends for their Enemies. Amongft other Fellies of this kind, it brought down a Storm of Calumny on the Essay on Man; and, in its Turn, occafioned this Vindication of our inimitable Poet. A (hort, and an eafy Talk. For my Point, you know. Sir, was not to expofe the Abjurdlty of Fate ; but to prove the Ejay free from a Dodlrine, which my Ad- verfary and I agreed to be an Abfurdity, But if any one, confid- ing in the Tricks of Sophiftry under the cloudy Conveyance of Metaphyfics, would difpute this Point with us ; 1 fhall give up my Share of him to my Adverfary, and leave him entirely to tiie Mercy of his Logic. All the Anfwer he muft expe£l from me, is of that kind with the Philofopher's, who, difputing with one who denied local Motion, only ufed his Legs, and walked out of his Company : That is to fay, I fhall decline his Challenge merely for the Exercife of my Freedom. And indeed, what other Anfwer does he deferve, who refufes to acquiefce in that Consciousness of Freedom which every plain Man has, on refledting upon what pafles in his Mind when he thinks and a£ls ? But yet, it may be worth while to remark the Nature of this Confcioufnefs ; from which alone (as I think, Sir, I have had the Pleafure to obferve to you in our Converfation on thefe Subjcds) Freedom 24. DEFENCE OF MR. P O P F, Frcedo-n of iVlll mny be denionftrafed to all but the downright Athcifi:. It will, I Tuppofe, be allowed to be an Imprefilon on the Mind, made by Rifuxion, as ftroiig as any of thofe made by Scn- fjtion. And lure he muft be as blind as even blind Fate can make him, who do.^s not fee thus far at lealL So that the oidy qutllion is, whtthcr it be, like them, (ubjetSl to D-Ccption ? I anfwer, No. And hift, for a natural Reafon, As the Organs cf Senfe are not cn^ployed to convey the Intelligence : But fecondly and principally, for a mor.tl one, As there would be nothing left to redrefs the wrong Reprcfentation. For, Reafon, which per- forms this Office in the falfe Imprejfions of Senje^ is the very Fa- culty employed in making the Imprcjions of Rif,ex:on. Were thcfe therefore liable to the fame Kind of Deception, we fhould be un- avoidably led into and kept in Error by the natural Frame and Conftitution of Things. Brt as this would refleil on the Author of Nature, no Theift, I prefume, will be inclined to admit the Confequence. If the Fatali/l fliould reply, that Renfon, when well exercijed and refned, does here, as in the falfe Imprc/Jions of Senfe, lay open the Delufion ; this, I mud tell him, is the very Folly ^ve complain of: That, when Things are fubmitted to the Arbitre- ment of Reafon, her Award fliould be rejeded while ftandlng in the Road of Nature, with all her Powers and Faculties entire ; and not thought worthy to be heard, till made giddy la the airy Heights of Metapbyfcs, and racked and tortured by all the Engines of Sophiftry : In a word, when Reafon is no more herfelf; but {peaks as her Keepers and Tormentors didate. However, it Is not the looking within only, that affures the Thelfl of his Freedom. What he may obferve abroad of the horrid Mifchiefs and Abfurditles arifing from the DoSlrine of Fate, will fully convince him of this Truth. It fubverts and atniihilates all Religion: For the Belief of Rewards and Punifhments, without which no Religion can fubfift, is founded on the Principle of Man's being an accountable Creature ; but when Freedom of Will is want- ing, IN ANSWER TO CROUSAZ. 25 ing, Man Is no more fo than a Clock or Organ. It is likewife highly Injurious to Society : For whoever thinks hlmfclf no longec in his own Power, will be naturally inclined to give the Reins ta his Paffions, as it is lubmitting to that Fate which muft at laft ab- folutely turn and dlreiSl them. But, after all, the moft powerful Argument ioT Freedom^ I confefs^ Sir, is fuch a Life as yours. Of which, though I could fay much^ and with Pleafure, I will only fay that it has made me, in common with every one who knows you. Tour obliged^ Tour affe^ionatey and Tour faithful Servant ^ May 18, 1741. W. WARBURTON. Vol. VI. E PR E- C ^: ] R E F A C E. THERE are two forts of Writers, I mean the Bigot and the Free-thinker, that every honeft Man in iiis Heart efteems no better than the Pefts of Society ; as they are manifeflly the Bane of Literature and Religion. And whoever efFedlually endeavours to. ferve either of Thefe, is fure immediately to offend both of Thofe. For, the Advancement of Literature is as favourable to true Piety, as it is fatal to Superjlition ; and the Advancement of Rehgion as pro- pitious to real Knowledge as difcrediting to vain Science, The Author of the following Letters, who hath aimed at leafl: to do this Service, by his Writings, regarding thefe two forts of Men^ as the irreconclleable Enemies of his delign, began without any Ceremony (for he was not difpofed, for their Sake, to go about) to break through thofe lumpifti impediments they had thrown acrofs the Road of Truth ; and laboured to clear the way, not only for himfelf, but for all who were difpofed to follow him. In which it fared with him as it fometimes happens to thofe who undertake to remove a public Nuifance for the Benefit of their Neighbourhood, where the nicer Nofes hold themftlves offended even in the Service thus undefervedly rendered to them. For notwithftanding our Author hath taken all Opportunities, and even fought out Occafions to celebrate every Writer, living or dead, who was any way re- fpedable for Knowledge, Virtue, or Piety, in whatever Party, Seft, or Rehgion, he was found, efpecially fuch as he had the Misfortune to dlffent from, and this fometimes with fo liberal a hand as to give offence on that fide likewife ; though he hath done this, 1 fay, yet E 2 having. zi VINDICATION OF MR. POPE. having, tor the Reafons above, declared eternal War with BIgofry and Free-thinking, tlie ftrong, yet luicere Colours m which he hath drawn the Learning, Senfe, Candour, and Truth of thofe Subjefls in which thcfe noble Qualities are mofl: eminent, have been cen- fured as Infolence and Satire, and a Tranfgreffion of all the bounds of Civility and Decorum. But he will not be eafily induced, by the Clamours of the falfely Delicate, to betray the Interefts of all that is good and valuable amongft Men, in complaifance to their Notions of Politenefs. 'Tis no time to ftand upon ceremony when Rtligion is ftruggling for Life; when the whole Head is Jick, and the whole Heart faint. Tiie Bigot, who, between a corrupt Will, and a narrow Under- ftanding, imputes odious Defigns to his Adverfaries, and impious Confequences to their Opinions, is not, I fuppofe, to be compli- mented, either into Senfe or Honefty. The Writer here confuted is amongft the chief of them. And it is not impoffible but the recent Memory of the like Ufage our Author himfelf met with from others of the fame leaven, might give him a quicker Seufe and Wronger Re- Icntment of the Injury done his Neighbour. As for the Tribe of Free-thinkers, Toland, Tindal, Collins, Coward, Blount, Strutt, Chub, Dudgeon, Morgan, Tillard, and their Fellows, the mortal Foes both of Rcafou and Religion, injured Wit as well as Virtue, by the Mouth of their happieft Advocate and Favourite, long ago called out for Vengeance on them : — The Licence of a following Reign Did all the Dregs of bold Socinus drain ; Then unbelieving Priefts reform'd the Nation, And taught -more pleafant Methods of Salvation ; Where Heaven's free Subjeas might their Rights diipute, Left God himfelf (hould fsem too abfolute, Encourag'd thus, Wit's Titans brav'd the Skies, And the Prcfs groan'd with licens'd Blalphemies. TheJ'e Monjlers, Critics y with your Darts engage. Here point your T:bunder, and exhaujl vcur Rage I A COM- [ 29 ] COMMENTARY O N Mr. POPE'S ESSAY on MAN. LETTER I. WH E N a great Genius, whofe Writings have afForded the World much Pleafure and Inftruftion, happens to be en- vioufly attacked and falfely accufed, it is natural to think, that a Senfe of Gratitude due from Readers fo agreeably obliged, or a Senfe of that Honour refulting to our Country from fuch a Wri- ter, (hould raife a general Indignation. But every Day's Expe- perience fhews ns the very contrary. Some take a malignant Satif- faaion in the Attack ; others, a foolifh Pleafure in a literary Con- flid ; and the greater Part look on with an abfolute Indifference. Mr. Be Croufazs Remarks * on Mr. Papers EJJay en Man, feen in part, through the deceitful Medium of a French Tranflation, * They are contained in two feverat Books, the one intituled, Examcn de VEffin dc Mr. Pope ; i Laufanne, 1737. The other, Commentaire fur la TraduSiion en vers de M. PAbbc BuRefnddel'Effai dt Mr. P ope fur l' Homme; a Geneve, 1738.; have 30 A COMMENTARY ON liavc juft fallen Into my Hands. As thofe Remarks appear to me very gmuiidlcfs and unjiift, I thovight fo much due to Truth, as to vindicate our Great Countryman from hb Cenfure. The principal Objea therefore of this Vindication fhall be, to give the Reader a fair and jufl Idea of the 2^^rt/5«/«^ oi th^t EJ'ay, fo egrcgioufly mifreprefcated ; in which I fliall not confider it as a iVw (for it ftands in no need of the Licence of fuch kind ot Works to defend it) but as a S};/Iem of PbUofophy ; and content myfelf with a plain Reprefentation of the Sobriety, Force, and Conne<ft:ioa of that Reafonhig. I fliall begin with the firft Epiflle. The opening of which, in fifteen Lines, Is taken up In giving an Account of his Subject; which he fliews us (agreeably to the Title) Is An Essay on Man, or a Philofophical Inquiry into his Nature^ and jEW, his FaJJions, and Purfuits : A mighty Maze ! — but not without a Plan, as Mr. DeCroufiz and I have found It, between us. The next Line tells us with what Defign he wrote, viz. To vindicate the Ways of God to Man. The Men he writes againfl he hath frequently Informed us are fuch, as Weigh their Opinion againfl Providence. 1. iiq. Such as, — cry. If Man's unhappy, God's unjuft. 1. 114. Such as fall Into the Notion, That Vice and Virtue there is none at all. Ep. II. I. 202. This occafioneth the Poet to divide his Vindication of the Ways of God Into fwo Parts. In the/r/? of which he gives dire^ An- fwers to thofe Objedlons which libertine Men, on a View of the Diforders arifing from the Perverfity of the human Will, have in- tended Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 31 tended againft Providence : And, in the fecond, he obviates all thofe Objecftions, by a true Delineation of human Nature, or a gefieral but exa£l MaJ> oj Man; which thefe Objedors cither not knowing, or miftaking, or elfe leaving (for the mad Purfuit of vietaphyjical Entities) have loft and bewildered themfelves in a thoufand foolifli Complaints againft Providence. Thefrjl Rpijlle is employed in the Management of th.& Jirfi part of this Difpute ; and the three fol- lowing in the Management of the fecorid. So that the whole con- ftitutes a complete Effay on Man^ written for the beft Purpofe, to vindicate the Ways of God. The Poet therefore having enounced his Suhjedi, his End of IFrit- i'ng, and the ^ality of his Adverfaries, proceeds [from 1. 16 to 23,] to inftrudl w^from whence he intends to draw his Arguments for their Confutation ; namely, from the vifible Thingi of God, in this Syftem, to demonftrate the invifibk Things of God, his eternal Power and God-head: And why ; becaufe we can reafon only from what we know, and we know no more of Man than what we fee of his Station here ; no more of God than what we fee of his Difpenfations to Man in this Station ; therefore Thro' Worlds unnumber'd though the God be known, 'Tis ours to trace him only in our own *. This naturally leads the Poet to exprobrate the miferable Folly and Impiety of pretending to pry into, and call ia queftion, the profound Difpenfations of Providence : Which reproof contains [from 1. 22 to 43] the moft fublime Defcription of the Omnifcience of God, and the miferable Blindnefs and Prefumptlon of Man. Prefumptuous Man ! the Reafon would'ft thou find Why form'd fo weak, fo little, and fo blind ? Firft, if thou canft, the harder Reafon guefs Why form'd no weaker, blinder, and no lefs ? * Hunc cognofcimus folummodo per Proprietates fiias et Attributa, ct per fapientiil!- mas et optimas rerum ftniduras et caufas finales, Newtotii Frincipia Schol. gener. fub finem. Afk 32 A C O M M E N T A R Y O N Afk of thy Mother Earth, why Oaks are made^ Taller or ftrotigcr than the Weeds they fliade I Or alk of yonder argent Fields above, Why Jove's Satellites are lefs than Jove? In the four laft Lines, the Poet has joined the utmoft Beauty of Argumentation to the Sublimity of Thought ; where the fimilar In- ftances, propofed for their Examination, fhew as well the Mfurdity of their Complaints againft Order, as the Fruit lefsmfs of their En- quiries into the Arcana of the Godhead. So far his modeft and fober Introdutlion : In which he truly ob- fcrves, that no Wifdom lefs than omnifclenC Can tell why Heav'n has made us as we are. Yet though we can never difcover the particular Reafons for this Mode of our Exiftence, we may be affured in general that it is right : For now entering upon his Argument, he lays down this fclf- evidcnt Propofuion as the Foundation of bis Tbejis, which he rea- Ibnably fuppofes will be allowed him : That of all pqffible Sypms, 'infinite Wifdom hath formed the bft ; [1. 43> 44-] From hence he draws two Confequences. I. Thtfrji [from 1. 44 to 51.] lo, that as the befl: Syfl:em cannot but be fuch a one as hath no inconnc6led Void; fuch a one in which there is a perfeft Coherence and gradual Subordination in all its Parts ; there muft needs be, in fome part or other of the Scale of Life and SenCe, fuch a Creature as Man; which reduces the Difpute to this abfurd Queftion, Whether God has placed him wrong? It being fhewu that MAN, the SubjeEl of his Inquiry^ has a ne- ceffary Place in fuch a Syftem as this is confeffed to be : And it being evident that the Abufe of Free-will, from whence proceeds all moral Evil, is the certain Effed of fuch a Creature's Exiftence ; the next Queftion will be, how thefe Evils can be accounted for, confiftently with the Idea we have of God's Attributes ? Therefore, 2. The fecond Confequence he draws from his Principle, That of all pojibk Svflems, infinite Wifdom has formed the befi, is, that whatever Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 3^ whatever is wrong la our private Syftem, is right, as relative to the whole [1. 50 to 53.] Refpefting Man, whatever wrong we call, Majy mujl be right, as relative to All. That it may, he proves [from 1. 52 to 61.] by (hewing in what confifts the Difference between the fyJlemaUc Works of God and thole of Man, r/'s. that, in the A;//tT, a thoufand Movements fcarce gain one Purpofe; \i\X}i\Q former^ one Movement gains many Purpofes. So that — Man, who here feems principal alone. Perhaps afts fecond to fome Sphere unknown. And aSling thus, the Appearances of zvrong in the particular Syftcm may be right in the iinivcrfal : For, 'Tis but a Part we fee, and not a Whole. — That it mnjl^ the whole body of this Epiflle is employed to il- luftrate and Inforce. T\i\x^ partial Evil is univerfal Good, and thus Providence is fairly acquitted. From all this he draws a general Conclufion [from 1. 60 to 87,] that, as what had been faid is fufficient to vindicate the Ways of Providence, Man (liould reft fubmiffive and content, and confefs every Thing to be dlfpofed for the beft ; that to pretend to Inquire into the Manner how God conducts this wonderful Scheme to its Completion, is as abfurd as to Imagine that the Horfe and Ox fhall ever come to comprehend why they undergo fuch different Manage and Fortunes in the Hand of Man ; nay, that fuch Knowledge, if communicated, would be even pernicious to Man, and make him negle£l or dejert his Duty here. Heav'n from all Creatures hides the Book of Fate, . All but the Page prefcrlb'd, the prefent State, From Brutes what Men, from Men what Spirits know. Or who would Cuffer Being here helow ? Vol. VI. F This 34 A C O M M E N T A R Y O N Thij lie illiiftrates by an Inftaiice in the Lamb, which is happy in not knowing the Fate that attends it from the Hand of the Butcher ; rnd from thence takes occafion to obferve, that God is tlie equal M.ifter of all his Creatures, and provides for the proper Happinefs of each Being. Wlio fees with equal Eye, as God of all, A Hero perifli, or a Sparrow fall *. But now the Objedor is fuppofed to put in, and fay; " You tell *« us indeed, that all things will turn out for Good ; but we fee " ourfelves furrounded with prefent Evil ; and yet you forbid us '* all Inquiry into the Manner how we are to be extricated ; and *' in a Word, leave us in a very difconfolate Condition." Not fo, replies the Poet [from 1. 86 to 95.] you may reafonably, if you fo pleafe, receive much comfort from the Hope of a happy Futurity ; a Hope given us by God himfelf for this very Purpofe, as an Earned: of that Blifs, which here indeed perpetually flies us, but is referved for the good Man hereafter. What future Blifs he gives not thee to know. But gives that Ho^e to be thy Blefling now. H^pe fprings eternal in the human Breaft, Man never h, but always to be bleft. The Soul uneafy, and confin'd from home, Refts and expatiates in a Life to come. Now the Reafon why the Poet chufes to infift on this Proof of a future State in Preference to others, I conceive, is in order to give his Syftem (which is founded in a fublime and improved Phion'ifmJ the utmoft Grace of Uniformity. For we know this Hope was P/a/o'j peculiar Argument for a future Stte ; and the Words here employed, The Soul uneafy, &c. his peculiar Expref- lion : We have feen the Argument illuftrated with great Force of Reafoning, by our moft eminent modern Divines : But no where * Matt. X. 29. flronger Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 35 Wronger urged than by our Poet, in this Ejjay, He fays here, ia exprcls Terms, Tlx-^X. Gcd gave us Hope to fupply that future BUfs nvhich he at prefent keeps hid from us. In his 2d Ep. 1. 264. he goes ftlll farther, and fays, this Hope quits us not even at Death, when every Thing mortal drops from us. Hope travels through, nor quits us when we die. And, in the 4th Epiftle he fhews Iiow the fame Hope is a cer- tain Proof of a future State, from the Confideration of God's giving Man no Appetite in vain, or what he did not intend fhould be fa- tisfied ; (which is Plato's great Argument for a future State.) For, deicribing the Condition of the good Man, he breaks out into thefe rapturous Strains : For him alone Hope leads from Goal to Goal, And opens flill, and opens on his Soul ; Till, lengthen'd on to Faith, and unconfin'd, It pours the Blifs, that fills up all the Mind. He fees, why Nature plants in Man alone Hope of known Blifs, and Faith in Blifs unknown : Nature, whofc Didlates to no other Kind Are giv'n in vain, but what they feek they find. 1. 331, ct fcq. It is only for the good Man, he tells us, that Hope leads from Goal to Goal, (^c. It would be ftrange indeed then, if it fliould be a Delufion. But it hath been objedled, that the Syferti of the bejl weakens the other natural Arguments for a future State, becaufe if the Evils, which good Men fufFer, promote the Benefit of the whole, then every thing is here in order ; and nothing amifs that wants to be fet right : Nor has the good Man any reafon to expedl a Repara- tlon, when the Evils he fufFered had fuch a Tendency. To this we reply, that the Syjiem of the bef is fo far from weakening thofe natural Arguments, that it flrengthens and fiipports them. To confider it a little, if thofe Evils to which good Men are fubjed be F 2 mere ^^6 A C O M M E N T A R Y O N mere Diforihrs^ without any Tendency to the greater Good of the Whole, tlien, thougli we nnifl: indeed conclude that they will hcrcaltcr be let right, yet this View of Things, reprefenting God as luiVering Diforders for no other Purpofe tiian to fet them right, gives us a very low Idea of the divine Wlfdom. But if thofs Evils (according to the Sv/Iem of the hijl) contribute to the greater Perfoflion of the Whole, a Reafon may be then given for their Permiffion, and fuch a one as fupports our Idea of Divine Wifdbm to the higheft religious Purpofes. Then, as to the good Man's Hopes of a Retribution, tliole ftill remain in their original Force. For our Idea of God's Juflice, and how far that Juftice is engaged to a Retribution, is exaftlj and invariably the fame on either Hy- pothecs. For though the SyJIem of the beji fuppofes that the £w'A ibemjelves will be fully compenfated by the Cood they produce to the fr&olc, yet this is fb far from fuppofing that Particulars fhall fuffer for z general Good, that it is eflential to this SyJIem, to con- clude that, at the Completion of Things, when the whole is arrived to the State of utmofl: Perfection, particular and ufiiverfal Good flialL coincide. Such is the World's great Harmony, that Tprings From Union, .Order, full Confent of Things ; Where y/W/ and great, whe^Q weak ?ind mighty, made Toferve notfufer,Jlrengthen not invade. Ep. iii. 1. 296, et feq. Which Coincidence can never be without a retribution to good Men for the Evils fufFered here below. To return then to the Poet's Argument, he, as we faid, bids Man comfort himfelf with Expedation of future Happinefs, and fhews him that this Hope is an Earaeft of it : But firft &f all puts in one very neceffary Caution, Hope humbly then, with trembling Pinions foar. And provoked at thofe Mifcreants, whom he afterwards [Ep. 3. 1.262.] defcribes as hyi'mn^ Hell on Spite, and Heaven on Pride, he Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 37 he upbraids them [from 1.9410 109.] with the Example of the fooK Indan, to whom alfo Nature hath given this common Hope of Mankind. But though his untutored Mind had betrayed him inta many cliildifh Fancies concerning the Nature of that future State^ yet he is fo hv from excluding any Part of his own Species (a Vice which could proceed only from vain Science, -which piiffeih up) that he humanely admits cm tn his faithful Dog to bear him Company. And then [from 1. ic8 to 119.] fhews them, that Complaints r.galnft the ejiablifed Order of Things, begin in the highefl Abfurdity from mlfiipplied Reafon and Foiver, and end in X.\\c highefl Impiety^ in an Attempt to degrade the God of Heaven, and affume his Place. Go wifer thou, and in thy Scale of Senfe Weigh thy Opinion againfl: Providence : Dejlroy all Creatures for thy Sport or Guft, Yet cry, if Man's unhappy, God's unjuf ; If Man alone ingrofs not Heaven''s high Care, Alone made PerfcH here, Immortal there. That is, be made God, ivho only is PerfeSi and hath Immortality ; To which Senfe the Lines immediately following confine us % Snatch from his Hand the Balance and the Rod, Rejudge his Juftice, be the God of God. From thefe Men, the Poet turns to his Friend, and [from I. ii8> to 137.] remarks that the Ground of all this Extravagance is Pride j. which, more or lefs, infefts the whole Species : — fliews the ill Ef-> feds of it, in the Cafe of the fallen Angels ; and obferves, that even wiping to invert the Laws of Order is a lower Species of their Crime : — then brings an Inftance of one of the EfFefts of Pride,, which is the Folly of thinking every thing made folely for the \J{q. of Man ; without the lead regard to any other -of God's Ci-eatures. A(k for what End the heavenly Bodies fhtne. Earth for whofe Ufe \ Pride anfwers, 'Tis for mine* For .S A C O M M E N T A R Y O N For me, kind Nature wakes her genial Power, Suckles cacli Herb, and fpreads out ev'ry Flower ; Annual for /w^ the Grape, theRofe, renew The Juice nc£lareous, and the balmy Dew ; Yorme, the Mine a thoufandTreafures brings. For me. Health guflies from a thoufand Springs ; Seas roll to waft me. Suns to light me rife. My Footftool, Earth ; my Canopy, the Skies. The Ridicule of imagining the greater Portions of the material Syftem were folely for the Ufe of Man, Philofophy has fufficiently expofed : And Common Senfe, as the Poet ftiews, Inflrufts us to know that our Fellow Creatures, placed by Providence the joint In- habitants of this Globe, are defigned by Providence to be joint Sharers with us of its bleffings. Has God, thou Fool ! work'd folely for thy Good, Thy Joy, thy Paftime, thy Attire, thy Food ? Who for thy Table feeds the wanton Fawn, For him as kindly fpreads the flow'ry Lawn. Is it for thee, the Lark afcends and fings ? Joy tunes his Voice, Joy elevates his Wings. Is it for thee the Linnet pours his Throat ? Loves of his own and Raptures fwell the Note. Is thine alone the Seed that flrows the Plain ? The Birds of Heaven fhall vindicate their Grain. Ep. 3. 1. 27. Having thus given a general Idea of the Goodnefs and Wifdom of God, and the Folly and Ingratitude of Man, the great Author comes next (after this neceffiiry Preparation) to the Confirmation of his Thcfis, Thr.t partial moral Evil is univerfal Good : But intro- duceth it with a proper Argument to abate our W,onder at the Phaenomenon of moral Evil, which Argument he builds on a Con- ceflion of his Adverfarles. " If we afk you, fays he, [from 1. 136 " to 147.] whether Nature doth not err from the gracious End of "its Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 39 « its Creator, when Plagues, Earthquakes, and Tempers, unpeople *' whole Regions at a time r you readily anfwer. No. For that " God a£l:s by general and not by particular Laws; and that the " Courfeof Matter and Motion muft be necefl'arily fubjeiSl: to fome " Irregularities, becaufe nothing created is perfedl." Say you fo ? I then afk, why you (hould expe6l this Perfedion in Man ? If you own that t!ie great End of God (notwitliftanding all this Devia- tion) ht general Happ'mefs, then it is Nature, and not God that de- viates ; and do you cxpeft greater Conftancy in Man ? Then Nature deviates, and can Man do lefs ? /. e. If Nature, or the inanimate Syftem (on which God hath impofed his Laws, which it obeys as a Machine obeys the Hand of the Workman) may in Courfe of Time deviate from its firft Di- re6i:ion, as the bed Philofophy fhcws it may *; where is the Won- der that Man, who was created a Free Agent, and hath it in his Power every moment to traiifgrefs the eternal Rule of Right, fliould fometimes go out of Order ? Having thus (hewn how Moral Evil came into the World,^ name- ly, by Man^s Abufe of his own Free-ivill, he comes to the point, the Cotifirmation of his 'The/is, by fliewing how moral Evil promotes Good; and employs the fame Conceffion of his Adverlaries, con- cerning natural Evil, to illuftrate it. I. He fhews it tends to the Good of the Whole, or XJnlverfe [from 1. 146 to 157.] and this by Analogy. " You own, fays he, " that Storms and Tempefts, Clouds, Rain, Heat, and Variety of " Seafons are neceflkry (notwithftanding the accidental Evils they " bring with thm) to theHealthandPlenty of this Globe-, why then " fhould you fuppofe there is not the fame Ufe, with regard to the * While Comets move in very eccentrick Orbs, in all Manner of Pofitions, blind Fate could never make all the Planets move one and the fame Way in Orbs concentnck, fome inconfiderable Irregularities excepted, which may have rifen from the mutual Actions of Comets and Planets upon one another, and virhich will be apt to increafe till this Syftem wants a Reformation, Sir If. Newt. Optics, Qneft. ult. *' Univerfe^ 40 ACOMMENTARYON *' Univcrfi^ in a Borgia and a Catiline?'* But you fay you can fee the one and not the other. You fay right. One terminates in this Sxjlcm, the other refers to tiic JFhole, But, fays the Poet, majio- ther Place, — of this Frame, the Bearings and the Ties, The ftrong Connexions, nice Dependencies, Gradations juft, has tliy pervading Soul LookM thro' ? Or can a Fart contain the Whole? 1. 29, et feq^. Own therefore, fays he, here, that, From Pride, from Pride our very Reafonlng fp rings ; Account for moral as for natural Things : Why charge we Heaven in thofe, in thefe acquit ? In both to reafon rights is to Jubmit. 2. But fecondly, to ftrengthen the foregoing analogical Argu- ment, and to make the Wifdom and Goodnefs of God fllll more apparent, he obferves next [from 1. 156 to 165] that moral R'uil Is not only produtflive of Good to the Whole, but is even produc- tive of Good in our own Syjlem. It might, fays he, perhaps appear better to us, that there were nothing in this World but Peace and Virtue, That never Air nor Ocean felt the Wind, That never Paflion difcompos'd the Mind. But then confider, that as our material Syjlem is fupported by the Strife of its Elementary Particles, fo is our intellectual Syjlem by the Conflidl of our Paffions, which are the Elements of human A<flion. Love, Hope, and Joy, fair Pleafure's fmiling Train, Hate, Fear, and Grief, the Family of Pain, Thefe mlx'd with Art, and to due Bounds confin'd. Make and maintain the Balance of the Mind. Ep, 2. 1. 107, etjeq. For Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 41 For (as he fays again in his fccond Epiftlc, where he illuflra'ces this Obiervatlon at large) What Crops of Wit and Honefly appear From Spleen, frona Obftlnacy, Hate or Fear ! 1. 175. In a word, as without the benefit of tempeftuous fVinds^ both Air and Ocean would ftagnate, and corrupt, and fpread univerfal Contagion throughout all the Ranks of Animals that inhabit, or are fupported, by them ; fo, without the Benefit of the Pajfiotis, that Harmony, and Virtue, the EfFe£ls of the Abfence of thofe Paffions, would be a iifelefs Calm, a ftolcal Apathy, Contrafled all, retiring to the Bread : But Health of Mind is Exercife, not Re/l. Ep. 2. 1. 93. Therefore, concludes the Poet, inftead of regarding the Conjlitl of Elements, and the Pajfions of the Mind, as Dforders ; you ought to confider them as what they are. Part of the general Order of Providence : and that they are fo, appears from their always pre- fervlng the fame unvaried Courfe, throughout all Ages, from the Creation, to the prefent Time : The general Order, fince the Whole began, Is kept in Nature, and is kept In Man. We fee therefore it would be doing great Injuftlce to our Author to fufpeft that he Intended, by this, to give any Encouragement to Vice ; or to infinuate the NcccJJity of it to a happy Life, on the equally execrable and abfurd Scheme of the Author of the Fable of the Bees. His Syftem, as all his Ethic Epijlles (hew, is this. That the Paffions, for the Reafons given above, are neceffary to the Sup- port of Virtue : That Indeed the Paffions In Excefs, produce Vice, which Is, In its own Nature, the greateft of all Evils; and coma* into the World from the Abufe of Man's Free-will; but that God, in his infinite Wifdom, and Goodnefs, devloufly turns the natural Vol. VL G Bias 4j A C O M M E N T A R Y O N Bias of its Malignity to the Advancement of human Hnpplnefs, and makes it productive of general Good: Th' ETERNAL ArT EDUCES GoODFKOmIlL. Ep. 2.1. 165. This, fet againft what we have obferved of the Poet's Do£trine oi ti future StatCy will furnifli us witli an InOance of his7?^fr/«^ (as he well cxpreflcs it in liis Preface) between Do5lrines feemingly oppo- Jite : If bis EJliy has any Merit, he thinks it is in this. And doubt- lefs it is uncommon Merit to reje£t the Extravagances of every Syftem, and take in only what is rational and real. The Charac- terijiics, and the Fable of the Bees, are two feemingly inconfiflent Syftems : The Extravagancy of the firft is in giving a Scheme of Virtue ivithout Rtligion ; and of the latter, in giving a Scheme of Religion without Virtue. Thefe our Poet leaves to any body that will take them up ; but agrees however fo far with the frf, that Virtue would be worth having, though itfclf was its only Reward ; and fu far with the biter, that God makes Evil, againfl its Nature,. produ«5tive of Good. The Poet having thus juflified Providence in its PenniJJion of par- tial MORAL Evil, employs the remaining part of this Epiftle in vindicating it from the Imputation of certain fuppofed natural Evils. For now he fliews, that though the Complaint of hisAd- verfijries againft Providence be on Pretence oi real moral Evils, yet, at bottom, it all proceeds from their Impatience under imaginary natural ones, the Iffue of a depraved Appetite for vifionary Advan- tages, which if Man had, they would be either ufelefs or pernicious to him, as unfuitable to his State, or repugnant to his Condition, [from 1. 164 to 199] "Though God (fays he) hath fo bountifully " beftowed on Man, Faculties little lefs than A'lgelic, yet he un- «' gratefully grafps at higher; and then, extravagant in another ^ Extreme, with a Paflion as ridiculous as that is impious, envies ♦' even the peculiar Accommodations oi Brutes. But here his own «' Principles ihew his Folly." He fuppofes them all made for his \^i'i ; Now what Ufe could he have of them, when he had robbed them Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 43 them of all their Qualities, polities, as they are at prefcnt divided, diftributed with the highefl Wifdom : But which, if beftowed ac- cording to the froward Humour of thefe childifh Complainers, would be found to be every where either wanting or fuperfluous. But even with thefe brutal Qualities Man would not only be no Gainer, but a confiderable Lofer, as the Poet fhews, in explaining the Confequcnccs that would follow from his having his Senfations in that exquifite Degree in which this or that Animal is obferved to poflefs them. He tells us next [from 1. 198 to 225] that the complying with fuch extravagant Defires would not only be itfelcfs and pernicious to Man^ but would be breaking the Order, and deforming the Beauty, of God's Creation. In which this Animal Is fubjedl to that^ znda// to Man ; who by his Reafon enjoys the Benefit of all their Powers : Far as Creation's ample Range extends. The Scale of ftn/iial, mental Powers afcends : Mark how it mounts, to Man's imperial Race, From the green Myriads in the peopled Grafs 1 Without this juft Gradation, could they be Subje6led thefe to thofe, or all to thee ? The Powers of all fubdued by thee alone. Is not thy Reafon all thofe Powers in one ? And farther [from 1. 224 to 259] that this breaking the Order of Things, which as a Link or Chain connedls all Beings from the higheft to the loweft, would unavoidably be attended with the Deflrudion of tbe Univerfe : For if each Syflem in Gradation roll, Alike eflential to th' amazing Whole ; The leaft Confufion but in one, not all That Syftem only, but the Whole muft fall. Let Earth unbalanc'd from her Orbit fly. Planets and Suns rulh lawlefs thro' the Sky : G 2 Let 44 ACOMMENTARYON Let ruling Angels from their Spheres be hurl'd. Being on Being wrcck'd, and World on World, Heaven's whole Foundations to their Centre nod> And Nature tremble to the Throne ofGod. For that the feveral Parts of the Univerfe mufl: at leaft compofe as entire and harmonious a Whole, as the Parts of an human Body do, cannot be doubted : Yet we fee what Confufion it would make in our Frame, if the Members were fet upon invading each, other's Office. What if the Foot, ordainM the Dufl: to tread,. Or Hand to toil, afpir'd to be the Head? &c.. Jufl: as abfurd, for any Part to claim To be another in this gen'ral Frame : Juft as abfurd, to mourn the Talk and Pains The great dire£ting * Mind of All ordains. Who will not acknowledge that fo harmonious a Connexion in the Difpofition of Things, as is here dcfcribed, is trnnfcendently beautiful ? But the Fatalijls fuppofe fuch a one. — What then ? Is the firfl: great free Agent debarred from a Contrivance fo exqulfite, becaufe fome Men, to fet up their Idol, Fate, abfurdly reprefent it as prefiding over fuch a Syftem ? Having thus given a Reprefentatlon of God's Creation, as one entire Whole, where all the Parts have a neceffary Dependance on and Relation to each other, and where every Particular works and concurs to the Perfedion of the JFhole ; as fuch a Syftem would be thought above the reach of vulgar Ideas ; to reconcile it to their Conceptions, he (hews [from' 1. 258 to a73]» that God is equally and intimately prefent to every Sort of Subftance, to every Particle of Matter, and m every Inftant of Being ; which eafes the labouring • Veneramur autem et colimus ob Domirtum. Deus enim fine Dominio, Providentia, «t caufis Finalibus, nihil aliud eft qnam Fatum bINatura. Newtoni Princip. SchoU geuer, fub fitiem. ' ' Imagination, Mn. POPE»S ESSAY ON MAN. 45 Imngination, and makes it exped no lefs, from fuch a Prefence, than fuch a DifpenfiUion. And now, the Poet, as he had promifed, having vindicated the Ways of God to Man, concludes [froml. 272 to the End] that from what had been faid it appears, that the very Things we blame con- tribute to our Happinefs, either as Particulars, or as Paris of the Univerfal Syfiem ; that our Ignorance, in accounting for the Ways of Providence, was allotted to us out of Compaffion ; that yet we have as much Knowledge as is fufficient to fhew us, that we are,, and always (hall be, as bleft as we can bear; for that Nature is. neither a Stratonic Chain of blind Caufes and EfFedls, (All Nature is but Art unknown to thee) ; nor yet the fortuitous Refult of Epicurean Atoms, (All Chance, DireSiion which thou can ft not fee) ; as thefe two Species of Atheifm fuppofed it ; but the wotiderful Art and Dire£lion (unknown indeed to Man) of an all-powerful, all-wife, all-good, and free Being. And therefore we may be aflured, that the Arguments brought above, to prove partial moral Evil produ£tive of univerfal Good, may be fafely relied on ; from whence one certain Truth refults, in fpite of all the Pride and Cavils of vain Reafon, That whatever is, is Right, with re- GARD TO the DISPOSITION OF GoD, AND TO ITS ULTIMATE Tendency. And this Truth onc^ owned, all Complaints againft Providence are fecluded. But that the Reader may fee, in one View, the ExaSlncfs of the Method, z% -wtW -^s Force of the Argument., I fliall here draw up a fliort Synopfs of this Epiftle. The Poet begins in telling us his. Subjeft is An EJfay on Man. — His End of Writing is to vindicate Providence. — Tells us againft whom he wrote, the Atheifis. — From whence he intends to fetch his Arguments, /row the vifible Things of God feen in this Syfem. — Lays down this Proportion as the Foun- dation of his Thclis, that of all pofible Syflems, infinite Wifdom has- formed^ ^6 A C O M M E N T A R Y O N icr.iiai the bcji. — Draws from thence two Confequences ; r. That there wujl needs he fotnewhere fuch a Creature as Man ; 2. That the moral Evil which He is the Author of, is produSlive of the Good of the Jf'holi'. This Is his general Thfis; from whence he draws this Ccticltifon, That Man Jl^ould rcji fubmijjive and content, and make the •Hopes cf Futurity his Comfort — but not fufer this to be the Occafion of Pkide, which is the Caufe of all his impious Complaints. He proceeds to confirm his Thefs. — Previoufly endeavours to abate our Wonder at the Phaenomenon of moral Evil. — Shews firft its Ufe to the Perfe5lion of the Univerfe, by Analogy, from the Ule oi Phyfcal Evil in this particular Syftem. — Secondly, its Ufe in this Syjlcm, where it is turned, providentially, from its natural Biafs, to promote Virtue — Then goes on to vindicate Providence from the Imputation of zt\\.^\\\ fujpojed natural Evils, as he had before juOified it for the Permiffion of real moral Evil, in (hewing that though the Atheift's Complaint againft Providence be on Pretence of real moral Evil, yet the true Caufe is his Impatience under ima^ ginary natural Evil ; the Iflbe of a depraved Appetite for fantajlical Advantages, which he Hiews, if obtained, would be ujelefs, or hurt- ful to Msiii — and deforming and deflrudive to the Univerfe; as breaking into tliat Order by which it is fupported. — He defcribes that Order, Harmony, and clofe ConneSlion cf the Parts. And, by fliewing tlie intimate Prcfence of God to his whole Creation, gives a Reafon for an Univerfe fo amazingly beautiful, and perfedl. From all this he deduces his general Conclufon, that Nature being neither a blind Chain of Caufes and EJfe^s, nor yet the fortuitous Refult of wan- dering Atoms, but the wonderful Art and DireBion of an all-wife, all- good, and free Being x Whatever is, is Right, with regard to the JDifpofiiion of God and its Ultimate Tendency ; which once granted, all Complaints againfl: Providence are at an End. This is a plain and confident Account of the Argument of this famous Eplftle, which (though here humbled, and ftripped of all its Ornaments) hath fuch a Forc^ of Reafoning as would fupport Rhimes Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 47 Rhimes as bad as Donne s, and fuch a Strain of Poetry as would Im- mortalize even the wretched Sophiflry that Mr. de Crousaz has employed againfi: it. Whofe Objeftions it is now high time we fliould coniider.- For having fhewn what Mr. Pope''s Syftem really is, we come next to Ihew what it ih not.; namely, what that Writer hath the In- jxiftice, or tlie Folly, to reprefent it. He begins his Examina- tion, with Inying, that " Mr. Pope feems to him, quite through- " out his Syftem, to embrace the pre-eJlabliJJjcd. Harmony of the " celebrated Leibnitz, which, in his Opinion, eftablifhes a Fa* *' tality deftruftive of all Religion and Morality *." — That th« prc-pjlablijljed Harmony of Leibnitz terminates in Fate, is readily owned ; but that Mr. Pope hath efpoufed that impious Whimfy,. is an utter Chimaera. The pre-eftablijbed Harmony, was built upon, and Is an outrageous Extenfion of, a Conception of Plato's; who combating the atheiftical Ohjeclions about the Origin of Evil, employs this Argument in Defence of Providence ; "That, " amongft. an infinite Number of poflible Worlds in God's Idea, ** this, which he hath created, and brought into Being, and admits *' of a Mixture of Evil,, is the kjiy But if the beji,. then Evil, confequently is partial, comparatively fmall,. and tends to the greater Perfection of the whole. This Principle is efpoufed and fupported by Mr. Pope with all the Power of Rcafon and Poetry. But neither ws^s Plato ^Fataliji, nor is there zny Fat^li/m in tlie Argument. As to the Truth of the Notion, that is another Quef- tion ; and how far it clears up the very difficult Controverfy about the Origin of Evil, that is ftill another. That it is a full Solution of all Difficulties,, I cannot think, for Reafons too long to be given in this Place. Perhaps we (hall never have a full Solution here ; and it may be no great Matter though we have not, as we are de- monflrably certain of the moral Attributes of the Deity. However,, * Examen de I'Effai de Mr. Pope fur I'llouime. what: ^8 A COMMENTARY OM what may juftify Mr. Pope in inforcing and illuftiatlng thlsPlaionk Notion is, that it has been received by the mofi: celebrated and or- thodox Divines both of the ancient and modern Church. This Doflrine, we own, then, was taken up by Leibnitz-, but it was to ingraft upon it a moft pernicious Fatalljm. Plato faid, God chofi the beft : Leibnitz faid, he could not but chufe the beft. Plato fiippofed Freedom in God, to chufe one of two Things equally good : Leibnitz held the Suppofition to be abfurd ; but however, admitting the Cafe, he maintained that God could not chufe one of two Things equally good. Thus it appears the firfl went on the Syjiem of Freedom ; and that the latter, notwithftanding the mofl artful Difguifes in his Theodicee, was a thorough Fatalifl. For we cannot well fuppofe he would give that Freedom to Man which he liad taken away from God. The Truth of the Matter feems to have been this : He faw, on the one hand, the monflirous Abfur- dlty of fuppofing, with Spinofa, that blind Fate was the Author of a coherent Univerfe ; but yet, on the other, could not conceive, with Plato, that God could forefee and condud, according to an arche- typal Idea, a World, of all poffible Worlds the befi, inhabited by free Jgents. This Difficulty, therefore, which made the Socinians take Prefcience from God, difpofed Leibtiitz to take Free-iicill from Man: And thus he fafhioned his fantaftical Hypothefis : He fup- pofed that, when God made the Body, he impreffed on his new- created Machine a certain Series or Suite of Motions ; and that when he made the fellow Soul, the fame Series of Ideas, whofe Opera- tions, throughout the whole Duration of the Union, fo exadlly jumped, that whenever an Idea was excited, a correfpondent Motion was ever ready to fatisfy the Volition. Thus for Inflance, when the Mind had the Will to raife the Arm to the Head, the Body was fo pre-contrived as to raife, at that very Moment, the Part required. This he called the pre-established Harmony. And with this he promifed to do Wonders. Now Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 49 Now we fee, that, from the Principle of PlatOy as well as from that of LeibnitZy this grand Confequence follows, That what- ever IS, IS RIGHT } becaufe every thing in this World, even Evil itfelf, tends to the greater Perfe6lion of the whole. This Mr. Pope employs as a Principle^ throughout a Poem (the moft fublime that ever was written) to humble the Pride of Man, who would im- pioufly make God accountable for his Creation. What then does common Senfe teach us to underftand by whatever is, is right? Did the Poet mean right with regard to Man, or right with regard to God ? Right with regard to itfelf, or right with regard to its ultimate Tendency ? Surely 'with regard to God : For he tells us, his Defign Is To vindicate the Ways of God to Man. 1. 16. Surely with regard to its ultimate Tendency : For he tells us again, All partial 111 is univerfal Good. 1. 283. Yet Mr. De Croufaz prepofteroufly takes it the other way ; and fo perverfely interpreted, it is no Wonder that he, and his wife Friends, fliould find the Poem full of Contradidions*. But, before we come to an Examination of Particulars, it will be neceflary to remind the Reader once again, that the Subjeft of this Epiftle is a Juftification of Providence, againft the impious Obje£lions of atheiftic Men. It is to vindicate the Ways of God to Man. — Thus the Poet addrefles them at the Begi?ining : Prefumptuous Man ! the Reafon would'ft thou find Why form'd fo weak, fo little, and fo blind ? i. 35. Then fay not Man's imperfe<51:, Heav''n in fault. 1. 6^. * J'ai 111 I'eflai de Mr. Pope (repond un Ami de la companie) et jamais je n'eus plus befoin dc patience. J'ai fait des grands efforts, pour y trouver quelque fens raifonable, et je les ai faits inutilement. TantoJ j'y fuis tombc fur des precifions fophilliques, tantot fur des decilions egalemeiU hardies et fans preuves, tantot enfin fur des longues periodes d'lm pompeiix galimatias, Sec. Examcn de rEflai.— Thus his Friend runt on in this abufive Way, and grows nnore particular in his Scurrility, while Mr. De Croufaz, good Man, is unable to make him hold his Peace, Vol. VI. H As •50 A C O M M E N T A R Y O N As he proceeds, he ftlU applies his Reafoniiig to the fame Mens Go nnd ill thy Scale of Senfe Weigh thy Opinion a^ainji Providence ; Call Imperfetflion what thou fancy 'ft fuch ; Say, here be gives too little, there too much ; Dcftroy all Creatures for thy Sport or Guft : Yet cry, If Man's unhappy, God's unjujl. 1. 109, ^ Jeq. And concludes with this Reproof to them : Ceafe then, nor Order ImperfcBion name. 1. 273. Having premifed thus much, we now proceed to Mr. De Croufaz. Mr. Pope had fald : Tlie Lamb thy Riot dooms to bleed to-day. Had lie thy Reafon, would he fkip and play ? Pleas'd to the laft, he crops the flow'ry Food, And licks the Hand juft rais'd to fhed his Blood. O Blindnefs to the Future ! kindly glv'n. That each may fill the Circle mark'd by Heav'n. 1. 77, Ss'y^y. On which his Commentator: — " We do not, indeed, perceive *' any Thing In Beafts, that fhews they have an Idea or Apprehen- *' fion of Death. But, furely, with regard to Man, to refleft on " Death, and to contemplate the Certainty of it, are of great •' Ufe to a prudent Life and a happy Death. Reafon and Religion " agree in this, and a Man muft want both one and the other, to ** cry out, " O Blindnefs to the Future ! kindly glv*n, " Tliat each may fill the Circle mark'd by Heav'n. " This fuppofcs, that if Men had a Foreknowledge of their Def- " tiny, they would do all they could to avoid it, and that they " would fucceed : Becaufe, without this Ignorance, Heaven, it " feems, could never bring all its Beings to Jill that Circle marked *• out Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 51 «' out by It. Yet this, notwithftaiiding, Is a Coiifcquence that cau *' have no Place, if it be impoffible for Men to adl with Freedom. *' But the Doftrine of Fate neceflarlly draws us into Contradic- *' tions *." Mr. Croufuz introduces his Commentary, by folemnly acquainting his Reader, That he had, from his very Infancy, a ftrong Biafs towards Logic : that be has given a conjiderablc Time to that Study, and does not repent his Pains ; that he has prof ted by Maxims ivhich be has found in Books not loritten with a Dtfgn to give them ; that he has run through every Book that has fallen into his Hands under that Title, or any Thing approaching to it ; that he has not even ncg^ leSied the mofi out-offafioned JVorks of this Kind: But, as the great ejl Treafurc is worthlefs, unhfs well ufed, he is refolved to employ fome of it upon Mr. Pope -j-- And here you have the Fruits of his Labours. Here he has fhewn, to fome Purpofe, his Skill in ex- tracing Dodlrines from Books not defigned to give them. And for this PafTage I will be anfwerable, that he has extracted a DoSirine from it which our Poet did not defgn to give ; who, when he had an- fwered the atheifical Objedlon about pofitive Evil, fuppofes the Ob- je6lor to reply to this Effect : — It may be true, what you fay, that partial Evil tends to univerfal Good : But why, then, has not God let me clearly into this Secret, and acquainted me with the Manner how ? The Poet replies, '* For very good Reafons. You were " fent into the World on a Talk and Duty to be performed by you. ** And as the knowing thefe Things might diftrad you, or draw *' you from your Station ; it was In Mercy that God hath hid ** thefe Things from you : Heav'n from all Creatures hides the Book of Fate, All but the Page prefcrib'd, their prefent State, From Brutes what Men, from Men what Spirits know ; Or who would fuff'er Being here below? 1. 73, ^ feq. * Commentaire fur la Tradudion en vers de Mr. I'Abbc du Refnel dc I'Eflai de Mr. Pope fur rHomme, p. 6j, 64, t P. J7. 28. Ha «« To 52 A C O M M E N T A RY O N •• To ilUirtratc tliis by a familiar Inflancc ; how kindly hath Nature •• af^cd hy tlic Lamb, in liiding its Death from it ; the Know- •• ledge of which would have imbitter'd all its Life ?" This is the Force of the Poet's Ai gnmcnt ; and nothing can be better con- nciftcd, or more beautiful. But our great Logician, inftead of at- tending to the Argument of a very clofe Reafoner (whofe Thread of Rc:\fonlng. therefore, one flioiild have imagined might have con- du£^ed 3 Marhcmatlciau too, as he is, to the true Senfe of the Paf- fage) rambles nfter a Meaning that could not pofTibly be Mr. Pepe's% bccaufc it both difagrees witii the Context, and dlre£ily oppofes what he lavs down in exprefs Words in this very Eflay. Mr. De Croufaz, we fc?, Lijagines that this Inftance of the Lamb was given to (hew how hurtful a Gift God beflowcd upon us, when he gave us the Knowledge of our End. Mr. Pope fays exprefly, that it was a friendly Gft : To each unthinking Being Hcav*n a Friend, Gives not the ufelifs Knoiukdge of its Knd t To Man imparts it ; but with fuch a View, As, while he dreads It^ makes him hope it too. Ep. Hi. I. 75, &feq^ i. e. *' Heaven, which is not only friendly to Man, but Beaft, gives *' not this latter the Knowledge of its End ; becaufe fuch Knowledge ** (which is ncceflarlly attended with Anxiety) would be ufelefs to. " it. On the other hand, He gives it to Man j becaufe it is of the *' higheft Advantage to him, who, being to exift in a fuJure State, " may, by this Means, make a fitting Preparation for his good " Reception there ; which Preparation will temper, and, at length, " quite fubd'ue the Anxiety ncceflarlly attendant (as is fald) on the " Knowledge of our End, by the certain Hope of a happy Im- *' mortality." After thefe extraordinary Fruits of our Logician's long Appli^^ cation to the Art oj Thinking, he goes on, for four Pages together *, * Con-unetttaire, p. 66 to 70. to Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. S3 to (hew how uieful and necefl'ary it Is for Man to cultivate his \Ji\- derftanding. You alk. whom he contradifts hi this ? lie abfurdly luppofes, Mr, Po/>e; while he is indeed but quarelling with his own Imaginations. Here we mufl: recollect what we oblerved above of the Subje£l of the Poem ; which is a Vindication of Providence againft impious Complainers. As thefe will not acknowledge it jul> and good, becaufe they cannot comprehend it, and as this Ar- gument is only fupported by Pride, the Poet thought proper to mortify that Pride ; which could not be done more efFedually, than by (hewing them, that even a Savage Indian reafoned better : Lo ! the poor Indian, whofe untutor'd Mind Sees God in Clouds, and hears him in the Wind ; His Soul proud Science never taught to ftray Far as the Solar Walk, or Milky Way j < Yet fimple Nature to his Hope has giv'n. Behind the cloud-topt Hill, an humbler Heav'n j To be contents his natural Defire, He a(ks no Angel's Wing, or Seraph's Fire, &V. 1. 9Sy ^ M- What are we to conclude from hence ? That Mr. Pope intended to difcourage all Improvements of the human Underftanding ? or that it was only his Defign to deter Men from Impiety, and from prefuming to rejudge the Ju/iice of their Creator ? Mr. CroufaZy, contrary to common Senfe, and the whole Tenor of the Epiftle,. has chofen the former Part ; though Mr. Pope had immediately added. Go wifer thou, and in thy Scale of Senfe Weigh thy Opinion againft Providence. Call Imperfection what thou fancy'fl: fuch, Say, Here he gives too little, there too much j Deftroy all Creatures for thy Sport or Guft t Yet cry, If Man's unhappy, God's unjufl. 1. 109, &fef^ 54 A C O M M E N T A R Y O N Hut to this, the Commentator: — •' To whom does Mr. Pope ad- *• drels hlmfelf in this long Period ? Is it to thofe prefumptuous " Men, who arc continually confounding themfclves, and abufing " the Fruitfulnefs of their Imaginations, to teize good Chriftians «♦ with Objcftions againft Providence ? Their Raflinefs and Im- •• patience well deferve, in my Opinion, the Cenfures Mr. Pofe ♦♦ here infli^s upon them *." — Wonderful ! Our Logician has, at length, difcovered the Subjeft of Mr. Popes Epiftle. Why then did he not do Juftice to Truth, by ftriking out all the reft of liis Remarks ? For if this be right, all the reft muft, of ccnfe- f]uence, be wrong. Mr. Pope fays, (peaking of the End of Providence, As much that End a conftant Courfe requires Of Showers and Sunfhine, as of Man's Defires ; As mucii eternal Springs and cloudlefs Skies, As Men for ever temp' rate, calm and wife. 1. 147, t£ feq. On which the Examiner, *< A continual Spring and a Heaven *« without Clouds would be fatal to the Earth and its Inhabitants ; " but can we regard it as a Misfortune that Men fhould be always " fage, calm and temperate ? 1 am quite in the dark as to this •' Comparifon +." Let us try if we can drag him into light, as unwilling as he is to fee. The Argument ftands thus. — Prefump- tuous Man complains of moral Evil ; Mr. Pope checks and informs him thus : The Evil, fays he, you complain of, tends to univerfal Good ; for as Clouds, and Rain, and Tempeft, are neceffary to pre- ferve Health and Plenty in this fublunary World, fo the Evils that fpring from diforder'd Paffions are neceffary. — To what ? Not to Man's Happinefs here, but to the Perfedlon of the Univerfe in ge- neral. So that, If Plagues or Earthquakes break not Heaven's Defign, Why then a Borgia or a Catiline ? • Coramentaire, p. 79. ^ Examen de I'Eflai, Sec. On Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. ss On whicli the Examiner thus defcants, — " Thefe Lines have no *' Senfe but on the Syftem oi Leibnitz, which confounds Morals with *' Phyfica; and in which, allthatwecallPleafures,Grief, Contentment, *' Inquietude, Wifdom, Virtue,Truth, Error, Vices, Crimes, Abomi- *' nations, are the inevitable Confequenceof a fatal Chain of Things *' as ancient as the World. But this is it which renders the Syftem " fo liorrible, that all honefl Men mufl fhudder at it. It is, in- *' deed, fufficient to humble human Nature, to refle£t that this *' was invented by a Man, and that other Men have adopted it *." This is, indeed, very tragical j but we have fhewn above, that it hath its Senfe on the Platonic, not the Leibnitzian Syflem ; and befides, that the Context confines us to that Senfe. What hath mifled the Examiner is his fuppofing the Comparifon to be between the EfFeds of two Things in this Jublunary IVorld ; when not only the Elegancy, but the Jttjlnefs of it confifts in its being between the Effetls of a Thing in the Vniverfe at large, and the familiar and known EffeSls of one in this Jublunary JVorld. For the Pojition in forced in thefe Lines is this, that partial Evil tends to the Good of the Whole : Rejpebling Man, whatever Wrong we call. May, mufl: be right, as relative to all. 1. 51. How does the Poet inforce it ? Why, if you will believe the Ex- aminer, by illuflrating the EfFeds of partial moral Evil in a par- ticular Syflem, by that of partial natural Evil in iht fame Syftem, and fo leaves his Pojition in the lurch; but we mud never believe the great Poet reafons like the Logician. The Way to prove his Point he knew was to illuftrate the EfFeil of partial moral Evil in the Univerfe, by partial natural Evil in ^ particular Syjiem. Whe- ther partial moral Evil tend to the Good of the Univerfe, being a ^teflion, which by reafon of our Ignorance of many Parts of that Univerfe, we cannot decide, but from known EfFedts ; the Rules of Argument require that it be proved by Analogy, i.e. fetting it * Examen de I'Eflai, &c. ^7, 56 A C O M M E N T A R Y O N by, .wd comparing it with a Tiling certain ; and it is a Thing cer- tain, that partial natural Evil tends to the Good of our particular S^itm. This is his Argument: And thus, we fee, it ftands clear of Mr. De Croujaz's Objeaioii, and oi Leibnitz's Fatalifm. After having inforced this analogical Pojition, the Poet then in- deed, in order to ftrengthen and fupport it, employs the fame In- ftance of natural Evil, to fhew that, even here to Man, as well as to the JVhok, moral Evil is produftlve of Good, by the gracious Difpofition of Providence, who turns it devioufly from its natural Tendency. Mr. Pope then adds, From Pride, from Pride, our very Reafoning fprings ; Account for moral, as for nat'ral Things : Why charge we Heaven in thofe, in thefe acquit ? In both, to renfon right, is to fubmit. 1. 153, ^ feq. Our Commentator afk? — " Why, then, does Mr. Pope pretend to *' reafon upon the Matter, and rear his Head fo high, and decide •' (o dogmatically, upon the moft important of all Subje<^s*?" This is indeed pleafsnt. Suppofe Mr. De Croufa% fhould under- take to (hew the Folly of pretending to penetrate into the Myfte- ries of revealed Religion, as here Mr. Pope has done of natural, ir.uft he not employ the Succours of Reafon ? And could he con- clude his Reafonings with greater Truth and Modefty, than in the Words of Mr. Pope? — To reafon right, is to fubmit. — But he goes on, " If you will believe him [Mr. Pope"] the Sovereign Perfeftions *' of the eternal Being have inevitably determined him to create this " Unlverfe, bccaufe the Idea of it was the mofl perfeft of all thofe '• which rcprcfented many poflible Worlds. Notwithftanding, *' there 'is nothing perfe£l in this Part, which is affigned for our *' Habitation : it fwarms with Imperfeftions ; it is God who is the " Caufe of them, and it was not in his Power to contrive Matters *• otherwife. The Poet had not the Caution to recur to Man's • Commentaire, p. 94, «• Abufe Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. k,j " Abufe of his own Free-will, the true Source of all our Miferies, *' and which are agreeable to that State of Diforder in which Men ** live by their own Fault*." 1 will venture to fay, every Part of this Refle£lion is falfe and calumnious. The firft Part of it, that xho Eternal Being, according to Mr. Pope, was inevitably AttevirnnQ^, and that he had not Power to contrive Matters otherwife, I have al- ready fhewn to be fo. It is flill a more unpardonable Calumny to fay that Mr. Pope has thrown the Caiife of moral Evil upon God, and had not the Caution to recur to Maris Abvje of his own Free-will : For Mr. De Croufa% could not but fee that the Poet had, in fo many Words, thrown the Caufe entirely upon that Abufe, vvher<;, fpeak' Ing of natural and moral Evil, he fays. What makes all Phyfical and Moral 111 ! There deviates Nature, and here wanders Will, God sends not III. Ep. iv. 1. 109, ^7?^. When he had faid this, and acquitted the fupreme Caufe, he then informs us what is God's Agency, after Natural and Moral Evil had been thus produced by the Deviation of Nature, and Depravity of Will ; namely that he hath fo contrived, in his infinite Wifdotn and Goodnefs, that Good fliall arife from this Evil. If rightly underftood. Or partial III is univerfal Good, Or Chance admits, or Nature lets it fall, Short and but rare, till Man improv'd it all. 1. in, ^ feq. And fpeaklng In another Place of God's Providence, he fays, That counterworks each Folly and Caprice, That difappoints th' Effeds of ev'ry Vice. Ep. ii. 1. 229. What is this but bringing Good out of Evil ? And how' dlf- tant Is that from being the Caufe of Evil ? * Commcntaire, p. 94, 95. Vol. VI. I After ^s A C O M M E N T A R Y O N After thU, a Vklijobbtr ihoulJ never think of writing more till he haa rcaihcd what he had already wrote fo mucli ainlfs. Tlic next PalVage the Examiner attacks Is the following : Better for us, perhaps, it might appear, Were there all Harmony, all Virtue here ; That never Air or Ocean felt the Wind ; That never Padion difcompos'd the Mind : But all fubfifts by elemental Strife, AtiJ PaJJions are the Elements of Life. 1. 157, ^ fq- Here the Examiner upbraids Mr. Pope for degrading himfelf ft> f.ir as to write to the grofs Prejudices of the People. *' la the cor- " porcal Nature (fays he) there is no Piece of Matter that Is per- " fc(f\ly fimplc ; all are compofed of fmall Particles^ called ele- '♦ mentary ; from their Mixture, proceeds- a Fermentation, fome- " times weak, and foraet'imcs flrong, which ftill farther attenuates- " thelc Particles : and thus agitated and divided, they ferve for " the Nourlfliment and Growth of organic Bodies; to this Growth " it Is we give the Name of Life. But what have the Paflions iti " common with thefe Particles? Do their Mixture and Fermenta- *' tion ierve for the Nourifhment of tliat Subftauce which thinks, "and do they conflitute the Life of that Subftauce*?** Thus. Mr. Dt Croufazy who, as, a little before, he could not fee the Na- ture of the Comparlfon, fo here, by a more deplorable Blindnefs,, could not fee that there was any Comparlfon at all. " You, fays " Mr. Pc/f, perhaps may think it would be better, that neither ♦' Air nor Ocean was vexed with Tempefts, nor that the Mind " was ever difcomppfed by Paffion ; but confider, that as in the " one Cafe our material Syftem Is fupported by the Strife of Its «' elementary Particles, fo in the Intelleclual, the Paffions of the *' Mind are, as it were, the Elements of human Life, i. e. Adlloris.'* All here Is clear, fulid, and well-reafoacd, and hath been confidered * Exr.racn de rEfU'.:. 'above. Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. ^9 above. What mufl: we fay then to our Examiner's wild Talk of ihe Mixture and Fermentation of elementary Particles of Mailer for the NouriJJjment of that Subflance that thinks, and of its confliluting the Life of that Subfance ? I call it the Examiner's, for, you fee, it is not Mr. Pope's; and Mr. Croufaz ought Co be charged with it, becaufe it may be queftioncd whether it was a fmple Blunder, he urging it fo invidioufly as to infinuate that Mr. Pope might probably hold the Materiality of the Soul. However, if it was a Miflake, it was a pleafant one, and arofe from the Ambiguity of the Word Life, which in Englifj, as la Vie in French^ figni- fies both Exi/le?2ce and human ASlion, and is always to, have its Senfe determined by the Context, Mr. Pope fays, fpeaking of the Brute Creation, Nature to thefe, without Profufion, kind, The proper Organs, proper Powers affign'd. I. 171. "Mr. Croufaz obferves, that " In this Verfe, by the Term Na- *' tare, we muft neceflarily underftand the Author of Nature ; it *' is a Figure much in Ufe. Spinoza has employ'd all his Meta- *' phyfics to confound thefe two Significations *." Therefore, I fuppofe, Mr. Pope muft not employ the Word at all, though it be to vindicate it from that Abufe, by diflinguifliing its different Signi- fications. But this we are to confider as a Touch of our Logician's Art. It is what they call Argumentum ad invidiam. The Poet, For as Creation's ample Range extends, The Scale of fenfual, mental Powers afcends i Mark how it mounts to Man's imperial Race, From the green Myriads in the peopled Grafs. Ep. i. h 199, ^ fe^i. On this the Commentator, "That Place of Honour, which the ** Poet has refufed to Man in another Part of his Epiflle, he gives * Commentaire, p. 99. I 2 «' him 6o A C O M M E N T A R Y O N •» him here, becnulc it lerves to enibellifli and perfe£l the Grada- •' tion. At fverv Step Mr. Pope forgets one of thofe principal and •• moll efll'ntijl Rules, which Mr. Dts Cartes lays down in his •* MethiJ ; that is, cxaiftly to review what one aflerts, fo that 710 •♦ P.irt be found- to be gratis diSlum, nor the Whole repugnant to *• itfelf *." This we are to underftand, as faid, ^KXetiltKuig. But I fh.ill beg leave to obferve that our Logician here gives his LeflbiiiS very impertinently. For, that Mr. Pope, in calling the R^ice of Man imperia/f hath beflowed no Title on him in this Place, which he had denied him elfewhere. He, with great Piety and Prudence, fuppofes what the Scripture tells us to be true, that Man nvas created Lord of this inferior World; he fuppofes it, I fay, iu thefe Lines of this very Epiftle : Without this jufl: Gradation could they be Suhjecied thefe to thofe, and all to thee? Tlic Powers of all fubdued by thee alone, Is not thy Reafon all thofe Powers in one ? 1. 221, ^ feq. He exprefsly offer ts it in the third Epifile: Heaven's Attribute was uuiverfal Care, And Man's Prerogative to rule^ but fpare. 1. 160. And this, in the very Place where he gives the Defcriptlon of Man in Paradife. What mifled our Critic fo far as to imagine Mr. Pope "had here contradiaed himfelf was, I fuppofe, fuch Pafl'ages as thefe : • Afk for what Epxd the heavenly Bodies fhine, ^c. And again : Has God, thou Fool ! work'd folely for thy Good, &c. But m Truth tUs is fo far from a Contradidion to what was ll.id before of Man s Prerogative, that it is a Confirmation of it, and of what the Scr.pture tells us concerning it. And becaufe this Matter * Commentaire, p. joS. has Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 6i Las been miftaken, to the Difcredit of the Poet's rehgious Senti- ments, by Readers, whom the Condud- of certahi licentious Writ- ers, treating this Subje6l in an abufive Way, hath rendered jealous and mlftruftful, I fhall endeavour to explain it. Scripture fays, that Man was made Lor^ of All. — But this Lord, become, at length, intoxicated with Pride, the common EfFedl of Sovereignty, eredled himfelf, like particular Monarchs, Into z Tyranf. And zs Tyranny confifts in fuppofing all made for the XJfe of one \ he took thofe Free- doms witl) all, that are confequent on fuch a Principle. He foou began to confider the whole Animal Creation as his Slaves, rathec than his SubjeSh; as being created for no Ufe oi their owUf but for his only ; and therefore ufed them with the utmofl: Barbarity : And not fo content ; to add Lfult to his Cruelty, he endeavoured to philofophife himfelf into an Opinion, that Animals were mere Machines, infenfible of Pain or Pleafure. And thus, as Mr. Pope fays, Mati affected to be the TVit, as well as Tyrant of the Whole *, Our Commentator can tell us what deep Philofopher it was that in- vented this witty Syftem, and by the AfTiftance of what Method fo wonderful a Difcovery was brought to Light. It became then one who adhered to the Scripture Account of Man's Dominion, to reprove this Abufe of it, and to fhew that. Heaven's Attribute was univerfal Care, And Man's Prerogative to rule, but spare. The poetical Tranflator -j- has turned the Words, to Man's imperial Race, by Jufqu'a I'Homme, ce Chef, ce Roy de rUnt vers Even to Man, this Head, this King of the Vniverfe, Which is fo fad a Blunder, that it contradicts Mr. Pope's whole Svf- tem. Who, although he allows Man to be King of this inferior * Grant that the Powerful flill the Weak controul, Be Man the Wit and Tyrant of the whole. Ep. iii. 54, + M.L'Abbe duRefneU World, 6, A C O M M E N T A R Y O N W'orKl, ij far tVom thinking him Kng of the Unlverfe. If the Sylkin itfclf could not teach him tliis, yet methiuks the following Liiies of this very Epidle might : So Man, wlio liere feems Principal alone, Perhaps vl&s Second to fome Sphere unknown. 1. ^y. If the Tranflator imagined Mr. Pofie was here fpeaking ironically, %vherc he talks of Mans imperial Race, and fo would heighten the Ridicule by ce Roy de I'Univcrs, the Miftnke is flill worfe ; the Force of the Argument depending upon its being {\\v\ ferioujly. For the Poet is fpeaking of a Scale, from the bighejl to the lowefl, in the Mundane Syftem. But now we come to the famous FafTage which Is to fix the Charge : All are but Parts of one flupendous Whole, VVhofe Body Nature is, and God the Soul. Thar, chang'd through all, and yet in all the fame. Great in the Earth es in th' Etherlal Frame, Warms in the Sun, refreflies in the Breeze, Glows in the Stars, and bloflbms in the Trees, Lives thro' all Life, extends thro' all Extent, Spreads undivided, operates unfpent, Breathes in our Soul, Informs our mortal Part, As full, as perfed, in a Hair as Heart; As full, as perfeft. In vile Man that mourns, As the rapt Seraph that adores and burns : To him no high, no low, no great, no fmall ; He fills, he bounds, connedls, and equals all. Ep. I. I. 259, tifeq. On wiiich our Examiner, blind to the Liglit of Reafon, as weW as deaf to the Charmi of Harmony—^ Spinozifi (fays he) would ex- prefs bnnfcf in tlm Manner*. I believe he would, and fo would * Exainen de I'Effai, St. I Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 6j St. Paul too, writing on the fame Subje6t, namely, the Omni- presence of God in his Providence, and in his Subftancc. In him we live and move and have our Being * ; /'. e. we are Parts of him, his Offspring, as the Greek Poet, a Pantheiji, quoted by the Apoftle, obferves : and the Reafon is, becaufe a rehgious T'hciji, and an im« pious Pantheiji, both profefs to believe the Omniprefence of God. But would Spin»Z(7, as Mr. Pope does, call God the great direSiing Mind of all, who hath Intentionally created a perfedl Univerfe \V Or would Mr. Pope, like Spinoza, fay there is but one univerfat Subflance in the Univerfe, and that blind too ? We k.no\w Spinoza would not fay the firfl: ; and we ought not to think Mr. Pope would fay the latter, becaufe he fays the dire£l contrary throughout the Poem. Now it is this latter only that is Spinozifm. But this fublime Dcfcription of the Godhead contains not only the Divinity of St. Paul; but, if that will not fatlsfy, the P/jilo/o- phy likewife of Sir Ifaac Ncwlon. The Poet fays, All are but Paris of one ftupendous Whole,. Whofe Body Nature is, and God the SouL ThtPhilofopher, " Deus omnipr^fens eft, non per Virtulem fbfam, " fed etiam per Subst antiam : nam Virtus fine Subjlanlia fubfillrere " non poteft i." Mr. Pope, That, chang'd thro* all, ?in^ yet in all the fame. Great in the Earth as in th' Etherial Frame, JVartns in the Sun, refrejhes in the Breeze, Glows m the Stars, and blojfoms in the Trees, Lives thro' all Life, extends thro all Extent, Spreads undivided, operates unfpent. * For in him wc liw and movCy and have our Being ; as certain, alj'o of your oiv.'i.- Poets havr /aid, For we are alfo his Offspring, Afts xvii. 28. t, For that is the Meaning of All Nature is but Art, unknown to thee ; All Chance, Diredion which thou canft not feCi. t Newtoui Principia Schol. gener. fub. fiaem. (,^ A C O M M E N 1' A R Y O N Sir (jMic Keivion—'' In ipfo coiitineiitur et moventur univerHi, «♦ led abfque viuiua fojfv.ne. Deus nihil patilur ex corporum moti- " bus ; ilia nuHam ftntiunt rejljlentlam ex Omni-prafentia Dei. — " Corpore omn't ct figvira corporea deftituitur*. — Omnia regit et «' omnia cognofcit. — Cum iiuaquaeque fpatil paiticula fit Jemper^ et «♦ unumquodque Durationis itidivifibile momentum, «%«?, certe '• rcrum omnium Fabricator ac Dominus non erit nunquam, nuf- *' qu.vn +." Mr. Pope, Breatlies 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 Seraph that adores and burns : To him no high, no low, no great, no fmall ; He fills, he bounds, coniie<5ls, and equals all. Sir IJaac Kevulon — " Annon ex Phaenomenis conftat efle Entem *' Incorporeum, Viventem, Intelligentem, Omnipraefentem, qui in ** fpatio infinito, tanqmm fenforio fuo. Res ipfas intimc cernat, *• pcnitufque perfpiciat, totafque intra fe prafem prafentes complec- ♦• tatur X" But now admitting, for Argument's fake, that there was an Ambiguity in thefe Exprefiions, fo great, as that a Spinoziji might employ them to exprefs his own particular Principles ; and fuch a thing might well be, without any Reflediou on the Poet's Reli- gion, or Exa£tnefs as a Writer, becaufe it is none on the Apojile's, who aiflually did that which Mr. Pope is not only falfely, but, as \vc fee from this Inflance, fooliflily accufed of doing, and becaufe the Spinozijis, in order to hide the Impiety of their Principle, are ufcd to exprefs the Omnipnfence of God In Terms that any religious Thelft might employ : In this Cafe, I fay, how are we to judge of the Poet's Meaning ? Surely by the whole Tenor of his Argument. • N'cwtoni Principia Schol. gener. fub fincm. -f Id. ib. X Opticx Quaft. 10. Now Mr. P0PE;S essay on man. 65 Now take the Words In the Seiife of the SpinozJ/ls, and he is made, in the Conclufion of his Epiftle, to overthrow all he has been ad- vancing throughout the Body of it : For Spinozifm is the Deftrudion of an Univerfe, where every thing tends, by a forefeen Contrivance In all its Parts, to the Perfc6lion of the Whole. But allow him to employ the Pafl'age in the Senfe of St. Paul, that ive and all Crea- tures I've, and wove, and have our Being in God, and then it will be {e.QX\ to be the moft logical Support of all that had preceded. For the Poet having, as we fay, laboured through his Epiflle, to prove that every Thing in the Univerfe tends, by a forefeen Contrivance, and a prefent Diredion of all its Parts, to the Perfe>fli6n of the JVhole ; it might be cbje6led that fuch a Difpofition of Things im- plying in God a painful, operofe, and Inconceivable Extent of Pro- vidence, it could not be fuppofed that fuch Care extended to all, but was confined to the more noble Parts of the Creation. This grofs Conception of the Fitjl Caufe, the Poet expofes, by (hewing that God is equally and intimately prefent to every Particle of Mat- ter, to every Sort of Subftance, and in every Inftant of Being. And how truly, may be feen by the Inquiry into the Nature of the human Soul, wrote expreflly againft Spinozifm, where the excellent Author has fhewn the Neceffity of the immediate- hifuence of God; \\\ every Moment of Time, to keep Matter from falling back into its primitive Nothing. The Examiner goes on : " Mr. Pope hath Reafon to call this <' Whole, Tijlupendous Whole ; nothing being more paradoxical and ** incredible, if we take his Defcriptloii literally *." I will add, nor nothing more fo than St. Paul's, in him ive live, and move, and have our Being, if taken literally. I have met with one who took it fo, and from thence concluded, with great Reach of Wit, that Space was God. But Mr. Pope having faidofCod, that he, Breathes in our Soul, informs our mortal Part, As full, as perfedl, in a Hair as Heart •." * Examcn de TEflai. Vol. VI. K ,l„ to A C O M M E ^ T AR Y ON the O.inmciitator remarks, that " one (hould make a criminal Abufe «• of thcfc pompous Exprcflions, if once launched out, with Spi- " NO/.A, to confound the Subftance of God with our own ; and to «' imagine that the Subilance of what we call Creature, is the fame •' with that Being's, to which we give the Name of Creator *." Spinoza is ftill the Burthen of the Song. To cut this Matter fJiorf, we fhall therefore give Mr. Pope's own plain Words and Senti- ments, in a Line of this very Eflay, that overturn alJ Spinozifm from its very Foundations: Where, fpeaking of what Cc?«wo« Senfe taught Mankind, hct'ore f alfe Scfi/e had depraved the Underflanding, he lays. The Worker from the Work distinct was known. And fimple Reafon never fought but one. Ep. iii. 1. 230. Mut the Cc>nr,ie>itator is, at every Turn, crying out, j^ Follower rf Spinoza wou/d exprefs himfelj jujl Jo. I believe he might ; and furc Mr. Cronjaz could not be ignorant of the Reafon. It being \o wc-11 known that that unhappy Man, the better to difguife his Atheifm, covered it with fuch Expreffions as kept it long concealed even from thofe Friends and Acquaintance with whom he moft intimately correfponded. Hence it muft neceffarily happen, that every the beft intentioned, moft religious Writer will employ many Phrafcs, that a Sp'mozijl would ufe, in the Explanation of his Im- piety. To perfifl:, therefore, from henceforth, in this Accufation, will deferve a Name, which it is not my Bufinefs to beliow. Mr. Pope concludes thus : Ceafc then, nor Order Imperfection name : Our proper Blifs depends on what we blame. Know thy own Point : this kind, this due Degree OfBlindncli, Weaknefs, Heaven beftows on thee. * Commentaire, Submit. Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. ^f Submit. — In this, or any other Sphere, Secure to be as blefl- as thou canft bear: Safe m the Hand of one difpofing Power, Or in the natal, or the mortal Hour. 1. 273, ^ feq, *' The Heart gives itfelf up (fays Mr. De Croufaz) to the Mag- ** nificence of thefe Words. — But I afk Mr. Pope, with regard to *' fuch confolatory Ideas, whether he was not beholden. In fome *' Meafure, to Religion for them*?" This is in the true Spirit of modern Controverfy. — Our Logician had taken it into his Head, that the Poet had no Religion ; though he does not pr-etend his Proofs rife higher than to a legitimate Sufpicion ; and finding here a Pallage that fpoke plainly to tlie contrary, inftead of retracing that rafh uncharitable Opinion, he would turn this very Evidence of his own Miftake into a new Proof for the Support of it; and fo infinuate, you fee, that Mr. Pope had here contradided himfelf. He then preaches, for two Pages together, on the Paflage, and ends in thefe Words : " From all this I conclude, that the Verfcs *' in Quertion are altogether edifying in the Mouth of an honell *' Man, but that they give Scandal and appear profane in the ** Mouth of an ill one i-" How exadlly can Rome and Geneva jump on Occafion ! So the Conclave adjudged, that thofe Propo- sitions, which in the Mouth of St. jiujiin were altogether edifying, became fcandalous and profane in the Mouth Gijanjhiius. But the Examiner purfues the Poet to the very End, and cavils even at thofe Lines, which might have fet him right in his Miftakes about the Senfe of all the reft. All Nature is but Art, unknown to thee ; All Chance, Diredion which thou canft not fee; All Difcord, Harmony not underftood; All partial Evil, imiverfal Good ; And fpite of Pride, in erring Reafon's Spite, One Truth is clear, Whatever is, is right. * Commentaire, p. 124, 125. f lb. p. 127. K 2 «* Sec 63 A C O M M F. N T A R Y O N •• Sec (favs our Euiminer) Mr. Pof)!*: general Conduficn, all tb.!t •' »V, Is ri^bt. So that at the Sight of Charles the Firft lofing his " Head on the Scaffold, Mr. Pope muft have fald, this is right; at '• the Sight too of his Judges condemning him, he muft hav€ fald, " this is right ; at the Siglit of fome of thefe Judges, taken and con- ♦♦ demncd for tlic Adlon which he had owned to be right, he •* muft have cried out, fhis is doubly right *." How unaccountable is this Perverfenefs ! Mr. Pope, m this very Epfjllc, has himfelf //j«j explained IVbaiever is, is right, RcfpetSllng Man, whatever wrong \\& call, May, muft: be right, as relative to all, — So Man, w^ho here feems Principal alone. Perhaps a£ls Second to fome Sphere unknown, Touches fome Wheel, or verges to fome Goal ; 'Tls but a Part we fee, and not a Whole. 1. 51, ^ fq' But it is amazing that the Abfurditles arlfmg from the Senfe la which the Examiner takes Mr. Pope's grand Principle, IFhatever is, is right, could not fliew him his Mlftakc : For could any one in his Scnfes employ a Propofition in a Meaning from whence fijch evi- dent Abfurditles immediately arife ? 1 had obferved, that this Ccn- chijion of Mr. Pope's, that whatever is, is right, is a Confequence of his Principle, that partial Evil tends to miiverfal Good. This (hews us the only Senfe in which the Propofition can be underflood, namely, that WHATEVER IS, IS RIGHT, WITH REGARD TO THE DISPOSITION OF GOD, AND TO ITS ULTI- MATE TENDENCY. Now is this any Encouragement to Vice ? Or does it take off from the Crime of him who commits it, that God providentially produces Good out of Evil ? Had Mr. Pope nbruplly fald in his Conclufion, the Refult of all is, that ijohatever is, IS right, Mr. De Crou/az had even then been inexcufable for putting fo abfurd a Senfe upon the Words, when he might have * Fxamcn de I'ElTai. feen Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 69 feen that it was a Couchifwn from the general Principle above-mcn>- tioned j and therefore muft neceflarlly have another Meaning : But what mufl: we think of him ? when the Poet, to prevent Miftakes, had delivered in this very place, the Principle itfelf, to_§-ether with- this Conclujion as the Confequence of it : All Dlfcord, Harmony not underflood ; Ail partial Evil, iiniverfal Good ; And fpight of Pride, in erring Reafon's Spighr, One Truth is clear, IVhatever isy is right. 1 cannot fee how he could have told his Reader plainer, -that thi'S Condujion was the Confequence of that Principle, unlcfs he hai wrote THEREFORE, in great Church Letters. Thus have I gone through what I found material in Mr. X)^ Croufazs Exameti and Commentary on xhejirji Epiftle : I will only ohlerve, that he has, in feveral Places, charged Mr. Pope with pretended Abfurdlties and Impieties, for which \ns free Tranflator * is only anfwerable. But as he profeffes not to underftand Engli/Ji,. thofe Things might have been paffed over, had he not had, at the fame time, a very exa£l and excellent Tranflation in prole \, by which he might have difcovered the Miltakes of the other. Not- withftanding that, he has chofen to follow a Verfion aboundbg in Abfurdities ; becaufe it gave him frequent Opportunity to calum- niate. On this account therefore, it may not be amifs to give an- Inftance or two of thefe confederate Mlfreprefentations, as a Speci- men of this Part of the Performance, likewife. The Tranflator fays, 11 ne defire point cette celefte Flame, Qui des purs Seraphins devore, et nourrit I'Ame ^. That is, the Savage does not dejire that heavenly Flame, "johich, at the fame time that it devours the Souls of pure Seraphims, nourifJ;>es them. ^Ir. De Croufaz remarks: '■'■ Wlx.Pope, by exalting the Fire * IMr.Refnd. f B^ INIr. De Silhouctto. [% Conimcntaiie, p. 77. " o£ yo A C 0 M M E N T A R Y O N «* of liii Poetry by an Antithefis, throws, occafionally, his Ridicule «« oil tliofc heavenly Spirits. The Indian, fays the Poet, contents «' himfelf without any thing of that Flame, whlcli devours at the *' fame time tiiat it nouriflics." But Mr. Pope is altogether free from this Imputation ; nothing can be more grave or fobcr than his Engl'ijh on this Occafion : To be, contents his natural Defire ; He a(ks no Angel's Wing or Seraph's Fire. 1. 105. But neither, I dare fay, did the Tranflator mean any Thing of Ridicule in his devore & nourrit Pame. It is the fober folid Jargon of tiic Schools ; and Mr. VAbbe ik) doubt had frequently heard it from the Benches of the Sorbontie. Indeed had a Writer like Mr. Pope ufed fuch an Expreflion, one might have fufpe£l:ed that he was not fo ferious as he fhould be. The Poet, fpeakingof God's Omniprefence, fays. As full, as perfect, in vile Man that mourns, As the rant Seraph tliat adores and burns. 1. 269. Which Mr. PAbbe has thus tranflated, Dans un homme ignore fous une humble chaumiere. Que dans le Seraphin, rayonnant de lumiere*. That is, as well in the Ignorant Man, who inhabits an humble Cottage, as in the Seraphim encompajed with Rays of Light. Our Frenchman here, in good earn ell:, thought, that a vile Man that mourned could be none but fome poor Inliabitant of a Country Cot- tage. Which has betrayed Mr. De Croufaz into this Important Re- mark : '^For all that, we fometlmcs find in Perfons of the loweft " Rank, a Fund of Probity and Refignation, that preferves them " from Contempt ; their Minds are indeed but narrow, yet fitted ^« to their Station, G?f." But Mr. Pope had no fuch childifli Idea iu his head. He was oppofing here the human Species to the ange- * Commentaire, p. 120. lie. Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN". 71- lie, and fo fpoke o? thai, when compared to this, ns vile and dlf- confolate. The Force and Beauty of the Refleftlou depend on this Senfe, and, what is more, the Propriety of it ; and it is amaz- ing that neither the Tranjlator nor the Critic could fee it. There are manyMiftakes of thisNature, both of one and the other, through- out the T^raiijlalioji and the Comtneniary, which perhaps we may have- occafion to take notice of as we proceed. In a Word, if it were of fuch Men as our Commentator that Mr. Pope fpeaks, when he exprefles his Contempt for Modern Philofo- phers, he might well fay, Yes, I defpife the Man to Books confin'd, Who from his Study rails at human Kind, Though what he learns he fpeaks, and may advance Some general Maxims, or be right by Chance. letter: A COMMENTARY ON LETTER 11. HARD hath been the Fate of our great Countryman, to fall into the hands of fuch a Critic and Tranjlator. We have already feen how Mr. De Croufaz hath difcharged himfelf. I now turn to M. r Abbe dti Refnel, whofe Sufficiency at leaft equals the Malice and Calumny of the other; and is attended withjuft the fame Iflue. I have (Tiewn, in my firft Letter, that this noble Prodiiaion of human Wit and Reafon is as fuigular for its philofopliical ExaBncJs cf Method^ as for its poetical Sublimity of Style. Yet hear how our 7>anflator defcants upon the Matter : " The ^' only reafon for which this Poem can be properly termed an " -E^^>', is, that the Author has net formed his Plan with all the *' Regularity of Method which it might have admitted." — And again, — " I would not willingly have made ufe, in my Verfion, *' of any other Liberties than fuch as the Author himfelf muft have *' taken, had he attempted a French Tranflation of his own Work ; *' but I was by the unanimous Opinion of all thofe whom I have ** confulted on this Occafion, and, amongfl: thefe, of feveral Eng' *' lijlmen, compleatly ikilled in both Languages, obliged to follow "■a dijferent MetlrJ. T';6f French are not fat iifed with Sentiments " however beautiful, unlefs they are methodically difpofed; Method *• being the CharaSleriJlic that dfingtiifjes our Performances from thofe " of cur Neighbours, and almoft the only Excellence which they " agree Mr, POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. -^-^ '« agree to allow us. That Mr. Pope did not think himfelf cou- *' fined to a regular Plan, I have already obferved. I have there- *' fore, by a neceflary Compliance with our Tafte, divided it into '■'■ Five Cantos *." But the Reader will fee prefently, that our Tranflator was fo far from being able to judge of Mr. Pope''s Me- thod, that he did not even underhand either his SubjeSi or his Scnfe, on which all Method is to be regulated. For I now come to the Vot\i\fecond Epijile. He had fliewn, in Xhefirjl, that the Ways of God are too high for our Comprehenfion ; whence he rightly concludes, that The proper Study of Mankind is Man. This Conclufon, from the Reafoning of the /r/? Epiftle, he metho- dically makes the Subje£l of his Introduclion to xhe fecond ; which treats of Mans Nature. But here immediately the Accufers of Providence would be apt to objcfl, and fay, " Admit that we had *' run into an Extreme, while we pretended to cenfure or penetrate *' the Defigns of Providence, a Matter indeed too high for us ; yet *' have you gone as fir into the Oppofite, while you only fend us to " the Knowledge of ourfelves. You muft mock us when you talk " of this as z Study ; for fure we are intimately acquainted with *' ourfelves. The proper Conclufion therefore from your Demon- *« ftration of our Inability to comprehend the Ways of God, is, *' that we (hould turn ourfelves to the Study of the Frame of Na- " TURE." Thus, I fay, would they be apt to obje£t ; for there are no Sort of Men more elate with Pride than thefe Freethinkers ; the EfFedts of which the Poet hath fo well expofed in h\s Ji>Ji Epiflle, efpecially that Kind of Pride, which confifts in a boafted Know- ledge of their own Nature. Hence we fee the general Argument of the late Books againft Religion turns on a fuppofed Inconfiftency between Revelation, and what they prefume to call the eternal Didates of human Nature. The Poet therefore, to convince them * See EnglifliTranllation of his Preface, Vol, VI. L that 74 A C O M M E N T A R Y O N that this Study is lefs eafy than they imagine, replies [from 1. 2 to 19] to the firji Part of the Objeaion, by defcribing the dark and feeble State of the buf;jaf} Underfandingy with regard to the Kfton-- IcJge of ourffhcs : And farther, to ftrengthcn this Argument, he fliews," In anfwer to xhefecond Part of the Objeftion [from 1. 18 to 31] that the highea Advances in natural Knowledge may be eafily acquired, and yet we all the while continue very ignorant of ourfelvcs. For that neither the cle^ref Science, which refults from the Newtonian Philofophy, nor the mojl fublime, which is taught by the Platonic, will at all affift us in this Self-Study ; nay, what is more, that Religion itfelf, wlien grown Fanatical and Enihujiajfic, will be equally ufelefs : though pure and fober Religion will beft inftrud us in Man's Nature, that Knowkdge being effential to Re- ligion, whofe SuSje^i is Man, confidcred in all his Relations, and confequently whofe ObjeSi is God. To give this fecond Argument its full Force, he illuftrates It [from 1. 30 to 43] by the nobleft Example that ever was in Science, the incomparable Newton, whom he makes fo fuperior to Huma- nity, as to reprefent the Angelic Beings In doubt, when tliey ob- ferved him of late unfold all the Law of Nature, whether he was not to be reckon'd in their Number; juft as Men, when they fee the furprizing Marks of Reafon In an A^e, are almofl tempted to think him of their own Species. Yet this wondroiu Creature, who faw fo far into the Works of Nature, could go no farther In hu- tnan Knowledge, than the Generality of his Kind. For which the Poet affigns this very juft and adequate Caufe: \i\ all other Science?, the Underftanding is unchecked and uncontrouled by any oppofite Principle ; but in the Science of Man, the Pafjions over- turn, as faft as Reafon can build up. Alas, what Wonder ! Man's fuperior Part Uiicheck'd may rife, and climb from Art to Art ; But when his own great Work is but begun, What Reafon weaves, by Paffion is undone. This Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. -js This is a brief Account of the Poet's fine Reafoning in his In- troduflion. The Whole of which his poetical Tranflator has fo miferably miftaken, that, of one of the moft ftrong and befl con- nefted i\rguments, he has rendered it the mofl: obfcure and incoii- fiftent, which even the officious Commentaior could fcarce make worfe by his important and candid Remarks. Thus bcautlfullv does Mr. Pope defcribe Man's Weaknefs and BJindnefs, with regard to his own Nature : — Plac'd on this Ifthmus of a middle State, A Being darkly wife, and rudely great ; With too much Knowledge for the Sceptic Side, With too much Weaknefs for the Stoic's Pricle, He hangs between ; in doubt to aft, or reft ; In doubt to deem himfelf a God, or Beafi: ; In doubt, his Mind, or Body to prefer, Born but to die, and reafoning but to err. And as he hath given this Defcription of Man, for the very con- trary Purpofe to which Si:cptics are wont to employ fuch Kind of Paintings, namely, not to deter Men from the Search, but to ex- cite them to the Difcovery of Truth ; he hath, with great Judg- ment, reprefented Man as doubting and wavering between the right and ivrong Object ; from which State tliere are great Hopes he may be relieved by a careful and circumfped Ufe of Reafon. On the contrary, had he fuppofed Man io blind as to be bufied in chufing, or doubtful in his Choice, between two Objedts equally ivrong, the Cafe had appeared defperate ; and all Study of Man had been effeftually dijcouraged. But his Tranflator not feeing into the Force and Beauty of this Condud, hath run Into the very Abfurdity I have here fliewn Mr. Pope hath fo artfully avoided. The Poet fays, Man hangs between ; in doubt to Act, or Rest. Now he tells us 'tis Man's Duty to A^, not to Rcjl, as the L 2 Stoks -6 A C O M M E N T A R Y O N Sioics thought; aiul to their Principle this Litter Word allude?, he having juft before mentioned that Sec! *, whofe Virtue, as he fnvs, Is — fix' J as in a Froft ; Contracted all, retiring to the Breaft : But Strength ot Mind is Exercise, not Rcji. I. 92, ^Z'?- But the Tranflator Is not for mincing Matters. Serolt-ll en naiflhnt au travail condamne ? Aux douceurs du repos feroit-il deftine ! According to him, Man doubts whether he be condemned to a Jlavijh Toil and Labour ^ or deftined to the Luxury of Repofe ; nei- ther of which Is the Condition whereto Providence defigned him. This therefore contradlfts the Poet's whole Purpofe, which Is to re- commend the Study of Man, on a Suppofitlon that it will enable him to determine rightly in his Doubts between the true zwdLfalfe Object. 'Tis on this Account he fays. Alike In Ignorance, his Reafon fuch. Whether he thinks too little, or too tnuch ; Chaos of Thought and Paflion, all confus'd. Still by himfelf abus'd, or difabus'd, i. e. the proper Sphere of his Reafon is fo narrow, and the Exer- cife of it fo nice, that the too immoderate Ufe of it is attended with the fame Ignorance that proceeds from the not ufing it at all. Vet, though in both thefe Cafes, he is abufed by himfelf, he has it Aill in his own Power to difabufe himfcif, in making his PaJJions fubfervlcnt to the Means, and regulating his Reafon by the End of Life. Mr. Be Croujaz himfclf had fome Glimmering of the Ab- furdity of thofe two Lines of the Tranflator : And becaufe he fliall not fay, I allow him to have fald nothing reafonable throughout his whole Commentary, I will here tranfcribe his very Words : * With too much Wcaknefs for the Stoics Piide. *«Ce Mr. P O P E'S essay ON MAN. j-j •* Ce qui fait encore, que les Antithefes frapciit au lieu d'inAruire, " c'efl: qu'elles font outrces. U Homme n alt -II condamr.c au travail? " Doh-il Je pnmtire la molefje et le repos? Quel fujet de decou- *' ragement ou de trouble, fi Ton n'avoit de choix qu'cntre deux *■' partis fi contraires ? Mais nous ne naiflbns ni deflines h. ua *' repos oilif, ni condamnes a un travail accablant et inhumain.'* p. 138- Again, Mr. Pope, h\ doubt to deem himfclf a God, or BcaJ}.- /.. e. He doubts, as appears from the Line immediately following this *, whether his Soul be Mortal or Immortal', one of which is the Truth, namely, its Immortality, as the Poet himfelf teaches, when he fpeaks of the Omniprefence of God : Breathes in our Soul, informs our mortal F^wt. i Ep. I. 267». The Tranflator, as we fay, unconfcious of the Poet's Purpcfe, rambles, as before : Tantot de fon efprit admirant I'Excellcnce, 11 penfe qu'il eft Dieu, qu^il en a la puijfance ; Et tantot gemiflant des befoins de fon Corps, II croit que de la brute, il n'a que les rejbrts.. Here his Head (turned to a fceptical View) was running on the different Extravagances of Plato in his Divinliy, and of Des Cartes in his Philofophy. Sometimes, fays he, Man thinks himfelf a real God, and fometimes again a meer Machine ; Things quite out of Mr. Pope's Thoughts in this Place. Again, the Poet, in a beautiful AUufion to the Sentiments and Words of Scripittre, breaks out into this juft and moral Refledlion upon Mans Condition here, Born but to die, and reafoning but to err, * In doubt his MLid or Botiy to prefer. The: ^8 A COMMENTARY ON Tiic Traiidiitor turns tliis fine and fober Thouglit into the moft outrageous Sceptic! fm ; Cc n'eft que pour mourir, qu'il eft nc, qu'il rcfpire, Et tJUtfa raijon nejl pre/jue qJiun dclire : and fo makes his Author dircdlly contradift himfcif, where he fays of Man, that he hath — too much Kiiowledge for the Sceptic Side. Strange ! tliat the Trandator could not fee his Author's Meaning was, that, as we are horn to die and yet enjoy fome fmall Portion of Lite ; fb, though we reajon to err, yet we comprdiend fome few Truths. Strange I that he could not fee the Difference between that weak State of Reafon, in which Error mixes itfelf with all its true Conclufions concerning Man's Nature ; and an abjiraSl ^iality\ "jcbkb ive lainh call Renfon, but which, he tells us, is indeed fcarce any thing elfe but Mddnefs, One would think he paid little Atteji- tion to the concluding Words of this fublime Defcription, where the Poet tells us, Man was Created half to rife, and half to fall; Great Lord of all Things, yet a Prey to all ; Sole Judge of Truth, in endlefs Error hurl'd : Tiie Glory, Jeft, and Riddle of the World. Lideed he paid fo much, as to contrive how he might pervert them to a Senfc confident with his Et tout fa raifou n'eft prefque qu'un delire : Which he does in thefe Words : Tantoc feu, tantot fage, il ciiange a chaque Instant. This is indeed making a Madman of this fole Judge of Truth, to all Intents and Purpofes. But Mr. Pope fays nothing of his chang- ing every Moment from Sage to Fool; he only fays, that Folly and Wifdom are the infeparate Partage of Humanity: Which is quite aaotlicr Thing. But Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. ;^ But M'.jlahs, like Misfortunes, feldom come fmgle; and the rea- fon is the fame^ in both cafes, becnufe they iuflueuce one another. For the Traiiflator, having miftaken both tlie Nature and End of the Defcrrption of the Weaknefs of human Nature, imagined the Poet's y^coW Argument for the Difficulty of the Study of Man y. which (hews, that the clearc/l znd fublimeji Science is no Afliftance to It, nor even Religion itfelf, when grown Fanatical and Enchu" Jt-'fic; he imagined, I fay, that this fine Argument was an I'luf /rrt//(9« only of the foregoing Defcription, in which Illuftration, In- ftances were given of the feveral Extravagances in fa fa Science ; whereas the Poet's Defign was, juft the contrary, to fhew the pro- digious Vigour of the human Mind, in Studies which do not relate to itfelf; and yet that all its Force, together with thofe Effeds of i^v avail little in this Inquiry. But there was another Caufe of the Tranjlators Error; he had milkken, as we fay, the Poet's ^ry? Argument for a Defcription- of the Weaknefs of the human xMind with regard to all Truth ;. whereas it is. only fuch with regard to the Knowledge of Man^s Nature. This led him, as it would feem, to conclude, that, if Mr. Fcpe were to be underrtood as fpeaking here in Yix^fecond Argu- ment, of real and great Progrefs in Science, it would contradict what had been faid in the Defcription ; and therefore, out of Ten- dernefs to his Author,, he turns it all to imaginary Hypothefes.. Let \is take the whole Context. L Go, wondrous Creature ! mount where Science guides^ Go meafure Earth, weigh Air, and ftate the Tides ; Shew by what Laws the wand'ring Planets ftray, Corredl old Time, and teach the Sun his Way. II. Go foar, with Plato, to th' Empyreal Sphere, To the firfl: Good,, firft Perfea, and firfl Fair ; III. 3o ACOMMENTARYON III. Or tread the mazy Round Iiis Followers trod. And c|uittlng Sonic call imitating God. Go teach eternal Wifdom how to rule, Thcii drop Into thylelf, and be a Fool. Mr. Pope, fays, Go, icondrous Creature ; and he never fpeaks at random. The Reafon of his giving Man this Epithet is, becaufe, though he be, as tlie Poet fays, in another Place *, little Icfs than yingel in his Faculties of Science, yet is he mlfcrably blind in the Knowledge of himfelf. But the Tranjlator not apprehend- ing the Poet's Thought, imagined it was faid Ironically, and io tranflates it ; Va, fublime Mortel, fier dc ton EKcellence, AV crois rlen d'impojfible a ton IntelUgenc:. Mr. Pope— — Mount where Science guides. Go meafure Earth, weigh Air, and ftate the Tides ; Shew by what Laws the wand'ring Planets ftray ; Correft old Time, and teach the Sun his Way. This is a Defcrlpt'ion of the real Advances in Science, fuch as the Nczvtonh}!. And the very Introduftion to it, — Mount where Science guides, (hews it to be fo. But the Tranflator, carried away with the Fancy of its being an IlluJ}ration of the foregoing Defcrlption, turns the Whole to vain, Jalfe, imiiglnary Science, fuch as that of Des Cartes : Le Compas a la main, mefure Tuniverfe ; Regie a ton gre le flux et le reflux des mersj Fixe le poids de i'air, et comnmnde aux planetes ; 'Determine le cows de leurs marches fecretes ; » Ep. i.l. 1 66. Soumets Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 8j Soutnets a ton calcul rObfcurite des tems, Et de TAftre du jour conduis les moveniens. Here, In order to add the greater ridicule to his falfe Senfe, he in- troduces the Phllofopher, with Compafs in hand, meafuring the Uni- verfe, mimicking the Office of God in the A6t of Creation, as he is reprefented by the Ancients, who ufed to fay, 'O Geo? yiunilfiT. Whereas Mr. Pope's Words are, Go meafure Earth— ^ Alkidlng to the noble and ufeful Projeft of the modern Mathe- maticians to meafure a Degree at the Equator and the polar Circle, in order to determine the true Figure of the Earth, of great Im- portance to Aflronomy and Navigation. Regulate, fays he, accorditig to your own Will, the Flux and Re- Jlux of the Sea ; and this, Des Cartes prefumed to do : But it was Newton thztjlated the Tides. It is the pretended Phllofopher ihzt jixes the Weight of the Air ; but the real Phllofopher that weighs Air. It was Des Cartes that commanded the Planets, and determined them to roll according to his own good Pleafure j but it was Newton who Shew''d by what Laws the zvand'ring Planets fray. Submit, fays the Tranflator, the Obfcurity of Time to your Calcu- iation. — ^The Poet fays. Correal old Time, He is here ftill fpeaking of Newton. CorreSf old Time alludes to that great Man's Grecian Chronclogy, which he reformed on thofe two fublime Conceptions, the Difference between the Reigns of Kings, and the Generations of Men, and the Pof lions of the Colures of the Equinox and Solftices, at the time of the Argonautic Expedition. And when the Tranflator comes to the third Inftance, which is that of falfe Religion, he introduceth It thus, Et joignant la folie a la iemcritt\ Vol. VI. M Which 62 A COMMENTARY ON W'hlcli rticws how ill he underftootl Mr. Pope's luftaiices of the h'aturjl Philofophy of Newton, and the Melaphyfical Phihfophy of Phto. And yet all tiie Juftnefi, tiie Force, and Sublimity of the Poet's Rcafoiiing confifl: in a right Apprehenfion of them. Mr. Pope- Go teach Eternal Wifdom how to rule, Tlien drop into thyfelf, and be a Fool. Thefc tnvo Lines have only contributed to keep the Tranflator in his Error ; for he took the frjl of them to be a Recapitulaliofi of all that had been faid from 1. 18. Whereas Both of them together, are a Ccnclujion from it, to this EfFe£l : " Go now, vain Man, •' elated with thy Acquirements in real Science and imaginary In- " timacy with God ; Go and run into all the Extravagances I *' have exploded in the firft Epiftle, where thou pretendedfl: to *« teach Providence how to govern ; then drop into the Obfcu- ** ritics of thy own Nature, and thereby manifefl thy Ignorance «' and Folly." Mr. Pope tlien confirms and illuflrates this Reafoning by one of the greateft Examples that ever was : Superior Beings, when of late they faw A mortal Man unfold all Nature's Law, Admir'd fuch Wifdom in an earthly Shape, And (hew'd a Newton, as we fhew an Ape. In thcfe Lines he fpeaks to this EfFe6i:. — " But to make you " fully fcnfible of the Difficulty of this Study, I fhall inftance in the " great Xtf/(?« himfelf; whom when fuperior Beings, not long ♦* fince, faw capable of unfolding the wliole Law of Nature, they " were in doubt whether the Owner of fuch prodigious Science •* fhould not be reckoned of their own Order; juft as Men, when " they fee the furpriiing Marks of Reafon in an Ape, are almoft ♦« tempted to rank him with their own Kind. And yet this won- •' drous Man could go no farther in the Knowledge of his own Na- " tore, than the Generality of his Species." Thus Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. S^ Thus ftands the Argument, in which the Poet has paid a higher Comphment to the great Newion, as well as a more ingenious, than was ever yet paid him by any of his moft zealous Followers : Yet the Tranflator, now quite in the dark, by Millake upon Mlf- take, imagined his Defign was to depreciate Newton s Knowledge, and to humble the Pride of his Followers : Which hath made him play at crofs Purpofes with his Original : Des celeftes Efprits la vive Intelligence Regarde avec pitie notre fcible Science ; Newton, le grand Nezvton, que nos admirons tous. Eft peut-etre pour eux, ce qu'un Singe eft pour nous. •' The heavenly Spirits, whofe Underftanding is fo far fuperior •' to ours, look down with Pity on the Weaknefs of human *' Science ; Newton, tlie great Newton, whom we ^o much ad- " mire, is perhaps in no higher Efteem with them, than an Ape *' is with us." But it is not their Pity, but their Admiration, that is the Subject in Queftion : And it was for no flight Caufe they admired; it was to fee a mortal Man unjo'd the whole haw of Nature : which, by the way, might have fliewn the Tranflator, tiiat the Poet was fpeaking of real Science in the foregoing Paragraph. Nor was it: Mr. Pope's Intention to bring any of the Ape's ^alities, but its Sagacity, into the Comparifon. But why the Ape's, it may be faid, rather than the Sagacity of fome more decent Animal ; par- ticularly the half-rcafoning 'Elephant, as the Poet calls it, which, as well on Account of this its Superiority, as for its having no ri- diculous Side, like the Ape, on which it could be viewed, feems better to have deferved this Honour ? I reply, Becaufe as none but a Shape refembling human, accompanied with great Sagacity, could occafion the Doubt of that Animal's relation to Man, the Ape only having that Refemblance, no other Animal was fitted for the Comparifon. And on thi;j Ground of Relation the whole Beauty of the Thought depends ; Nezvton, and thofe fuperior Beings being M 2, equally 8+ A C O M M E N T A R Y O N equally immortal Spirits, though of different Orders. And here let me t.ikc notice of a new Sptcies of the Sublime^ of which our Pixt mny be juftly (aid to be the Maker ; fo new that we have yet no Name fur it, though of a Nature diftind from every other poetical Excellence. The two great Perfeftions of Works of Ge- nius arc fFit and Sublhni'.y. Many Writers have been ivitty, feveraL have hccn/ui/imff and fome few have even poflefled both thefe Qu^Ut'xci Jl'fiarately. But none that I know of, bcfides our Poet, hath had the Art to incorporiite them. Of which he hath given many Examples, both in this Eflay, and in his other Poems. One of the noblcfl being the Paflage in Queftion. This feems to be the laft Effort of the Imagination, to poetical Perfedion. And in this compounded Excellence the Wit receives a Dignity from the Sublime, and the Sublime a Splendour from the Wit ; which, in their State of feparate Exiftence, they both wanted. To return. This Miftake feems to have led both the Tranjlator and Commentator into a much worfe ; into a ftrange Imagination that Mr. Pope had here refleaed upon Sir I[aac Newton's moral Chnraaer ; which the Poet was as far from doing, as the Philofop pher was from deferving : For, After Mr. Pope had {hewn, by this llluftrious Inftance, that a great Genius might make prodigious Advances in the Knowledge of Nature, and^ at the fame time remaui very ignorant of him- Jclf, he gives a Reafon for it :— -In all other Sciences the Under- ftanding has no oppofite Principle to cloud and biafs it ; but in the Knowledge of Man, the PaJJions obfcure as foft as Reafon can clear up. Could he, whofe Rules the rapid Comet bind, Dcfcrlbe, or fix, one Movement of the Mind ? Who faw thofe Fires here rife, and there defend*. Explain his own Beginning, or his End ? Alas, _ • Sir ^.-. Ke-.,on in cnlcula.ing the niodiy of a C.,w/'. Mo'tion, and the Courfe K dcfcnbcs, when it becomes v.fiblc in its Dcfcent to, and Afceut from the Sun, con- jeflured, Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 8j Alas, what Wonder ! Man's fuperlor Part Uncheck'd may rife, and climb from Art to Art; But when his Own great Work is but begun. What Reafon weaves, by Paffion is undone. Here we fee, at the fifth Line, the Poet turns from Kczv/ofi, and fpeaks of Man and his Nature in general. But the TrafiJIaior applies all tliat follows to that Philofopher : Toi qui jufques aux cieux ofes porter ta vue. Qui crois en concevoir et I'ordre et I'etendue, Toi qui veux dans leur cours, leur prefcrire la loi, Scais-tu regler ton coeur, f9ais-tu regner fur toi I Ton efprit qui far tout vainement fe fatigue, Avide de f^avoir, ne connoit point de digue ; De quoi par fes travaux s'eft-il rendu certain E Peut-il te decouvrir ton principe et ta fin ? On which the Commentator thus candidly remarks ; " It is not "- to be difputed, but that whatever Progrefs a great Genius [hath' " made in Science, he deferves rather Cenfure than Applaufe, if " he has fpent that Time in barren Speculations, curious indeed,., " but of little Ufe, which he fhould have employ 'd to know him- *' felf, &!S Beginning and his EW, and how to regulate his Con- " du£l: ; and if, inflead of that Candour and Humanity, and Defire ** to oblige. Virtues fo becoming our Nature, he be over-run with *' Ambition, Envy, and a Rage of Preheminence, whofe Violence *' and Rancour are attended with the moft fcandalous Effeds, of " which there are too many Inflances ; Vices lohich Mr. Newton, " lived and died an entire Stranger to "*.'* jeftiired, with the higheft Appearance of Truth, that they revoh-e peipetually round the Sun, in EUip/cs vaflly excentrical, and very nearly approaching to Parabola!.. In which he was greatly confirmed, in obferving between two Comets a Coincidence ia; their Perihdions, and a perfeft Agreement in their Velocities.- * Commeutaire, p. 147, I hav^ U A C O M M E N T A R Y O N 1 hnve traiifcribcd this Paflage to expolc the malignant Motives tlic Commentator appears to have had in writing againft the Efay on Man. As to the TranJIa/or, it would be indeed harder to know what Motives he could have in tranflating it, for It is plain he did not underftand it. Yet this is he who tells us, that t/je Author of the Epy has not formed his Plan with all the Regularity of Me- t ho J which it wight have admitted; thai he laas obliged to follow a different Method; for that the French are not fatisfied ivith Senti- ments hoivever beautiful, unlifs they be meihodical'y difpofed. Method being the Characlerijlic that diftmguifies their Performances from thofe cf their Neighbours, Thus neither did the Critic, nor Tranfator, fufped (and never tvere poor Men fo miferably bit) that Thofe oft' nre Stratagems which Errors feem. Nor is it Hmier nods, but we that dream. The poetical Tranflator could not imagine Ho great a Poet would pique himf(.lf upon clofe Reafoning ; and the faftidious Philofo- pher, of courfe, concluded, that a Man of fo much Wit could hardly reafon well ; fo neither of them gave a proper Attention to the Poet's Syftem, A Syftem logically .clofe, though wrote iu Verfe, and complete, though ftudioufly concife : This fecond Epiftle particularly (the Subjea of the prelent Letter) containing the trueft, cleareft, fhorteft, and confequently the heft Account of the Origin, Ufc, and End of the Paflions, that is, in my Opinion, any where to be met with. Which I jiow proceed to conlider, iu the fame flridl Manner I have fcrutinjzed the IntroduBion. For our Poet's Works want nothing but to be fairly examined by the fe- vcreft Rules of Logic and good Philofophy, to become as llluf- ♦ rlous for their Senfe, as they have long been for their Wit and Poetry. I go on therefore to the Body of the Dlfcourfe ; which, as plain .ns it is, I find Mr. De Croufaz has made a Shift (though extremely tree with his Infinuatlons of Irrellglon and Spino%ifm) to mlftake from Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 87 from End to End, So true is the old Saying, Homme imperito tiihil eji iniquius. The Poet having thus Hiewn the Difficulty attending the Study of Mart, proceeds to our Afliftance in laying before us the Elements or true Principle of this Science, m an Account of the Origin, Ufc, and End,- of the Paflions.. He begins [from I. 42 to 49] with pointing out the two grand Principles in human Nature, Self-Love and Reason. Defcribes their ^f/ii?/-*?/ Nature : The firftyf/j Man upon adling,. the other regulates his yi£iion. However, tliefe Prin- ciples are natural, not moral : And, therefore, in themfelves^ neither- good nor bad; hut Jo, only as they are dire£led. Nor this z good, nor thzt z dad we call, Each works its End, to move or govern all ;, And to their proper Operation ftilL- Afcribe all Good, to tiieir improper'Ill. This Obfervation is made with great Judgment, in Oppofition to the defperate Folly of thofe Fanatics, who, as xX\t Afcetic,. pre- tend to eradicate Self-Love ; as the Myjtic, Avould flifle Reafon ; and' both, on the abfurd Fancy of their being moral, not natural Prin^ cipjes.. The Poet proceeds [from 1. 48 to 57] more minutely to mark out the diflindl Offices of thefe two Principles, which he had before afligned only in general; and here he fhews their NeceJJily; iov without Self Love, as the Spring, Man would be una^ive,.^nd with- out Reafon, as the Balance, active to no Purpofe. Fixt like a Plant on his peculiar Spot, To draw Nutrition, propagate, and rot : Or, Meteor-like, flame lawlefs through the Void,, Deftroying others, by hlmfelf deftroy'd.. Having thus explained the Ends and Offices of eacli Principle,, he goes on [from 1. 56 to 69] to fpeak of their ^^////Vi : And (Hews> how they are fitted to difcharge thofe Fun6lions, and anfwer their; refpecliva.- 8S A COMMENTARY ON rcfpeaivc Intentions. The Bufinefs of Self-Love being to excite to Adioii, it is quick and impetuous; and moving infUndively, has, like AttraBion, its Force prodigloufly increafed as the Objefb ap- proaches, and proportionably leflencd as that recedes. On the contrary, Rea/an, like the Author of Attradlion, is always calm and fedate, and equally preferves itfelf, whether the Objea be near, or far off. Hence the oto^vw^ Principle is made moxtjlrong-, though the rejlraming be more quick-fghted. The Confequence he draws from this is, that, if we would not be carried away to our Deftruc- tion, we muft always keep Reafon upon Guard. But it would be objedled, that if this Account be true, human Life would be moji miferable, and, even in the wifeft, a perpetual Conflicl between Reafon and the Pafjions. To this therefore the Poet replies [from 1. 68 to 71.] F/r/?, that Providence has fo gra- cioufly contrived, that even in the voluntary Exercife o{ Reafon, as in the mere mechanic Motion of a Limb, Habit makes that, which was at firft done with Pain, eafy and natural. And, fecondly, that the Experience gained by the long Exercife of Reafon goes a great Way towards eluding the Force of Self-love. Now, the attending to Reafon., as here recommended, will gain us this Habit and Rxpe- rlence. Attention, Habit and Experience gains ; Each ftrengthens Reafon, and Self-love reflralns. Hence it appears, that this Station in which Reafon Is to be kept conflantly upon Guard, is not fo uneafy a one as may be at firfl Imagined. From this Defcriptlon o'[ Self-love und Reafon It follows, as the Poet obferves [from 1. 70 to 83] that both confpire to one End, namely, human Happinefs, though they be not equally expert In the Choice of the Means ; the Difference being this, that xhefrfl haftily felzes every thing which has the Appcarajice of Good ; the other weighs and examines whether it be indeed what it appears. This Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 89 This fliews, as he next obfcrves, the Folly oiVac Schoolmen, who confider them as two oppofite Principles, the one Good, and the other 111: The Obfervation is fealbnable and judicious; for this dangerous School-Opinion gives great Support to the Manlchean or Zoroajlran Error, the Confutation of which was one of the Author's chief Ends of Writing. For if there be two Principles in Man, a good and bad, it is natural to think him the joint Produdt of the two • Manichean Deities (the firfl: of which contributed to his Reafon, the other to his FaJJions) rather than the Creature of one individual Caufe. This was Plutarclj's Notion, and, as we may fee in him, of the more ancient Manlcheans. It was of Importance therefore to reprobate and fubvert a Notion that ferved to the Support of fo dangerous an Error. And this the Poet has done with more Force and Clearuefs than is often to be found in whole Volumes wrote againll that heretical Opinion : Let fubtile Schoolmen teach thefe Friends to fight. More fludious to divide, than to unite ; And Grace and Virtue, Senfe and Reafon Tplit, With all the raOi Dexterity of Wit. 3ut the French Tranflator has miftaken thefe Lines for a Reflec- tion, not on the Theology, as Mr. Pope intended them, but on the Logic of the Schools, with which the Poet had here nothing to do. This, it is true, delights in Dl/litiSilons without Difference, which Is indeed a Fault, but not of fo high Malignity as the other : that, which the Poet cenfures, leading direftly into Error ; this, which his Tranflator reproves, only hindering our Progrefs in Truth or ■Science. Qu'un Scholaftique vain cherchant "kdifcourir Cache la Verite loin de la decouvrir, Que, par un long iljfu d' Argiimens imitilcs. Par des tours ambigus, par des raifons inuiileSf Voidant tout dlvlfer jufques a fin/mi, II fepare avec art ce qui doit etre uni. Vol. VI. N Now, 50 A C O M M E N T A R Y ON Now, tiioiigh this Fault in the Logic of the Schools be univerfally owned nnd condemned by all out of them, and by no one more than by Mr. De Cr'jupz himfclf, in his Books of Logic^ yet in pure Contradiaioti to Mr-Po/x-, who, as he thought, h;vd condemned if, lie could r.ot forbear faying, J Poet may happen to -write with nm^e Elfgance than a Schoolman, and yet for all thai not be able to exprefs bhnfelj ivith more Jupiefs and Prccifion *. The Poet having given this Account of the Nature of Self-love m genfrjl, comes now to anatomize it, in a Difcourfe of the Passions, wiiich he aptly names tlie Modes of Sef-love; the Objea of a?l thefe, he fliews [from 1. 82 to 91] is Good-, and when under the Guidance of Reafon, real Giod; either of our own, or of another; for fome Goods not being capable of Divifion or Communication, and Rcafn, at the fame time, diredling us to provide for ourfelves, we therefore, in purfuit of thefe Objefts, fometlmes arm at our own Good, fometimes at the Good of others ; when fairly aiming at our own, the Pajfion is called Prudence, when at another's, Virtue. Hence (as he fhews from 1. 90 to 95) appears the Folly of the Stoics, vvho would eradicate the Pafiions, Things fo necefihry both to the Good of the Individual, and of the Kind. Which prep€-fl:e- rou5 Method of promoting Virtue, he therefore very reafonably re- proves. But as it was from Obfervatioii of the Evils occafioned by the Pafiions, that the Stoics thus extravagantly projected their Extirpation, the Poet recurs [from 1. 94. to 101] to his grand Prin- ciple, fo often before, and to fo good Purpofe, infifted on, that — partial III is miiverfal Good : and (hews, that, though the Tempeft of the Pafiions, like that of the Air, may tear and ravage fome few Parts of Nature in Its Paf- fage, yet the falutary Agitation produced by it preferves the whole In Life and Vigour. This is his frjl Argument agalnfi: the Stoics, which he illuftrates by a very beautiful Similitude, on a Hint taken from Scripture Story f : * Commentaire, p. 152. .|. , Kings xix. 11, 12. Nor Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. c;i Nor God alone in the Jii// Calm we find, He mounts the Storm, and walks upon the Wind. But the Tranflator, not taking this Allufion, has turn'd it thus : Dieu lui-mome, Dieu fort ^c fon profond repos. And fo has made an Epicurean God of the Governor of the Univerfe, of whom Scripture afforded Mr. Fope this grand and fubllme Idea. Mr. De Crou/az does not fpare this Expreffion of God^s coming out of his profou7id Repofe. — // is (iliys he) excejjively poetical, and pre~ Jents us "with Ideas which we ought not to dwell upon. But when he goes on — ft here is nothing in God''s diredling the Storm which can authorife the PaJJions that dijlurb our Uappinefs *), he talks very im- pertinently. Mr. Pope is not here arguing from Analogy, that as God raifes and heightens the Storm, fo fhould we raife and heigliten the PaJJions. The Words are only a fimple Affirmation in the poetic Drefs of a Similitude, to this Purpofe. — " Good is not only " produced by the Subdual of the Paffions, but by the turbulent *' Exercife of them :" Nor God alone in the Jlill Calm we find, He mounts the Storm, and walks upon the Wind, A Truth conveyed under the moll fubllme Imagery that Poetry could conceive or paint. For he is here only fhewing the provi- dential EfFe£ts of the Paffions, and how, by God's gracious Difpo- fition, they are turned away from their natural Biafs, to promote the Happinefs of Mankind. As to the Method in which they arc to be treated by Mcfn, m whom they are found, all that he con- tends for, in favour of tliem, is only this, that they ffiould not be quite rooted up and deftroyed, as the Stoics, and their Followers in all Religions, foolifhly attempted. For the reft, he conftantly re- peats this Advice : The Adion of the Stronger to fufpend, Reason flill ufe, to Reason flill attend, * Commentaire, p. 15S. N 2 Uh ^ A C O M M E N T A R V O N Kis /fcot.-i Argument againft the S/oks [from 1. lOO to 113] is^ that I\i//io'iS go to the Compolitioii of a moral Chara^er, juft as- FJement^try Particles go to the Coinpofition of an organized Body : Therefore, for Man to go about to dcftroy what compofes his very Being, is the Height of Extravagance : It is true, he telJs us that- ihcfc PiiJJioHs which in their natural State, like Elements, are in perpetual Jar, muft be tempered, foftencd, and united, in order to perftifl the Work of the great plaflic Artijl; who, in this Office, employs human Reafon : Whofe Bufinefs it is to follow the Road of Naturey and to obferve \\-\c DlSlates of the Deity. Follow her and God. The \J(e and Importance of this Precept is evident : For in doing the f'fl, (he will difcover the Abfurdity of attempting to eradicate the Paflions ; in doing the fecond, fhe will learn how to make them fubfcrvient to the Intereflof Virtue : Suffice that Reafon keep to Katurt's Road, Subje<5l, compound them, follow her and God. Love, Hope, and Joy, fair Pleafure's fmiling Train, Hate, Fear, and Grief, the Family of Pain, Thefe mixt with Art, and to due Bounds confin'd,^ Make and maintain the Balance of the Mind. His third Argument agalnft the Stoics [from 1. 112 to n'?] is-,, that the Paffions occafion in us a perpetual Excitement to the Purfuit of Happinefs ; which without thefe powerful Inciters we fhould ncglea, in an infenfible Indolence. Now Happinefs is the End of our Creation ; and this Excitement the Means of Happinefs : There- fore thefe Movers, the Pajions, are the Inllruments of God, which he lias put into the Hands of Reafon, to work withal : Plcafures are ever in our Hands or Eyes, And when in Aft they ceafe, in Profpedl rife ; Prefcnt to grafp, and future ftill to find, The whole Employ of Body and of Mind. The Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. ^^ The Poet then proceeds in his Siibje6i; ; and thiskfl: Obfervatioi> leads him naturally to the Difcuffion of his next Principle. He {hews then, thai though all the Pqffiom have their Turn in fvvay- iug the Determinations of the Mind, yet every Man has one Mas- ter Passion that at length ftifles or abforbs aW the reft. The Fa£} he illuftrates at large, in thejirjl Epijlle of his fecond Book. Here [from 1. ii6 to 132] he gives us the Caiife of it: ♦' Thofe " Pleafures or Goods, which are the Objefls of the Paffions, af- " fe6l the Mind, by flriking on the Senfes ; but, as through the *' Formation of the Organs of the human Frame, every Man has «' Ibme Senfe flronger and more acute than others, the Objed-,, '• which ftrikes that flronger or acuter Senfe, whatever it be, will " be the Objed moft defired ; and, confequently, the Purfuit of that *' will be the ruling PaJJicn :" AH fpread their Charms, but charm not all alike. On different Senfes different Objefts (hike ; Hence different Paffions more or lefs inflame. As ftrong, or weak, the Organs of the Frame; And hence one Alq/icr Pq//ion in the Bread, Like -(^^r(?«'i Serpent, fwal lows all the reft. — that the Difference of Force in this ruI/Mg PaJJlon fhall at fjifl> perhaps, be very fmall or even imperteptiblej hwX Nature, PJabh, Imagination, Wit, nay even Reafon itfelf, (hall aflift its Growth, till it hath at length drawn and converted every other into iifclf. All this is delivered in a Strain of Poetry fo wonderfully fublime,. as fufpends for a while the ru/ing Paffmi in every Reader, and in- groffes his whole Admiration : As Man, perhaps, the Moment of his Breath Receives the lurking Principle of Death ; The young Difeafe, that muft fubdue at length, Grows with his Growth, and ftrengthens with his Strcnrriir So, caft and mingled with his very Frame, The Mind's Difeafe, its ruling Passion came : ^4 A C O M M E N T A R Y O N Eacli vital Humour which fliould feed the whole, Soon flows to this, iu Body and m Soul ; Whatever warms the Heart, or fills the Head, As the Mind opens, atid its Fundions fpread, Imagination plies her dangerous Art, And pours it all upon the peccant Part. Nature its Mother, Habit is its Nurle ; JFit, Spirit, Faculties, but make it worfe; Reij/on itfilf but gives its Edge and Power ^ As Heaven's blefl: Beam turns Vinegar more four*. This naturally leads the Poet to lament the Weahnefi and Infuff,- ciency of human R'afon [from 1. 138 to 151]; and the honed Purpofe he had in fo doing was, plainly to intimate tlie Neceflity of a more fublime DlfpcnfiUion to Mankind : We, wretched Subjeds, though to lawful Sway, In this weak Queen fome Fav'rite ftlll obey. Ah ! if flie lend not Arvis as well as Rules, What can flie more than tell us we are Fools ? Teach us to mourn our Nature, not to mend, A (harp Accufer, but a helplefs Friend ! St. Paul himfelf did not chufe to employ other Arguments, when difpofed to give us the higheft Idea of the Ufefulnefs oi Chrjf- iianity -j-- But, it may be, the Poet finds a Remedy in tiatural Religion: Far from it. He here leaves Reafon unrelieved. What * Tl;c Poet, in fomc other oih\iEji!/(Ie{, gives Examples of the Dodiine atid Precepts here delivered. Thus, in that of the Ufe of Riches, he has ilhiftrated this Truth in the Charatler of Cotta : Old Coita fliam'd his Fortune and his Birth, Vet ixini not Cotta void of Wit or Worth, What though (the Ufe of barb'rous Spits forgot) His Kitchen vied in Coolnefs with his Grot ? If Cotta liv'd on Pulfe, it luas no more than BramiiK, Saints, andSagej, did before, t Sec hit Epiftle to the Romans, c. vii, is Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 95 is this then but an Intimation that we ought to feck for a Cure in that Rehglon which only dares profcfs to give it ? But Mr. De Croufdz fays, the Poet, in this Reprefentntion of human Rcnfon, has contradi6led what he fald of it in tlie 80th and 98th Lines of this EpilHe. And, poflefled with this Notion, he goes on, in his declamatory Way, fo unworthy a grave Logician : Does Mr. Pope take a Pleafure in blowing hot and cold, in giving us Jucceffivdy the Sweet and Bitter, to reduce us to fuch a State that we may not know what tojiick to ? If there be no ill Defgn at Bottom in ihefe Contradidlions, but that they only Jpring from the imprudent Cufloniy eflablified in the Schools, of talking Pro and Con *, &c. And then tells aa idle common-place Story of Cardinal Perron. In the meaa time it happens that this is no Contradi<5lion at all, or, if it be, it is that very Contradidipn into which St. Paul likewife fell, wheu he fo continually recommended the Ufe of Reafon, and yet fo ener- getically defcribed its Imbecillity and Impotence. But as our Logician fiiid before, on a like Occafion, this might be edifying in a good Alan, yet give Scandal in an ill one. To proceed, as it appears from the Account here given of tl^e ruling Pajfion, and its Caufe, which refults frora the Strudure of the Organs, that it is the Road of Nature, the Poet fhews [from I. 150 to 157] that this Road is to be followetl'. So that the Office of Reafon is not to dire(5l us what PafTion to exercife, but to afliil us in RECTIFYING, and keeping within due Bounds, that w:hicli Nature hath fo flrongly imprefled ; for that A mightier Power the ftrong Direftion fends, And feveral Men impels to feveral Ends. Here Mr. De Croifaz pours out the full Stream of his Candour and Politenefs, in his Criticifm on thefe Lines : Yet Nature's Road mufl: ever be preferr'd ; Reafon is here no Guide, but ftill a Guard ;; * Commentaire, p. i66, Tis /j6 A C O M M E N T A R Y O N 'Tis licr's to RI'.CTIFY, not overthrow. And treat this l\>J}in more as Friend than Foe. The only Rffugc I have here left (fays he) is tofufpofe that Mr. Pope thought //v very Mention of this Notion would be fufficient to expofe the Alfurdity and Horror of it, and of thofe who regulate their Condudi on Inch unrighteous and pocking Ideas. And I conceive I fhoidd do M. I'Abbc do Sep-Fontaines much In'jujlice, if I did not believe this was his intention in tranfaling this PaJJlige. But, to have a more ferfeSi Idea of th; Ridicule and Horror of if, let us put the fVords into the Mouth of a Confeffor *, G"c. And fo he goes gayly on t, to re- prtfcDt a ghoftly Father enconraging his Penitents in their fevcral Vices on Mr. P(5/f'j pretended Principles. But we fhall fpoil his Mirth, by only affuring him, that the Poet's Precept can have no other Meaning than this, *' That as the ruling Pafjion is implanted " bv Nature, it is Reafon's Office to regulate, dired, and reftrain, *' but not to overthrow it. To regulate the Paffion oi Avarice, for " liiftance, into a parfunonious Difpenfation of the public Reve- " nues ; to diredl: the Paffion of Love, whole Object is Worth and *' Beauty, " To the firfl Good, firft PcrfeSl, and firft Fair +,' •« as his Mafter P/rt/5 advifes ; and to reftrain Spleen, to a Contempt *' and Hatred of Vice." This is what the Poet meant, and what every unprejudiced Man could not but fee he mull: needs mean, by RECTIFYING THE MASTER PASSION, though he had not confined us to this Senfe, in the Reafon he gives of his Precept, in thcfe Words : A mightier Power the flrong Direftion fends. And feveral Men impels to feveral E?ids, For what Ends are they which God impels to, but the Ends of Virtue ? * Comraentaire, p. 170. ^ Id. i-i^ i-j, X To nafiir—r' iya9o». But Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 9; But for a more perfeSi Idea "(to fpeak in his own free Terms) of the Ridicule of our Logician's Comment, let us attend to what he re- marks on thefe two lafl Lines. TAefe Words (fays he) may be mi- derftood in more than one Senfe, ijohich is not rare, and may /jave a more or lefs rcjiraimd Meaning. They are fujceptible of a Se7ije extra- vagant and injurious to Providefjce, and they will admit of a reafoU' able one, and veryivorthy our Attention *. Here, we fee, he doubts about the Meaning of the Reafon of the Precept ; admits it may- have a good one; and yet condemns, without Mefitation, an.d in the groflefl: and mofh fhocking Terms, the Precept itfelf ; whofe Cleaning muft yet, according to all rational Rules, even thofe of his own Logic, if it have any fuch, be determined by the Reafon of it. But to return. The Poet having proved that the ruling PaJJion (fince Nature hath given it us) is not to be overthrown, but recti- fied, the next Inquiry will be of what Ufe the ruling Pajfion is ; for an TJfe it muft have, if Reafon be to treat it thus mildly ? This \3^e he fliews us [fron:i 1. 156 to iS-] is twofold. Natural and Moral. 1. Its natural Ufe is to conduct Men fleddily to one certain End, who would otherwife be eternally flu£luating between the equal Violence of various and difcordant Paflions, driving them up and down at random : Like varying Winds, by other Paflions tofl:. This drives them conftant to a certain Coafl: ; and by that Means enables them to promote the Good of Society, by making each a Contributor to the common Stock. Let Power or Knowledge, Gold or Glory pleafe, Or (oft more ftrong than all) theZ/O^oV ofEafe : Through Life 'tis foUow'd. — 2. Its moral Ufe is to ingraft our rulifig Virtue upon it : Th' eternal Art, educing Good from 111, Grafts on this Paflion our bcfi Prificiple ; * Commctitaire, p. 174. Vol. VI. O sud ^3 A C O M M E N T A R Y O N and by that Means enables us to promote our otvn Good by turning, thcExctbiiancyot the/«% P.#o« into its neighbouring Hriue.: Sec j^nger. Zeal and Fortitude fupply ; Ev*n .'Ivrice, Prudence ; Shih, Philoi'ophy : Nor Virtue, male or female, can we name, But what will grow on Pride, or grow on Shame. The Wil'dom of the divine Artlft is, as the Feet finely obferves, very illuftiious in this Contrivance : For the Mind and Body having now one common Intcreft, the ElToi-.t3 of Virtue will have their. Force infinitely augmented : 'Tls thus the Mercury of Man is fixt. Strong grows the Virtue with his Nature mixt ;. The Urofs cements what elfe were too refin'd,. And in one bitereji Body acls itith Mind. But left it (hould be objefted that this Account favours the Doc- trine of Necejfity, and would infinuate that Men are only aSled upon in the Produftion of Good out of Evil ; the Poet teacheth [from 1. 1 86 to 19-;] that Man is a y>f^ ^^i-w/, and hath it in his oivn Power to turn the natural Paffions Into Virtues or into Vices^ pro- perly fo called : Reafon the Biafs turns from Good to ill, And Nero reigns a 'Tiius, If he will. Secondly, If it flio\ild be objedted, that though the Poet doth in- deed tell us fome Adlions are beneficial and fome hurtful, yet he could not call thofe Virtuous, nor thefe Vicious, becaufe, as he has dcfcrlbed Things, the Motive appears to ' be only Gratijication of fme Tojfion ; give me leave to anfwer for him, that this would be miftaklng the Argument, which in thlsEpiftle [to 1. 239.] confiders the Paffions only ivith regard to Society, that is, with regard to their Effc^s rather than their Motives. ^Th^it however it is his Defiga to teach that Aftions are properly virtuous and vicious ; and though it Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 97 it be difficult to diftinguifh genuine Virtue fnom Jpun'ous, they hav- ing both the fame Appearance^ and both the fame public Fffe^s ; yet they may be difembarrafled. If it be afked, by what Means ? He replies [from 1. 192 to 195] by Confcience^ which is fufficient to the Purpofe; for 'tis only a Man's own Concern, to know whether his Virtue be pure and folid ; for what is that to otherSy while the Effecfl: of this Virtue, whether real or unfubftantial, is, as to tloem^ tile fame ? This Light and Darknefs, in our Chaos join'd. What (hall divide ? r/je God within the Mind. A Platonic Phrafe for Conscience ; and here employed with great Judgment and Propriety. For Confcience either fignifies, fpe- culatively, the Judgment we pafs of Tilings upon whatever Princi- ples we chance to -have ; and tiieii it is only Opinion, a very unable Judge and Divider: Or elfe, it fignifies, praSlically, the Application of the eternal Rule of Right (received by us as the Lazv of God) to the Regulation of our A£lions; and tlien it is properly Conscience, Tfje God (or the Law of God) ivilhin the Mind, of Power to divide the Light from the Darknefs in this Chaos of the Paffions. But f^ill it will be faid, why all this Difficulty to dlftinguifh true Virtue from falfe ? The Poet ftiews W/^jy [from 1. 194 to 201] " That though indeed Vice and Virtue fo invade each other's *' Bounds, that fometimes we can fcarce tell where one ends and ** the other begins, yet great Purpofes are ferv'd thereby, no lefs *' than the perfecting the Conftitutioa of the Whole; as Lights «* and Shades, which run into one another in a well-wrought <' Pifture, make the Harmony and Spirit of tlie Compofition." But on this Account to fay there is neither Vice nor Virtue, the Poet (hews [from 1. 200 to 207] would be juft as wife as to fay there is neither black nor ichite ; becaufe tlie Sliade of that^ and the Light of this, often run into one another : O 2 A(k lOo A COMMENTARY ON Allv. your oxvn HeMt, and nothing is lb plain ; '1 is to mill.ikc them colls the 'lime and Pain. This Is an Error o( Speculation, which leads Men fo fooliflily to conclude, that there is neither Vice nor Virtue. 2. There is another of Pra^.'ce, which hath more common and fatal Ertl-tfls ; and is next confidcred [from 1. 206 to 211 :J It is this, That though, at the firft Afpedl, Vice be fo horrible as to af- fright all Beholders, yet, when by Habit we are once grown fa- miliar with her, we llrft fufler, and in time begin to lole the Me- mory of her Nature : Vice is a Monfler of fo frightful Mien, As, to be hated, needs but to be feen ; Yet feen too oft, familiar with her Face, W'c firft endure, then pity, tlien embrace. Wiiich neccfl;\rily implies an equal Ignorance in the Nature of Virtue. Hence Men conclude, that there is neitlier one nor the other. But it is not only tliat Extreme of Vice next to Virtue, which be- trays us into thefe Miftakes : We are deceived too, as he fhews us [from 1. 210 to 221], by our Obfervations about the other Extreme. But where th' Extreme of Vice was ne'er agreed : Afk Where's the North? at Tork 'tis on the Tweed; In Scotland, at the Orcades ; and there At Greenland, Zenibia, or the Lord Icnows where. For, from the Extreme of Vice's being unfettled, and perpetually Ihifting, Men conclude, that ^/c^ //^//- is only nomlnah 3. There is yet a third Caufc of this Error of no Vice no Vir- iue, compofed of the other two, /. e. ^zxtly fpcculative, and partly praclicat: And this alfo the Poet confiders [from 1. 220 to 229] iliewing it arifcth from the Imperjemon of the bcji Charaders, and the IneriuaUty oiall; whence it happens that no Man is extremely Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. lor virtuous or vicious, nor extremely conflant in Purfuit of either, Wjiy it fo happens the Poet afligns an admirable Reafon hi this- Line : For, Vice or Virtue, self direSls it fill. An Adherence or Regard to what is, in the Senfe of the World, a Marl's own Interejl, making an Extreme in either impofTible. Its EfFeift in keeping a good Man from the Extreme of Virtue needs no Explanation : And in an ill Man, Self-interejl flievving him the Neceflity of fome kind of Reputation, the procuring and prefcrving //W will neceflarily keep him from the Extreme of Vice. The Mention of this Principle l\i-Mjelfdircdh Vice and Virtue y.%\\^ its Confequence, which is, that Each Individual feeks a feveral Goal, leads the Author to obferve That Heaven's great View is one, and that the Whole r and this brings him naturally round again to his main Subjeifh, namely, God's producing Good out of III, which he profecutes in his- inimitable Manner [from ]. 228 to 239]. That counterworks each Folly and Caprice ; That difappoints th' EtFeft- of ev'ry Vice : That happy Frailties to all Ranks apply 'd, Shame to the Virgin, to the Matron Pride, Fear to the Statefman, Rafhnefs to the Chiefj To Kings Prefumption, and to Crowds Belief. I. Hitherto the Poet hath been employed in difcourfing of the Vfe of the Pc'Jfons, with regard to Society at large, and in freeing his Do6lrine from Objetiions. This is the fir ft general Divifion of the Subjea of this Epijile. II. He comes to fhew [from 1. 238 to 251] the \J[q of thefe Paffions, "with regard to the more confined Circle of our Friends, Re- Litions, and Acquaintance. And this is the &w«^ general Divifion :. IVants^ ,Qj A C O M M E N TARY O N irants, Frailties, P^ijions clofer flill ally The common Intercft, or endear the Tie : To thefe we owe true Friendfhlp, Love fincere, Each homc-fclt Joy that Life inherits here : Yet from the fame we learn in its Decline Thole Joys, thole Loves, thofe Interefts to refign. As tliefe Lines fecm not to have been underftood by the Tran- Jlator, and are fcandaloufly mifreprefented by the Commentator, who would infinuate them to be a kind of Approbation of Suicide*, 1 (hall here give the Reader their plain and obvious Meaning. " To thefe P>ailties (fays he) we owe all the Endearments of prl- <* vate Life ; yet, when we come to that Age, which generally " difpofes Men to think more ferioufly of the true Value of Thing:^., ■*' and, confequently, of their Provifion for a future State, the *' Confuleration that the Grounds of thofe Joys, Loves and Friend- *'' pips, are Wants, Frailties and Pajfions, proves the beft Expc- «' dient to wean us from the World; a Difengagement fo friendly ■" to that Provilion we -are now making for another." The Obfer- vation is new, and would in any Place be extremely beautiful, but has here an infinite Grace and Propriety, as it fo well confirms, by ^n Inftance of great Moment, the Poet's general Thefis, That God makes III, at every Step, produdiive of Good. III. The Poet having thus (hewn the Ufe of the Paffions In Society and in domefic Life, he comes in the lafi Place [from 1. 250 to the End] to (hew their Ufe to the Individual, even in their Iitufo':s ; the imaginary Happinefs they prefent helping to make the real Mifcries of Life lefs infuppoitable. And this is his third ge- neral Divifion : — Opinion gilds with varying Rays Thofe painted Clouds that beautify our Days : Each Want of Happinefs by Hope fupply'd, Aiul each Vacuity of Senfe by Pride. * Commentaire, p. io6. Thefe KfR. POP E;S essay on man. 103 Thefe build as fafl: as Knowledge can deftroy : 111 Folly's Cup ftill laughs the Bubble Joy; One Profpeft loll:, another Aill we gain ; And not a Vanity is given in vain. Which mufl: needs vaftly raife our Idea of God's Goodnefs, wha hath not only provided more than a Counter-balance of real Hap- pinefs to human Miferies, but hath even, in his infinite Compaf- ' fion, beflowed on thofe, who were fo foolifli as not to have made this Provifion, an imagmary Happinefs ; that they may not be quile over- borne with the Load' of human Miferies. This is the Poet's great and noble Thought, as ftrong and folid as it is new and in-^ genious. But fo ftrangely perverfe is his Commentator, that he will fuppofe him to mean any thing rather than what the obvious Drift of his Argument^ requires ; yet, to fay Truth, cares not much in what Senfe you take it, fo you will believe him that Mr. Pope's general Defign was to reprefent human Life as one grand lllujlon fatally conduSfed. But if the Rules of Logic ferve for any other Purpofe than to countenance the Paflions and Prejudices of fucli. Writers, it maybe demonftrated, that what the Poet here teaches is only tliis, " That thefe lUufions are the Follies of Men, which " they 'ti-'///K//y fall into, and through their own Fault', thereby " depriving themfelves of much Happinefs, and expofmg them- '« felves to equal Mifery : But that flill God (according to his " Univerfal way of Working) gracioufly turns thefe Follies fo far " to the Advantage of his miferable Creatures, as to be the prefent "Solace and Support of their Diflrefies," — Tho' Man's a Fool, yet God is wife. LETTER ,oi A COMMENTARY ON LETTER IIL WE arc now got to the T/^irri EpijHe of the EJhy on Man, Mr. Pope, in explaining the Origin, \]{e, and End of the Paflions, in the yi'coW Epiflle, having fhewn that Man has fociai as well as y^^j Paflions ; that Do6lrine naturally. introduceth the Third, which treats of Man as a social Animal ; and connefts it with the Second, which confidered him as an Individual. And as the Conclufion from the Subject of the Firjl Epiftle made the Introdutlion to the Second, fo here again, the Conclufion of the Second, Ev'n mean Self-love becomes, by Force divine, The Scale to meafure others Wants by thine, makes the Introdu6lion to the Third: Here then we reft ; the Univerfal Caufe Ads to one End, but ads by various Laws. The Reafon of Variety in thofe Laws, all which tend to one and the fame End, the Good of the Whole, generally, is, becaufe the Good of the Individual is likewife to be provided for ; both which together make up the Good of the Whole univerfally. And this is the Caufe, as the Poet fays clfewhere, that Each Individual feeks a feveral Go^l. Ep. li. 1. 227, But Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON xMAN. 105 But to prevent their reAing ihere, God has made each need the Ainflance of another : and fo, On mutual Wants, built mutual Happinefs. Ep. Hi. ]. 112. It was ncceflary to expLiin thcfc two firfl Lines, the better to fee the Pertinency and Force of what follows [fron:i 1. 2 to 7] where the Poet warns fuch to take Notice of this Truth, whofe circum- ftances placing them in an imaginary Station of Independence, and a real one of Infenfibility to mutual Wants (from whence general Happinefs refults) make them but too apt to overlook the true Syftem of Things; fuch as thofe \nfull Health and Opulence. This Caution was neceflary with regard to Society ; but ftill more necef- fary with regard to Religion : '1 herefore he efpecially recommends the Memory of it both to Clergy and Laity, when they preach or pray ; becaufe the Preacher who does not confider the Firji Caufe under this View, as a Being confulting the Good of the Whole, muft needs give a very lanvorthy Idea of him : And the Suppli- cant, who prays as one not related to a Whole^ or- as difregarding the Happinefs of it, w ill not only pray in vain, but offend his Maker, by an impious Attempt to counterwork his Difpenfation : in all the Madnefs of fuperfluous Health, The Trim of Prid^, the Impudence of Wealthy Let this great Truth be prefent Night and Day, But moft be prefent, if we preach or pray. Tlic Tranflator, not feeing into the admirable Purpofes of this Caution, hath quite dropt the moft material Circumftances con- tained in the hiJIUxue ; and, wliat is worfe, for the fake of a fooliOi Antithefis, hath deftroyed the whole Propriety of the Thought, in thejirji and feco?id, and fo, between both, hath left his Author neither Senfe nor Syflem, Dans le Scin du bonheur, oh de P Ad-verfile. Now, of all Men, thofe in Adverjity have the leafc need of this Cautio*!!, as being the leaft apt to forget that God confulti the Good of Vol. VI. P the ,o6 A C O M M E N T A R Y O N the //'^cv, and frcvJu'ts for it, hy procuring mutual Jiapplnefs by means of mutual irants : Becaufe luch as yet retain the Smart of aiir frcHi Calamity are moi\ companionate to others labouring un- der the lame Misfortunes, and motl prompt and ready to relieve them. The Poet then introduccth his Syflem of human Sociability [h 7, 8] by flicwing it to be the Di^flate of tlie Creator, and that AliWt mthis, did but follow the Example oi' general Nature, which is united in one clofc S\Jlcm cf Benevolence : Look round our World ; behold the Chain of Love Combining all below, and all above. This he proves, /^y? [from 1. 8 to 13] (on the noble Theory of AttraSlion) from the Oeconomy of the material World-, where there is a general Confpiracy in all the Particles of Matter to work for one End ; the Ule, Beauty, and Harmony of the whole Mais. L See plaflic Nature working to this End, The fmgle Atoms each to other tend, Attrad, attraded to, the next in Place Fornid and impeWd it's Neighbour to embrace. Formal and impelled, fays he. Thefe are not Words of a loofe Tindiainguiflied Meaning, thrown in to fill up the Verfe. This is not our Author's Way, they are full of Senfe ; and of the mofl: philofophical Precifion. For to make Matter fo cohere as to fit it /or the Ufes intended by its Creator, a proper Configuration of its infenhble Parts is as neceflhry as that Quality fo equally and uni- verfally conferred upon it, called AltraSlion. But here again the TranOator, miliaking this Defcription of the Preservation of the material Uni verfe by the Principle of Attradion, for a Defcription of its Creation, has quite deflroyed the Poet's fine analogical Argument, by which he proves, from the Cir- cumftance Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 107 cumftance of mutual Attradion in Matter, that Man, while he feeks Society, and thereby promotes the Good of his Species, co- operates with God's general Difpenjation. For the Circumftauce of a Creation proves nothing but a Creator: Voi du Sein du Chaos eclater la lumiere, Chaque Atome ebranle courir pour s'cmbraffer, ^c. The Poet's ftcond Argument [from 1. 12 to 27] is taken from the vegetable and animal World ; whofe Beings ferve mutually for the Production, Support, and Suftentation of each other. II. See Matter next, with various Life endued, Prefs to one Centre Hill, tke general Good ; See dying Vegetables Life fuftain. See Life diflblving vegetate again : All Forms that perilh other Forms fupply. By Turns they catch the vital Breath, and die ; Like Bubbles to the Sea of Matter born, They rife, they break, and to that Sea return, £?<:. One would wonder what fliould have induced Mr. V Abbcto tranflate the two laft Lines, thus : Sort du ncant y rentre, et reparoit au jour. Comes out of Nothing, and enters back again into Nothing. But he is generally as confiftently wrong as his Author is right. For having, as we obferved, miftaken the Poet's Account of the Prefervation of the material World, for the Creation of it ; he makes the very fame Miilake with regard to the vegetable and animal ; and fo comes in here (indeed rather of the latefl) with his Production of Things out of nothing. I fhould not have taken notice of this Miflake but for Mr. De Croifaz's ready Remark. " Mr. Pope, fays he, defcends even to *' the moft vulgar Prejudices ; when he tells us, that each Being P 2 " comes ,oS A C O M M E N T A R Y O U «• coui out r.f KubJtip;, the common People think that tiiat which •♦ ililappoars is annihilated. The Atoms, the Imalleil: Particles, the •' R<x>rs of tcrrcrtrial Botlies lublift*, c^r." But who it is that tle- fcen.ls to the worll vu/sar Prsjudues, the Reader will fee when he l.i told th.it Mr. Dj Crotifiz knew very well that Mr. Pope faid not one \V»)rd of each Being^'s going hack into Nothing ; both from his not finding it in the Profe Tranflator, and i'vom Refuel' s Confeffiou in his Pret'.icc, that he had taken great Liberties with his Ori- ginal. But this Part of tlie Argument, in which tiie Poet tells us, thcU God Connedls each Being,. greateiT: with the leafl: ; Made Beaft In Aid of Man, and Man of Beaft ;. yllljerv'dt allftrving awaking again the old Pride of his A.dvcrfarics, who cnnnot bear that i^ii7« fhould be- thought to he fervi/ig as well zs firved ; he takes this Occafion again to humble them [from 1. 26 to 5.3] by the fame kind of Argument he had lb fuccefsfully employed in x\\tjirji Epill'Ie, andwhich our/Vy? Letter has confidered at large. However, his Adverfarles, loth to give up the Quefllon, will reafon upon the Matter; and we are now to fuppofe them objeding againft Providence .in this Manner — We grant, fay they,, that iu the irrational, as in the inanimate Creation, all isferved, and all Is ferving. But, with regard to Man, the Cafe Is different ; he flands fnigle. For his Reafon hath endowed him both with Power and Addrefs, fufficient to make all Thlngsj^rw hiin ; and his Self-lovcy of which you have fo largely provided for him, will dlfpofe him, in his Turn, to ferve none. Therefore your Theory is imperfetSV. — " Not fo, replies the Poet [from 1. 52 to 83] I grant you, Man in- " deed affeils to be the Wit and ^Tyrant of the Whole ^ and would fain " fhake off — That Chain of Love, Combining all below and all above : * Conimentaire, p. 221, «' But Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MA-N". iccjr **"But Nafurc, even by the very Gift of Rc'ifcn, checks this Ty- '■'■rant: Vov Reafon endowing Man with the Ability of letting- •■' together the Memory of the pall, and Conjediure about the Future ; " and p;dt Misfortunes making him apprehenfive of more to come, " this difpofes him to pity and reheve others in a Stole of Suffer- " ing. And the Paflion growing habitual, naturally extends its " Eiteds to all that have a Senfe of fufFering. Now as Brutes have " neither Man's Reafon, nor his Inordinate Sef-love to draw them " from the Syftem of Benevolence, ib they wanted not, and " therefore have not, this human Sympathy of another's Mifery. By- " vviiich Paffion we lee thofe Qualities, in Man, balance one ano- " ther, and lb retain him in that general Order,, in which Provi- " dence has placed its whole Creation. But this is not all ; Man's. " Interefr, Amufement, Vanity, and Luxury, tic him Hill cloicr " to the Syftem ef Benevolence, by obliging him to provide for " the Support of other Animals; and though It be, for the mofb: •' part, only to devour them with the greateft Gufl:, yet this docs.- '• not abate the proper Happinefs of the Animals fo preferved, to " whom Proviclcfice has not given the ufkfs Knciclecfge of their Ena'. "From all which it appears, that the Theory is yet unitbrm, and. *' perfect. Grant that the Powerful Hill the Weak contrcuU Be Man tiie Wit and Tyrant of the Whole : Nature that Tyrant checks ; he only knows And helps another Creature's Wants and Woes. Say, will the Falcon, Hooping from above, Smit with her varying Plumage, fpare the Dove ? Admires the Jay the Infedl's gilded WingSj Or hears the Hawk, when Philomela fings ? Man cares for all, ^c.-. For fomc his Interefi: prompts him to provide. For more his Pleafure, yet for more his Pride. Tiils iro A C 0 M M E N TA R Y O N '1 his is the Force of this fine and noble Argument. The fenfe- KM's .-Mul fc.mdalous Reflexions of Mr. De Croufaz on the latter I'art of it, I have refuted in my former Letter. But even to this, as a Caviller would fllll object, we mufl: fuppofe him fo to do, and fay — Admit you have fhewn that Nature hath endowed all Anitnals, whether human or brutal, with fuch Facul- ties as admirably fit them to promote the general Good: Yet, in its Care for this, hath not Nature neglefted to provide for the private Good of the Individual ? We have Caufe to think it hath, and we fuppofe that it was on this exclufive Confideration that it kept back from Brutes the Gift of Reafon (fo neceffary a means of private happiiiefs), becaufe Reafon, as we find in the Inltance of Man, where there is Occafion for all the complicated Contri- vance you have defcribed above, to make the Effedls of his Pajfwns countei-work the immediate Powers of his Reafon, in order to keep him liibfervient to the general Syflem ; Reafon, vve fay, naturally tends to draw Beings into ^private, independent Syftem. This the Poet anfwers by fnewing [from 1. 8 2 to 109] that the Happinefs oi animal and human Life is widely different. Tlie Hap- pinefs of human Life confifting in the Improvement of the Mind, can be procured by Rmfon only : But the Happinefs of animal Life confifting in the Gratifications of Senfe, is beft promoted by In- Jlin£t. And, with regard to the regtilar and confliant Operation of eacji, in that, Inftindl hath plainly the Advantage : For here God Jireds immediately ; there, only mediately, through Man : Reafon, however able, cool at beft. Cares not for Service, or but ferves when preft ; Stays till we call, ajid then not often near ; But honeft Inftind comes a Volunteer. And Reafon raife o'er Inftlna as you can. In this 'tis God direSls, in that 'tis Man. The Commentator (who I wUl, in Charity, fuppofe faw nothing of this fine and fober Reafoning, nor was apprehenfive of the Ob- jeaion which occafioned it, though that Objedion arlfesdiredly from RIn. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. ,ir from the Subjeft) accufcth the Poet of defignlng to reprcfent Brutes as perjc£l as Man, who is (fays he) of a Nature Jufceptible of Religion *, But if our Commentator could not lee the Chaui of Reafonhig, • he might yet, methinks, have attended to this plain Denunciation of the Poet, which introduccth the Diicourle that gives him fo much Offence : Whether with Reafon or with Inll:in£l bleil:, Know all enjoy the Power, labicb Jiiits them beji : To Blifs alike by that Direftion tend, And find the Means proportion' d to the End. Which fliews the FerfeSiion here fpoken of not to be a Perfediou equalled to that of another Being, but only fuch an one as iz propor- tioned to the Being itfelf, of whom this Perfedlon is predicated. The Poet now comes to the main Subje£l of his Epiftle, tiie Proof of Man's Sociability, from the two general Societies com- pofed by him ; the natural, fubjedl to paternal Authority ; and the CIVIL, fubjeft to that of a Magiftrate : Which he hath had the Addrefs to introduce, fiom what had preceded, in fo eafy and natu- ral a Manner, as fhews him to have the Art of giving all the Grace to the Drynefs and Severity of Method, as well as Wit to the Strength and Depth of Reafon. For the philofophic Nature of iiis Work requiring he fhould fliew by what Means thofe Societies were introduced, this affords him an Opportunity of Aiding gracefully and eafily from iht Preliminaries into the main Sub'jeSl \ and lo of giving his Work that Perfedion of Method, which we find only in the Compofitions of great Writers. For having juft before, though to a different Purpofe, defer'. bed the Power of beftial Inftind to attain tiie Happinefs of the Indi- vidual, he goes on in fpeaking of Inftindl as it is ferviceable both to that, and to the Kind [from \. io8 to 148] to illuftrate the Ori- ginal of Society. He {hews, that though, as he had before ob- ferved, God had founded the proper Blifs of each Creature in the * Conimcntairc, p. ^29. NaturC' , ,a A- C O M M E N T A R Y ON Sntttrc of its own Being, yet thefc not being independent Indivi- duals, but Parts of a Whole, God, to blefs that Whole, built mutual Happineis on mutual Wants : Now for the Supply of mu- tual Wants, Creatures muft neceflhrily come together ; which is the firrt Ground of Society amongft Men : Whate'er of Life all-quickening ^ther keeps. Or breathes through Air, or ihoots beneath the Deeps, Or pourG profufe on Earth; oiie Nature feeds 'i'he vital Flame, and fwells the genial Seeds. Not Man alone, but all tliat roam the Wood, Or wing the Sky, or roll along the Flood, Each loves itfelf, but not itfclf alone, Each Sex defires alike, till two are one. He then proceeds to that Qz\\t(\ natural, fubje^l to palernal Axitho- rity, and arifuig from the Union of the two Sexes ; defciibes tiie imperfe(fl Image of it in Brutes; then explains it at large in all its Caufes and Elfcfls : And, Ja.ft!y, fliews, that as in Fact, like mere animal Society, it is founded and preferved by mutual Wants, the Supplial of which caufes mutual Happinefs ; fo is it likewife in Right, as a rational Society, by Equity, Gratitude, and the Obfcrvr.nce of the Relation of Things in general; Reflexion, Reafon, flill the Ties improve ; At once extend the Intereft, and the Love : With Choice we fix, with Sympathy we burn, Each Virtue in each Pafllon takes its Turn ; And ftill new Needs, new Helps, new Habits, rife. That graft Benevolence on Charities. Mem' ry and Forecaft juft Returns engage. That pointed back to Youth, this on to Age; While Pleafure, Gratitude, and Hope combin'd. Still fpread the Intereft, and preferv'd the Kind.] But the Atheift and Hobbiji, againft whom Mr. Pope writes, deny the Principle of Right, or of natural Jujiicc, before the Invention of Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON ]\I A N. 113 o? civil Compact, which, they fay, gave Behig to it: Ami accor- dingly have had the EfiVontery publickly to declare, that a State of NcJtureivas a State oflVar. This quite lub verts the Poet's natural Society: Therefore, z.ix.zx \-{\% Account oi that State, he proceeds to fupport t\\& Reality of It, by overthrowing the oppugnant Princi- ple of no natural Jujlice ; which he does [from 1. 147 to 170] by {hewing, in a fine Defcription of the State of Innocence, as repre- fented in Scripture, that a State of Nature was fo far from being wiihowX. natural JuJlicc, that it was, atfirft, the Reign of God, where Right and Truth univerfally prevailed : Nor think, in Nature's State they blindly trod, The State of Nature was the Reign of God. Self-love, and foclal, 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 Beaft, joint Tenant of the Shade. Now let us hear Mr. DeCroufaz, who tells us, he had redoubled his Atention upon this Epijlle"^.' — Wiv. Pope (fays \\c) f peaks with the Affurance of an Eye-witnefs of what pajfcd in this firfl Age of the World \. — And why (hould he not, when conduced by his Faith in Scripture Hiftory? — That which he here reprefents, fays he, is much Icfs credible in itfelf, that that which Mofes teacheth us -f. Now what muft we think of our Logician's Faith, who taking it for granted, that Mr. P<j/>(? would not borrow of Afoy^/, has here con- demned, before he was aware, the Credibility of Scripture Hifto- ry ? For the Account here given of the State of Innocence is indeed no other than that of Mofes himfelf. He goes on — This Religion, common to Brutes and Men, infinuaies to uSf that, in ihofc happy Times, Men had no more Religion than Brutes^. * Commentaire, p. 218, t lb. p. 240. Vol. VI. Q This 1,4 A COMMENTARY ON This HircwJ Rcflcaion points at the following Lines: In the lame Temple, the refounding Wood, All vocal Brings hymii'd their equal God. But docs not the Poet fpcak, in this very place, of Man, as of- ficiating in the prieftly Office at the Altar, and offering up his. blamclefs cucharillical Sacrifice to Heaven ? The Sliriue with Gore unftain'd, with Gold undrcft, Unbrib'd, unbloody, flood the blamclefs Prieft. As to the Line, All vocal Beings hymn'd their equal God, our Logician ftiould be fent to Scripture for its Meaning ; who, had he been as converfant with the Pfalmijl ^s with Burgerfdiclus, would have learned to have judged more pioufly as well as more ciiaritably. The tnfpired Poet calling to Mind (as Mr. Pope did here) the jige of Innocence, and full of the great Ideas of thofe < Chains of Love, Combining ail below, and all above ; which Draw to one Point, and to one Centre bring Beaji, Man, ox Angel, Servant, l^ord, or King ; breaks out into this rapturous and divine Apoflrophe, to call back the devious Creation to its priftine Redlitude. That verj State Mr. Pope defcribes above : — " Praife the Lord, all ye Angeh : praife '* him, all ye Hofts. Praife him, Sun and Moon ; praife him, -all. *' ye Stars of Light. ' Let them praife tlie Name of. the Lord, for. " he commanded,. and they, were created. Praife the Lord frqm " the Earth, ye Dragons^ and alj Deeps : Fire and Hail, Suqw, " and Vapour, ftormy Wind fulfilling his Word : Mountains and " all Hills, fruitful Trees, and all Cedars : Beafis and all Cattle, " creeping Things, z.\\A flying Fowl : Kings of the Earth and all " People ; Princes and all Judges of the Earth. Let them prgife " the Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. iiy *' the Name of the Lord ; for his Name alone Is excellent, his *' Glory is above the Earth and Heaven." Pfal- cxlvlii. To return. Strid Method (in which, by this time, the Reader finds the Poet more converlant than our Logician was aware of) leads him next to fpeak of that Society which fucceeded the n:itu~ ral, namely the civil. But as he does all by eafy Steps, in the natural Progreflion of Ideas, he firfl; explains [from 1. 169 to 200] the intermediate Means which led Mankind {lom natural to civil So- ciety. Thefe were the Invention and Improvement of Arts. For while Mankind lived in a mere State of Nature, unconfcious of the Arts of Life, there was no need of any other Government than the pater7ial\ but when Arts were found out and improved, then that ipore perfed Form under the Diredion of a Magi/Irate became neceffary. And for thefe Reafons; Firjl, to bring thofe Arts, al- ready found, to PerfeSlion ; and, Secondly, to fecure the Produd of them to their rightful Proprietors. The Poet, therefore, comes now, as we fay, to the Invention of Arts ; but being always intent on the great End for whicli he wrote his E^jk* namely, to mortify that Pride, which occafions the impious Complaints againfl: Provi- dence, he, with the greateit Art and Contrivance, fpeaks of thefe Inventions, as only Leffons learnt of mere Animals guided by h\- flin£l ; and thus, at the fame time, gives a new Inllance of the wonderful Providence of God, who has contrived to teach Man- kind in a Way not only proper to humble human Arrogance, but to raife our Idea of infinite Wifdom to the greateft Pitch. All this he does in a Profopopceia the moft fublime that ever entered into the human Imagination : See him from Nature rifing flow to Art ! To copy InftinEi then was Reafons Part : Thus then to Man the Voice of Nature fpake — " Go, from the Creatures thy Infl:rudions take; *' Thy Arts of Building from the Bee receive, " Learn of the Mole to plow, the Worm to weave ; Q 2 *' Leara .,6 A C O M M E N T A RY O N " I, earn of the little NmuHus to Hill. •' Spread the thin Oar, and catch the driving Gate, £?r. " Vet go ! and thus o'er all the Creatures iway, '• Thus let the Wilcr nnake the refc obey, ♦« And for thofc -^r/J mtrt hiJlwot could afi"ord, " Be crown d as Monarchs, or as Gods adcr'ii.'" The Delicacy of the Poet's AJdrefs, in the firft Part of the laft Line, is very remarkable. I obferved, that, in this Paragraph, be lias given an Account of thcfe intervicdiate Means that led Man- kind from natural to civil Society, namely, the Invention and Improvement of Arts. Now here, on his Conclufion of this Ac- count, and Entry upon the Defcription of civil Society itfelf, he conneds the two Parts the moft gracefully that can be conceived, bv tliis true hiflorical Circumftance, that it was the Invention of thofe Arts, which raifed to tlie Magiftracy, in t\-ii^ ne%v Society, now formed for \.\\t perfeBing them. I cannot leave this Part without taking notice of the ftraiige Turn the Tranflator has given to thefe two Lines : Thus then to Man the Voice of Nature fpake — *' Go, from the Creatures thy Inftruclions take." La Nature indigne alors Te fit entendre ; Va, maiheurcux mortel, va, lui dit-elle, apprendre Des plus vils animaux. One would wonder what fliould make him reprefent Nature in fucli a Paflion at Man, and calling him Names, when Mr. Pope fuppofea her in her beft good Humour, and Man the moft happy in the Di- reftion here given. But whaf led him into this Miftake was ano- ther full as grofs : Mr, Pope having defcribed the State of Inno- cence, which ends at thefe Lines, Heaven's Attribute was univerfal Care, And Man's Prerogative to rule, but fpare, turns Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON M A ^^. it; turns from thofe Times to a View o^ tJicfc latter J-',es, and breaks out into this tender and humane Complaint : Ah, how unlike the Man of Times to covieV Of half that live the Butcher and the Tomb; Who, Foe to Nature, hears the general Groan, Murders their Species, and betrays his own, ^C Unluckily, the Tranflator took this Man of Times to coiKi', for the Corrupter of that yJ'r/? Jlge\.^\\d fo imagined the Poet had in- troduced Nature only to fet things right : he then fuppofed, cf courfe, fhe was to be very angry, and not finding Mr, Pope had rc- prefented her in- any great Em.otion, he was willing to imprcvo upon his Original... To proceed, after all this neceflary Preparation, the Poet fhewsr [from Li 99 to 211.] how C/w/ Snciety followed, and the Advan- tages it produced. But thefe are bcft defcribcd in his own Words : ■ Great Nature fpoke ; obfervant Men obey'd ; Cities were built. Societies were made : Here rofe one little State ; another near- Grew by like Means^ and join'd through Love, or Fear, Did liere the Trees with ruddier Burthens bend. And there the Streams in purer Rills defcend ? What War could ravifli, Commerce could bedow, And he return'd a Friend, who came a Foe. Converfe and Love Mankind might ftrongly draw, When Love was Liberty, and Nature Law* Thus States were form'd. • Nothing can be jufter than this Account, oc more corroborative of the Poet's general Theory.. Yet his Tranflator has a ftrange> Fatality in contradiding him, whenever he attempts to paraphrufe . bis Senfe. The firft Line Mr. PMbe turns thus. Par ces mots la Nature excita I'Liduftrie^t . Et. de P Homme fercce enchaina lafurie. Chained up the Fury of Savage Man, . And, ,,B A COMMENTARY ON And i'o coiitradlds his Author's whole Syftcm of Benevolence, and goes over to the AthciA's, who fiippofcs X.\\c State of Nature to be a Stale of War. That which feems to have mlflcd him was thcfe Lines : Whnt War could ravifli, Commerce could beftow. And he return'd a Friend, who came a Foe. Eiit the Tranflator fliould have confidered, that though his Author maintains a Sdite of Nature to be a State of Peace, yet he never imagined there could be no Quarrels in it. He well knew, that Self-lij'ce drives through Jufi and through Unjufl *. He pu flies no Syfiem to an Extravagance ; but Jieers between DoBrines feemingly oppofti +, or, ill other Words, follows Truth uniformly through- out. Having thus explained the Original oi Civil Society, he fhews us next [from 1. 210 to 216] that to this Society a civil Magifirafe, properly fo called, did belong : and tills, in Confutation of that idle Hypothefis of Filler, and others ; which pretends that God conferred the regal Title on the Fathers of Families, from whence Men, when they had inftituted Society, were to fetch their Magif- trates. On the contrary, our Poet fliews that zKing was unknown till common Intercjl, which led Men to Inftitute civil Government, led them, at the fame time, to inftitute a Governor. However, that it is true that the fame Wifdom or Valor, which gained re'^-al Obedience from Sons to the Sire^ procured /C/w^g-j ^paternal Autho- rity, and made them confidered as Fathers of their People. Which probably was the Original (and, while miftaken, continues to be the z\<M:i Support) of that {lavlfli Error ; Antiquity reprefentlng its ^arlicft Monarchs under the Idea of a common Father, -s^gcT^^ uvl^S^v. Afterwards indeed they became a kind oi FoPr-Fathers, ■:^o^^,'^vo. r^xu., as Homer calls tliem : Till at length they begr.n to devour that Flock they had been fo long accuflomcd to>^r; .and, as Plutarch • Ep. iii. 1. .-70, I See Preface. fays Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 119 feys of CecropS, ex, XP'*!^^ (3x(TtXsa'g cxypiov yr S^ocTtovT-l^ri yr.oy,eiis-j TYPANNON. — the Name of King unknown. Till common Intereil placed the Sway hi one. 'Twos Virtue only (or in Arts, or Arms, DifTufing Bleffings, or averting Harms) The fame which in a Sire the Sons obey'd, A Prince, the Father of a People made. Our Author has good Authority for his Account of the Origin of Kingfliip. Arijlotle affures us of this Truth, that ^Twas Virtue only or in Arts or Arms. Ka.9ffccjui Bac-jXeuV Ix rm sTrieiKuju x.ctG'' uVs^o- %;^ df.eT7;g 7] zs-pcA^euv tuv «Vo Tr,g Kpsrr^g, TJ xa^' vvrepox'^" TCi^ia yivaq . The Poet now returns [at 1. 2 i 6 to 242] to what he had left unfinifhed in his Delcription of natural Society. This, which ap- pears irregular, is indeed a fine Inftancc of his thorough Knowledge of the Art of Method. 1 will explain it. This third Epiflle, we lee, confiders ATan with rcfpcSi to Society ;. the fecond, with refpedl to him/elf -, and the fourth, with refpecf to Hcippinefs. But in none of thefe Relations doesthe Poet ever lofe-. fight of him under that in which he flands to God; it will follow therefore, that fpeaking of him with rej'pedt to Society, the Ac- count would be then mofl imperfeft, were he not at the f^me time, confidered with refpeSl to his Religion ; for, between thefe two there is a clofe, and, while Things continue in Or^tr, a moil /Vi/t- rejlifig Conncclion. True Faith, true Policy, united ran; That was but Love of God, and' this of Man. 1. 240. Now Religion fufFering, no Change-y or Dcpravatiofi, whey Man firft entered into civil Society, but conti^iiuing the fame as it? the State of Nature, the Poet, to avoid Repetition, and to bring the .; * Tolit. lib. V. c. 10. Accounts A COMMENTARY ON Acv-'^/iit' of true MxCifdlfe Religion nearer to one another, in order to cctir.ijl ihcm by the Advantage of that Situation, deferred giv- ing Account of his Religion, till he had fpoken of the Origin of tl\t! Society. Tiicnce it is, that he here refumes the Account of the Slate of Nature, that is, fo much of it as he had left untouclied, wliich was only the Religion of it. This confifting in the Know- Ifdge of one God, tlic Creator of all Things, the Poet fliews how- Men came by that Knowledge. That it was either found out by Reason, .which, giving to every Effedl a Caiife, inftrufted them to go from Caufc to Caufc, till they came to the First, who being caufelt'fs, would ncctfflarily be judged felf-exijleiit : Or taught by Tradition, wlilcli preferved the Memory of the Creation. — He then tells ais luhat thefe Men, undebauched by falfe Science, un- derflood by God's Nature and Attributes. i/7. Of God's Na^ turc ; tliat they eafdy dlftingulflied between the IVorkman and the Wvrk ; and faw the Subjlance of the Creator to be dlftin£l and dif- ferent from thai of the Creature; and fo were in no Danger of falling Into the horrid Opinion of the Greek Phllofophers, and their Follower Spinoza. And fimple Reafon teaching them, that the Creator was but One, they eafily faw that all was right ; and were in as little Danger of falling into the Manichean Error, which, when oblique JVit had hroke the fleddy Light of Reafon, imagined all was not rights "having before imagined all was not the Work of One. idly. What they underftood of God's Attributes ; that they eafily conceived a "Father where they had found a Deity^ and that a fiver eign'Being could ovAy ht z.fovereignGood. Till then, by Nature crown'd, each Patriarch fate. King, Prieft, ^nd Parent of his growing State : On htm, x.\\t:\T fecond Providence, they hung, Their Law Ills "Eye; the'rr Oracle his Tongue, C^c. Till drooping, Tickcning, dying, they began Whom they rever'd as God, to mourn as Man. I. Then, Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 121 I. Then, looking up from Sire to Sire, explor'd Oiie great firfl Father, and that Firft ador'd. II. Or plain Tradition that this 2.11 begu/:, Convey'd unbroken Faith from Sire to Son. I. The Worker from the Work diftind was known, And fimple Reafon never fought but one. Ere Wit oblique had broke that fteddy Light, Man, like his Maker, faw that n/I was right. II. To Virtue in the Paths of Pleafure trod. And own'd a Father when he o\vn'd a God. Love all the Faith, &c. Our methodical Tranflator, not apprehending that the Poet was here returned to finifh his Defciiptlon of the State of Nature, has fallen into one of the groffeil Miftakes that ever was committed. He has taken this Account of true Religion, for an Account of the Origin of Idolatry, and thus fatally embellifhes his own Blunder, Jaloux d'en conferver les traits et la figure, Leur zele induftrleux inventa la Peinture. Leurs neveux, attentifs a ces hommes fameux. Qui par le droit du fang avoient regne fur eux, Trouvent-ils dans leur fuite \\n grand, un premier pere, Leur aveugle refpedl I'adore et le revere. Here you have one of the finefl: Pieces of Reafoning in the World, turned, at once, into as mere a Heap of Nonfenfe. You will wonder how it came about : The unlucky Term oi Great Jirft Fa- ther confounded our Tranflator, an-d he took it to fignify a Great- Grandfather. But he fliould have conjidercd that Mr. Pope always Vol. VI. R reprefents A C O M M E N T A R Y O N rcprcfcnts God as every wife and good Man would do, and as our Religion dircdls us to do, under the Idea of a Father : He (hould have chfcrvcii lliat the Pott is here delciibing thofc Men, who To Virtue in the Fatl)S of Plcafure trod, And own'd a Falbcr, where they owa'd a God. You may be fure Mr. De Croufaz has not let let thefe fine Strokes about the Or/JT///.;/ o/" Ptf/«//»^ efcape him. But here the Critic (which is a Wonder) proves clearer-fighted than the Tranf- lator ; lie iaw that the Lines in Queftion were a Continuation of fomcthing not imnud'iatdy preceding ; but that was all he faw, as may appear by his fagacious Remark. " We fliall be mlftaken '* (fays he) if we regard this Pafliige as a Continuation of the •' Illftory immediately going before. It would be too great an •' Anachronifm to fuppofe it. The Government of Fathers of ♦♦ Families did not fucceed that of Kings; on the contrary, the " Reign oi thrfe was eftabliflitd on the Government oi thofe*." Order leads the Poet to fpeak next [from I. 241 to 246] of the Corruption of civil Society into Tyranny, and its Caufcs ; and here, with all the /Irl of AJdrefs^ as well as Truth, he obferves, it arofe from the Violation of that great Principle, which he fo much infifts upon throughout liis Eflay, Fhai each -was made for the Vfi of all: Who fird taught Souls enflav'd, and Realms undone, Th' enormous Faith oi many made for one? That proud Exception to all Nature's Laws, T' Invert the World, and counterwork its Caufe. And In this Ariflotle places the Difference between a King and a Tyrant; that the>_^ fuppofes himfelf made for the People; the ether, that the People are made for him +. * Coraratiitairc, p. 249. t^B«.,l.. i- 0 BAZIAE^S .:... ^',..{, -l,,, ,: ^;, ,„^^^.„. ^,^ ,^,^^^ ^^5., .^^^^ ^.^^^^^^^ . i^ol. I, V. C. 10. But Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 123 But we may be lure, that in this Corruption, where natural Juftice was thrown aiide, and Force, the Atheill's Juftice, prefided in its ftead, Religion would follow the Fate of civil Society. We know, from ancient Hiltory, it did fo. Accordingly, Mr. Pope [from 1. 245 to 270] with corrupt Politics defcribes corrupt Reli- gion and its Caufes ; he frjl informs us, agreeable to his exa£b Knowledge of Antiquity, that it was the Politician, and not the Priest (as our illiterate Tribe of Free-thinkers would make us be- lieve) who firil: corrupted Religion. Secondly, that the Supersti- tion, he brought in, was not invented by him, as an Engine to jilay upon others (as the dreaming Alheijl feigns, who would thus miferably account for the Origin of Religion), but was a T^rop he firfl fell into himfelf Force firft made ConqueH:, and that Conqueil, Law ; Till Superjlition taught the Tyrant ozve, T\\t\\jliard the Tyranny, then lent it aid. And Gods of Conquerors, Slaves of Subjects made. All this is agreeable to the Poet's vaft Knowledge of human Nature. For that Impotency of Mind, as the hatin Writers call it*, which gives Birth to the enormous Crimes neceffary to fup- port a Tyranny, naturally fubjeds its Owner to all the vain, as well as real Terrors of Confcience. Hence the whole Machinery of Superjlition. She, 'midft the Lightning's Blaze and Thunder's Sound, When rock'd the Mountains, and when groan'd the Ground, She, from the rending Earth and burfting Skies, Saw Gods defcend, and Fiends infernal rife. And it is no Wonder that thofe, who had fo impioufly attempted to counterwork the Defign of Nature, by a6ting as if many -were * They exprefled the Pajion for tyrarmizitig by this Word. A fine Roman Hiftorian fays of Marius, that he was Gloria infatiabilis, impotens femptr^ue inquietus. And of F»n>pcy, P ottntla fua nunq^uam aut raro «</ impotentiam ufm. R a 7uade 1J4 A COMMENTARY ON tftaJe f'.r one, Hioiilil now Imagine tliey law all Nature arming In Vctjgcancc ag:iiiirt tlieni. It is true, the Poet oljli-rves, that afterwards, when the Tyrant^* Fright was over, lie liad Cunning enough, from theExperlcnce of the. Ertia of SoiKrClition upon himfelf, to turn it by the Afliftance of the Pricrt (who for his Reward went Shares with him in the Tyranny) as his bcfl Defence againO: his Subje£ts> Witli Heaven's own Thunders fliook the World below, And pl.iy'd the God an Engine on his Foe. For a Tyrant naturally and rcafonably takes all his SLves for his Enemies. Having given the Catifes of SupcrAltion, he next defcribes its Oljcils ; Gods partial, changeful, paffionate, uiijulT:, Whofe Attributes were Rage, Revenge, and Lufi : Such as the Souls of Cowards might conceive. And, form'd like Tyrants, Tyrants would believe. The ancient Pagan Gods are here very exaflly defcribed. This Fa£t is a convincing Evidence of the Truth of that Original which the Poet gives to Superftltion : For if thefe Phantafms were firft rnifed in the Imagination of Tyrants, they muft needs have the Qualities here afligned them. For Force being the Tyrant's Virtue^ and Luxury his Happ'tnefs, the Attributes of his God would of Courfc be Revenge and Lujl ; in a Word, the Antitype of himfelf. But there was another, and more fubftantial Caufe, of the Refemblance between a Tyrant and a Fagan God\ and that was the making Goh of Cr.nqutrors, as the Poet fays, and fo canonizing a Tyrant's Vices with his Per/on. That thefe Gods ihould fuit a People humbled to the Stroke of a Mafler, will be no Wonder, if we recoiled a ge- nerous Saying of the Ancients \—rhat, that Day which fees a MaJi a Slaxe, takes away half his Virtue. The Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. raj. The Inference our Poet draws from. all this [from 1. 269 to 284] is, that Self-love drives through Right and Wrong ; it caufes tiie Tyrant to violate the Rights of Mankind ; aad it Cuufts the People- to vindicate that Violation. For Self-love being common to tiie whole Species, and fetting each Individual in purfuit of the fame Obje(5ls, it became neceflary for each, if he would fecure his own,, to provide for the Safety of another's. And thus Equity and Be- i^evolence arofe from that fame Self-love which had given Birth to Avarice and hjjufticc. For what one likes,, if others like as well, What ferves one Will, when many Wills rebel ? How {hall he keep, what fleeping or awake A Weaker may furprife, a Stronger take ? His Safety muft his Liberty reftrain ; All join to guard what each defires to gain. The Poet hath not any where (hewn greater Addrefs in the maf- .terly Difpofition of his Work, than with regard to the Inference before us ; which not only gives a proper and timely Support tO' what he had before advanced, in his fecond Ep'ijlle, concerning the Nature and EfFefts of Self-love ; but is a neceflary Introduftion to what follows concerning the Reformation ox Religion. T^nCi- Society, as we fhall fee prefently. The Poet hath now defcribed the Rife, Perfedion, and'Decay of civil Policy and Religion, in the more early Ages. But the Dtfigii liad been imperfedtly executed, had he here dropp'd his Difcourfe j- there was, after this, a Recovery from their feveral Corruption s^ Accordingly, he hath chofen that happy Period for the Conclufioiv of his Song. But as good and ill Governments and Rcligioi:is fucceed one another without ceafing, he now, with great Judg- ment, leaves FaSls, and turns his Difcourfe [from 1. 283 to 296] to fpeak of a more lafling Reform of Mankind, in the Inventioii of thofe philofophic Principles^ by whofe Obfervance a Policy and: , -6 A C O I^IM E N T A R Y O N and R^li^ion may be for ever kept from finking into Tyranny and Sit^ajiit'ion. 'Uvai then the ftudious Head, or generous Mind, Follower of God, or Friend of human Kind, Poet or Patriot rofe, but to reftore The Faith and Morals, Nature gave before; Relum'd her ancient Light, not kindled new. If not God's Image, yet his Shadow drew ; Taught Power's due Ufe to People and to Kings, Taught not to flack, nor drain its tender Strings, ^c. The eafy and jufl: Tranfition into this Subjedt, from the fore- going, is admirable. In the foregoing, he had defcribed the Effeas of Self-love ; now the Ohfervation of thefe EfFefts, he, with great Art and high Probability, makes the Occafion of thofe Dlfcovcries, which fpeculative Men made of the inte Principles of Policy and Religion, defcribed in the prefent Paragraph ; and this he evidently hints at in that fine Tranfition, 'TwAS THEN the fliidious Head, &c. Mr. De Croufaz, who faw nothing of this Beauty, fays, — It is not eafy to guefs to what Epoch Mr, Pope would have us refer his THEN *. He has indeed proved himfelf no good GueJJer, which yet is tlie befl: Quality of a Critic. I will therefore tell him with- out more ado, Mr. Pope meant the polite and flour iflnng Age of Greece; and thofe Benefaftors to Mankind, which, I prefume, he had principally in View, were Socrates and Arijlotle^ who, of all the Pagan World, fpoke befl of God^ and wrote befl of Go- •vernment. Having thus defcribed the true Principles of civil and ecclefafli-' ral Policy, the great Poet proceeds [from 1. 295 to 305] to illuftrate Lis Account by th,c fmnllar Harmony of the Univerfe : * Commentaire, p. 261. Such Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 127 Such Is the World's great Harmony, that fprings From Union, Order, full Concent of Things ! Where fmall and great, where weak and might;y, made^ To ferve, not fuffer, itrengthen, not invade, IMore powerful each as needful to the refl,. And in proportion as it blefles, blefl:. Draw to one Point, and to one Centre bring- Beaft, Man, or Angel, Servant, Lord, or King. Tlius, as in the Begimiiig of this Epiftle, he fupported the gn^/if Principle of mutual Love or Affociation in general^ by Confiderations drawn from the Properties of Matter, and the mutual Depetidencc between vegetable and animal Life; fo, in the Conclujioriy he has in forced the particular Principles of civil and religious Society, from; that univerfal Harmony which fprings, in part, from thofe Proper- ties and "Dependencies . But now the Foet, having fo much commended the Invention and hiventors of the philofophic Principles of Religion and Govern- ment, left an evil Ufe fhould be made of this, by Men's refling in Theory and Speculati'-jn, as they have been always too apt to do,, in Matters whofe Pni^iice makes their Happinefs, he cautions- his Reader [from 1. 304 to 311] againfl this Error, in a Warmth of ExpreJJion, which the fublime Ideas of that univerfal Harfuoiiv^. operating inceflantly to univerfal Good^ had raifed up in him. For Forms of Government let Fools conteft ; Whatever is beft adminifter'd is beft. For Modes of Faith let gracelefs Zealots figlit ; His can't be wrong, whofe Life Is in the Right. All xnuft be fi\ire, that thwart this one great End,. And all of God, that blefs Mankind, or mend. The Seafonablenefs of this Reproof will appear evident enouglL to thofe who know, that mad Difputes about Liberty and Preroga- tive had once well nigh overturned our Conftitution ; and tha^ otlicr-3 ,,t A C O M M E N TARY O N otlicrs about Myfi^ry nnd Church Authority had almoft deftroyed the vcrv Spirit of our holy Religion. • But thelc fine Lines have been ftiangely mifunderflood. The Author, againrt his own exprefs Words, againfl the plain Senfe of his Syftcni, has be-cn conceived to mean, That all Governments and all Religion!, ivere, as to their Forms and Objeas, indifferent. But as this wrong Judgment proceeded from Ignorance of the Rtafon of the Reproof, as explained above, that Explanation is alone fufficient to re^ify the Miftake. Ho\ve%'er, not to leave him under the leaft Sufpicion, in a Matter CI fo much Importance, I fliall juftify the Senfe here given to this PafTage more at large. Firfl by confidering the IVords thmfelvcs : And then by comparing this mlftakea Senfe with the Context. The Poet, we mufl obfcrvc, is here fpcaking, not of civil Society at targe, but of a j///? legitimate Policy, Th' according Mufic of a well-mi x'd State. Now tlicfe are of feveral Kinds ; in fome of which the Democratic, in others the A'ijhcratic, and in others the Monarchic Form pre- vails. Now as each ofthefe mix" d Forms is equally legitimate, as being founded on the Principles of natural Liberty, that Man is guilty of the higheft Folly, who chiifes rather to employ himfelf in a fpeculative Conteft for the fuperior Excellence of one of thefe Forms to the reft, than in promoting the good Adminiftration of tliat fettled Form to which he is fubjedl. Aud yet all our warm Difputcs about Government have been of this kind. Again, if, by Forms of Government, muft needs be meant legitimate. Govern- ment, becaufe that is the Subjed under Debate, then by Modes of Faith, which is the correfpondent Idea, mufl n-eeds be meant tlie Modes or E'<planat:ons of the true Faith, becaufe the Author is ihere too on the Subjcdl of true Religion • Reilum'd her ancient Light, not kindled new. Beiides, Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 129 Befides, the very Expreflioa (than which nothing can be more precife) confines us to underftand, by Modes of Fa'tth^ thofe hu- man Explanations of Chriftian Myfteries, in contefting which, Zeal and Ignorance have fo perpetually violated Charity. Secondly, If we confider the Context \ to fuppofe him to mean, that all Forms of Government are indifferent, is making him diredlly contradicH: the preceding Paragraph ; where he extols the Patriot for difcriminating the true from the falfe Modes of Government. He, fays the Poet, Taught Power's due Ufe to People and to Kings, Taught not to flack, nor flrain its tender Strings ; The lefs and greater fet fo juftly true. That touching one mufl ftrike the other too ; 'Till jarring Interefts of themfelves create Th' according Miific of a well-mix" d State. Here he recommends the true Form of Government, which is the mht. In another Place he as flrongly condemns the falfe^ or the abfolute "Jure Dlvino Form : For Nature knew no Right Divine in Men. 1. 237. To fuppofe him to mean, that all Religions are indifferent, is an equally wrong as well as uncharitable Sufpicion. Mr. Pope, though his Subjed in this Fffay on Man confines him to natural Religion (his Purpofe being to vindicate God's natural Difpen- fatlons to Mankind againfl the Atheift), yet gives frequent In- timations of a more fublime Dlfpenfation, and even of the Ne- ceffity of it; particularly in his fccond Epiflle [1. 139], where he fpeaks of the JVeaknefs and Infufficiency of human Reafon *. Again, in his fourth Epiftle [1. 331] fpeaking of the good Man, the Favourite of Heaven, he fays, For him alone, Hope leads from Goal to Goal, And opens iWl, and opens on his Soul ; * See the fecond Letter, p. ^. Vol. VI. S Till ty> A C O M M E N T A R Y O N Till Iciigthen'd on to Fultb, and unconllii'd, It pourj the IJlUs that fills up all the Mind. But tuituriil Religion never lengthened Hope on to Fciitb ; nor did any Religion, but the Chriftian, ever conceive that Faith could fill the Mind with Happinefs. LajUy, The Poet, in this very Epiaie, and in this very Place, fpeakin'g of the great Reftorers of tiie Religion of Nature, inti- mates that they could only draw God's Shadow, not his Image : Rclum'd her ancient Light, not kindled new. If not Goifs Imoge, yet his Skadozv drew. As reverencing that Truth, which tells us that this Difcovery was relcrved/or the glorious Gofpel of ChrlH-, who is the Image o,p God*. Having tlius largely confidered T\Ian In his fecial Capacity, tlie Poet, in order to fix a momentous Truth in the Mind of his Rea- der, concludes the Epiftle hi recapitulating the two Principles which concur to the Support of this Part of his Charader, namely, Self- hve MMi facial ; and fliewing that they are only two different Mo- tions of the Jppetite, to Good, by which the Author of Nature has cnnblcd Man to find his oivn Happinefs in the Happinefs of the JFhole. This the Poet illuftrates wnth a Thought as fubllme as is that general Harmony he defcribes : On their own Axis as the Planets run. Yet make at once their Circle round the Sun ; So two confiftent Motions ad the Soul, And one regards itfelf, and one the Whole, Thus God and Nature link'd the general Frame, And bad Self-love zndfocial be the fame. For he hath the Art of converting Poetical Ornaments Into Phllofophic Reafoning ; and of improving a Simile into an Analo- gical Jrguwent. But of this Art, more in our Next. * 2 Cor. iv. 4. LETTER Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. t^X LETTER IV. TH E Poet, ill the two foregoing Epiftles, having confidered Man with regard to the Means (that is, in all bis RelationSy whether as an Individual, or a Member of Society J comes now, in this laft, to confider him with regard to the End, that is, Happiness. It opens with an Invocation to Happinefs, in the Manner of the ancient Puefs, who, when deflitute of a Patron God, apphed to the Mufe, and, if fhe was engaged, took up with any fimple Virtue, next at hand, to infpire and profper their Deligns. This was the ancient Invocation, which few modern Poets have had the Art to imitate with any degree of Spirit or Decorum ; while our Author, not content to heighten this poetic Ornament with the Graces of the Antique, hath alfo contrived to make it fubfervient to the Me- thod and Reafoning of his philofophic Compofitlon. I will endea- vour to explain fo uncommon a Beauty. It is to be obferved that the Pagan Deities had each xk\Q:\v fever al Names and Places of Abode, \yith fome of which they were fup- pofed to be more delighted than with others, and confequently to be then mofl; propitious when invoked by the favourite Name and Place: Hence we find the Hymns of Homer, Orpheus, and Calli' macbus, to be chiefly employed in enumerating the feveral Names S 2 and r^j A C O M M E N T A R Y O N and riaccs of Abode by which the Patron God was dilVinguinied. Now, our Poet, with great and maftcrly Addrels, hath made thcfc two CircumftiinCiS Itrvc to introduce his Subje£l, according to the cxadcft Rulci of Logic. His Purpofe is to write of ILip- 'pinefi ; Method therefore requires that he firft define what Men mean by liapphufs, and this he does in the Ornament of a poetic Invccjtion: O Happinefi ! our Being's End and Aim, Good, PUafure, Eaje, Co^/t;// /^whatc'er thy Name. After the Definition, that which follows next, in order of Method, is the Proposition, which here is, thai human Happinefi cmfijls not in external Advantages^ but In Virtue. For the Subjeft of this Epiftlc is the detefiing the falfe Notions of Happinefs, and fettling and explaining the true ; and this the Poet lays down in the next fixteen Lines. Now the Enumeration of Happinefi'' s feveral fuppofed Places of Abode (vviiich, in Imitation of the an- cient Potts, he next mentions in the Invocation, and which makes ten of the fixteen Lines) is a Summary oi falfe Happinefs, placed in Externals : Plant of Celeftial Seed ! if dropt below. Say in what mortal Soil thou deign'll: to grow ? Fair opening to fome Court's propitious Shine, Or deep with Diamonds in the flaming Mine ? Tvvin'd with the Wreaths rarncijfum Laurels yield, Or reap'd in Iron Harvejls or the Field ? The fix remaining Lines deliver the true Notion of Happinefs to be in Virtue. "Which is fumm'd up in thefe two; Fixt to no Spot is Happinefs fincere, 'Tis no where to be found, or every where. The Poet, having thus defined his ^erms, and laid down his Propofiuion, proceeds to tlie Support of his Thefts ; the various Ar- guments of which make up the body of the Epiftle. He Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 133 He begins [from 1. 18 to 27] with deteding thefn/fe Notions of Happlneji, Thefe are of two kinds, the PhilcjopLical and PobiiUir ; The latter he had recapitulated in the Invocailon, wlicu Happincfs was call'd upon at her feveral fuppofed Places of Abode ; the Phi- lofophic then only remained to be delivered. Afkof the Li^^r/iV the Way, the Learn'd are blind. This bids to Jerve, and that tojbun Mankind : Some place the Blils in j4£lion^ fome in Eafe ; 'I'hole call it Pieafure, and Contentment thefe. The Confutation of thefe Philofophic Errors, he Ihews to be very eafy, one common Fallacy xmm'ing through them all; namely this. That, inflead of telling us in what the Happ'tnefs of human Nature confifts, which was what was afked of them, each bufies himfelf to explain in what he placed bis oivn peculiar Happinef : Who thus define it, fay they more or lefs Than this, that Happinefs is Happinefs ? And here, before we go any farther, it will be proper to turn to our Logician, who, blind to thefe Beauties in the admirable Dif- pofition of the Subjed:, is extremely fcandalized at the Poet for not proceeding immediately to explain true Happinefs (after having de- fined his Terms and delivered his Thefis) but for going back again (as he fancies) to a Confideration of the fafe. — Speaking of the fixteen Lines, he fays — " Happinefs is then near me, and I feel *' myfelf confiderably refrefhed j but, by ill Luck, it is only for a *' Moment, my Doubts prefently return, and I find myfelf in the " Hands of a Poet, who can do what he will with me, and who " having placed me on the very Borders of Happinefs, on a fudden " fhuts up all its Avenues*." But a very little Patience and Impartiality would have (hewn him, that they were immediately laid open again in the very next Lhies [from 26 to 33] where the Poet fliews, that if you will but * Comiiientaire, p. 271. take A C O M M E N TA RY O N take tl-.c Road oi Suture, and leave that of mad Opinion, you will foon find Happlnefs to be a Good of the Species, and, like com- men Senfe, equally diftributcd to all Mankind : Take Nature's Patli, 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 pleafe, Equal is common Senfe, and common Eafe. But this is fo far from fatisfying our Biilly-Critic, that it only furnifhes him with frefh Matter for a Quarrel. He is much oflended at the two firA Lines. *' —I muft here renew my Complaints. »' Take Nature's Path, you fay ; and what am I to underftand by " this Nature ? Muft I take the reafonable Nature for my Guide ? " But, according to you, the Philofophers have confulted it to no «' purpofe. Shall I give myfelf up to the Animal Nature f This " would foon reduce me to great Diftrefles. Encompafled with " Doubts and Difficulties, what have I left, but to fuftcr " myfelf to be borne away by Chance or Hazard ? And to con- " elude, that the Counfel here given of taking Nature's Path, " comes at length to this, to march fteddily on in the Footfteps of " Fatality *." It would be hard indeed. If our Commentator could not find the Road to Falali/)', in every Step the Poet takes. But here, In avoid- ing the Horns of his own chimerical Dilemma, he jumps upon it more aukwardly than ufual. The Poet, fays he, muft either mean the Reafonable, or the Animal Nature. Agreed. He could not mean the Animal Nature. This too is true. Nor the Reafonable. Why not ? Becaufe it flood the Philofophers in no ftead. What then ? Do you think he has ever the worfe Opinion of it on that Account ? They could not poflibly have run into more Miftakes * Commcntaire, p. 272, 173. about Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 135 about Happinefiy than you have about the Poet's Meaning: And yet, for all that, I apprehend he will think never the worfe, either of Reafon or hitnfclf. But what is indeed Incredible, after Mr. De Croufaz had thus commented the two firfl Lines, he goes on with his Remarks on t!ie immediately following. Obvious ho- Goods, ^c. in thefe Words: *' See Afr. Pope OKce again under the Nccejily of rejloring Reafon " to its Rights^ y Prodigious ! It feenns then, after all, Mr. Pope by Nature's Path, did indeed mean the reafonabk Nature. For ^\'e now fee it was Mr. De Croufaz, not Mr. Pope, that was under the NeCifity of reftorlng Reafon to its Rights. To proceed, the Poet having expofed the tivofalfe [pedes of Hap- pincf, the Philosophical and Popular, and denounced the l^rue, in order to eflablifli the laf, goes on to a Confutation of the Ivio former, I. He firft [from 1. 32 to 47] confutes the Philosophical, which, as we faid, makes Happinefs a /'i3r//c«/rfr, wox. z general Goo^\ And this two Ways : 1. From \\\% grand Principle, That God aEis by general Laws: The Confcquence of which is, that Happinefs, which fupports the well-being of every Syflem, mufl needs be Univerfii, and not Partial, as the Philofophers conceived: Remember, Man ! The univerfal Caufe Adls not by partial, but by general Laws ; And makes, what Happlnefs we juflly call, Subfift not in the Good of One, but All. 2. From Fa5l, That Man inftindively concurs with this Defig- nation of Providence, to make Happinefs univerfal, by his having no Delight in any thing uncommunicated or uncommunicable : There's not a Blefling Individuals find, But fome way leans and hearkens to the kind. * Commentaire, p. 281. No ,3'S A C O M M E N T A R Y O N No Bandit fierce, no Tyrant mad with Pride, No cavcrn'd Hermit rcfts felf-fatisfied. Abflra>£t what others feel, what others think, All Plcaforcs ficken, and all Glories fink. II. The Poet, in the fecond Place [from 1. 46 to 65J confutes the Popular Error concerning Happinefs^ namely, that it confifts in Externals ; which he does, I. By inquiring into the Reafons of the prefent providential Ulfpofition oi external Goods : A Topic of Confutation chofen with the greateft Accuracy and Penetration. For, if it appears they were diftributed in the Manner we fee them, for Reafons different from the Happ'mefs of Individuals^ it is abfurd to think that they fhould i-nake Part of that Happlnefs. He fhews therefore, that Difparity of external Pofleflions among Men was fir the fake of Society^ i. to promote the Harmony and Happinefs of a Syjlem : Order is Heaven's firil: Law ; and, this confeft, Some are, and muft be, greater tlian the reft. More rich, more wife, — Becaufe the Want of external Goods in fome, and the Abun- dance in others, increafe general Harmony in the Obliger and Obliged. Yet here (fays he) mark the impartial Wlfdom of Heaven ; this very Inequality of ExJernals^ by contributing to general Harmony and , Order, produceth an Eiuality of Happinefs amongft Individuals ; and, for that very renfon. Heaven to Mankind impartial we confefs, If all are equal in their Happlnefs : But mutual Wants this Happlnefs Increafe, All Nature's Difference keeps all Nature's Peace, Condition, Circumftance is not the Thing : Blifs is the fame, in Subjea, or in King ; In Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 137 In who obtain Defence, or who defend ; In him who is, or him who finds, a Friend. Heaven breathes thro' every Member of the Whole One common Bleffing as one common Soul. a.'ThisDifparlty was neceflary, becaufe, if external Goods were equally diftrlbuted, they would occafion perpetual Difcord amongft Men all erinal in Power : But Fortune's Gifts If each alike pofl'eft:, And each were equal, muft not all conteft ? From hence he concludes, That, as External Goods were not given for the Reward of Virtue, but for many different Purpofes, God could not, if he intended Happinefs for all, place it in the Enjoy- ment of Externals : If then to all Men Happinefs was meant, God in Externals could not place Content. 2. His fecond Argument [from 1. 64 to 71] againft the popular Error of Happinefs's being placed in Externals, is, that the Pojef- Jion of them is infeparably attended with Fear^ the JVant of them with Hope ; which diredlly crofTing all their Pretenfions to making happy, evidently fhew that God had placed Happinefs eljewhere : Fortune her Gifts may varioufly difpofe. And thefe be happy call'd, unhappy thofe ; But Heaven's juft Balance equal will appear, While thofe are plac'd in Hope, and thefe in Fear : Not prefent Good or 111,, the Joy or Curfe, But future Views of better or of worfe. Hence, in concluding this Argument, he takes occafion [from 1. 70 to 75] to upbraid the defperate Folly and Impiety of thofe, who, in fpite of God and Nature, will yet attempt to place Hap' pinefs in Externals. Vol. VI. T O Sons <>38 A COMMENTARY ON O Sons of Earth ! attempt ye ftill to rife, Hy Mountains pil'd on Mountains, to the Skies ? Heaven iViII with Laiigliter the vain Toil furveys. And buries Madmen in the Heaps they raife. I mud not here omit to obferve, that thcTranflator (unconfcious of all this fine Reafoniiig between the 32d and 75th Lines, where the Poet firft confutes tlie rhi'ojophic Errors concerning Happinefs, and next the Popular) hath ftrangcly jumbled together and con- founded his different Arguments on thefe two ditferent Heads. But this is not the worft ; he hatli perverted the Poet's Words to a hor- rid and fenfelefs Fatali/rn, foreign to the Argument in hand, and diredlly contrary to Mr. Pope''s general Principles. The Poet fays, Remember, Man ! the univerfal Caufe A6ls not by partial, but by general Laws. His Tranflator, — — Une Loi generale Determine toiljours la Caufe Principale. That is, a general Law ever determines the principal Caufe ^ which is the very Frf/f of the ancient Pagans, who fuppofed that Deftlny gave Law to the Father of Gods end Men. The Poet fays again, Order is Heaven's firft Law : That is, the firjl Law made by God, relates to Order, which Is a beautiful Allufion to the Scripture Hiftory of the Creation, when God firft appeafed the Diforders of Chaos, and feparated the Light from the Darknefs. Let us now hear his Tranflator : L'Ordre, cet inflexible et grand Legiflateur, Qui des decrcts du Cicl eft le premier Auteur : Ordery Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 139 Order, that inflexible and grand Legijlator, -who is the firjl Author of the Laws of Heaven. A Propofitlon abominable in moft Senfes, and abfurd in all. But now what fays Mr. De Croufaz to this, who is perpetually cryhig out, Fate I Fate I as Men in Diftra£tion call out Fire ? The Reader will be furprized to hear him pafs this cool Reflexion on two fo obnoxious Paflbges. — " 77j/j Order, the firfl: Author of. Laws, prefents us "with very harp Exprejftons, and bold Ideas, which Mr. Pope elfewbcrc condenms as rafl) and unjujiifiahle *. But this is his Moderation, wiien Mr. U Abbe comes under his Critique: And we know, tiie excellent Profe Tranflation gave him the Advantage of knowing whom he had to do with. To proceed, the Poet having thus confuted the two Errors con- cerning H7^/)/«f/}, Philosophical and Popular, and proved that true Happiiiefs was neither Solitary and Partial, nor yet placed in Externals ; goes on [from 1. 74 to 91] to fhew in what k doth con- fifl:. He had before fald in general, and repeated it, that Plappinefs Jay in common to the whole Species. He now brings us better acquainted with it, in a more explicite Information of its Nature ; and tells us, it is all contained in Health, Peace, and Competence ; but that thefe are to be gained only by Virtue, namely, by Tem- perance, Innocence, and Indujiiy : Reafon's whole Pleafures, all the Joys of Senfe, Lie in three Words, Health, Peace, and Competence. But Health confifts with Temperance alone, And Peace, O Virtue ! Peace is all thy own. The firft Line, Reafons whole Pleafures, all the Joys of Senfe, is the moft beautiful Paraphrafis for Happinefs ; for all we feel of Good is by Senfalion and Reflexion. The Tranflator, who feemed little to concern himfelf with the Poet's Philofophy or Argument, * Commenfaire, p. 282. T 2 miftook ,^, A C O M M E N T A R Y O N miftook this Dcfcriptlon of Uappintfs for a Defcrlption of tlie in- ulUilual and fenjit'ive Faculties, oppofed to one another ; and there- fore thus tranflatcs it : Lc charmc feduacur, dont s'enyvrant les Sens, Lcs Plaifirs de I'Efprit encore plus ravifl'ans. And {o, with the higheft Abfurdity, not only makes the Poet con- ftltutc/«/«j/ Excejj'ci a Part of human Happinefs, but likewife the Piodua of Virtue. After this, we fliall no longer wonder at fuch kind of Tranflations as the following : Mr. Pope fays, And Peace, O Virtue \ Peace Is all thy own. The Tranflator, Pour vous, O Palx du Coeur, digne fille des Cleux, Vous etcs du bonheur le gage precieux. Confcious Innocence, fays the Poet, is the only Source of internal Peace, and kno^vn Innocence of external ; therefore Peace is the fole Iflue of Virtue ; or, in his own emphatic Words, Peace is all tly cwn ; a conclufive Obfervatlon in his Argument. 0 Peace, fays the Tranflator, thou art the precious Pledge of Happinefs ; an Obferva- tlon, which concludes no more than that the Tranflator did not \inderfl:and the Argument, which ftands thus : — Is Happinefs riglitly placed in Externals ? No, for it confifls in Health, Peace, and Competence. Health and Competence are the Produd of Tem- perance and Indufliry ; and Peace, of perfedl Innocence. But hitherto, the Poet hath only confidered Health and Peace : But Health confifts with Temperance alone, And Peace, O Virtue ! Peace is all thy own. One Head yet remains to be fpoken to, namely, Competence;. In the Purfuit of Health and Peace there is no Danger of running into Kxcefs. But the Cafe is different with regard to Competence. Here, Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 141 Here, IVealth and 4ffluence would be too apt to be miftakcn for it, in Mens paflionate Purl'olt of external Goods. To obviate this Mif- take therefore, the Poet Ihews, that, as exorbitant IVealth adds nothing to the Happinefs arifing from a Competence, fo, as it is generally ill gotten, it is attended with Circumftances that weaken another Fart of this triple Cord, namely, Peace: The Good or Bad the Gifts of Fortune gain ; But thefe lefs tafte them as they worfe obtain. Say, in Purfuit of Profit or Delight, Who rifque the moft, that take wrong Means or right ? Of Vice or Virtue, whether bleft or curft, Wliich meets Contempt, or which Compaflion firfl ? Count all th'Advantage profperous Vice attains, 'Tis but what Virtue flies from, and difdains ; And grant the Bad what Happinefs they would, One they muft want, which is, to pafs for good. Here Mr. De C^oufazs Remarks are indeed very extraordinary — ** To whom (fays he) are thefe Interrogatories addrefled ? — If you " refer yourfelf to the Judgment of a Troop of young Libertines, " fuch as are to be found in great Cities, and in Armies, you will " certainly not have the Laughers on your Side *," &c. What: then ? U Reafon require they fhould, is not that fufFicient for the Poet's Purpofe, in a Difcourfe where Reafon is continually appealed to, in a Controverfy between him and them ? But our Logician's Perverfity is without Example. Till now, his Quarrel with the Poet was, that his Arguments flattered the corrupt Sentiments of Libertinifm. At prefent he is as captious with him for their op- pofing thofe Sentiments. Does not this look as if he were refolved to approve of nothing Mr. Pope could fay ? Our Author having thus largely confuted theMiftake of Happi' nejs's confji'ing in Externals, proceeds to expofe the terrible Con- SEQiJENCES of fuch an Opinion, on the Sentiments and Praiflice of * Commentaire, p. 289, 290. all , ^, A C O M M E N T A R Y ON all Sorts or Men, making the Dissolute impious and atheiftical, th.- RELIGIOUS uncharitable and intolerant, and the Good reftlefs and dilcontent. For when it is once taken for granted, that Hafi^ pinffi coiiftjh in Externals, it is immediately feen that HI Men are oltcn more happy than good; which fets all Conditions on objeftlng to the Ways of Providence, and fome even on radily attempting to rcaify its Difpcnfations, though by the Violation of Law, divine and iiuman. Now this being the moft momentous Part of the Subjea under Confidcration, is defervedly treated mod at large. And here it will be proper to take notice of the exquifite Art of the Poet, in making this Confutation ferve, at the fame time, for a full Solution of all Obje£J:ion5 which might be made to his main Propo- rtion, ihjt Happineji confijls not in Externals. 1. He begins, firft of all, with the Atheistical Complainersy and purfues their Impiety [from 1. 90 to 1 29] with all the Vengeance of his Eloquence. Oh blind to Truth, and God's whole Scheme below ! Who hn(y Bills to Vice, to Virtue Woe: Who fees and follows that great Scheme the befl, Ikfl; knows the Bleffing, and will mofl: be bleft. lie expofes their Folly, even on their own Notions of external Go'xis. I. By Examples [from line 96 to 109] where he (hews Jirjl, that, if good Men have been untimely cut off, this is not to be afcribed to their Virtues, but to a Contempt of Life that hurried them into Dangers. Secondly, That if they will ftiil perfift in afcribing untimely Death to Virtue, they muft needs, on the fame Principle, likewife afcribe long Life to it. Confequently as the Argument, \wFa£i^ concludes both ways, In Logic, It concludes neither. But Fools the Good alone unhappy call, From Ills or Accidents that chance to all. Say, Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 143 Say, was it Virtue, more thougli Heaven ne'er gave, Lamented D^gby ! fimk thee to the Cirave ? Tell me, if Virtue made the Son expire. Why full of Days and Honour lives the Sire ? Why drew Marje///es' good Bifliop purer Breath, When Nature ficken'd, and each Gale was Death ? Or why fo long (in I/ife if long can be) Lent Heaven a Parent to the Poor, and mc ? This laft Inftance of tlie Poet's Illuflration of the Ways of Pio- vidcnce, the Reader fees, has a peculiar Elegance ; where a Tribute of Piety to a Parent is paid in a Return of Thanks to [Lent Heaven a Parent, &c.] and made fubfervient of [Or tvhy fo long — ] his Vi'ndication of, the Great Father of all 'Things. 2. He expofes their Folly [from line ic8 to 129] by Conf dera- tions drawn from the Syfiem of Nature ; and thefe, two-fold, NatU' ral and Moral. You accufe God, fays the Poet, becaufe the good Man is fubjedl to Natural and Moral Evil : Let us fee whence thefe proceed. Natural Evil is the neceflary Confequence of a material World fo conftituted '. But that this Conftitution was hejf, we have proved in the firft EpKlle. Moral Evil arifeth from the depraved Will of Man : Therefore neither the one nor the other from God. What m.kes all Phyfical or Moral 111 1 There deviates Nature, and here wanders Will. God fends not 111, if rightly underfhood ; Or partial III is univerfal Good ; Or Chance admits, or Nature lets it fall. Short, and but rare, till Man improv'd it all. But you fiy (adds the Poet, to thefe impious Complainers) that though it be fit Man Ihould futfcr the Miferies which he brings upon himfelf, by the Commilfion of moral Evil, yet it feems to be unfit his innocent Pofterity fliould bear a Share of them. To this, fays he, I reply. We n4 A C O M M E N T A R Y O N \\\- jaft as wilVly mighfof Heaven complain That righteous Abel was deftroy'd by Cain, As tint the virtuous Sou is ill at eafe, When his lewd Father gave the dire Dlfeafe. But vou will ftill fay (continues the Poet) why does not God either prevent, or immediately repair thefe Evils ? You may as well alk, why he doth not work continual Miracles, and every Moment reverfe the eftablifhed Laws of Nature : Shall burning Mtna, if a Sage requires, Forget to thunder, and recal her Fires ? On Air or Sea new Motions be impreft, O blamelefs Bethel', to relieve thy Breafl: ? When the loofe Mountain trembles from on high. Shall Gravitation ceafe, if you go by ? Or, fome old Temple nodding to its Fall, For Chartres Head referve the hanging Wall ? This is the Force of the Poet's Reafoning, and thefe the Men to whom he addrefles It, namely, the Libertine Cavillers againil Providence. II. But now, fo unhappy is the Condition of our corrupt Nature, that thefe are not the only Complalners. Rellglousyi^w are but too apt, if not to j^^^^ o«/, yet fometimes fecretly to murmur agalnft Providence, and fay, Its IVays are not equal : Efpecially thofe more inordinately devoted to a Se£l or Party are fcandalized, that the Just (for fuch they efteem themfelves) who are to judge the Worlds have no better Portion In their own Inheritance. The Poet therefore now leaves thofe more projllgate Complalners, and turns [from 1. 1 28 to 1 47] to the Religious, in thefe Words : But All! this World (fo fitted for the Knave) Contents us not. A better fliall we have ? A Klns^dom of the Jujl then let it be. But firft confider how thofe Jufl agree. As Mr. r o p e's essay on man. '45 As the more impious Complainers wanted external Goods to be the Reward of Virtue for the moral Man ; fo thefc want them for the Pious, m order to have a Kingdom of the J'-^ft. To this the Poet holds it fufficient to anfwer : Pray, Gentlemen, firft agree amongft youfelves, who thoje Juft are. We allow, The Good muil: merit God's peculiar Care, But who but God can tell us who they are ? One thinks on Cahin Heaven's own Spirit fell, Another deems hitn Inftrument of Hell : If Cahin feels Heaven's Blefling or its Rod, This cries, There is, and that, There is no God. As this is the Cafe, he even bids them reft fatibfied ; remember his fundamental Principle, Thai whatever is, is right ; and content themfelves (as their Religion teaches them to profefs a more than ordinary Submiffion to the Ways of Providence) with that com- mon Anfwer which he with fo much Reafon and Piety gives to every Kind of Complainer. However, though there be yet no Kingdom of the Jt//^, there is ftill no Kingdom of the UnjuJ}. That both the Virtuous and the Vicious, whatfoever becomes of thofe whom every Se£t calls the Faithful, have their Shares in external Goods ; and, what is more, the Virtuous have infinitely the moft Enjoyment in them : — This World, 'tis true. Was made for defar, but for Titus too : And which more bliji? who chain'd his Country, fay, Or he whofe Virtue figh'd to lofe a Day ? I have been the more careful to explain this laft Argument, and to fhew againft whom it is direcSted, becaufe much depends upon it for the llluftration of the Senfe, and the juft Defence of the Poet. For if we fuppofe him ftill addrefiing himfelf to thofe impious Complainers, confuted in tiie thirty-eight preceding Lines, wc fhould make him guilty of a Pcirallogifm m the Argument about the Vol. VI. U Juji, 146 A COMMENTARY ON J//^, and in the Ilkiftidtion of it by the Cafe of Cahin. For then the Libertines allc, Wliy the Jujl, that is, the mora/ Mjh, is not rewarded ? The AiiCwcr is, That none but God can ttll who the Ju/l, that is, the tnify faithful Man, is. Where the terni is changfd, in order to fiipport the Argument ; for about the truly Moiiii Mm \\\c\c \s noDifpute; about the truly Faithjul, or the Orthodox, a great deal. But take the Poet right, as arguing here aqainft n'//j/c«/ Complainers, and the Reafoiiing is ftria: and logical. They afk, Why the truly Faithful are not rewardetl ? He an- fwcrs, They may be for ought you know, for none but God can tell who they are. Mr. De Croufizs Objeftlons to this Reafoning receive all their Force from that wrong Suppoiition, That the Poet was here arguing againfl: Libertine Complainers ; and confequently they have no Force at all. III. The Poet having difpatched tliefe two Species of Complain- ers, comes now to the third and ftill more pardonable Sort, the difcontented good Men, who lament only, that Virtue farves, while Vice rials. To thefe the Poet replies [from I. 146 to i j;5] that ad- mit tiiis to be the Cafe, yet they have no Reafon to complain, either of the good Man's Lot in particular, or of the Difpenfation of Providence in general. Not of the farmer, becaufe Happinefs, the Reward of Virtue, confifls not in Externals ; nor of the latter, becaufe ill Men may gain Wealth by commendable Induftry, good Men want Neccfiaries through Lidolenceor bad Conduft. But as modefl as this Complaint feems at firft View, the Poet next fhews [from 1. 154 to 165] that it is founded on a Principle of the higheft Extravagance, which will never let the difcontented good Man reft, till he becomes as vain and foolifli in his Imagina- tions as the very worfl fort of Complainers. For that when once he begins to think he wants what is his due, he will never know where to flop, while God has any thing to give. But this is not all; he proves next [from 1. 164 to 175] that th&fe Demands are not only tmrcafonable, but in the highefl degree abjurd Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN; 147 ahfurd likewife. For that thofe very Gcoth, if granted, would be the Dejiru&ion oi xXi^X. Virtue for which they are demanded as a Re- ivard. He concludes therefore on the whole, that, What nothing earthly gives, or can deftroy, The Soul's calm Sunfhine, and the heart-felt Joy, Is Virtue's Prize. — But the Poet now enters more at large upon the Matter : And flill continuing his Difcourfe to this third Sort of Complainers (whom he indulges as much more pardonable than the Jirjl or fc' cojid, in re^Elifying all their Doubts and Miftakes) proves both from . Reajon and Example, how unable any of thofe tilings are, which the World mort: admires, to make a good Man happy. For, as to tlie philojophic Miftakes concerning Happinefs, there being little Danger of their making a general Impreflion, the Poet, after a fliort Confutation, had difmilled them all together. But external Goods are thofe Syrens, which fo bewitch the World with Dreams of Happinefs, that of all Things the mod difficult is, to awaken it out of its Delufions J though, as he proves, in an exact Review of the moft Pretending, they diflionour bad Men, and add no Luftre to the Good. That it is only this third and leafl: criminal Sort of Complainers, againft which the remaining Part of the Difcourfe Is' levelled, appears from the Poet's fo frequently addrefling himfelf, while he inforces his Arguments in Behalf of Providence, from henceforward to his Friend. I. He begins therefore [from line 174 to I95] with confidering Riches, i. He examines, firfl, what there is of real Value in them, and fhews, they can give the good Man only that very Con- tentment he had before, or, at moft, but burthen him with aTruft to be difpenfed for the Benefit of others: For Riches, can they give but to the Juft His own Contentment, or another's Triiji ? Since the good Man efleems all, befide what is fufficient to fupply U 2 him , ^3 A C O M M E N T A R Y O N him with t!ie Convenieiicies of Life, as entrufled to him by Provi- dence, for the Supplial of others Necefllties. It is true, he tells us elfewhere, that another Sort of good Men a:c of a different Opinion : The grave Sir Gilbert holds it for a Role, That every Man in Want is Knave or Fool: God cannot love (fliys Blunt, with lifted Eyes) Ihe Wretch he Jiarves — and pioufly denies. Of the Ufe of Riches, I. 103. And thefe are they to whom he here alludes, where he fays, O Fool ! to think God hates the worthy Mind, Tlie Lover, and the Love, of Human-kind, Whofe Life is healthful, and whofe Confcience clear, Becaufe he wants a thoufand Pounds a Year ! The Poet next examines the imaginary Value of Riches, as the Fountain of Honour. For Ills Adverfaries Objedion flands thus : — As Honour is the genuine Claim of Virtue, and Shame the jufl: Retiibotion of Vice ; and as Honour, in their Opinion, follows Riches, and Shame Poverty ; therefore the ^g'&c^ il/.,« fliould ht rich. He tells them In this they are much miftaken : Honour and Shame from no Condition rife; Adt well your Part, there all the Honour lies. What Power then has Fortune over the Man ? None at all. For, as her Favours can confer neither Worth nor Wifdom ; fo neither can her Dfpleafure cure him of any of his Follies. On his Garb indeed fhe has fome little Influence; but his Heart ftlll re- mains the fame: Fortune In Men has fome fmall Difference made, Ont flaunts in Rags, ow^ flutters in Brocade. II. Then, as to Nobility, by Creation or Birth, this too he flicws [from 1. 195 to 207] is, In itfelf, as devoid of all real Worth Mr. P O P E'S essay ON MAN. 149 as the reft : Becnufe, in theftjl Cafe the Title is generally gained by noMeiit at all : Stuck o'er with Titles, and hung round with Strings, That thou may'fl: be by Kings, or Whores of Kings. In the fecond, by the Merit of the firA Founder of the Fanaily, which will always, when refleded on, be rather the Subje*£t of - Moriijicaiicin than Glory: Go! if your ancient, but ignoble, Blood Has crept through Scoundrels ever fince the Flood, Go ! and pretend your Family is young ; Nor own your Fathers have been Fools fo long. III. The Poet in the next Place [from 1. 206 to 227] unmafks the falfe Pretences of Greatness, whereby it is feen that the Hero and Politician (the two Charaders which would monopolize that Quality) afcer all their Buftle, effe6l only this, if they want Virtue, that the one proves himfelf z Fool, and the other z Knave: And Virtue they but too generally ^'ant. The Art of Hercifm being un- dcrftood to eonfift in Ravage and Defclalion: and the yirt of Poli- tics, in Circumvention. Now — Grant that thofe can conquer, thefe can cheat, 'Tis Phrafe abfurd to call a Villain, Great : Who wickedly is wife, or madly brave, Is but the more a Fool, the more a Knave. It is not Succi'fs therefore that conftitutes true Grcatncfs ; but the End aimed at; and the Means which are employed: And if thefe be right. Glory will be the Reward, whatever be the IJfue : Who noble Ends by noble Means obtains, Or failing, fmiles in Exile or in Chains, Like good Aurelius let him reign, or bleed Like Socrates, that Man is great indeed. IV. With regard to Fame, that flill more fantaflic Bkfling, he {hews [from 1. 226 to 249] that all of it, befidcs what wc hear ourfclvcs. ,3o A C O M M E N T A R Y O N mirfelvc5, is merely nothing; and tl.at even of this fmall Portion, no more of it gives the Poffeflbr a real Satisfadion, than what is the Fruit of Virtue. All Fame is foreign, but of true Defert, Plays round the Head, but conaes not near the Heart. Thus he (liews, that Honour, Nobility, Greatnefs, Glory, (o far as they have any thing real and fubftantial, that is, fo hr as they contribute to the Happinefs of the Poffeffor, are the fole Iffue of Virtue, and that neither Riches, Courts, Armies, nor the Populace, are capable of conferring them. V. But laftly, the Poet proves [from 1. 248 to 259] that as no external Goods can make Man happy, fo neither is it in the Power of all internal For, that even Superior Parts bring no more real Happinefs to the Pofldflbr, than the reft, nay, put him into a worfe Condition; for that the Qulcknefs of Appre- henfion, and Depth of Penetration, do but fliarpen the Miferies of Life : In Parts fuperlor, what Advantage lies ? Tell (for You can) what is it to be wife ? 'TIs but to knovvr how little can be known ; To fee all others Faults, and;feel our own, &c. Painful Pre-eminence! yourfelf to view Above Life's Wcaknefs, audits Comforts too. This to his Friend — nor does It at all contradift what he had fakl to him concerning Happinefs in the Beginning of the Epiftle : 'TIs never to be bought, but always free. And fled from Monarchs, iS/. fohn ! dwells with thee. For he is now proving that nothing either external to Man, or what Is not in his own Power, and of his own Acquirement, can make him happy here. The moft plaufible Rival of Firiue Is Kmiv- Icdge. Yet even this, he fays, is fo far from giving any degree of real Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 151 real Happinefs, that it deprives Men of thofe common Comforts of Life, wliich aie a kind of Support to us under the Want of Hap- p'lnejs: Such as tlie more innocent of thofe 'Delufions which he fpeaks of in the fecond Epiftle, where he l^\ys, Till tlien. Opinion gilds with varying Ravs Thofe painted Clouds, that beautify our Days, Cfr. 1. 265. Now Knovukdge (as is here fiid) dejlroys all thofe Comforts, by {oXimgyi^w above hife's Weaknejj'es : So that in him, who tliinks to attain Happinefs by Knowledge, the Fable is reverfed, and in a prepofterous Attempt to gain the Subjiance, he lofes even the Sha- dow. This I take to be the true Senfe of tliis fine Stroke of Satire, on- the wrong Purfuits after Happhiefs, Having thus proved how empty and unfatisfliftory all thefe Greateft external Goods are, from an Examination of their Na- ture, the Poet proceeds to ftrengthen his Argument [from 1. 258 to 299] by thefe two farther Confiderations, 1 n-, That the Acquirement of thefe Goods is made with the Lofs of one another ; or of greater, either as inconfiftent with them, or as fpent in attaining them : How much of other each is fure to coH? How each for other oft is wholly loft ? How inconfiftent greater Goods with thefe ? How fometimes Life is rifqu'd, and always Eafe ? 2dly, That the Poffeflbrs of each of thefe Goods are generally fuch as are fo far from railing Envy in a good Man, that he would rc- fufe to take their Perfons, though accompanied with their Poflef- fions. And this the Poet illuftrates by Examples : Think, and If ftill the Things thy Envy call, Say, would'fl thou be the Man to whom they fall ? &c. ,^, A C O M M E N T A R Y O N 3tllv, Nny, that even the PofTeffion of them all together, Nvhc-reiheyhave excluded Virtue, only terminates in more enor- mous Milery : If all, united, thy Ambition call. From ancient Story learn to fcorn them all. There, in the Rich, the Honour d, Fanid, and Great, See the falfe Scale of Happinefs complete ! Mark by what wretched Steps their Glory grows, From Dirt and Sea-weed, as proud Fenke rofe, Gfc. Having thus at length fhewn, that Happinefs confifts neither in ay\y external Goods, nor in <?// kinds of hiternal, that is, fuch of them as are not of our own Acquirement, he concludes [from. 1. 298 to 301] that it is to be found in Virtue alone : Know then this Truth (enough for Man to know) Virtue alone is Happinefs below. Which the Tranflator turns thus: Appren done qu'il n'efl: point icy bas de Bonheur Si la Vertu. nc regie et VEJprlt, et le Cccur. i. e. Learn therefore that there is no Happinefs here below, if Virtue dies not regulate the Heart and the Under Jianding, which deftroys the whole Force of the Poet's Conclufion. He had proved, that Hap- pinefs confifts neither in external Goods, as the Vulgar Imagined, nor yet in the vifionary Purfuits of the Philofcpbers : He therefore con- cludes that it confifts in Virtue alone. His Tranflator fays, •without Virtue there can be no Happinefs. And fo fiy the Men againft whom the Poet is here arguing. For though they fuppofed external Goods requifite to Happinefs, yet it was, when enjoyed according to tlie Rules of Virtue. Mr. Pope fays. Virtue alone is Happinefs below, and fo ouglit his Tranflator to have faid after him. Hitherto Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 15- Hitherto the Poet had proved, negatively, that Happincjs conjifts m Virtue, by fhewing it confifted not in any other thing. He now [from 1. 300 to 317] proves the fame positively, by an Enumeration of its ^talities, all naturally adapted to give, and to increafe human Happinefs : As its Conjiancy, Capacity, Vigour, Efficacy, A5livily, Moderation, and Self-fufficiency : The only Point where human Blifs ftands ftill, And taftes the Good, without the Fall to III ; Without Satiety, tho' e'er fo blefs'd, And but more relifli'd, as the more diftrefs'd : Good, from each Objed, from each Place, acquir'd, For ever exercis'd, yet never tir'd ; Never elated, while one Man's opprefs'd ; Never deje(£\;ed, while another's blefs'd ; And where no Wants, no Wifhes can remain, Since, but to wi(h more Virtue, is to gain. Having thus proved that Happine/s is indeed placed in Virtue, he proves next [from 1. 316 to 319] that it is rightly placed there : For, that then, and then only, all may partake of it, and All be capable of relifliing it : See the fole Blifs Heaven could on h-L-L beftow. Which who but feels can tafte, but thinks can know. The Poet then obferves, with fome Indignation, [from I. 318 to 331] that as eafy and as evident as this Truth was, yet Riches zwA falfe Philofophy had fo blinded the Perception, even oi improved Minds, that the Pofleflbrs of the ^r/? placed Happinefs in Externals unfuitnble to Man's Nature ; and the Followers of the latter in re- fined Vtjions, unfuitable to his Situation : While the fimple-minded Man, with Nature only for his Guide, found plainly in what it (hould be placed : Yet poor with Fortune, and with Learning blind. The Bad muft mlfs, the Good untaught will find ; Vol. VI. X Slave :^^ A COM M E N T A R Y ON Slave ro no Se£l, who takes no private Road, But /oois thro' KiUure up to Knture's Go:l Pmfues that Chain, wljich links th' immenfe Defign, Joins Heaven and Eartli, and iMortnl and Divine. Sees that no Being any Blils can know. But touches Ibme above, and feme below ; Learns, from this Union of the rifing ir/jo/e, The firft laft Purpofe of the human Soul ; And knows where Faith, Law, Morals, all began, All end, in Love of God, and Love of Man. To this Mr. Di' Crou/az, — " I made my Remarks as I went " along, in reading the Poem of Mr. Da Ref/iel ; and, in Propor- " tion as I advanced in it, I have had the moft agreeable Satisfac- " lion to find, that my Commentaries have been too hafl-y and im- •* mature on this Poem ; in fo clear a Light has the illnftrious *« yUl>e placed thofe Truths, which the Profe Tranflator had deli- " vercd witii much lefs Precifenefs. In this Tranflation 1 evi- *' dently meet with the facred Terms oi Faith^ Hope, and Charity ; •« but I don't know where he had them. And it is not eafy for " me to find, how the Ideas which I have been accuftomed to fix " to them can agree with them. I am puzzled to know what they '* have to do here*." This, to ufe our Critic's own Words, is a Specimen of that Ga- limal/'as, which runs through his whole Commentary. He fuf- peds, he approves, he doubts, he applauds ; but it all ends in Ca- lumny and Condemnation. Here you have an old Veteran Con- troverfialift of feventy-five, who gives the World his fecond Thoughts (for he had publifhed his E;,amen before he wrote his Commentary) telling us that he fcribbled at random, and made the greateft Part of his Remarks before he had read over the Book he wrote againft : A Book that contains a regular, well-digefted Syftem, w'nofe Parts, having a mutual Dcpendance, neceflarily fupport and illuftrate one * Commentaire, p. 332. another. Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 155 another. But if a Man would make fo free with himfelf as to tell this flrange Story to the World, which certainly he had a Right to do, he fhould, as his moral Ciiaradler was concerned, have made Satisfa£lion for his Folly, hy ftriking cut all thofe odious Imputations with which the foregoing Part of his Commentary abounds. Inftead of this, he was not only content to leave the Calumnies oi Fatalifm zn^ Spinozifm un-retra£led ; but has thought fit to renew them, even after this Confeffion of his hafty, immature Way of Writing. Ah ! mifera mens hominis, quo te fatum fiC- piffime trahit I What but this could have forced him to write a whole Book in Contradidlion to the very Principle he himfelf lays down to proceed by ? ^n over-fcrupulous Exaclitude ffays he) tvould hurt the very End of Poetry. But ive tnujl make it a Law to ifiterpret one Exprejfion by another, for fear of attributing Notions to a Poet that ivould be injurious to him *. But to return : This is not all; the Poet fliews farther [from ]. 330 to 343] that, when the funple-minded Man, on hisfirft fettiug out in the Purfuit of Truth, in order to Happinefs, has had the Wifdom To look thro' Nature up to Nature''s God^ inftead of adhering to any Se6t or Party, where there was fo great Odds of his chufing wrong; That then the Benefit of gaining the Knowledge of God's Will written in the Mind is not there con- fined ; for that ftanding on iKisfure Foundation, he is now no longer in Danger of chufing wrong, amidfty«f^ Diverfties of Religions ; but by purfuing this grand Scheme of Univerfal Benevolence, in PraSiice, as well as Theory, he arrives at length to the Knowledge of the revcaJed Will of God, which is the Confummation of the Sxjlcin <f Benevolence : For him alone Hope leads from Goal to Goal," And opens ftill, and opens on his Soul, * Commentaire, p. 196. X 2 'Till ,55 A C O M M E N TAR Y O N ''I ill Icngthcn'd on to Faith, nnd unconfin'd, It pours the Blils, that fills up all the Mind. But kt us once more hear Mr. De Croufaz : '* We are brought *' (fays he) at length to the Truibs of Rtvelation. — See Man once *' again re-cftabli(hed in his Rights, raiCed as far above Brutes as «' Heaven is above the Earth. How infinite a Difference between '♦ what one reads in this fourth Epiftle, and what the Poet ven- " turcd to propofe in the frf, and in part of the iwo following? " There, corrupt Minds thought they read their own Sentiments ; *• and even this, which we find here, is infufficient to bring them " back again from their Preventions*." That tlic three fifi Epiftles have nothing contrary to \\\t fourth^ we have not only fulficicntly evinced, but fhewn likewife, that the Dodrine of this /«/?, fo much approved by Mr. Be Croufaz^ is the neceflary Confequence of that laid down in every one of the prcccditigy fo much condemned by him. But, that corrupt M'nds thought they read their own Sentiments there, nay, that it will 6e hard to bring them hack again from ibeir Preventions^ I can ealily conceive ; becaufe, not only Partiality to Mens own Opi- nions, but Prejudice againft the Opinions ai others^ may make them fancy they fee Dodtrines in a celebrated Writer^ which are in- deed not there. And then. Self-love on the one hand, and Self- conceit on the other, may eafily keep both in their feveral Delu- fions, againfl: all the Power of Conviction. To proceed, The Poet, in the lafl: Place, marks out [from 1. 342 to 36;?] the Progr.fs of his Good Man^s Benevolence, pufhed through natur.il Religion to revealed^ 'till it arrives to that Height, which the Sacred Wiitcts dcfcribe as the very Summit of Cbrif- tian PerfeBion: .And fliews how the Progrefs of human differs from the Progrefs of divine Benevolence. 1 hat the divine defcends froin Whole to Parts; but that the Liman muft rife from indi- '■ Comaicntaire, p. 332, 333. vidual Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 157 vidual to univerfal. And with this rapturous Defcrlptiou the Sub- jed of the Epiftle clofcs : Self- love thus pufli'd to focial, to divine, Gives thee to make thy Neighbour's Blefling thine: Is this too little for the boundlefs Heart ? Extend it, let thy Enemies have Part. Grafp the whole Worlds of Reafon, Life, and Senfe, 111 one clofe Syftem of Benevolence. Happier, as kinder ! in whate'er Degree, And height of Bliss, but height of Charity* GoJ loves from Whole to Parts ; but human Soul MuH: rife from Individual to the Whole. Self-love but ferves the virtuous Mind to wake,. As the fmall Pebble (lirs the peaceful Lake ; The Centre mov'd, a Circle ftrait fucceeds, Another ftill, and ftill another fpreads, ^c The laft Part of the Obfervatloa is important. Rochefcctiuif, Efprit, and their wordy Difciple Mandeville^ had obferved, that Self-love was the Origin of all thofe Virtues Mankind mofl: ad- mire ; and therefore foollflily fuppofed it was the End likewlfe : And io, taught that the hlgheft Pretences to Difintereflednefs were only the more artful Difguifes of Self-love. But Mr. Pope,. who fays, fomewhere or other, Of human Nature Wit its worfl: may write,. We all revere it iu our own Defpite, faw, as well as they, and every body elfe, that the PaHions began in Self-love ; yet he underftood human Nature better than to imagine they terminated there. He knew that Reafon and Religion could, convert Selfjl.mefs into its very oppofite ; and therefore teaches that Self-love but ferves the virtuous Mind to wake, ,^8 A COMMENTARY ON nnd thus liath vindicated tlje Dignity of human Nature, and the l^lillolophic Truth of the Chriftlan Doarine. But let us turn once more to Mr. De Crcufaz, who, conftant to himfelf, concludes, in the fame even tenor in which he firft fet out. " A Man ((ays he) muft ufe fome Efforts to go even fo far " as to love his Enemies.— But as to what concerns all Parts of the " Univcrfc, and all the living Beings that inhahit it, as well thofe •* we fee not, as thofe we do fee, we find nothing in ourfelves re- " pugnant indeed to the giving them our Love; but then, on the ♦' other hand, we do not feel any Motions towards the rendering it " to tlicm. And while fo great a Numher of Objefts, with which " we are clofely furroundod, demand our Attention and Concern, " it appears not only fuperfluous but even irrational, to teaze our- " fclves with I cannot tell what Kind of Tendernefs, forthelnha- ♦' bitants of Jupiter *, ^c." This prefents him with a pleafant Idea, and he purfjes it with his ufual Grace and Vivacity. After this one would fcarce think that in the very next Words he fhould confute himfelf, anfwer his own Objeftlons, and viiidi- cate the very Charity he had ridiculed. And yet this he now does, as much without Fear, as the other was without Wit. " I own *' (fays he) that a Soul devoted to Its Creator, and ftruck and ralfed *' with Admiration at the attentive View of his mere corporeal " Creation, would be ready to lend thofe Beings his Voice and Sen- *' timents, in order to join with them in an Offering of Pralfe and ♦' Thankfgivlng to their common Creator, whofe Glory they fo ♦' magnificently declare, though without any Knowledge of the " Truth which they proclaim. Nay, I go farther, and fay, that a " Soul fo fandlfied, and at the fame time well affured, that there •* are innumerable Choirs of happy hitclllgences, who continually " adore their Creator in extatlc Raptures, far furpafhng our Con- " ceptions, will congratulate with them on their Glory f and Feli- * Commcr.taire, p. 336. f lb. p. 337, 338. '* city." Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 159 *' city." Here we fee defcribed, and, to fay the Truth, not ill, that very State of Mind which produced the Raptures of our admirable Poet: 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 Bllfs but height of Charity. No, fays our Critic, who would ftill keep on foot the Cenfure he himfelf lias overthrown ; the Elevations I fpeak of, are not Eleva- tions of Charity for thofe glorious Intelligences. JVe are the Obje&s of their Charity, not they of ours *. Egregious Philofopher ! By Cha- rity, Mv. Po/)e not only wr^«j Benevolence, but exprefsly calls it fo. And Benevolence furely may be as well exercifcd towards Supe- riors, as by them. But he proceeds — "Hiis pretended chimerical Affedion can have ♦' no Foundation but in the chimerical Syftem of «7 IVhole, of which ♦' we make a Part, and of which all the Parts without Exception " are io dependent 011 each other, that, if any one. only be difplaced, ♦' or never fo little deviating from its proper Function, that Dif- " order will affedl the reft, and fpread itfelf over the Whole: And, " by confequence, extend to us, who make an eflentialPart of that "Whole. Self-love therefore, Interefts itfelf in everything that *' exifts and moves." Self-love was never fent on fuch an Errand, no not by Rochefocault or Efprit, though they forced it to do all their Drudgery. Here, a Man who never yet once rightly under- ftood ivhat his Adverfary did fay, will now pretend to guefs at his Keafons for faying. One might have forefeen with what Succefs. But fomething he has taught us, and that is, to reft: content with the Poet's own Reafoning. His Argument then for this extended Benevolence is, that as God has made a Whole, whofe Parts have a perfect Relation to, and an entire Dependency on each other, Man, in extending his Benevolence throughout that Whole, ads in * Commentairc, p. 338. Con- ,Co A C O M M E N T A R Y O N Confonnlty to the Will of his Creator ; and therefore, thh En/urge- mffit of his AtKaion becomes a Duty. But the Poet hath not only fhewn his Piely in this Precept, but tlie utmoft Art and AdJrefs likewife in the Dlfpofition of it. The Epy on Man opens with expofing the Murmurings, and in:ipious Conclufions of foolifli Men againft the prefent Conftitution of Things. As it proceeds, it occafionally detefts all thofe falfe Prin- ciples and Opinions that led them to conclude thus perverfely. Having now done all tiiat was neceflary in Speculation, the Poet turns to Fraaice ; and ends his Eflay with the Recommendation of an acknowledged Virtue, Charity, which, if exercifed in the Extent that Conformity to the Will of God requires, would ef- fcflually prevent all Complaints againft the prefent Order of Things : Such Complaints being made with a total Dlfregard to every thing, but their own private Syjlem ; and feeking Remedy in the Diforder, and at the Expence of all the reft. The Art and Contrivance, we fee, is truly admirable. But Mr. De Croufaz purfues his own Ideas. For to know Mr. Popes, feems to have been his leaft Concern throughout his whole Commentary. *' This Syftem [namely, of a Whole"] will carry us to a great length. *' Miracles, which deviate from the ordinary Courfe of Nature, «' muft pafs from henceforward as idle Fable." [Obferve his reafon] *' It was impoffible that any kind of thing which has happened, " (hould not have happened, or not have happened In the Manner " it hath *." As to Mr. Pope''s Fatalifm, we have faid enough of that Matter already. But now, if, for Difputation's Sake, we ad- mit what, for Truth's Sake, we muft rejeft, according to my No- tions of Logic, this Conclufion would follow, that therefore Mira- cles could not but have been ; not Mr. Croufazs, that therefore they never could be. Miracles are proved, like other Matters of Fadl, by human Tcfiimony : If that fays. Iron at one time fwam, at otlier iimes funk, and we fuppofe Things ordered fatally ; thefe two * Commcntaire, p. 339. Events Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. i6i Events were equMy neceffary : So that, to make out his Conclufion, he muft be forced to add downright Alheifm to his Fate. Mv. De Crcufaz lias now puftied Matters to a decent I^^ngtli, He has laid, the Poet's Extent of Charity was irrational — the Syjiem on which it was founded chimerical — that it ended in Fate — and overthrew all Miracles. One would imagine this fliould have fatif- fied the mpfl: orthodox Refentment. But there wanted fomething to make a right polemical Climax. To crown the Whole, there- fore, he tells us, that, " According to the Poet, theUniverfc would *' not have been a Work fufliciently worthy of God, had there not *' been Atheifts, Supcrftitious, Perfecutors, Tyrants, Idolaters, " Afiaffins, and Poifoners *." What I can find in the EJfay com- ing neareft to this, is, That thofe Mifchiefs do not deform God's Creation; becaufe the divine Art is inceffantly producing Good out of Evil : And that as this Univerfe is the beft of all thofe in God's Idea, therefore, whatever is, is right, with refped to that Univerfe : Either as tending, in its own Nature^ to the Perfedion of it, or made fo to tend by infinite Wifdom, contrary to its Nature. The true Confequence drawn from all this, is. That an Univerfe with Atheifs, Superfitious, Sec. is f efficiently worthy of God. How that can infer this other, That the Univerfe would not have been a Work ftificiently worthy of God, had there not been Atke'f, Superfitious, Sec. I leave Mr. De Croufiz to draw out by his own Logic, or, which feems the m.ore dudile of the two, his own Confcience. The Poet's Addrefs to his Friend, which follows, and clofes this Epijlle, comes not within the Defign of thefe Obfervations ! which are only to explain the Fbilofophy and Recfoning o£ the Efay on Man. Otherwife, this fmgle Apoftrophe would fumifli a Critic with Ex- amples of every one of thofe /w Species of Elocution, from which, as from its Sources, Longinus deduceth the Sublime -]-. * Comnientahe, p. 340. ^ — TOfvIs ■anyai the? iij" t' i^rf-.^ia^. I. Tl^uTcv iA< >y xjaTij-oi ^l zri^t Taj ro>)(r«f a^fi-!Tr,So?.ou 2. Ai^TE£0» i\ TO ffpoJfi. ^ J.W.ar'v.Sir waSo?. 3. Ho.i T^K cxni^'^-"" wXatrij. 4. "H yiftaTx ^jao-.j. Vol. VI. Y I. The ,62 A COMMENTARY ON ,. The firft nnd chief is a Grandair and Sublimity of Concep- lien : Come then, my Friend ! my Genius come along, O Maftcr of the Poet, and the Song! And while the Mufe now fl:oops, and now afcends. To Man's low Paflions, or their glorious Ends. 2. The Second, that Pathetic Entbufiafm, which at the fame time melts and ctifomes : Teach me, like thee, in various Nature wife. To fall with Dignity, with Temper rife, Form'd by thy Converfe, happily to fleer From grave to gay, from lively to fevere. Correct with. Spirit, eloquent with Eafe,, Intent to reafon, or polite to pleafe. 3. A certain elegant Formation and OrdonanCe of Figures i O ! while along the Stream of Time, thy Name Expanded flies, and gathers all its Fame, Say, fhall my little Bark attendant fail, Purfue the Triumph and partake the Gale ? 4. AJplendid Di^ion: When Statefmen, Heroes, Kings, In Dull repofe, Whofe Sons Ihall blufli 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 ; Andffthlyy which includes in itfelf all the refl, a Weight and Dig' nity in the Compofition : Shew'd erring Pride whatever ;V, is Right ; That Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 165 That Reason, Passion, anfwcr one great Aim ; That true Self-love and Social are the Same; That Virtue only makes our Bliss below ; And all our Knowledge is Ourselves to know ? But this, as we {liy, is not our Province at prefent. I fhall there- fore content myfelf with an Obfervation, which this fublime Re- capitulation of the general Argument, in the laft Lines, affords me to conclude with. Which is, of one great Beauty that fhines through the whole ^//^y. It is this, that the Poet, whether he fpeaks of Man as an Indhidital, a Member of Society, or the Sub- ie& of Happifiefs^ never miffeth an Opportunity, while he is explain- ing his State under any of thefe Capacities, to illuflrate it, in the mod artful Manner, by the Inforcement of his grand Principle, That every thing tends to the Good of the Whole. PVom whence his Syftem receives the reciprocal Advantage of having that grand Theorem realized by Fa^is^ and his Fii£is jufliiied on a Principle of Right or Nature. Thus have I endeavoured to analyfe and explain the noble Rea- foning of thefe four Epiflles. Enough, I prefume, to convince our Critic's Friends that it hath a Precifion, Force, and Clofenefs of Connexion, rarely to be met with, even in the moft formal Trea- tifes of Phiiofophy. Yet in doing this, it is but too evident I have deftroyed that Grace and Energy which animates the Origi- nal. So right was Mr. Papers Predidion of the Event of fuch an Undertaking, where he fays, in his Preface, that, he was unable to treat this Fart of his Subjedi more in Detail, without becoming dry and tedious. And now let the Reader believe, if he be fo difpofed, what our great Logician infinuates to be his own Sentiments, as well as thofe of his Friends : " That certain Perfons have conjectured that *' Mr. Pope did not compofe this E^j/ at once, and in a regular «' Order ; but that after he had wrote feveral Fragments of Poetry, *' all finilhed in their Kind ; one, for Example, on the Parallel ♦* between Reafon and Injiin^; another, upon Man's groundlefs Y 2 '^Pridcx ,64. A COMMENTARY ON *' Pr.i/f ; another, on the Prerogatives oi hiwi mi Nature-, another, " onRiligion and Superjiition; another, on the Original of Society ? •« and feveral Fragn:ients bcfides, on Self-love and the Pajfiom ; he •' tacked thefe together as he could, and divided them into four •' Epiftles, as, it is laid, was the Fortune of Homer*s Rhapfodies *.'*■ Yes, 1 believe full as much of Mr. Pope's Rhapfodies^ as 1 doof //o- mer''s. But if this be the Cafe, that the Leaves of thefe two great Poets were wrote at random, tofled about, and afterwards put ia Order, like the Cumaan Sibyls ; then, what we have till now thoughc an old lying Bravado of the Poets, That they wrote by Infpiration^ will become a fober Truth. For, \i Qiance could not produce them^ and human defign had no hand in them, what muft we conclude, but that they are, what they are fo commonly called,. D/Ww^ .? However, fo honourable an Account of Rhapfody Writing fliould by all means be encouraged, as Matter of Confolation to certain modern Writers in Divinity and Politics. But the Mifchief is, our Logician has given us an unlucky Proof in his own Cafe, that all Rhapfodifs are not fb happy. To be ferious : As to Homer, one might hope, by this time, thofe old exploded Fooleries about his Rhapfodies would be forgotten. But as to his Tranjlator, it muft be owned, he has given Caufe enough of Difguft to our Philojophers and Men of Re a f on. Till this time, every Poet, good or bad, ftack fairly to his Profeffion : But Mr. Pope, now the laft of the poetic Line amongft us, on whom the large Patrimony of his whole Race is devolved, feems defirous, as is natural in fuch Cafes, to ally himfelf to a more lafting Family ; andfo, after having difported himfelf at Will, in the , flowery Paths of Fancy, and revelled in all the Favours of the Mufes, boafls of having taken up in time, and courted and efpoufed Truth :- That not in Fancy s Maze he wander'd long. But ftoop'd to Truth, and moraliz'd his Song. But now, in what Light, muft we think, will the graver Chrif- tian Reader regard the Calumnies we have here confuted ? How fad * Coramentaire, p. 346, Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 165 atl Idea will this give him of tlie prefent Spirit of Chriftinn Profef- fion, that a Work, wrote folely to recommend the Charity that Religion foftrongly inforceth, and breathing nothing but Love to God, and univerfal Good-will to Man, fhould bring upon the Au- thor fuch a Storm of uncharitable Bitternefs and Calumny, and that, i-rom a pretended Advocate of Chriftianity ? A Religion the very Vitality of which (if we may believe ]t% Propagators) is Univerfal Benevolence : For the End of the Commandment is Charity *. Con- formably hereunto we may obferve, that in their Epijiles to the Churches, whatever the Occrfion was, whatever Difcipline they in- flituted, whatever Points of Faith they explained, whatever Hcre- iies they fligmatized, whatever Immoralities they condemned, or whatever Virtues they recommended, Charity was flill the Thing moft conftantly enforced, as the very End of all, the Bend of PerfeSinefs f. The beloved Difciple of our Lord, particu- larly, who may furely be fuppofed to know his Mafter's Will,, hath wrote his Epiftle on fet Purpofe to recommend this fingle Vir- tue : At a Crifis too, when, as Herefies were fpringing up apace, a modern Controverfialift would be apt to think lie might have em- ployed his Time better. And why (it may be reafonably aiked) fa very much on Charity, in an Age when Chriftlaiis had lb few Pro- vocations or Temptations to violate it ? For their Faith being yet chafte from the Proftitutions of the S<:bocls,. and their Hierarchy yet uncorrupted by the Gifts of Conflmtine,- the Church knew nei» thef Bigotry nor Ambition, the two fatal Sources of uncharitable Zeal. I will tell you, it was the Providence of their prophetic Spi- rit, which prefented to them the Image of thofe miferable Times foretold by their Mafter, \v\\t\\ Iniquity potdd abound, and the hove- of many wax cold \, So that if the Men of thofe Times fhould per- fiil in violating this Bond of Perfetlnefs, after fo many repeated Ad- monitions, they might be found altogether without Excufe. For J can by no means enter into the Views of that profound Philofoplier, who difcovered that fefus and his Followers might preach up Love • I Tim. i. 5- f Col, iii. 14. J Matt. xxiv. \i. and ,66 A COMMENTARY ON and Charily, the hotter to enable a Set of Men, fome Centuries atterwnrds," to tyrannife over thofe whom the eugagitig Sounds of Cha- rity and Brotherly Love had in trapped Into Subjedion *. I am aware that certain modern Propagators of the Faith, aided with a School Di/linflion, will tell you, that it is pure Charity which ft;ts them all at work; and that what you call IJncharitablmefs^ when thev infult the Fame, the Fortune, or the Perfon of their Brother, is indeed the very Height of Charity, a Charity for his Soul This indeed may be the Height of the Hangman's Charity, who waits for your Cloaths : But it could never be St. Paul's. His was not eafily prcvoked, thought no Evil, bore nil Things, hoped all Things, endured all Things f. It was a Charity that began in Can- dour, infpired good Opinion, and fought the temporal Happinefsof his Brother. I leave it with Mr, De Croufa% to think upon the different Ef- fcfls which Excefs of Zeal in the Service of Religion hath pro- duced in him. For I will, in very Charity, believe it to be really that ; notvvithftanding we every Day fee the mofl defpicable Tools oi others Impotencv, and the vileft Slaves to their own Ambition, hide their corrupt Pafllons under the felf-fame Cover. This learned Gentleman {hould refled on what the fober Part of the World will thiuk of his Conduft. For though the Apoflle bids aged Men be sound in Faith, he adds immediately, and in Charity, IN Patience \ likewife. But where was his Charity In labouring, on the flightcfl: Grounds, to reprefent his Brother as propagating Spinozijm and Immorality ? Where was his Temper, when he became fo furious againft him, on the Suppofitlon of his efpoufing a Syfim \\t \\7iA never read, that oi Leibnitz ', and juftifying a Doc- trine he had never heard of, the pre-ejlablifhed Harmony ? Where was his Patience, when, having conceived this of hiin, on the mere Authority of a mojl miftaken Tranflator, he would not ftay to inquire whether the Author owned the Faithfulnefs of the Verfion ; but » CharaAerifticVs, vol. i. p. 87. vol. iii. p. 115. Ed. 1737. •}■ I Cor. xiii. 5. 7. % Titus ii. 3. pub- Mr. POPE'S ESSAY ON MAN. 167 piibliflied his Conceptions, and the ftrongen: Accufations upon thofe Conceptions, in Volume after Volume, to the whole World? Where, if in any ot thefe Im;iginations fo founded, he fliould be mlftaken, he became guilty of a deliberate and repeated Aft of tlie highcfl: Injuftice; the attempting to deprive a virtuous Man of his honeft Reputation. If Mr. De Croufaz prefumes his Zeal for the Honour of God will excufe his Violations of Ciiarity towards Men, I muft tell him, he knorvs not what Spirit he is of. If a Man (fays the beloved DifcipLe of our Lord) fay, 1 love God, and hateth his Brother, he is a Liar: For he that loveth not his Brother whom he hathfeen, how can he lonie God whom he hath not fen * ? A Free-thinker may perhaps laugh at the Simplicity of this Argument, which yet he would aft'edl to admire, could any one find it for him in Plato. But let him for once condefcend to be inflrufted by his Bible, and hearken to a little Chrifian Reafoning. " You fay you love God (fays the Apoflle) though you hate your *' Brother : Impofiible ! The Love of any Objedl begins originally, •' like all the other Paffions, from Self-love. I'hus we love our- " felves, by Reprefentation, in our Offspring; which Love extends- ** by degrees to our remoter Relations, and fo on through our " Neighbourhood, to all the Fellow-Members of our Community^ *' And now Self-love, refined by Reafon and Religion, begins ta- " lofe its Nature, and defervedly affumes another Name Our " Country next claims our Love ; we then extend it to all Maii- " kind, and never reft till we have, at length, fixed it on that *' mojl amiable of all Objects, the great Author and Original of Being, " This is the Courfe and Progrefs of human Love : God loves from Whole to Parts, but human Soul Muft rife from Individual to the Whole. Now (purfues the Apoftle) I reafon thus : *' Can you, who are '* not yet arrived at that inferior Stage of Benevolence, the Love * J John iv. 20, u of i68 A COMMENTARY, ^c. •• of your Brotlier, -whom yon havefecn, that is, whom the Necef- *♦ fitics of Civil Lite, and a Scnfc of your mutual Relation might «» teach you to love, pretend to have reached the very Height and ♦^ rerfeaiou of this Paflion, the Love of God -d^hom you have not *♦ /ffw? that is, w/^o/.? wonderful Oeconomy in his Syftem of Crea- ♦' tion, which makes him lb amiable, you cannot have the leafl: ♦' Conception of; you, who have not yet learnt that your own pri- «' vatc Syftem is fupported on the great Principle of Benevolence? *' Fear him, fatter him, fght for him, as you dread his Power, ♦' you may ; but to love him, as you know not his Nature, is im- *' poflible." This is the Apoftle's grand and fublime Reafoning ; and it is with the fame Thought on which the Apoftle founds his Argument that our moral Poet ends his Eflay, as the juft and necei- fary Conclufion of his Work : Self-love but ferves the virtuous Mind to wake. As the fmall Pebble ftirs the peaceful Lake j The Centre mov'd, a Circle ftrait fucceeds. Another ftill, and ftill another fpreads ; Friencl, Parent, Neighbour, firfl: it will embrace, W\% Country next, and next, all human Race ; "Wide, and more wide, th'O'erflowings of the Mind Take every Creature in, of every Kind; Earth fmiles around, with boundlefs Bounty bleft. And Heaven beholds its Image in his BreasTo REMARKS REMARKS On a book, intituled, FUTURE REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS BELIEVED BY THE A N T I E N T S, PARTICULARLY TtiE PHI LOS OPHERSj Wherein fome Objections of the Rev. Mr. Warburton, in his Divine Legation of Moses, are confidered, 1742. A POSTSCRIPT, IN Answer TO SOME Objections OF Dr. S y kes ; and, A LETTER to Bp. Smallbrook. *' Beware left any Man fpoil you through Philosophy and vain *' Deceit, after the Traditions of Men, after the Rudiments of *• the World, and not after Christ." Col. ii. 8. Vol. VI. Z ADVERTISEMENT to the Second Edition, 1742. THE Author of the Pnmphlet here examined hath lately made a public Conftflion of his Authorfhip,. figncd with his own Navie; and thereby faved himlelf from all larther Corredion of this k^nd. For he who is fo loft to Shame, as a Writeji, to own what he before wrote, and fo loft to Shame, as a Man, to own what he- hath now written, muft needs be paft all Amendment, the only reafonable View in Corre&icn. I fhall therefore but do, what in- deed (were it any more than repeating what he himfelf hath dis- covered to the Public) would be juftly reckoned the crueleft of all things, tell my Reader the Name of tills Miferable ; which we find to be I. TILLARD. REMARKS. [ i7» ] REMARKS. THOUGH I could not perfuade myfelf to take this Notice of fuch a kind of Writer as him of the Mifcellan)\ yet a very Uttle tiling, the Reader fees, will engage me to give an Ad- veilary Satisfadlon ; while I fuffer myfelf to be feduced into a Controverfy by the Writer of a late Book, intituled. Future Re~ guards atjd Puwpments believed by the Ancients^ particularly the Phi' lof'jphcrs ; wherein Jome Obje^ions of the Reverend Mr. Warburton, in his Divine Legation of Moses, are conJiJered*. And a very little Thing it was ; only the finding in his Book one fingle Truth, which does me a Piece of Juftice, that the ortho- dox Writer above-mentioned would by no means be brought unto, even after his Conviftion of Calumny on that Head. It is in thefe Words ; But Imuji here do Co much Juflice to Mr. Warburton, as to acknowledge, that the Point he denies, is, that the Philofophen only did not believe future Re^vards arid Punifimcnts ; whereas he al- lows all others did believe them t- "* 8vo, London, 1740. Printed by M, Steen, in the Inner-Temple Lane, t P. 84. Z 2 For ,73 REMARKS ON TILLARD. For the reft, neither his JbUit'tes nor liis Candour deferved this Notice. His M-rities nre duly celebrated in thcfe few Sheets ; and for his QinJour, the Rcaiier will. I believe, require no farther Proof thau the foUowlng : — <fur 4i!i ihcfe Iwfy Dtfcrlptiom—if then can the Uajl Doubt remain m the Reader's Breaji—it mnji an fe from the hifluence and P repofj'iffwn ofafeiv random Exprcfwns now and then thrtncn out to depreciate the Philofophers, by certain Pcrfons, ivho, thinking thmfehes obliged to fay fome thing out of the common Road, very frequently difcover their Ignorance and want of SensE im THE VERY Attempt to display their Learning: But that SUCH Pretenders to Knowledge, such empty Mimics of REAL Worth, may no longer impcse iipon Pcrfons of ^good Utiderpnding—J/Jjall^, ^c. But tiiough 1 ftiew this I)iftin£lion to a puny Truth half over- bid, which I was forced to draw froin under an unwieldy Heap of Blunders and Prevarications : yet, let it be obferved, that this Is only for once, and out of due Regard to the firft Writer againft me,, that has condcfcended to fay any thing truly of me : For I hope common Honefty is not {o rare, even amongji An/werers by Profef- Jion (of all fobcr Knaves the moil corrupt) that this Tribute need be paid twice unto it. My Confiderer begins his Preface thus : T^he Motive which prin- cipally induced me to tuhlifh the following Collenion and Obfervaiions, •was the firange and unjujlifiable Methods which fpme Men take to ad- vance their own systems by depreciating and running down thofe of others f. The Reader fees what the Man would be at. Here is no Dlfguife or Referve however. It is the old Infidel Grudge againft the z«/5/ir^«/ Spirit of Chriftianity, deliveredly as crudely as ever his dear Friends, the Philofophers, urged It againft the primitive Jpdogifs. Their great Quarrel to Chriftianity was, that its Defen- ders endeavoured to advance their own Sy/Iems, by depreciating and running down thofe of others + : And this, in their, and in their ♦ P. 164, 1C5. I p.iii. + See The Divine Legal, vol.1, p.431— 434. Advocates REMARKS ON T I L L A R D. 173 Advocates Opinion, was ajlrartge and unjujlifiiible Method. And how fhoiild he think otherwife r when he has fo mean an Opinion of the Caufe of Revelation, as to tell us prefently after. That mofl: of that vafl: number of Books that have been wrote to prove the Ne- ccffity and Excellency of our holy Religion, are thought very mean and inlufficient by the unprejudiced and inqulfitive Adverfary, but appear in a very different Light to the Mob of Chriftians, who, by the happy Prejudice of Education, have been brought up to doubt of nothing. But hear him in his own more emphatic Words : The vajl. number of Books and Pamphlets which have of late Tears bcenfo f lent fully poured out^ to prove the Necejity afid Excellency of our holy ReligioHy. certainly deferve the Jipprobation and Thanks of every %ealous and truly devout Chrijlian : And though many of tbefe Per" formanccs have been thought by the Adversar.y: very mean AND INSUFFICIENT, yet they have appeared in a quite difereut Light in the Eyes of the Bulk of Mankind ', who, from the happy Cast of their Nativity, have, in their earliest age,- F.EEN. taught TO FORM A MUCH BETTER JUDGMENT OF TlIlNGS; A'XD WHO, SELDOM HAVING ANY DoUBTS OR ScRUPLES TO DISTURB TiiEM, are therefore the eafer ccrfnncd in the quiet and: full Per fuafion of thefe Dotirincs they at first received *.. Had I not Reafon to fay as I did, " That the Fleathen Philofo- " phers of our Times might be well e-xcufed in being angry to fee '*■ their ancient Brethren fliewn for Knaves in Pradice, and Fools " In Theory; but that any elfe (hould think themfelves concerned. " in tli'j Force and Fidelity of the Drawing, was a Myftery 1 did. •' not know what to ir.ake oft ?" It is thereforeMatter of much Confolation to mc, to find that llic real Friends of Revelation have at length left thefe Heathen Philofo- fhers (the Men whom only it concerns) to difpute this Point with me. I have now got a Gentleman Freethinker under my Hands ;, and, if thofe other Folks will be but eafy, I'll promife to give a good* Account of him. * P. iii. iv, -J- Divine Legat. vol, II. p. 136. GuiT ,;4 KEMARKS ON TILLARD. Our CcK,1J(rer proceeds to fliew the Reafons why feme Defenders ot" Chril^ianlty will not acknowledge the Doaiiue contained in his l^ook. He graciouOy acquits them of all Malice and Defign, and throws it firll, 1. Upon their Ignorance. The firjl of ivh'icb is the Ignorance, in this particular, of by far the greatefl Part of them [Defenders of Chriftianity] -who really do not knoiv that Rewards and Pump- ments in another Life are any where fpoken of but in the NcwTef- tamcnt, unkfs it be in fome dark and figurative 'Terms, which (as if THERE WERE NONE SUCH AMONGST THEMSELVES) they think they have a Right to laugh at and expofi. They remember, perhaps, fome Stories in their School-books of Elyfium, of Tartarus, rf Cerberus, tic. and conclude, veryhajiily, that this was all that iz'as ever thought of or believed by the Heathens concerning a World to come *. It was not for nothing, we find, that he defpifed the Defenders of Chrif- tianity as Scribblers, whom none but a prejudiced Mob would give any Credit to : For the far greatejt Part of them, it feems, knew no more of Antiquity than a few Stories in their School-books. But who can enough admire the Modefly of this, in one, who confelTes he has forgot his Greek, and this only in order to infinuate that he has fome Latin which yet fticks by him ? 2. He throws it, Secondly, Upon their Prejudices, that is, their great Attachment to their own Religion. On this Head, he talks I don't know what of captivated Lovers — pious Zeal — Prejudice of Education — Interefl — Preferment ; In fhort the common-Dog-trot of Infidelity and Freethinking. After this Specimen of his Modefy, he prefents us with one of his Abilties. As to what relates (fays he) to the Subjedl of the fol- lowing Sheets, the Cafe in Fa£i is this. It is indifputably true, and beyond all reafonabie ContradiSlion, that the Doblrine of future Rewards and Punijhments is clearly and plainly delivered and laid down in the New T foment : And it is as indifputably true, and beyond all reafon- * P. V. abk REMARKS ON TILLARD. 175 cble Contradiction^ that the Do^r'ine cf future Rcviiards and Puntpnufiti IS CLEARLY AND PLAINLY DF.LIVERED AND LAID DOWN /« the Books and Writings of the Heathens. The Truth of which Poin r is now fubmitted to the Judgment of every impartial Reader *. Tliis indifputable Point, which he writes a Book to prove, is, I believe, flridly fo. At leafl: it was never difputed by his humble Servant. On the contrary, I have faid, the Heathen Philofophcrs Wcr^^&^r^^- tually inculcating to the People the Do^rine of a future Slate of Re- wards and Punifhmsnts in their Dfcourfes and IFriiings f . But his- Title-page profefles to prove /,6f Truth of a very different PJnt^ not quite fo indifputable. Future Rewards and Punifmients believed /^v the Ancients, particularly the Phibfophers, lohcreinfome Objections of the Reverend Mr. VV. in his Divine Legation of Moses are confdcrcd. Thus we fee this able Writer has miftaken his Queftion before he be got to the End of his Preface. Dm me dc contlenda con qulen m£ entlenda, {ays the SpaniOi Proverb, God grant me an Adverfary that vndcrfands me. But, wretch that I am, at'ter having met with fuclv an Adverfary, I am now forced to contend with one that docs not underftand himfelf. His Preface concludes thus : 1 thought once to have changed the Order In which the Rotations of the fecond Chapter are puiced. Bur Method in such Cases depending almost as much upon the Fancy of every Reader as the real Propriety of the Thing itself, I chofe rather to fubmit them as they are %, Sec. By thefe his frank Sentiments of Method, it appears he has forgot his Logic too, if ever he had any, as well as his Creel:, which, he tells us, he had negleBed, like Lord Chief fufice Hale, by a long Avoca- tion to Studies of quite another Nature §. Whatever his Studies were, he can fcarce perfuade the Reader to think them like Lord Chief Jrfice Hale's. That learned Man indeed lofl h\s, Greek, but got a great deal oi good Senfe. Our Author too has loft: his Greek. And what has he got ? Miirry, the Knack of writing without any Senfe at all. * P. vii. t Divine Legit. Book III. § 2. VoU II. p. 8, | V. \k- ^ P. viii. II. We ,7$ REMARKS ON TILLARD. 11. W'c come now to his pfi Chapter, the only one that I am con- cerned in ; and therefore the only one I (hall, at prefent, give my- fjlt the Trouble of confideriiig. As juft before he had innocently blundered out of the Queftlon ; fo now by entering on his Atten- dance on the Author of The Divifie Legation, he has as innocently blundered into it : And thus has fet all right again. After having frankly told the Reader, that the Author of TJje Divine Legation had not the direSi and immediate Difcovcry of Truth, and the real and substantial Imprcvement of Mankind [/. e. the Recommendation of Pagan Philofophy] in his Thoughts and Studies, but the Advancement of a certain favourite Scheme * [/. e. of Revela- tion] he goes on to t quote the Apologies I make for venturing to xleny a commonly received Opinion. On which he thus defcants : By all which, and indeed his tvhole manner of treating this SubjeSl, he plainly d'fcovers fuch a great Difrufl of his Arguments and Conch fans to convince the Judgment of his Reader^ that |, &c. I am a very unlucky Writer. If lexprefs myfelf with Confidence, I am fuppoled to diftruft other Men's Opinions ; if with Diffidence, my own. But let him reft himfelf content. I am under no manner of Diffidence. Or, if 1 had any, his writing againft me had eafily removed it. However, in this I fliall never recriminate. I confefs, he writes all the way as much without Ff^r as Wit. Ipall (fays our crafty Advocate) pafs over his nice Dijiin^ions, Divifions, a»d Subdivifions §. Now this, I cannot but think hard. He had before made his Exceptions to Greek, and I dare fay he would think it unfair to have it urged againft him after he had fo fairly pleaded /^«5r^/««j to it j yet a critical Ufe of that Language is alone fufficient to determine a de;ifive Queftion in this Controverfy, namely, of the Spinozifm of the ancient Philofphers : And here he xlebars me all Benefit oi Logic, and won't have Patience while I ftate the Queftion, and divide the Subjeft. Ifallpafs over (fays he) his '^'■''^' tP. 2, 3. J p. 3. ^jbid, nice REMARKS ON T I L L A R D. 777 fi'ice "Dtfthidliom, DiviJtonSy and Subdivifions. So tiiat bccaufe lic knows neither Greek nor Method^ I fliall ufe none. Here then I might f;;irly dilmifs this 7ninute Philofophcr, who dares me to the Combat, and yet excepts agalnfl all the Weapons in Ufe, But not to difappoint the Company we have brought together, I will accept his Challenge, and ilght him with his own wooden Dagger. I proceed f fiiys he) direilly to take notice of tbofc Reafons lohich^ IN MY Apprehension, any laays affedi the prefent ^eJiion\ and tbefe, I think, may be reduced to two. ift, '''■'That the Philofophers '* held it lawful, for the public Good, to fay one Thing, xvhen they "■ thought another, arid that they aSlually did fo, adiy, That they " held fome fundamental Principles of Philofophy, which were alloge- " ther inconfferit with the DoStrine of future Rewards and Punifj- " ments *." But furely. If he will needs write againft me, his Bufinefs is not only to confider what, in his Apprchcnfion, tends to the Proof of my Point, but likewife what in my Apprehcnfion I had faid does fo. For Inftance, in his Apprehenfion, this Argu- ment, That the Philofophers held it lawful in general to fay one Thing, when they thought another, and this, that they aftually didfo, tends to the Proof of my Point. And, /;; my Jpprehenfon, this other Argument likewife, That the Philofophers aBed on the above Princi- ple, with regard to a future State of Rewards and Punifjments, the very Dodlrinc in quejlion, has, at leaft, as ftrong a Tendency : For which Reafon I had employed j^x- large Pages to inforce it. But to all this my Adverfary has thought fit to fay — Nothing. However, if he will needs confine the Strength of my Difcourfc to thofe two Points, I mufl: be content, and accept the befl Terms hs, can be brought to. Nor will the Reader perhaps think thefe bad ones. But, alas ! he yet knows little of our Advocate. Of a hundred Arguments from Reafon and Authority which fupport thofe two Points, he has not ventured fo much as at a Decimation', and * P. 3. 4. Vol. VI. A a his ,73 REMARKS ON T I L L A R P. his Attack of tliofc K\v he fluiffles off in {o evafive a manner, as- woulii never get him Viclory in the Schools *, nor hardly Credit at llic B.ir. But what would he not do, or what would he not forbear to do, for liis Philofophcrs ? For if that Set of modern Heathens, as lie gravely tells us, are not far from the Kingdom op God, ivho bc'.ng really in good eanicjl in the Search of Truth, have 'without Prejudice conJiJered, and have calmly, ferionjly, and %vith the utmojl Diligence examined into the Obligation of the feveral Religions, or SeJIs of Religion, which now prevail in the World ; and after the maturcfi Deliberation are fatifed there is nothing extraordinary or immediately divine in any of them ; but that, upon the Whole, all which they contain or pretend to (except what relates to our Duty to God, and our Obligations to Morality J is merely human Invention, and the ProduSi of Defign, of Error, or of Enthufafm t- If thefe be fonear Day, in what a hopeful Condition are thofe of the elder Houfe, who- certainly cannot be faid to have rejedcd tlie Gofpel-; though fo ready to give a diligent and difpafjionate Examination to any tiding that would afford room for a Difpute. III. But we muft take him as we find him, and be thankful. The Reader will fay prcfently we have Reafon. For he now proceeds to the Confutation of the hrft Point, That the Phikfophers held it Id-wful, for public Good, to fay one Thing, when they thought ano- ther. And how does he fet about it ? Truly in a very new Way. By PROVING it at large, from the fourth to the fixteenth Page: Which, he homflly, for iht fecond lime, concludes thus : All which //, in Effea, no more than what Mr. Warburton himfef fays +. Why, no; but he being able to fay it fo much better, had a Mind to fliew his Parts. And now, according to his own Confeflion, the Phikfophers holding it lawful, for the public Good, to fay one thing •when they thought another ; and I having proved, to which Proof * P- 3« t P. 201, 202. J p. i6^ ,y, he R E iM A R K S ON T 1 L L A R D. 179 he has not oppofed a fiiigle Syllable, that they praSllJed this Rule in the very Point in ^tejlion, the Difpute is fairly at an End. This will certainly furprize our lefs attentive Readers : But they muft know, all this good-natured Pains was neither for their Sakcs nor for mine, but for his dear Philofophers, The Cafe ftood thus : When I fpoke of the double Do^rlne, I confidered the Praftlce of it as not altogether free from Blame. Not that this Reprefentatioti contributed to prove it pradlifed in the Point in queftion, but be- caufe I thought the Reprefentation true. But my Adverfiry, as we fee, having taken it for granted, that / had not the d'lreEl and immediate Difcovery 0/" Truth in my Thoughts and Studies^, had nothing left, but the firft Reafon to affign for my Reprefentation, which affeding the Credit of his Mafters, he will endeavour, as great an Enemy as he is to Divijions and Difiindlions, to d'ljllnguijh away this Opprobrium. He therefore divides the Praftice of the double DoSlrine into two Sorts. The one, a little criminal : Tlie other, quite free from Blame \. And to ftiew his Judgment, in the firft Clafs he places Priefts and Politicians |, and in ihe /eco^nd, the Chinefe L'terati ^, who, taught Atheifm in private; and Or- fheus ||, who againft his Confcience, as he fays, taught Polytheifm in public. But the Clafs of Innocents, you may be fure, was eredled chiefly for his dear Philofophers, whofe double DoSlrine he impioufly compares to the Pradices of the ever blefled yi'ftis **. For which I remit him to the appointed Defenders of Religion : who will, I hope, give him due Correftion for all his Infults on their Ignorance and their School-Books. The mighty Argument then he labours with, and for the fake of which he has, before he was aware, given up the whole Caufe, is this : " The Philofophers Pradtice of the double DoSlrine was inno- " cent and laudable: therefore it could never be employed to preach " up a Future State of Rewards and Punifhments in Public, and to * P. I, 2. t ^- "• t Il^i'J- § P. J2. IIP. 13, 14. "■ P. 30— 39. A a a " preach ,So R E M A R ?: S ON TILL A R D. ♦• pronch it down in private." This, 1 Uippofe, he would have faid, h ul he known liow to exprels his own Meaning. Let us fee then w!iat Force it h:w upon his Principles. For, as much as he contends tor the Propagation of Truth, he is not likely to die a Martyr to it ; as you mny hear by his talking. To diflurb the fuhllc Pcjce, to break the Laws, and fruhlejlj/ to expofe ourfehcs to nunlfcf: Danger for the fdh of propagating cur Religion, seems to CARRY A CONTRADICTION' IN ITSELF, a?ui woiild jiced no Confuta- tion, if the mifakcn Principles and Practice of a few Zealots did not inflame fomc People to think oiherivife *. It is no wonder this fliould raile his Indignation. For had not Chrijl and his Apoftles been guilty of the very Mifdemeanor that,, he tells us, carries a Contra- diSlion in itfelf (which, whatever it means in his Jargon,, is furely fomcthing very bad) we had never had the poor Philofophers at this time of Day fo difgracefuUy puHied befide the Chair. But for this, I again fend him to be difciplined by the Defenders nforefaid ; and go on to try his Argument on his own Principle. The Philofophers,. as he confefles, ufed, for the public good, to fay one thing when they thought another. They faw that the Dodlrine of a Future State of Rewards and Punifliments was firmly believed by the People, and of infinite Service to Society. But their fpeculative Opinions led. them to rejeft it. What was to be done ? Telling what they thought the Truth would be injurious, on the Suppofition, both to Society and themfelves. And (as he affures ws) frttitlefsly to expofe one's Jelf to manifejl Danger for the fake of propagating one's Religion, feems to carry a ContraditVion in itfelf Here then their Principle of faying one thing when they thought another, came in Pradice, nothing being left, but to profejs in public, and believe in private. But he will fay, perhaps, ihatfmcere impartial Inquirers after Truth, like his Philofophers, could not, after the mof careful Examination, rejed the Dodrine of future Rewards and Punifhments. Why not, I afk him ? They might be as coftive of Belief, for ought he knows,, * P. 43. REMARKS ON T I L L A R D. 1 8 1 as his favourite Clafs of Free-tlilnkers ; who, with the fame Quali- fications, reje61; all Revelation in general. But it ran flrangely in his Head, that if I thought the Philofophers prafliCed tiie double Do£trine on the Point in queflion, I muft needs fuppofe they had nojixed Principles. — But it is very unreajonable (fays he) and unjuft from hence to conclude ^ that they who dofo, have no Belie j of their own, or that they think all Religion whatever the Invention of defining Men * And again So that, notwithflanding their double DoBrine, they had fiill fame fxcd ones of their own f . Why, thou mighty De- fender of Heathen Wifdom ! who ever faid they had not ! Or who but fuch a Defender would not have feen, that all the force of my Argument reds upon this very Truth, that they had /.vW Pr/«c/- -ples, that they had a Belief of their own ? But as if he had not done enough in this obliging way, he will go on, and prove for me, that the double DoSlrine was not about different Opinions, but the fame. I Indeed thought it Incumbent on me to (hew this: becaufe it was bringing my Argument home to the Point, that a Future State was one of the Objeds of the double DoSlrine. But how it could be made to ferve his Purpofe, was quite beyond by reach. Judge then of my Surprize, when I faw him attempt to prove it at large ; and to conclude his Proof. thus : // appears then that the external Dodlrine related to the fame thing as the internal'^. I was fome time at a lofs for his Meanino- in the former Cafe : but here I gave over the Search as defperate. Not but I concluded there was Mifchief fomewhere.. At ]aft I found this (lender thing of an Argument lie lurking under a Cc-^ nundrum. I don't know whether it will bear the handling ;. but at prefent it hangs together thus: '* The external Do6lrlne re- " lated to the fame thing as the internal. Now a Future State- *' is one thing, and no Future State, another. Thefe therefore " being two, could not be the Obje£t of the double Doolrine, which " was concerned witli one thing only." But our Advocate is fa. * P. 45- + P- 47- t I"- -4. flu- ,sj k e m arks on T I l l a r d. tar from being able to make a good Argument, that, to the Shame of hii ProfeJ/ion, he knows not liow to make a good ^ibble. For I h;id all along affirmed the Pliilofophers, both in their external and internal teaching, held a Future State (here's his one and ihi fame thing tor him :) In their external, a Future State ivitb Rewards and PunKhmentsj in their interna/, a Future State w///j- c,v/ them. But though he contends, that tbe external Doclrine related to the fjine thing ivith the internal, yet it does not (he Aiys) in the leojl ap- ■ptiir, that the Phihjopbers believed one thing, and taught a quite con- t-ary to the People '*. This is ftrange indeed. Thefe Philofophers then muft be like their Advocate, and teach nothing, Otherwife, it" the external Teaching was for the People, and the internal what the People could not be trufted with, and botli about the fame thing, the two Ways of Teaching muft certainly proceed upon contrary Propofitions. But, perhaps, in the Humour he is now in, an Authority may be better liked than a Reafon. I will give him one above all Exception : His own. In another Place he tells us, // did fully appear, that the Philofophers believed one thing, and taught a quite contrary to the People ; for he fays the ex- ternal THEREFORE MUST BE JUST THE REVERSE [to the internal] ■WITH RELATION TO THE SAME POINTS t« IV. Our Advocate iiath given me fo little room to quarrel with him on this Head, that the Reader muft needs have had a very poor and meagre Entertainment. Nothing but a ftill-born Blunder, and the Ghoft of a departed Quibble. He muft therefore be content to make out his Treat with what cold Scraps I can pick up from the over-foddcn Crambe of his Logic and Literature. In the fifth Page he fays, Mr. Warburton expresses himjelf very AMBIGUOUSLY, uhere he aferts that they held it lawful, for the public * r. .9. + P. .4. REMARKS ON T I [. L A R D. 1^3 good, to fay one thing when they t bought another. Fur, in the pre- Jent ^ejlion, if we iinderfiand by this, that the Philofphers believed a Future State in a [pi ritual, rejned, and rational Senfe, while they fomelitnes countenanced the People in their gro/s, vulgar, and ccrpo- real Notions of it, then ivhat he lays dozvn is certainly true : But if we underfland it, as he intends we should, that the Philofphers preached the Do6lrine of a Future State to the People, while themfelves believed the contrary, viz. that there was 710 future State of Rewards and Punifiments at all i then his Charge on the Philofphers is abfoluiely falfe. The Logic of this incomparable Period ftands thus r 1. Firft; I talk ambiguoufy, because it is ia his Power to mif- derfland me ; for in the prefent Cafe (fays he) ifws. underfland, &c. not becaufe of any thing I myfelf faid, or omitted to fay. For when I afferted what he here lays to my Charge, I had added, that the Philofphers preached the DoSirine of a future State of Re- liwds and Piinif.mients to the People, while themfelves believed the contrary • and repeated it fo often over, that this Writer him- felf, who accules me of exprejfmg myflf ambiguoufy, confefTes, ill the very Attempt to prove his Accufation, that he knows rcif Meaning. But if tve underfand it (fays he) as he intends we SHOULD 2. Secondly, I talk ambiguoufy, because, in his Senfe of the Words, they are true, in mine, not true. Thefe are fuch Difcoveries in the Art of Reafoning, that I could almoft wifh the Author would add a Chapter of ylmbi~ guities to our common Logics. A thing, I'll allure !iim, very mucli wanted. In his feventeenth Page we have thefe Words, Kotwithflanding which [viz. the double-do£trine], the Defgn and End of the Phi-' lofophers in both, was fill in general the fame, that is, to improve Mankind as much as they would bear -, and the Doctrines in Sub- fance and at the bottom were all along one and the fame ; Just as true: ,8+ R i: M A R fC S O N T I L L A R D. true Chriftitnlty may now be, ibou^b in fame Countries fear ce ciif- cernlHi-, liner overwhelmed with Legends, falfe Miracles, hmige- -u-orjhip, and all the Trumpery of Popifo Super fti lion. Here's a Period, let me tell you, that has no weak Side oi Seifcy but is impenetrable all round. Does he mean that the external and internal Doarines of the Philofophers were in general the fame, iujl as pure Chriftianity, and corrupt Chrlltiauity over- iv/jehned ivitb Legends, falfe Miracles, Image- worpip, and all the Trumpery of Pop'fj Superjlition, are in general the fame? Or does he mean that the external and internal Dodtrines of the Philofo- phers were both to improve Mankind as much as they could bear, juJI as pure Chriftianity, and corrupt Chriftianity ovorwhelmed with Legends, falfe Miracles, Image-worpip, and all the Trumpery of Popif} Supe'Jlition, are both to improve Mankind as much as they can bear ? Or laftly, which perhaps fliould have been nfked firft, had he any Meaning at all ? However it is every Way fo profound, that I fhould advife him to add a Chapter oi Comparifons to his Chapter of Ambiguities, that the one may furnifli us with Examples to fit his Rules in the other. This (hall fuffice at prefent for a Specimen of his Art of Reajoning. Let us turn to his Literature, and fee firft how he manages liis Latin Tranjlations. He gives us the following Quotation from Elian's Various Hif tory * : Ita vera etiam Socratem non explicile differere ; f quis autem eas Differtationes convertat, planijimas eje ; and tranflates it thus : Socrates ufed to talk ambiguoufly ; but if any one turns and SIFTS his Difcourfes with Attention, they will appear mofi plain and eofy -j-. The Reader will feek to no Purpofe in the Latin for fifts %vith Attention ; but this was the Paraphrafe of a Word he did not un- derftand, convertat, ^(i^^,^ ufed by the Author in nllufion to its literal, not figurative Senfe. Mlian had juft before told a Story of one, a Conmijj'eur like our Advocate, who would needs have a Horfe painted rollhig on his Back. The Artift brought him a running Horfe ; which not contenting him, the other put it into the Pol- ture required, by turning the Picture upfide down. Turn Socrates thus, fays MHariy and you have his true Meaning. That is, ««- derjland him by Contraries. And this Rule was given with Judg- ment. For Socrates being perpetually ironical^ take liim in the re- verfe, and he is in his right Senfes. But our Advocate knew as little oi Socrates' s Charader as of his Tranflator's Latin. " Paufo' *' nem enim PiSlorem^ quuvt auJiviJfet a quodam, ut 'uolutantem fc *^ equtwi pingeretf cur rent em eiim pinxijj'e . ^um igitur is qui tabulam *^ pingendiim locciraf^ indignaretiir^ tanquam contra padium ille pinx- *' ijfet, rofpo?idiJJe Pi£iorev3, verte [ot< rf-^^^o-'] Tabulam, ^ ita volu- *^ tans tibi ejio Equus, qui nunc eji currens. Ita vero etiam Socrateni *' non explicit} dijferere ; ft quis autem eas Dijfertationes convertat *' [s-/36ip£;l planij/imas ejfe.'^ Let us now fee how ably he acquits himfelf of his Original Writers. He brings a Paflage from Macrobius in thefe Words, Si quid de his ajfignare conantur, quce non fermonem ta?Uummodo, fed cogitationem quoque humanam fuperant, ad Jimilitudines G? exempla confugiunt. — Sic ipfa Myjleria jigurarum cuniculis operiuntur ; ne vel hcec adept is nuda rerum taliiimfe Natura prabeat ; fed Summatibus tantum Viris Sapi- cntia Interprete veri Arcani confciis ; contentifmt Reliqui ad veneratio- nemfguris defendenlibus a vilitate fecretum, i. Macrob. 2. Ed, Lond, 1694. Which he tranflates thus, *' to the same Purpose Macros ** bius^ fpeaking of God and Nature," fays, The Philofophers when *' they treated of fuch SubjeSls as were beyond all our Words, and ex- ceeded even our Thoughts, they had Recourfe to Similies and Allufons. For that these Things were as Mysteries, which the Wise only were capable of receiving ; but that others fmdd be content with an awful Veneration for them under the Veil of Figures and Allegories^ lest they should be despised *. * P. 20. Vol, VI. B b This jSA Rn]MAr.rv3 WIN 1 I i^ i^ /\ K iv. This comes of Frn-(/:inkhis, and leaving his School-boohs to the C/^T.^v: who owe him a Shame for that contemptuous Donatiou *. 1. We fee here, he makes the Words, Si quid de bis ajjignarc co- nantur, to confugiunt, to relate to the double Do£lrine of thePliilofo- phcrs, as is evident by this Jntrodudion, To the/am Purpo/e Ma- crobius. To what Purpofe, I befeech you ? Why, to the Purpofe of Burners Words immediately preceding, which exprefsly treat of the Nature of the fwofold DoSirine of the Ancients. But who but a Freethinker would not have found that thefe of Macrohius relate to a quite different thing? namely, the Inability of expreffing fpiritual and abftraft Ideas any otherwife than by Words conveying fenfible and material Images. Not, like the external DoSirine, a Matter of Choice, but Ncce[fuy ; a Neceffity arifing from the Nature of Things. A Way of fpeaking the Philofophers could not avoid, even' when conveying their internal DoSlrine to their Adepts. But now the Reader will be apt to afk, If this be fo, as is evident even from the Words themfelves, what muft we do with the reft of the Paf- fage, beginning at Sic ipja Myjleria which does indeed relate to the double DoSlrine ; for it gives a Reafon why Men have Recourfe to Similies and AUuJions, a Reafon founded in the Nature and Expe- diency of the double DoSlrine? What fliall I fay? that our Advo- cate has wilfully murdered and difmembered poor Macrohius ? or, that it was mere Chance-medley ? Let the Reader determine. It is fufficient he be made to know, that the latter Part of the Quo- tation, beginning at 6/f ipf a Myjleria, has no other Relation to the former Part, beginning at Si quid de his aj/ignare, than is between two Things fct in direft Oppofition to one another. 2. Macrobius had obferved, that the Philofophers did not admit the fabulous in all their Difputations ; but in thofe only which re- lated to the Soul, the Heavenly Bodies, and the Hero-Gods. On the contrary, when they difcourfed of the Fir/l Caufe, and the Mind proceeding from him, that then every thing was delivered * See the Qiiotation, at p. 174, agreeably REMARKS ON TILLARD. 1S7 -igrceably tp f1:ri£l Truth — " Sciendum ejl tamen non in omnem D'tf- *' pHtalionem Pbilofophos admittere fahulofa vel licit a *, fed his uti '■'■ Jhlent^ cum vel de anima^ vel de tEkiis, ^theriisve Potes- " TATiBus, vel de ceteris Dis loquuntur. Ceterum cum ad fum- *' mum & principem Omnitnn Dcum, qui apud Greecos t ayocQov qui " ■sTpHrov MTiov nuncupalur, traSlaius fe audet altollere ; vel ad Men- *' tern, quam Graci ySv appellant, Originales rerum Jpecies, qua lliai *' diilafunty continent em, ex fummo not am &? profeSlam Deo: Cuin *' de his, inquam, loquuntur, Summo Deo & Mente, nihil fabulofum <■'■ peniius attingunt." But then he immediately fubjoins, in the Words in Queftion, that, though here they fpoke nothing but the Truth, yet, by Reafon of the high Abflraftion and fpiritual Nature of the Subject, they were unavoidably at a lofs for adequate Ex- preffions, and therefore obliged to fpeak figuratively, that is, make ufe of fenfible and material Images. Sed si quid de his assig- KARE CONANTUR, Q\JX. NON SeRMONEM TANTUMMODO, SED COGITATIONEM QUOCiyE HUMANAM SUPERANT, AD SlMIHTUDI- NES ET EXEMPLA CONFUGIUNT. When Macroh'us had faid this, and illuftrated the lafl Obferva- tion by an Example from Plato, he goes on to the other Part of his Subject, namely, to tell us how the Philofophers managed when they treated of the other Gods and the Soul ; then (he fays) they admitted of the fabulous ; not childiflily, or to pleafe a wanton Imagination, but becaufe they knew that expofing Nature, naked as llie was, would be greatly injurious to her. Who, as flie with- draws herfelf from the Knowledge of the Vulgar by her various Covering and DIfguife of Forms, fo it is her Pleafure that the * All the old Editions had thefe Words vcI Ini'tn : the more modern, not knowing what to make of them, fairly fimk them. Gronovius takes notice of the Fraud, and reftores them to their Place, but in order finally to degrade them on a fair Hearing. He fays they are corrupt, and fliould be read nielfiHa. But Ikiia is the genuine Word, which this Critic would have feen, had he apprehended that it (ignlfied thofe theological Fables allovjcd of iy puhlic Authority, So that fahulofa vel licita fignify either fuch Fables as the Philofophers themfelves invented, or fuch as they borrov-'cdfrom the popular Belief. Bb 2 Philofophers REMARKS ON TILLARD. Phllofophcrs fhould handle her Secrets in Fable and Allegory.— - •« De Dils autem, ut dixl, ceteris, & de Anima non frQftra fe, nee *• ut oblciflent, ad Fabulofa convertunt ; fed quia fciunt Inimicam *' cfle Natunc apertam nudamque expofitionem fiii : quiS ficut vul- *• garibus Honiinum fenfibus intelleftuni fui vario rcrum tegmine «♦ oPERiMENTOQi'E fubtraxitj ita a prudentibus Arcana fua voluit *' per Fabulofa traftari." -Then follow the reft of the Words, whicli Ihould be tranflated thus: So the Myjleries themjelves are hid under the Deceits of figurative Reprefentations, leji the naked Truth Jkould obtrude it/elf even on the Initiated. But ivhile the Greatefi M(n, with IVifdomfor their Guide ^ are confcious of the true Secret ; the reji may be 'well cofitent ivithfuch Reprefentations as fecure the dig- n'ty of the Secret^ and are contrived to excite their Veneration. Src IPSA Mysteria Figurakum Cuniculis operiuntur, ne vel H.EC ADEPTIS NUDA RERUM TALIUM BE NaTURA PR^BEAT : Sed summatibus tantum Viris, Sapientia Interprete, VERI ArCANI CONSCirs, CONTENTI SINT RELIQUI AD VeNE- rationem Figuris defendentibus a Vilitate Secretum, The Reader now fees that this Period, and the other, beginning with 5"; quid de his ajjignare, which our Advocate had tacked to it, are fo far from belonging to one another, that the firil: defcribes the unavoidable Condition that attends the fpeaking Truth ; the other the Advantages that may be reaped from lying. But as ill as he underftood the Original, his own bad Tranflation, methinks, might have informed him, that the two Parts of the Quotation would have nothing to do with one another, they are fo full of Contradiaion. The firft Part fays, the high Subjeds there fpokeu of are beyond all our Words, and exceed even our Thoughts. The fe- cond Part fays no fuch Matter, the wife are capable of receiving them. For the ref, they muft do as they can ; be content with, I do not know what, an azvful Veneration^ &c. But more of this Matter prefently, 3. For 1 have not yet done with this wondrous Advocate of old Philofophy. We have feen how he has acquitted himfelf as to the general REMARKS ON TILLARD. 189 general Purport of the Slnotation : Let us now fee whether he be equally happy in the Senfe he gives of the Words and Phrafes. The learned Reader perceives, that the Words laft quoted, Sic jpfa Mxfieria, &c. are an Illuftration nnd Inforcement, taken from the Pradlce of the Myjlenes, of the foregoing Obfervation, that it •wijs commendable to hide fomc things under Fables. How does our Advocate tranfiate Sic ipfa Myjleria? Thus, For these Things WERE AS Mysteries. So, from an lllujlration he makes it an Illa- tion : And Myjleria, the Rites fo called, he degrades to a fimple Se- cret. Sic for — Ipsa these Things — Mysteria were as Mysteries. A hopeful Scholar ! He had Reafou to upbraid us Vii'Ca X^LiQ Memory g{ o^:iX School-hooh * . Well, but what are ihefe things that are (o like Mvfteries ? Why, even by his own Aocount, abjlracl Ideas exprejfed in metaphorical T'erms. According to this, the Dictionary fhould be the moft myjlerious Book in the World : And fo, I fuppofe, our Freethinker found it : And having a natural Averiion to Myjlerics, he turned himfelf to Studies of quite another Nature -}■• The next Words, Figurarum Cunicidis operiuntur, he has pafTed' over untranflated, and with good Reafon. For as they allude to the Sheiz'S of the Myjieries reprefented'm fub terraneous Places, he could have no kind of Conception of them. The next — ne vel hcec Adeptis 7iuda rcrum taliuin fe Natura prabeat, undergo the fame Negledl ; and on the fame Account. He knew not what to make oi Adeptis, the hitiated; and he thought too it contradi£ted The next — Scd Sujnmatibus tantum Viris, Sapientia Interpret^ veri Arcani confciis. Here he breaks Silence, and, on my Word, to the Purpofe, WHICH the Wise only were capable of receiving, Sap'entia Interprete, the Wife only are capable of receiving. Not- withftanding the Difference of Number, it is plain he thought Sapientia Interprete was put in Appofition to Summatibus Viris. He did not fee the Conftrudion was Summatibus Viris veri Arcani cen- * See p. V. of his Preface, f P. viii. of the Preface, fciis. J50 REMARKS ON TILLARD. ftui, Saplcnt'ui InWprete, nor that the Sapkntia Intcrpres alluded to the Iherc^'hant of the Myjicries, who cxplahied the Secret to the nioll capable of the Initiated, the Summatibus Viris ; by which Mjc'obius meant Heroes, Princes, Legiflators, in Allufiou to their old Praflice, of feeklng Initiation into the greater Myfleries *. And thole he had diftinguiOied from the reft of the initiated, by the lbrc"oini'- Words, ne vel hac Adeptis niida rerum tal'mm fe Naiura prabeat. The concluding Words are, Contenti fint Reliqui ad Venerationem Tlguris defenddntibus a Vditate Secretum, which he traaflates, but that others Jhoidd be content with an awpul Veneration for THELM, under the Veil of Figures and Allegories, lest they should BE DESPISED. What is meant by a IForfiippers being content with en awful Veneration 1 do not underftand : Much lefs his being con' tent -juith an aiiful Veneration, lejl the things venerated flmuld be defpijed. The Objeifl luorjlnpped indeed may be well enough faid to be content with an awful Veneration, lejl, if it ftiould be unreafon- nble, and expeft more, it might come to be defpifed. But, as our profound Tranflator well obferves, Thefe things are as Myfleries, and fo we will leave them. However, the learned Reader fees he took contenti fint Reliqui ad Venerationem Figuris, to be the fame as contenti fint Reliqui veneratione Figurarum, whereas it is equivalent to contenti fint Reliqui Figuris ad Vefterationem excogi talis ; and fhould be tranflated thus : The refl may be "well content with fuch Reprefen- tatiom as fecure the Dignity of the Secret, and are contrived to excite their Veneration. What muft we tliink of our Advocate ? Does not he come well inftrufted in his Caufe ? Which ftiall we admire moft ; his Modefty, his Learning, or his Good Faith ? But his tranfiations, of which his Book is almoft all made up, abound with thefc Beauties; I fhall therefore referve the Examination of them for a Work by itfelf, and leave him at prefent. With all his blufhing Honours thick upon him. * Divine Legation, Vol. \. p. 243. V. Our REMARKS" ON TILLARD. 191 V. Our Advocate goes on to the fecond of the Arguments, which,. m his Apprehenfion, affefls the prefent Queftion : namely, that the Phihfophers held fome fundanmital Pr'uidpks, 'which were altogether hiconfjait with the Do^rine cf future Rewards and Fun'ijhments. Of thefe he tells us, and, indeed, tells us fairly, that thefirji was, that God could neither be angry nnr hurt any one. The fecond^ that the Soul was a difccrped Part of the Whole, and that this whole was God, into ivhom it was again to be refohed *. Thefe he undertakes to examine in their Order. Frora thefiiji, that God could not be angry nor hurt any one, I drew this Conclufion, that, they could not believe a future State of Rewards and Punifhments. Which I endeavoured to fupport from a Pafiiage in TuUys Offices to this Effeft. The Writer is commend- ing Regulus for keeping his Oath. But (fays he) it may be objed- ed, what is there in an Oath ? The Violator need not fear the Puniftiment of Heaven, for all the Philofophers hold that God cannot be angry nor hurt any one. To this Tully replies, and owns that indeed it was a Confequence of the general Opinion of God's not being angry , that the perjured Man had nothing to fear from the divine Vengeance. But then it was not this Fear, which was indeed nothing, but Juftice and good Faith which made the real San6lion, or moral Obligation of an Oath, " Quid eft igitur, dix- " erit quis, in Jurejurando ? Num iratum timemus Jovem ? At *' hoc quidem commune eft omnium Philofophorum, numquam nee " irafci Deum, nee nocere Htec quidem Ratio non magis contra <* Rcgulum quam contra omne Jusjurandum valet : fed in Jureju-^ " rando non qui Metus, fed quae Vis fit, debet intelligi. Eft enini; *' Jusjurandum Affirmatio religiofa. Quod autem affirmate, quafi *' Deo Tefte, promiferis, id tenendum eft: jam enim non ad- " Iram Deorum, quae nulla eft; fed ad Juftitiam & ad Fidemi " pertinet +•" P. 47. t JDs onk. 1. 3. c. 2S, 29. i.N< ,92 REMARKS ON TILLARD. I. Now what lays our Advocate to this? Upon the whole of this Auticnty (he lays) / think it appears thai the Objector rightly atiJ an Opinion of the Fhilofophers, but, miftaklng the true Mean- ing, dreiv a wrong Conclufion from it. Tully, not troubling HIMSELF TO CONFUTE OR SET HIM RIGHT, goeS OU with his PurpofCy and proves the intrinfc Sacrednefs and Obligation of an Oath, without regarding the Circumflances of Hope or Fear *. What an Idea has he here given us of this great Reafoner ! I'tilly thinks an Objeaor worth taking notice of, and yet will not trouble himself to CONFUTE HIM. Without doubt our Advocate here compared Tully to himfclf for reafoning ; as before he had compared himfelf to Chief Juftice Hale for Greek. And becaufe he can write books againft an Objector '\- without troubling himfelf to confute him, he thought Tully might do fo too. But the beft of the Story is, that t\\\s ObjeSlor proves to be Tullfs own felf: Dixerit quis, a Man might perhaps obje^ (fays he). And fure Tully did not mijiake the true meaning of a common Opinion. And as for a voluntary SHp, it was not His Way, as it is this Author's, to make Blunders, and pals them off for other Men's, with a dixerit aliquis. But itfeems, Tully not only miflook the true Meaning, but drew a wrong Conclu- fton from it. This is hard. And, harder flill, he had not the Patience to flay and fet himfelf right. But fure, if he had all this Leifure to difcredit his own Judgment, by inventing wrong Mean- ings, and drawing worfe Conclufions, he would have found time to reftore himfelf to his Reader's Opinion by confuting them. But then, whether the Objedlion was Tullfs or another Man's, what a low Opinion muft Tully have, in the mean time, of the Importance of a Future State to Society, if, in a Book of Offices, he would not trouble himjelf to confute or fet an ObjeBor right, whom he had brought in with a miftaken Argument that overturned itf There is indeed a Time when a ferious Writer would not trouble himfelf to confute or fet a IVrangler right. And it is fuch an one as this, where * P. 49- t See his Title-page, the REMARKS ON TILLARD. 193 the Perverfity is To great, as to become an Infultupon every Reader's Underftanding. 2. But his TranP,atton Is in all refpeds as curious as his Comment. It follows ill thefc Words : But J'ome one vi'ight object and fry, that Regulus need be under no Apprehenjxon from the Breach of his Oath, of his bei7ig punified by the Gods, f nee it is a well known saving amongfi Philofophers, That God cannot be angry. " Tu/fy, in anfwer *' to this, fays" that this might be a Reafon not only againfl Regu- lus, but againfi all Oaths lohatfoever ; for (fays he) in fwearing it is not the Fear of PtiniJJjment, but /Z^f Efficacy and Importance of it, ivhlch is to be regarded; for an Oath is a religious Affirmation made in the Prefence of God, and as fuch ought to be folemnly obferved. To conclude then, it is not the Anger of the Gods, which is nothing [in the present Case] but Jujlice and Good Faith which is [im- mediately] to be RESPECTED *. Hoc quidem commune eji omnium Philofophorum, fays Tully. It is a well-known Saying amongst the Philofophers, fays iiis Tranflator, inftead of, this is a Tenet common to all the Philofophers, commune Dogma, Decretum, In Jurcjurando (iays Tully) non qui Metus, fed qua \i% fit debet inteUigi. In fwearing (fays his Tranflator) // is not the Fear of Punifoment, but the Efficacy and Importance of it which is to be regarded. The pretended Objedor obferving that the People were chiefly influenced, in their Oaths, by the Fear of Divine Puniftiment, argues againfl the Efficacy of Oaths in this Manner. All the Philofophers (fays he) hold that God cannot be angry, therefore he cannot punifli ; confequently Oaths will have no Effi' cacy, or there will be nothing in an Oath. To this Tully gives i. plain Anfwer. The Efficacy of an Oath (fays he) is not to be mea- fured by the Degree of Fear that attends the taking it, but by the moral Obligation of keeping it, that is, by its proper San£iion. In Jurcjurando non qui Met us, fed qua Vis ft debet intelligi. Literally, * P. 48, 49- Vol. VL Cc in ,94 REMARKS ON TILLARD. in/icfjthg it ought to be cofifJered, vot %vkit Fear attends it, hut tvhf SjKcIion it bath. And then fliews, this Sana Ion to be good Faith. All here is clofe and well argued. Let us now hear how his Tranflator makes him reafon. An Oath (fays the Objeftor) is of no Efficacy [quid efl in Jurejurando ?] becaufe Fear is no more. Oh, replies Tully, it is not Fear, but the Efficacy and Importance of an Oath that is to be regarded. Admirably con- cluded. And had Tully reafoned thus, I fliould have believed he h:{A forgot his Greek too, and turned himfelf to Studies of quite another Nature. But the Flower of Tranflations is the following: TuUy-; Jam enim non ad Iram Deorum, qlUje. nulla est. His Tranflator ; Ta conclude then, it is not the Anger of the Gods, tvhich /V nothing [iN THE PRESENT case] S>ua nulla efl! Here he believed in good earnefl: that qua nulla cjl was equivalent to qua; nihil ad rem pcrtinct: and fo it may be, for ought I know, in his Law-Latin, but in Cicero^s, it fignifies the fame as y«^ vana G" commentitia eft. Tuljy; fed ad Juflitiam &? ad Fidem pertinet. His Tranflator; kiit Jufiice and Good Faith which is [immediately] to be re- spected. Pertinet, immediatrly to be refpeSied. He could not find the Nominative Cafe to his Verb, and fo took pertinet to be the im- peifonal. But another time let him remember it is governed of id. fjm enim [id quod promiferis'] non ad Iram Deorum, qua nulla eft, fed ad fufiitiam & ad Fidem pertinet. Literally thus, For now 'what you have promifed relates not to the Anger of the Gods, which is indeed no Anger, but to Jujlice and Good Faith. This concludes the Argument very logically. But our Advocate fays, Jujiice and good Faith is immediately to be refpecled: Which vitiates the whole Reafoning. Flrft, as thcfe Words do not imply the San^ion, the very thing Tully is here fixing. Secondly, as they do imply that fometbing elfe was to be reJpeSled^ the very thing Tully is here oppofing. Is not this an able Intepreter of his old Phllofophers ? Yet the poor Man did his beft ; and, without doubt, laboured hard. With what REMARKS ON T I L L A R D. 195 what Gravity docs he introduce this Siibjed ! From the fir Jl [Prin- ciple] that God could not be angry nor hurt any one, he (Mr. VV.] drawi a Concluf.on, that they could believe no future State, &c. which he endeavours to fupport by a Pafj'age in Tully, the true Sense of •which, when considered, will not, as I apprehend, anjwv hii Purpcfc *. VL But he will flill go on : To JJjcw (fays he) that the Ancients did not draw the fame Coficlujion from this Opinion of the Phihfophers, as the ObjeBor in Tully or Mr. Warburton, // appears in many places that they believed What ? that the Gops aBually punijhed this very Crime, and that Men incurred their Anger and Difpleafure by committing it •\. And fo fay I too. Nay more, I fhew at large \ the Confiftency of this Belief, that the Gods puniflied, with that other, that the one God did not. And yet to eftablifh this important Point he brings two Witnefles, Cornelius Ncpos and Xenophon. But, as if confcious of the Impertinence, he talks more to the Purpofe in what follows. And that Mr. Warburton's DiJlinSlion between the Anger of Demons and that of the Supreme Being may have no Place here, it may be necejfary to fliew by a Pajfage or two, that, as to the EfeSIs, the fame is afferted of the Supreme God §. This is faying fomething. But now to his Evidence. The firfl: he pro- duces are three Poets. Hefiod (fays he) tdls us, that he whofpeaks the Truth in public, will be rewarded by all- feeing Jove j but he who forfwears himfelf is irreparably lofl, and his Pojlerity floall come to nothing, but the Generation of the Jufl JJjall fouriflj. ^/r^Phocylides, Forfwear not thyfef either inadverte?itly or knowingly, for the immortal God hateth a falfe Oath ; and others have fpoke to the fame Purpofe ||, for which he quotes \lUad. 167. Let * p. 47, 48. f p. 50. X Divine Legat. vol. II. p. 85, & fcq. § P. s^. II P. S2, S3. C C 2 I. I 1^6 REMARKS ON T I L L A R D. 1. Let U5 attend to the Qucftion. It is, Whether the GVfp/^ P/j>- hjophen believed the One Supreme Qjd punifhed and rewarded ? And for the Proof of the Affirmative, lie brings us three Greek Poets. But ihib is not the worA : 2. Two of thefe Poets do not (o much as fpeak of the Supreme Being, but of the falfe Idol Gods of the People. Homer and Hejiod cxprefly call the God, they here fpeak of as the Rewarder and Pu- nilher of true and flilfe Swearers, ZliTS KPONIAHI, Jupiter Satur- nius. Now it will be News, I fuppofc, to this Writer, that Jupiter Saturnius was not the One Supreme Being, but Jupiter the Son of Sa- turn, an Idol- Deity, though fet at the Head of the College. The other Greek Poet is, if poffible, flill lefs to his Purpofc. For be happens to be no Heathen at all ; indeed not fo honeft a Man : but a folfe Chriftian, the Difgrace of our holy Religion, who would put himfclf on the World for old Phocylides the Milejian, contem- porary with Theognis. But the Impoflure hath been detedled by Critics of the firfl: Order, luch as Jof'ph Scaliger, Ger. and If. Vof- JiuSf D. Heinjius, Huetius, Rei/kius, Barthius, Tciubman, &c. To the abundant Arguments they have produced, we may add this very Expreffion, cited by my Adverfary, Yev^o^nov ^Bvyhi Osog «'£oo7©^. 3. But had thefe Poets been Philofophers, and their Idol Gods, the Supreme, who, unlefs it was our Advocate, would not have feen that, in popular Writings, they muft needs talk popu- larly, and keep an efoteric Opinion, fo deflrudlive of Society, to themfelves ? But he comes yet clofer to the Point. Afjd VhA-vofays, God will execute Vengeance on him, who,Jlighiing the awful Majejy of his Divine Power, fidl at any time forfivear himfelf'^'. He hath given us a Philojopher at laft we fee ; but to underfland with what Judg- ment, we muft again ftate the Queflion. I. Which is, whether the Greek Philofophers believed that the Supreme God puniftied and rewarded. Now our Advocate hath * P- 5^ 53. owned f. REMARKS ON T I L L A R D. 197 civned, and, what is more, hath proved that the Philofophers had a two-fold Do£lrlne, an internal and an external ; that the one contained Matter oi Belief, the other oi Utility. I have proved (to which our Advocate hath laid nothing) that the Piillofophers di- vided their Writings into two Claflcs, the exoteric and efoleric ; and that this very Book of PLito, intituled, Of Laws^ from whence he hath taken the Pafliige above, was of the exoteric kind. Yet for all this, he can without blu(hing, or, perhaps, without knowing why he fliould blufh, quote the Book 0/ LawSt for Plato's real Sen- timents, in contradidion to what ^ully and La£fnntius tell us was Part of the e/oieric Dodrine of all the Philofophers. The impar- tial Reader with hardly refleft on this without fome Sort of Pity or Indignation. But what will he fay when I tell him that this Fjlliicy, with others as grofs, that have been and fliall be taken notice of in their Place, run through every Page of his Performance ? 2. But we have not yet done with this Quotation from Plaio> It is doomed to undergo a flill greater Difgrace. In an evil Hour did our Advocate forget his Gieek, unconfcious that Fatez.\\<S. Frec' thinking had decreed to raife him up, in Spite of Nature, for the Preparer of the Way to pure Pagan Philofophy, with his — Petite btnc^ yuvenejque^ Senefque, Finem animo cerium mijerijque viatica canis *. For here Serranus hath given him a terrible quid pro quo ; which lie- hath innocently fwallowed. This Tranflator makes Plato fay Deus ilium Odio profequitur^ qui Sacrosancta Divini Numinis Autho- ritate negleSlafalfiim Juramentum dicit-f. But Plato fays no fuch thing. He fpeaks of //j^ Gods, m the piural, fuch as the People worfhipped. The whole Paflage is in thefe Words : Let no Man, ivbcm he invokes the Gods for his Truth, mix any thing of Falfhood, F randy, or Infincerity^ either in his IFord or Deed ; unkfs he chiifes to become * The Motto to his Title-page. t P'^t. 917, n. Ed. Serr. ,5,3 REMARKS ON T I L L A R D. mo^f} hatfful to the Gods. As in the firjl Place is he, who, without any Rrcfrence to the QaXi^, j'tfears faljely: And in the fecond Place, he, 'ivho ties bfore his Betters. YiZl©^ [/.riSu; jwij^ci' fiviS' aVaV^jv, /*ij5e t< x'itir.hBY, yUO' 'iviKxXviziil^ QEClN, i^riTt Xcyai [^-^ts eoyui -srpx^eis'j, o u>; 3j5/i*«(rfs-a7©- [Diis ifi/erifZ/imus, {nys Serraniis rightly here] eVeo^k/ cO- Sf, Of «»" hocvjiov Tuv Kpetrjovc^jv ui-ri ^iv^slat. Had our Advocate had the leaft Tafte of Antiquity, he might have feen, from the concluding Period, with what Spirit the whole was written. With no other fare than to inftrud the People in their Devoirs to Society. A likely Place to find any oi Plato's efoteric DoiSlrines. But if one confiders the whole Evidence together, one would wonder how It could ever enter ferioufly into the Head of one, whofe ProfefTion (if it taught him any thing) taught him to judge of the Nature of Evidence, that Poets writing to the People, and fpeaking their Language, or a Poetical Phllofopher writing a Popular hook cf haws to keep them in Order, Ihould ever talk to a Heathen Commonalty of the ojily One God. VIL Eut he is wifer in what follows. T^he next Authority (fays he) Mr. Warburton brings tojirengthen his Conclujion is from Ladantius, which he calls an illujirious Inflance; but on reading, it turns out fo low and infipid, that it is not worth considering *. Indeed, fo (hort ! How happy had it been for him had he pafled the fame Judgment on all the refl ! The Argument from La^an- tius flood thus: That eloquent Writer, in defending Chrif- tianify, found nothing fo much oppofed the Dodrine of z fu- ture Judgment, as a prevailing Principle common to all the Phi- lofophers, that God could not be angry. He therefore com- pofed his Difcourfe, intituled, De Ira Dei, to combat this follow- ing Syllogifm : * P. 51. If REMARKS ON T I L L A R D. [99 If God hath no AfFedions of Love or Hatred, Fonduefs or Anger, he cannot reward or punifli. But he hath no Affedtions, &c. Therefore, (^c. A modern Advocate of Religion would certainly have denied the major, but that was a Principle which hadlant'tus exprefly tells us was received by all Parties. He therefore turns his whole Difcourfe againft the minor ; and endeavours to prove that God hath thefe Affedions. Nor does he at all mince the Matter. For he tells us there are in God, as In Man, the Paflions of Love and Hatred : And, to make all fure, contends for God's having an human Form. Now the Inference I drew from it was this, that, as Laclantius was ad- mirably well Ikilled In all Pagan Philofophy, he could not mifl-ake a Principle which all the Philofophers held, nor a Confequence which they all drew from it. The Principle was, that the Supreme God had no Affeftions ; and the Confequence, that he could neither reward nor punlfli. Therefore this Principle and this Confequence were held by all, the Point to be proved. It was on this Account, that I called the Cafe of Ladlantius an illujlrious one. Our Advo- cate fays 'tis low and injipid, and 7iot "worth confidcring. Utri creditls, Qulrites ? But I commended him too foon. He won't let the Matter reft when 'tis well : See then what comes of it. He tells the Reader, xhzt I myfelf fay La£tantlu3 knew little of Chrijlianity *. Egregious Advocate ! mufl not this be the very Caufe (if there were any Caufe at all) of thofe Pbilofophic Prejudices, which lb fatally difpofed him to attack the minor rather than the major ? — That he fell into many Errors -f. Could It be otherwife while he op- pofed the minor ? That his Treafife was obfcure \. Muft It not needs be fo, when his Oppofition to the minor led him to maui- * p. 53. t Ibid. X Ibid. tain. soo REMARKS ON T I L L A R D. tain, that there is in God, as in Man, the P.ifTions of Love and Ijjtred r And Jlrotigly contended that God had a human Form *. Was not this Extravagance a full Proof that the Connexion between tlie Principle (of God's having no Paffions) and the Conjequmce (that he could neither punifh nor reward) was fo univerfally held that he could find no Way to break through ; but was forced to evade it, by aflerting God had Paflions ? For which to provide a proper Subje(ft, he thought fit to give him a human Form likewife. — All then (fays our Advocate) that appears from this illujirious Injlance is, that Laftantius grojly mi/took this Jine Sentiment of the Philofophersir. Docs he know whom he talks of? Why, this LaBantius was a Philofpher himfelf ; not like that canting Tribe of Dunces, Por- phyry, yamblichus, &c. who firfl: brought their Fanaticifm into the Schools of Philofophy, which fo foon after, and fo fatally, in- fcdlcd the Church of Ci^rjy?; but one whom the greatefl: Monarch of the World made choice of for the Governor of his Son. He was a Lawyer too, and his Critics fay, a happy Emulator of the Elo- quence of Cicero. Yet our Advocate believes in good earnefl:, that he grnfly mijlook this fine Sentiment of the Philofophers. Alas ! What he mijlook were the fine Sentiments of Chriflianily; and this in too warm a Zeal for overturning thofe of Philofophy, which he under- flood but too well. And in combating with it fell into a Puddle of foul Abfurdities +. Who told him fo ? Dodors differ. St. Jerom calls this Tra6l De Ira Dei, pulch^rrimum Opus. Which had our Advocate known, without doubt, he had oppofed the Judgment of a Father of the Church to mine. For, to fay the Truth, I am anfwerable for all the Freedoms he here takes with LaSiantius ; what he knew of the De Ira Dei being only from The Divine Legation. But 1 produce the Authority of Jerom, who differs fo much frona my Sentiments of the Traft, to fliew the Reader that LaStantiuCs Manner of fupporting a>/«re yW^wc/?^ againft the Philofophers, * ^-iJ- + P. 54. 1 Ibid. REMARKS ON TILLARD. 201 was the approved Defence of the learned Chriftlans of that time. Confequently La&atiiius did not gro/Iy m'ljlake this fine Sentiment of the Philojophcrs. viir. But this Principle feems fated to difgrace him ; fo that he can't for his Life let it alone. He goes on therefore in thefe Words : To clear this Matter more fully, it may novo be proper to confder the Trivcivle it/elf which, as Mr. Warburtony^Ty^, greatly embarmjfed Antiquity ; becaufe the Ancients, fays he, could not difingiiifo between human Pajfions and the divine Attributes of Jujlice and Goodnefs, p. 393 *. But I hope to make it appear, that the Ancients were not all embarrajfed ; and that they difinguijloed in this Particular, jif in the fame Manner as we do now -f. He tells the Reader, I fay the Principle greatly embar raffed An- tiquity, and refers to page 593*. Let the Reader then hear me fpeak. *' We fee Tully owns the Confequence of this univerfal Principle. — *' A modern Reader, full of the Philofophic Ideas of thefe late " Ages, will be furprifed, perhaps, to be told, that this Con- *' SEQUENCE GREATLY EMBARRASSED AnTIQUITY ; whcn he Cail *' fo eafily evade it, by diftinguifliing between human PalTions and •* the divine Attributes of Juftice and Goodnefs, on which alone *' the Do£lrine of a future State of Rewards and Punifhments is in- *' vinciblv eftabliflied. But the Ancients had no fuch precife Ideas <' of the Divine Nature. They knew not how to fever Anger from *» its Juftice, nor Fondnefs from its Goodnefs." He charges me with faying the Pki-^cwl-e. greatly embarrajj'cd Antiquity : and I fay the Consequence from that Vnv\c\^\e greatly embarrajfed Antiquity. What are we to think of this ? That it was done with Defign ? Alas ! No. The poor Man knew no Difference between Principles and Confequences, Premlfles and Concluftons. Or if he had any Meaning, it was to fhew his Contempt of thefe, and all other my * Div. Leg. c'!. 4to, vol. II. p. 88. f P- S4» Vol. VI. D d 202 REMARKS ON TILLARD. nice Dnh'fjclions, Divi/iom, atid Subdkif.ons, which, he tells us, he pojes ever as needle fs Curiojities*. "^But his next atteiulMit Effort is flill more furprifiiig. For he riles ill his Blunders, like Homer's Battles in their Terror. I had faid ibe jlncicKts were e/Jidarrq(fed. He will prove ihey were not at all embarr4'iiU without fo much as knowing what Ancients muft needs be meant. Now the intelligent Reader fees they are the an- cient Christian, uot Pagan Writers, for this plain Reafon, That, though 1 hold neither Chriftian nor Pagan Writers could diflinguijh between human FaJJions and the divine Attributes, yet none but Chrif- tian Writers could be embarrajed with the Confequence of God's not being angry (which Confequence was, that therefore he could not punlfh) becaufe none but Chriftians (according to my Aflertion) held that he could punifh. Now from their holding, as they did at firft, with the Philofophers, that God could not be angry, and with the Founders of their Faith^ that hewoiddpunijh, arofe all that EM BAR R AS I took notice of ^ and which of courfe I muft fuppofe the Pagans free from, by their not holding thofe two fuppofed contrary Propofitlons. Our Advocate, who had not the leaft Conception of all this, will yet venture to contradi<5t me ; and taking It for granted,, as he does every thing he can't prove, that I meant Pagan Anti- quity lay under this Embarrafs, he brings a Number of Paflages. from Pagan Philofophers to confute my Aflertion. Thus all he, proves, if he (hould chance to prove any thing, being nothing to. the Purpofe, I might here fairly leave him to himfelf. But as Pagan Antiquity, though it was not embarrajfed like the. Chrifiian, yet was not at all more exadl in its Ideas of the Divine At- tributes, I will permit our Advocate, for once, to fuppofe, that I had faid, that the ancient Philofophers were embarrajfed, and could not dijiin- guijl} between human FaJJions, and the Divine Attributes : Let us fee then what he will make of it. But as I reftore him his Arms, and inftrud REMARKS ON TILLARD. 203 inftrudl him how to ufe them, It may be allowed me to rcmuid my Reader, 1. That when I fay they could not difthiguifh between human PaJJions and the Divine Attributes, I mean the Attributes of the frji CauJ'e of all Things. 2. When I fay they could not diftinguiJJj, I mean diftinguifh in fuch a Manner, as to leave Room for the Doftrine of a future State of Rewards and Puniihments ; all other Diftindiions being out of the Queftlon. Well then, to prove that Antiquity was not embarraffed, how does this mighty Gharnpionof Old Philofophy fet out ? Why firfi: he proves that he himfelfis not embarrqjfed*. Secondly, that thofe tvho read the Scriptures cannot be embarrajfed i,-. But this is only to feel his own Strength, and make the Flourifh of his Arms. He foon comes to him- felf, and then fays, But that the Reader may fee how rightly the Phi- lojophers could d'lfxinguijl) between human PaJJions and the Divine Attri- butes, IJloall now lay before him Jome Pajfages, in which it is faid God is not Jubjecl to PaJJion, or that he is void of Anger, and can hurt none ; and others, where he is faid to be angry, and to punijl) Sinners for their Crimes ; by which every one may the better judge, whether the Ancients were not exaSil^ of the Jame Opinion as himfclf, and did not [peak as Chr flans now do, Jometimes with regard to the ineffable and ahjolute ReStitiide of an infinitely perfect Being, andfometimes with RefpcB to the Relation he bears to us his finite and imperfeSi Creatures ;};. This is indeed to the Point. And fir Jl, fays he, I readily agree with Mr. Warburton, that it •was the Opinion of all the Philofophers, that God could not be angry ^ nor hurt any one §. And though we agree In this, yet he will bring feveral Witneffes to prove it. This is always his Way when he has fo fafe Ground to go upon. Thus he proved the double Doctrine of the Philofophers, and the fingle Obje5i of that double Doftrine. And on fuch Occafions, I muft acquaint the Reader, he Is a mod * Seep. 54. t p. s;. % P. 55, 56. § P. 56, D d 2 unmerciful ao4 REMARKS ON T I L L A R D. \inmcrciful Prover. But as he can never forbear mixing and con- founding the fevercl Parts of his SubjevH:, the laft of his Teftimo- nics, to prove God cannot lie angry, being taken from Seneco, he is drawn to another Queflion before iiis Time. But Order, Method, and I^gic, \vt; know, are nothing with this Writer. Plovvever, a good Thing never comes amifs. What then fays Seneca ? That that Man is mijloken, whofuppofes the Gods can hurt any one ; for they neither can do ivrong, norfufer it, both of which betoken Frailty.. But Seneca immediately after Jays, that the Gods do cxadi Punijh- fticni, and chqflife fo>ne for their Good. Therefore Seneca mujl either contradiB himflf or f peak of the fame Beings in different RefpeSis ; and indeed thefe two lafl Parages of Seneca, one of which is quoted by Mr. \Varburton, to prove that the Gods can hurtnone,fem to have no Reference to their juji Anger againf Sinners, hut to fuch Hurt or In- jury as ar if OS from IVrong or Injufice *. 1. This whole Remark is nothing to the Purpofe. Seneca here means tiie Gods of PaganifiTi, not thefirfi Caufe of all Things, where he talks of their punifnng and chaftifing. Now the firf- Cmfe is the Subjeft of our QueAion. 2. But of thefe two Paffages, one is quoted by me (he fays) to PROVE that the Gods can hurt none. The Paflage is in page 402, of the fecond Edition t- My Words are thefe, A Benevolence too- that went not from the Will, but the EJfence of the Supreme Being ; SO Seneca informs us, ^ne caufa efi Diis, &c. Here again his old Luck follows him. I quoted it to fhew what Kind of Benevolence they gave to God: He fays, I quoted it to prove the Gods can hurt none. Having thus notably fupported his Agreement with me, that it was the Opinion of the Philofophers that God could not be angry nor hurt any one ; he proceeds. But that they are angry, fo as to punif J the wicked for their Crimes, might be proved by a multitude of *' ^'- 58. t Vol. II. p. 99, of this edition, Tejli- REMARKS ON T I I. L A R D. ^05 Tc/limonics *. Without doubt it might. But what then ? I re- quire him to Hiew, that the Philofophers believed the One God comVX be angry and punifli ; and he fays, they believed their falfe Gods could. And fo faid I, and proved it likewife. Yet he brings Wit- nefs upon Witnefs, Poets upon Philofophers, to (hew they thought -vm Gov>B could be angry and pmiijh : And then goes on thus: By ail ivbich it manlfe/ily appears^ that nvhen the Aucienls Jaid^