To Man imparts it; but with such a view II. Whether with Reason, or with Instinct bleft, Know, all enjoy that pow'r which suits them beft ; To bliss alike by that direction tend, 83 And find the means proportion'd to their end. Say, where full Instinct is th’unerring guide, What Pope or Council can they need beside ? Reason, however able, cool at best, 85 Cares not for service, or but serves when prest, Stays 'till we call, and then not often near; But honest Instinct comes a volunteer, Sure never to o'er- thoot, but just to hit! While still too wide or short is human Wit; 90 Sure by quick Nature happiness to gain, Which heavier Reason labours at in vain. This too ferves always, Reason never long; One must go right, the other may go wrong: VARIATIONS, VER. 84. in the MS. While Man, with op'ning views of various ways See then the acting and comparing pow'rs 95 Who taught the nations of the field and wood III. God, in the nature of each being, founds Its proper bliss, and sets its proper bounds: 115 1 20 Nor ends the pleasure with the fierce embrace ; dismiss'd to wander earth or air, 130 A longer care Man's helpless kind demands; That longer care contracts more lasting bands ; Reflection, Reason, ftill the ties improve, At once extend the int'rest, and the love ; With choice we fix, with sympathy we burn; 135 Each Virtue in each Passion takes its turn; And still new needs, new helps, new habits rise, That graft benevolence on charities. Still as one brood, and as another rose, These nat’ral love maintain'd, habitual thofe: 140 The last, scarce ripend into perfect Man, Saw helpless him from whom their life began : Mem'ry and fore-cast just returns engage, That pointed back to youth, this on to age ; While pleasure, gratitude, and hope, combir’d, 145 Still spread the int'reft, and preserv'd the kind. IV. Nor think, in Nature's State they blindly trod; The state of Nature was the reign of God: Self-love and Social at her birth began, Union the bond of all things, and of Man. 150 E A Pride then was not; nor Arts, that Pride to aid ; 165 See him from Natyre rising flow to Art ! part ; 170 Thus then to Man the voice of Nature spake “ Go, from the Creatures thy instructions cake : .6 Learn from the birds what food the thickets yield; “ Learn from the beasts the physic of the field ; VER. 173. Learn from the birds, etc.] It is a caution commonly practised amongst Navigators, when thrown upon a desert coast, and in want of refreshments, to observe what fruits have been touched by the Birds : and to venture on these without further hesitation. Thy arts of building from the bee receive; 175 • Learn of the mole to plow, the worm to weave; “ Learn of the little Nautilus to fail, “ Spread the thin oar, and catch the driving gale. 5. Here too all forms of social union find, es And hence let Reason, late, instruct Mankind: 16 Here subterranean works and cities see; 181 " There towns aerial on the waving tree. “ Learn each small People's genius, policies, “ The Ant's republic, and the realm of Bees; iss How those in common all their wealth bestow, “ And Anarchy without confusion know; " And these for ever, tho' a Monarch reign, " Their sep'rate cells and properties maintain. “ Mark what unvary'd laws preserve each state, 6. Laws wise as Nature, and as fix'd as Fate. IGO " In vain thy Reason finer webs shall draw, " Entangle Justice in her net of Law, 186 VE2. 174. Learn from the beasts, etc.] See Pliny's Nat. His. 1. viii. c. 27, where several instances are given of Animals dif. covering the medicinal efficacy of herbs, by their own use of them; and pointing out to some operations in the art of healing, by their own practice. VER. 177. Learn of the little Nautilus] Oppian. Halieut. lib. i. describes this fish in the following manner : " swim on the surface of the sea, on the back of their shells, "< which exactly resemble the hulk of a ship; they raise two “ feet like mafts, and extend a membrane between, which “ serves as a fail; the other two feet they employ as oars at 's the hide. They are usually seen in the Mediterranean.” “ They |