Are giv'n in vain, but what they seek they find) Self-love thus push'd to social, to divine, Grasp the whole worlds of Reason, Life, and Sense, Happier as kinder, in whate'er degree, And height of Bliss but heights of Charity. 350 355 God loves from Whole to Parts: But human soul Must rise from Individual to the Whole. 360 Self-love but serves the virtuous mind to wake, Earth smiles around, with boundless bounty blest, Come, then, my Friend! my Genius! come along; Oh master of the poet, and the song! And while the Muse now stoops, or now ascends, 365 370 375 380 Intent to reason, or polite to please. 385 390 Oh! while along the stream of Time thy name 395 Who all my Sense confin'd To know but this, that Thou art Good, Yet gave me, in this dark Estate, To see the Good from Ill; ΙΟ And, binding Nature fast in Fate, What Conscience dictates to be done, Or warns me not to do, This, teach me more than Hell to shun, What Blessings Thy free Bounty gives, For God is paid when Man receives, Yet not to Earth's contracted Span Let not this weak, unknowing hand If I am right, thy grace impart, If I am wrong, oh teach my heart To find that better way. Save me alike from foolish Pride, Teach me to feel another's Woe, 15 20 25 30 35 That Mercy I to others show That Mercy show to me. Mean tho' I am, not wholly so Thro' this day's Life or Death. This day, be Bread and Peace my Lot: To Thee, whose Temple is all Space, All Nature's Incense rise! 45 45 50 [1738] MORAL ESSAYS IN FOUR EPISTLES TO SEVERAL PERSONS Est brevitate opus, ut currat sententia, neu se [Close be your language; let your sense be clear, Discreetly hide your strength, your vigour spare; And cut the knot when graver reasons fail.-FRANCIS.] EPISTLE I To Sir Richard Temple, Lord Cobham ARGUMENT OF THE KNOWLEDGE AND CHARACTERS OF MEN I. That it is not sufficient for this knowledge to consider Man in the Abstract: Books will not serve the purpose, nor yet your own Experience singly, ver. 1. General maxims, unless they be formed upon both, will be but notional, ver. 10. Some Peculiarity in every man, characteristic to himself, yet varying from himself, ver. 15. Difficulties arising from our own Passions, Fancies, Faculties, etc., ver. 31. The shortness of Life to observe in, and the uncertainty of the Principles of action in men to observe by, ver. 37, etc. Our own Principle of action often hid from ourselves, ver. 41. Some few Characters plain, but in general confounded, dissembled, or inconsistent, ver. 51. Unimaginable weakness in the greatest, ver. 69, etc. The same man utterly different in different places and seasons, ver. 71. Nothing constant and certain but God and Nature, ver. 95. No judging of the Motives from the actions; the same actions proceeding from contrary Motives, and the same Motives influencing contrary actions, ver. 100. II. Yet to form Characters we can only take the strongest actions of a man's life and try to make them agree: the utter uncertainty of this, from Nature itself and from policy, ver. 120. Characters given according to the rank of men of the world, ver. 135. And some reason for it, ver. 140. Education alters the Nature, or at least Character, of many, ver. 149. Actions, Passions, Opinions, Manners, Humours, or Principles, all subject to change. No judging by Nature, from ver. 158 to ver. 178. III. It only remains to find (if we can) his Ruling Passion: that will certainly influence all the rest, and can reconcile the seeming or real inconsistency of all his actions, |