[869]Epist. iii. ver. 209.[870]Epist. iii. ver. 232-40.[871]Epist. iii. ver. 201-6.[872]Epist. iii. ver. 149-168.[873]Epist. iii. ver. 245.[874]Epist. iii. ver. 221.[875]Epist. iii. ver. 154, 217.[876]Epist. i. ver. 165-170.[877]Epist. iii. ver. 169-198.[878]Epist. iii. ver. 179-182.[879]Epist. iii. ver. 183-188, 210.[880]Epist. iii. ver. 303.[881]Epist. iii. ver. 269, 279.[882]Epist. iii. ver. 305.[883]Epist. iii. ver. 307-310.[884]Epist. iv. ver. 331.[885]Epist. iv. ver. 111-115.[886]Spence, p. 107.[887]Spence, p. 206.[888]Epist. i. ver. 16.[889]The Design,post, p. 343.[890]Epist. iii. ver. 19.[891]Epist. i. ver. 73, 93-4.[892]Epist. iv. ver. 310. Argument to Epist. iv.[893]Epist. iv. ver. 66.[894]Epist. iv. ver. 167-172.[895]Mackintosh, Miscellaneous Works, ed. 1851, p. 13.[896]Epist. iv. ver. 57.[897]Epist. iv. ver. 69-72.[898]Recollections by Samuel Rogers, pp. 31, 35.[899]Argument to Epist. iv.[900]Epist. iv. ver. 77-80.[901]Bolingbroke's Works, Vol. iv., p. 378.[902]Epist. iv. ver. 149.[903]Epist. iv. ver. 87.[904]Epist. iv. ver. 89.[905]Epist. iv. ver. 98.[906]Epist. iv. ver. 99-102.[907]Epist. iv. ver. 98, 121-130.[908]Matt. x. 29-31.[909]Wollaston, Religion of Nature Delineated, 7th ed., p. 192.[910]Epist. iv. ver. 105.[911]Epist. iv. ver. 149-155.[912]Epist. iv. ver. 156.[913]Philipp. iv. 11.[914]Heb. xii. 11.[915]Epist. iv. ver. 157-166.[916]Epist. iv. ver. 189-192.[917]Epist. iv. ver. 193-204.[918]Epist. iv. ver. 205-258.[919]Epist. iv. ver. 259-268.[920]Henry V., Act iv., Sc. 1.[921]Epist. ii. ver. 85.[922]Epist. iv. ver. 19.[923]Epist. iv. ver. 23, 28.[924]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iii. p. 286.[925]Epist. iv. ver. 29.[926]Epist. ii. ver. 35-42.[927]Epist. iv. ver. 29-34.[928]Rasselas, chap. xxii.[929]Butler, Sermons, Preface, pp. vii., xi.[930]Bolingbroke, Works, vol. iv. p. 430.[931]The Design. Seepost, p. 344.[932]De Quincey, Works, ed. 1863, vol. viii. pp. 21, 51; xii. pp, 25, 33.[933]De Quincey, Works, vol. viii. p. 44.[934]Johnson, Lives of the Poets, vol. iii. p. 105.[935]De Quincey, Works, vol. xii. p. 32.[936]Voltaire, Œuvres, tom. xii. p. 156; xxxvii. p. 260.[937]Marmontel, Éléments de Littérature, Art. Épitre.[938]Dugald Stewart, Works, ed. Hamilton, vol. vii. p. 133.[939]Hazlitt, Lectures on the English Poets, ed. 1841, p. 147.[940]De Quincey, Works, vol. viii. p. 42.[941]Life of Byron by Moore, 1 vol. ed. p. 696.[942]Hazlitt, Lectures on the English Poets, pp. 375, 377-8.[943]Hazlitt, Lectures on the English Poets, p. 374.[944]De Quincey, Works, vol. xii. pp. 21, 22.[945]De Quincey, Works, vol. viii. pp. 45-50; xii. 297-303.[946]Marmontel, Éléments de Littérature, Art. Didactique.[947]Bolingbroke, Works, vol. iii. p. 44.[948]Bolingbroke, Works, vol. ii. p. 220; iii. p. 128.[949]De Quincey, Works, vol. viii. p. 50.[950]Milton, Comus, ver. 476.[951]Hazlitt, Lectures on the English Poets, p. 378.[952]De Quincey, Works, vol. viii. p. 51.[953]Taine, Histoire de la Littérature Anglaise, 2nd ed. tom. iii. p. 91; iv. pp. 172-176, 203.[954]Taine, tom. iv. p. 175.[955]This prefatory notice only appeared in the first edition of the first epistle.[956]"Whose" is by some authors made the possessive case of "which," and applied to things as well as persons.—Lowth.[957]Two "Epistles to Mr. Pope concerning the Authors of the Age," by the poet Young. They were published in 1730.[958]The second Epistle of the Essay on Man had the brief preface which follows: "The author has been induced to publish these Epistles separately for two reasons, the one that he might not impose upon the public too much at once of what he thinks incorrect; the other, that by this method he might profit of its judgment on the parts, in order to make the whole less unworthy of it."[959]"The Design" was prefixed in 1735, when Pope inserted the four Epistles of the Essay on Man in his works.[960]The early editions have "forming out of all."[961]For "St. John" the manuscript has "Memmius," and the first edition "Lælius." Memmius was an author and orator of no great distinction to whom Lucretius dedicated his De Rerum Natura. Lælius was celebrated for his statesmanship, his philosophical pursuits, and his friendship, and is described by Horace as delighting, on his retirement from public affairs, in the society of the poet Lucilius. Thus the name was fitted to the functions of Bolingbroke, and the relation in which he stood to Pope.[962]Pope's manuscript supplies various readings of this line:puzzledto flatteredpuzzlingto blusteringgrovellinglow-thoughtedTo working statesmen and ambitious kings.In a letter to Swift, Dec. 19, 1734, Pope says that the couplet was a monitory, and ineffectual hint to Bolingbroke, to give up politics for philosophy. If the censure was directed against the party vices of the man the reproof is inconsistent with the eulogy on his patriotism, Epist. iv. ver. 265, and if against his pursuit in the abstract, it is folly to say that statesmanship is one of the "meaner things" which should be left to "low ambition," and empty "pride."[963]MS.:Since life, my friend, can, etc.[964]Denham, of Prudence:Learn to live well, that thou may'st die so too:To live and die is all we have to do:the latter of which verses our poet has inserted without alteration in his Prologue to the Satires, ver. 262.—Wakefield.[965]This exordium relates to the whole work, first in general, then in particular. The 6th, 7th, and 8th lines allude to the subjects of this book,—the general order and design of Providence; the constitution of the human mind, whose passions cultivated are virtues, neglected vices; the temptations of misapplied self-love, and wrong pursuits of power, pleasure, and false happiness.—Pope."The whole work" was to have been in four books, and the phrase "this book" means the four published Epistles of the Essay on Man, which were to form the first book of the full design.[966]In the first edition,A mighty maze of walks without a plan.This Pope altered because, says Johnson, "if there was no plan it was vain to describe or to trace the maze."[967]The 6th verse alludes to the subject of this first Epistle—the state of man here and hereafter, disposed by Providence, though to him unknown.—Pope.[968]Alludes to the subject of the second Epistle,—the passions, their good or evil.—Pope.[969]Alludes to the subject of the fourth Epistle,—of man's various pursuits of happiness or pleasure.—Pope.[970]The 10th, 13th, and 14th verses allude to the subject of the second Epistle of the second book,—the characters of men and manners.—Pope.The four published Moral Essays were a portion of the projected second book.[971]The 11th and 12th verses allude to the subject of the first Epistle of the second book,—the limits of reason, learning, and ignorance.—Pope.This Epistle was never written, but some part of the matter was incorporated into the fourth Book of the Dunciad.[972]MS.:Of all that blindly creep the tracts explore,And all the dazzled race that blindly soar.Those who "blindly creep" are the ignorant and indifferent; those who "sightless soar" are the presumptuous, who endeavour to transcend the bounds prescribed to the intellect of man.[973]Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel, Part ii.:while he with watchful eyeObserves, and shoots their treasons as they fly.—Wakefield.Dryden, Aurengzebe, Act iii.:Youth should watch joys and shoot 'em as they fly.[974]These metaphors, drawn from the field sports of setting and shooting, seem much below the dignity of the subject, and an unnatural mixture of the ludicrous and serious.—Warton.They are the more so as Pope is not content with barely touching the metaphor of shootingen passant, but pursues it with so much minuteness. Let us "beatthis ample field,"—"trywhat thecovertyields,"—"eyenature's walks,"—"shootfolly." An illustration, if not at all dignified, or in correspondence with the theme, should not be pursued so minutely that the mind must perforce observe its meanness.—Bowles.[975]"Candid" here bears the unusual sense of "lenient and favourable in our judgment."[976]Alludes to the subject which runs through the whole design,—the justification of the methods of Providence.—Pope.Milton, Par. Lost, i. 26:And justify the ways of God to men.—Warton.[977]The last part of the verse is barbarously elliptical. The meaning is that all our reasonings respecting the end of man must be drawn from his station here, and to this station we must refer all that we learn respecting him. Since we can know nothing but what relates to our present condition, the doctrine of a future life is excluded.[978]MS.:Through endless worlds His endless works are known,But ours, etc.[979]MS.:He who can all the flaming limits pierce,Of worlds on worlds that form one universe.[980]"And what" was the reading of all editions till that of 1743. Wollaston's Religion of Nature, ed. 1750, p. 143: "The fixed stars are so many other suns with their several sets of planets about them."[981]MS.:What other habitants in ev'ry star.[982]This was the reading of the first edition which Pope ultimately restored, but in the edition of 1735 the line stands thus:May tell why heav'n made all things as they are.Pope's assertion in the text that it is impossible for us to "tell why heaven has made us as we are," unless we had a complete insight into the plan of universal creation, contradicts ver. 48, where he says that "it is plain there must be somewhere such a rank as man."[983]First edition: "And centres."[984]Bolingbroke, Fragment 43: "As distant as are the various systems, and systems of systems that compose the universe, and different as we may imagine them to be, they are all tied together by relations and connections, by gradations and dependencies."—Wakefield.[985]Pascal's Thoughts, translated by Dr. Kennet, 2nd ed., 1727, p. 288: "If a man did but begin with the study of himself he would soon find how incapable he was of proceeding further. For what possibility is there that the part should contain the whole?"[986]I should have pointed out the expression and great effect of this line as illustrating the subject it describes; but Ruffhead says "it is the most heavy, languid, and unpoetical of all Pope ever wrote, and that the expletive 'to' before the verb is unpardonable."—Bowles.[987]An allusion to the golden chain of Homer, which the poet represents as sustained by Jove, with the whole creation appended to it.—Wakefield.[988]"Why one reason," says Wakefield, "should be harder than the other I am unable to discern." The passage is taken, as Warton pointed out, from Voltaire's remarks on Pascal's Thoughts, but Voltaire put the questions on the same footing, and did not pretend that the second was harder to solve than the first. "You are astonished," he says "that God has made man so contracted, so ignorant, and so unhappy. Why are you not astonished that he has not made him more contracted, more ignorant, and more unhappy?" Neither question ought to have presented any difficulty to Pope, since it was "plain" to him that "the best possible system" required that "there should be somewhere such a rank as man." All who admit the attributes of the Deity must allow that every portion of the world, sentient or insensible, is the consummation of wisdom with reference to its place in the infinite and eternal scheme. "God," says Leibnitz, "does not even neglect inanimate things; they are unconscious, but God is conscious for them. He would reproach himself with the least real defect in the universe, although no one perceived it."[989]Wakefield quotes Milton, Par. Lost, iii. 460, where the phrase "those argent fields" is applied to the heavens.[990]This word is commonly pronounced in prose with the e mute in the plural, as in the singular, and is therefore only of three syllables; but Pope has in the plural continued the Latin form and assigned it four. I think, improperly.—Johnson.[991]Pope says that we cannot tell why Jupiter's satellites are less than Jupiter. Any mathematician could have shown him that if Jupiter was less than his satellites they would not revolve round him.—Voltaire.Warburton, to evade Voltaire's criticism, put a strained and paraphrastic interpretation upon Pope's lines. Their natural meaning is, that man is too ignorant to comprehend why he is not less instead of greater,—nay, that he cannot even tell why oaks are taller than weeds, why Jupiter's satellites are less than Jupiter, and all his investigations into the earth and the heavens will not supply him with the answer.[992]Pope did not generally condescend to the artificial inversion which places the adjective after the substantive. Here, in a passage where simplicity was an object, we have "systems possible" followed by "wisdom infinite,"—combinations, too, which have the effect of producing a disagreeable monotony, occurring in the same part of the lines to which they respectively belong.—Conington.[993]Bolingbroke, Fragment 43: "Since infinite wisdom not only established the end, but directed the means, the system of the universe must necessarily be the best of all possible systems."—Wakefield.[994]There must be no interval, that is, between the parts, or they will not cohere.[995]Bolingbroke, Fragment 43: "It might be determined in the divine ideas that there should be a gradation of life and intellect throughout the universe. In this case it was necessary that there should be some creatures at our pitch of rationality."—Wakefield.The theory of a chain of beings was adopted by Bolingbroke and Pope from Archbishop King's Essay on the Origin of Evil. Arguing from the analogy of our own world, King contended that a universe fully peopled with superior natures would leave room for an inferior grade, and these for lower grades still, in a continuously descending scale. There must either be inferior creatures, or else voids in creation, and we may presume that the maximum of existence is most conducive to the ends of benevolence and wisdom.[996]MS.:Is but if God has placed his creature wrong.[997]Bolingbroke, Fragment 50: "The seeming imperfection of the parts is necessary to the real perfection of the whole."—Wakefield.The sentence quoted by Wakefield was copied by Bolingbroke from Leibnitz. Lord Shaftesbury adopted the same hypothesis in his Inquiry concerning Virtue. If, he says, our earth is a part only of some other system, and if what is ill in our system makes for the good of the general system, then there is nothing ill with respect to the whole. Rousseau, who heartily embraced the doctrine, remarks that "we cannot give direct proofs for or against, because these proofs depend on a complete knowledge of the constitution of the universe, and of the ends of its author."[998]Bolingbroke, Fragments 43 and 63: "We labour hard, we complicate various means to bring about some one paltry purpose.—In the works of men the most complicated schemes produce very hardly and very uncertainly one single effect: in the works of God one single scheme produces a multitude of different effects, and answers an immense variety of purposes."—Wakefield.How clearly and closely is this sentiment expressed by Pope, and yet how difficult to render into verse with precision and effect.—Bowles.In the first line the phrase "one single," for "one single movement," is especially inelegant. Bowles might have selected many couplets from the Essay on Man more deserving of the commendation. The thought which Pope owed to Bolingbroke, Bolingbroke owed to Leibnitz, who says in his Théodicée, "Everything in nature is connected, and if a skilful artizan, engineer, architect, statesman, often makes the same contrivance serve for several purposes, we may affirm that God, whose wisdom and power are perfect, does so always." Hence Pope contends that what is defective in man considered separately, may be advantageous in relation to the hidden ends he is intended to serve.[999]Bolingbroke, Fragments 43: "We ought to consider the world no otherwise than as a little wheel in our solar system; nor our solar system any otherwise than as a little but larger wheel in the immense machine of the universe; and both the one and the other necessary perhaps to the motion of the whole."—Wakefield.[1000]MS.:We see but here a part, etc.
[869]Epist. iii. ver. 209.
[869]Epist. iii. ver. 209.
[870]Epist. iii. ver. 232-40.
[870]Epist. iii. ver. 232-40.
[871]Epist. iii. ver. 201-6.
[871]Epist. iii. ver. 201-6.
[872]Epist. iii. ver. 149-168.
[872]Epist. iii. ver. 149-168.
[873]Epist. iii. ver. 245.
[873]Epist. iii. ver. 245.
[874]Epist. iii. ver. 221.
[874]Epist. iii. ver. 221.
[875]Epist. iii. ver. 154, 217.
[875]Epist. iii. ver. 154, 217.
[876]Epist. i. ver. 165-170.
[876]Epist. i. ver. 165-170.
[877]Epist. iii. ver. 169-198.
[877]Epist. iii. ver. 169-198.
[878]Epist. iii. ver. 179-182.
[878]Epist. iii. ver. 179-182.
[879]Epist. iii. ver. 183-188, 210.
[879]Epist. iii. ver. 183-188, 210.
[880]Epist. iii. ver. 303.
[880]Epist. iii. ver. 303.
[881]Epist. iii. ver. 269, 279.
[881]Epist. iii. ver. 269, 279.
[882]Epist. iii. ver. 305.
[882]Epist. iii. ver. 305.
[883]Epist. iii. ver. 307-310.
[883]Epist. iii. ver. 307-310.
[884]Epist. iv. ver. 331.
[884]Epist. iv. ver. 331.
[885]Epist. iv. ver. 111-115.
[885]Epist. iv. ver. 111-115.
[886]Spence, p. 107.
[886]Spence, p. 107.
[887]Spence, p. 206.
[887]Spence, p. 206.
[888]Epist. i. ver. 16.
[888]Epist. i. ver. 16.
[889]The Design,post, p. 343.
[889]The Design,post, p. 343.
[890]Epist. iii. ver. 19.
[890]Epist. iii. ver. 19.
[891]Epist. i. ver. 73, 93-4.
[891]Epist. i. ver. 73, 93-4.
[892]Epist. iv. ver. 310. Argument to Epist. iv.
[892]Epist. iv. ver. 310. Argument to Epist. iv.
[893]Epist. iv. ver. 66.
[893]Epist. iv. ver. 66.
[894]Epist. iv. ver. 167-172.
[894]Epist. iv. ver. 167-172.
[895]Mackintosh, Miscellaneous Works, ed. 1851, p. 13.
[895]Mackintosh, Miscellaneous Works, ed. 1851, p. 13.
[896]Epist. iv. ver. 57.
[896]Epist. iv. ver. 57.
[897]Epist. iv. ver. 69-72.
[897]Epist. iv. ver. 69-72.
[898]Recollections by Samuel Rogers, pp. 31, 35.
[898]Recollections by Samuel Rogers, pp. 31, 35.
[899]Argument to Epist. iv.
[899]Argument to Epist. iv.
[900]Epist. iv. ver. 77-80.
[900]Epist. iv. ver. 77-80.
[901]Bolingbroke's Works, Vol. iv., p. 378.
[901]Bolingbroke's Works, Vol. iv., p. 378.
[902]Epist. iv. ver. 149.
[902]Epist. iv. ver. 149.
[903]Epist. iv. ver. 87.
[903]Epist. iv. ver. 87.
[904]Epist. iv. ver. 89.
[904]Epist. iv. ver. 89.
[905]Epist. iv. ver. 98.
[905]Epist. iv. ver. 98.
[906]Epist. iv. ver. 99-102.
[906]Epist. iv. ver. 99-102.
[907]Epist. iv. ver. 98, 121-130.
[907]Epist. iv. ver. 98, 121-130.
[908]Matt. x. 29-31.
[908]Matt. x. 29-31.
[909]Wollaston, Religion of Nature Delineated, 7th ed., p. 192.
[909]Wollaston, Religion of Nature Delineated, 7th ed., p. 192.
[910]Epist. iv. ver. 105.
[910]Epist. iv. ver. 105.
[911]Epist. iv. ver. 149-155.
[911]Epist. iv. ver. 149-155.
[912]Epist. iv. ver. 156.
[912]Epist. iv. ver. 156.
[913]Philipp. iv. 11.
[913]Philipp. iv. 11.
[914]Heb. xii. 11.
[914]Heb. xii. 11.
[915]Epist. iv. ver. 157-166.
[915]Epist. iv. ver. 157-166.
[916]Epist. iv. ver. 189-192.
[916]Epist. iv. ver. 189-192.
[917]Epist. iv. ver. 193-204.
[917]Epist. iv. ver. 193-204.
[918]Epist. iv. ver. 205-258.
[918]Epist. iv. ver. 205-258.
[919]Epist. iv. ver. 259-268.
[919]Epist. iv. ver. 259-268.
[920]Henry V., Act iv., Sc. 1.
[920]Henry V., Act iv., Sc. 1.
[921]Epist. ii. ver. 85.
[921]Epist. ii. ver. 85.
[922]Epist. iv. ver. 19.
[922]Epist. iv. ver. 19.
[923]Epist. iv. ver. 23, 28.
[923]Epist. iv. ver. 23, 28.
[924]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iii. p. 286.
[924]Bolingbroke's Works, vol. iii. p. 286.
[925]Epist. iv. ver. 29.
[925]Epist. iv. ver. 29.
[926]Epist. ii. ver. 35-42.
[926]Epist. ii. ver. 35-42.
[927]Epist. iv. ver. 29-34.
[927]Epist. iv. ver. 29-34.
[928]Rasselas, chap. xxii.
[928]Rasselas, chap. xxii.
[929]Butler, Sermons, Preface, pp. vii., xi.
[929]Butler, Sermons, Preface, pp. vii., xi.
[930]Bolingbroke, Works, vol. iv. p. 430.
[930]Bolingbroke, Works, vol. iv. p. 430.
[931]The Design. Seepost, p. 344.
[931]The Design. Seepost, p. 344.
[932]De Quincey, Works, ed. 1863, vol. viii. pp. 21, 51; xii. pp, 25, 33.
[932]De Quincey, Works, ed. 1863, vol. viii. pp. 21, 51; xii. pp, 25, 33.
[933]De Quincey, Works, vol. viii. p. 44.
[933]De Quincey, Works, vol. viii. p. 44.
[934]Johnson, Lives of the Poets, vol. iii. p. 105.
[934]Johnson, Lives of the Poets, vol. iii. p. 105.
[935]De Quincey, Works, vol. xii. p. 32.
[935]De Quincey, Works, vol. xii. p. 32.
[936]Voltaire, Å’uvres, tom. xii. p. 156; xxxvii. p. 260.
[936]Voltaire, Å’uvres, tom. xii. p. 156; xxxvii. p. 260.
[937]Marmontel, Éléments de Littérature, Art. Épitre.
[937]Marmontel, Éléments de Littérature, Art. Épitre.
[938]Dugald Stewart, Works, ed. Hamilton, vol. vii. p. 133.
[938]Dugald Stewart, Works, ed. Hamilton, vol. vii. p. 133.
[939]Hazlitt, Lectures on the English Poets, ed. 1841, p. 147.
[939]Hazlitt, Lectures on the English Poets, ed. 1841, p. 147.
[940]De Quincey, Works, vol. viii. p. 42.
[940]De Quincey, Works, vol. viii. p. 42.
[941]Life of Byron by Moore, 1 vol. ed. p. 696.
[941]Life of Byron by Moore, 1 vol. ed. p. 696.
[942]Hazlitt, Lectures on the English Poets, pp. 375, 377-8.
[942]Hazlitt, Lectures on the English Poets, pp. 375, 377-8.
[943]Hazlitt, Lectures on the English Poets, p. 374.
[943]Hazlitt, Lectures on the English Poets, p. 374.
[944]De Quincey, Works, vol. xii. pp. 21, 22.
[944]De Quincey, Works, vol. xii. pp. 21, 22.
[945]De Quincey, Works, vol. viii. pp. 45-50; xii. 297-303.
[945]De Quincey, Works, vol. viii. pp. 45-50; xii. 297-303.
[946]Marmontel, Éléments de Littérature, Art. Didactique.
[946]Marmontel, Éléments de Littérature, Art. Didactique.
[947]Bolingbroke, Works, vol. iii. p. 44.
[947]Bolingbroke, Works, vol. iii. p. 44.
[948]Bolingbroke, Works, vol. ii. p. 220; iii. p. 128.
[948]Bolingbroke, Works, vol. ii. p. 220; iii. p. 128.
[949]De Quincey, Works, vol. viii. p. 50.
[949]De Quincey, Works, vol. viii. p. 50.
[950]Milton, Comus, ver. 476.
[950]Milton, Comus, ver. 476.
[951]Hazlitt, Lectures on the English Poets, p. 378.
[951]Hazlitt, Lectures on the English Poets, p. 378.
[952]De Quincey, Works, vol. viii. p. 51.
[952]De Quincey, Works, vol. viii. p. 51.
[953]Taine, Histoire de la Littérature Anglaise, 2nd ed. tom. iii. p. 91; iv. pp. 172-176, 203.
[953]Taine, Histoire de la Littérature Anglaise, 2nd ed. tom. iii. p. 91; iv. pp. 172-176, 203.
[954]Taine, tom. iv. p. 175.
[954]Taine, tom. iv. p. 175.
[955]This prefatory notice only appeared in the first edition of the first epistle.
[955]This prefatory notice only appeared in the first edition of the first epistle.
[956]"Whose" is by some authors made the possessive case of "which," and applied to things as well as persons.—Lowth.
[956]"Whose" is by some authors made the possessive case of "which," and applied to things as well as persons.—Lowth.
[957]Two "Epistles to Mr. Pope concerning the Authors of the Age," by the poet Young. They were published in 1730.
[957]Two "Epistles to Mr. Pope concerning the Authors of the Age," by the poet Young. They were published in 1730.
[958]The second Epistle of the Essay on Man had the brief preface which follows: "The author has been induced to publish these Epistles separately for two reasons, the one that he might not impose upon the public too much at once of what he thinks incorrect; the other, that by this method he might profit of its judgment on the parts, in order to make the whole less unworthy of it."
[958]The second Epistle of the Essay on Man had the brief preface which follows: "The author has been induced to publish these Epistles separately for two reasons, the one that he might not impose upon the public too much at once of what he thinks incorrect; the other, that by this method he might profit of its judgment on the parts, in order to make the whole less unworthy of it."
[959]"The Design" was prefixed in 1735, when Pope inserted the four Epistles of the Essay on Man in his works.
[959]"The Design" was prefixed in 1735, when Pope inserted the four Epistles of the Essay on Man in his works.
[960]The early editions have "forming out of all."
[960]The early editions have "forming out of all."
[961]For "St. John" the manuscript has "Memmius," and the first edition "Lælius." Memmius was an author and orator of no great distinction to whom Lucretius dedicated his De Rerum Natura. Lælius was celebrated for his statesmanship, his philosophical pursuits, and his friendship, and is described by Horace as delighting, on his retirement from public affairs, in the society of the poet Lucilius. Thus the name was fitted to the functions of Bolingbroke, and the relation in which he stood to Pope.
[961]For "St. John" the manuscript has "Memmius," and the first edition "Lælius." Memmius was an author and orator of no great distinction to whom Lucretius dedicated his De Rerum Natura. Lælius was celebrated for his statesmanship, his philosophical pursuits, and his friendship, and is described by Horace as delighting, on his retirement from public affairs, in the society of the poet Lucilius. Thus the name was fitted to the functions of Bolingbroke, and the relation in which he stood to Pope.
[962]Pope's manuscript supplies various readings of this line:puzzledto flatteredpuzzlingto blusteringgrovellinglow-thoughtedTo working statesmen and ambitious kings.In a letter to Swift, Dec. 19, 1734, Pope says that the couplet was a monitory, and ineffectual hint to Bolingbroke, to give up politics for philosophy. If the censure was directed against the party vices of the man the reproof is inconsistent with the eulogy on his patriotism, Epist. iv. ver. 265, and if against his pursuit in the abstract, it is folly to say that statesmanship is one of the "meaner things" which should be left to "low ambition," and empty "pride."
[962]Pope's manuscript supplies various readings of this line:
puzzledto flatteredpuzzlingto blusteringgrovellinglow-thoughtedTo working statesmen and ambitious kings.
In a letter to Swift, Dec. 19, 1734, Pope says that the couplet was a monitory, and ineffectual hint to Bolingbroke, to give up politics for philosophy. If the censure was directed against the party vices of the man the reproof is inconsistent with the eulogy on his patriotism, Epist. iv. ver. 265, and if against his pursuit in the abstract, it is folly to say that statesmanship is one of the "meaner things" which should be left to "low ambition," and empty "pride."
[963]MS.:Since life, my friend, can, etc.
[963]MS.:
Since life, my friend, can, etc.
[964]Denham, of Prudence:Learn to live well, that thou may'st die so too:To live and die is all we have to do:the latter of which verses our poet has inserted without alteration in his Prologue to the Satires, ver. 262.—Wakefield.
[964]Denham, of Prudence:
Learn to live well, that thou may'st die so too:To live and die is all we have to do:
Learn to live well, that thou may'st die so too:To live and die is all we have to do:
Learn to live well, that thou may'st die so too:To live and die is all we have to do:
the latter of which verses our poet has inserted without alteration in his Prologue to the Satires, ver. 262.—Wakefield.
[965]This exordium relates to the whole work, first in general, then in particular. The 6th, 7th, and 8th lines allude to the subjects of this book,—the general order and design of Providence; the constitution of the human mind, whose passions cultivated are virtues, neglected vices; the temptations of misapplied self-love, and wrong pursuits of power, pleasure, and false happiness.—Pope."The whole work" was to have been in four books, and the phrase "this book" means the four published Epistles of the Essay on Man, which were to form the first book of the full design.
[965]This exordium relates to the whole work, first in general, then in particular. The 6th, 7th, and 8th lines allude to the subjects of this book,—the general order and design of Providence; the constitution of the human mind, whose passions cultivated are virtues, neglected vices; the temptations of misapplied self-love, and wrong pursuits of power, pleasure, and false happiness.—Pope.
"The whole work" was to have been in four books, and the phrase "this book" means the four published Epistles of the Essay on Man, which were to form the first book of the full design.
[966]In the first edition,A mighty maze of walks without a plan.This Pope altered because, says Johnson, "if there was no plan it was vain to describe or to trace the maze."
[966]In the first edition,
A mighty maze of walks without a plan.
This Pope altered because, says Johnson, "if there was no plan it was vain to describe or to trace the maze."
[967]The 6th verse alludes to the subject of this first Epistle—the state of man here and hereafter, disposed by Providence, though to him unknown.—Pope.
[967]The 6th verse alludes to the subject of this first Epistle—the state of man here and hereafter, disposed by Providence, though to him unknown.—Pope.
[968]Alludes to the subject of the second Epistle,—the passions, their good or evil.—Pope.
[968]Alludes to the subject of the second Epistle,—the passions, their good or evil.—Pope.
[969]Alludes to the subject of the fourth Epistle,—of man's various pursuits of happiness or pleasure.—Pope.
[969]Alludes to the subject of the fourth Epistle,—of man's various pursuits of happiness or pleasure.—Pope.
[970]The 10th, 13th, and 14th verses allude to the subject of the second Epistle of the second book,—the characters of men and manners.—Pope.The four published Moral Essays were a portion of the projected second book.
[970]The 10th, 13th, and 14th verses allude to the subject of the second Epistle of the second book,—the characters of men and manners.—Pope.
The four published Moral Essays were a portion of the projected second book.
[971]The 11th and 12th verses allude to the subject of the first Epistle of the second book,—the limits of reason, learning, and ignorance.—Pope.This Epistle was never written, but some part of the matter was incorporated into the fourth Book of the Dunciad.
[971]The 11th and 12th verses allude to the subject of the first Epistle of the second book,—the limits of reason, learning, and ignorance.—Pope.
This Epistle was never written, but some part of the matter was incorporated into the fourth Book of the Dunciad.
[972]MS.:Of all that blindly creep the tracts explore,And all the dazzled race that blindly soar.Those who "blindly creep" are the ignorant and indifferent; those who "sightless soar" are the presumptuous, who endeavour to transcend the bounds prescribed to the intellect of man.
[972]MS.:
Of all that blindly creep the tracts explore,And all the dazzled race that blindly soar.
Of all that blindly creep the tracts explore,And all the dazzled race that blindly soar.
Of all that blindly creep the tracts explore,And all the dazzled race that blindly soar.
Those who "blindly creep" are the ignorant and indifferent; those who "sightless soar" are the presumptuous, who endeavour to transcend the bounds prescribed to the intellect of man.
[973]Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel, Part ii.:while he with watchful eyeObserves, and shoots their treasons as they fly.—Wakefield.Dryden, Aurengzebe, Act iii.:Youth should watch joys and shoot 'em as they fly.
[973]Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel, Part ii.:
while he with watchful eyeObserves, and shoots their treasons as they fly.—Wakefield.
while he with watchful eyeObserves, and shoots their treasons as they fly.—Wakefield.
while he with watchful eyeObserves, and shoots their treasons as they fly.—Wakefield.
Dryden, Aurengzebe, Act iii.:
Youth should watch joys and shoot 'em as they fly.
[974]These metaphors, drawn from the field sports of setting and shooting, seem much below the dignity of the subject, and an unnatural mixture of the ludicrous and serious.—Warton.They are the more so as Pope is not content with barely touching the metaphor of shootingen passant, but pursues it with so much minuteness. Let us "beatthis ample field,"—"trywhat thecovertyields,"—"eyenature's walks,"—"shootfolly." An illustration, if not at all dignified, or in correspondence with the theme, should not be pursued so minutely that the mind must perforce observe its meanness.—Bowles.
[974]These metaphors, drawn from the field sports of setting and shooting, seem much below the dignity of the subject, and an unnatural mixture of the ludicrous and serious.—Warton.
They are the more so as Pope is not content with barely touching the metaphor of shootingen passant, but pursues it with so much minuteness. Let us "beatthis ample field,"—"trywhat thecovertyields,"—"eyenature's walks,"—"shootfolly." An illustration, if not at all dignified, or in correspondence with the theme, should not be pursued so minutely that the mind must perforce observe its meanness.—Bowles.
[975]"Candid" here bears the unusual sense of "lenient and favourable in our judgment."
[975]"Candid" here bears the unusual sense of "lenient and favourable in our judgment."
[976]Alludes to the subject which runs through the whole design,—the justification of the methods of Providence.—Pope.Milton, Par. Lost, i. 26:And justify the ways of God to men.—Warton.
[976]Alludes to the subject which runs through the whole design,—the justification of the methods of Providence.—Pope.
Milton, Par. Lost, i. 26:
And justify the ways of God to men.—Warton.
[977]The last part of the verse is barbarously elliptical. The meaning is that all our reasonings respecting the end of man must be drawn from his station here, and to this station we must refer all that we learn respecting him. Since we can know nothing but what relates to our present condition, the doctrine of a future life is excluded.
[977]The last part of the verse is barbarously elliptical. The meaning is that all our reasonings respecting the end of man must be drawn from his station here, and to this station we must refer all that we learn respecting him. Since we can know nothing but what relates to our present condition, the doctrine of a future life is excluded.
[978]MS.:Through endless worlds His endless works are known,But ours, etc.
[978]MS.:
Through endless worlds His endless works are known,But ours, etc.
Through endless worlds His endless works are known,But ours, etc.
Through endless worlds His endless works are known,But ours, etc.
[979]MS.:He who can all the flaming limits pierce,Of worlds on worlds that form one universe.
[979]MS.:
He who can all the flaming limits pierce,Of worlds on worlds that form one universe.
He who can all the flaming limits pierce,Of worlds on worlds that form one universe.
He who can all the flaming limits pierce,Of worlds on worlds that form one universe.
[980]"And what" was the reading of all editions till that of 1743. Wollaston's Religion of Nature, ed. 1750, p. 143: "The fixed stars are so many other suns with their several sets of planets about them."
[980]"And what" was the reading of all editions till that of 1743. Wollaston's Religion of Nature, ed. 1750, p. 143: "The fixed stars are so many other suns with their several sets of planets about them."
[981]MS.:What other habitants in ev'ry star.
[981]MS.:
What other habitants in ev'ry star.
[982]This was the reading of the first edition which Pope ultimately restored, but in the edition of 1735 the line stands thus:May tell why heav'n made all things as they are.Pope's assertion in the text that it is impossible for us to "tell why heaven has made us as we are," unless we had a complete insight into the plan of universal creation, contradicts ver. 48, where he says that "it is plain there must be somewhere such a rank as man."
[982]This was the reading of the first edition which Pope ultimately restored, but in the edition of 1735 the line stands thus:
May tell why heav'n made all things as they are.
Pope's assertion in the text that it is impossible for us to "tell why heaven has made us as we are," unless we had a complete insight into the plan of universal creation, contradicts ver. 48, where he says that "it is plain there must be somewhere such a rank as man."
[983]First edition: "And centres."
[983]First edition: "And centres."
[984]Bolingbroke, Fragment 43: "As distant as are the various systems, and systems of systems that compose the universe, and different as we may imagine them to be, they are all tied together by relations and connections, by gradations and dependencies."—Wakefield.
[984]Bolingbroke, Fragment 43: "As distant as are the various systems, and systems of systems that compose the universe, and different as we may imagine them to be, they are all tied together by relations and connections, by gradations and dependencies."—Wakefield.
[985]Pascal's Thoughts, translated by Dr. Kennet, 2nd ed., 1727, p. 288: "If a man did but begin with the study of himself he would soon find how incapable he was of proceeding further. For what possibility is there that the part should contain the whole?"
[985]Pascal's Thoughts, translated by Dr. Kennet, 2nd ed., 1727, p. 288: "If a man did but begin with the study of himself he would soon find how incapable he was of proceeding further. For what possibility is there that the part should contain the whole?"
[986]I should have pointed out the expression and great effect of this line as illustrating the subject it describes; but Ruffhead says "it is the most heavy, languid, and unpoetical of all Pope ever wrote, and that the expletive 'to' before the verb is unpardonable."—Bowles.
[986]I should have pointed out the expression and great effect of this line as illustrating the subject it describes; but Ruffhead says "it is the most heavy, languid, and unpoetical of all Pope ever wrote, and that the expletive 'to' before the verb is unpardonable."—Bowles.
[987]An allusion to the golden chain of Homer, which the poet represents as sustained by Jove, with the whole creation appended to it.—Wakefield.
[987]An allusion to the golden chain of Homer, which the poet represents as sustained by Jove, with the whole creation appended to it.—Wakefield.
[988]"Why one reason," says Wakefield, "should be harder than the other I am unable to discern." The passage is taken, as Warton pointed out, from Voltaire's remarks on Pascal's Thoughts, but Voltaire put the questions on the same footing, and did not pretend that the second was harder to solve than the first. "You are astonished," he says "that God has made man so contracted, so ignorant, and so unhappy. Why are you not astonished that he has not made him more contracted, more ignorant, and more unhappy?" Neither question ought to have presented any difficulty to Pope, since it was "plain" to him that "the best possible system" required that "there should be somewhere such a rank as man." All who admit the attributes of the Deity must allow that every portion of the world, sentient or insensible, is the consummation of wisdom with reference to its place in the infinite and eternal scheme. "God," says Leibnitz, "does not even neglect inanimate things; they are unconscious, but God is conscious for them. He would reproach himself with the least real defect in the universe, although no one perceived it."
[988]"Why one reason," says Wakefield, "should be harder than the other I am unable to discern." The passage is taken, as Warton pointed out, from Voltaire's remarks on Pascal's Thoughts, but Voltaire put the questions on the same footing, and did not pretend that the second was harder to solve than the first. "You are astonished," he says "that God has made man so contracted, so ignorant, and so unhappy. Why are you not astonished that he has not made him more contracted, more ignorant, and more unhappy?" Neither question ought to have presented any difficulty to Pope, since it was "plain" to him that "the best possible system" required that "there should be somewhere such a rank as man." All who admit the attributes of the Deity must allow that every portion of the world, sentient or insensible, is the consummation of wisdom with reference to its place in the infinite and eternal scheme. "God," says Leibnitz, "does not even neglect inanimate things; they are unconscious, but God is conscious for them. He would reproach himself with the least real defect in the universe, although no one perceived it."
[989]Wakefield quotes Milton, Par. Lost, iii. 460, where the phrase "those argent fields" is applied to the heavens.
[989]Wakefield quotes Milton, Par. Lost, iii. 460, where the phrase "those argent fields" is applied to the heavens.
[990]This word is commonly pronounced in prose with the e mute in the plural, as in the singular, and is therefore only of three syllables; but Pope has in the plural continued the Latin form and assigned it four. I think, improperly.—Johnson.
[990]This word is commonly pronounced in prose with the e mute in the plural, as in the singular, and is therefore only of three syllables; but Pope has in the plural continued the Latin form and assigned it four. I think, improperly.—Johnson.
[991]Pope says that we cannot tell why Jupiter's satellites are less than Jupiter. Any mathematician could have shown him that if Jupiter was less than his satellites they would not revolve round him.—Voltaire.Warburton, to evade Voltaire's criticism, put a strained and paraphrastic interpretation upon Pope's lines. Their natural meaning is, that man is too ignorant to comprehend why he is not less instead of greater,—nay, that he cannot even tell why oaks are taller than weeds, why Jupiter's satellites are less than Jupiter, and all his investigations into the earth and the heavens will not supply him with the answer.
[991]Pope says that we cannot tell why Jupiter's satellites are less than Jupiter. Any mathematician could have shown him that if Jupiter was less than his satellites they would not revolve round him.—Voltaire.
Warburton, to evade Voltaire's criticism, put a strained and paraphrastic interpretation upon Pope's lines. Their natural meaning is, that man is too ignorant to comprehend why he is not less instead of greater,—nay, that he cannot even tell why oaks are taller than weeds, why Jupiter's satellites are less than Jupiter, and all his investigations into the earth and the heavens will not supply him with the answer.
[992]Pope did not generally condescend to the artificial inversion which places the adjective after the substantive. Here, in a passage where simplicity was an object, we have "systems possible" followed by "wisdom infinite,"—combinations, too, which have the effect of producing a disagreeable monotony, occurring in the same part of the lines to which they respectively belong.—Conington.
[992]Pope did not generally condescend to the artificial inversion which places the adjective after the substantive. Here, in a passage where simplicity was an object, we have "systems possible" followed by "wisdom infinite,"—combinations, too, which have the effect of producing a disagreeable monotony, occurring in the same part of the lines to which they respectively belong.—Conington.
[993]Bolingbroke, Fragment 43: "Since infinite wisdom not only established the end, but directed the means, the system of the universe must necessarily be the best of all possible systems."—Wakefield.
[993]Bolingbroke, Fragment 43: "Since infinite wisdom not only established the end, but directed the means, the system of the universe must necessarily be the best of all possible systems."—Wakefield.
[994]There must be no interval, that is, between the parts, or they will not cohere.
[994]There must be no interval, that is, between the parts, or they will not cohere.
[995]Bolingbroke, Fragment 43: "It might be determined in the divine ideas that there should be a gradation of life and intellect throughout the universe. In this case it was necessary that there should be some creatures at our pitch of rationality."—Wakefield.The theory of a chain of beings was adopted by Bolingbroke and Pope from Archbishop King's Essay on the Origin of Evil. Arguing from the analogy of our own world, King contended that a universe fully peopled with superior natures would leave room for an inferior grade, and these for lower grades still, in a continuously descending scale. There must either be inferior creatures, or else voids in creation, and we may presume that the maximum of existence is most conducive to the ends of benevolence and wisdom.
[995]Bolingbroke, Fragment 43: "It might be determined in the divine ideas that there should be a gradation of life and intellect throughout the universe. In this case it was necessary that there should be some creatures at our pitch of rationality."—Wakefield.
The theory of a chain of beings was adopted by Bolingbroke and Pope from Archbishop King's Essay on the Origin of Evil. Arguing from the analogy of our own world, King contended that a universe fully peopled with superior natures would leave room for an inferior grade, and these for lower grades still, in a continuously descending scale. There must either be inferior creatures, or else voids in creation, and we may presume that the maximum of existence is most conducive to the ends of benevolence and wisdom.
[996]MS.:Is but if God has placed his creature wrong.
[996]MS.:
Is but if God has placed his creature wrong.
[997]Bolingbroke, Fragment 50: "The seeming imperfection of the parts is necessary to the real perfection of the whole."—Wakefield.The sentence quoted by Wakefield was copied by Bolingbroke from Leibnitz. Lord Shaftesbury adopted the same hypothesis in his Inquiry concerning Virtue. If, he says, our earth is a part only of some other system, and if what is ill in our system makes for the good of the general system, then there is nothing ill with respect to the whole. Rousseau, who heartily embraced the doctrine, remarks that "we cannot give direct proofs for or against, because these proofs depend on a complete knowledge of the constitution of the universe, and of the ends of its author."
[997]Bolingbroke, Fragment 50: "The seeming imperfection of the parts is necessary to the real perfection of the whole."—Wakefield.
The sentence quoted by Wakefield was copied by Bolingbroke from Leibnitz. Lord Shaftesbury adopted the same hypothesis in his Inquiry concerning Virtue. If, he says, our earth is a part only of some other system, and if what is ill in our system makes for the good of the general system, then there is nothing ill with respect to the whole. Rousseau, who heartily embraced the doctrine, remarks that "we cannot give direct proofs for or against, because these proofs depend on a complete knowledge of the constitution of the universe, and of the ends of its author."
[998]Bolingbroke, Fragments 43 and 63: "We labour hard, we complicate various means to bring about some one paltry purpose.—In the works of men the most complicated schemes produce very hardly and very uncertainly one single effect: in the works of God one single scheme produces a multitude of different effects, and answers an immense variety of purposes."—Wakefield.How clearly and closely is this sentiment expressed by Pope, and yet how difficult to render into verse with precision and effect.—Bowles.In the first line the phrase "one single," for "one single movement," is especially inelegant. Bowles might have selected many couplets from the Essay on Man more deserving of the commendation. The thought which Pope owed to Bolingbroke, Bolingbroke owed to Leibnitz, who says in his Théodicée, "Everything in nature is connected, and if a skilful artizan, engineer, architect, statesman, often makes the same contrivance serve for several purposes, we may affirm that God, whose wisdom and power are perfect, does so always." Hence Pope contends that what is defective in man considered separately, may be advantageous in relation to the hidden ends he is intended to serve.
[998]Bolingbroke, Fragments 43 and 63: "We labour hard, we complicate various means to bring about some one paltry purpose.—In the works of men the most complicated schemes produce very hardly and very uncertainly one single effect: in the works of God one single scheme produces a multitude of different effects, and answers an immense variety of purposes."—Wakefield.
How clearly and closely is this sentiment expressed by Pope, and yet how difficult to render into verse with precision and effect.—Bowles.
In the first line the phrase "one single," for "one single movement," is especially inelegant. Bowles might have selected many couplets from the Essay on Man more deserving of the commendation. The thought which Pope owed to Bolingbroke, Bolingbroke owed to Leibnitz, who says in his Théodicée, "Everything in nature is connected, and if a skilful artizan, engineer, architect, statesman, often makes the same contrivance serve for several purposes, we may affirm that God, whose wisdom and power are perfect, does so always." Hence Pope contends that what is defective in man considered separately, may be advantageous in relation to the hidden ends he is intended to serve.
[999]Bolingbroke, Fragments 43: "We ought to consider the world no otherwise than as a little wheel in our solar system; nor our solar system any otherwise than as a little but larger wheel in the immense machine of the universe; and both the one and the other necessary perhaps to the motion of the whole."—Wakefield.
[999]Bolingbroke, Fragments 43: "We ought to consider the world no otherwise than as a little wheel in our solar system; nor our solar system any otherwise than as a little but larger wheel in the immense machine of the universe; and both the one and the other necessary perhaps to the motion of the whole."—Wakefield.
[1000]MS.:We see but here a part, etc.
[1000]MS.:
We see but here a part, etc.