Laugh where we must, be candid where we can; I. Say firft, of God above, or Man below, COMMENTARY. 15 Of VER. 17. Say first, of God above, or Man below, &c.] The Poet having declared his fubject; his end of writing; and the quality of his adverfaries; proceeds (from ver. 16 to 23.) to instruct us, from whence he intends to draw his arguments; namely, from the vifible things of God in this fyftem, to demonftrate the invisible things of God, his eternal Power and Godhead. And why? Because we can reafon only from what we know; and as we know no more of Man than what we fee of his ftation here, fo we know no more of God than what we see of his difpenfations in this station; being able to trace him no further than to the limits of our own fyftem. This naturally leads the Poet to exprobate the miferable folly NOTES. They are the more fo, as Pope is not content with barely touching the metaphor of shooting en paffant, but purfues it with fo much minutenefs. Let us " beat this ample field"-" try what the covert yields,""eye" Nature's walks,-"boot" Folly. I need not mention the want of exactness, into which this illuftration has betrayed him, when he talks of "eying a walk," &c. VER. 15. Laugh where we muft, &c.] Intimating, that human follies are fo ftrangely abfurd, that it is not in the power of the molt compaffionate, on fome occafions, to reftrain their mirth: and that its crimes are so flagitious, that the most candid have seldom an opportunity, on this fubject, to exercise their virtue. WARBURTON. VER. 15. Laugh where we muft,] "La fottife (fays old Montaigne) eft une mauvaise qualité; mais ne la pouvoir fupporter, & s'en dépiter & rouger, comme il m'advient, c'eft une autre forte de maladie, qui ne doit gueres à la fottife en importunité." VER. 16. But vindicate the ways of God to Man] "And justify the ways of God to Man." WARTON. Milton. Of Man, what fee we but his station here, From which to reason, or to which refer? He, who through vast immensity can pierce, COMMENTARY. 20 25 What folly and impiety of pretending to pry into, and call in queftion, the profound difpenfations of Providence: which reproof contains (from ver. 22 to 43.) a Tublime defcription of the Omnifcience of God, and the miserable blindness and prefumption of Man. NOTES. WARBURTON. VER. 19, 20. Of Man, what fee we but his ftation here, The sense is, "we fee nothing of Man but as he stands at present in his station here: From which station, all our reasonings on his nature and end must be drawn; and to this station they must all be referred." The confequence is, that our reafonings on his nature and end muft needs be very imperfect. WARBURTON. VER. 23. He, who through vaft immenfity, &c.] If the imagery in the preceding page gave a moment's depreffion to the Poet's fong, how amply does he here make amends! Let me not, however, be thought to imply, that a poem of this kind fhould be always (to fay fo) on the stretch; but that an illustration, if not at all dignified, or in correfpondence with the theme, fhould not be pursued fo minutely, that the mind must perforce observe its meannefs. 66 VER. 26. What other planets] What muft the great Sage have felt, when the idea of "other planets circling other funs," and the magnificent conceptions of the UNIVERSE, as wonderful in detail as awful and fublime in its general view, first opened on his conviction ! What vary'd Being peoples ev'ry star, May tell why Heav'n has made us as we are. Look'd through? or can a part contain the whole? NOTES. 30 Is VER. 29. But of this frame, the bearings] "Imagine only fome perfon entirely a ftranger to navigation, and ignorant of the nature of the fea or waters, how great his aftonishment would be, when finding himself on board some vessel anchoring at sea, remote from all land profpect; whilft it was yet a calm, he viewed the ponderous machine firm and motionlefs in the midst of the smooth ocean, and confidered its foundations beneath, together with its cordage, mafts, and fails above. How eafily would he see the whole one regular structure, all things depending on one another; the uses of the rooms below, the lodgments, and the conveniencies of men and ftores? But being ignorant of the intent, or of all above, would he pronounce the mafts and cordage to be uselefs and cumbersome, and for this reason condemn the frame and despise the architect? O my friend; let us not thus betray our ignorance; but confider where we are, and in what universe. Think of the many parts of the vaft machine, in which we have fo little infight, and of which it is impoffible we should know the ends and ufes: when, inftead of feeing to the highest pendants, we fee only fome lower deck, and are in this dark case of flesh, confined even to the hold and meaneft ftation of the veffel.” I have inferted this paffage at length, because it is a noble and poetical illuftration of the foregoing lines, as well as of many other paffages in this Effay. Characteristics, vol. ii. P. 188. The whole doctrine of Plato is contained in this one short sentence : Μέρος μὲν ἔνεκα όλε, και εχ ̓ ὅλον ἔνεκα μέρες απεργάζεται. See a very fine paffage in A. Geliius, lib. vi. cap. I. containing the opinion of Chryfippus on the origin of evil. WARTON. VER. 31. has thy pervading foul] The reader will perhaps remember fome of the fublime apoftrophes in Job: "Haft Is the great chain, that draws all to agree, And drawn fupports, upheld by God, or thee? II. Prefumptuous Man! the reafon would't thou find, Why form'd fo weak, fo little, and fo blind? NOTES. 35 40 Of "Haft thou entered into the fprings of the fea? and hast thou walked in the fearch of the depth? Have the gates of death been opened unto thee, and haft thou feen the doors of the fhadow of death? Haft thou perceived the breadth of the earth? Declare, if thou knoweft it all! VER. 33. Is the great chain, that draws all to agree?] I fhould have pointed out the expreffion and great effect of this line, as illuftrating the fubject it defcribes; but Ruffhead fays,"it is the most heavy, languid, and unpoetical, of all Pope ever wrote; and that the expletive "to" before the verb is unpardonable !" "Who fhall decide," &c. Warburton, however, seems to think that its flowness might have been attended! VER. 41. Or afk of yonder, &c.] On thefe lines M. Voltaire thus descants: " Pope dit que l'homme ne peut favoir pourquoi les Lunes de Jupiter font moins grandes que Jupiter? Il fe trompe en cela, c'est une erreur pardonable. Il n'y a point de Mathematicien qui n'ont fait voir," &c. [Vol. ii. p. 384. Ed. Gen.] And fo goes on to fhew, like a great mathematician as he is, that it would be very inconvenient for the Page to be as big as his Lord and Master. It is pity all this fine reasoning should proceed on a ridiculous' blunder. The Poet thus reproves the impious complainer VOL. III. с n Of Systems poffible, if 'tis confest That Wisdom infinite must form the best, COMMENTARY. Where VER. 43. Of Syflems poffible, &c.] So far the Poet's modeft and fober Introduction; in which he truly observes, that no wifdom lefs than omniscient "Can tell why Heav'n has made us as we are." Yet, though we be unable to difcover the particular reafons for this mode of our existence, we may be affured in general that it is right. For now, entering upon his argument, he lays down this evident propofition as the foundation of his Thefis, which he reasonably supposes will be allowed him, That, of all poffible fyftems, infinite NOTES. complainer of the order of Providence: "You are diffatisfied with the weakness of your condition. But, in your fituation, the nature of things requires just such a creature as you are: in a different fituation, it might have required that you fhould be still weaker. And though you see not the reason of this in your own cafe; yet, that reasons there are, you may fee in the case of other of God's creatures : "Ask of thy mother Earth, why oaks are made Taller or stronger than the weeds they shade? Or afk of yonder argent fields above, Why Jove's Satellites are lefs than Jove?" Here (fays the Poet) the ridicule of the weeds' and the Sate lites' complaint, had they the faculties of speech and reasoning, would be obvious to all; because their very fituation and office might have convinced them of their folly. Your folly, fays the Poet to his complainers, is as great, though not so evident, because the reason is more out of fight; but that a reason there is, may be demonstrated from the attributes of the Deity. This is the Poet's clear and ftrong reasoning; from whence, we fee, he was so far from faying, that Man could not know the cause why Jove's Satellites were less than Jove, that all the force of his reafoning turns upon this, that Man did fee and know it, and fhould from thence conclude, that there was a caufe of this inferiority as well in the rational, as in the material Creation. WARBURTON, |