S ately in their own Power. It is neceffary for them to lay hold on Objects capable of giving them Content, it is neceffary that they fhould be acquainted with thefe Objects, and shou'd know by what way they may be approached, and finally attain'd. BUT who will teach us this Way? Ask of the Learn'd, The Learn'd are blind. The Expreffion is ftrong; but 'tis Poetical, for why fhou'd they be blinder than others? We might borrow Mr Pope's Language, and fay to an ignorant Perfon, Prefumptuous Man, dareft thou flatter thy felf, that thou knoweft more of it than those who have spent their Life in Study? BUT the Learned do not agree: Be it fo. However it is but Equity to hear before we condemn them. Perhaps we may difcover which of them thinks the righteft, and what they do agree in may be of use. It is very probable that Mr Pope deriv'd the pompous Difcourfe, which he afterwards makes upon the Advantages of Vir tue, tue, from the Doctrines of the Stoics. But is it not the shortest as well as fureft Way to Take Nature's Road, and mad Opinion's leave? This is not altogether fo eafy as Mr Pope infinuates. Several Masters are reprefented under the Name of Nature: The first of thefe is the Senfes. Children are acquainted with the Voice of thefe alone, and the greateft part of thofe, who are born in a high Station, think of no other Way to derive their Happiness from, but from Shall we reftrain this Name to the clear Ideas of the Understanding? But the Senfes neither fhou'd, nor can be, totally abandon'd, and as for these clear Ideas, we must be able to furmount a vast Number of Prejudices, in order to produce them, to distinguish them from others, and to follow them. thence. There needs but thinking right, and meaning well. verfe 30. Every one flatters himself with these, but the Number of thofe who are deceiv'd in this Matter is very great. Equal is Common Senfe and Common Ease. This is very foon faid, but 'tis a difficult If it is thus, here is Thing to prove it. Happiness found. Each has his Share, and who would more obtain Shall find the Pleasure pays not half the Pain. V.45 Let every Reader then ftop at the Point where he already is, it will be of no use to him to go farther, it wou'd be lost Labour, and he may very well difpenfe with going on. Mr. Pope, in order to bring his Reader to this Conclufion, fends him back to the Univerfal Caufe; there are but few People that will follow him so high. A few Lines afterwards, every one, according to Mr Pope, has need of the Affiftance of others to make him happy. Abstract what others feel, what others think, All Pleafures ficken, and all Glories fink. V. 43 'Tis not then in ourselves, that we are to look for Happiness, but we are reduced to beg it from others. Remember, Man!" the univerfal Caufe "Acts not by partial, but by general Laws. - V.32. From hence he draws a Conclufion, which is a mere fophiftical Equivocation. Inftead of reading you, on this Occasion, a whole Lecture in Phyfics, two Examples will be fufficient to give you a just Notion of what are called the General Laws of Na ture. A PIECE of Land well cultivated and managed, is the properer to make the Seed which is put into it fpring up and multiply. A Husbandman is covetous even to Difhonefty; he is of an ill-natur'd Difpofition, but of an indefatigable Conftitution, he fpares neither himself nor his Children. He has a Neighbour, who is a good-natur'd, friendly, and very honest Man: But he is of a weak Conftitution, and befides an indulgent Father, and afraid of fatiguing his Family too much. The first always reaps a very plentiful Harveft, the fecond only a moderate one. This is a Confequence of the general Law.. God does not, by a particular Affection, make the Seed fpring up and grow in proportion to the Probity of the Perfon who fowed it. A COUNTRY Woman of but little Understanding, and apt to be careless, inftead ftead of putting her Candle in a Lanthorn, ets it heedlessly upon a Heap of Straw, which gets on Fire and burns the House down. It is a general Law of Nature, that Motion fhou'd communicate itself, and that a Spark of Fire fallen on combuftible Matter fhou'd kindle it, and that the Fire, when it is once kindled, ̈ shou'd fpread in a rapid Manner. God does not repeal this Law, in order to prevent the Effects of every imprudent Action. But if from hence Mr Pope pretends to draw this Conclufion: The univerfal Cause acts by general Laws, therefore it diftributes Happiness to all in general.. Each has his Share, and who wou'd more obtain, Shall find the Pleasure pays not half the Pain; I fay, if this Conclufion be drawn, he plainly falls into a Sophiftical Equivocation, he changes the Ideas before affixed to the Expreffion, General Laws. The Signification of this Expreffion does not extend fo far. To act by General Laws is not to produce equal Effects: The Examples, I have juft cited, prove the contrary. When our Hypotheses go too far, they |