As full, as perfect, in vile Man that mourns,
As the rapt feraph that adores and burns:
To him no high, no low, no great, no small;
He fills, he bounds, connects, and equals all.
X. Ceafe then, nor ORDER Imperfection name
Our proper blifs depends on what we blame.
Know thy own point: This kind, this due degree
Of blindness, weakness, Heav'n beftows on thee.
Submit. In this, or any other sphere,

Secure to be as bleft as thou canft bear:
Safe in the hand of one difpofing Pow'r,
Or in the natal, or the mortal hour.

All nature is but art, unknown to thee;

All chance, direction, which thou canst not fee;

All difcord, harmony not understood;

All partial evil, universal good:

And, fpite of pride, in erring reason's spite,

One truth is clear, WHATEVER IS, IS RIGHT.

EPISTLE II.

1. KNow then thyself, presume not God to scan, The proper ftudy of mankind is Man. Plac'd on this ifthmus of a middle state,

A being darkly wife, and rudely great:

With too much knowledge for the fceptic fide,
With too much weakness for the ftoic's pride,
He hangs between; in doubt to act, or reft;
In doubt to deem himself a god, or beast;
In doubt his mind or body to prefer;
Born but to die, and reas'ning but to err;
Alike in ignorance, his reafon fuch,

Whether he think too little, or too much;
Chaos of thought and paffion, all confus'd;
Still by himself abus'd, or difabus'd;

Created half to rife, and half to fall ;

Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;

Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurl'd :
The glory, jeft, and riddle of the world!

Go, wondrous creature! mount where Science

guides,

Go, measure earth, weigh air, and state the tides;
Inftruct the planets in what orbs to run,
Correct old Time, and regulate the fun :
Go, foar with Plato, to th' empyreal sphere,
To the first good, first perfect, and first fair;
Or tread the mazy round his follow'rs trod,
And quitting sense call imitating God;
As eastern priests in giddy circles run,
And turn their heads to imitate the fun.
Go, teach Eternal Wisdom how to rule-
Then drop into thyfelf, and be a fool!
Superior beings, when of late they faw
A mortal Man unfold all Nature's law,
Admir'd fuch wifdom in an earthly shape,
And fhew'd a NEWTON as we shew an ape.

Could he, whofe rules the rapid comet bind, Defcribe or fix one movement of his mind?

Who faw its fires here rife, and there defcend,
Explain his own beginning, or his end?
Alas, what wonder! Man's fuperior part
Uncheck'd may rife, and climb from art to art:
But when his own great work is but begun,
What Reason weaves, by Paffion is undone.
Trace Science then, with Modefty thy guide;
First strip off all her equipage of pride;
Deduct what is but vanity, or dress,

Or learning's luxury, or idleness;

Or tricks to thew the stretch of human brain,
Mere curious pleasure, or ingenious pain;
Expunge the whole, or lop th' excrefcent parts
Of all our vices have created arts;

Then fee how little the remaining fum,

Which ferv'd the past, and must the times to come!
II. Two principles in human nature reign;
Self-love, to urge, and reafon, to restrain;

Nor this a good, nor that a bad we call,

Each works its end, to move or govern all :
And to their proper operation ftill,

Afcribe all Good, to their improper, Ill.
Self-love, the fpring of motion, acts the foul;
Reafon's comparing balance rules the whole.
Man, but for that, no action could attend,
And but for this, were active to no end:
Fix'd like a plant on his peculiar spot.
To draw nutrition, propagate, and rot;
Or, meteor-like, flame lawless thro' the void,
Destroying others, by himself deftroy'd.
Moft ftrength the moving principle requires;
Active its tafk, it prompts, impels, infpires;
Sedate and quiet, the comparing lies,

Form'd but to check, delib'rate, and advise.
Self-love ftill stronger, as its objects nigh;
Reafon's at diftance, and in profpe&t lie:
That fees immediate good by present sense;
Reason, the future and the confequence.