verfaries, proceeds [from 1. 16 to 23.] to instruct us from whence he intends to draw his Arguments for their Confutation; namely, from the visible Things of God, in this System, to demonstrate the invifible Things of God, his eternal Power and Godhead: And why; because we can reafon only from what we know, and we know no more of Man than what we fee of his Station here; no more of God than what we fee of his Difpenfations to Man in this Station; therefore Thro'Worlds unnumber'd tho' the God be known, 'Tis ours to trace him only in our own ". This naturally leads the Poet to exprobrate the miferable Folly and Impiety of pretending to pry into, and call in queftion the profound Difpenfations of Providence: Which reproof contains [from 1. 22 to 43] the most fublime Description of the Omnifcience of God, and the miferable Blindness and Prefumption of Man. Prefumptuous Man! the Reason wouldst thou find Hunc cognofcimus folummodo per Proprietates fuas et Attributa, et per fapientiffimas et optimas rerum ftructuras et caufas finales. Newtoni Principia Schol. gener. fub finem. In In the four laft Lines, the Poet has joined the utmoft Beauty of Argumentation to the Sublimity of Thought; where the fimilar Instances, propofed for their Examination, fhew as well the Abfurdity of their Complaints against Order, as the Fruitlefnefs of their Enquiries into the Arcana of the Godhead. So far his modeft and fober Introduction: In which he truly obferves, that no Wifdom lefs than omnifcient Can tell why Heav'n has made us as we are. Yet tho' we can never discover 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 felf-evident Propofition as the Foundation of his Thefis, which he reasonably supposes will be allowed him: That of all poffible Systems, infinite Wisdom hath formed the beft; [1. 43, 44.] From hence he draws two Confequences, 1. The first [from 1. 44 to 51.] is, that as the best System cannot but be such a one as hath no inconnected Void; fuch a one in which there is a perfect Coherence and gradual Subordination in all its Parts; there must needs be, in fome part or other of the Scale of Life and Sense, fuch a Creature as MAN; which reduces the Difpute to this abfurd Question, Whether God has placed him wrong? It being fhewn that MAN, the Subject of his Inquiry, has a neceffary Place in fuch a System as this is confeffed to be: And it being evident that the Abuse of Free-will, from whence proceeds all moral Evil, is the certain Effect of fuch a Creature's Existence; the next Question will be, how thefe Evils can be accounted for, confiftently with the Idea we have of God's Attributes? Therefore, 2. The Second Confequence he draws from his Principle, That of all poffible Syftems, infinite Wisdom has form'd the beft, is, that whatever is wrong in our private Syftem, is right, as relative to the whole [1.50 to 53.] Refpecting Man, whatever wrong we call, That it may, he proves [from 1. 52 to 61.] by fhewing in what confifts the Difference between the fyftematic Works of God and those of Man, viz. that, in the latter, a thousand Movements fcarce gain one Purpose; in the former one Movement gains many Purposes. So that Man, who here feems principal alone, Perhaps acts fecond to fome Sphere unknown. And acting thus, the Appearances of wrong in the particular System may be right in the univerfal; For, 'Tis but a Part we fee, and not a Whole. -That it must, the whole body of this Epiftle is employed to illustrate and inforce. Thus partial Evil is univerfal Good, and thus Providence is fairly acquitted. From From all this he draws a general Conclufion [from 1. 60 to 87.] that, as what had been faid is fufficient to vindicate the Ways of Providence, Man fhould reft fubmiffive and content, and confess every Thing to be difpofed for the beft; that to pretend to inquire into the Manner how God conducts this wonderful Scheme to its Completion, is as abfurd as to imagine that the Horse and Ox fhall ever come to comprehend why they undergo fuch different Manage and Fortunes in the Hand of Man; nay, that such Knowledge, if communicated, would be even pernicious to Man, and make him neglect or defert his Duty here. Heav'n from all Creatures hides the Book of Fate, All but the Page prefcrib'd, the present State, From Brutes what Men, from Men what Spirits know, Or who would fuffer Being here below? This he illuftrates by an Inftance in the Lamb, which is happy in not knowing the Fate that attends it from the Hand of the Butcher; and from thence takes occafion to observe, that God is the equal Master of all his Creatures, and provides for the proper Happiness of each Being. Who fees with equal Eye, as God of all, A Hero perish, or a Sparrow fall. © But now the Objector is fuppos'd to put in, and Lay; "You tell us indeed, that all things will turn "out for Good; but we see ourselves furrounded " with present Evil; and yet you forbid us all In quiry into the Manner how we are to be extri"cated; and in a Word, leave us in a very discon" folate Condition." Not fo, replies the Poet [from 1. 86 to 95.] you may reasonably, if you fo please, receive much comfort from the HOPE of a happy Futurity; a Hope given us by God himself for this very Purpose, as an Earnest of that Blifs, which here indeed perpetually flies us, but is reserved for the good Man hereafter. What future Bliss he gives not thee to know, But gives that Hope to be thy Blessing now. Hope fprings eternal in the human Breast, Man never is, but always to be blest. The Soul uneafy, and confin'd from home Refts and expatiates in a Life to come. Now the Reason why the Poet chufes to infift on this Proof of a future State in Preference to others, I conceive is in order to give his System (which is founded in a fublime and improved Platonism) the utmost Grace of Uniformity. For we know this HOPE was Plato's peculiar Argument for a future State; and the Words here employed, The Soul uneafy, &c. his peculiar Expreffion: We have feen the Argument illuftrated with great Force of Reasoning, by our most eminent modern Divines: But no where stronger urged than by our Poet, in this Effay. He says here, in express Terms, That God gave us Hope to supply that future Bliss which he |