Breathes in our soul, informs our mortal part,

As full, as perfect in a hair as heart;

As full, as perfect, in vile man that mourns,

As the rapt seraph that adores and burns:
To him no high, no low, no great, no small;
He fills, he bounds, connects, and equals all.
10. Cease then, nor Order imperfection name:
Our proper bliss depends on what we blame.
Know thy own point: this kind, this due degree
Of blindness, weakness, heav'n bestows on thee.
Submit.---In this, or any other sphere,
Secure to be as blest as thou canst bear:
Safe in the hand of one disposing 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 see:

All discord, harmony not understood;

All partial evil, universal good:

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

One truth is clear, Whatever is, is right.

:

EPISTLE II.

ARGUMENT.

Of the Nature and State of Man, with respect to Himself, as an Individual.

The business of Man not to pry into God, but to study himself.... His middle nature; his powers and frailties.... The limits of his capacity.... The two principles of Man, Self-love and Reason, both necessary.... Self-love the stronger, and why.... Their end the same.... The Passions, and their use.... The predominant passion, and its force ....Its necessity, in directing men to different purposes....Its providential use, in fixing our principle, and ascertaining our virtue.... Virtue and vice joined in our mixed nature; the limits near, yet the things separate and evident: what is the office of Reason.... How odious Vice is in itself, and how we deceive ourselves into it....That, however, the ends of Providence and general good are answered in our passions and imperfections....How usefully these are distributed to all orders of Men.... How useful they are to Society, and to Individuals, in every state and every age of life.

KNOW then thyself, presume not God to scan;
The proper study of mankind is Man.
Plac'd on this isthmus of a middle state,
A Being darkly wise, and rudely great:
With too much knowledge for the sceptic side,
With too much weakness for the stoic's pride,

He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest;
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 reason such,
Whether he thinks too little or too much;
Chaos of thought and passion, all confus'd;
Still by himself abus'd, or disabus'd;
Created half to rise, 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, jest, and riddle of the world!

Go, wond'rous creature! mount where science guides;

Go, measure earth, weigh air, and state the tides;