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Such is the World's great Harmony, that fprings
From Order, Union, full Consent of things:

296

Where

COMMENTARY.

VER. 295. Such is the World's great Harmony, &c.] Having thus defcribed the true principles of civil and ecclefiaftical Policy, he proceedeth (from ver. 294 to 303.) to illuftrate the harmony between the two Policies, by the universal harmony of Nature : "Such is the World's great harmony, that springs

From Order, Union, full Confent of things."

Thus, as in the beginning of this epiftle he fupported the general principle of mutual Love or Affociation, by confiderations drawn. from the particular properties of Matter, and the mutual dependence between vegetable and animal life; fo, in the conclufion, he hath inforced the particular principles of Civil and Religious Society, from that general Harmony, which fprings, in part, from those properties and dependencies. WARBURTON.

NOTES.

VER. 295. Such is the World's great Harmony, &c.] This doctrine was taken up by Leibnitz; but it was to ingraft upon it a most pernicious fatalism. Plato faid, God chose the best: Leibnitz faid, he could not but choose the best, as he could not act without, what this philofopher called, a fufficient reason. Plato supposed freedom in God to choose one of two things equally good: Leibnitz held the fuppofition to be abfurd: however, admitting the cafe, he ftill held that God could not choose one of two things equally good. Thus it appears, the first went on the fyftem of Freedom; and that the latter, notwithstanding the most artful disguises of his principles, in his Theodicée, was a thorough Fatalift for we cannot well fuppofe he would give that freedom to Man which he had taken away from God. The truth of the matter feems to be this: he faw, on the one hand, the monftrous abfurdity of fuppofing, with Spinoza, that blind Fate was the author of a coherent Universe; but yet, on the other, he could not conceive with Plato, how God could forefee and conduct, according to an archetypal idea, a World, of all poffible Worlds the best, inhabited by free Agents. This difficulty, therefore, which made the Socinians take Prefcience from God, difpofed Leibnitz to take Free-will from Man: And thus he fashioned his fantastical hypothefis; he fuppofed that when God made the body,

he

300

Where small and great, where weak and mighty made
To serve, not suffer, strengthen, not invade;
More pow'rful each as needful to the rest,
And, in proportion as it bleffes, bleft;
Draw to one point, and to one centre bring
Beast, Man, or Angel, Servant, Lord, or King.
For Forms of Government let fools contest;
Whate'er is beft administer'd is best:

COMMENTARY.

For

VER. 303. For Forms of Government let fools conteft, &c.] But now the Poet, having fo much commended the invention and inventors of the philofophic principles of Religion and Government, left an evil use should be made of this, by Men's refting in theory and speculation, as they have been always too apt to do in matters where practice makes their happiness, he cautions his reader (from ver. 302 to 311.) against this error. The feasonableness of this reproof will appear evident enough to those who know, that mad difputes about Liberty and Prerogative had once well nigh overturned our Conftitution; while others about Mystery and Church Authority had almost deftroyed the very spirit of our Religion. WARBURTON.

NOTES.

he impreffed on his new-created Machine a certain feries or fuite of motions; and that when he made the fellow foul, he impreffed a correfpondent series of ideas; whofe operations, throughout the whole duration of the union, were fo exactly timed, that whenever an idea was excited, a correfpondent motion was ever ready to fatisfy the volition. Thus, for inftance, when the mind had the will to raise the arm to the head, the body was fo pre-contrived, as to raise, at that very moment, the part required. This he called the PRE-ESTABLISHED HARMONY; and with this he promifed to do wonders. WARBURTON.

VER. 303. For Forms of Government, &c.] These fine lines have been ftrangely misunderstood: the Author, against his own exprefs words, against the plain sense of his fyftem, hath been conceived to mean, That all Governments and all Religions were,

as

For Modes of Faith let graceless zealots fight;
His can't be wrong whofe life is in the right:

NOTES.

305

In

as to their forms and objects, indifferent. But as this wrong judgment proceeded from ignorance of the reafon of the reproof, as explained above, that explanation is alone fufficient to rectify the mistake.

However, not to leave him under the leaft fufpicion in a matter of fo much importance, I fhall juftify the fenfe here given to this paffage, more at large:

I. And firft, as to Society: Let us confider the words themfelves; and then compare this mistaken fense with the context. The Poet, we may obferve, is here speaking, not of civil Society at large, but of a just legitimate Policy :

"Th' according mufic of a well-mix'd State."

Now mix'd States are of various kinds; in fome of which the Democratic, in others the Ariftocratic, and in others, the Monarchic form prevails. Now, as each of thefe mixed Forms is equally legitimate, as being founded on the principles of natural liberty, that man is guilty of the highest folly, who chufeth rather to employ himself in a fpeculative conteft for the fuperior excellence of one of these Forms to the rest, than in promoting the good adminiftration of that fettled Form to which he is fubject. And yet most of our warm disputes about Government have been of this kind. Again, if by Forms of Government must needs be meant legitimate Government, because that is the fubje&t under debate; then by Modes of Faith, which is the correfpondent idea, muft needs be meant the modes or explanations of the True Faith, because the Author is here too on the fubject of true Religion:

"Relum'd her ancient light, not kindled new."

Befides, the very expreffion (than which nothing can be more precife) confineth us to understand by Modes of Faith, thofe human explanations of Chriftian Mysteries, in contending about which zeal and ignorance have fo perpetually violated Charity.

Secondly, If we confider the context; to fuppofe him to mean, that all Forms of Government are indifferent, is making him directly contradict the preceding paragraph; where he extols the Patriot for difcriminating the true from the falfe modes of Government. He, fays the Poet,

"Taught

In Faith and Hope the world will disagree,
But all Mankind's concern is Charity:

All

NOTES.

"Taught Pow'r's due ufe to People and to Kings,
Taught not to flack, nor flrain its tender ftrings;
The less and greater set so justly true,

That touching one, must strike the other too;
Till jarring int'refts of themselves create

Th' according music of a well-mix'd State."

Here he recommendeth the true Form of Government, which is the mixed. In another place he as ftrongly condemneth the falfe, or the abfolute jure divino Form:

"For Nature knew no right divine in Men."

But the Reader will not be difpleased to see the Poet's own apology, as I find it written in the year 1740, in his own hand, in the margin of a pamphlet, where he found thefe two celebrated lines very much misapplied: "The Author of these lines was far from meaning that no one form of Government is, in itself, better than another, (as, that mixed or limited Monarchy, for example, is not preferable to abfolute), but that no form of Government, however excellent or preferable, in itself, can be fufficient to make a People happy, unless it be administered with integrity. On the contrary, the beft fort of Government, when the form of it is preferved, and the adminiftration corrupt, is most dangerous."

II. Again, to fuppofe the Poet to mean, that all Religions are indifferent, is an equally wrong, as well as uncharitable suspicion. Mr. Pope, though his subject, in this Effay on Man, confineth him to Natural Religion; yet he giveth frequent intimations of a more fublime Difpenfation, and even of the necessity of it; particularly in his fecond epiftle (ver. 149, &c.), where he confeffeth the weakness and insufficiency of human Reason.

And likewise in his fourth epiftle, where, speaking of the good Man, the favourite of Heaven, he faith,

"For him alone, Hope leads from goal to goal,
And opens ftill, and opens on his foul:

Till, lengthen'd on to Faith, and unconfin'd,
pours the blifs that fills up all the mind."

It

But

All must be false that thwart this One great End;

And all of God, that blefs Mankind or mend.

NOTES.

310 Man,

But Natural Religion never lengthened Hope on to Faith; nor did any Religion, but the Chriftian, ever conceive that Faith could fill the mind with happiness.

Laftly, In this very epiftle, and in this very place, fpeaking of the great Reftorers of the Religion of Nature, he intimates that they could only draw God's fhadow, not his image:

"Re-lum'd her ancient light, not kindled new,

If not God's image, yet his fhadow drew :"

as reverencing that truth, which telleth us, this discovery was referved for the glorious Gospel of Chrift, who is the image of God. 2 Cor. iv. 4. WARBURTON.

VER. 304. Whate'er is beft adminifter'd] Notwithstanding all Warburton has faid in defence of thefe lines, they are at least ill expreffed; for they would naturally lead any one to think the Poet's opinion was, That no one form of Government was better than another.

VER. 305. For Modes of Faith let graceless zealots fight ;] These latter ages have feen fo many fcandalous contentions for modes of faith, to the violation of Chriftian Charity, and dishonour of facred Scripture, that it is not at all ftrange they should become the object of fo benevolent and wife an Author's resentment.

WARBURTON.

He borrowed this from Cowley; who, extolling the piety of his friend Crashaw, the Poct, who went over to the Romish Church, and died a Canon of Loretto, fays,

"Pardon, my Mother Church, if I consent
That Angels led him, when from thee he went;
For e'en in error fure no danger is,

When join'd to fo much piety as his :--

His Faith, perhaps, in fome nice tenets might

Be wrong; his life, I'm fure, was in the right."

Cowley alfo, poffibly, might take the hint from Lord Herbert of

Cherbury; who hath this distich in his works:

"Digladient

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