I.

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EPISTLE II.

Now then thyfelf, prefume not to God to
fcan,

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 Sceptic fide,
With too much weakness for the Stoic's pride,
He hangs between; in doubt to act, or reft;
In doubt to deem himself a God, or Beaft;
In doubt his Mind or Body to preser;
Born but to die, and reas'ning but to err;
Alike in ignorance, his reason fuch,
Whether he thinks 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;

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VER. 2. The proper fudy, etc.] The poet having fhewn, in the first epistle, that the ways of God are too high for our comprehenfion, rightly draws this conclufion and methodically makes it the subject of his Introduction to the fecond, which treats of the Nature of Man.

VER. 2. Ed. ift.

VARIATIONS.

The only fcience of Mankind is Man.

Self Love still stronger, as it's Object's nigh, Reason's at distance, and in prospect lie; That sees immediate Good by present Sense, Reason the future, and the Consequence...

Efs on Man Ep II

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Sole judge of Truth, in endlefs Error hurl'd:
The glory, jeft, and riddle of the world!

Go, wond'rous creature! mount where Science guides,

Go, measure earth, weigh air, and ftate the tides; Inftruct the planets in what orbs to run,

Correct old Time, and regulate the Sun;

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VER. 22. Correct old Time,] This alludes to Sir Ifaac New

VARIATIONS.

After 18. in the MS.

For more perfection than this ftate can bear
In vain we figh, Heav'n made us as we are.
As wifely fure a modest Ape might aim
To be like Man, whofe faculties and frame
He fees, he feels, as you or I to be
An Angel thing we neither know nor fee.
Obferve how near he edges on our race;
What human tricks! how rifible of face!
It must be fo why else have I the sense
Of more than monkey charms and excellence ?
Why else to walk on two so oft effay'd?
And why this ardent longing for a maid?
So Pug might plead, and call his Gods unkind.
"Till fet on end and married to his mind.

Go, reafoning Thing! affume the Doctor's chair,
As Plato deep, as Seneca fevere :

Fix moral fitness, and to God give rule,
Then drop into thyfelf, etc..

VER. 21. Ed. 4th and 5th.

Show by what rules the wand'ring planets ftray, Correct old Time, and teach the Sun his Way. VOL. III.

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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 fenfe call imitating God;
As Eastern priests in giddy circles run,
And turn their heads to imitate the Sun.
Go, teach Eternal Wisdom how to rule-
Then drop into thyfelf, and be a fool!

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Superior beings, when of late they faw A mortal Man unfold all Nature's law, Admir'd fuch wisdom in an earthly shape, And fhew'd a NEWTON as we fhew an Ape. Could he, whofe rules the rapid Comet bind, 35 Defcribe or fix one movement of his Mind? Who faw its fires here rife, and there descend, Explain his own beginning, or his end?

ton's Grecian Chronology, which he reformed on those two fublime conceptions, the difference between the reigns of kings, and the generations of men; and the pofition of the colures of the equinoxes and folftices at the time of the Argonautic expedition.

VER. 37. Who faw its fires bere rise, etc.] Sir Ifaac Newton, in calculating the velocity of a Comet's motion, and the courfe

Could he, who taught each Planet where to roll,

Describe or fix one movement of the Soul?

Who mark'd their points to rife or to defcend,
Explain his own beginning or his end?