Intent new Worlds of Wisdom to explore,

And blefs Mankind with Virtue's facred store;
A nobler joy than Wit can give, impart :
And pour a moral transport o'er the heart.
Fantastic Wit shoots momentary fires,

485

And, like a meteor, while we gaze, expires:
Wit kindled by the fulph'rous breath of Vice, 489
Like the blue lightning, while it fhines, destroys:
But Genius, fir'd by Truth's eternal ray,

495

Burns clear and constant, like the fource of day:
Like this, its beam prolific and refin'd,
Feeds, warms, infpirits, and exalts the mind;
Mildly difpels each wintry Paffion's gloom,
And opens all the Virtues into bloom.
This praife, immortal POPE, to thee be giv'n:
Thy Genius was indeed a Gift from Heav'n.
Hail, Bard unequal'd, in whofe deathless line
Reason and wit with strength collected shine;
Where matchlefs wit but wins the second praise,
Loft, nobly loft, in Truth's fuperior blaze.
Did FRIENDSHIP e'er mislead thy wand'ring Mufe?
That Friendship fure may plead the

great

excufe :

500

That facred Friendship which infpir'd thy Song, 505

Fair in defect, and amiably wrong.

Error like this ev'n Truth can scarce reprove; "Tis almost Virtue when it flows from Love.

Ye deathlefs Names, ye Sons of endless praise,

By Virtue crown'd with never-fading bays!

510

Say, shall an artless Mufe, if you infpire,
Light her pale lamp at your immortal fire?
Or if, O WARBURTON, infpir'd by You,
The daring Mufe à noble path pursue,
By You infpir'd, on trembling pinions foar,
The facred founts of focial blifs explore,
In her bold numbers chain the Tyrant's rage,
And bid her Country's glory fire her page :
If fuch her fate, do thou, fair Truth defcend,
And watchful guard her in an honest end:

Kindly fevere, inftru&t her equal line

To court no Friend, nor own a Foe but thine.
But if her giddy eye fhould vainly quit

Thy facred paths, to run the maze of wit;
If her apoftate heart should e'er incline
To offer incenfe at Corruption's fhrine;

515

520

525

Urge, urge thy pow'r, the black attempt confound,
And dafh the fmoaking Cenfer to the ground.
Thus aw'd to fear, inftructed Bards may fee

That guilt is doom'd to fink in Infamy.

530

AN

ESSAY

ON

MAN:

то

H. ST. JOHN, L. BOLINGBROKE.

:

THE

DESIG N.

H

AVING proposed to write fome pieces on Human Life and Manners, fuch as (to ufe my lord Bacon's expreffion) come bome to Mens Bufinefs and Befoms, I thought it more fatisfactory to begin with confidering Man in the abftract, his Nature and his State; fince, to prove any moral Duty, to enforce any moral precept, or to examine the perfection or imperfection of any creature whatsoever, it is neceffary first to know what condition and relation it is placed in, and what is the proper end and purpose of its being.

The fcience of Human Nature is, like all other sciences, reduced to a few clear points:. There are not many certain truths in this world. It is therefore in the Anatomy of the Mind as in that of the Body; more good will accrue to mankind by attending to the large, open, and perceptible parts, than by studying too much such finer nerves and veffels, the conformations and uses of which will for ever efcape our observation. The difputes are all upon thefe laft, and I will venture to say, they have less sharpened the wits than the bearts of men against each other, and have diminished the practice, more than advanced the theory, of Morality. If I could flatter myself that this Effay has any merit, it is in fteering betwixt the extremes of doctrines feemingly oppofite, in paffing over terms utterly unintelligible, and in forming a temperate yet not inconfiftent, and a short yet not imperfect fyftem of Ethics.

This I might have done in profe; but I chofe verfe, and even rhyme, for two reafons. The one will appear obvious; that principles, maxims, or precepts fo written, both strike the reader more strongly at first, and are more easily retained by him afterwards: The other may feem odd, but is true, I found I could exprefs them more shortly this way than in

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