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Happier as kinder, in whate'er degree,

And height of Bliss but height of Charity.

360

God loves from Whole to Parts: But human fou

365

Muft rife from Individual to the Whole,
Self-love but ferves the virtuous mind to wake,
As the fmall pebble ftirs the peaceful lake;
The centre mov'd, a circle ftrait fucceeds,
Another ftill, and ftill another fpreads;
Friend, parent, neighbour, firft it will embrace;
His country next; and next all human race;
Wide and more wide, th' o'erflowings of the mind
Take ev'ry creature in, of ev'ry kind;

370

Earth fimiles around, with boundlefs bounty bleft, And Heav'n beholds its image in his breaft.

Come then, my Friend! my Genius! come along! Oh mafter of the poet, and the fong!

VARIATIONS.

VER. 373. Come then, my friend, &c.] In the MS. thus,

And now transported o'er so vast a Plain,

While the wing'd courfer flies with all her rein,
While heav'n-ward now her mounting wing the feels,
Now fcat.er'd fools fly trembling from her heels,
Wilt thou, my St. John! keep her courfe in fight,
Confine her fury, and affift her flight?

NOTES.

VER. 373. Come then, my friend! &c.] This noble Apoftrophe, by which the Poet concludes the Effay in an ad

And while the Mufe now ftoops, or now ascends, 375 To man's low paffions, or their glorious ends.

NOTES:

drefs to his friend, will furnish a Critic with example of
every one of those five Species of Elocution, from which,
as from its Sources, Longinus deduceth the SUBLIME".
1. The firft and chief is a Grandeur and Sublimity of
Conception.

Come then, my Friend! my Genius! come along,
O Mafter of the Poet, and the Song !

And while the Muse now ftoops, or now afcends,
To man's low paffions, or their glorious ends.

2. The fecond, that pathetic Enthufiafm, which, at the fame time, melts and inflames :

Teach me, like thee, in various nature wife,
To fall with dignity, with temper rise,
Form'd by thy converfe, happily to steer
From grave to gay, from lively to fevere;
Correct with spirit, eloquent with ease,
Intent to reason, or polite to please.

3. A certain elegant Formation and Ordonance of Figures:

Oh! while along the ftream of Time thy name
Expanded flies, and gathers all its fame,
Say, fhall my little bark attendant fail,
Purfue the triumph, and partake the gale!
4. A fplendid diction:

a

When statesmen, heroes, kings, in duft repofe,
Whofe fons fhall blush their fathers were thy foes,

· πέντε πηγαί τινές εἰσι τῆς ὑψηγορίας. 1. Πρῶτον μὲ καὶ κράτισον τὸ περὶ τὰς νοήσεις ἀδρεπήβολον. 2. Δεύτερον δὲ τὸ σφοδρὸν καὶ ἐνθεσιαςικόν πάθοι. 3. Ποιὰ τῶν οχημάτων πλάσις, 4. Ἡ γγυναῖα φράσις. 5. Πέμπλη 3 μεγέθες αἰτία, καὶ συγκλείεσα τὰ περὶ ἑαυτῆς ἅπανία, ἡ ἐν αξιώματι καὶ άρση σύνθεσης,

Teach me, like thee; in various nature wife,
To fall with dignity, with temper rife
Form'd by thy converse, happily to steer
From grave to gay, from lively to fevere;
Correct with fpirit, eloquent with eafe,.
Intent to reafon, or polite to please.

380

Oh! while along the ftream of Time thy name Expanded flies, and gathers all its fame;

Say, fhall my little bark attendant fail,

385

Pursue the triumph, and partake the gale?
When statesmen, heroes, kings, in dust repose,
Whofe fons fhall blufh their fathers were thy foes,
Shall then this verfe to future age pretend
Thou wert my guide, philofopher, and friend? 390
That urg'd by thee, I turn'd the tuneful art
From founds to things, from fancy to the heart;

NOTES.

Shall then this verfe to future age pretend
Thou wert my guide, philofopher, and friend?
That, urg'd by thee, I turn'd the tuneful art
From founds to things, from fancy to the heart;
For wit's falfe mirror held up Nature's light;

5. And, fifthly, which includes in itself all the reft, a Weight and Dignity in the compofition :

Shew'd erring pride whatever is, is RIGHT

That REASON, PASSION, anfwer one great AIM;
That true SELF-LOVE and SOCIAL are the SAME,
That VIRTUE only makes our BLISS below ;
And all our Knowledge is, OURSELVES TO KNOW.

For Wit's falfe mirror held up Nature's light;
Shew'd erring Pride, WHATEVER IS, IS RIGHT;
That REASON, PASSION, anfwer one great aim; 395
That true SELF-LOVE and SOCIAL are the fame ;
That VIRTUE only makes our Blifs below;
And all our knowledge is OURSELVES TO KNOW.

VARIATIONS.

VER. 397. That virtue only, &c.] In the MS, thus,
That just to find a God is all we can,
And all the Study of Mankind is Man.

NOTES.

VER. 394. Shew'd erring Pride, Whatever is, is Right ;] The poet's addrefs to his friend, which concludeth this epiftle fo nobly, and endeth with a recapitulation of the general argument, affords me the following obfervation, with which I fhall conclude thefe remarks. There is one great beauty that fhines through the whole Efay: The Poet, whether he speaks of Man as an Individual, a Member of Society, or the Subject of Happiness, never miffeth an opportunity, while he is explaining his ftate under any of these capacities, to illuftrate it in the most artful manner by the inforcement of his grand Principle: THAT

EVERY THING TENDETH TO THE GOOD OF THE

WHOLE; from whence his fyftem receives the reciprocal advantage of having that grand Theorem realized by facts, and his facts juftified on a principle of Right or Nature.

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