and the far greater Part look on with a selfish Indifference. Mr. De Croufaz's Commentaire fur la Traduction en Vers de Mr. l'Abbe Du Refnel de l'Effai de Mr. Pope fur l'Homme, has juft fallen into my Hands: And, in looking over his Remarks on the first Epiftle, I find feveral Things worth animadverting upon, as a Supplement to my former Letter. But, to fhew the Injuftice of his Cenfure, and the Impertinence of his Remarks, it is neceffary to remind the Reader again and again, that the Subject of this Epiftle is a Juftification of Providence, against the impious Objections of Atheistical Men. It is to vindicate the Ways of God to Man.---Thus the Poet addreffes them at the Beginning, "Prefumptuous Man! the Reafon wouldst thou find "Why form'd fo weak, fo little, and fo blind? "Then fay not Man's imperfect, Heav'n's in fault. As he proceeds, he ftill applies his Reasoning to the fame Men: Go and in thy Scale of Senfe Weigh thy Opinion against Providence: "Call Imperfection what thou fancy'st such Say here be gives too little, there too much; Destroy all Creatures for thy Sport or Guft: "Yet cry, if Man's unhappy, God's unjust. 66 And concludes with this Reproof to them: Having premised thus much, we now proceed to our Commentator. Mr. Pope had faid, "The Lamb thy Riot dooms to bleed to-day, "Had he thy Reafon, would he skip and play? 66 "Pleas'd to the laft, he crops the flow'ry Food, "And licks the Hand juft rais'd to fhed his "Blood. "O Blindness to the Future! kindly giv'n, "That each may fill the Circle mark'd by "Heav'n. On which his Commentator :--- "We do not, "indeed, perceive any Thing in Beafts, that fhews that they have an Idea or Apprehenfion "of Death. But, furely, with regard to Man, "to reflect on Death, and to contemplate the "Certainty of it, are of great Ufe to a prudent "Life and a happy Death. Reafon and Religion agree in this, and a Man muft want both one " and the other, to cry out, "O Blindness to the Future! kindly given, "That each may fill the Circle mark'd by "Heav'n. "This fuppofes that if Men had a Fore"knowledge of their Destiny, they would do all "they could to avoid it, and they would fucceed : "Because, without this Ignorance, Heaven, it feems, could never bring all its Beings to fill "that Circle mark'd out by it. Yet notwithstanding, this is a Confequence that can have no Place, if it be impoffible for Men to act with Freedom. But the Doctrine of FATE neceffa 66 "rily draws us into Contradictions."-- Our Author introduces his Commentary, by folemnly acquainting his Reader, --- That he had, from his very Infancy, a ftrong Biafs towards LOGICK; that he has given a confiderable Time to that Study, and does not repent it; that he has profited by Maxims which he has found in Books not written with a DeSign to give them; that he has run through every Thing that has fallen into his Hands under that Title, or any Thing approaching to it; that he has not even neglected the most out-of-fashion'd Works of this Kind: But as the greatest Treasure is worthless, unless well employ'd, he is refolved to spend fome of it upon Mr. Pope. And here you have the Fruits of his Labours in the Remark above. Here he has fhewn, to fome Purpofe, his Skill in extracting Doctrines from Books not defigned to give them. For, I will answer for the Paffage above; that it has quite another Senfe than what our Critick has given it. When the Poet had anfwer'd the Atheist's Objection about pofitive Evil, the Objector is fuppofed to reply to this Effect,---This may be true, what you fly, that partial Evil tends to univerfal Good: But why, then, has not God let me clearly into this Secret, and fhewn me how it is fo? The Poet replies, "For very good Reasons. You were fent "into the World on a Task and Duty to be "performed there. The knowing these Things might diftract you, or draw you from your Sta❝tion. It is, therefore, in Mercy that God has hid thefe Things from you. ૬૮. "Heav'n from all Creatures hides the Book "of Fate, All but the Page prefcrib'd, the present State; *Page 63, 64. + Page 27, 28. "From "From Brutes what Men, from Men what "Spirits know, "Or who would suffer being here below? "To illuftrate this by a Similitude. How kindly has Nature acted by the Lamb, in hiding its "Death from it; the Knowledge of which would have imbitter'd all its Life ?" This is the Force of the Poet's Argument; and a beautiful and well connected one it is. But our great Logician, inftead of attending to the Argument of a very close Reasoner, whofe Thread of Reasoning, therefore, one fhould have imagin'd might have conducted a Mathematician too, as he is, to the true Sense of the Paffage, rambles into a Meaning that could not poffibly be Mr. Pope's; because it agrees not with the Context, and is directly contrary to what he lays down in exprefs Words in this very Effay. Mr. Croufaz fuppofes, we fee, that this Inftance of the Lamb was given to fhew how pernicious a Gift God gave us, when he gave us the Fore-knowledge of our Deftiny. Mr. Pope fays exprefly, that it was a friendly Gift. "To each unthinking Being Heav'n a Friend, "Gives not the useless Knowledge of it's End: "To Man imparts it; but with fuch a View, "As while he dreads it makes him hope it 6 too. After these extraordinary Fruits of our Critick's long Application to the Art of Thinking, he goes on for four Pages together, * to fhew how useful and neceffary it is for Man to cultivate his Underftanding. You afk who he difputes against? He thinks, against Mr. Pope. But I do not know * Page 66 to 70. whether whether he find will another of his Mind. Here we must recollect what we obferved above of the Subject of the Poem; which is a Vindication of Providence against the impious Cenfurers of it. As these would not acknowledge it just and good, because they cannot comprehend it, and as this Argument is founded altogether upon Pride, the Poet thought it proper to mortify that Pride; which could not be done more effectually, than by fhewing them, that even a Savage Indian reafoned better. What are we to conclude from this? That Mr. Pope intended to difcourage all Improvements of the human Understanding? Or that it was only his Defign to deter Men from going out of their Depth, and pretending to judge of Infinity with the fcant Ideas of a Man? Mr. Croufaz, contrary to common Senfe, and the whole Tenor of the Epiftle, has chose the former Part. Mr. Pope fays, "Go wiser thou, and in thy Scale of Senfe, Say here he gives too little, there too much; "Destroy all Creatures for thy Sport or Guft: "Yet cry, if Man's unhappy, God's unjust. To this, the Commentator: ---- "To whom "does Mr. Pope addrefs himself in this long "Period? Is it to thofe prefumptuous Men "who are continually confounding themselves, "abufing the Fruitfulness of their Imaginations, "to teize good Chriftians with Objections against "Providence? Their Rafhnefs and Impatience "well deferve, in my Opinion, the Cenfures "Mr. Pope here inflicts upon them." *---Wonder * Page 79 ful! |