Moral essays: in four epistles. By Alexander Pope, Esq.

MORAL ESSAYS.

EPISTLE I.

TO Sir RICHARD TEMPLE, Lord COBHAM.

ARGUMENT. Of the Knowlege and Characters of MEN.

THAT it is not sufficient for this knowlege to consi|der man in the abstract: books will not serve the purpose, nor yet our own experience singly, v. 1. General maxims, unless they be formed upon both, will be but notional, v. 10. Some peculiarity in every man, characteristic to himself, yet vary|ing from himself, v. 15. Difficulties arising from our own passions, fancies, faculties, etc. v. 31. The shortness of life, to observe in, and the un|certainty of the principles of action in men, to observe by, v. 37, etc. Our own principle of a|ction often hid from ourselves, v. 41. Some few characters plain, but in general confounded, dis|sembled, or inconsistent, v. 51. The same man

utterly different in different places and seasons, v. 71. Unimaginable weaknesses in the great|est, v. 70, etc. Nothing constant and certain but God and Nature, v. 95. No judging of the motives from the actions; the same actions proceeding from contrary motives, and the same motives influencing contrary actions, v. 100. II. Yet to form characters, we can only take the strongest actions of a man's life, and try to make them agree: the utter uncertainty of this, from nature itself, and from policy, v. 120. Characters given according to the rank of men of the world, v. 135. And some reason for it, v. 140. Educa|tion alters the nature, or at least character, of many, v. 149. Actions, passions, opinions, man|ners, humours, or principles, all subject to change. No judging by nature, from v. 158 to 178. III. It only remains to find (if we can) his RULING PASSION: that will certainly influence all the rest, and can reconcile the seeming or real inconsisten|cy of all his actions, v. 175. Instanced in the ex|traordinary character of Clodio, v. 179. A cau|tion against mistaking second qualities for first, which will destroy all possibility of the knowlege of mankind, v. 210. Examples of the strength of the ruling passion, and its continuation to the last breath, v. 222, etc.

EPISTLE I.

YES, you despise the man to books confin'd, Who from his study rails at human kind; Tho' what he learns he speaks, and may advance Some gen'ral maxims, or be right by chance. The coxcomb bird, so talkative and grave,Line 5 That from his cage cries cuckold, whore, and knave, Tho' many a passenger he rightly call, You hold him no philosopher at all.

And yet the fate of all extremes is such, Men may be read, as well as books, too much.Line 10 To observations which ourselves we make, We grow more partial for th' observer's sake; To written wisdom, as another's, less: Maxims are drawn from notions, those from guess. There's some peculiar in each leaf and grain,Line 15 Some unmark'd fibre, or some varying vein:

Shall only man be taken in the gross? Grant but as many sorts of mind as moss.

That each from other differs, first confess; Next, that he varies from himself no less:Line 20 Add nature's, custom's, reason's, passion's strife, And all opinion's colours cast on life.

Our depths who fathoms, or our shallows finds, Quick whirls, and shifting eddies, of our minds? On human actions reason tho' you can,Line 25 It may be reason, but it is not man: His principle of action once explore, That instant 'tis his principle no more. Like following life thro' creatures you dissect, You lose it in the moment you detect.Line 30

Yet more; the diff'rence is as great between The optics seeing, as the objects seen. All manners take a tincture from our own; Or come discolour'd thro' our passions shown. Or fancy's beam enlarges, multiplies,Line 35 Contracts, inverts, and gives ten thousand dyes.

Nor will life's stream for observation stay, It hurries all too fast to mark their way: In vain sedate reflections we would make, When half our knowlege we must snatch, not take. Oft, in the passions' wild rotation tost,Line 41 Our spring of action to ourselves is lost: Tir'd, not determin'd, to the last we yield, And what comes then is master of the field. As the last image of that troubled heap,Line 45 When sense subsides, and fancy sports in sleep, (Tho' past the recollection of the thought) Becomes the stuff of which our dream is wrought: Something as dim to our internal view, Is thus, perhaps, the cause of most we do.Line 50

True, some are open, and to all men known; Others so very close, they're hid from none; (So darkness strikes the sense no less than light) Thus gracious CHANDOS is belov'd at sight; And ev'ry child hates Shylock, tho' his soulLine 55 Still sits at squat, and peeps not from its hole.

At half mankind when gen'rous Manly raves, All know 'tis virtue, for he thinks them knaves: When universal homage Umbra pays, All see 'tis vice, and itch of vulgar praise.Line 60 When flatt'ry glares, all hate it in a queen, While one there is who charms us with his spleen.

But these plain characters we rarely find; Tho' strong the bent, yet quick the turns of mind: Or puzzling contraries confound the whole;Line 65 Or affectations quite reverse the soul. The dull, flat falshood serves, for policy: And in the cunning, truth itself's a lye: Unthought-of frailties cheat us in the wise; The fool lies hid in inconsistencies.Line 70

See the same man, in vigour, in the gout; Alone, in company; in place, or out; Early at bus'ness, and at hazard late; Mad at a fox-chace, wise at a debate; Drunk at a borough, civil at a ball;Line 75 Friendly at Hackney, faithless at Whitehall.

Catius is ever moral, ever grave, Thinks who endures a knave, is next a knave, Save just at dinner—then prefers, no doubt, A rogue with ven'son to a saint without.Line 80

Who would not praise Patritio's high desert, His hand unstain'd, his uncorrupted heart, His comprehensive head! all int'rests weigh'd, All Europe sav'd, yet Britain not betray'd. He thanks you not, his pride is in picquette,Line 85 New-market-fame, and judgment at a bett.tagJump to section

What made, (say Montagne, or more sage Char|ron!) Otho a warrior, Cromwell a buffoon? A perjur'd prince a leaden saint revere,* 1.1 A godless regent tremble at a star?Line 90

The throne a bigot keep, a genius quit,* 1.2 Faithless thro' piety, and dup'd thro' wit? Europe a woman, child, or dotard rule, And just her wisest monarch made a fool?

Know GOD and NATURE only are the same:Line 95 In man, the judgment shoots at flying game; A bird of passage! gone as soon as found, Now in the moon perhaps, now under ground.

In vain the sage, with retrospective eye, Would from th' apparent what conclude the why, Infer the motive from the deed, and shewLine 101 That what we chanc'd was what we meant to do. Behold! if fortune or a mistress frowns, Some plunge in bus'ness, others shave their crowns: Line 105

To ease the soul of one oppressive weight,Line 105 This quits an empire, that embroils a state: The same adust complexion has impell'd Charles to the convent, Philip to the field.

Not always actions shew the man: we find Who does a kindness, is not therefore kind;Line 110 Perhaps prosperity becalm'd his breast, Perhaps the wind just shifted from the east: Not therefore humble he who seeks retreat, Pride guides his steps, and bids him shun the great: Who combats bravely is not therefore brave,Line 115 He dreads a death-bed like the meanest slave: Who reasons wisely is not therefore wise, His pride in reas'ning, not in acting lies.

But grant that actions best discover man; Take the most strong, and sort them as you can. The few that glare, each character must mark,Line 121 You balance not the many in the dark. What will you do with such as disagree? Suppress them, or miscall them policy? Line 125

Must then at once (the character to save)Line 125 The plain rough hero turn a crafty knave? Alas! in truth the man but chang'd his mind, Perhaps was sick, in love, or had not din'd. Ask why from Britain Caesar would retreat?tagJump to section Caesar himself might whisper he was beat.Line 130 Why risk the world's great empire for a punk? Caesar perhaps might answer he was drunk. But, sage historians! 'tis your task to prove One action conduct; one, heroic love.

'Tis from high life high characters are drawn: A saint in crape is twice a saint in lawn;Line 136 A judge is just, a chanc'lor juster still; A gownman, learn'd; a bishop, what you will;

Wise, if a minister; but, if a king, More wise, more learn'd, more just, more ev'ry thing. Court-virtues bear, like gems, the highest rate,Line 141 Born where heav'n's influence scarce can penetrate: In life's low vale, the soil the virtues like, They please as beauties, here as wonders strike. Tho' the same sun with all-diffusive raysLine 145 Blush in the rose, and in the di'mond blaze, We prize the stronger effort of his pow'r, And justly set the gem above the flow'r.

'Tis education forms the common mind, Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclin'd.Line 150 Boastful and rough, your first son is a 'squire; The next a tradesman, meek, and much a lyar; Tom struts a soldier, open, bold, and brave; Will sneaks a scriv'ner, an exceeding knave:Line 154 Is he a churchman? then he's fond of pow'r: A quaker? sly: A presbyterian? sow'r: A smart free-thinker? all things in an hour.

Ask men's opinions: Scoto now shall tell How trade increases, and the world goes well; Strike off his pension, by the setting sun,Line 160 And Britain, if not Europe, is undone.

That gay free-thinker, a fine talker once, What turns him now a stupid silent dunce? Some God or Spirit he has lately found; Or chanc'd to meet a minister that frown'd.Line 165

Judge we by nature? Habit can efface, Int'rest o'ercome, or policy take place: By actions? those uncertainty divides: By passions? these dissimulation hides: Opinions? they still take a wider range:Line 170 Find if you can, in what you cannot change. Manners with fortunes, humours turn with climes, Tenets with books, and principles with times.

Search then the RULING PASSION: there, alone, The wild are constant, and the cunning known; The fool consistent, and the false sincere;Line 176 Priests, princes, women, no dissemblers here.

This clue, once found, unravels all the rest, The prospect clears, and Wharton stands confest. Wharton, the scorn and wonder of our days,Line 180 Whose ruling passion was the lust of praise: Born with whate'er could win it from the wise, Women and fools must like him or he dies; Tho' wond'ring senates hung on all he spoke, The club must hail him master of the joke.Line 185 Shall parts so various aim at nothing new? He'll shine a Tully and a Wilmot too.* 1.3 Then turns repentant, and his God adores With the same spirit that he drinks and whores; Enough if all around him but admire,Line 190 And now the punk applaud, and now the fryer. Thus with each gift of nature and of art, And wanting nothing but an honest heart; Grown all to all, from no one vice exempt; And most contemptible, to shun contempt;Line 195

His passion still, to covet gen'ral praise, His life, to forfeit it a thousand ways; A constant bounty which no friend has made; An angel tongue, which no man can persuade; A fool with more of wit than half mankind,Line 200 Too rash for thought, for action too refin'd: A tyrant to the wife her heart approves; A rebel to the very king he loves; He dies, sad out-cast of each church and state, And, harder still! flagitious, yet not great.Line 205 Ask you why Wharton broke thro' ev'ry rule? 'Twas all for fear the knaves should call him fool.

Nature well known, no prodigies remain,tagJump to section Comets are regular, and Wharton plain.

Yet, in this search, the wisest may mistake,Line 210 If second qualities for first they take.

When Catiline by rapine swell'd his store; When Caesar made a noble dame a whore; In this the lust, in that the avarice, Were means, not ends; ambition was the vice.Line 215 That very Caesar, born in Scipio's days, Had aim'd, like him, by chastity at praise. Lucullus, when frugality could charm, Had roasted turnips in the Sabin farm. In vain th' observer eyes the builder's toil,Line 220 But quite mistakes the scaffold for the pile. In this one passion man can strength enjoy, As fits give vigour, just when they destroy. Time, that on all things lays his lenient hand, Yet tames not this; it sticks to our last sand.Line 225 Consistent in our follies and our sins, Here honest nature ends as she begins.

Old politicians chew on wisdom past, And totter on in bus'ness to the last; Line 230

As weak, as earnest; and as gravely out,Line 230 As sober Lanesb'row dancing in the gout.* 1.4

Behold a rev'rend fire, whom want of grace Has made the father of a nameless race, Shov'd from the wall, perhaps, or rudely press'd By his own son, that passes by unbless'd:Line 235 Still to his wench he crawls on knocking knees, And envies ev'ry sparrow that he sees.

A salmon's belly, Helluo, was thy fate; The doctor call'd, declares all help too late: " Mercy! cries Helluo, mercy on my soul!Line 240 " Is there no hope?—Alas!—then bring the jowl."

The frugal crone, whom praying priests attend, Still tries to save the hallow'd taper's end, Collects her breath, as ebbing life retires, For one puff more, and in that puff expires.Line 245

" Odious! in woollen! 'twould a saint provoke, (Were the last words that poor Narcissa spoke)* 1.5 " No, let a charming Chintz, and Brussels lace, " Wrap my cold limbs, and shade my lifeless face: " One would not, sure, be frightful when one's dead— " And—Betty—give this cheek a little red."Line 251

The courtier smooth, who forty years had shin'd An humble servant to all human kind, Just brought out this, when scarce his tongue could stir, " If—where I'm going—I could serve you, Sir?"

" I give and I devise, (old Euclio said,Line 256 And sigh'd) "my lands and tenements to Ned. Your money, Sir?—"My money, Sir, what all? " Why,—if I must—(then wept) I give it Paul.

" The manor, Sir?—"The manor! hold, he cry'd, " Not that,—I cannot part with that"—and dy'd.

And you! brave COBHAM, to the latest breathLine 262 Shall feel your ruling passion strong in death: Such in those moments as in all the past, " Oh, save my country, heav'n!" shall be your last.

VARIATIONS.

After v. 86, in the former editions,

Triumphant leaders, at an army's head, Hemm'd round with glories, pilfer cloth or bread: As meanly plunder as they bravely fought, Now save a people, and now save a groat.

VER. 129. in the former editions,

Ask why from Britain Caesar made retreat? Caesar himself would tell you he was beat. The mighty Czar what mov'd to wed a punk? The mighty Czar would tell you he was drunk.

In the former editions, v. 208.

Nature well known, no Miracles remain.

Notes

• * 1.1

  VER. 89.—A perjur'd prince] Louis XI. of France wore in his hat a leaden image of the Virgin Mary, which when he swore by, he feared to break his oath.
• * 1.2

  VER. 91. The throne a bigot keep, a genius quit,] Philip V. of Spain, who, after renouncing the throne for religion, resumed it to gratify his queen; and Victor Amadeus II. king of Sardinia, who resigned the crown, and trying to reassume it, was imprison|ed till his death.
• * 1.3

  VER. 187. John Wilmot, E. of Rochester, famous for his wit and extravagancies in the time of Charles the second.
• * 1.4

  VER. 231. Lanesborow] An ancient nobleman, who continu|ed this practice long after his legs were disabled by the gout. Upon the death of prince George of Denmark, he demand|ed an audience of the queen, to advise her to preserve her health and dispel her grief by dancing.
• * 1.5

  VER. 247.—the last words that poor Narcissa spoke] This story, as well as the others, is founded on fact, though the author had the goodness not to mention the names. Several attribute this in particular to a very celebrated actress, who; in detestation of the thought of being buried in woollen, gave these her last or|ders with her dying breath.