Pope, in his Essay on Man, thus asserts the connection between Virtue and Happiness :

Know then this truth, (enough for man to know,)
“ Virtue alone is happiness below."
The only point where human bliss stands still,
And tastes the good without the fall to ill ;
Where only merit constant pay receives,
Is blest in what it takes, and what it gives;
The joy unequallid, if its end it gain,
And if it lose, attended with no pain :
Without satiety, though e'er so bless'd,
And but more relish'd as the more distress'd:
The broadest mirth unfeeling folly wears,
Less pleasing far than Virtue's very tears.
Goodfrom each object, from each place acquir'd,
For ever exercis'd, yet never tir'd;
Never elated, while one man's oppress'd ;
Never dejected, while another's bless’d;
And where no wants, no wishes can remain;

Since but to wish more Virtue, is to gain.
Of the truly righteous, it may be said,

All cheerful hopes and smiles serene

Sit undisturb'd upon their brow, ,
They look beyond this mortal scene,

To pleasures which for ever flow.

CHAP. XLII.

RELIGION AND VIRTUE-continued.

Let us with truth God's counsel comprehend,
Our universal Parent, Guardian, Friend!
Who, forming by degrees to bless mankind,
This globe our sportive nursery assign'd,
Where, for a while, his fond paternal care
Feasts us with ev'ry joy our state can bear :
Each sense, touch, taste, and smell, dispense delight
Music our hearing, beauty charms our sight;
Trees, herbs, and fow'rs, to us their spoils resign,
Its pearl the rock presents, its gold the mine ;
Beasts, fowl, and fish, their daily tribute give
Of food and clothes, and die that we may live;
Seasons but change, new pleasures to produce,
And elements contend to serve our use ;
Love's gentle shafts, ambition's tow'ring wings,
The pomp of senates, churches, courts, and kings,
All that our rev'rence, joy, or hope create,
Are the gay playthings of this infant state.
Scarcely an ill to human life belongs,
But what our follies cause, or mutual wrongs;
Or if some stripes from Providence we feel,
He strikes with pity, and but wounds to heal;
Kindly, perhaps, sometimes afflicts us here,
To guide our views to a sublimer sphere,
In more exalted joys to fix our taste,
And wean us from delights that cannot last.
Our present good, the easy task is made,
To earn superior bliss when this shall fade;
For soon as e'er these mortal pleasures cloy,
His hand shall lead us to sublimer joy;
Snatch us from all our little sorrows here,
Calm ev'ry grief, and dry each childish tear;
Waft us to regions of eternal peace,
Where bliss and virtue grow with like increase;
From strength to strength our souls for ever guide
Through wondrous scenes of being yet untry'a,

Where in each stage we shall more perfect grow,
And new perfections, new delights, bestow.
Oh! would mankind but make these truths their guide,
And force the helm from prejudice and pride;
Were once these maxims fix'd, that God's our friend,
Virtue our good, and happiness vúr end,
How soon must reason o'er the world prevail,
And error, fraud, and superstition fail!

SOAME JENYNS. What mean unworthy conceptions must we form of God, the Supremely-perfect, if we believe that he is to be bribed, won, softened, and moved by certain rites and ceremonies, or by the frequent repetition of particular consecrated forniularies, to depart from the eternal laws of truth and justice; if we imagine that he, the gracious and benign Father of men, takes a pleasure in seeing his children unnecessarily afflicted and tormented, and denying themselves the blithe enjoyments of his gifts and graces; or if, in short, we persuaded ourselves that we could really afford proper services to him, the all-sufficient, the unbounded Lord of all dominion, or contribute any thing to the increase of his supreme perfection. No! far be such superstitious conceptions, so dishonourable to the Divinity. Christians should worship God in spirit and in truth, with understanding and sentiment. Rites and ceremonies are signs and indications, but not essential parts, of holiness; religious exercises are means of confirming us in our good devout dispositions, and of communicating to us energy to good actions, but they are not those dispositions and actions themselves; and voluntary abstinence, with otherwise lawful pleasures and accommodations, may, perhaps, at times do some good, but never can supply the place of a virtuous life. Be we, therefore, ever so diligent in attending on all the ceremonies and rites of religion ; frequent the worshipping assemblies of Christians ever so punctually, and with ever so much apparent devotion; employ ever so much time and attention in reading the holy scriptures, in private and public prayer; sing ever so many psalms and hymns in honour of the Deity; solemnize the memory of our Lord in the holy supper with ever so much transient emotion; all this gives us no just title to real sanctity; all this, the hypocrite, the libertine, can observe and do, equally with the good.

What ideas are formed of God by hịm who unhappily has a propensity, whether arising from natural or accidental causes, to melancholy and dejection, or in whom envy and discontent reside! He generally views him no otherwise than as an almighty despot, an austere inexorable judge and avenger. He beholds him constantly armed with thunder and lightning, surrounded by an hoșt of plagues and judgments, always prompt arbitrarily to punish the transgressor of his laws, and make him feel the whole weight of bis ireful indignation. Every misfortune that befalls bimself or others, every natural calamity happening to mankind in the course and order of things, is, in his eyes, a mark of the terrible displeasure of God, and of bis avenging arm stretched out for destrucs tion. Whenever the skies are blackened, over with tempestuous clouds, whenever the chilling blast, or bail-storms, or blighting insects, do some damage to the fruits of the field; whenever sicknesses, or contagious distempers prevail among mankind, or among the cattle; he directly adverts to the wrath of the Almighty, and trembles at bis fury. As harshly as he censures, as severely as he judges, so harshly and severely he pretends God also judges and censures. If he, from ill bumour, can endure no contradiction, if he condemns those who in opinions and ceremonies dissent from him ; so must God also act, and exclude from his felicity all those who depart from the received dogmas of his sect or church. If he, from his unforgiving temper, spares no fault, excuses no weakness, baş no compassion for the criminal, but takes pleasure in summary grievous penalties; so be imagines, that God will likewise deal with mankind. Hence the gloomy, horrible doctrine, of the arbitrary destination of some men to bliss, and of others to everlasting misery.

Such doctrines certainly derive their origin from

Where in each stage we shall more perfect grow,
And new perfections, new delights, bestow.
Oh! would mankind but make these truths their guide,
And force the helm from prejudice and pride ;
Were once these maxims fix'd, that God's our friend,
Virtue our good, and happiness our end,
How soon must reason o'er the world prevail,
And error, fraud, and superstition fail !

SOAME JENYNS. What mean unworthy conceptions must we form of God, the Supremely-perfect, if we believe that he is to be bribed, won, softened, and moved by certain rites and ceremonies, or by the frequent repetition of particular consecrated fornularies, to depart from the eternal laws of truth and justice; if we imagine that he, the gracious and benign Father of men, takes a pleasure in seeing his children unnecessarily afflicted and tormented, and denying themselves the blithe enjoyments of his gifts and graces; or if, in short, we persuaded ourselves that we could really afford proper services to him, the all-sufficient, the unbounded Lord of all dominion, or contribute any thing to the increase of his supreme perfection. No! far be such superstitious conceptions, so dishonourable to the Divinity. Christians should worship God in spirit and in truth, with understanding and sentiment. Rites and ceremonies are signs and indications, but not essential parts, of holiness; religious exercises are means of confirming us in our good devout dispositions, and of communicating to us energy to good actions, but they are not those dispositions and actions themselves; and voluntary abstinence, with otherwise lawful pleasures and accommodations, may, perhaps, at times do some good, but never can supply the place of a virtuous life. Be we, therefore, ever so diligent in attending on all the ceremonies and rites of religion ; frequent the worshipping assemblies of Christians ever so punctually, and with ever so much apparent devotion; employ ever so much time and attention in reading the holy scriptures, in private and public prayer; sing ever so many psalms and hymns in honour of the Deity; solemnize the memory