175-?

It is reported of Alexander, that at a certain time, being flush'd with sudden victory, he sat himself down & wept that there was no more World to conquer. By conquering he had no other Idea than to alter the Appearance & State of a World in its nature transitory & perishing; & yet for this he wept, while the Kingdom of his own mind in its nature lasting & invariable, was in a state of rebellion to himself & subjected to inimical passions & do we not dayly see as great, if not greater Absurdities take place among the thoughtless part of Mankind. Some weep not as he because they cannot expedite the progress of nature, but because she revolves by inevitable laws, & with infatuation equal to his, they distress themselves for what they cannot help, while the duties proclaim'd by this cause of their distress lay totally neglected. The ancient Stoicks are considered as inclining too much to the other extreme, in that while they sollicited the pleasures & duties of Cultivated reason, they suppress'd humanity, & forgetting the laws of social life, reduced the man to a selfsufficient unconnected being. But however easy it may be to point out the extrems, it may not be equally so to describe the middle line, and chew where Passion should cease & Reason assume the helm. Certain it is that every circumstance of life that we can describe, is adapted to affect some passion, while Reason, like a Spectator, stands at a distance & draws such conclusions as the hurry of passion will admit.

What is there in human Existence which doth not alarm us? Amazing all! What is each individual life? 'Tis as one drop of the water which composes some mighty River that flows before us, we give one look & it is gone. What is a whole Generation? 'Tis as much of this River as we can see at one glance, we take a second & it is alter'd. The several drops are continually shifting their places, sometimes rolling obscurely at the bottom; mingled with the mud, broken with the rocks, entangled in Weeds, straightned in Channels, lingring in Eddies, confus'd in Whirlpools or floating smoothly on the upper Surface in full Sun Shine, & as they revolv'd the whole body glides swiftly onward to the great Ocean, where as the last Verge evades the sight, a new Scene opens on the coming flood & changes the momentary Scene.

I would ask my freind to look around him & tell me who are his Cotemporaries. I will saith he, & begins. But you are mistaken, look again; 89 he attempts again reconsiders, and perceives his second mistake. Time rolls us off incessantly, like the starrs some rising some sitting, & like certain Flowers budding & fading at the same time, such is the generation of Man; we pass quick through our Space, urg'd on by others in close Succession, like that mighty River, which though continually changing, is call'd the same, while the drops that have pass'd are no more remembred or known. And who are we? The close Successors of those who pass'd before us, & so were they. But their persons, dispositions & affairs, are all forgotton, devoured in the greedy jaws of time. Of some few we have faint scatches, handed down by tradition, but of the bigger part of mankind beside, we only presume that they existed, from the common course of things. & of those few what know we, but their fleeting Connections, their short liv'd Glory, & their Accidental acquisition of uncertain Fame. Where is David and his endeared Jonathan? Where is Jacob & his long lov'd Rachel & where are the rich Men, the heroes & the Sages, whose Names are recorded, & where are innumerable Others, as great and as good & as beloved, whose names vanish'd with their mouldring bodies? They have roll'd on Successive thro the several periods of time & yet the World has still been the same to this moment & here we are. As for us, we toil, we aspire, we project, we love, we persue pleasure, we plan happiness & vainly think we possess it. Let us now for a moment, cast an Eye back, & behold an eagar Croud, spurring on the lingring Heads of time, urgent for our places, which they can't long possess for the impetuosity of the next comers. No sooner are we arrived to the long desired situation, then the next summons is away. See how each freindly house throws open its doors, & casts forth the objects of desired connection, our hopes are flattered & frustrated, our prospects fail & succeed alternate, & we pass through an interchangeable mixture of joy & sorrow, till the curtain drops & we are seen no more, & ere long it will not be surmised, where, when, how or that we existed.

Such is human life & with it all the evils that can arise from uncertainty & variableness.

To take no notice of our connections in such a State, is a certain way to avoid the disappointments; but also the comforts of it likewise. To complain of them is to repine at our State of existence & blame the progress of nature & to be entirely governed by them is to be perpetually miserable.

Perhaps the duties that attend this troublesome Situation, result from 90the general Laws of Virtue, & therefore the immediate pleasure that arise from them are but Accidental, & as they are not to be esteem'd the moving recompence, so neither is the want of them to retard our progress; for that very uncertainty which causes so much sorrow, seems to be a reason why we should not grieve for that which is in its nature so fleeting.

While I mused on these things, too deep for my Comprehension, my Spirit forsook its tenement & sought the assistance of pure intelligence. On recollection I found myself placed at an immence distance from any Bodys, I perceiv'd as far as I could see a small dark spot fixd in the immensity of boundless space. On one side I saw innumerable bright sparks as of fire continually entring the dark Spot, where they seemd form'd into moving bodys & caused the utmost appearance of Confusion, on the other side I saw as many particles flying off in infinite directions, some dark & some bright. I was sorely perplex'd to understand this appearance, & while I pondered, an old man approachd me with an air of Dignity & condescension. Bewilder'd mortal, said he, rightly hast thou taken this first step to retire at this distance to take a view of the World to which you belong, yet without my assistance, & my name is Calm Attention, your efforts will be in vain, he then presented me a glass & bad me examine this dark Spot through it. I applied it & perceived that the first Sparks were rational Souls which in their progress through their immortal existence were ordain'd to pass through this dark Spot which was fixd as an Island in a great Ocean. I perceiv'd them pushing on to maturity & acting in all the Stages of this their state of existence; but I was surpriz'd to see many inconsistent motions and actions, some backwards, some sideways, reeling and staggering uttering wailings & rejoicings & all signs of misery and pleasure, till my Tutor altered the Glass, & then I saw that these mortals were all in persuit of certain Objects, & that their course was directed according as they were situated & their conduct governed by their Success. I looked and saw the Air fill'd with Phantoms & Images of all sorts & kinds that ever entered the brain of mortals, here was the Phantom of Honour, Riches, Pleasure, Fashions, Freindship, Love, Connections, dependence, enthusiasm, knowledge, power, & innumerable others, display'd in all the allurements peculiar to each kind; yet through my Glass I could percieve them all founded in falshoods, vanity, uncertainty, & deceits.

While I attended to this, I perceived a Strange Creature of most uncertain Shape & capricious disposition, & I can describe him by nothing but 91his rolling on a wheel. This Demon I perceived rolling about among the Mortals and his own Phantoms which they were so eagerly in persuit of & which he had intirely at his Command, & making a strange overture, in such a manner that the rich became poor, the poor rich, the Freindly disappointed, the honorable dispis'd, the unworthy exalted & caused unexpected revolutions of happiness and misery. Here was the most unspeakable distress & anxiety among those who had suffered by the change, but to my surprise I perceived as many others flush'd with sudden joy, & setting their whole happiness in persuit of that, the loss of which had proved such misery to their neighbours. I now looked to see if this strange Conduct was universal; when I beheld a few, who by their steady behaviour, & composedness of mind, seem'd actuated by different views from any that appeared.

I here cast an Eye of doubt on my Tutor, who again altered my Glass, thrô which the Scene cleard up still brighter. I beheld at an elevation above the influence of the dark Spot, a most engaging coelestial Appearance, here sat Virtue in full view, & all the Graces attending her. On the one side sat Justice, Righteousness & Truth, & on the other, Benevolence, Patience & Obedience, before & behind were all the duties which human nature is equal to, or its State requires, & the whole circle of happiness surrounded them all. I perceived that the influence of this coelestial Image beamed down to the dark Spot & entered at every face that was turn'd toward it.

I then cast an Eye down & perceiv'd that the Phantoms which I first saw, pretended to be this real coelestial Image, & by borrowing a few superficial Glosses imposed on the inattentive multitude & led them into the utmost disappointments & uneasiness while the few that attended to this coelestial Image, which was set as a guide thrô this dark Spot, enjoy'd much of the good which that State aforded, and thô they fell within the reach, yet they alleviated the Stings of all its evils, for I saw that when any of the Phantoms settled upon any of them that they lost all their bad qualities, & became beneficial to their full nature; thô it grieved me to see how the Eyes of some were drawn aside by these Phantoms, made to wander for a while, & fall into great perplexity, and some were carried intirely off.

But while I attended to these things, I was shock'd at the appearance of a dismal Spectre, who flew about armd with a Scythe & a Dart, I percieved him making dreadful havock among the youngest of these mor­92tals, & swept them away by multitudes, I follow'd & perceived that no state was excepted, neither the Strong nor the Weak, nor the poor, the rich, nor the wise & honorable, nor even those who attended to the coelestial Image, but in unexpected moments he snatch'd them all, & compleated those miseries which began in following the Phantoms.

I now percieved the mistery of the particles flying off from this dark Spot, for by this view I percieved them to be the same Souls wch. I at first saw entering. As soon as they were snatch'd off, I saw them gathering round such like Phantoms as they had caressed in the dark Spot, & were by them led to an immense distance, dancing the eternal round of Expectation & disappointments. I then saw the noble few, wafting away to the coelestial Image, here my bosom beat with expectation, but the beams were so bright, they intirely disappeared & I could only see that they got within the Circle of happiness.

I once more cast my Eye towards the dark Spot, expecting some great alteration from this new appearance of things but I found it still the same, the rolling Demon & the Spectre made dismal ravage which caused some for a while to turn their Eyes towards the coelestial Image, but they soon turnd to their Phantoms, acting over the same Farce without regarding those who passed before, thus making and aggravating Woe & filling the World with Misery.

Shock'd with this view, I stood Confounded, till my Tutor thus address'd me; behold Mortal this reallity of human life, consign'd to certain evils, they bewail what cant be avoided, & agravate what might be alleviated. But go thou & yeild thy Self intirely to the influence of this Coelestial Image, & be assured, that in sincerely doing one good Action, thou shalt ballance all the Evils that can attend it, but to habituate they heart intirely to Virtue, & thy Life to doing good, shall produce for you that well stor'd magazine of comforts, that when fortune frowns, when health decays, when beauty fades, when Freinds forsake, & when care & anxiety surround you, & all the mercenary fav'rites of success are fled with fancied happiness, shall afford that inward approbation, that unseen applause & well cultivated composedness, that shall sustain the Soul unhurt thrô all Opposition, & preserve it unruffled amidst the tempest of Life.

MS ; endorsed: "On Life: an Allegory." There are two copies of this text, both in RTP's hand. The earlier draft was endorsed "To l'Vertue on human Uncertainty." "L'Vertue," a correspondent, remains unidentified. The later text, reproduced here, incorporates some slight changes from the earlier draft and does not include the closing quotation, "How frail, men things, how momentary both. N.8.194."