Note 1329 — AN ESSAY ON MAN, IN FOUR EPISTLES (continued 3)
Reading edition
"Union" is put for voluntary union, the union of social affection, in contrast to the bonds of fear, coercion, and the necessities of life, which are large elements in the present condition of mankind. The beasts were included in the common league, and animals of prey unknown in Pope's state of nature. But he did not keep steady to his first account.