Note 1569 — AN ESSAY ON MAN, IN FOUR EPISTLES (continued 3)
Reading edition
MS.:
To rise from individuals to the whole Is the true progress of the god-like soul. The first impression the soft passions make, Like the small pebble in the limpid lake, Begets a greater and a greater still, The circle widening till the whole it fill; Till God and man, and brute and reptile kind All wake, all move, all agitate his mind; Earth with his bounteous overflows is blessed; Heav'n pleased beholds its image in his breast. Parent or friend first touch the virtuous mind, His country next, and next all human kind.