EVOLUTION OP LIFE. 81 



be defined, " a rational soul, in an animal body, 

 which it employs as its instrument." 



Say, why was Man so eminently rais'd 

 Amid the vast creation ? why empower'd 

 Thro' life and death to dart his watchful eye, 

 With thoughts beyond the limits of his frame ; 

 But that th' Omnipotent might send him forth 

 In sight of Angels and immortal mind, 

 As on an ample theatre, to join 

 In conquest with his equals ; who shall b 

 The task achieve, the course of noble toi 

 By wisdom, or by mercy, pre-ordain'd.* 

 Might send him forth the sovereign good 

 To chase each meaner purpose from his b 

 And thro' the mists of passion and of sense, 

 And thro' the pelting storms of chance and pain. 

 To hold straight on, with constant heart and eye 

 Still fixt upon his everlasting palm, 

 The approving smile of heaven 1 



Akenside's Pleas, of Imag* 



* No doctrine has ever, perhaps, been more completely 

 mistaken, than that of predestination. By many, it has been 

 thought, that some there were, who were elected and predes- 

 tined to enjoy every blessing in this life, and happiness in the 

 next, notwithstanding the wickedness of their conduct ; 

 others again, that were doomed to suffer every misfortune in 

 this state of existence, and to endure eternal damnation here- 

 after, however meritorious their conduct might have been. 

 If this explanation were true, instead of the Almighty being 

 what he is, all-bounteous, wise, and just, and the source of 

 all goodness ; it might rather be supposed, that he is the very 

 devil himself, and the cause of all evil. Great, indeed, is 

 the error ot" those who judge in this way. It is very true 



G 



