That draws a virtue out of ev'ry vice.
Or,
And public good extracts from private vice.
The last version is taken from the title of Mandeville's work, "The Fable of the Bees, or Private Vices, Public Benefits." Johnson's interpretation of the text does not agree with Pope's assertion, that "imperfections are usefully distributed to all orders of men."
[1237] MS.:
Each frailty wisely to each rank applied.
The line is disfigured by the clumsy transition from the present tense to the past for the sake of the rhyme, which is a trifle in comparison with the doctrine that "heaven applies happy frailties to all ranks." If the "frailties" specified by Pope are "happy," fear must be a recommendation in a statesman, rashness in a general, presumption in a king, and a credulous faith in the presumption the best condition for the people.
[1238] The sense of shame in virgins is not a frailty to be ranked with pride, rashness, and presumption.
[1239] There is another side to the picture. The ends of vice are also raised from vanity, which begets wastefulness, debt, slander, and a multitude of evils.
[1240] That is, "heaven can build," the "can" being supplied from "can raise," ver. 245.