The best in habits variously incline.
[1469] MS.:
E'en leave it as it is; this world, etc.
[1470] He alludes to the complaint of Cato in Addison's tragedy, Act iv. Sc. 4:
Justice gives way to force: the conquered world
Is Cæsar's; Cato has no business in it.
And Act v. Sc. 1:
This world was made for Cæsar.
"If," says Pope, "the world is made for ambitious men, such as Cæsar, it is also made for good men, like Titus." Extreme cases test principles, and to establish his position, that the virtuous in this life have always a larger share of enjoyments than the worldly, Pope should have dealt with some of the numerous instances in which the good have been condemned to tortures in consequence of their goodness.
[1471] Remembering one evening that he had given nothing during the day, Titus exclaimed, "My friends, I have lost a day."
[1472] Unquestionably it must be one of the rewards if Pope is right in maintaining that present happiness is proportioned to virtue. No more cruel mockery could be conceived than to act on his doctrine, and tell a virtuous mother, surrounded by starving children, that she and her little ones were quite as happy as the families who lived in abundance.