But man on Earth I love to ridicule, A little clod of sordid selfishness! I’ll take his mental acts of every kind And see how self originates them all; I’ll follow Stewart, since he classifies With shrewd discretion, though his reasoning err, He places first the appetites; and these Perforce are selfish, as our self alone Must feel and suffer with our wants. Our food Tastes good alone to us. The richest feast, In others’ mouths, could never satisfy Our appetite for food; self must be fed. Desires are next; and that of knowledge, first, Is proven selfish, by his quoted line From Cicero--that “knowledge is the food Of mind”--and food is ever sought for self. Desire of social intercourse with men, From thought that it will better self, proceeds. Man’s state is friendly, not a state of war, For instinct teaches him society Will offer many benefits to self; And only when he has a cause to fear That self will suffer, does he learn to war. Desire to gain esteem, is self in search Of approbation; like the appetite, The end pursued affects alone the self. And lastly Stewart boasts posthumous fame, When self, as sacrificed, can seek no good. To prove the motive is a selfish good, I’ll not assert enjoyment after life, But say, the pleasure of the millions’ praise, Anticipated in the present thought, And intense consciousness of heroism, Far more than compensates the pangs of death. A Curtius leaping down the dread abyss, Enjoys his fame enough, before he strikes, To pay for every pain of mangling death. Affections next adorn the moral page. At that of kindred, mothers cry aloud: “For shame! for shame! do you pretend to say I love my child with any thought of self? When I would lay my arm upon the block, And have it severed for his slightest good!” I’ll square your love by Reason’s rigid rule, And test its source. Why do you love him so? For benefit he has conferred, or may? No, as the helpless babe, demanding care, You love him most. Your love is instinct then, And like the cow her calf, you love your child; That you may care for him, before self moves. Then do you love him always just the same, When rude and bad as when obedient? But I’ll dissect your love, and take away Each part affecting self; and see what’s left. He now has grown beyond your instinct love; You love him, first, because he is your son, And you would suffer blame, if you did not; You love him, too, because he does reflect A credit on yourself. You feel assured That others thinking well of him, think well Of you. Because it flatters all your pride To think so fine a life is part of yours; Because his high opinion of your worth Evokes a meet return; because you look Into the future, and see honors bright