NUMB. 118. SATURDAY, May 4, 1751. -Omnes illacrymabiles Nočte. In endless night they fleep, unwept, unknown. HOR. FRANCIS. CICERO has, with his ufual elegance and magnificence of language, attempted, in his relation of the dream of Scipio, to depreciate those honours for which he himself appears to have panted with restless folicitude, by fhewing within what narrow limits all that fame and celebrity which man can hope for from men is circumfcribed. "You fee," fays Africanus, pointing at the earth, from the celestial regions, "that the globe affigned "to the refidence and habitation of human beings " is of fmall dimenfions: how then can you ob"tain from the praise of men, any glory worthy of "a wifh? Of this little world the inhabited parts are neither numerous nor wide; even the spots "where men are to be found are broken by inter"vening deferts, and the nations are fo feparated "as that nothing can be transmitted from one to "another. With the people of the south, by whom "the oppofite part of the earth is poffeffed, you have 66 no intercourse; and by how fmall a tract do you communicate with the countries of the "north? The territory which you inhabit is no more "than a scanty ifland, inclosed by a small body of "water, "water, to which you give the name of the great fea " and the Atlantick ocean. And even in this known "and frequented continent, what hope can you en"tertain, that your renown will pass the stream of "Ganges, or the cliffs of Caucafus? or by whom will your name be uttered in the extremities of the "north or fouth, towards the rifing or the fetting "fun? So narrow is the space to which your fame " can be propagated, and even there how long will "it remain ?" He then proceeds to affign natural causes why fame is not only narrow in its extent, but fhort in its duration; he obferves the difference between the computation of time in earth and heaven, and declares, that according to the celeftial chronology, no human honours can last a single year. Such are the objections by which Tully has made a fhew of difcouraging the purfuit of fame; objections which fufficiently discover his tenderness and regard for his darling phantom. Homer, when the plan of his poem made the death of Patroclus neceffary, refolved, at least, that he should die with honour; and therefore brought down against him the patron god of Troy, and left to Hector only the mean task of giving the last blow to an enemy whom a divine hand had difabled from refiftance. Thus Tully ennobles fame, which he profeffes to degrade, by oppofing it to celestial happiness; he confines not its extent but by the boundaries of nature, nor contracts its duration but by representing it small in the estimation of fuperior beings. He still admits it the highest and nobleft of terrestrial objects, and alleges little more againft it, than that it is neither without end, nor without limits. What What might be the effect of these observations conveyed in Ciceronian eloquence to Roman understandings, cannot be determined; but few of thofe who fhall in the prefent age read my humble verfion will find themselves much depreffed in their hopes, or retarded in their defigns; for I am not inclined to believe, that they who among us pafs their lives in the cultivation of knowledge, or acquifition of power, have very anxioufly inquired what opinions prevail on the further banks of the Ganges, or invigorated any effort by the defire of spreading their renown among the clans of Caucafus. The hopes and fears of modern minds are content to range in a narrower compass; a fingle nation, and a few years have generally fufficient amplitude to fill our imaginations. A little confideration will indeed teach us, that fame has other limits than mountains and oceans; and that he who places happiness in the frequent repetition of his name, may spend his life in propagating it, without any danger of weeping for new worlds, or neceffity of paffing the Atlantick fea. The numbers to whom any real and perceptible good or evil can be derived by the greatest power, or moft active diligence, are inconfiderable; and where neither benefit nor mischief operate, the only motive to the mention or remembrance of others is curiofity; a paffion, which, though in fome degree univerfally affociated to reafon, is eafily confined, overborn, or diverted from any particular object. Among the lower claffes of mankind, there will be found very little defire of any other knowledge, than what may contribute immediately to the relief of fome preffing uneafinefs, or the attainment of fome 1 fome near advantage. The Turks are faid to hear with wonder a propofal to walk out only that they may walk back; and inquire why any man should labour for nothing: fo those whofe condition has always reftrained them to the contemplation of their own neceffities, and who have been accuftomed to look forward only to a small distance, will scarcely understand, why nights and days fhould be spent in ftudies, which end in new ftudies, and which, according to Malherbe's obfervation, do not tend to leffen the price of bread; nor will the trader or manufacturer eafily be perfuaded, that much pleasure can arise from the mere knowledge of actions, performed in remote regions, or in diftant times; or that any thing can deferve their inquiry, of which κλέος οἷον ακέομεν, ¿de Ti ide, we can only hear the report, but which cannot influence our lives by any confequences. The truth is, that very few have leisure from indifpenfable business, to employ their thoughts upon narrative or characters; and among those to whom fortune has given the liberty of living more by their own choice, many create to themselves engagements, by the indulgence of fome petty ambition, the admiffion of fome insatiable defire, or the toleration of fome predominant paffion. The man whofe whole wifh is to accumulate money, has no other care than to collect intereft, to estimate fecurities, and to engage for mortgages: the lover difdains to turn his ear to any other name than that of Corinna; and the courtier thinks the hour loft, which is not spent in promoting his intereft, and facilitating his advanceThe adventures of valour, and the discoveries of fcience, will find a cold reception, when they ment. are are obtruded upon an attention thus bufy with its favourite amufement, and impatient of interruption or disturbance. But not only fuch employments as feduce attention by appearances of dignity, or promises of happiness, may restrain the mind from excurfion and inquiry; curiofity may be equally deftroyed by lefs formidable enemies; it may be diffipated in trifles, or congealed by indolence. The sportsman and the man of drefs have their heads filled with a fox or a horfe-race, a feather or a ball; and live in ignorance of every thing befide, with as much content as he that heaps up gold, or folicits preferment, digs the field, or beats the anvil; and fome yet lower in the ranks of intellect, dream out their days without pleasure or bufinefs, without joy or forrow, nor ever rouse from their lethargy to hear or think. Even of those who have dedicated themselves to knowledge, the far greater part have confined their curiosity to a few objects, and have very little inclination to promote any fame, but that which their own ftudies entitle them to partake. The naturalift has no defire to know the opinions or conjectures of the philologer: the botanist looks upon the aftronomer as a being unworthy of his regard: the lawyer scarcely hears the name of a physician without contempt; and he that is growing great and happy by electrifying a bottle, wonders how the world can be engaged by trifling prattle about war or peace. If, therefore, he that imagines the world filled with his actions and praises, fhall fubduct from the number of his encomiafts, all those who are placed below the flight of fame, and who hear in the vallies of life no |