of fame; for, never let it be forgotten, we must
_deserve_ estimation, though we may not _possess_ it, forcing men of the
_world_ to acknowledge, that we do not want their boasted spring of
action to set us in motion; but that its place is better supplied to us
by another, which produces all the good of their's without its evil;
thus demonstrating the superiority of the principle which animates us,
by the superior utility and excellence of its effects. This principle,
in order to be pure and genuine, though nerved with more than mortal
firmness, must be sweetened by love, and tempered with humility. The
former of these qualities will render us kind, friendly, and beneficent,
preventing our being no longer on the watch to promote the happiness or
comfort of others, than whilst we are stimulated by the desire of their
applause; the produce of which passion, whatever may be vaunted of its
effects on social intercourse, is often nothing better than selfishness,
but ill concealed under a superficial covering of exterior courtesy.

Humility, again, reducing us in our own value, will moderate our claims
on worldly estimation. It will check our tendency to ostentation and
display, prompting us rather to avoid, than to attract notice. It will
dispose us to sit down in quiet obscurity, though, judging ourselves
impartially, we believe ourselves better entitled to credit, than those
on whom it is conferred; closing the entrance against a proud, painful,
and malignant passion, from which, under such circumstances, we can
otherwise be hardly free, the passion of "high disdain from sense of
injured merit."

Love and humility will concur in producing a frame of mind, not more
distinct from an ardent thirst of glory, than from that frigid
disregard, or insolent contempt, or ostentatious renunciation of human
favour and distinction, which we have sometimes seen opposed to it.
These latter qualities may not infrequently be traced to a slothful,
sensual, and selfish temper; to the consciousness of being unequal to
any great and generous attempts; to the disappointment of schemes of
ambition or of glory; to a little personal experience of the world's
capricious and inconstant humour. The renunciation in these cases,
however sententious, is often far from sincere; and it is even made not
unfrequently, with a view to the attainment of that very distinction
which it affects to disclaim. In some other of these instances, the
over-valuation an