The Virginia Gazette

ENTERTAINMENT.

----Omnes illacrymabiles
Urgentur, ignotique longa
Note.-m.
Hor.

CICERO has, with his usual 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 and importunate Solicitude, by shewing within what narrow Limits all that Fame and Celebrity which Man can hope from Men is circumscribed.

"You see," says Africanus, pointing at the Earth from the celestial Regions, "that the Globe assigned to the Residence and Habitation of human Beings is of small Dimensions: How then can you obtain from the Praise of Men, any Glory worthy of a Wish? Of this little World the inhabited Parts are neither numerous nor wide; even the Spots where Men are found, are broken by intervening Deserts; and the Nations are so separated as that nothing can be transmitted from one to another. With the People of the South, by whom the opposite Part of the Earth is possessed, you have no Intercourse; and by how small a Tract do you communicate with the Countries of the North? The Territory which you inhabit is no more than a scanty Island, inclosed by a small Body of Water, to which you give the Name of the great Sea, and the Atlantick Ocean. And even in this known and frequented Continent, what Hope can you entertain, that your Renown will pass the Stream of Ganges, or the Cliffs of Caucasus? or by whom will your Name be uttered in the Extremities of the North or South, towards the Rising or the Setting Sun? So narrow is the Space to which your Fame can be propagated, and even there how long will it remain?"

He then proceeds to assign natural Causes why Fame is not only narrow in its Extent, but short in its Duration; he observes the Difference between the Computation of Time in Earth and Heaven, and declares, that according to the celestial Chronology, no human Honours can last a single Year.

Such are the Objections by which Tully has made a Shew of discouraging the Pursuit of Fame; Objections which Sufficiently discover his Tenderness and Regard for his darling Phantom. Homer, when the Plan of his Poem made the Death of Patroclus necessary, resolved, at least, that he should die with Honour; and, therefore, brought 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 disabled from Resistance. Thus Tully ennobles Fame, which he professes to degrade by opposing 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 superior Beings. He still admits it the highest and noblest of terrestrial Objects, and alleges little more against it, than that it is neither without End, nor without Limits.

What might be the Effect of these Observations conveyed in Ciceronian Eloquence to the Roman Senate or the Schools of Athens, cannot be determined; but few of those who shall in the present Age read my humble Version will find themselves much depressed in their Hopes, or retarded in their Designs; for I am not inclined to believe, that they who among us pass their Lives in the cultivating of Knowledge, or the Acquisition of Power, have very anxiously enquired what Opinions prevail on the farther Banks of the Ganges, or have invigorated any Effort by the Desire of spreading their Renown among the Clans of Caucasus.

The Hopes and Fears of modern Minds are content to range in a narrower Compass; a single Nation, and a few Years, have generally sufficient Amplitude to fill our Imagination.

A little Consideration 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 Necessity of passing the Atlantick Sea.

The Numbers to whom any real and perceptible Good or Evil can be derived by the greatest Power, or most active Diligence, are inconsiderable; and where neither Benefit nor Mischief operates, the only Motive to the Mention or Remembrance of others is Curiosity; a Passion, which, though in some Degree universally associated with Reason, is easily confined, overborn, or diverted from any particular Object.

Among the lower Classes of Mankind, there will be found very little Desire of any other Knowledge, than what may contribute immediately to the Relief of some pressing Uneasiness, or the Attainment of some near Advantage. The Turks are said to hear with Wonder a Proposal to walk out, only that they may walk back; and enquire, why any Man should labour for nothing: So those whose Condition has always restrained them to the Contemplation of their own Necessities, and who have been accustomed to look forward only to a small Distance, will scarcely understand, why Nights and Days should be pent in Studies, which end in new Studies, and which, according to Majorbe's Observation, do not tend to lessen the Price of Bread; nor will the Trader or Manufacturer be easily persuaded, that much Pleasure can arise from the mere Knowledge of Actions performed in remote Regions, or in distant Times; or that any Thing can deserve their Enquiry, of which we can only hear the Report, but which cannot influence our Lives by any Consequences.

The Truth is, that very few have Leisure from indispensable 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 some petty Amusement, the Acquisition of some insatiable Desire, or the Toleration of some predominant Passion. The Men whose whole Wish is to accumulate Money, has no other Care than to collect Interest, to estimate Securities, and to enquire for Mortgages: The Lover disdains to turn his Ear to any other Name than that of Celia; and the Courtier thinks the Hour lost, which is not spent in promoting his Interest, and facilitating his Advancement. The Adventures of Valour, and the Discoveries of Science, will find a cold Reception, when they are obtruded upon an Attention thus busily engaged with its own Security, Amusement, and impatient Interruption or Disturbance.

But not only such Employments as seduce Attention by the Appearance of Dignity, or congregated by Labour. The Sportsmen and the Men of Dress, have their heads filled with a Fox, a Feather, or a Ball; and live in Ignorance of every Thing beside, with as much Content as he that heaps up Gold, or solicits Preferment, digs the Field, or beats the Anvil, and dreams out their Days without Pleasure or think.

In the greatest Part have continued to such, and have very little Inclination to pro-
I even of those who are dedicated themselves to Knowledge. The greatest Part
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