1TO have high Aims and Noble Designs, is so Genuin a Mark, and Effect of Greatness of Mind, that there is not any more generally acknowledged; insomuch that Ambition, tho’ it be but a Depravation or a Counterfeit of this Heroick frame of Mind, does yet so dazzle the Eyes of the greater part of Men, as to pass for Magnanimity; and Noble Attempts do oftentimes, even when they fail of Success, not miss of Esteem.
—Magnis tamen excidit ausis, was meant for an Encomium by him that said it. And I remember that one of the Ancients reckons it among the Glories of that Great Captain, Hannibal, who long successfully disputed, with the Romans, the Empire of the World, that he resolved to Besiege Rome, tho’ he never prov’d able to lead his Army within the Sight of her Walls.
Now, as to have Elevated Aims is one of the chief Signs, and indeed Parts, of an Heroick temper of Mind; so, there are no men that seem to me to have Nobler and Sublimer Aims, than Those to which a true Christian is Encouraged; since he aspires to no less things than to please and glorify God; to promote the Good of Mankind; to improve, as far as is possible, his Personal Excellencies in this Life; and to secure to himself for ever a glorious and happy Condition in the next.
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Footnotes
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First Fragment. ↩