Used with due abstinence, hope acts as a healthful tonic; intemperately indulged, as an enervating opiate. The visions of future triumph, which at first animate exertion, if dwelt upon too intently, will usurp the place of the stern reality; and noble objects will be contemplated, not for their own inherent worth, but on account of the day-dreams they engender. Thus hope, aided by imagination, makes one man a hero, another a somnambulist, and a third a lunatic; while it renders them all enthusiasts.
Zeal for uniformity attests the latent distrusts, not the firm convictions, of the zealot. In proportion to the strength of our self-reliance is our indifference to the multiplication of suffrages in favour of our own judgment.
