Few people make much noise after their deaths who did not do so while
they were living. Posterity could not be supposed to rake into the
records of past times for the illustrious obscure, and only ratify or
annul the lists of great names handed down to them by the voice of
common fame. Few people recover from the neglect or obloquy of their
contemporaries. The public will hardly be at the pains to try the same
cause twice over, or does not like to reverse its own sentence, at least
when on the unfavorable side.--_Hazlitt._