You are but just entering into the world; I am going out of it. I have
played long enough to be heartily tired of the drama. Whether I have
acted my part in it well or ill, posterity will judge with more candour
than I, or than the present age, with our present passions, can possibly
pretend to. For my part, I quit it without a sigh, and submit to the
sovereign order without murmuring. The nearer we approach to the goal of
life, the better we begin to understand the true value of our existence,
and the real weight of our opinions. We set out much in love with both:
but we leave much behind us as we advance. We first throw away the tales
along with the rattles of our nurses; those of the priest keep their
hold a little longer; those of our governors the longest of all. But the
passions which prop these opinions are withdrawn one after another; and
the cool light of reason, at the setting of our life, shows us what
a false splendour played upon these objects during our more sanguine
seasons.