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7. Human life and conduct are affected by ideals in the same way

that they are affected by the examples of eminent men. Neither

the one nor the other are immediately applicable to practice, but

there is a virtue flowing from them which tends to raise

individuals above the common routine of society or trade, and to

elevate States above the mere interests of commerce or the

necessities of self-defence. Like the ideals of art they are

partly framed by the omission of particulars; they require to be

viewed at a certain distance, and are apt to fade away if we

attempt to approach them. They gain an imaginary distinctness

when embodied in a State or in a system of philosophy, but they

still remain the visions of 'a world unrealized.' More striking

and obvious to the ordinary mind are the examples of great men,

who have served their own generation and are remembered in

another.