Obiter Dicta

Is it necessary that they should be the record of a noble character? Certainly not. We remember Pepys, who–well, never mind what he does. We call to mind Cellini; he runs behind a fellow-creature, and with ‘admirable address’ sticks a dagger in the nape of his neck, and long afterwards records the fact, almost with reverence, in his life’s story. Can anything be more revolting than some portions of the revelation Benjamin Franklin was pleased to make of himself in writing? And what about Rousseau?