“In order to complete the history of the human mind, and attain
to a perfect knowledge of its nature and operations, we must
contemplate man in all those various situations in which he
has been placed. We must follow him in his progress through
the different stages of society, as he gradually advances
from the infant state of civil life towards its maturity and
decline. We must observe at each period, how the faculties of
his understanding unfold; we must attend to the efforts of
his active powers, watch the various movements of desire and
affection as they rise in his breast, and mark whither they
tend, and with what ardour they are exerted.”