“The moral duty to be expected in different ages is not a unity of standard, or of acts, but a unity of tendency ... At one time the benevolent affections embrace merely the family, soon the circle expanding includes first a class, then a nation, then a coalition of nations, then all humanity and finally, its influence is felt in the dealings of man with the animal world.”
![“[Middleton] contended that the religious leaders of the fourth century…” quote by William Edward Hartpole Lecky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/fe6/william-edward-hartpole-lecky_adopted_middleton-contended-that-the-religious-l_484601.jpg)
