" Every one knows with what interest it is natural to retrace the 

 course of our own lives. The past state of a man's being is retained in 

 a connection with the present by that principle of self-love which is 

 unwilling to relinquish its hold on what has once been his. 



" Though he cannot but be sensible of how little consequence his 



life can have been in the creation, compared with many other trains of 



events, yet to himself he has felt it more important than all other 



trains together.'' 



Foster {First Essay). 



