In this strait, man has recourse to an imperfect but necessary expedient, which at the same time assists and demonstrates his weakness. Having superficially considered a certain number of objects and noticed their resemblance, he assigns to them a common name, sets them apart, and proceeds onwards. As social bodies advance in civilization, they acquire the knowledge of new facts and they daily lay hold almost unconsciously of some particular truths. The more truths of this kind a man apprehends, the more general ideas he is naturally led to conceive. A multitude of particular facts cannot be seen separately without at last discovering the common tie that connects them.
Several individuals lead to the notion of the species, several species to that of the genus.
Hence the habit and the taste for general ideas will always be greatest among a people of ancient culture and extensive knowledge. But there are other reasons which impel men to generalize their ideas or which restrain them from doing so. The Americans are much more addicted to the use of general ideas than the English and entertain a much greater relish for them. This appears very singular at first, when it is remembered that the two nations have the same origin, that they lived for centuries under the same laws, and that they still incessantly interchange their opinions and their manners. This contrast becomes much more striking still if we fix our eyes on our own part of the world and compare together the two most enlightened nations that inhabit it.