The above quote shares a common spirit with the cosmopolitanism of Immanuel Kant. The spirit is implicit in that it relates the nature of human interdependency and the consequences of our behavior towards one another. Although Melvill is not usually associated with cosmopolitan theory and is generally associated with the Church of England, he was much more than a religious scholar, spending significant time writing critical essays on natural law and global ethics. The quote by Melvill reflects a cosmopolitan belief of universal human coexistence, for it mirrors Kant's cosmopolitan concern, that we are all inextricably connected, that “a violation of rights in one part of the world is felt everywhere.” Moreover, Melvill's quote is loaded with a Kantian cosmopolitan universal principle, that humans cannot live independently of one another and therefore should act towards others as if those actions were to dictate the substance of returned consequences. This could be extended to a form of Kant's categorical imperative, where individuals should “act only according to the maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.” It would seem that Melvill is in agreement with Kant's cosmopolitanism, that we should monitor our actions as if we would want our actions to be the universal actions of everyone, which ultimately “run as causes and return to us as results.”