atmosphere of his native country, could be observed only in those towns and separate edifices, which were near. At home he had learnt to estimate the distances of objects by their appearance; but his conclusions failed him, when they came to be applied to objects in countries, where the air was so much clearer. And the same thing has been noticed by other travellers, who have been placed in the like circumstances.

§. 85. Supposed feelings of a being called into existence in the full possession of his powers.

In illustration of the principles, which have been brought forward in the successive consideration of the senses, we are tempted to introduce in this place a favorite passage of the celebrated Buffon. In the Natural History of that learned writer we have an account of the process, by which the full use of the sight and of the other external senses is acquired. He invents a delightful recital, and puts it in the mouth of our first parent; and thus instructs us in the most abstruse subjects by an appeal to the imagination.

"Let us suppose (says he) a man newly brought into existence, whose body and organs are already perfectly formed, but who, awaking amidst the productions of Nature, is an utter stranger to every thing he perceives both from without, and from within. Of a man thus circumstanced what would be the first emotions, the first sensations, the first opinions? Were he himself to give us a detail of his conceptions at this period, how would he express them? Might it not be in some measure as follows?

"Well do I recollect that joyful, anxious moment, when I first became conscious of my own existence. I knew not what I was, where I was, or whence I came.

On opening

my eyelids, what an addition to my surprise! The light of day, the azure vault of heaven, the verdure of the earth, the chrystal of the waters, all employed, all animated, and filled me with inexpressible delight.

"At first, I imagined that all those objects were within me, and formed a part of myself. Impressed with this idea, I turned my eyes towards the sun, whose splendor instantly dazzled and over-powered me. Involuntarily I closed my eyelids, though not without a slight sensation of pain; and,

during this short interval of darkness, I imagined that I was about to sink into nothing.

"Full of affliction and astonishment, I had begun to ponder on this great change, when, listening, I heard a variety of sounds. The whistling of the wind, and the melody of the grove formed a concert, of which the soft impression pervaded the inmost recesses of my soul. I continued to listen ; nor could I banish the persuasion, that all this music was actually within me.

"So much was I engrossed with this new kind of existence, that I entirely forgot the light, that other part of my being, which I had known the first, till again I had opened my eyes. What joy to find myself once more in possession of so many brilliant objects! The present pleasure surpassed the former, and for a time suspended the charming effect of sounds.

"I turned my eyes upon a thousand different objects. These, which I still considered as a part of myself, I soon found that I could lose, and restore at pleasure; and with a repetition of this new power I continued to amuse myself.

"I had begun to see without emotion, and to hear without confusion, when a light breeze, of which the freshness communicated a new sensation of pleasure, wafted its perfumes to me, and excited in me a kind of additional self-love.

Agitated by all these different sensations, and impelled by the various pleasures of my new existence, I instantly arose, and in arising perceived myself moved along, as if by some unknown, some hidden power.

"Hardly had I advanced one step, when the novelty of my situation rendered me, as it were, immovable. My surprise returned; for I supposed that all the objects around me were in motion; to them I ascribed that agitation, which I had myself produced by changing place; and the whole creation seemed once more to be in disorder.

"I carried my hand to my head; I touched my forehead; I felt my whole frame. Then it was that I first conceived my hand to be the principal organ of my existence. All its informations were so distinct, so perfect, and so superior to what I had experienced from the other senses, that I employed myself for some time in repeating its enjoyments. Every

part of my body, which I touched with my hand, seemed to touch my hand in turn, and actually gave back sensation for sensation.

"It was not long before I perceived that this faculty was expanded over my whole frame, and before I began to discover the limits of my existence, which, at first, I had supposed of an immense extent, and diffused over all the objects I saw.

"Upon casting my eyes upon my body, and surveying my own form I conceived it to be of a size so enormous, that all the objects, which had hitherto struck my eyes, seemed to be, in comparison, as so many luminous particles. I gazed upon my person with pleasure. I examined the formation of my hand, and all its motions; and the former appeared to me more or less large, in proportion as it was more or less distant from my eyes. On bringing it very near, it concealed, I found, almost every other object from my sight.

"I began soon, however, to suspect that there was some fallacy in the sensation I experienced from the eye; and I therefore resolved to depend, for information, upon the touch, which as yet had never deceived me. This precaution was highly serviceable. I renewed my motions, and walked forward with my face turned towards the heavens. Happening to strike lightly against a palm tree, I was dismayed, and laid my hand, though not without fear, upon this extraneous body; for extraneous I conceived it to be, as it did not return sensation for sensation, as my former feelings had done. Now it was that, for the first time, I perceived there was something external, something which did not form an actual part of my own existence.

"From this new discovery I concluded, that I ought to form my opinion with respect to external objects, in the same manner as I had done with respect to the parts of my body. I resolved, therefore, to feel whatever I saw and vainly attempting to touch the sun, I stretched forth my arms, and found nothing but an airy vacuum. At every effort I made, as each object appeared to me equally near, from one fit of surprise I fell into another nor was it till after an infinite number of trials, that I was enabled to use the eye as a guide to the hand, and that I perceived there were some objects more remote from me than others.

"Amazed and mortified at the uncertainty of my state, and at the endless delusions to which I seemed to be subjected, the more I reflected, the more I was perplexed. Fatigued and oppressed with thought, I seated` myself beneath a tree, loaded with delicious fruit within my reach. On stretching forth my arm, the fruit instantly separated from the branches, and I seized it. To grasp in my hand an entire substance, which formed no part of myself, pleased me. When I held it up, its weight, though in itself trivial, seemed, however, like an animated impulse, to incline it to the earth. In conquering this resistance I found another and a greater pleasure.

"I held the fruit near my eye, and I considered its form, and its colors. Its fragrance prompted me to carry it nearer and nearer, and with eagerness did I inhale that fragrance. The perfume invited my sense of tasting, which I found to be superior to that of smelling. What savour, what novelty of sensation, did I now experience! Nothing could be more exquisite. What before had been pleasure, was now heightened into luxury. The power of tasting gave me the idea of possession. I imagined that the substance of this fruit had become a part of my own substance, and that I was empowered to transform things without me at will.

"Charmed with the idea of this new power, and incited by the sensations I had already experienced, I continued to pluck the fruit; nor did I think any labor too great for the satisfaction of my taste. At length, however, an agreeable languor stealing upon my senses, my limbs became heavy, and my soul seemed to lose its activity. My sensations, no longer vivid and distinct, presented to me only feeble and irregular images. In the instant, as it were, my eyes became useless, closed; and my head, no longer borne up by the strength of the muscles, sunk back, and found a support upon the verdant turf beneath."

CHAPTER SEVENTH.

OF RELIANCE ON THE SENSES.

§. 86. By means of sensations we have a knowledge of outward things. In the third chapter of the Introduction it was remarked, that the states of mind, to which operations upon or affections of our senses give rise, are, by our very constitution, the occasions or grounds of belief; and that it is by means of the senses we have a knowledge, in particular, of the external, material world. The new feelings, following an affection of the senses, are in some sense the occasions, on which the active and curious mind moves out of the world of its own spiritual and immaterial existence, and becomes acquainted with matter. It is somewhat here, as in the reading of a book. When we read a book, only certain colored marks or lines, arranged in a particular order, are directly presented to our senses; but we find them connected with new states of mind, utterly distinct from the direct impression which they make. A piece of paper, written over with such colored delineations, becomes to the soul a sign of the most various and exalted ideas; and in like manner, such is the constitution of our mental nature, it is found to be the case, that certain new affections of the mind, provided they are caused by means of the senses, become the signs of various existences, which are wholly diverse from the feelings themselves. We experience the feelings, which all admit to be in themselves neither archetypes nor resemblances of any thing whatever, which is external to the soul; and then at once we become acquainted with a vast multitude of outward objects. On the authority of such feelings as are immediately consequent on an affection of the senses, all man