56 



173. Love of the marvellous or extraordinary. — The mind is 

 rendered sensible of its existence only by the vividness of its 

 perceptions ; hence it is scarcely conscious of it during sleep 

 or a fainting fit. Now the relation, and much more the sight 

 of any thing extraordinary or marvellous, in proportion as it 

 is so, strongly attracts or absorbs our attention, excites the 

 pleasing emotion of surprize, and consequently when unat- 

 tended with any apprehension of personal injury or danger, 

 becomes extremely agreeable. 



Hence the sight, or even a detailed account of shipwrecks, 

 hard fought battles, the relation of romantic adventures, 

 even if improbable, seldom fail to gratify us, particularly in 

 early youth, when their improbability is not fully discerned. 



174. Desire of ideal pleasures ; this is probably felt in a 

 very superior degree by those that have the happy talent of 

 gratifying their imagination, by assembling and connecting 

 pleasing images and associations, in music, poetry, painting, 

 statuary, or entertaining narratives or delineations of human 

 life. 



175. Desire of knowledge, or curiosity. — Though this desire 

 is characteristic of the human species, yet it is very unecjually 

 distributed among the individuals that compose it; in some 

 it scarcely exists, in others it amounts to a passion, whose 

 unceasing gratification from the successive attainment of its 

 numerous objects is attended with inexpressible pleasure. 



176. Desire 



