462 Sources of Defire. [Book X. 



fubject now extant. It is evident, that defjre and aver- 

 fion are the fame paflions made active. Inanimate 

 things may be the objects of love or diflike. <f The 

 houfc which we have long lived in, the tree whofe ver- 

 dure and made we have long enjoyed, are looked upon 

 with a fort of refpect *.'* The Dryads and Lares, a 

 fort of genii of trees and houfes, were probably firft 

 fuggefted by this kind of affection. 



.Defire or the fenfation of want, may be either fenfual 

 or imaginary ; it may be fixed on the pleafure of gra- 

 tifying an appetite, or on the delight accruing to the 

 eyes or ears from' the perception of beauty. When 

 inftruction, education, or prejudice of any kind, raife 

 a defire or averfion towards an object, it muft be 

 founded on an opinion of fome quality, for the percep- 

 tion of which we have the proper fenfes. Thus, if, 

 beauty is defired by one, who has not the fenfe of fight, 

 the defire muft be raifed by fome apprehended regu- 

 larity of figure, fweetnefs of voice, fmoothnefs, or foft- 

 nefs, or fome other quality perceptible by the other 

 fenfes (without relating to the ideas of colour f) or from 

 the commendation of others. 



* Smith's Theory Mor. Sent, part ii. f. 3. c. i, 

 f Hutchefon. 



