FACULTIES OF THE MIND. 



seen a spaniel exhibit all theecstacy of joy when he observed 

 his master put on any article of dress which he was accus- 

 tomed to wear during the hours of sport. These things 

 recalled to him the enjoyments of the field, as distinctly as 

 the sight of the gun. We see the same animal practising 

 an attempt at recollection, by smelling at a stranger, and 

 at last, after many efforts, recognizing him as an old friend. 

 We have not the means of determining whether former 

 impressions arise spontaneously in the mind of the inferior 

 animals, or whether all the acts of memory be brought 

 about by the excitements of present sensations. We know 

 very imperfectly the nature of those spontaneous efforts of 

 the memory, as they take place in our own minds ; so that 

 our reasonings on this subject, in reference to the brutes, 

 must be of a doubtful kind. Indeed it is probable, that 

 these spontaneous recollections are not purely mental pro- 

 cesses, but have their rise in some of those organical cir- 

 cumstances which excite and frequently regulate our trains 

 of thought, 



3. Imagination. The proper business of imagination is to 

 decompose our impressions or ideas; "to exhibit a part of any 

 one of these, divested of its original associations, or in union 

 with a portion of some other impression or idea. In per- 

 forming these analytical and synthetical operations, the 

 powers of attention and memory are indispensably requi- 

 site. The former fixes the mind on a particular quality, 

 the latter recalls our ideas of other qualities with which 

 we wish it to be united. The combinations which we thus 

 form, influence the mind in a similar manner to an original 

 impression. We can fix our attention upon their charac- 

 ters, and store them up, so as to be able to recall them at 

 A future period. 



