80 HUME 



II 



which are of profound importance. His baggage 

 train is bigger than his army, and the student 

 who attacks him is too often led to suspect he has 

 won a position when he has only captured a mob 

 of useless camp-followers. 



In his " Principles of Psychology," Mr. Herbert 

 Spencer appears to me to have brought out the 

 essential truth which underlies Kant's doctrine in 

 a far clearer manner than any one else ; but, for 

 the purpose of the present summary view of 

 Hume's philosophy, it must suffice if I state the 

 matter in my own way, giving the broad outlines, 

 without entering into the details of a large and 

 difficult discussion. 



When a red light flashes across the field of 

 vision, there arises in the mind an " impression of 

 sensation " which we call red. It appears to me 

 that this sensation, red, is a something which may 

 exist altogether independently of any other im- 

 pression, or idea, as an individual existence. It 

 is perfectly conceivable that a sentient being 

 should have no sense but vision, and that he 

 should have spent his existence in absolute dark- 

 ness, with the exception of one solitary flash of 

 red light. That momentary illumination would 

 suffice to give him the impression under consider- 

 ation. The whole content of his consciousness 

 might be that impression ; and, if he were en- 

 dowed with memory, its idea. 



