PHILOSOPHY, MENTAL. 



philosophical to begin with compositions; 

 because connections are formed not only 

 among simple sensorial changes, but 

 among those also which are compound- 

 ed ; in other words, not only among sen- 

 Rations, simple ideas, and single muscular 

 actions, but also among those which have 

 been blended together into complex 

 States : and we shall sometimes have occa- 

 sion, in what we state as to connections, 

 to suppose such compositions actually 

 formed. On the other hand, connections 

 fire much more obvious and more easily 

 comprehended than compositions ; and a 

 statement of some facts respecting the 

 former will lead to an easier acquaint- 

 ance with the latter. 



19. " That one thought is suggested to 

 the mind by another," says the elegant 

 and philosophic Stewart, "and that the 

 sight of an external object often recals 

 former occurrences and revives former 

 feelings, are facts which are perfectly fa- 

 miliar, even to those who are least dis- 

 posed to speculate concerning the prin- 

 ciples of their nature. In passing along a 

 road which we have formerly travelled 

 in the company of a friend, the particu- 

 lars of the conversation in which we 

 were then engaged, are frequently sug- 

 gested to us by the objects we' meet 

 with. In such a scene we recollect that 

 such a particular subject was started ; 

 and in passing the different houses, and 

 plantations, and rivers, the arguments we 

 were discussing when we last saw them, 

 recur spontaneously to the memory. 

 The connection which is formed in the 

 mind between the words of a language 

 and the ideas the.y denote ; the connec- 

 tion which is formed between different 

 words of a discourse which we have com- 

 mitted to memory, and the connection 

 betw r een the different notes of a piece of 

 music in the mind of a musician, are all 

 obvious instances of the same general 

 law of our nature. The influence of sen- 

 sible objects in reviving former thoughts 

 and former feelings, is more particularly 

 remarkable. After time has in some de- 

 gree reconciled us to the loss of a friend, 

 bow wonderfully are we affected the first 

 time we enter the house where he lived. 

 Every thing we see, the apartment where 

 he studied, the chair upon which he sat, 

 recal to us the happiness we enjoyed to- 

 gether,and we should feel it a sort of vio- 

 lation of that respect which v/e owe to 

 his memory, to engage in any light or in- 

 different discourse when such objects are 

 before us." So, again, every one must 

 have noticed the connections which e^ist 



between our thoughts or sensations and 

 muscular actions. A performer looks at 

 the notes of his book, and the appropri- 

 ate motions of his hands and fingers fol- 

 low with immediate succession. While 

 we are writing, the thoughts we wish to 

 communicate suggest the appropriate 

 words, and these, with an almost instanta- 

 neous succession of motions, are written 

 on the paper before us. We are, per- 

 haps, more struck with this in writing 

 short-hand than long ; the characters ap- 

 pear as the representatives of the 

 thoughts of our mind, almost without 

 knowing how they are made. 



20. All these facts are obviously no- 

 thing else than cases of those connections, 

 which are formed by the operation of the 

 associative power among our sensorial 

 changes ; in other words, among our sen- 

 sible, ideal, and motory changes ; in other 

 words, again, but less generally, among 

 our sensations, ideas, and motory chang- 

 es. We should prefer employing, in 

 what follows, the terms sensible changes 

 and ideal changes, rather than the terms 

 sensations and ideas, because these imply 

 consciousness, which we have before stat- 

 ed is not necessarily excited by the ope- 

 rations of the sensitive and associative 

 powers: we shall, however, content our- 

 selves with requesting the reader to bear 

 in mind, that whatever may be ;.said re- 

 specting connections among sensations 

 and ideas, might be stated more general- 

 ly respecting connections among sensihle 

 and ideal changes. Whatever the senso- 

 rium be, or whatever be those changes of 

 it which excite the consciousness, it is 

 among those changes, that is, among the 

 sensorial changes, that connections and 

 compositions take place. 



CLASSES OF CONNECTIONS. 



First : a sensation may be associated 

 with other sensations, ideas, and motory 

 changes. 



21. A sensation, after having been as- 

 sociated a sufficient number of times with 

 another sensation, will, when impressed 

 alone, excite the simple i,dea ( 8.), cor- 

 responding with that other sensation. 

 Thus the names, smells, tastes, &c. of 

 external objects, suggest the idea of 

 their visible appearance ; and the sight of 

 them suggests their names, &c. In the 

 same manner, a word half pronounced 

 excites the idea of the whole word ; the 

 mention of the letters a, b, suggests the 

 idea of c, d, &.c. ; the sight of part of an 

 object suggests the idea of the whole ; 



