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  PROFESSOR 
  ALISON 
  ON 
  THE 
  BELIEF 
  

  

  But 
  granting 
  that 
  this 
  criticism 
  is 
  correct, 
  the 
  only 
  alteration 
  we 
  need 
  make 
  

   on 
  the 
  passage 
  last 
  quoted 
  from 
  Reed 
  is 
  this, 
  that, 
  instead 
  of 
  asking 
  the 
  "" 
  semi- 
  

   sceptics 
  why 
  they 
  believe 
  in 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  their 
  impressions 
  and 
  ideas," 
  we 
  

   should 
  ask 
  them, 
  why 
  they 
  believe 
  that 
  the 
  impressions 
  and 
  ideas 
  of 
  which 
  they 
  

   are 
  conscious, 
  are 
  their 
  own, 
  or 
  belong 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  persons 
  as 
  other 
  mental 
  

   changes 
  which 
  they 
  remember. 
  Here 
  we 
  become 
  involved 
  with 
  the 
  evidence 
  

   of 
  Memory 
  and 
  of 
  Personal 
  Identity, 
  as 
  to 
  both 
  of 
  which 
  Dr 
  Brown 
  expressly 
  ad- 
  

   mits, 
  in 
  passages 
  already 
  quoted, 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  ranked 
  among 
  the 
  principles 
  

   of 
  Intuitive 
  Belief; 
  and 
  with 
  that 
  slight 
  correction, 
  this 
  passage 
  from 
  Dr 
  Reid 
  — 
  

   closely 
  approximating, 
  as 
  it 
  obviously 
  does, 
  to 
  that 
  previously 
  quoted 
  from 
  Dr 
  

   Brown, 
  — 
  must 
  have 
  commanded 
  his 
  entire 
  acquiescence. 
  

  

  The 
  reality 
  and 
  importance 
  of 
  these 
  principles, 
  regarded 
  as 
  ultimate 
  facts 
  in 
  

   our 
  mental 
  constitution, 
  is 
  still 
  more 
  satisfactorily 
  attested 
  by 
  Sir 
  Wm. 
  Hamilton, 
  

   who 
  has 
  marshalled 
  an 
  array 
  of 
  authorities, 
  such 
  as 
  any 
  other 
  man 
  in 
  this 
  country 
  

   might 
  have 
  in 
  vain 
  attempted, 
  amounting 
  to 
  more 
  than 
  a 
  hundred 
  ancient 
  and 
  

   modern 
  writers, 
  all 
  of 
  whom, 
  under 
  certain 
  varieties 
  of 
  expression, 
  have 
  announced 
  

   and 
  illustrated 
  the 
  same 
  general 
  proposition. 
  

  

  Farther, 
  not 
  only 
  have 
  we 
  this 
  nearly 
  uniform 
  agreement 
  of 
  these 
  philoso- 
  

   phers 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  general 
  statement 
  of 
  Reid, 
  that 
  " 
  there 
  are 
  various 
  acts 
  of 
  

   our 
  minds, 
  of 
  which, 
  when 
  we 
  analyse 
  them 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  we 
  are 
  able, 
  we 
  find 
  Belief 
  

   to 
  be 
  an 
  essential 
  ingredient 
  ;" 
  but 
  we 
  have 
  a 
  special 
  agreement, 
  of 
  all 
  those 
  

   whose 
  opinion 
  is 
  thought 
  of 
  much 
  weight, 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  fact 
  of 
  the 
  exercise 
  of 
  the 
  Senses 
  

   being 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  occasions, 
  in 
  which 
  evidence 
  of 
  this 
  description, 
  whether 
  directly 
  

   or 
  indirectly, 
  is 
  at 
  least 
  uniformly 
  and 
  essentially 
  concerned. 
  

  

  The 
  shortest 
  and 
  simplest 
  account 
  of 
  Dr 
  Reid's 
  doctrine 
  on 
  this 
  subject 
  is 
  

   given 
  by 
  him 
  in 
  the 
  following 
  words 
  : 
  " 
  The 
  external 
  senses 
  have 
  a 
  double 
  pro- 
  

   vince, 
  to 
  make 
  us 
  feel, 
  and 
  to 
  make 
  ws, 
  perceive. 
  They 
  furnish 
  us 
  with 
  a 
  variety 
  

   of 
  sensations, 
  pleasant, 
  painful, 
  or 
  indifferent 
  ; 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  time, 
  they 
  give 
  us 
  a 
  

   conception, 
  and 
  an 
  invincible 
  belief 
  of 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  external 
  objects. 
  This 
  con- 
  

   ception 
  of 
  external 
  objects 
  is 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  Nature; 
  the 
  belief 
  of 
  their 
  existence 
  is 
  

   the 
  work 
  of 
  Nature 
  ; 
  so 
  also 
  is 
  the 
  sensation 
  that 
  accompanies 
  it. 
  The 
  conception 
  

   and 
  belief, 
  which 
  Nature 
  produces 
  by 
  means 
  of 
  the 
  senses, 
  we 
  call 
  Perception." 
  

  

  He 
  thus 
  introduces 
  the 
  Intuitive 
  Belief, 
  simply 
  as 
  a 
  part 
  or 
  accompaniment 
  of 
  

   the 
  operation 
  of 
  the 
  mind 
  which 
  results, 
  in 
  the 
  healthy 
  state, 
  from 
  an 
  impression 
  

   made 
  on 
  the 
  senses, 
  and 
  a 
  Sensation 
  excited 
  in 
  the 
  mind 
  ; 
  and 
  afterwards 
  he 
  

   enters 
  on 
  explanations 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  different 
  qualities 
  attributed 
  to 
  the 
  material 
  

   objects 
  thus 
  made 
  known 
  to 
  us, 
  — 
  particularly 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  distinction 
  of 
  the 
  Primary 
  

   and 
  Secondary 
  qualities 
  of 
  matter, 
  and 
  the 
  formation 
  of 
  the 
  general 
  notion 
  or 
  con- 
  

   ception 
  of 
  Extension 
  or 
  Space 
  ; 
  which, 
  as 
  he 
  says, 
  is 
  no 
  sooner 
  formed, 
  than 
  it 
  swells 
  

   in 
  the 
  human 
  mind 
  to 
  Infinity, 
  as 
  surely 
  as 
  the 
  notion 
  of 
  Time 
  to 
  Eternity 
  ; 
  and 
  

   affords, 
  therefore, 
  the 
  simplest 
  illustration 
  of 
  the 
  essential 
  distinction 
  between 
  

  

  