SENSATION. 
pauied either with pleasure or with pain ; 
and as man is constituted, this is necessary 
both to fix the attention upon the objects 
of sense, and for self preservation. Plea- 
surable sensations are called sensible plea- 
sures, painful sensations sensible pains. The 
pleasurable sensations leave behind them 
pleasurable ideas, which are called mental 
or intellectual pleasures ; and in the same 
manner the painful sensations leave behind 
them painful ideas, which are called mental 
pains. Mental pleasures combine with one 
another, and form more complex feelings, 
and these with others, and so on, till owing 
to the very great complexity of the whole, 
the component parts are not discernable. 
In this stage of their progress it is that they 
generally fall under our inspection. They 
appear to us at first to have no connec- 
tion with sensations ; but this is merely be- 
cause we cannot readily separate them into 
their component parts. Reasonable evi- 
dence can be adduced to show that all the 
mental pleasures and pains, have their ori- 
gin, indeed are formed solely, of the relicts 
of sensible pleasures and pains. 
5. Considering sensible pleasures and 
pains as the rudiments of mental pleasures 
and pains, it is requisite during the early 
part of life to keep the inlets of sensation 
in a fit state for receiving them, and not to 
check the one or to impose the other, ex- 
cept where an enlightened regard to the fu- 
ture welfare requires it. The health of the 
body should be attended to, not merely as a 
means of present and future sensible enjoy- 
ment, but as increasing the fund of materials 
for the purest mental pleasures. Childhood 
should be regarded as the time for the ac- 
quisition of materials, not only for the intel- 
lect but for the affections. Its pleasures 
should be restrained only by those limits 
which the laws of sensation and association 
impose ; which require that they should be 
moderate, and connected only with such 
objects as will not lead to future pains : its 
unavoidable pains should, as far as possible, 
be removed ; and no avoidable ones imposed, 
except what the laws of association require, 
that is, those which are necessary for the 
removing or preventing of greater evil, 
either by remedying bodily disorders, and 
destroying false associations, or by connect- 
ing sensible pains with such objects as 
would lead to future pains, more important 
either as to vividness or duration. 
6. The grand law of sensible pleasures 
and pains is, that by frequent repetition 
they lose their vividness. This is a law to 
which may be traced various important 
facts connected with the moral culture. 
Whatever be the peculiar mode by which 
impressions from the objects of sense are 
transmitted through the nerves to the brain, 
it seems decidedly probable that the dif- 
ference between pleasurable and painful 
sensations consists (as far as respects the 
sensations themselves), in degree only : that 
pain has the same cause as pleasure, ex- 
cept that it acts more intensely. “ All 
pleasure,” as Hartley remarks, “ appears to 
pass into pain by increasing its cause, im- 
pression, duration, sensibility of the organ 
upon which it is impressed, &c. : thus an 
agreeable warmth may be made to pass 
into a troublesome or burning heat, by 
increase or continuance; and the same 
thing holds with respect to friction, light, 
and sound.” Hence, since repetition dimi- 
nishes the vividness of the sensation, (pro- 
vided there be no increase in the exciting 
cause, or in the sensibility of the organ, 
&c.) great pain will by repetition gradually 
subside into pain less intense; pains may 
be converted by repetition into pleasures, 
and pleasures may be converted into indif- 
ferent sensations. This progress may be 
observed in the effects of spirituous liquors, 
or any other stimuli which strongly affect 
the organs of taste. There are probably 
no cases in which the taste of spirituous 
liquors would originally be otherwise than 
disagreeable ; by degrees the repeated use of 
them brings the sensations which they oc- 
casion within tlie limit of pleasure ; even then 
a considerable increase of the quantity taken 
would heighten the sensations to the limits 
of pain : but suppose the pleasurable portion 
continued without increase, the repeated 
use of it diminishes the vividness of the 
pleasure, till at last the sensation produced 
is completely indifferent. — We here adduce 
the fact merely as illustrative of the general 
principle. 
7. We have stated in the separate arti- 
cles above referred to, that the origiaal 
sensible pleasures derived from the taste 
and smell are very numerous, and far ex- 
ceed the pains; that the original sensible 
pleasures derived from the sight and the 
hearing are also numerous, while the origi- 
nal sensible pains are few ; and that the 
original sensible pleasures derived from the 
sense of feeling are less intense than the 
pains derived from that sense which are 
more numerous and vivid than all the other 
sensible pains united. From this account 
we should be led to infer that the pains of 
