r8o1.] 
of thouglit feems in general to flow inde- 
pendently of the voluntary power ? 
As an argument againft dreams which 
we are unable to recollect, it has often 
been urged, that in fuch cafes the mind 
has been occupied to no purpofe; for 
thoughts, it is faid, cannot anfwer any 
end which are immediately forgotten. 
To this {¢ may readily be replied, that our 
not being able to aicertain the end which 
may be an{wered by a fuppofed faét, can, 
in no cafe, operate as any weighty argu- 
ment againft its reality ; fince it is im- 
.poflible for us to doubt the exiftence of fo 
many phenomena, the final cauie of which 
we are, at the fame time, perteétly at a 
lofs to difcover. 
Befides, no&turnal impreffions cannot but 
be allowed to poffefs a degree of value 
during their continuance; although they 
fhould be entirely effaced by the light of 
day. 
The long dream of human exiftence 
ought not to be regarded as entirely 
deftitute of at leaft temporary worth, 
although, at the conclufion of it, all 
its occurrences and variety of emotions 
are buried in the oblivion of the grave. 
In addition to thefe obfervations, it may 
- Be proper to remark, that conzfiant conjunc- 
tion is the only proof, which, in any in- 
ftance, we can-have of a conjusétion that 
is neceflary. Provided then that thought 
be in faé& uniformly conne&ted with our 
exiftence, why ought we not to fuppofe, 
that, like the animal funétion of refpira- 
tion, or that of the circulation of the blood, 
itis fo abfolutely effential to life, that if 
the affociation were broken for even a 
very fhort period, death muft inevitably 
enfue ? 
A circumftance upon which I would lay 
@ very principal ftrefs, in endeavouring to 
prove that the mind is never ina ftate of 
complete infenfibility,.is, that in every fi- 
tuation in which we can conceive ourfelves 
to be placed, the body muft, in fome mea- 
fure, be liable to impreffions ; and that no 
impreflion can-ever be made upon the cor- 
poreal, that has not an effeét, however 
limited, upon the intelletual part of our 
frame. On all hands it will be acknow- 
edged, that an impreflion of a certain 
force made upon the body wil! have fuch 
an effe&t upon the mind, even in the 
foundett fleep, as immediately to awaken 
us. Does it then feem reafonable to be- 
lieve, that a force which is not fufficient 
to awaken, will produce no effeé& at all 
upon the mind? 
It is commonly remarked, that the ten- 
dency to dreaming diminifhes, in propor- 
Enquirer, No. XXIV. 
397 
tion as we are lefs expofed to caufes of 
corporeal irritation. But thefe caufes do © 
always operate in a certain degree; this 
tendency therefore can never be altogether 
counteraéted. In proportion as the fti- 
muli of light, noife, &c. are removed, 
fleep is obferved to be accompanied with 
lefs fenfibility ; but thefe ftimuli can in 
no‘tafe be entirely removed, confequently 
this fenfibility can in no cafe be entirely 
extinguifhed. ¢ 
An obje&tion may arife, that if the 
mind be in fact influenced by every impref- 
fion that is made upon the body, it muft 
‘be fubject to an inconceivable number of 
them every inftant of our exiftence. But 
this, however incredible it may feem, 15, 
I fhould imagine, really the fact, although 
it muft be allowed, what indeed every 
man is confcious of, that we are unable to 
attend to more than one idea at the fame 
time 5 or, in cther words, that, however 
valt the aflemblage of fimultaneous im- 
preffions, they invariably coalefce, and afe 
fume in this way the appearance of uni- 
ty. Our perceptions are in general com- 
pofed of a number of minute ones, which 
cannot be individually diftinguifhed. Eve- 
ry idea, for inftance, that is prefented to 
my mind, will, in a certain degree, be mo- 
delled by thofe that preceded it—by the 
ftate of my corporeal health—by my fitua- 
tion with regard to external objeéts, and 
perhaps by a variety of other circum- 
{tances which influence me, without, in ge- 
neral my being at all aware of their ope- 
ration. No impreffion is Jo#, although 
many are prevented from conveying a fe- 
parate report to theamind, by reafon of the 
predominance of fome more violent impref- 
fion. Every one of thofe faint notes 
which in a coneert of mufic we are unable 
diftinétly to perceive, has (till, there can 
be nodoubt, an effect in {welling and modi- 
fying the prevailing found, That which aéts 
in fo flight a degree upon our bodies, that 
we fhould not in general be at all aware 
of its operation, would be perceived dif- 
tinétly by the mind, if we were placed in a 
fituation that was quite infulated from all 
other impreffions. _. If, for inftance, every 
fenfe, except that of hearing, were com- 
pletely clofed, and all other found annihi- 
lated, the falling of a feather upon the 
earth ‘would, beyond all doubt, be heard 
at an inconceivably greater diftance, than 
that at which we now perceive the report 
of a cannon. 
It is remarkable how much the vivacity of 
our conceptions is increafed, by merely the 
partial removal of external agents. « So 
that, although the exclufion of light, noife, 
3 F 2 Xe 
