BOOK III PART II
as well as its stability without such a consent.
So far is determined by a plain utility and
interest. But perhaps it is from more trivial
reasons, that delivery, or a sensible transfer-
ence of the object is commonly required by civil
laws, and also by the laws of nature, accord-
ing to most authors, as a requisite circumstance
in the translation of property. The property of
an object, when taken for something real, with-
out any reference to morality, or the sentiments
of the mind, is a quality perfectly insensible,
and even inconceivable; nor can we form any
distinct notion, either of its stability or trans-
lation. This imperfection of our ideas is less
sensibly felt with regard to its stability, as it en-
gages less our attention, and is easily past over
by the mind, without any scrupulous examina-
tion. But as the translation of property from