BOOK I PART III
SECTIONVIII. OF THECAUSES OFBELIEF
Having thus explained the nature of belief,
and shewn that it consists in a lively idea re-
lated to a present impression; let us now pro-
ceed to examine from what principles it is de-
rived, and what bestows the vivacity on the
idea.
I would willingly establish it as a general
maxim in the science of human nature, that
when any impression becomes present to us,
it not only transports the mind to such ideas
as are related to it, but likewise communicates
to them a share of its force and vivacity. All
the operations of the mind depend in a great
measure on its disposition, when it performs
them; and according as the spirits are more or
less elevated, and the attention more or less