BOOK I PART IV
related idea, without any great diminution in
the passage, by reason of the smooth transition
and the propensity of the imagination.
But suppose, that this propensity arises from
some other principle, besides that of relation;
it is evident it must still have the same effect,
and convey the vivacity from the impression
to the idea. Now this is exactly the present
case. Our memory presents us with a vast
number of instances of perceptions perfectly
resembling each other, that return at different
distances of time, and after considerable inter-
ruptions. This resemblance gives us a propen-
sion to consider these interrupted perceptions
as the same; and also a propension to con-
nect them by a continued existence, in order
to justify this identity, and avoid the contra-
diction, in which the interrupted appearance