BOOK II PART II
strength and activity. This idea of beauty can-
not be accounted for but by sympathy.
In general we may remark, that the minds
of men are mirrors to one another, not only
because they reflect each others emotions, but
also because those rays of passions, sentiments
and opinions may be often reverberated, and
may decay away by insensible degrees. Thus
the pleasure, which a rich man receives from
his possessions, being thrown upon the be-
holder, causes a pleasure and esteem; which
sentiments again, being perceived and sympa-
thized with, encrease the pleasure of the pos-
sessor; and being once more reflected, become
a new foundation for pleasure and esteem in
the beholder. There is certainly an original
satisfaction in riches derived from that power,
which they bestow, of enjoying all the plea-