mine his opinion, and then to fhow that the mode by which he has explained that operation, is confonant to the doctrine of Ariftotle, and is the fame as that on which Locke, Hume, and other later metaphylical writers have founded their fyftems. The difeafes to which mental perception are liable, according to our author, are idiotifm and vertigo.

"Idiotifm, whether congenital or accidental, is generally the offfpring of a faulty conformation of the bones of the cranium or of the brain, er of fome injury done to thofe parts (p. 315). Vertigo ariles whenever mental reprefentations and ideas croud involuntarily and in too quick fucceffion."

The caufes are cither internal, as fome defect in the faculty of attention; or external, as when it is the confequence of difeafe, as fever, hæmorrhage, epilepfy, indigeftion; wind or wworms in the ftomach and bowels may alio cccation it. The manner in which thefe feveral caufes operate in producing this difeafe, is ingeniously explained.

Chapter the fourth treats of memory, and its difeafes or defects. Memory is diftinguifhed into recognition and recollec

tion;

By the first we are made confcious that objects which are accidentally renewed, have formerly been prefent to our mind or fenfes. The other is a more active procefs, and confifts in an effort to recal a former perception, part of which only is prefent to our mind. The act of recollection is entirely dependent on the affociation of ideas."

Having affigned this caufe, the author enters into a difcuffion of the principles of affociation, and examines the opinions of Lord Kames, Dr. Gerard, Campbell, Stewart, &c. on this fubject. In what manner objects are imprinted on the memory is neceffary. That perceptions do not have any mark or impreffion on the brain, our author thinks is plain from hence, that the brain is not capacious enough to bear the innumerable legions of impreffions that muit, in that cafe, be imprinted, and that it would be impoffible to prevent one impreffion from obliterating another. But as all perception is made through the medium of the nerves and brain, when thofe organs are injured, their power of receiving impreffions either from objects without, or from the mind within, is proportionably diminished. That the memory is frequently impaired by difeafe, is no proof therefore, as it has been pretended, that marks or impreffions are made on the brain by perceptions." Such facts," our author adds, p. 359, "only prove that the ideas, when they are renewed in the mind, do not produce their fenforial effect."

our

That

That ideas may exift in our minds without being noticed by us, is what we must admit, as memory or recollection is the calling forth, or reviving fuch ideas. But that ideas may be renewed, or revived in our minds, without our being confcious of them, is what we cannot comprehend. And yet this is what the author must mean, when he fays, "they are renewed without producing their fenforial effect," that is, without being perceived. The caufes which may impair or entirely abolith memory, are next recited; and fome fingular inftances of impaired memory adduced. To thefe fucceed further obfervations on the affociation of ideas, p. 394. To improper affociations the author attributes the cultom of fuicide among the old Romans, and of duelling amongst ourselves; that is, from affociating, under the terms honourable and difgraceful, ideas which ought not to enter into their compofition.

The next and laft chapter in this volume, treats of judgment and its perversion or defects. The author's opinion of judgment, that it is dependent on memory, and on the faculty of comparing prefent with paft objects, circumstances, and events, and, confequently, that the perfon who has had moft experience, provided he is capable, or has accustomed himself to obferve, compare, and retain in his memory what he has perceived, will have the foundeft judgment, are facts that no one will controvert or oppofe. Alfo, that where wrong affociations are made, and we fuffer our prepoffeffions, paffions, and int rets to interfere, the refult or judgment will neceffarily be perverfe and improper. We could have wifhed the author had not brought as an inftance of perverted judgment, the decifion in a caufe in which he was certainly more interested than the learned judges who prefided, and his judgment certainly more likely to be warped. The whole of this chapter is however ingenious, and will be read with pleafure.

The fecond volume begins with a-difcourfe on imagination, and its diseases. This term is ufed, our author thinks, with too great latitude, as it not only is made to include

"the figures and phantoms of our dreams, the inchanting fcenery and pictures we form when we build caftles in the air, the reveries of the infane, &c. but proh dolor! the many active, voluntary, and complex operations of the underflanding, are alfo called by the fame name; as, for inftance, he fays, the genius of a painter, poet, fculpture, or novel writer."

As the difeafes of imagination and of genius appear to fpring from the fame fource, we fhall pafs to the next chapter, which has for its title, " On Genius, and the mental Difcafes to which it is most expofed." Why the author calls them the

mental

mental difeafes of genius, we cannot tell. The appellative feems improper, and in our author peculiarly fo, as through the whole of his work he attributes mental aberration, and we think very properly, to diforder in the brain and nerves.

Although every part," he fays, p. 25, " of the human body which acts, and which fuffers action, may be ftrengthened and improved by a due degree of exercife, yet we know from experience, that when the exercife is continued too long, or is made to consist of a repetition of violent exer ion, much mischief and danger generally enfues; the texture of the part foffers a contiderable, though not an This obapparent change, and great diforder and debility follow. fervation applies equally to the brain as to every other part of our frame, whether we confider it a part acting on the mind by means of impreffions from external objects, or as acted on by the mind, as is the cafe in every effort of the memory, judgment, imagination, paffion,

&c."

That is, whether objects from without act upon the extremities of the nerves, or the mind acts upon their origin in the brain, if the impulfe is repeated, and continued for too long a time, the organ will at length be injured, and be no longer able to give faithful reports of the impreflions it receives. Hence from too intenfe ftudy, or from meditating too long on abftrufe and difficult fubjects, men may become infane. Injuries done to the brain or nerves from other caufes, as by fevers, convulfions, long watchings, blows, fudden frights, &c. may produce fimilar effects. Among the examples the author adduces of perfons labouring under difeafe of the genius, is that of the poet Taffo, who imagined he was vifited by a familiar fpirit. The ftory is well known. Perfons fo affected have frequently the entire command of their reafon on every fubject, except that on which they rave. Difeafes of volition follow.

"that the will "Obfervation teaches us," the author fays, p. 67, is excited by corporeal fenfations of pleafare and pain, by the paffions, by certain judgments or conclufions, which arife from the comparing of thoughts."

But as our paffions have always in view the removal of fomething that excites our averfion, or the procuring of fomething we defire, and as the decifion or preference we give one idea to another, is probably guided by the fame motive, he fuppofes the removal of pain or procuring of pleafure, is what conflantly ftimulates or excites the will into action.

"Volition now and then fails," he fays, p. 82, " to produce its fall corporeal effect, from various difeafed ftates of the brain, or nerves, or from the influence of fome powerful fenforial impreffion, counteracting those of volition."

Several

Several cafes are related from the Pfychological Magazine, in proof of this pofition, and among them the following.

"A young lady, an attendant on the Princefs of after having been confined to her bed for a great length of time, with a violent nervous disorder, was at laft, to all appearance, deprived of life. Her lips were quite pale, her face refembled the countenance of a dead perfon, and her body grew cold. She was removed from the room in which he died, was laid in a coffin, and the day of her funeral was fixed on. The day arrived, and according to the cuftom of the country, funeral fongs and hymns were fung before the door. Juft as the people were about to nail on the lid of the coffin, a kind of per piration was obferved to appear on the furface of her body. She recovered. The following is the account the gave of her fenfations. "She faid it seemed to her, as if in a dream, that she was really dead; yet fhe was perfectly confcious of all that happened around her. She diftinctly heard her friends fpeaking and lamenting her death at the fide of the cofin. She felt them pull on the dead-clothes, and lay her in it. This feeling produced a mental anxiety which the could not defcribe. She tried to cry out, but her foul was without power, and could not act on her body. She had the contradictory feeling as if the were in her own body and not in it at the fame time. It was equally impoffible for her to fretch out her arm or to open er eyes, as to cry, although the continually endeavoured to do fo. The internal anguish of her mind was at its utmoft height, when the funeral hymns began to be fung, and when the lid it coffin was about to be nailed on. The thought that he was to be buried alive was the firit which gave activity to her foul, and enabled it to operate on her corporeal frame."

This is certainly a very curus fact; but as the motion of the heart and lungs, which appear to have been fufpended, are not under the commard of the will, it is not very properly introduced as an inftance of fufpended volition,

An analyfis of human actions, which appear to be excited by defire or averfior, follows. It would be ufclefs to dilate upon this fubje&t, or to adduce proofs of our being excited to fearch for food by the fimulus of hunger, or of clothes, and a convenient lodging or habitation, by the diftrefs we feel from cold and moisture. To the fame fource may be traced our paffions of joy and grief, anger, fear, love. On each of thefe the author treats diftinctly. When the object exciting any of thefe affections becomes firmly fixed in the mind, it may prove the caufe of infanity, for the fame reafon as was given under the head of difcafes of genius.

From this brief, but yet, we truft, fufficiently comprehensive view we have taken of this work, it will appear, that the author has expended much time, and employed much labour in collecting his materials, and that he has explained fome of the affections of the mind, as depending on a difeafed ftate of the nerves, in a way equally novel and ingenious. Whether our

knowledge

knowledge of the manner in which ideas or perceptions are communicated to the mind will be at all advanced by his hypothefes, or whether it may be added to the numerous and unfatisfactory fpeculations that have before appeared on the fubject, we fhall not determine. Of the probable utility of the work, in a medical way, we fhall form no conjecture, until we fee fome further communication from the author on the fubject, which from fome expreffions he feems to be meditating. We fhail therefore only add, that notwithstanding the objections we have offered to particular parts, we have received much pleafure and information from perufing thefe volumes; and hope the author, who has certainly well confidered the fubject, will micet with fufficient encouragement to induce him to complete his plan.

ART. XIV. A Sermon, preached in the Chapel of the Foundling Hofpital, June 2, 1798, on the Confecration of the Colours prefented by the Right Honourable Lady Loughborough to the Bloomsbury and Inns of Court Affociation, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Cox. By T. Willis, LL. D. Rector of St. George's, Bloomfury. Publifhed by Request. 4to. 24 pp. Is. Cadell and Davies. For the Benefit of the Foundling Hofpital. 1798.

AS the prefent conteft is, on the part of our enemies, no less

a war against Chriftianity than against Great Britain, we feel it a point of duty, to bring forward to particular notice, fome of thofe facred orators, who have employed their talents with fuccefs to confrm and animate the patriotic efforts of their fellow-citizens. The confecration of colours, when the object of the war is to refift thofe who would banish even the name of Chrift from our hips, is an act of no fuperfluous piety. It marks that which, in every fcene of the prefent war, ought to be made as prominent as poffible, the zeal of those who take arms, to defend the farth which we have received from found teftimony, as well as the conftitation which has been delivered to us by our ancellors. Our affociated brethren go forth, as the prefent excellent preacher fays, at once with the fpirit and refignation of Joab. "Be ye," faid he, "of good courage -let us behave ourfelves valiantly for our people, and for the cities of our God; and let the Lord do that which is righteous in his fight;" and Joab, he reminds us, was victorious.

The