Page:An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding - Hume (1748).djvu/25

 too fine to remain long in the same Aspect or Situation; and must be apprehended, in an Instant, by a superior Subtilty and Penetration, deriv'd from Nature, and improv'd by Habit and Reflection. It becomes, therefore, no inconsiderable Part of Science barely to know the different Operations of the Mind, to separate them from each other, to class them under their proper Divisions, and to correct all that seeming Disorder, in which they lie involv'd, when made the Object of Reflection and Enquiry. This Task of ordering and distinguishing, which has no Merit, when perform'd with regard to external Bodies, the Objects of our Senses, rises in its Value, when directed towards the Operations of the Mind, in proportion to the Difficulty and Labour, which we meet with in performing it. And if we can go no farther than this mental Geography or Delineation of the distinct Parts and Powers of the Mind, 'tis at least a Satisfaction to go so far; and the more contemptible this Science may appear (and it is by no means contemptible) the more contemptible still must the Ignorance of it appear, in all Pretenders to Learning and Philosophy.

can there remain any Suspicion, that this Science is uncertain and chimerical; unless we should entertain such a Scepticism, as is entirely subversive of all Speculation, and even Action. It cannot be doubted, that the Mind is endow'd with several Powers and