Page:Essays, Moral and Political - David Hume (1741).djvu/155

 And a full Range is given to the Fancy in the invisible Regions or World of Spirits, where the Soul is at Liberty to indulge itself in every Imagination, that may best suit its present Taste and Disposition. Hence arise Raptures, Transports, and surprizing Flights of Fancy; and Confidence and Presumption still increasing, these Raptures, being altogether unaccountable, and seeming quite beyond the Reach of our ordinary Faculties, are attributed to the immediate Inspiration of that Divine Being, who is the Object of Devotion. In a little Time, the inspir'd Person comes to regard himself as the chief Favourite of the Divinity; and when this Frenzy once takes Place, which is the Summit of Enthusiasm, every Whimsy is consecrated: Human Reason, and even Morality are rejected as fallacious Guides: And the fanatic Madman delivers himself over, blindly and without Reserve, to the suppos'd Illapses of the Spirit, and to Inspirations from above. Hope, Pride, Presumption, warm Imagination along with Ignorance, are, therefore, the true Sources of.