SECT. III.
But to proceed from what is esteem'd mere Goodness, and lies within the reach and capacity of all sensible Creatures, to that which is call'd Virtue or Merit, and is allow'd to Man only.
In a Creature capable of forming general Notions of Things, not only the outward Beings which offer themselves to the Sense, are the Objects of the Affection; but the very Actions themselves, and the Affections of Pity, Kindness, Gratitude and their Contrarys, being brought into the Mind by Reflection, become Objects. So that, by means of this reflected Sense there arises another kind of Affection towards those very Affections themselves, which have been already felt, and are now become the Subject of a new Liking or Dislike.
The Case is the same in the mental or moral Subjects, as in the ordinary Bodys, or common Subjects of Sense. The Shapes, Motions, Colours, and Proportions of these latter being presented to our Eye; there necessarily results a[1] Beauty or Deformity, according to the different Measure, Arrangement and Disposition
- ↑ Infra. pag. 414.
