The  author  of  the  treatise  above  ^^uoted  hath  divided  the
principles  of  association  in  ideas  into  resemblance,  contigu-
ity, and  causation.  I  do  not  here  inquire  inio  all  the  defects
of  this  enumeration,  but  only  observe,  that  ev°u  on  his  own
system,  order  both  in  space  and  time  ought  to  have  been  in-
cluded. It  appears  at  least  to  have  an  equal  title  ^vith  caus-
ation, which,  according  to  him,  is  but  a  particular  modification
and  combination  of  the  other  two.  Causation,  considered  as
an  associating  principle,  is,  in  his  theory,  no  more  than  the
contiguous  succession  of  two  ideas,  which  is  more  deeply  Im-
printed on  the  mind  by  its  experience  of  a  similar  contigniiy
and  succession  of  the  impressions  from  which  they  are  cop-
ied. This,  therefore,  is  the  result  of  resemblance  and  vicin-
ity united.     Order  in  place  is  likewise  a  mode  of  vicinity


THE    PHILOSOPHY    OF    RIIKTORIC.  Ofl

where  this  last  tie  is  streng-thened  by  the  reguhirily  and  sim-
plicity of  figure,  which  qualities  arise  solely  from  the  resem-
blance of  the  corresponding  parts  of  the  figure,  or  the  parta
similarly  situated.  Regular  figures,  besides  the  advantages
which  they  derive  from  simplicity  and  uniformity,  have  this
also,  that  they  are  more,  familiar  to  the  mind  than  irregular
figures,  and  are  therefore  more  easily  conceived.  Hence  the
influence  which  order  in  place  hath  upon  the  memory.  It
any  person  question  this  influence,  let  him  but  reflect  how
much  easier  it  is  to  remember  a  considerable  number  of  per-
sons whom  one  hath  seen  ranged  on  benches  or  chairs  round
a  hall,  than  the  same  number  seen  standing  promiscuously  in
a  crowd  ;  and  how  natural  it  is  for  assisting  the  memory  in
recollecting  the  persons,  to  recur  to  the  order  wherein  they
w*re  placed.
