By means of it I paint the universe in my imagination, and fix my attention on any part of it I please.

I form an idea of ROME, which I neither see nor remember; but which is connected with such impressions as I remember to have received from the conversation and books of travellers and historians.

This idea of Rome I place in a certain situation on the idea of an object, which I call the globe.

I join to it the conception of a particular government, and religion, and manners.

I look backward and consider its first foundation; its several revolutions, successes, and misfortunes.