It seems to be an odd subject of dispute with any man, whether he has ideas in his mind or not.

Of this, at first view, every man, in his own forum, ought to judge without appeal.

But, strange as it may appear, we are often at a loss to know what ideas we have of things, or whether we have any ideas at all upon some subjects.

It even requires a good deal of attention to be thoroughly satisfied on this head.

Since I wrote these papers, I found two very striking instances of the possibility there is, that a man may hear words without having any idea of the things which they represent, and yet afterwards be capable of returning them to others, combined in a new way, and with great propriety, energy, and instruction.