168 SALMONIA. 



stincts of animals may be referred to intelli- 

 gence, which, though not belonging to the ani- 

 mal, must be attributed to the Divine Mind. 

 Is it not, then, reasonable to refer instinct to 

 the immediate impulse of the Author of Na- 

 ture upon his creatures ? His omnipresence 

 and omnipotence cannot be doubted, and to 

 the infinite mind the past, the present, and 

 the future are alike ; and creative and con- 

 servative power must equally belong to it. 



Hal. — Thatinstincts depend upon impulses 

 immediately derived from the Deity is an 

 opinion which, though it perhaps cannot be 

 confuted, yet does not please me so much as 

 to believe them dependent upon the formation 

 of organs, and the result of the general laws 

 which govern the system of the universe ; and 

 it is in favour of this opinion that they are 

 susceptible of modifications. Thus, in do- 

 mesticated animals they are always changed ; 

 the turkey and the duck lose their habits of 

 constructing nests, and the goose does not 

 migrate. In supposing them the result of 

 organization and hereditary, they might be 

 expected to be changed by circumstances, as 



