244 REFLECTIONS ON ANIMAL ENDOWMENTS. 



other antipathies and propensities, implanted by the 

 hand of Providence as natural guards against danger, 

 or impulses to find nourishment, by these sensations 

 operating upon the passions and mental affections 

 more immediately than it is found to do in the hu- 

 man species, which, enjoying the privilege of reason, 

 stands less in need of such a monitor. Can any thing 

 be more beautiful than such a system ! — a provision 

 for every thing necessary, but nothing redundant. 

 The fui'ther I examine the capacities and propensities 

 of animals, the more I admire the harmony of their 

 endowments; including their dispositions and out- 

 ward form, with the necessities peculiar to each. 

 Their mouths, their eyes, their instruments of offence 

 and defence — their forces, habits, and inclinations, are 

 so nicely adapted to the food upon which they are to 

 subsist, the enemies they are to attack or resist, the 

 climate or situation they are to inhabit, that we may 

 clearly see that this curious provision is not contrived 

 for mere existence, but for a high degree of enjoyment. 

 Happiness, in various gradations, seems a universal 

 gift, bestowed by the Creator on all his creatures: 

 man is the only one who, by a misapplication of his 

 talents, perverts the benevolent design, and converts 

 happiness into misery. 



But to return from these reflections to Mr. Hervey. 

 He relates a very surprising instance of the power of 



