110 INSTINCT V. REASON. 
mind were constantly to yield to external impulses and its current 
of ideas, without this particular quality called Reason to regulate 
our action and moral conduct as rational and immortal beings, 
we should be no better than the animals themselves. Now, if 
we understand Reason in this light, which I believe is the proper 
meaning, I do not see how, or in what way, we can say that 
animals are possessed of Reason. Itis true that animals perform 
operations in various ways, which to us appear wonderful, in- 
ducing us to believe that they must have some forethought or 
knowledge of cause and effect ; as, for example, the bird builds its 
nest with every degree of care and comfort for its young; at least, 
some birds, not all, for the Wood-Pigeon, Peewit, Partridge, and 
some others, scarcely make any nest at all. Then take the Bee, 
which constructs its honey-comb on the highest mathematical 
principles: the Ants—cut into one of ¢heir small hillocks and see 
the extraordinary and beautiful manner in which it is arranged 
both for a summer and a winter habitation: the Spider—look 
at the subtilty with which it weaves its web; and a thousand 
others equally marvellous : and yet we cannot say that they have 
any knowledge of what they are doing ; if they had, we may, to 
employ our reason, ask why they should not all alike use the same 
care for their young? Hares make little or no nest; Rabbits, au 
contraire, burrow deep into the ground, and exercise the greatest 
care for the warmth and protection of their young. Again, if we 
say they have knowledge of what they are doing, why, we may 
ask, do they not make their nests in the best position to be found 
in the locality in which they are placed, and not in the most ex- 
posed and dangerous places, which is very frequently the case? 
Again, if animals are possessed of Reason, and are conscious of 
what they are doing, why is not man himself possessed of Reason 
without tuition? I think it will not be denied, that if man were 
not educated, taught, and brought up amongst rational beings, he 
would not be considered a rational being himself; and would, as 
T have before stated, be little better than the animal in actions 
and moral conduct. We can, therefore, only attribute this 
mode of operation in the animal to a particular faculty, or innate 
quality, which we call Instinct; for it is quite clear that they are 
