1875.] and the Lower Animals. 71 
hearing, that he should be compelled to get rid of it, being 
about to change his residence. The dog forthwith disap- 
peared, and never returned.’’* 
Further, instances in abundance could be brought to 
show that a dog very readily discovers whether his master 
is on a hostile footing towards any persons he meets, even 
where no threatening gestures or loud speaking may have 
occurred. If you talk about a cat in her hearing she will 
generally put on an air of affected unconcern, or rather un- 
consciousness, similar to that she assumes if a scrap is 
thrown to her when not very hungry. Now it is inconceiv- 
able that a being totally devoid of a language, and therefore 
unaccustomed and unqualified to receive communications 
through any such channel, could understand the language 
of man. 
But if domestic animals have languages of their own, and 
do, to some extent, understand that of man, how is it that 
he is so little able to understand theirs? Perhaps his 
motives are much less urgent. Place two beings, A and B, 
in close daily contact, and give A unchallenged and un- 
limited power over B. It will then always be found that B 
will have a far clearer insight into A’s principles, passions, 
prejudices, foibles, and character in all respects, than A, in 
turn, has into those of B. In the old times of negro slavery 
—Ssay in Jamaica or Carolina—how little did ‘‘ massa” 
really know of Quashie and Sambo, and how very much, on 
the other hand, they knew of him! Paradoxical as it may 
seem I feel compelled to assert that, within a certain sphere, 
the lower mind sees into—not comprehends, that is another 
matter—the higher mind better than the higher can see into 
the lower. The planet sees the sun, whilst the sun is all 
unconscious of the planet. Place yourself on the summit 
of a hill, and a spe¢tator down amidst the fields or houses 
of the plain may watch your every movement, and yet 
escape your notice, despite—or perhaps rather because of— 
the wide extent of view you enjoy. Of course only minds 
similar in nature and equal in power can fully appreciate 
each other. The fool is unable to comprehend the aims 
and the motives of the genius, but he sees into the character 
of the latter, detects any apparent shortcomings, and draws 
his private advantage therefrom. ‘‘ The children of this 
world ”’—1.¢., the commonplace, routine characters—‘“ are 
wiser in their generation than the children of light.” 
Hence—if a brief digression be allowable—the little soul 
has, in dealing with his fellow men, a decided advantage, as 
* SHIRLEY HIBBERD, Clever Dogs, &c. 
