On the Difference between Instinct and Reason. 
was fair, and most oppressively hot, when 
the reaping in this neighbourhood’ was 
j hed,.and.much,.of the.grain se- 
dy, 
Se. avas throughout most unsea- 
Ee and oppressively warm and sultry : 
bie hé first eight days-were very brilliant ; it 
erwards continued showery, with inter- 
vils“offair and favourable weather for 
nishing—the- harvest;~ which--was- nearly 
quite oyer ahout the middle of the month ; 
om the, dith, we hadsome_viyid lightning 
and loud peals of. thunder, accompanied 
with hea wy tain; the; last four days of the 
Patho were perfectly cloudless. 
| aPatader The weather. continued. un- 
easonably mild and sultry till the 17th; on 
‘7th, ; we had a -yery heavy fail of rain, 
the swelled the rivers here beyond their 
barks + the Jatter, part of the month was 
showery, and extremely variable, both in 
‘temperature and density; on the 20th, 
many of the highest. surrounding mountains 
iwere, “perfectly covered with snow; the 
atights. of the! 26th ‘and 27th were frosty, 
‘when_we. ‘had ice and white rime in the 
mornings : “during ‘the last four days we 
had some excessively heavy rain, mixed 
with’ hail. 
~~ Many of the ancient philosophers as- 
eribed to brutes an understanding dif- 
fering only in degree from that of man, 
and ‘attributed their inferiori ity to the 
want of proper and sufficient bodily 
organs. Among the moderns, Cud- 
worth endeavoured to explain ‘the in- 
*‘stict of animals by means of a certain 
‘plaster nature. Descartes thought that 
‘all’the actions of brute animals might 
Bi explained’ by the simple laws of me- 
and. considered themas ma- 
chines totally devoid of life. and sen- 
3 but so curiously constructed, 
opipins bast « impression of light, sound, 
and--other external; agents on their 
senses, set them in motion and caused 
themto’execute these various opera- 
‘tiéns, whic had before been ascribed 
we hea Dae of life and spontaneity. 
cti ns and manners of animals, 
ne a te incoherent with the 
is 
hh mechanism, evince the absurdity 
iypeneaa _ The naturalist, Buffon, 
however, adopts the opinion of Descar- 
‘tes.in part;.but, grants the animals life, 
and the faculty of distinguishing 
‘between! pleasure and pain, together 
‘Witla strong inclination to the former, 
-aadaaaversion ‘to the latter. Others 
“Have ‘coitsi ered the actions of animals 
Pe pets el by the Constant and im- 
uence of the divine energy 
547 
November.—The weather, during the 
whole of this month, was most remarkably 
variable.; severe. frost,. snow,hail and.sleet,, 
and extremely heavy rains prevailed in rapid 
suceession; in the second week of the 
month, we "Had soiie very severe frost; on 
the morning of the 16th, the thermometer 
was 23°, and in the night of the 11th, 22°, 
when immense quantities of snow appeared 
on all the surrounding mountains-;—the 
27th, 28th, and 29th were wet nearly 
throughout, which produced considerable 
floods in the rivers, 
December commenced with moderate 
frost, when all the surrounding mountains 
were perfectly white; on the 6th, the w ea- 
ther became unseasonably mild and ex: 
tremely moist and gloomy, which continued 
almost invariably to the 26th;, about the 
middle of the month we had some, heavy 
rains; the concluding part of. the month 
was frosty, and the two last days, were yery 
severe, when the thermometer on the 31st. 
was at 20°, with thick white rime. During 
the greater part of the montl it\was gene- 
rally calm, and foggy, and. often quite a dead 
calm. Wm, EXIT... ps 
Carlisle, January 2,.1826:°°) * "> 
ON THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INSTINCT AND. REASON. 5: sf 
directing all their inclinations . and 
motions. Such appears to have been 
the opinion, however unphilosophical it 
may appear, of Addison, in the second 
volume of the Spectator. iad 
I will first take a short conthasted 
view of the state of man and other ani- 
mals, in order to demonstrate in what 
they are connected, and in What they 
differ from each other. 
Both instinct and reason appeir, to 
act in man and in animals, .. When, for 
instance, aninsect lays her eggs-in.ia 
hole, and then’ collects: a number : ~of 
-other'kinds of insects; and places them 
in the hole with her eggs, for her’ young 
ones to’ eat when they comeé'to be 
hatched, and dies herself before ‘that 
time, this appears to be the -result of 
instinct, because, otherwise, the insect 
must possess knowledge without expe- 
rience, and must even be a prophet, to 
know that young ones will come from 
the eggs. But when -a bird. builds a 
nest, or a bee a honey-comb, although 
there a pears to be instinct in these.ac- 
tions YA in either’ casé the instinct 
can only apply to the motive, or rather, 
desire of doing it ; as, certainly, all. the 
difficult operations necessary in ‘the 
construction gf a nest or honey-comb, 
executed with such skill and under such - 
a ore of circumstances relative to 
4A2 the 
