On National Character. 343 
ness, but must have its: origin in the nature 
and constitution of man, 
~ When a pheasant, a wild duck, ashare, or 
any other undomesticated animal, is attempted 
to be brought into that state, the effort fails ; 
no person has so tamed a pheasant that it will 
not, when liberty is given, fly away and not 
return again; yet the domestication of that 
species of animals is very practicable. But 
in order to illustrate the various stages of this 
process, it may be advisable to select an 
animal with which we are more familiar. The 
duck is of this description. It will be granted 
that wild and tame ducks are of the same 
species, and differ in no other respect, than 
that one is domesticated and the other not. 
In what therefore does domestication consist? 
It is not in being familiarised to the presence 
of man; for many have been familiarised 
without being domesticated. It is a dispo- 
sition, not a habit; an act of the affections, 
not the restraint of discipline. A tyger do- 
mesticated would be as harmless as a cat; 
and a cat undomesticated would be as fierce 
as a tyger. There is no natural propensity 
in any animal to domesticate. The whole is 
an effect produced by circumstances. It fol- 
lows therefore, that there must be a physical 
change produced on the animal; far from 
