Man and the Brute Creation. 403 



in his nature as in his attributes; whatever is an emanation 

 from his essence must be as perfect as that essence, — else 

 must that essence itself be capable of imperfection. If the 

 ray of divine light is not as pure and perfect as the source 

 from whence it emanates, it is plain that a capability of 

 imperfection must previously have existed in the whole of 

 which it is a part. But this capability is incompatible with 

 perfection, and we suppose God to be a perfect being. The 

 soul of man, therefore, as well as those beings whom we 

 call angels, must as necessarily have been created as the 

 dust we tread upon. A created soul is as dependent for its 

 existence on the Creator, as are any of the material objects 

 by which we are surrounded, and can only become im- 

 mortal by his pcrn)ission ; as motion cannot continue but 

 by a repetition of impulse, or the constant action of the 

 law by which it first beean. Set an ourang-outang, indeed, 

 or the most sagacious brute, by the side of a D.D, an 

 LL.D., or an F.R.S. ; compare their respective powers, 

 faculties, and qualities, and the difference will be certainly 

 80 great, that it will appear shocking to make any com- 

 parison between them, and not easy to imagine that the 

 one can have an intellectual principle analogous to that of 

 the other. They were brought into the world for \'ery dif- 

 ferent purposes; the one to enlighten and improve mankind, 

 and the other to fill up a gradation in the great scale of 

 animated beings. To answer these different ends, their 

 capacities were differently proportioned ; and the man is de- 

 stined for imn)ortal glory, while the l)rute must perish when 

 he ceases to breathe. But let us not look only at the top 

 of the scale, but contemplate human nature iu its most sa- 

 vage as well as in its most civilized state. The lowest of 

 the human species are said to be the Andamans, a race in- 

 habiting islands of that name on the eastern side of the 

 bay of Bengal. Their mode of life is degrading to human 

 nature; and, like brutes, their whole time is spent in search 

 of food. In the morning ihey rub then* skins with mud, 

 and wallow in it like bufi'aloes, to prevent the annoyance of 

 insects. Their dwellings are the most wretched hovels 

 imaginable. An Andaman hut may be considered as the 

 rudest and most imperfect attempt of the human race to 

 procure shelter from the weather. Three or four sticks are 

 planted in the ground, and fastened together at the top in 

 the form of a cone, over which a kind of thatch is formed 

 with the branches and leaves of trees. An opening is 

 left on one side, just large enough to creep into, and the 

 C c 2 ground 



