Manand the Brute Creation. 405 



our superior faculties. The phsenomena tlion whicli the 

 brutes exhibit by thvir aclious, authorize u-; lo conchide 

 that they possess a suul, or intelligent principle, analogous 

 in its essciice to that ol our own, but more limited in its 

 po'.vers and capacity''*'. 



That natural diHerence ol' intellect which \vc observe be- 

 tween H dog- and a dormouse, betw.-en a dunce and a man 

 of genius, is undoubledl!,' owing to some diflereucc in the 

 sciiticnt or cogitative subslanc'e ; it cannot be ascribed to 

 matter, for matter is continuallv changintr; and tliougli a 

 man at thirty has iioi a partii'le of the same body which 

 he had at ten vears of aiie, yet it is very plain that he may 

 be as great a blockhead. I'hat sucii a disparity m mental ca- 

 pacity is owing to an entire ditlerence in the essence of the 

 soul, cannot he supposetl ; for aLlhouiih it is equally easy 

 for Frovidenre to endow the most opposite substances with 

 Similar intellectual powers, yet liie simpf-^st hypnihesis ii 

 always lo !)e prefeired as the most prubal>le*; tot nature al- 

 ways acts by ilie sinijilesi plan, and seldom, if ever, deviates 

 from' general laws to accomplish particular phienomena. 

 Tiiat gradation, then, of inteikctual capacity, which di- 

 stinguishes from eavh other individuals of the human spe- 

 cies, as well a> of the brute creation, -is to l)e ascribed, not 

 to an entire ditreience in that subilance called the soul, but 

 to a difTurcnt niodillcatvon of that substance. Bi;it it will 

 be asked, What is that suhstance ? and how is it moditicd? 

 The essence ot the soul, which has been a subject for 

 ppectdation to philosophers uf every age, has certainly 

 g.ven rise to many extraordmaiy theories ; and it would be 

 lliouoht lolly to waste much time and paper on a topic 

 whicii i\o human capacity can ever satislaclunly explain. 



* In the article Iml'mrt, in the new Cycloprcf'ia, we read tlie fotlowin<»: ■ 

 " When AX sec brutes thus ii=.ing means to ol)t;iiii their eivcU, as well as oiir- 

 sclvci, must we not coiicluje that tlu'y reason ? When the cat watches fur 

 hours in silent expectation of her piey; when t!ie hound traverses a wide 

 extent of ctwntry in the chase, tliey show as mech perioverinc: VoUintarity 

 as man can hoait." If 1 know any thin^- of the meaning- of words, this is 

 as much as to r.ay that hnitos do somtti.ues I'casjn, and act from reason, and 

 ihat they liave a'power of vlihtion. But at the cud of the same ^rticl? wc 

 are tiius given the tarn of the argument: "Th'iswesee that animals per- 

 form ciTtain operations which are neither laln/mt, habitual, nor meciianical ; 

 and altlioiinli it cannot be doubted but some pf.thcm reason in several in- 

 •■^tances, still, even froin the short di:t;ills now 'riven, we cannot allow that 

 their natural operations arc performed 'with a view to cnnsequeii-es." But 

 uo brutes reason, or do ihcy not? If they do.the.i some ot tlieir actions 

 v.u\C le luli-nuii; if they do not, tiicy act e.uiiclj from the law of iiininct, 

 a law which they can neither alter nor control ; and their actions arc then 

 as purely mcch.inical a> is the movement of the minute haud on the diaU 

 ;i!jte ot a timtpiccc. « ' 



C c 3 J>ang;u3^e 



