224 Instinct, 



The desire of life, which is sometimes placed 

 above the instincts, as belonging to the mind, is 

 certainly one of the lowest of the instincts, in the 

 sense of being the broadest, and as being only an 

 impulse. It gives rise to a whole series of definite 

 instinctive acts among animals, and of rational acts, 

 Among men^ which tend to preserve life. This is 

 true, to some extent, of the remaining desires, — 

 desire of knowledge, desire of power, of property, 

 of esteem, and of society. These are the basis of 

 the social nature of man. The last leads him to 

 seek society, the others tend to regulate society, — 

 are impulses and hints for experience to build 

 upon. " Men," says Emerson,* " as naturally make 

 a state, or a church, as caterpillars a web ; " and 

 this is true ; because the impulses and the hints are 

 in them. But while the caterpillars have, for them- 

 selves, one best form of web, which appears as reg- 

 ularly, with each new, uninstructed and inexperi- 

 enced brood, as the number of rings in their bod- 

 ies, or the color of the hairs and spots that cover 

 them, man is left to work out the best form of 

 state-web or church-web, for himself; by entangling 

 himself and fellows, in all sorts of make-shifts, 

 which may be a curse to him, or may be well 

 enough, in one age or one part of the world, but 

 perhaps are no more fitted for him as he grows, 

 than the bark of the young sapling is fitted for 

 the trunk of the full grown tree. The bark of the 

 tree, and the web of both state and church, must 



* " Conduct of Life/' p. 176. 



