Progress, 225 



be rent and thrown off, while larger bark, and 

 more enlightened forms of government, in state and 

 church, take their place; unless they can all grow 

 in time to save the rending. They must all yield 

 to the demands of that expanding organism, which 

 they were made to serve ; be it the tree-trunk, or 

 society. Revolutions and reformations are the 

 rending of the old exuvice of state and church, 

 under the promptings of a higher life. This tran- 

 sition period, necessary for more perfect growth, is 

 the most critical time for animals and men. 



The first impulse then, to every voluntary act 

 in man, that is necessary to preserve the hfe of the 

 individual, the continuance of the species and the 

 formation of society, seems to be as purely instinct- 

 ive, as any act of an animal. But the impulse, to 

 all these acts in man, must be limited, and, in most 

 cases, directed in him, by some higher principle, 

 which can act rightly only in the light of experi- 

 ence ; while in the animal. Instinct not only gives 

 the impulse, but is self-directive, and self-Hmiting, 

 or is limited in its action by the vegetative func- 

 tions of the body. The animal, in a state of na- 

 ture, finds his highest perfection in going just as 

 far as Instinct and function of organs will allow. 

 Man, giving himself up to such influences, without 

 the guidance and limitation, which his intellect- 

 ual nature affords, and which his moral nature 

 demands, sinks below the brutes, as a matter of 

 course. 



We have thus far used the word INSTINCT for 

 10* 



