246 Instinct. 



when we think they have some motive for deceiv- 

 ing us. 



We find also another principle of action that 

 secures progress, though the impulse to the action, 

 in some cases at least, seems to be Benevolence, — 

 the object of which is to secure happiness. We re- 

 fer to the disposition of men to do what they can 

 for the generations that are to come after them, 

 without any reference to direct relationship. We 

 are disposed to think the impulse is an instinctive 

 one, which becomes strengthened and directed by 

 specific, benevolent, social instincts. All such ac- 

 tion is so opposed to selfishness that we must look 

 to see it constantly repressed, and warped from its 

 free exercise. Its existence, as a distinct principle, 

 may be doubted ; for the instinct, if it be one, is 

 complex in its action, and in many cases, may be so 

 intertwined with, or obscured by, the action of 

 other instincts, as to be lost sight of. 



Man desires to be remembered ; and it may be 

 said this desire leads him to do what shall be bene- 

 ficial to the coming generations. Undoubtedly 

 this is so, but in addition to this mode of gratify- 

 ing the love of esteem, there is, probably, an in- 

 stinct that leads him to do work for those whom he 

 has never seen, and who will never hear of his 

 name. " The old man plants trees, the fruit of 

 which he never expects to pluck." And he does 

 this without any necessary relation to family connec- 

 tions, though these may come in with their influ- 

 ences, to strengthen and direct this impulse. 



