DEVELOPMENT HYPOTHESES. 207 



the same kind as are considered among the moral attributes 

 of man. The range of their passions is even as extensive 

 as that of the human mind, and I am at a loss to perceive 

 a difference of kind between them, however much they 

 may differ in degree and in the manner in which they are 

 expressed. The gradations of the moral faculties among 

 the higher animals and man are moreover so imperceptible, 

 that to deny to the first a certain sense of responsibility 

 and consciousness, would certainly be an exaggeration of 

 the differences which distinguish animals and man. There 

 exists, besides, as much individuality, within their respec- 

 tive capabilities, among animals as among man, as every 

 sportsman, every keeper of manageries, and every farmer or 

 shepherd can testify, or any one who has had large experi- 

 ence with wild, tamed, or domesticated animals. This 

 argues strongly in favour of the existence in every animal 

 of an immaterial principle similar to that which, by its 

 excellence and superior endowments, places man so much 

 above animals. Yet the principle unquestionably exists, 

 and whether it be called soul, reason, or instinct, it pre- 

 sents in the whole range of organised beings a series of 

 phenomena closely linked together ; and upon it are based 

 not only the higher manifestations of the mind, but the 

 very permanence of the specific differences which characterise 

 every organism. Most of the arguments of philosophy in 

 favour of the immortality of man apply equally to the per- 

 manency of this principle in other living beings. May I 

 not add, that a future life, in which man would be deprived 

 of that great source of enjoyment and intellectual and 

 moral improvement which result from the contemplation 

 of the harmonies of an organic world, would involve a 

 lamentable loss? And may we not look to a spiritual con- 

 cert of the combined worlds and all their inhabitants in 

 presence of their Creator, as the highest conception of para- 



