PHILOSOPHY OF ZOOLOGY. 



" the least violation of whose authority fills us with re-r 

 morse ;*" " and the greater the sacrifices we make, in obe- 

 dience to its suggestions, the greater are our satisfaction 

 and triumph. v 



Were this representation true, it would exhibit a very 

 gratifying picture of the moral dignity of our race. But, 

 alas ! if this moral faculty exists, it is in general too feeble 

 in its operations to influence the conduct, neither prompt- 

 ing us to avoid this pictured remorse, nor to grasp at this 

 imaginary triumph. 



Among the lower animals, we do not observe any install-* 

 ces of their acting contrary to their experience. In a do- 

 mesticated state, where laws have been imposed upon them, 

 they obey from various motives ; the prospect of reward, 

 the dread of punishment, and ultimately habit. They are 

 aware of the conformity or disagreement of their actions, to 

 the standard by which they are tried. Examples of this 

 kind of knowledge are daily exhibited in the^ Ox, Horse, 

 and Dog. 



6. Deity. -*-Fnym the displays of our own power and that 

 of others in the production of motion, we are led to attend 

 to the change-; which take place around us, as.the marks of 

 some other power ; and by witnessing the variety of me ans 

 which are employed in the accomplishment of these various 

 alterations, and the regularity which they exhibit in their 

 succession, we arrive at the conclusion, that a Being, supe-r 

 rior to man in power and wisdom, exists, and continually 

 exerts an influence on the surrounding world. 



So simple is this effort of the mind, and so easily excited 

 by the smallest degree of reflection, that the belief in a Su- 

 perior Being may be considered as universal among man- 

 kind. Nations may be found who have scarcely devised 

 signs to express their ideas on this subject, and over whom, 



