FACULTIES OF THE MIND 241 



their notions of Deity may exercise little controul ; but we 

 can scarcely believe it possible for man to exist in any stage 

 of society, without being furnished, by the natural opera- 

 tions of his mind, with the first principles of religion. 



Along with the progress of civilization, and consequent 

 habits of reflection, we find this religious feeling extending 

 itself, until an effort is made to hold intercourse with the 

 Supreme by prayers and sacrifices. 



There is no evidence to prove that the brutes have any 

 idea of a Supreme Being. 



II. INSTINCTIVE POWERS. 



The impressions which are made upon us by external 

 objects, or the ideas of reflection suggested by memory, 

 when they are the subjects of our intellectual powers, do 

 not necessarily lead to any controul over the body in con- 

 sequence of an act of volition. Between impression and 

 action, there is always a process of thinking, varying great- 

 ly in its nature and duration, according to the subject, but 

 absolutely necessary to connect the one with the other. 



In the powers which w r e are now to consider, the case is 

 very different. Here action follows impression immediately. 

 There is no thinking, no deliberation. There is likewise 

 a difference in the nature of the action in the two cases. 

 There is an effort required to perform that which is the 

 result of the intellectual process, whereas, the action 

 which follows in reference to our instinctive powers, is 

 spontaneous, or rather, it requires an effort to resist obe- 

 dience to the impulse. 



As the impressions, in the case of the intellectual powers, 

 are variously modified by the thinking process, the corre- 

 sponding actions exhibit, in their character, a great degree 

 of variety. The impressions in the case of the instinctive; 

 VOL. i. a 



