26 INTRODUCTION. 



which render such a step unnecessary : nor is there 

 any control exercised over our minds, to protect us 

 from harm, that would interfere with our moral 

 freedom, of which animals are altogether destitute. 

 But then these higher gifts, which thus far more 

 than supply the place of instinct, are themselves the 

 proofs of what the Creator has done for man. They 

 testify, in a still more remarkable manner, what is 

 purposed by the Almighty in respect of ourselves, 

 and speak to the more exalted kind of happiness to 

 which he would lead us. What then must be the 

 state of that heart which reaps no moral lesson from 

 the great truths which Nature everywhere proclaims ; 

 which can observe the instincts and habits of 

 animals, without thinking of the great unseen Agent, 

 whose will they obey, or without seeking to inquire 

 what that will is as regards himself, and which he is 

 left (partly by the aid of his reason), to carry out or 

 neglect, to his own eternal happiness or misery ? As 

 we said before, there must be some wilful perverse- 

 ness or viciousness of temper present to counteract 

 this effect. But where this is the case, it must be 

 met by further and different arguments from what 

 would be in keeping with this work. Instead, there- 

 fore, of following up this subject, let us express a 

 hope that the supposed case is not of frequent occur- 

 rence, and that natural observers are generally awake 

 to a sense of the moral and religious inferences, 

 which ought to accompany them in their pursuits. 

 We well remember once seeing a naturalist involun- 

 tarily shed tears, on the occasion of a hen partridge 

 practising its well-known stratagem to divert atten- 



