144 ON ZOOLOGY. 



dered by nature independent of the necessities 

 of which man, from his physical construction 

 and moral propensities, stands so uniformly in 

 need. Most of them, when first brought into the 

 world, or very soon after, are provided with a 

 suitable covering to their bodies, acquire a free 

 use of their limbs, and are endued with those 

 instinctive propensities, which, at a very early 

 period render them independent of foreign aid, 

 and qualify them to perform all the animal pur- 

 poses for which they were created. To select 

 their food according to the demands of their 

 appetite, or to the peculiarities of their constitu- 

 tion ; to defend themselves against their adver- 

 saries, and to protect and provide for their own 

 offspring; to retire at the proper hour and place 

 to rest, and to leave their retirement when the 

 business of the day is to commence. And if to 

 this state of independence, we add their total 

 exclusion from all mental anxiety or concern 

 about the present or the future; the pleasure 

 they derive from the gratification of their various 

 appetites, and from the free exercise of their 

 limbs, alternated as it is by sweet and uninter- 

 rupted repose ; however a portion of them may 

 be subjected to inconveniences from the caprice 

 and cruelty of man, or their lives be subservient 

 to his use ; we may still consider their lot to be 

 fairly balanced against our own ; and that Provi- 

 dence, in its dispensations, has given to each 



