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. 
Il. 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 we are now to consider, the case is 
very different. Here action follows impression immediately. 
There is no thinking,—no deliberation. There 1s likewise 
a difference in the nature of the action m 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, ov 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 
The impressions in the case of the instinctive 
Q 
of variety. 
VOL. I. 
