148 SUPPLEMENTAL HISTORY OP MAN. 



On the faculties of Mind and the attribute of Speech. 



Man has been styled, par excellence, a rational ani- 

 mal ; but it is astonishing what various acceptations 

 are attached to this epithet. Some seem to thmk 

 that reason is a faculty peculiarly and exclusively 

 characteristic of the human species. Others would 

 extend this power in greater or less proportions to 

 almost all the living tribes of the animated world 

 beside. 



It is almost impossible for us to be acquainted 

 with the mental operations of animals to any 

 great extent. Destitute of language they pos- 

 sess very inadequate means of communicating the 

 results of sensation and consciousness. The only 

 mode we have of judging is by an attentive obser- 

 vation of their actions and a view of certain re- 

 lations in which they stand with respect to man. 



The vast superiority of man appears in a very 

 striking light, when we consider the subjection in 

 which he is enabled to hold so large a portion of 

 the animal world. The most stupid of our species 

 possesses in this respect, a decisive advantage over 

 the most intelligent of the brute creation. Man 

 makes other animals subservient to his purposes, 

 and obedient to his commands. This object is 

 accomplished not by any superior advantages of 

 bodily strength, or activity, but by a power of com- 

 bining and conducting systematic operations, de- 

 nied by nature to the lower tribes. The strongest 

 and most sagacious of them have no privilege of 



