SUPPLEMENTAL HISTORY OF MAN. 153 



Language implies the faculty of pursuing a, con- 

 secutive train of thought. Brutes are incapable 

 of speech, because they are incapable of such a 

 process of thought. Their sensations are probably 

 as vivid as ours; and memory they certainly 

 possess. They exhibit some imperfect traces of 

 the faculties of comparison, and judgment, but 

 they have no capacity of generalization and ab- 

 straction, operations on which the structure of lan- 

 guage so intimately and essentially depends. The 

 range of their association is extremely limited, 

 their ideas are few in number, and restricted to 

 the individual objects of sense; and consequently 

 their power of comprehending the relation between 

 thoughts and symbols must be feeble and confined. 



The power, then, of speech forms a grand spe- 

 cific distinction in man. It results from the su- 

 periority of his intellectual faculties, corresponds 

 with his other high endowments, facilitates the 

 exercise of his mental powers, and gives .them their 

 completest development. Without language there 

 would be no more society among men than among 

 the beasts of the forest. The invention of writing 

 and of printing have rendered the prerogative of 

 speech of tenfold additional value to mankind. 



We cannot but advert, though briefly, to certain 

 moral distinctions in man which also result from the 

 superiority of his mental powers, and distinguish 

 him specifically from other creatures. In what is 

 generally termed natural affection, there is a striking 

 difference between man and inferior animals. The 



