ORDER QUADRUMANA. 233 



It has been left to modern sophists alone to doubt of this 

 superiority, to asperse the goodness of nature, and to deny 

 the birth-right of mankind. Such reasoners have not 

 scrupled to disclaim the privileges of men, and to put 

 themselves, and their fellow-creatures on a level with the 

 brutes. Some, indeed, in advancing such degrading para- 

 doxes are worthy only of compassion as the pitiable victims 

 of the grossest error. But there are others who wilfully re- 

 nounce their reason or pervert the truth, and induced 

 either by that love of notoriety, which would grasp at fame 

 though coupled with obloquy, or by the morbid influence 

 of infidelity, debase mankind to the level of the brute, 

 only to fit them for a similar destiny, assuming annihilation, 

 the atheist's heaven, to be the lot of all. 



The singular order of animals before us have furnished a 

 powerful " point d'appui," to such sophistical reasoners. It 

 is, therefore, the more necessary carefully to investigate, 

 and accurately to determine the nature of the anthropomor- 

 phous tribes, which according to these sages are our rivals 

 now, and may hereafter become our masters. 



Fortunately for truth, men eminent in science and true 

 philosophy have taken up the cause.of their insulted species. 

 They have scrutinized with the utmost attention the physi- 

 cal conformation as well as the mental capacity on which 

 the pretended affinity between the human and the monkey 

 races was founded. By assigning to the ape its legitimate 

 position among organized beings, they have successfully re- 

 futed this libel upon man, and satisfactorily exposed the 

 injury he received. 



BufFon has observed on this subject, " that the ape has 

 all the masque of the human figure — that he is an animal 

 man cannot behold without looking in upon himself, and 

 recognising his own nature — without being convinced that 

 body is not his most essential part, and that with the 



