gable window I could look obliquely 

 down into the pretty nest now neatly 

 lined with tiny feathers and thistle down. 

 So much, then, for the sparrows and their 

 house building. I say sparrows now, for 

 during my later observations I had seen 

 both Mr. and Mrs. Sparrow diligently 

 working together. 



But to advert now to our alleged "li- 

 bel" on the birds, I have only to say that 

 it is very convenient for great men and 

 ponderous books to tell us that the lower 

 animals perform their actions by means 

 of a tendency called "instinct;" and thus 

 divest themselves of all further responsi- 

 bility in the matter. Confronted by this 

 obscure declaration we are led as pupils 

 in natural history to ask, "What is in- 

 stinct ?" The following definitions of this 

 much-abused term are, perhaps, the best 

 to be found in the English language : 



"Instinct is a propensity prior to ex- 

 perience and independent of instruction." 

 — William Paley. 



"Instinct is a blind tendency to some 

 mode of action, independent of any con- 

 sideration on the part of the agent, of the 

 end to which the action leads." — Richard 

 Whatelv. 



"Instinct is an agent which performs 

 blindly and ignorantly a work of intelli- 

 gence and knowledge. — Sir William 

 Hamilton. 



Now such names as Paley, Whately 

 and Hamilton stand high upon the roll of 

 honor in the sparkling literature of our 

 language ; and yet the words of these 



great scholars are but as sounding brass 

 and a tinkling cymbal when they under- 

 take to tell us what is the real import and 

 inwardness of that occult and wonderful 

 faculty in the mental essence of animals 

 which scientists by force of circumstances 

 have agreed to call "instinct." 



"Aha !" my little sparrow would say, 

 could she speak our language, "we per- 

 form our actions neither blindly nor ig- 

 norantly, as your famous Mr. Hamilton 

 learnedly remarks ; but God has taught 

 us to both reason and work according to 

 existing circumstances, from cause to ef- 

 fect ; nay, even as your great logicians 

 would have it, a priori. And although 

 five of our little bodies were sold in the 

 markets of Jerusalem for two farthings, 

 not one of us ever fell to the ground 

 without our Father's notice !" 



There, that is about the kind of ser- 

 mon our little bird would preach to the 

 utter discomfiture of human wisdom, 

 which, after all, is but "foolishness with 

 God." 



Verily, and in conclusion, we declare 

 that it is a libel upon the birds to say 

 that they build their nests guided only by 

 that nameless tendency signified by the 

 common acceptation of the term "in- 

 stinct." 



The humblest creature God has made 

 Fulfills some noble, wise design ; 



And, dowered rich with reason's aid, 

 It boasts a lineage divine. 



L. P. Veneen. 



121 



