KEVIKW. 
415 
belonging' to each of them which would laugh our boasted intel- 
lect to scorn.” 
“ They are perfect,” he says, “ but it is only in the little part 
allotted to them. They are now, seemingly, what they were at 
first. There are evidently boundaries assigned to them which they 
have never yet passed, or were intended to pass. Their’s is a 
different kind of knowledge from ours, and therefore we need not 
be jealous of it. In grasp of comprehension, in extent of reason- 
ing, we leave them all at an immeasurable distance. We alone 
can, to any efficient purpose, extend our views beyond one narrow 
compartment, or, in fact, beyond the confines of the globe and the 
limits of time.” u I am not,” says the author, “ impugning the 
superiority of man, but I am claiming kind consideration and uni- 
form good treatment for the brute.” 
Mr. Y. then passes on to another division of his subject — “ the 
Moral Qualities of Brutes.” This part is beautifully displayed by 
numerous interesting anecdotes, shewing that the social affections 
are as necessary in the little republics of the brutes as among any 
of the associations of men — that they are the cement which binds 
together the different parts of the fabric. These social affections 
are commonly designated Instincts. “ We care not for that,” says 
Mr. Y. “These instincts or propensities are the foundation of 
every virtue in the human being ; and in the quadruped they can- 
not escape our regard and admiration. The parental affection, the 
hallowed basis of the whole ! — let it be instinct ! What character is 
so attractive as the wisely indulgent father — the devoted mother ? 
Is it instinct only in the brute, and associated with every virtue in 
the human being I It is instinct and virtue in both.” 
In a Review of Mr. Youatt’s Essay, published in “ The Advo- 
cate of Humanity,” the writer sneers at the idea, that “ the ha- 
bits and instincts of brutes should be designated as moral quali- 
ties, and described as filial affections and conjugal attachment.” 
This gentleman evidently knows very little of the principles and 
phraseology of moral philosophy, and is as ignorant of the real found- 
ation on which it rests as he seems to be of the duties and rights 
of a reviewer. “ In brutes we have many pleasing instances of the 
existence of such attachments. It is true, that, when the animal is 
taken from the scenes and connexions on account of which its na- 
tural propensities and restraints were given to it, it becomes a per- 
fectly altered creature. All our domesticated animals are changed 
to a greater or less degree; and, with regard to a considerable 
number of them, we must confess that they are debased by their 
connexion with us, for we look in vain for many of the social vir- 
tues that exist in them in a state of nature. 
“ In almost every species of wild animals, and in some of the 
tame ones, where they have not been too much mixed up with 
