FACULTIES OF BRUTES. 279 
ling them in the general bulk of his brain, and more particularly 
in the cortical portion of it, has far superior powers of mind. 
Here again is wisdom and benevolence. In their wild state, 
the brutes have no concern, and no idea beyond their food and 
their reproduction—in their domesticated state they are destined 
to be the servants of man : their senses qualify them for this ser¬ 
vice ; but were proportionate intellectual capacity added to this, 
were they made conscious of their strength, and of the objects 
that would be effected by it, they would burst their bonds, and 
man would, in his turn, be the victim or the slave. 
Still, however, the conformation connected with animal and 
intellectual power is the same; the organization is the same, the 
connexions, the functions the same ; and the only difference is in 
the proportion of the parts: and thence results this important 
conclusion, howe’er proud man may hesitate to acknowledge it,— 
that the distinction in the intellectual, ay, and even the moral 
qualities of the biped and the quadruped, is in degree and not in 
kind—that the one being advanced and improved by circum¬ 
stances, and the other retarded or contaminated, there may, there 
often is, more difference between the cultivated and the savage 
and depraved man, than between the biped and the brute. 
But this deserves more inquiry. In order that the impression 
conveyed to the brain should be registered, compared, and made 
the foundation of future improvement, it is necessary that the 
mind should, fora certain period of time, steadily regard it to the 
exclusion of almost every thing else. This is the faculty termed 
Attention; that which distinguishes the promising pupil from him 
of whom no good hope can be formed—the scientific man from 
the superficial and ignorant. The difference in the intellectual 
powers, and the valuable acquirements of individuals, depends on 
the relative power of attention. Without it our conceptions are 
obscure and confused, our acquirements evanescent. There will 
be no train of useful reflection, no accomplishment of praise¬ 
worthy and important purposes. Except we can for awhile ab¬ 
stract ourselves from every surrounding object, and be compara¬ 
tively insensible to every thing that would distract the mind, no 
unusual acquirements can be made, no valuable object obtained. 
