to the glorious luminary of day, seem to excite the least astonishment, and to have the best reasons to urge for their, apparently, natural system of mythology.

CHAP. III.

The Animal Kingdom capable of exciting the most Interest. On the Nature of Animals. Objections to BUFFON'S System. A Definition of the Mental Faculties.

AFTER having taken what might justly be termed an elementary view of creation, the observer would naturally descend to its parts, and would most probably fix his attention on that grand division of natural objects which, according to his feelings or notions, possessed the most interest, for the first subjects of his investigation; and, that animals are more interesting than vegetables, or minerals, there can surely be no doubt; since they alone, of all the works of GOD, here below, possess any portion of that intelligence, that spiritual existence, which, in an unlimited degree, infinite, and inconceivable, is possessed by Him who hath planned, and portioned out, the universe.

D

Many of the speculations, however, which necessarily result from the study of Man, and Nature, have been productive of painful anxiety, not unmingled with dissatisfaction, even in minds of a very superior cast; and, one long accustomed to the contemplation of the various images, inanimate, as well as animated, by which we are surrounded; not as an idle spectator, whose curiosity is excited by some strange exhibition, as the admiration of a child is drawn forth by new baubles; but, as a philosopher in search of wisdom and truth:-One, so accustomed, might occasion some surprise by asking one of the haughty and ignorant lordlings of creation, strutting along in the broadest sunshine of fortune, in what the much boasted superiority of man, over all the rest of animals, consisted? since it is by no means apparent in the lives and actions of the great mass of the human race, who have either not yet emerged from barbarism, or, who are continually abusing their freeagency, and prostituting its power to the worst purposes. Neither the ignorant, nor

the profligate, who pass through an ephemeral existence in thoughtless vacancy, nor the restless votaries of fashion, who catch at every folly as it floats by them, would find this question of easy, and, at the same time, of satisfactory solution.

The Natural Philosopher could easily prove to them that man is greatly excelled in alt his bodily powers, and in his external senses, by animals that are called his inferiors. In the faculties of hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, and touching, he is greatly surpassed by many well-known animals; and the instinctive powers of others so nearly approach the reasoning faculty in the human species, that man has occasion to cultivate his mind to the utmost, and to give unequivocal proofs of superiority, in order to determine the question in his favour.

Far be it from the writer of this little Essay, to entertain, or to uphold, any doctrines lessening the true dignity of man, or in anywise contributing to diminish the nobility of his character, and the final glory of his immortal career. But truth is the

only treasure that is worthy our homage, since it alone is omnipotent; and, as it is generally admitted that man owes his proud distinction over all other animals to mental superiority, rather than to bodily strength, it surely behoves him to examine the grounds of that distinction, and to improve the advantages he may discover to the utmost extent of his power, that this pre-eminence may not only remain clear and decided; but, that the dominion, which is given him, may be exercised with due regard to the rights of others.

Of all the subjects for investigation presented to the Naturalist, there is none likely to give him so much interest, and I may surely add instruction, as the nature of what has been termed instinct; since a minute and careful research into the lives and economy of animals shews that they are really in possession of all the mental faculties found in man, (though seldom or never in equal degree) that of imagination alone, perhaps, excepted; and, as we are ignorant of the language, and unacquainted with the