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cies of animals, none of the rest could have enjoyed the happiness of existence; he has therefore specified in his creation every degree of life, every capacity of being.

11. The whole chasm of nature, from a plant to a man, is filled up with divers kinds of creatures, rising one over another, by such gentle and easy ascent, that the little transitions and deviations from one species to another are almost insensible. This intermediate space is so well husbanded and managed, that there is scarce a degree of perception which does not appear in some one part of the world of life. Is the goodness, or wisdom of the Divine Being, more manifested in this his proceeding?

12. There is a consequence, besides those I have already mentioned, which seems very naturally deducible from the fore going considerations. If the scale of being rises by such a regular progress, so high as man, we may by a parity of reason suppose that it still proceeds gradually through those beings which are of a superior nature to him; since there is an infinitely greater space and room for different degrees of perfection between the Supreme Being and man, than between man and the most despicable insect.

13. The consequence of so great a variety of beings which are superior to us, from that variety which is inferior to us, is made by Mr. Locke, in a passage which I shall here set down, after having premised, that nothwithstanding there is such infinite. room between man and his Maker for the creative power to exert itself in, it is impossible that it should ever be filled up, since there will be still an infinite gap or distance between the highest created being, and the power which produced him.

14 "That there should be more species of intelligent creatures above us, than there are of sensible and material below us, is probable to me from hence; that in all the visible corporeal world, we see no chasms or no gaps. All quite down from us, the descent is by easy steps, and a continued series of things, that in each remove differ very little one from the other. There are fishes that have wings and are not strangers to the airy region; and there are some birds, that are inhabitants of the water; whose blood is as cold as fishes, and their flesh so like in taste, that the scrupulous are allowed them on fish-days.

13. "There are animals so near of kin both to birds and beasts, that they are in the middle between both; amphibious animals link the terrestrial, and acquatic together: seals live on land and at sea, and porpoises have the warm blood and entrails of a hog; not to mention what is confidently reported of mermaids or sea men. There are some brutes, that seem to have as much knowledge and reason, as some that are called men; and the animal and vegetable kingdoms are so nearly joined, that if you

will take the lowest of one, and the highest of the other, there will scarce be perceived any great difference between them: and so on till we come to the lowest and the most inorganical parts of matter, we shall find every where that the several species are linked together, and differ but in almost insensible degrees.

16. And when we consider the infinite power and wisdom of the Maker, we have reason to think that it is suitable to the magnificent harmony of the universe, and the great design and infinite goodness of the Architect, that the species of creatures should also, by gentle degrees, ascend upwards from us towards his infinite perfection, as we see they gradually descend from us downward: which if it be probable, we have reason then to be persuaded, there are far more species of creatures above us, than there are beneath; we being in degrees of perfection much more remote from the infinite Being of God, than we are from the lowest state of being, and that which approaches nearest to nothing. And yet of all those distinct species, we have no clear distinct ideas."

17. In this system of being, there is no creature so wonderful in its nature, and which so much deserves our particular attention, as man, who fills up the middle space between the animal and intellectual nature, the visible and invisible world, and is that link in the chain of beings which has been often termed the Nexus utriusque mundi. So that he who in one respect is associated with angels and arch-angels, may look upon a Being of infinite perfection as his father, and the highest order of spirits as his brethren; may in another respect say to "corruption; thou art my father; and to the worm, thou art my mother and 'my sister."

1.

Providence proved from Animal Instinct. SPECTATOR, No. 120. MUST confess I am infinitely delighted with those specu

Intions conftare which are to be made in a country life,

and as my reading has very much lain among books of natural history, I cannot forbear recollecting, upon this occasion, the several remarks which I have met with in authors, and compar-ing them with what falls under my own observation; the argu... ments for Providence drawn from the natural history of animals, being in my opinion, demonstrative.

2. The make of every kind of animal is different from that of every other kind; and there is not the least turn in the muscles or twist in the fibres of any one, which does not render them more proper for that particular animal's way of life-than any other cast or texture of them would have been.

The most violent appetites in all creatures are lust and hun

ger: the first is a perpetual call upon them to propagate their kind: the latter to preserve themselves.

3. It is astonishing to consider the different degrees of care that descend from the parent to the young, so far as is absolutely necessary for the leaving a posterity. Some creatures cast their eggs as chance direct them, and think of them no further, as insects and several kinds of fish; others, of a nicer frame, find out proper beds to deposit them in, and there leave them; as the serpents, crocodile, and ostrich; others hatch their eggs and tend the birth, till it is able to shift for itself.

4. What can we call the principle which directs every different kind of birds to observe a particular plan in the structure of its nest, and directs all of the same species to work after the same modle? It cannot be imitation; for though you hatch a crow under a hen, and never let it see any of the works of its own kind, the nest it makes shall be the same to the laying of a stick with all the nests of the same species. It cannot be reason; for were animals endowed with it to as great a degree as man, their buildings would be as different as ours, according to the different conveniencies that they would propose to themselves.

5. Is it not remarkable that the same temper of weather, which raises this general warmth in animals, should cover the trees with leaves, and the fields with grass, for their security and concealment, and produce such infinite swarms of insects for the support and sustenance of their respective broods?

6. Is it not wouderful that the love of the parent should be so violent while it lasts, and that it should last no longer than is ne cessary for the preservation of the young? So soon as the wants of the latter cease, the mother withdraws her fondness, and leaves › them to provide for themselves: and what is a very remarkable circumstance in this part of instinct, we find that the love of the parent may be lengthened out beyond its usual time, if the preservation of the species requires it; as we may see in birds that drive away their young, as soon as they are able to get their livelihood, but continue to feed them if they are tied to the nest, or confined within a cage, or by any other means appear to be out of a condition of supplying their own necessities.

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7. This natural love is not observed in animals to ascend from young to the parent, which is not at all necessary for the continuance of the species; nor indeed in reasonable creatures does it rise in any proportion, as it spreads itself downwards; for in all family affection, we find protection granted, and favours bestowed, are greater motives to love and tenderness, than safety, benefits or life received.

One would wonder to hear sceptical men disputing for the reason of animals, and telling us it is only our pride and prejudices that will not allow them the use of that faculty.

8. Reason shews itself in all occurrences of life; whereas the brute makes no discovery of such a talent, but in what immediately regards his own preservation, or the continuance of his species. Animals in their generation are wiser than the sons of men; but their wisdom is confined to a few particulars, and lies in a very narrow compass. Take a brute out of his instinct, and you will find him wholly deprived of understanding. To use an instance that comes under observation.

9. With what caution does a hen provide herself a nest in plates unfrequented, and free from noise and disturbances? When she has laid her eggs in such a manner that she can cover them, what care does she take in turning them frequently, that all parts may partake of the vital warmth? When she leaves them, to provide for her necessary sustenance, how punctually does she return before they have time to cool, and become incapable of producing an animal? In the summer, you see her giving herself greater freedoms, and quitting her care for above two hours together; but, in winter, when the rigour of the seasons would chill the principles of life, and destroy the young one, she grows more assiduous in her attendance, and stays away but half the time.

10. When the birth approaches, with how much nicety and attention does she help the chick to break its prison? Not to take notice of her covering it from the injuries of the weather, providing it proper nourishments, and teaching it to help itself; nor to mention her forsaking the nest if after the usual time of reckoning the young ones does not make its appearance. A chimerical operation could not be followed with greater art or diligence than is seen in the hatching of a chick; though there are many other birds that show an infinitely greater sagacity in all the fore mentioned particulars.

11. But at the same time the hen, that has all this seeming ingenuity (which is indeed absolutely necessary for the propagation of the species) considered in other respects, is without the least glimmering of thought or common sense. She mistakes a piece of chalk for an egg, and sits upon it in the same manner: she is insensible of any increase or diminution in the number of those she lays she does not distinguish between her own and those of another species; and when the birth appears of ever so different bird, will cherish it for her own. In all these circumstances, which do not carry an immediate regard to the subsistence of her self or her species, she is a very idiot.

12. There is not in my opinion, any thing more mysterious in nature than this instinct in animals, which thus rises above reason, and falls infinitely short of it. It cannot be accounted for by any properties in matter, and the same time works after so odd a manner, that one cannot think it the faculty of an in

tellectual being. For my own part, I look upon it as upon the principle of gravitation in bodies, which is not to be explained by any known qualities inherent in the bodies themselves, not from any laws in mechanism; but according to the best notions of the greatest philosophers, is an immediate impression from the first mover and the divine energy acting in the creature.

Good breeding.

1. COMPLAISANCE renders a superior amiable, an equal

agreeable, and an inferior acceptable. Its smooth distinction, sweetens conversation, and makes every one in the company pleased with himself. It produces good nature and mutual benevolence, encourages the timorous, soothes the turbulent, humanizes the fierce, and distinguishes a society of civilized persons from a confusion of savages. In a word, complaisance is a virtue that blends all orders of men together in a friendly intercourse of words and actions, and is suited to that equality in human nature which every one ought to consider, so far as is consistent with the order and economy of the world.

2. If we could look into the secret anguish and affliction of every man's heart, we should often find, that more of it arises from little imaginary distresses, such as checks, frowns, contradictions, expressions of contempt, and (what Shakspeare reckons among other evils under the sun)

66 -The proud man's contumely,

"The insolence of office, and the spurns

The only

"That patient merit of the unworthy takes," than from the more real pains and calamities of life. method to remove these imaginary distresses as much as possible out of human life, would be the universal practice of such an ingenious complaisance as I have been here describing, which, as it is a virtue, may be defined to be a "constant endeavour to please those whom we converse with so far as we may do it innocently."

4. Good breeding necessarily implies civility: but civility does not reciprocally imply good breeding. The former has its intrinsic weight and value which the latter always adorns, and often doubles by its workmanship.

To sacrifice one's own self-love to other people's, is a short, but, I believe, a true definition of civility: to do it with ease, propriety and grace, is good breeding. The one is the result of good nature; the other of good sense, joined to experience, observation and attention.

4. A ploughman will be civil, if he is good natured, but cannot be well bred. A courtier will be well bred, though perhaps without good nature, if he has but good sense. Flattery is the

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