creation. His body is upright, and his countenance is stamped with the characters of dignity and sovereignty. He alone sheds the tears which spring from emotions of sensibility unknown to animals; and he alone expresses the gladness of his soul by laughter. His erect posture and majestic deportment announce the superiority of his rank. He touches the earth only with the extremity of his body; his arms and hands, formed for nobler ends than the correspondent organs of quadrupeds, execute the purposes of his mind, and bring every thing within his reach, which, can minister to his wants and his pleasures. By his eyes, which reflect the intelligence of thought, and the ardour of sentiment, and which are peculiarly the organs of the soul, are expressed the soft and tender, as well as the violent and tumultuous passions. They are turned, not towards the heavens, but to the horizon, so that he may behold at once the sky which illuminates, and the earth which supports him. Their reach extends to the nearest and the most distant objects, and glances from the grains of sand at his feet, to the star which shines over his head at an immeasurable dis

tance. anastretho opst

Thus is man superior in the material and external part of his composition. Though naturalists place him in one of the classes of animals, it is not their intention to derogate from his dignity. The general denomination they give to the class, to which they assign

* For observations on the nature of man, see Buffon, vol. ii, p. 352; Varieties of the human species, Buffon, vol. iii, p. 57. Gregory's Comp. View. For man, as the head of the classes of animals, see Linnæi Systema, vol i, p. 36, &c. His external and internal constitution, Būtler's Analogy, preface, p. 16.

him, is not intended to infer a relation more intimate than the idea, whence it is derived; since even those who wish to degrade him to a level with the inferior animals, cannot but acknowledge that nature may often admit a resemblance in some particulars, coexistent with the greatest dissimilarity in others.

Man is a thinking and a rational being. His body is divisible, extended, and penetrable, and subject to disease, decay, and death; his soul is indivisible, unextended, and immaterial. He has the brilliant and inventive faculty of imagination, to form the most various ideas; he has an active memory, not merely resulting from a renewal of sensations, but retaining with exactness the impressions of preconceived ideas; and he possesses a judgment to discriminate, compare, and combine his thoughts, and to deduce conclusions from them by repeated operations of the mind. By the superiority of his courage and ingenuity he subdues animals far more bulky, more alert and stronger than himself, and makes them subservient to his purposes. Among inferior animals there is no mark of the subordination of the different species: they are never subject to each other, but all are subject to man. He possesses the exclusive faculty of speech, as well in a savage as in a civilized state. The organs of other animals, the tongue, and the palate, are nearly as perfect as his; but they cannot speak, because they are destitute of the power of thought. The cries, which they utter, more nearly resemble the sounds of a musical instrument, or the repetition of an echo, than the articulate tones of the human voice. In man there is not an instinct common to the whole species, but a mind belonging to every individual, which not only prompts him to action, and to the supply of his natural

wants, but instigates him to all the various exertions of invention, and the diversified operations of genius.

In the direction and use of these faculties, which are common to him with the inferior animals, may be discerned the superiority of his nature. "The Creator has given us eyes, by the assistance of which we discern the works of creation. He has moreover endowed us with the power of tasting, by which we perceive the parts entering into the composition of bodies; of smelling, that we may catch their subtile exhalations; of hearing, that we may receive the sound of bodies around us; and of touching, that we may examine their surfaces; and all for the purpose of our comprehending, in some measure, the wisdom of his works. The same instruments of sensation are bestowed on many other animals, who see, hear, smell, taste, and feel; but they want the faculty, which is granted us, of combining these sensations, and from thence drawing universal conclusions. When we subject the human body to the knife of the anatomist, in order to find in the structure of its internal organs something, which we do not observe in other animals, to account for this operation, we are obliged to own the vanity of our researches; we must therefore necessarily ascribe this prerogative to something altogether immaterial, which the Creator has given to man alone, and which we call SOUL." Linnæus's Reflections on the Study of Nature, p. 12. It is by the exertion of this sublime principle, in all the various modes of thought, reflection, and judgment, that he is enabled to estimate the powers of all other creatures; but they are totally incapable of ascertaining his; that he is empowered to pursue every great and noble object, to enlarge his knowledge in every direction, and make the important

discoveries of science, art, and philosophy. It is his soul, which is the seat of conscience, and makes him feel that he is accountable for his actions. It is this, which elevates him above sensible things, qualifies him for the reception of a divine revelation, and inspires him with the desire of happiness and immortality*.

Another property, which essentially distinguishes man from the other animals, is, that he is a religious being. They partake not with him in any degree, or in any respect, this sublime faculty, which is the glory of human intelligence. By his piety man is exalted above the beasts, is enabled to form a conception of the general plan of nature, and confirms the idea of order, harmony, and regularity, which he derives from surveying the works of creation, by the glimpse which he catches of the Creator.

All nations are impressed with an opinion of the existence and the providence of a Deity; not that they all obtain a knowledge of him, after the manner of a Socrates or a Newton, by contemplating the laws he has given to the universe, or the general harmony of his works, but by dwelling on those beneficial effects of his power, which interest them the most. The Indian of Peru worships the sun; the native of Bengal. ádores the Ganges, which fertilizes his plains; and the wandering Iroquois implores the spirits, who preside over his lakes and forests, to grant him success in fishing, and favourable seasons for the chase.. The Natches, a ferocious tribe, bordering on the Mississippi, erect temples, and offer the sculls of their enemies to the god of war; whilst other American savages in a

* For many interesting reflections upon the human figure and faculties, as contrasted with those of other animals, see Buffon and St. Pierre.

purer spirit of devotion confess a supreme being wise and benevolent, and his subordinate agents to whose care is intrusted the government of the world. The sentiment of piety is therefore a feature as discriminating of man as the principle of reason. It is an image, which, however mutilated by the course of time, debased by superstition, or veiled by mystery, marks him wherever he is found; and is discoverable as much in the most remote and unconnected islands in the recesses of the ocean, as upon extensive continents, where the communication of opinions and the intercourse of travellers are most easy.

In the course of our observations upon the various animals of the globe, we cannot fail to remark the uniform care, which they take of themselves and their offspring. The general laws, by which they are governed, have a constant reference to their preservation and increase. They exert the most watchful circumspection as to the places they frequent, and the enemies they avoid; and they display the greatest ingenuity in the formation of their dwellings. In such instances it cannot escape our observation that there is an evident tendency to a determined end, and that the means with which nature supplies them is nicely proportioned to that end. The principle which guides them is instinct, and not reason. They are impelled by necessity, rather than led by choice, and are passive to the impressions made upon them by external objects. Hence their works and actions are always uniform and invariable. The salmon, after having explored the wide ocean, always returns in defiance of all the obstacles which oppose her progress, to the same river, to deposit her spawn. The bee always frames her cell in the form of an hexagon, which is the most capa