express its general affection or feeling by a general sound,—as a cow when she lows for her calf, or a dog when he barks at an intruder.
Now, it is for tbe same reason—namely, from the want of the superior degree of the mind—that the lower animals have no power to change and pervert the proper order of their natures: that which is their humiliation, is also their protection; while that which is man's glory, is also his source of danger. The brute animal has no instrument with which to pervert his nature. Having but a single range or plane of thought, he has no power of reflection, and thence no capability (as man has) of forming erroneous judgments and conclusions, by which he may lead himself astray. The essence of his mental life is constituted of certain animal wants or inclinations, in accordance with which he has certain perceptions or instincts—and he has no range of thought beyond. When therefore he feels a certain impulse,—as the desire for food for instance,—he simply yields to it, having just light enough from his instinct to enable him to see the means to satisfy his want. Thus he blindly obeys the impulses of his nature, having no power of reflection by which he can observe them, nor consequently direct or guide them, either in, a right or wrong direction. As these impulses make up the order of his constituted nature therefore he merely follows the order of that nature, and cannot modify or change it, whether for better or for worse.
Let us take a simple case, for the sake of illustration. A brute feels a desire for food, and for a certain kind of food. This desire is impressed upon him by his Creator, and is therefore a moderate and proper one.
