prehended the gad-fly, the gnat, &c. 7. Aptera, or infects which are deftitute of wings, as the flea, the fcorpion, &c. VI. Vermes, or Worms. This order includes not only all the infects commonly called worms, but all teftaceous animals, and the zoophytes, or plant animals. The Comparative Nature of Man. I. When the Supreme Being called the universe into existence, he began with the moft fimple elements, and proceeded, firft to the creation of the vegetable tribes, then to the inferior animals, and finally to the human race. Man begins his fpeculations with himself, and, from contemplating the ftructure of his own body, and the faculties of his mind, proceeds to furvey the reft of the creation. He confiders the properties of animals, the plants which cover the earth, and the maffes of unorganized matter, which are found beneath its furface and this view raifes his mind from the contemplation of effects fo numerous, fo diverfified, and fo wonderful, to the difcovery of their primary cause. Man, the image of the Deity, the laft and nobleft of all his works, is diftinguished from other animals, no lefs by his external form, than his in ternal faculties. The moft complete knowledge of him is derived from comparifon; for if the brute creation had no existence, his nature could not be accurately defined. Such is the advantage to be derived from comparative anatomy, and the contraft between the intellectual powers of man, and the inftinct of beafts. The external figure of the human fpecies indicates him to be the lord of the creation his body is upright, and his countenance is ftamped with the characters of dignity and fovereignty. He alone expreffes the gladness of his foul by laughter, and he alone fheds the tears, which fpring from emotions of fympathy unknown to animals. His erect pofture and majeftic deportment announce the fuperiority of his rank. He touches the earth only with the extremity of his body; his arms and hands execute the purposes of his will, and bring every thing within his reach, which can minifter to his wants and his pleafures. Man is a thinking and a rational being. His body is divifible, extended, and penetrable, and fubject to difeafe, decay, and death; his foul is Naturæ imperio gemimus, cum funus adultæ Et minor igne rogi. A grege mutorum, atque ideo venerabile foli Juvenal, Sat. XV. indivifible, He has indivisible, unextended, and immaterial. the brilliant and inventive faculty of imagination to form the moft various ideas; he has an active memory, not merely refulting from a renewal of fenfations, but retaining with exactnefs the impreffions of preconceived ideas; and he poffeffes a judgment to difcriminate, compare, and combine thefe ideas, and to deduce conclufions from them. By the fuperiority of his courage and ingenuity, he fubdues animals far more bulky, more alert and ftronger than himfelf, and makes them fubfervient to his purposes. He poffeffes the exclufive faculty of fpeech, as well in a favage as in a civilized state. The organs of other animals, the tongue, and the palate, are nearly as perfect as his; but they cannot fpeak, because they are deftitute of the power of thought. The cries, which they utter, more nearly refemble the founds 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 fpecies, but a mind peculiar to every individual, which not only prompts him to fupply his natural wants, but inftigates him to all the various exertions of industry, and the diverfified operations of genius. In the direction and use of these faculties, which are common to him with the inferior animals, may h Camper, a celebrated German anatomift, in his Kleinere Shriften (fmaller works) has proved, that the vocal organs of the Ourang-outang are different in their conftruction from thofe of man, and are not adapted to articulation. be difcerned the fuperiority of his nature'. It is by the exertion of his judgment, that he is enabled to estimate the powers of all other creatures; but they are totally incapable of afcertaining his; that he is empowered to purfue every great and noble object, to enlarge his knowledge in every direction, and make the important difcoveries of fcience, art, and philofophy. It is his foul, which is the feat of confcience, and makes him feel that he is accountable for his actions. It is this, which elevates him above fenfible things, and infpires him with the defire of happinefs and immortality. i "The Creator has given us eyes, by the affistance of which we difcern the works of creation. He has moreover endowed us with the power of tasting, by which we perceive the parts entering into the compofition of bodies; of Smelling, that we may catch their fubtile exhalations; of hearing, that we may receive the found of bodies around us; and of touching, that we may examine their furfaces; and all for the purpose of our comprehending, in fome measure, the wifdom of his works. The fame inftruments of fenfation are bestowed on many other animals, who fee, hear, fmell, taste, and feel; but they want the faculty, which is granted us, of combining thefe fenfations, and from thence drawing univerfal conclufions. When we fubject the human body to the knife of the anatomift, in order to find in the ftructure of its internal organs fomething which we do not obferve in other animals, to account for this operation, we are obliged to own the vanity of our refearches; we must therefore neceffarily afcribe this prerogative to fomething 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. Another Another property, which effentially diftinguishes man from the other animals, is, that he is a religious being. They partake not with him in any degree, or in any refpect, this fublime faculty, which is the glory of human intelligence. By his piety man is exalted above the beafts, 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 furveying the works of creation, by the glimpfe which he catches of the Creator. All nations are impreffed 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 univerfe, 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 worthips the Sun; the native of Bengal adores the Ganges, which fertilizes his plains; and the wandering Iroquois implores the fpirits, who prefide over his lakes and forefts, to grant him fuccefs in fifhing, and favourable feasons for the chase. The Natches, a ferocious tribe, bordering on the Miffifippi, erect temples, and offer the fculls of their enemies to the god of war: whilft other American favages, in a purer fpirit of devotion, confefs a fupreme Being wife and benevolent, and inferior deities, fome good and fome bad, to whofe care is intrufted the government of the world. The fame belief prevails |