1.The chief difference between man and the other animals consists in this,that the former has reason,whereas the latter have only instinct;but,in order tunderstand what we mean by the terms reason and instinct,it will be necessary tmention three things in which the difference very distinctly1 appears.
2.Let us first,tbring the parties as nearly on a level as possible,consider man in a savage state,wholly occupied,like the beasts of the field,in providing for the wants of his animal nature;and here the first distinction that appears between them is the use of implements2. When the savage provides himself with a hut or a wigwam3 for shelter,or that he may store up his provisions,he does nmore than is done by the rabbit,the beaver,the bee,and birds of every species.
3.But the man can not make any progress in this work without tools;he must provide himself with an ax even before he can cut down a tree for its timber;whereas these animals form their burrows4,their cells,or their nests,with nother tools than those with which nature has provided them. In cultivating the ground,also,man can dnothing without a spade or a plow;nor can he reap what he has sown till he has shaped an implement with which tcut clown his harvest. But the inferior animals provide for themselves and their young without any of these things.1 Distinction,a point of difference. 2 Implements,utensils,tools.3Wigwam,an Indian hut.4Burrows,holes in the earth where animals lodge.
4.Now for the second distinction. Man,in all his operations,makes mistakes;animals make none. Did you ever hear of such a thing as a bird sitting on a twig lamenting over her half-finished nest and puzzling her little head tknow how tcomplete it? Or did you ever see the cells of a beehive in clumsy,irregular shapes,or observe anything like a discussion1 in the little community,as if there were a difference of opinion among the architects?
5.The lower animals are even better physicians than we are;for when they are ill,they will,many of them,seek out some particular herb,which they dnot,use as food,and which possesses a medicinal2 quality exactly suited tthe complaint;whereas,the whole college of physicians will dispute for a century about the virtues of a single drug.
6.Man undertakes nothing in which he is not more or less puzzled;and must try numberless experiments before he can bring his undertakings tanything like perfection;even the simplest operations of domestic life are not well performed without some experience;and the term of man‘s life is half wasted before he has done with his mistakes and begins tprofit by his lessons.
7.The third distinction is that animals make nimprovements;while the knowledge,and skill,and the success of man are perpetually on the increase. Animals,in all their operations,follow the first impulse of nature or that instinct which God has implanted in them. In all they dundertake,therefore,their works are more perfect and regular than those of man.
8.But man,having been endowed3with the faculty4of thinkingor reasoning about what he does,is enabled by patience and industry tcorrect the mistakes intwhich he at first falls,and tgon constantly improving. A bird’s nest is,indeed,a perfect structure;1Discussion,the act of arguing a point,debate. 2 Medicinal,healing.3 Endowed,furnished with any gift,quality,etc. 4Faculty,ability tact or perform.yet the nest of a swallow of the nineteenth century is not at all more commodious or elegant than those that were built amid the rafters of Noah‘s ark. But if we compare the wigwam of the savage with the temples and palaces of ancient Greece and Rome,we then shall see twhat man’s mistakes,rectified1 and improved upon,conduct him.
9."When the vast sun shall veil his golden light Deep in the gloom of everlasting night;When wild,destructive flames shall wrap the skies,When ruin triumphs,and when nature dies;Man shall alone the wreck of worlds survive;‘Mid falling spheres,immortal man shall live."
-Jane Taylor.
1 Rectified,corrected.