[7] Histoire du Chien.
We do not pretend to say that all animals calculate time, or that any have the power of calculation which man has; and as for any abstract idea respecting time or eternity, it is out of the question. Hence they neither look back upon time, nor forward into the future. Their measure of knowledge is wisely allotted to them; it is in due accordance with their animal wants, and final destiny; but man, the heir of immortality, destined to exist throughout eternity, is so mentally gifted as to be able to think and reflect upon the past, the present, and the future. Were he not immortal, he would never, perhaps, have been endowed by his Maker with the idea of a future life. However this may be, the Holy Scriptures assure him of a life to come, and for which he must prepare himself only by one way. The hopes of the idolater are false. Oh, then, how desirable it is that a knowledge of the true way of salvation should be spread throughout the world; that error and superstition should be banished; and that the light of the gospel should cast its heavenly radiance over the benighted regions of the earth!
7. Locality.—A knowledge or perception of locality, that is, of one place as distinct from another, is regarded by some as a result of the agency of an exclusive mental power; but for ourselves, we see in it only the exercise of attention, leading to distinction, and involving the aid of memory. To attempt to prove that man is endowed with this capability is useless; so is the dog, so is the cat, so are all our domestic animals. Attention, distinction, and memory, are exercised by the carrier-pigeon; when let free, at a long distance from home, it returns, and rests on its old abode. But what are we to say in the case of other animals, as the dog, the cat, and the horse, travelling back from a great distance to their home, without having gained the experience of the pigeon by soaring aloft, and surveying a wide extent of land below? It is well known that year after year the swallow and the martin, and other migratory birds, return to the same spot, in order to rear their brood. Swallows and martins have been marked, so that there could be no possibility of mistake. These birds take their departure in autumn, journeying southwards; they then traverse Europe, and cross the Mediterranean; they winter in the warmer regions of Africa, and on the return of spring they commence their northern flight. What directs the course of a particular pair of swallows from central Africa, over land and sea, to a particular cottage or barn in Middlesex, Surrey, or Berkshire? Again, with respect to the bee, which wanders miles away from its hive, visiting fields and gardens in quest of honey—how is it guided in its outward and homeward flight? Has it landmarks?—does it know each wall, each hedge-row, each tree, each garden and field over which it passes? If so, how do the bees find their way to and from the floating apiaries on the rivers, through various parts of the European continent, and also in Egypt, the resting-place being continually changed according to the judgment of their owners? In Egypt it is the practice to transport the apiaries to distant places, in order to take advantage of the succession of flowers. "In Lower Egypt, for example, about the end of October, the bee-keepers embark on the Nile, and migrate with them to Upper Egypt, calculating to arrive there when the inundation is rapidly subsiding, and the flowers are beginning to bloom. Having stayed a short time in one place, till they suppose that the bees have collected all the honey and wax of the district, they remove two or three leagues lower down, and so on, as the plants come into bloom. Thus gradually returning homewards, they collect the honey of the adjacent country; and about the beginning of February, having travelled the whole length of Egypt, arrive at the spots whence they had set out, and at their habitations. Niebuhr saw, between Cairo and Damietta, a collection of four thousand hives, in their transit from Upper Egypt to the Delta."[8] How do the bees, their locality being thus changed from time to time, find their way, not only to the boat of hives, but to their own peculiar hives respectively? There are points in the economy of animals which we cannot fathom, and it is better to confess our ignorance than to attempt a puerile theory. To speak truly, we cannot answer the question.
[8] Nat. Cyclop.
8. There are certain qualities of mind, certain principles which, whatever doubt may be held respecting our previous observations, at once distinguish man, and elevate him far above the highest brute. In fact, they take him out of the pale of the brute creation, and isolate him amidst the living creatures by which he is surrounded. He is the only animal being who can form any idea of God and his attributes, of eternity, of virtue and vice, of justice and mercy; in his breast alone are implanted conscience, faith and hope, repentance and spiritual peace. Herein have we an argument, to prove that man is not made to begin and end his career on this world, beautiful as it is, and fitted to meet all his animal powers, senses, and enjoyments. Why, indeed, should these principles be implanted in man—principles immediately bearing upon a future state of existence, if that future state were not ordained? Where in creation can a similar anomaly be demonstrated? Every brute is gifted with vital functions and organization fitted to its destined mode of life, and with a kind and degree of mind (where this is needed) in exact accordance thereunto. Beyond this all is blank; indeed, the most wonderful works which brutes perform, and which in man would argue great thought and experience, are in them the result of instinct alone. The beautiful corals and zoophytes, which we so much admire, are instinct-built tenements. Instinct teaches the bee how to arrange her waxen cells, and load them with honey as a provision for the winter, and the bird how to build her nest. On the contrary, the operations of what may be called mind, in contradistinction to instinct, are displayed only by the higher brutes, and, more over, are limited within narrow bounds.
We have heard persons assert, that a dog manifests the workings of conscience, because it often betrays itself by its timid, irresolute manner after pilfering, as if conscious that it had done wrong. The fact is, that the dog is conscious of no moral guilt; it has been previously punished for a like offence, and fears a repetition of the punishment; this is the solution of the whole affair.
We have so far shown the great superiority of the mind of man above that of even the highest brutes, and not this only, but its essential differences, thereby rendering its possessor, indeed, the paragon of animals. Let us now endeavour to explain what information is gained by him from the exercise of the senses.
In speaking of God, and of celestial beings, we always use, and cannot but use, language drawn from the properties, qualities, and appearances of things around us, or from the passions of our own minds, or from the configuration and actions of our own bodies. We cannot, in fact, conceive of God except figuratively—hence to the limit of our intellect is the language of Scripture adapted. Though written under inspiration, it was written by men, and for men; and, therefore, the personification of the Almighty is unavoidable. It is said, "Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known;"[9] we talk of the "work of his hands," of "the arm of God," etc., and we know that we are speaking figuratively, and it is because we know this, that we turn with disgust from the pictures, however elaborate, which, painted by Roman Catholics, represent the God of heaven and earth under the similitude of an aged man, with a long beard, and white hair, looking down from the clouds. We know that "God is a Spirit," but we have no conception of what a spirit is; we know nothing of spirit—nay, we know nothing of matter essentially; it is only of some of its properties that our senses afford us information, and it may have many properties, for the discernment of which no senses have been bestowed upon us. Well, then, may it be written, "Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?"[10] We cannot, however, doubt, that the Almighty has given to us a mind and senses quite adequate, not only to our animal wants, but to our spiritual pilgrimage through this transitory scene, until we arrive at those realms of bliss, where ignorance shall be exchanged for knowledge, and every difficulty cleared away.
[9] Psa. lxxvii. 19.
[10] Job xi. 7.