CHARLES.
It is wonderful! But can these skilful creatures work without the least reflection?
DR. BARTLETT.
They have not thinking powers, of course they cannot deliberate about it. God has created them with a certain ability or instinct to direct them infallibly. Man is a superior animal, he only in this world is endued with the noble power of reflection.
CHARLES.
This preference demands our gratitude.
DR. BARTLETT.
Certainly, my dear, demands our utmost diligence to cultivate the precious gift. We ought never to speak or act without reflection, and our whole conduct should be conformable to the wise designs of the Creator:—this is the only way to make ourselves worthy of our dignity. The Doctor then left us.
I preserve in my mind all these good instructions, dear mother; never, no never, shall I forget them. And as God has made us capable of reasoning, if we abuse this goodness, and act without understanding, we are not above the senseless brutes.
WILLIAM.