Of the simple principles which impel the mind to ac tion, the first which demands our attention is instinct ; which directs to certain actions, antecedently to all ex perience, and, probably, in most cases, without any knowledge of the end to be produced. The term is, in general, not used with sufficient precision. It is often confounded with our natural appetites and desires. We would distinguish them in this way, that the appetites are certain feelings of want ; whilst instinct is the pi in ciple which directs to the means of their gratification. Thus hunger and thirst in a child, are not instincts ; but suction and deglutition ale. This distinction, how ever, is seldom rigorously attended to. Nothing can be more unphilosophical than the theory which supposes the human mind to be merely a bundle of instincts ; and which endeavours to account for the superiority of man, by assigning him a pal tic ular instinct adapted to all the emergencies of his circumstances. In this no tion, there is a complete confusion both of language and ideas ; tot if we consider instinct as the principle which, prior to experience, directs with invariable certainty to the gratification of our wants, it is evident that man is of all other creatures the least indebted to this princi ple for the comforts which he enjoys, and for the feelings which exalt his nature.
In order to understand this subject more thoroughly, let us consider the operation of pure instinct in the case of the lower animals, who are guided by it to all the ends for which Providence has designed them. With them, instinct is all in all. They are directed instinc tively to the food which is most proper for them ; they construct their nests or their habitations without the aid of a teacher ; and no one ever thinks of deviating from the general form adopted by the species. The young are soon as accomplished as their parents ; and the only acquisition which they gain by experience, is some knowledge of the enemies whom they have most reason to dread. This they have not by instinct ; for we see the young birds, after they are fairly fledged. and capable of flying, yet allowing themselves to be ap proached by boys, whom, however, they soon learn to consider as their greatest enemies. In some of the South Sea islands, which have been seldom visited, the larger species of frhoca, as well as several kinds of aqua tic birds, are perfectly fearless ; experience will soon teach them to lay aside their confidence in man. This may seem to make some approach to human reason ; but it is merely an exertion of memory which they pos sess in a considerable degree ; and without which they could neither avoid the dangers to which they are ex posed, nor be susceptible of that degree of education which renders them subservient to the use of man. Their acquirements, however, seem to be entirely ac cidental, and to depend solely on the simplest modifica tion of memory ; a faculty necessary for their existence ; for it is by this that the mother must know her young ; it is by this that the beasts of the forest know their ac customed lair ; and it is by this that they learn to know the places most favourable for prey, and the seasons best adapted for its capture. A wild beast attempting
to ford a stream where he has been carried down, and his life endangered, will not try it at the same place again. In these instances, the lower animals are guid ed by memory, and not by instinct; and memory to this extent is absolutely necessary for the preservation of their existence. To the same source we must ascribe all the attainments of the elephant, in so far as they are not instinctive, and all the tricks which the more saga cious animals learn in consequence of a species of edu cation.
We believe this to be the only encroachment which the lower animals ever have made, or ever can make, on the province of human reason. The comparison of two ideas in the memory, and the perception of their relation, constitute the first link in a process of reason ing ; but even this simplest of all intellectual operations, the brutes seldom, or perhaps never employ. Whilst the infallibility of their instincts, and the liberality of heaven leave them nothing to desire, they cut off the pos sibility of ulterior improvement. They have no need to labour for clothing ; it is abundantly supplied by nature ; :hey sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; because their heavenly father feedeth them ; they seek no defensive armour ; they labricate no offensive weapons, because nature has amply supplied them with both. They have no need even to tax their memory, as to the food most convenient for them ; for here, instinct is their guide, and tells them at once what is most proper and most agreeable.
For w hat purpose, then, should the inferior animals be possessed of reasoning powers ? They never could be called to exercise them ; for they gain their object with certainty without them ; man himself would not exercise his reason, were he not stimulated by his wants, and destitute of any instinct which might guide him with in fallible certainty to the attainment of his wishes. The nature of man is possessed of indefinite capabilities, from the very circumstance of his not having definite instincts adapted to every demand of his desires. In consequence of this defect, he is forced to recollect, to compare, and arrange ; and this exercise compels him to discern the beautiful order and wise disposition of the visible crea tion ; and thus to recognise an eternal source of excel lence, and an Almighty Being, to whom he owes alle giance, and to whom he perceives he must be accountable Far his actions.