, 1840-06-06
EXTRACT.


THERE is, we humbIy think, something I'M
pressively appalling in the reflection that ev-
cry thing in creation has been immutabIy
fixed, by 4 strict entail, save and except the
march, progressive or retrograde, Of human
reason.
The velocity of lightning, the sound Of
thunder, the power of the wind, which still
goeth where it listeth, do not increase. The
heat of the sun, the blueness of the SKY, the
freshness OF mountain air, The solemn gram
deur of the trackiess ocean, remain ~unalter.
ed. The nest Of the bird improves no more
than its p!umage-the haGitaiion OF the tea
YER no mole than lis fur-the industry OF the
bee no more than its honey: and, lovely as
is the melody of the English lark, yet the
unchanged accents OF lis morning hymn dli-
ly proclaim 10 us from the lirmamentol heav
en-, that in the conjugation of the works OF
Nature there are no distinctions OF lenses,
for that what is, what was, and what will be,
are the same.
But it is not so with hnnan reason. Man
alone has the power to mass and bequea,h
IT, r--H.iip whatever knowledge he &C
I"Hes, alu .'u' cur coalition on earth NAV
lClil-CUCes dIu uISIOsSiiGS Vi liO- HiO navy
preceded us.
Human reason being, therefore, a iiuclua-
ting series, while brute instinct is n fixed
quantity, there is something encouraging in
rejecting that the high degree of instlnc:
with which animals are gifted, coupled with
our promised dominion over every beast OF
the field, ~forelells the superior eminence
which human intelligence is capable of al
taining. For instance, the powerful eye
sight OF the eagle might have almost led. Il
philosopher TO prophesy the invention OF The
telescope, by which we have surpassed it
the astonishing instinct of those birds OF
America, which from the luxury of Il south
ern latitude annually return 10 Il wilderness
nearly Il thousand miles distant, TO build their
nest on the very trees upon whose branch
es they were reared, might have led him to
~foretcll the discovery of the compass, which
enables men not only in one direction, but
in all directions, to probe their way 10 the re-
hottest regions of the earth.
The strength and f~erocitv Of the lion, the
tiger, and the rhinoceros, might have fore
told the invention of firearms, which have
empowered us, with fearless confidence, to
seek rather than avoid every beast OF the
field.
The immense size of the whale. so fortified
by the boisterous element IN which it lives,
might have led Il man to prornosticatc the
simple apparatus by which it is now captur.
ed.
The speed Of the horse-the strength OF
the ox-the acute sense of smell in the dog
the patient endurance OF .'lhe ship of the
| Io.ort - tho cop,al -fha ct,nan.lnnc pnyvar al
the elephant-lnd the swiftness of the car.
rier-pigeon's wing, have already, by the ex.
ertion Of the human mind, one after another,
been made suhservient to the interest oil
man. for whose dominions they were created;
and, though we cannot deny that, in certain
instances, human reason has not yet surpass
ed brute inslict; yet we should remember
that in science, as we'll as in religion, it has
benefcently been declared TO us, Seek, and
ye shall find; knock, and it shall he opened
unto you.
If this train of reasoning had been applied
to the early discovery of America, as wei
rs to our almost simultaneous acquaintance
with other immense, uninhabited regions
whose mountains, plains, lakes, rivers and
cataracts, on a scale of stupcndous magnif
~cence, totally u%nsuitcd II the means we then
possessed, had apparently been created alto.
gether too large for us TO grapple with-ii
the same train of reasoning had been applied
to the fearful increase Of population, stimuli
taneously observable among every nation on
the globe-it would surely only have been
placing due confidence in the wisdom of thai
Providence which sknoweth our necessities
before we ask had we from these data
~prophesied the advent among US Of some new
gigantic power, strong enough to enable u.
not only 70 traverse these new countries, bur
to mingle with their inhabitants with q "a