Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1869-02-08
DO BRUTEs REAsoNp

In oil the efforts made to futhom tho
consciousness Of the animal creation, it
is only in so far Us the lower orders of
animals possess tho same mental facul-
ties with men, that we can have any
conception Of their inner character.
We interpret their actions rs We do
those of men, and often illustrate hui
man traits by theirs, a. when We say
"as cross as a bear" a" us SLY as n fox"
'sas harmless as d dove" Sir Isaac
Newton, while denying any mind to
brutes, attributed all their manifesto
tons to the direct action of the Creator,
who n%omentarily influenced Thorn, with
out any intelligence on their part. It
is strange that so acute u reasoner MS
Newton, should not have seen that such
q theory would only remove the brutes
from the human family by exalting them
into q more immediate relation with tho
Creator, and that il the mediate action
of mind upon matter was able to pro-
ducc the larger results We behold in
man, it was certainly adequate to the
feeblcr manifestations seen in the brute.
The various faculties Of the human
mind, though capable Of indefinite dc.
velopmont, are essentially the same in
all men. The demonstrations Of Euclid,
and the splendid results Of modern
science, involve no power different in
nature from that which guides the prac-
teal acts Of the unlettered savage. That
the results differ so vastly, is owing to
the higher degree in which the same
faculties have been developed in the
fully cultivated man. 1t will be found
to be much the same in the case Of the
lower animals. They possess self.con-
seriousness, perceptions, power Of com.
parison. and judgment, just MS men pos
sess them. The difference consists in the
degree in which these faculties are de-
velopcd. The emotions Of expectation,
fear, resentment, sorrow, JOY, sympathy,
and the benevolent affections of love OF
kindred, love Of bencfactors and ofhomc,
are manifest. They share the general
sensations of heat and cold, wet and
dry, hunger and thirst, and even the
sense of the beautiful. That they pos
sess n piU capable Of carrying out their
designs their actions abnndantly testify,
and their desire for pleasure, love Of so
ciety, and their fonduess for power arc
evident. Very many of the faculties Of
human nature thus have their parallels
in at least some portion Of tho brute
creation. The degrees Of development
differ rs widely among brute animals a:
they do in the human race, and th0re i:
n far greater difference in point of in
t~clligence between tho highest and low
est animals than between the highesI
animals and 4
The chief glory Of the man over thu
brute appears to be in his moral sense
This, rs far as can be d~iscerned, doc!
not enter into the internal structure o
lower animals. Yet it can DO seen from
covering and humiliating aspect of the
dog, that knows no has offended his
master, which is his sense Of wrong
doing. lie looks up to man as hi:
highest conception, while the same fac
ulty is developed into n reverence and
worship of tho Creator. The instinct:
which seem specially bestowed upon an
imals to compensate for thoir limited
power to develop their faculties, are moi
involuntary, rs ONE assert, but evident
" are subscrvient to the will. They
often appear, MS in the case Of bees, tc
be an innate knowledge, adapted and
necessary to the purposes of their crca'
| ton but they also partake Of the ma
turc of what We call in man intuition OIL
tact. Through these, ms vol rs by
their faculties Of reason, are men con
ncctcd with the whole animal creation,
and it is chiefly by the superior devel'
opment of these faculties that men are
distinguished from them. Such consid'
erations give m additional value to the
efforts now being made to prevent their
unnecessary cruelty to animals that is
so frequently seen disgracing humanity
and placing men, not upon alevel with,
but far below the victims of their self
isEncss.