, 1874-09-27
THE SOULS OF ANIMALS.

The chance should not be neglected.
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THE SOULS OF ANIMALS.
The Rev. James Freeman Clarke. who breaches
today in Robert ColIyer's church, believes that
animals have souls. In recently published es"
eay. he argues ably and ingeniouslr in support
OF his belief.
So far As the soul is regarded as merely the
vital principle, it is evident that not only men
and animals, but plants have it. When we rise
one step higher, to tho consciousness Of self,
animals and men are still On an equality. The
characteristics Of observation. memory, I'M
aginatton, the senso Of appreciation. affection.
equal degree, By animals and mankind
Mr. Clarke gives many instances in support OF
this assertion. It vii, however. scarcely be dis
puted. The old belief that reason Was denied
pie Of animal reasoning quoted by Mr. Clarke is
good proof in itself, and could ba supplemented
By many othe,s. An elephant following an anmu-
nition- wagon saw man fall from it just before
the wheel He would inevitably have been
crushed to death had not the animal rushed
forward Of bis own motion, lifted the wheel with
bis trunk, and held it in the air until the wagon
had passed over tho man without hurting him.
t.Here were combined presence Of mind,
goodwill, knowledge Of tho danger to tho
man, and rapid calculation Of ho"
he could be saved" The superiority
OF man is not to TO wholly explained by his
greater command OF Some OF these qualities, or
BY physical circumstances, such as the exquisite
formation Of his hand, the size Of his brain.
his erect structure. his greater independence Ct
climatic considerations. etc The secret Of his
superiority must be sought in the radical differ
ences between him and the animal. He has
powers OF tool-uang, language, self-cuiruro,
progress in civilization, and religious develop
ment which the brute has not. The baboon
uses stone to crack nut, but has no imple-
ments made or kept for general use. The Other
distinctions are perhaps self-c1idcnt, although
Lord Bscou considered dog's reverence
for his master As rudiment OF religion.
The dog, like his master, Worshlps the
greatest power Of which he is conscious. The
hre differences are ali explainable, A1r. Clarke
contends in a convincing argument that is too
long to be transferred to these columns, By the
fact first enuncated BY Locke, that animals
cannot, and men car, have abstract ideas. Since
this is all the difference, since the bruto has ali
the other eoul-characte1istics Mr. Clarke con-
t+1o a. %hov hov han
but none the less souls. s'1f re arc souls" he
says. "so surely are they" The question OF
their Immortality remains. They have many
heroic qualities fitting them for higher state.
Justice perhaps demands that their sutferings
on this earth should be requited by happiness
elsewhere. It ia impossible, moreover, to think
Of life AZ destroyed. That subtle principle that
escapes our senses persists in bodies that are
changed in ali their particles every seven years.
1t molds each particle it enters the feshy
frame. When it ceases the process, and death
occurs, it il the destA OF the body. That de-
cays, but there is no sign Of the decay Of the
principle. The latter has simply ceased to mani
fest itself to us in one particular way. "We
have absolutely no reason at all for saying that
it has ceased to exist" This il as true in regard
to plants and animals as men. According to
Dir. Clarke, 1T tho moment Of death the principle
OF life - probably has reached q criais which
consists in the putting on Of new forms aud as~
cending into higher order Of organized e1ist~
ence.'
Martin Luther beloved in animals souls and
in their immortality. He consoled q child
gneving over tho death OF her dog By telling
her that she should have her pet to play with in
Heaven. and that it would havo golden tail!
It ia to be hoped, however, that the higher
order of organized existence" will be good
deal higher. We may be psrdonea for willing
ness to believe in the entire annihilation Of the
mosquito and mothers in Israel who IRE also
housekeepers on this earth you'd doubtless pre-
fer not to meet in the New Jerusalem the spirit
ua1ized cockfoaches that haYs 4'gone before"
The average Driton is not generally credited
with stong attachment to theories. Ho is not
nj ],fo win