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number of human actions are merely mechanical: because they are done imperceptibly to the agent, and without any direction from the will; which are to be ascribed to the im'pression of objects and the primordial disposition af the machine, wherein the influence of the soul has no share; of which number are all habits of the body acquired from the reiteration of certain actions. In all such circumstances, human beings are no better than automata. 2. There are some natural movements so involuntary that we cannot restrain them: for example, that admirable mechanism ever on the watch to preserve an equilibrium, when we stoop, bend, or incline our bodies in any way, and when we walk upon a narrow plank. 3. The natural liking for, and antipathy against certain objects, which in children precede the power of knowing them, and which sometimes in grown persons triumph over all the efforts of reason; are all phenomena to be accounted for from the wonderful mechanism of the body, and are so many cogent proofs of that irresistable influence which objects have on the human frame. 4. Every one knows how much our passions depend on the degree of motion into which the blood is put, and the reciprocal impressions caused by the animal

spirits between the heart and brain, that are so closely connected by their nerves; and if such effects may be produced by such simple mechanical means as the mere increase of motion in the blood, without any direction of the will, we are not to wonder at the actions of brutes being the effects only of a refined mechanisin, without thought or perception. 5. A farther proof will arise from a consideration of the many wonderful effects which even the ingenuity of men has contrived to bring about by mechanical means; the audroide, for instance, of Mr. Kempell, which plays at chess. Now, it is not to be questioned, but that the mechanism of the body of the meanest animal infinitely surpasses that of Mr. Kempell's machine; and what can be the consequence of this, but that the actions of that animal must be proportionally more surprising than those of the wooden chessplayer?

The above is a short abstract of all the arguments that are brought in favour of the Cartesian system: but they are evidently very far from being conclusive.

The most rational opposers of the Cartesian scheme maintain that, brutes are endowed with a principle of ensation as well as we; though of an inferior nature to ours. Great

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disputes, however, have arisen on this subject; some maintaining that,the souls of brutes are merely sensitive, and that they are altogether destitute of reflection and understanding; others, that they not only reason,but make a better use of it than man do. That the brutes are endowed only with sensation, and totally destitute of all power of reflection, or even reasoning, is what can by no means be maintained on good grounds; neither can it be asserted that they can act entirely from instinct, or a blind propensity to certain things, without knowing why or wherefore. numberless instances,needless to be mentioned here, but which will readily occur to every reader, it is evident, that education will get the better of many of the instincts of brutes; which could never be the case were they absolutely incapable of reasoning. On the other hand, it is equally certain, that they are by no means capable of education in the same degree that men are; neither are the rational exertions of beasts at all to be compared even with those of the meanest savages. One remarkable of this is in the use of the element of fire. The most most savage nations have known how to make this element subservient to their purposes; or, if some have been found who have been entirely ig

norant of its existence, they have quickly learned its uses on seeing it made use of by others. but though many of the brute creatures are delighted with warmth, and have opportunities every day of seeing how fire is supplied with fuel, and by that means preserved, it never was known that one of them attempted to preserve a fire by this means. This shows a strange defect of rationality, unaccountable upon any other supposition than that the soul or sentient principle of brutes is some how or other inferior in its nature to that of man; but still it is a sentient principle, capable of perceptions as quick, and in many instances much more so than our

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Father Bougeant supports his opinion of the spirits of brute creatures being devils in the following manner: Having proved at large that beasts naturally have understanding," Reason (says he) naturally inclines us to believe that beasts have a spiritual soul; and the only thing that opposes this sentiment is, the consequences that might be inferred from it. If brutes have a soul, that that soul must be either matter or spirit; it must be one of the two, and yet you dare affirm neither. You dare not say it is matter, because you must then necessarily suppose

matter to be capable of thinking; nor will you say that it is spirit, this opinion bringing with it consequences contrary to the principles of religion; and this, among others, that man would differ from beasts only by the degrees of plus and minus, [more and less which would demolish re very foundation of all religion.* Therefore, if I can elude all these consequences; if I can assign to beasts a spiritual soul, without striking at the doctrines of religion; it is evident, that my system. being the most agreeable to reason, is the only warrantable hypothesis. Now I shall, and can do it, with the greatest ease imaginable. I even have means, by the same method, to explain many obscure passages the Holy Scriptures, and to resolve some very great difficulties which are not well confuted. This we shall unfold in a more particular manner.

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*This reasoning is absurd. Why not the souls o brutes differ in degrees of PLUS and MINUS from the souls of men in heaven, as well as their bodies on earth, which we have already shown in the scale of gradation from the Great Creator of the universe, to the least animalcule ?-We are told there aredifferent orders and degrees of angels in heaven ministering before the Throne of GOD. And we are also told there will be different degrees of happiness appointed for the saints and martyrs who have sealed the cause with their blood.

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