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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/31747-8.txt b/31747-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0d4ee9e --- /dev/null +++ b/31747-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2953 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sound Mind, by John Haslam + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Sound Mind + or, Contributions to the natural history and physiology + of the human intellect + +Author: John Haslam + +Release Date: March 23, 2010 [EBook #31747] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOUND MIND *** + + + + +Produced by Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + +SOUND MIND; + +OR, + +_CONTRIBUTIONS_ + +TO THE + +NATURAL HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY + +OF THE + +HUMAN INTELLECT. + +By JOHN HASLAM, M.D. + +LATE OF PEMBROKE HALL, CAMBRIDGE: +FORMERLY PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL MEDICAL, NATURAL HISTORY, +AND CHEMICAL SOCIETIES OF EDINBURGH. + +LONDON: + +PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN, +PATERNOSTER-ROW. +1819. + + +Printed by Strahan and Spottiswoode, +Printers-Street, London. + + + + +TO + +SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH, M.P. + +DEAR SIR, + +The privilege of long acquaintance, and a sufficient experience of the +kindness of your disposition, might be an adequate inducement to +dedicate the following pages to your notice. To this offering, I am +however impelled by motives, which boast a higher descent, and more +enlightened character:--an admiration of your superior talents, and the +adaptation of those excellent endowments, to the advancement and +happiness of the human race,--and by which you have been enabled + + + "The applause of listening senates to command." + + +The subjects to which I now solicit the permission of prefixing your +name, were once your favourite study; and I am induced to consider your +profound researches into the nature and constitution of the human +intellect, as the basis of that high reputation, you now so deservedly +maintain among the wise and dignified of your contemporaries. + + I am, Dear Sir, + with respect, esteem, + and the kindest feelings, + Your very obedient servant, + JOHN HASLAM. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The indulgence of the public has been already extended to several works +which I have submitted to its decision on the subject of INSANITY; and +the same favourable interpretation is now solicited for the present +performance,--which attempts the more difficult investigation of SOUND +MIND. In treating of Mental Derangement, I became very early sensible, +that a competent knowledge of the faculties and operations of the +Intellect in its healthy state, was indispensably necessary to him, who +professed to describe its disorders:--that in order to define the +aberrations, the standard should be fixed. There was indeed no lack of +theories and systems of Metaphysic; and although they essentially +differed, many possessed the highest reputation. Amidst this distraction +of conflicting opinions, which no mediator could adequately +reconcile,--without daring to contend with a host of discrepancies, or +presuming to demolish the lofty edifices which scholastic Pneumatology +had reared,--I determined to throw off the shackles of authority, and +think for myself. For it was evident, on the freehold ground of +literature, that there is "ample room and verge enough" for every man to +build his own tenement;--and the present construction is too lowly to +intercept another's prospect, and without those ornaments that might +provoke the jealousy, or challenge the rivalship of surrounding +inhabitants. + +The mind of every rational person may be considered as an elaboratory, +wherein he may conduct psychological experiments:--he is enabled to +analyze his own acquirement,--and if he be sufficiently attentive, he +may note its formation and progress in his children:--and thus trace the +accumulation of knowledge, from the dawn of infancy to the meridian of +manhood. The prosecution of these means, according to my own views, will +qualify the diligent observer, to become the Natural Historian and +Physiologist of the Human Mind. + +In the comparative survey of the capacities of Man, and the intelligence +of animals, the contrast has appeared so striking, that it was +impossible wholly to abstain from the inference of his future +destination:--notwithstanding very different conclusions had been +extorted by some modern physiologists. It has been often remarked, that +the practitioners of the healing art, have been very moderately +impressed with a solicitude for the future. This observation, in some +late instances, has been unhappily confirmed:--but it would be unjust to +visit the whole tribe with a sweeping and acrimonious censure, for the +transgressions of a few. The reproach has, however, long existed. The +venerable father of English poetry, in his description of the Doctor, +has passed a high and merited compliment to his learning; which at that +period was a heterogeneous compound of Greek, Latin, and Arabian lore, +mysteriously engrafted on Galenicals and Astrology:--yet with this +courteous concession to his professional science he could not refrain +from a dry and sarcastic memorandum, that + + + "His study was but little in the Bible." + + +Throughout this inquiry, the province of the Theologian has never been +invaded:--it has been my humble toil to collect and concentrate the +scattered rays which emanate from natural reason,--a pale phosphoric +light, and "uneffectual" glow, compared with the splendid and animating +beams, which issue from the source of divine communication. + +As the object of these contributions, has been principally to convey my +opinions, concerning the formation of the human mind, from the superior +capacities that man possesses, many subjects have been left untouched, +which, in similar works, urge an important claim to the attention of the +reader. Among these neglected articles, the IMAGINATION is the chief +omission:--of which many authors have treated so copiously, and so well. +According to my own views, the consideration of this faculty was not +essential to the outline that has been traced;--and it has been rather +deemed a graceful embellishment, than a constituent pillar of the +edifice of mind. This gay attirer of thought, that decks passion and +sentiment, is also the prolific parent of fiction;--and justly banished +from the retreats of sober demonstration.--To the science of +numbers,--to mathematical precision, and to the whole range of +experimental philosophy,--Imagination does not lend her glowing and +gaudy tints. No vestiges of her colouring can be discovered in Divine +ordinances, or in the systems of human jurisprudence:--neither in the +Ten Commandments nor in the Statutes at Large. Imagination may indeed +enliven the cold pages of historical narrative, and blend the "Utile +Dulci"--but even here she is a profane intruder: and a vigilant eye must +be directed, lest, in some unguarded moment, her seductive +blandishments should decoy the nakedness of truth. A sedate and +unambitious recorder of facts, does not presume to describe her regions, +or to enumerate her attributes. That delightful task must be performed +by her votaries, + + + "The poet, the lunatic, and the lover;" + + +nor should the Orator be excluded from his fair participation and +kindred alliance with this airy and fascinating group. + +If the present essay should conform to nature, and be founded in +truth,--should it assist the young inquirer, and more especially the +medical student,--for whom no compendium of the science of mind has been +hitherto prepared; my own expectations will be fully answered; and this +scantling may probably lead some more capable person to an extensive +investigation, enlarged comprehension, and luminous arrangement of the +phenomena of the human intellect. + +JOHN HASLAM. + +57. Frith-Street, Soho-Square, +1st November, 1819. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + Page + +Perception 1 + +Memory 16 + +On the intellectual superiority which man has +acquired by speech, and the possession of the +hand 28 + +On the nature and composition of language, as +applied to the investigation of the phenomena +of mind 59 + +On will or volition 74 + +On thought or reflection 110 + +On reason 135 + +Instinct 160 + +Conclusion 182 + + +_Works by the same Author._ + + + I. Observations on Madness and Melancholy. + + II. Illustrations of Madness. + +III. On the Moral Management of the Insane. + + IV. Medical Jurisprudence, as it relates to Insanity. + + V. A Letter to the Governors of Bethlem Hospital. + + + + +SOUND MIND. + + + + +PERCEPTION. + + +The faculty of perceiving the objects which surround us, is an important +feature in the history of mind; but by what means or contrivance this is +effected, can only be known to the Supreme Being, who has thus been +pleased to endow us; and our utmost endeavours to detect the _modus +operandi_ will be puerile and unavailing. + +The first operations of the infant are to educate its senses, in order +to become acquainted, through these organs, with surrounding objects. +This, in the human species, is a process of very slow attainment; and +our information concerning this subject, must be derived from +attentively watching the progress of the infant itself; as of these +early perceptions, for a reason which will be afterwards assigned, we +retain no distinct recollection. + +For the manner in which we become acquainted with the objects in nature, +we have appropriated a term, which was probably supposed to be +explanatory of the process, by which we received our intelligence of +these phenomena, and have accordingly termed it _Perception_. The +intrinsic meaning of this word is the taking, seizing, or grasping, of +an object, from the Latin _Cum_ and _Capio_, and the same figure +pervades most of the European languages. This term may sufficiently +apply to the information we derive from the organ of touch; but it +affords no solution of that which we obtain through the medium of the +other senses, as sight, smell, and hearing. It has been the bane of +philosophy, and the great obstacle to its advancement, that we have +endeavoured to penetrate that which is inscrutable; and in this vain +pursuit, we have neglected to detect and cultivate that which is +obvious, and the legitimate province of our research. + +These organs of sense are the instruments by which we obtain our +different perceptions; they are the tests by which we become acquainted +with the objects of nature. + +When we view the newly-born infant, and consider its state for many +weeks after it has become a member of our community, we are then +enabled to form some opinion of the almost insensible gradations, by +which it acquires its perceptions. An enumeration of the progressive +steps of this tardy process is within the power of any patient and +accurate observer; but this detail does not constitute a part of the +plan which has been adopted. + +It has been endeavoured by writers on this subject, to establish a +distinction between perception and sensation, and the reader for his +information may consult their works: they do not however appear to have +founded this distinction on any obvious difference, nor to have adduced +sufficient reasons for their separate establishment, as independent +properties of the nerves. To feel, to experience a sensation, or to +perceive, implies consciousness; it is that which is transmitted by the +nerves to the sensorium, either by the organs of sense, or by the +internal nerves; as pain, or feelings of which we are conscious. +Consciousness is the test, the evidence, the proof of sensation or +perception. This point has been adverted to, in order that terms should +not be multiplied without a distinct and essential difference of +meaning. + +The five senses, together with some auxiliaries, which will be the +subjects of future notice, may be considered as the instruments or +agents, by which the edifice of mind is constructed. In the act of +perceiving by the different senses, there are some circumstances, which +are particularly deserving of attention. In order that perception may +fully and certainly take place, it is necessary that the person should +be undisturbed; he ought to be exempt from external intrusions, and +internal perturbation. During this process the respiration is in general +more slowly drawn, the body endeavours to maintain a perfect quietude, +and its position becomes fixed. When we perceive objects by the eye, +this organ becomes fixed and the lips are usually closed. During our +examinations by the touch, the eye is also fixed, the breathing is +suspended, and the lips brought into contact: the fingers are separated, +and their more delicately tangent surfaces applied to the object with +their utmost expansion. In the exercise of audible perception, the neck +is stretched forth, and the ear applied to the quarter from whence the +sound appears to issue; the mouth is partly open to conduct the +vibrations to the Eustachian tube. When we acquire intelligence by the +smell, the lips are very firmly closed, the nostrils become dilated, and +the inspiration of air through them is conducted by short and successive +inhalations. From the connection between the smell and organs of taste, +(and this association is more remarkable in some animals than in man,) +it is difficult to describe the process, which, however, principally +consists, when minutely tasting, in moving the tongue (the principal +discriminator) on the palate:--but when urged by strong appetite as in +the act of feeding, and when divested of the restraints which refined +society imposes; the nostrils are widely expanded, the eye is keenly +directed to the portion, and the hands are busily employed. + +Experience has sufficiently informed us that the organs of sense must be +in a healthy state, in order to the due conveyance of perception. When +the function of any organ is altogether defective, as when a person is +born blind, he is cut off from all perception of light and of visible +objects. If by nature deaf, from the intonation of sounds; and many +unhappy instances of such connate defects abound among our species. In +one particular subject, both these defects existed from birth; so that +the sum of his intelligence was conveyed by the touch, smell, and +taste, or in other words, his mind was exclusively composed of the +perceptions he derived from these senses. This case will be more +particularly noticed in a subsequent chapter. The alterations which take +place in the state of our perceptions from a morbid cause, are generally +known. Thus a person labouring under a catarrh, will be unable to detect +the odours which certain substances communicate in a healthy condition +of his olfactory organ. In fever excited by a disordered stomach, the +taste will become vitiated, and the partial obstruction of the ear by +accumulated wax, will impress him with the bubbling of a pot, the +singing of birds, or the ringing of bells. + +The same law that produces fatigue in a muscle from exertion, appears +to obtain in the organs of sense. If they be excited by their +appropriate stimuli too violently, or for a too long continuance, +fatigue or languor is produced, their percipience is diminished, or +confusedly conveyed; and they require a period of rest for their +refreshment. + +As we advance in our enquiries into the nature of perception, it will be +evident that we cannot long continue to treat of it as a simple act, or +as a distinct faculty. The organs by which we obtain our different +perceptions are not insulated parts, but communicate with a substance, +termed the brain, and which is continued through the vertebral column. +The ultimate expansion of a nerve of sense, has been termed its sentient +or percipient extremity; and where it is united to the brain, its +sensorial insertion. If we were to divide the optic nerve where it +passes into the foramen, taking care to leave the apparatus of the eye +uninjured, the visual organ would be deprived of its function, and the +person or animal would be completely blind of that eye; so that a +communication with the brain is necessary for the purpose or act of +perception. As therefore the union of the nerve with the brain is +indispensably necessary for the purpose or act of perception, we are +naturally led to inquire into the properties of this substance, termed +the brain. Before we proceed to this part of the subject, it will be +proper to notice a fact which is of frequent occurrence. In amputations +of the thigh, at the moment the femoral nerve is divided, it often +occurs that a pain is distinctly felt in the toes; and after the limb +has been removed, even for many months, the same painful feeling of +these lost extremities is occasionally experienced. This circumstance +would render it probable that the larger branch of the nerve becomes +itself impregnated with the sensation it transmits: indeed it is a +continuation of the same substance, from its sentient extremity to its +sensorial insertion. This intimate union of nerve and brain may be +further illustrated: it has been already noticed, that a morbid state of +the organs of sense will convey inaccurate perceptions; and it is +equally certain, that disease of the brain, will excite phantasms, which +appear as realities to the sensitive organs. + +As consciousness is implied, in order to constitute the act of +perception, it is of some importance to investigate the nature and +meaning of this term. The consciousness of _having experienced_ a +perception by any of the senses would be an act of memory: +consciousness, therefore, applies to the past; and it also accompanies +our prediction of the future. When a person is writing a letter, he is +at the time, conscious that his own hand is forming the characters; if +this letter be afterwards submitted to his inspection, he is conscious +that he wrote it; and if he be desired to write it over again, he is +conscious that it will bear, both to himself and others, the character +of his hand-writing. Consciousness, therefore, accompanies human action +through all its tenses: it is equivalent to the knowledge we possess of +our own personal identity, the evidence of mind, and therefore must +accompany every act of intelligence. Thus we are equally conscious that +we perceive, remember, think or reflect, and reason. As consciousness +must accompany every act of perception, it follows that we cannot be +impressed with more than one at the same instant; for it can never be +contended that we are able to experience two acts of consciousness at +the same moment. The very term two, implies repetition or succession, +and we could as well conceive the possibility of being, at the same +time, in two different places. + +As far as we are warranted to infer from the evidences it affords, an +infant appears to possess no consciousness; but it may be considered of +early acquirement, and coeval with distinctness of perception. + +These few preliminary remarks concerning perception have been submitted +to the notice of the reader, in order to advance to another subject. The +faculties which constitute mind are so blended, and dependant on each +other, that it would only hazard confusion to proceed. But this subject +will be resumed.[1] + +FOOTNOTE: + +[1] There exists already furnished, a considerable mass of facts, +dispersed in various works, which might be advantageously collected into +a volume in order to illustrate the phenomena and laws of perception, +and more especially to display the mutual assistance they afford to each +other, and the superior knowledge which we have derived from their +united co-operation. + + + + +MEMORY. + + +Allow a human being to be gifted with his five senses, exquisitely +attuned for the conveyance of those perceptions, which the separate +organs and common sensory are destined to receive: let him during fifty, +or as many thousand years, scent the most delicious perfumes,--convey to +his palate the flavour of the choicest viands,--to his eyes, present the +fairest prospects in nature,--impart to his ear the sweetest music, and +regale his touch with smoothness and warmth; moreover let him be +conscious of each individual perception he receives:--what would he be +at the expiration of this period, without recollection? He would be no +more than a sheet of white paper, that had been carried round the world +to receive, through the camera obscura, its most delightful views; or +the bare walls of Westminster Abbey, after the commemoration of Handel. +Perception and consciousness, therefore, although indispensable to the +building up of mind, are by themselves inefficient and useless without +the adjunct of memory. + +The writers who have treated of the human faculties, have usually and +properly bestowed an elaborate investigation to the developement of this +interesting subject: indeed, when men first began to describe the +operations of their own minds, it might be expected that they would +treat copiously of its most important function; but the nature of this +endowment has received no elucidation from the aggregate of their +labours. + +The term memory has been Anglicised from the Latin Memoria; yet we +possess two other words of similar meaning, and from their derivation, +in a certain degree, explanatory of this process; namely, to REMEMBER +and RECOLLECT. Thus if an individual have seen any particular animal, +and given sufficient attention to perceive accurately its construction, +so as to possess a complete perception of the different parts or +_members_ of which it is composed; he would, in the absence of the +animal, be enabled to remember it. If his hand had been duly educated he +might form its model, or chisel it from a block of marble; or on a +plain surface, according to the rules of art, might make a drawing of +the animal, and with such exactitude of its different _members_, that it +would appear to those who compared it with the original, that he +perfectly _re-membered_ it. To recollect is only a different figure for +the same process, and implies to re-gather or collect, those parts which +have been scattered in different directions. + +The perceptions we obtain by our different senses are all capable of +being remembered, but in different ways. Those which we derive from +sight, may be communicated by the pictures of the objects, which become +the means of assisting our recollection, and thus form a durable record +of our visible perceptions; of course excepting motion, which pictures +cannot represent; but motion, or change of place, implies a succession +of perceptions. Yet this manner of record does not directly apply to the +other senses: we can exhibit no pictures of odours, tastes, the lowing +of a cow, the roaring of a lion, or the warbling of birds; much less do +hardness and softness admit of any picturesque representations as their +record. The memory of animals seems to be in the simple state: they +have, through their organs, different perceptions; and in many instances +these organs are more susceptible than those of the human subject. The +ear of some timid species is enabled to collect the feeblest vibrations +of sound, and which are inaudible to us. The eye of some birds can +tolerate an effulgence of light, that would dazzle and confuse our +vision; and others "do their errands," in a gloom where we could not +distinguish. In certain animals the smell is so acute, that it becomes a +sense of the highest importance for the purposes of their destination. +But animals are incapable of recording their perceptions by any signs or +tokens: they therefore possess no means of recalling them, and their +recollection can only be awaked from the recurrence of the object, by +which the perception was originally excited: whereas man, by the +possession of speech, and of the characters in which it is recorded, can +at all times revive his recollection of the past. + +It is generally acknowledged that our memory is in proportion to the +distinctness of the perception, and also to the frequency of its +repetition. + +The simple acts of perception and memory appear to be the same in man +and animals; and there are many facts which would induce us to suppose, +if these faculties be identical in their nature, that the endowment of +the latter is more excellent. This conjecture is hazarded from the +greater susceptibility of the organs of some animals, and from their +wonderful recollection of tracks which they have traversed. Among the +phenomena of memory there are two very curious occurrences, and for +which no adequate explanation has been hitherto afforded. Many of the +transactions of our early years appear to be wholly obliterated from our +recollection; they have never been presented as the subject of our +thoughts, but after the lapse of many years, have been accidentally +revived, by our being placed in the situation which originally gave them +birth. Although there are numerous instances on record, and some perhaps +familiar to every reader, I shall prefer the relation of one which came +under my immediate observation. About sixteen years ago, I attended a +lady at some distance from town, who was in the last stage of an +incurable disorder. A short time before her death, she requested that +her youngest child, a girl about four years of age, might be brought to +visit her, and which was accordingly complied with. The child remained +with her about three days. During the last summer some circumstances +led me to accompany this young lady to the same house. Of her visit when +a child she retained no trace of recollection, nor was the name of the +village even known to her. When arrived at the house, she had no memory +of its exterior; but on entering the room where her mother had been +confined, her eye anxiously traversed the apartment, and she said, "I +have been here before, the prospect from the window is quite familiar to +me, and I remember that in this part of the room there was a bed and a +sick lady, who kissed me and wept." On minute inquiry none of these +circumstances had ever occurred to her recollection during this long +interval, and in all probability they would never have recurred but for +the locality which revived them. In a work professedly the fabric of +fancy, but which is evidently a portrait from nature, and most highly +finished,--in the third volume of Guy Mannering, the reader may peruse a +similar but more interesting relation, where the return of Bertram to +the scenes of his childhood, awakens a train of reminiscences which +conduce to the developement of his history and legitimate claims. +According to my own interpretation, however wonderful these phenomena of +memory may appear, they merely afford examples of the simplest acts of +recollection, excited by the recurrence of the original objects, at a +period when language was little familiar: in the same manner as an +animal, at a distant time brought into its former haunts, would +remember the paths it had heretofore trodden. + +But there are some facts in the history of recollection which do not +admit of any satisfactory solution. From these it appears, that persons +in their childhood have learned a language which, from the acquirement +and usage of another during many years, they have entirely forgotten; so +that when spoken by others, they have been wholly unable to understand +it: yet during the delirium of fever, or from inflammation of the brain +and its membranes, in consequence of external injury, the former and +forgotten language has been revived, and spoken with fluency: but after +a restoration to health no traces of its recollection have remained. A +remarkable case of this kind has been published by Mr. Abernethy; and a +similar instance is recorded of the lady of an ambassador. These few +preliminary observations have been submitted to the reader, in order to +introduce a principal part of the subject to his notice, to prevent +repetitions, and from the impossibility of considering the more curious +and important phenomena of perception and memory as simple and +unconnected endowments. + + + + +ON THE INTELLECTUAL SUPERIORITY WHICH MAN HAS ACQUIRED BY SPEECH, AND +THE POSSESSION OF THE HAND. + + +In our investigations of the nature and offices of the human mind, we +are immediately and forcibly struck with two important circumstances, +which appear to have contributed in an especial manner to the +superiority of man over all other animals. Let it be admitted, without +at present discussing the question, or adducing any arguments; that the +constitution of the human intellect is of a higher quality, or of a +finer staple, than the intelligent principle of other creatures.[2] +These two endowments with which man may be considered as exclusively +gifted, and which, on a deliberate survey, appear principally to have +conduced to his pre-eminence in the range of intellectual creation, are +speech and the possession of his hands. One of the chief characteristics +by which man is distinguished from the other animals, is the capability +he possesses of transmitting his acquirements to posterity. The +acquirements of other animals perish with them: they are incapable of +recording their achievements, and, as a community, they are stationary. +If the reason be sought, it will be immediately found, that they do not +enjoy the appropriate organs; and this defect will be detected to arise +from their want of speech and hands. + +There may perhaps arise some of the difficulties already experienced, in +the separate consideration of these human attributes,--speech and the +hand; as much of the superiority which man possesses has resulted from +their combined assistance. It is, however, important to treat of each +individually, as far as their separate influence and effects can be +distinctly traced. The consideration of speech or significant sound, +would naturally introduce an enquiry into its structure and philosophy: +but as this knowledge can be collected from the works of many +enlightened writers on these subjects, it is unnecessary to obtrude on +the reader that which he may find already prepared. + +Speech is _ordinarily_ acquired by the ear[3], and the sound conveyed +through that organ is imitated by the voice. When any object in nature +is named by its appropriate articulate sound, as a tree, a fish, a +horse, if the object be duly noted and the term remembered, it will +mutually, on the presentation of the object, recall the term; or if the +term be mentioned, the recollection of the object will arise. Without +reverting to the formation of words by letters, or proceeding to the +structure of sentences by words, which is the province of the +grammarian, it will be seen that these significant sounds, enable human +beings to convey to each other the perceptions they have experienced, or +are impressed with, at the moment of communication. This endowment of +speech to man would, alone, have constituted him vastly superior to the +other animals. But whatever might have been his attainments, either from +his own discoveries or from the experience of his contemporaries, his +departure from life would have consigned the products of his genius and +wisdom to the treachery and mutilation of another's recollection. Even +in the enlightened and polished period of our present existence, we are +fully acquainted with the loss or addition which a fact experiences, +from being transmitted through a succession of narrators. + +Had man been merely furnished with speech, without the means of +recording his acts and reflections, we might indeed have preserved by +tradition, the names of Homer, Virgil, Cicero, Shakspeare, and Milton; +but their works,--those majestic columns which now support the temple of +fame, would have perished, had there not been a contrivance to record +the productions of their genius. This art, of conferring permanence on +the significant sounds of the human voice, has taught us to appreciate +and revere the taste and wisdom of our predecessors; and to feel, that +although their bodies are buried in peace, yet their names live for +evermore:--but more especially this contrivance has preserved the laws +of nations, and above all other blessings, has transmitted, in the +Sacred Volume, the commandments of the living God. + +From the brief notice which has been bestowed on this subject, it will +be seen, that man could have made but inconsiderable advances in the +scale of intellectual progression, by speech alone;--that how much +soever this faculty might have elevated him above animals, by endowing +his perceptions with intelligence, and rendering his thoughts the +circulating medium of his community; yet had he remained without the +power of registering the edicts of his mind, language would have expired +in its cradle; and as the body mingles with its mother-earth, +intelligent sound would have been blended and lost in the medium that +produced it. + +The next subject to be considered, (and its importance will justify an +ample review, and minute consideration,) is the hand; a member which may +be considered, with some trifling exceptions, as exclusively bestowed on +man. The wonderful construction of this part of the human body might be +sufficiently exemplified by its achievements. Its anatomy has not, +hitherto, been so minutely investigated, as to demonstrate the almost +infinite variety of motions to which it is adapted; nor has it been +sufficiently compared with the somewhat analogous structure and function +in certain of the simiæ, in the claw of the parrot, or with the +proboscis of the elephant. + +At the extremity of the fingers, in the human hand, and on their inner +surface, resides the organ of Touch; a sense, of which animals are +comparatively deficient. Touch, is distinguished from feeling, which it +is the general property of all the nerves to convey, and this feeling is +likewise accompanied with consciousness. Thus pain may be felt in the +different organs of sense, without any corresponding perception, which +it is their separate office to import. Although the acute organ of touch +has its seat at the extremity of the fingers, yet the whole surface of +the skin (of the human subject) is susceptible, but in an inferior +degree, of tangible perceptions. It is sensible of heat and cold, of +hard and soft, rough and smooth. The tongue enjoys also a considerable +capability of tangible discrimination; but let any person attempt to +ascertain the state of his pulse, by applying the tongue to the wrist, +he will find it a very unsatisfactory test.[4] + +It has been already observed, that the perception of objects conveyed +through the organ of vision, may be represented by drawings, so as +sufficiently and accurately to convey the same perception to the eye of +another: thus we recognise the likeness of a person by his portrait; the +view of a known country from the landscape; the quadruped, bird, or +insect, by its picture: but the perceptions of the organ of touch, can +only be communicated through the medium of language; and the same may be +observed concerning those derived from the smell and taste. We may +indeed submit the same objects of touch, smell, and taste, to a number +of persons, who, in all probability, (their organs being similar,) would +be impressed with the same perceptions: but these perceptions, +recollected, and the objects which excited them absent, can only be +communicated through the medium of significant sound. + +It may be a subject of curious investigation, although foreign to our +present enquiry, whether man, in possession of articulate organs, +discovered speech, and imposed names on his perceptions; or whether he +was originally gifted with this endowment. Without attempting to discuss +this question, it is sufficient to remark, that the structure and +composition of our own language, and of its northern kindred, afford +sufficient evidence of a very rude and necessitous origin. + +After man had acquired the means of communicating his perceptions by +significant sounds, the next important discovery was the art of +recording them, so that they might serve as the vehicle of intelligence +to his distant contemporaries, or be transmitted to posterity as the +sources of improvement. The human hand is the immediate agent by which +this contrivance is displayed. It is not intended to trace the history +of this wonderful and precious discovery, but to remark, that human +ingenuity, has likewise established the record of sounds which are not +significant, and which are termed the notations of music. + +The science of accurate admeasurements has been exclusively discovered +by man; and for the attainment of this important acquisition, it will be +seen that the hand has been chiefly and progressively instrumental. When +we contemplate the present state of man, in our own nation, surrounded +by the conveniences which gratify his wants, and behold him practised in +their enjoyment, we are little disposed to revert to that period of his +history, when he struggled to continue his existence, and trace his +tardy progression from rudeness to refinement. + + + Pleas'd with himself, the coxcomb rears his head, + And scorns the dunghill where he first was bred. + + +Although we now measure space and time, bodies solid and fluid, heat and +its absence with the facility of a single glance; yet if we consider the +slow, and painful steps, by which such acquirements have been attained, +we shall be forcibly impressed, how much we are the creatures of patient +experiment, and also how mainly the hand has contributed to our +advancement. If we investigate the standards of admeasurement, we find +that many have been derived from the human body, and more especially +from its operative instrument, the hand. That the members and dimensions +of our own body should have been the original standards of measurement +is most natural, and the terms in which they are conveyed afford a +sufficient illustration of the fact. Thus, we have a nail; _pollex_, +_pouce_, _pulgada_, Swedish _tum_, for an inch; which word has been +misapplied by our Saxon predecessors, and corrupted from the Latin +_uncia_, which related only to weight. We still measure by digits, by +fingers' breadth, by hands high. Cubit from _cubitus_, was formerly +employed. We now retain ell, _aune_, _ulna_. Foot, pace, _pas_, _pes_. +Yard, not as Mr. Tooke supposed from the Saxon gyrwan, to prepare, but +from gyrdan, _cingere_, and is employed to represent the girth of the +body. Fathom, the distance of the arms when extended to embrace, from +which the meaning is implied in most languages.[5] But it will be +immediately perceived, that measurement could not proceed to any +considerable extent, could neither be compounded by addition, nor +subdivided, without the employment and comprehension of numbers. + +In our childhood we are taught the knowledge of numbers; and those who +have superintended the work of education, must have witnessed the +difficulty of impressing on the mind of the child, this kind of +information. Alphabetic characters, compared with numbers, are readily +acquired: whether it be from the imperfect manner, in which the science +of numbers is usually taught, or from the actual difficulty in +comprehending the subject, it is not pretended to determine; although, +from some considerations, the latter is most probable. The names of +different objects are easily acquired, and children examine such objects +by their different senses, more especially by the eye and touch; they +become desirous of learning their properties, or of becoming acquainted +with their construction: and this investigation affords them delight, +and excites or gratifies their curiosity. But numbers possess no such +attraction; numbers, do not involve any of the obvious properties of +these objects, neither their colour, shape, sound, smell, or taste; it +therefore becomes perplexing for them to comprehend, if five similar +substances, as so many apples, or nuts, be arranged before them, why +each, should bear a name, different from the thing itself, and different +from each other: why this nut should be termed one, another two, and the +next three. + +In acquiring a knowledge of numbers, as far as the senses are concerned, +the eye and the touch are especially exercised; but it appears that the +touch is the corrector of the sight: if fifty pieces of money be laid on +a table, they will sooner and more accurately be numbered by the touch, +than the eye; and we know in other instances, that the motion of the +hand is quicker than the discernment of the sight. There are many +circumstances, although they do not amount to a proof, which might +induce us to consider, that the human hand has much contributed to our +knowledge of numbers.[6] + +As far as we possess any direct evidence, none of the animals are +capable of numerating; and this constitutes an essential difference +between them and man in their intellectual capacities. In states of +weakness of mind, this defect in the power of numerating, is very +observable, and forms a just and admitted criterion of idiotcy; and it +is well known that such persons exercise the organ of touch in a very +limited degree, compared with those of vigorous capacity: their fingers +are likewise more taper, and their sentient extremities less pulpy and +expanded. The same state of the organ of touch may be remarked in some +lunatics who have become idiotic, or where the hands have been confined +for a considerable time. + +Although in our own language, we have not been able to discover any +rational etymology of the units, that is, what was originally the +meaning of one, two, three, &c., or of what these units were the +representatives, we have, however, by the ingenuity of Mr. Tooke, a very +probable account of the origin of ten, which means, that which includes, +or comprehends all numeration; and that it does so include it, may be +learned from the composition of eleven[7]; and if it should amount to +no more than a curious coincidence, ten is the number of the manual +extremities. Notwithstanding neither our own, nor any of the European +tongues, afford us any probable solution of the actual meaning or import +of the units, yet this contrivance is satisfactorily developed in the +language of some of the African tribes, (vide Park's Travels, p. 337.) +where it will be found, that when they had arrived at six, they +proceeded by composition; not by the composition of six and one, to +form seven, but by five and two. + +One--_Kidding_. + +Two--_Fidding_. + +Three--_Sarra_. + +Four--_Nani_. + +Five--_Soolo_. + +Six--_Seni_. + +Seven--_Soolo ma Fidding_--Five and Two. + +Eight--_Soolo ma Sarra_--Five and Three. + +Nine--_Soolo ma Nani_--Five and Four. + +Ten--_Nuff_. + +As numbers must have been acquired in progression,--first one, then two, +&c. there appears to be considerable difficulty in conceiving, of what +the increase or addition would be the representative, except by adding +the already designated numbers together: but our own units do not bear +any ostensible marks of such composition, nor do the northern numerals, +from whence our own have been imported. If we were now called on to +construct a new language, and invent terms for the units, there are no +objects familiar to me, which would suggest appropriate terms, as the +types of the different units; and it is presumed, as far as we have +extended our researches, that the names of things are not arbitrary, but +have been imposed for some real or supposed reason. + +When we consider the importance of numbers to man, as an intellectual +being, and compare the advancement he has made by this knowledge, beyond +the animals who have wanted the means of acquiring such information, +the importance of investigating this curious subject will be fully +acknowledged. Without numbers, by which the divisions of time, space, +and value are characterised, man could have possessed no knowledge of +the order and succession of events; he would, by wanting precise +standards, have remained ignorant of admeasurements; and without the +definite proportions which numbers confer, property would be a vague and +uncertain name. + +From these remarks an opportunity is now presented, to enumerate the +important achievements of the human hand; but as a powerful objection +may be urged, against the views which have been sketched out concerning +this subject, it will be proper to notice them, in order to refer their +discussion to another and more appropriate chapter. It will naturally be +stated that the hand is the mere auxiliary, in fact, the servant, of the +mind; and in a healthy state of intellect is regulated by its +directions, in the performances it executes. The truth of this, it is +not intended to deny; but the examination of the objection must be +referred to that part of the work, which treats of the influence, which +does so regulate and direct, namely, the will, or, as it has been more +scholastically termed, volition. + +We readily acknowledge that he who is born blind can have no perception +of visible objects, and that the same negation may be extended to the +other senses when defective: thus, if man had been created without +hands, and, consequently, without the acute organ of touch, which +resides in the extremities of these members, we must at least have been +strangers to the "cloud-capt towers, the gorgeous palaces, and the +solemn temples" which he has reared. Had the upper extremities of the +human body terminated at the wrist, such a man as Phidias might have +existed, but his occupation would have been unknown. Thus truncated, how +would the fleet have been constructed which reaped the laurel at the +Nile, at Copenhagen, and Trafalgar? The eternal city could not have +existed, nor would our own metropolis have had a being. If we reflect +for an instant, we shall perceive that all the conveniences we enjoy, +all the arts we practise, and the sciences which elevate and dignify our +nature, could never have been realised in a handless community. Speech +might indeed have prevailed, but its record could not have been +established, and intelligent sounds would only have served to breathe +forth the lamentations of misery and despair, or the accents of +discontent. We must have remained naked, and perished from the +inclemency of weather: man would have owed "the worm no silk, the beast +no hide, the sheep no wool." It would be superfluous to pursue this +subject further, as the reader has only to consider the superior +enjoyments, and accumulated monuments, of art and of wisdom, which the +mind of man has produced by the agency of his hand. + + + "Molto opró egli col senno ed con la mano." + + +However it may gratify the pride of man, to find himself gifted with +intellectual endowments of a higher order, and distinguished as the lord +of creation; yet he must, on reflection, regard this superiority as a +"painful pre-eminence." The possession of speech, and hands, the prompt +executors of his will, have enabled him to become the perpetrator of +crimes to which the tribes of animals are strangers. Language has +exclusively furnished man with the means of promulgating the result of +his perceptions and thoughts: he thereby becomes capable of +communicating to others, that which he has observed, or the opinions he +has formed; and so highly has this accuracy of relation been estimated, +in all periods of civilised society, that it has been proudly +denominated the truth. But the possession of the same faculty of speech, +has often induced him to relate that which never occurred, or to disown +that which actually took place; and this assertion or denial has been +severely reprobated and stigmatised by the appellation of a lie. It is +unnecessary to enumerate the catalogue of the articulate vices which the +tongue can commit, or sully the dignity of human nature, by the +recollection that its lord has been convicted of perjury, slander, +blasphemy, and libel. Thus, the hand, this admirable instrument, the +elaborations of which excite our wonder and delight, whether we +contemplate the chiselled monuments of Grecian art, or the curious +manufactures of modern days,--all that is tasteful in art, or auxiliary +to science,--even this plastic and creative member, the faithful notary +of thought,--becomes the prostituted engine of the vilest fraud, or +foulest atrocity. The same hand that fashioned the Minerva of the +Parthenon might have picked a lock, or directed a dagger. It will be +found, on an accurate investigation, that all laws, which are the VOICE +of those whom we have delegated, or who may have assumed such power, and +which are recorded by the hand, are principally directed to the lesions +against individuals or society, which proceed from speech, or are +perpetrated by the hand. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[2] It must be felt by the reader that all the epithets, which can be +applied to designate this superiority, must be of material character and +signification:--whether we say superior structure, texture, purity, &c. +In fact, we possess no appropriate expressions, to characterise that +which is not material: but this poverty of language, affords no ground +for the materiality of mind; on the contrary, it is a strong argument +against such doctrine, that we are obliged to clothe the phenomena of +mind in the garb of metaphor; for material objects can be well defined +according to their obvious properties. + +[3] Those who are born deaf are taught to imitate articulate sounds +independently of the ear. + +[4] The reader may refer to works on comparative anatomy, for +information concerning this sense in animals. They all agree that no +animal possesses a complete hand, and that the thumb is especially +defective in size, and in the strength which enables it to act in +opposition to the combined force of the fingers. The sense of touch in +many animals appears to reside in the large and fleshy nostrils, which +appear highly sensible; and it is also evident, that in these the touch +has an intimate alliance with their sense of smell. + +[5] It is equally curious to observe that geographical positions, and +the principal features of sea and land, have derived their origin from +the rude anatomy of the human body. Thus, in a short enumeration we have +cape or _head_-land, ness, noss, or _nose_; the _brow_ of a mountain; +_tongue_ of land; _mouth_ of a river; _chaps_ of the channel; _neck_ of +land; _arm_ of the sea; coast, _costæ_, the ribs. We are said to +penetrate into the _heart_ of the country, or to remove to the _back_ +settlements. We descend into the _bowels_ of the earth, in order to +discover a _vein_ of ore. We ascend from the _foot_ of the mountain; and +from its _ridge_ (back) survey the prospect surrounding. Numerous +additions might be contributed by further recollection. + +[6] On many occasions we observe the hands to be the natural refuge for +the destitute in arithmetic, and therefore are not surprised at finding +many persons counting by their fingers. Some rude nations are said not +to have advanced in their numeration beyond five: this may perhaps be +uncertain and difficult to prove; but it will be shewn that when others +have advanced to ten, that seven has been the compound of five and two, +eight of five and three, &c. + +[7] It is not uninteresting to examine the contrivances that have been +resorted to, in order to express the number eleven. The Greeks had +[Greek: _endeka_], one (and subaudit) ten; the Romans _undecem_; and a +similar adoption has been employed by the southern nations of Europe. +The northern people expressed eleven, by _one left_ (after ten, +subaudit.) thus Caxton states his Recuyels of Troy to have been "ended +and fynished in the holy cyte of Colen, the 19th day of Septembre, in +the yere of our sayd Lord God, a thousand four hundred sixty and +_enleven_." _En_, in old English, means one, and _leven_ is the past +participle of, to leave, formerly written leve. + + + + +ON THE NATURE AND COMPOSITION OF LANGUAGE, AS APPLIED TO THE +INVESTIGATION OF THE PHENOMENA OF MIND. + + +Mind, is an abstract term for all the phenomena of intelligence; and in +order to describe them, they have usually been denominated powers, or +faculties of the mind: we therefore commonly speak concerning the mind, +as of an existence endowed with these properties.[8] It has been +already confessed, that we are at present uninformed, and in all +probability shall remain ignorant of the nature and operation of our +intellectual powers: at least, we shall never be able to comprehend the +manner in which we perceive the objects that surround us, nor to explain +how we recollect them when they are absent; yet under this acknowledged +inability we have framed a language expressive of these powers and +operations. This language therefore cannot be the type of such +processes, as their nature and operation are unknown. The different +terms that have been employed, have originated from the numerous +hypotheses, which have prevailed on this subject: but so long as a +perfect agreement subsists, concerning the meaning of these terms, it is +of little importance; for as we have no knowledge of the actual +processes, whereby we perceive, remember, or exert our will, the +expressions we employ cannot be explanatory. The language of mind, +therefore, is not peculiar, not derived as the nomenclature of modern +chemistry, in which names are impregnated with the elements of their +composition; but figurative or metaphorical, the vehicle of conjecture, +and the ornament of hypothesis. + +The truth of these remarks, would be best illustrated by an enumeration +and analysis of the terms, which have been applied, to designate the +powers and operations of the human intellect. + +Were we now to occupy ourselves, in the construction of a more +appropriate language, to designate and explain the phenomena of mind; we +should, from our ignorance, be equally incompetent with those who have +preceded us. Let the terms therefore remain, but endeavour to afford +them a fixed and definite meaning, and suffer them to be so far +analysed, as to detect their composition, and discover the reasons which +imposed them. In this endeavour there will, however, be found +considerable difficulty; especially as the minds of men are not yet +agreed respecting the process, by which it is to be performed. + +There are, however, only two modes, to which we can resort, for the +definite meaning of words; namely, etymology and authority. Considering +the history of our own language, and the nature of its composition, we +are enabled satisfactorily to investigate, not only the primitive sense +of our terms, but likewise their exact signification, in the languages +from whence we imported them: for there still remain, sufficient +authentic materials, in our Saxon and Norman records, to verify their +original meaning. If we enquire into the causes, which have operated to +deflect these terms from their primitive sense, we shall find authority +to be the principal source of such corruption; and this infirmity +appears to have pervaded most of the languages of those nations which +have produced poets, orators, and metaphysicians.[9] When we examine the +nature of authority in language, as it now exists, we find it to be the +arbitrary employment of words, by particular writers of acknowledged +celebrity. Many have become authorities in our language, from having +improved its construction; others, by the perspicuous arrangement of +subject, by the force of their reasoning, or the light of their +philosophy. Although we may allow the highest merit to these eminent +writers, a praise, far beyond the dulness and drudgery of verbal +criticism; yet it is by no means to be inferred, that they consequently +become authorities, for the real and intrinsic meaning of words. It can +never be expected, that the great mass of mankind should be +etymologists: the generality must be regulated by the "jus et norma +loquendi;" but if this jus, be the jus vagum, and the norma capricious, +confusion must ensue, and they will scarcely be speaking the same +language. Those who are dignified with the title of authorities, ought +to agree; for the sound interpreters of the law should never differ. + +Language is the circulating medium of our thoughts; and the meaning of +words much resembles the value of money. But great diversity of opinion +prevails. In the minds of some philosophers, money means only metallic +currency, which may be assayed, and its real value ascertained; and this +seems to relate to etymology. Others less solid in their views, and +gifted with a finer fabric of fancy, are disposed to consider the +abstractions of paper to be equivalent to the concrete of bullion, and +have accordingly constituted it the jus and norma by authority. To +insist on the meaning of a word, because its interpretation has been +previously assumed, carries no conviction of its truth. The "jus et +norma loquendi," must ever prevail as the currency between human +beings; but this acknowledgment should not, in the course of +circulation, diminish, the undoubted right we possess, to detect and +refuse such as are base or counterfeit. + +It will not be disputed, that some words bear a much higher importance +than others. The names of familiar objects are of little consequence, +because we can examine them by our senses, and thereby obtain just +perceptions of their character and properties: but general or abstract +terms, which are not the objects of sense, but the abbreviations of +subjects of reflection, are of the highest interest to our advancement +in knowledge and moral conduct. To exemplify the views that have been +taken on this subject, three words have been selected:--_to feel_, _to +ransack_, and the adjective, _naked_. Of the first, Dr. Johnson, the +best authority we now possess, has given six different senses or +acceptations as a verb active, and four, as a verb neuter, and has cited +the different authorities. He says it is derived from the Anglo-Saxon, +_felan_, without explaining what _felan_ means; it however means to +feel: but the adduction of a word in another language, of similar sound +and identical signification, does not impart meaning. Yet when we find +that in the Anglo-Saxon _fell_ means _skin_, which is the seat of +feeling, we directly understand the word and all its dependencies; as +_fell_ of hair, _felt_ hat, _fell_-monger, _film_, which is a thin fine +skin or pellicle. Thus we become enabled to understand and reconcile +variety and extension of meaning, from the preservation of integrity of +figure. + +The verb _to ransack_, is another example. Of this word Dr. Johnson has +given three senses. According to him, it is derived from _ran_, +Anglo-Saxon, and _saka_, Swedish, to search or seize; but we are not +informed what _ran_ in Anglo-Saxon signifies, and it so happens that +there is no such Swedish word as _saka_, to search. The word _ransack_, +for which the Anglo-Saxons had _ransaka_, is derived to us from the +Gothic, in which _razn_ (pronounced _ran_) signifies a house, and +_sokjan_ to search; so that, _to ransack_, implies to search the house. + +To the adjective _naked_ Dr. Johnson has given four different meanings. +Its etymology, he says, is from the Anglo-Saxon, _nacod_, which in that +language was of similar signification: but this imparts no meaning. It +is a compound word: _na_, in Anglo-Saxon, signifies _new_, and _cenned_, +_born_, so that the condition of the _new-born_ child affords an +appropriate interpretation of the term _naked_. + +To ordinary minds, that which is said to be authority is decisive[10]; a +particular author of celebrity is cited, and thus the business +concludes. The reasons, which induced him to employ the word in such +particular sense, it is in most cases fruitless to enquire; as during +their lives, authors have seldom been appreciated: so that the silence +of death seems indispensable to procure the consent of authority. + +As language is the instrument of thought, the vehicle of intelligible +communication among human beings, it is impossible to attach too high +importance to its precise signification: the difficulties of effecting +this concordance have been pointed out, but the remedy has not yet been +applied. After all the investigation that has been given to this +interesting subject, one leading fact seems indisputable, that all the +terms which designate the faculties and operations of our minds, are of +physical origin, as well as those which characterise the thinking or +immaterial principle itself: and for this, there is sufficient reason; +as all language, in order to be adapted for our use, in this state of +existence, can only be the representative of the objects of our +perceptions and reflections,--an instrument calculated for the meridian +of this transitory life: for, when the holy light of happiness to come +was revealed to the human race, it was found expedient, for their +comprehension, to transmit its rays through a material prism.[11] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[8] Mr. Locke, as he advances in his essay, expresses considerable +distrust of the existence of these powers and faculties of the mind. +"Yet I suspect, I say, that this way of speaking of faculties has misled +many into a confused notion of so many distinct agents in us, which had +their several provinces and authorities, and did command, obey, and +perform several actions, as so many distinct beings; which has been no +small occasion of wrangling, obscurity, and uncertainty in questions +relating to them."--Vol. i. p. 192. 10th edition. + +[9] To afford a single illustration of this fact, let the verb to +_bewray_ be selected, which, although a word of very different meaning, +has been confounded with to _betray_. The meaning of the former is to +discover, expose, and is derived from a Saxon verb bearing that sense; +the latter, Dr. Johnson has derived from the French _trahir_, and has +cited some instances, as authorities for its perverted sense. It is but +justice to observe, that these words preserve their distinct and +separate sense in all the instances where they have been employed, both +in Shakspeare and the Bible. It may therefore be inferred, to have been +a recent corruption. + +[10] Of this, Mr. Locke appears to have been fully sensible:--"When men +are established in any kind of dignity, 'tis thought a breach of modesty +for others to derogate any way from it, and question the authority of +men who are in possession of it. This is apt to be censured, as carrying +with it too much of pride, when a man does not readily yield to the +determination of approved authors, which is wont to be received with +respect and submission by others; and 'tis looked upon as insolence for +a man to set up, and adhere to his own opinion, against the current +stream of antiquity, or to put in the balance against that of some +learned doctor, or otherwise approved writer. Whoever backs his tenets +with such authorities, thinks he ought thereby to carry the cause; and +is ready to stile it impudence in any one who shall stand out against +them."--Locke's Works, vol. ii. p. 306. + +[11] This material prism is to be understood to apply to language; and +in this view Newton himself surveyed the question. "For all language as +applied to God, is taken from the affairs of men, by some resemblance, +not indeed a perfect one, but yet existing to a certain +degree."--Newton's Works, edit. Horsley, vol. iv. p. 430. + + + + +ON WILL OR VOLITION. + + +In the consideration of the nature and offices of the human mind, there +is no subject of higher importance than the will, or volition. Every +person must have observed, that he is capable of performing certain +motions, which he is able to commence, to continue, and to arrest; and +the same faculty is possessed by many animals. A slight degree of +information will also instruct him, that there are certain motions of +his animal frame, over which he has no immediate control. The motions +which he is able to direct and regulate, have been termed voluntary; and +those over which he possesses no influence or command, have been +denominated involuntary motions. The most perfect instances of the +latter are the pulsations of the heart, and the movements of the +intestines, usually called peristaltic. The curiosity which is natural +to man as an intelligent being, would of course prompt him to enquire +into the cause of these phenomena, although the result of his +investigations might be inadequate to the toil of his research: for, he +would be as much puzzled to account for the influence by which certain +muscles are moved at will, as he would at others which possess a +determinate motion, and are not subject to this direction. While man +continues in a healthy state, he is enabled to move at pleasure those +muscles or instruments of motion which are subject to his will; and the +involuntary muscles continue duly to perform their appropriate office; +but in certain morbid states it sometimes occurs, that the exertion of +the will to move a leg or arm is ineffectually directed, and however +much we desire, wish, or will such motion, these limbs are +disobedient.[12] This condition of the members has been termed +paralytic: the will to move remains perfect; but the organs to be acted +on are insensible to that influence which, in a sound state, excited +them to motion. As in the healthy state the will has the power to +produce motion, so it is also competent to prevent it; therefore to +move or to abstain from motion, are equally the dictates of the will. +But it not unfrequently happens, when we intend to thread a needle, to +write our name, or to perform some surgical operation, that the will +exerts all its influence to keep the hand steady for the due performance +of these necessary acts; yet, notwithstanding these implicit commands, +the hand continues to move in all directions, but those which could +accomplish the object. So, that these muscles, ordinarily voluntary, +become, in a certain degree, converted into involuntary muscles. A +higher degree of this state prevails in the affection called St. Vitus' +Dance, and likewise in some convulsive symptoms attendant on locked +jaw, where the body is drawn with incredible violence. It may be +noticed, that these states are attended with consciousness. + +Concerning the nature of this influence, termed the _will_, a great +variety of discordant opinions prevail. To enumerate or refute these +would be unprofitable labour, more especially as the majority are the +mere assumptions of their particular authors. They all, however, seem to +be agreed that the will is an inherent faculty, or component part of the +mind; and some are induced to consider it as holding the highest office +in the department of intellect. The only mode of investigating this +subject satisfactorily, according to my own views, is to trace the +progress of volition from its feeble commencement, to the full exercise +of its important function,--from the dawn to the meridian. + +As a general observation, it may be remarked that the same influence of +the will, which directs the movements of the body, is likewise exerted +over the faculties of the mind; although generally in an inferior +degree, both from the greater difficulty and less importance of the +latter, for the ordinary purposes of life. When we observe the +newly-born infant,--that helpless mass of animation,--we perceive no +indications to induce us to conclude, that it possesses a voluntary +power of directing its movements.[13] It is furnished with the organs +of motion, but is unable to exert that influence which manifests +direction; yet its involuntary motions continue perfect, and these, as +will be subsequently explained, may be considered in their nature and +effects as very similar to that, which, in animals, is termed instinct. +In the progress of this enquiry, it will be seen that some degree of +mental advancement must have been made, before the infant can _direct_ +any of the motions of its body; because direction implies knowledge to +an extent sufficient for the purposes of command, and also a +consciousness of the effort. In the infant, all the organs of sense by +degrees become awaked by their appropriate stimuli or objects, and +perception is the result. Although we have no memory of our earliest +perceptions, which are solely produced by the excitation of external +objects, without any direction of the will; yet from the mental +indications of the infant, these perceptions would seem to be confused +and indistinct. It is some time before the eye appears to notice, and +longer before the hand can grasp and manipulate the substances within +its reach: in this state, volition would be superfluous if it were +possessed. By slow gradations, we find the child capable of directing +its eye, of listening to sounds, and of examining by the touch; and +these imply the efforts of the will, which appear to be subsequent to +perception. As we advance in knowledge, our perceptions, which are the +sources of intelligence, are principally acquired by the agency of +volition, which directs the organ to the object, but we still continue +to be acted on involuntarily by forcible impressions, or striking +phenomena. + +Previously to the acquirement of language, perception, memory, and +volition are in their simplest state, such as we observe in animals, and +as in them, we are only able to estimate the amount of their mental +possessions, from the intellectual phenomena they display. In the +infant, the separate and combined examination of objects by the eye and +touch are the circumstances most deserving of notice. + +It may here be proper to explain why these earliest of our perceptions +are never remembered in after-life. The long period of human infancy, is +a powerful argument for the superiority of our species: the mind of man +is built up by his own exertions, and his progress is in the ratio of +his experience to his capacity: his mission is more important, and +consequently requires a longer period to fulfil: he has few instincts; +and the sum of his knowledge is the elaboration of his extended +endowments. To have remembered the confused dawnings of his perceptions, +the imperfect and obscure transmissions of his unpractised organs would +have been superfluous, and the sources of error. In this early state, +there is no medium by which his perceptions can be artificially +connected; nor do they admit of communication or record. When language +is acquired, our perceptions become "doubly armed," and impress the +memory with additional effect: the employment of the term as the +representative of the object, recalls the original perception, and thus +invests the mental phantasm with "a local habitation and a name." Thus +our earliest recollections are never anterior to a certain progress in +the art of speech. + +As we possess the instruments of motion in our muscles, they would have +been useless without the performance of their function, and our bodies +would have been stationary. It is also equally evident that this office +must be performed by ourselves, or fulfilled by others. It has been +already pointed out that there are certain motions, essential to the +preservation of our animal system, termed _involuntary_, which do not +originate from ourselves, but are the directions of a superior power, +and are effected independently of our experience and control: the other +motions, that have been termed voluntary, are the result of acquirement +or practice, and have been gradually formed by our exertions. The reader +will now be prepared to understand the wisdom of this arrangement, +which, in a future chapter, will be more copiously treated; and to feel +that the superiority of man, as an intellectual being, and a +responsible agent, consists in the formation of his own mind, and in +the direction of his thoughts and actions. + +That we should exert our utmost endeavours to become acquainted with the +nature of this influence, which we term the will, is most natural; but +hitherto our researches have been wholly unavailing; and it should be +recollected that the appearances of life cannot be accounted for by that +which is inanimate, nor can the phenomena of intelligence be solved by +material analogies. As we are possessed of the implements of motion, it +is evident that they were constructed to accomplish their destined +purpose; but of the intimate nature of the stimulus which goads them to +action, we have no conception: it seems, however, certain that there +exists a mutual consent,--a reciprocal subaudition,--a compact, the +result of exercise and experience,--between the implements of motion and +the will or influence which excites them. + +As far as we are able to discover, by the most attentive and deliberate +examination of our own minds, we do not appear conscious of any +intermediate perception, between the motive and the performance of the +action, or the execution of the will. If it were allowable to indulge in +analogical reasoning, which usually diverts us from the consideration of +the subject, we might endeavour to illustrate this process by the firing +of a pistol. When we have taken due aim, we have only to draw the +trigger, which produces the explosion: in doing this, however, we +perceive the emission of light from the combustion of the powder; but to +this there is nothing analogous in the operation of the will:--the +dictate of the will, and the motion excited, when watched with the +utmost attention, appear instantaneous, and become synchronous by habit. +Considering the celerity of our voluntary movements, there appears a +good reason why no perceptible intervention should exist, to divert the +mind from the immediate performance of the will. The correspondence of +the motion to the intimation of the will, is the business of education +and the performance of habit. + +The exertion of the will on the bodily organs having been generally +described, it now remains to demonstrate its influence on the mind; and +so far as we are enabled to discover, it appears to be performed by the +same process. The direction of the several organs of sense to the +examination of objects, is an act of the will, and has been named +Attention; which, by some writers, has been deemed a peculiar and +constituent faculty of the mind; but in the present view it is +considered only as the practical result of the operation of volition on +the organs of sense, on memory, and on reflection. The soundest mind (as +far as it has been hitherto considered) may be attributed to him who +possesses the most enduring control over the organs of sense, in order +to examine objects accurately, and thereby to acquire a full and +complete perception. That memory is the best, which can voluntarily and +immediately produce that which has been committed to its custody; and +that reflection is the most perfect, which is exclusively occupied with +the subject of consideration. There seems also to be a considerable +similarity between the morbid states of the instruments of voluntary +motion, and certain affections of the mental powers: thus, paralysis has +its counterpart in the defects of recollection, where the utmost +endeavour to remember is ineffectually exerted; tremor may be compared +with incapability of fixing the attention, and this involuntary state of +muscles ordinarily subjected to the will, also finds a parallel, where +the mind loses its influence on the train of thought, and becomes +subject to spontaneous intrusions; as may be exemplified in reverie, +dreaming, and some species of madness. + +As attention is considered an exertion of the will on the organs of +sense and faculties of the mind, it may be allowable to remark on the +nature and meaning of the term. It was evidently imposed under a +prevailing hypothesis, that the mind possessed a power of stretching or +extending itself to the objects of its perception, or to the subjects of +reflection; it is therefore a figurative term. Indeed something of this +nature actually takes place in the organ:--in minute examinations by the +eye, we actually strain and stretch its muscles, and feel the fatigue +which results from over-exertion:--when we listen, the neck is +stretched forward, and such position enables us to collect those +vibrations of sound, that would be otherwise inaudible. We are not +unaccustomed to describe the higher and more felicitous productions of +intellect, as a vigorous grasp of the mental powers, or as a noble +stretch of thought: but to infer that the mind itself was capable of +being extended, would be to invest it directly with the properties of +substance, and at once plunge us into the grossest materialism. The +perfection of this voluntary direction, or, as it has been termed, +faculty of attention, consists in intensity and duration. Of the former +there can be no admeasurement, excepting by its effect, which is +recollection: its duration can be well ascertained. The faculty of +attention in the human mind may be exerted in two ways; first, by the +organs of sense to the objects of perception; and, secondly, by the mind +to the subjects of its recollection; and this latter exercise of +attention, as will be hereafter explained, seems to be in a very great +degree peculiar to man, and to be nearly wanting in animals. + +According to the nature and constitution of the human mind, the +effective duration of the attention seems to be very limited: if the eye +be steadily directed to any particular object, after a few seconds, it +will be found to wander; and if the mind be exerted on the subjects of +its recollection, there is very soon perceived an interruption, from the +intrusion of irrelevant thoughts. The effective duration of the +attention will much depend on the superior capacity, nature, or +constitution of the intellect itself; but still more on the manner in +which these habits of attention are exercised; for, by proper +cultivation, its duration may be considerably protracted. As a proof of +the limited endurance of the faculty of attention in ordinary minds, +allow the following experiment to be made. + +Let two ordinary persons, A. and B., take a map of a district with which +they are unacquainted, and let each be allowed half an hour to study the +map. Desire A. to fix his attention undeviatingly to the map for this +time; and at its expiration, the map being withdrawn, request him to put +on paper the relative situations and names of the different places; and +for the performance of his task, allow him another half hour. As the +experiment has been repeatedly made, it may be confidently predicted, +that A. would exhibit a very incorrect copy of the original map. Let B. +take the same map to study for the same time; but instead of keeping his +eyes undeviatingly fixed to the object, desire him to view it only for a +few seconds; and then, shutting his eyes, let him endeavour to bring the +picture of the map before his mind: his first efforts will convey a very +confused notion of the actual and relative positions; but he will become +sensible of his defects, and reinspect the map for their correction. If +this successive ocular examination and review by the mind, be continued +during the half hour, or even for a less time, B. will be competent to +make a drawing of the map with superior accuracy to A., who endeavoured +to fix his attention for the whole of the time allotted. In conducting +this experiment some very curious phenomena may be observed. If A. had +directed his eyes to the object intensely and undeviatingly, especially +in a strong light, and had then covered or shut his eyes, in order to +recollect the relative situations in the map, the straining of the organ +to the object would defeat his endeavours; and instead of being able to +bring the picture before his mind, he would be annoyed and interrupted +by the intrusion of ocular spectra, undergoing the succession of changes +described by Dr. Darwin.[14] Thus there are limits to the duration of +our effective attention: if the organ of vision be too long directed to +the object of perception, ocular spectra arise, fatigue and confusion +ensue in the other senses; and if the subjects of recollection be too +long and intensely contemplated, delirium will supervene. + +In page 52, after enumerating the wonderful productions of the hand, an +objection was foreseen, which may be conveniently examined in the +present chapter. That all the performances of the human hand, and of the +other members of the body, which are not the result of involuntary +movements, must have been the consequence of the direction of the will, +is indisputable: it is, in fact, the common relation of cause and +effect: but the creation of this distinction, would assign separate +offices to the mind and to the organ;--or to the power directing, and to +the instrument by which the command is executed. Sufficient has been +already adduced, to render it obvious, that mind or organ _alone_ would +be inadequate for the purposes of intelligence. Perception, without its +record or memory, would be a useless endowment; muscles or organs of +motion, without a power to direct their actions, could have answered no +purpose: to be effective, volition must have an object on which its +influence can be exerted. In the case of a paralytic arm or leg, the +exercise of the will is a fruitless endeavour; and the command to render +fixed a tremulous hand is equally unavailing. The power or capacity of +moving the muscles,--of directing the organs of sense to the examination +of objects,--of recollecting,--and of regulating our thoughts or +reflections, constitutes the will; but this acquirement is of very +gradual formation, and the result of mutual and progressive exercise, +both of mind and organ. Ordinary persons have no information of the +structure by which they perform their motions; and it may be also +doubted if an able anatomist would be competent to describe the action +of the different muscles, in complicated movements. The most dexterous +artificer, is wholly ignorant of the intimate construction of the organs +by which he performs his wonderful elaborations,--he has acquired the +happy facility by repeated exercise. There is a tacit and practical +convention between his mind and the powers which produce the +performance; tacit, as he is unable to describe them, and practical, as, +if naturally left-handed, he is unable by any mental directions or +influence of volition, to exhibit the same performance with the right. +The apparent facility and astonishing rapidity with which, by practice, +we perform many of our voluntary motions, has induced an opinion, that +such motions might be considered as automatical, which implies that they +were performed by the organ independently of the will; but this would be +to maintain, that the most difficult and felicitous of our voluntary +motions were themselves involuntary. This supposition is so absurd that +it refutes itself; its admission would be a libel on the perfection of +human attainment, and tend to subvert the best portion of our existing +morality. + +That voluntary muscles may be converted into involuntary, has been +already observed; but this conversion is to be considered a morbid +state, and must be regarded as a degradation of our nature, instead of +its perfection. Excess in the use of fermented liquors, will generally +produce it; and the habitual practice of intemperance will destroy the +influence of volition over the intellectual powers; so that the control +over the succession of our thoughts can be no longer exerted, and when +we give them utterance they are without connection, and we talk at +random. + +It is not to be expected, in a work which professes to be merely +contributions to the Natural History and Physiology of Intelligent +Beings, that a particular discussion of moral subjects should be +instituted; and such is the question concerning the freedom of the human +will: the reader is therefore referred to those writers who have fully, +and with considerable acuteness, discussed this intricate and important +topic. The nature of this attribute is however so interwoven with the +philosophy of mind, so connected with the view which has been taken of +its history and constitution, that it is impossible wholly to abstain +from the consideration of its influence on the excellence and demerit of +human actions. It has been endeavoured, throughout this chapter, to +establish, that the power which goads or stimulates the muscles to +action, and the mind to exertion, is not inherent, but acquired by +practice; and this is exemplified by the state of the new-born infant, +which, at that period, manifests no more of volition, than of +perception, reflection, or reason. It has also been conjectured, that +the possession of this influence must be subsequent to perception, for +reasons which have been assigned. With its intimate nature we are +unacquainted; but we see, as far as muscular motion is concerned, that +the same effect is produced by the stimulus of galvanism after the head +is removed, and when, according to our existing philosophy, +consciousness is destroyed, and the power of willing is abolished. It is +by no means intended to suppose that the stimulus of the will has any +affinity with the galvanic fluid, because we are unable to prove it; +although such opinion has been entertained. According to my own +interpretation, Will is to be considered as the mere spur, the simple +stimulus to action: it possesses no intelligence to direct; but in the +healthy state, excites motion in consequence of being itself directed to +such excitement. To invest Will with intelligence sufficient for its +purposes, would render reason, the highest of our attainments, +superfluous. Those who have most strenuously contended for the freedom +of the will, have insisted that it possesses the liberty of choosing or +preferring: allow this, and then enquire what must be the nature of that +choice or preference, which is selected by an arbitrary decision, +without the previous estimate or calculation of reason. Man, beyond all +other beings, is endowed with superior means of accumulating knowledge, +and of preserving experience; by these, therefore, his actions should be +directed. If, independently of these, his will possessed a power of +directing his actions, it would be equivalent to the instinct of +animals: he would, like them, be stationary, and his conduct liable to +no responsibility. The long period of infancy in man has been frequently +adverted to; and it is a considerable time before he acquires sufficient +experience to direct his conduct; and during which, many of the species +of animals have completed several generations. For this reason, the +wisest legislators, of all ages, have exempted children under a certain +age, from the punishment of death for their actions; and although many +of them have entertained erroneous notions concerning the nature of the +will, yet they tacitly admit, in the instances of infants, idiots, and +madmen,--that is, where the understanding is not sufficiently formed by +experience, or where it is perverted by disease, that the acts of the +will ought not to be visited by the severity of the law. This is perhaps +the best practical illustration, that the will to act, is governed and +directed by reason. Had the mind of man, like animals, been furnished +with instinct, which, in them, implies a wise, preconcerted, and +unvarying performance of important functions, for their individual +preservation, and for the continuance of their race,--as may be +exemplified in the construction of the habitations of the bee and +beaver, together with their wonderful economy,--the fabrication of the +spider's web, and many others,--he would, like them, have been +stationary, having received from Infinite Bounty and Wisdom sufficient +for his destination: his will would have been directed by unerring +motives; and thus his conduct would have been absolved from all +responsibility. But man is gifted with few instincts, which appear to +decline as his reason advances: his intellect is more capacious, and of +a finer staple; he possesses additional organs for the accumulation of +knowledge; and, by the peculiarity of his construction, is enabled to +preserve his acquirements, to avail himself of the treasures of those +who have preceded him, and to transmit his collections to posterity. +Man, in possession of ampler materials and superior capacity, becomes +the architect of his own mind; and to him it is alone permitted, by the +aid of experience, and the estimate of reason, to direct his actions: +but this generous and exalted faculty involves him in awful +responsibility. The same light which discovers to him that which is good +and lawful, also exposes its opposite, which is evil and forbidden; and +the nature of good and evil, as it forms the foundation of human +institutions, has been derived from our experience of their effects, or +a calculation of their tendencies. The will of man, therefore, is as +free as his experience dictates, and his reason urges to action: yet, +that he should often act in opposition to both, is as lamentable as +certain: in the transport of immediate gratification, or in the hopes of +enjoyment, precept ceases to influence, and example loses its warning. + + + Video meliora proboque, deteriora sequor. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[12] In some of these instances, where the will has ceased to influence +the muscles, the due sensibility of the nerves has +remained.--Medico-Chirurgical Transactions, vol. ix. p. 8. + +[13] So little does the infant appear to possess any control over those +organs which afterwards become subject to voluntary influence, that it +may be sufficient to remark the flow of saliva, of urine, and the more +solid evacuations, are subject to no restraint, and for some time are +passed with little or no consciousness: even the motions which are +excited in the limbs, appear to be spasmodic, rather than the effect of +direction. + +[14] Vide Darwin's Thesis de Spectris Ocularibus. + + + + +ON THOUGHT OR REFLECTION. + + +Those recollected objects, which have been transmitted by the senses, or +which we have perceived by their means, are the subjects of our thoughts +or reflections; for these terms will be indifferently employed, as +designating the same faculty or process. The obvious meaning of the word +_reflection_, is the representation of any object in a mirror. This +term, so well understood in that department of natural philosophy named +optics, has been transferred to mind, in order to explain a process, +supposed to be similar. If, however, we examine the analogy, it will not +accord:--to produce reflection in the mirror, the object must be +present; in the mind, the reflection takes place when the object is +absent. Although the simile, strictly speaking, is imperfect, yet the +figure is beautiful, and, considering the metaphorical nature of +language, as applied to mental operations, the most natural and +appropriate that could have been selected; for, speaking in a general +way, our thoughts, in themselves appear very much as the shadows or +reflection of our perceptions. As we are but little capable of +communicating the nature of our perceptions, independently of language, +we must have recourse to inference and conjecture. It is fully +understood that our visual perceptions, through the medium of +recollection, may be represented by the skilful execution of the hand; +and that those of smell, taste, and touch do not directly admit of such +delineation. We might next inquire, if the odours we perceive are as +strongly impressed on the olfactory organ, as the subjects of visual +perception on the eye? Are they as fully and distinctly recollected? and +are they capable by themselves of affording the materials for thought or +reflection? Animals possess certain senses in common with ourselves; +and, in many, the organs are more susceptible than our own; but there +are no circumstances which have yet transpired, to induce us to suppose +that the perceptions they have acquired are reviewed by their minds, +when the objects which excited them are absent. The memory they possess +of the perceptions they have experienced, is perhaps superior to that +of human beings; still it does not appear, from any manifestations they +afford, that it is actively exercised, as with ourselves, but +occasionally excited by the recurrence of the object which originally +produced it. Language is the pencil which marks the bold outline, and +lends a colouring to our different perceptions; and with this boon man +is exclusively gifted. A rational curiosity will prompt the reader to +inquire, in what our perceptions consist independently of the language +in which we ordinarily clothe them. In the instance of optical +perception, we know that it is _something_ which is retained by the +memory, and may be traced by the hand, so as to convince others that it +is truly remembered or recollected[15]; but let the same enquiry be +made concerning the perceptions we receive by the touch, the smell, and +the taste: in this investigation we shall experience much greater +difficulty, as it is an endeavour to conceive the nakedness of a figure +which is always clothed. That these perceptions must also be _something_ +abstracted from the terms which represent them, is proved, by the +circumstance, that they are recollected when they occur again. As we are +educated by language, and acquire a facility of employing it as the +vehicle of our thoughts, we are little accustomed to contemplate the +subject in this manner, and this also enhances the difficulty. When, +however, the importance of speech is adequately considered, it will, I +think, be detected, that the terms which we employ as the +representatives of the perceptions of touch, smell, and taste, are the +only media by which they can be voluntarily recollected or communicated +to others; and, as signs of such perceptions, are equivalent to the +representations by the hand of those which have been perceived by the +organ of vision. To attempt the analysis of these silent deposits, to +endeavour to describe these bare perceptions, would be altogether +unavailing, because description implies language. In fact, it would be +an effort to detect the symmetry of the human frame, by loading it with +modern finery. The wonderful capacity which man exclusively enjoys, +both for the communication of his thoughts, and for the improvement of +his memory, in being enabled to acquire and transmit knowledge by +impregnating sound with intelligence, and more especially in exhibiting +its character embodied to the eye, leaves the rest of animated creation +at a prodigious distance. This endowment of language to man, whereby he +can, by an articulate sound, recall the perception of objects, (not +indeed equal to the sensorial impression, but sufficient for their +recollection, and also for the proof of their identity)--whereby he can +with equal intelligence exhibit their character to the eye, is +sufficient to explain of what the materials of his thoughts +consist:--and to prove that animals being unable to substitute a term +for their perceptions, are incapable of the process which we denominate +thought or reflection. To fathom this mystery, is perhaps impossible; +but, from attentively watching that which passeth within us,--from +considering the state of animals which want this endowment altogether, +it seems to be a law of our intellectual constitution, that our thoughts +or reflections can only consist of the terms which represent our +perceptions; and this is more evidently true, when we reflect on those +subjects which are of a general or abstract nature. + +Whoever will attentively watch the operation of his own mind,--for this +subject admits of direct experiment,--will find that he employs terms +when he conducts the process of reflection. In order to afford a fair +trial, it is necessary that he should be alone, and subject to no +interruptions. It will also add to the facility of the experiment, that +he select a subject with which he is but little acquainted, as the +process will be more deliberate. On topics with which we are familiar, +we have acquired a rapidity of exercise which renders the detection of +the process more difficult and perplexing. In this trial, he will be +aware that he is repeating words as the materials of his thoughts. If +the subject on which he should think involves persons with whom he is +acquainted, or scenes he has viewed, he will, in addition to the terms +he employs, have the pictures, or visible phantasmata, of these +presented to his mind, conjunctively with such words. That we actually +employ terms in this process is evident in many, who, when exercising +their thoughts on any subject, are found, as we term it, talking to +themselves; so that we are enabled to observe the motion of their lips: +and this circumstance is to be noticed in most persons when they are +counting. + +The contrivances of language enable us to connect our thoughts; for our +perceptions are distinct and individual, and of themselves can possess +no elective attraction to _associate_ and combine: they may however, by +repetition or habit, become so allied, that the occurrence of one will +excite the sequence of the other. We ordinarily recollect them very much +in the order and succession of their occurrence; but we are also able +to arrange and class them, and by such means, of recollecting them +according to the artificial order of their distribution. This may be +exemplified in the various expedients that have been devised for the +acquirement and retention of knowledge: thus, chronology records events +according to the order of their occurrence; an encyclopædia arranges +according to alphabet or subject; and the most perfect of this kind, +like the index to a book, consists in their mutual reference. + +This wonderful faculty of thought or reflection, so far as we possess +the means of detecting, appears to be peculiar to man; and if it be +admitted to consist of our recollected perceptions, by the contrivances +of language, we shall find that animals are not in possession of the +necessary materials. + +The ear transmits sounds to animals possessing this sense; and in some +species it is so exquisitely susceptible, as to surpass, by many +degrees, the acuteness of the same organ in the human subject. It is +also recorded, that in some of the wilder tribes of man, the hearing +possesses a delicacy of percipience unknown to the inhabitants of a +polished community. Superadded to the conveyance of ordinary sound, the +ear of man is the great inlet of communication, and the vehicle of +articulate intelligence. Through the medium of this sense his knowledge +becomes extended, and his memory improved; for every conversation is +either a review of his stores, or an addition to his stock. As our +thoughts or reflections are conducted by language, great caution is +required that the terms we employ should possess a fixed and determinate +meaning; and this is more especially important, when we employ words +which are not the representatives of the objects of our perceptions, but +of a complex nature, or, as they have been denominated, general terms; +such as those which are used to designate the faculties and operations +of the mind, and such as convey our moral attributes. The perfection of +the process of thought, consists in the attention which the will can +exert on the subjects of[16] consideration. The nature and endurance of +the attention, which the organs of sense can bestow on the objects of +perception, have been already discussed; and it will be found, that the +same influence is directed when we exercise reflection: so that that +mind is to be considered as most efficient, (in proportion to its +natural capacity,) which can dwell on the subjects of its thoughts +without interruption from irrelevant intrusions. The exertion of +voluntary control over our thoughts has been denied; but if we were to +subscribe to such doctrine, it would follow that this noble faculty of +reflection would be merely a spontaneous concurrence of images and terms +accidentally revived,--on rare occasions fortuitously blundering on wit, +and ordinarily revelling in the absurdities of distraction. In +proportion as we have been duly educated, we become enabled to direct +and fix the organs of sense to the objects of perception, to be able at +will to revive our memoranda, or to call on the memory to exhibit the +deposits which have been confided to its custody, and to dwell +pertinaciously on the materials of reflection. It is, however, certain, +that in ordinary minds, the attention is little capable of being fixed +to objects, and still less to the subjects of reflection; but this +incapacity, in both instances, is principally to be attributed to the +defects of education, and to a want of proper discipline of the +intellectual powers. The endurance of attention in minds of the highest +order, by a wise law of our constitution, is limited; and if it be +attempted to continue the exertion beyond the natural power, the effort +is infructuous. As straining the muscles produces fatigue, stiffness, +and tremor;--as ocula spectra intrude on the forced and protracted +attention of the visual organs,--so confusion ensues, when thought is +racked and goaded to exhaustion. + +As the staple of the human intellect is vastly superior to that of +animals, so we find among our own species a considerable range of +capacity; but however we may estimate mental excellence, it should be +recollected, that its possession has seldom contributed to the happiness +of the individual; so that experience would lead us to prefer the sober +medium, which is included by a parenthesis, between the extremes of +genius and dulness, and which appears to be the unenvied lot of the mass +of society. The two great distinctions which mark the intellects of our +species, seem to consist in the difference of character, which is +established by those who excel in the exercise of their perceptions and +consequent recollection, and those who cultivate and discipline the +energies of thought. The former are distinguished by a vigorous +activity, a penetrating and unwearied observation; their curiosity +seems rather to be attracted by the object itself than directed by the +mind. This incessant occupation and restless inquiry furnishes the +memory with an abundant vocabulary: they recollect each object they have +seen, and can retrace every path they have trodden; the ear greedily +imbibes the conversations to which they are anxiously disposed to +listen; that which they read, they verbally retain; they excel in +quickness of perception and promptitude of memory, and appear to have +every thing by heart; they are "the gay motes that people the sun-beams" +of the intellectual world:--thus we find them, as inclination may sway, +accurate chronologists, biographers pregnant with anecdote, expert +nomenclators, botanists, topographers, practical linguists, and +bibliographers; in short, the opulent possessors of whatever perception +can detect, and memory preserve. The other order of men, (and they are +comparatively few,) are the creatures of reflection:--with them the +senses are little on the alert; they do not fatigue the wing by +excursions through the field of nature; but that which the recollection +retains becomes the subject of mental examination. An event is not +registered from having merely occurred; but the causes which produced it +are investigated, and a calculation is instituted concerning its +probable tendency. Words are not simply regarded as the floating +currency or medium of exchange, but they are severely subjected to +analysis to establish their standard, or to detect the excess of their +alloy; their senses are little awake to external impressions; the +objects which a change of scene presents are slightly noticed, and +feebly remembered; their curiosity is not attracted from without, but +excited from within; they are strangers to the haunts of gay and +mirthful intercourse, and are rather consulted as oracles, than selected +as companions. This constant occupation of thought produces the +philosophical historian, profound critic, physiologist, mathematician, +general grammarian, etymologist, and metaphysician. After long exertion +they become disposed to melancholic disquietude, and often turn in +disgust from a world, the beauties of which they want an incentive to +examine, and taste to admire. Both of these intellectual orders of our +species contribute, but in different manners, to the stores of +knowledge. The sound, efficient, and useful mind consists in a due +balance and regular exercise of its different faculties. + +How great soever the pains which an individual may bestow, to fix his +thoughts to the examination of a particular subject, he will find that +the effective duration of his attention is very limited, and that other +thoughts, often wholly unconnected with the subject, will intrude and +occupy his mind; on some occasions they are so prevailing and +importunate, that he loses the original subject altogether. It is +acknowledged, that the soundest and most efficient mind, is +distinguished by the control it is capable of exerting on its immediate +thoughts; which consist, as has before been observed, of terms, and the +phantasmata of visible recollection:--this wandering of the thoughts to +other subjects, or this intrusion of irrelevant words and pictures, +whichever may be the case, appears to bear a very strong resemblance to +a morbid state. It is usually the attendant on indolence, and has +probably its source in a want of the proper occupation of mind, and, by +indulgence, may become an incurable habit. Yet this rumination of mind +has its votaries: by some it is courted as a delightful amusement, and +eulogies are bestowed on the incoherent tissue of these reveries and +day-dreams. Although these illegitimate offsprings of "retired leisure" +may be considered as a perversion of the noblest attribute of man; yet +they serve, in some degree, to recruit our recollection of past +transactions, which might otherwise have faded in obscurity, or perished +from natural decay. In the soundest and most refreshing sleep we seldom +dream; so, in those wholesome exercises of the intellect where the mind +is fully occupied, and, more especially, when such pursuit is combined +with bodily exertion, these masterless associates do not intrude. By +continuance, this habit may be so formidably increased, more especially +under the guidance of malignant or depressing passions, that these +shadows become embodied, and assume a form so potent and terrible, that +the will is unable to bind them down, and the understanding attempts to +exorcise them in vain. + +The act of thought or reflection, therefore, appears to consist, not in +the operation of an exclusive and particular faculty, but in the +voluntary recollection of pictures, as far as visible perception is +involved, and of terms or words which are the types or representatives +of our perceptions, together with those general terms, which are to be +considered as abbreviations of meaning or intelligence. All this would, +however, only amount to an act of memory, of such pictures and terms, +particular and general; and would not comprehend or include their +analysis, estimate, admeasurement, or _ratio_, with inquiries into their +source and tendency, which is denominated _reason_, and which will +compose the materials of the following chapter. Suffice it to observe +that our thoughts on any subject can only be according to the extent of +our knowledge of things and opinions; and, therefore, that our thoughts +or reflections necessarily involve our reasonings, as they are only +recollections without them. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[15] In this capability animals will never rival us, as they are +deficient of the _hand_, the operative instrument by which it is +effected. + +[16] It may be proper to explain the origin and meaning of this word, +and of another usually employed in a similar sense, namely, +contemplation. The former is compounded of _cum_ and _sidus_, and +presumes a fixity of mind adequate to the survey of the heavenly bodies; +the latter is derived from _cum_ and _templum_, and imports the same +gravity and concentration of thought which we carry to the fane of +devotion. + + + + +ON REASON. + + +The opinions of the thinking part of mankind have been much divided +concerning the signification of the term Reason. Every person, conceives +himself privileged to reason upon all the subjects of human +intelligence; and whatever he may chuse to offer on any side of a +question, he denominates his reasons for or against it. By some, this +power is held to be the exclusive possession of man; and such persons +naturally conclude that an offence is offered to his intellectual +dignity, if the smallest portion be conceded to the most docile animals. +This is, however, a question for future examination, and will be +discussed when their faculties are more particularly investigated. Those +who have affirmed that our own species is exclusively gifted with +reason, have not in any manner defined the nature of this faculty, or +enumerated the steps of the process by which reasoning is performed: +indeed, so ambiguous has been the signification annexed to this term, +that it is not uncommon to meet, in the best authors, with the +expressions of right reason, false or inconclusive reasonings, absurd +reasons, &c. These epithets are, however, perfectly correct, as will be +demonstrated in the course of this enquiry. + +If this capacity of reasoning be peculiar to man, it would not appear +difficult to trace the gradations of the process when he employs it: +every act of intellectual exertion, deliberately performed, is attended +with consciousness; he must therefore be aware of the successive steps +of his march: but as this effort might be perplexing to minds +unaccustomed to such deliberate and minute investigation, a readier +method presents itself in order to attain the object. There are writers +in all the departments of human knowledge, who are deservedly held in +the highest estimation, and who have reasoned on the subjects they have +treated, with the utmost correctness and ability:--let the best +specimens of that, which, in these authors, is allowed to be reasoning, +be selected and analysed, which will readily demonstrate the means they +have pursued to arrive at their conclusion. The whole of this process +being conducted by significant sounds conveyed to the ear, or in the +signs of these sounds presented to the eye, the inquirer would be +immediately impressed, that intelligent sound, or its character, that +is, language, must be the vehicle by which this process is performed. In +the next place, he would be sensible that these sounds, or their signs, +were the substitutes or intended representatives of the objects in +nature, either individually or collectively; for he would find that men, +by the instrument of speech, had contrived, by a term, equally to +express collections as well as individuals; as a man, or an army, which +latter might consist of many thousands of the same beings. When he had +arrived at this knowledge, he would be persuaded of the importance of +these terms, and feel the necessity of their precise and uniform +signification, as the representatives of the particular objects or +collections they professed to describe:--because, if different +significations were affixed to the same term, those who employed it +could not mean the same thing. These prefatory observations appear to be +proper, and it is important that the reader should bear them in mind; +but it will be evident that the most correct description of objects does +not constitute the process of reasoning, however indispensable it may be +as its foundation. + +Reason, as the term itself shows, implies _ratio_, estimate, proportion, +or admeasurement; and in all the instances of reasoning that can be +adduced, this interpretation will apply in the strictest sense. But +_ratio_, estimate, &c. involve numbers, by which they can alone be +characterised or defined. Thus, by way of illustration, the estimate for +a building implies the number of the different materials, with their +_cost_, which is the number of pounds, shillings, and pence; also the +number of requisite workmen to be employed for such time, or number of +weeks, days, &c. at a certain stipend: admeasurement also consists of +numbers, whether it be employed on solids, fluids, or designate the +succession of our perceptions, called time[17]: and ratio or proportion +is equally the creature of numbers. In a preceding part of these +contributions, the importance of numbers has been considered, and a +confident belief expressed that no animal is capable of numeration; and +that the comprehension of addition and subtraction, the basis of all +calculation is exclusively the province of the human intellect. This +subject, however, requires a more extended investigation; and the +research would doubtless reward the toil of the inquirer. + +It is generally acknowledged, that arithmetic, or the combination and +separation of numbers, is the purest and most certain system of +reasoning, and liable, when properly conducted, to no difference of +opinion; because the meaning of number is definite and universally +agreed on, there being no nation that affixes a different value to the +units, which are the elements of all ulterior numerative progression; +and although, in different languages, they are called by different +names, as [Greek: Deka], _decem_, _dieci_, _dix_,--_taihun_, _tÿn_, +_zehn_, _tien_, _ten_, yet they have an identical meaning, and +denominate the same thing; and notwithstanding the Roman and Arabic +symbols are of different character, they represent the same number, +whether we employ X or 10. It is owing to this identity of meaning, that +the reasoning in numbers is subject to no diversity of opinion. + +The names of those things which have an actual existence, and can be +submitted to the inquisition of our senses, or are capable of being +analysed, are subject to comparatively little error, when we reason +concerning them, because their character is defined by observation and +experiment: but we have terms to designate that which cannot immediately +be submitted to the analytic operations of our senses, and which has no +palpable existence; and from the undefined nature of these, the greatest +discord and confusion have prevailed when we reason concerning them; as +the terms, humanity, charity, benevolence, living principle, +organisation, materialism, political expediency, taste, liberty, +legitimacy, and a thousand besides. + +In order to proceed regularly with this subject, it appears that our +reasonings may be employed concerning things, or the objects in nature, +and on terms which are not the immediate representatives of natural +phenomena, but as they have been denominated general or abstract; and +which are intended to be the verbal representatives of multitudes of +objects arbitrarily classed, or of opinions comprised under such term. + +That reason is not an inherent, peculiar, and independent faculty of the +human mind, receives a strong confirmation from considering, that it +cannot be voluntarily exerted on subjects of discussion, but requires, +as the indispensable condition of its operation, the basis of knowledge, +which is to be understood to mean, the result of observation and +experiment: for the mere employment of language, on a subject with which +we are unacquainted, is but idle prating and a lavishment of words. To +reason, is to adapt our means, that is, our knowledge, for the +attainment of the end or object proposed: it is the estimate or +admeasurement of these means. If, for example, a military commander +intended effectually to bombard a city;--such being the object proposed, +he would immediately proceed to estimate, admeasure, or calculate his +means to produce the effect, and his success would depend on the +knowledge he possessed of the nature and properties of the materials +employed: he must calculate the distance, elevation, proportionate +quantity of powder, and the time the fuzee should burn previously to the +explosion of the shell; with various other necessary circumstances. This +is an example of a very pure process of reasoning as applied to things, +and accords with the definition that has been attempted. If it were +necessary to multiply instances of the reasoning on things, perhaps the +construction of a thermometer would be a well-adapted illustration; and +it would likewise exhibit that which I am very anxious to impress, +namely, the very gradual manner in which knowledge, by the operation of +reasoning has been applied to the purposes of utility. That many +substances, and particularly metallic bodies, augmented in magnitude by +being heated, or, as we now term it, expanded by heat, was known many +centuries ago, and was a fact of hourly occurrence to the artificers in +metals. A similar increment of bulk was also observed in fluids; and it +was likewise known, that their dimensions contracted as they cooled. +This fact appeared to obtain so generally, that it became an aphorism, +that bodies expanded by heat and contracted by cold. Of the precise +gradations of heat they were, however, ignorant. Most of the senses +became tests, although they were inaccurate criteria. The sight conveyed +some distinctive marks; so that when some metallic bodies were heated +to a high degree, they were observed to become red, and as the heat was +increased, they were rendered white. By the touch, a variety of +discriminations of temperature was obtained, to which appropriate terms +were annexed, explanatory of its effects, or according with the +feelings; as burning, scorching, scalding, blistering hot;--descending +to blood, loo, gently, or agreeably warm. The ear was not exempted from +its share of information, by detecting the boiling of water, or by +discovering when a heated metal was immersed in that fluid, that it was +hissing-hot: even the smell detected some obscure traces, sufficient to +discourage or invite an approach. These tests, although they might serve +for ordinary purposes, were still wholly inadequate for philosophical +accuracy. To ascertain quantity, it was necessary to associate number as +the index of precision. Notwithstanding the construction of this +instrument now appears so simple and easy of contrivance, it is only +within a few years that it occurred to fill a tube, having a bulb, with +a fluid; and to note the points at which snow dissolved, and water +boiled: when these were fixed, the intermediate space might form a scale +according to any subdivisions, so as to endow it with precision by the +adjunct of numbers. On many occasions, our sensations deceive us, +especially in a morbid state of the body: a person in the cold stage of +an ague shivers at the temperature that oppresses his attendant with +heat; but the instrument described is subject to no variations, by +marking the gradations of warmth with the definite character of number. +It will now be seen, that man possesses materials for conducting his +reasonings, which animals do not enjoy;--by language, and from his +capacity of numerating. Speech, of course, involves its record, whereby +he can recall the transactions of former ages, and preserve the fruit of +experience for his intellectual nurture, when the tree that produced it +has perished. This record is the elaboration of the hand,--that +wonderful instrument, the register of thought,--that active and and +skilful agent that "turns to shape" the contrivances of the mind. + +It is perhaps impossible, in a few words, to describe precisely the +nature of the operation termed reasoning. In general terms it may be +defined, _the means we employ for the attainment of the end proposed; +the employment of knowledge for the discovery of truth_; or _the process +of demonstration_; whether the object be an arithmetical sum, a +geometrical problem, or a discourse on taste. A part of the process of +reasoning, according to received opinion, consists in comparison, either +of things, or of general terms; and this comparison implies not merely +their exterior similitude, but likewise their internal structure and +composition: because two mineral substances may resemble each other in +external appearance, and may wholly differ in their intrinsic +properties. The process of ascertaining wherein they agree, and the +circumstances which discriminate them, is an instance of reasoning, or +the means we employ for the proposed end, and which means necessarily +imply the previous possession of knowledge. It will also be seen that in +the instance adduced, and indeed in most others, where we reason on +things, that precision can only be attained through the medium of +number; for these mineral substances, although similar in external +character, may contain very different proportions of the precious +metals, and their actual value can only be estimated by comparison; that +is, by an analysis, founded in knowledge, to ascertain the per centage +of gold or silver, which must be expressed in numbers: and the +comparison that is instituted concerning general or abstract terms, +must have for its basis the establishment of their legitimate force and +meaning. + +When we consult authorities on this subject, and particularly Dr. +Johnson's dictionary, we find that he has given eleven different +significations of the term _reason_, which he defines to be "the power +by which man _deduces_ one proposition from another, or proceeds from +premises to consequences." There is, however, much ambiguity in this +statement; and it would perhaps be impossible, in reasoning concerning +things, (which is to be considered as the most perfect example of this +process,) to adduce an instance, in which one proposition is strictly +_deduced_ from another. + +Every proposition is distinct, and independent: numbers, which are +definite, may be added together, and the sum-total exhibited, or a +lesser number subtracted from a greater, and the remainder shown. It is +difficult to say what is really meant by the words "deduces one +proposition from another." On examination, it will be found that every +simple proposition contains some fact or dictum, something set up or +laid down, _aliquid propositum_; and that nothing can be _deduced_ from +it, more than the meaning which the words constituting such proposition +legitimately convey: indeed, it must be evident, that any deduction from +a simple proposition would destroy its force. The sum of our knowledge +consists of individual facts, which are in themselves distinct, as much +as a flock of sheep is the aggregate of the different animals that +compose it; and it is only a misapplication of language, to affirm that +we are able to deduce one proposition from another. One proposition may +tend to explain or illustrate another; but every proposition, correctly +so termed, relates only to itself. + +The other mode by which we reason, is on abstract or general terms, +which are not the representatives of individual substances, or the +objects of our perceptions; but the names of classes or collections, or +of various hypotheses included or designated by a single name. The +difficulties which environ this latter mode of reasoning become +immediately evident, and satisfactorily account for the hostility and +confusion it has engendered, and for the tardy advancement of real +knowledge by this medium. The individual objects in nature can be +investigated by observation and experiment, and may be sufficiently +estimated; but multitudes of objects arbitrarily classed, or imaginary +qualities comprehended by a single name, do not admit of the same +analysis by the senses, and we are only enabled to ascertain their real +meaning in the two ways that have been pointed out,--by authority, +which, to be strictly such, ought to be invariable,--or by etymology, +which will demonstrate their original signification, and the reasons +which imposed them. Thus when we reason concerning charity, benevolence, +humanity, and liberty, terms certainly of the highest importance, but +each of which involves a variety of circumstances, and the real +signification of which, is to this moment differently interpreted, we +are impeded in the process, and fail in our estimate, because the +dimensions are uncertain. That which one man considers a charitable +donation, another views as the means which encourage idleness, and vice, +and a third person is perhaps induced to question the motive, by +attributing the gift to pride and ostentation. These general terms +seldom admit the precision of numbers, but are characterised as to their +proportions by expressions equally general and indefinite: as, much, +more, and most, to denote their augmentation; and, little, less, least, +to define their diminution. These general but indefinite degrees of +comparison, as they are termed, once defined the temperature of our +atmosphere, until a scale was discovered to mark its increment and +diminution by the accuracy of numbers. Great as may be the convenience +of general terms, both for abbreviation and dispatch, they are +notwithstanding liable to considerable suspicion, and are the frequent +sources of error and misapprehension. It has been principally for this +reason, that in proportion to the advancement of the physical sciences, +the study of scholastic metaphysic has been deservedly neglected. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[17] Time, or the admeasurement of the successive order of our +perceptions, embraces a wide area of definition; and it is perhaps +impossible, in a few words, to circumscribe the range of its meaning. +The sagacity of the human intellect, although by very slow gradations, +has accumulated the wonderful mass of knowledge we now possess on this +subject: and the investigations which have been made into the faculties +of animals, justify the conclusion that its comprehension is limited to +man. It would be highly interesting to trace the origin and progress of +our information, concerning the nature of time; but a short note to a +compressed essay, does not admit of such examination. However, it +appears evident, that the striking and regular phenomena of nature have +constituted some of our most important distinctions. Thus, the ebbing +and flowing of the tide have formed a very early notation; and we still +retain in our language the traces of its application in Whitsun_tide_, +Shrove_tide_, Allhallow_tide_, &c. The great divisions of time are well +understood; as day, from dawn; month, from moon; year, Anglo-Saxon gear, +from gyrdan, the girth (of the zodiac). A moderate knowledge of the +cognate languages of the north, would readily unravel the origin of all +the terms that have been employed by us and kindred nations, for the +purpose of characterising the succession of our perceptions. All these +subdivisions necessarily imply a comprehension of numbers. + +From the experience of the past, man has inferred the _probability_ of +the future; for by natural knowledge, the probability, great as it is, +can only be deduced. The certainty has descended from a higher +authority. Although the grammar of our language has endeavoured to mark +our predictions of the future by certain signs; yet these do not convey +any definite intelligence of that which _is_ to come. In this state of +being, man may receive assurances of ulterior existence, but he cannot +invest his predictions with the certainty of numbers. The signs of Will +and Shall, the utmost boundaries of his future glance, are both verbs in +the present tense, and only signify his immediate intention of +performance, at a time which may _probably_ arrive. + + + + +INSTINCT. + + +It has been endeavoured, in the foregoing pages, to describe the +intellectual capacities of the human being, and to account for his +superiority, from the peculiarity of his structure, and the extended +faculties it has conferred. It has also been attempted to maintain, that +man, thus gifted, is the architect of his own mind; with the hopeful +expectation, that it may tend to the improvement of his culture, but +more especially, to exhibit him as the creature of responsibility, in +consequence of his ampler endowments: "for unto whomsoever much is +given, of him shall be much required." + +The mental phenomena which animals display is a subject of equal +curiosity and interest; but it is to be lamented that they have not yet +been sufficiently observed, or faithfully collected. Their anatomy has +been minutely and diligently investigated, and the functions which have +resulted from the peculiarity of their structure, in many instances, +have been industriously developed; but an enumeration of their +intellectual bounties, and faculties of improvement, are still wanting +to complete their history. As we are able to trace the progress of mind, +in the infant, from its feeble glimmerings to its bright effulgence in +the maturity of man; so we can contemplate the inherent wisdom that +directs the animal tribe:--a liberal portion, sufficient for their +individual protection, and for the continuance of their race. This +definite allotment of mental craft to animals has rendered them +stationary, while man has no barriers opposed to his improvement; but, +under the fostering auxiliaries of a free soil, wholesome instruction, +and intellectual labour, continually advances. However vast his present +treasure may appear, its accumulation may be safely predicted; and it is +to be expected, or at least, it may be hoped, that his career in moral +practice will be commensurate with his progress in science. + +The human intellect, or the capacity of man for the accumulation of +knowledge, has enabled him, in a great degree, to render himself the +master of the animal creation; and more especially over those which +dwell on the soil he inhabits or range in the atmosphere he respires: +his authority or conciliation has little extended to the tenants of the +deep. Many of the larger quadrupeds he has subdued, and thereby has +become enabled to substitute the exertion of their muscles to relieve +the toil and fatigue of his own: of the swifter, he has coerced the +speed, for the anticipation of his wishes: the breed of many he has +extensively multiplied, to prey on their flesh, or to become nourished +by their secretions: his knowledge has been directed to the physical +improvements of their race, and he has also relieved them from many +infirmities and diseases, consequent on their domestication and labour. + +The wonderful construction of animals is a fit subject for the serious +contemplation of man: but the most striking and important lesson which +it impresses, is the adaptation of their organs to the purposes of their +destination, or the means they possess for the discharge of the offices +they perform. This construction is throughout an exemplification of that +which has been defined reason; and that it is perfect, may be concluded +from its being the work of the Creator. It has been already observed, +that the perceptive organs of many animals, especially the eye, the ear, +and the smell, are more acute and vigorous, than those in the human +subject: with us, the olfactory organ is considered as the lowest sense, +but in some animals it appears to be the most important; and even in +man, under certain privations[18], the smell has become a test of the +nicest discriminations: indeed, so far as the senses are concerned as +the importers of knowledge, animals appear to be gifted beyond our own +species. Their memory is also more perfect, as might be expected, from +the exquisite sensibility of their perceptive organs. The accuracy with +which they recognise persons and places is in many instances really +astonishing; and the certainty with which they retrace the most +intricate paths, is a proof of the excellence of their local +recollection, and of the attention they are capable of bestowing on the +objects of their perceptions. This enduring attention is perhaps to be +accounted for from their want of reflection, which so frequently diverts +man from dwelling on the objects of his senses. Thus, a cat will +undeviatingly watch the hole through which a mouse is known to pass, far +beyond the time which man can exclusively devote to a subject of +expectation. But here their superiority terminates. Their recollection +is not refreshed, as in man, by the substitution of a name for the +object of perception; much less have they any contrivance to record such +intelligent sound, whereby man can preserve and transmit his +perceptions. Thus whatever individual excellence animals may attain, +they want the means of communicating, and of transmitting to their +successors, and this sufficiently accounts for their stationary +condition, and for the progression of man. + +That animals are _incapable of the power_ which has been termed thought +or reflection is most probable. According to the interpretation that has +been given of this faculty, they are deficient of the materials, or of +terms, the representatives of perceptions; consequently of their +abbreviations, and of the contrivances by which a proposition or +sentence is constructed. That they understand some words, is evident; +they know their own names, and, by certain sounds, can be made to stop +or advance, to seize or let go, to rise up or lie down; but the extent +of this intelligence is very limited, and altogether different from the +comprehension of a sentence. + +It is not improbable that they dream; and, at such times, the +recollection of objects and scenes may be presented to them in visible +phantasmata; and in the delirium of canine madness, they are observed to +snap at imaginary existences; but this is far below the process that +constitutes reflection, which consists in the capacity of reviewing the +whole of our perceptions; and it has been endeavoured to point out that +this can only be effected through the medium of intelligent sound, or +its visible representative. If we were to contend for their capacity of +reflection, we must, at the same time, acknowledge, that they do not +appear to derive any improvement from the process; and to suppose them +endowed with that which was nugatory, and contributed in no degree to +their advancement, would be an idle and useless hypothesis. When not +employed and directed by man, their lives are principally occupied in +procuring food, and in the propagation of their species; and when their +appetites are satisfied, they repose or sleep: when not guided by +instinct, they seem to act from established habits, or the dictates of +immediate impression. They are capable of considerable acquirements +under the coercive tuition of man, and may be taught a variety of tricks +for his amusement or profit; but they do not appear to comprehend their +utility, or to hold these instructions in any estimation, as they never +practise them when alone. The most accomplished bear would not dance for +his own entertainment; and the learned pig never attempted to become a +school-master to the hogs of his acquaintance. + +It has been previously noticed, that in man, and most animals, there +were movements of the highest importance to life, which were directed +by the Author of the universe, and over which they had no immediate +control, termed involuntary motions; so we find, in the tribe of +animals, various mental endowments, especially tending to the +preservation of the individual, and to the succession of the race, which +are not the results of their experience. These have been comprehended +under a general term, and denominated instinct. By instinct, is meant +the display of contrivance and wisdom by animals, which tends to +preserve them as individuals, and to maintain their succession; an +intellectual exercise so perfect, that human philosophy has not +pretended to improve; so unvaried, that the excellence of its +performance cannot be exceeded, and is never diminished; a clearness of +execution, that "leaves no rubs and botches in the work," but which, it +may be presumed, is not even comprehended by the animal itself, as it +does not possess the organs or capacity to acquire the rudiments of the +science on which its operations proceed. As man, in his healthy state, +is little conscious of his involuntary motions, so I should presume that +animals possess but a feeble consciousness of their instinctive +achievements. This may be a subject for subtle disputants to decide; but +it appears certain, during the exercise of instinct, that their volition +must be suspended. When sufficient observation has collected the +intuitive wisdom displayed by animals, we shall then be able to _define_ +what is precisely meant by instinct; and, which is of much greater +importance, to furnish their intellectual history, of which the +definition is an abbreviation. One of the most useful contrivances of +language, is its abbreviation for the purposes of dispatch; and a +definition implies the fewest words into which its history can be +compressed, for perfect discrimination and identity of character. +Without disputing about a term, it may be noticed, that young ducks +hatched by a hen, immediately on their developement, and often with a +part of the shell still attached to them, make directly for the water; +while the hen, who has performed the office of a mother, screams with +alarm for the consequences. A she-cat, the first time she brings forth +her young, proceeds to secure the umbilical cord of each kitten, with +the caution of an experienced midwife. In both these instances, +experience cannot be adduced to account for the performance. When the +admirable texture of a spider's web is contemplated; will it be +contended that this elaboration is the result of mathematical knowledge +_acquired_ by the spider? Have the dwellings of the beaver, and the +construction of the honey-comb, their solution in the geometrical +attainments of the fabricators? The examples which have been enumerated, +(and they are only a few, among multitudes,) can only be accounted for, +by maintaining, that these wonderful phenomena proceed from a degree of +knowledge acquired by these animals, and are the result of such +attainment; or that they are independently furnished with such +propensities by the Creator. If it can be demonstrated that the animals +displaying the greatest acts of intelligence, are unable to acquire the +rudiments of the arts they practise, and cannot comprehend the wisdom +they execute, there will remain but one conclusion--that they are the +immediate endowments of God. Man has his instincts, although they are +few, and these appear to fade as his reason advances; woman enjoys a +more bountiful supply. The intellectual difference of the sexes is +strongly pronounced: the female is more the creature of perception: man, +of reflection:--the duties imposed on her, require less of thought and +volition; and when she resembles man by their possession and exercise, +she becomes less amiable and attractive. But this is abundantly +compensated by the intenseness and constancy of her affections. + +The gift of instinct to animals, does not exclude them from acquiring +knowledge by experience; for their minds are capable of improvement, +according to the extent of their capacities, and the intellectual organs +with which they are furnished. The instinct which is allotted to them is +mental possession which they could not have acquired, from the limited +nature of their faculties. All their instincts are processes of the +purest reasoning, but they do not originate from themselves; they are +not, as in man, the elaboration of thought, the contrivance founded on +the estimate of knowledge; but a boon,--an endowment, by which +experience is anticipated, and wisdom matured without its progress and +accumulation. Animals form an estimate of that which they can +accomplish: a horse will not voluntarily attempt a leap he cannot clear; +but his admeasurement is instituted solely by his eye: he is deficient +of the organ which man possesses;--nor can he measure by steps or paces, +as he is unable to numerate. An old hound will spare himself much +fatigue in the chace, by knowing, from experience, the doubles of the +hare. As man cannot reason independently of knowledge, nor beyond the +extent of his acquirements, neither can animals display this faculty +further than they possess the means. + +The instinctive bounty of intellect to animals, of course, renders them +stationary as a community; as instinct implies a definite portion of +intuitive sagacity, wisdom, or reason, commensurate to their wants and +destination. The early manifestation of instinctive wisdom, is the best +reply to those philosophers who have argued against its existence; for +in a multitude of instances it is exhibited, anterior to the possibility +of experience. Man, although gifted with superior capacities, and +susceptible of higher attainments, does not, from the paucity of his +instincts, arrive during many years at the same maturity both of mind +and body, which most animals display within the space of a few weeks; so +necessary and important is the protracted period of infancy to the +edifice and destination of the human mind. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[18] Notwithstanding we cannot sufficiently estimate the perfection of +the senses in animals, yet in some instances we are enabled to observe, +in our own species, the importance which a lower sense acquires, in +consequence of the privation of those which are deservedly considered +the more noble. A singular case of this nature occurred in Scotland, the +particulars of which have been published by Mr. James Wardrop an eminent +surgeon and oculist, 4to. London, 1813. This person, James Mitchel, was +born, very nearly blind and deaf. Although he was not deprived of every +glimmering and vibration, yet he was incapable of discerning an object, +or hearing an articulate sound; consequently to him the visible world +was annihilated. A ray of light might serve to delight him as a toy, but +it did not enable him to have the visible perception of any +substance:--his nerves, indeed, appeared to be agitated by the +concussion of sound, yet it was wholly impossible to lodge in his ear +the missile of a word. Being thus deprived of the two nobler senses, his +_mind_ was constituted of the perceptions he acquired by the organs of +touch, smell, and taste. His attention was enduring, and his curiosity +eager, far beyond those of any animal. Mr. Wardrop observes that "his +organs of touch, of smell, and of taste, had all acquired a +preternatural degree of acuteness, and appeared to have supplied, in an +astonishing manner, the deficiencies in the senses of seeing and +hearing. By those of touch and smell, in particular, he was in the habit +of examining every thing within his reach. Large objects, such as the +furniture of the room, he felt over with his fingers, whilst those which +were more minute, and which excited more of his interest, he applied to +his teeth, or touched with the point of his tongue. In exercising the +sense of touch, it was interesting to notice the delicate and precise +manner by which he applied the extremities of his fingers, and with what +ease and flexibility he would insinuate the point of his tongue into all +the inequalities of the body under his examination. + +"But there were many substances which he not only touched, but smelled +during his examination. + +"To the sense of smell he seemed chiefly indebted for his knowledge of +different persons. He appeared to know his relations and intimate +friends, by smelling them very slightly, and he at once detected +strangers." From the whole of this interesting relation, it seems fair +to conclude that this youth, even under the privation of sight and +hearing, possessed, in the staple of his intellect, capacities beyond +the most docile animals; and these consisted in the ardent curiosity +which he displayed, and in his desire for the improvement of his limited +faculties. Had this boy been confided to my management, I should have +endeavoured to educate him through the medium of his touch, so as to +communicate his wants, and afford an occupation to his mind. Thus, if +milk had uniformly been served to him in a bowl, beer in a mug, water in +a decanter with a glass stopper, and wine in a decanter with a cork: if +these had been arranged in his apartment, he might have indicated his +wish for any of these liquids, by producing the vessel that contained +them: the two latter might have been subsequently abbreviated, by +producing the glass stopper for water and the cork for wine. As he +examined every object by the touch, it would have contributed both to +his improvement and occupation, if he had been furnished with a quantity +of ductile clay, which he might have modelled to represent the objects +he examined, and which he might have preserved as a species of tangible +vocabulary. According to my own suppositions, he might have been taught +to numerate. It may be a subject of considerable curiosity to enquire, +of what the reflections of James Mitchel could have consisted. He had no +visible impressions which his hand could record. Being deaf, he could +not have acquired the instrument of thought--language; therefore, for +the objects of the senses he possessed,--smell, taste, and touch,--he +could have no terms, as their substitutes, for the purpose of +recollection. The next important question is, in what manner (wanting +names whereby they might be represented) would the perceptions of smell, +taste, and touch be represented to his mind in order to constitute +reflection or thought on these experienced perceptions? If musk, rose, +or garlic had been smelled, these perceptions, in a being constructed +like Mitchel, would remain dormant, until the same odour were again +presented to his olfactory organ; when it would be recollected, or he +would be conscious, that it had been previously presented. In such a +being, there would be a necessity for a fresh excitation of the organ of +sense by the object, to produce recollection; whereas, in those who +possess language, the name produces the recollection of the thing +perceived. + + + + +CONCLUSION. + + +The subjects that have been discussed in these contributions, fully +establish the pre-eminence of man, over all other created beings; and it +has also been endeavoured to demonstrate the circumstances which have +principally contributed to this superiority. The conclusions that may be +drawn are equally important and consoling. + +When the capacities of the intellect are fully ascertained, we shall be +enabled to supply it with the proper materials of instruction; so that +the protracted period of infancy may conduce to the formation of +virtuous and enlightened members of civil society. The healing art will +be abundantly promoted by a knowledge of mind;--for the remedy of its +infirmities and perversions ought to be founded on a thorough knowledge +of its faculties and operations;--nor should it be forgotten that the +prevention of crimes, and the reformation of delinquents, equally +involve an intimate acquaintance with the temperaments of human +character. + +In the contemplation of mind, from the highest order to the lowest +rank,--from man, to the maggot that consumes him; we are imprest with +the evidence of appropriate contrivance and infinite wisdom. Although we +are unable to penetrate the dense veil, that conceals the arcana of +vitality and intellect; yet sufficient is exhibited to us, in the ample +volume of nature, to satisfy our curiosity, and stimulate the exercise +of reason. Observation and experience have disclosed to us, in a great +degree, the structure and functions of our own bodily frame; and the +same persevering industry has unfolded the variations which obtain in +animals. The conclusions that have been formed from the study of anatomy +and physiology, amount to a conviction, that the contrivance is +admirably adapted to produce the effects we behold;--that the means are +competent to the end. The same reasoning applies to the phenomena of +intellect, and may be illustrated by the comparative difference which +appears in animals and man. + +The mental endowments and capacities which animals possess, have +rendered them stationary; whatever the more docile and intelligent may +have been compelled to learn, they do not appear to comprehend, and want +the means to communicate: so that their contemporaries and descendants +are unbenefited by the acquirement, and the attainment perishes with the +individual. When brought into existence, the world is to them a recent +creation, and bears no evidence of a former race, from archives or +monuments which they can understand. The record of their ancestors has +been discovered by man, in fossile preservation; but its characters are +unintelligible to them. As they have not been endowed with the capacity +to numerate, they can experience no solicitude for the past, nor +apprehension for the future. Their recollection is not an act of the +will, but an excitation by the object that originally produced it. In +the grammar of animals, the present is the only tense, and to punish +them for the faults they had formerly committed, would be equally absurd +and tyrannical. They are not the creatures of compact, and being unable +to comprehend the nature of institutions, and the obligation of laws, +they cannot be responsible agents. It has also been remarked, that they +are destitute of sympathy for the sufferings of their fellows; but +sympathy would be superfluous, where they cannot understand the nature +of the affliction, and do not possess the power of administering relief. + +The features of the human mind are very differently shaped, and +strongly indicate an ulterior destination. Man possesses language, the +instrument of thought, the vehicle of intelligible communication;--and +he is gifted with the hand, to record the subjects of his experience, to +fabricate his contrivances, and to rear the durable monuments of his +piety and splendour. Thus, he is rapidly progressive, his mind becomes +opulent from the intellectual treasures of his ancestors, and, in his +turn, he bequeaths to posterity the legacy of wisdom. His comprehension +of numbers, on which the nature of time is founded, enable him to revert +to the transactions of distant ages, and to invest faded events with the +freshness of immediate perception. He alone can embalm the past, and +welcome the tidings of the future. Man alone is fitted to covenant, +although he may occasionally waver in the performance. His exalted +capacities, his comprehension of the law, constitute his responsibility: +for where the conditions of the compact are not understood, there can be +no disobedience or delinquency. + +The helpless condition of the human infant, and the paucity of its +instincts, apparently render it less favoured than animals;--but it was +necessary, in order to constitute man a moral agent and a responsible +being, that he should be the architect of his own mind. When born, he +has every thing to learn; and a large portion of his existence is +consumed to qualify him for his station in society. Had he, like +animals, been gifted with intuitive wisdom, the donation would have +been so perfect, as to render instruction superfluous;--and such +endowment would have diminished the measure of his responsibility. The +freedom of his will, by which is to be understood the impulse of reason, +not the blind dictates of appetite, nor the sallies of tumultuous +passions, renders him amenable. Such is the force of the human mind, +that it can surmount the difficulties which situation and circumstances +oppose to its improvement: so powerful is reason, that it can correct +the prejudices of early tuition, and atone for crime, by the pursuit of +honourable practice. Man alone can repent; he only can retrace the acts +of former commission, and resolve on amelioration for the future. Thus +we find that moral responsibility has its basis in the comprehension of +Time. In proportion to our love and estimation of justice, we must be +satisfied that, under the purest forms of human government, it is but +imperfectly administered: the rewards and punishments in this life will +ever be blended with the hopes and fears, the interests and passions, of +our species; and there is much of evil, which human sagacity cannot +detect. When we consider the attributes of the Deity and the nature of +man, we can never be induced to conclude that the tribunals of this +world are the courts of final retribution. Man bears in his intellectual +construction the badge of moral responsibility, and, consequently, the +germ of future existence: and the only incentive that can urge him to +the advancement of science, and the practice of virtue, is the reward +that Revelation has unfolded. + + +THE END. + + +Printed by Strahan and Spottiswoode, Printers-Street, London. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Sound Mind, by John Haslam + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOUND MIND *** + +***** This file should be named 31747-8.txt or 31747-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/7/4/31747/ + +Produced by Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Sound Mind + or, Contributions to the natural history and physiology + of the human intellect + +Author: John Haslam + +Release Date: March 23, 2010 [EBook #31747] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOUND MIND *** + + + + +Produced by Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[Pg i]</a></span></p> + +<h1>SOUND MIND;</h1> + +<h4>OR,</h4> + +<h3><i>CONTRIBUTIONS</i></h3> + +<h4>TO THE</h4> + +<h3>NATURAL HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY</h3> + +<h4>OF THE</h4> + +<h2>HUMAN INTELLECT.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<h2><span class="smcap">By</span> JOHN HASLAM, M.D.</h2> + +<h4>LATE OF PEMBROKE HALL, CAMBRIDGE:<br /> +FORMERLY PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL MEDICAL, NATURAL HISTORY,<br /> +AND CHEMICAL SOCIETIES OF EDINBURGH.</h4> + +<h3>LONDON:</h3> + +<h4>PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN,<br />PATERNOSTER-ROW.<br />1819.</h4> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[Pg ii]</a></span></p> + +<h5>Printed by Strahan and Spottiswoode,<br />Printers-Street, London.</h5> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</a></span></p> + +<h3>TO</h3> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Sir</span> JAMES MACKINTOSH, M.P.</h2> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>,</p> + +<p>The privilege of long acquaintance, and a sufficient experience of the +kindness of your disposition, might be an adequate inducement to +dedicate the following pages to your notice. To this offering, I am +however impelled by motives, which boast a higher descent, and more +enlightened character:—an admiration of your superior talents, and the +adaptation of those excellent endowments, to the advancement and +happiness<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</a></span> of the human race,—and by which you have been enabled</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>"The applause of listening senates to command."</div> +</div></div> + +<p>The subjects to which I now solicit the permission of prefixing your +name, were once your favourite study; and I am induced to consider your +profound researches into the nature and constitution of the human +intellect, as the basis of that high reputation, you now so deservedly +maintain among the wise and dignified of your contemporaries.</p> + +<blockquote><p>I am, Dear Sir,<br /> with respect, esteem,<br /> + and the kindest feelings,<br /> + Your very obedient servant,<br /> + JOHN HASLAM.</p></blockquote> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p> + +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p>The indulgence of the public has been already extended to several works +which I have submitted to its decision on the subject of <span class="smcap">Insanity</span>; and +the same favourable interpretation is now solicited for the present +performance,—which attempts the more difficult investigation of <span class="smcap">Sound +Mind</span>. In treating of Mental Derangement, I became very early sensible, +that a competent knowledge of the faculties and operations of the +Intellect in its healthy state, was indispensably<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span> necessary to him, who +professed to describe its disorders:—that in order to define the +aberrations, the standard should be fixed. There was indeed no lack of +theories and systems of Metaphysic; and although they essentially +differed, many possessed the highest reputation. Amidst this distraction +of conflicting opinions, which no mediator could adequately +reconcile,—without daring to contend with a host of discrepancies, or +presuming to demolish the lofty edifices which scholastic Pneumatology +had reared,—I determined to throw off the shackles of authority, and +think for myself. For it was evident, on the freehold ground of +literature, that there is "ample room and verge enough" for every man to +build his own tenement;—and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span> the present construction is too lowly to +intercept another's prospect, and without those ornaments that might +provoke the jealousy, or challenge the rivalship of surrounding inhabitants.</p> + +<p>The mind of every rational person may be considered as an elaboratory, +wherein he may conduct psychological experiments:—he is enabled to +analyze his own acquirement,—and if he be sufficiently attentive, he +may note its formation and progress in his children:—and thus trace the +accumulation of knowledge, from the dawn of infancy to the meridian of +manhood. The prosecution of these means, according to my own views, will +qualify the diligent observer, to become the Natural Historian and +Physiologist of the Human Mind.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span>In the comparative survey of the capacities of Man, and the intelligence +of animals, the contrast has appeared so striking, that it was +impossible wholly to abstain from the inference of his future +destination:—notwithstanding very different conclusions had been +extorted by some modern physiologists. It has been often remarked, that +the practitioners of the healing art, have been very moderately +impressed with a solicitude for the future. This observation, in some +late instances, has been unhappily confirmed:—but it would be unjust to +visit the whole tribe with a sweeping and acrimonious censure, for the +transgressions of a few. The reproach has, however, long existed. The +venerable father of English poetry, in his descrip<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span>tion of the Doctor, +has passed a high and merited compliment to his learning; which at that +period was a heterogeneous compound of Greek, Latin, and Arabian lore, +mysteriously engrafted on Galenicals and Astrology:—yet with this +courteous concession to his professional science he could not refrain +from a dry and sarcastic memorandum, that</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>"His study was but little in the Bible."</div> +</div></div> + +<p>Throughout this inquiry, the province of the Theologian has never been +invaded:—it has been my humble toil to collect and concentrate the +scattered rays which emanate from natural reason,—a pale phosphoric +light, and "uneffectual" glow, compared with the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span>splendid and animating +beams, which issue from the source of divine communication.</p> + +<p>As the object of these contributions, has been principally to convey my +opinions, concerning the formation of the human mind, from the superior +capacities that man possesses, many subjects have been left untouched, +which, in similar works, urge an important claim to the attention of the +reader. Among these neglected articles, the <span class="smcap">Imagination</span> is the chief +omission:—of which many authors have treated so copiously, and so well. +According to my own views, the consideration of this faculty was not +essential to the outline that has been traced;—and it has been rather +deemed a graceful embellishment, than a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span>constituent pillar of the +edifice of mind. This gay attirer of thought, that decks passion and +sentiment, is also the prolific parent of fiction;—and justly banished +from the retreats of sober demonstration.—To the science of +numbers,—to mathematical precision, and to the whole range of +experimental philosophy,—Imagination does not lend her glowing and +gaudy tints. No vestiges of her colouring can be discovered in Divine +ordinances, or in the systems of human jurisprudence:—neither in the +Ten Commandments nor in the Statutes at Large. Imagination may indeed +enliven the cold pages of historical narrative, and blend the "Utile +Dulci"—but even here she is a profane intruder: and a vigilant eye must +be directed, lest, in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span> some unguarded moment, her seductive +blandishments should decoy the nakedness of truth. A sedate and +unambitious recorder of facts, does not presume to describe her regions, +or to enumerate her attributes. That delightful task must be performed by her votaries,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>"The poet, the lunatic, and the lover;"</div> +</div></div> + +<p>nor should the Orator be excluded from his fair participation and +kindred alliance with this airy and fascinating group.</p> + +<p>If the present essay should conform to nature, and be founded in +truth,—should it assist the young inquirer, and more especially the +medical student,—for whom no compendium of the science of mind has been +hitherto prepared; my own expectations will be fully answered;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[Pg xiii]</a></span> and this +scantling may probably lead some more capable person to an extensive +investigation, enlarged comprehension, and luminous arrangement of the +phenomena of the human intellect.</p> + +<p class="right">JOHN HASLAM.</p> + +<p>57. Frith-Street, Soho-Square,<br /> 1st November, 1819.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[Pg xv]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<table summary="CONTENTS"> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td>Page</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left">Perception</td> + <td><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left">Memory</td> + <td><a href="#Page_16">16</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left">On the intellectual superiority which man has<br /> + acquired by speech, and the possession of the<br /> hand</td> + <td style ="vertical-align: bottom"><a href="#Page_28">28</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left">On the nature and composition of language, as <br /> + applied to the investigation of the phenomena<br /> of mind</td> + <td style ="vertical-align: bottom"><a href="#Page_59">59</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left">On will or volition</td> + <td><a href="#Page_74">74</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left">On thought or reflection</td> + <td><a href="#Page_110">110</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left">On reason</td> + <td><a href="#Page_135">135</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left">Instinct</td> + <td><a href="#Page_160">160</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left">Conclusion</td> + <td><a href="#Page_182">172</a></td> + </tr> +</table> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">[Pg xvi]</a></span></p> + +<h3><i>Works by the same Author.</i></h3> + +<div class="block"><p>I. Observations on Madness and Melancholy.<br /> +<br /> +II. Illustrations of Madness.<br /> +<br /> +III. On the Moral Management of the Insane.<br /> +<br /> +IV. Medical Jurisprudence, as it relates to Insanity.<br /> +<br /> +V. A Letter to the Governors of Bethlem Hospital.</p></div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + +<h1>SOUND MIND.</h1> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<h2>PERCEPTION.</h2> + +<p>The faculty of perceiving the objects which surround us, is an important +feature in the history of mind; but by what means or contrivance this is +effected, can only be known to the Supreme Being, who has thus been +pleased to endow us; and our utmost endeavours to detect the <i>modus +operandi</i> will be puerile and unavailing.</p> + +<p>The first operations of the infant are to educate its senses, in order +to become acquainted, through these organs, with surrounding objects. +This, in the human species, is a process of very slow attain<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>ment; and +our information concerning this subject, must be derived from +attentively watching the progress of the infant itself; as of these +early perceptions, for a reason which will be afterwards assigned, we +retain no distinct recollection.</p> + +<p>For the manner in which we become acquainted with the objects in nature, +we have appropriated a term, which was probably supposed to be +explanatory of the process, by which we received our intelligence of +these phenomena, and have accordingly termed it <i>Perception</i>. The +intrinsic meaning of this word is the taking, seizing, or grasping, of +an object, from the Latin <i>Cum</i> and <i>Capio</i>, and the same figure +pervades most of the European languages. This term may sufficiently +apply to the information we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> derive from the organ of touch; but it +affords no solution of that which we obtain through the medium of the +other senses, as sight, smell, and hearing. It has been the bane of +philosophy, and the great obstacle to its advancement, that we have +endeavoured to penetrate that which is inscrutable; and in this vain +pursuit, we have neglected to detect and cultivate that which is +obvious, and the legitimate province of our research.</p> + +<p>These organs of sense are the instruments by which we obtain our +different perceptions; they are the tests by which we become acquainted +with the objects of nature.</p> + +<p>When we view the newly-born infant, and consider its state for many +weeks after it has become a member of our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> community, we are then +enabled to form some opinion of the almost insensible gradations, by +which it acquires its perceptions. An enumeration of the progressive +steps of this tardy process is within the power of any patient and +accurate observer; but this detail does not constitute a part of the +plan which has been adopted.</p> + +<p>It has been endeavoured by writers on this subject, to establish a +distinction between perception and sensation, and the reader for his +information may consult their works: they do not however appear to have +founded this distinction on any obvious difference, nor to have adduced +sufficient reasons for their separate establishment, as independent +properties of the nerves. To feel, to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>experience a sensation, or to +perceive, implies consciousness; it is that which is transmitted by the +nerves to the sensorium, either by the organs of sense, or by the +internal nerves; as pain, or feelings of which we are conscious. +Consciousness is the test, the evidence, the proof of sensation or +perception. This point has been adverted to, in order that terms should +not be multiplied without a distinct and essential difference of meaning.</p> + +<p>The five senses, together with some auxiliaries, which will be the +subjects of future notice, may be considered as the instruments or +agents, by which the edifice of mind is constructed. In the act of +perceiving by the different senses, there are some circumstances, which +are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> particularly deserving of attention. In order that perception may +fully and certainly take place, it is necessary that the person should +be undisturbed; he ought to be exempt from external intrusions, and +internal perturbation. During this process the respiration is in general +more slowly drawn, the body endeavours to maintain a perfect quietude, +and its position becomes fixed. When we perceive objects by the eye, +this organ becomes fixed and the lips are usually closed. During our +examinations by the touch, the eye is also fixed, the breathing is +suspended, and the lips brought into contact: the fingers are separated, +and their more delicately tangent surfaces applied to the object with +their utmost expansion. In the exercise of audible perception,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> the neck +is stretched forth, and the ear applied to the quarter from whence the +sound appears to issue; the mouth is partly open to conduct the +vibrations to the Eustachian tube. When we acquire intelligence by the +smell, the lips are very firmly closed, the nostrils become dilated, and +the inspiration of air through them is conducted by short and successive +inhalations. From the connection between the smell and organs of taste, +(and this association is more remarkable in some animals than in man,) +it is difficult to describe the process, which, however, principally +consists, when minutely tasting, in moving the tongue (the principal +discriminator) on the palate:—but when urged by strong appetite as in +the act of feeding, and when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> divested of the restraints which refined +society imposes; the nostrils are widely expanded, the eye is keenly +directed to the portion, and the hands are busily employed.</p> + +<p>Experience has sufficiently informed us that the organs of sense must be +in a healthy state, in order to the due conveyance of perception. When +the function of any organ is altogether defective, as when a person is +born blind, he is cut off from all perception of light and of visible +objects. If by nature deaf, from the intonation of sounds; and many +unhappy instances of such connate defects abound among our species. In +one particular subject, both these defects existed from birth; so that +the sum of his intelligence was conveyed by the touch, smell,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> and +taste, or in other words, his mind was exclusively composed of the +perceptions he derived from these senses. This case will be more +particularly noticed in a subsequent chapter. The alterations which take +place in the state of our perceptions from a morbid cause, are generally +known. Thus a person labouring under a catarrh, will be unable to detect +the odours which certain substances communicate in a healthy condition +of his olfactory organ. In fever excited by a disordered stomach, the +taste will become vitiated, and the partial obstruction of the ear by +accumulated wax, will impress him with the bubbling of a pot, the +singing of birds, or the ringing of bells.</p> + +<p>The same law that produces fatigue in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> a muscle from exertion, appears +to obtain in the organs of sense. If they be excited by their +appropriate stimuli too violently, or for a too long continuance, +fatigue or languor is produced, their percipience is diminished, or +confusedly conveyed; and they require a period of rest for their refreshment.</p> + +<p>As we advance in our enquiries into the nature of perception, it will be +evident that we cannot long continue to treat of it as a simple act, or +as a distinct faculty. The organs by which we obtain our different +perceptions are not insulated parts, but communicate with a substance, +termed the brain, and which is continued through the vertebral column. +The ultimate expansion of a nerve of sense, has been termed its sentient +or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> percipient extremity; and where it is united to the brain, its +sensorial insertion. If we were to divide the optic nerve where it +passes into the foramen, taking care to leave the apparatus of the eye +uninjured, the visual organ would be deprived of its function, and the +person or animal would be completely blind of that eye; so that a +communication with the brain is necessary for the purpose or act of +perception. As therefore the union of the nerve with the brain is +indispensably necessary for the purpose or act of perception, we are +naturally led to inquire into the properties of this substance, termed +the brain. Before we proceed to this part of the subject, it will be +proper to notice a fact which is of frequent occurrence. In amputations +of the thigh,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> at the moment the femoral nerve is divided, it often +occurs that a pain is distinctly felt in the toes; and after the limb +has been removed, even for many months, the same painful feeling of +these lost extremities is occasionally experienced. This circumstance +would render it probable that the larger branch of the nerve becomes +itself impregnated with the sensation it transmits: indeed it is a +continuation of the same substance, from its sentient extremity to its +sensorial insertion. This intimate union of nerve and brain may be +further illustrated: it has been already noticed, that a morbid state of +the organs of sense will convey inaccurate perceptions; and it is +equally certain, that disease of the brain, will excite phantasms, which +appear as realities to the sensitive organs.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>As consciousness is implied, in order to constitute the act of +perception, it is of some importance to investigate the nature and +meaning of this term. The consciousness of <i>having experienced</i> a +perception by any of the senses would be an act of memory: +consciousness, therefore, applies to the past; and it also accompanies +our prediction of the future. When a person is writing a letter, he is +at the time, conscious that his own hand is forming the characters; if +this letter be afterwards submitted to his inspection, he is conscious +that he wrote it; and if he be desired to write it over again, he is +conscious that it will bear, both to himself and others, the character +of his hand-writing. Consciousness, therefore, accompanies human action +through all its<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> tenses: it is equivalent to the knowledge we possess of +our own personal identity, the evidence of mind, and therefore must +accompany every act of intelligence. Thus we are equally conscious that +we perceive, remember, think or reflect, and reason. As consciousness +must accompany every act of perception, it follows that we cannot be +impressed with more than one at the same instant; for it can never be +contended that we are able to experience two acts of consciousness at +the same moment. The very term two, implies repetition or succession, +and we could as well conceive the possibility of being, at the same +time, in two different places.</p> + +<p>As far as we are warranted to infer from the evidences it affords, an +infant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> appears to possess no consciousness; but it may be considered of +early acquirement, and coeval with distinctness of perception.</p> + +<p>These few preliminary remarks concerning perception have been submitted +to the notice of the reader, in order to advance to another subject. The +faculties which constitute mind are so blended, and dependant on each +other, that it would only hazard confusion to proceed. But this subject +will be resumed.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> There exists already furnished, a considerable mass of +facts, dispersed in various works, which might be advantageously +collected into a volume in order to illustrate the phenomena and laws of +perception, and more especially to display the mutual assistance they +afford to each other, and the superior knowledge which we have derived +from their united co-operation.</p></div></div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span></p> + +<h2>MEMORY.</h2> + +<p>Allow a human being to be gifted with his five senses, exquisitely +attuned for the conveyance of those perceptions, which the separate +organs and common sensory are destined to receive: let him during fifty, +or as many thousand years, scent the most delicious perfumes,—convey to +his palate the flavour of the choicest viands,—to his eyes, present the +fairest prospects in nature,—impart to his ear the sweetest music, and +regale his touch with smoothness and warmth; moreover let him be +conscious of each individual perception he receives:—what would he be +at the expiration of this period, without recollection? He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> would be no +more than a sheet of white paper, that had been carried round the world +to receive, through the camera obscura, its most delightful views; or +the bare walls of Westminster Abbey, after the commemoration of Handel. +Perception and consciousness, therefore, although indispensable to the +building up of mind, are by themselves inefficient and useless without +the adjunct of memory.</p> + +<p>The writers who have treated of the human faculties, have usually and +properly bestowed an elaborate investigation to the developement of this +interesting subject: indeed, when men first began to describe the +operations of their own minds, it might be expected that they would +treat copiously of its most <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>important function; but the nature of this +endowment has received no elucidation from the aggregate of their labours.</p> + +<p>The term memory has been Anglicised from the Latin Memoria; yet we +possess two other words of similar meaning, and from their derivation, +in a certain degree, explanatory of this process; namely, to <span class="smaller">REMEMBER</span> +and <span class="smaller">RECOLLECT</span>. Thus if an individual have seen any particular animal, +and given sufficient attention to perceive accurately its construction, +so as to possess a complete perception of the different parts or +<i>members</i> of which it is composed; he would, in the absence of the +animal, be enabled to remember it. If his hand had been duly educated he +might form its model, or chisel it from a block of marble; or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> on a +plain surface, according to the rules of art, might make a drawing of +the animal, and with such exactitude of its different <i>members</i>, that it +would appear to those who compared it with the original, that he +perfectly <i>re-membered</i> it. To recollect is only a different figure for +the same process, and implies to re-gather or collect, those parts which +have been scattered in different directions.</p> + +<p>The perceptions we obtain by our different senses are all capable of +being remembered, but in different ways. Those which we derive from +sight, may be communicated by the pictures of the objects, which become +the means of assisting our recollection, and thus form a durable record +of our visible perceptions; of course excepting motion,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> which pictures +cannot represent; but motion, or change of place, implies a succession +of perceptions. Yet this manner of record does not directly apply to the +other senses: we can exhibit no pictures of odours, tastes, the lowing +of a cow, the roaring of a lion, or the warbling of birds; much less do +hardness and softness admit of any picturesque representations as their +record. The memory of animals seems to be in the simple state: they +have, through their organs, different perceptions; and in many instances +these organs are more susceptible than those of the human subject. The +ear of some timid species is enabled to collect the feeblest vibrations +of sound, and which are inaudible to us. The eye of some birds can +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>tolerate an effulgence of light, that would dazzle and confuse our +vision; and others "do their errands," in a gloom where we could not +distinguish. In certain animals the smell is so acute, that it becomes a +sense of the highest importance for the purposes of their destination. +But animals are incapable of recording their perceptions by any signs or +tokens: they therefore possess no means of recalling them, and their +recollection can only be awaked from the recurrence of the object, by +which the perception was originally excited: whereas man, by the +possession of speech, and of the characters in which it is recorded, can +at all times revive his recollection of the past.</p> + +<p>It is generally acknowledged that our memory is in proportion to the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>distinctness of the perception, and also to the frequency of its +repetition.</p> + +<p>The simple acts of perception and memory appear to be the same in man +and animals; and there are many facts which would induce us to suppose, +if these faculties be identical in their nature, that the endowment of +the latter is more excellent. This conjecture is hazarded from the +greater susceptibility of the organs of some animals, and from their +wonderful recollection of tracks which they have traversed. Among the +phenomena of memory there are two very curious occurrences, and for +which no adequate explanation has been hitherto afforded. Many of the +transactions of our early years appear to be wholly obliterated from our +recollection; they have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> never been presented as the subject of our +thoughts, but after the lapse of many years, have been accidentally +revived, by our being placed in the situation which originally gave them +birth. Although there are numerous instances on record, and some perhaps +familiar to every reader, I shall prefer the relation of one which came +under my immediate observation. About sixteen years ago, I attended a +lady at some distance from town, who was in the last stage of an +incurable disorder. A short time before her death, she requested that +her youngest child, a girl about four years of age, might be brought to +visit her, and which was accordingly complied with. The child remained +with her about three days. During the last summer some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> circumstances +led me to accompany this young lady to the same house. Of her visit when +a child she retained no trace of recollection, nor was the name of the +village even known to her. When arrived at the house, she had no memory +of its exterior; but on entering the room where her mother had been +confined, her eye anxiously traversed the apartment, and she said, "I +have been here before, the prospect from the window is quite familiar to +me, and I remember that in this part of the room there was a bed and a +sick lady, who kissed me and wept." On minute inquiry none of these +circumstances had ever occurred to her recollection during this long +interval, and in all probability they would never have recurred but for +the locality which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>revived them. In a work professedly the fabric of +fancy, but which is evidently a portrait from nature, and most highly +finished,—in the third volume of Guy Mannering, the reader may peruse a +similar but more interesting relation, where the return of Bertram to +the scenes of his childhood, awakens a train of reminiscences which +conduce to the developement of his history and legitimate claims. +According to my own interpretation, however wonderful these phenomena of +memory may appear, they merely afford examples of the simplest acts of +recollection, excited by the recurrence of the original objects, at a +period when language was little familiar: in the same manner as an +animal, at a distant time brought into its former haunts, would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> +remember the paths it had heretofore trodden.</p> + +<p>But there are some facts in the history of recollection which do not +admit of any satisfactory solution. From these it appears, that persons +in their childhood have learned a language which, from the acquirement +and usage of another during many years, they have entirely forgotten; so +that when spoken by others, they have been wholly unable to understand +it: yet during the delirium of fever, or from inflammation of the brain +and its membranes, in consequence of external injury, the former and +forgotten language has been revived, and spoken with fluency: but after +a restoration to health no traces of its recollection have remained. A +remarkable case<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> of this kind has been published by Mr. Abernethy; and a +similar instance is recorded of the lady of an ambassador. These few +preliminary observations have been submitted to the reader, in order to +introduce a principal part of the subject to his notice, to prevent +repetitions, and from the impossibility of considering the more curious +and important phenomena of perception and memory as simple and unconnected endowments.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p> + +<h2>ON THE INTELLECTUAL SUPERIORITY WHICH MAN HAS ACQUIRED BY SPEECH, AND +THE POSSESSION OF THE HAND.</h2> + +<p>In our investigations of the nature and offices of the human mind, we +are immediately and forcibly struck with two important circumstances, +which appear to have contributed in an especial manner to the +superiority of man over all other animals. Let it be admitted, without +at present discussing the question, or adducing any arguments; that the +constitution of the human intellect is of a higher quality, or of a +finer staple,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> than the intelligent principle of other creatures.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> +These two endowments with which man may be considered as exclusively +gifted, and which, on a deliberate survey, appear principally to have +conduced to his pre-eminence in the range of intellectual creation, are +speech and the possession of his hands. One of the chief characteristics +by which man is distinguished from the other animals,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> is the capability +he possesses of transmitting his acquirements to posterity. The +acquirements of other animals perish with them: they are incapable of +recording their achievements, and, as a community, they are stationary. +If the reason be sought, it will be immediately found, that they do not +enjoy the appropriate organs; and this defect will be detected to arise +from their want of speech and hands.</p> + +<p>There may perhaps arise some of the difficulties already experienced, in +the separate consideration of these human attributes,—speech and the +hand; as much of the superiority which man possesses has resulted from +their combined assistance. It is, however, important to treat of each +individually, as far as their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>separate influence and effects can be +distinctly traced. The consideration of speech or significant sound, +would naturally introduce an enquiry into its structure and philosophy: +but as this knowledge can be collected from the works of many +enlightened writers on these subjects, it is unnecessary to obtrude on +the reader that which he may find already prepared.</p> + +<p>Speech is <i>ordinarily</i> acquired by the ear<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a>, and the sound conveyed +through that organ is imitated by the voice. When any object in nature +is named by its appropriate articulate sound, as a tree, a fish, a +horse, if the object be duly noted and the term remembered, it will +mutually, on the presentation of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>object, recall the term; or if the +term be mentioned, the recollection of the object will arise. Without +reverting to the formation of words by letters, or proceeding to the +structure of sentences by words, which is the province of the +grammarian, it will be seen that these significant sounds, enable human +beings to convey to each other the perceptions they have experienced, or +are impressed with, at the moment of communication. This endowment of +speech to man would, alone, have constituted him vastly superior to the +other animals. But whatever might have been his attainments, either from +his own discoveries or from the experience of his contemporaries, his +departure from life would have consigned the products of his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> genius and +wisdom to the treachery and mutilation of another's recollection. Even +in the enlightened and polished period of our present existence, we are +fully acquainted with the loss or addition which a fact experiences, +from being transmitted through a succession of narrators.</p> + +<p>Had man been merely furnished with speech, without the means of +recording his acts and reflections, we might indeed have preserved by +tradition, the names of Homer, Virgil, Cicero, Shakspeare, and Milton; +but their works,—those majestic columns which now support the temple of +fame, would have perished, had there not been a contrivance to record +the productions of their genius. This art, of conferring permanence on +the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>significant sounds of the human voice, has taught us to appreciate +and revere the taste and wisdom of our predecessors; and to feel, that +although their bodies are buried in peace, yet their names live for +evermore:—but more especially this contrivance has preserved the laws +of nations, and above all other blessings, has transmitted, in the +Sacred Volume, the commandments of the living God.</p> + +<p>From the brief notice which has been bestowed on this subject, it will +be seen, that man could have made but inconsiderable advances in the +scale of intellectual progression, by speech alone;—that how much +soever this faculty might have elevated him above animals, by endowing +his perceptions with intelligence, and rendering his thoughts the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> +circulating medium of his community; yet had he remained without the +power of registering the edicts of his mind, language would have expired +in its cradle; and as the body mingles with its mother-earth, +intelligent sound would have been blended and lost in the medium that produced it.</p> + +<p>The next subject to be considered, (and its importance will justify an +ample review, and minute consideration,) is the hand; a member which may +be considered, with some trifling exceptions, as exclusively bestowed on +man. The wonderful construction of this part of the human body might be +sufficiently exemplified by its achievements. Its anatomy has not, +hitherto, been so minutely investigated, as to demonstrate the almost<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> +infinite variety of motions to which it is adapted; nor has it been +sufficiently compared with the somewhat analogous structure and function +in certain of the simiæ, in the claw of the parrot, or with the +proboscis of the elephant.</p> + +<p>At the extremity of the fingers, in the human hand, and on their inner +surface, resides the organ of Touch; a sense, of which animals are +comparatively deficient. Touch, is distinguished from feeling, which it +is the general property of all the nerves to convey, and this feeling is +likewise accompanied with consciousness. Thus pain may be felt in the +different organs of sense, without any corresponding perception, which +it is their separate office to import. Although the acute organ of touch +has its<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> seat at the extremity of the fingers, yet the whole surface of +the skin (of the human subject) is susceptible, but in an inferior +degree, of tangible perceptions. It is sensible of heat and cold, of +hard and soft, rough and smooth. The tongue enjoys also a considerable +capability of tangible discrimination; but let any person attempt to +ascertain the state of his pulse, by applying the tongue to the wrist, +he will find it a very unsatisfactory test.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>It has been already observed, that the perception of objects conveyed +through the organ of vision, may be represented by drawings, so as +sufficiently and accurately to convey the same perception to the eye of +another: thus we recognise the likeness of a person by his portrait; the +view of a known country from the landscape; the quadruped, bird, or +insect, by its picture: but the perceptions of the organ of touch, can +only be communicated through the medium of language; and the same may be +observed concerning those derived from the smell and taste. We may +indeed submit the same objects of touch, smell, and taste, to a number +of persons, who, in all probability, (their organs being similar,) would +be impressed with the same perceptions:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> but these perceptions, +recollected, and the objects which excited them absent, can only be +communicated through the medium of significant sound.</p> + +<p>It may be a subject of curious investigation, although foreign to our +present enquiry, whether man, in possession of articulate organs, +discovered speech, and imposed names on his perceptions; or whether he +was originally gifted with this endowment. Without attempting to discuss +this question, it is sufficient to remark, that the structure and +composition of our own language, and of its northern kindred, afford +sufficient evidence of a very rude and necessitous origin.</p> + +<p>After man had acquired the means of communicating his perceptions by +significant sounds, the next important <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>discovery was the art of +recording them, so that they might serve as the vehicle of intelligence +to his distant contemporaries, or be transmitted to posterity as the +sources of improvement. The human hand is the immediate agent by which +this contrivance is displayed. It is not intended to trace the history +of this wonderful and precious discovery, but to remark, that human +ingenuity, has likewise established the record of sounds which are not +significant, and which are termed the notations of music.</p> + +<p>The science of accurate admeasurements has been exclusively discovered +by man; and for the attainment of this important acquisition, it will be +seen that the hand has been chiefly and progressively instrumental. When +we <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>contemplate the present state of man, in our own nation, surrounded +by the conveniences which gratify his wants, and behold him practised in +their enjoyment, we are little disposed to revert to that period of his +history, when he struggled to continue his existence, and trace his +tardy progression from rudeness to refinement.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>Pleas'd with himself, the coxcomb rears his head,</div> +<div>And scorns the dunghill where he first was bred.</div> +</div></div> + +<p>Although we now measure space and time, bodies solid and fluid, heat and +its absence with the facility of a single glance; yet if we consider the +slow, and painful steps, by which such acquirements have been attained, +we shall be forcibly impressed, how much we are the creatures of patient +experiment, and also how<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> mainly the hand has contributed to our +advancement. If we investigate the standards of admeasurement, we find +that many have been derived from the human body, and more especially +from its operative instrument, the hand. That the members and dimensions +of our own body should have been the original standards of measurement +is most natural, and the terms in which they are conveyed afford a +sufficient illustration of the fact. Thus, we have a nail; <i>pollex</i>, +<i>pouce</i>, <i>pulgada</i>, Swedish <i>tum</i>, for an inch; which word has been +misapplied by our Saxon predecessors, and corrupted from the Latin +<i>uncia</i>, which related only to weight. We still measure by digits, by +fingers' breadth, by hands high. Cubit from <i>cubitus</i>, was formerly +employed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> We now retain ell, <i>aune</i>, <i>ulna</i>. Foot, pace, <i>pas</i>, <i>pes</i>. +Yard, not as Mr. Tooke supposed from the Saxon gyrwan, to prepare, but +from gyrdan, <i>cingere</i>, and is employed to represent the girth of the +body. Fathom, the distance of the arms when extended to embrace, from +which the meaning is implied in most languages.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> But it will be +immediately<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> perceived, that measurement could not proceed to any +considerable extent, could neither be compounded by addition, nor +subdivided, without the employment and comprehension of numbers.</p> + +<p>In our childhood we are taught the knowledge of numbers; and those who +have superintended the work of education, must have witnessed the +difficulty of impressing on the mind of the child, this kind of +information. Alphabetic characters, compared with numbers, are readily +acquired: whether it be from the imperfect manner, in which the science +of numbers is usually taught, or from the actual difficulty in +comprehending the subject, it is not pretended to determine; although, +from some considerations, the latter is most probable. The names of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> +different objects are easily acquired, and children examine such objects +by their different senses, more especially by the eye and touch; they +become desirous of learning their properties, or of becoming acquainted +with their construction: and this investigation affords them delight, +and excites or gratifies their curiosity. But numbers possess no such +attraction; numbers, do not involve any of the obvious properties of +these objects, neither their colour, shape, sound, smell, or taste; it +therefore becomes perplexing for them to comprehend, if five similar +substances, as so many apples, or nuts, be arranged before them, why +each, should bear a name, different from the thing itself, and different +from each other: why this nut should be termed one, another two, and the next three.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>In acquiring a knowledge of numbers, as far as the senses are concerned, +the eye and the touch are especially exercised; but it appears that the +touch is the corrector of the sight: if fifty pieces of money be laid on +a table, they will sooner and more accurately be numbered by the touch, +than the eye; and we know in other instances, that the motion of the +hand is quicker than the discernment of the sight. There are many +circumstances, although they do not amount to a proof, which might +induce us to consider, that the human hand has much contributed to our +knowledge of numbers.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>As far as we possess any direct evidence, none of the animals are +capable of numerating; and this constitutes an essential difference +between them and man in their intellectual capacities. In states of +weakness of mind, this defect in the power of numerating, is very +observable, and forms a just and admitted criterion of idiotcy; and it +is well known that such persons exercise the organ of touch in a very +limited degree, compared with those of vigorous capacity: their fingers +are likewise more taper, and their sentient extremities less pulpy and +expanded. The same state of the organ of touch may be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> remarked in some +lunatics who have become idiotic, or where the hands have been confined for a considerable time.</p> + +<p>Although in our own language, we have not been able to discover any +rational etymology of the units, that is, what was originally the +meaning of one, two, three, &c., or of what these units were the +representatives, we have, however, by the ingenuity of Mr. Tooke, a very +probable account of the origin of ten, which means, that which includes, +or comprehends all numeration; and that it does so include it, may be +learned from the composition of eleven<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a>; and if it should amount to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> +no more than a curious coincidence, ten is the number of the manual +extremities. Notwithstanding neither our own, nor any of the European +tongues, afford us any probable solution of the actual meaning or import +of the units, yet this contrivance is satisfactorily developed in the +language of some of the African tribes, (vide Park's Travels, p. 337.) +where it will be found, that when they had arrived at six, they +proceeded by composition;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> not by the composition of six and one, to +form seven, but by five and two.</p> + +<blockquote><p>One—<i>Kidding</i>.<br /><br /> +Two—<i>Fidding</i>.<br /><br /> +Three—<i>Sarra</i>.<br /><br /> +Four—<i>Nani</i>.<br /><br /> +Five—<i>Soolo</i>.<br /><br /> +Six—<i>Seni</i>.<br /><br /> +Seven—<i>Soolo ma Fidding</i>—Five and Two.<br /><br /> +Eight—<i>Soolo ma Sarra</i>—Five and Three.<br /><br /> +Nine—<i>Soolo ma Nani</i>—Five and Four.<br /><br /> +Ten—<i>Nuff</i>.</p></blockquote> + +<p>As numbers must have been acquired in progression,—first one, then two, +&c. there appears to be considerable difficulty in conceiving, of what +the increase or addition would be the representative,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> except by adding +the already designated numbers together: but our own units do not bear +any ostensible marks of such composition, nor do the northern numerals, +from whence our own have been imported. If we were now called on to +construct a new language, and invent terms for the units, there are no +objects familiar to me, which would suggest appropriate terms, as the +types of the different units; and it is presumed, as far as we have +extended our researches, that the names of things are not arbitrary, but +have been imposed for some real or supposed reason.</p> + +<p>When we consider the importance of numbers to man, as an intellectual +being, and compare the advancement he has made by this knowledge, beyond +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> animals who have wanted the means of acquiring such information, +the importance of investigating this curious subject will be fully +acknowledged. Without numbers, by which the divisions of time, space, +and value are characterised, man could have possessed no knowledge of +the order and succession of events; he would, by wanting precise +standards, have remained ignorant of admeasurements; and without the +definite proportions which numbers confer, property would be a vague and uncertain name.</p> + +<p>From these remarks an opportunity is now presented, to enumerate the +important achievements of the human hand; but as a powerful objection +may be urged, against the views which have been sketched out concerning +this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>subject, it will be proper to notice them, in order to refer their +discussion to another and more appropriate chapter. It will naturally be +stated that the hand is the mere auxiliary, in fact, the servant, of the +mind; and in a healthy state of intellect is regulated by its +directions, in the performances it executes. The truth of this, it is +not intended to deny; but the examination of the objection must be +referred to that part of the work, which treats of the influence, which +does so regulate and direct, namely, the will, or, as it has been more +scholastically termed, volition.</p> + +<p>We readily acknowledge that he who is born blind can have no perception +of visible objects, and that the same negation may be extended to the +other senses<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> when defective: thus, if man had been created without +hands, and, consequently, without the acute organ of touch, which +resides in the extremities of these members, we must at least have been +strangers to the "cloud-capt towers, the gorgeous palaces, and the +solemn temples" which he has reared. Had the upper extremities of the +human body terminated at the wrist, such a man as Phidias might have +existed, but his occupation would have been unknown. Thus truncated, how +would the fleet have been constructed which reaped the laurel at the +Nile, at Copenhagen, and Trafalgar? The eternal city could not have +existed, nor would our own metropolis have had a being. If we reflect +for an instant, we shall perceive that all the conveniences we enjoy,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> +all the arts we practise, and the sciences which elevate and dignify our +nature, could never have been realised in a handless community. Speech +might indeed have prevailed, but its record could not have been +established, and intelligent sounds would only have served to breathe +forth the lamentations of misery and despair, or the accents of +discontent. We must have remained naked, and perished from the +inclemency of weather: man would have owed "the worm no silk, the beast +no hide, the sheep no wool." It would be superfluous to pursue this +subject further, as the reader has only to consider the superior +enjoyments, and accumulated monuments, of art and of wisdom, which the +mind of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> man has produced by the agency of his hand.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>"Molto opró egli col senno ed con la mano."</div> +</div></div> + +<p>However it may gratify the pride of man, to find himself gifted with +intellectual endowments of a higher order, and distinguished as the lord +of creation; yet he must, on reflection, regard this superiority as a +"painful pre-eminence." The possession of speech, and hands, the prompt +executors of his will, have enabled him to become the perpetrator of +crimes to which the tribes of animals are strangers. Language has +exclusively furnished man with the means of promulgating the result of +his perceptions and thoughts: he thereby becomes capable of +communicating to others, that which he has observed, or the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> opinions he +has formed; and so highly has this accuracy of relation been estimated, +in all periods of civilised society, that it has been proudly +denominated the truth. But the possession of the same faculty of speech, +has often induced him to relate that which never occurred, or to disown +that which actually took place; and this assertion or denial has been +severely reprobated and stigmatised by the appellation of a lie. It is +unnecessary to enumerate the catalogue of the articulate vices which the +tongue can commit, or sully the dignity of human nature, by the +recollection that its lord has been convicted of perjury, slander, +blasphemy, and libel. Thus, the hand, this admirable instrument, the +elaborations of which excite our wonder and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> delight, whether we +contemplate the chiselled monuments of Grecian art, or the curious +manufactures of modern days,—all that is tasteful in art, or auxiliary +to science,—even this plastic and creative member, the faithful notary +of thought,—becomes the prostituted engine of the vilest fraud, or +foulest atrocity. The same hand that fashioned the Minerva of the +Parthenon might have picked a lock, or directed a dagger. It will be +found, on an accurate investigation, that all laws, which are the <span class="smaller">VOICE</span> +of those whom we have delegated, or who may have assumed such power, and +which are recorded by the hand, are principally directed to the lesions +against individuals or society, which proceed from speech, or are +perpetrated by the hand.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> It must be felt by the reader that all the epithets, which +can be applied to designate this superiority, must be of material +character and signification:—whether we say superior structure, +texture, purity, &c. In fact, we possess no appropriate expressions, to +characterise that which is not material: but this poverty of language, +affords no ground for the materiality of mind; on the contrary, it is a +strong argument against such doctrine, that we are obliged to clothe the +phenomena of mind in the garb of metaphor; for material objects can be +well defined according to their obvious properties.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Those who are born deaf are taught to imitate articulate +sounds independently of the ear.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> The reader may refer to works on comparative anatomy, for +information concerning this sense in animals. They all agree that no +animal possesses a complete hand, and that the thumb is especially +defective in size, and in the strength which enables it to act in +opposition to the combined force of the fingers. The sense of touch in +many animals appears to reside in the large and fleshy nostrils, which +appear highly sensible; and it is also evident, that in these the touch +has an intimate alliance with their sense of smell.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> It is equally curious to observe that geographical +positions, and the principal features of sea and land, have derived +their origin from the rude anatomy of the human body. Thus, in a short +enumeration we have cape or <i>head</i>-land, ness, noss, or <i>nose</i>; the +<i>brow</i> of a mountain; <i>tongue</i> of land; <i>mouth</i> of a river; <i>chaps</i> of +the channel; <i>neck</i> of land; <i>arm</i> of the sea; coast, <i>costæ</i>, the ribs. +We are said to penetrate into the <i>heart</i> of the country, or to remove +to the <i>back</i> settlements. We descend into the <i>bowels</i> of the earth, in +order to discover a <i>vein</i> of ore. We ascend from the <i>foot</i> of the +mountain; and from its <i>ridge</i> (back) survey the prospect surrounding. +Numerous additions might be contributed by further recollection.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> On many occasions we observe the hands to be the natural +refuge for the destitute in arithmetic, and therefore are not surprised +at finding many persons counting by their fingers. Some rude nations are +said not to have advanced in their numeration beyond five: this may +perhaps be uncertain and difficult to prove; but it will be shewn that +when others have advanced to ten, that seven has been the compound of +five and two, eight of five and three, &c.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> It is not uninteresting to examine the contrivances that +have been resorted to, in order to express the number eleven. The Greeks +had ενδεχα [Greek: <i>endeka</i>], one (and subaudit) ten; the Romans <i>undecem</i>; and +a similar adoption has been employed by the southern nations of Europe. +The northern people expressed eleven, by <i>one left</i> (after ten, +subaudit.) thus Caxton states his Recuyels of Troy to have been "ended +and fynished in the holy cyte of Colen, the 19th day of Septembre, in +the yere of our sayd Lord God, a thousand four hundred sixty and +<i>enleven</i>." <i>En</i>, in old English, means one, and <i>leven</i> is the past +participle of, to leave, formerly written leve.</p></div></div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p> + +<h2>ON THE NATURE AND COMPOSITION OF LANGUAGE, AS APPLIED TO THE +INVESTIGATION OF THE PHENOMENA OF MIND.</h2> + +<p>Mind, is an abstract term for all the phenomena of intelligence; and in +order to describe them, they have usually been denominated powers, or +faculties of the mind: we therefore commonly speak concerning the mind, +as of an existence endowed with these properties.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> It has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> been +already confessed, that we are at present uninformed, and in all +probability shall remain ignorant of the nature and operation of our +intellectual powers: at least, we shall never be able to comprehend the +manner in which we perceive the objects that surround us, nor to explain +how we recollect them when they are absent; yet under this acknowledged +inability we have framed a language expressive of these powers and +operations. This language therefore cannot be the type of such +processes, as their nature and operation are unknown. The different +terms that have been em<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>ployed, have originated from the numerous +hypotheses, which have prevailed on this subject: but so long as a +perfect agreement subsists, concerning the meaning of these terms, it is +of little importance; for as we have no knowledge of the actual +processes, whereby we perceive, remember, or exert our will, the +expressions we employ cannot be explanatory. The language of mind, +therefore, is not peculiar, not derived as the nomenclature of modern +chemistry, in which names are impregnated with the elements of their +composition; but figurative or metaphorical, the vehicle of conjecture, +and the ornament of hypothesis.</p> + +<p>The truth of these remarks, would be best illustrated by an enumeration +and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> analysis of the terms, which have been applied, to designate the +powers and operations of the human intellect.</p> + +<p>Were we now to occupy ourselves, in the construction of a more +appropriate language, to designate and explain the phenomena of mind; we +should, from our ignorance, be equally incompetent with those who have +preceded us. Let the terms therefore remain, but endeavour to afford +them a fixed and definite meaning, and suffer them to be so far +analysed, as to detect their composition, and discover the reasons which +imposed them. In this endeavour there will, however, be found +considerable difficulty; especially as the minds of men are not yet +agreed respecting the process, by which it is to be performed.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>There are, however, only two modes, to which we can resort, for the +definite meaning of words; namely, etymology and authority. Considering +the history of our own language, and the nature of its composition, we +are enabled satisfactorily to investigate, not only the primitive sense +of our terms, but likewise their exact signification, in the languages +from whence we imported them: for there still remain, sufficient +authentic materials, in our Saxon and Norman records, to verify their +original meaning. If we enquire into the causes, which have operated to +deflect these terms from their primitive sense, we shall find authority +to be the principal source of such corruption; and this infirmity +appears to have pervaded most of the languages of those nations which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> +have produced poets, orators, and metaphysicians.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> When we examine the +nature of authority in language, as it now exists, we find it to be the +arbitrary employment of words, by particular writers of acknowledged +celebrity. Many have become authorities in our language, from having +improved its construction; others, by the perspicuous arrangement of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>subject, by the force of their reasoning, or the light of their +philosophy. Although we may allow the highest merit to these eminent +writers, a praise, far beyond the dulness and drudgery of verbal +criticism; yet it is by no means to be inferred, that they consequently +become authorities, for the real and intrinsic meaning of words. It can +never be expected, that the great mass of mankind should be +etymologists: the generality must be regulated by the "jus et norma +loquendi;" but if this jus, be the jus vagum, and the norma capricious, +confusion must ensue, and they will scarcely be speaking the same +language. Those who are dignified with the title of authorities, ought +to agree; for the sound interpreters of the law should never differ.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>Language is the circulating medium of our thoughts; and the meaning of +words much resembles the value of money. But great diversity of opinion +prevails. In the minds of some philosophers, money means only metallic +currency, which may be assayed, and its real value ascertained; and this +seems to relate to etymology. Others less solid in their views, and +gifted with a finer fabric of fancy, are disposed to consider the +abstractions of paper to be equivalent to the concrete of bullion, and +have accordingly constituted it the jus and norma by authority. To +insist on the meaning of a word, because its interpretation has been +previously assumed, carries no conviction of its truth. The "jus et +norma loquendi," must ever prevail as the currency between<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> human +beings; but this acknowledgment should not, in the course of +circulation, diminish, the undoubted right we possess, to detect and +refuse such as are base or counterfeit.</p> + +<p>It will not be disputed, that some words bear a much higher importance +than others. The names of familiar objects are of little consequence, +because we can examine them by our senses, and thereby obtain just +perceptions of their character and properties: but general or abstract +terms, which are not the objects of sense, but the abbreviations of +subjects of reflection, are of the highest interest to our advancement +in knowledge and moral conduct. To exemplify the views that have been +taken on this subject, three words have been selected:—<i>to feel</i>, <i>to +ransack</i>, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> the adjective, <i>naked</i>. Of the first, Dr. Johnson, the +best authority we now possess, has given six different senses or +acceptations as a verb active, and four, as a verb neuter, and has cited +the different authorities. He says it is derived from the Anglo-Saxon, +<i>felan</i>, without explaining what <i>felan</i> means; it however means to +feel: but the adduction of a word in another language, of similar sound +and identical signification, does not impart meaning. Yet when we find +that in the Anglo-Saxon <i>fell</i> means <i>skin</i>, which is the seat of +feeling, we directly understand the word and all its dependencies; as +<i>fell</i> of hair, <i>felt</i> hat, <i>fell</i>-monger, <i>film</i>, which is a thin fine +skin or pellicle. Thus we become enabled to understand and reconcile +variety and extension of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>meaning, from the preservation of integrity of +figure.</p> + +<p>The verb <i>to ransack</i>, is another example. Of this word Dr. Johnson has +given three senses. According to him, it is derived from <i>ran</i>, +Anglo-Saxon, and <i>saka</i>, Swedish, to search or seize; but we are not +informed what <i>ran</i> in Anglo-Saxon signifies, and it so happens that +there is no such Swedish word as <i>saka</i>, to search. The word <i>ransack</i>, +for which the Anglo-Saxons had <i>ransaka</i>, is derived to us from the +Gothic, in which <i>razn</i> (pronounced <i>ran</i>) signifies a house, and +<i>sokjan</i> to search; so that, <i>to ransack</i>, implies to search the house.</p> + +<p>To the adjective <i>naked</i> Dr. Johnson has given four different meanings. +Its etymology, he says, is from the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>Anglo-Saxon, <i>nacod</i>, which in that +language was of similar signification: but this imparts no meaning. It +is a compound word: <i>na</i>, in Anglo-Saxon, signifies <i>new</i>, and <i>cenned</i>, +<i>born</i>, so that the condition of the <i>new-born</i> child affords an +appropriate interpretation of the term <i>naked</i>.</p> + +<p>To ordinary minds, that which is said to be authority is decisive<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a>; a +particular<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> author of celebrity is cited, and thus the business +concludes. The reasons, which induced him to employ the word in such +particular sense, it is in most cases fruitless to enquire; as during +their lives, authors have seldom been appreciated: so that the silence +of death seems indispensable to procure the consent of authority.</p> + +<p>As language is the instrument of thought, the vehicle of intelligible +communication among human beings, it is impossible to attach too high +importance to its precise signification: the difficulties of effecting +this concordance have been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> pointed out, but the remedy has not yet been +applied. After all the investigation that has been given to this +interesting subject, one leading fact seems indisputable, that all the +terms which designate the faculties and operations of our minds, are of +physical origin, as well as those which characterise the thinking or +immaterial principle itself: and for this, there is sufficient reason; +as all language, in order to be adapted for our use, in this state of +existence, can only be the representative of the objects of our +perceptions and reflections,—an instrument calculated for the meridian +of this transitory life: for, when the holy light of happiness to come +was revealed to the human race, it was found expedient, for their +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>comprehension, to transmit its rays through a material prism.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Mr. Locke, as he advances in his essay, expresses +considerable distrust of the existence of these powers and faculties of +the mind. "Yet I suspect, I say, that this way of speaking of faculties +has misled many into a confused notion of so many distinct agents in us, +which had their several provinces and authorities, and did command, +obey, and perform several actions, as so many distinct beings; which has +been no small occasion of wrangling, obscurity, and uncertainty in +questions relating to them."—Vol. i. p. 192. 10th edition.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> To afford a single illustration of this fact, let the verb +to <i>bewray</i> be selected, which, although a word of very different +meaning, has been confounded with to <i>betray</i>. The meaning of the former +is to discover, expose, and is derived from a Saxon verb bearing that +sense; the latter, Dr. Johnson has derived from the French <i>trahir</i>, and +has cited some instances, as authorities for its perverted sense. It is +but justice to observe, that these words preserve their distinct and +separate sense in all the instances where they have been employed, both +in Shakspeare and the Bible. It may therefore be inferred, to have been +a recent corruption.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Of this, Mr. Locke appears to have been fully +sensible:—"When men are established in any kind of dignity, 'tis +thought a breach of modesty for others to derogate any way from it, and +question the authority of men who are in possession of it. This is apt +to be censured, as carrying with it too much of pride, when a man does +not readily yield to the determination of approved authors, which is +wont to be received with respect and submission by others; and 'tis +looked upon as insolence for a man to set up, and adhere to his own +opinion, against the current stream of antiquity, or to put in the +balance against that of some learned doctor, or otherwise approved +writer. Whoever backs his tenets with such authorities, thinks he ought +thereby to carry the cause; and is ready to stile it impudence in any +one who shall stand out against them."—Locke's Works, vol. ii. p. 306.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> This material prism is to be understood to apply to +language; and in this view Newton himself surveyed the question. "For +all language as applied to God, is taken from the affairs of men, by +some resemblance, not indeed a perfect one, but yet existing to a +certain degree."—Newton's Works, edit. Horsley, vol. iv. p. 430.</p></div></div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> + +<h2>ON WILL OR VOLITION.</h2> + +<p>In the consideration of the nature and offices of the human mind, there +is no subject of higher importance than the will, or volition. Every +person must have observed, that he is capable of performing certain +motions, which he is able to commence, to continue, and to arrest; and +the same faculty is possessed by many animals. A slight degree of +information will also instruct him, that there are certain motions of +his animal frame, over which he has no immediate control. The motions +which he is able to direct and regulate, have been termed voluntary; and +those over which he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> possesses no influence or command, have been +denominated involuntary motions. The most perfect instances of the +latter are the pulsations of the heart, and the movements of the +intestines, usually called peristaltic. The curiosity which is natural +to man as an intelligent being, would of course prompt him to enquire +into the cause of these phenomena, although the result of his +investigations might be inadequate to the toil of his research: for, he +would be as much puzzled to account for the influence by which certain +muscles are moved at will, as he would at others which possess a +determinate motion, and are not subject to this direction. While man +continues in a healthy state, he is enabled to move at pleasure those +muscles or instruments<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> of motion which are subject to his will; and the +involuntary muscles continue duly to perform their appropriate office; +but in certain morbid states it sometimes occurs, that the exertion of +the will to move a leg or arm is ineffectually directed, and however +much we desire, wish, or will such motion, these limbs are +disobedient.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> This condition of the members has been termed +paralytic: the will to move remains perfect; but the organs to be acted +on are insensible to that influence which, in a sound state, excited +them to motion. As in the healthy state the will has the power to +produce motion,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> so it is also competent to prevent it; therefore to +move or to abstain from motion, are equally the dictates of the will. +But it not unfrequently happens, when we intend to thread a needle, to +write our name, or to perform some surgical operation, that the will +exerts all its influence to keep the hand steady for the due performance +of these necessary acts; yet, notwithstanding these implicit commands, +the hand continues to move in all directions, but those which could +accomplish the object. So, that these muscles, ordinarily voluntary, +become, in a certain degree, converted into involuntary muscles. A +higher degree of this state prevails in the affection called St. Vitus' +Dance, and likewise in some convulsive symptoms attendant on locked<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +jaw, where the body is drawn with incredible violence. It may be +noticed, that these states are attended with consciousness.</p> + +<p>Concerning the nature of this influence, termed the <i>will</i>, a great +variety of discordant opinions prevail. To enumerate or refute these +would be unprofitable labour, more especially as the majority are the +mere assumptions of their particular authors. They all, however, seem to +be agreed that the will is an inherent faculty, or component part of the +mind; and some are induced to consider it as holding the highest office +in the department of intellect. The only mode of investigating this +subject satisfactorily, according to my own views, is to trace the +progress of volition from its feeble<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> commencement, to the full exercise +of its important function,—from the dawn to the meridian.</p> + +<p>As a general observation, it may be remarked that the same influence of +the will, which directs the movements of the body, is likewise exerted +over the faculties of the mind; although generally in an inferior +degree, both from the greater difficulty and less importance of the +latter, for the ordinary purposes of life. When we observe the +newly-born infant,—that helpless mass of animation,—we perceive no +indications to induce us to conclude, that it possesses a voluntary +power of directing its movements.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> It is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>furnished with the organs +of motion, but is unable to exert that influence which manifests +direction; yet its involuntary motions continue perfect, and these, as +will be subsequently explained, may be considered in their nature and +effects as very similar to that, which, in animals, is termed instinct. +In the progress of this enquiry, it will be seen that some degree of +mental advancement must have been made, before the infant can <i>direct</i> +any of the motions of its body; because direction implies knowledge to +an extent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> sufficient for the purposes of command, and also a +consciousness of the effort. In the infant, all the organs of sense by +degrees become awaked by their appropriate stimuli or objects, and +perception is the result. Although we have no memory of our earliest +perceptions, which are solely produced by the excitation of external +objects, without any direction of the will; yet from the mental +indications of the infant, these perceptions would seem to be confused +and indistinct. It is some time before the eye appears to notice, and +longer before the hand can grasp and manipulate the substances within +its reach: in this state, volition would be superfluous if it were +possessed. By slow gradations, we find the child capable of directing +its eye, of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> listening to sounds, and of examining by the touch; and +these imply the efforts of the will, which appear to be subsequent to +perception. As we advance in knowledge, our perceptions, which are the +sources of intelligence, are principally acquired by the agency of +volition, which directs the organ to the object, but we still continue +to be acted on involuntarily by forcible impressions, or striking phenomena.</p> + +<p>Previously to the acquirement of language, perception, memory, and +volition are in their simplest state, such as we observe in animals, and +as in them, we are only able to estimate the amount of their mental +possessions, from the intellectual phenomena they display. In the +infant, the separate and combined examination of objects by the eye and +touch<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> are the circumstances most deserving of notice.</p> + +<p>It may here be proper to explain why these earliest of our perceptions +are never remembered in after-life. The long period of human infancy, is +a powerful argument for the superiority of our species: the mind of man +is built up by his own exertions, and his progress is in the ratio of +his experience to his capacity: his mission is more important, and +consequently requires a longer period to fulfil: he has few instincts; +and the sum of his knowledge is the elaboration of his extended +endowments. To have remembered the confused dawnings of his perceptions, +the imperfect and obscure transmissions of his unpractised organs would +have been superfluous, and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> sources of error. In this early state, +there is no medium by which his perceptions can be artificially +connected; nor do they admit of communication or record. When language +is acquired, our perceptions become "doubly armed," and impress the +memory with additional effect: the employment of the term as the +representative of the object, recalls the original perception, and thus +invests the mental phantasm with "a local habitation and a name." Thus +our earliest recollections are never anterior to a certain progress in the art of speech.</p> + +<p>As we possess the instruments of motion in our muscles, they would have +been useless without the performance of their function, and our bodies +would have been stationary. It is also equally<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> evident that this office +must be performed by ourselves, or fulfilled by others. It has been +already pointed out that there are certain motions, essential to the +preservation of our animal system, termed <i>involuntary</i>, which do not +originate from ourselves, but are the directions of a superior power, +and are effected independently of our experience and control: the other +motions, that have been termed voluntary, are the result of acquirement +or practice, and have been gradually formed by our exertions. The reader +will now be prepared to understand the wisdom of this arrangement, +which, in a future chapter, will be more copiously treated; and to feel +that the superiority of man, as an intellectual being, and a +responsible<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> agent, consists in the formation of his own mind, and in +the direction of his thoughts and actions.</p> + +<p>That we should exert our utmost endeavours to become acquainted with the +nature of this influence, which we term the will, is most natural; but +hitherto our researches have been wholly unavailing; and it should be +recollected that the appearances of life cannot be accounted for by that +which is inanimate, nor can the phenomena of intelligence be solved by +material analogies. As we are possessed of the implements of motion, it +is evident that they were constructed to accomplish their destined +purpose; but of the intimate nature of the stimulus which goads them to +action, we have no conception: it seems, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>however, certain that there +exists a mutual consent,—a reciprocal subaudition,—a compact, the +result of exercise and experience,—between the implements of motion and +the will or influence which excites them.</p> + +<p>As far as we are able to discover, by the most attentive and deliberate +examination of our own minds, we do not appear conscious of any +intermediate perception, between the motive and the performance of the +action, or the execution of the will. If it were allowable to indulge in +analogical reasoning, which usually diverts us from the consideration of +the subject, we might endeavour to illustrate this process by the firing +of a pistol. When we have taken due aim, we have only to draw the +trigger, which produces the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>explosion: in doing this, however, we +perceive the emission of light from the combustion of the powder; but to +this there is nothing analogous in the operation of the will:—the +dictate of the will, and the motion excited, when watched with the +utmost attention, appear instantaneous, and become synchronous by habit. +Considering the celerity of our voluntary movements, there appears a +good reason why no perceptible intervention should exist, to divert the +mind from the immediate performance of the will. The correspondence of +the motion to the intimation of the will, is the business of education +and the performance of habit.</p> + +<p>The exertion of the will on the bodily organs having been generally +described,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> it now remains to demonstrate its influence on the mind; and +so far as we are enabled to discover, it appears to be performed by the +same process. The direction of the several organs of sense to the +examination of objects, is an act of the will, and has been named +Attention; which, by some writers, has been deemed a peculiar and +constituent faculty of the mind; but in the present view it is +considered only as the practical result of the operation of volition on +the organs of sense, on memory, and on reflection. The soundest mind (as +far as it has been hitherto considered) may be attributed to him who +possesses the most enduring control over the organs of sense, in order +to examine objects accurately, and thereby to acquire a full and +complete <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>perception. That memory is the best, which can voluntarily and +immediately produce that which has been committed to its custody; and +that reflection is the most perfect, which is exclusively occupied with +the subject of consideration. There seems also to be a considerable +similarity between the morbid states of the instruments of voluntary +motion, and certain affections of the mental powers: thus, paralysis has +its counterpart in the defects of recollection, where the utmost +endeavour to remember is ineffectually exerted; tremor may be compared +with incapability of fixing the attention, and this involuntary state of +muscles ordinarily subjected to the will, also finds a parallel, where +the mind loses its influence on the train of thought, and becomes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +subject to spontaneous intrusions; as may be exemplified in reverie, +dreaming, and some species of madness.</p> + +<p>As attention is considered an exertion of the will on the organs of +sense and faculties of the mind, it may be allowable to remark on the +nature and meaning of the term. It was evidently imposed under a +prevailing hypothesis, that the mind possessed a power of stretching or +extending itself to the objects of its perception, or to the subjects of +reflection; it is therefore a figurative term. Indeed something of this +nature actually takes place in the organ:—in minute examinations by the +eye, we actually strain and stretch its muscles, and feel the fatigue +which results from over-exertion:—when we listen, the neck is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> +stretched forward, and such position enables us to collect those +vibrations of sound, that would be otherwise inaudible. We are not +unaccustomed to describe the higher and more felicitous productions of +intellect, as a vigorous grasp of the mental powers, or as a noble +stretch of thought: but to infer that the mind itself was capable of +being extended, would be to invest it directly with the properties of +substance, and at once plunge us into the grossest materialism. The +perfection of this voluntary direction, or, as it has been termed, +faculty of attention, consists in intensity and duration. Of the former +there can be no admeasurement, excepting by its effect, which is +recollection: its duration can be well ascertained. The faculty of +attention<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> in the human mind may be exerted in two ways; first, by the +organs of sense to the objects of perception; and, secondly, by the mind +to the subjects of its recollection; and this latter exercise of +attention, as will be hereafter explained, seems to be in a very great +degree peculiar to man, and to be nearly wanting in animals.</p> + +<p>According to the nature and constitution of the human mind, the +effective duration of the attention seems to be very limited: if the eye +be steadily directed to any particular object, after a few seconds, it +will be found to wander; and if the mind be exerted on the subjects of +its recollection, there is very soon perceived an interruption, from the +intrusion of irrelevant thoughts.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> The effective duration of the +attention will much depend on the superior capacity, nature, or +constitution of the intellect itself; but still more on the manner in +which these habits of attention are exercised; for, by proper +cultivation, its duration may be considerably protracted. As a proof of +the limited endurance of the faculty of attention in ordinary minds, +allow the following experiment to be made.</p> + +<p>Let two ordinary persons, A. and B., take a map of a district with which +they are unacquainted, and let each be allowed half an hour to study the +map. Desire A. to fix his attention undeviatingly to the map for this +time; and at its expiration, the map being withdrawn, request him to put +on paper the relative<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> situations and names of the different places; and +for the performance of his task, allow him another half hour. As the +experiment has been repeatedly made, it may be confidently predicted, +that A. would exhibit a very incorrect copy of the original map. Let B. +take the same map to study for the same time; but instead of keeping his +eyes undeviatingly fixed to the object, desire him to view it only for a +few seconds; and then, shutting his eyes, let him endeavour to bring the +picture of the map before his mind: his first efforts will convey a very +confused notion of the actual and relative positions; but he will become +sensible of his defects, and reinspect the map for their correction. If +this successive ocular examination and review by the mind, be continued +during the half hour, or even for a less<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> time, B. will be competent to +make a drawing of the map with superior accuracy to A., who endeavoured +to fix his attention for the whole of the time allotted. In conducting +this experiment some very curious phenomena may be observed. If A. had +directed his eyes to the object intensely and undeviatingly, especially +in a strong light, and had then covered or shut his eyes, in order to +recollect the relative situations in the map, the straining of the organ +to the object would defeat his endeavours; and instead of being able to +bring the picture before his mind, he would be annoyed and interrupted +by the intrusion of ocular spectra, undergoing the succession of changes +described by Dr. Darwin.<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> Thus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> there are limits to the duration of +our effective attention: if the organ of vision be too long directed to +the object of perception, ocular spectra arise, fatigue and confusion +ensue in the other senses; and if the subjects of recollection be too +long and intensely contemplated, delirium will supervene.</p> + +<p>In page 52, after enumerating the wonderful productions of the hand, an +objection was foreseen, which may be conveniently examined in the +present chapter. That all the performances of the human hand, and of the +other members of the body, which are not the result of involuntary +movements, must have been the consequence of the direction of the will, +is indisputable: it is, in fact, the common relation of cause and +effect: but the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> creation of this distinction, would assign separate +offices to the mind and to the organ;—or to the power directing, and to +the instrument by which the command is executed. Sufficient has been +already adduced, to render it obvious, that mind or organ <i>alone</i> would +be inadequate for the purposes of intelligence. Perception, without its +record or memory, would be a useless endowment; muscles or organs of +motion, without a power to direct their actions, could have answered no +purpose: to be effective, volition must have an object on which its +influence can be exerted. In the case of a paralytic arm or leg, the +exercise of the will is a fruitless endeavour; and the command to render +fixed a tremulous hand is equally unavailing. The power or capacity of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> +moving the muscles,—of directing the organs of sense to the examination +of objects,—of recollecting,—and of regulating our thoughts or +reflections, constitutes the will; but this acquirement is of very +gradual formation, and the result of mutual and progressive exercise, +both of mind and organ. Ordinary persons have no information of the +structure by which they perform their motions; and it may be also +doubted if an able anatomist would be competent to describe the action +of the different muscles, in complicated movements. The most dexterous +artificer, is wholly ignorant of the intimate construction of the organs +by which he performs his wonderful elaborations,—he has acquired the +happy facility by repeated exercise. There is a tacit and practical<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> +convention between his mind and the powers which produce the +performance; tacit, as he is unable to describe them, and practical, as, +if naturally left-handed, he is unable by any mental directions or +influence of volition, to exhibit the same performance with the right. +The apparent facility and astonishing rapidity with which, by practice, +we perform many of our voluntary motions, has induced an opinion, that +such motions might be considered as automatical, which implies that they +were performed by the organ independently of the will; but this would be +to maintain, that the most difficult and felicitous of our voluntary +motions were themselves involuntary. This supposition is so absurd that +it refutes itself; its admission would be a libel on the perfection<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> of +human attainment, and tend to subvert the best portion of our existing morality.</p> + +<p>That voluntary muscles may be converted into involuntary, has been +already observed; but this conversion is to be considered a morbid +state, and must be regarded as a degradation of our nature, instead of +its perfection. Excess in the use of fermented liquors, will generally +produce it; and the habitual practice of intemperance will destroy the +influence of volition over the intellectual powers; so that the control +over the succession of our thoughts can be no longer exerted, and when +we give them utterance they are without connection, and we talk at random.</p> + +<p>It is not to be expected, in a work which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> professes to be merely +contributions to the Natural History and Physiology of Intelligent +Beings, that a particular discussion of moral subjects should be +instituted; and such is the question concerning the freedom of the human +will: the reader is therefore referred to those writers who have fully, +and with considerable acuteness, discussed this intricate and important +topic. The nature of this attribute is however so interwoven with the +philosophy of mind, so connected with the view which has been taken of +its history and constitution, that it is impossible wholly to abstain +from the consideration of its influence on the excellence and demerit of +human actions. It has been endeavoured, throughout this chapter, to +establish, that the power which goads<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> or stimulates the muscles to +action, and the mind to exertion, is not inherent, but acquired by +practice; and this is exemplified by the state of the new-born infant, +which, at that period, manifests no more of volition, than of +perception, reflection, or reason. It has also been conjectured, that +the possession of this influence must be subsequent to perception, for +reasons which have been assigned. With its intimate nature we are +unacquainted; but we see, as far as muscular motion is concerned, that +the same effect is produced by the stimulus of galvanism after the head +is removed, and when, according to our existing philosophy, +consciousness is destroyed, and the power of willing is abolished. It is +by no means intended to suppose that the stimulus of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> the will has any +affinity with the galvanic fluid, because we are unable to prove it; +although such opinion has been entertained. According to my own +interpretation, Will is to be considered as the mere spur, the simple +stimulus to action: it possesses no intelligence to direct; but in the +healthy state, excites motion in consequence of being itself directed to +such excitement. To invest Will with intelligence sufficient for its +purposes, would render reason, the highest of our attainments, +superfluous. Those who have most strenuously contended for the freedom +of the will, have insisted that it possesses the liberty of choosing or +preferring: allow this, and then enquire what must be the nature of that +choice or preference, which is selected by an arbitrary<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> decision, +without the previous estimate or calculation of reason. Man, beyond all +other beings, is endowed with superior means of accumulating knowledge, +and of preserving experience; by these, therefore, his actions should be +directed. If, independently of these, his will possessed a power of +directing his actions, it would be equivalent to the instinct of +animals: he would, like them, be stationary, and his conduct liable to +no responsibility. The long period of infancy in man has been frequently +adverted to; and it is a considerable time before he acquires sufficient +experience to direct his conduct; and during which, many of the species +of animals have completed several generations. For this reason, the +wisest legislators, of all ages, have exempted children<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> under a certain +age, from the punishment of death for their actions; and although many +of them have entertained erroneous notions concerning the nature of the +will, yet they tacitly admit, in the instances of infants, idiots, and +madmen,—that is, where the understanding is not sufficiently formed by +experience, or where it is perverted by disease, that the acts of the +will ought not to be visited by the severity of the law. This is perhaps +the best practical illustration, that the will to act, is governed and +directed by reason. Had the mind of man, like animals, been furnished +with instinct, which, in them, implies a wise, preconcerted, and +unvarying performance of important functions, for their individual +preservation, and for the continuance of their race,—as may be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> +exemplified in the construction of the habitations of the bee and +beaver, together with their wonderful economy,—the fabrication of the +spider's web, and many others,—he would, like them, have been +stationary, having received from Infinite Bounty and Wisdom sufficient +for his destination: his will would have been directed by unerring +motives; and thus his conduct would have been absolved from all +responsibility. But man is gifted with few instincts, which appear to +decline as his reason advances: his intellect is more capacious, and of +a finer staple; he possesses additional organs for the accumulation of +knowledge; and, by the peculiarity of his construction, is enabled to +preserve his acquirements, to avail himself of the treasures of those +who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> have preceded him, and to transmit his collections to posterity. +Man, in possession of ampler materials and superior capacity, becomes +the architect of his own mind; and to him it is alone permitted, by the +aid of experience, and the estimate of reason, to direct his actions: +but this generous and exalted faculty involves him in awful +responsibility. The same light which discovers to him that which is good +and lawful, also exposes its opposite, which is evil and forbidden; and +the nature of good and evil, as it forms the foundation of human +institutions, has been derived from our experience of their effects, or +a calculation of their tendencies. The will of man, therefore, is as +free as his experience dictates, and his reason urges to action:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> yet, +that he should often act in opposition to both, is as lamentable as +certain: in the transport of immediate gratification, or in the hopes of +enjoyment, precept ceases to influence, and example loses its warning.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<div>Video meliora proboque, deteriora sequor.</div> +</div></div> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> In some of these instances, where the will has ceased to +influence the muscles, the due sensibility of the nerves has +remained.—Medico-Chirurgical Transactions, vol. ix. p. 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> So little does the infant appear to possess any control +over those organs which afterwards become subject to voluntary +influence, that it may be sufficient to remark the flow of saliva, of +urine, and the more solid evacuations, are subject to no restraint, and +for some time are passed with little or no consciousness: even the +motions which are excited in the limbs, appear to be spasmodic, rather +than the effect of direction.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Vide Darwin's Thesis de Spectris Ocularibus.</p></div> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p> + +<h2>ON THOUGHT OR REFLECTION.</h2> + +<p>Those recollected objects, which have been transmitted by the senses, or +which we have perceived by their means, are the subjects of our thoughts +or reflections; for these terms will be indifferently employed, as +designating the same faculty or process. The obvious meaning of the word +<i>reflection</i>, is the representation of any object in a mirror. This +term, so well understood in that department of natural philosophy named +optics, has been transferred to mind, in order to explain a process, +supposed to be similar. If, however, we examine the analogy, it will not +accord:—to produce reflection in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> the mirror, the object must be +present; in the mind, the reflection takes place when the object is +absent. Although the simile, strictly speaking, is imperfect, yet the +figure is beautiful, and, considering the metaphorical nature of +language, as applied to mental operations, the most natural and +appropriate that could have been selected; for, speaking in a general +way, our thoughts, in themselves appear very much as the shadows or +reflection of our perceptions. As we are but little capable of +communicating the nature of our perceptions, independently of language, +we must have recourse to inference and conjecture. It is fully +understood that our visual perceptions, through the medium of +recollection, may be represented by the skilful execution of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> hand; +and that those of smell, taste, and touch do not directly admit of such +delineation. We might next inquire, if the odours we perceive are as +strongly impressed on the olfactory organ, as the subjects of visual +perception on the eye? Are they as fully and distinctly recollected? and +are they capable by themselves of affording the materials for thought or +reflection? Animals possess certain senses in common with ourselves; +and, in many, the organs are more susceptible than our own; but there +are no circumstances which have yet transpired, to induce us to suppose +that the perceptions they have acquired are reviewed by their minds, +when the objects which excited them are absent. The memory they possess +of the perceptions they have experienced, is perhaps<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> superior to that +of human beings; still it does not appear, from any manifestations they +afford, that it is actively exercised, as with ourselves, but +occasionally excited by the recurrence of the object which originally +produced it. Language is the pencil which marks the bold outline, and +lends a colouring to our different perceptions; and with this boon man +is exclusively gifted. A rational curiosity will prompt the reader to +inquire, in what our perceptions consist independently of the language +in which we ordinarily clothe them. In the instance of optical +perception, we know that it is <i>something</i> which is retained by the +memory, and may be traced by the hand, so as to convince others that it +is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> truly remembered or recollected<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a>; but let the same enquiry be +made concerning the perceptions we receive by the touch, the smell, and +the taste: in this investigation we shall experience much greater +difficulty, as it is an endeavour to conceive the nakedness of a figure +which is always clothed. That these perceptions must also be <i>something</i> +abstracted from the terms which represent them, is proved, by the +circumstance, that they are recollected when they occur again. As we are +educated by language, and acquire a facility of employing it as the +vehicle of our thoughts, we are little accustomed to contemplate the +subject<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> in this manner, and this also enhances the difficulty. When, +however, the importance of speech is adequately considered, it will, I +think, be detected, that the terms which we employ as the +representatives of the perceptions of touch, smell, and taste, are the +only media by which they can be voluntarily recollected or communicated +to others; and, as signs of such perceptions, are equivalent to the +representations by the hand of those which have been perceived by the +organ of vision. To attempt the analysis of these silent deposits, to +endeavour to describe these bare perceptions, would be altogether +unavailing, because description implies language. In fact, it would be +an effort to detect the symmetry of the human frame, by loading it with +modern<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> finery. The wonderful capacity which man exclusively enjoys, +both for the communication of his thoughts, and for the improvement of +his memory, in being enabled to acquire and transmit knowledge by +impregnating sound with intelligence, and more especially in exhibiting +its character embodied to the eye, leaves the rest of animated creation +at a prodigious distance. This endowment of language to man, whereby he +can, by an articulate sound, recall the perception of objects, (not +indeed equal to the sensorial impression, but sufficient for their +recollection, and also for the proof of their identity)—whereby he can +with equal intelligence exhibit their character to the eye, is +sufficient to explain of what the materials of his thoughts +consist:—and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> to prove that animals being unable to substitute a term +for their perceptions, are incapable of the process which we denominate +thought or reflection. To fathom this mystery, is perhaps impossible; +but, from attentively watching that which passeth within us,—from +considering the state of animals which want this endowment altogether, +it seems to be a law of our intellectual constitution, that our thoughts +or reflections can only consist of the terms which represent our +perceptions; and this is more evidently true, when we reflect on those +subjects which are of a general or abstract nature.</p> + +<p>Whoever will attentively watch the operation of his own mind,—for this +subject admits of direct experiment,—will find that he employs terms +when he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> conducts the process of reflection. In order to afford a fair +trial, it is necessary that he should be alone, and subject to no +interruptions. It will also add to the facility of the experiment, that +he select a subject with which he is but little acquainted, as the +process will be more deliberate. On topics with which we are familiar, +we have acquired a rapidity of exercise which renders the detection of +the process more difficult and perplexing. In this trial, he will be +aware that he is repeating words as the materials of his thoughts. If +the subject on which he should think involves persons with whom he is +acquainted, or scenes he has viewed, he will, in addition to the terms +he employs, have the pictures, or visible phantasmata, of these +presented<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> to his mind, conjunctively with such words. That we actually +employ terms in this process is evident in many, who, when exercising +their thoughts on any subject, are found, as we term it, talking to +themselves; so that we are enabled to observe the motion of their lips: +and this circumstance is to be noticed in most persons when they are +counting.</p> + +<p>The contrivances of language enable us to connect our thoughts; for our +perceptions are distinct and individual, and of themselves can possess +no elective attraction to <i>associate</i> and combine: they may however, by +repetition or habit, become so allied, that the occurrence of one will +excite the sequence of the other. We ordinarily recollect them very much +in the order and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>succession of their occurrence; but we are also able +to arrange and class them, and by such means, of recollecting them +according to the artificial order of their distribution. This may be +exemplified in the various expedients that have been devised for the +acquirement and retention of knowledge: thus, chronology records events +according to the order of their occurrence; an encyclopædia arranges +according to alphabet or subject; and the most perfect of this kind, +like the index to a book, consists in their mutual reference.</p> + +<p>This wonderful faculty of thought or reflection, so far as we possess +the means of detecting, appears to be peculiar to man; and if it be +admitted to consist of our recollected perceptions, by the con<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>trivances +of language, we shall find that animals are not in possession of the +necessary materials.</p> + +<p>The ear transmits sounds to animals possessing this sense; and in some +species it is so exquisitely susceptible, as to surpass, by many +degrees, the acuteness of the same organ in the human subject. It is +also recorded, that in some of the wilder tribes of man, the hearing +possesses a delicacy of percipience unknown to the inhabitants of a +polished community. Superadded to the conveyance of ordinary sound, the +ear of man is the great inlet of communication, and the vehicle of +articulate intelligence. Through the medium of this sense his knowledge +becomes extended, and his memory improved; for every conversation is +either<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> a review of his stores, or an addition to his stock. As our +thoughts or reflections are conducted by language, great caution is +required that the terms we employ should possess a fixed and determinate +meaning; and this is more especially important, when we employ words +which are not the representatives of the objects of our perceptions, but +of a complex nature, or, as they have been denominated, general terms; +such as those which are used to designate the faculties and operations +of the mind, and such as convey our moral attributes. The perfection of +the process of thought, consists in the attention which the will can +exert on the subjects of<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> consideration.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> The nature and endurance of +the attention, which the organs of sense can bestow on the objects of +perception, have been already discussed; and it will be found, that the +same influence is directed when we exercise reflection: so that that +mind is to be considered as most efficient, (in proportion to its +natural capacity,) which can dwell on the subjects of its thoughts +without interruption from irrelevant intrusions. The exertion of +voluntary control over our thoughts has been denied; but if we were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> to +subscribe to such doctrine, it would follow that this noble faculty of +reflection would be merely a spontaneous concurrence of images and terms +accidentally revived,—on rare occasions fortuitously blundering on wit, +and ordinarily revelling in the absurdities of distraction. In +proportion as we have been duly educated, we become enabled to direct +and fix the organs of sense to the objects of perception, to be able at +will to revive our memoranda, or to call on the memory to exhibit the +deposits which have been confided to its custody, and to dwell +pertinaciously on the materials of reflection. It is, however, certain, +that in ordinary minds, the attention is little capable of being fixed +to objects, and still less to the subjects of reflection;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> but this +incapacity, in both instances, is principally to be attributed to the +defects of education, and to a want of proper discipline of the +intellectual powers. The endurance of attention in minds of the highest +order, by a wise law of our constitution, is limited; and if it be +attempted to continue the exertion beyond the natural power, the effort +is infructuous. As straining the muscles produces fatigue, stiffness, +and tremor;—as ocula spectra intrude on the forced and protracted +attention of the visual organs,—so confusion ensues, when thought is +racked and goaded to exhaustion.</p> + +<p>As the staple of the human intellect is vastly superior to that of +animals, so we find among our own species a considerable range of +capacity; but however<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> we may estimate mental excellence, it should be +recollected, that its possession has seldom contributed to the happiness +of the individual; so that experience would lead us to prefer the sober +medium, which is included by a parenthesis, between the extremes of +genius and dulness, and which appears to be the unenvied lot of the mass +of society. The two great distinctions which mark the intellects of our +species, seem to consist in the difference of character, which is +established by those who excel in the exercise of their perceptions and +consequent recollection, and those who cultivate and discipline the +energies of thought. The former are distinguished by a vigorous +activity, a penetrating and unwearied observation; their curiosity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> +seems rather to be attracted by the object itself than directed by the +mind. This incessant occupation and restless inquiry furnishes the +memory with an abundant vocabulary: they recollect each object they have +seen, and can retrace every path they have trodden; the ear greedily +imbibes the conversations to which they are anxiously disposed to +listen; that which they read, they verbally retain; they excel in +quickness of perception and promptitude of memory, and appear to have +every thing by heart; they are "the gay motes that people the sun-beams" +of the intellectual world:—thus we find them, as inclination may sway, +accurate chronologists, biographers pregnant with anecdote, expert +nomenclators, botanists, topographers, practical<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> linguists, and +bibliographers; in short, the opulent possessors of whatever perception +can detect, and memory preserve. The other order of men, (and they are +comparatively few,) are the creatures of reflection:—with them the +senses are little on the alert; they do not fatigue the wing by +excursions through the field of nature; but that which the recollection +retains becomes the subject of mental examination. An event is not +registered from having merely occurred; but the causes which produced it +are investigated, and a calculation is instituted concerning its +probable tendency. Words are not simply regarded as the floating +currency or medium of exchange, but they are severely subjected to +analysis to establish their standard, or to detect the excess of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> their +alloy; their senses are little awake to external impressions; the +objects which a change of scene presents are slightly noticed, and +feebly remembered; their curiosity is not attracted from without, but +excited from within; they are strangers to the haunts of gay and +mirthful intercourse, and are rather consulted as oracles, than selected +as companions. This constant occupation of thought produces the +philosophical historian, profound critic, physiologist, mathematician, +general grammarian, etymologist, and metaphysician. After long exertion +they become disposed to melancholic disquietude, and often turn in +disgust from a world, the beauties of which they want an incentive to +examine, and taste to admire. Both of these intellectual orders<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> of our +species contribute, but in different manners, to the stores of +knowledge. The sound, efficient, and useful mind consists in a due +balance and regular exercise of its different faculties.</p> + +<p>How great soever the pains which an individual may bestow, to fix his +thoughts to the examination of a particular subject, he will find that +the effective duration of his attention is very limited, and that other +thoughts, often wholly unconnected with the subject, will intrude and +occupy his mind; on some occasions they are so prevailing and +importunate, that he loses the original subject altogether. It is +acknowledged, that the soundest and most efficient mind, is +distinguished by the control it is capable of exerting on its immediate +thoughts; which consist, as has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> before been observed, of terms, and the +phantasmata of visible recollection:—this wandering of the thoughts to +other subjects, or this intrusion of irrelevant words and pictures, +whichever may be the case, appears to bear a very strong resemblance to +a morbid state. It is usually the attendant on indolence, and has +probably its source in a want of the proper occupation of mind, and, by +indulgence, may become an incurable habit. Yet this rumination of mind +has its votaries: by some it is courted as a delightful amusement, and +eulogies are bestowed on the incoherent tissue of these reveries and +day-dreams. Although these illegitimate offsprings of "retired leisure" +may be considered as a perversion of the noblest attribute of man; yet +they serve,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> in some degree, to recruit our recollection of past +transactions, which might otherwise have faded in obscurity, or perished +from natural decay. In the soundest and most refreshing sleep we seldom +dream; so, in those wholesome exercises of the intellect where the mind +is fully occupied, and, more especially, when such pursuit is combined +with bodily exertion, these masterless associates do not intrude. By +continuance, this habit may be so formidably increased, more especially +under the guidance of malignant or depressing passions, that these +shadows become embodied, and assume a form so potent and terrible, that +the will is unable to bind them down, and the understanding attempts to +exorcise them in vain.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>The act of thought or reflection, therefore, appears to consist, not in +the operation of an exclusive and particular faculty, but in the +voluntary recollection of pictures, as far as visible perception is +involved, and of terms or words which are the types or representatives +of our perceptions, together with those general terms, which are to be +considered as abbreviations of meaning or intelligence. All this would, +however, only amount to an act of memory, of such pictures and terms, +particular and general; and would not comprehend or include their +analysis, estimate, admeasurement, or <i>ratio</i>, with inquiries into their +source and tendency, which is denominated <i>reason</i>, and which will +compose the materials of the following chapter. Suffice it to observe +that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> our thoughts on any subject can only be according to the extent of +our knowledge of things and opinions; and, therefore, that our thoughts +or reflections necessarily involve our reasonings, as they are only +recollections without them.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> In this capability animals will never rival us, as they +are deficient of the <i>hand</i>, the operative instrument by which it is +effected.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> It may be proper to explain the origin and meaning of this +word, and of another usually employed in a similar sense, namely, +contemplation. The former is compounded of <i>cum</i> and <i>sidus</i>, and +presumes a fixity of mind adequate to the survey of the heavenly bodies; +the latter is derived from <i>cum</i> and <i>templum</i>, and imports the same +gravity and concentration of thought which we carry to the fane of +devotion.</p></div></div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span></p> + +<h2>ON REASON.</h2> + +<p>The opinions of the thinking part of mankind have been much divided +concerning the signification of the term Reason. Every person, conceives +himself privileged to reason upon all the subjects of human +intelligence; and whatever he may chuse to offer on any side of a +question, he denominates his reasons for or against it. By some, this +power is held to be the exclusive possession of man; and such persons +naturally conclude that an offence is offered to his intellectual +dignity, if the smallest portion be conceded to the most docile animals. +This is, however, a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>question for future examination, and will be +discussed when their faculties are more particularly investigated. Those +who have affirmed that our own species is exclusively gifted with +reason, have not in any manner defined the nature of this faculty, or +enumerated the steps of the process by which reasoning is performed: +indeed, so ambiguous has been the signification annexed to this term, +that it is not uncommon to meet, in the best authors, with the +expressions of right reason, false or inconclusive reasonings, absurd +reasons, &c. These epithets are, however, perfectly correct, as will be +demonstrated in the course of this enquiry.</p> + +<p>If this capacity of reasoning be peculiar to man, it would not appear +difficult to trace the gradations of the process when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> he employs it: +every act of intellectual exertion, deliberately performed, is attended +with consciousness; he must therefore be aware of the successive steps +of his march: but as this effort might be perplexing to minds +unaccustomed to such deliberate and minute investigation, a readier +method presents itself in order to attain the object. There are writers +in all the departments of human knowledge, who are deservedly held in +the highest estimation, and who have reasoned on the subjects they have +treated, with the utmost correctness and ability:—let the best +specimens of that, which, in these authors, is allowed to be reasoning, +be selected and analysed, which will readily demonstrate the means they +have pursued to arrive at their conclusion. The whole<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> of this process +being conducted by significant sounds conveyed to the ear, or in the +signs of these sounds presented to the eye, the inquirer would be +immediately impressed, that intelligent sound, or its character, that +is, language, must be the vehicle by which this process is performed. In +the next place, he would be sensible that these sounds, or their signs, +were the substitutes or intended representatives of the objects in +nature, either individually or collectively; for he would find that men, +by the instrument of speech, had contrived, by a term, equally to +express collections as well as individuals; as a man, or an army, which +latter might consist of many thousands of the same beings. When he had +arrived at this knowledge, he would be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>persuaded of the importance of +these terms, and feel the necessity of their precise and uniform +signification, as the representatives of the particular objects or +collections they professed to describe:—because, if different +significations were affixed to the same term, those who employed it +could not mean the same thing. These prefatory observations appear to be +proper, and it is important that the reader should bear them in mind; +but it will be evident that the most correct description of objects does +not constitute the process of reasoning, however indispensable it may be +as its foundation.</p> + +<p>Reason, as the term itself shows, implies <i>ratio</i>, estimate, proportion, +or admeasurement; and in all the instances of reasoning that can be +adduced, this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>interpretation will apply in the strictest sense. But +<i>ratio</i>, estimate, &c. involve numbers, by which they can alone be +characterised or defined. Thus, by way of illustration, the estimate for +a building implies the number of the different materials, with their +<i>cost</i>, which is the number of pounds, shillings, and pence; also the +number of requisite workmen to be employed for such time, or number of +weeks, days, &c. at a certain stipend: admeasurement also consists of +numbers, whether it be employed on solids, fluids, or designate the +succession of our perceptions, called time<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a>: and ratio or propor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>tion +is equally the creature of numbers. In a preceding part of these +contributions, the importance of numbers has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> been considered, and a +confident belief expressed that no animal is capable of numeration; and +that the comprehension of addition and subtraction, the basis of all +calculation is exclusively the province of the human intellect. This +subject, however, requires a more extended <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>investigation; and the +research would doubtless reward the toil of the inquirer.</p> + +<p>It is generally acknowledged, that arithmetic, or the combination and +separation of numbers, is the purest and most certain system of +reasoning, and liable, when properly conducted, to no difference of +opinion; because the meaning of number is definite and universally +agreed on, there being no nation that affixes a different value to the +units, which are the elements of all ulterior numerative progression; +and although, in different languages, they are called by different +names, as Δεχα [Greek: Deka], <i>decem</i>, <i>dieci</i>, <i>dix</i>,—<i>taihun</i>, <i>tÿn</i>, +<i>zehn</i>, <i>tien</i>, <i>ten</i>, yet they have an identical meaning, and +denominate the same thing; and notwithstanding the Roman and Arabic +symbols are of dif<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>ferent character, they represent the same number, +whether we employ X or 10. It is owing to this identity of meaning, that +the reasoning in numbers is subject to no diversity of opinion.</p> + +<p>The names of those things which have an actual existence, and can be +submitted to the inquisition of our senses, or are capable of being +analysed, are subject to comparatively little error, when we reason +concerning them, because their character is defined by observation and +experiment: but we have terms to designate that which cannot immediately +be submitted to the analytic operations of our senses, and which has no +palpable existence; and from the undefined nature of these, the greatest +discord and confusion have prevailed when we reason<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> concerning them; as +the terms, humanity, charity, benevolence, living principle, +organisation, materialism, political expediency, taste, liberty, +legitimacy, and a thousand besides.</p> + +<p>In order to proceed regularly with this subject, it appears that our +reasonings may be employed concerning things, or the objects in nature, +and on terms which are not the immediate representatives of natural +phenomena, but as they have been denominated general or abstract; and +which are intended to be the verbal representatives of multitudes of +objects arbitrarily classed, or of opinions comprised under such term.</p> + +<p>That reason is not an inherent, peculiar, and independent faculty of the +human mind, receives a strong confirmation from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> considering, that it +cannot be voluntarily exerted on subjects of discussion, but requires, +as the indispensable condition of its operation, the basis of knowledge, +which is to be understood to mean, the result of observation and +experiment: for the mere employment of language, on a subject with which +we are unacquainted, is but idle prating and a lavishment of words. To +reason, is to adapt our means, that is, our knowledge, for the +attainment of the end or object proposed: it is the estimate or +admeasurement of these means. If, for example, a military commander +intended effectually to bombard a city;—such being the object proposed, +he would immediately proceed to estimate, admeasure, or calculate his +means to produce the effect, and his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> success would depend on the +knowledge he possessed of the nature and properties of the materials +employed: he must calculate the distance, elevation, proportionate +quantity of powder, and the time the fuzee should burn previously to the +explosion of the shell; with various other necessary circumstances. This +is an example of a very pure process of reasoning as applied to things, +and accords with the definition that has been attempted. If it were +necessary to multiply instances of the reasoning on things, perhaps the +construction of a thermometer would be a well-adapted illustration; and +it would likewise exhibit that which I am very anxious to impress, +namely, the very gradual manner in which knowledge, by the operation of +reasoning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> has been applied to the purposes of utility. That many +substances, and particularly metallic bodies, augmented in magnitude by +being heated, or, as we now term it, expanded by heat, was known many +centuries ago, and was a fact of hourly occurrence to the artificers in +metals. A similar increment of bulk was also observed in fluids; and it +was likewise known, that their dimensions contracted as they cooled. +This fact appeared to obtain so generally, that it became an aphorism, +that bodies expanded by heat and contracted by cold. Of the precise +gradations of heat they were, however, ignorant. Most of the senses +became tests, although they were inaccurate criteria. The sight conveyed +some distinctive marks; so that when some <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>metallic bodies were heated +to a high degree, they were observed to become red, and as the heat was +increased, they were rendered white. By the touch, a variety of +discriminations of temperature was obtained, to which appropriate terms +were annexed, explanatory of its effects, or according with the +feelings; as burning, scorching, scalding, blistering hot;—descending +to blood, loo, gently, or agreeably warm. The ear was not exempted from +its share of information, by detecting the boiling of water, or by +discovering when a heated metal was immersed in that fluid, that it was +hissing-hot: even the smell detected some obscure traces, sufficient to +discourage or invite an approach. These tests, although they might serve +for ordinary purposes, were still<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> wholly inadequate for philosophical +accuracy. To ascertain quantity, it was necessary to associate number as +the index of precision. Notwithstanding the construction of this +instrument now appears so simple and easy of contrivance, it is only +within a few years that it occurred to fill a tube, having a bulb, with +a fluid; and to note the points at which snow dissolved, and water +boiled: when these were fixed, the intermediate space might form a scale +according to any subdivisions, so as to endow it with precision by the +adjunct of numbers. On many occasions, our sensations deceive us, +especially in a morbid state of the body: a person in the cold stage of +an ague shivers at the temperature that oppresses his attendant with +heat; but the instrument<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> described is subject to no variations, by +marking the gradations of warmth with the definite character of number. +It will now be seen, that man possesses materials for conducting his +reasonings, which animals do not enjoy;—by language, and from his +capacity of numerating. Speech, of course, involves its record, whereby +he can recall the transactions of former ages, and preserve the fruit of +experience for his intellectual nurture, when the tree that produced it +has perished. This record is the elaboration of the hand,—that +wonderful instrument, the register of thought,—that active and and +skilful agent that "turns to shape" the contrivances of the mind.</p> + +<p>It is perhaps impossible, in a few words, to describe precisely the +nature of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> the operation termed reasoning. In general terms it may be +defined, <i>the means we employ for the attainment of the end proposed; +the employment of knowledge for the discovery of truth</i>; or <i>the process +of demonstration</i>; whether the object be an arithmetical sum, a +geometrical problem, or a discourse on taste. A part of the process of +reasoning, according to received opinion, consists in comparison, either +of things, or of general terms; and this comparison implies not merely +their exterior similitude, but likewise their internal structure and +composition: because two mineral substances may resemble each other in +external appearance, and may wholly differ in their intrinsic +properties. The process of ascertaining wherein they agree, and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> +circumstances which discriminate them, is an instance of reasoning, or +the means we employ for the proposed end, and which means necessarily +imply the previous possession of knowledge. It will also be seen that in +the instance adduced, and indeed in most others, where we reason on +things, that precision can only be attained through the medium of +number; for these mineral substances, although similar in external +character, may contain very different proportions of the precious +metals, and their actual value can only be estimated by comparison; that +is, by an analysis, founded in knowledge, to ascertain the per centage +of gold or silver, which must be expressed in numbers: and the +comparison that is instituted concerning general or abstract terms, +must<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> have for its basis the establishment of their legitimate force and +meaning.</p> + +<p>When we consult authorities on this subject, and particularly Dr. +Johnson's dictionary, we find that he has given eleven different +significations of the term <i>reason</i>, which he defines to be "the power +by which man <i>deduces</i> one proposition from another, or proceeds from +premises to consequences." There is, however, much ambiguity in this +statement; and it would perhaps be impossible, in reasoning concerning +things, (which is to be considered as the most perfect example of this +process,) to adduce an instance, in which one proposition is strictly +<i>deduced</i> from another.</p> + +<p>Every proposition is distinct, and independent: numbers, which are +definite,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> may be added together, and the sum-total exhibited, or a +lesser number subtracted from a greater, and the remainder shown. It is +difficult to say what is really meant by the words "deduces one +proposition from another." On examination, it will be found that every +simple proposition contains some fact or dictum, something set up or +laid down, <i>aliquid propositum</i>; and that nothing can be <i>deduced</i> from +it, more than the meaning which the words constituting such proposition +legitimately convey: indeed, it must be evident, that any deduction from +a simple proposition would destroy its force. The sum of our knowledge +consists of individual facts, which are in themselves distinct, as much +as a flock of sheep is the aggregate of the different<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> animals that +compose it; and it is only a misapplication of language, to affirm that +we are able to deduce one proposition from another. One proposition may +tend to explain or illustrate another; but every proposition, correctly +so termed, relates only to itself.</p> + +<p>The other mode by which we reason, is on abstract or general terms, +which are not the representatives of individual substances, or the +objects of our perceptions; but the names of classes or collections, or +of various hypotheses included or designated by a single name. The +difficulties which environ this latter mode of reasoning become +immediately evident, and satisfactorily account for the hostility and +confusion it has engendered, and for the tardy advancement of real +knowledge<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> by this medium. The individual objects in nature can be +investigated by observation and experiment, and may be sufficiently +estimated; but multitudes of objects arbitrarily classed, or imaginary +qualities comprehended by a single name, do not admit of the same +analysis by the senses, and we are only enabled to ascertain their real +meaning in the two ways that have been pointed out,—by authority, +which, to be strictly such, ought to be invariable,—or by etymology, +which will demonstrate their original signification, and the reasons +which imposed them. Thus when we reason concerning charity, benevolence, +humanity, and liberty, terms certainly of the highest importance, but +each of which involves a variety of circumstances, and the real +signification of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> which, is to this moment differently interpreted, we +are impeded in the process, and fail in our estimate, because the +dimensions are uncertain. That which one man considers a charitable +donation, another views as the means which encourage idleness, and vice, +and a third person is perhaps induced to question the motive, by +attributing the gift to pride and ostentation. These general terms +seldom admit the precision of numbers, but are characterised as to their +proportions by expressions equally general and indefinite: as, much, +more, and most, to denote their augmentation; and, little, less, least, +to define their diminution. These general but indefinite degrees of +comparison, as they are termed, once defined the temperature<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> of our +atmosphere, until a scale was discovered to mark its increment and +diminution by the accuracy of numbers. Great as may be the convenience +of general terms, both for abbreviation and dispatch, they are +notwithstanding liable to considerable suspicion, and are the frequent +sources of error and misapprehension. It has been principally for this +reason, that in proportion to the advancement of the physical sciences, +the study of scholastic metaphysic has been deservedly neglected.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Time, or the admeasurement of the successive order of our +perceptions, embraces a wide area of definition; and it is perhaps +impossible, in a few words, to circumscribe the range of its meaning. +The sagacity of the human intellect, although by very slow gradations, +has accumulated the wonderful mass of knowledge we now possess on this +subject: and the investigations which have been made into the faculties +of animals, justify the conclusion that its comprehension is limited to +man. It would be highly interesting to trace the origin and progress of +our information, concerning the nature of time; but a short note to a +compressed essay, does not admit of such examination. However, it +appears evident, that the striking and regular phenomena of nature have +constituted some of our most important distinctions. Thus, the ebbing +and flowing of the tide have formed a very early notation; and we still +retain in our language the traces of its application in Whitsun<i>tide</i>, +Shrove<i>tide</i>, Allhallow<i>tide</i>, &c. The great divisions of time are well +understood; as day, from dawn; month, from moon; year, Anglo-Saxon gear, +from gyrdan, the girth (of the zodiac). A moderate knowledge of the +cognate languages of the north, would readily unravel the origin of all +the terms that have been employed by us and kindred nations, for the +purpose of characterising the succession of our perceptions. All these +subdivisions necessarily imply a comprehension of numbers. +</p><p> +From the experience of the past, man has inferred the <i>probability</i> of +the future; for by natural knowledge, the probability, great as it is, +can only be deduced. The certainty has descended from a higher +authority. Although the grammar of our language has endeavoured to mark +our predictions of the future by certain signs; yet these do not convey +any definite intelligence of that which <i>is</i> to come. In this state of +being, man may receive assurances of ulterior existence, but he cannot +invest his predictions with the certainty of numbers. The signs of Will +and Shall, the utmost boundaries of his future glance, are both verbs in +the present tense, and only signify his immediate intention of +performance, at a time which may <i>probably</i> arrive.</p></div></div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p> + +<h2>INSTINCT.</h2> + +<p>It has been endeavoured, in the foregoing pages, to describe the +intellectual capacities of the human being, and to account for his +superiority, from the peculiarity of his structure, and the extended +faculties it has conferred. It has also been attempted to maintain, that +man, thus gifted, is the architect of his own mind; with the hopeful +expectation, that it may tend to the improvement of his culture, but +more especially, to exhibit him as the creature of responsibility, in +consequence of his ampler endowments: "for unto whomsoever much is +given, of him shall be much required."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>The mental phenomena which animals display is a subject of equal +curiosity and interest; but it is to be lamented that they have not yet +been sufficiently observed, or faithfully collected. Their anatomy has +been minutely and diligently investigated, and the functions which have +resulted from the peculiarity of their structure, in many instances, +have been industriously developed; but an enumeration of their +intellectual bounties, and faculties of improvement, are still wanting +to complete their history. As we are able to trace the progress of mind, +in the infant, from its feeble glimmerings to its bright effulgence in +the maturity of man; so we can contemplate the inherent wisdom that +directs the animal tribe:—a liberal portion, sufficient for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> their +individual protection, and for the continuance of their race. This +definite allotment of mental craft to animals has rendered them +stationary, while man has no barriers opposed to his improvement; but, +under the fostering auxiliaries of a free soil, wholesome instruction, +and intellectual labour, continually advances. However vast his present +treasure may appear, its accumulation may be safely predicted; and it is +to be expected, or at least, it may be hoped, that his career in moral +practice will be commensurate with his progress in science.</p> + +<p>The human intellect, or the capacity of man for the accumulation of +knowledge, has enabled him, in a great degree, to render himself the +master of the animal creation; and more especially over<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> those which +dwell on the soil he inhabits or range in the atmosphere he respires: +his authority or conciliation has little extended to the tenants of the +deep. Many of the larger quadrupeds he has subdued, and thereby has +become enabled to substitute the exertion of their muscles to relieve +the toil and fatigue of his own: of the swifter, he has coerced the +speed, for the anticipation of his wishes: the breed of many he has +extensively multiplied, to prey on their flesh, or to become nourished +by their secretions: his knowledge has been directed to the physical +improvements of their race, and he has also relieved them from many +infirmities and diseases, consequent on their domestication and labour.</p> + +<p>The wonderful construction of animals<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> is a fit subject for the serious +contemplation of man: but the most striking and important lesson which +it impresses, is the adaptation of their organs to the purposes of their +destination, or the means they possess for the discharge of the offices +they perform. This construction is throughout an exemplification of that +which has been defined reason; and that it is perfect, may be concluded +from its being the work of the Creator. It has been already observed, +that the perceptive organs of many animals, especially the eye, the ear, +and the smell, are more acute and vigorous, than those in the human +subject: with us, the olfactory organ is considered as the lowest sense, +but in some animals it appears to be the most <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>important; and even in +man, under certain privations<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a>, the smell has become a test<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> of the +nicest discriminations: indeed, so far as the senses are concerned as +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> importers of knowledge, animals appear to be gifted beyond our own +species.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> Their memory is also more perfect, as might be expected, from +the exquisite<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> sensibility of their perceptive organs. The accuracy with +which they recognise persons and places is in many instances really +astonishing; and the certainty with which they retrace the most +intricate paths, is a proof of the excellence of their local +recollection, and of the attention they are capable of bestowing on the +objects of their perceptions. This enduring attention is perhaps to be +accounted for from their want of reflection, which so frequently diverts +man from dwelling on the objects of his senses. Thus, a cat will +undeviatingly watch the hole through which a mouse is known to pass, far +beyond the time which man can exclusively<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> devote to a subject of +expectation. But here their superiority terminates. Their recollection +is not refreshed, as in man, by the substitution of a name for the +object of perception; much less have they any contrivance to record such +intelligent sound, whereby man can preserve and transmit his +perceptions. Thus whatever individual excellence animals may attain, +they want the means of communicating, and of transmitting to their +successors, and this sufficiently accounts for their stationary +condition, and for the progression of man.</p> + +<p>That animals are <i>incapable of the power</i> which has been termed thought +or reflection is most probable. According to the interpretation that has +been given of this faculty, they are deficient of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> materials, or of +terms, the representatives of perceptions; consequently of their +abbreviations, and of the contrivances by which a proposition or +sentence is constructed. That they understand some words, is evident; +they know their own names, and, by certain sounds, can be made to stop +or advance, to seize or let go, to rise up or lie down; but the extent +of this intelligence is very limited, and altogether different from the +comprehension of a sentence.</p> + +<p>It is not improbable that they dream; and, at such times, the +recollection of objects and scenes may be presented to them in visible +phantasmata; and in the delirium of canine madness, they are observed to +snap at imaginary existences; but this is far below the process that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> +constitutes reflection, which consists in the capacity of reviewing the +whole of our perceptions; and it has been endeavoured to point out that +this can only be effected through the medium of intelligent sound, or +its visible representative. If we were to contend for their capacity of +reflection, we must, at the same time, acknowledge, that they do not +appear to derive any improvement from the process; and to suppose them +endowed with that which was nugatory, and contributed in no degree to +their advancement, would be an idle and useless hypothesis. When not +employed and directed by man, their lives are principally occupied in +procuring food, and in the propagation of their species; and when their +appetites are satisfied, they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> repose or sleep: when not guided by +instinct, they seem to act from established habits, or the dictates of +immediate impression. They are capable of considerable acquirements +under the coercive tuition of man, and may be taught a variety of tricks +for his amusement or profit; but they do not appear to comprehend their +utility, or to hold these instructions in any estimation, as they never +practise them when alone. The most accomplished bear would not dance for +his own entertainment; and the learned pig never attempted to become a +school-master to the hogs of his acquaintance.</p> + +<p>It has been previously noticed, that in man, and most animals, there +were movements of the highest importance to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> life, which were directed +by the Author of the universe, and over which they had no immediate +control, termed involuntary motions; so we find, in the tribe of +animals, various mental endowments, especially tending to the +preservation of the individual, and to the succession of the race, which +are not the results of their experience. These have been comprehended +under a general term, and denominated instinct. By instinct, is meant +the display of contrivance and wisdom by animals, which tends to +preserve them as individuals, and to maintain their succession; an +intellectual exercise so perfect, that human philosophy has not +pretended to improve; so unvaried, that the excellence of its +performance cannot be exceeded,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> and is never diminished; a clearness of +execution, that "leaves no rubs and botches in the work," but which, it +may be presumed, is not even comprehended by the animal itself, as it +does not possess the organs or capacity to acquire the rudiments of the +science on which its operations proceed. As man, in his healthy state, +is little conscious of his involuntary motions, so I should presume that +animals possess but a feeble consciousness of their instinctive +achievements. This may be a subject for subtle disputants to decide; but +it appears certain, during the exercise of instinct, that their volition +must be suspended. When sufficient observation has collected the +intuitive wisdom displayed by animals, we shall then be able to <i>define</i> +what<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> is precisely meant by instinct; and, which is of much greater +importance, to furnish their intellectual history, of which the +definition is an abbreviation. One of the most useful contrivances of +language, is its abbreviation for the purposes of dispatch; and a +definition implies the fewest words into which its history can be +compressed, for perfect discrimination and identity of character. +Without disputing about a term, it may be noticed, that young ducks +hatched by a hen, immediately on their developement, and often with a +part of the shell still attached to them, make directly for the water; +while the hen, who has performed the office of a mother, screams with +alarm for the consequences. A she-cat, the first time she brings forth +her young, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>proceeds to secure the umbilical cord of each kitten, with +the caution of an experienced midwife. In both these instances, +experience cannot be adduced to account for the performance. When the +admirable texture of a spider's web is contemplated; will it be +contended that this elaboration is the result of mathematical knowledge +<i>acquired</i> by the spider? Have the dwellings of the beaver, and the +construction of the honey-comb, their solution in the geometrical +attainments of the fabricators? The examples which have been enumerated, +(and they are only a few, among multitudes,) can only be accounted for, +by maintaining, that these wonderful phenomena proceed from a degree of +knowledge acquired by these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> animals, and are the result of such +attainment; or that they are independently furnished with such +propensities by the Creator. If it can be demonstrated that the animals +displaying the greatest acts of intelligence, are unable to acquire the +rudiments of the arts they practise, and cannot comprehend the wisdom +they execute, there will remain but one conclusion—that they are the +immediate endowments of God. Man has his instincts, although they are +few, and these appear to fade as his reason advances; woman enjoys a +more bountiful supply. The intellectual difference of the sexes is +strongly pronounced: the female is more the creature of perception: man, +of reflection:—the duties imposed on her,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> require less of thought and +volition; and when she resembles man by their possession and exercise, +she becomes less amiable and attractive. But this is abundantly +compensated by the intenseness and constancy of her affections.</p> + +<p>The gift of instinct to animals, does not exclude them from acquiring +knowledge by experience; for their minds are capable of improvement, +according to the extent of their capacities, and the intellectual organs +with which they are furnished. The instinct which is allotted to them is +mental possession which they could not have acquired, from the limited +nature of their faculties. All their instincts are processes of the +purest reasoning, but they do not originate from themselves;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> they are +not, as in man, the elaboration of thought, the contrivance founded on +the estimate of knowledge; but a boon,—an endowment, by which +experience is anticipated, and wisdom matured without its progress and +accumulation. Animals form an estimate of that which they can +accomplish: a horse will not voluntarily attempt a leap he cannot clear; +but his admeasurement is instituted solely by his eye: he is deficient +of the organ which man possesses;—nor can he measure by steps or paces, +as he is unable to numerate. An old hound will spare himself much +fatigue in the chace, by knowing, from experience, the doubles of the +hare. As man cannot reason independently of knowledge, nor beyond the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> +extent of his acquirements, neither can animals display this faculty +further than they possess the means.</p> + +<p>The instinctive bounty of intellect to animals, of course, renders them +stationary as a community; as instinct implies a definite portion of +intuitive sagacity, wisdom, or reason, commensurate to their wants and +destination. The early manifestation of instinctive wisdom, is the best +reply to those philosophers who have argued against its existence; for +in a multitude of instances it is exhibited, anterior to the possibility +of experience. Man, although gifted with superior capacities, and +susceptible of higher attainments, does not, from the paucity of his +instincts, arrive during many years at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> same maturity both of mind +and body, which most animals display within the space of a few weeks; so +necessary and important is the protracted period of infancy to the +edifice and destination of the human mind.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTE:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Notwithstanding we cannot sufficiently estimate the +perfection of the senses in animals, yet in some instances we are +enabled to observe, in our own species, the importance which a lower +sense acquires, in consequence of the privation of those which are +deservedly considered the more noble. A singular case of this nature +occurred in Scotland, the particulars of which have been published by +Mr. James Wardrop an eminent surgeon and oculist, 4to. London, 1813. +This person, James Mitchel, was born, very nearly blind and deaf. +Although he was not deprived of every glimmering and vibration, yet he +was incapable of discerning an object, or hearing an articulate sound; +consequently to him the visible world was annihilated. A ray of light +might serve to delight him as a toy, but it did not enable him to have +the visible perception of any substance:—his nerves, indeed, appeared +to be agitated by the concussion of sound, yet it was wholly impossible +to lodge in his ear the missile of a word. Being thus deprived of the +two nobler senses, his <i>mind</i> was constituted of the perceptions he +acquired by the organs of touch, smell, and taste. His attention was +enduring, and his curiosity eager, far beyond those of any animal. Mr. +Wardrop observes that "his organs of touch, of smell, and of taste, had +all acquired a preternatural degree of acuteness, and appeared to have +supplied, in an astonishing manner, the deficiencies in the senses of +seeing and hearing. By those of touch and smell, in particular, he was +in the habit of examining every thing within his reach. Large objects, +such as the furniture of the room, he felt over with his fingers, whilst +those which were more minute, and which excited more of his interest, he +applied to his teeth, or touched with the point of his tongue. In +exercising the sense of touch, it was interesting to notice the delicate +and precise manner by which he applied the extremities of his fingers, +and with what ease and flexibility he would insinuate the point of his +tongue into all the inequalities of the body under his examination. +</p><p> +"But there were many substances which he not only touched, but smelled +during his examination. +</p><p> +"To the sense of smell he seemed chiefly indebted for his knowledge of +different persons. He appeared to know his relations and intimate +friends, by smelling them very slightly, and he at once detected +strangers." From the whole of this interesting relation, it seems fair +to conclude that this youth, even under the privation of sight and +hearing, possessed, in the staple of his intellect, capacities beyond +the most docile animals; and these consisted in the ardent curiosity +which he displayed, and in his desire for the improvement of his limited +faculties. Had this boy been confided to my management, I should have +endeavoured to educate him through the medium of his touch, so as to +communicate his wants, and afford an occupation to his mind. Thus, if +milk had uniformly been served to him in a bowl, beer in a mug, water in +a decanter with a glass stopper, and wine in a decanter with a cork: if +these had been arranged in his apartment, he might have indicated his +wish for any of these liquids, by producing the vessel that contained +them: the two latter might have been subsequently abbreviated, by +producing the glass stopper for water and the cork for wine. As he +examined every object by the touch, it would have contributed both to +his improvement and occupation, if he had been furnished with a quantity +of ductile clay, which he might have modelled to represent the objects +he examined, and which he might have preserved as a species of tangible +vocabulary. According to my own suppositions, he might have been taught +to numerate. It may be a subject of considerable curiosity to enquire, +of what the reflections of James Mitchel could have consisted. He had no +visible impressions which his hand could record. Being deaf, he could +not have acquired the instrument of thought—language; therefore, for +the objects of the senses he possessed,—smell, taste, and touch,—he +could have no terms, as their substitutes, for the purpose of +recollection. The next important question is, in what manner (wanting +names whereby they might be represented) would the perceptions of smell, +taste, and touch be represented to his mind in order to constitute +reflection or thought on these experienced perceptions? If musk, rose, +or garlic had been smelled, these perceptions, in a being constructed +like Mitchel, would remain dormant, until the same odour were again +presented to his olfactory organ; when it would be recollected, or he +would be conscious, that it had been previously presented. In such a +being, there would be a necessity for a fresh excitation of the organ of +sense by the object, to produce recollection; whereas, in those who +possess language, the name produces the recollection of the thing perceived.</p></div></div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p> + +<h2>CONCLUSION.</h2> + +<p>The subjects that have been discussed in these contributions, fully +establish the pre-eminence of man, over all other created beings; and it +has also been endeavoured to demonstrate the circumstances which have +principally contributed to this superiority. The conclusions that may be +drawn are equally important and consoling.</p> + +<p>When the capacities of the intellect are fully ascertained, we shall be +enabled to supply it with the proper materials of instruction; so that +the protracted period of infancy may conduce to the formation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> of +virtuous and enlightened members of civil society. The healing art will +be abundantly promoted by a knowledge of mind;—for the remedy of its +infirmities and perversions ought to be founded on a thorough knowledge +of its faculties and operations;—nor should it be forgotten that the +prevention of crimes, and the reformation of delinquents, equally +involve an intimate acquaintance with the temperaments of human +character.</p> + +<p>In the contemplation of mind, from the highest order to the lowest +rank,—from man, to the maggot that consumes him; we are imprest with +the evidence of appropriate contrivance and infinite wisdom. Although we +are unable to penetrate the dense veil, that conceals the arcana of +vitality and intellect; yet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> sufficient is exhibited to us, in the ample +volume of nature, to satisfy our curiosity, and stimulate the exercise +of reason. Observation and experience have disclosed to us, in a great +degree, the structure and functions of our own bodily frame; and the +same persevering industry has unfolded the variations which obtain in +animals. The conclusions that have been formed from the study of anatomy +and physiology, amount to a conviction, that the contrivance is +admirably adapted to produce the effects we behold;—that the means are +competent to the end. The same reasoning applies to the phenomena of +intellect, and may be illustrated by the comparative difference which +appears in animals and man.</p> + +<p>The mental endowments and capacities<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> which animals possess, have +rendered them stationary; whatever the more docile and intelligent may +have been compelled to learn, they do not appear to comprehend, and want +the means to communicate: so that their contemporaries and descendants +are unbenefited by the acquirement, and the attainment perishes with the +individual. When brought into existence, the world is to them a recent +creation, and bears no evidence of a former race, from archives or +monuments which they can understand. The record of their ancestors has +been discovered by man, in fossile preservation; but its characters are +unintelligible to them. As they have not been endowed with the capacity +to numerate, they can experience no solicitude for the past, nor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> +apprehension for the future. Their recollection is not an act of the +will, but an excitation by the object that originally produced it. In +the grammar of animals, the present is the only tense, and to punish +them for the faults they had formerly committed, would be equally absurd +and tyrannical. They are not the creatures of compact, and being unable +to comprehend the nature of institutions, and the obligation of laws, +they cannot be responsible agents. It has also been remarked, that they +are destitute of sympathy for the sufferings of their fellows; but +sympathy would be superfluous, where they cannot understand the nature +of the affliction, and do not possess the power of administering relief.</p> + +<p>The features of the human mind are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> very differently shaped, and +strongly indicate an ulterior destination. Man possesses language, the +instrument of thought, the vehicle of intelligible communication;—and +he is gifted with the hand, to record the subjects of his experience, to +fabricate his contrivances, and to rear the durable monuments of his +piety and splendour. Thus, he is rapidly progressive, his mind becomes +opulent from the intellectual treasures of his ancestors, and, in his +turn, he bequeaths to posterity the legacy of wisdom. His comprehension +of numbers, on which the nature of time is founded, enable him to revert +to the transactions of distant ages, and to invest faded events with the +freshness of immediate perception. He alone can embalm the past, and +wel<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>come the tidings of the future. Man alone is fitted to covenant, +although he may occasionally waver in the performance. His exalted +capacities, his comprehension of the law, constitute his responsibility: +for where the conditions of the compact are not understood, there can be +no disobedience or delinquency.</p> + +<p>The helpless condition of the human infant, and the paucity of its +instincts, apparently render it less favoured than animals;—but it was +necessary, in order to constitute man a moral agent and a responsible +being, that he should be the architect of his own mind. When born, he +has every thing to learn; and a large portion of his existence is +consumed to qualify him for his station in society. Had he, like +animals, been gifted with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> intuitive wisdom, the donation would have +been so perfect, as to render instruction superfluous;—and such +endowment would have diminished the measure of his responsibility. The +freedom of his will, by which is to be understood the impulse of reason, +not the blind dictates of appetite, nor the sallies of tumultuous +passions, renders him amenable. Such is the force of the human mind, +that it can surmount the difficulties which situation and circumstances +oppose to its improvement: so powerful is reason, that it can correct +the prejudices of early tuition, and atone for crime, by the pursuit of +honourable practice. Man alone can repent; he only can retrace the acts +of former commission, and resolve on amelioration for the future. Thus +we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> find that moral responsibility has its basis in the comprehension of +Time. In proportion to our love and estimation of justice, we must be +satisfied that, under the purest forms of human government, it is but +imperfectly administered: the rewards and punishments in this life will +ever be blended with the hopes and fears, the interests and passions, of +our species; and there is much of evil, which human sagacity cannot +detect. When we consider the attributes of the Deity and the nature of +man, we can never be induced to conclude that the tribunals of this +world are the courts of final retribution. Man bears in his intellectual +construction the badge of moral responsibility, and, consequently, the +germ of future existence:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> and the only incentive that can urge him to +the advancement of science, and the practice of virtue, is the reward +that Revelation has unfolded.</p> + +<h4>THE END.</h4> + + +<h5>Printed by Strahan and Spottiswoode, Printers-Street, London.</h5> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Sound Mind, by John Haslam + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOUND MIND *** + +***** This file should be named 31747-h.htm or 31747-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/7/4/31747/ + +Produced by Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Sound Mind + or, Contributions to the natural history and physiology + of the human intellect + +Author: John Haslam + +Release Date: March 23, 2010 [EBook #31747] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOUND MIND *** + + + + +Produced by Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + +SOUND MIND; + +OR, + +_CONTRIBUTIONS_ + +TO THE + +NATURAL HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY + +OF THE + +HUMAN INTELLECT. + +By JOHN HASLAM, M.D. + +LATE OF PEMBROKE HALL, CAMBRIDGE: +FORMERLY PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL MEDICAL, NATURAL HISTORY, +AND CHEMICAL SOCIETIES OF EDINBURGH. + +LONDON: + +PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN, +PATERNOSTER-ROW. +1819. + + +Printed by Strahan and Spottiswoode, +Printers-Street, London. + + + + +TO + +SIR JAMES MACKINTOSH, M.P. + +DEAR SIR, + +The privilege of long acquaintance, and a sufficient experience of the +kindness of your disposition, might be an adequate inducement to +dedicate the following pages to your notice. To this offering, I am +however impelled by motives, which boast a higher descent, and more +enlightened character:--an admiration of your superior talents, and the +adaptation of those excellent endowments, to the advancement and +happiness of the human race,--and by which you have been enabled + + + "The applause of listening senates to command." + + +The subjects to which I now solicit the permission of prefixing your +name, were once your favourite study; and I am induced to consider your +profound researches into the nature and constitution of the human +intellect, as the basis of that high reputation, you now so deservedly +maintain among the wise and dignified of your contemporaries. + + I am, Dear Sir, + with respect, esteem, + and the kindest feelings, + Your very obedient servant, + JOHN HASLAM. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The indulgence of the public has been already extended to several works +which I have submitted to its decision on the subject of INSANITY; and +the same favourable interpretation is now solicited for the present +performance,--which attempts the more difficult investigation of SOUND +MIND. In treating of Mental Derangement, I became very early sensible, +that a competent knowledge of the faculties and operations of the +Intellect in its healthy state, was indispensably necessary to him, who +professed to describe its disorders:--that in order to define the +aberrations, the standard should be fixed. There was indeed no lack of +theories and systems of Metaphysic; and although they essentially +differed, many possessed the highest reputation. Amidst this distraction +of conflicting opinions, which no mediator could adequately +reconcile,--without daring to contend with a host of discrepancies, or +presuming to demolish the lofty edifices which scholastic Pneumatology +had reared,--I determined to throw off the shackles of authority, and +think for myself. For it was evident, on the freehold ground of +literature, that there is "ample room and verge enough" for every man to +build his own tenement;--and the present construction is too lowly to +intercept another's prospect, and without those ornaments that might +provoke the jealousy, or challenge the rivalship of surrounding +inhabitants. + +The mind of every rational person may be considered as an elaboratory, +wherein he may conduct psychological experiments:--he is enabled to +analyze his own acquirement,--and if he be sufficiently attentive, he +may note its formation and progress in his children:--and thus trace the +accumulation of knowledge, from the dawn of infancy to the meridian of +manhood. The prosecution of these means, according to my own views, will +qualify the diligent observer, to become the Natural Historian and +Physiologist of the Human Mind. + +In the comparative survey of the capacities of Man, and the intelligence +of animals, the contrast has appeared so striking, that it was +impossible wholly to abstain from the inference of his future +destination:--notwithstanding very different conclusions had been +extorted by some modern physiologists. It has been often remarked, that +the practitioners of the healing art, have been very moderately +impressed with a solicitude for the future. This observation, in some +late instances, has been unhappily confirmed:--but it would be unjust to +visit the whole tribe with a sweeping and acrimonious censure, for the +transgressions of a few. The reproach has, however, long existed. The +venerable father of English poetry, in his description of the Doctor, +has passed a high and merited compliment to his learning; which at that +period was a heterogeneous compound of Greek, Latin, and Arabian lore, +mysteriously engrafted on Galenicals and Astrology:--yet with this +courteous concession to his professional science he could not refrain +from a dry and sarcastic memorandum, that + + + "His study was but little in the Bible." + + +Throughout this inquiry, the province of the Theologian has never been +invaded:--it has been my humble toil to collect and concentrate the +scattered rays which emanate from natural reason,--a pale phosphoric +light, and "uneffectual" glow, compared with the splendid and animating +beams, which issue from the source of divine communication. + +As the object of these contributions, has been principally to convey my +opinions, concerning the formation of the human mind, from the superior +capacities that man possesses, many subjects have been left untouched, +which, in similar works, urge an important claim to the attention of the +reader. Among these neglected articles, the IMAGINATION is the chief +omission:--of which many authors have treated so copiously, and so well. +According to my own views, the consideration of this faculty was not +essential to the outline that has been traced;--and it has been rather +deemed a graceful embellishment, than a constituent pillar of the +edifice of mind. This gay attirer of thought, that decks passion and +sentiment, is also the prolific parent of fiction;--and justly banished +from the retreats of sober demonstration.--To the science of +numbers,--to mathematical precision, and to the whole range of +experimental philosophy,--Imagination does not lend her glowing and +gaudy tints. No vestiges of her colouring can be discovered in Divine +ordinances, or in the systems of human jurisprudence:--neither in the +Ten Commandments nor in the Statutes at Large. Imagination may indeed +enliven the cold pages of historical narrative, and blend the "Utile +Dulci"--but even here she is a profane intruder: and a vigilant eye must +be directed, lest, in some unguarded moment, her seductive +blandishments should decoy the nakedness of truth. A sedate and +unambitious recorder of facts, does not presume to describe her regions, +or to enumerate her attributes. That delightful task must be performed +by her votaries, + + + "The poet, the lunatic, and the lover;" + + +nor should the Orator be excluded from his fair participation and +kindred alliance with this airy and fascinating group. + +If the present essay should conform to nature, and be founded in +truth,--should it assist the young inquirer, and more especially the +medical student,--for whom no compendium of the science of mind has been +hitherto prepared; my own expectations will be fully answered; and this +scantling may probably lead some more capable person to an extensive +investigation, enlarged comprehension, and luminous arrangement of the +phenomena of the human intellect. + +JOHN HASLAM. + +57. Frith-Street, Soho-Square, +1st November, 1819. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + Page + +Perception 1 + +Memory 16 + +On the intellectual superiority which man has +acquired by speech, and the possession of the +hand 28 + +On the nature and composition of language, as +applied to the investigation of the phenomena +of mind 59 + +On will or volition 74 + +On thought or reflection 110 + +On reason 135 + +Instinct 160 + +Conclusion 182 + + +_Works by the same Author._ + + + I. Observations on Madness and Melancholy. + + II. Illustrations of Madness. + +III. On the Moral Management of the Insane. + + IV. Medical Jurisprudence, as it relates to Insanity. + + V. A Letter to the Governors of Bethlem Hospital. + + + + +SOUND MIND. + + + + +PERCEPTION. + + +The faculty of perceiving the objects which surround us, is an important +feature in the history of mind; but by what means or contrivance this is +effected, can only be known to the Supreme Being, who has thus been +pleased to endow us; and our utmost endeavours to detect the _modus +operandi_ will be puerile and unavailing. + +The first operations of the infant are to educate its senses, in order +to become acquainted, through these organs, with surrounding objects. +This, in the human species, is a process of very slow attainment; and +our information concerning this subject, must be derived from +attentively watching the progress of the infant itself; as of these +early perceptions, for a reason which will be afterwards assigned, we +retain no distinct recollection. + +For the manner in which we become acquainted with the objects in nature, +we have appropriated a term, which was probably supposed to be +explanatory of the process, by which we received our intelligence of +these phenomena, and have accordingly termed it _Perception_. The +intrinsic meaning of this word is the taking, seizing, or grasping, of +an object, from the Latin _Cum_ and _Capio_, and the same figure +pervades most of the European languages. This term may sufficiently +apply to the information we derive from the organ of touch; but it +affords no solution of that which we obtain through the medium of the +other senses, as sight, smell, and hearing. It has been the bane of +philosophy, and the great obstacle to its advancement, that we have +endeavoured to penetrate that which is inscrutable; and in this vain +pursuit, we have neglected to detect and cultivate that which is +obvious, and the legitimate province of our research. + +These organs of sense are the instruments by which we obtain our +different perceptions; they are the tests by which we become acquainted +with the objects of nature. + +When we view the newly-born infant, and consider its state for many +weeks after it has become a member of our community, we are then +enabled to form some opinion of the almost insensible gradations, by +which it acquires its perceptions. An enumeration of the progressive +steps of this tardy process is within the power of any patient and +accurate observer; but this detail does not constitute a part of the +plan which has been adopted. + +It has been endeavoured by writers on this subject, to establish a +distinction between perception and sensation, and the reader for his +information may consult their works: they do not however appear to have +founded this distinction on any obvious difference, nor to have adduced +sufficient reasons for their separate establishment, as independent +properties of the nerves. To feel, to experience a sensation, or to +perceive, implies consciousness; it is that which is transmitted by the +nerves to the sensorium, either by the organs of sense, or by the +internal nerves; as pain, or feelings of which we are conscious. +Consciousness is the test, the evidence, the proof of sensation or +perception. This point has been adverted to, in order that terms should +not be multiplied without a distinct and essential difference of +meaning. + +The five senses, together with some auxiliaries, which will be the +subjects of future notice, may be considered as the instruments or +agents, by which the edifice of mind is constructed. In the act of +perceiving by the different senses, there are some circumstances, which +are particularly deserving of attention. In order that perception may +fully and certainly take place, it is necessary that the person should +be undisturbed; he ought to be exempt from external intrusions, and +internal perturbation. During this process the respiration is in general +more slowly drawn, the body endeavours to maintain a perfect quietude, +and its position becomes fixed. When we perceive objects by the eye, +this organ becomes fixed and the lips are usually closed. During our +examinations by the touch, the eye is also fixed, the breathing is +suspended, and the lips brought into contact: the fingers are separated, +and their more delicately tangent surfaces applied to the object with +their utmost expansion. In the exercise of audible perception, the neck +is stretched forth, and the ear applied to the quarter from whence the +sound appears to issue; the mouth is partly open to conduct the +vibrations to the Eustachian tube. When we acquire intelligence by the +smell, the lips are very firmly closed, the nostrils become dilated, and +the inspiration of air through them is conducted by short and successive +inhalations. From the connection between the smell and organs of taste, +(and this association is more remarkable in some animals than in man,) +it is difficult to describe the process, which, however, principally +consists, when minutely tasting, in moving the tongue (the principal +discriminator) on the palate:--but when urged by strong appetite as in +the act of feeding, and when divested of the restraints which refined +society imposes; the nostrils are widely expanded, the eye is keenly +directed to the portion, and the hands are busily employed. + +Experience has sufficiently informed us that the organs of sense must be +in a healthy state, in order to the due conveyance of perception. When +the function of any organ is altogether defective, as when a person is +born blind, he is cut off from all perception of light and of visible +objects. If by nature deaf, from the intonation of sounds; and many +unhappy instances of such connate defects abound among our species. In +one particular subject, both these defects existed from birth; so that +the sum of his intelligence was conveyed by the touch, smell, and +taste, or in other words, his mind was exclusively composed of the +perceptions he derived from these senses. This case will be more +particularly noticed in a subsequent chapter. The alterations which take +place in the state of our perceptions from a morbid cause, are generally +known. Thus a person labouring under a catarrh, will be unable to detect +the odours which certain substances communicate in a healthy condition +of his olfactory organ. In fever excited by a disordered stomach, the +taste will become vitiated, and the partial obstruction of the ear by +accumulated wax, will impress him with the bubbling of a pot, the +singing of birds, or the ringing of bells. + +The same law that produces fatigue in a muscle from exertion, appears +to obtain in the organs of sense. If they be excited by their +appropriate stimuli too violently, or for a too long continuance, +fatigue or languor is produced, their percipience is diminished, or +confusedly conveyed; and they require a period of rest for their +refreshment. + +As we advance in our enquiries into the nature of perception, it will be +evident that we cannot long continue to treat of it as a simple act, or +as a distinct faculty. The organs by which we obtain our different +perceptions are not insulated parts, but communicate with a substance, +termed the brain, and which is continued through the vertebral column. +The ultimate expansion of a nerve of sense, has been termed its sentient +or percipient extremity; and where it is united to the brain, its +sensorial insertion. If we were to divide the optic nerve where it +passes into the foramen, taking care to leave the apparatus of the eye +uninjured, the visual organ would be deprived of its function, and the +person or animal would be completely blind of that eye; so that a +communication with the brain is necessary for the purpose or act of +perception. As therefore the union of the nerve with the brain is +indispensably necessary for the purpose or act of perception, we are +naturally led to inquire into the properties of this substance, termed +the brain. Before we proceed to this part of the subject, it will be +proper to notice a fact which is of frequent occurrence. In amputations +of the thigh, at the moment the femoral nerve is divided, it often +occurs that a pain is distinctly felt in the toes; and after the limb +has been removed, even for many months, the same painful feeling of +these lost extremities is occasionally experienced. This circumstance +would render it probable that the larger branch of the nerve becomes +itself impregnated with the sensation it transmits: indeed it is a +continuation of the same substance, from its sentient extremity to its +sensorial insertion. This intimate union of nerve and brain may be +further illustrated: it has been already noticed, that a morbid state of +the organs of sense will convey inaccurate perceptions; and it is +equally certain, that disease of the brain, will excite phantasms, which +appear as realities to the sensitive organs. + +As consciousness is implied, in order to constitute the act of +perception, it is of some importance to investigate the nature and +meaning of this term. The consciousness of _having experienced_ a +perception by any of the senses would be an act of memory: +consciousness, therefore, applies to the past; and it also accompanies +our prediction of the future. When a person is writing a letter, he is +at the time, conscious that his own hand is forming the characters; if +this letter be afterwards submitted to his inspection, he is conscious +that he wrote it; and if he be desired to write it over again, he is +conscious that it will bear, both to himself and others, the character +of his hand-writing. Consciousness, therefore, accompanies human action +through all its tenses: it is equivalent to the knowledge we possess of +our own personal identity, the evidence of mind, and therefore must +accompany every act of intelligence. Thus we are equally conscious that +we perceive, remember, think or reflect, and reason. As consciousness +must accompany every act of perception, it follows that we cannot be +impressed with more than one at the same instant; for it can never be +contended that we are able to experience two acts of consciousness at +the same moment. The very term two, implies repetition or succession, +and we could as well conceive the possibility of being, at the same +time, in two different places. + +As far as we are warranted to infer from the evidences it affords, an +infant appears to possess no consciousness; but it may be considered of +early acquirement, and coeval with distinctness of perception. + +These few preliminary remarks concerning perception have been submitted +to the notice of the reader, in order to advance to another subject. The +faculties which constitute mind are so blended, and dependant on each +other, that it would only hazard confusion to proceed. But this subject +will be resumed.[1] + +FOOTNOTE: + +[1] There exists already furnished, a considerable mass of facts, +dispersed in various works, which might be advantageously collected into +a volume in order to illustrate the phenomena and laws of perception, +and more especially to display the mutual assistance they afford to each +other, and the superior knowledge which we have derived from their +united co-operation. + + + + +MEMORY. + + +Allow a human being to be gifted with his five senses, exquisitely +attuned for the conveyance of those perceptions, which the separate +organs and common sensory are destined to receive: let him during fifty, +or as many thousand years, scent the most delicious perfumes,--convey to +his palate the flavour of the choicest viands,--to his eyes, present the +fairest prospects in nature,--impart to his ear the sweetest music, and +regale his touch with smoothness and warmth; moreover let him be +conscious of each individual perception he receives:--what would he be +at the expiration of this period, without recollection? He would be no +more than a sheet of white paper, that had been carried round the world +to receive, through the camera obscura, its most delightful views; or +the bare walls of Westminster Abbey, after the commemoration of Handel. +Perception and consciousness, therefore, although indispensable to the +building up of mind, are by themselves inefficient and useless without +the adjunct of memory. + +The writers who have treated of the human faculties, have usually and +properly bestowed an elaborate investigation to the developement of this +interesting subject: indeed, when men first began to describe the +operations of their own minds, it might be expected that they would +treat copiously of its most important function; but the nature of this +endowment has received no elucidation from the aggregate of their +labours. + +The term memory has been Anglicised from the Latin Memoria; yet we +possess two other words of similar meaning, and from their derivation, +in a certain degree, explanatory of this process; namely, to REMEMBER +and RECOLLECT. Thus if an individual have seen any particular animal, +and given sufficient attention to perceive accurately its construction, +so as to possess a complete perception of the different parts or +_members_ of which it is composed; he would, in the absence of the +animal, be enabled to remember it. If his hand had been duly educated he +might form its model, or chisel it from a block of marble; or on a +plain surface, according to the rules of art, might make a drawing of +the animal, and with such exactitude of its different _members_, that it +would appear to those who compared it with the original, that he +perfectly _re-membered_ it. To recollect is only a different figure for +the same process, and implies to re-gather or collect, those parts which +have been scattered in different directions. + +The perceptions we obtain by our different senses are all capable of +being remembered, but in different ways. Those which we derive from +sight, may be communicated by the pictures of the objects, which become +the means of assisting our recollection, and thus form a durable record +of our visible perceptions; of course excepting motion, which pictures +cannot represent; but motion, or change of place, implies a succession +of perceptions. Yet this manner of record does not directly apply to the +other senses: we can exhibit no pictures of odours, tastes, the lowing +of a cow, the roaring of a lion, or the warbling of birds; much less do +hardness and softness admit of any picturesque representations as their +record. The memory of animals seems to be in the simple state: they +have, through their organs, different perceptions; and in many instances +these organs are more susceptible than those of the human subject. The +ear of some timid species is enabled to collect the feeblest vibrations +of sound, and which are inaudible to us. The eye of some birds can +tolerate an effulgence of light, that would dazzle and confuse our +vision; and others "do their errands," in a gloom where we could not +distinguish. In certain animals the smell is so acute, that it becomes a +sense of the highest importance for the purposes of their destination. +But animals are incapable of recording their perceptions by any signs or +tokens: they therefore possess no means of recalling them, and their +recollection can only be awaked from the recurrence of the object, by +which the perception was originally excited: whereas man, by the +possession of speech, and of the characters in which it is recorded, can +at all times revive his recollection of the past. + +It is generally acknowledged that our memory is in proportion to the +distinctness of the perception, and also to the frequency of its +repetition. + +The simple acts of perception and memory appear to be the same in man +and animals; and there are many facts which would induce us to suppose, +if these faculties be identical in their nature, that the endowment of +the latter is more excellent. This conjecture is hazarded from the +greater susceptibility of the organs of some animals, and from their +wonderful recollection of tracks which they have traversed. Among the +phenomena of memory there are two very curious occurrences, and for +which no adequate explanation has been hitherto afforded. Many of the +transactions of our early years appear to be wholly obliterated from our +recollection; they have never been presented as the subject of our +thoughts, but after the lapse of many years, have been accidentally +revived, by our being placed in the situation which originally gave them +birth. Although there are numerous instances on record, and some perhaps +familiar to every reader, I shall prefer the relation of one which came +under my immediate observation. About sixteen years ago, I attended a +lady at some distance from town, who was in the last stage of an +incurable disorder. A short time before her death, she requested that +her youngest child, a girl about four years of age, might be brought to +visit her, and which was accordingly complied with. The child remained +with her about three days. During the last summer some circumstances +led me to accompany this young lady to the same house. Of her visit when +a child she retained no trace of recollection, nor was the name of the +village even known to her. When arrived at the house, she had no memory +of its exterior; but on entering the room where her mother had been +confined, her eye anxiously traversed the apartment, and she said, "I +have been here before, the prospect from the window is quite familiar to +me, and I remember that in this part of the room there was a bed and a +sick lady, who kissed me and wept." On minute inquiry none of these +circumstances had ever occurred to her recollection during this long +interval, and in all probability they would never have recurred but for +the locality which revived them. In a work professedly the fabric of +fancy, but which is evidently a portrait from nature, and most highly +finished,--in the third volume of Guy Mannering, the reader may peruse a +similar but more interesting relation, where the return of Bertram to +the scenes of his childhood, awakens a train of reminiscences which +conduce to the developement of his history and legitimate claims. +According to my own interpretation, however wonderful these phenomena of +memory may appear, they merely afford examples of the simplest acts of +recollection, excited by the recurrence of the original objects, at a +period when language was little familiar: in the same manner as an +animal, at a distant time brought into its former haunts, would +remember the paths it had heretofore trodden. + +But there are some facts in the history of recollection which do not +admit of any satisfactory solution. From these it appears, that persons +in their childhood have learned a language which, from the acquirement +and usage of another during many years, they have entirely forgotten; so +that when spoken by others, they have been wholly unable to understand +it: yet during the delirium of fever, or from inflammation of the brain +and its membranes, in consequence of external injury, the former and +forgotten language has been revived, and spoken with fluency: but after +a restoration to health no traces of its recollection have remained. A +remarkable case of this kind has been published by Mr. Abernethy; and a +similar instance is recorded of the lady of an ambassador. These few +preliminary observations have been submitted to the reader, in order to +introduce a principal part of the subject to his notice, to prevent +repetitions, and from the impossibility of considering the more curious +and important phenomena of perception and memory as simple and +unconnected endowments. + + + + +ON THE INTELLECTUAL SUPERIORITY WHICH MAN HAS ACQUIRED BY SPEECH, AND +THE POSSESSION OF THE HAND. + + +In our investigations of the nature and offices of the human mind, we +are immediately and forcibly struck with two important circumstances, +which appear to have contributed in an especial manner to the +superiority of man over all other animals. Let it be admitted, without +at present discussing the question, or adducing any arguments; that the +constitution of the human intellect is of a higher quality, or of a +finer staple, than the intelligent principle of other creatures.[2] +These two endowments with which man may be considered as exclusively +gifted, and which, on a deliberate survey, appear principally to have +conduced to his pre-eminence in the range of intellectual creation, are +speech and the possession of his hands. One of the chief characteristics +by which man is distinguished from the other animals, is the capability +he possesses of transmitting his acquirements to posterity. The +acquirements of other animals perish with them: they are incapable of +recording their achievements, and, as a community, they are stationary. +If the reason be sought, it will be immediately found, that they do not +enjoy the appropriate organs; and this defect will be detected to arise +from their want of speech and hands. + +There may perhaps arise some of the difficulties already experienced, in +the separate consideration of these human attributes,--speech and the +hand; as much of the superiority which man possesses has resulted from +their combined assistance. It is, however, important to treat of each +individually, as far as their separate influence and effects can be +distinctly traced. The consideration of speech or significant sound, +would naturally introduce an enquiry into its structure and philosophy: +but as this knowledge can be collected from the works of many +enlightened writers on these subjects, it is unnecessary to obtrude on +the reader that which he may find already prepared. + +Speech is _ordinarily_ acquired by the ear[3], and the sound conveyed +through that organ is imitated by the voice. When any object in nature +is named by its appropriate articulate sound, as a tree, a fish, a +horse, if the object be duly noted and the term remembered, it will +mutually, on the presentation of the object, recall the term; or if the +term be mentioned, the recollection of the object will arise. Without +reverting to the formation of words by letters, or proceeding to the +structure of sentences by words, which is the province of the +grammarian, it will be seen that these significant sounds, enable human +beings to convey to each other the perceptions they have experienced, or +are impressed with, at the moment of communication. This endowment of +speech to man would, alone, have constituted him vastly superior to the +other animals. But whatever might have been his attainments, either from +his own discoveries or from the experience of his contemporaries, his +departure from life would have consigned the products of his genius and +wisdom to the treachery and mutilation of another's recollection. Even +in the enlightened and polished period of our present existence, we are +fully acquainted with the loss or addition which a fact experiences, +from being transmitted through a succession of narrators. + +Had man been merely furnished with speech, without the means of +recording his acts and reflections, we might indeed have preserved by +tradition, the names of Homer, Virgil, Cicero, Shakspeare, and Milton; +but their works,--those majestic columns which now support the temple of +fame, would have perished, had there not been a contrivance to record +the productions of their genius. This art, of conferring permanence on +the significant sounds of the human voice, has taught us to appreciate +and revere the taste and wisdom of our predecessors; and to feel, that +although their bodies are buried in peace, yet their names live for +evermore:--but more especially this contrivance has preserved the laws +of nations, and above all other blessings, has transmitted, in the +Sacred Volume, the commandments of the living God. + +From the brief notice which has been bestowed on this subject, it will +be seen, that man could have made but inconsiderable advances in the +scale of intellectual progression, by speech alone;--that how much +soever this faculty might have elevated him above animals, by endowing +his perceptions with intelligence, and rendering his thoughts the +circulating medium of his community; yet had he remained without the +power of registering the edicts of his mind, language would have expired +in its cradle; and as the body mingles with its mother-earth, +intelligent sound would have been blended and lost in the medium that +produced it. + +The next subject to be considered, (and its importance will justify an +ample review, and minute consideration,) is the hand; a member which may +be considered, with some trifling exceptions, as exclusively bestowed on +man. The wonderful construction of this part of the human body might be +sufficiently exemplified by its achievements. Its anatomy has not, +hitherto, been so minutely investigated, as to demonstrate the almost +infinite variety of motions to which it is adapted; nor has it been +sufficiently compared with the somewhat analogous structure and function +in certain of the simiae, in the claw of the parrot, or with the +proboscis of the elephant. + +At the extremity of the fingers, in the human hand, and on their inner +surface, resides the organ of Touch; a sense, of which animals are +comparatively deficient. Touch, is distinguished from feeling, which it +is the general property of all the nerves to convey, and this feeling is +likewise accompanied with consciousness. Thus pain may be felt in the +different organs of sense, without any corresponding perception, which +it is their separate office to import. Although the acute organ of touch +has its seat at the extremity of the fingers, yet the whole surface of +the skin (of the human subject) is susceptible, but in an inferior +degree, of tangible perceptions. It is sensible of heat and cold, of +hard and soft, rough and smooth. The tongue enjoys also a considerable +capability of tangible discrimination; but let any person attempt to +ascertain the state of his pulse, by applying the tongue to the wrist, +he will find it a very unsatisfactory test.[4] + +It has been already observed, that the perception of objects conveyed +through the organ of vision, may be represented by drawings, so as +sufficiently and accurately to convey the same perception to the eye of +another: thus we recognise the likeness of a person by his portrait; the +view of a known country from the landscape; the quadruped, bird, or +insect, by its picture: but the perceptions of the organ of touch, can +only be communicated through the medium of language; and the same may be +observed concerning those derived from the smell and taste. We may +indeed submit the same objects of touch, smell, and taste, to a number +of persons, who, in all probability, (their organs being similar,) would +be impressed with the same perceptions: but these perceptions, +recollected, and the objects which excited them absent, can only be +communicated through the medium of significant sound. + +It may be a subject of curious investigation, although foreign to our +present enquiry, whether man, in possession of articulate organs, +discovered speech, and imposed names on his perceptions; or whether he +was originally gifted with this endowment. Without attempting to discuss +this question, it is sufficient to remark, that the structure and +composition of our own language, and of its northern kindred, afford +sufficient evidence of a very rude and necessitous origin. + +After man had acquired the means of communicating his perceptions by +significant sounds, the next important discovery was the art of +recording them, so that they might serve as the vehicle of intelligence +to his distant contemporaries, or be transmitted to posterity as the +sources of improvement. The human hand is the immediate agent by which +this contrivance is displayed. It is not intended to trace the history +of this wonderful and precious discovery, but to remark, that human +ingenuity, has likewise established the record of sounds which are not +significant, and which are termed the notations of music. + +The science of accurate admeasurements has been exclusively discovered +by man; and for the attainment of this important acquisition, it will be +seen that the hand has been chiefly and progressively instrumental. When +we contemplate the present state of man, in our own nation, surrounded +by the conveniences which gratify his wants, and behold him practised in +their enjoyment, we are little disposed to revert to that period of his +history, when he struggled to continue his existence, and trace his +tardy progression from rudeness to refinement. + + + Pleas'd with himself, the coxcomb rears his head, + And scorns the dunghill where he first was bred. + + +Although we now measure space and time, bodies solid and fluid, heat and +its absence with the facility of a single glance; yet if we consider the +slow, and painful steps, by which such acquirements have been attained, +we shall be forcibly impressed, how much we are the creatures of patient +experiment, and also how mainly the hand has contributed to our +advancement. If we investigate the standards of admeasurement, we find +that many have been derived from the human body, and more especially +from its operative instrument, the hand. That the members and dimensions +of our own body should have been the original standards of measurement +is most natural, and the terms in which they are conveyed afford a +sufficient illustration of the fact. Thus, we have a nail; _pollex_, +_pouce_, _pulgada_, Swedish _tum_, for an inch; which word has been +misapplied by our Saxon predecessors, and corrupted from the Latin +_uncia_, which related only to weight. We still measure by digits, by +fingers' breadth, by hands high. Cubit from _cubitus_, was formerly +employed. We now retain ell, _aune_, _ulna_. Foot, pace, _pas_, _pes_. +Yard, not as Mr. Tooke supposed from the Saxon gyrwan, to prepare, but +from gyrdan, _cingere_, and is employed to represent the girth of the +body. Fathom, the distance of the arms when extended to embrace, from +which the meaning is implied in most languages.[5] But it will be +immediately perceived, that measurement could not proceed to any +considerable extent, could neither be compounded by addition, nor +subdivided, without the employment and comprehension of numbers. + +In our childhood we are taught the knowledge of numbers; and those who +have superintended the work of education, must have witnessed the +difficulty of impressing on the mind of the child, this kind of +information. Alphabetic characters, compared with numbers, are readily +acquired: whether it be from the imperfect manner, in which the science +of numbers is usually taught, or from the actual difficulty in +comprehending the subject, it is not pretended to determine; although, +from some considerations, the latter is most probable. The names of +different objects are easily acquired, and children examine such objects +by their different senses, more especially by the eye and touch; they +become desirous of learning their properties, or of becoming acquainted +with their construction: and this investigation affords them delight, +and excites or gratifies their curiosity. But numbers possess no such +attraction; numbers, do not involve any of the obvious properties of +these objects, neither their colour, shape, sound, smell, or taste; it +therefore becomes perplexing for them to comprehend, if five similar +substances, as so many apples, or nuts, be arranged before them, why +each, should bear a name, different from the thing itself, and different +from each other: why this nut should be termed one, another two, and the +next three. + +In acquiring a knowledge of numbers, as far as the senses are concerned, +the eye and the touch are especially exercised; but it appears that the +touch is the corrector of the sight: if fifty pieces of money be laid on +a table, they will sooner and more accurately be numbered by the touch, +than the eye; and we know in other instances, that the motion of the +hand is quicker than the discernment of the sight. There are many +circumstances, although they do not amount to a proof, which might +induce us to consider, that the human hand has much contributed to our +knowledge of numbers.[6] + +As far as we possess any direct evidence, none of the animals are +capable of numerating; and this constitutes an essential difference +between them and man in their intellectual capacities. In states of +weakness of mind, this defect in the power of numerating, is very +observable, and forms a just and admitted criterion of idiotcy; and it +is well known that such persons exercise the organ of touch in a very +limited degree, compared with those of vigorous capacity: their fingers +are likewise more taper, and their sentient extremities less pulpy and +expanded. The same state of the organ of touch may be remarked in some +lunatics who have become idiotic, or where the hands have been confined +for a considerable time. + +Although in our own language, we have not been able to discover any +rational etymology of the units, that is, what was originally the +meaning of one, two, three, &c., or of what these units were the +representatives, we have, however, by the ingenuity of Mr. Tooke, a very +probable account of the origin of ten, which means, that which includes, +or comprehends all numeration; and that it does so include it, may be +learned from the composition of eleven[7]; and if it should amount to +no more than a curious coincidence, ten is the number of the manual +extremities. Notwithstanding neither our own, nor any of the European +tongues, afford us any probable solution of the actual meaning or import +of the units, yet this contrivance is satisfactorily developed in the +language of some of the African tribes, (vide Park's Travels, p. 337.) +where it will be found, that when they had arrived at six, they +proceeded by composition; not by the composition of six and one, to +form seven, but by five and two. + +One--_Kidding_. + +Two--_Fidding_. + +Three--_Sarra_. + +Four--_Nani_. + +Five--_Soolo_. + +Six--_Seni_. + +Seven--_Soolo ma Fidding_--Five and Two. + +Eight--_Soolo ma Sarra_--Five and Three. + +Nine--_Soolo ma Nani_--Five and Four. + +Ten--_Nuff_. + +As numbers must have been acquired in progression,--first one, then two, +&c. there appears to be considerable difficulty in conceiving, of what +the increase or addition would be the representative, except by adding +the already designated numbers together: but our own units do not bear +any ostensible marks of such composition, nor do the northern numerals, +from whence our own have been imported. If we were now called on to +construct a new language, and invent terms for the units, there are no +objects familiar to me, which would suggest appropriate terms, as the +types of the different units; and it is presumed, as far as we have +extended our researches, that the names of things are not arbitrary, but +have been imposed for some real or supposed reason. + +When we consider the importance of numbers to man, as an intellectual +being, and compare the advancement he has made by this knowledge, beyond +the animals who have wanted the means of acquiring such information, +the importance of investigating this curious subject will be fully +acknowledged. Without numbers, by which the divisions of time, space, +and value are characterised, man could have possessed no knowledge of +the order and succession of events; he would, by wanting precise +standards, have remained ignorant of admeasurements; and without the +definite proportions which numbers confer, property would be a vague and +uncertain name. + +From these remarks an opportunity is now presented, to enumerate the +important achievements of the human hand; but as a powerful objection +may be urged, against the views which have been sketched out concerning +this subject, it will be proper to notice them, in order to refer their +discussion to another and more appropriate chapter. It will naturally be +stated that the hand is the mere auxiliary, in fact, the servant, of the +mind; and in a healthy state of intellect is regulated by its +directions, in the performances it executes. The truth of this, it is +not intended to deny; but the examination of the objection must be +referred to that part of the work, which treats of the influence, which +does so regulate and direct, namely, the will, or, as it has been more +scholastically termed, volition. + +We readily acknowledge that he who is born blind can have no perception +of visible objects, and that the same negation may be extended to the +other senses when defective: thus, if man had been created without +hands, and, consequently, without the acute organ of touch, which +resides in the extremities of these members, we must at least have been +strangers to the "cloud-capt towers, the gorgeous palaces, and the +solemn temples" which he has reared. Had the upper extremities of the +human body terminated at the wrist, such a man as Phidias might have +existed, but his occupation would have been unknown. Thus truncated, how +would the fleet have been constructed which reaped the laurel at the +Nile, at Copenhagen, and Trafalgar? The eternal city could not have +existed, nor would our own metropolis have had a being. If we reflect +for an instant, we shall perceive that all the conveniences we enjoy, +all the arts we practise, and the sciences which elevate and dignify our +nature, could never have been realised in a handless community. Speech +might indeed have prevailed, but its record could not have been +established, and intelligent sounds would only have served to breathe +forth the lamentations of misery and despair, or the accents of +discontent. We must have remained naked, and perished from the +inclemency of weather: man would have owed "the worm no silk, the beast +no hide, the sheep no wool." It would be superfluous to pursue this +subject further, as the reader has only to consider the superior +enjoyments, and accumulated monuments, of art and of wisdom, which the +mind of man has produced by the agency of his hand. + + + "Molto opro egli col senno ed con la mano." + + +However it may gratify the pride of man, to find himself gifted with +intellectual endowments of a higher order, and distinguished as the lord +of creation; yet he must, on reflection, regard this superiority as a +"painful pre-eminence." The possession of speech, and hands, the prompt +executors of his will, have enabled him to become the perpetrator of +crimes to which the tribes of animals are strangers. Language has +exclusively furnished man with the means of promulgating the result of +his perceptions and thoughts: he thereby becomes capable of +communicating to others, that which he has observed, or the opinions he +has formed; and so highly has this accuracy of relation been estimated, +in all periods of civilised society, that it has been proudly +denominated the truth. But the possession of the same faculty of speech, +has often induced him to relate that which never occurred, or to disown +that which actually took place; and this assertion or denial has been +severely reprobated and stigmatised by the appellation of a lie. It is +unnecessary to enumerate the catalogue of the articulate vices which the +tongue can commit, or sully the dignity of human nature, by the +recollection that its lord has been convicted of perjury, slander, +blasphemy, and libel. Thus, the hand, this admirable instrument, the +elaborations of which excite our wonder and delight, whether we +contemplate the chiselled monuments of Grecian art, or the curious +manufactures of modern days,--all that is tasteful in art, or auxiliary +to science,--even this plastic and creative member, the faithful notary +of thought,--becomes the prostituted engine of the vilest fraud, or +foulest atrocity. The same hand that fashioned the Minerva of the +Parthenon might have picked a lock, or directed a dagger. It will be +found, on an accurate investigation, that all laws, which are the VOICE +of those whom we have delegated, or who may have assumed such power, and +which are recorded by the hand, are principally directed to the lesions +against individuals or society, which proceed from speech, or are +perpetrated by the hand. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[2] It must be felt by the reader that all the epithets, which can be +applied to designate this superiority, must be of material character and +signification:--whether we say superior structure, texture, purity, &c. +In fact, we possess no appropriate expressions, to characterise that +which is not material: but this poverty of language, affords no ground +for the materiality of mind; on the contrary, it is a strong argument +against such doctrine, that we are obliged to clothe the phenomena of +mind in the garb of metaphor; for material objects can be well defined +according to their obvious properties. + +[3] Those who are born deaf are taught to imitate articulate sounds +independently of the ear. + +[4] The reader may refer to works on comparative anatomy, for +information concerning this sense in animals. They all agree that no +animal possesses a complete hand, and that the thumb is especially +defective in size, and in the strength which enables it to act in +opposition to the combined force of the fingers. The sense of touch in +many animals appears to reside in the large and fleshy nostrils, which +appear highly sensible; and it is also evident, that in these the touch +has an intimate alliance with their sense of smell. + +[5] It is equally curious to observe that geographical positions, and +the principal features of sea and land, have derived their origin from +the rude anatomy of the human body. Thus, in a short enumeration we have +cape or _head_-land, ness, noss, or _nose_; the _brow_ of a mountain; +_tongue_ of land; _mouth_ of a river; _chaps_ of the channel; _neck_ of +land; _arm_ of the sea; coast, _costae_, the ribs. We are said to +penetrate into the _heart_ of the country, or to remove to the _back_ +settlements. We descend into the _bowels_ of the earth, in order to +discover a _vein_ of ore. We ascend from the _foot_ of the mountain; and +from its _ridge_ (back) survey the prospect surrounding. Numerous +additions might be contributed by further recollection. + +[6] On many occasions we observe the hands to be the natural refuge for +the destitute in arithmetic, and therefore are not surprised at finding +many persons counting by their fingers. Some rude nations are said not +to have advanced in their numeration beyond five: this may perhaps be +uncertain and difficult to prove; but it will be shewn that when others +have advanced to ten, that seven has been the compound of five and two, +eight of five and three, &c. + +[7] It is not uninteresting to examine the contrivances that have been +resorted to, in order to express the number eleven. The Greeks had +[Greek: _endeka_], one (and subaudit) ten; the Romans _undecem_; and a +similar adoption has been employed by the southern nations of Europe. +The northern people expressed eleven, by _one left_ (after ten, +subaudit.) thus Caxton states his Recuyels of Troy to have been "ended +and fynished in the holy cyte of Colen, the 19th day of Septembre, in +the yere of our sayd Lord God, a thousand four hundred sixty and +_enleven_." _En_, in old English, means one, and _leven_ is the past +participle of, to leave, formerly written leve. + + + + +ON THE NATURE AND COMPOSITION OF LANGUAGE, AS APPLIED TO THE +INVESTIGATION OF THE PHENOMENA OF MIND. + + +Mind, is an abstract term for all the phenomena of intelligence; and in +order to describe them, they have usually been denominated powers, or +faculties of the mind: we therefore commonly speak concerning the mind, +as of an existence endowed with these properties.[8] It has been +already confessed, that we are at present uninformed, and in all +probability shall remain ignorant of the nature and operation of our +intellectual powers: at least, we shall never be able to comprehend the +manner in which we perceive the objects that surround us, nor to explain +how we recollect them when they are absent; yet under this acknowledged +inability we have framed a language expressive of these powers and +operations. This language therefore cannot be the type of such +processes, as their nature and operation are unknown. The different +terms that have been employed, have originated from the numerous +hypotheses, which have prevailed on this subject: but so long as a +perfect agreement subsists, concerning the meaning of these terms, it is +of little importance; for as we have no knowledge of the actual +processes, whereby we perceive, remember, or exert our will, the +expressions we employ cannot be explanatory. The language of mind, +therefore, is not peculiar, not derived as the nomenclature of modern +chemistry, in which names are impregnated with the elements of their +composition; but figurative or metaphorical, the vehicle of conjecture, +and the ornament of hypothesis. + +The truth of these remarks, would be best illustrated by an enumeration +and analysis of the terms, which have been applied, to designate the +powers and operations of the human intellect. + +Were we now to occupy ourselves, in the construction of a more +appropriate language, to designate and explain the phenomena of mind; we +should, from our ignorance, be equally incompetent with those who have +preceded us. Let the terms therefore remain, but endeavour to afford +them a fixed and definite meaning, and suffer them to be so far +analysed, as to detect their composition, and discover the reasons which +imposed them. In this endeavour there will, however, be found +considerable difficulty; especially as the minds of men are not yet +agreed respecting the process, by which it is to be performed. + +There are, however, only two modes, to which we can resort, for the +definite meaning of words; namely, etymology and authority. Considering +the history of our own language, and the nature of its composition, we +are enabled satisfactorily to investigate, not only the primitive sense +of our terms, but likewise their exact signification, in the languages +from whence we imported them: for there still remain, sufficient +authentic materials, in our Saxon and Norman records, to verify their +original meaning. If we enquire into the causes, which have operated to +deflect these terms from their primitive sense, we shall find authority +to be the principal source of such corruption; and this infirmity +appears to have pervaded most of the languages of those nations which +have produced poets, orators, and metaphysicians.[9] When we examine the +nature of authority in language, as it now exists, we find it to be the +arbitrary employment of words, by particular writers of acknowledged +celebrity. Many have become authorities in our language, from having +improved its construction; others, by the perspicuous arrangement of +subject, by the force of their reasoning, or the light of their +philosophy. Although we may allow the highest merit to these eminent +writers, a praise, far beyond the dulness and drudgery of verbal +criticism; yet it is by no means to be inferred, that they consequently +become authorities, for the real and intrinsic meaning of words. It can +never be expected, that the great mass of mankind should be +etymologists: the generality must be regulated by the "jus et norma +loquendi;" but if this jus, be the jus vagum, and the norma capricious, +confusion must ensue, and they will scarcely be speaking the same +language. Those who are dignified with the title of authorities, ought +to agree; for the sound interpreters of the law should never differ. + +Language is the circulating medium of our thoughts; and the meaning of +words much resembles the value of money. But great diversity of opinion +prevails. In the minds of some philosophers, money means only metallic +currency, which may be assayed, and its real value ascertained; and this +seems to relate to etymology. Others less solid in their views, and +gifted with a finer fabric of fancy, are disposed to consider the +abstractions of paper to be equivalent to the concrete of bullion, and +have accordingly constituted it the jus and norma by authority. To +insist on the meaning of a word, because its interpretation has been +previously assumed, carries no conviction of its truth. The "jus et +norma loquendi," must ever prevail as the currency between human +beings; but this acknowledgment should not, in the course of +circulation, diminish, the undoubted right we possess, to detect and +refuse such as are base or counterfeit. + +It will not be disputed, that some words bear a much higher importance +than others. The names of familiar objects are of little consequence, +because we can examine them by our senses, and thereby obtain just +perceptions of their character and properties: but general or abstract +terms, which are not the objects of sense, but the abbreviations of +subjects of reflection, are of the highest interest to our advancement +in knowledge and moral conduct. To exemplify the views that have been +taken on this subject, three words have been selected:--_to feel_, _to +ransack_, and the adjective, _naked_. Of the first, Dr. Johnson, the +best authority we now possess, has given six different senses or +acceptations as a verb active, and four, as a verb neuter, and has cited +the different authorities. He says it is derived from the Anglo-Saxon, +_felan_, without explaining what _felan_ means; it however means to +feel: but the adduction of a word in another language, of similar sound +and identical signification, does not impart meaning. Yet when we find +that in the Anglo-Saxon _fell_ means _skin_, which is the seat of +feeling, we directly understand the word and all its dependencies; as +_fell_ of hair, _felt_ hat, _fell_-monger, _film_, which is a thin fine +skin or pellicle. Thus we become enabled to understand and reconcile +variety and extension of meaning, from the preservation of integrity of +figure. + +The verb _to ransack_, is another example. Of this word Dr. Johnson has +given three senses. According to him, it is derived from _ran_, +Anglo-Saxon, and _saka_, Swedish, to search or seize; but we are not +informed what _ran_ in Anglo-Saxon signifies, and it so happens that +there is no such Swedish word as _saka_, to search. The word _ransack_, +for which the Anglo-Saxons had _ransaka_, is derived to us from the +Gothic, in which _razn_ (pronounced _ran_) signifies a house, and +_sokjan_ to search; so that, _to ransack_, implies to search the house. + +To the adjective _naked_ Dr. Johnson has given four different meanings. +Its etymology, he says, is from the Anglo-Saxon, _nacod_, which in that +language was of similar signification: but this imparts no meaning. It +is a compound word: _na_, in Anglo-Saxon, signifies _new_, and _cenned_, +_born_, so that the condition of the _new-born_ child affords an +appropriate interpretation of the term _naked_. + +To ordinary minds, that which is said to be authority is decisive[10]; a +particular author of celebrity is cited, and thus the business +concludes. The reasons, which induced him to employ the word in such +particular sense, it is in most cases fruitless to enquire; as during +their lives, authors have seldom been appreciated: so that the silence +of death seems indispensable to procure the consent of authority. + +As language is the instrument of thought, the vehicle of intelligible +communication among human beings, it is impossible to attach too high +importance to its precise signification: the difficulties of effecting +this concordance have been pointed out, but the remedy has not yet been +applied. After all the investigation that has been given to this +interesting subject, one leading fact seems indisputable, that all the +terms which designate the faculties and operations of our minds, are of +physical origin, as well as those which characterise the thinking or +immaterial principle itself: and for this, there is sufficient reason; +as all language, in order to be adapted for our use, in this state of +existence, can only be the representative of the objects of our +perceptions and reflections,--an instrument calculated for the meridian +of this transitory life: for, when the holy light of happiness to come +was revealed to the human race, it was found expedient, for their +comprehension, to transmit its rays through a material prism.[11] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[8] Mr. Locke, as he advances in his essay, expresses considerable +distrust of the existence of these powers and faculties of the mind. +"Yet I suspect, I say, that this way of speaking of faculties has misled +many into a confused notion of so many distinct agents in us, which had +their several provinces and authorities, and did command, obey, and +perform several actions, as so many distinct beings; which has been no +small occasion of wrangling, obscurity, and uncertainty in questions +relating to them."--Vol. i. p. 192. 10th edition. + +[9] To afford a single illustration of this fact, let the verb to +_bewray_ be selected, which, although a word of very different meaning, +has been confounded with to _betray_. The meaning of the former is to +discover, expose, and is derived from a Saxon verb bearing that sense; +the latter, Dr. Johnson has derived from the French _trahir_, and has +cited some instances, as authorities for its perverted sense. It is but +justice to observe, that these words preserve their distinct and +separate sense in all the instances where they have been employed, both +in Shakspeare and the Bible. It may therefore be inferred, to have been +a recent corruption. + +[10] Of this, Mr. Locke appears to have been fully sensible:--"When men +are established in any kind of dignity, 'tis thought a breach of modesty +for others to derogate any way from it, and question the authority of +men who are in possession of it. This is apt to be censured, as carrying +with it too much of pride, when a man does not readily yield to the +determination of approved authors, which is wont to be received with +respect and submission by others; and 'tis looked upon as insolence for +a man to set up, and adhere to his own opinion, against the current +stream of antiquity, or to put in the balance against that of some +learned doctor, or otherwise approved writer. Whoever backs his tenets +with such authorities, thinks he ought thereby to carry the cause; and +is ready to stile it impudence in any one who shall stand out against +them."--Locke's Works, vol. ii. p. 306. + +[11] This material prism is to be understood to apply to language; and +in this view Newton himself surveyed the question. "For all language as +applied to God, is taken from the affairs of men, by some resemblance, +not indeed a perfect one, but yet existing to a certain +degree."--Newton's Works, edit. Horsley, vol. iv. p. 430. + + + + +ON WILL OR VOLITION. + + +In the consideration of the nature and offices of the human mind, there +is no subject of higher importance than the will, or volition. Every +person must have observed, that he is capable of performing certain +motions, which he is able to commence, to continue, and to arrest; and +the same faculty is possessed by many animals. A slight degree of +information will also instruct him, that there are certain motions of +his animal frame, over which he has no immediate control. The motions +which he is able to direct and regulate, have been termed voluntary; and +those over which he possesses no influence or command, have been +denominated involuntary motions. The most perfect instances of the +latter are the pulsations of the heart, and the movements of the +intestines, usually called peristaltic. The curiosity which is natural +to man as an intelligent being, would of course prompt him to enquire +into the cause of these phenomena, although the result of his +investigations might be inadequate to the toil of his research: for, he +would be as much puzzled to account for the influence by which certain +muscles are moved at will, as he would at others which possess a +determinate motion, and are not subject to this direction. While man +continues in a healthy state, he is enabled to move at pleasure those +muscles or instruments of motion which are subject to his will; and the +involuntary muscles continue duly to perform their appropriate office; +but in certain morbid states it sometimes occurs, that the exertion of +the will to move a leg or arm is ineffectually directed, and however +much we desire, wish, or will such motion, these limbs are +disobedient.[12] This condition of the members has been termed +paralytic: the will to move remains perfect; but the organs to be acted +on are insensible to that influence which, in a sound state, excited +them to motion. As in the healthy state the will has the power to +produce motion, so it is also competent to prevent it; therefore to +move or to abstain from motion, are equally the dictates of the will. +But it not unfrequently happens, when we intend to thread a needle, to +write our name, or to perform some surgical operation, that the will +exerts all its influence to keep the hand steady for the due performance +of these necessary acts; yet, notwithstanding these implicit commands, +the hand continues to move in all directions, but those which could +accomplish the object. So, that these muscles, ordinarily voluntary, +become, in a certain degree, converted into involuntary muscles. A +higher degree of this state prevails in the affection called St. Vitus' +Dance, and likewise in some convulsive symptoms attendant on locked +jaw, where the body is drawn with incredible violence. It may be +noticed, that these states are attended with consciousness. + +Concerning the nature of this influence, termed the _will_, a great +variety of discordant opinions prevail. To enumerate or refute these +would be unprofitable labour, more especially as the majority are the +mere assumptions of their particular authors. They all, however, seem to +be agreed that the will is an inherent faculty, or component part of the +mind; and some are induced to consider it as holding the highest office +in the department of intellect. The only mode of investigating this +subject satisfactorily, according to my own views, is to trace the +progress of volition from its feeble commencement, to the full exercise +of its important function,--from the dawn to the meridian. + +As a general observation, it may be remarked that the same influence of +the will, which directs the movements of the body, is likewise exerted +over the faculties of the mind; although generally in an inferior +degree, both from the greater difficulty and less importance of the +latter, for the ordinary purposes of life. When we observe the +newly-born infant,--that helpless mass of animation,--we perceive no +indications to induce us to conclude, that it possesses a voluntary +power of directing its movements.[13] It is furnished with the organs +of motion, but is unable to exert that influence which manifests +direction; yet its involuntary motions continue perfect, and these, as +will be subsequently explained, may be considered in their nature and +effects as very similar to that, which, in animals, is termed instinct. +In the progress of this enquiry, it will be seen that some degree of +mental advancement must have been made, before the infant can _direct_ +any of the motions of its body; because direction implies knowledge to +an extent sufficient for the purposes of command, and also a +consciousness of the effort. In the infant, all the organs of sense by +degrees become awaked by their appropriate stimuli or objects, and +perception is the result. Although we have no memory of our earliest +perceptions, which are solely produced by the excitation of external +objects, without any direction of the will; yet from the mental +indications of the infant, these perceptions would seem to be confused +and indistinct. It is some time before the eye appears to notice, and +longer before the hand can grasp and manipulate the substances within +its reach: in this state, volition would be superfluous if it were +possessed. By slow gradations, we find the child capable of directing +its eye, of listening to sounds, and of examining by the touch; and +these imply the efforts of the will, which appear to be subsequent to +perception. As we advance in knowledge, our perceptions, which are the +sources of intelligence, are principally acquired by the agency of +volition, which directs the organ to the object, but we still continue +to be acted on involuntarily by forcible impressions, or striking +phenomena. + +Previously to the acquirement of language, perception, memory, and +volition are in their simplest state, such as we observe in animals, and +as in them, we are only able to estimate the amount of their mental +possessions, from the intellectual phenomena they display. In the +infant, the separate and combined examination of objects by the eye and +touch are the circumstances most deserving of notice. + +It may here be proper to explain why these earliest of our perceptions +are never remembered in after-life. The long period of human infancy, is +a powerful argument for the superiority of our species: the mind of man +is built up by his own exertions, and his progress is in the ratio of +his experience to his capacity: his mission is more important, and +consequently requires a longer period to fulfil: he has few instincts; +and the sum of his knowledge is the elaboration of his extended +endowments. To have remembered the confused dawnings of his perceptions, +the imperfect and obscure transmissions of his unpractised organs would +have been superfluous, and the sources of error. In this early state, +there is no medium by which his perceptions can be artificially +connected; nor do they admit of communication or record. When language +is acquired, our perceptions become "doubly armed," and impress the +memory with additional effect: the employment of the term as the +representative of the object, recalls the original perception, and thus +invests the mental phantasm with "a local habitation and a name." Thus +our earliest recollections are never anterior to a certain progress in +the art of speech. + +As we possess the instruments of motion in our muscles, they would have +been useless without the performance of their function, and our bodies +would have been stationary. It is also equally evident that this office +must be performed by ourselves, or fulfilled by others. It has been +already pointed out that there are certain motions, essential to the +preservation of our animal system, termed _involuntary_, which do not +originate from ourselves, but are the directions of a superior power, +and are effected independently of our experience and control: the other +motions, that have been termed voluntary, are the result of acquirement +or practice, and have been gradually formed by our exertions. The reader +will now be prepared to understand the wisdom of this arrangement, +which, in a future chapter, will be more copiously treated; and to feel +that the superiority of man, as an intellectual being, and a +responsible agent, consists in the formation of his own mind, and in +the direction of his thoughts and actions. + +That we should exert our utmost endeavours to become acquainted with the +nature of this influence, which we term the will, is most natural; but +hitherto our researches have been wholly unavailing; and it should be +recollected that the appearances of life cannot be accounted for by that +which is inanimate, nor can the phenomena of intelligence be solved by +material analogies. As we are possessed of the implements of motion, it +is evident that they were constructed to accomplish their destined +purpose; but of the intimate nature of the stimulus which goads them to +action, we have no conception: it seems, however, certain that there +exists a mutual consent,--a reciprocal subaudition,--a compact, the +result of exercise and experience,--between the implements of motion and +the will or influence which excites them. + +As far as we are able to discover, by the most attentive and deliberate +examination of our own minds, we do not appear conscious of any +intermediate perception, between the motive and the performance of the +action, or the execution of the will. If it were allowable to indulge in +analogical reasoning, which usually diverts us from the consideration of +the subject, we might endeavour to illustrate this process by the firing +of a pistol. When we have taken due aim, we have only to draw the +trigger, which produces the explosion: in doing this, however, we +perceive the emission of light from the combustion of the powder; but to +this there is nothing analogous in the operation of the will:--the +dictate of the will, and the motion excited, when watched with the +utmost attention, appear instantaneous, and become synchronous by habit. +Considering the celerity of our voluntary movements, there appears a +good reason why no perceptible intervention should exist, to divert the +mind from the immediate performance of the will. The correspondence of +the motion to the intimation of the will, is the business of education +and the performance of habit. + +The exertion of the will on the bodily organs having been generally +described, it now remains to demonstrate its influence on the mind; and +so far as we are enabled to discover, it appears to be performed by the +same process. The direction of the several organs of sense to the +examination of objects, is an act of the will, and has been named +Attention; which, by some writers, has been deemed a peculiar and +constituent faculty of the mind; but in the present view it is +considered only as the practical result of the operation of volition on +the organs of sense, on memory, and on reflection. The soundest mind (as +far as it has been hitherto considered) may be attributed to him who +possesses the most enduring control over the organs of sense, in order +to examine objects accurately, and thereby to acquire a full and +complete perception. That memory is the best, which can voluntarily and +immediately produce that which has been committed to its custody; and +that reflection is the most perfect, which is exclusively occupied with +the subject of consideration. There seems also to be a considerable +similarity between the morbid states of the instruments of voluntary +motion, and certain affections of the mental powers: thus, paralysis has +its counterpart in the defects of recollection, where the utmost +endeavour to remember is ineffectually exerted; tremor may be compared +with incapability of fixing the attention, and this involuntary state of +muscles ordinarily subjected to the will, also finds a parallel, where +the mind loses its influence on the train of thought, and becomes +subject to spontaneous intrusions; as may be exemplified in reverie, +dreaming, and some species of madness. + +As attention is considered an exertion of the will on the organs of +sense and faculties of the mind, it may be allowable to remark on the +nature and meaning of the term. It was evidently imposed under a +prevailing hypothesis, that the mind possessed a power of stretching or +extending itself to the objects of its perception, or to the subjects of +reflection; it is therefore a figurative term. Indeed something of this +nature actually takes place in the organ:--in minute examinations by the +eye, we actually strain and stretch its muscles, and feel the fatigue +which results from over-exertion:--when we listen, the neck is +stretched forward, and such position enables us to collect those +vibrations of sound, that would be otherwise inaudible. We are not +unaccustomed to describe the higher and more felicitous productions of +intellect, as a vigorous grasp of the mental powers, or as a noble +stretch of thought: but to infer that the mind itself was capable of +being extended, would be to invest it directly with the properties of +substance, and at once plunge us into the grossest materialism. The +perfection of this voluntary direction, or, as it has been termed, +faculty of attention, consists in intensity and duration. Of the former +there can be no admeasurement, excepting by its effect, which is +recollection: its duration can be well ascertained. The faculty of +attention in the human mind may be exerted in two ways; first, by the +organs of sense to the objects of perception; and, secondly, by the mind +to the subjects of its recollection; and this latter exercise of +attention, as will be hereafter explained, seems to be in a very great +degree peculiar to man, and to be nearly wanting in animals. + +According to the nature and constitution of the human mind, the +effective duration of the attention seems to be very limited: if the eye +be steadily directed to any particular object, after a few seconds, it +will be found to wander; and if the mind be exerted on the subjects of +its recollection, there is very soon perceived an interruption, from the +intrusion of irrelevant thoughts. The effective duration of the +attention will much depend on the superior capacity, nature, or +constitution of the intellect itself; but still more on the manner in +which these habits of attention are exercised; for, by proper +cultivation, its duration may be considerably protracted. As a proof of +the limited endurance of the faculty of attention in ordinary minds, +allow the following experiment to be made. + +Let two ordinary persons, A. and B., take a map of a district with which +they are unacquainted, and let each be allowed half an hour to study the +map. Desire A. to fix his attention undeviatingly to the map for this +time; and at its expiration, the map being withdrawn, request him to put +on paper the relative situations and names of the different places; and +for the performance of his task, allow him another half hour. As the +experiment has been repeatedly made, it may be confidently predicted, +that A. would exhibit a very incorrect copy of the original map. Let B. +take the same map to study for the same time; but instead of keeping his +eyes undeviatingly fixed to the object, desire him to view it only for a +few seconds; and then, shutting his eyes, let him endeavour to bring the +picture of the map before his mind: his first efforts will convey a very +confused notion of the actual and relative positions; but he will become +sensible of his defects, and reinspect the map for their correction. If +this successive ocular examination and review by the mind, be continued +during the half hour, or even for a less time, B. will be competent to +make a drawing of the map with superior accuracy to A., who endeavoured +to fix his attention for the whole of the time allotted. In conducting +this experiment some very curious phenomena may be observed. If A. had +directed his eyes to the object intensely and undeviatingly, especially +in a strong light, and had then covered or shut his eyes, in order to +recollect the relative situations in the map, the straining of the organ +to the object would defeat his endeavours; and instead of being able to +bring the picture before his mind, he would be annoyed and interrupted +by the intrusion of ocular spectra, undergoing the succession of changes +described by Dr. Darwin.[14] Thus there are limits to the duration of +our effective attention: if the organ of vision be too long directed to +the object of perception, ocular spectra arise, fatigue and confusion +ensue in the other senses; and if the subjects of recollection be too +long and intensely contemplated, delirium will supervene. + +In page 52, after enumerating the wonderful productions of the hand, an +objection was foreseen, which may be conveniently examined in the +present chapter. That all the performances of the human hand, and of the +other members of the body, which are not the result of involuntary +movements, must have been the consequence of the direction of the will, +is indisputable: it is, in fact, the common relation of cause and +effect: but the creation of this distinction, would assign separate +offices to the mind and to the organ;--or to the power directing, and to +the instrument by which the command is executed. Sufficient has been +already adduced, to render it obvious, that mind or organ _alone_ would +be inadequate for the purposes of intelligence. Perception, without its +record or memory, would be a useless endowment; muscles or organs of +motion, without a power to direct their actions, could have answered no +purpose: to be effective, volition must have an object on which its +influence can be exerted. In the case of a paralytic arm or leg, the +exercise of the will is a fruitless endeavour; and the command to render +fixed a tremulous hand is equally unavailing. The power or capacity of +moving the muscles,--of directing the organs of sense to the examination +of objects,--of recollecting,--and of regulating our thoughts or +reflections, constitutes the will; but this acquirement is of very +gradual formation, and the result of mutual and progressive exercise, +both of mind and organ. Ordinary persons have no information of the +structure by which they perform their motions; and it may be also +doubted if an able anatomist would be competent to describe the action +of the different muscles, in complicated movements. The most dexterous +artificer, is wholly ignorant of the intimate construction of the organs +by which he performs his wonderful elaborations,--he has acquired the +happy facility by repeated exercise. There is a tacit and practical +convention between his mind and the powers which produce the +performance; tacit, as he is unable to describe them, and practical, as, +if naturally left-handed, he is unable by any mental directions or +influence of volition, to exhibit the same performance with the right. +The apparent facility and astonishing rapidity with which, by practice, +we perform many of our voluntary motions, has induced an opinion, that +such motions might be considered as automatical, which implies that they +were performed by the organ independently of the will; but this would be +to maintain, that the most difficult and felicitous of our voluntary +motions were themselves involuntary. This supposition is so absurd that +it refutes itself; its admission would be a libel on the perfection of +human attainment, and tend to subvert the best portion of our existing +morality. + +That voluntary muscles may be converted into involuntary, has been +already observed; but this conversion is to be considered a morbid +state, and must be regarded as a degradation of our nature, instead of +its perfection. Excess in the use of fermented liquors, will generally +produce it; and the habitual practice of intemperance will destroy the +influence of volition over the intellectual powers; so that the control +over the succession of our thoughts can be no longer exerted, and when +we give them utterance they are without connection, and we talk at +random. + +It is not to be expected, in a work which professes to be merely +contributions to the Natural History and Physiology of Intelligent +Beings, that a particular discussion of moral subjects should be +instituted; and such is the question concerning the freedom of the human +will: the reader is therefore referred to those writers who have fully, +and with considerable acuteness, discussed this intricate and important +topic. The nature of this attribute is however so interwoven with the +philosophy of mind, so connected with the view which has been taken of +its history and constitution, that it is impossible wholly to abstain +from the consideration of its influence on the excellence and demerit of +human actions. It has been endeavoured, throughout this chapter, to +establish, that the power which goads or stimulates the muscles to +action, and the mind to exertion, is not inherent, but acquired by +practice; and this is exemplified by the state of the new-born infant, +which, at that period, manifests no more of volition, than of +perception, reflection, or reason. It has also been conjectured, that +the possession of this influence must be subsequent to perception, for +reasons which have been assigned. With its intimate nature we are +unacquainted; but we see, as far as muscular motion is concerned, that +the same effect is produced by the stimulus of galvanism after the head +is removed, and when, according to our existing philosophy, +consciousness is destroyed, and the power of willing is abolished. It is +by no means intended to suppose that the stimulus of the will has any +affinity with the galvanic fluid, because we are unable to prove it; +although such opinion has been entertained. According to my own +interpretation, Will is to be considered as the mere spur, the simple +stimulus to action: it possesses no intelligence to direct; but in the +healthy state, excites motion in consequence of being itself directed to +such excitement. To invest Will with intelligence sufficient for its +purposes, would render reason, the highest of our attainments, +superfluous. Those who have most strenuously contended for the freedom +of the will, have insisted that it possesses the liberty of choosing or +preferring: allow this, and then enquire what must be the nature of that +choice or preference, which is selected by an arbitrary decision, +without the previous estimate or calculation of reason. Man, beyond all +other beings, is endowed with superior means of accumulating knowledge, +and of preserving experience; by these, therefore, his actions should be +directed. If, independently of these, his will possessed a power of +directing his actions, it would be equivalent to the instinct of +animals: he would, like them, be stationary, and his conduct liable to +no responsibility. The long period of infancy in man has been frequently +adverted to; and it is a considerable time before he acquires sufficient +experience to direct his conduct; and during which, many of the species +of animals have completed several generations. For this reason, the +wisest legislators, of all ages, have exempted children under a certain +age, from the punishment of death for their actions; and although many +of them have entertained erroneous notions concerning the nature of the +will, yet they tacitly admit, in the instances of infants, idiots, and +madmen,--that is, where the understanding is not sufficiently formed by +experience, or where it is perverted by disease, that the acts of the +will ought not to be visited by the severity of the law. This is perhaps +the best practical illustration, that the will to act, is governed and +directed by reason. Had the mind of man, like animals, been furnished +with instinct, which, in them, implies a wise, preconcerted, and +unvarying performance of important functions, for their individual +preservation, and for the continuance of their race,--as may be +exemplified in the construction of the habitations of the bee and +beaver, together with their wonderful economy,--the fabrication of the +spider's web, and many others,--he would, like them, have been +stationary, having received from Infinite Bounty and Wisdom sufficient +for his destination: his will would have been directed by unerring +motives; and thus his conduct would have been absolved from all +responsibility. But man is gifted with few instincts, which appear to +decline as his reason advances: his intellect is more capacious, and of +a finer staple; he possesses additional organs for the accumulation of +knowledge; and, by the peculiarity of his construction, is enabled to +preserve his acquirements, to avail himself of the treasures of those +who have preceded him, and to transmit his collections to posterity. +Man, in possession of ampler materials and superior capacity, becomes +the architect of his own mind; and to him it is alone permitted, by the +aid of experience, and the estimate of reason, to direct his actions: +but this generous and exalted faculty involves him in awful +responsibility. The same light which discovers to him that which is good +and lawful, also exposes its opposite, which is evil and forbidden; and +the nature of good and evil, as it forms the foundation of human +institutions, has been derived from our experience of their effects, or +a calculation of their tendencies. The will of man, therefore, is as +free as his experience dictates, and his reason urges to action: yet, +that he should often act in opposition to both, is as lamentable as +certain: in the transport of immediate gratification, or in the hopes of +enjoyment, precept ceases to influence, and example loses its warning. + + + Video meliora proboque, deteriora sequor. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[12] In some of these instances, where the will has ceased to influence +the muscles, the due sensibility of the nerves has +remained.--Medico-Chirurgical Transactions, vol. ix. p. 8. + +[13] So little does the infant appear to possess any control over those +organs which afterwards become subject to voluntary influence, that it +may be sufficient to remark the flow of saliva, of urine, and the more +solid evacuations, are subject to no restraint, and for some time are +passed with little or no consciousness: even the motions which are +excited in the limbs, appear to be spasmodic, rather than the effect of +direction. + +[14] Vide Darwin's Thesis de Spectris Ocularibus. + + + + +ON THOUGHT OR REFLECTION. + + +Those recollected objects, which have been transmitted by the senses, or +which we have perceived by their means, are the subjects of our thoughts +or reflections; for these terms will be indifferently employed, as +designating the same faculty or process. The obvious meaning of the word +_reflection_, is the representation of any object in a mirror. This +term, so well understood in that department of natural philosophy named +optics, has been transferred to mind, in order to explain a process, +supposed to be similar. If, however, we examine the analogy, it will not +accord:--to produce reflection in the mirror, the object must be +present; in the mind, the reflection takes place when the object is +absent. Although the simile, strictly speaking, is imperfect, yet the +figure is beautiful, and, considering the metaphorical nature of +language, as applied to mental operations, the most natural and +appropriate that could have been selected; for, speaking in a general +way, our thoughts, in themselves appear very much as the shadows or +reflection of our perceptions. As we are but little capable of +communicating the nature of our perceptions, independently of language, +we must have recourse to inference and conjecture. It is fully +understood that our visual perceptions, through the medium of +recollection, may be represented by the skilful execution of the hand; +and that those of smell, taste, and touch do not directly admit of such +delineation. We might next inquire, if the odours we perceive are as +strongly impressed on the olfactory organ, as the subjects of visual +perception on the eye? Are they as fully and distinctly recollected? and +are they capable by themselves of affording the materials for thought or +reflection? Animals possess certain senses in common with ourselves; +and, in many, the organs are more susceptible than our own; but there +are no circumstances which have yet transpired, to induce us to suppose +that the perceptions they have acquired are reviewed by their minds, +when the objects which excited them are absent. The memory they possess +of the perceptions they have experienced, is perhaps superior to that +of human beings; still it does not appear, from any manifestations they +afford, that it is actively exercised, as with ourselves, but +occasionally excited by the recurrence of the object which originally +produced it. Language is the pencil which marks the bold outline, and +lends a colouring to our different perceptions; and with this boon man +is exclusively gifted. A rational curiosity will prompt the reader to +inquire, in what our perceptions consist independently of the language +in which we ordinarily clothe them. In the instance of optical +perception, we know that it is _something_ which is retained by the +memory, and may be traced by the hand, so as to convince others that it +is truly remembered or recollected[15]; but let the same enquiry be +made concerning the perceptions we receive by the touch, the smell, and +the taste: in this investigation we shall experience much greater +difficulty, as it is an endeavour to conceive the nakedness of a figure +which is always clothed. That these perceptions must also be _something_ +abstracted from the terms which represent them, is proved, by the +circumstance, that they are recollected when they occur again. As we are +educated by language, and acquire a facility of employing it as the +vehicle of our thoughts, we are little accustomed to contemplate the +subject in this manner, and this also enhances the difficulty. When, +however, the importance of speech is adequately considered, it will, I +think, be detected, that the terms which we employ as the +representatives of the perceptions of touch, smell, and taste, are the +only media by which they can be voluntarily recollected or communicated +to others; and, as signs of such perceptions, are equivalent to the +representations by the hand of those which have been perceived by the +organ of vision. To attempt the analysis of these silent deposits, to +endeavour to describe these bare perceptions, would be altogether +unavailing, because description implies language. In fact, it would be +an effort to detect the symmetry of the human frame, by loading it with +modern finery. The wonderful capacity which man exclusively enjoys, +both for the communication of his thoughts, and for the improvement of +his memory, in being enabled to acquire and transmit knowledge by +impregnating sound with intelligence, and more especially in exhibiting +its character embodied to the eye, leaves the rest of animated creation +at a prodigious distance. This endowment of language to man, whereby he +can, by an articulate sound, recall the perception of objects, (not +indeed equal to the sensorial impression, but sufficient for their +recollection, and also for the proof of their identity)--whereby he can +with equal intelligence exhibit their character to the eye, is +sufficient to explain of what the materials of his thoughts +consist:--and to prove that animals being unable to substitute a term +for their perceptions, are incapable of the process which we denominate +thought or reflection. To fathom this mystery, is perhaps impossible; +but, from attentively watching that which passeth within us,--from +considering the state of animals which want this endowment altogether, +it seems to be a law of our intellectual constitution, that our thoughts +or reflections can only consist of the terms which represent our +perceptions; and this is more evidently true, when we reflect on those +subjects which are of a general or abstract nature. + +Whoever will attentively watch the operation of his own mind,--for this +subject admits of direct experiment,--will find that he employs terms +when he conducts the process of reflection. In order to afford a fair +trial, it is necessary that he should be alone, and subject to no +interruptions. It will also add to the facility of the experiment, that +he select a subject with which he is but little acquainted, as the +process will be more deliberate. On topics with which we are familiar, +we have acquired a rapidity of exercise which renders the detection of +the process more difficult and perplexing. In this trial, he will be +aware that he is repeating words as the materials of his thoughts. If +the subject on which he should think involves persons with whom he is +acquainted, or scenes he has viewed, he will, in addition to the terms +he employs, have the pictures, or visible phantasmata, of these +presented to his mind, conjunctively with such words. That we actually +employ terms in this process is evident in many, who, when exercising +their thoughts on any subject, are found, as we term it, talking to +themselves; so that we are enabled to observe the motion of their lips: +and this circumstance is to be noticed in most persons when they are +counting. + +The contrivances of language enable us to connect our thoughts; for our +perceptions are distinct and individual, and of themselves can possess +no elective attraction to _associate_ and combine: they may however, by +repetition or habit, become so allied, that the occurrence of one will +excite the sequence of the other. We ordinarily recollect them very much +in the order and succession of their occurrence; but we are also able +to arrange and class them, and by such means, of recollecting them +according to the artificial order of their distribution. This may be +exemplified in the various expedients that have been devised for the +acquirement and retention of knowledge: thus, chronology records events +according to the order of their occurrence; an encyclopaedia arranges +according to alphabet or subject; and the most perfect of this kind, +like the index to a book, consists in their mutual reference. + +This wonderful faculty of thought or reflection, so far as we possess +the means of detecting, appears to be peculiar to man; and if it be +admitted to consist of our recollected perceptions, by the contrivances +of language, we shall find that animals are not in possession of the +necessary materials. + +The ear transmits sounds to animals possessing this sense; and in some +species it is so exquisitely susceptible, as to surpass, by many +degrees, the acuteness of the same organ in the human subject. It is +also recorded, that in some of the wilder tribes of man, the hearing +possesses a delicacy of percipience unknown to the inhabitants of a +polished community. Superadded to the conveyance of ordinary sound, the +ear of man is the great inlet of communication, and the vehicle of +articulate intelligence. Through the medium of this sense his knowledge +becomes extended, and his memory improved; for every conversation is +either a review of his stores, or an addition to his stock. As our +thoughts or reflections are conducted by language, great caution is +required that the terms we employ should possess a fixed and determinate +meaning; and this is more especially important, when we employ words +which are not the representatives of the objects of our perceptions, but +of a complex nature, or, as they have been denominated, general terms; +such as those which are used to designate the faculties and operations +of the mind, and such as convey our moral attributes. The perfection of +the process of thought, consists in the attention which the will can +exert on the subjects of[16] consideration. The nature and endurance of +the attention, which the organs of sense can bestow on the objects of +perception, have been already discussed; and it will be found, that the +same influence is directed when we exercise reflection: so that that +mind is to be considered as most efficient, (in proportion to its +natural capacity,) which can dwell on the subjects of its thoughts +without interruption from irrelevant intrusions. The exertion of +voluntary control over our thoughts has been denied; but if we were to +subscribe to such doctrine, it would follow that this noble faculty of +reflection would be merely a spontaneous concurrence of images and terms +accidentally revived,--on rare occasions fortuitously blundering on wit, +and ordinarily revelling in the absurdities of distraction. In +proportion as we have been duly educated, we become enabled to direct +and fix the organs of sense to the objects of perception, to be able at +will to revive our memoranda, or to call on the memory to exhibit the +deposits which have been confided to its custody, and to dwell +pertinaciously on the materials of reflection. It is, however, certain, +that in ordinary minds, the attention is little capable of being fixed +to objects, and still less to the subjects of reflection; but this +incapacity, in both instances, is principally to be attributed to the +defects of education, and to a want of proper discipline of the +intellectual powers. The endurance of attention in minds of the highest +order, by a wise law of our constitution, is limited; and if it be +attempted to continue the exertion beyond the natural power, the effort +is infructuous. As straining the muscles produces fatigue, stiffness, +and tremor;--as ocula spectra intrude on the forced and protracted +attention of the visual organs,--so confusion ensues, when thought is +racked and goaded to exhaustion. + +As the staple of the human intellect is vastly superior to that of +animals, so we find among our own species a considerable range of +capacity; but however we may estimate mental excellence, it should be +recollected, that its possession has seldom contributed to the happiness +of the individual; so that experience would lead us to prefer the sober +medium, which is included by a parenthesis, between the extremes of +genius and dulness, and which appears to be the unenvied lot of the mass +of society. The two great distinctions which mark the intellects of our +species, seem to consist in the difference of character, which is +established by those who excel in the exercise of their perceptions and +consequent recollection, and those who cultivate and discipline the +energies of thought. The former are distinguished by a vigorous +activity, a penetrating and unwearied observation; their curiosity +seems rather to be attracted by the object itself than directed by the +mind. This incessant occupation and restless inquiry furnishes the +memory with an abundant vocabulary: they recollect each object they have +seen, and can retrace every path they have trodden; the ear greedily +imbibes the conversations to which they are anxiously disposed to +listen; that which they read, they verbally retain; they excel in +quickness of perception and promptitude of memory, and appear to have +every thing by heart; they are "the gay motes that people the sun-beams" +of the intellectual world:--thus we find them, as inclination may sway, +accurate chronologists, biographers pregnant with anecdote, expert +nomenclators, botanists, topographers, practical linguists, and +bibliographers; in short, the opulent possessors of whatever perception +can detect, and memory preserve. The other order of men, (and they are +comparatively few,) are the creatures of reflection:--with them the +senses are little on the alert; they do not fatigue the wing by +excursions through the field of nature; but that which the recollection +retains becomes the subject of mental examination. An event is not +registered from having merely occurred; but the causes which produced it +are investigated, and a calculation is instituted concerning its +probable tendency. Words are not simply regarded as the floating +currency or medium of exchange, but they are severely subjected to +analysis to establish their standard, or to detect the excess of their +alloy; their senses are little awake to external impressions; the +objects which a change of scene presents are slightly noticed, and +feebly remembered; their curiosity is not attracted from without, but +excited from within; they are strangers to the haunts of gay and +mirthful intercourse, and are rather consulted as oracles, than selected +as companions. This constant occupation of thought produces the +philosophical historian, profound critic, physiologist, mathematician, +general grammarian, etymologist, and metaphysician. After long exertion +they become disposed to melancholic disquietude, and often turn in +disgust from a world, the beauties of which they want an incentive to +examine, and taste to admire. Both of these intellectual orders of our +species contribute, but in different manners, to the stores of +knowledge. The sound, efficient, and useful mind consists in a due +balance and regular exercise of its different faculties. + +How great soever the pains which an individual may bestow, to fix his +thoughts to the examination of a particular subject, he will find that +the effective duration of his attention is very limited, and that other +thoughts, often wholly unconnected with the subject, will intrude and +occupy his mind; on some occasions they are so prevailing and +importunate, that he loses the original subject altogether. It is +acknowledged, that the soundest and most efficient mind, is +distinguished by the control it is capable of exerting on its immediate +thoughts; which consist, as has before been observed, of terms, and the +phantasmata of visible recollection:--this wandering of the thoughts to +other subjects, or this intrusion of irrelevant words and pictures, +whichever may be the case, appears to bear a very strong resemblance to +a morbid state. It is usually the attendant on indolence, and has +probably its source in a want of the proper occupation of mind, and, by +indulgence, may become an incurable habit. Yet this rumination of mind +has its votaries: by some it is courted as a delightful amusement, and +eulogies are bestowed on the incoherent tissue of these reveries and +day-dreams. Although these illegitimate offsprings of "retired leisure" +may be considered as a perversion of the noblest attribute of man; yet +they serve, in some degree, to recruit our recollection of past +transactions, which might otherwise have faded in obscurity, or perished +from natural decay. In the soundest and most refreshing sleep we seldom +dream; so, in those wholesome exercises of the intellect where the mind +is fully occupied, and, more especially, when such pursuit is combined +with bodily exertion, these masterless associates do not intrude. By +continuance, this habit may be so formidably increased, more especially +under the guidance of malignant or depressing passions, that these +shadows become embodied, and assume a form so potent and terrible, that +the will is unable to bind them down, and the understanding attempts to +exorcise them in vain. + +The act of thought or reflection, therefore, appears to consist, not in +the operation of an exclusive and particular faculty, but in the +voluntary recollection of pictures, as far as visible perception is +involved, and of terms or words which are the types or representatives +of our perceptions, together with those general terms, which are to be +considered as abbreviations of meaning or intelligence. All this would, +however, only amount to an act of memory, of such pictures and terms, +particular and general; and would not comprehend or include their +analysis, estimate, admeasurement, or _ratio_, with inquiries into their +source and tendency, which is denominated _reason_, and which will +compose the materials of the following chapter. Suffice it to observe +that our thoughts on any subject can only be according to the extent of +our knowledge of things and opinions; and, therefore, that our thoughts +or reflections necessarily involve our reasonings, as they are only +recollections without them. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[15] In this capability animals will never rival us, as they are +deficient of the _hand_, the operative instrument by which it is +effected. + +[16] It may be proper to explain the origin and meaning of this word, +and of another usually employed in a similar sense, namely, +contemplation. The former is compounded of _cum_ and _sidus_, and +presumes a fixity of mind adequate to the survey of the heavenly bodies; +the latter is derived from _cum_ and _templum_, and imports the same +gravity and concentration of thought which we carry to the fane of +devotion. + + + + +ON REASON. + + +The opinions of the thinking part of mankind have been much divided +concerning the signification of the term Reason. Every person, conceives +himself privileged to reason upon all the subjects of human +intelligence; and whatever he may chuse to offer on any side of a +question, he denominates his reasons for or against it. By some, this +power is held to be the exclusive possession of man; and such persons +naturally conclude that an offence is offered to his intellectual +dignity, if the smallest portion be conceded to the most docile animals. +This is, however, a question for future examination, and will be +discussed when their faculties are more particularly investigated. Those +who have affirmed that our own species is exclusively gifted with +reason, have not in any manner defined the nature of this faculty, or +enumerated the steps of the process by which reasoning is performed: +indeed, so ambiguous has been the signification annexed to this term, +that it is not uncommon to meet, in the best authors, with the +expressions of right reason, false or inconclusive reasonings, absurd +reasons, &c. These epithets are, however, perfectly correct, as will be +demonstrated in the course of this enquiry. + +If this capacity of reasoning be peculiar to man, it would not appear +difficult to trace the gradations of the process when he employs it: +every act of intellectual exertion, deliberately performed, is attended +with consciousness; he must therefore be aware of the successive steps +of his march: but as this effort might be perplexing to minds +unaccustomed to such deliberate and minute investigation, a readier +method presents itself in order to attain the object. There are writers +in all the departments of human knowledge, who are deservedly held in +the highest estimation, and who have reasoned on the subjects they have +treated, with the utmost correctness and ability:--let the best +specimens of that, which, in these authors, is allowed to be reasoning, +be selected and analysed, which will readily demonstrate the means they +have pursued to arrive at their conclusion. The whole of this process +being conducted by significant sounds conveyed to the ear, or in the +signs of these sounds presented to the eye, the inquirer would be +immediately impressed, that intelligent sound, or its character, that +is, language, must be the vehicle by which this process is performed. In +the next place, he would be sensible that these sounds, or their signs, +were the substitutes or intended representatives of the objects in +nature, either individually or collectively; for he would find that men, +by the instrument of speech, had contrived, by a term, equally to +express collections as well as individuals; as a man, or an army, which +latter might consist of many thousands of the same beings. When he had +arrived at this knowledge, he would be persuaded of the importance of +these terms, and feel the necessity of their precise and uniform +signification, as the representatives of the particular objects or +collections they professed to describe:--because, if different +significations were affixed to the same term, those who employed it +could not mean the same thing. These prefatory observations appear to be +proper, and it is important that the reader should bear them in mind; +but it will be evident that the most correct description of objects does +not constitute the process of reasoning, however indispensable it may be +as its foundation. + +Reason, as the term itself shows, implies _ratio_, estimate, proportion, +or admeasurement; and in all the instances of reasoning that can be +adduced, this interpretation will apply in the strictest sense. But +_ratio_, estimate, &c. involve numbers, by which they can alone be +characterised or defined. Thus, by way of illustration, the estimate for +a building implies the number of the different materials, with their +_cost_, which is the number of pounds, shillings, and pence; also the +number of requisite workmen to be employed for such time, or number of +weeks, days, &c. at a certain stipend: admeasurement also consists of +numbers, whether it be employed on solids, fluids, or designate the +succession of our perceptions, called time[17]: and ratio or proportion +is equally the creature of numbers. In a preceding part of these +contributions, the importance of numbers has been considered, and a +confident belief expressed that no animal is capable of numeration; and +that the comprehension of addition and subtraction, the basis of all +calculation is exclusively the province of the human intellect. This +subject, however, requires a more extended investigation; and the +research would doubtless reward the toil of the inquirer. + +It is generally acknowledged, that arithmetic, or the combination and +separation of numbers, is the purest and most certain system of +reasoning, and liable, when properly conducted, to no difference of +opinion; because the meaning of number is definite and universally +agreed on, there being no nation that affixes a different value to the +units, which are the elements of all ulterior numerative progression; +and although, in different languages, they are called by different +names, as [Greek: Deka], _decem_, _dieci_, _dix_,--_taihun_, _tyn_, +_zehn_, _tien_, _ten_, yet they have an identical meaning, and +denominate the same thing; and notwithstanding the Roman and Arabic +symbols are of different character, they represent the same number, +whether we employ X or 10. It is owing to this identity of meaning, that +the reasoning in numbers is subject to no diversity of opinion. + +The names of those things which have an actual existence, and can be +submitted to the inquisition of our senses, or are capable of being +analysed, are subject to comparatively little error, when we reason +concerning them, because their character is defined by observation and +experiment: but we have terms to designate that which cannot immediately +be submitted to the analytic operations of our senses, and which has no +palpable existence; and from the undefined nature of these, the greatest +discord and confusion have prevailed when we reason concerning them; as +the terms, humanity, charity, benevolence, living principle, +organisation, materialism, political expediency, taste, liberty, +legitimacy, and a thousand besides. + +In order to proceed regularly with this subject, it appears that our +reasonings may be employed concerning things, or the objects in nature, +and on terms which are not the immediate representatives of natural +phenomena, but as they have been denominated general or abstract; and +which are intended to be the verbal representatives of multitudes of +objects arbitrarily classed, or of opinions comprised under such term. + +That reason is not an inherent, peculiar, and independent faculty of the +human mind, receives a strong confirmation from considering, that it +cannot be voluntarily exerted on subjects of discussion, but requires, +as the indispensable condition of its operation, the basis of knowledge, +which is to be understood to mean, the result of observation and +experiment: for the mere employment of language, on a subject with which +we are unacquainted, is but idle prating and a lavishment of words. To +reason, is to adapt our means, that is, our knowledge, for the +attainment of the end or object proposed: it is the estimate or +admeasurement of these means. If, for example, a military commander +intended effectually to bombard a city;--such being the object proposed, +he would immediately proceed to estimate, admeasure, or calculate his +means to produce the effect, and his success would depend on the +knowledge he possessed of the nature and properties of the materials +employed: he must calculate the distance, elevation, proportionate +quantity of powder, and the time the fuzee should burn previously to the +explosion of the shell; with various other necessary circumstances. This +is an example of a very pure process of reasoning as applied to things, +and accords with the definition that has been attempted. If it were +necessary to multiply instances of the reasoning on things, perhaps the +construction of a thermometer would be a well-adapted illustration; and +it would likewise exhibit that which I am very anxious to impress, +namely, the very gradual manner in which knowledge, by the operation of +reasoning has been applied to the purposes of utility. That many +substances, and particularly metallic bodies, augmented in magnitude by +being heated, or, as we now term it, expanded by heat, was known many +centuries ago, and was a fact of hourly occurrence to the artificers in +metals. A similar increment of bulk was also observed in fluids; and it +was likewise known, that their dimensions contracted as they cooled. +This fact appeared to obtain so generally, that it became an aphorism, +that bodies expanded by heat and contracted by cold. Of the precise +gradations of heat they were, however, ignorant. Most of the senses +became tests, although they were inaccurate criteria. The sight conveyed +some distinctive marks; so that when some metallic bodies were heated +to a high degree, they were observed to become red, and as the heat was +increased, they were rendered white. By the touch, a variety of +discriminations of temperature was obtained, to which appropriate terms +were annexed, explanatory of its effects, or according with the +feelings; as burning, scorching, scalding, blistering hot;--descending +to blood, loo, gently, or agreeably warm. The ear was not exempted from +its share of information, by detecting the boiling of water, or by +discovering when a heated metal was immersed in that fluid, that it was +hissing-hot: even the smell detected some obscure traces, sufficient to +discourage or invite an approach. These tests, although they might serve +for ordinary purposes, were still wholly inadequate for philosophical +accuracy. To ascertain quantity, it was necessary to associate number as +the index of precision. Notwithstanding the construction of this +instrument now appears so simple and easy of contrivance, it is only +within a few years that it occurred to fill a tube, having a bulb, with +a fluid; and to note the points at which snow dissolved, and water +boiled: when these were fixed, the intermediate space might form a scale +according to any subdivisions, so as to endow it with precision by the +adjunct of numbers. On many occasions, our sensations deceive us, +especially in a morbid state of the body: a person in the cold stage of +an ague shivers at the temperature that oppresses his attendant with +heat; but the instrument described is subject to no variations, by +marking the gradations of warmth with the definite character of number. +It will now be seen, that man possesses materials for conducting his +reasonings, which animals do not enjoy;--by language, and from his +capacity of numerating. Speech, of course, involves its record, whereby +he can recall the transactions of former ages, and preserve the fruit of +experience for his intellectual nurture, when the tree that produced it +has perished. This record is the elaboration of the hand,--that +wonderful instrument, the register of thought,--that active and and +skilful agent that "turns to shape" the contrivances of the mind. + +It is perhaps impossible, in a few words, to describe precisely the +nature of the operation termed reasoning. In general terms it may be +defined, _the means we employ for the attainment of the end proposed; +the employment of knowledge for the discovery of truth_; or _the process +of demonstration_; whether the object be an arithmetical sum, a +geometrical problem, or a discourse on taste. A part of the process of +reasoning, according to received opinion, consists in comparison, either +of things, or of general terms; and this comparison implies not merely +their exterior similitude, but likewise their internal structure and +composition: because two mineral substances may resemble each other in +external appearance, and may wholly differ in their intrinsic +properties. The process of ascertaining wherein they agree, and the +circumstances which discriminate them, is an instance of reasoning, or +the means we employ for the proposed end, and which means necessarily +imply the previous possession of knowledge. It will also be seen that in +the instance adduced, and indeed in most others, where we reason on +things, that precision can only be attained through the medium of +number; for these mineral substances, although similar in external +character, may contain very different proportions of the precious +metals, and their actual value can only be estimated by comparison; that +is, by an analysis, founded in knowledge, to ascertain the per centage +of gold or silver, which must be expressed in numbers: and the +comparison that is instituted concerning general or abstract terms, +must have for its basis the establishment of their legitimate force and +meaning. + +When we consult authorities on this subject, and particularly Dr. +Johnson's dictionary, we find that he has given eleven different +significations of the term _reason_, which he defines to be "the power +by which man _deduces_ one proposition from another, or proceeds from +premises to consequences." There is, however, much ambiguity in this +statement; and it would perhaps be impossible, in reasoning concerning +things, (which is to be considered as the most perfect example of this +process,) to adduce an instance, in which one proposition is strictly +_deduced_ from another. + +Every proposition is distinct, and independent: numbers, which are +definite, may be added together, and the sum-total exhibited, or a +lesser number subtracted from a greater, and the remainder shown. It is +difficult to say what is really meant by the words "deduces one +proposition from another." On examination, it will be found that every +simple proposition contains some fact or dictum, something set up or +laid down, _aliquid propositum_; and that nothing can be _deduced_ from +it, more than the meaning which the words constituting such proposition +legitimately convey: indeed, it must be evident, that any deduction from +a simple proposition would destroy its force. The sum of our knowledge +consists of individual facts, which are in themselves distinct, as much +as a flock of sheep is the aggregate of the different animals that +compose it; and it is only a misapplication of language, to affirm that +we are able to deduce one proposition from another. One proposition may +tend to explain or illustrate another; but every proposition, correctly +so termed, relates only to itself. + +The other mode by which we reason, is on abstract or general terms, +which are not the representatives of individual substances, or the +objects of our perceptions; but the names of classes or collections, or +of various hypotheses included or designated by a single name. The +difficulties which environ this latter mode of reasoning become +immediately evident, and satisfactorily account for the hostility and +confusion it has engendered, and for the tardy advancement of real +knowledge by this medium. The individual objects in nature can be +investigated by observation and experiment, and may be sufficiently +estimated; but multitudes of objects arbitrarily classed, or imaginary +qualities comprehended by a single name, do not admit of the same +analysis by the senses, and we are only enabled to ascertain their real +meaning in the two ways that have been pointed out,--by authority, +which, to be strictly such, ought to be invariable,--or by etymology, +which will demonstrate their original signification, and the reasons +which imposed them. Thus when we reason concerning charity, benevolence, +humanity, and liberty, terms certainly of the highest importance, but +each of which involves a variety of circumstances, and the real +signification of which, is to this moment differently interpreted, we +are impeded in the process, and fail in our estimate, because the +dimensions are uncertain. That which one man considers a charitable +donation, another views as the means which encourage idleness, and vice, +and a third person is perhaps induced to question the motive, by +attributing the gift to pride and ostentation. These general terms +seldom admit the precision of numbers, but are characterised as to their +proportions by expressions equally general and indefinite: as, much, +more, and most, to denote their augmentation; and, little, less, least, +to define their diminution. These general but indefinite degrees of +comparison, as they are termed, once defined the temperature of our +atmosphere, until a scale was discovered to mark its increment and +diminution by the accuracy of numbers. Great as may be the convenience +of general terms, both for abbreviation and dispatch, they are +notwithstanding liable to considerable suspicion, and are the frequent +sources of error and misapprehension. It has been principally for this +reason, that in proportion to the advancement of the physical sciences, +the study of scholastic metaphysic has been deservedly neglected. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[17] Time, or the admeasurement of the successive order of our +perceptions, embraces a wide area of definition; and it is perhaps +impossible, in a few words, to circumscribe the range of its meaning. +The sagacity of the human intellect, although by very slow gradations, +has accumulated the wonderful mass of knowledge we now possess on this +subject: and the investigations which have been made into the faculties +of animals, justify the conclusion that its comprehension is limited to +man. It would be highly interesting to trace the origin and progress of +our information, concerning the nature of time; but a short note to a +compressed essay, does not admit of such examination. However, it +appears evident, that the striking and regular phenomena of nature have +constituted some of our most important distinctions. Thus, the ebbing +and flowing of the tide have formed a very early notation; and we still +retain in our language the traces of its application in Whitsun_tide_, +Shrove_tide_, Allhallow_tide_, &c. The great divisions of time are well +understood; as day, from dawn; month, from moon; year, Anglo-Saxon gear, +from gyrdan, the girth (of the zodiac). A moderate knowledge of the +cognate languages of the north, would readily unravel the origin of all +the terms that have been employed by us and kindred nations, for the +purpose of characterising the succession of our perceptions. All these +subdivisions necessarily imply a comprehension of numbers. + +From the experience of the past, man has inferred the _probability_ of +the future; for by natural knowledge, the probability, great as it is, +can only be deduced. The certainty has descended from a higher +authority. Although the grammar of our language has endeavoured to mark +our predictions of the future by certain signs; yet these do not convey +any definite intelligence of that which _is_ to come. In this state of +being, man may receive assurances of ulterior existence, but he cannot +invest his predictions with the certainty of numbers. The signs of Will +and Shall, the utmost boundaries of his future glance, are both verbs in +the present tense, and only signify his immediate intention of +performance, at a time which may _probably_ arrive. + + + + +INSTINCT. + + +It has been endeavoured, in the foregoing pages, to describe the +intellectual capacities of the human being, and to account for his +superiority, from the peculiarity of his structure, and the extended +faculties it has conferred. It has also been attempted to maintain, that +man, thus gifted, is the architect of his own mind; with the hopeful +expectation, that it may tend to the improvement of his culture, but +more especially, to exhibit him as the creature of responsibility, in +consequence of his ampler endowments: "for unto whomsoever much is +given, of him shall be much required." + +The mental phenomena which animals display is a subject of equal +curiosity and interest; but it is to be lamented that they have not yet +been sufficiently observed, or faithfully collected. Their anatomy has +been minutely and diligently investigated, and the functions which have +resulted from the peculiarity of their structure, in many instances, +have been industriously developed; but an enumeration of their +intellectual bounties, and faculties of improvement, are still wanting +to complete their history. As we are able to trace the progress of mind, +in the infant, from its feeble glimmerings to its bright effulgence in +the maturity of man; so we can contemplate the inherent wisdom that +directs the animal tribe:--a liberal portion, sufficient for their +individual protection, and for the continuance of their race. This +definite allotment of mental craft to animals has rendered them +stationary, while man has no barriers opposed to his improvement; but, +under the fostering auxiliaries of a free soil, wholesome instruction, +and intellectual labour, continually advances. However vast his present +treasure may appear, its accumulation may be safely predicted; and it is +to be expected, or at least, it may be hoped, that his career in moral +practice will be commensurate with his progress in science. + +The human intellect, or the capacity of man for the accumulation of +knowledge, has enabled him, in a great degree, to render himself the +master of the animal creation; and more especially over those which +dwell on the soil he inhabits or range in the atmosphere he respires: +his authority or conciliation has little extended to the tenants of the +deep. Many of the larger quadrupeds he has subdued, and thereby has +become enabled to substitute the exertion of their muscles to relieve +the toil and fatigue of his own: of the swifter, he has coerced the +speed, for the anticipation of his wishes: the breed of many he has +extensively multiplied, to prey on their flesh, or to become nourished +by their secretions: his knowledge has been directed to the physical +improvements of their race, and he has also relieved them from many +infirmities and diseases, consequent on their domestication and labour. + +The wonderful construction of animals is a fit subject for the serious +contemplation of man: but the most striking and important lesson which +it impresses, is the adaptation of their organs to the purposes of their +destination, or the means they possess for the discharge of the offices +they perform. This construction is throughout an exemplification of that +which has been defined reason; and that it is perfect, may be concluded +from its being the work of the Creator. It has been already observed, +that the perceptive organs of many animals, especially the eye, the ear, +and the smell, are more acute and vigorous, than those in the human +subject: with us, the olfactory organ is considered as the lowest sense, +but in some animals it appears to be the most important; and even in +man, under certain privations[18], the smell has become a test of the +nicest discriminations: indeed, so far as the senses are concerned as +the importers of knowledge, animals appear to be gifted beyond our own +species. Their memory is also more perfect, as might be expected, from +the exquisite sensibility of their perceptive organs. The accuracy with +which they recognise persons and places is in many instances really +astonishing; and the certainty with which they retrace the most +intricate paths, is a proof of the excellence of their local +recollection, and of the attention they are capable of bestowing on the +objects of their perceptions. This enduring attention is perhaps to be +accounted for from their want of reflection, which so frequently diverts +man from dwelling on the objects of his senses. Thus, a cat will +undeviatingly watch the hole through which a mouse is known to pass, far +beyond the time which man can exclusively devote to a subject of +expectation. But here their superiority terminates. Their recollection +is not refreshed, as in man, by the substitution of a name for the +object of perception; much less have they any contrivance to record such +intelligent sound, whereby man can preserve and transmit his +perceptions. Thus whatever individual excellence animals may attain, +they want the means of communicating, and of transmitting to their +successors, and this sufficiently accounts for their stationary +condition, and for the progression of man. + +That animals are _incapable of the power_ which has been termed thought +or reflection is most probable. According to the interpretation that has +been given of this faculty, they are deficient of the materials, or of +terms, the representatives of perceptions; consequently of their +abbreviations, and of the contrivances by which a proposition or +sentence is constructed. That they understand some words, is evident; +they know their own names, and, by certain sounds, can be made to stop +or advance, to seize or let go, to rise up or lie down; but the extent +of this intelligence is very limited, and altogether different from the +comprehension of a sentence. + +It is not improbable that they dream; and, at such times, the +recollection of objects and scenes may be presented to them in visible +phantasmata; and in the delirium of canine madness, they are observed to +snap at imaginary existences; but this is far below the process that +constitutes reflection, which consists in the capacity of reviewing the +whole of our perceptions; and it has been endeavoured to point out that +this can only be effected through the medium of intelligent sound, or +its visible representative. If we were to contend for their capacity of +reflection, we must, at the same time, acknowledge, that they do not +appear to derive any improvement from the process; and to suppose them +endowed with that which was nugatory, and contributed in no degree to +their advancement, would be an idle and useless hypothesis. When not +employed and directed by man, their lives are principally occupied in +procuring food, and in the propagation of their species; and when their +appetites are satisfied, they repose or sleep: when not guided by +instinct, they seem to act from established habits, or the dictates of +immediate impression. They are capable of considerable acquirements +under the coercive tuition of man, and may be taught a variety of tricks +for his amusement or profit; but they do not appear to comprehend their +utility, or to hold these instructions in any estimation, as they never +practise them when alone. The most accomplished bear would not dance for +his own entertainment; and the learned pig never attempted to become a +school-master to the hogs of his acquaintance. + +It has been previously noticed, that in man, and most animals, there +were movements of the highest importance to life, which were directed +by the Author of the universe, and over which they had no immediate +control, termed involuntary motions; so we find, in the tribe of +animals, various mental endowments, especially tending to the +preservation of the individual, and to the succession of the race, which +are not the results of their experience. These have been comprehended +under a general term, and denominated instinct. By instinct, is meant +the display of contrivance and wisdom by animals, which tends to +preserve them as individuals, and to maintain their succession; an +intellectual exercise so perfect, that human philosophy has not +pretended to improve; so unvaried, that the excellence of its +performance cannot be exceeded, and is never diminished; a clearness of +execution, that "leaves no rubs and botches in the work," but which, it +may be presumed, is not even comprehended by the animal itself, as it +does not possess the organs or capacity to acquire the rudiments of the +science on which its operations proceed. As man, in his healthy state, +is little conscious of his involuntary motions, so I should presume that +animals possess but a feeble consciousness of their instinctive +achievements. This may be a subject for subtle disputants to decide; but +it appears certain, during the exercise of instinct, that their volition +must be suspended. When sufficient observation has collected the +intuitive wisdom displayed by animals, we shall then be able to _define_ +what is precisely meant by instinct; and, which is of much greater +importance, to furnish their intellectual history, of which the +definition is an abbreviation. One of the most useful contrivances of +language, is its abbreviation for the purposes of dispatch; and a +definition implies the fewest words into which its history can be +compressed, for perfect discrimination and identity of character. +Without disputing about a term, it may be noticed, that young ducks +hatched by a hen, immediately on their developement, and often with a +part of the shell still attached to them, make directly for the water; +while the hen, who has performed the office of a mother, screams with +alarm for the consequences. A she-cat, the first time she brings forth +her young, proceeds to secure the umbilical cord of each kitten, with +the caution of an experienced midwife. In both these instances, +experience cannot be adduced to account for the performance. When the +admirable texture of a spider's web is contemplated; will it be +contended that this elaboration is the result of mathematical knowledge +_acquired_ by the spider? Have the dwellings of the beaver, and the +construction of the honey-comb, their solution in the geometrical +attainments of the fabricators? The examples which have been enumerated, +(and they are only a few, among multitudes,) can only be accounted for, +by maintaining, that these wonderful phenomena proceed from a degree of +knowledge acquired by these animals, and are the result of such +attainment; or that they are independently furnished with such +propensities by the Creator. If it can be demonstrated that the animals +displaying the greatest acts of intelligence, are unable to acquire the +rudiments of the arts they practise, and cannot comprehend the wisdom +they execute, there will remain but one conclusion--that they are the +immediate endowments of God. Man has his instincts, although they are +few, and these appear to fade as his reason advances; woman enjoys a +more bountiful supply. The intellectual difference of the sexes is +strongly pronounced: the female is more the creature of perception: man, +of reflection:--the duties imposed on her, require less of thought and +volition; and when she resembles man by their possession and exercise, +she becomes less amiable and attractive. But this is abundantly +compensated by the intenseness and constancy of her affections. + +The gift of instinct to animals, does not exclude them from acquiring +knowledge by experience; for their minds are capable of improvement, +according to the extent of their capacities, and the intellectual organs +with which they are furnished. The instinct which is allotted to them is +mental possession which they could not have acquired, from the limited +nature of their faculties. All their instincts are processes of the +purest reasoning, but they do not originate from themselves; they are +not, as in man, the elaboration of thought, the contrivance founded on +the estimate of knowledge; but a boon,--an endowment, by which +experience is anticipated, and wisdom matured without its progress and +accumulation. Animals form an estimate of that which they can +accomplish: a horse will not voluntarily attempt a leap he cannot clear; +but his admeasurement is instituted solely by his eye: he is deficient +of the organ which man possesses;--nor can he measure by steps or paces, +as he is unable to numerate. An old hound will spare himself much +fatigue in the chace, by knowing, from experience, the doubles of the +hare. As man cannot reason independently of knowledge, nor beyond the +extent of his acquirements, neither can animals display this faculty +further than they possess the means. + +The instinctive bounty of intellect to animals, of course, renders them +stationary as a community; as instinct implies a definite portion of +intuitive sagacity, wisdom, or reason, commensurate to their wants and +destination. The early manifestation of instinctive wisdom, is the best +reply to those philosophers who have argued against its existence; for +in a multitude of instances it is exhibited, anterior to the possibility +of experience. Man, although gifted with superior capacities, and +susceptible of higher attainments, does not, from the paucity of his +instincts, arrive during many years at the same maturity both of mind +and body, which most animals display within the space of a few weeks; so +necessary and important is the protracted period of infancy to the +edifice and destination of the human mind. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[18] Notwithstanding we cannot sufficiently estimate the perfection of +the senses in animals, yet in some instances we are enabled to observe, +in our own species, the importance which a lower sense acquires, in +consequence of the privation of those which are deservedly considered +the more noble. A singular case of this nature occurred in Scotland, the +particulars of which have been published by Mr. James Wardrop an eminent +surgeon and oculist, 4to. London, 1813. This person, James Mitchel, was +born, very nearly blind and deaf. Although he was not deprived of every +glimmering and vibration, yet he was incapable of discerning an object, +or hearing an articulate sound; consequently to him the visible world +was annihilated. A ray of light might serve to delight him as a toy, but +it did not enable him to have the visible perception of any +substance:--his nerves, indeed, appeared to be agitated by the +concussion of sound, yet it was wholly impossible to lodge in his ear +the missile of a word. Being thus deprived of the two nobler senses, his +_mind_ was constituted of the perceptions he acquired by the organs of +touch, smell, and taste. His attention was enduring, and his curiosity +eager, far beyond those of any animal. Mr. Wardrop observes that "his +organs of touch, of smell, and of taste, had all acquired a +preternatural degree of acuteness, and appeared to have supplied, in an +astonishing manner, the deficiencies in the senses of seeing and +hearing. By those of touch and smell, in particular, he was in the habit +of examining every thing within his reach. Large objects, such as the +furniture of the room, he felt over with his fingers, whilst those which +were more minute, and which excited more of his interest, he applied to +his teeth, or touched with the point of his tongue. In exercising the +sense of touch, it was interesting to notice the delicate and precise +manner by which he applied the extremities of his fingers, and with what +ease and flexibility he would insinuate the point of his tongue into all +the inequalities of the body under his examination. + +"But there were many substances which he not only touched, but smelled +during his examination. + +"To the sense of smell he seemed chiefly indebted for his knowledge of +different persons. He appeared to know his relations and intimate +friends, by smelling them very slightly, and he at once detected +strangers." From the whole of this interesting relation, it seems fair +to conclude that this youth, even under the privation of sight and +hearing, possessed, in the staple of his intellect, capacities beyond +the most docile animals; and these consisted in the ardent curiosity +which he displayed, and in his desire for the improvement of his limited +faculties. Had this boy been confided to my management, I should have +endeavoured to educate him through the medium of his touch, so as to +communicate his wants, and afford an occupation to his mind. Thus, if +milk had uniformly been served to him in a bowl, beer in a mug, water in +a decanter with a glass stopper, and wine in a decanter with a cork: if +these had been arranged in his apartment, he might have indicated his +wish for any of these liquids, by producing the vessel that contained +them: the two latter might have been subsequently abbreviated, by +producing the glass stopper for water and the cork for wine. As he +examined every object by the touch, it would have contributed both to +his improvement and occupation, if he had been furnished with a quantity +of ductile clay, which he might have modelled to represent the objects +he examined, and which he might have preserved as a species of tangible +vocabulary. According to my own suppositions, he might have been taught +to numerate. It may be a subject of considerable curiosity to enquire, +of what the reflections of James Mitchel could have consisted. He had no +visible impressions which his hand could record. Being deaf, he could +not have acquired the instrument of thought--language; therefore, for +the objects of the senses he possessed,--smell, taste, and touch,--he +could have no terms, as their substitutes, for the purpose of +recollection. The next important question is, in what manner (wanting +names whereby they might be represented) would the perceptions of smell, +taste, and touch be represented to his mind in order to constitute +reflection or thought on these experienced perceptions? If musk, rose, +or garlic had been smelled, these perceptions, in a being constructed +like Mitchel, would remain dormant, until the same odour were again +presented to his olfactory organ; when it would be recollected, or he +would be conscious, that it had been previously presented. In such a +being, there would be a necessity for a fresh excitation of the organ of +sense by the object, to produce recollection; whereas, in those who +possess language, the name produces the recollection of the thing +perceived. + + + + +CONCLUSION. + + +The subjects that have been discussed in these contributions, fully +establish the pre-eminence of man, over all other created beings; and it +has also been endeavoured to demonstrate the circumstances which have +principally contributed to this superiority. The conclusions that may be +drawn are equally important and consoling. + +When the capacities of the intellect are fully ascertained, we shall be +enabled to supply it with the proper materials of instruction; so that +the protracted period of infancy may conduce to the formation of +virtuous and enlightened members of civil society. The healing art will +be abundantly promoted by a knowledge of mind;--for the remedy of its +infirmities and perversions ought to be founded on a thorough knowledge +of its faculties and operations;--nor should it be forgotten that the +prevention of crimes, and the reformation of delinquents, equally +involve an intimate acquaintance with the temperaments of human +character. + +In the contemplation of mind, from the highest order to the lowest +rank,--from man, to the maggot that consumes him; we are imprest with +the evidence of appropriate contrivance and infinite wisdom. Although we +are unable to penetrate the dense veil, that conceals the arcana of +vitality and intellect; yet sufficient is exhibited to us, in the ample +volume of nature, to satisfy our curiosity, and stimulate the exercise +of reason. Observation and experience have disclosed to us, in a great +degree, the structure and functions of our own bodily frame; and the +same persevering industry has unfolded the variations which obtain in +animals. The conclusions that have been formed from the study of anatomy +and physiology, amount to a conviction, that the contrivance is +admirably adapted to produce the effects we behold;--that the means are +competent to the end. The same reasoning applies to the phenomena of +intellect, and may be illustrated by the comparative difference which +appears in animals and man. + +The mental endowments and capacities which animals possess, have +rendered them stationary; whatever the more docile and intelligent may +have been compelled to learn, they do not appear to comprehend, and want +the means to communicate: so that their contemporaries and descendants +are unbenefited by the acquirement, and the attainment perishes with the +individual. When brought into existence, the world is to them a recent +creation, and bears no evidence of a former race, from archives or +monuments which they can understand. The record of their ancestors has +been discovered by man, in fossile preservation; but its characters are +unintelligible to them. As they have not been endowed with the capacity +to numerate, they can experience no solicitude for the past, nor +apprehension for the future. Their recollection is not an act of the +will, but an excitation by the object that originally produced it. In +the grammar of animals, the present is the only tense, and to punish +them for the faults they had formerly committed, would be equally absurd +and tyrannical. They are not the creatures of compact, and being unable +to comprehend the nature of institutions, and the obligation of laws, +they cannot be responsible agents. It has also been remarked, that they +are destitute of sympathy for the sufferings of their fellows; but +sympathy would be superfluous, where they cannot understand the nature +of the affliction, and do not possess the power of administering relief. + +The features of the human mind are very differently shaped, and +strongly indicate an ulterior destination. Man possesses language, the +instrument of thought, the vehicle of intelligible communication;--and +he is gifted with the hand, to record the subjects of his experience, to +fabricate his contrivances, and to rear the durable monuments of his +piety and splendour. Thus, he is rapidly progressive, his mind becomes +opulent from the intellectual treasures of his ancestors, and, in his +turn, he bequeaths to posterity the legacy of wisdom. His comprehension +of numbers, on which the nature of time is founded, enable him to revert +to the transactions of distant ages, and to invest faded events with the +freshness of immediate perception. He alone can embalm the past, and +welcome the tidings of the future. Man alone is fitted to covenant, +although he may occasionally waver in the performance. His exalted +capacities, his comprehension of the law, constitute his responsibility: +for where the conditions of the compact are not understood, there can be +no disobedience or delinquency. + +The helpless condition of the human infant, and the paucity of its +instincts, apparently render it less favoured than animals;--but it was +necessary, in order to constitute man a moral agent and a responsible +being, that he should be the architect of his own mind. When born, he +has every thing to learn; and a large portion of his existence is +consumed to qualify him for his station in society. Had he, like +animals, been gifted with intuitive wisdom, the donation would have +been so perfect, as to render instruction superfluous;--and such +endowment would have diminished the measure of his responsibility. The +freedom of his will, by which is to be understood the impulse of reason, +not the blind dictates of appetite, nor the sallies of tumultuous +passions, renders him amenable. Such is the force of the human mind, +that it can surmount the difficulties which situation and circumstances +oppose to its improvement: so powerful is reason, that it can correct +the prejudices of early tuition, and atone for crime, by the pursuit of +honourable practice. Man alone can repent; he only can retrace the acts +of former commission, and resolve on amelioration for the future. Thus +we find that moral responsibility has its basis in the comprehension of +Time. In proportion to our love and estimation of justice, we must be +satisfied that, under the purest forms of human government, it is but +imperfectly administered: the rewards and punishments in this life will +ever be blended with the hopes and fears, the interests and passions, of +our species; and there is much of evil, which human sagacity cannot +detect. When we consider the attributes of the Deity and the nature of +man, we can never be induced to conclude that the tribunals of this +world are the courts of final retribution. Man bears in his intellectual +construction the badge of moral responsibility, and, consequently, the +germ of future existence: and the only incentive that can urge him to +the advancement of science, and the practice of virtue, is the reward +that Revelation has unfolded. + + +THE END. + + +Printed by Strahan and Spottiswoode, Printers-Street, London. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Sound Mind, by John Haslam + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOUND MIND *** + +***** This file should be named 31747.txt or 31747.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/7/4/31747/ + +Produced by Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was +produced from scanned images of public domain material +from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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