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  • Feb. 1, 1794
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The Freemasons' Magazine, Feb. 1, 1794: Page 34

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    Article EXTRACT FROM AN ESSAY ON INSTINCT. ← Page 2 of 3 →
Page 34

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Extract From An Essay On Instinct.

Of instincts that can accommodate themselves to particular circumstances , many instances may be g iven in the human species : but these fall more particular under the third class . Those animals are most perfect , Avhose sphere of knowledge extends-to the greatest number of objects . When interrupted in their opperations , they knoAv how to resume their labour , and accomplish their purposes by different means . Some animals have no other powers but those of extending and

contracting their bodies . Others pursue their prey with intelligence and . success .. In Senegal the ostrich sits on her eggs in the ni ght only , leaving them in the day to the heat of the sun ; at the Cape of Good-Hope , where the climate is colder , she sits on them day and ni ght . Rabbits , when domesticated , are not inclined to burrow . Bees augment the size of their cells when necessary . AAvasp , in carrying out a dead

companion , if he finds it too heavy , cuts off the head , and carries it out at twice . In countries infested with monkies ,. birds , which in other countries build in trees , suspend their nests at the ends of slender twigs . A cat , when shut in a closet , has been known to open the latch with its paivs . The third class are those which are improvable by experience .

. Our author thinks that the superiority of man over other animals seems to depend chiefl y on the number of instincts Avith which he is endowed . Traces of every instinct which he possesses are discoverable in the brute creation , hut no particular species enjoys the . Avhole . Most human instincts receive improvement from experience and observation , and are capable of a thousand modifications . One . instinct

counteracts and modifies another , and often extinguishes the original motive to action . Fear is often counteracted by ambition or resentment . Anger by fear , shame , contempt , or compassion .. Of modified ,, compounded , and extended instincts , there are many examples . Devotion is an extension of the instinct of love to the author of the universe . Superstition the instinct of fear , extended to imaginary objects . Hope is the instinct of love , directed to an improper , object . In this manner all the modified , compounded , or extended passions may be traced back to their original instincts .

The instincts of brutes is likcAvise improvable by experience , Avitness the dog , the horse , the elephant , & c . From ' these examples Mr . Smellie argues , that instinct is an original quality of the mind , which in man , as well as in other animals , may be improved , modified , and extended by experience . Sensation implies ( says he . ) a sentiment , principle , or mind . What-, ever feels , therefore , is mind . Of course all animals are endoAved Avith

mind . But the minds of animals have different powers , and thosepowers are oppressed by peculiar actions . The structure of their bodies is addapted to the pOAvers of their minds , and no mature animal at- ; tempts actions Avhich nature has not enabled it to perform . This view of instinct is simple ; it removes every objection to the existence of mind in brutes , and unfolds all their actions , by referring them to motives perfectly similar to those by which man is actuated . There , is perhaps a greater difference between the mental povKts of some

“The Freemasons' Magazine: 1794-02-01, Page 34” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 10 June 2025, django:8000/periodicals/fmm/issues/fmm_01021794/page/34/.
  • List
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Title Category Page
Untitled Article 1
LONDON: Article 1
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS TO CORRESPONDENTS. Article 2
THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE. OR GENERAL AND COMPLETE LIBRARY. Article 3
THE PRINCIPLES OF FREE MASONRY EXPLAINED. Article 11
JOHN COUSTOS, FOR FREEMASONRY, Article 19
A VIEW OF THE PROGRESS OF NAVIGATION. Article 22
ON THE PROPRIETY OF MAKING A WILL. Article 24
ANECDOTES OF THE LATE HUGH KELLY. Article 29
EXTRACT FROM AN ESSAY ON INSTINCT. Article 33
THE ORIGIN OF LITERARY JOURNALS. Article 35
LETTER Article 37
LETTER Article 38
ON MAN. Article 38
ON JEALOUSY. Article 40
ON YOUTHFUL COURAGE AND RESOLUTION. Article 41
INVASION. Article 42
ANECDOTES OF JAMES NORTHCOTE, ESQ. Article 48
SURPRIZING INGENUITY. Article 51
CURIOUS ACCOUNT OF THE PHYSICIANS OF ANCIENT EGYPT. Article 52
INSTANCE OF THE POWER OF MUSIC OVER ANIMALS. Article 53
PLAN OF EDUCATION. Article 53
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMASONS' MAGAZINE. Article 56
REMARKS ON THE MUTABILITY OF FORTUNE. Article 57
LONDON CHARACTERIZED. Article 59
LITERARY INTELLIGENCE. Article 59
PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS. Article 60
STRICTURES ON PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS. Article 69
A CURIOUS FACT. Article 72
POETRY. Article 73
FREEMASON PROLOGUE. Article 74
PROLOGUE WRITTEN FOR THE YOUNG GENTLEMEN, Article 75
RURAL FELICITY: A POEM. Article 76
TO FRIENDSHIP. Article 77
IMPROMPTU Article 77
ON CONTENT. Article 78
ON AN INFANT Article 79
EPITAPH. Article 79
EPITAPH ON A NOBLE LADY. Article 79
FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE. Article 80
Untitled Article 83
Untitled Article 83
Untitled Article 83
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Page 34

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Extract From An Essay On Instinct.

Of instincts that can accommodate themselves to particular circumstances , many instances may be g iven in the human species : but these fall more particular under the third class . Those animals are most perfect , Avhose sphere of knowledge extends-to the greatest number of objects . When interrupted in their opperations , they knoAv how to resume their labour , and accomplish their purposes by different means . Some animals have no other powers but those of extending and

contracting their bodies . Others pursue their prey with intelligence and . success .. In Senegal the ostrich sits on her eggs in the ni ght only , leaving them in the day to the heat of the sun ; at the Cape of Good-Hope , where the climate is colder , she sits on them day and ni ght . Rabbits , when domesticated , are not inclined to burrow . Bees augment the size of their cells when necessary . AAvasp , in carrying out a dead

companion , if he finds it too heavy , cuts off the head , and carries it out at twice . In countries infested with monkies ,. birds , which in other countries build in trees , suspend their nests at the ends of slender twigs . A cat , when shut in a closet , has been known to open the latch with its paivs . The third class are those which are improvable by experience .

. Our author thinks that the superiority of man over other animals seems to depend chiefl y on the number of instincts Avith which he is endowed . Traces of every instinct which he possesses are discoverable in the brute creation , hut no particular species enjoys the . Avhole . Most human instincts receive improvement from experience and observation , and are capable of a thousand modifications . One . instinct

counteracts and modifies another , and often extinguishes the original motive to action . Fear is often counteracted by ambition or resentment . Anger by fear , shame , contempt , or compassion .. Of modified ,, compounded , and extended instincts , there are many examples . Devotion is an extension of the instinct of love to the author of the universe . Superstition the instinct of fear , extended to imaginary objects . Hope is the instinct of love , directed to an improper , object . In this manner all the modified , compounded , or extended passions may be traced back to their original instincts .

The instincts of brutes is likcAvise improvable by experience , Avitness the dog , the horse , the elephant , & c . From ' these examples Mr . Smellie argues , that instinct is an original quality of the mind , which in man , as well as in other animals , may be improved , modified , and extended by experience . Sensation implies ( says he . ) a sentiment , principle , or mind . What-, ever feels , therefore , is mind . Of course all animals are endoAved Avith

mind . But the minds of animals have different powers , and thosepowers are oppressed by peculiar actions . The structure of their bodies is addapted to the pOAvers of their minds , and no mature animal at- ; tempts actions Avhich nature has not enabled it to perform . This view of instinct is simple ; it removes every objection to the existence of mind in brutes , and unfolds all their actions , by referring them to motives perfectly similar to those by which man is actuated . There , is perhaps a greater difference between the mental povKts of some

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