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  • June 1, 1855
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The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine, June 1, 1855: Page 11

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future retribution , and his immortal destiny , are all indeed sufficiently attested , and taught by an authority which none of us dispute or presume to set aside . But we propose to address our attention at present to what nature and observation teach us , apart from revelation .

The accomplished Dugald Stewart admits that animals have the power of reflection , but denies them that of abstraction . And he distinguishes between those intellectual processes which can , and those which cannot be carried on without the use of signs for our ideas , Moreover , restricting the term reason to the power of discovering a series of means subservient to a particular end , he / does not consider it to be essentially connected with the faculty of generalization , or

with . the use of signs ; and while he allows that animals are sometimes observed to employ a long train of means for the accomplishment of a special purpose , he marks this essential distinction between man and the brute— -that in the latter we find nothing analogous to those intellectual processes which lead the mind to general conclusions , and which imply the use of general terms . " Those powers ,

therefore , " he adds , " which enable us to classify objects , and to employ signs as an instrument of thought , are , so far as we can judge , peculiar to the human species . " This very plausible hypothesis is , however , open to the objection that it is not purely inductive . "We have no proof that " signs' ' essential to generalization , nor do we know how much is conveyed by the language oi

brutes . ; But there is one faculty possessed by man , and fully developed iu his history , which cannot exist in the brute . A very superficial acquaintance with the history of our race reveals tons the striking fact that man is capable , on the one hand , of indefinite advance and improvement in science and art , and , on the other hand , that he is liable to successive and unlimited debasement

and degradation . The history of man is not a history of advancement , as many would flatter themselves it is . That the present is an age of rapid advancement in the civilized portion of mankind , there can be no question ; but past history testifies also to alternate advancement and decline , so forcibly and truthfully , that he who would expect nothing but improvement for the future has yet to learn much of the science of human nature . Look at the north of Africa—once

the most populous , and doubtless the most civilized portion of the globe . What is it now ? Look at Egypt—once renowned for its wisdom and science , the school of art , the land of pyramids , temples , and literature , the country from whence the ancient Greeks derived their philosophy , and the Eomans their knowledge . Eor anything we can tell , Egypt might have once even surpassed us in those civilized arts of which we now so proudly boast . And on what

principle shall we dare to assert that we shall not , like her , be one day reckoned among the nations that have lost their glory and again become low ? That a capability of improvement always and everywhere exists must , however , bo fully admitted ; and this admission is

“The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine: 1855-06-01, Page 11” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 27 May 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmr/issues/mmr_01061855/page/11/.
  • List
  • Grid
Title Category Page
METROPOLITAN Article 40
GRAND CONCLAVE, May 11, 1855. Article 42
MASONIC CHARITIES. Article 34
NOTES ON ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCH. Article 13
OUR PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE Article 1
PROVINCIAL Article 44
Untitled Article Article 49
ON THE POLITICAL CONDITION OF THE ENGLISH PEASANTRY DURING THE MIDDLE AGES. Article 22
SURREY ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. Article 55
THE AZTECS AND THE ERDMANNIGES. Article 27
REVIEWS OF NEW BOOKS Article 30
CORRESPONDENCE Article 31
NOTES AND QUERIES. Article 33
THE LIVING AND THE DEAD. Article 59
MASONIC INTELLIGENCE Article 34
ROYAL FREEMASONS' GIRLS' SCHOOL FESTIVAL. Article 35
ANNIVERSARY MEETING OF THE STABILITY LODGE OF INSTRUCTION. Article 38
FRANCE. Article 56
COLONIAL. Article 57
AMERICA. Article 59
INDIA Article 57
METROPOLITAN LODGE MEETINGS FOR JUNE. Article 60
LODGES OF INSTRUCTION. Article 61
CHAPTERS OF INSTRUCTION. Article 62
Obituary Article 62
NOTICE. Article 63
TO CORRESPONDENTS. Article 63
ANIMAL AND HUMAN INSTINCT. Article 7
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Page 11

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

Untitled Article

future retribution , and his immortal destiny , are all indeed sufficiently attested , and taught by an authority which none of us dispute or presume to set aside . But we propose to address our attention at present to what nature and observation teach us , apart from revelation .

The accomplished Dugald Stewart admits that animals have the power of reflection , but denies them that of abstraction . And he distinguishes between those intellectual processes which can , and those which cannot be carried on without the use of signs for our ideas , Moreover , restricting the term reason to the power of discovering a series of means subservient to a particular end , he / does not consider it to be essentially connected with the faculty of generalization , or

with . the use of signs ; and while he allows that animals are sometimes observed to employ a long train of means for the accomplishment of a special purpose , he marks this essential distinction between man and the brute— -that in the latter we find nothing analogous to those intellectual processes which lead the mind to general conclusions , and which imply the use of general terms . " Those powers ,

therefore , " he adds , " which enable us to classify objects , and to employ signs as an instrument of thought , are , so far as we can judge , peculiar to the human species . " This very plausible hypothesis is , however , open to the objection that it is not purely inductive . "We have no proof that " signs' ' essential to generalization , nor do we know how much is conveyed by the language oi

brutes . ; But there is one faculty possessed by man , and fully developed iu his history , which cannot exist in the brute . A very superficial acquaintance with the history of our race reveals tons the striking fact that man is capable , on the one hand , of indefinite advance and improvement in science and art , and , on the other hand , that he is liable to successive and unlimited debasement

and degradation . The history of man is not a history of advancement , as many would flatter themselves it is . That the present is an age of rapid advancement in the civilized portion of mankind , there can be no question ; but past history testifies also to alternate advancement and decline , so forcibly and truthfully , that he who would expect nothing but improvement for the future has yet to learn much of the science of human nature . Look at the north of Africa—once

the most populous , and doubtless the most civilized portion of the globe . What is it now ? Look at Egypt—once renowned for its wisdom and science , the school of art , the land of pyramids , temples , and literature , the country from whence the ancient Greeks derived their philosophy , and the Eomans their knowledge . Eor anything we can tell , Egypt might have once even surpassed us in those civilized arts of which we now so proudly boast . And on what

principle shall we dare to assert that we shall not , like her , be one day reckoned among the nations that have lost their glory and again become low ? That a capability of improvement always and everywhere exists must , however , bo fully admitted ; and this admission is

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