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Page 21
But from positive science we know that although animals may think, they
cannot reflect upon what they think. Descartes goes further and boldly
states that they do not think at all. That is a statement which need not
worry us.
Nevertheless, when in the woods the blast of a horn and the baying of
hounds agitates the fleeing quarry; when he vainly endeavours, with all
his skill, to confuse and muddle the scent which betrays him to his
pursuers; when, an aged beast with full-grown antlers, he puts in his
place a younger stag and forces it to carry on the chase with its
fresher bait of the scent of its younger body, and thus carry off the
hounds and preserve his days--then surely this beast has reasoned. All
the twisting and turning, all the malice, deception, and the hundred
stratagems to save his life are worthy of the greatest chiefs of war;
and worthy of a better fate than death by being torn to pieces; for that
is the supreme honour of the stag.
Again; when the partridge sees its young in danger, before their wings
have strength enough to bear them away from death, she makes a pretence
of being wounded and flutters along with a trailing wing, enticing the
huntsman and his dogs to follow her, and thus by turning away the danger
saves her little ones. And when the huntsman believes that his dog has
seized her, lo! she rises, laughs at the sportsman, wishes him farewell,
and leaves him confused and watching her flight with his eyes.
Not far from the northern regions there is a country where life goes on
as in the early ages, the inhabitants being profoundly ignorant. I speak
now of the human creatures. The animals are indeed surprisingly
enlightened; for they can construct works which stop the ravages of
swollen torrents and make communication possible from bank to bank. The
structures are safe and lasting, being founded upon wood over which is
laid a bed of mortar. The beavers are the engineers. Each one works. The
task is common to all, and the old ones see that the young ones do not
shirk their labour. There are many taskmasters directing and urging.
To such a colony of cunning amphibians the republic of Plato itself
would be but an apprentice affair. The beavers erect their houses for
the winter time, and make bridges of marvellous construction for passing
over the ponds; whilst the human folk who live there, though this
wonderful work is always before their eyes, can but cross the water by
swimming.
That these beavers are nothing but bodies without minds nothing will
make me believe. But here is something better still. Listen to this
recital which I had from a king great in fame and glory. This king,
defender of the northern world, whom I now cite, is my guarantee: a
prince beloved of the goddess of Victory. His name alone is a bulwark
against the empire of the Turks. I speak of the Polish king.[9] A king,
it is understood, can never lie.
He says, then, that upon the frontiers of his kingdom there are animals
that have always been at war among themselves, their passion for
fighting having been handed down from father to son. These animals, he
explains, are allied to the fox. Never has the science of war been more
skilfully pursued among men than it is pursued by these beasts, not even
in our present century. They have their advanced out-posts, their
sentinels and spies; their ambuscades, their expedients, and a thousand
other inventions of the pernicious and accursed science Warfare, a hag
born, herself, of Styx,[10] but giving birth to heroes.
Properly to sing of the battles of these four-footed warriors Homer
should return from beyond the shores of Acheron.[11] Ah! could he but do
so, and bring with him too the rival of old Epicurus,[12] what would the
latter say as to the examples I have narrated? He would say only what I
have already said, namely, that in the lower animals natural instinct is
sufficient to explain all the wonders I have told: that memory leads the
animal to repeat over and over again the actions it has made before and
found successful.
We, as human beings, do differently. Our wills decide for us; not the
bestial aim, nor the instinct. I walk, I speak, I feel in me a certain
force, an intelligent principle which all my bodily mechanism obeys.
This force is distinct from anything connected with my body. It is
indeed more easily conceived than is the body itself, and of all our
movements it is the supreme controller. But how does the body conceive
and understand this intelligent force? That is the point! I see the tool
obeying the hand; but what guides the hand? Who guides the planets in
their rapid courses? It may be some angel guide controls the whirling
planets; and in like manner some spirit dwells in us and controls all
our machinery. The impulse is given--the impression made--but how, I do
not know! We shall only learn it in the bosom of God; and to speak
frankly, Descartes himself was no wiser. On that point we all are
equals. All that I know is that this intelligent controlling spirit does
not exist in the lower animals. Man alone is its temple.
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