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 PERKINS LIBRARY 
 
 Duke University 
 Kare Books 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Philofophical Amufement 
 
 UPON THE 
 
 LANG UAGE 
 
 O F 
 
 BEASTS andBlRDS. 
 
 WRITTEN 
 
 Originally in French by Father Bougeant, a 
 famous Jefuit; now confined at La Fleche 
 on Account of this Work. 
 
 The Second Edition Corrected. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for T. Cooper, at the Globe in Pater- 
 nojier Row. 1740. ( Price one Shilling. ) 
 
yf 
 
 A 
 
 Philofophical Amufement 
 
 UPON THE 
 
 Language of Be a s t s. 
 
 HO W infnaring you ate, Madam, and 
 how well you know the extent of your 
 Power over me ! I did but once drop a 
 Word in one of our Philofophical Converfations, 
 that I was of Opinion that Beafts fpoke and very 
 well underftood each other. Any body but you 
 would have look'd upon this as one of thofe Ex- 
 preflioris which we are apt fometimes to throw 
 out without Proofs, and with no other Defign 
 but that of inlivening the Converiation. But you 
 know me very well, you fay, and though the 
 Proportion looks very much like a piece of Plea- 
 fantry, you are pleafed to fay that I did not ad- 
 vance it at Random : nay, you will needs have 
 me treat of it ferioufly, and give you an account 
 of the Reafons that perfuaded me to ir. Though 
 I have the utmoft Defire to pleafe you, I don't 
 know whether I could in any other Circumftance 
 prevail upon myfelf to obey you. For you know 
 I have hardly any Leifure to beftow upon amufing 
 Differ tations. By good Fortune I am at laft got 
 into the Country. I have left in Town the very 
 Memory of the unplea&nt Imployments which 
 make you fometimes pity me. Now methinks I 
 am here the Sovere'gn of whole Nature : in a de- 
 lightful Abode, among a Circle of Amufements 
 whofe Variety removes Difguft, arid which I 
 A mare 
 
r * i 
 
 iliare in common with a charming Set of Com^ 
 pany. From this fingfe Circumftance you eafily 
 will guefs that I am at C***. Our Matters in 
 Voluptuoufnefs fay, that a means to fharpen the 
 Edge of Pleafures is now and then to interrupt 
 the Chain of them by fome trifling Imployment. 
 What better Choice can I then make than to fa- 
 tisfy your Curiofity ? Self-love, you fee, is at the 
 bottom of all we do, and it will be much lels 
 Merit than Pleafure for me to obey your Com- 
 mands. Bat we make Allowances to each other, 
 and if you are but fatisfied with my Performance, 
 I have a Notion that you will eafily forgive my 
 not having therein altogether neglected my own 
 Amufement. 
 
 You then ask me whether I in good earneft 
 believe that Beads fpeak ? Why, Madam, I 
 very ferioufly am of Opinion that Beafts do fpeak 
 and underftand each other every whit as well and 
 fometimes better than we do. Now is your 
 Curiofity fatisfied ? Not a jot. You will needs 
 know my Reafons for thinking fo. If I was 
 converfing with you, I would tell you that the 
 Reafon which perfuades me that Beafts fpeak, is, 
 that Mr. R. fpeaks i You would furely ftrength- 
 en this Argument by the Inftance of Mrs. H*, 
 and that Buffoonery perhaps would fet us both 
 o*laughing. But whoever writes muft have a re- 
 gard for his Readers. Nor fhall I tell you that 
 the Serpent had of old a long and coherent Con- 
 verfation with Eve, and that Balaam's Afs fpoke. 
 It would be more needlefs ftill here to alledge the 
 Fable of the Horfes of Achilles. You would cer- 
 tainly reply, that of thefe Events fome are Super- 
 natural and the other Fabulous, and that they of 
 courfe are no Argument in the Order of Nature. 
 Now I underftand you ; I am to fetch the Proofs 
 
 of 
 
I 3 ] 
 
 of my Opinion from Nature itfelf. Well, bu$ 
 don't you at the fame time expect from me any 
 wonderful Difcoveries. You perhaps will be a* 
 ftonifhed to find that you already yourfelf believe 
 every Circumftance of what I think on this Mat- 
 ter ; and that I fhall do nothing but unfold your 
 own Thoughts to you, and let you into the Na- 
 ture of intricate Sentiments which you have no; 
 fufficiently examined. But fome Preliminaries 
 muft be previously eftablifhed, and I am afraid 
 the Accefibry will not be fhorter than the main 
 Subject j which is a capital Fault, and againft 
 the Rules of exact Compofition. But what of that, 
 provided the whole amufes you ! Have Beafts any 
 Understanding ? If they have, they fpeak. But 
 how do they fpeak ? Thefe lhall be the three 
 Heads of this DiflTertation. 
 
 I. 
 
 Of the Under Jlanding ^Beasts. 
 
 HAVE Brutes any Underftanding ? I am 
 convinced you will not fo much as hefitate 
 upon an Anfwer to this Queftion. Defcartes fhall 
 in vain tell you that Bealts are Machines : that 
 all their Actions may be accounted for by the 
 Laws of Mechanifm : that before him, and even 
 from the time of St. Aujtin, fome Philofophers 
 have had fomething like the fame Notion. You 
 have a Bitch which you love, and which you 
 think yourfelf reciprocally loved by. Now I 
 defy all the Carte/tans in the World to perfuade 
 you that your Bitch is a meer Machine. Pray 
 confider what a ridiculous Caft this Opinion 
 would give all of us who love Horfes, Dogs, and 
 A 2 Birds, 
 
C 4 3 
 
 Birds. Imagine to yourfelf a Man whp fhould 
 love his Watch as we love a Dog, and carefs it 
 becaufe he fhould think himfelf dearly beloved 
 by it, fo as to think that when it points put 
 Twelve or One o' Clock, it does it knowingly and 
 out of Tendernefs to him. Were Defcartes*s O- 
 pinion true, fuch would indeed be the Folly of 
 all who believe that their Dogs have an Affection 
 for them, and love them with Knowledge and 
 what we call Sentiment. 
 
 I own that if the Syftem of Defcarles was fup- 
 ported by folid Proofs, the Confequence would 
 not be fufficient to confute it : Men in this Cafe 
 fhould be pitied for being given over to fo grofs 
 an Illufion. But Truth is for ever Truth let our 
 felf-love fufrer ever fb much by it. By good 
 luck the Opinion of this Philofopher has no other 
 Foundation than bare Poflibilities. God, fays he, 
 was able to make meer Machines of Beafts. He 
 might have done it without any Impofiibility. I 
 can account for all their Actions by the Laws of 
 Mechanifm. Nay ? there are even fome of thefe 
 Actions which feem to admit of no other Prin- 
 ciple. Ergo^ I have Reafons to think that Beafts 
 are Machines. A very wrong way of Arguing 
 as you fee. For from matter of Fact to Pofilbi- 
 lity the Confequence is certain ; but from Poffi- 
 bility to matter of Fact the Confequence is rafh, 
 uncertain, and venturous. It is a meer Suppofi- 
 tion, a Caftle in the Air, which may ferve for ari 
 Amufement, but has no manner of Solidity in it. 
 Nay more. There is fbmething within us, 
 which concurs with Reafon to banifh the Cartefian 
 Syftem from Society. It is npt a bare Prejudice, 
 but an inward Perfuafion, a Sentiment whole Ori- 
 gin is this. Poflibly the Men with whom I live, 
 who fpeak to me, who give me Anfwers, who 
 
 argue 
 
[ 5 ] 
 
 argue and act together with me, may be nothing 
 but meer Machines. For I know that I am 
 actually thinking and have within me a thinking 
 and knowing Principle. But I am not equally 
 informed of what pailes within other Men, and 
 it cannot be denied but that God has the Power 
 of making fuch Creatutes as fhould have the Ap- 
 pearance only and Motions of Men, though they 
 were at bottom nothing but Machines. How- 
 ever, notwithftanding the Truth of this Principle, 
 it would be altogether impoflible for me (unlefs 
 God mould exprefsly reveal it) to beat it into my 
 Head, that the Men with whom I live are in- 
 deed nothing but Machines, made to aflift or in- 
 cumber, to pleafe or torment me. And why fo ? 
 It is becaufe when I fee any one fpeaking,. rea- 
 foning, and acting as I myfelf do, I know not 
 what Sentiment within me joins with Reafon and 
 Common Senfe, to force me to believe that the 
 Man whom I fee has in him an active and know- 
 ing Principle altogether like my own. Now, 
 Beads are in the fame Cafe with regard to us. I 
 iee a Dog haftening to me when I call him, carefs 
 me when I ftroke him, tremble and run away 
 when I rate him, obey me when I command 
 him, and give all the outward Signs of many 
 different Sentiments •, of Joy and Sadnefs, of 
 Grief and Pain, of Fear and Defire, of Paflions, 
 of Love and Hatred. I immediately conclude 
 from thence, that a Dog has in him a Principle 
 pf Knowledge and Sentiment, be it what it 
 will. Though I fhould \Jk my utmoft Endea- 
 vour, to beat it into my Head that he is a meer 
 Machine, and though all the Philofophers in the 
 World fhould attempt to convince me of it, I 
 feel myfelf hurried away by an inward Convicti- 
 on, and by I know not what prevailing Force 
 
 which 
 
[ 6 ] 
 
 which perfuades me to the contrary : And this 
 Sentiment it is, which for ever will contradict the 
 Cartefian Opinion in the Minds of Men. It is 
 likely therefore that this Philofbpher, whofe Ge- 
 nius was fb tranfcendent, efpoufed a Syftem fo 
 very oppofite to our Notions out of meer Frolick, 
 and for no other purpofe but to contradict the Pe- 
 ripatetics, to whom he was a profeffed Enemy, 
 and whole Syftem upon the Underftanding of 
 Beafts in reality is not to be maintained. 
 
 Thefe Gentlemen who, according to the dark 
 Principles of their unintelligible Philofophy, af- 
 ligned to Bodies a fubftantial and material Form, 
 diftinct however from Matter, and which was in 
 them the Principle of all their Actions, would not 
 doubtlefs refufe to Beafts a Form of this Kind. 
 On the other Hand, as they allowed that Beafts 
 were indowed with Sentiment and Knowledge, 
 and acted according to Knowledge and Senti- 
 ment -, they fain would have attributed to them a 
 fpiritual Soul like that of Man: But this the 
 Principles of Chriftianity did not allow. And 
 really if Beafts had a fpiritual Soul, that Soul 
 ihould then be immortal and free, it mould be 
 capable of meriting or of doing amifs, of Recom- 
 penfe or of Punifhment : They fhould have a Pa- 
 radife and a Hell appointed for them •, Beafts 
 mould be a Kind of Men, or Men a Kind of 
 Bsafts; all which Confequences are unwarrant- 
 able by the Principles of Religion. The Peripa- 
 idics^ thus obliged to be contented with their 
 iubftantial-material Form, to avoid one Inconve- 
 nience fell into another, being of courfe obliged 
 to lay that this fubftantial Form was in Beafts the 
 Principle of their Knowledge and Actions, the 
 moft abfurd Sentiment according; to the eftablifh'd 
 Principles of Philofophy and Religion. For in 
 the eftablifhed Philofophy we know only two Sub- 
 
 ftances i 
 
C 7 3 
 
 Jftances ; one thinking, having Sentiments, know- 
 ing, and reafoning, which is Spirit : The other 
 extended, divifible, moveable, capable of occafi- 
 oning Sentiments and Knowledge by its Union 
 with Spirit, but altogether incapable itfelf of 
 knowing and having Sentiments, which is Mat- 
 ter. Here we perceive at one View all the Con- 
 trad ictions neceflarily flowing from the Opinion 
 of the Peripatetics. A fubflantial Form, which 
 is neither Spirit nor Matter : Something which 
 has a knowing Faculty and yet is no Spirit : A 
 fubftantial-material Form, which is no Matter ; in 
 fhort, material Sentiments and a material Know- 
 ledge. A very dangerous Principle ! which might 
 become a Weapon in the Hands of Unbelievers a- 
 gainft the Spirituality of our Soul. Is it not a Won- 
 der that fo monftrous an Opinion mould have (o 
 long kept its Ground in the Chriftian Schools ? 
 
 Some Philofophers pretended to rectify it. 
 Why, faid they, fhould we acknowledge in the 
 Univerfe only thefe two Subflances, Spirit and 
 Matter ? Has not God been able to create a 
 middle Subftance, between one and the other, in- 
 ferior to Spirit and fuperior to Matter, incapable 
 of reafoning, but capable of Sentiment and 
 Knowledge ? One might indeed at firft be apt to 
 believe this, and you perhaps fooner than any. 
 But,, Madam, have a Care u you pleafe. This 
 would at once replunge you into the Uncertainty 
 of the Cartejian Sentiment, and the Darkneis of 
 the "Peripatetic Opinion. For i. ThisSyftem is 
 a meer Suppofition, void of Proof and deftitute of 
 Foundation. 2. What Notion can we frame to 
 ourfelves of a Subftance which is neither Spirit nor 
 Matter ? With regard to us who know no other 
 but thefe two Subitances, a Middle one is a Chi- 
 maera, an ens rationis, which we have no Percep- 
 tion 
 
C 8 1 
 
 tion nor any Notion of. And who knows but 
 that which is a meer Chiiraera with regard to us, 
 is really fo in Nature and in itfelf? If it is fo in 
 itfelf, God has not been able to create it, becaufe 
 he can make no ens rationis. Now who fhall re- 
 lolve fo reafonable a Doubt ? 
 
 An antient Author, whofe Works are collated 
 among thofe of the Fathers, Firmianus Laftantius, 
 explained himfelf more frankly. He pretended 
 that God had granted the Ufe of Reafon to 
 whatever breathes, but to Beafts for the Preferva- 
 tion of their Lives only, without any religious Du- 
 ty i and to Men to enable them to acquire Im- 
 mortality and an eternal Happinefs, by the Prac- 
 tice of a religious Worfhip. What a Notion ! 
 To be fure Firmianus did not fee, that fuppofing 
 a reafonable and of courfe a fpiritual Soul without 
 any Duty of Religion, was undermining the 
 Foundations of the Law of Nature and of all 
 Religion, degrading the fpiritual Soul, deftroying 
 the Immortality of its Nature, and bringing us 
 down to the State of Beafts, in trying to advance 
 thele to our own. 
 
 You fee I only touch upon Syftems, for fear I 
 fhould tire you by particular Arguments. How- 
 ever, this is all Philofophy teaches with regard to 
 the Knowledge of Beafts. How narrow is the 
 human Underftanding, you will fay, how fhort 
 its Lights, how great its Obfcurity ! It is enough 
 to fright one. We know we exift and think : 
 We fee Facts •, we know the Exiftence of a thou- 
 ilind Things •, but when we are asked how and 
 why they are lb; we then lofe ourfelves in an 
 Abyfs of frivolous Conjectures and falfe Suppofi- 
 tions : We confufe our own Brains with a thou- 
 fand vain Arguments, which, far from enlightening 
 our Minds, have generally no other effect: than to 
 
 lmother 
 
[9] 
 
 fmother that little Portion of Light which Com- 
 mon -fenfe has imparted to us. We do not un- 
 derftand ourfelves, how then can we underfland 
 the Nature of Beafts and of all without us ? 
 
 Let me pray you to do one Thing. Go to 
 the Indies, to China or Japan, and there you will 
 find Philofophers of the Heathen, Djift, or 
 Atheift Kind, who will argue if not with greater 
 Capacity, at leaft with greater Freedom. One will 
 tell you that God has created feveral Species of Spi- 
 rits, fome more perfect, fuch as the good and bad 
 Genii are -, fome lefs perfect, which are Men, 
 and others much more imperfect ftill, which are 
 the Beafts. Another will tell you, that the Di- 
 ftinction of the Spirit and Matter is chimeri- 
 cal and impoffible to be demonftrated •, that he 
 fees no Manner of Inconveniency in thinking that 
 there is but one Subftance which you may call by 
 what Name you pleafe •, that this Subftance has 
 in Beafts as well as in Men an Organization, a 
 Modification, a Motion, fomething in fhort which 
 makes ir. think more or lefs perfectly : And thefe 
 Gendemen acknowledging neither the Principles 
 of the Chriftian Religion nor the Authority of 
 the Church ; you will be under the Neceffity (in 
 order to attack them in their Retrenchments) either 
 to begin by making them Chriftians, or to go 
 back to metaphyseal Principles very difficult to 
 be unravelled. But I hope you will fpare your- 
 ielf the Trouble of the Voyage, and chufe, as I 
 myfclf do, to ftick clofe to this greateft of Prin- 
 ciples, viz. All thefe Syftems are contrary to 
 the Chriftian Religion •, of courfe they are abfo- 
 ktely falfe.- 
 
 Be comforted, Madam, here is another Hypo- 
 
 thefis, which has nothing common with any gf 
 
 thofe I juft laid before you. It is a Syftem in- 
 
 B tirelv 
 
tirely new, which will divert you at leaft by its 
 Singularity, and which I fhail here repeat to you 
 in the very Words of the Author himfelf, whom 
 J heard producing it a while lince in Company, 
 and with an Air of Gravity mixed with Buffoon- 
 ry, which made it doubtful whether he was him- 
 felf perfectly perfuaded of it. 
 
 Every Body, faid he, agrees that Beafts have a 
 knowing Faculty i they have then a Soul. But is 
 that Soul Matter or Spirit ? It muft be one of 
 the Two, and yet you dare affirm neither. You 
 dare not advance that it is Matter, becaufe you 
 muft neceffarily fuppofe Matter to be capable of 
 thinking. Nor v/ill you fay that it is a Spirit j 
 this Opinion bringing with it Confequences con- 
 trary to the Principles of Religion. Well, faid 
 he, I fhall now relblve all your Difficulties. 
 JCnow then, that Beafts have a, fpiritual Soul like 
 ours, and that this Opinion, far from contradict- 
 ing the Principles of Religion, is altogether agree- 
 able to it as well as to Reafon. You eafily judge 
 that this Introduction ingrafted all our Attention. 
 The whole Company fmiled, perhaps malicioufly, 
 and our Impatience for knowing the new Syftem 
 occafioned a profound Silence. The Author 
 went on. 
 
 Reafon, faid he, naturally inclines us to believe 
 that Beafts have a fpiritual Soul •> and the only 
 Thing which oppofes this Sentiment is, the Con- 
 fequences that might be inferred from it $ and this, 
 among others ; that Men would differ from 
 Jkafts only by the Degrees of Plus and Minns j 
 which would demolifh the very Foundations of 
 all Religion, Therefore, added he, if I can 
 elude all thefe Confequences, if I can aflign to 
 Beafts a fpiritual Soul without ftriking at the 
 Doctrines of Religion •, it is evident that my Sy- 
 ftem 
 
fterri being moreover the rrioft agreeable to fcea- 
 fon, is the only warrantable Hypothefis. Now 
 I can and fhall do it with the greateft eafe ima- 
 ginable, I even have Means by the fame Me- 
 thod to explain many very obfcure Paflages in 
 the Holy Scripture, and to refolve fome very 
 great Difficulties which are not well confuted. 
 This we fhall unfold in a more particular Man- 
 ner. 
 
 Religion teaches us that the Devils, from the 
 very Moment they had finned * were reprobate* 
 and that they are doomed to burn forever in 
 Hell. But the Church has not as yet determin- 
 ed whether they do actually indure the Torments 
 to which they are condemned. It may then 
 be thought that they do not as yet fuffer them, 
 and that the Execution of the Verdict brought 
 againft them, is referved for the Day of the final 
 Judgment. It is otherwife with the Souls of 
 Men j the Church having determined that our 
 Souls are judged the very Inftant of their Separa- 
 tion from the Body, and that the Sentence is im- 
 mediately executed ; fo that thofe who die in 
 God's Difpleafure, are that very Inftant plung- 
 ed into the Flames of Hell. But the Church 
 has made no iuch Decifion with regard to the 
 Devils. 'Tis true, we very commonly fancy fo* 
 and a Multitude of People there are, intowhofe 
 Minds it never came to call it in Queftion. But 
 this Opinion, on account of its being believed 
 rafhly and without Examination (it being on 
 the other Hand fupported neither by Scripture 
 nor by any other Decifion) is not in the Church 
 a Tradition to which one is obliged to fubmit ; 
 and the more fb becaufe my Sentiment is not al- 1 
 together new, and I might mention ibme Au- 
 thors who have given Hints of it 5 among others; 
 B 2 an 
 
[ 12] 
 
 M Ecclefiaftical Writer, Viftar Prieft of Antioch, 
 who has exprefsly publifhed it in his Works. 
 
 Now, Madam, you muft know, that while the 
 Author was thus delivering himfelf, an Abbe and 
 Doctor who was prefent, a Man of Wit indeed, 
 but warm in Diipute and prejudiced in Favour 
 of his own Opinions, was muttering and grum- 
 bling to himfelf, with an Air of difcontent which 
 our Author eafily difcovered. What is the mat- 
 ter with you, Sir, faid he ; you feem not to be 
 pleafed ? No more I can be, replied the Doctor, 
 for your Propofition is downright Herefy. This 
 you are to prove replied the Author. Nothing 
 in the World fo eafy faid the Doctor •, and I fhall 
 do it from the Authority of the Scholaftick Au- 
 thors, and the Holy Fathers. You fhan't, by 
 all that's good ! Said the Lady whofe Houfe we 
 were at j at leaft you fhan't do it now. We are 
 all of us curious to know the new Syftem ; you 
 muft if you pleafe hear it from Beginning to End, 
 and afterwards you fhall be at Liberty to difpute 
 as much as you pleafe upon your Scholafticks, and 
 your Holy Fathers. The Lady was obeyed, and 
 the other went on. 
 
 When I advance, faid he, that the Devils do 
 not as yet fuffer the Torments of Hell, if it was 
 an arbitrary Suppofition like the Mechanifm of 
 Defcartcs, or the middle Subftance which fome 
 other Philoibphers have imagined ; every one 
 would have a right to reject my Suppofition, and 
 1 mould perfuade no body into it. But I beg 
 the Doctor to be pleafed to hear the Proofs where- 
 upon my Propofition is fupported. It is an Ar- 
 ticle of our Faith that the D^vil tempts us in or- 
 der to provoke us to Sin : That he lays Snares 
 to make us fall : That he is for ever roving about 
 us, as St. Peter has it, watching an Occafion to de- 
 vour 
 
[ »3] 
 
 vour us. He fills our Minds with wicked Sug- 
 geftions : He feizes upon Bodies, and when he has 
 once made himfelf Mafter of them, he does not 
 always betray his Prefence by Fits of Madnefs. 
 He fometimes Laughs, he Sings, and delights in 
 puzzling the Minifters of the Church who attempt 
 to conjure him forth. He argues with the ut- 
 moft Coolnefs, as when he tempted Jefus Chrift 
 in the Defart, and feduced Eve in the earthly 
 Paradife. Now imagine to yourfelf fome Body 
 in Hell, fiich as Scripture reprefents it, penetrated 
 through his whole Subftance, devoured and con- 
 iumed by a Fire, whole Violence is beyond every 
 thing ; and then confider if a Man or a Spirit in 
 that Condition can poflibly be taken up with 
 any other Thought than that of the horrid Tor- 
 ture he endures. If you tell me that he is trans- 
 ported with Fury, and that all his Moments are 
 conftantly filled by new Fits of Rage and Defpair, 
 I mall necefilirily conceive it. But that he mould 
 have leiiure enough to think of tempting and 
 fhifting with us, is altogether incomprehensible, 
 . and we mould be obliged to conclude that the 
 Devils do not tempt us, or that the Tortures of 
 Hell are not fb very great as they are reprefented ; 
 two Confequences equally oppofite to Faith. Let 
 us then conclude, that the Devils do not as yet 
 undergo their Torments. 
 
 What our Divines fay that the Devils carry 
 their Hell along with them every where, I know 
 very well and confefs, I even think it is not to 
 be queftioned. But let us explain ourfelves. That 
 it may be truly faid that the Devils carry their 
 Hell with them every where, is it neceffary that 
 they mould actually undergo the Tortures of it ? 
 No. It is enough that they be condemned to it 
 by an irrevoabk Decree, of which they every 
 
 where 
 
[ 14] 
 
 where carry with them the Shame and primary Ef- 
 fects, as I (hall immediately explain. Would 
 we not lay of a Criminal whofe Puniihment mould 
 be deferred in order to make him lead a mifera- 
 ble and ignominious Life for a few Days, that 
 he carries every where with him the Wheel he is 
 to expire on ? Thus it is that the Devils carry 
 their Hell with them every where. Their Sen-» 
 fence is pronounced without any hopes of Mercy j 
 they are condemned without Remorle, they every 
 where carry the eternal Blemiih of it -, the horrid 
 Thought never leaves them, and conlequently 
 they every where carry their Hell along with 
 them, that is, the Idea of the Hell for them ap- 
 pointed. But we have a thouJand Reafons to be- 
 lieve that they do not as yet fuffer the real Tor- 
 tures of it ? 
 
 And why mould we not believe it* if the Holy 
 Scripture fays it exprefly. Let the Doctor him- 
 felf judge of it. When Jefus Chrift beforehand 
 pronounced Sentence on the Reprobate, what are 
 his Words r* Depart from me, ye curfed, into everlaft- 
 ing Fire, prepared for the Devil and bis Angels. 
 Math. xxv. 41. He fays not that the Devil and 
 his Angels actually burn in that Fire. He only 
 fays, that that Fire is prepared and waits for them 
 at the fade Day, which mail be the beginning of 
 their Torments. This agrees with the other Paf- 
 fage of the Gofpel, in which the Devils driven 
 out by Jefus Chrift complain to him for the an- 
 guifh he gives them in driving them out of the 
 Bodies of the pofTefTed. Art thou come, fay they to 
 him, to torment us before the time ? If the Devils actu- 
 ally fuffer the Tortures of Hell, what reafonable 
 meaning can one afTign for this Exprcffion ? The 
 evil Jefus Chrift did them in driving them out, 
 was Certainly too mconfiderable in comparifon of 
 
 their 
 
r*5i 
 
 their Torments, to deferve their Complaints i 
 But being not to fuffer Hell-fire before the laft 
 Day, they were in the mean time not altogether 
 infenfible to Pains of a much leis Degree, and 
 they thought they had fome Reafons to complain 
 that Jefus Cbrift mould torment them before the 
 time appointed by Divine Juftice. Here is fome- 
 thing Hill more decifive, viz. what St. Jude lays 
 in his Epiftle v. 6. that God keeps than in ever- 
 lofting Chains under profound tkrknefs^ and referves 
 for the Judgment of the great Diy the Angeh 
 which kept not their firft Efiate. The firft Worcb 
 of chis ParTage are evidently metaphorical, aud 
 by thefe everhjiing Chains we are to underftand 
 the irrevocable Judgment God has palled upon 
 thefe rebellious Spirits, and that the profound' 
 Darbiefs fignifies the Abyfs of Humiliation into 
 which their Sin has plunged them. But the other 
 Words of the Text are lb very clear and precife, 
 that no other reafonable Meaning can be given 
 them, but that which agrees with my Opinion. 
 I might perhaps take an additional Advantage 
 of fome other Texts of the Scripture 5 But I hope 
 thofe I have juft quoted are Efficient to convince 
 any Man not given over to Prejudice. 
 
 I never fhall tell you, Madam, what Tor- 
 tures the Doctor fuffered during this Exposition 
 of the Holy Scripture. He once more would 
 needs interrupt the Author, and pretended that 
 thefe Paflages might be interpreted in quite ano- 
 ther Manner. But the Company a fecond time 
 obliged him to hold his Tongue, and defired the 
 Author at laft to tell them what it was he pre- 
 tended to infer from what he had been faying : 
 For they did not as yet perceive what all this 
 Preamble aimed at. What I pretend to infer, 
 faid he, is, that till Doom's- Day comes, God, 
 
 in 
 
[«6] 
 
 In order not to fuffer fo many Legions of repro- 
 bate Spirits to be of no ufe, has distributed them 
 thro' the feveral Spaces of the World, to ferve the 
 Defigns of his Providence, and make his Omni- 
 potence to appear. Some continuing in their na- 
 tural State, bufy themfelves in tempting Men, 
 about fcducing and tormenting them, either im- 
 mediately as Job's Devil, and thofe that lay hold 
 of human Bodies, or by the Miniftry of Sorcerers, 
 and of Phantoms. Thefe wicked Spirits are thofe 
 whom the Scripture calls the Powers ofDarknefs, 
 and the Powers of the Air, God, with the others, 
 makes Millions of Beads of all Kinds, which ferve 
 for the feveral Ufes of Man, which fill the Uni- 
 verfe, and caufe the Wifdom and Omnipotence 
 of the Creator to be admired. By that Means, 
 added he, I eafily conceive how on the one 
 Hand the Devil's can tempt us, and on the other 
 bow Beads can think, know, have Sentiments 
 and a Spiritual Soul, without any way ftriking at 
 the Doctrines of Religion. 1 am no longer fur- 
 prized to fee them have Dexterity, Fore-cad, 
 Memory, and Judgment. I mould rather have 
 Occafion %o wonder at their having no more of 
 thofe Qualities, fince their Soul very likely is 
 more perfect than ours. But I difcover the Rea- 
 {on of this. It is becaufe in Beads as well as in 
 ourfelves, the Operations of the Mind are depen- 
 dent on the material Organs of the Machine to 
 which it is united, and thefe Organs being grols- 
 er and lefs perfect in Beads than in us, it follows 
 that the Knowledge, the Thoughts, and the o- 
 ther Spiritual Operations of Beads mud of courie 
 be lefs perfect than ours ; and if thefe proud Spi- 
 rits know their own difmal State, what an Hu- 
 miliation mud it be to them, thus to fee them- 
 selves reduced to the Condition of Beads ! But, 
 
 whether 
 
[ i7 ] 
 
 whether they know it or no, fo fhameful a De- 
 gradation is ftill with regard to them that prima- 
 ry Effect of the Divine Vengeance I juft menti- 
 oned. It is an anticipated Hell. 
 
 Here a very beautiful Lady, whom this Dif- 
 courfe put out of Humour, could not help inter- 
 rupting the Author of the New Syftem. Sir, 
 faid me with a good deal of Fire, it is of little 
 Confequence to me whether the Devils be hum- 
 bled or no, and actually fufTer the Tortures of 
 Hell ; but I will never allow Beads to be Devils. 
 How ! mall my little Bitch be a Devil that lies 
 with me all Night and carefles me all Day ? 
 I never will grant you that. And I fay the fame of 
 my Parrot, added a young Lady ; it is a charm- 
 ing Creature ; but if I was perfuaded it was a little 
 Devil, I am fare I mould no longer indure it. 
 I conceive, faid the Author, how great your 
 Averfion for this Syftem mull be, and I excufe 
 it : But give yourfclf the trouble to reflect upon 
 it, and you mall fee that it is only the Refult of 
 a Prejudice which muft be conquered by Reaibn. 
 Do we love Beafls for their own fakes ? No. As 
 they are altogether Strangers to human Society, 
 they can have no other Appointment but that of 
 being ufeful and amufing. And what care we 
 whether it be a Devil or fome other Being that 
 ferves and amufes us ? The Thought of it, far 
 from mocking pleafes me mightily. I with Gra- 
 titude admire the Goodneis of the Creator, who 
 gave me fo many little Devils to ferve and amufe 
 me. If I am told that thele poor Devils are 
 doomed to fuffer eternal Tortures, I admire God's 
 Decrees ; but I have no manner of ihare in this 
 dreadful Sentence. I leave the Execution of it 
 to the Sovereign Judge, and notwithftanding this 
 I live with my little Devils as I do with a Mul- 
 
 C titude 
 
[ "8 ] 
 
 titude of People of whom Religion informs me 
 that a great number (hall be damned. But the 
 cure of a Prejudice is not to be effected in a Mo- 
 ment : It is done by Time and Reflexion. Give 
 me leave then lightly to touch upon this Difficulty, 
 in order to obferve a very important thing to you. 
 
 Perfuaded as we are that Beads have Intelli- 
 gence, have we not all of us a thoufand times 
 pitied them for the exceftive Evils, which the 
 Majority of them are expofed to, and in rea- 
 lity fuffer ? How unhappy is the Condition of 
 Horfes, we are apt to fay, feeing a Horfe whom 
 an unmerciful Carman is murthering with Blows ! 
 How miferable is a Dog that they are breaking for 
 Hunting ! How difmal is the fate of Beafls living 
 in Woods ! They are perpetually expofed to 
 the Injuries of the Weather, always feized with 
 Apprehenfions of becoming the Prey of Hunters or 
 of fome wilder Animal ; for ever obliged, after 
 long Fatigue, to look out for fome poor infipid 
 Food •, often fuftering cruel Hunger, and fub- 
 ject moreover to Illnefs and Death ! If Men are 
 fubject to a multitude of Miferies that overwhelm 
 them, Religion acquaints us with the Reafon of 
 it, viz. their being born Sinners. But what Crimes 
 can Beafts have committed, by birth to be fub- 
 jected to Evils fo very cruel ? 
 
 At thefe laft Words our Doctor made fo fu- 
 rious a Grimace, ftriking his Hand on his Knee, 
 that the Company could not help laughing. I fee, 
 Sir, faid the Author, addreffing to him, what it 
 is that offends you. You imagine that the Re- 
 flection I have been making, is contrary to what 
 you call in Theology the State of pure Nature ; 
 but you are miftaken. I acknowledge as well 
 as you, that, independent of all Sin, God might 
 have created Man (and much more the Beafts) 
 
 fubject 
 
1 *9 ] 
 
 fubjecT: to all the Miferies which are the natural 
 Confequences of their Conftitution. But the Evils 
 we endure, are they in reality fuch as they would 
 have been in the State of pure Nature ? No. You 
 are obliged to acknowledge that they are much 
 greater, and many Divines propofe, even after 
 St. Auftin y this Excels of Mifery as a Proof of 
 the Exiftence of an original Sin. What are we 
 then to think of the horrid ExcefTes of Mifery 
 undergone by Beafts : Miferies indeed far greater 
 than thofe of Men ? This is in any other Syftem an 
 incomprehenfible Myflery, whereas nothing is 
 more eafy to be conceived from the Syftem I pro- 
 pofe. The rebellious Spirits deferve a Punimment 
 ftill more rigorous, and happy is it for them that 
 their Punifhment is deferred. In a Word, God's 
 Goodneis is vindicated ; Man himfelf is juftified : 
 For what Right can he have, without Neceffity, 
 and often in the way of meer Diverfion to take 
 away the Life of Millions of Beafts, if God had 
 not authorized him fo to do i and Beafts being as 
 fenfible as ourfelves of Pain and Death, how could 
 a juft and merciful God have given Man that 
 Priviledge, if they were not fb many guilty Victims 
 of the divine Vengeance ? 
 
 But hear, continued he, lomething ftill more con- 
 vincing, and of greater Confequence. Beafts by na- 
 ture are extremely vicious. We know very well that 
 they never Sin, becaufe they are not free ; but 
 this is the only Condition wanting to make them 
 Sinners. The voracious Beafts and Birds of Prey 
 are cruel. Many Infects of one and the fame 
 Species devour each other. Cats are perfidious 
 and ungrateful. Monkys are mifchievous. Dogs 
 are envious. All Beafts in general are jealous 
 and revengeful to excefs, not to mention many 
 other Vices which we oblerve in them: and aC- 
 C 1 the 
 
[ *° ] 
 
 the fame time that they are by Nature fq yeiy 
 vicious, they have, fay we, neither the Liberty 
 nor any Helps to refift the Biafs that hurries therrj 
 into fo many bad Actions. They are, according to 
 the Schools, neceffitated to do Evil, to difconcert 
 the general Order, to commit whatever is in Na- 
 ture moft contrary to the Notion we have of na- 
 tural Juftice, and to the Principles of Virtue. 
 What Monfters thefe, in a World originally 
 created for Order and Juftice to reign in ! 
 This is in good part what formerly perfuaded 
 the Manicheans, that there were of neceffity two 
 Principles of things ; one good, the other bad ; 
 and that Beafts were not the Work of the good 
 Principle. A monftrous Error ! But how then 
 Ihallwe believe that Beafts came out of the Hands 
 of the Creator, with Qualities fo very ftrange ? 
 If Man is fo very wicked and corrupt, it is be- 
 caufe he has himfelf through Sin perverted the 
 happy Nature God had given him at his Forma- 
 tion. Of two things then we muft fay one : ei- 
 ther that God has taken delight in making Beafts 
 fb vicious as they are, and in giving us in them Mo- 
 dels of what is moft fhameful in the World ; or 
 that they have, like Man, original Sin, which 
 has perverted their primitive Nature. 
 
 The firft of thefe Propofitions finds veiy diffi- 
 cult Accefs to the Mind, and is an exprefs Con- 
 tradiction of the Holy Scripture, which fays, 
 that whatever came out of God ? s Hands at the 
 rime of the Creation of the World was good, and 
 even very good. For if Beafts were at that time 
 what they are now-a-Days, how could they be 
 ftiled good, and very good ? What good can 
 there be in a Monkefs, being fo mischievous, a 
 T)og fo full of Envy, and a Cat fo perfidious ? But 
 ifben many Authors have pretended that Beafts, 
 
 before 
 
[ M ] 
 
 H?efore Man's Fall, were different from what they 
 bow are, and that it was in order to punifti Man, 
 they were rendered lb wicked : But this Opinion 
 is a meer Supposition, of which there is not the 
 leaft Foot-ftep in the Holy Scripture. It is a 
 pitiful Subterfuge to elude a real Difficulty. This 
 at molt might be laid of the Beafh with whom 
 Man has a fort of Correfpondence, but not at 
 all of the Birds, Fifties, and Jnfec^s, which have 
 no manner of Relation to him. We mult then 
 have recourfe to the fecond Proportion, and lay, 
 that the Nature of Beads has, like that of Man, 
 been corrupted by fome original Sin : Another 
 Hypothefis void of Foundation, and equally in- 
 confident with Reafon and Religion in all the 
 Syftems, which have been hitherto efpoufed con- 
 cerning the Soul of Beafts. What Party are we 
 to take ? Why, admit of my Syftem, and all is ex- 
 plained. The Souls of Beafts are refractory Spi- 
 rits, which have made themfelves guilty towards 
 God. This Sin in Beafts is no original Sin. It 
 is a perfonal Crime, which has corrupted and per- 
 verted their Nature in it's whole Subftance. Hence 
 all the Vices and Corruption we obferve in them, 
 though they can be no longer criminal, becaufe 
 pod, by irrecoverably reprobating them, has at 
 the fame time divefted them of their Liberty, 
 
 I am ftill to fatisfy you, faid the Author, upon 
 two Queftions which you will infallibly ask me ; 
 viz. How are the Devils united to the Bodies of 
 Beafts, and what do they become at the Hour of 
 Peath ? To anfwer the firft Queftion, we mould. 
 be let into the Myftery of the Union of our Soul 
 and our Body •, and this no Philofopher will be 
 ever able to conceive. Let us then be contented 
 with laying, that, as Man is a $oul and an or- 
 ganized Body uaiftd, J£> is each Beaft a Devil 
 
 united 
 
[ 22 ] 
 
 united to a Body organized ; and that as Man 
 has not two Souls, Beads likewife have each but 
 one Devil. This is fovery true, that Jefus Chrifi 
 having one day driven out many Devils, and 
 thefe having asked his leave to enter into a Herd 
 of Swine that fed near the Sea, he permitted it, 
 and they entered into the Swine accordingly. 
 But what happened ? Each Swine having his own 
 Devil already, there was a Battle, and the whole 
 Herd threw themfelves headlong into the Sea. 
 
 This Union once fuppofed, we ought not to 
 be furprized at any thing in Beafts. They muft 
 have a Knowledge and a Sentiment like ours-, 
 and from what pafles within us, they muft be 
 jealous, choleric, perfidious, ungrateful, and felf- 
 interefted like ourfelves. They muft be either gay 
 or fad according to Events or their prefent Difpofi- 
 tion. They muft have Love and Hatred, and De- 
 fire for multiplying their Species, an Affection for 
 their Young, and a Care to bring them up : In 
 a Word, they muft do all what they do, and 
 which feems incomprehenfible to us when a fpiri- 
 tual Soul is not granted them. However, it may be 
 proper to obferve, that as the rebellious Spirits have 
 deferved to be degraded in this Manner for hav- 
 ing abufed their Reafon and Lights, God has been 
 minded to humble them with regard to their very 
 Reafon, by making them depend on Organs fo 
 very grofs, that it is infinitely inferior to that of 
 Men. Thence it happens, that we now and 
 then judge that Beafts do fome a&s of Reafon % 
 but we have great Reafon to believe, that they 
 never make many coherent and reflected Judg- 
 ments like ourfelves, becaufe their Organs will 
 not allow of Motions fo very delicate. This con- 
 ftitutes Automata, which moft commonly act only 
 mechanically, though with Knowledge ; and this is 
 
 to 
 
[ 2 3 ] 
 
 to a Spirit the utmoft Degree of Humiliation. It 
 is not thus with their Seniations : For the rebel- 
 lious finned not by their Senfes : They had 
 none. Befides, Senfes are always material Organs 
 and grofs Interpreters. Let their Ufe be ever fo 
 perfect, it is always a Degree of Humiliation to a 
 a Devil created to be a pure Spirit, and of courfe 
 to know and perceive in a much more perfect 
 Manner. For this Reafon it was, that God has 
 not given Beafts Senfes of a coarfer kind than ours. 
 The Spirits which animate them are fufficiently 
 punifhed, by being made fubject to material 
 Senfes. It even feems that God, either to hum- 
 ble us alfo, or to caufe the Variety of his Produc- 
 tions to be admired, has been pleafed to give fome 
 Beafts Organs and Senfations much nicer and 
 more perfect than ours. For Inftance, the Birds 
 of Prey have fo piercing an Eye, the Dog fb ex- 
 quifite a Smell, the Spider fo fubtile a Feeling, 
 that no Man can come up to them in theie 
 Points. 
 
 The extreme Littlenefs of an infinite Number 
 of Beafts (It is ftill the Author that fpeaks) might 
 impofe upon fuch Perfons as have not fufficiently 
 reflected on the Nature of Things. How ! will 
 one lay, is it poffible to believe that a D^vil 
 can be lodged in a Fly, a Flea, or a Mite ? But 
 how ! might not he be as well lodged there as in a 
 Horfe or an Ox ? A Spirit having abfolutely no 
 Extenfion, in order to be united to a Body does 
 not require that this Body be more or lefs exten- 
 five. The very minuteft Quantity of Matter is 
 enough for him, provided it be organized: and 
 there is none, tho' ever fo fmall, but what might 
 be fo. God might have made Man as little as 
 the minuteft Infect -, and if he had done it our 
 Souls would not value themfelves the lefs, or 
 
 think 
 
t H J 
 
 think themfelves the lefs happily lodged On thaf 
 account. The Reafon is, becaufc there is no ab- 
 folute Magnitude in the World. A Flea in itfelf 
 is neither large norfmall. It is fmall only with 
 regard to us who are infinitely larger, and it is 
 large with regard to a Multitude of other 
 Creatures which are a Million of Times minuter. 
 All this proves, that Ignorance alone or fome 
 farfe Prejudices can make us (et between Beafts 
 any Diftinclion or Preference founded on their 
 large or little Size. It is not, therefore, more 
 difficult to think that a Devil may be united to 
 the Body of a Fly than to that of an Elephant ; 
 and to a Spirit it is indeed a Thing abfolutely 
 indifferent. 
 
 As to thefecond Queftion, added the Author, 
 concerning what becomes of the Devils after the 
 Death of Beafts, it rs again very eafy to be an- 
 fwered. Pythagoras taught formerly, and at this 
 Day fome Indian Philofophers believe the Me- 
 tempjycofis ; that is are of Opinion, that at the Mo- 
 ment of our Death our Souls pals into the Body 
 of a Man or a Bead, to begin a new Life again, 
 and fo fuccefllvely till the end of Ages. This 
 Syftem which is unwarrantable with regard to 
 Men, and is befides profcribed by Religion, is 
 admirably well fuited to Beafts in the Syftem I 
 have here propofed, and dairies neither with Re- 
 ligion nor with Reafon. The Devils, by God ap- 
 pointed to be Biafts, necefTarily out-live their 
 Bodies, and would ceafe to anfwer their Deftina- 
 tion, if at the Moment of the Deftruftion of their 
 flrft Body they patted not immediately into ano- 
 ther, to begin to live a-new under another Form. 
 Thus fuch or luch a Devil, after having been a 
 Cat or a Goat, is forced to pafs into the Embryo 
 of a Bird, a Filh, or a Butter-Fly, to animate 
 
 them. 
 
[ 2 5 ] 
 
 them. Happy thole who light upon a good 
 Lodging, as many Birds, Horfes, and Dogs do ; 
 and woe to fuch as become Beafts of Burden, or 
 the Hunter's Game. It is a kind of Lottery, in 
 which the Devils very likely have not themfelves 
 the Choice of their Lots. 
 
 It might be thought however, that they never 
 change their Species, and that the Devil which 
 had once been a Horfe, is always to be a Horfe 
 again. But this Opinion would be % liable to very 
 great Difficulty. For as the Species of Beafts 
 oftentimes increafe and diminifh upon the Earth, 
 it would thence follow, either that there would 
 be fomedmes too few Devils to fupply a certain 
 Species, or fometimes too many, fo that fome 
 would remain in Relays and without Imployment, 
 which is not likely ; whereas by admitting a ge- 
 neral Metempfycofis, you prevent all Difficulties. 
 
 All Kinds of Beafts moll commonly produce a 
 much greater Number of Eggs or Embryos than 
 is neceflary to perpetuate them in the fame Num- 
 ber. Therefore the Devils, whom God has de- 
 (lined to animate them, never want Imployment 
 or Lodging. For if any Species happens to fail 
 or be confiderably diminished, they may pafs into . 
 the Eggs of another and multiply that. This 
 is what fomedmes caufes thofe prodigious Clouds 
 of Locufts, and thofe innumerable Swarms of 
 Caterpillars, which lay wafte our Fields and 
 Gardens. We look into Cold or Heat, Rains or 
 Winds, for the Caufe of thefe amazing Multipli- 
 cations, and the true Reafon is, that in the Year 
 they come, or in the foregoing, an extraordinary 
 Number of Deer, Birds or Fifties have perilhed 
 with all their Eggs; fo that the Devils which 
 animated them have been obliged, fuddenly, to 
 get into the very firft Species they found difpofed 
 
 P t 9 
 
[ '6 ] 
 
 to receive them, and which had as it were fo many 
 Routes to be let. 
 
 In fhort, concluded the Author, you fee, that 
 the more this Syftem is fearched into, the more 
 you find in it fome of thefe .Characters of Probabi- 
 lity which ftrike and perfuade us. It is a Source 
 pf extraordinary Oblervations, which fatisfies our 
 Curiofity. I find the Foundations of it in Re- 
 ligion itfelf. Reafon fupplies me with the moft 
 likely Proof of it, and Prejudices can oppofe to 
 it none but frivolous Difficulties. Can a Man 
 refufe his Approbation of a Syftem fo plaufible 
 and fo well fupported on every Side ? 
 
 I know not, Madam, what You will think of 
 a Syftem fo new and fo very lingular. But I mult 
 tell you that its very great Singularity was mighty 
 agreeable to the whole Company ; fome took it 
 meerly for a Piece of Wit and an ingenious 
 Pleafantry ; others look'd upon it as a Syftem 
 that deferved to be ferioufly believed. For my 
 part, as you know I am a perfect Pyrrhonian in 
 Point of Syftems -, I was contented with giving 
 the Author the Praifes, which good Breeding re : 
 quires in a Cafe like this, without explaining my- 
 felf farther. The Truth is that I knew and full 
 know not what to think of it. For on the 
 one hand I find that the Syftem very well an- 
 swers all Difficulties, and that it would be no 
 eafy Matter to prove it falfe. But on the other 
 hand I don't fee it built upon Foundations fuffj- 
 jpiendy fblid to produce a real Perfuafion. And 
 as it befides concerns fome Points of Religion, I 
 think it would be a Rafhnefs to efpoufe' it with- 
 out the tacit ' Confcnt at leaft of the Doctors. 
 pur Abbe was not fo Circumfpect as I. He would 
 heeds return to the Charge. The Author let 
 }iim fpeak long enough, and then was preparing 
 ' • to 
 
[ 2 7 1 
 
 to give an Anfwer. On this Play was propofed. 
 The two Champions retired in a corner of the 
 Room, to continue their Difpute, and I could 
 not hear their Arguments. 
 
 But I take notice that here is already much 
 Writing, and not one Word mentioned of the 
 principal Queftion you made me upon the Lan- 
 guage of Beafts. Let us then make ah End of 
 this firfl Difcufllon, and refume our Pfopofitions. 
 It is certain that Beafts have an intelligent Faculty, 
 be the Principle of it what it will. It is a Fact 
 fb generally confeffed by all Men, that I did not 
 fo much go about proving it to you as I intended 
 to amufe you by expofing the feveral Opinions. 
 Let us therefore examine now whether they fpeak 
 Or no. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Of the Necejftty of a "Language be-* 
 tiueen Beasts. 
 
 FIRST, ht us evidence the Poflibility of it. 
 In the common Ufe, what we call fpeaking 
 is making one's felf underftood by a fequel of 
 Words articulated j whereby Men have agreed to 
 exprels fuch an Idea or Sentiment ; and the total 
 Collection' of thefe Words is what we call a Lan- 
 guage, which is different among different Nati- 
 ons. If Beafts fpeak, they certainly do it not by 
 means of a Language of this Kind. But it is im- 
 poffible, without this Afliftartce, to make one's felf 
 underftood, and to fpeak in reality ? OT this we 
 cannot poflibly doubt. Angels fpeak to each 
 other; and yet have no Voice. Let us lay afide 
 D 2 what 
 
what is fupernatural. When we are pleafed, every, 
 thing in us fpeaks. Do we not every Day fpeak 
 by certain Looks, by a Motion of the Head* 
 a Gefture, nay ! The lead Sign in the World ? 
 Imagine to yourfelf, Madam, a Nation of Dumb- 
 People. Do you think they would not deliver 
 their Minds to each other, and by Cries, Geftures, 
 Looks, and Poftures, fupply the Want of our 
 Words and Phrafes ? For my Part, I think th ey 
 would live very well in a Society like ourfelves, 
 and that after the firfl among them fhould have 
 with fome Difficulty eftabliihed fome fenfible Signs* 
 and Exprefiions, they would eafily teach them to 
 their Children : That thefe would improve more 
 and more in this way of expreffing themfelves, 
 and by degrees would form, not indeed a Tongue, 
 but a very diftincl: Language, and as intelligi- 
 ble to them as our Dialects are to us. Of this 
 we have fuch amazing Inftances, that it is im- 
 poffible to call it in Queition •, and I mail even 
 maintain, that the fame Idea being expreflible 
 many different ways, there might pofllbly be in 
 fuch a Language a Choice of Exprefiions, Energy, 
 Eloquence, Simplicity, Metaphors, and perhaps 
 even Affectation. No doubt but there would al- 
 io be Oblcurity and Equivocations in it : But 
 where are thefe not to be found ? Let us then ap- 
 ply this Example to Beafts. They have no 
 Tongues ; but why fhould they not have a Speech ? 
 The thing evidently is poflible : Let us now exa- 
 mine whether it is necelfary. 
 
 All Beafts, it muft be owned, have a knowing 
 Faculty : Nor do we fee that the Author of Na- 
 ture can have given them this Faculty, for any 
 other Purpofe that to inable them to provide for 
 their Wants, their Prefervation, and whatever is 
 fit for their Condition, and fuitable to the pecu- 
 liar 
 
C 29 ] 
 
 liar kind of Life he has appointed for them. Let 
 us add to this Principle, that many Species of 
 Beafts are made to live in Society at large, and the 
 others either to live Male and Female in a kind 
 of Houfe-keeping, or in a kind of Family with their 
 Young till they are brought up. A few Excep- 
 tions, which might be Oppofed to this general 
 Law, are not to be accounted any thing. To be- 
 gin now by mentioning the firft Species only : 
 What Ufe do we conceive Beafts might make 
 their Underftanding for the Prefervation and Well- 
 fare of their Society, and of courfe for their own 
 peculiar Good refulting therefrom, if the Mem- 
 bers of that Society have not among themfelves a 
 common Language perfectly known to every one 
 of them ? Let us refume the Example of a Nati- 
 on of dumb People, and fuppofe that befides the 
 want of Speech, Nature has even refufed them 
 all poflible Means of communicating theirThoughts 
 to one another : What ufe could they make of 
 their Knowledge and Underftanding ? It is plain 
 that being able neither to underftand nor to be 
 underftood, they could neither afford nor receive 
 any Help from the Society. Far from mutually 
 affifting each other, they neceffarily muft be in 
 a perpetual Oppofition. The Diftruft would be ge- 
 neral. Injuries, Hatred, and Revenge, would break 
 all Principles of Union between them, and they 
 being loon changed into wild Beafts, would think 
 of nothing but deftroying each other. In a Word, 
 no more Communication, no more Society. 
 
 It would be much the fame thing with die 
 Beafts which live in Society, if you luppofe that 
 they have not a Language among themfelves to 
 underftand each other, be it what will, you can 
 no longer conceive how their Society could fubfift. 
 Let us take the Beavers for an Inftance. Theie 
 
 Animals 
 
t 30 ] 
 
 Animals, to be under Covert and Secure, live m 
 fmali Huts of Clay, which they build for them- 
 felves with amazing Dexterity on the Border of 
 a Lake, and fet upon Piles. But they have found 
 that, as they flood in need of each other's Help 
 to build their Dwellings, they rriuft of courjte live 
 fa Society. They then get thirty, forty, more 
 or lefs together, and after they have pitched up- 
 on a Soil fit for their Habitation, and where 
 they hope to live more conveniently and fecure, 
 they divide among themfelVes the Works neceflTa- 
 ry for the Conftruction of their Abodes. Some 
 go a : nd fetch the Wood : Others provide the 
 Clay which fome of them are commiffioned to 
 bring, and this by lying upon their Back withr • 
 their Paws up, as we know they do, to make a 
 fort of Cart of their Body, which the others drag 
 along to the Place where it is to be ufed. There 
 one does the Part Of a Mafon, another that of 
 a Labourer, and a third that of an Architecture. 
 A Tree h firft cut at the Root, and falls into the 
 Lake. This done, other Artificers work it: 
 Some prepare the Piles, others drive them into 
 the Ground, while others are forming the feve- 
 fal Timbers neccflary. All is done orderly and 
 in perfect Concert. You would think you fiw the 
 Syrians building the City of Carthage. , The lazy 
 or the froward are undoubtedly punifhed. The 
 Centries faithfully do their Duty. The Work 
 is carried on to Perfection. It is the Admiration 
 of Men them'felves ; and then the little Corpora- 
 tion quietly injoying the Benefit of their Work, 
 no longer have any other Thought, but that of 
 living eafy, and of multiplying their Species each 
 in his little Family. 
 
 Does not fo coherent and fo well executed ah 
 Underfhnding evidently intimate the Neceffity of 
 
 a Lan- 
 
[ 3> 3 
 
 a Language among thefe Animals, and their 
 having a Speech whereby they mutually commu- 
 nicate their Thoughts to each other ? Pray ? 
 Madam, confider what is faid of the Tower of 
 Babel. The Means God made ufe of to make 
 that extravagant Project abortive (a fure and infal- 
 lible Means indeed !) was the Confufion of their 
 Languages. The Workmen having all on a 
 fudden forgot the common Language which 
 they fpoke before, and being no longer able to 
 understand each other, became incapable of act* 
 ing in concert, and were obliged to give over 
 their Enterprize. The fame mu'ft happen to any 
 Society whofe Members mall not be able to un- 
 derftand one another. Bring thirty People to- 
 gether fpeaking each a different Language, and 
 you will foon fee Diforder and Confufion among 
 them. What would then happen, if thefe thirty 
 ^People could not fpeak at all, and had no Means 
 left of delivering theirThoushtsr* Let usfuppofe the 
 Beavers to be really in that Condition; what wou'd 
 be the Confequence ? I fee in a Moment all the 
 Society difordered ; without Chief, without Su- 
 bordination, without Counfel, without Concert. 
 I fee all the Works which require the Affiftance 
 of many Hands, neceffarily abandoned. No more 
 Centinels that watch for the public Safety : No 
 dwelling in Common. Every one, as in the 
 Tower of Babel^ mail retire and live by himfelf, 
 in fhort no more Society. 
 
 Cannot Inftinct, fome will fay, fupply the Want 
 pf a Language ? Two Beavers meet and join to- 
 gether, becaufe their Inftincl; inclines them to- 
 wards forming a Society. A third, then a fourth, 
 and many others fucceflively come and increafc 
 the Company: The Society is formed. The fame 
 f nftinct inclines them to go and fetch Wood and 
 
 Earth 
 
[ 32] 
 
 Earth to build their Huts, juft as Birds go and 
 fetch what is necefiary to build their Nefts. If 
 they feem to divide the Work among them, it is 
 becaufe fome of them feeing the others bring the 
 Earth, in their Turn go and fetch Wood ; and 
 likewife when they fee part of them bufy about 
 preparing the Mortar ; they, not to remain idle, 
 bufy themfelves in working the Wood. All this 
 it feems requires no more than Eyes and Inftinct. 
 If you fee Centinels placed upon the Avenues, it 
 is becaule in a Troop there is always fome one 
 more Timorous or Prudent than the reft, who 
 makes the Precautions he ufes for his own Safety 
 ferve for the Utility of others. 
 
 The Objection has fomething fpecious in it, 
 but it muft be examined to the Bottom. What 
 is Inftinct ? It is a Sentiment void of Reflection, 
 whofe Principle is unknown ; a blind D^fire, an 
 undeliberate Biafs, a mechanick Motion of our 
 Soul, which prompts us to do a Thing without 
 knowing any Reafon why. This Sentiment, if 
 there is iuch a Thing, is commonly fo intricate 
 in Men, that it remains without Effect : Only it 
 is thought to produce very lingular Effects in fome 
 of them. It is wonderful in Beafts, they fay, and 
 by it their mod admirable Actions are explained. 
 Nothing in reality is more convenient than this 
 Inftinct. But when will Men ceafe to miftake 
 Words for Things ? i . What we call Inftinct is 
 fomething very obfcure and unknown in itfelf. 
 •2. What Proofs have we that Beafts have more 
 of this Jnftinct than Men ? The Prejudices in this 
 Point have been carried fo far as to believe, that 
 Inftinct in Beafts is preferable to Reafon in Men. 
 But upon what Foundation is human Reafon thus 
 degraded to do honour to the Inftinct of Beafts ? 
 'Tis true, we fee Birds making their Nefts with 
 
 very 
 
t 33 ] 
 
 very great Induftry. We fee fome Animals purge 
 themlelves by means of certain Herbs which they 
 find out. The Sparrows likewife purge themfelves 
 and their Young with Spiders or other Infects. 
 
 The Pidgeons and many Birds fwallow Gravel 
 to facilitate their Digeftion. The Storks, they 
 fay, taught Man the Ufe of Clifters. Thefe are 
 fome of the moft wonderful Effects of the pre- 
 tended Inftinct of Beafts. For we muft not give 
 Credit to many Fables that are fet about concern- 
 ing this Matter j and I fee in all this nothing fie 
 to be cried up. 3. But fince we cannot refufe 
 Beafts a knowing Faculty, why do we give then! 
 a heedlefs Inftinct ? Why fhould we attribute to 
 this unknown Inftinct what may be the fimple 
 ErTeft of their Underftanding ; and fince it is 
 really in confequence of a Knowing Faculty that 
 Man performs the fame Operations, why fhould not 
 the fame Principle alfo rule in Beafts ? Is not this 
 what we call multiplying Beings without Neceflity, 
 and indeavouring to throw a Veil upon a Thing 
 in itfelf plain and perfpicuous ? For my part, I 
 am perfuaded that what we believe Beafts do by 
 an Inftinct peculiar to them, they like ourfclves 
 do it in Confequence of their Knowledge, and 
 with Knowledge. I am even apt to think that 
 what we call Inftinct is a meer Ens Rationis, a 
 Name void of reality, a Remain of Peripatetic 
 Philofophy. But if InftincT: muft be admitted, 
 I never will believe that Beafts are better pro- 
 vided with it than Men, fo long as no other Ar- 
 gument fhall be brought to prove it than Facts 
 which I can account for from fimple Knowledge > 
 and if that Inftinct is not Efficient to Man to 
 guide him, it muft of courfe be ftill Iefs fumcient 
 
 to Beafts. 
 
 I 
 
[ 3+] 
 
 1 then refume my Example and my Argu- 
 ment. If it is not by particular Inftinct that Bea- 
 vers make their little Settlements in fo much 
 Concert, they then do it in confequence of their 
 Knowledge. Now I have proved by the Suppo- 
 fition of a whole Nation of People abfolutely 
 Dumb, that a knowing Faculty without a reci- 
 procal Communication by means of a fenfible and 
 well-known Language, is not fufEcient to main- 
 tain Society, or to execute any Undertaking that 
 requires Union and Concert. Let us then con- 
 clude that, fince Nature, which always ac~b with 
 fo much Wifdom, has made the Beavers to live 
 in Society : fhe has given them all the Means 
 neceflTary for that Purpofe, and of courfe the Fa- 
 culty of Speaking, let their Language be what it 
 will ; fince it is impoffible for any Society to lubfift 
 without this Help. And as Nature every where 
 follows the fame Rules, let us apply this Argu- 
 ment t-o the Bees, the Ants, -and all Kinds of 
 Beads that live in Society •, and by that Means a 
 eonfiderable Part of them muft be indowed with 
 the Faculty of Speech. 
 
 But can the fame Thing be faid of the Beafts 
 which do not live in Society ? Such are the major 
 Part of the Quadrupeds, the Birds, the Fifties, 
 the Reptiles, which are undeniably the greater 
 Number. I don't know, Madam, whether you 
 perceive the Confequence of the firft Step I have 
 juft now ventured to make. For if there are any 
 Beafts that fpeak, they muft of neceffity all of them 
 fpeak. If Beavers and Parrots have a Language, 
 the Oyfter and Snail muft have theirs alfo. I am, 
 as it were, engaged in a dangerous Defilee, all 
 the Avenues of which are guarded by the ftrongeft 
 Prejudices. But in the Land of Syftems, as well 
 as in others, the firft Step is often the only 
 
 difficult 
 
[ 35 J 
 
 difficult. I have proved, methinks, with Pro- 
 bability enough, that the Beafts living in So- 
 ciety mull needs have a Language I am next to 
 extend the Propofition to all the other Species of 
 Beafls. 
 
 And indeed, why fhould Nature have refufed 
 to Some of them a Privilege it has granted to 
 the Reft? Nothing would be more contrary to 
 the Uniformity fhe affects in all her Productions. 
 I know that Nature, which is as Sparing in Super- 
 fluities as fhe is Prodigal in things Neceffary, does 
 nothing in vain. But it is not neceffary that a 
 Couple of Beafts joined to form a Houfhold and 
 a Family together, a Couple of Birds for in- 
 stance, be able to underftand and mutually to im- 
 part their Sentiments and Thoughts to each 
 other ? Bring together and affociate two People 
 abfolutly Dumb, I defy the Union to fubfift, if 
 -they have no Means left of agreeing about their 
 Affairs, and of expreffing their mutual Wants. 
 Two Sparrows without any kind of Language, 
 will lye under the fame Impoftibility of living to- 
 gether, and all the Inconveniences of the dumb 
 Society I have mentioned, will be feen in their 
 little Family. In a Word, the Neceflity of a 
 Language between a Husband and his Wife, to 
 inable them to live together, is juft the fame as 
 for a whole Society. 
 
 Nature, without any Impoftibility, might have 
 made fome Animals to live in an abfolute Solitude, 
 and accordingly have given them both Sexes, to 
 be able to multiply themfelves as Plants do, with- 
 out the.Afliftance of Copulation, and differently 
 from Snails and Worms^ whiph, though they have 
 both Sexes, cannot ufe them any otherwife than 
 by coupling. If you fuppofe that there are Beafts 
 cf this kind in the Univerle, I fhall readily con- 
 E 2 fefc 
 
[ 36] 
 
 fefs that Nature, had fhe indowed them with the 
 Faculty of Speaking, would have given them a 
 needlefs Talent. But wherever two Beafts fhall 
 ftand in an habitual Need of each other, and form 
 among them a lading Society, they of necefiity 
 mud fpeak to each other. How is it to be con- 
 ceived, that two Sparrows in the Heat of their 
 Luff, or in the Cares attending the bringing up 
 of their Family, have not a thoufand Things to 
 fay to each other ? This would be the Place of 
 inlivening our Subject by curious Particularities. 
 But my Intention is not to make a philofophical 
 "Work 'degenerate into Buffoonry. You fee I 
 infift upon none but folid Arguments, and I fay 
 it is impoflible in the Order of Nature, that a 
 Sparrow who loves his Wife, has not, in order to 
 perfuade her, a Language full of Expreffion and 
 Tendernefs. He mud fcold her when fhe plays 
 the Coquet : He muft menace the Sparks that 
 come to cajole her: He muft be able to under- 
 ftand her when me calls him: He muft, while fhe 
 is aftiduoufly fitting on her Brood, be able to pro- 
 vide Neceflaries for her, and difcern whether it is 
 forne Food fhe asks for, or Feathers to repair 
 her Nell ; for all which Things a Language 
 is neceflary. 
 
 Many Beafts, one will fiy, have not a fettled 
 ana permanent Houfhold like Birds: (For by the 
 bye Birds are the Model of conjugal Conftancy 
 and Fidelity :) This I very well know, and their 
 Number is even very great. Such are Dogs, 
 Horles, Deer, and almoft all Quadrupeds, Fillies 
 and Reptiles. But I fhall always infift upon a 
 Principle granted and acknowledged as certain. 
 Nature is too much like herfelf in Productions of 
 one and the fime Genus, to have put between 
 B-afts fo efTential a Difference or that of fpcaking 
 
 or 
 
[ 37 1 
 
 or not fpeaking at all would be. Upon this 
 Principle it is, that though we hardly know the 
 Seeds of Coral, of Mufhrooms, of Truffles, and of 
 Fern, we are neverthelefs perfuaded that thele 
 Plants proceed from Seeds ; becaufe it is the 
 Manner in which Nature produces all die reft. 
 Let us then conclude, that if Nature has given 
 the Beads living in Society and in a Family the 
 Faculty of Speaking -, ihe doubtlefs has beflowed 
 the fame Advantage upon all the reft. For we 
 are not now upon one of thofe accidental Diffe- 
 rences which Nature loves to diverfify in the dif- 
 ferent Species of one Genus. There are not per- 
 haps in the whole World two Faces perfect'y 
 alike i but yet all Men* have a Face. There are 
 among the feveral Species' of Animals Differences 
 ftill greater. Some have Wings, others have 
 Fins, others have Feet and Legs. The Serpents 
 have none of thefe : But all Animals have the 
 Faculty of moving and of tranfporting themielves 
 wherever they pleafe according to their Wants. 
 Among Animals there are fome who fee and hear 
 more or lefs perfectly, but yet they all hear and 
 fee. It is the lame thing with the Faculty of 
 Speech. This Faculty perhaps is more perfect in 
 the Beafts which live in Society and form Fa- 
 milies ; But it being in fbme, we muft believe it 
 to be in all of them, but more or lefs perfect 
 according to their respective Wants. 
 
 It is even obfervable, that the Animals who 
 live neither in Society nor in a fettled Family, yet 
 have in each Species a Sort of Commerce and 
 Society among themfelves. Such are the Qua- 
 drupeds, the Fifhes, the Reptiles, the Birds 
 themfelves independently of their Houfhold, as 
 Starlings, Partridges, Ravens, Ducks, and Hens. 
 [Now, what Utility cpuld Beafts fetch from en- 
 deavouring 
 
[38] 
 
 dcavouring to live in Society one with another, 
 if they did it not for mutual Afliftance, and reci- 
 procally to have the Benefit of their Knowledge, 
 Difcoveries, and of all the Helps they can afford 
 each other ; and how could they do fo, if they 
 underftand not one another ? All the Arguments 
 I have already ufed to prove that the Beads which 
 live in Society muft have a Language, here again 
 find their Place and their whole Energy. All 
 the Difference muft be only in the Degrees of 
 Plus and Minus^ and if we judge of this from 
 Matters of Facl:, probably there is no Difference 
 at all. 
 
 The Wolves, for inftance, hunt with very great 
 Skill, and together contrive warlike Stratagems. 
 A Man eroding a Field faw a Wolf who feemed 
 to be watching a Flock of Sheep. He informed 
 the Shepherd of it, and advifed him to caufe this 
 Animal to be purfued by his Dogs. I fhan't be 
 (uch a Fool replied the Shepherd -, The Wolf yon- 
 der is there only to divert my Attention, and 
 another Wolf who is working on the other Side, 
 only watches the Moment when I fhall fet my 
 Dogs upon this, to fnatch one of my Sheep from 
 me. The Man who was going by, willing to be 
 fatisfied of the Facl, promifed to pay for the 
 Sheep, and the Thing happened juft as the Shep T 
 herd had faid it would. Does not a Stratagem fo 
 well concerted evidently fuppofe, that the two 
 Wolves had agreed together, one to fhew and the 
 other to hide himfelf ? Now how is it poffible to 
 agree in this Manner without the Help of Speech ? 
 
 A Sparrow finding a Neft which a Swallow had 
 jnft built Handing very convenient for him, pofleft 
 himfelf of it. The Swallow feeing the Ufurper 
 in her Houfe called for Help to expel him. A 
 thoufand Swallows came full fpeed and attacked 
 
 the 
 
[ 39] 
 
 the Sparrow : But the Latter being covered on 
 every Side, and prefenting only his large Beak at 
 the narrow Entrance of the Ned, was invulne- 
 rable and made the boldeft of them who durft 
 approach him to repent their Temerity. After 
 a Quarter of an Hour's Combat all the Swallows 
 dhappeared. The Sparrow thought he had got 
 the better, and the Spectators judged that the 
 Swallows had abandoned the Undertaking. Not 
 in the leaft. Immediately we law them return 
 to the Charge % and each of them having pro- 
 vided a little of that tempered Earth where- 
 with they make their Neds, they all at once fell 
 upon the Sparrow, and inclofed him in the 
 Ned, to perifh there, fince they could not drive 
 him thence. Do you believe, Madam, that the 
 Swallows have been able to hatch and concert 
 this Defign all of them together, without (peak- 
 ing to each other ? 
 
 Wonders are recounted of the Monkies when 
 they go o' Plundering. A Troop of Soldiers that 
 goes o' Forraging in the Neighbourhood of the 
 Enemy, cannot march in greater Order or with 
 more Precaution. I could mention a thoufand 
 like Indances : But this would require a Volume ; 
 and I aim only at fupporting my Argument. Men 
 hitherto have always made ufe of thefe Examples 
 to prove that Beads have a knowing Faculty ; 
 and they have been in the right fb to do, becaufe 
 it is really unconceiveable that Beads can do fuch 
 lingular Actions without Knowledge. But we 
 evidently have not fufficiently examined into the 
 Cafe, and it being equally impoffible for Beads 
 to do thefe Actions without Speaking, we are 
 moreover obliged to conclude that they alfo fpeak 
 to one another. Now, Madam, I would beg of 
 you here to ohferve, that this is not an Opinion 
 
 or 
 
[40 J 
 
 or a Syftem founded upon meer Conjectures of 
 probable Explications, but an Argument fupport- 
 ed by fenfible and palpable Facts. I fay fenfible' 
 Matters of Fact, fuch as thefe I have juft alledg- 
 cd, and a thoufand the like in every Kind. Enter' 
 into a Wood where there are a Parcel of Jays. The 
 firft who fees you gives the Alarm to the whole 
 Troop, and the Noife continues till you are gone, 
 or till your Prefence has made them fly off. Mag- 
 pies, Blackbirds, and almoft all the feathered Kinds 
 do the fame. Let a Cat but fhew herfelf upon the 
 topofaHoufe cr in a Garden; the very firft 
 Sparrow that perceives her, exactly does what a 
 Centinel who fees the Enemy does among us. He 
 by his Cries warns all his Companions, and feems 
 to imitate the Noife of a Drum beating a March. 
 See a Cock near his Hen, a Dove near the Female 
 he is woeing, a Cat following his Mate, there fs 
 no end of their Difcourfes. 
 
 Nor would, there be any End of mine, if I 
 were to leave no Particularity untouched, and yet 
 I intend to fet Bounds to this little Work. I 
 mail add but one important Reflection, which in 
 my Opinion is a kind of Demonftration. We 
 every Day fpeak to Beafts and they underftand 
 us very well. The Shepherd makes himfelf un- 
 derftood by his Sheep. The Cows underftand all 
 the Milk-maid fays to them. We fpeak to our 
 Horles, Dogs, and Birds, and they underftand 
 us. Beafts in their turn fpeak to us, and we un- 
 derftand them. 
 
 How much more muft they make themfelves 
 underftood by their Like ! For with regard to 
 them we can have no other than a foreign Lan- 
 guage ; and if Nature has enabled them to under- 
 ftand a foreign Language, how can fhe have 
 refjfed them the Faculty of Underftanding and- 
 
 Speaking, 
 
f 4i J 
 
 Speaking, a natural one. Your Bitch, for in- 
 ftance, has a great deal of Wit, you converfe 
 with her all day long : You underftand her, and 
 me undcrftands you : But you may be fure that 
 when a Dog comes to carefs her, fhe underftands 
 and is underflood by him ftill much better. 
 
 Confefs then, Madam, that Beafls fpeak, and 
 that it is fit to believe it, fince Reafon, the 
 Laws of Nature, Matters of Fact, and Expe 
 rience, all concur to prove it to a Degree of Evi- 
 dence capable of fixing our Uncertainty in that 
 Point. However, I don't know whether I have 
 perfuaded you. For I never knew any thing fb 
 difficult in the World, as to perfuade any one of 
 a Sentiment which he has not himfelf fetched from 
 his own Lights ; unlefs it flatters Self-love. But 
 you will own at leaft, that my Opinion is fuffi- 
 ciently fupported, to have a Place among the fe- 
 veral Syftems that fill up the Leifure of Philoib- 
 phers. Another Confeffion which I require of 
 you, and which fhall be infinitely more agreeable 
 to me, is, that you cannot but be fatisfied with 
 my Complaifance •, and to leave you nothing to 
 defire on this Point, I fhall here proceed and 
 treat on the third and laft Point remaining to be 
 examined. 
 
 III. 
 
 Of the Language c/Beasts. 
 
 DO you expect, Madam, that becaufe I am 
 perfuaded that Beafls fpeak ; I muft ex- 
 plain their Language to you, and give you a 
 Dictionary of it ? I own the Thing aopears very 
 
 F difficult 
 
[42 ] 
 
 difficult to me^ and I am at no final! lofs how to 
 begin. I fhall go back to our Principle ; and fol- 
 lowing the Order of the different Reflexions 
 which this Subject fhall fuggeft, I fhall do all you 
 can reafonably require for the clearing of this 
 Matter. But you are to expect none but general 
 Obfervations ; for Particularities would here de- 
 generate into downright Buffoonry. 
 
 Why has Nature given Beads the Faculty of 
 Speech ? Why, to no other End but that they 
 might exprefs their Defires and Sentiments one to 
 another, and by that Means fupply their Wants 
 and whatever is neceffary for their Prefervation. 
 I know that Language in general has ftill another 
 Intention, which is to exprefs Ideas, Knowledge, 
 Reflexions, and Arguments. But whatever Sy- 
 ftem we follow as to the Knowledge of Beafts, 
 even though it were my Syftem of Devils which 
 gives them a fpiritual Soul capable of reafoning •, 
 it it is certain that Nature indowed them with 
 no other Knowledge but that which is ufeful and 
 neceffary for the Prefervation of the Species and 
 of each Individual. Confequently, no abftract 
 Ideas, no metaphyfical Realbnings, no various 
 Refearches upon all the Objects which furround 
 them, no other Science in fhort but that of being 
 in Health, of Self-prefervation, of avoiding what- 
 ever can hurt, and of procuring whatever can be 
 beneficial to them. Therefore none of them was 
 ever feen making Speeches in public, or dilut- 
 ing about Caufes and their Effects. They know 
 no other than the animal Life. 
 
 From this Reflection flows another, viz. that at 
 the fame Time that Nature has confined the 
 Knowledge of Beafts within fo narrow a Compafs, 
 fhe of Neceflity has alfb proportion ably confined 
 their Defires, their Pailions, and of courfe their 
 
 Wants. 
 
[ +3 ] 
 
 Wants. For it is our Defires that make our 
 Wants, and Knowledge that gives birth to our 
 Defires. To know that one may be happy and 
 to wifh to be fo, is in the Heart of Man but one 
 and the fame Thing. Before he had finned, 
 his Eyes were (hut to all worldly and fenfible 
 Goods. r He had no Defire for them. Sin open- 
 ed his Eyes, and to his Misfortune he coveted 
 thefe Goods. Happy the wife Man who knows 
 how to reflrain his Defires within the Bounds pre- 
 ferred by Religion and Reafon. No more of 
 your Morality, you will fay, let us come to the 
 Point. 
 
 Glory, Grandeur, Riches, Reputation, Pagean- 
 try, and Luxury, are Names unknown to B^afts, 
 and which you will not find in the Dictionary 
 of their Language. They can exprefs nothing 
 but their Defires, and thefe are limited purely to 
 what is neceffary for their Prefervation. Hear a 
 Dog Ipeak. He never will complain that his 
 Kennel is not gilt, or his Meat not offered him in 
 a Silver Dim. He never will fue for the Privir 
 ledge of commanding all the Dogs in the Houfe. 
 All he will ask from you is a fmall Portion of 
 Food to fubfift on. If you menace him, he will 
 endeavour to appeafe you. If you leave him alone, 
 by his Cries he will exprefs his Defpair, and the 
 Apprehenfion he is under of being abandoned for 
 ever. If you take him with you o' walking, he will 
 thank you with a thoufand Expreffions of Joy. 
 If he fees any Object that frightens him, he will 
 by his Motions and Barkings inform you of it. 
 In fhort fpeakto him of eating, drinking, fleep- 
 ing, running, fooling, of defending himfelf a- 
 gainft his Enemy, and of defending you as his 
 Protector and only Support, he will underftand 
 and anfwer you yery well, becaufe all this tends 
 F 2 to 
 
[ 4+ ] 
 
 to his Prefervation, for which alone Nature has 
 given him the Faculty of Underftanding, and 
 that of making himfelf understood, that is of 
 fpeaking. But avoid treating with him about 
 Philofophy and Morality. It would be ufing a 
 foreign Language, to all the Expreflions of 
 which he is an abiblute Stranger. His Know- 
 ledge and Wants do not reach fo far ; but bring 
 a Bitch to him. They will foon get acquainted, 
 and the Converfation begin. Nor are you to ex- 
 pect that he will lofe Time, in making Compli- 
 ments to the Fair upon her Beauty, her Shape, 
 Wit, Extraction and Youth. All thefe Advan- 
 tages are to him fo many unknown Ideas, which 
 he can neither underftand nor exprefs. The on- 
 ly Thing that moves him at that Inftant is a 
 Defire of multiplying his Species, or at lead of 
 ufing the proper Means for it. On this only 
 Topick it is that the whole Converfation runs. 
 But then it is Life and Fire itfelf. In an amo- 
 rous Bead, every thing is as exprefTive as in the 
 mod paffionate Man. His Geftures, his Voice ? 
 his Motions, all in fhort fpeak his Paflion. 
 
 This Principle fupplies us with our firft Obfer- 
 vation upon the Language of Beafts, viz. that it 
 is very limited, fince it does not extend beyond the 
 NccerTaries of Life. However, let us not impofe 
 upon ourfelves with regard to this Point. To 
 take Things right, the Language of Beads ap- 
 pears fo limited to us only with Relation to ours, 
 which is perhaps too diffufe. Limited as it is, 
 it isfufficicnt to Beads, and more would be of no 
 fervice to them. Were it not to be wifhed, that 
 ours, at lead in fome refpedts, were lefs abundant 
 and prolix ? Men are naturally great Talkers 
 and, if I dare fay fo, blab much. They never 
 have Words enough to exprefs all they want to 
 
 fay. 
 
[ 45 1 
 
 &y. Not fatisfied with fimple Ideas, they love as 
 it were to difled: them into Sub-divifions ; they 
 fometimes Teem willing to anatomize an Idea or 
 a Sentiment, as a Surgeon would do a Man's 
 Head. So many Words muft of courle be new- 
 ly coined : And what Words too ! why, fuch as 
 are void of meaning, obfcure, equivocal, and fit- 
 ter to breed Difputes than to inftruct the Mind. 
 
 On the other Hand, how do Men abufe the 
 Facility of fpeaking Nature has given them ! 
 How many Errors and Falfhoods are the ordinary 
 Topicks of our Converfations ! How many Extra- 
 vagances and Trifles, Slanderings and wicked Dif- 
 courfes ! If Beads mould hear us converfe, prate, 
 lye, flander, and rave ; would .they have Reafon 
 to envy us the Uk we make of Speech ? They 
 have not our Priviledges ; but in recompenfe 
 they have not our Failings. They fpeak little, 
 but always to the purpofe, and that knowingly. 
 They always fpeak Truth, and never deceive, not 
 even in point of Love. And is not this an Ad- 
 vantage they have over us ? With regard to this, 
 they are nearly in the fame Cafe with the Peafants 
 in our Countries, and the Negroes and Savages of 
 America. I might even make Philofophers of 
 them, and compare at lead many of their Species 
 with Diogenes living in a little Tub, content with 
 bare Neceflaries, avoiding the Commerce of Men, 
 and never fpeaking but out of meer Neceflity. Such 
 is one of thofe great long wiskered and well-furred 
 Cats, which you fee quietly couching in a Corner, 
 leifurely digesting his Food, deeping at Difcretion, 
 fometimes taking the Diverfion of hunting, and 
 moreover injoying Life with Tranquility, without 
 minding the Events which ruffle us, and without 
 plaguing his Brains with a thoufand needlefs Re- 
 flecTions, nor caring to impart his own Thoughts 
 
 to 
 
[ 46 ] 
 
 to others. 'Tis true, the fight of a She Cat will 
 be fufficient to difconcert all his Philofophy ; but 
 are our Philofophers a whit wifer on the like Oc- 
 cafion ? 
 
 Let us however flick clofe to Truth. I intend 
 neither to be feduced nor to dazzle my own Eyes 
 by Arguments lefs folid than fpecious. Beads in 
 general fpeak little. There are even fome of fb 
 filent a Difpofition, that they won't drop four 
 Words a Day. Such are among thofe we know, 
 AfTes, Horfes, Oxen, Sheep, and the major Part of 
 the Quadrupeds. The Reafon is very plain. It 
 is becaufe Nature has given thefe Animals only a 
 Food fb very flight and eafy to be digefted, that 
 they are inceffantly obliged to renew it, in order 
 to prevent Hunger, and this takes up moft of 
 their Leifure. But in return you muft own, that 
 there are Animals which fpeak without the leaft 
 Intermiffion. Such are among others the Birds, 
 (and here I beg of you to obferve that it is the 
 Females who ipeak the leaft) As the Language 
 of Birds is, as I may fay, the befl articulated, 
 and the moft fenfible to us, let us take it for an 
 Example. From it you fhall be able to judge of 
 the Language of the other Beaits, by putting be- 
 tween them the Differences which are eafily ob- 
 ferved in each Species. 
 
 Birds Sing, they fay : But this is a Miftake. 
 Birds do not Sing but fpeak. What we take for 
 Singing is no more than their natural Language. 
 Do the Magpy, the Jay, the Raven, the Owl, and 
 the Duck Sing ? What makes us believe that they 
 Sing is their tuneful Voice. Thus the Hottentots 
 m/lfrica feem to cluck likeTurkey-cocks tho* it be 
 the natural Accent of their Language, and thus fc- 
 veral Nations feem to us to fing, when they in- 
 deed fpeak. Birds, if you will, Sing in the 
 
 fame 
 
[ 47 ] 
 
 fame Senfe ; but they fing not for finging's fake 
 as we fancy they do. Their Singing is always an 
 intended Speech ; and it is comical enough that 
 there fhould be thus in the World fo numerous 
 a Nation, which never fpeak otherwife but tuna- 
 bly and mufically. But in fhort, what do thefe 
 Birds fay ? The Queftion mould be propofed to 
 Apollonius Tyanaus, who boafted of understanding 
 their Language. As for me, who am no Diviner, 
 I can give you no more than probable Con- 
 jectures. 
 
 Let us take for our Example the Magyy,which 
 is fb great a Chatterer. It is eafy to perceive, 
 that her Difcourfes or Songs are varied. She 
 fbmetimes lowers or raifes her Voice, fometimes 
 haftens or flackens the Meafure, and fometimes 
 lengthens or fhortens her Chit-chat. And thefe 
 evidently are fo many different Sentences. Now 
 following the Rule I have laid down, that the 
 Knowledge, Defires, Wants, and of Courfe the 
 Expreflions of Beafts are confined to what is ufe- 
 fiil or neceffary for their Prefervation, methinks 
 nothing is more eafy than at firft, and in general 
 to underftand the meaning of thefe different 
 Phrafes. Nor muft you take this for Plea fan try -, 
 it is downright Truth, or atleaftwhat I thought 
 came nearefl to it. For a Magpy having no Speech 
 but what is ufeful or neceflary to her, whenever 
 fhe fpeaks do but obferve what Circumftance fhe 
 is in with regard to her Wants. Then reflect 
 what you would lay yourfelf in a like Situation, 
 and this will be exactly the very thing fhe fays. 
 For Inftance, if fhe fpeaks, eating with a good 
 Appetite, fhe infallibly fays at that time what 
 you would lay yourfelf on the like Occafion : 
 " That is very good •, that does me good ". If 
 you offer her fomething bad, fhe immediately 
 
 fays, 
 
[ 4« ] 
 
 fays, as you would yourfelf, <c This does not 
 * 4 pleafe me; this is not good for me". In a 
 Word, fuppofe yourfelf to be in the feveral Cir- 
 cum fiances of one who cannot exprefs any thing 
 but his Wants, and you will find in your own 
 Difcourfe the Interpretation of what a Magpy fays 
 in thofe Circumftances : " There is nothing more 
 to be had here. Let us go to fbme other 
 Place. Where are you o* going Mate ? I am 
 going •, follow me. Come quick, come in 
 hafte. Where are you ? Here I am. Don't 
 you hear me? l?ou eat all. I fhall beat you. 
 Aye aye, you hurt me. Who is coming there ? 
 I am afraid. Have a care, have a care. 
 Alarm, alarm ! Let us hide ourfelves. Let us 
 fly away ". You fee I could fwell this Dictio- 
 nary with many the like Phrafes, efpecially if I 
 fhould add to it all the Exprefiions fuggefted by 
 Love, Jealoufy, Grief, and Joy. But is it not 
 a great deal, that I have dared to give you a 
 Specimen of it ? 
 
 Now I mention Joy, give me leave here to 
 make a fhort Digrelfion. Do you know that our 
 ancient Philofophers pretended that -Beads do not 
 laugh, and that laughing is an eflential Property 
 of Main, exclufive of Brutes? But is not this a- 
 gain an ancient Miitake, and is it not evident 
 that Beads laugh very heartily after their own 
 Manner, and every whit as well as Man himfelf ? 
 See a couple of young Puppies romping together 
 in a Field, catching, playing Tricks, and fright- 
 ening one another in jeft. Can all this be done 
 without Laughing ? Is it eflential to laughing, 
 that it be done, as in Man, by a Motion of the 
 Lips and Mouth, with a convulfive found of Voice? 
 Laughing is no more than an Expreflion of Joy, 
 and that Expreflion is neceflarily different in the 
 
 different 
 
[ 49 ] V 
 
 different Species of Animals. Man iaughs after 
 his own Manner, and the Dog after his. No mat- 
 ter whether it is by a fudden burfting of the Voice, 
 Or by a firhple Motion of the Ears or the Tail, 
 or by fome other the like Expfefiion. It is ftill 
 laughing. "What Party are you going to efpoufe^ 
 Madam : Pray fufpend your Decifion a Moment. 
 I am of the Opinion of the ancient Philofophers 
 myfelf; and this for the following Reafon. Laugh- 
 ing is an Exprefiion of Pleafure and Joy. But 
 all Pleafure and Joy do not excite Laughter. 
 The only Joy which makes us laugh, is that 
 which is accompanied with Surprife, and which 
 is excited in us at the unexpected fight of fome odd 
 Mixture of two inconfiftent Ideas or Things, as 
 of a Magiftrate drefled like a Harlequin, or of 
 an aukward Fellow taking upon him the Man of 
 Skill. This is lb very true, that the fame thing 
 which makes us laugh in ordinary Occurrences, 
 on fome other Occafions appears no longer comi- 
 cal to us. We laugh at a Man, who for his 
 Diveffion or out of Vanity, trying to leap over a 
 Ditch of Water, falls into the Middle of it. 
 But let the fame Accident happen to another run- 
 ning from an armed Enemy, far from laughing, 
 we are very forry for it j therefore* to be capable: 
 of Laughter, we muft be likewife capable of com- 
 paring two Ideas together, and of perceiving rhe 
 Inconfiftency that is between them. Now this 
 is what B^afts can never do, becaufe they have 
 none but direct Notions. They have Sentiments 
 of Satisfaction, Pleafure and Joy i and the major 
 Part exprefs them very diftinctly i but they cannot 
 have the Joy which proceeds from Reflection of 
 Companion. Therefore Beafts never laugh, and 
 the ancient Philofbphers were in the right. Now 
 again to our Birds, 
 
 G h 
 
C so ] 
 
 It may be objected that Birds always repeat the 
 Time thing, and confequently vary not their 
 Phrafes as I pretend they do. To this I anfwer, 
 that befides the Differences of quicknefs and flow- 
 nefs, of high and low, of length and fliortnefs, 
 which it is eafy to obferve in the Language of 
 Beafts, there are very likely many others which 
 we do not perceive, for want of underftanding 
 their Language, but which Birds among them- 
 felves perceive very well. Can we diitinguifh 
 their Phyfiognomy ? We hardly fufpecl that there 
 is a Difference of Phyfiognomy among them. No- 
 thing however is more certain, and they never 
 miitake it. I have feen a Swallow carrying Food 
 to fix or feven little ones ranged in a Row upon 
 the Hand of a Dial. They changed their Places 
 every Moment, and yet the Mother never miftook 
 in giving twice together Food to the fame, but 
 remembered every one of them. Let a Ewe 
 in a .Flock of a hundred Lambs hear her own 
 bleat, fhe immediately knows him again, and 
 haftens to him. Two Sparrows will know one 
 another by their Voice among a thoufand. I 
 might here alledge a hundred other like Facts, 
 to prove that all Animals have, in their mutual 
 Correfpondence, a Ddicacy of Difcernment, which 
 is not within our reach, and which makes them 
 obferve Differences among themfelves which are al- 
 together imperceptible to us. If then many Birds 
 feem to us always to fing the fame Note, as the 
 Sparrow* the Chaffinch, and the Canary-Bird ; we 
 mufb not thence conclude that they are faying the 
 fame thing for ever. Let us rather believe that 
 it is occafioned by the groffnefs of our Organs of 
 hearing, with regard to a Language which is 
 quite ftrangc and unknown to us. When we fay 
 in French Cbnjfez ce Matin, & Je Suis arrive ce 
 
 Matin : 
 
C 5' ] 
 
 Matin : We diftinguiih thefe two Matins by the 
 Pronunciation ; but their Difference is fo very in- 
 fenfible to a Foreigner, that he can hardly per- 
 ceive it. The Chinefe Language is full of Dif- 
 ferences of this Kind, which Foreigners are at the 
 greateft Lofs to perceive or execute. \ fancy that 
 a Man born deaf, who mould for the firft time 
 hear People converfe, would (not knowing any 
 thing of Vowels, Words, and Syllables) alio be- 
 lieve that they repeat the fame thing over and 
 over. Such is the Judgment we pals upon the 
 Language of Birds. 
 
 However, I fhall not over-do this Reflection, 
 and pretend that a Nightingale in the Spring va- 
 ries his Pifcourfe as much as he does his Notes, 
 or that a Canary-bird in his Cage utters fo many 
 different Phrafes as he repeats his Tune over. No, 
 I am on the contrary perfuaded that Birds are 
 Chatterers, and love Repetitions. It is even ne- 
 ceflary they mould be ib ; and the Realbn is this. 
 To fay, I love you, we have a hundred fynony- 
 mous Phrafes and different ExprefTiqns \ and there 
 is no Thought but what we can drefs many diffe- 
 rent Ways. This is the Refult of the iuperiority 
 of our Knowledge, and of the Multiplicity of 
 our Ideas, and, as I may fay, of the Pliancy 
 and Extent of our Genius, which comprehends 
 leveral objects at once, and perceives their recipro- 
 cal Relations. It is not thus with B.eafts. Na- 
 ture has confined their Knowledge within Bounds. 
 fo very narrow, that they can confider but one 
 fingle Object at the fame time ; and as they al- 
 ways confider it Simply and in the fame Manner \ 
 they likewife have generally but one way of ex- 
 prefTing their Knowledge and Sentiments. This 
 Obfervation is of Importance to know the Lan- 
 guage of Beafts in a more perfect Manner. It 
 G .->. i$ 
 
[ 52 3 
 
 is not only confined, as I faid, to the Objects 
 belonging to their Prefer vation, but alfo limited 
 in its own Nature, having commonly but one 
 Expreflion for each Object i and this is the Caufe 
 of their frequent Repeticions. For as it is natu- 
 ral lor Beaifs always to infill upon the fame Ob- 
 ject till their Defire is fulfilled, or diverted by 
 another more prefling, and as they have but one 
 Way to explain themfelves upon each Object ; it 
 is necefiary that they mould always repeat the 
 fime Expreflion, and that this Repetition mould 
 laft as long as they are taken up with the fame 
 Thing. Thus a Dog barking in the Night on 
 Account of lome Noife he has heard, evidently 
 repeats this Phrafe over and over, " Have a care ! 
 tc I hear a Noife which give me Uneafinefs : Or, I 
 " fee fome body I miltruft"; and he will not 
 ceafe repeating it till his Apprehenfions are over. 
 Thus a Chaffinch for ever repeats to his Mate the 
 fame Expreflion of his Love and Tendernefs, and 
 will tell her the fame Phnfe twenty times over, 
 cc I love you, I love you ' v , or lbmething equi- 
 valent. But in other Circumftances, as for In- 
 llance, thofe of Anger and Jealoufy, of Satisfact- 
 ion and Grief, we fee that both Dog and Chaf- 
 finch ufe many other different Phrales ; or if we 
 do not perceive the Differences of them, it is 
 rneerly the fault of our Organs, or the little 
 Knowledge we have of their feveral Accents. 
 
 It is then true witli regard to Birds whom we 
 have taken for our Example, that moft of them 
 are great Repeaters. Nay, it is not enough to 
 fay moft of them, for they are all in the fame Cafe, 
 and if the Nightingale feems to ufe fewer Repetiti- 
 ons, it is only becaufe his Phrafe is longer and the 
 Difference of his Notes more perceptible. But it 
 is nevertheleis true tbat they have different Phrafe-?, 
 
 for 
 
E 
 
 53 
 
 for the different Sentiments they have a Mind to ex- 
 prefs j and that this Repetition proceeds only from 
 their infilling long upon the fame Object on one 
 hand, and from their having but one Exprefilon 
 for each Object on the other. Is this a Fault in 
 their Language ? I don't deny it. But again, 
 compare if you pleafe this pretended Fault with 
 the pretended Advantage of our Amplifications, 
 Metaphors, Hyberboles, and intricate Phrafes, 
 and you will ever find in Birds Simplicity and 
 Truth, and in the human Language abundance 
 of idle Words and rank Falfmes. 
 
 At lead you cannot refufe the Simplicity of 
 their Language an Advantage which ours has 
 not. For it is uniform, and with regard to each 
 Species, at all Times and in all the Countries in 
 the World, for ever the fame : Whereas in the 
 human Kind not only each Nation has its pecu- 
 liar Language, but the Dialect of every People* 
 varies perpetually, and after a certain Time it is no 
 longer what it was. A Frenchman of ' Cbarkmaign's 
 Time would no more underftand us than we now 
 underftand a Spaniard or an Englifhman. The 
 Language of B^afts and Birds is not fubject to 
 thefe troublefome Variations. The Nightingales 
 and Canary-Birds that now are, fpeak exactly the 
 fame Language as their Species fpoke before the 
 Flood. Carry them to the Indies and China , 
 they will not hear a foreign Language there ; 
 and the very Moment of their Arrival they 
 will be able to converfe with their like without 
 the Afllftance of Interpreters. Is it not to be 
 wimed that Men, as was fometimes propofed, 
 would upon this Model eftablifh a general 
 Language, that might, be underftood. all over the 
 Univerfe. 
 
 Ob. 
 
[ 54] 
 
 Oblerve, Madam, that this Simplicity or Steri- 
 lity in the Language of Beads, will appear ftill 
 leis defective to you, if you confidcr that its 
 Imperfection is replaced by Miens, Geftures, 
 and Motions, which are a kind of Language 
 very intclligibie, and a Supplement of the Voc^l 
 ExprefTion. A Dog for Inltance, has no vocal 
 Expreffion to ask Pardon when he finds you are 
 angry with him ; but what dots he do ? Why 
 he humbles himfelf before you ; he cringes at 
 your Feet in the Pofture of a Supplicant. He has 
 no Phrafe to fay open me the Door ; but he 
 fcratches at it, and thereby informs you of his 
 wanting to come in or go out. Are not thefe fpeak- 
 ing Actions ? Even fo ; fince they make them- 
 selves well underflood. This would be the Place, 
 as the vulgar Proverb fays, to make a Commen- 
 tary upon the Grimaces of Monkeys. For it is 
 beyond all Queftion, that if among thefe Gri- 
 maces there are fome which are no more than 
 meer Contorfions, there are on the other Hand 
 fome which are fo many ExpreflTions fully equiva- 
 lent to Words and Phrafes. 
 
 But do I not take too much Advantage, by 
 thus alledging on the one Hand the Example of 
 Birds which are really great Talkers, and on the 
 other Hand that of Dogs and Monkeys which 
 are full of Gefticulation, while there are befides 
 thefe fo many other Species of Beafts, which have 
 very few or even no vocal ExpreHions at all, and 
 in which we moreover obferve none of the above 
 Geftures or fpeaking Actions ? No •, I intended 
 not to difTemble any thing, "If I have propofed 
 thefe Examples, it is meerly becaufe thofe Beads 
 living amongftus, we know them much better 
 than the other Species, and becaufe we muft 
 always argue from the moft fenfible Examples, 
 
[ 55 ] 
 
 in order to illuftrate Facls that are leis notorious.' 
 But what if I have alledged the Inftance of Gats 
 and Dags ? Nature is conftantly uniform. This 
 is an unqueftionable Principle; and confequendy 
 what eflential Parts we obferve in one fingle Spe- 
 cies of Beafts, we are to fuppofe the lame in all 
 the reft. 
 
 I own Fifhes and Reptiles here oppofe no fmall 
 Difficulty to our Prejudices. How is it to be 
 conceived, that a Carp is not indeed the dumb 
 Creature it is commonly thought to be, and what 
 kind of Language can be imagined between two 
 Palmer-worms or two Ants ? The Birds fing, the 
 Dogs bark, the Wolves howl, the Stags bellow* 
 the Horfes neigh, the Sheep bleat. But Fifhes 
 and crawling Infects appear abiblutely dumb. 
 
 *Tis true, if there are a few Species of Beafts 
 whofe Language is more fenfrble than that of the 
 reft, and upon which I may have ventured to form 
 fome probable Conjectures, it would be requiring 
 too much of me to pretend that I mould explain 
 the Language of Fifties and Reptiles in the lame 
 Manner. For they may very well be proved to 
 have a Language, be it what it will, fince all the 
 other Species are indowed with one. But who 
 will attempt to know and diftinguifh it ? Part 
 of them live in an Element forbidden us, and the 
 others efcape our Sight by their Smallnefs. 
 
 Let us, however, with great Care avoid giving 
 ourfelves up too much to our own Prejudices. 
 How do we know that Fifties have not as many 
 and perhaps more vocal Exprefiions than the 
 Birds themfclves ? They all of them feem to have 
 been formed nearly upon the fame Model. 
 Some fly, others fwim j but flying and fwimming 
 is one and the fame Thing ; die Element alone is 
 different. It is written in Gene/is^ that God 
 
 created 
 
[ 56 ] 
 
 treated at the fame Time the Birds and Fifties 
 from the Bofom of the Waters : Which ferved 
 fome Monks as a Pretence to perfuade themfelvcs 
 that on Fifh-Days they might indifferently eat of 
 both Kinds. Fifties are provided with five Senfes, 
 which we obferve in Birds and in all other Ani- 
 mals. Why mould not they have the Faculty 
 of fpeaking like the reft ? If we hear them neither 
 fpeak nor fing, it is perhaps for want of a proper 
 Organ to hear them. The Waters is full and 
 thoroughly penetrated with Aif which Fifhes 
 breathe. Why might they not with that Air 
 and by means of a Spring equivalent to the 
 Tongue and Throat, form Vibrations and Sound 
 too nice indeed for our Ears, but which might 
 be heard in every Species ? Pray obferve that the 
 Ear of Man is extremely coarfe, and that this 
 Coarlenefs is the Refult of a neceflary Providence. 
 For were our Ear fenfible to the minuteft Vibra- 
 tions of the Air we live in, we fhould be forever 
 ftunned with a thoufand confus'd Noifes, which-" 
 would never permit us to diftinguifhed any one 
 of them. There are then certainly in the Air 
 many Sounds which we do not hear. Such is the 
 Noifc of a Silk-worm that gnaws a Mulberry- 
 Leaf. If he is alone, or if there are but few of 
 them together, no body can hear them ; but put 
 a certain Number of them in a Cabinet, and 
 then all thefe little Noifes joined in Unifon 
 become mighty fenfible to our Ears. How 
 much more is it poflible that there be in the 
 Water Noifes infenfible to us, and that Fifhes by 
 that Means fpeak without being audible to us„ 
 At leaft I delight in thinking fb, not to rob 
 any Production in Nature of the Perfection which 
 fhe is ufed to give to all. Nor could I think with- 
 out a kind of Philofophical Melancholy, that fhe 
 
 had 
 
[ 57 J 
 
 had doomed to an eternal Silence innumerable 
 Nations, which inhabit the Immenfity of the 
 Seas and Rivers. Silence is the Portion of the 
 Dead. Speaking inlivcns the Living themfelves. 
 You may laugh at this modern Notion as much as 
 you pleafe, and jeft upon my fpeaking Fi(h, as 
 doubtlefs he was laugh'd at who firit mentioned 
 the Flying-fifh ; but take Care that the one be 
 not as true as the other, and that there be not 
 more Prejudice than Reafon in your Jokes. 
 For my Part, I find this Opinion agreeable to 
 Reafon and Probability ; and it is a fufficient 
 Motive to me to efpoufe it, till I am undeceived 
 by ftronger Arguments. 
 
 The Reptiles and Infects are juft in the fame 
 Cafe. There are many Kinds of Reptiles, which 
 have very diftinct vocal ExprefTions ; fuch as 
 Serpents, Frogs, and Toads ; and confequently, 
 arguing upon the Principle of the Uniformity of 
 Nature, we are inutled to fuppofe an equivalent 
 in the Reft ; not to mention fupplemental Miens, 
 Geftures, and Looks. It is not quite fo with the 
 Infects. There is no Species of them having, 
 that we know of, vocal ExpreiTion properly lb 
 called. For we know that the Cry of the Cricket, 
 the Singing of the Grafs -hopper, the Noife of cer- 
 tain Butterflies, and the Humming of the Flies, 
 is not what we call a vocal Sound, and that it is 
 a Noife caufed by the Trembling of a Mem- 
 brane. But what of that ? It cannot be doubted 
 but that the Cry of the Cricket and Grafs-hopper 
 ferves them to call each other in order to meet, and 
 very likely to converfe. It may be thought that 
 the Humming of the Flies likewife ferves them to 
 know each other in every Society, either by the 
 Uniformity and Unifon of the Tone, or by im- 
 perceptible Differences not within our Reach ; 
 H which 
 
[ 58 1 
 
 which is equivalent to vocal Expreflion, and is at 
 the fame time a Proof how Nature, always uni- 
 form as to what is general and effential, is at the 
 fame time ingenious in varying the Means and 
 Particulars of her own Productions. Now, what 
 Nature has done for fome Infects, fhe certainly 
 has done for all. 
 
 There is for inftance a Kind of Spiders which 
 have a very fingular Method of teftifying to each 
 other their Defire of being together. 'Tis true, 
 I was only an Ear-Witnefs of this-, but I have 
 been well affured that they were Spiders which 
 made the Noife I am going to mention. A 
 Spider who wants Company, itrikes, with I know 
 not what Inftrument, againft the Wall or Wood 
 where fhe has fettled, nine or ten gentle Blows, 
 nearly like the Vibrations of a Watch, but a lit- 
 tle louder and quicker, after which fhe flays for 
 an Anfwer. If fhe hears none, fhe repeats the 
 fame by Intervals for about an Hour or two, re- 
 fuming this Exercife and retting alternately Night 
 and Day. After two or three Days, if fhe hears 
 nothing, fhe changes her Habitation, till fhe 
 iinds one that anfvvers her. It is another Spider 
 which anfwers her exactly in the fame Manner, 
 and as it were by Eccho. If the Latter likes the 
 Propofal, the Converfiition grows brisker, and the 
 Beating becomes more frequent. Give Attention 
 to it, and you will find by the Noife that they 
 gradually approach each other, and that the 
 Beatings come at lafl fo dole that they are con- 
 founded, after which you hear no more Noife. 
 Very likely the reft of the Converfation is whif- 
 pered. I have fometimes amufed myfelf in mak- 
 ing the Eccho of a Spider which I heard beating, 
 and whofe Noife I imitated. She anfwered me 
 punctually. She even fometimes attacked me, 
 
 and 
 
[ 59 ] 
 
 and began the Converfation, and I have often 
 given that Diverfion to feveral People, whom I 
 told it was a familiar Spirit. 
 
 How many like Difcoveries might we make 
 upon Infects, if our Organs were delicate enougli 
 to fee and perceive their Miens and Motions, and 
 to hear their Voices, or what ferves them inftead 
 of Voices! I am indeed perfuaded, that we mould- 
 find in the Ants, Worms, Scarabeus's, Caterpil- 
 lers, Palmer-worms, Mites, and in all the Infects, 
 Language defigned for their Prefervation and the 
 Supply of their Wants. And as there are cer- 
 tain Species of Infects in which we obferve greater 
 Induftry and Knowledge than in large Animals, 
 it is probable that thefe Species have likewife a 
 more perfect Language in proportion, always con- 
 fined however to the Necefiaries of Life. 
 
 I have feen fome carrying their Conjectures 
 much farther, and pretending that before Man 
 finned B~afts fpoke very distinctly among them- 
 felves, and pronounced a Language which Man 
 perfectly underftood, as they likewife understood 
 the Language of a Man. He fupported this 
 Conjecture upon the Converfation which the Ser- 
 pent had with Eve in Eden. If Beafts at that 
 time, fays he, had had no other Language but 
 what they have at prefent, what rnuft have been 
 Eve's Amazement to hear a Serpent ingaging in 
 Converfation, and arguing coherently with her. 
 Let us judge of this from the Amazement of Ba- 
 laam when he heard his Afs fpeak. Struck with 
 this Wonder, he acknowledged his Crime, and 
 obeyed God's Command. Again, let us judge 
 of this from the Effect which a like Event would 
 have on us. If we mould all on a fudden fee 
 a Dog fit over againft us, and come out with a 
 rational and coherent Difcourfe, in order to engage 
 H 2 us 
 
[ 6o ] 
 
 us to commit fome Crime, or even to perfuade 
 us to fomethfng in itfelf indifferent, what wou'd our 
 furprize be ! Our Hair would ftand an End : We 
 fhould think we law the Devil •, and far from 
 fuffering ourfelves to be prevailed upon, we would 
 reject iiich Counfels with Horror, at leaft we 
 ihould miftruft them, and in all hafte go and 
 confult with fome-body. Neverthelefs, Eve did 
 nothing of all this. Eve, who was fo virtuous 
 and clear-fighted, quickly liftened to the artful 
 Difcourfe of the Serpent, difputed with him, and 
 at laft fuffered herfelf to be feduced. The Ser- 
 pent, concluded this Perfon, and all the other 
 Beads muff needs then have fpoken as Men do, 
 and their not fpeaking now in the fame Manner, 
 muff needs be a Punifhment inflicted upon them 
 by God? for having ferved as an Organ to the 
 Devil, and contributed to the Sin of Man. 
 
 This Fancy made me laugh, and if it diverts 
 you I have a good Mind to let you adopt it, and the 
 more fo becaufePto^in his Politicks, had of Beafts 
 an Opinion much like this j becaufe Jofephus in his 
 Antiquities was of the fame Mind, and (what is of 
 much greater Weight) becaufe St. Baftl exprefsly 
 fays in his Homily concerning the earthly Para- 
 dife, of which he makes a very fine Defcription, 
 that it was peopled with Beafts, itbicb undajlood 
 each other, and /poke rationally. Thefe are his ve- 
 ry Words as far as I can remember ; for I have 
 not here a St. Bafil by me. But you would accufe 
 me perhaps of a Defign to feduce you as the Ser- 
 pent did Eve* if I Ihould neglect to tell you 
 what is to be thought of this Opinion. It is but 
 a frivolous Conjecture without any other Founda- 
 tion except the fecurity of Eve arguing with the 
 Serpent. Now this Foundation is altogether ru-> 
 inous. For Eve before her Sin knew not what 
 
 Fear 
 
[ 6i ] 
 
 Fear or Diftruft were. She undoubtedly iW 
 that the Serpent was no more than the Organ or" 
 fome fuperior Power. This even raifed her Cu- 
 riofity, and the more becaufe, being born immor- 
 tal and free from Pain, Ihe knew very well that 
 fhe had nothing to fear ; and her Curiofity Hill 
 increafing her Rafhnefs, fhe made the fatal Trial 
 of her own Frailty. You fee that nothing but 
 Truth will do with me. Give me leave how- 
 ever to take advantage of the abovementioned 
 Text of St. Bafil, to fupport my Opinion concern- 
 ing the Language of Beads. For if they under- 
 ftood each other and fpoke rationally in the ter- 
 reftrial Paradife, that is with Knowledge, to the 
 purpofe, and agreeably to their Wants, why 
 mould they have loft this Prerogative ? 
 
 It is time for me to put an End to this fmall 
 Piece. I am ready to return to Paris, and I in- 
 tend that it fhall go thither before me ; that you 
 may have time enough to reflect on it, and ac- 
 quaint me with your Opinion of it at my return. 
 But (hall I then conclude without giving you a 
 particular Dictionary of the Language of Beafts ? 
 That muft be : For you are lenGble that the 
 thing is impoflible. There would be as many 
 different Dictionaries as there are different Species 
 of Beafts. 'Tis true each Dictionary would be 
 very fhort, but their Number would be infinite. 
 To give you that of the feathered Kind I muft 
 be able to diftinguifh and prick down the Quarters 
 and half Quarters of the Tones which their Lan- 
 guage is compofed of. I fhould be able to liften to 
 all they fay in very different Occurrences, and 
 they are fb very fprightly and wild a Nation, that' 
 it is impoflible to follow them. 
 
 The Canary-bird is the moft familiar. There- 
 Fore you will be able with a little Attention to 
 
 find 
 
[ 62 ] 
 
 find out the Meaning of mod of his Phrafes. 
 When he finds that his Mate neglects to fit on 
 her Fggs, and is too long abfent from herNeft, 
 liiten to what he fays, he will for certain tell her 
 that Moment that he is uneafy, that fhe muft 
 haften to her Brood, and that he will beat her 
 if fhe does not take to her Neft immediately. 
 When the Hen obliged to keep her young warm 
 under her has not Time to go abroad, and the 
 Cock drops fomc Food out of his Beak into hers, 
 fhe teftifies her Satisfaction to him by the clap- 
 ping of Wings, and by a little Cry different from 
 all the others, which muft necefTarily fignify, " I 
 " am very glad : You do me Pleafure." There 
 are among others two Circumftances, in which 
 the Canary-birds, as well as the Nightingale, the 
 Chaffinch, the Linnet, and all Birds fpeak, or if 
 you will, fing more than ordinary. 1 mean when 
 he calls and is courting a Female, and when fhe 
 is fitting on her Eggs or on her Brood. Though 
 his Phrafe in both thefe Circumftances feems to 
 be the fame, it may be obferved however, that be- 
 fides the Differences which we do not perceive, 
 his finging in the firft Cafe is more lively, more 
 brisk, and attended with greater Fire. And 
 what can it fignify then, if not this, " Come 
 *' dear charming Female, who lookeft for a Hut 
 " band-, I fhall marry thee; we fhall have a 
 " Houfhold in common?" In the fecond Cafe, 
 the Canary-bird and the Nightingale fay quite 
 other Things. The Neceflity of removing the 
 Fears of their Females, which are too bufy to 
 Blind much their own Security, is what makes 
 them fing on this Occafion. The Husband 
 watches for his Mate pearched on a neighbouring 
 Branch, whence he obferves all what paffes, to 
 inform her of it in cafe any Caufe of Apprehen- 
 
 fion 
 
[ 63 ] 
 
 fion mould appear. If he fhould ceafe Tinging 
 but a Moment, the uneafy Female would quit 
 her Neil. She remains quietly there fo long as he 
 is finging ; but it would be a Prejudice void of 
 Probability to believe, that the Nightingale fings 
 meerly for finging's fake, fince Birds have no No- 
 tion of finging, or any Senfe of Harmony. But 
 though we mould be under the Neceffity of be- 
 lieving that he fings, yet mould we ftill fuppofe 
 that he fings Words, I mean that his Song figni- 
 fies fomething. And really, what can he intend 
 to do then, if not to fay to his Wife, " Beeafy, 
 *' I watch for you ; you have nothing to fear; 
 " I fhall give you Warning if any Thing hap- 
 ** pens amifs." This is what Birds fay and re- 
 peat all Day long on the like Occafion. The 
 Sparrow, more Laconick in his Style, fays it in a 
 very fhort Phrafe, but which he is forever re- 
 peating. The Phrafe of the Chaffinch is fome- 
 thing longer •, that of the Canary-bird is longer 
 ftill ; that of the Linnet is longer yet ; and at laft 
 that of the Nightingale is the longeft of all. For 
 I look upon the whole Sequel of his finging as 
 a fingle Phrafe, which fays no more than that of 
 the Sparrow. Such is alfo the Difcourfe of two 
 Rival Cats mewing a Dialogue upon the Top 
 of a Houfe. It is only a long Phrafe repeated, 
 which exprefTes their Wrath and Jealoufy. 
 Wherefore it is always followed by a Battle in 
 Form, and. by the Defeat of one of the two, fa 
 that one might compare them to the Heroes of 
 Homer, who never failed to make long Speeches 
 to each other before they came to Handy-cuffs. 
 
 I have infenfibly made here a little Dictionary, 
 which may, if you will, Madam, ferve as a Key 
 to explain as nearly as you can the Language of 
 all Beafts. Will you again have another very 
 
 plain 
 
[64 ] 
 
 plain Method ? This is it. The whole Language 
 of Beafts amounts to exprefting the Sentiment of 
 their Paflions, and all their Paflions may be re- 
 duced to a very fmall Number, viz. Pleafure, 
 Pain, Anger, Fear, Love, the Defire of eating, 
 the Care of their Young. If then you intend to 
 have the Dictionary of the Language of Beafts, 
 obferve them in the Circumftances of thefe dif- 
 ferent Paflions, and as they commonly have but 
 one Expreflion for each, you will foon compofe 
 your Dictionaries from the Model I have given 
 you. Which done, you will of all thefe Dicti- 
 onaries together compofe a Polyglot which will 
 contain all the different Languages of Beads. 
 For Inftance, this Phrafe, " I feel Pain ; " you 
 will render it at once in the Language of the Dog, 
 the Cat, the Hog, the Magpy, the Black-bird, 
 &c. The whole correctly pricked down in Sharps 
 and Flats, and I give you my Word that this will 
 produce a mighty comical Reading. 
 
 You lee I am upon the merry Pin. And why 
 not ? But what will you fay of my Sincerity ? I 
 mail here make you a Confefiion, that will reduce 
 the whole Language to almoft nothing. I mean 
 that you muft abfolutely retrench from it what- 
 ever is called Phrafe or grammatical Conftruction, 
 not excepting the moft Contracted. Would you 
 for inftance believe, that the moft eloquent Night- 
 ingale cannot fay in his Language, / love, I am 
 very glad, J feel Pleafure. This however is per- 
 fectly true. Any Phrafe into which there enters 
 what you call Grammatically firft, fecond, and 
 third Perfon, /, you, be, ye, and any other the 
 like Pronoun, together with what you call Nouns 
 Collective, Relative, Comparative, &c. are all of 
 them to be blotted out of the Dictionary of 
 Beafts. The Reafon of this is quite plain : For 
 
 all 
 
[6 S ] 
 
 all thefe Words exprefs arbitrary and metaphyfi- 
 cal Ideas, which Beafts can by no means have. 
 They have none but direct Notions, abiblutely con- 
 fined to the prefent and material Object that ftrikes 
 their Senfes. Man, who is infinitely lliperior both 
 in his Language and Ideas, cannot exprefs his 
 Mind without compofing his Difcourle of relative 
 and perfonal Terms, that determine the Senfe 
 and Application of it. Even thofe who fpeak 
 a Language worfe, as a German who fpeaks 
 broken Englifh will tell you : Me Juffer tever : 
 Ton love the Wine. In Beafts the Expreffion is 
 ftill much inferior to this Jargon ; and if I have 
 reprelented their Difcourfes by Phrafes compoied 
 after our own manner, it is becaule I could not 
 render them otherwife: For in good Truth, 
 Beafts in a Manner cannot exprefs any thing more 
 than the Name of the Paflions they feel. They 
 can have no other Expreffions than thofe which 
 correfpond to the following, viz. Pain, Pleafure, 
 Fear, Anger, &c. 
 
 I am ibrry things are not more to the Honour 
 of Beafts ; but an Author muft be juft, and I ne- 
 ver intended to afcribe any thing to them but what 
 Nature thought proper to give them. You are not 
 to think however, that all is loft. For to take things 
 rightly, is it of any confequence that Beafts fhould 
 pronounce a Phrafe with diftinction of Perfons, 
 compofed after our own Manner, provided they 
 be as well underftood ? Your Bitch, 'tis true, can- 
 not fay to you, / love you-, but what fhe fays in 
 reality fignifies that fhe does love you, and you 
 underftand her very well. What would fhe have 
 and what can you defire more? Does it not come to 
 the very fame thing ? Doubtlefs it does. There- 
 fore, be not difheartened, Madam, and if you have 
 any fpare time, you are at Liberty to make no 
 I account 
 
[ 66] 
 
 account of the cavilling Diftinction I have been 
 juft propofing, and accordingly to go ferioufly 
 about making of your Dictionaries. How will 
 you be charmed, when you are once arrived to 
 the Point of being able to converle with the Birds, 
 and of underftanding all their domeftick Secrets ! 
 Yon will no longer be feen any where but in 
 Woods, and the World will perhaps accufe me 
 of having deprived them of your agreeable 
 Company. 
 
 / am, &c. 
 
 
 FINIS. 
 
*o 
 
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