第40章

His faculties of observation and reason generally give him the power of effect this.For these objects of his desires are mere arrangements of matter.His faculties of observation show him their nature, and the manner in which the train of events going on amongst them succeed each other.He perceives that the things which are the objects of his present wants, or which were of those he felt a little time since, amt which will probably.Be of those be will feel in fixture.are either the immediate result of the nature and form of some things around him, or of the trains of events which, in consequence of that form and nature, are taking place among them.He cannot alter the nature of things.but, in many cases, be is able to change their form, that is, the particular arrangement of the matter of which they are formed, and his reason instructs him, that if, by doing this, he can so alter the trains of events proceeding from them or depending on them, that they may either form, or cause to be formed, or put in his possession, objects fitted to supply more perfectly or abundantly what probably will be his future wants, than those objects would otherwise exist, he then is able to provide for the future.This in many cases he can do, and thus he acts.

A North American Indian in his canoe comes to an island in some lake or river, and finds near it a good station for fishing.He therefore determines to remain there for the fishing season.Towards evening hb paddles his canoe to shore, lands, kindles a fire near a large tree, wraps his blanket about him, places his feet to the fire, his head to the trunk of the tree, and thus prepares for repose.In so doing, with the exception of kindling the fire, he takes advantage simply of his knowledge of the nature of the things around him, and seeks from them the best supply they can give him of what he wants, that is, of shelter from wind and weather.

It rains and blows during the night, the tree shelters him somewhat, but still he gets cold and wet.In the morning he spends some hours providing a better shelter against the inclemency of any such night in future.Of branches and bark he makes something like one half of the roof of a house, only much smaller, the open side being towards the south and the fire, the sloping side towards the north from whence comes cold and rain.Thus, though he cannot prevent the wind from blowing, or the rain from falling, his knowledge of the manner in which the trains of events forming these phenomena succeed each other, or if you will, his knowledge of the laws which regulate their motions, instruct him so to direct them, that the one shall not blow, or the other fall, on a particular spot, which he knows he may at some future time wish to remain calm and dry.This time may be distant, for it may not rain or blow so as to inconvenience him for a week or two, nevertheless to provide against it he gives a good many hours present labor.

Next evening, before going to repose, he finds the turf damp from the rain of the former night.He looks for an elm tree, cuts off a piece of its strong thick bark large enough for him to sleep on, covers it with the soft branches and leaves of the white pine, and forms a dry and soft bed for himself.Thus his knowledge of the materials around him enables him to form what he wants, a dry and soft place of repose.

In this island he discovers a small wild plumb tree, he relishes the fruit, but there is little of it.Resolving to return in succeeding seasons he lops the branches of the surrounding trees to give this room to spread, and expects thus to find next year a more abundant crop.(32) Here his knowledge of the manner in which trees and fruit grow and thrive, or his knowledge of the order of the trains of events which terminate in the full development of the tree and abundance of its fruit, enables him so to work on the matters around him, as to occasion them to produce more abundantly next season, than they have this, what then he will desire.

He thinks not of providing for any future want the means to supply which, will, without this, exist in sufficient abundance.Thus water, in such a situation, he knows he will always be surrounded with.Were the same Indian encamped in the woods, by a very scanty spring, he would dam it up, and cover it with branches so as to keep cool a quantity of water for his future occasions.

The proceedings of man are every where similar.He has always an end in view, he employs means to effect this end, and there is a manner through which he effects it.The end is a supply for future wants; the means, the bringing about of such events as may serve to supply them; the manner, a knowledge of the qualities with which nature has endowed the materials within his reach, of the series of events in consequence arising among them, and an application of this knowledge to produce, through his corporeal powers, such an arrangement of these materials, as may so change the issues of events that would otherwise have place, as to bring about those which he desires.It is true, that, in most instances, men simply copy the proceedings of others, and think not of the principles on which they conduct their operations, nor of the observations from which these must originally have been deduced.But, though the knowledge thus acquired from this storing of observations, and deduction of principles from them, is not the mode in which individual men operate, it is the mode in which the operations they carry on must have been first brought into practice, and on which they are all founded.