[ii]
inferior to Men yet the consciousness of our own dignity and excellence is apt to suggest to us, that Man alone of all terrestrial Animals is the only proper object of Mercy and Compassion, because he is the most highly favored and distinguished. Misled with his prejudice in our own favor, we overlook some of the BRUTES[1], as if they were meer Excrescencies of Nature, beneath our notice, and infinitely unworthy the care and cognisance of the Almighty; and and we consider others of them, as made only for our service; and so long as we can apply them to
- ↑ In the ensuing treatise I use the word Brute as a general term for every creature inferior to Man, whether Beast, or Bird, or Fish, or Fly, or Worm.
our
