Better Than Men :: EXPLANATORY

EXPLANATORY

The title chosen for the following sketches, written for the purpose of presenting certain prominent characteristics of the lower animals worthy of the attention of the human animal, stands for rather a serious proposition which may be questioned by a majority of those readers whose kindly interest in our mute friends has not already been seriously awakened.

To write so that those who read may infer that a certain selected number of so-called lower animals are better, by nature and conduct, in certain elemental virtues, than men, is, to say the least, rather imprudent, and to the optimistic student of human nature may appear irreverent to an unpardonable degree. Usually, to the minds of such observers, humanity is accepted for its traditional value, regardless of established conditions or inherent actualities. Such investigators investigate only one side of their subject. They start out handicapped with the old theory that in every respect the human animal is superior to every other, without attempting to analyze unseen interior conditions, whether natural or developed.

In relation to natural conditions, the large majority of Christian sects are perfectly logical. They lay down as a clearly established fundamental fact that all human beings, owing to what they designate as Adam’s fall, are born into this world morally corrupt and completely depraved, but that they have within their control for ready application an appropriate panacea for a certain cure of these natural defects. But the optimist neither admits the disease nor the necessity for cure; he says always, at least inferentially, that all human beings come into the world in a state of innocence and purity, and that their few defects represent a certain amount of degeneration.

Both of these theories may be wrong. It is possible that all children come into the world with a certain number of well-known natural qualities—good, bad, strong, and weak—in no two alike, and for which they are in no way responsible; and that what they become in their mature years depends largely, if not entirely, upon home training and the care bestowed upon them by the government under whose laws they exist. Strong, healthy, intellectual, and moral parents, aided by a wise and honestly administered government, assist each other in forming characters which make fine men and women. But without the combination of those parental qualities ever actively engaged in instructing and controlling, sustained by a wise political organization, there is usually but little development of the higher and better qualities of our nature, either moral or intellectual.

It is at this point that we may be permitted to cite the difference between the so-called upper and lower animal. In the dog and horse, notably, their better qualities are inherent, born with them, grow stronger with time, and their almost perfect and complete development is natural, and continues without aid, example, or instruction. Not more than one dog or horse in a thousand, if kindly treated and left to himself, would turn out vicious, and treat them as we may, no matter how unjustly or cruelly, we can never deprive them of their perfect integrity and splendid qualities of loyalty to master and friends.

These most valuable of all moral qualities are natural to certain animals, and, no matter what man may do, they can never be extinguished. Although intangible, they are as much parts of the living organism of the horse and dog as are their eyes or the other organs needed for physical purposes. The affection of the dog for those whom he loves is actually boundless. It has neither taint of selfishness nor has it limits, and it can only be extinguished with the loss of life. The ever-willing horse will run himself to death to carry from danger, and especially from the pursuit of enemies, those who make use of his friendly aid. Other animals will do as much, but they never volunteer for a dangerous service.

In India, where the elephant is used for domestic purposes and is sometimes treated as a domestic animal, he has been known to protect children left in his charge, and in the performance of his daily task will yield willing obedience to orders; but he is a knowing and cautious constructionist, and seldom goes outside of the strict line of duty. He will always fight for his own master or friends when told, and sometimes volunteers to encounter a danger to protect those around him who seek the aid of his superior powers. He is however, a natural conservative, and prefers peace to war.

Many other animals are capable of becoming affectionate pets and interesting companions, but in no respect can they be compared with the dog, the horse, or the elephant. In their separate and individual combination of qualities which render them fit and useful companions for man, they stand quite by themselves. The question of treating animals with kindly consideration is usually disposed of by saying they are not capable of appreciating kind treatment; that their brain capacity is so limited in respect to quantity as to render them quite incapable of distinguishing active kindness from passive indifference or even cruel treatment.

This is the theory of the thoughtless.

The Newfoundland dog which, in the summer of 1866, I saw leap from a bridge into a rapid-running deep creek and rescue a two-year-old child from death, thought—and quickly at that. In a second he appreciated the value of a critical moment, and estimated not only the magnitude but the quality of the danger. No human being could have taken in the whole situation more completely or caused the physical organization to respond to the brain command with greater celerity. The whole incident was over by the time the first on the spot of the would-be human rescuers had taken off his coat.

Crowley, the remarkable chimpanzee, who had his home in the Central Park Menagerie for about four years, proved to be a most convincing item of testimony in favor of the intellectual development of one of the lower animals. The gradual and certain unfolding of his intelligence betrayed the presence of a quantity of natural brainpower almost equal to that of an intelligent child of his own age.

Among his numerous accomplishments was a complete outfit of the table manners of the average well-bred human being. His accurate holding of knife, fork, and spoon, his perfect knowledge of their use, and the delicate application to his lips of the napkin, proved the possession of exceptional knowledge and a well-ordered memory.

The things he did and the words he tried to speak, for he made thousands of efforts every day to utter his thoughts, would make a convincing list of items all going to prove the presence of a capacity for thinking quite worthy of consideration.

In elaborating the various powers which he employed in his methods of expression he showed remarkable ingenuity. He, no doubt, reflected upon his deficiencies, and thought the whole matter over with reference to means of communication with those he cared to converse with, and then, from out the store of his natural capacities, invented an extensive combination of hand and feet signs with the variety of sounds at his command, which finally enabled him to make himself perfectly understood by those about him.

The intellectual development of Crowley, of which I have given only an inadequate idea, came from kind treatment and constant contact with his keeper and the director of the menagerie, both of whom were his devoted friends and teachers.

These little character sketches, as they may perhaps be described, were written for the purpose of awakening the personal interest of those who may read them, with the hope also of enlisting their active influence in behalf of spreading abroad a better understanding of the nature of our four-footed friends and servants, who give so much and receive so little in return. The better appreciation of their exceptionally fine qualities will surely lead to closer relations between them and their masters, and, in the end, insure better treatment for those humble and confiding creatures which the Creator has placed so completely in the power of man.

Fiction plays but a little part in these pages. It has long been a source of pleasure to me to note the marks of intelligence in the animals that we admit to our companionship, that we make a part of our family rule and association. These sketches are nearly all based upon personal experiences and observations of my own. They are my plea for their greater civil rights—at least in the way of kindness and appreciation. Incidentally I have given such local color to the stories as they require. The first sketch, for example, has for its frame the pleasant hills and valleys of Vermont. It recalls old days worth the recording and a people of pure Anglo-Saxon blood worth a lasting memory.

R. C. H.

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