Page:Essays, Moral and Political - David Hume (1741).djvu/177

 manifest Abuses of Leisure, the most valuable Present that cou'd be made to Mortals.

forming our Notions of Human Nature, we are very apt to make a Comparison betwixt Men and Animals, which are the only Creatures endowed with Thought that fall under our Senses. Certainly this Comparison is very favourable to Mankind. On the one hand we see a Creature, whose Thoughts are not limited by any narrow Bounds either of Place or Time; who carries his Researches into the most distant Regions of this Globe, and beyond this Globe, to the Planets and Heavenly Bodies; looks backward to consider the first Origin of Human Race; casts his Eyes forward to see the Influence of his Actions upon Posterity, and the Judgments, that will be form'd of his Character a thousand Years hence. A Creature, that traces Causes and Effects to a great Length and Intricacy; extracts general Principles from particular Appearances; improves upon his Discoveries; corrects his Mistakes; and makes his very Errors profitable. On the other hand, we are presented with a Creature the very reverse of this; limited in its Observations and Reasonings to a few sensible Ob-