Page:The Cry of Nature.pdf/134

 undertand them? It is as if the crows hould imagine that their voice was the ole speech amongt animals, and that men were devoid of reason, because our language was not intelligible to them; or as if the Athenians hould conclude that they alone were gifted with language, and hould exclude from the lit of rational creatures all thoe who understand not the Attic tongue. To an Athenian, however, the croaking of a crow is as intelligible as the dialects of a Syrian or a Perian. Is it not, therefore, aburd to decide on the rationability or irrationability of animals by their voices of by their ilence! By this criterion the Almighty himself and the ret of the Gods would be found irrational, because they do