of a mated pair, of something which interferes with
a pleasant established system, the basis of which is perpetuation of
the species. Higher mankind has the ability to dissect it, analyze it,
understand it, and guard against its harmful operation; herein lie
distinguishing qualities of superiority. If, when his jealousy is
roused, he is unable to act any differently from the lion, the horse,
or the dog, then, in that regard, he is not superior to them. Man,
being an eater of meat, is a savage animal, like the dog, the tiger,
the panther, the lion. His passions are strong, as are theirs; but he
has qualities which enable him to hold them in check. If an animal have
a strong attachment for his mate, he will fight if she be taken from
him; this is the operation of jealousy. If he be a savage animal, he
will kill if he can or dare. Few males among the animals will kill
their deserting mates; that is left for man, the noblest of the
animals. The others are content to kill the seducer. What thankfulness
there is for escape from an act, so recently contemplated, which would
have placed its perpetrator below the level of the most savage of the
brutes! In what, of all that was now proposed to be done, was there any
quality to distinguish the acts from those of the most savage brute,
except a more elaborate detail, the work of superior malice and
ferocity? Is it a wonder that Randolph shuddered when he thought of it?

The broadest characteristic of all animals, including man, is
selfishness. In man it reaches its highest form and becomes vanity,
pride, and a ridiculous sense of self-importance. But man alone is
conscious of its existence, character, and purpose; he alone encourages
its rational development and suppresses the most evil of its abuses.
The animal which would fight or kill from jealousy is moved by a
selfish motive only. It proceeds to satisfy its anger or gratify its
revenge without any regard to the ethics, without any thought of its
obligations to nature, without the slightest wish to inquire whether
there may not be in the cause of its jealousy a natural purpose which
is proceeding upon the very lines that led to its mating. A man,
however, can think of these things, weigh them carefully, understand
them approximately, and then advance in the light of wisdom. If not, he
is no better, in this regard, than the animal which cannot so reason
and understand.

This manner of thinking was bringing the unhappy man close