Full Idea
I think that what is First is ipso facto sentient.
Gist of Idea
Whatever is First must be sentient
Source
Charles Sanders Peirce (Reasoning and the Logic of Things [1898], VIII)
Book Reference
Peirce,Charles Sanders: 'Reasoning and the Logic of Things', ed/tr. Ketner,K.L. [Harvard 1992], p.260
A Reaction
He doesn't mention Leibniz's monads, but that looks like the ancestor of Peirce's idea. He doesn't make clear (here) how far he would take the idea. I would just say that whatever is 'First' must be active rather than passive.