shoot them all before my face; cut me in pieces those scoundrels who hold out that steeple against the king; burn this village; set fire to the country for a quarter of a league round;" and he gave these orders without any intermission of his paters, till he had finished them, as he would have thought it a great sin to put them off for another hour, so tender was his conscience. Brantome. The lives of animals, in a state of nature, are very rarely miserable, and it argues a barbarous and sav age disposition to cut them prematurely off in the midst of an agreeable or happy existence, especially when we reflect on the motives which induce it. Instead of a friendly concern for promoting their happiness, your aim, ye participators of murder, is the gratification of your own sensual appetites. How in. consistent is your conduct with the fundamental principle of pure morality and true goodness (which some of you ridiculously profess,) whatever ye would that others should do unto you, do ye even so unto them. You totally disregard this christian precept, this foundation of goodness and morality. No man would willingly become the food of beasts, he ought not therefore to prey on them. Men, who consider themselves members of universal nature or links in the great chain of being, will not usurp pow. er, authority and tyranny, over other beings naturally free and independent, however such beings may be inferior in intellect or strength. An opposite conduct ever bespeaks an unbecoming haughtiness of mind and imperiousness of disposition highly disgraceful, despicable, and beneath a creature possessed of thought and reason. It is argued, that man has a permission, from the practice of his fellows, to eat the flesh of animals, and consequently to kill them; and as there are many animals which subsist wholly on the bodies of other animals, the practice is sanctioned among mankind. During the degeneracy of the human race, errors have become general, which it is the duty and business of enlightened ages to eradicate. The various refine. ments of civil society, the numerous improvements in the arts and sciences, and the different reformations in the laws, policy, and governments of nations, are proofs of this assertion. Perhaps in no instance is habitual depravity more strikingly exemplified than in the existing carnivorous propensity. That mankind in the present stage of polished life, do act in direct violation of the principles of justice, mercy, tenderness, sympathy, and humanity, in the practice of eating flesh, is obvious. To take away the life of any happy being; to commit acts of outrage and depredation, and to abandon every refined feeling and sensibility, is to degrade the human kind beneath it's professed dignity of character: but to devour or eat any animal, is an additional violation of those principles, because 't is the extreme of animal ferocity. Such is the conduct of the most savage of brutes, and of the most uncultivated and barbarous of our own species. Where is the person who can hear himself, with calmness, compared, in disposition, to a lion, a hyena, a tyger, a wolf, a fox, or a cat? and yet how exactly similar is his propensities! Mankind affect to revolt at murder, at the shedding of blood, and yet eagerly, and without remorse, feed on the carcase, when it has undergone the culinary proWhat mental blindness pervades the human race when they do not perceive that every feast of blood is a tacit encouragement and licence to the very crime their pretended delicacy abhors. I say pre cess. tended delicacy, for that it is pretended is most evident. The profession of sensibility, humanity, feeling, &c. &c. in such persons, therefore, is egregious folly. And yet there are respectable persons among every one's acquaintance, amiable in other dispositions, and advocates in, what is commonly termed, the cause of humanity, who are weak, or prejudiced enough to be satisfied with such arguments and on which they ground apologies for their conduct. Education, habit, prejudice, fashion, and interest, have blinded the eyes of men, and have seared their hearts. The brute having no ideas of an hereafter, present pain becomes it's only evil, and present ease, and comfort, or happiness, it's only good. Death is the period to all it's fears. He must die; and if he be thereby released from the cruelty and tyranny of man, the sooner it takes place the better. It may be necessary to kill an animal to preserve him from future misery; let him be dispatched then suddenly, with the least possible degree of pain, but dare not, "carnivorous sinner," to eat his body. If we did not destroy the animals around us, we should be over-run, they would eat up all our vegetables. Lordly man knows how to cause animals to increase rapidly and he knows how to cause them to decrease. He is not so silly as this imperfect argument represents him. In plain diction, he could very soon eat up the males, and the rest would follow. He can extirpate any race of domestic animals and, in this country, even wild animals, at his pleasure. There are abundance of animals in the world which men do not kill and eat; and yet we hear not of their injuring mankind, but sufficient room is found for their abode. Horses are not usually killed to be eaten, and yet we have not heard of any country be NNNNN ing overstocked with them. We do not hear that the buffalos of North America overrun the country. The raven and robinredbreast are seldom killed, and yet they do not become too numerous. It is alleged, There are some animals obnoxious to mankind; and the most compassionate of men make no scruple of destroying them. Animals very rarely exert their power on man; they do not in. herit his dispositions of malice and tyranny. The strongest and most noxious kinds avoid mankind and never hurt them unless provoked by insult or necessitated by hunger. But man destroys, in cold blood, the most inoffensive; and for one injury received, returns excruciating thousands. What patience is observable on their part, when compared with his provocations! Their strength and swiftness are so much superior to our's, that we might derive from them constant lessons of benevolence, patience and mildness. There are some animals of more fierce natures; but does the want of pity and compassion in them justify similar qualities in men? Because a wolf will seize a man, is a man therefore warranted in inheriting the dispositions of a wolf? If we meet ferocious or noxious animals, let us remove from their path; and if we cannot avoid them, let us defend ourselves; for it is no more a crime than to defend ourselves from the fierce and unrelenting attacks of a villainous man, who would murder us and plunder our property. If I kill the beast in the contest, I am not chargeable with malice or intentional cruelty, provided I dispatch him instantly and do not devour his body. I dread the insect that stings, but I hate him not, for he is beautifully formed. If my own safety interfere and I am necessitated to kill him, I am sorry; 1 will not however pierce his body or clip him in pieces, but finish the mortal work with the greatest expedition, crushing him under my foot. Self-preservation may justify a man in putting ani. mals to death, yet cannot warrant the least act of cruelty to any creature. By suddenly dispatching an animal in extreme misery, we act a kind office; an office which reason approves, and which accords with our best and kindest feelings, but which, such is the force of custom, we are denied to shew, tho' solicited, to our species. If thy relation or thy friend should suffer the most excruciating pains of a long and incurable disorder, tho' his writhing contor. tions evince the acuteness of his pain, and tho' his groans should pierce thy heart, and tho' with strong intreaties and tears, he should beg thy kind relief, yet thou must be deaf to him; he must "wait his appointed time, till his change cometh," till he sinks beneath his intolerable sufferings. We have, indeed, hope of a blessed immortality, when "all tears shall be wiped from our eyes; when there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain ;" but brutes are incapable of such hope; all their happiness is in this life; they should therefore be indulged and kindly treated. When they can no longer enjoy happiness, they may be depriv ed of life. Do not suppose that in this reasoning an intention is included of perverting nature. No; let some animals be, as they are, savage, unfeeling, firm, and resolute, like soldiers and executioners of the law; they are necessary; but let not their ferocity and brutality be the standard and pattern of the con duct of man. Because some of them have no com. passion, feeling, or reason; are we to possess no compassion, feeling, or reason? Let lions roar, let mastiffs worry, let cocks fight, but let not man who |