At the Water’s Edge 
no nonchalance more exquisite than that with 
which a man will stamp with obloquy another’s 
conduct that is precisely the reproduction of his 
own. And when one speaks in disapproving 
terms about bloodthirsty beasts and birds, let 
him occasionally call to mind the countless cat- 
tle on a thousand hills, destined for the sham- 
bles to satisfy man’s own carnivorous appetite. 
Only he who from principle is a vegetarian can, 
without making himself ridiculous, cast a slur 
upon a bird’s use of fresh meat. Instead of 
wasting our disdain upon the lower animals of 
prey, it would certainly be used to much better 
purpose by turning it upon that barbarity of 
our fellow-beings who call themselves perfectly 
respectable, although they will go, year after 
year, to the woods, and fields, and beaches, and 
slaughter scores and hundreds of innocent and 
beautiful creatures, not on the plea of any need 
whatever, but to experience the luxury of kill- 
ing, wherein the satisfaction gained is precisely 
measured by the amount of life destroyed. 
Between the brutality of the fiercest beast or 
bird, and that of the average hunter, let the 
impartial critic choose. 
203 
