1823.] 
a young hart, upon the mountains of 
spices.” iwi ye : 
I am, not inimical, tothe Bible So- 
ciety ;,and, so far is this from being 
the case, that.I view it as, one of ihe 
most influential means of enlightening 
Papal, Mahometan,. and. Heathen, 
lands; and, wken under right manage- 
ment, favourable to charity, peace, 
andconcord, at. home.. But, as a 
garden,.is rendered more beautiful by 
eradicating. its .weeds, so the Bible 
Society will be more. worthy of esteem 
and: confidence when its proceedings 
are free. from inconsistency and illi- 
berality. Examination is hateful to 
bigotry, but not to,candour and truth. 
Henry Inpico, 
Carmarthen; Nov. 4, 1823. 
— 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
FE any one feature is more commen- 
dabie than another, in your highly 
useful journal, it is the warm reproba- 
tion with which you uniformly regard 
every, species of cruelty towards 
animals. A.charge of this nature was 
sometime ago (1 believe in’ your 
Magazine for August 1822, page 40,) 
preferred against the inhabitants of 
the Scottish metzopolis, in the form of 
uw query. 
It is a trite, yet true, saying, that ‘a 
wise man only knows how to. ask a 
question ;” and the truth of this adage 
is, fully exemplified by your corres- 
pondent, who, when he charges the 
good people of Scotland with “ pluck- 
jug live fow}s,and afterwards exposing 
them for sale in the public market of 
Edinburgh,” seems ignorant to what 
an extent commerce in live feathers 
is carried on in England. 
Though he uses the generic appella- 
tion fowls, it is evident he can only 
mean geese; since the feathers of no 
other species of poultry are of so much 
value as to induce the. cupidity of 
breeders to resort to that barbarous 
practice. .That plucking live’ geese 
makes any part of the rural economy 
of Scotland, even at this day, I am 
much inclined to doubt; but a few 
years ago, I dare venture to affirm 
without fear of contradiction, it was 
unknown. I weil recollect, in the 
jocund days of childhood, when every 
change in, the circling seasons is hailed 
with the delight that novelty never 
fails to impart to the youthful bosom, 
frequently making one in a joyous 
groupe of children, who with extended 
Cruel Practice of Plucking Live Geese. 
423 
hands endeavoured to catch as they 
fell the first flakes, of fleecy snow, 
which indicated the approach of win- 
ter ;, while. repeating, in unison, the 
following distich, in allusion to the 
practice of goose-plucking which pre- 
vailed in an adjoining» border-county 
of England :— 
The folk of the east are plucking their 
geese, 
And sending their feathers tous. 
Should ihe more frequent and inti- 
mate intercourse, which now prevails 
between the Scotch and their southern 
neighbours, have led the former to 
seek gain froma traflic in live feathers, 
your querist ought to have known, 
that the poor birds are wholly unfit for 
market long after being stript of their 
plumage ; so that the latter clause of 
the charge of necessity falls to the 
ground, 
In those English counties, where 
extensive flocks of geese are bred and 
reared mainly for the value, of the 
feathers, the season of sheep-shearing 
does not return more regularly than 
does that of geese plucking. It is 
chiefly performed by women, and the 
torture sustained by the poor goose is 
greater in proportion to the want of 
dexterity in the operator. Those new 
to the employment often tear and lace- 
rate the skin in such a manner, as to 
occasion the death of the bird. But, 
even when performed with the utmost 
expertness, the animals exhibit a most 
pitiable aspect for a longer or shorter 
period afterwards: they lose their 
flesh and appetite, their eyes become 
lustreless, and they display every ap- 
pearance of extreme lassitude and 
debility. 
To persuade the luxurious rich to 
relinquish his bed of down,* or the 
farmer his gains, for the sake of hu- 
manity, would, I am afraid, be alike 
a hopeless and an ungrateful task ; 
but, could it be rendered evident to 
the former that his couch might be 
softer, and to the latter that his profit 
might 
* Happily, fashion effects more than 
principle, and hair or flock mattresses are 
now generally preferred by the great to 
feather beds; and the change is encon- ° 
raged by the faculty, as condneive ta 
health, vigour, and long lite. It is found 
that feather beds’ vive’ birth’ to rheu- 
matism, and to the whole train of nervous 
diseases ; and are tlierefore atleast out of 
fashion, though still used by the valgar,— 
Epvror, ; 1 
