MARCH 233 



forth for the slaughter of the beautiful little bull-calf, 

 as even the most fortunate farmer cannot expect to 

 breed only cows. Is not all or nearly all our compli- 

 cated civilised life directly or indirectly mixed up with 

 the killing of animals ? No one can hate cruelty more 

 than I do ; no one can wish more than I do that legisla- 

 tion should be applied to control and rule the cruelty of 

 man. But the most tender-hearted of old maids has to 

 shut her eyes to the fact that superfluous kittens and 

 puppies are put out of the way; and if we are told that 

 the rats are devouring our beautiful black and white 

 pigeons, the cruel rat-catcher is sent for to fight and 

 kill the enemy, though, poor things ! Mr. and Mrs. Rat 

 enjoyed their spring life and their young families quite 

 as much as the pigeons. Can vegetarians keep their 

 kitchens full of blackbeetles or their Roses covered with 

 greenfly? Do they give over all their Peaches to the 

 wasps, or their nuts to the mice 1 



The wasteful redundancy of nature involves the 

 whole question in a cloud of difficulties, and to my mind 

 not one of these is removed, nor is any light thrown on 

 the subject by the sentimental view that we should give 

 up eating meat, not for our own good, but with the idea 

 of sparing animal life. 



Besides, such countless other products are dependent 

 upon the killing of animals that, even if the whole world 

 were non- meat -eating, hardly fewer animals than at 

 present would be bred and slaughtered. 



I myself believe it has to be proved that people who 

 do not eat meat are less strong than those who do. The 

 subject is receiving much attention in Germany. Last 

 year I saw in the newspapers that a man left money to 

 build a school for poor children, on condition that it was 

 conducted on vegetarian principles. The trustees re- 

 fused the bequest. On the other hand, last June a very 



