KINDNESS, AND SYMPATHIES 265 



indignation, and he did all he could to further the good 

 efforts of the Society for the Protection of Birds. Thus 

 he writes to the Secretary of that Society : 



"July 20th, 1895. 



" You must permit me to applaud and thank you for 

 your energetic action with regard to the dealers, and I 

 devoutly hope that it may be crowned with the success 

 that it so fully deserves. I am convinced that the whole 

 mischief arises from apathy and ignorance, and it is 

 extremely difficult to arouse the public mind against a 

 long-established barbarity, that does not come immediately 

 under their eyes. I mean that I believe that many 

 plumiferous ladies would shrink from wearing robins', 

 swallows', and other common British birds' skins or 

 feathers, who would never give a thought to wearing 

 bright plumage of birds with which they have no personal 

 acquaintance. People read the articles and letters of 

 protest in the newspapers, exclaim : ' How shocking ! ' 

 and forget all about it. If we could only stop the 

 demand, the supply would soon fall off ; but in the 

 meantime, it seems that the supply must fail from the 

 extinction of the birds themselves. Personally I think 

 that this is a subject that calls for state legislation, much 

 more than the egg-stealing at home. This last offence 

 may very well be stopped by private landowners and 

 occupiers who will take the trouble to think, and by 

 law in public places. 



