MORAL DUTY TO BE KIND 245 



pense of suffering. The power which was given by 

 the Almighty to man for the protection of His crea- 

 tures is frequently and wantonly used in tortur- 

 ing, where pity should prompt to an opposite 

 course. 



The cries and moans of the poor oppressed crea- 

 tures plead in a language too pathetic to be disre- 

 garded except by those who disgrace the name they 

 bear. " The beasts of the field," says the pathetic 

 voice of inspiration, "cry to Thee, and Thou near- 

 est them, 1 ' and surely those sufferings, unjustly in- 

 flicted, must ultimately call down the vengeance of 

 that Being whose ear is ever open to the cry of dis- 

 tress. The voice of nature cries aloud against such 

 conduct. From the winged birds and insects of the 

 air, from the beasts and living things upon the 

 earth, from the harmless inhabitants of the waters, 

 there is a continued cry to God against the wrongs 

 they are made to endure. The man who unmerci- 

 fully abuses one of God's creatures without a 

 cause, is a disgrace to his species, a tyrant of a more 

 ignoble, but not less hateful kind, than he who 

 makes use of the privileges of a throne to molest 

 and injure his fellowmen. He sports with suffering 

 which is always sacred to the good ; he oppresses 



