Proceedings of the Farmers' Club. 321 



and ends with a whip. Under a succession of corporal inflictions, he 

 cannot forget the miseries he has endured, or shun the tortures that 

 may overtake him if he stumbles on a pebble. What a disgrace to a 

 Christian age and to individuals, that such almost unrebuked perpe- 

 trations of cruelty to the horse should be permitted even in the open- 

 streets of a city. Mr. Henry Bergh merits the thanks of a nation for 

 his lessons of humanity. He opened the eyes of the people to the 

 moral grandeur of beins; merciful to domesticated animals. : 



Civilization cannot have reached its maximum till whips are 

 abolished. They are as unsuitable for horses as our fellow man. 

 Doing as we would be done by in all the relations of life, embraces 

 humanity of treatment to every animal associated with us in domestic 

 economy. The Creator governs a universe in mildness, forbearance, 

 and love. If we profit by the divine lesson of example, our happiness 

 will be exalted in exact proportion to our conformity to the laws of 

 love and unlimited kindness. Camel-drivers talk with their patient, . 

 vitalized ships of the desert while trudging by their side ; and when 

 nearly exhausted by the burden carried hundreds of miles under a 

 burning sun, and often wallowing through heated sands, he sings the 

 most spirited songs in recollection, to keep up the waning courage of 

 the faithful beast. Sagacity is a marked attribute of the horse when 

 left unmutilated to develop the perfections of his nature. The gelding 

 is not susceptible of the high educational training of the fiery stallion. 

 The latter are astonishing performers at the hippodrome. Restless^, 

 nervous, and powerful as they are, they may be calmed by soft words. 

 A whip rouses them to maddened desperation. Horse-tamers of the 

 modern school subdue the most furious animals by a quiet intercourse 

 with them in a stable where there are no auditors. They neither flag- 

 ellate them nor overcome their wildness by severities. On the contrary, 

 they have the art of convincing their dumb pupil he is his particular 

 friend. When that has been accomplished, the changed quadruped 

 requires no repetition of promise made while he was in duress. Ever 

 after the horse keeps his pledge to behave well, remaining gentle to 

 the end of life, even when misfortune places him under the owner- 

 ship of a reckless, unprincipled savage of a master. It is a wrong 

 custom in our midst to have so much to do with whips, that it gives 

 employment to a very large number of workmen, as a distinct, well- 

 sustained trade. Our horses snap a bridle and run with a carriage 

 because they dread the approach of the driver as often as otherwise. 

 Their speed is increased wlien unlawfully at liberty, they so dread the 

 [Inst.] 21 



