At the Water's Edge 



no nonchalance more exquisite than that with 

 which a man will stamp with obloquy another's 

 conduct that is precisely the reproduction of his 

 own. And when one speaks in disapproving 

 terms about bloodthirsty beasts and birds, let 

 him occasionally call to mind the countless cat- 

 tle on a thousand hills, destined for the sham- 

 bles to satisfy man's own carnivorous appetite. 

 Only he who from principle is a vegetarian can, 

 without making himself ridiculous, cast a slur 

 upon a bird's use of fresh meat. Instead of 

 wasting our disdain upon the lower animals of 

 prey, it would certainly be used to much better 

 purpose by turning it upon that barbarity of 

 our fellow-beings who call themselves perfectly 

 respectable, although they will go, year after 

 year, to the woods, and fields, and beaches, and 

 slaughter scores and hundreds of innocent and 

 beautiful creatures, not on the plea of any need 

 whatever, but to experience the luxury of kill- 

 ing, wherein the satisfaction gained is precisely 

 measured by the amount of life destroyed. 

 Between the brutality of the fiercest beast or 

 bird, and that of the average hunter, let the 

 impartial critic choose. 



203 



