THE DOG. 157 
less and brings punishment, yet, knowing this, obeys from 
love not from fear. 
Happily, cruelty toward animals, which in the last 
century was common even among men of high station in 
the world, is now limited to the rude, the brutal and un- 
educated, and rare even among them, because they are 
aware of the disgust it awakens in their superiors. 
Nowadays, a gentleman, known to be habitually guilty 
of cruelty to his dogs or horses, could scarcely more retain 
his repute and standing, than if he were convicted in the 
public mind of ill-treatment of his wife or children. 
Consequently, cruelty is no longer, as it once was, part 
and parcel of the system of sportsmanship, so far at least 
as dog and horsebreaking and management are concerned. 
It has been proved, moreover, that cruel breaking is 
not only inhuman and brutal, but unwise, injudicious, 
and ineffective. Severity is necessary sometimes, in the 
beginning, with dogs, as it is with children. Both must 
be compelled to obey; and the greater the obduracy of 
child or dog, the greater must be the mildness, the temper, 
the steadiness and the firmness of the teacher. 
It must be remembered, that it is not the severity of 
the pain, but the invariableness of its attendance on the 
recurrence of given offences, that impresses the conviction 
on the memory, that the pain is the consequence of the 
fault. 
When that conviction is gained, future offences arise 
from forgetfulness, rashness, wantonness, rarely from stub- 
bornness. In no case should they avoid punishment, but, 
in the first instance, a slight flogging with a great deal of 
