KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



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to the things God has made for their use — much 

 less to those which seem to be of no use to them. 

 Some cruel men will, for their sport only, sadly 

 ill-use that noblest of animals — the horse. It was 

 but recently that Peter Parley read an account 

 of a steeple-chase, as it is called, in which horses 

 are made to leap over high rails, deep ditches, 

 stakes, and hedges. In this steeple-chase no fewer 

 than five horses were obliged to be killed after the 

 race ; three had their backs broken, and two their 

 legs snapped. 



Now, little boys do not ride steeple-chases ; but 

 they will train themselves to this kind of sport, by 

 wanting love and kindness to the things that are 

 around them. 



But of this they may be sure, that every cruel 

 act will so harden the heart, and render the mind 

 so dead to the voice of humanity, that as they 

 grow up to be men, the love of cruelty will prevail 

 in them, and disgrace their name and nature. 



Many children are unkind to animals from sheer 

 want of thought. But the same law that teaches 

 men and women not to do to others what they 

 would not like done to themselves, ought to keep 

 boys and girls from hurting such things as they 

 may chance to have power over ; for the abuse of 

 power is a great crime. 



After God had made all things and pronounced 

 them good, he made man in his own image, full of 

 sense and goodness. He gave him dominion over 

 the fowls of the air, and the fish of the sea, and 

 every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 

 But man was not to be their tyrant. 



" What is a tyrant ? " you inquire. A tyrant 

 is one who uses his might against the law of right; 

 who acts according to his own will ; who enslaves, 

 imprisons, kills, and destroys whoever and what- 

 ever he pleases, and will suffer no one to call him 

 to account ; you read of such men in every history 

 of the world. 



There are many ways of being tyrants — there are 

 many ways of being cruel. It is monstrously cruel 

 to rob a bird of its young. It is cruel to set a trap 

 for a bird, to put it in a cage — for a cage is a prison ; 

 and a boy is nothing better than a jailor — nay, 

 much worse, for he is jailor and tyrant too. Do not 

 think that nice food and seeds, and even care and 

 attention, can be any compensation to the bird 

 deprived of its liberty. Liberty is the greatest 

 gift of God to man, the greatest gift he has given 

 to the beast, the bird, and the insect ; and when 

 we deprive any of God's creatures of that gift, all 

 the love and the kindness we can show them is 

 but poor recompense. 



Man has enslaved the horse, the dog, the camel, 

 the reindeer, and many other animals. They do 

 his lidding, bear his burdens, and lose a life of 

 freedom and happiness for one of pain and labor. 

 They groan and wince under the lash, the curb, 

 or the chain. They wear their lives away in 

 sorrow, in the close stall, the confined crib, or the 

 fenced yard. Their youth is spent in effort and 

 labor ; their old age in pain and misery, with 

 bruised bones, seared skins, and blind eyes. What 

 can make amends for this ? — nothing but kind- 

 ness ; and even then we are still the animals' 

 debtors for more than we can ever pay. 



Mary little boys and girls who would think it 

 wrong to be wilfully cruel, are very unfeeling and 

 forgetful. How many there are who doat upon 



pets. Yet, the fate of pets is usually unfortunate, 

 and, very frequently, through the neglectful con- 

 duct of those who love them. 



It is very common for boys to keep rabbits, and 

 for girls to keep canaries. At first we find those 

 who pet them very attentive ; they feed them, 

 often over-feed them, watch them, and fondle over 

 them. After a little while, some other favorite 

 object engrosses their attention, and the pet is 

 left, not unfrequently, to perish by some accident 

 that care would have prevented ; or to die of 

 starvation. 



A young friend of mine, Edwin, was a kind- 

 hearted boy enough, but he was very inconstant ; 

 he would take a violent affection to a thing ; but 

 this affection soon went off, and he became in a 

 few days as cold and heartless as he seemed to be 

 warm and full of love. 



On one occasion, he had seen a squirrel, at the 

 shop of a dealer in birds and fancy animals. He 

 was delighted to see it turn round and round in 

 its little cage, and he would stand and watch it 

 for a long time, as he went to and from his school 

 every day. At last he prevailed upon his mamma 

 to give him the sum required for the purchase of 

 the animal ; and having obtained it, he brought 

 it home in great glee. It had a place allotted to 

 it in Edwin's own play-room ; and the boy had 

 several projects in his head to make his squirrel 

 more and more happy. So Squirrey was pampered 

 and fed. Every week Edwin laid out the greater 

 part of his pocket-money in the purchase of nuts 

 for his pet, and he carefully cleaned its cage every 

 morning before breakfast, and hung it up in his 

 place every night. Squirrey grew tame, and would 

 suffer Edwin to take him in and out of the cage, 

 and to play with him. And Edwin was very 

 fond of, and very proud of his pet. 



And he might have remained so for some time 

 longer ; but one of his young friends had purchased 

 a magpie, which he had taught to talk. A very 

 talkative bird it was, and a very merry one, too ! 

 It hopped and jumped about, and seemed to care 

 for nobody ; it chattered, and fluttered, and turned 

 its head on one side to look up at you with such 

 provoking assurance, that everybody laughed at 

 and admired the magpie. Edwin was entranced 

 from that moment — the fate of poor squirrey was 

 sealed. A magpie Edwin was determined to have. 



Now it so happened, that master magpie was 

 not only a very talkative bird — he was also a very 

 meddlesome one. He did not exactly respect the 

 property of others ; so Edwin found no difficulty 

 in purchasing magpie : but while the negotiation 

 was going on, and the money was being hoarded, 

 poor Squirrey severely suffered. His supply of 

 nuts was at first reduced, and now and then his 

 bread-and-milk was forgotten. Squirrey felt every 

 day the pangs of hunger, and he longed for the 

 green trees, where he could find a profusion of 

 food for winter stores ; but the bars of his prison 

 were strong. At last, one day — it was the day 

 the magpie came home, his supply of food quite 

 failed. Squirrey determined to break prison, and 

 forced his head between the bars of his cage. He 

 could not get his body through, however ; and 

 alas, owing to the projections of his ears, could not 

 get his head back again ! Thus was he strangled. 



I will leave my young readers to imagine the 

 feelings of this inconstant boy, upon beholding 



