THE STAG, OR HART. 
35 
young dogs, who are fierce, and do not know their dan¬ 
ger, often go too near, when the Stag lays them dead by 
a single blow with his foot. But the other dogs soon 
coming up, the exhausted animal is overpowered by 
numbers and slain. Then the huntsman’s horu is sound¬ 
ed, to let all within hearing know that the sport is over, 
for the Stag is dead. 
Hunting the Stag, has been called innocent sport, but 
it is hoped that no child will think it innocent, after 
reading what is written above. Who could see the poor 
Stag running for his life, with his tongue out of his 
mouth, and the tears streaming from his eyes, without 
himself shedding tears of pity for his sufferings ? We do 
not deny but this animal was made for the use of man, 
but we do deny that men have a right to put any animal 
to unnecessary pain. It is not for food that the Stag is 
hunted by dogs, but it is for the sport and pleasure of 
seeing him chased and worried. It is therefore cruel 
and unjust. It is cruel, because it puts one of the crea¬ 
tures that God has given us, to great pain for no good 
purpose : and it is unjust, because men have no right to 
destroy the life of any animal, without a good design. 
Let me say a few words more to my young friends. If 
you have not been to hunt the Stag, perhaps you have 
been to catch little fish and to shoot little birds. Now 
the little fish and the little biids, though they cannot cry, 
and make a pitiful noise when they are hurt, have feel¬ 
ing as well as you, and like you, were made by the Great 
Creator of Heaven and Earth, for some good purpose. 
Is it right, then, to destroy these little animals, which 
are of no use when they are dead? Is it not very cruel 
to go down to the brook and catch the little fish, when 
they are doing no harm, and string them on a stick to 
carry home, and throw away ? And is it not as cruel to 
go into the woods and shoot the little birds, when they 
are singingand hopping about among the trees? They 
can do you no hurt while living, and are of no use when 
dead ; why then should they be killed? None but bad 
boys do such things, for good boys pity the sufferings of 
innocent animals. 
Let us then remembe^, that catching fish and killing 
birds, which do no hurt while living, and are of no use 
when dead, are both cruel and wicked, and that God 
will some time or other punish us for every cruel and 
wicked thing we do. 
ANECDOTE I. 
The fondness of the Hind for her young, is often made 
use of by the cruel hunter, as the means of her own 
destruction. 
The Stag sometimes injures his young by striking them 
with his feet. The Hind knows this, and therefore 
hides her young so that he, as well as other animals, 
shall not find them. When she goes away to feed, she 
does not take it with her, but the little animal lies still 
and. close among the. leaves, until she comes back. If 
however, while absent she hears it cry, she runs to it in a 
moment, and her fondness for it making her forget all 
fear, she often runs into danger. 
The hunter knows all this, and deceives the poor fond 
mother in the following way. He goes out into the 
woods where he knows that Hinds are to be found, and 
there with a whistle, or with his mouth makes a noise so 
exactly like the crying of the young deer, that the mother 
hearing it, believes it to come from her young. Holding 
up her head to listen, she again hears it, and then bounds 
away towards the place from which the sound comes. 
The hunter all this time is ready with his loaded gun, 
and as soon as the innocent creature comes near, she is 
shot. 
ANECDOTE II. 
When pursued, the Hind will not run away and leave 
her young behind, but will stay with it and try to save 
it, though by so doing, she often loses her own life. 
Captain Parry says that once he saw a deer with her 
young one by her side swimming across a little piece of 
water. The men pursued them, and frequently fired at 
the mother. But though the young deer could not swim 
near so fast as the old one, she would not leave it behind 
to save herself, but every time in her anxiety to escape, 
she went forward of it, she would stop for the little ani¬ 
mal to come up with her. When they had almost 
reached the shore the old one went forward and landed 
first., and looking back for her young, with the greatest 
anxiety, she would not stir until it had landed also. 
These innocent creatures then bounded away in safety. 
The more we know of animals, the more reason we 
shall have to admire the wisdom and goodness of the 
Creator. The kindness of one brute toward another, 
and particularly the love of the mother for its young, is 
not only a chief source of pleasure to the animals, but at 
the same time is the indirect means by which they are 
protected . and nurtured. Besides the pleasure which 
animals receive from the kind affections of each other, 
such an example was perhaps intended by the Creator 
for our imitation. For if the “ brutes that perish,” treat 
each other with kindness, bow much more are we, as 
human beings bound, not only to practice such kindness 
among ourselves, but also to extend it towards those 
animals, which have set us so good an example. 
