24 
beast; with a little intelligence or mean- 
ing, as the utmost latitude of convenience 
can require. Children are even mvaria- 
bly bred up to, and encouraged in deeds 
of flagrant cruelty to animals, from the 
outraged feelings of which they instine- 
tively, as well as by example, expect to 
derive sensations of pleasure and delight; 
and the association of the horse and the 
whip produces in the minds not in in- 
fanis only, the simple conviction, that the 
horse was made to be whipped, and the 
whip was made for the horse, which species 
of logic, the natural growth of the minds 
of coachmen, grooms, of the masters and 
mistresses, and the young gentlemen and 
ladies, is seldom or ever burdened with 
such unnecessary adjuncts, as whether 
the horse has merited the whip, or whe- 
ther the inflictor of the punishment hath 
anyjudgement at allin that matter. But 
practical justice and compassion towards 
beasts, neither have, uor ever had a place 
ever the whole earth, barbaric or civilized: 
interest is deemed all in all; when that 
requires they should be flayed or dissected 
alive, they are so served. Nor can of- 
ten, even genius, talents, and learning, 
discern ought of wrong in this, on which 
perhaps the customary moral had _ pre- 
vented them even from bestowing a 
thought, untilawakened from their men- 
tal slumber to irksome and _ painful 
light, by the lucubrations of some senti- 
mental rhapsodist,who thence earned their 
most hearty contempt. When the tune- 
ful ancient taught that a young bullock 
must be tortured to death, in order to ge- 
nerate bees, his idea extended not be- 
yond the profit and the honey; the prin- 
ciple of justice could scarcely enter into 
his recollection, for what man in his wits 
could think of yoking together bulls and 
justice? Neither the Gauderios of Bue- 
nos Ayres, nor the Abyssinians, it is pro- 
bable, auvex the idea of cruelty to cutting 
the flesh from the living bodies of ani- 
mals; they act implicitly from custom, 
between which and reflection there is al- 
ways a veil fixed. But what are we to 
think of our countryman Bruce, the polite, 
the learned, the philosopher, the theolc- 
gian, who could attempt to entertain his 
-reader facetiously with a relation of that 
horrible, must horrible fact? Or of a 
certain lady traveller, who could crack 
her jokes on slavery, and the whining sen- 
’ timentalists on that dreadful subject; or 
of her reviewer, who could with equal 
humour decide, that she had a clear 
right to her joke ? Why, their hearts were 
so naturaliy hard and impenetrable, that 
even the soundest education could never 
On Humanity to Animals. 
[Feb. 1, 
have rendered them actively compas~ 
sionate. I disallow and abhor all punish- 
ments which have revenge for their ob- 
Ject: their futility is equal to their cruel- 
ty; but when I fi:st read Bzuce’s book, 
that malice so natural to the heart of 
man arose spontaneously in mine, and I 
could not avoid wishing him under the 
hands of a cannibal, who would have mo- 
derately contented himself with a steak 
of halfa pound only. _ And at last sucha 
retaliative stroke might have produced 
smart to the body, without a sense of 
conviction to the mind of Bruce. Not 
improbably, .so soon as he should have 
become convalescent, he would have be- 
gun to raciocinate straight forward, that 
he was not an ox. : Bh by Sie 
The above sentiments bring to my res 
collection, that which I apprehend to be 
one of the very few errors, in Mr. God- 
win’s Enquirer, a work of a superior 
stamp, and certainly among the best 
which the modern press has produced. 
The author seems to me, to give too great 
a latitude to nis arguments, in opposition 
to innate ideas, and perhaps to follow 
authority with too little reserve. I con- 
ceive that. experience has totally swept 
away ail doubt of innate properties, both 
of body and mind. Precisely the same 
place, air, education, food and _ ha-- 
bits, will, and do often produce dispo- 
sitions in associated individuals, hu- 
man or brute, totally dissimilar. Twe 
children shall- be trained up equally 
and together, and the maturity of the 
one shall produce the feelings of an 
angel, that of the other the obduracy of 
Belzebub. I speak of what I have seen. 
I have known two colts bred in the same 
paddock, and trained mi the same stable: 
the one has proved, through life, full of 
the nulk of animal kindness, the other 
under the perpetual influence of the de- 
mon of viciousness, a sincere proof of 
which he actually gave, by tearing out 
the entrails of one of his attendants. Ex- 
ampies of similar tendency are too nume- 
rous to be treated as exceptions to gene- 
ral rules, if we may not beallowed to call 
the contrary the side of exceptions. It 
is referred to philosophers who have tei- 
sure, to decide which is the rule and 
which the exception. One more of the 
incurieg of Mr. Godwin. Inthe aforesaid 
work, making mightily light of the taleut 
of writing, he seems to refer even the 
highest excellence of the art to study, 
assiduity, and perseverance. Who would 
notspend his days chearfully in study, 
with assiduity and perseverance, in order 
te be enabled te write likeGodwin! __ 
= * Ts 
