556 
- whichis now admitted before “ pardon- 
eth,” should theretore be expunged. The 
' constructicn is similar to that adopted - 
bv the translators of the Bible, in 1 Sam. 
xvu. 37. - “ The Lord God, that deli- 
vered me out of the paw of the lion, and 
out of the paw of the bear, fe will de- 
liver me out of the hand of this Philistine,” 
It is probable, that, by some typogra- 
phical error, the punctuation has heen 
altered, by substituting the period for 
the comma ; and that the practice which 
has il lately obtained of writing the ini- 
tials of pronouns with capital letters, has 
misled the reader, and introduced the 
present inaccurate reading. 
Mr. Sheridan, whose remarks on the 
sense of the liturgy are generally correct, 
has not observed ‘the grammatical impro- 
priety of this sentence; but has pre- 
scribed a form which sanctions the es- 
tablished manner of reading it. 
Newbury, Your's, &c. 
May 11, 1809. Ww. ALLEN, 
=. 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
The spetcu of LonD ERSKINE, in the 
HOUSE Of PEERS, on the second READ-— 
tNG of the BILL for preventing muli- 
cious and wanton CRUELTY to ANIMALS. 
— Taken i sHoRT HAND.* 
My Lorps, 
AM now to propose to the humane 
consideration of the House, a sub- 
ject which has long. occupied my atten- 
ton, and which | own to your Lordships 
is very near my heart. 
* The Publisher of this Magazine con- 
ceives that no apology will be requisite, on 
his part, for the pains he has taken to pro-. 
cute a correct copy of it, and for presenting 
the same to the world. 
The principles of sound morality and ho- 
mane policy, which this speech contains, can- 
not be too widely disseminated ; and they 
may be the means, in this shape, of pro- 
ducing an effect on the feclings and practices 
of mankind, nearly equal to that proposed by 
legislative regulations. At the same time the 
sanction of law can never be more usefully 
bestowed, than in'giving weight to doctrines 
which are frequently at variance with the 
prejudices and passions o: mankind. 
On the whole, it may be, asserted, that 
this speech contains such a condensed view of 
the arguments in favour o; a mild and hu- 
mane treatment of the brute creation, as to 
claim a general introduction into aii be and 
seminaries of education, and to deserve circu- 
lation among the lower classes of society by 
the clergy, and i ali moral ee pious per- 
sons. 
Lord Erskine’s Speech on Cruelty to Animals, 
[July }, 
Te would bea painful and disgusting 
detail, if [ were to endeavour to bring 
be fire you the almost innamerable in- 
stances of cruelty to animals, which are 
daily occurrmg in this country, and 
which, unfortunately, only g gather strength 
by any efforts of humanity in individuals: 
to repress them, withuut the aid of the 
law. 
These unmanly and disgusting out- 
rages are most frequently perpe- 
trated by the basest and most worth- 
less; incapable, for the most part, 
of any reprcof which can, reach the 
mind, and- who know no more of the 
law, than that it sutfers them to indulge 
their savage dispositions with impunity. 
Nothing i is more notorious, than that 
it is not only useless, but dangerous, to 
poor suffering animals, to reprove their 
al or to threaten them with pu- 
nishment. The general answer, with the 
‘addition of bitter oaths and paiekeed 
cruelty, 1s, “ What is that to you? 
If the offender be a servant, he curses 
you, and asks, if you are his master ? 
and if he be the master himself, he tells 
you that the animal is) his own. Every ; 
one of your Lordships must have wit- 
nessed scenes like this. A noble Duke, 
whom I do not see in his place, told me 
only two days ago, that he had lately 
received this very answer. The validity 
of this most infamous and stupid defence, 
arises from that defect. in the law which 
I seek to remedy. Animals are consis 
dered as property only—To destroy or to 
abuse them, from malice to the proprie- 
tor, or with ar.intention injurious to his 
interest in them, is criminal; but the 
animals themselves cre without protec- 
tion—the iaw regards them not substan- 
tively—they have no rights ! 
I will not stop to examine, whether 
public cruelty to animals may not he, 
under many circumstances, an indictable 
offence: I think it is, and if it be, it is 
so much the better ‘for the argument [ 
‘am about to submit to your Lordships, 
But if even this were clearly so, it would 
fall very short of the principle whieh I 
‘mean anxiously and earnestly to invite 
the House to adopt. I am to ask your 
Lordships, in the name of that God who 
gave to man his dominion ovet the lower 
world, to acknowledge and- recognize 
that dominion to bea Moral Trust. It 
is a proposition which no man living can 
deny, without denying the whole founda- 
tion of our duties, and every thing the 
Bul proposes will be found to be abso- 
lutely 
