Chapter 2

But what is needed for the present is due regard for the natural rights of animals, due sense of the fact that they are not created for man's pleasure and behoof alone, but have, independent of him, their own meaning and place in the universal order; that the God who gave them being, who out of the manifoldness of his creative thought let them pass into life, has not cast them off, but is with them, in them, still. A portion of his Spirit, though unconscious and unreflecting, is theirs. What else but the Spirit of God could guide the crane and the stork across pathless seas to their winter retreats, and back again to their summer haunts? What else could reveal to the petrel the coming storm? What but the Spirit of God could so geometrize the wondrous architecture of the spider and the bee, or hang the hill-star's nest in the air, or sling the hammock of the tiger-moth, or curve the ramparts of the beaver's fort, and build the myriad "homes without hands" in which fish, bird, and insect make their abode? The Spirit of God is with them as with us,--consciously with us, unconsciously with them. We are not divided, but one in his care and love. They have their mansions in the Father's house, and we have ours; but the house is one, and the Master and keeper is one for us and them.

REV. DR. HEDGE.

* * * * *

"DUMB."

I can hardly express to you how much I feel there is to be thought of, arising from the word "dumb" applied to animals. Dumb animals! What an immense exhortation that is to pity. It is a remarkable thing that this word dumb should have been so largely applied to animals, for, in reality, there are very few dumb animals. But, doubtless, the word is often used to convey a larger idea than that of dumbness; namely, the want of power in animals to convey by sound to mankind what they feel, or, perhaps, I should rather say, the want of power in men to understand the meaning of the various sounds uttered by animals. But as regards those animals which are mostly dumb, such as the horse, which, except on rare occasions of extreme suffering, makes no sound at all, but only expresses pain by certain movements indicating pain--how tender we ought to be of them, and how observant of these movements, considering their dumbness. The human baby guides and governs us by its cries. In fact, it will nearly rule a household by these cries, and woe would betide it, if it had not this power of making its afflictions known. It is a sad thing to reflect upon, that the animal which has the most to endure from man is the one which has the least powers of protesting by noise against any of his evil treatment.

ARTHUR HELPS.

* * * * *

UPWARD.

His parent hand From the mute shell-fish gasping on the shore, To men, to angels, to celestial minds, Forever leads the generations on To higher scenes of being; while supplied From day to day with His enlivening breath, Inferior orders in succession rise To fill the void below.

AKENSIDE: _Pleasures of Imagination._

* * * * *

CARE FOR THE LOWEST.

I would not enter on my list of friends (Though graced with polished manners and fine sense, Yet wanting sensibility) the man Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm. An inadvertent step may crush the snail That crawls at evening in the public path; But he that has humanity, forewarned, Will tread aside, and let the reptile live. The creeping vermin, loathsome to the sight, And charged perhaps with venom, that intrudes, A visitor unwelcome, into scenes Sacred to neatness and repose, the alcove, The chamber, or refectory, may die: A necessary act incurs no blame. Not so when, held within their proper bounds, And guiltless of offence, they range the air, Or take their pastime in the spacious field: There they are privileged; and he that hunts Or harms them there is guilty of a wrong, Disturbs the economy of nature's realm, Who, when she formed, designed them an abode. The sum is this: If man's convenience, health, Or safety, interfere, his rights and claims Are paramount, and must extinguish theirs. Else they are all--the meanest things that are-- As free to live, and to enjoy that life, As God was free to form them at the first, Who in his sovereign wisdom made them all. Ye, therefore, who love mercy, teach your sons To love it too.

COWPER.

* * * * *

TRUST.

Oh, yet we trust that somehow good Will be the final goal of ill, To pangs of nature, sins of will, Defects of doubt and taints of blood;

That nothing walks with aimless feet; That not one life shall be destroyed, Or cast as rubbish to the void, When God hath made the pile complete;

That not a worm is cloven in vain; That not a moth with vain desire Is shrivelled in a fruitless fire, Or but subserves another's gain.

TENNYSON.

* * * * *

SAY NOT.

Say not, the struggle naught availeth, The labor and the wounds are vain, The enemy faints not, nor faileth, And as things have been they remain.

If hopes were dupes, fears may be liars; It may be, in yon smoke concealed, Your comrades chase e'en now the fliers, And, but for you, possess the field.

For while the tired waves, vainly breaking, Seem here no painful inch to gain, Far back, through creeks and inlets making, Comes silent, flooding in, the main.

And not by eastern windows only, When daylight comes, comes in the light; In front, the sun climbs slow, how slowly! But westward, look, the land is bright.

A. H. CLOUGH.

* * * * *

SEE, THROUGH THIS AIR.

See, through this air, this ocean, and this earth, All matter quick, and bursting into birth. Above, how high progressive life may go! Around, how wide! how deep extend below! Vast chain of being! which from God began, Natures ethereal, human, angel, man, Beast, bird, fish, insect, which no eye can see, No glass can reach; from infinite to thee; From thee to nothing. On superior powers Were we to press, inferior might on ours; Or in the full creation leave a void, Where, one step broken, the great scale's destroyed: From Nature's chain whatever link you strike, Tenth, or ten thousandth, breaks the chain alike. All are but parts of one stupendous whole, Whose body Nature is, and God the soul; That, changed through all, and yet in all the same, Great in the earth, as in the ethereal frame; Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze, Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees; Lives through all life, extends through all extent, Spreads undivided, operates unspent; Breathes in our soul, informs our mortal part, As full, as perfect, in a hair as heart; As full, as perfect, in vile man that mourns, As the rapt seraph that adores and burns: To Him no high, no low, no great, no small; He fills, He bounds, connects, and equals all.

POPE.

* * * * *

THE RIGHT MUST WIN.

Oh, it is hard to work for God, To rise and take his part Upon this battle-field of earth, And not sometimes lose heart!

Ill masters good; good seems to change To ill with greatest ease; And, worst of all, the good with good Is at cross purposes.

It is not so, but so it looks; And we lose courage then; And doubts will come if God hath kept His promises to men.

Workman of God! Oh lose not heart, But learn what God is like; And in the darkest battle-field Thou shalt know where to strike.

For right is right, since God is God; And right the day must win; To doubt would be disloyalty, To falter would be sin!

FABER.

* * * * *

ANIMATED NATURE.

Nature inanimate employs sweet sounds, But animated nature sweeter still To soothe and satisfy the human ear. Ten thousand warblers cheer the day, and one The livelong night: nor these alone whose notes Nice-fingered art must emulate in vain; But coying rooks, and kites that swim sublime In still repeated circles, screaming loud, The jay, the pie, and ev'n the boding owl That hails the rising moon, have charms for me. Sounds inharmonious in themselves and harsh, Yet heard in scenes where peace forever reigns, And only there, please highly for their sake.

COWPER.

* * * * *

ANIMAL HAPPINESS.

The heart is hard in nature, and unfit For human fellowship, as being void Of sympathy, and therefore dead alike To love and friendship both, that is not pleased With sight of animals enjoying life, Nor feels their happiness augment his own. The bounding fawn that darts along the glade When none pursues, through mere delight of heart, And spirits buoyant with excess of glee; The horse as wanton, and almost as fleet, That skips the spacious meadow at full speed, Then stops, and snorts, and throwing high his heels, Starts to the voluntary race again; The very kine that gambol at high noon, The total herd receiving first from one That leads the dance a summons to be gay, Though wild their strange vagaries, and uncouth Their efforts, yet resolved with one consent To give such act and utterance as they may To ecstasy too big to be suppressed-- These and a thousand images of bliss, With which kind Nature graces every scene, Where cruel man defeats not her design, Impart to the benevolent, who wish All that are capable of pleasure pleased, A far superior happiness to theirs, The comfort of a reasonable joy.

COWPER.

* * * * *

NO GRAIN OF SAND.

The very meanest things are made supreme With innate ecstasy. No grain of sand But moves a bright and million-peopled land, And hath its Edens and its Eves, I deem. For love, though blind himself, a curious eye Hath lent me, to behold the heart of things, And touched mine ear with power. Thus, far or nigh, Minute or mighty, fixed or free with wings, Delight, from many a nameless covert sly, Peeps sparkling, and in tones familiar sings.

LAMAN BLANCHARD.

* * * * *

HUMANITY, MERCY, AND BENEVOLENCE.

When that great and far-reaching softener of hearts, the sense of our failures and offences, is vividly present, the position we hold to creatures who have never done wrong is always found inexpressibly touching. To be kind to them, and rejoice in their happiness, seems just one of the few ways in which we can act a godlike part in our little sphere, and display the mercy for which we hope in turn. The only befitting feeling for human beings to entertain toward brutes is--as the very word suggests--the feeling of _Humanity_; or, as we may interpret it, the sentiment of sympathy, as far as we can cultivate fellow feeling; of Pity so far so we know them to suffer; of Mercy so far as we can spare their sufferings; of Kindness and Benevolence, so far as it is in our power to make them happy.

MISS F. P. COBBE.

* * * * *

LIVING CREATURES.

What call'st thou solitude? Is mother earth With various living creatures, and the air Replenished, and all these at thy command To come and play before thee? Know'st thou not Their language and their ways? They also know, And reason not contemptibly; with these Find pastime, and bear rule; thy realm is large.

_Paradise Lost_, bk. 8.

* * * * *

NOTHING ALONE.

One all-extending, all-preserving Soul Connects each being, greatest with the least; Made beast in aid of man, and man of beast; All served, all serving: nothing stands alone: The chain holds on, and where it ends, unknown.

POPE.

* * * * *

MAN'S RULE.

Thou gavest me wide nature for my kingdom, And power to feel it, to enjoy it. Not Cold gaze of winder gav'st thou me alone, But even into her bosom's depth to look, As it might be the bosom of a friend; The grand array of living things thou madest To pass before me, mak'st me know my brothers In silent bush, in water, and in air.

_Blackie's Translation of Goethe's Faust._

* * * * *

DUMB SOULS.

Even the she-wolf with young, on rapine bent, He caught and tethered in his mat-walled tent, And cherished all her little sharp-nosed young, Till the small race with hope and terror clung About his footsteps, till each new-reared brood, Remoter from the memories of the wood More glad discerned their common home with man. This was the work of Jubal: he began The pastoral life, and, sire of joys to be, Spread the sweet ties that bind the family O'er dear dumb souls that thrilled at man's caress, And shared his pain with patient helpfulness.

GEORGE ELIOT: _Legend of Jubal_.

* * * * *

Nor must we childishly feel contempt for the study of the lower animals, since in all nature's work there is something wonderful. And if any one thinks the study of other animals despicable, he must despise the study of his own nature.

ARISTOTLE.

* * * * *

VIRTUE.

Thus born alike, from virtue first began The diff'rence that distinguished man from man: He claimed no title from descent of blood; But that which made him noble made him good.

DRYDEN.

* * * * *

LITTLE BY LITTLE.

Little by little the time goes by-- Short if you sing through it, long if you sigh. Little by little--an hour, a day, Gone with the years that have vanished away; Little by little the race is run, Trouble and waiting and toil are done!

Little by little the skies grow clear; Little by little the sun comes near; Little by little the days smile out Gladder and brighter on pain and doubt; Little by little the seed we sow Into a beautiful yield will grow.

Little by little the world grows strong, Fighting the battle of Right and Wrong: Little by little the Wrong gives way, Little by little the Right has sway; Little by little all longing souls Struggle up nearer the shining goals!

Little by little the good in men Blossoms to beauty for human ken; Little by little the angels see Prophecies better of good to be; Little by little the God of all Lifts the world nearer the pleading call.

_Cincinnati Humane Appeal_.

* * * * *

LOYALTY.

Life may be given in many ways And loyalty to truth be sealed As bravely in the closet as the field, So generous is fate; But then to stand beside her, When craven churls deride her, To front a lie in arms, and not to yield, This shows, methinks, God's plan And measure of a stalwart man, Limbed like the old heroic breeds, Who stands self-poised on manhood's solid earth, Not forced to frame excuses for his birth, Fed from within with all the strength he needs.

J. R. LOWELL.

* * * * *

ANIMALS AND HUMAN SPEECH.

Animals have much more capacity to understand human speech than is generally supposed. The Hindoos invariably talk to their elephants, and it is amazing how much the latter comprehend. The Arabs govern their camels with a few cries, and my associates in the African desert were always amused whenever I addressed a remark to the big dromedary who was my property for two months; yet at the end of that time the beast evidently knew the meaning of a number of simple sentences. Some years ago, seeing the hippopotamus in Barnum's museum looking very stolid and dejected, I spoke to him in English, but he did not even open his eyes. Then I went to the opposite corner of the cage, and said in Arabic, "I know you; come here to me." He instantly turned his head toward me; I repeated the words, and thereupon he came to the corner where I was standing, pressed his huge, ungainly head against the bars of the cage, and looked in my face with a touch of delight while I stroked his muzzle. I have two or three times found a lion who recognized the same language, and the expression of his eyes, for an instant, seemed positively human.

BAYARD TAYLOR.

* * * * *

PITY.

And I, contented with a humble theme, Have poured my stream of panegyric down The vale of Nature, where it creeps and winds Among her lovely works, with a secure And unambitious course, reflecting clear If not the virtues, yet the worth, of brutes. And I am recompensed, and deem the toils Of poetry not lost, if verse of mine May stand between an animal and woe, And teach one tyrant pity for his drudge.

COWPER.

* * * * *

LEARN FROM THE CREATURES.

See him from Nature, rising slow to Art! To copy Instinct, that was Reason's part; Thus then to man the voice of Nature spake:-- "Go, from the creatures thy instructions take; Learn from the birds what food the thickets yield; Learn from the beasts the physic of the field; Thy arts of building from the bee receive; Learn of the mole to plough, the worm to weave; Learn of the little nautilus to sail, Spread the thin oar, and catch the driving gale. Here, too, all forms of social union find, And hence let reason, late, instruct mankind: Here subterranean works and cities see; There towns aerial on the waving tree. Learn each small people's genius, policies, The Ant's republic, and the realm of Bees: How those in common all their wealth bestow, And Anarchy without confusion know; And these forever, though a monarch reign, Their sep'rate cells and properties maintain. Mark what unvaryed laws preserve each state, Laws wise as Nature, and as fixed as Fate. In fine, thy Reason finer webs shall draw, Entangle Justice in her net of Law, And Right, too rigid, harden into Wrong; Still for the strong too weak, the weak too strong. Yet go! and thus o'er all the creatures sway, Thus let the wiser make the rest obey; And, for those Arts mere Instinct could afford, Be crowned as Monarchs, or as God adored."

POPE.

* * * * *

PAIN TO ANIMALS.

Granted that any practice causes more pain to animals than it gives pleasure to man; is that practice moral or immoral? And if exactly in proportion as human beings raise their heads out of the slough of selfishness, they do not answer "immoral," let the morality of the principle of utility be forever condemned.

JOHN STUART MILL.

* * * * *

WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN.

It might have been that the sky was green, and the grass serenely blue; It might have been that grapes on thorns and figs on thistles grew; It might have been that rainbows gleamed before the showers came; It might have been that lambs were fierce and bears and tigers tame; It might have been that cold would melt and summer heat would freeze; It might have been that ships at sea would sail against the breeze-- And there may be worlds unknown, dear, where we would find the change From all that we have seen or heard, to others just as strange-- But it never could be wise, dear, in haste to act or speak; It never could be noble to harm the poor and weak; It never could be kind, dear, to give a needless pain; It never could be honest, dear, to sin for greed or gain; And there could not be a world, dear, while God is true above, Where right and wrong were governed by any law but love.

KATE LAWRENCE.

* * * * *

VILLAGE SOUNDS.

Sweet was the sound, when oft at evening's close, Up yonder hill the village murmur rose; There as I passed with careless steps and slow, The mingling notes came softening from below; The swain responsive to the milkmaid sung: _The sober herd that lowed to meet their young; The noisy geese that gabbled o'er the pool:_ The playful children just let loose from school; _The watch-dog's voice that bayed the whispering wind_, And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind,-- These all in sweet confusion sought the shade, And filled each pause the nightingale had made.

GOLDSMITH.

* * * * *

BUDDHISM.

The Buddhist duty of universal love enfolds in its embraces not only the brethren and sisters of the new faith, not only our neighbors, _but every thing that has life_.

T. W. RHYS DAVIDS.

* * * * *

As a mother, even at the risk of her own life, protects her son, her only son, so let a man _cultivate good-will without measure toward all beings_. Let him cultivate good-will without measure, unhindered love and friendliness toward the whole world, above, below, around. Standing, walking, sitting, or lying, let him be firm in this mind so long as he is awake; this state of heart, they say, is the best in the world.

_Metta Sutta._

* * * * *

He who lives pure in thought, free from malice, contented, leading a holy life, _feeling tenderly for all creatures_, speaking wisely and kindly, humbly and sincerely, has the Deity ever in his breast. The Eternal makes not his abode within the breast of that man who covets another's wealth, who _injures living creatures_, who is proud of his iniquity, whose mind is evil.

_Dhammapada._

* * * * *

FROM THE ASOKA INSCRIPTIONS.

The discontinuance of the murder of human beings and of cruelty to animals, respect for parents, obedience to father and mother, obedience to holy elders, these are good deeds.--_No. IV._

And now the joyful chorus resounds again and again that henceforward not a single animal shall be put to death.--_No. V._

In a summary of the inscriptions by Arthur Lillie, in "Buddhism and Early Buddhism," he says, they require also, for the benefit of both beast and men, "that gardens be cultivated everywhere of healing shrubs and herbs."

[The inscriptions were written on "rocks, temples, and monuments" in India for the instruction of the people, by order of the Emperor Asoka, who lived about 250 years before Christ.]

* * * * *

OLD HINDOO.

God is within this universe, and yet outside this universe; whoever beholds all living creatures as in Him, and Him the universal Spirit, as in all, henceforth regards no creature with contempt.

_Quoted by_ REV. J. E. CARPENTER.

* * * * *

TRUTH.

It fortifies my soul to know That though I perish, truth is so, That howsoe'er I stray and range, Whate'er I do, thou dost not change. I steadier step when I recall That, if I slip, thou dost not fall.

ARTHUR HUGH CLOUGH.

* * * * *

OUR PETS.

We, dying, fondly hope the life immortal To win at last; Yet all that live must through death's dreary portal At length have passed.

And from the hope which shines so bright above us, My spirit turns, And for the lowlier ones, that serve and love us, Half sadly yearns.

Never a bird its glad way safely winging Through those blest skies? Never, through pauses in the joyful singing, Its notes to rise?

Not one of those who toil's severest burdens So meekly bear, To find at last of faithful labor's guerdons An humble share?