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JUSTICE TO THE BRUTE CREATION.


The rights of all creatures are to be respected, but especially of those
kinds which man domesticates and subsidizes for his peculiar use. Their
nearer contact with the human world creates a claim on our loving-kindness
beyond what is due to more foreign and untamed tribes. Respect that claim.
"The righteous man," says the proverb, "regardeth the life of his beast."
Note that word "righteous." The proverb does not say the merciful man, but
the righteous, the just. Not mercy only, but justice, is due to the brute.
Your horse, your ox, your kine, your dog, are not mere chattels, but
sentient souls. They are not your own so proper as to make your will the
true and only measure of their lot. Beware of contravening their nature's
law, of taxing unduly their nature's strength. Their powers and gifts are a
sacred trust. The gift of the horse is his fleetness, but when that gift is
strained to excess and put to wager for exorbitant tasks, murderous
injustice is done to the beast. They have their rights, which every
right-minded owner will respect. We owe them return for the service they
yield, all needful comfort, kind usage, rest in old age, and an easy death.

REV. DR. HEDGE.

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CAN THEY SUFFER?


The day may come when the rest of the animal creation may acquire those