Kindness to Animals; Or, The Sin of Cruelty Exposed and RebukedCharlotte Elizabeth
Religion
Kindness to Animals; Or, The Sin of Cruelty Exposed and Rebuked
Charlotte Elizabeth
Animal welfare
him, and said, on his fingers, in a very quiet, gentle, but earnest
manner, "God see--God angry." He felt much for the dumb beast, suffering
pain; but more for the boy who was forgetting that the Lord's hand would
yet punish him, when he least expected it: for Jack very well knew that
the Bible says, "He shall have judgment without mercy that hath showed
no mercy."
Dogs have been a great amusement to me ever since I was a baby; and I
never have been without one in the house when I could keep one. Ladies
and gentlemen are not often willing to let their carpets be soiled by
dogs; but the poor people, who are not troubled with carpets, make
companions of them. I am writing this book in a room with a carpet and
good furniture, but I have my two dogs with me. There is little Fiddy,
the small spaniel, at my feet, where he has lain every day for eight
years; and there is Bronti, the fine big Newfoundlander, lying, where do
you think? Why the rogue has got upon the sofa, and when I shake my head
at him, he wags his long tail, and turns up his large bright eyes to my
face, as much as to say, "Pray let me stop here; it is so comfortable."
But no, Bronti, you must walk down, my fine fellow, or some lady coming
to see me may have her gown soiled, which would not be fair. We have no
right to make our pets a plague to other people, and, perhaps, a means
of injuring them too.
That was enough for Bronti; no need of a loud, cross, or threatening
voice. He saw that I wished him to leave the sofa, and he wags his tail
as contentedly on the carpet. I can manage him with a word, almost with
a look, because he was born in the house, and has never been away from
me; but master Fiddy was a year or two old when I had him, and some
things he will do in spite of me. He will hunt a cat, kill a bird, and
growl most furiously over a bone. Bronti has the same nature, but his
love for us overcomes it all. He would live peaceably with a cat, it we
had one; he will let the chickens and pigeons perch upon him, or walk
between his feet; and last year I had half a dozen tame mice, which I
used to let out upon him, when they would nestle in his warm coat, run
races over and under him, and he would not move a limb, for fear of
hurting one. As to a bone, he will allow me to take it out of his mouth
at any time; and, what is more, he will readily give it up to Fiddy,
whose little teeth can only nibble off the meat; and when he has done
that, Bronti takes it, and munches the bone.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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