[2] That the indescribable atrocities inflicted in the final scene of the slaughter-house, are far from being the only sufferings to which the victims of the Table are liable, is a fact upon which, at this day, it ought to be superfluous to insist. The frightful sufferings during “the middle passage,” in rough weather, and especially in severe storms, have over and over again been recounted even by spectators the least likely to be easily affected by the spectacles of lower animal suffering. Thousands of Oxen and Sheep, year by year, are thrown living into the sea during the passage from the United States alone. In the year 1879, according to the official report, 14,000 thus perished, while 1,240 were landed dead, and 450 were slaughtered on the quay upon landing to prevent death from wounds.—See, among other recent works on humane Dietetics, the Perfect Way in Diet of Dr. Anna Kingsford for some most instructive details upon this subject. The reader is also referred to the Lecture recently addressed to the Students of Girton College, Cambridge, by the same able and eloquent writer, for other aspects of the humanitarian argument.
[3] Cf. Horace (whom, however, we do not quote as an authority)—
“Let olives, endives, mallows light
Be all my fare;”
and Virgil thus indicates the charm of a rural existence for him who realises it:—
“Whatever fruit the branches and the mead
Spontaneous bring, he gathers for his need.”
[4] The same apparent contradiction—the co-existence of “flocks and herds” with the prevalence of the non-flesh diet—appears in the Jewish theology, in Genesis. It is obvious, however, that in both cases the “flocks and herds” might be existing for other purposes than for slaughter.
[5] Daimones. The dæmon in Greek theology was simply a lesser divinity—an angel.
[6] Compare Spenser’s charming verses (“Faery Queen,” Book ii., canto 8): “And is there care in heaven,” &c.