‘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.’
Yet I would not wish you to show a morbid sensibility. As when it is necessary that animals should be killed, even the same poet says:—
‘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,