Page:Henry Stephens Salt - A Plea for Vegetarianism and Other Essays.pdf/40

Rh the advocates of Food Reform might most reasonably expect at least a word of sympathy and assistance; he is the one who is least able. if he wishes to be self-consistent, to disregard the aspirations of Vegetarianism.

“Without perfect sympathy with the animals around them, no gentleman’s education, no Christian education, could be of any possible use.” So he said in 1877; and I am not aware that he has ever explained how perfect sympathy with the animals around us can be co- existent with the system of breeding and slaughtering them for food. Again, Rule 5 of Mr. Ruskin’s Society of St. George runs as follows: “I will not kill nor hurt any living creature needlessly, nor destroy any beautiful thing, but will strive to save and comfort all gentle life, and guard and perfect all natural beauty upon the earth.” These are noble words, and they express the very essence and spirit of the Vegetarian movement; indeed, it is difficult to see how they can be uttered, consistently and conscientiously, by any but Vegetarians. The only loop-hole of escape for the flesh-eater seems to lie in the word “needlessly,” and of course the impossibility of Vegetarianism