Page:Henry Stephens Salt - A Plea for Vegetarianism and Other Essays.pdf/81

Rh aside his own personal feelings, and eat meat for the sake of others? This, which may be termed “the family fallacy,” is of much the same nature as the last, the only difference being that there it was the fear of sentimentalism, here it is the fear of selfishness that is used as a powerful lever to warp the reasoning powers of the unwary. The fallacy lies in representing Vegetarianism as a mere idle whim and personal predilection, such as it would indeed be selfish to practise, where it caused trouble or anxiety to others. But all true Food Reformers know that it is much more than this: a man who has once understood the full meaning and value of Food Reform cannot return to a flesh-diet, for any motive, however specious, without wronging and ruining the whole spirit of his life. In a case Where one feels as strongly as this, it is no question of selfishness or unselfishness ; it is a sheer absurdity for a man to give up what he feels to be true and right. No person in the world is justified in demanding such a sacrifice as this, and no Vegetarian is justified in granting it if demanded.

6. “What should with do without leather?” is perhaps the commonest of a host of questions