Page:Henry Stephens Salt - A Plea for Vegetarianism and Other Essays.pdf/96

Rh he might feast at Lambeth. I think it will be found by anyone who thoroughly considers the matter, that it is exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to ﬁnd a logical standpoint for condemning the cruelty of any particular branch of, slaughter as distinct from the rest ; if we wish to be consistent, they must all stand or fall together.

The essence of so-called “sport” consists in the excitement derived from the pursuit and killing of animals. It seems that there are two warring instincts in men’s minds—one, the brutal passion, which prompts them to pursue and slaughter innocent and helpless creatures, a passion which, unfortunately, has been so strengthened by centuries of habit, that in some persons it is engrafted like a second nature ; the other, the gentler, and surely not less natural feeling, which bids us pity, sympathise, and save. I believe that this latter instinct is destined eventually to triumph over the former, and the triumph would be the speedier, were it not that certain attendant circumstances combine to throw a ﬁctitious charm over our national ﬁeld-sports, and so prevent us from realising the great cruelty that underlies them.