Page:Story of the robins.djvu/219

Rh benefits. There is no doubt that the Almighty designed all beings for happiness, proportionable to the faculties He has endowed them with; and whoever wantonly destroys that happiness acts contrary to the will of his Maker. "The world we live in seems to have been principally designed for the use and comfort of mankind, who, by the divine appointment, have dominion over the inferior creatures; in the exercise of which it is certainly their duty to imitate the Supreme Lord of the universe, by being merciful to the utmost of their power. They are endowed with reason, which enables them to discover the different natures of brutes, the faculties they possess, and how they may be made serviceable in the world; and as beasts cannot apply these faculties to their own use in so extensive a way, and numbers of them, being unable to provide for their own sustenance, are indebted to men for many of the necessaries of life, men have an undoubted right to their labour in return.

"Several other kinds of animals, which are sustained at the expense of mankind, cannot labour for them; from such they have a natural claim to whatever they can supply towards the food and raiment of their benefactors; and therefore, when we take