8. Within a few years the children have taken hold of this work, and thousands of bands of boys and girls-many in Europe and some in this country -have been formed to protect animals from cruelty. Many of these societies are called "Bands of Mercy," and all the boys and girls that belong to them promise to do all they can can" to protect animals from cruel usage, and to promote, so far as they can, their humane treatment." HEADS FOR COMPOSITION. I. THE "BELL OF JUSTICE": story of the bell-its objecthow the horse rang the bell - the magistrate's rebuke. II. FORMER ILL-TREATMENT OF ANIMALS: illustrations - abuse of horses-cats-dogs-oxen - the birds. III. OUR DUMB FRIENDS: when laws for their protection were first made name of the humane societies - object of the children's "Bands of Mercy." 40.-On Kindness to Animals. do-měs'ti-eāt-ed, tamed. PART II. dom-i-neer'ing, overbearing. in-sig-nif'i-cant, trivial, petty. lē'ġend, a story. sen-sa'tion, feeling. sul'tan, the emperor of the Turks. sup'pli-eat-ing, beseeching. touch'ing, affecting. 1. It is thought by many wise men that the harsh, domineering treatment so often pursued towards the domesticated races prevents our receiving one-half the benefits they might confer. The fine traits of the horse, for example, are very seldom brought out, and we have to go to Oriental countries, and especially to Arabia, to learn the wonderful sagacity and intelligence of this noble animal. 2. The Arabs make the horse a domestic companion. He is never whipped. He sleeps in the same tent with the family. Children repose upon his neck, and hug and kiss him without the least danger. He steps amongst their sleeping forms by night, without ever injuring them. 3. When his master mounts him he shows the greatest pleasure; and if that master by any chance falls off, the horse instantly stands still till he is again mounted. An Arabian horse has even been known to pick up his wounded master, and carry him in his teeth to a place of safety. 4. Many of the greatest men have been noted for their tender regard for "our dumb friends," as the lower animals have been called. Sir Walter Scott had a remarkable affection for his dogs, and has left descriptions of Maida and Hector and his other companions that make even the reader love them. 5. The great American statesman, Daniel Webster, asked, just before he died, that all his cattle, which he loved so much, should be driven to his window, that he might see them for the last time. As they came, one by one, to his window, he called each by its name. 6. In the life of a wise man named Thoreau, who lived in Concord, Massachusetts, a few years ago, and who was very kind to all God's harmless creatures, it is stated that even the fishes came into his hand when he dipped it into the stream. The little mice would come and playfully eat from his fingers, and sparrows alighted on his shoulders when he called them. After he had been two or three months in the woods the wild birds ceased to be afraid of him, and would come and perch on his shoulders and sometimes on his spade when he was digging. 7. Alcxander Wilson, the great lover and student of birds, relates a touching experience with a mouse. Here is the story in his own words: "One of my boys. caught a mouse in school a few days ago, and directly marched up to me with his prisoner. I set about drawing it that same evening; and all the while the pantings of its little heart showed that it was in the most extreme agonies of fear. 8. "I had intended to kill it, in order to fix it in the claws of a stuffed owl; but, happening to spill a few drops of water where it was tied, it lapped it up with such eagerness, and looked up in my face with such an expression of supplicating terror, as perfectly overcame me. 9. "I immediately untied it, and restored it to life and liberty. The agonies of a prisoner at the stake, while the fire and instruments of torture are prepar ing, could not be more severe than the sufferings of that poor mouse; and, insignificant as the object was, I felt at that moment the sweet sensation that Mercy leaves on the mind when she triumphs over cruelty." 10. In an Eastern legend it is told that a sultan named Amurath once, in a sudden fit of anger, cruelly struck a dog that was playing about his feet. At once a peal of thunder was heard in the palace, and the spirit Syndarac stood before him. "Amurath," said he, "thou hast struck thine innocent brother, who like thee has received from the Almighty the sense of pleasure and pain. If thou art justified in giving pain to him, I, Syndarac, shall be justified in giving pain to thee." 11. Boys and girls, what Syndarac said to the sultan he says to you. HEADS FOR COMPOSITION. I. RESULT OF HARSHNESS TOWARDS ANIMALS: their lessened value — example of the horse-how an Arab treats his horse as a companion. II. GREAT MEN AS LOVERS OF ANIMALS: Walter Scott and his dogs Daniel Webster and his cattle-how Thoreau made friends with the animals Alexander Wilson's story of the mouse. III. AN IMPRESSIVE LESSON legend of the sultan Amurath —his abuse of a dog - the reproof of the spirit Syndarac. Write a short composition telling anything you have observed regarding the effect of kind treatment of animals. 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. An inadvertent step may crush the snail The creeping vermin, loathsome to the sight, Sacred to neatness and repose, the alcove, Not so, when, held within their proper bounds, Who, when she formed, designed them an abode. |