With hunger stung, and wild necessity;

Nor lodges pity in their shaggy breast..

But Man, whom Nature form'd of milder clay,
With every kind emotion in his heart,

And taught alone to weep; while from her lap
She pours ten thousand delicacies, herbs,
And fruits as numerous as the drops of rain

Or beams that gave them birth: shall he-fair form!
Who wears sweet smiles, and looks erect on Heaven-
E'er stoop to mingle with the prowling herd,
And dip his tongue in gore? The beast of prey,
Blood-stained, deserves to bleed; but you, ye flocks,
What have you done? ye peaceful people, what,
To merit death? you who have given us milk
In luscious streams, and lent us your own coat,
Against the winter's cold? And the plain ox,-
That harmless, honest, guiltless animal,
In what has he offended? He, whose toil-
Patient, and ever ready-clothes the land
With all the pomp of harvest; shall he bleed,
And struggling groan beneath the cruel hands
E'en of the clown he feeds? And that, perhaps,
To swell the riot of the autumnal feast,
Won by his labour? Thus the feeling heart
Would tenderly suggest; but tis enough,
In this late age, advent'rous to have touch'd
Light on the numbers of the Samian sage.'

THOMPSON'S "SPRING." L. 335.

CHAPTER XVI.

DIET CONSIDERED IN ITS RELATION TO POPULATION AND THE MORAL PROGRESS OF MAN.

487. To attempt the prediction of events which (in all probability) can only occur some hundreds or thousands of years hence, will perhaps be considered a mark of great presumption. In doing so, however, I lay no claim either to special inspiration, or to superiority of intellect; but draw my inferences respecting the future, from well ascer tained facts of the present time; and foretell circumstances that may hereafter be, from those which already exist. The inorganic laws of nature have, during some centuries, been attentively studied, by men of first-rate abilities; and the knowledge thus obtained has been successfully applied in explaining, controlling, and foretelling various phenomena of consequence to the welfare and happiness of mankind.

488. Pythagoras, Kepler, Newton, La Place, and many others, have devoted their splendid talents to the consideration of the laws that regulate the motions of planetary and cometary bodies; and the consequence is, that the precise situation of a number of those orbs in the

regions of space can be ascertained for ages yet to come. But our knowledge of the laws that govern organic life,more especially of those upon which intellectual, moral, and social perfection depends, is extremely limited; and even much of that which is both known and acknowledged, is rendered nugatory and inert, in consequence of the superior force of custom, prejudice, moral cowardice, and gross selfishness. It is in the order of nature, that the inorganic laws should be first studied; because, without a correct knowledge of these, to a certain extent, we should be ill prepared for investigating the still more intricate phenomena of life: but having made so rapid a progress in the arts and sciences connected with inanimate nature, it is a matter of wonder and regret that the laws of vitality, and the mental, moral, and social sciences, are as yet little attended to, and very imperfectly understood. It is time that civilized man should rouse himself from his lethargy, and apply his talents with energy to the extirpation of disease, poverty, crime, and misery, by removing their causes; and to the promotion of health and happiness to every member of the human family;in a word, to the production of the greatest good to the greatest number of his race.

489. The organic laws, though more complicated, are no less certain than the inorganic; nor are they further removed from the control of human agency, when correctly understood; and I trust we are upon the eve of a glorious period, when the physical, mental, moral, and social laws of human life, shall be more clearly ascertained, and effectually directed to the production of all

the blessings above mentioned. It is from a very limited consideration of one or two of these laws, that I venture to speak of the future food of mankind,—not, of course, with that confidence and certainty which attach to the consideration of the natural and best food of man: for though we may be well acquainted with the laws of nature exercising their influence at present, we cannot calculate upon those which, in the course of time, may successively come into operation;—varying and controlling the results which we may at present anticipate. There are, however, several cogent reasons for believing, that fruit, roots, grain, and other vegetables, will be the general, if not the universal food of mankind; notwithstanding the apparent improbability of such an event,—judging from the present habits of society, particularly in this island. The evidence upon which this result is expected, may be considered under four distinct heads:-1. Physical. 2. Mental. 3. Moral. 4. Social.

490. The physical evidence appears from the difficulty of procuring supplies, on a diet of flesh, or of a mixed character, for a rapidly increasing population. While the population of a country is small, the flesh of animals is obtained with much greater ease than fruit and grain; which, in temperate climates, require knowledge and industry for their production. So redundant is animal life, in some countries, that the inhabitants destroy immense numbers for the sake of their fur, skins, or feathers; -leaving their carcases to putrefy as useless. As population and civilization advance, the flesh of animals gradually becomes more valuable. Great attention to

breeding, feeding, and protecting animals then, is, necessary, for the purpose of supplying their flesh in sufficient quantity to meet the demands of luxury; large tracts of valuable land must be appropriated to their support; till, at last, instead of being the cheapest of all food, from its abundance compared with population, it becomes the most expensive. As a nation advances in wealth, also, it generally advances in extravagance; and the appetite is indulged without any restraint, except such as the necessary consequences of excess impose on it. Hence, as the use of animal food becomes more general among the rich, its consumption is also increased among the classes beneath them: it is finally deemed a necessary of life; and no meal is considered complete, unless a portion of some animal has formed a part of it.

491. The opinion is pretty generally entertained, that the amount of nutriment in animal food is much greater than is contained in any vegetable production; but this is undoubtedly a mistake. Flesh, from its stimulating

qualities, imparts a feeling of strength, and is considered to be more nutritious than any other kind of food. "It, however, not only exhausts the stomach more in the process of gastric digestion, but works the whole organic machinery of life with more rapidity and intensity; and, therefore, causes a proportionably greater waste of the substance of the organs in a given time; and, consequently, increases the demand of the system for fresh supplies of aliment.”

492. Chemical analysis has shown, that while beef, mutton, and other kinds of flesh contain only 25 per