the latter already knew the
circumstances of that strange scene of death. First there was the great
gaunt body of the wolf stretched along the snow, and quite dead.
Crossways in his mouth was the fox, just as he had been carried off; and
across the jaws of the latter, lay the long worm-like body of the
ermine, still retaining between its teeth the half-devoured remains of
the white-footed mouse! A very chain of destroyers! These creatures
died as they had lived, preying one upon the other! Of all four the
little mouse alone was an innocent victim. The other three, though
morally guilty by the laws of man, yet were only acting in obedience to
the laws of Nature and necessity. Man himself obeys a similar law, as
Basil had just shown. Philosophise as we will, we cannot comprehend why
it is so--why Nature requires the sacrifice of one of her creatures for
the sustenance of another. But although we cannot understand the cause,
we must not condemn the fact as it exists; nor must we suppose, as some
do, that the destruction of God's creatures for our necessities
constitutes a crime. They who think so, and who, in consistency with
their doctrines, confine themselves to what they term "vegetable" food,
are at best but shallow reasoners. They have not studied Nature very
closely, else would they know that every time they pluck up a parsnip,
or draw their blade across the leaf of a lettuce, they cause pain and
death! How much pain we cannot tell; but that the plant feels, as well
as the animal, we can clearly _prove_. Probably it feels less, and it
may be each kind of plant differs from others in the amount, according
to its higher or lower organism. Probably its amount of pleasure--its
capability of enjoyment--is in a direct proportion to the pain which it
endures; and it is highly probable that this double line of ratios runs
in an ascending scale throughout the vegetable kingdom, gradually
joining on to what is more strictly termed the "animal." But these
mysteries of life, my young friend, will be interesting studies for you
when your mind becomes matured. Perhaps it may be your fortune to
unravel some of them, for the benefit of your fellow-men. I feel
satisfied that you will not only be a student of Nature, but one of her
great teachers; you will far surpass the author of this little book in
your knowledge of Nature's laws; but it will always be a happiness to
him to reflect, that, when far advanced upon the h