n.

Still less excuse is there for the practice of shooting. What right
have we to wantonly kill these harmless and defenseless birds flying in
the air? I once watched pigeon shooting at a famous watering place,
the poor birds were allowed to fly from the trap-holes simply that they
might be ruthlessly killed or maimed. That was wanton cruelty; to
reprobate too strongly such revolting barbarity is almost impossible.
I am glad to say that such cruel practices did not come under my
observation during my residence in the States, and I hope that they are
not American vices but are prohibited by law. No country, with the
least claim to civilization, should allow such things, and our
descendants will be astonished that people calling themselves civilized
should have indulged in such wholesale and gratuitous atrocities. When
people allow animals to be murdered--for it is nothing but murder--for
the sake of sport, they ought not to be surprised that men are murdered
by criminals for reasons which seem to them good and sufficient. An
animal has as much right to its life as man has to his. Both may be
called upon to sacrifice life for the sake of some greater good to a
greater number, but by what manner of reasoning can killing for
killing's sake be justified? Does the superior cunning and intellect
of man warrant his taking life for fun? Then, should a race superior
to humanity ever appear on the earth, man would have no just cause of
complaint if he were killed off for its amusement. There formerly
existed in India a "well-organized confederacy of professional
assassins" called Thugs, who worshipped the goddess Kali with human
lives. They murdered according to "rigidly prescribed forms" and for
religious reasons. The English, when they came into power in India,
naturally took vigorous measures to stamp out Thuggeeism; but from a
higher point of view than our own little selves, is there after all so
much difference between the ordinary sportsman and the fanatic Thuggee?
If there be, the balance is rather in favor of the latter, for the Thug
at least had the sanction of religion, while the hunter has nothing to
excuse his cruelty beyond the lust of killing. I do not understand why
the humane societies, such as "The Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals", are so supine in regard to these practices. The
Chinese are frequently accused of being cruel to animals, but I think
that those who are living in glass