herb for meat: and it was so.--Genesis i., 29, 30.

Thou shalt not kill.--Exodus xx., 13.

For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one
thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they
have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast:
for all is vanity. All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all
turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and
the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?--Ecclesiastes
iii., 19, 20, 21.

He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man.--Isaiah lxvi., 3.

Then said Daniel to Melzar [the steward], whom the prince of the eunuchs
had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: Prove thy servants,
I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water
to drink. Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the
countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat:
and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. So he consented to them in
this matter, and proved them ten days. And at the end of ten days their
countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children
which did eat the portion of the king's meat.--Daniel i., 11 to 17.

PREFACE.

I send this little book out into the world, first, to aid those who,
having decided to adopt a bloodless diet, are still asking how they can
be nourished without flesh; second, in the hope of gaining something
further to protect "the speechless ones" who, having come down through
the centuries under "the dominion of man," have in their eyes the mute,
appealing look of the helpless and oppressed. Their eloquent silence
should not ask our sympathy and aid in vain; they have a right, as our
humble brothers, to our loving care and protection, and to demand
justice and pity at our hands; and, as a part of the One Life, to--

"life, which all can take but none can give;
Life, which all creatures love and strive to keep;
Wonderful, dear, and pleasant unto each,
Even to the meanest; yea, a boon to all
Where pity is, for pity makes the world
Soft to the weak and noble for the strong.
Unto the dumb lips of the flock he lent
Sad, pleading words, showing how man, who prays
For mercy to the gods, is merciless,
Being as god to those; albeit all life
Is linked and kin, and what we slay have given
Meek tribute of their milk and woo