The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-07-14
For n. Inquirer.
cruelty Of Animals,


All the wicked and dastardIy acts Of men
are not known. Perhaps It's well they are
not and yet 'twould seem as if they should
Be, in order that their wickedness might not
go unpunished and that their utter disregsrd
of all right and humanity might receive the
disapprobation and frowns Of IA virtuous peo-
ple. am led to- make these remarks from
the following occurrence the 9TH
er morning while walking up second street
after breakfast:
When ! was just below the old Brewery,
my attention was called to man and boy al
a brick-yard Immediately opposite on the
banks Of the Scioto. between one and two
hundred yards distant, witha horse and cart
loaded with brick. The animal was unable
from some cause to stir the cart. After nu-
merous trials, the man (the brute ! should
have said, for he ought not to be called Q
man, becameknraged because the horse could
not move the load, and stepping back some
five or elk steps he pelted the poor animal in
the side with all his power, with from fifteen
to twenty brick bats, striking it about the
same place each time. The animal, in the
mean time made desperate struggles every
time brick hiti to move the burden, and
the poor thing failing to move the load, at
each struggle would look piteously around at
his enraged and murderous master with that
kind of mute and silent appeal that |
thought should have stayed his terrible blows.
How long he would have continued his bru-
tai work had he not seen me looking at him
am unable to tell. stood few moments
watching to see what he would do next, but
he seemed somewhat ashamed Of himself,
went to the tail of his cart, and was standing
there when left and went on my way to
my daily business, rejecting upon the amount
of misery and crime in the world caused by
such miserable specimens of mortality al
this. Before thought of sketching th'
scene for your readers, more than once asked
myself whether il could be possible that HI
had been raised by virtuous and pious moth
er, or Cody and christian father and educa
ted to know right from wrong, and laugh
to love justice and mercy, Or whether h
was the offspring of vice, reared in that darl
charnel house of social and moral death
where every affection of the young heart il
blighted, withered and dried up, long befor
it should have felt a pang of sorrow;-and
said it must be SO, for he who is taught tt
love the right and hate the wrong, would
never do as he has done. But perhaps i
may be said am too severe. True, it ma,
be that am, but | have seen too much o
this brutal work in our city, or might lie
this one instance pass unnoticed. Ye! i
should not; for religiously believe that an.
man, who would act in that way with
horse, either because he would not or coul
not pull his load or do whatever the capric
of the man might desire, would execute hi
vengeance upon any living thing that ha
feelings or affections whether brute or hi
man, that might happen to displease him an
be within his power. / may be wrong, bu
if SO, ! have good authority for it, and ii
justification l will here quote what Tuppe
says someplace in his "Provervial Philoso
phy," about mans cruelty to animals, and al
l do so from memory may not be able tc
give every sentence exact, but will give th'
substance. He holds something like the fol
lowing language:
"The verdict of oil living things is unanimous
that man is a cruel master,
From the whale, which the sailor hath har
pooned, to the minnow which the boy hatl
caught upon a pin.
From the dog-his humble, trusting, homes
friend, to the horse, his uncomplaining
drudging slave,
From the lamb, to the wild bird pining in captiv
ity,
From the timorous hare to the laboring OK
All things that minister, alike to his life ant
comfort and pride,
Testify with one sad voice, that man is crue
master,
Verify, they were not given him for This, but t
serve him and help him with their all,
For meat, but not by wantoness of staying fo
burden, but with limits of humanity
For luxury, but not for torture for draught bu
according TO the strength
For dog cannot plead his own right, nor rende
reason for exemption,
Nor give sof. answer unto wrath, to turn aside
the murdered lash;
The galded OK cannot complain, nor suplicate
moments respite;
The spent horse hideth his distress, till he pan
teth out hisspirit at the goal;
Also, in the winter of life, when worn by con
slant toll,
If ingratitude forget his services, he canno
bring them 10 remembrance;
Behold, he is faint with hunger the big tea
standeth in his eye;
His skin is sore with many stripes, and he totter
eth beneath his burden;
His limbs are stiff with age, his sinewS hav
lost their youthful vigor,
And pain is stamped upon his face, while h
wrestleth unequally with toll;
Yet once more mutely and meekly endureth h
the crushing blow,
That struggle hath cracked his heart-stringS,-
the generous brute is dead
Liveth there no advocate for him9 no judget
avenge his wrongs?
No voice that shall be heard in his defence? n
sentence TO be passed on his oppressorsf
Yea, the sad eye Of the tortured speaketh pa
thetically for him,
Yea, all the justice in Heaven is reused in in
dignation at his woes. Ret
Yea, all the pity upon earth shall call down