Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1871-12-14
What Is Cruelty I!

but not the whole of II.
When surgeon cuts off limb, or IA
dentist pulls out TOOTH he gives great
! deal of pain, but he is not cruel. Whena
butcher kills animals for food he cannot
help giving pain but this is not cruelty.
The dentist is friend to us while he is
torturing us with his pincers, because he
does so to save us from far more torture
and the butcher may be Il merciful man
while killing the animals, if he gives no
more pain than he can possibly help.
I Cruelty is giving needless pain and the
worst kind of cruelty is when we have
pleasure in giving it, If the dentist en-
ioyed your agony, and tortured you more
/ and longer than was necessary, Tor the
pleasure of seeing you writhe and strug-
gle, you would detest him for his cruelty
and If the butcher gives needless pain To
the poor animals, we detest his cruelty
also In like manner, if we torture for
our sport, n cat or a hedgehog, II frog or
/ bird, or any other animal, We are as de.
testable for our cruelty rs that dentist or
that butcher Even animals know well
enough the difference between pain given in
kindness and pain given in cruelty. A dog
will lick our hand and look gratefully up
4 into our face while we are dressing his
wound and giving him almost more pain
| than he can bear. In the old story OF An
drocles and the lion when the lion came
| limping up to Androcles with thorn in
his foot, and Androcles took the great paw
tenderly up and pulled the thorn out, he
most likely gave the lion quite as much
pain as if he had thrust a thorn into the
/ foot But the lion knew the difference
he knew that this pain was given in kind
ness. If Androcles had dared to give the
lion the same amount of pain for the pur-
pose of seeing him suffer, there would
have been very different ending 10 the
story, and very speedy end to andre
cles
/ How is il that so many children, and
/ boys especially, are so often cruel to ami
! malsg
I MANY Of them are cruel from want of
| thought They do not mean to be cruel.
any more than the baby who Kills flies on
the window-pane for the pleasure OF
stopping with his finger the little moving
things, or than the cat that plays with
the mouse Children will often catch the
butterflies and crush their beautiful ten
der forms, with no more thought than II
they were SO many flying flowers that had
no feeling.
Some children are cruel because they
j
/ animals have no feeling. But how do we
/ have feeling? BY the nerves that tell the
/ brain what is being done to any part of
! the body SO that wherever there are
nerves and brain there is feeling. Horses,
! dogs. cats, and all the higher animals
( have nervous systems very similar to our
/ own; and every bird, frog hedgehog, or
mouse. has its own little brain and set Of
nerves that suffer acutely under rough
and cruel handling, but which can feel
pleasure from the soft stroking or patting
of "A friendly hand. Because many Of
these animals are dumb, that Is no sign
that they do not feel, The pig screams
under pain while the noble horse suffers
in silence but the horse probably suffers
more than the pig.
Animals suffer mental pain as well as
bodily pain II is common saying that
" Care will kill "A cat - and we know how
many animals grieyc and pine when their
Young ones or mates are taken from them,
and how they suffer from fear just as
children do.
No doubt the lower animals have less
power of feeling than We have; but II
they can feel less pain they can feel less
pleasure also, and, therefore, IL IL the
more hard and cruel of ms TO take away
any Of the enjoyment from their short
! lives
Some boys are cruel from the mere
british habit Of killing every small thing
they meet with. If they see bird or a
squirrel they try To knock it down; II
they see frog they pelt it; If they find
stray kitten they drown or worry it; and
they think themselves brave and grand
men il they can swagger along with "A gun
4 A M sfi
more.
Sir Charles Napier said of himself and
his noble brothers, who were all the
bravest Of the brave and fought their
coun,ry's battles in India and elsewhere,
! in the face of every danger: We are all
fond Of hunting, fishing and shooting,
vet we all gave them up when young be.
cause we had no pleasure in killing little
! animals" The truly brave are always
! gentle and tender To the weak and de
/ fenseless; and you often find that boys
| who are cowardly enough to run away
! from the least danger, and who cry and
! biubber like babies ut the least hurt To
| themselves, are the foremost To torment
| little creatures who cannot injure them in
/ return.
| Some BOYS who could not be cruel Of
! their own accord are not brave enough to
! say mo" when other boys invite them to
\ Join in cruel sport They are not like
! The brave little Harry Sanford, who was
determined TO protect the poor hare from
| the hounds, and bore savage whipping
! from the brutal squire rather than tell
which way he had gone
| Some people have naturM love Of kill
| ing. In old times man was hunting an
| mal, and had to chase the beasts and
| birds for food; and SO the hunting nature
has been inherited by some of US, and we
are born with an instinct for hunting ami
mails, as the bulldog is born with an in
stinct to pin a bull by the nose whenever
he meets one Men who have this natural
love Of killing are thus partly sayages;
and if the higher and nobler part Of their
nature does not overcome the lower and
british part, they will remain half bar
baran all their lives, and their children
will most likely inherit the same inferior
nature.
Some children are cruel from mere idle
ness. A number Of boys have a half-holi-
day and turn out into the fields TO enjoy
themselves, and spend their holiday in
hunting in every hedge, ditch and pond
for something to torment and destroy.
We read of Roman Emperor who, when