New-York tribune., 1908-02-12
POEM ON TITISECTION.
Written by Bro5Cning as Protest
against "Infamous Practice.

To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: The following poem by Browning stands IL
point, yet may not be roundly familiar. Those VINO
lack for the cross winds in his hute WIN
yet be forced to confess that his heart was FlsoI
side I'D with for the helpless:
TRAY
This poem describes an actual incident witnessed
in Paris by a friend of Brownng's and with ac-
curacy of detail The poem was written as q pro- pro-
test against vivsecdon which the poet called i4b ian
Miss Frances Power Cobbe in her efforts to pre-.
S9 teH cor Street aaa society for the
Animals" Dr. Berdoe says: He always expressed
opposes To Miss Cobbe he wrote in 1874: You
have Ea. Il heard @ ott take @ an eqea v5eco dare
not so honor my wishes and prayers as TO put
this I know. I would rather submit TO the worst
of deaths SO far as pain goes, Lhan aave a sIng s
a twnge two He gees sven SO far r. as ,eia 10 say
that the person not willing to sign the pe5srod
among his friends. To Miss Stackpoe he wrote IN
T APF 81 M @ i deSpss p4acce ana a9hoF l
Cooke.
Sing hero! ouench my. thirst
ouoth Bard the first
His helm oIal and Inf ess soof his hsbergeon
Sir Olaf and his bard ~-I
THAT siu-scathed brow (quoth Bard the second,
THAT eye wide ope though Fate eeckoned
MBe W esF9 oreeSe tS Gns smsd sfsP epz Rsnfain
You too without your host have reckoned!
"a beggar-child' dets hear this thirdo
Sang to herself at careless play,
And fell into 'Dsrnayf
Help, ':5t you the standers-by!' None stirred.
''Bystanders reason. think Of wives
& and Ghid6en M ere {ney g Ei5k bI8cas nnss
Plumb ng5 on the prize How well he dives
Up he comes with the child Sc see ,,,,ts tight
IN 1 mouth L. alive M too 5 Glg54aeq fF9I1 bet quite
Good dogI what, ofr again? Thers's yet
Another child TO save? All right!
How strange we saw no other fall
rs instinct IN IN tas ne ANNA, u 11 while under:
a Strong 6H got oufren ar2ht thai against the vail
what 5afFs ay y the thing be- Wei prime
In man alone, since all Tray pains ,,.,.
Have fshed-the child's doll from The siiTne!-
And so. amid the laughter gay.
Trotted my hero off-old Tray
TIL somebody prerogatiyed ,.s
Hs Mi5 brains nsh5oR Would 5ssItSS sho@ US
J9hn go s4 and .aina7 satehT9r or Is ii 7eeds be-
OF haif-an-hour and eighteen pence
How brain secretes dogs soul Wen see!'
Kind hearts more than coronets. shouted
another; more than the coronets Of science, even
We all thought civilization propped the growth OF
kindness What civilization should we have with
out It? That OF the tungles, whose gorgons rip
and slash with the science OF the back teeth
Kindness first. Hecatombs for science unnake
mercy. Cruelty breeds cruelty. Flint cometh OF
the rocks. OF what value were dome OF know
ledge a congress OF panaceas. IL there come no
divorce hetyeen q man and his meals as 10 separ-
ate the operator from his heart IN the gaIop OF
progress. I pronounce that more sufferlng mas
been relieved by kinoness than by that king or
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS., which Robert Ingersoll
labelled The InQuisitton, the Hell Of Science
By it's practice are we not developing among US
a tribe of cut-throats? Witness the recent sooth-
ing suggestion by one Of these blood lords thas
criminals should be treated 10 the knife A very
example of how short the step is from cruelty to
arr SaIfn man a
short STEP and next in order would be vfv1section
for incurables. And then the deluge. confess TO
a shudder at the thought Of what might be IN
store for U.s. once choke our sensihilities,
smother our soft conpassions. II the human emo
tious of tenderness and pity are to be sacrificed
for the bloating Of science, let US be looking to
our boots and a new road. Already the cloud IS
on lIs with a dash Of the apprehenstons of Buck
inghann:
20 let me think Hastings and be- gone
To Brec knock, while my fearful head IS on
Yours very truly.
FREDERICK F. AVER.
Fab