5 10 In its next verdure, when this fiery mass Of living valor, rolling on the foe, And burning with high hope, shall molder cold and low. Last noon beheld them full of lusty life, Last eve in beauty's circle proudly gay; The midnight brought the signal sound of strife; The thunderclouds close o'er it, which when rent Which her own clay shall cover, heaped and pent, Rider and horse, friend, foe, in one red burial blent! Duke of Wellington: a famous English general, who with the aid of the Prussian general, Blücher, conquered Napoleon at Waterloo. While one division of the French army was fighting the English at Quatre Bras, the other, under Napoleon, defeated the Prussians at Ligny; but the union of the English and Prussian forces at Waterloo proved too powerful for Napoleon's army. - -car: a small vehicle on two wheels. What is now called a car in America was then, of course, unknown. At the present time the word is not used in England to designate a railway conveyance. Brunswick's fated chieftain: Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick, who was killed in the battle of Quatre Bras, was the son of Duke Ferdinand, who was killed by the French at Jena in 1806. "Cameron's Gathering": the thrilling call to arms of the Highland soldiery. Donald Cameron of Lochiel, known as the "gentle Lochiel," was a famous Scottish chieftain. See Campbell's spirited poem, "Lochiel's Warning." Albyn: the poetical form of the word Albion, the ancient name for northern Scotland. - pibroch (pebrok): a martial air, usually played upon the bagpipes. The Scottish piper played a pibroch before the troops went into battle. - Evan's fame : Evan Cameron was another Lochiel, known as the "Ulysses of the Highlands." Ardennes (är-děn ́): the forest of Ardennes. See note on Arden (page 231, "In the Forest"). THE MORAL RIGHTS OF ANIMALS WILLIAM CUNNINGHAM GRAY WILLIAM CUNNINGHAM GRAY (1830-1901) was an American writer and editor. 5 The evidences that the lower animals are thinkers, that they are endowed with intellectual faculties, are too many and too obvious to require argument. Do they possess moral natures? The phenomena of moral existence are love, benevolence, gratitude, fidelity; with their opposites, -hatred, revenge, cruelty, malice, and such complex passions as grief, remorse, shame, hope, and despair. Most of these phenomena are as obvious to the casual observer 10 in the lower animals as they are in man; while all are perceived by those who are more interested in the study of the habits and characters of our humble friends. Suffice it to refer, in a general way, to the unmistakable indications of a sense of guilt and shame; of forbearance 15 and magnanimity; of chivalrous defense of the weak; of generosity to each other and to man; of integrity in the discharge of their trusts; to their long remembrance of and disposition to avenge ill-treatment which they have received, and to reward kindness by confidence, affection, 20 and service; their grief over the loss of human friends, so poignant as in some instances to result in death; their pride, love of admiration, delight at approbation from each other and from man; their clear ideas of a right of property in their homes. The moral faculties of the lower animals voice themselves in language and tones as nearly identified with the 5 language and tones of man as the physical conformation of the organs of speech will permit. Anger, defiance, alarm, fear, affection, sorrow, pain, joy, exultation, triumph, derision are heard in all their modulations in the voices and modes of expression of birds and quadrupeds,10 language well understood by man, and better understood among the several tribes, each of which speaks an idiom of its own. Most of the passions and emotions named are also expressed in the soft beaming or the flash of the eye, the 15 pose of the body, the exhibition of weapons, the tremors of the muscles, the lofty, suppliant, or shamed carriage of the head. When we see a dog, himself hungry, carry food safely to his master, or die bravely in the master's defense, how 20 shall we escape the conviction that noble moral qualities are present in the phenomena ? Indeed, the companionship and mutual esteem between man, on the one side, and the dog, horse, or elephant on the other, can only be accounted for by the fact of the presence of a 25 moral nature in each in sympathy with that of the other. Recognition of the facts in regard to the minds and sensibilities of the lower animals is necessary to enlightened morality, even if we take only the selfish view of its effects upon men's conduct in dealing with each other. The old apothegm that a merciful man is merciful to his 5 beast is a principle of general application. It applies to the whole code. The teaching of metaphysical theorists and dogmaticians is responsible for no end of cruelty to beings which are subject not only to physical pain but to all the varieties of mental suffering of which man is capable. 10 They die of homesickness. They experience depression and despair. They find exit from an intolerable life by suicide. They have a keen sense of wrong done to them, and some of them seek satisfaction in revenge. They are possessed of domestic virtues, and of affection for one 15 another and for their young. "Farewell, farewell, but this I tell To thee, thou wedding guest; Both man and bird and beast. "He prayeth best who loveth best All things both great and small; Abridged. Farewell, etc.: The lines quoted are from Coleridge's "Ancient Mariner.” 20 20 |