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I ««

WuV^

" ESSAY

On ,.

.. abstinence''

FROM

AS A

MORAL DUTY.

BY JOSEPH RITSON.

Ufade fames homini vetitorum tanta ciboriim,
Audetis vesci, genus 6 mortale? quod oro,
Ne fecite 5 et monitis animos advertite nostris.

oviDius,

LONDON :

P^IKTED FOK HICHAKD PHILLIPS, ^O. ?!, ST. PAULS

CHUHCH-TARO.

1S02

Wilk, nnd T<,yhrf. Printers, Chan^ertf-Lant.

^ _. ».

" Je n'aipas la temMe de prstendrc reformer le genre humain,

mats asfez de courage pour dire la vcritet fans me foucier des

criailleries de ceux qui la redouUnt, puree qu'ils ont intirH de

trompcr noire efpece^ ou de la lahfer dam des erreurs dont Us

font enx-mSmes les dupes *\'

Diderot, Code de la Nature,

•* It is an unpof ular attempt to attack prejudiceHs established

by time and habit, and fecun *d by the corruptions of luxurious

life. It is equally unpleasant to attempt the reformation of

abufees, w.thout the least profpcc^ of fuccefs: yet there is a

fectet pleafure in pleading the caufe of humanity and helplefs

innocence."

Doctor Gregorys Comparative view ,

73-1 la

CONTENTS.

Page

Chap. L Of man • i

Chap. II. Animal food not natural to man. 41
Chap. III. Animal food not necesfary for

the purpofe of ftrength or, corpulency. . 57
Chap. IV. Animal food the caufe ofcru-^

elty and ferocity^ ....... 86

Chap. V. Animal food the caufe of human

facrtjicees loa

Chap. VI. Human flejb the confequence of

animal food. . . . ^ • . • • 1 24
Chap. VIL Animal food pernicious. •146
Chap. VIII. Healthy fpiritSy and quick-

nefs of perception promoteed by a vegeta--

ble diet. .......... 148

Chap. IX. Nations and individuals fub-

Jijiing entirely on vegetable food. . . • .1^3
Chap. X. Humanity 206

n^i«

A'--'' •

abstinence;

FROM

» I

1 •

CHAP. I*

OF MAN.

xIesiod, the Grecian poet^ if not the tnoft
ancient of all writeerswhofe works are preferveM,
k, unquestionabkly, the next to Hoiner> whom>
however, he is generally thought to have pre-
cedeed.* He flourifh*d about 945 years be-
fore the commencement of the christian aera %

*.It may be inferM, perhap, from the Theogoi^Jr of
Hefiod, that iie was wei acquainted with the writeings of
Homer; fince be mentions the names of Peleus> Thetis, An*
chifes, Aeneas> Circe^ Ulysfts, and Calypfo j imaginaiy
deitys or beros, wbicb> in all probability, made their firft ap«
. pearance in the Iliad or Odysfey. According to Aulus Gel*-
liuSy " writeers are not agree*d concerning the agees of Ho«
mer and Hefiod. Some affirm, that Homer was more an«
cient than Hefiod^ among whom are Philocborus and Xeno«

ft Of MAS. CHAP» X.

and fays, cpnceroing the origia of man^ a fab-
* }e& not touch'd upon by Homer,

'' Soon as the dealhleis gods were born, and mmtf
A mortai^^ race, vAth voice en4ow'd, l>e|;ap
The heavenly powers from high their work behdd.
And the £rft age thej iltle an age of gold."*

Ocellus Lucanus, a Greek phiIofopher> nearly of
the time of, if not conteniporary with, Pythagoras,
and, peradventure, his pupif, or of that fchool,f
wrote a treatife^ ftil txtwt^^ and frequently

phanes ; others think him younger, a( Lr. Acciu8> the poet,
%ii4 EpboiTis,, the historian : but Mariufs Varro, in his £i|ft
hpoM de imagintlns, fays, ** It Is by na means evident which
^as the more ancivnt 3 \ya^ there canr be tio doubt bnt that
^tiey liye'dipatftljr ifxHie torn period,, which apfiesrs from iui
#p^a]» lyifcFiiK'^. 'Oil' a^ trij^,. whkk i^.fajfrU t^h^ve b^^
dj^poiit^sd by tf.efiod^on mpuot H«lico.n» iW^^vSy ii| 4be firlt
of his Didliscalichy ufoses fome trite ar^menta to prove that
tfefiod was the older. " 'Homer,'' fays lie, "^ whileft in tbe
begining. fd. bis popmhe-asferts that Afhtlipa wa8 thf ibiu)f
Peleus, ha^. not aded who Peleus was, which he doubtlefs
would. have done, if it. had not appeared to have been allrea4y
ropntipnM by liefiod : of the Cyclops,^ alFfp, he ads, *' ^n«J
particularly that he had but one eye, he would not have pafs*d
bvcr fo remarkable a thing, if it had not been allready de-
' dgre'd.in. £he verfe& of Hefiod." (R 3, C. 1 1 .)

* Worls and (Jays, B. i. The Theogony, or generation of
the godS) is a different poem.

f. At any' rate bft is mention'd "hy Plato and Plogenea
JLaertius.

CHAff. |. OF MAK* 3

priiri^, to prov^ that the ufli^verfe, and every
thing therein ici^jtiii^'d^ uc eternal and im-
pcriihiible.* *^ Not, in truth^" fays he^ " is
the begioing of the hitman fpecies> nor, in like
manner, that of other animals, but the attri-
butes and di^pofitioi) of the world, as it all ways
exiAs, S09 lii^e^^ifjei^ is it necesfary that, thofe
things \(^hich avc copnlain'd and digefted therein
ftould ailways cniH, inasmuch as the world, in
the fiirft p!a£e^ att^j^ys remains ; for which rea-
fon Its parts are .to be place'd ^long wiih it ^ its
parts^ i fay, heaveif, earth, and thofe things
vhich dre place'd therein ; for not without them,
but wHh tbem» an4 01^ of tben;i, is the world
compofe'd : but, as the parts e^tfft at the fame
time, they are place'd along with them, as with
heaven, the (m^ moon and ftars, as wel iafix'd
in ceriai^tp^a^es as wandering 5 with the earth,
animal^ roots, and plants, gold and fil ver j with
the &>bKmeand aerial region, the airs and winds j
moreover, allfo, the change into warmer or
colder pow^r .confifts : for, that is the property
of heaven it-sfelf, that it may haye thofe things
withm itsfelf which its compafs embracees : of

• Uepi T^s ra ntavrof fva-sMf, Jtve, De un'verfi natura^
in GalcB Opusoiia mjtbolofitca, &c. Cam. itqi.

the earth, that It may fustain the plants, which
groav out of it, and the animals, which take
from h their food. The fubKme and aerial pare
challengees this for itsfelf, that thofe things which
can be made therein may be made accordingly,^
Since, therefor, in every part of the world is
place'd fome fcipereminent fpecies of animals, for
inftance, in heaven the gods, trpon the earth men,
below daemons, it is necesfary that the human
race fhould be perpetual."* Pyth^oras himfelfy
as wel as Archytasof Tarentnm, is fay'd ta
have held the famie cpinion.-f

*' The Aegyptians,'" according io Herodotus,
" who Hve'd befotfc the reign of Pfarametichm/
thought themfelves the moft ancient people of
all the world : til they were eonfuteed by a iftra-
tagcm of that m6narch ; which, beii^ perfeftly
fabulous and abfurd, is unnecesfary to be de-
feribe'd. For my own part, ads he, i am not of
opinion that the Aegyptians are precifcly coae-.
taneoiis with the country which, the lomans call
-Meha ; but' that they allways were, fince men^
have been."i In another pasfage he mentions a
fpace ^^^ feventecn thoufand years before the
reign of Amafis;" and has, clfewhere, a calcu-

* Ih'i, B. 3. t i^h P. 3. X Euteffe.

CHAP. I. OF MAN. 5

lation of 341 generations, or 11,340 y^ars.
From Bacchus, he fays, to the reign of Amafis
they recko&'d no le^s than 1 5,000 years j and
iay'd they knew thcfe things with certainty, be-
caufe they had all ways computeed the years,
and kept an cxafk account of time.* Ari-
ftotle calk them the mod ancient of all mor-
lals.f

The Athenians gave out that they w^cre pro*
duce'd at the fame time with the fun andasfume'd
to themfelves the honorable name of Mro%9oysg,
which word fignifys perfons produce'd out of
the fame foil that they inhabit : for it was an
old opinion, and all«ioft every where receive*d
among the vulgar, that, in the begining of the
world, men, like plants, were by fome ftrange
prolifkk virtue produce'd out of the fertile
womb of our common mother, Farth ; and there-
for, the ancients generally calPd themfelves
rvysvng,. fons of the €arth, as Hefychius in-
forms us : alludeing to the fame original, the
Athenians fometimes fiile^d themfelves TfT?//^^,

*Ihi. Plato, in. Criiias, p. 11 00, reckons the amoant to be'
^00 years, from what time a war was reported to have ex-
ified between all thofe who inhabited beyond and about the
columns of Hercules.

i 0/a re^ublick, B. 7, C, 10.

6 OF KlANi CHAP. X.

grafshopcrs ; and feme of them wore grafs-
hopcrs of gold; binding them in their hair,
as badgees of honour^ and marks to distinguifh
them from others of latecr duration, and lefs
noble extraction, becaufe thofe infers were be«<
lieve'd to be generaieed out of the ground.*

Of the origin of men, fays Diodorus the Si«
cilian, who profefses to give an accurate account
{as far as the antiquity of the matters wil admit)
of the generation and original of mankind,
there are two.opinion,s amongH the moft famous
and authemick naturalifts and historians. Some
of thefe are of opinion that the world had neither
begining nor ever ihal have end ; and likewife
fay, that mankind was from eternity, and that
there never was a time when he firft began to
be. Others, on the contrary, conceive both
the w^orld to be made, and to be corruptible,
and that there was a certain time when men had
fiifta being. For whereas all things at the fifft
were jumble'd together, heaven and earth were
in one mafs, anid had one and the fame form :

« Pottcrt ATiiiqmfus of Greece, i, ». citc« Mcnatider
iPlato ttid 'Hcfychitti (as abovt), In voce rijyevEr^ . PlatD,
in Ch-liios, fay« tt«t jtUhHtts, the firft bom fun ofNeptune by
CUtonIs or Clito, was king of thcwholt Atlanticks, and
the fccond fon was Autocbtlones,

bat afterward (they fey) wheft wtporeal beings
•^pear*d ^3ne after aliothcr, the worid at length
jjreftwed itsferf in the order te^iib# fee ; aftd that
the air was in continual agitation, wbofe firqr
I»rt afcendfed together to the higbfeft place, itt
*)ature (by re»fonof its levity) tending ailwayl
upward ; for vifhkh rcafort, both the f^n and that
vaft number of llar«^, arc <:ontkk'd wUhin that
orb- That the gr oft and earthy matter (doted
together by tooiftafe) by reaf^n of its weight
funk down intb one place, is dofttinually whirU
ing aboiit ; the fea was made of the humid parts;
and the mudy earth of the more fofidj as yet
very moorUh and foft, which by degrees at iirft
was made crtifty by the heat of the fun, and
then aft^r the face of the earth was parch'd, an A
as it w^r€ &rtnented^ the moifture afterward in
many placecs bubbfe*d up, and appeared as fo
>inany pustles wrap*d up in thin and flender coats
and {kins ; which may be even feen in (lantii^
ponds and rnatftiy platees/when, after tbe ekt^
has been pierc^M a^iA cold, the air grows hot
on a fudden, without a gradual alteration : and
whereas moifture generates creatures from heat,
as from a feminal principle^ things fo generateed,
by being inwrap'd in the dewy mifts of the
^^ht^ grew and increa&*d aofd in the. day fo-

8 OF MAN* CHAP. X.

Ildateed^ and were made hard by the heat of the.
fun ; and when the births includeed in thefe
ventricles had received their due proportion,
tjien thefe flender Ikins being burft afuQder by
the heat, the forms of all forts of livdng crea-
tures were brought forth into the light j of which
thofe that had moft pf heat mounted aloft^ and
were fowl, and birds of the air ; but thofe that
were drofsy, and had more of earthy were num-
ber'din the order of creeping things, and other
creatures alltogether ufe'd to the earth. Then
thofe beafts that were naturally watery and moift
(caird fiflies) prefently hafteed to the place con-
natural to them ; and when the earth afterward
became more dry and folid by the heat of the
fun, and the drying winds, it had not power at
length to produce any more of the greater live-
ing creatures ; but each that had an animal lif^
began to increafe their kind by copulation : and
^^ripides, he ads, the fcholar of Anaxagoras,
i^ms to be of the fame opinion, concerning the
firft creation of all things j for, in his Menatij^e^
bes has thefe verfees :

*^ A mafs confafe^d heaven and earth once were

Of one form ; but, after feparation.

Then men, trees, beafb of th' earth, with fowls of th' air,

Firft fprang vp in thisir genemtloo^^'

CSAP. I. OF MAN. 9

But, continues he, if this power of the earth to
produce liveing creatures, at the firft origin of
all things, feem credible to any ; the Aegyptians
do bring teftimonys of this energy of the earth,
by the fame things done there at this day; For
they fay, that about Thebes in Aegypt, after the
overflowing of the river Nile, the earth being
thereby covered with mud and flime, many
placees putrefy through the heat of the fun, and
ihence are bred multitudes of mice.* Ic is cer-
tain, therefor, that out of the earth, when it is
baf den'd, and the air changeM from its due and
natural temperament, animals are generateed ;
by which means it came to pafs, that, in the firft
begining of all things, various liveing creatures
proceeded from the earth : and thefe, fays he,
are the opinions touching the original of things.
But (he proceeds) men, they fay, at firft led a
rude and bruteiih fort of life, and wander'd up
and down in the fields, and fed upon herbs, and
the natural fruit of the trees. Their words were
confufe'd, without any certain fignificacion; but
by degrees they fpokc articulafteiy, and made
figns, and giveing proper terms to every thing

* The mud of the Nile, ft is bclicve'd, has, for forac time
pftft, loft its generative or Tivlfying qualitys.

iif)Oil occafioft ; at kttgth tbtir ^^^mffe becafiti^
intelligible one to another : but being difperfeM
into fcveral patts of the world, they fpoke not fell
the fame language, every one ufeing that dialect
proper to the place, as his lot fel : upon whith
ac<^ount there were various and all forts of lan«^
guagees in the world ; and thefe asfociations of
men firfl: planted all the nations of the world;
But forasmuch as what was ufeful for mans lift
was not allready found out, this fitft race of man^
kind live'd a laborious and tf'Oubleibme life, as
being as yet naked, not inure'd to houfees, nor
acquainted with the ufe of fire, and alltogether
destitute of delicacys for their food. For not
knowing as yet how to houfe and lay up theii-
food, they had no barns or granarys wh^e t9
^epoiit the fruits of the earth ; and, therefor,
many, tbroogh hungi^ and colfl, peri(h'd in the
winter : but being at length taught by expe*'
rience, they fled into caves in the winter, and
fay'd up fuch fruits as were &t to keep 5 and
comeing by degrees to the knowlege of the ufe^
fuinefs of fire and of other conveniencees, they
began to invent many arts, and other things b^
neficial for mans life. What flial we fay_? h?
ads, necesfity was mans inflructor, which m^de
him fkilful in every things being an ingenious

CtfAP* I, OF MAN* II

creature, VLiCtfked (as ivlth fa many fdrTairts)
\rith handss, feet, and a ratlonai foal, ready to
put every thing in execution.* .

Aristotle pronouncees the world enernal; and
confequently, ihgencrate and iocorruptiMcf

Lucretiqi, the J)oct, who adopted the opinions
of Epicurus the philofopher, and made ufe of his
writcingSi extols this great master for havcir>g
bfeen the firfl: who taught, that this world, aiad
all things in it, were not made by the deity, but
by a fortuitous coiicourfe of atoms, and for deli-
yering, by that doctrine, the minds of men from
the fear of the gods, of death, and of puniih^
mcnts after death : all which doctrines he ex-
plains with ingenuity pf argument, and elegance
of ftile.

Pliny, the naturalift, would have his readers
believe the world to be a god, eternal, unraea-
furable, without begining, and without end.

Since, however, it is abfolutely imposfible to
demonftrate the origin of thefe things by fad or
argument, reafon or fcience, we muft, of ne-
cesrity,be content to enibrace the fenfible opinion

**B. I, C. I. See a beautiful clefcriplion of the creation oF
Uic worW, and the origin of man and olbtr animaJfl^ in tjbe^rft
book of Ov ids Meiamorfhofis^

•j- Of heaven^ B..I, C. 12.

12 OF MAN. CHAP. I.

reported by Diodorus : "^ that mankind was from
eternity i and that there nerer was a time when
he firft began to be."

Naturalifts distinguitb mod, if not all, ani-
mals, by clafses or genera : as the lion, tiger,
leopard, and fo forth, are fay'd to be of the cat-
kind, from a general refemblance, in form or
figure, though not in fize or (trength, to that in<*
dividual. Man, in like manner^ may, with
equal propriety, be arrange'd under the monkey-
kind ; there being the fame degree of analogy
between the man and the monkey, as between
the Hon and the cat j and there being, allfo, in
each of thefe clafses, intermediate animals of
different fizees, ranks, or degrees, by which the
feveral fpecies, which compofe it, are approxi-
' mateed or connefted, like the links of a chain :

[ thus, between the cat and the lion, are the fcr-

Tal, the fyagufii, the lynx, the tiger-cat, the

ounce, the panther, the leopard, and the tiger i

and, jud To, between the monkey and the man,

! are the maimon, the wandrow, the mandril, the

gibbon or long-arm'd ape, the pongo, and the
. ourang-outang :* each gradually increafeing in .

* See, upon the affinity or refemblance of the man and
monkey kinds, Ariftotles Hifiory 0/ Animals, B. 2. C. 13, and

tfHAP. I. OF MA!T. I;}

fize and ftrength. Man, therefor, in a ftate erf
nature, was, if not the real ourang-outang of the

Tyfons Anatomy of a Pigmie, p. 5, &c. Man, among other
attempts at definition, has been denominated a laugling
animal. Laughter^ however, is not alltogether peculiar to the
human fpecies. As mifter Barrow Was afcendlng the pafs of
JRoode-Sand Kloef the baboons, fays he, from their conceal'd
dens, in the (ides of the mountain, laugFd, fcream'd, and utter'd
iuch horrtbk noifees, the whole time, that, to a ilranger, not
knowing, from whence they proceeded, they cxcitced no fmall
degree of furprife, {Travels in Soutbern Africa, p. 70). The
Hottentots, fays captain Beeckman, are not, really, unlike
monkeys or baboons in their gestures and postures, efpecially
when they (it funing therofelves, as they often do in great num-
bers. — ^Whcn they fpcak, they feem rather to cackle like hens
or turkeys, than fpeak like men, {Voyage to Borneo^ p. 187).
'* The Bosjesmans," according to Barrow, (p. 277), are
amongil the uglyeft of all human beings. The flat no(e,
high cheek-bones, prominent chin and concave vifage, par-
take much of the apeiih character, which their keen eye, all-
ways in motion, tends not to dimtnifli," {Travels in Southern
Africa, p. 277). The apes correft their young in the man-
ner of good christians. I once, faya Labillardiere, witnefs*d
a lingular fa6k, which (hews what knthority thefe animals pos-
fefs over their young. * A large ape, that was follow 'd by a
very little one« thinking himfelf unobferve*d, took it up in one
of ita paws, and beat it for a confiderable fpace of time with
the other. If the ape, he ads, knew bow to proportion the
punilhment to. the offence, the cub mud have been very
naughty^ for be got a rooft fevere beating (Voyage in f$arch

14 Qf MAN. CHAP. t.

fpwftjs wd mojua^^Bs ^f Afi^ or Africa ^t the
pnefeit day, ^t le^flt, jm anii^M of the (ia.me faraiiyi
and very nearly rbfembleing it.* The formation,
the anatomy, the ftrength, the general appear-
snce^ of ^ two a»imals> are much the £ame, or
would, at lead, be fo in a ftate of nature. Each
would make the like ufe of its hands and feet j
for it pan be prove'd, not onely, that man, in
{uf:h .a ftate^ would frecpiently ipake ufe of bis
haad^ for feet, and walk upon all-four; but^
allfo, that the ourang-outang frequently (lands
and w^lks^ ereft, like a civilizeM man, and
.occafionally ufecs a ftaf. Their food, their
habits, their e«nployments, and mode of life,
would, likewife, be precifely, or nearly fimilar j
and, in a word, without depriveing man of his
preeminent fituation at the head of his clafs, the
refembleanx:e between him and the ourang-our
tang is- too firong to deny that they are, at leaft,
distinft fpccies of one and the fame genus.*

of La Perou/eJ, i, i^j. The natives of New Holland art
CQver'd with vermin. We admire*d the patience of a mother,
who, like raoft of the bldcks> cru(h*d thefe filthy infects be-
tween her teeth, and then fwallow'd them. It is -iobc re-
mark'd that apea have ttie iame custom [which is wel known
•jto the Spani'fii virgins, particularly toward tbeir (Weethearts}.
* Sec doctor JyfoRS Anatt^my of a Pygii^ief P-.9^* &c.

ONAP. I. OF MAN. I5

' ** The ferm of the oraftg-outang,'* £ays the
mgcnioiis Smeliie, ^* makes the neareft approach
to the h«ma« y aad the Kf^ he employs for hb
defeace, the {Options he p^ifhrm^^ wd the f^gjat**
city be doiJcOYers, are fp astoniihtng, that fome
l>hiIofophers have confider'd him as a reat human
being in the moft debafe'd Hage of fociety/'*
Man> indeed, hy fem^s fingul^x and imaccou^ar
bie accident, or fveai,. has acquired the art of
forming articufate foufids, and flppJying them to
the expresfion of ideas and things, which, aded
to his fbc.ial intercourfe, and the habits of ciyi-
li5:e'4 Uf<?,- ba3 raife*d him to a far fqperior apd
xD^te elevateed rank : but ^i» can be no folid
objection tQ' the prefeiiit fystcm, as language is
no more natural to man than to many other ani-
m;ils, which actually make ufe of it : as the parj-ot,
for inftance^ the rayeji^ the magpie, the jack-daw,
.s^d the A^rliiig ; ^mA, pp^fiUely, even, the.
ouraag-eutaag, and therefl: of tbemonkey tribe.f

wliiare h« E^ffGfiih^ f<o^#ml 9^^ xeQ)6ctive inftaAcocis in wbick
bi3 " iyrang-^ang or PygmU {not the beft or qe^r^eft fp^Qic^t)
mps^ roflsmhlfB'd a mfint\^^^^pfSi9S^imQnk^Jp- and 9fkiv$rfi.
CompBRe* like wife* -tbe Aiigra^eM figjune of \hp ftektoo of this
animal with that of a huoinn bemgi and ffie how .much or
Uttk differenc0^ei» U between thorn.

* PiikfBph^ nfna/iiral ihtatyt h S3*

^ The iHi^ro^ %t of the monkeys^ that they cjin fpeak It

l6 OP MAN. CHAP. t4.

No man, left to himfelf from the moment of his
birch, would ever be able to utter an articulate

they wil, but arc afray'd to conhCs it, left they ihould be,
made to work : and Gol<^iiiith, from Buffon^ gives a curious
^count of the Ouarintf a fpecies of monkey remarkable for
the Joudiieffl and distindinefs of their voice, and fiil more fo
for tlie ufe to which they ponvert it. '< I have, frequently,
been a witncfs,*' fays Morgrave, ** of their asfemblys and de-
liberations: Every day, both morning and evening, the
ouarinesasfcmbje in the woods, to receive inftructions. When
a|U come together,, one among the number takes the higheft
place on a tree, and makes a fignal, with his hand, to the reft
to fit round, in ordc^r to hearken. As foon ^& he fees them
place*d, he begins his dlfcourfe, with fo loud a voice, and yet
in a manner fo precipitate, that, to hear him at a distance,
one would think the whole company were crying out at the
fame time : however, dureing that time, one onely is fpeak-
ing, and all the reft obferve the moft profound filence. When
this has done, he makes a iign, with his hand, for the reft to
reply ; and, at that inftance, they raife their voiceea together,
until, by another (ignal of. the hand, they are enjoin'd (ilence.
This they as readjty obey ; tU, at laft, the whole asferobiy
breaks up, after hearing a repetition of the fame preachment."
(History of tbi earth, iv, 226). This kind of monkey feema
to be of the presbyterian or methodift perfuaiioB, which en-
tbuiiafts, at leaft, they appear to imitate in their religious ex-
hortations. He, allfo, proves " that articulation is not na-
tural to man ;" and that language was the invention of fociety,
-and rofe from natural inarticulate crys.

Doctor Tyfons Pygmie was " the moft gentle and loveing
creature that could be. Thofe that he knew a (hip-board he
would come and embrace with thegreateft tenderneft^ opening

CHAP. 1. or MAW* 17

fcund ; langtiage or fpcech muft be taught to (as
it was, moft probablely invented by) young chil-
dren^ and is the cf fed of education, not of na-
ture: but of this more hereafter.

The translator of The history of voyagees, as
citeed by Rousfieau, tels us that there is found
in the kingdom of Congo a great number of thofe
large animals caU'd in the Eail- Indies ourang-
outang ; forming a kind of middle order of beings
between men and b%oons.^ Battel relates, that>
in the: forefts of Mayomba, in the kingdom of
Loango^ there are two forts of monfters the
bigeft of which are call'd fcngo^j and the other
enjokos. The former, fays he, are exaftly like
men, but much largeer and taller. Their feice
is human, but hath very hollow eyes. Their
hands, cheeks and ears, are quite bare of hair to
their ^ye-brows, which are very long. The
other parts of their bodys are pretty hairy, and
the hair is of a brown <:olour. In fine, the onely
thing by which they can be diftinguifhM from the
human fpecies is the form of their legs» which

their bofoms, and clafping his hands about them ; and, though
there wfcre monkejrs abroad, 'twas obfcrvc'd be would never
asfociate with them, and, as if nothing akin to them, ailWays
avoid theif 'Company.*' {Anatomy^ &c. p. 7.)
* Notes on Inequality qffnankind,

l8 of MAlt* CHAP. 1*

have no calves.* They walk ereft, holding the
hair of their neck in their hands. They refidd
in the woods, where they deep in the trees^
makeing a kind of roof over them, to ikreen
them from the rain • . . iThey march, fometimes,
in companys, and kii the negros* who traverfe
the forefts ; and even attack the elephants that
come to feed near their haunts^ which they be^
14!t>our, with fifts and fticks^ and put to flight.
When ful«^grown,. they aropiever takeen alive }
being fo robuft that ten ordinary men would n€4:
be able to manage one of them. When one of
thefe animals dyes, the others cover its body with
a heap of leaves or branches of trees. . Purchaa
ads» that, in the converfation he had with Battdt
be was told by him, that a pongo carry*d off
from him a little negro, who ftay'd a whole
month among thefe creatures. Battel has not
defcribe^d the feeond kind of monfter.. Dapper
confirms that the kingdom of Congo Is ful of
thof^ apimals, whicb» ip ladia, are caU'd ourang^
Qut^ng, or the inhabitants of the wood^, mi
which the Africans call quojas moms [r. quoias-

* ThU U tke c^ff of many a man. Ii| our own countrjt
" You haves fent your waives to grafi'* is a provcrbUl pun.
Doctor Tyfon^ however* eiprefaly fays <' Our pygmie. 1^4
calves in his legs.'* (Anatomjf, &c. pr 23.)

€RA^« ti or MAN* tg

mbrrou]. This cresiture, he fays, bears fo near
a refemblance to njiwi, that fome travelers have
been fQolifii enough to think it might proceed
from a womai^ with a monkey, a chimerical
notion^ ezplodeed, even, among the n^gros ; . • •
who tel very ftrange ftorys of this animal ; ^s^
fareing us that the male wil not onely ravifli wo-
men and girls, but that he hath the courage to
attack men though they are arto*d. «

" The monkeys, apes, and baboons [of the
iland of Borneo],'' fays captain Becckman, *• are
of many different fliapes j but the moft remarka-
ble arc fhofe they call oran-ootans,which, in their
language, fignifys men of the woods. Thefe
grow up to be fix feet high j they walk uprighti
have longer arms than men j « tolerablely' good
facees (handfomcer, i am furc, than fome Hot-
tentots that ihavefeen); large teeth, no tails
nor hair, but on thofe parts where it grows on
human bodys. They are very nimble-footed, aucj
mighty ftrong. .They throw great ftones, flicks^
and billets at thofe perfons that offend thera^.
The natives do really believe that thefe were
formerly men, but metamorphofe'd into- beafts
for their blasphemy. They told me many
ftrange ftorys of them. I boifght one, out of

■P.M*

* Rousfcaus Notes to his InequaUty of mankind. . '

20 OF MAMT* CHAP, tl

curiofity, for fix Spanifli dollars : it live'd wkh
me feven months, but then dyc'd of a flux. He
was too jouDg to ihew me many pranks ; there-
for, i.fhal onely tel you he was a great thief^ and
loveM ftrong liquors ; for, if our backs were
tuxn'dj he would be at the punch-bowl^ and very
often would .c^n the brandy-cafe, and put it
very carefully into its place again.^ He flept
lyeing along, in a human posture^ with one hand
under his head.f He could not fwim, but i
know. not whether he might not have been ca«*
pable of being taught. If, at any tiine, i was
angery with Mm, he would figh, fob, and' cry, til
he found that i v^sts reconcile'd to him ; and,
though he was but about twelve months old

* Doctor Tyfon relates of bis fygmi^: '* Once it wis
made drunk with punch, but it was ob&nrc'd, that« after that
time, it would never drink above one cup, and refufe'd the
offer of more than what be found agree'd with him." {Ana*
tomy, &C. p. 30.)

f <* After our pygmie was taken," fays doctor Tyfon, ^' and
a little ttfe'd to wear cloatbs, it was fond enough of them ;
and what it could not put on * its' felfj^ it would faring in ' its'
hands to fome of the company, td help ' it* to put [it] on.
It would lie in a bed, place ' its' head on the pillow, and pull
the doaths over * it', as a man would do''*..It was very ful of
lice, he ads, exa^y like thofe on human bodys : Signor RhiA
ob&rveing in moft animals a particular fort of louf««

CHAP. I* OF MAN, ai

when he dyeM, yet he was ftronger than any
man/'*

** I oiyfelf,*' fays lord Monboddo, " few at
Paris one of thefe [ouran-outangs], whofe fkin
was ftuf d«..He had exadly the fhape and fea*
tures of a man i and particularly i was infotm*d
that he had organs of pronunciation as perfeiffc
as we have. He live'd feveral years at Verfailles,
and dye'd by drinking fpirits. He had as much
of the underftanding of a man as could be ex-
pected from his education^ and perform'd many
little oificees to the lady with whom he live'di but
never learn'd to fpeak. I was wcl informed
too/* ads his lord&ip^ ** of one of them belong,
ing to a French gentleman in India, who ure'd
to go to market for him^ but was likewife
mute." t

• rayage to Borneo, 1 7 18, p. 37. Thb young outang dis-
play 'd more inielHgence, and eren posfels'd much mo^e
fbcengih, at the age of twelve montlu, than a human being (aa
he is calVd) was ever known to do at the age of twelve years.
See Tyfons Anatomy, &c. p« 23^

. f. Origin andfrogreft of language, »» 175« In a note, after
quoteing a pasfage from Eousfeau, who rejeds *^ with great
contempt, the notion of tbofe who think that fpeech is
naturld to man,*' his lordihip obferres.: ** Now if we get over
that pu^udice, and do mat infift that other arts of life, which
.the ouran^outaogs waaty are, likewife, natpral to man, It U
imposiible we can refufe them the'^tppeilation of «W3»/^ He^

flss OF liiAN. oIaP. i;

The writcSt or compileer of thcfe pagees
was, a few years ago, told by a lady, who had it-
from another, of her own acquaintance, an eye-
witnefs, of an ourahg-outang, in the Eaft-Indies,
which was fix feet high, and fat at table in the
drefs of a military officer : a gueft) excesfively
disgufting to the fair and delicate fpectatrefs !

The king of Dahoml, in Africa, is fay'd to
have a guard of men^ who very much refemble
monkeys, or, in other words, of monkeys, who
yery much refemble men ) and which are^
doubtlefs, ourang-outangg. The MoQpes or
Eboes, according to Edwards, ^' appear to ba
the lowed and moft wretched of all the nations
of Africa/' and <^ the conformation of the face^
in a great unajority of them, very much refem**
bles that of the baboon/'*

Collins, in his defcription of the natives o£
New-Holland (or New South- Wales), fays,
^^ Their nofees are fiat, nostrils wide, eyes much
funk in the head, and covered with thick eye-

*«hi

clfewhere, in the fame Yolume, faye he bad bearM of tkefe
human aoim&ls being feven feet high,

* Hijhry ofibi WeJ-Indiis, it^ 75. The three attendants
of the Birman officer, who vifitcd colond Symes, fqoated upon
their beckon the deck, in an attitude and manner much n«
iembleing baboons, allthough they weie wd-prop0ftio&'4
firongQi«nu {Emb^ytaJ^a^'mtJ^,)

tiHAF. f. Of MAN« &3

browt. Many/* vfhom he faw, " had very pro-
minent jaws ; and there w|s one man, who> but
for the gift of fpeech, migljit very wel have pafs'd
for an ourang-outang. He was remarkablely
hairy; his arms appear'd* of an uncommon
length ; in his gait he was not perfedly upright ;
and, in his whole manner, feem'd to have more
of the brute, and lefs of the human fpecieft
about him than any of his countrymen."* ** The
gift of fpeech," however, which he mu(t, if at all^
have acquire'd in his infancy, wll not, alone, pre •
vent his actually being what he '^ might very wel
have pafs'd for."

** 1 could produce,'* fays Rousfeau, " feveral
inftanceiSs of human quadrupeds : particularly
that of the child, who was found, in 1344, near
Hefle-Casfel, where he had been fuckle*d by ^
wolves, and who ufe*d to fay> afterward, at prince
Henrys court, he would rather return to live
with the wolves again, than to live among man-
kind, f He had contraded fo invincible a habit
of walking oh his hands, that it was necesfary to
faflen piecees of wood to him fo as to keep him
upright on his feet. It was the fame,'' he fays.

f It is, by no mean, credible, that this wolf-boy fay'd tbiij
or could utter a fingle fjUable.

^4 OM MA)?. <;hap. %0

^' with another child^ found, in 1694, in the fon*
reils of Lithuania, and trained up among bears^
M. de Condillac fays, he did not ihew the.leai):
fign of reafQii, but walkM on his hands and fee^>
' and had no ^rtiquLite fpeech^ but utt^r'd fpme
uncouth founds, unlike the language of other
men. The little favage, carry 'd. from Hanover
to the court of Engleland, fome years ago [ 1 7 1 &])
was^ with great difficulty brought to walk upon
his legs.* In 1719, two other favagees were
found in the Pyrenean mountains, runing up
and down like quadrupeds." |

A girl was caught, in 1731, in the environs

of Chalons fur-Marne, and educateedin a con-

vent. She relateed as foon as fhe was able to
fpeak, that ibc had Hve'd in the woods with a fe-
male companion, and that fhe had unfortunately
kiPd her, by a violejit blow on the head, one day,
when, upon finding a cba^plet under th^ir feet^
they difputeed about the exclufiye ppsfe^fioiji

of it.

The young favage of Aveyron, a child, about
eleven or twelve years of age, who bad been

* This . was Peter the wild boy, wh(H to the editours.
knowlege, could, when he faw him, walk very wel, on two
legs, though he could Icarcely utter three words, itr^, civcTtf
J^unvy, and endeavour to fing a few mufical notes.

f RousfeaU) On de inequalHy of mankind^ note 3.

•i

9HAP. X« OP MAH. 2$

foQie time before In the woods of Cauae, ia
France^ looking after acorns and roots, upoa
virhidi he fubfifted, was met, in the fame place,
toward the clofe of the year 1 798, by three fports-
men, whofeize'd upon him at the infiant he was
xlimbing a tree to evade their purfult. He was
brought to Paris> bis fenfees being in fuch a (late
of inertia, as rehder'd him ^^ vaftly inferior,
with regard to difcemment^ to the more imdli*
gisnt of domestic animals f ' his voice, mod of
vX\ imperfeft, uttering onely a guttural and uni*
form found. The onely monofyllables he is ablp
to utter, and to which he annexes no idea or
meaning are laity la ^ U or ///, ob diiel (the
repetition, of a parrot, of oh dieu !) Whatever
wants or ides^s he has are exprefs'd by things or
ligns } as, for inftance, if he wifh to drink, he
points to % pitcher ; if, to dine, he lays the cloth
on the table, and prefents to madame Guerin,
his governefs, the plates, that (he may go into the
kitchen to fil them : but, in (hort, every one
fhould read, with attention, the interefting ac-
counts of citizen P, J. Bonnaterre, and E. M.
Itard, phyiician to the national inditution of the
medical fociety of Paris : the latter of which is
iatitle'd (in theEngleifli tranflation) ** An [A]
hiftorical account of the discovery and educa*
lion pf a favage man, or of the (irft develope-

OF MAm tHil^. I.

men% phyficat and moral, of the ycWig farage
caught in the woods Hear Aveyron, lA the year
1798 : London, printed for R. Phillips^ No« 71^
St. Pauls church^yard. 1 802. 8 vo.

** Important as it may be,** fays the fenfible
sold eloquent Rousfeau, ^' to judge rightly of the
natural fiate of man, to take a view of his ori-
gin •, and to examine him, as it were, in the em^
t>ryo ftate of bis fpecies ; i ihal not prefume to
trace the fuccesfive improvements of his organi-
zatiiHi. I fhal not (lay to enquire^ allfo, of the
animal fystem, what he might have been in the
begining, in order to become at length what
he acHially is ; whether hts long nails were, ai
firft, as Ariftotle fuppofees, onely crooked ta-
lons ; his whole body, Kkfe that of bears^ covered
with hair; or whether he walk'd upon all^-fours^
with his looks direfled tow;ard the earth, and
conBne*d to a horizon of a few pacees extent^ at
once pointing out the nature and limits of his
idcfas • • • . To ftrip this being, now, thus con<-
Itkuteed, of all the fupernatural gifts which he
may have receive'd, and of all the artificial facuU
tys which he muft have 'by flow degrees ac-
quire'd, to coniider him, in a word, fuch as he
muft have come from the hands of Nature, i be-
hold in him an animal weaker than fome, and
lefs active than others ; but, takeing all things

CHAP* I.

OF MAN.

togethc)", the moft advanugeously organlze^d of
any.* I fee him fatisfjfing his thirft at the firit
brook in hii way ; finding his bed at the foot of
the fame tree^ which afforded him a repaft, and,
behold ! all his wants are fupply'd . . « . Had
IJature/* he fays, " defline'd man to be healthy,
i couldy allmoftj venture to declare that a ilate
of reflection is a ftate contrary to Nature^ and
that a thinking man is a deprave'd animal • • •
Be the origin," he obferves, " of language and
that of fociety [both which he has ablely and
fuccefs fully explain'd] as they may, it may be,
at leaft, infer'd, from the little care which I^a-
ture hath takeen to asfemble mankind by mutual'
wants, and to facilitate the ufe of fpeech^ that
Ihe has contributeed few preparations to their
Ibciability^ and has l^t as little asfistance to the
pains they have takeen in the formation of Co^
ciety3. It is imposfible, in hSt, to conceivef
why, in a ftate of nature, one man 'ihould ftand
more in need of the asfistance of another, than
a monkey or a wolf of the asfistance of another
animal of the fame kind .... I know," he pro-
ceeds, " it is incesfantiy repeated, that maff
•

»^— — I l|W^— I, I I I I. I II I , I ] I. Ill

* His organization feems to differ vciy Utile, if at all, from
that of the ourang-oulang, sjd^ch all he here iays fuits juft b$
wcl, as it does man i^ a flat^ natures if, in fafi tbej; bcnot
on« and the fame. /

*^i

28 OF MAK. CHAP. I*

•

woald^ in fuch a ftate^ have been a moft miferable
creature s and, indeed^ if it be ttue^ as i think i
have prove'd,* that he muft have live'd many
agees, without haveing either deiire or oppor-
tunity of. emergeing from fuch a (late, this cir^
cumdance would onely ferve as the grounds of
accufation againfl: Nature^ and not againfl: the
being whicn (he had thus unhapyly confiituteed.
But if i rightly comprehend the ufe of the term
miferabley it is a word which either has no mean-

* « The more wc wfleft,** he has fay'd, «« on this fubjcft,
the greater appears the distance between mere fenfationand the
moft (imple fcience : it is, indeed^ imposiible to conceive how
i»an« by bis own powers alone, without the aid of communi-
cation, and the fpur of necesfity, could have got over fo great
an interval. It is not improbable that many agees elapfe'd be-
fore mankind beheld any other fire than that of the heaTens.
What a multiplicity of acddents muft have concur'd to bring
them acquainted with the mofl common ufees of that element I
How often muft 'they not have fufier'd it to expire or be ex-
tinguiih*d, without knowing the art or means of reproducing
it ? and how often may not fuch fecrets have dye'd with the
difcoverer ? . . . Let it be confiderM," he ads, " how many
ideas we owe to the ufe and. practice of fpeech; how far graiQ-
mar exercifees the underflanding, and facilitates its operations.
Let us ref)e6i on the inconceiveabie pains and infinite fpacc of
time beflow*d on the firll invention of languagees. To thefe
reflections join the prcccdcing, and then judge how many mil-
lions of agees mufl elapfe in Jhe fuccesijve developement of
thofe intellectual operations o^hich the human mind b ca«
pable."(P. 183, &f<;) ...

criAP. i; OF MAW. 29

ing at alii or flgnifys onely a painful priration of
fometbing, or a ftate of fuffering either in body
or foul. Now i Ihould be. glad to have it ex-
plained to ine what kind of mifery a free agent,
whofe heart is at eafe, and whofe body is in
health, can posfiblely fuffer. I would alk, allfo,
which is moft likely, a foxrial or a natural life, to
become infupportable to the perfons who enjoy
it ? .... In inftina alone, the favage man pos-
fefs'd every thing requifite for him to live in a
ftatc of nature ; and with an improve'd under-
ftanding he has but juft enough to fupport life
in a ftate of fociety/'*

*. On the inequality of mankind-, an admirable treaiirc,
worthy of repeated perufal.

^ It is highly probable, tbat« if man, in a flate of nature, has
iiad no inftinctive or inarticulate found, which is posfefs'd, zt
any rate by many, if not moft, animals, he has got his lan-
guage from the crys or noifee> of other fpecies. The great
point, in which, according to m'bter Barrow, the invention of
the Hottentots appears to haye been exercife'd, is in the con-
firuction of their language. " Of all the methods,'* he fays,
** that haye been adopted in language by different nations for
the purpofe of exprefsing obje^b and. conveying ideas in a clear
and unequivocal manner, that which, has been hit upon by the
Hottentots is, certainly the moft extraordinary. Allmoft all
their monofyllables, and the leading fyllable of compound
words, are thrown out of the mouth with a fudden retraction
«if the tongue from the teeth on the palate againft one of which
it had been prefs'd, according to the fi Unification of the word
about to V« utter'd; for the fame found with the dentals wil

Jo OF MAN. CHAf » %.

^^ Of all rapacious ammals^ man is the mo^
univerlal deftroyer. The dcftruction of carni-

have a very different meaning with the palatial retraction •f
the tongue. The noHe made hj the dental is exadily that
which \fk fometimes ufcM to exprefji impaliepoe^ and the pal^**
tUl is in^ch more ful and foaorQvs, ^nd not i(nUke the
clacking [clucking] of a hen that has ypung chiekeps. All
languages in their infancy confifted^probahlely, of fimple orrnc^-
nofyllable founds \ but as thefe could convey onely a very li-
mited number of ideas, recourfe was had to Inflexion of voiee
and compofition of the fimple founda to nuke the vocafaulary
more copious. The divifion qf fuch fimple founds into X\k^]f
elenients, and by the various combinations of thefe eleipe^ti
to form an almoft unlimited number of new founds, was one of
the moft wonderful inventions in the hiftory of man, and
much beyond the genius of a Hptteatot. He haa done>
however, all that he found to be necesfary 1^ a very few e«ii^
pound words, and by the ' ducking* with the tongue. In the
Ihrd formation of his language nature ieems to have been his
guide. The croaking of a frog is readily recogntze'd in hr^sl
or hraaic.'y the loving of an ox, in *m»<»\ the mewHng of a
cat, in meau ^ the neighing of a horfe, in iba ^^; the breaking '
of the fea upon the ihore, in hurro»: all of which are corre*
fpondeat wofds in the language of this people [and, with the
flighted variation, in our own, as craakf aoo, mew^ ha Id!
(which occurs in the book of Job), and hurra, or, as the Iriih
pronounce.it, J&2<nv0]. Many inflances, beiides thefe, fuffi.
clently prove that the vocables [Sc9tic}i] were adopted in imt-
tation of the founds proceeding from the different obje^is they
were meant to exprefs. In the origin they might probablely
be much clofeer imitations . . .The genius of a language is g«p«
neraily discoverable iii the application of new words to new
ideas. , ,Thf49B^entot9, who bad never feen nor h^d the iq*"

^'?

-r

tnAti u^ OF UAUm ^ S>

vorous quadrupeds, birds, and infers, is> in ge-
neral, limited to particular kinds : but the ra-^

- ' - - - —

port of a gun before their unfortunate connection with Euro*
peans, bad a new word to invent in order to exprefs it. They
called it iadaa, ^nd pronounqe'd the word in fo empkatick a
manner tkat it was fcarcely postible to mistake their OManing.
The ka is thtx>wn out with a firong palatial ftroke pt the tun^e,
in imitation of the found given by the ibroke of the flint againft
t^^ cover of the pan ^ and, with out-ftretch'd lips, a full mouth,
and prolonged found [like ourfelves] the Boo fends forth the
report. This language, at firfl, appears to be of fuch a naturs
as to niake it imposfible for an [a] European to acquire.**
(Travels in Southern Afrlea^ p. i6o, W^.) Tbefe obfervationi
are not leis ingenious and profound, than folid and impdrtant;
they, perhap, throw more light upon the fubje^^ than any
thing yet writcn. Prejudice and bigotry may fwaliow the
abfurdity of fpcech or language being the gift of god j with*
out haveing the fenfe to perceive that, in this cafe, all the hu«
man fpecies, throughout the world, would as infalltblely have
fpokeen one and the lame language as they utter articulate
founds, eat, drink, ileep, and perfprm the other ufual avoca*
tions of nature. It cannot be doubted, however, that the fub-
yt&. wil, one day, if not by himfelf, by fuch another mind and
genius ^ tho&of this perfpicacious traveler, be, with matters
of greater importance, fully el^icidateed, when tyranny and
fenaticifm (hal no longer unite to oppre(s, enflave, and, as
it were, ftultify, manj to ^May t^ir hand on the fpring
there is in fociety, and put a Hop to its motion.**

" When the firft mortals crawling rofe to birth,
Speechlefs and wretched, from their iQother-earth,
For caves and acorns, then the food of life,
With nails and fiib they held a bloodlefs flrife :

3St ei AtAN'; ORAP* Id

pacity of man has hardly any limitation* His
empire over the other animals which inhabit this

But foon improve'd, with clubs they bold«r fofight^
And various arms, which fad experience wroaght,
. Til words, to fix the wandering voice, were foumi^ •
And names imprefs'd a meaning upon found/''*^

•' Men,'* according to Vitnivius, " by eld custom, were
born, like wild beafls, in forells, caves and woods, and, wild
Ibod being eaten, they fpent their life. In a certain congreis
•f men [whom they had ibviteed together by figns to behold
afire which had been raife'd by accident and kept up by ikii]|,
when they would have uttefd, otherwife^ founds out of their
breath, by dayly custom* they made words, fuch as might
hap en to be allot ed to them by nature: afterward, by figni*
fying things more frequently in ufe, fortuitously, began to
ipeak : {q that they procreateed ianguagees amongft them*

felves."t

** If there were any language natural to man, all men would

fpeak it, or at lead they would have a great propeniity and
great dispofitions to fpeak it, [and] many foot-fieps of it
iifould remain among the different people of the world. Chil-
dren that were abandon'd and expofe'd or deaf would fpeak
this language j all which is contrary to experience. Let any
one leave a child without talking to it and it wil never fpeak
any language, either known or unknown. Meilablin Echebas,
king of Indostan, having appointed a certain child to ht
brought iip at a distance from the company of men, the ohild

Horace, Satires^ B. i, S. 3. (Francis.)
f OJ uvchit^cturcy B. 2, C, i.

CHAP. U OF UAH. 3}

globe is allmoil univerlal. Nte accordingly em-
ploys his power, and fubducs or devours every
fpecies. Of fome of the quadruped tribes, as
the horfe, the dog, the cat, he makes domeltick
Haves, and, though, in this country, none of thffe
fpecies is \\k*d for food, he either obligees them to
labour for him, or keeps them as fourcees of plea-
fure and amufement...The ox [which, as wel as

continue'd without ever fpeaking. There were two boys of
about nine yeart old, founi in i66r, amtdft a troop of bears
in Poland, one of which was takeen and great endeavours were
ule'd to teach 4itm to fpeak; but this could never be accom*
plifh'd : he (hould^ however, have fpoken the language which
was natural to man, there haveing beeaiio defe6t, as the phy«
iician reported, in 4)i8 tongue. We muft conclude, therefor^
that there is no national language peculiar to man. He has^
indeed^ certain founds, motions and natural figns to exprefs
his pasfions, his joy, pleafnre, grief and defires 3 but he has
no fpeech or articulate found, whereby to iignify his other
thoughts. The induction which fome pretend to draw from
other animals, who bave^ they fay, a kind of language among
them, is many ways falfe and defective. Animals have cer-
tsun crys and founds which are natural to them, whereby they
4leclare their joy, their appetite or pain : in Hke manner as
nan gives indications of his joy by laughing, and of his grief
by fighing J but this is very different from fpeech ... So that,
takeing the matter right, neither men lior animals have any
natural language.'**

Calmets Dictionary ofibe bibU^ u, £6«

34 OF MAN* CMAP* iJ'

the horfe, and the ram, he changees from its na-
tural condition by a barbarous and cruel opera**
tion], after receiveing the emoluments of his la^
bour and fertility, he rewards with death, and
then feeds upon his carcafe ! Many othefr fpecies,
though not commcmly ufe'd as food, aredayly
masfacre'd in millions for the purpofees of com^ .
xnerce, luxury, and caprice. Myriads of qua*-
drupcds are annually deftroyM for the fake of
their furs, their hides, their tulks, their odori-
ferous fecretions, &c. Ove|^the feathered tribes^
the dominion of man is not lefs [ufurpingly] esc-
tenfive. By his fagacity and addrefs he has beeii
enabled to domesticate turkeys, geefe, and the
various kinds of poultry. Thefe he mukiplys
without end, and devours at pleafure. [Others
h^ imprifons in cagees to afford him the melody
of their fong.] Neither do the inhabitants of
the waters efcape the rapacity of man...neithel-
air nor water can defend againft the ingenuity,
the art, and the deftructivc industry of the hu-\
man fpecies*.-In artificial potids, he feeds and
rears carp, tench, perch, trout, atid other fpecias^'*
and with them, occafionally, furnifhes his tabte '
[which even rivers and fqas are conflantly drained
to fupply]. Next to man the carnivoroui qua* ,
drupeds are the moft numerous and the moll de*.
ftructive. Different parts of the earth.jyre iu'*

^HAt. i: OF MAN, 3$

fefted with llona, tigers, p^thi^r^i o^cees^ jeo-
pards, Jag^ards,, couguars, lypx^i wild cat^^
chacalls, wolves, hya^oas, foxes^ polepi^ts, mar*
tins, ferrets, ermiaes, gluttons, bats, &c. Though
;iU thefe, and many other tribes of qujtdrupeds^
live folely uppn blood and carnage, jet ibme of
them^ as the tiger, tb^ wolf, the hyaena, an4
many other inferior fpecies are much more ra-
pacious and deilructive. Tbf Upn« fhpugh fu;*<^
rounded with prey, kils no more than hi: is abl^
to confume : buf the tiger is grofsly ferocious,
and cruel without necesdty. Thoiigh fatiateed
with carnage, he perpetually thirds for blood«
He facrificees whole flocks of domesdck animals,
and all the wild beads which come within the
reach of his terrible claws. His predominant
inftind is a peipetual rage, a bliqd and undis«
dnguiifaii^; ferocity, which ofteo impel him to
deyour his own young, and to tear their mother
in piecees, when flie attempts to defend tbeoi.
He tears the ix>dy for no oth^ purpofe than to
plunge his head into it, and to drink large
draughts of blood."*

SmtVXtaPlMifrplyrfnaturalbisiory/h SlSt^c. Though
this fanguinaiy and ferocious monger aiuft beadmlted within
the pale of nftare^ ii^it posfiUc t^ qonc^iy^ the necesfity of its
ff iftcj^cc ?

•

3^ OF MAN* CHAP. It

All th^ carnivorous and rapacious monfters
are apt and eager to devour a man u^henever he
comes within the reach. *' The wolf, whofe
tifual and natural food is every liveing creature,
\irhen his hunger is extreme, lofecs all idea of
fear, attacks women and children, and fometimes
men. Wolves are even fond of human *flefh.
They have been known to follow armys, to come
in troops to the field of battle, where bodys arc
carelefsly inter'd, to tear them up, and devour
them with an infatiable avidity ; and, when once
accustomed td human fledi, they ever after attack
men, prefer the Ihepberd to the flock, devour
women and carry oflF children.*'*

^^ All birds of prey exhibit an obduracy and a
ferociousne{s of dispofitioa, while the other kinds
|[upon which they prey] arc mild, cheerful, and
gentle, in their arpeft and manners/' f

** Every inhabitant of the waters depends for
Its existence upon rapine and deflruction. The
life of every fifli, from the fmalleft to the greateft,
is one continue^d fcene of hostility, violence and

• * Jbi. l 380.

f The flying fi(h which is provideed with wings, to enable
it to evade its marine perfecutors, the (bark and albicore,
upon its takeing to flight> is immedisitely asfaiPd and devoQr*4
i>j its aerial enemys, the pelican and albatrofs.

CHAP. 1.

O^ MAN*

cvafion. . . . Even the oyster, the fcallop, and the
muscle, lye in ambufh, with their (hels open,
and, when a fmall fifli comes in contad with
thetn^ inftantly clofe their..fhels upon it, and de-
vour at leifure their imprifon'd prey....Shoals of
one fpecies of fifli folio w^ with un weary 'd ardour,
tbofe of another, through vaft trafts of the
ocean. The cod purfues the whiteiiig from the
banks of Newfoundland to the fouthern coafts
of Spain.* Man is not the onely animal that
.makes war with his own fpecies. Quadrupeds^
birds, fiihes, infe£i:s, independently of their ap-
petite for food, occafionally fight and kil each
other/' f

" The noxious multiplication of fliel-fifhes,
which are extremely prolifick, is check'd by
number lefs enemys. The animals call'd trochi
fix themfelves upon an oyster or a muscle, bore
through the ijiel with their trunk, and devour
their prey at leifute. In this cruel occupation the
trotbus often continues for days, and even weeks,
before the life of the anii^al attadk'd is fully ex*
tinguifhM/'J A fufficient proof there is neither
benevolence nor intention in nature. ^

Every animal, man, beaft, fifli, fowl, appears
to be infefted by one or more fpecies of lice : not

'^m-

* III. 382.

t n't- 383. 1 1^' 39«-

5? or MAl^i CHAl^. U

fefs ikkA three being vMutvA atid peculiar to man.
H^ h hideed, oc^afionally^ fubjeft ta a difcafe
laird iKe mbrbks pedkult)fiis, in which he is de-
YturM by Bee t oF whkh there hare been many
mftaticees. — In mod if not atl hot countrys, man
is perpetually tormcMed by and the prey of di-»
tei's infeds, ilrhich render his exiftence miferable
firnd precarious } the mosqurtos, for inilance^
gnatS) chigers, ants^ and ntimberlefs others^
equally faaguinary^ poifonous, and malignant ;
without thei^ heiplefs prey being able to protect
h^felf either by night or day, bed or board :
their (Hngs&nd bites, m numerouls cafees, being
deadly, excruciateing and incurable j and de-
fign'd, by nature^ for the perpetual plague, tor-
ihent, mifcry and deftruction of tht image of god.
From worms^ likewife) no human being i$, pro-
teblely.^ exiempt^ either alive t>r dead ; ivhich in-
feft aezd prome fatal to half the chiMreti born,
fwecpiiig them off the ilage of life at an early
^sEDd immatuhe period, in a propertion beyond
that of any othei fpecies. The dog is the na«
Toral enemy to the cat, the cat to the rat and
moufe, the hound to iht bare, the pointer to the
jjartridge, the fox to the goofe, the ferret to the
tabbit> the fpider to the fly: the whole animal
creation being a fystem' for the exprefs purpofe
of preying upon each other, and for their mu-
tual mifery and deftruction.

(tBAP. I. OK MAK. 39

The number of animals, createed, origlnatecd,
and intended, for the folc proper ,ufe and be-
nefic of man, as he fpoUfhIy conceives, conQfl$»
in all probability, from the largeeft to the leaft,
from the huge elephaiitto the minuteeft obje(?t of
a microfcope, of many millions^ billions, trillions,
of which; peradventure, not one fmgle thoufand
becomes the prey of man, while many more ex*
erciie, by nature, upon thi? favoured being, the
lord of the creation, that right which he boaff$
to have receive'd from his god, and torment and
devour him, without ceremony.

For man to have a juft and perfpicuous idea
of .the bouzitys of liature, fae fhould \ifit hospi*
tals, and liot thurches. Of thefe bountys we
are fupply'd by the divine Milton with an ample
and fhocking catalogue, as exhibited to Adam
by the favourite archangel of the allmighty power,
foon after the creation ; to convince him of che
hapynefs provideed for himfelf and bis pofle^ty,
whicii was to replenilh the world.

— — — " Immediately a place

Before his eyes appeaf'd, fiid» noilbili, dark,
A lazar-houfe it fccm'd ', wherein were lay'dl
Numbers of all diseafe'd : all maladjs
Of ghaftty fpafm, or racking torture, qualms,
Of heart-lick agony, all feverous.kinds,
Convulfions, cpilepfys, fierce catarrhs^
Istestine ilone^ and ulcer, cholick paogi|

^40 OF MAK. CHA9. I*

Daemoniadc phrcnzy, mopeing melmclioly.
And mopn-ftruck madnefa, pineing atrophy.
Marasmus, and wide*wal!eing pedilenccj '
Dropfies and aftbmas, and joint-racking rheums."*

The onely mode in which man or brute can
be ufeful or hapy, with refpedl either to the ge-
nerality or to the individual, is to be juft, mild»
mercyful, benevolenti humane, or, at leaft^ in-
nocent or harmleTs^ whether fuch qualitys be na-
tural or not ; but if the prefent fystem of murder,
bloodfhed, cruelty, malignance, and mischief,
fhould continue, it woutd be better that fuch
diabolical monflers ihould ceafe to exiil :

** Let heaven ki(s e:anh f Now let not Natures hand

Keep the wild fliood confine'd ! Let order dye !

And let this world no longer be a ftage.

To feed contention in a lingering a£l ;

But let one fpiritof thefirft-bornCain

Reign in all bofoms, that« each heart being fet

On bloody actions^ the rude fcene may end.

And darknefs be the burycr of the dead.*' -

Shakfpeare, Second part of Henry IK

* Paradife hft, B. ii.

I 41 ]

CHAP. IL

AKIMAL FOOD NOT NATURAL TO MAN*

1 HE two mofl: |;eneral distinctions of the car-
nivorous tribes of quadrupeds are deduced, one
from the figure of the teeth, and the other from
the conformation of the intestines. The ani*
mals that fubfifl: on vegetables hate all of them
blunt teetb^ as the horfe, the ox, the fhtep, and
the hare ; but the teeth of animals naturally car*
nivorous are (harp, as thofe of the car, the dog^
the wolf and the fox. As to the intestiiies the
frugivorous have fome, fuch as the colon, which
are not to be found in the carnivorous. It feems,
therefor, that, the teeth and intestines of man
being like thofe of frugivorous animals, he (hould^
naturally, be range'd in this clafs. This question
is not onely cdnfirmM by anatomical obferva-
tions, but is greatly favoured by the monuments
of antiquity,*

^rm^-v^ >

* Rouflfeaa, DufirtaHon on ibi tniqualit^ of mankmdi
l^ote ^. The hypothecs of Buffon on this fubjea: is fatis-
factoryly confutccfd by doctor Sparrman, in his Voyage to the
c4if€ rfGood'bofo^ ii. aaf^ &c.

42 ANIMAL FOOD NOT NATURAL. CHAF. It*

Quadrupeds of the hog kind, like the rapa«
clous klnds^ are foUnd to have fhort intestines^
their hoofs, allfo, though cloveen to the fight,
wil, upoti anatomical infpection, appear to be
fupply'd with bones like beads of prey j and the
number of their teats, allfo, increafe the iimili-
tude: on the Other tvatid, in ^ natural (late,
they live upon vegetables, and feldom feek after
animal food, except when urgi^'d by necesfity*
Tbey offend no other animal of the ibreft;, at the

fame time thai they are furiiiih'd vtitb arms to
terrify t^ bravecft.*

From the tender n^fs of mans fkin^ and the
great carie that is required, for years together,
to rear him ; from the make of his jaws, tb^
ev^mefs of bis teetb^ the br^adtli of his Hails^
^nd the flig^tnefs of ^h^ k is not, iti Mandei-
villes opinion, that N^tufe fliould have defign^d
him for rapine.!

One proof, fays Rpuafeao, th^t the tafte of
meat is not natural to the hi^msm palate, is ih4
indifference which ciiildren have for that kind
of food, and the preference they giyc tp v^eta*
ble aliments, fuch as milk-meats^ pastry, fruit|

^^•■■■^M^PMMMMMMd(WMMf**«M«*»<

CMAf. tU AHIMAL FOOD NOT NATURAt. 4jf

l^c. * [which, ccrtsdnly, agree with them
better.] f

Lord Monboddo fays, •* though i think that
man has, from nature, the capacity of liveing,
either by prey, or upon the fruits ot the earthy
it appears to me, that, by nature, and in his ori«
ginal ftate, he is a frugivorous animal, and that
he only becomes an animal of prey by acquire'd
habit."

* Emilius, u 286. Brasfavolus reports^ of the younger
^daughter of Frederick^ king of Naples, that (he could not eat
any kind of flefh, nor fo mnch as taHe of it ; and, as oft as ihe
put any bit of it into her' mouth, (he was feizeM with a vehe-
ment fyncope, and falling to the earth, and rolling herfelf
thereupon, would lamentable! y (hriek out. This (he wbokl
continue to do for the fpace of half an hour, after (he was re*
turn*d to herfelf. .(Turners ITiJlory of remarkahh providences,
1697, io> part 2, c. 2, § 6.)

f Of males and females, chriften*d, within the general bit

ti mortality, from December 9, 1800, to December 1 5, 1801,

were in all - - - - - - ^7814

Whereof dye*d under two years of age - S39S

between two and five - 2063

' 7458

£q that near 7, ^00 of thefe tender infants perifh in the iirft

five years of their life \ moft likely in confequence of their be«

ing duf *d with flelh-meat, which is unnatural to them, and>

cannot be digeiled at fo early an age : this horrid practice gives

rife to a variety of fatal difeafees, which carry them off; nor

can fuch a numerous obituary be imputeed to any other caufe.

44 AKIMAL toOD NOT NATURAL. CHAP. tU

No argument in fed, can be lefs decifive, or
more fallacious, than that deduce'd from the ca*
. nine teeth of the human jaw. The kanguroo,
an animal of the gerboa kind, has canine teethj
and yet its oncly food, at leaft the onely food it
is known to eat, is grafs.* There was once an
ape in the French kings cabinet Vfith twenty-
eight teeth, of which four wer^ what we call ca-
nine, refembleing thofe of the human fpecies.
Neverthelefs, thefe apes feed entirely upon fruit ;
cur canine teeth^ therefor, are no proof that man
is naturally carnivorous.

The ourang-outang, or pongo, defcribe'd by
Battel, which refembles man more nearly, and
is furni(h*d with a much greater fhare of fagacity,
and appearance of reafon, than any other animal
but man, never meddles with animal flefli, but
lives on nuts and other wild fruits. | Neither
are baboons, which bear fome, though lefs, re-
semblance, to the human fpecies, at all carni-
vorous ; they principally feed upon fruits, roots.

T-

Goldfmiths History of the earth, iv. 351.

«(• Rousfeau, On the inequality of mankind, note 10. ' The
animal of this kind Ji8fc6lcd by doctor Tyfon, had two denfes
faninif as in a man. *' The teeth/' he fays, " of the cynoce^
fbali {baboons] are like a d'^gs ; thofe of our pygmic exa6ily
refembled a mans. It had, alfo, intestines like thofe of «
man." (Sec his Anatomj^ &c. p. 65, 7.)

chap; 111 ANIMAl FOOD KOT NATURAL. 45

and com.* This is true of all the ape or
monkey genus^ except man. f

That animal food is eaten, niastkSli;leed^ and
digefted by, and ferves for the nourifhtntttt of

the human fpecies, proves nothing at all.
Horfees^ (heep, and oxen, are univerfally allow'd
Co be herbivorous animals % and yet there are in*
fiancees of their gradually quiting their ufual
aliment, and learning to live ^upon fleOi. | A

* GoYdfmith, W. 201, 2x4.

f Sparnnans yiyage, ii. 2Zj ; and fee ^ore, in chap. i.
i The Gauls fed their oxen and hortees with fi(h ; and {o
did the Paeonians, mentioned by f/erodotui. Diomedes, kin$
of Thrace, kiPd by Hercules, fed hb mares with the fle(b of
niifer2|]}le Grangers, cot in piecees for the purpofe, which
made them fo fierce and unmanageable that they were oblige'd
to be kept in flails of brafs, and tyeM up in iron chains (Dip*
dorus, B. 4, c. I.) African horfees frequently eat their owa
4vmgi and numbers have beendeftroy*d in confequence o)F
t&eing into their flomach vaft quantityi of flinty fand (Bar-
rowi Tranfils, p. 103). Doctor Tyfons fygmh would cat
any thing it faw men eating; though its natural food mufi:
liave been fruits and the like. In the manor of Northland in
*^ Norway, the people mix cods beads and fiih-bones among the
provender, which the cows ea# With a good relifh } nay, the
Norwegian cows wil greedyly cat fleih, and gnaw the bones
with their teeth, like dogs and other carnivorous animals.
The peafants fometimes regale them with pickle'd her«
rings. (Smollelts Preftnt Jiate of all nations, i, 78.) In
fome parts of Arabia, allfo^ catde are fed with fiih. (Oving-

4^ JUIIMAI^ Wb0J> NOT I^ATVI^Ak* CHAP. If*

young wood-pigi^an, eveui « fpccies of bird^
which is univerfally know^ to feed upon any
thing rather than fleQi, has, by dint of hunger,
been brought to relllh fiefli fo as to refuf«

' *

tons Foyagt io Sjtrat^ p. 425.) « That nourifhment," fiyi
Goldfinith, " which is preparccd by the hand of man, chofea
not to tfac appetites of domestick animals, but to fui t his own con-
▼enience^ produces a number of distinctions, that are not to be
found among the favage arilmals. Thefe, at firfl, were but
accidental, but, in time, became hereditary 5 and a new race
of artificial' moaHers are propagated, rather to anfwer the pur*
pofe of human pleafure, than their owif convenience. In
(hort, their very appetites may be changed, and ^hofe that feed,
only upon gr^(s, may be rendered carnivorouff. I have feen
^ dieep," he ads, ^* that would eat fleib, and * a' horfe that was
fond of oyftcrs.'* fHifioty tf the earthy 21, 3^7.) In the
OtacU for January 6, 1790, is an account of a horfe dcTourr
ing a iheep. The latter animal, when confbrain'd by hunger^
wil certainly eat fle(h, or aj^y thing it can. get. *^ A gentle^
m^n living about Ballancah^ in the countie of Cayan [in Ire-
land], took great pains to fave his iheep [in a great fall o|
fnow, 1635], yet misfed /eleven of them. Some dayes after,
being come forth to covcie* bis man faw from a fjirre off, upon
» htll, in a hollow place of a cock, fomething alive and
Hirri^.o' and* comming fotm they found it was the loft iheep;
the which had iheer eaten away all the wool from, one anothers
back..»and, which is moit wonderful!, one of them being dead»
the reft did eat her flcdi, leaving nothing but the bare bones*'*
Boates Neural bifiory^ p. 174,) See allfo Hearn<^ Journey
mU0 ihe v^rtban ocsan^ p* ^44.) Dogs^ on the CQntr^^

CHAF. II. ANIMAL FOOD NOT NATURAL* 47

every other kind of fustenance^ even grain^ of
which it is naturally fo fond.* .

** You afk of me/' fays Plutarch, writeing to
one of his friends, '^ for what reafoa it was that
Pythagoras abflain'd from eating flefh : i for my
part do much admire in what humour, with what
foulj or reafon, the firft: man

'^iouch'^d Jlaughi^ nuitb bis mouib, *

AndreaaVdto V lifs tbtfi^ of a dead amtndie :

and haying fet people courfecsof ghaftly corpfees
and ghofts, could give thofe p^rts the names of
meat and victuals, that but a little before low'd^

cry'd, move'd land faw ; how his fight could en-
dure the blood of flaughter*d, flay'd and man-*
gle'd bodys ; how his fmel could bear their fcent^
and how the very nastyncfs hapen*d not to offend
the tafte, while it chew'd the fores of others, and
participatecd of the faps and juicees of deadly
Wounds . L .That it is not natural to mankind to
feed on flefli, we firft oT all demonftjrate from

ituppofe'd to be naturally a carnivorous apimal, may. be fup-
ported cntirdy by re^etabie food. (Sec Sparrmans t^oyagi^
ii, 230. ) . '

* SpaUanzani> Dbiertation iy. Such ckang^ea, be obfermBi,
wil not excite the fmalleft degre&of furprize in thoi'e who ioo^r
tbat> of the various kinds of food, ufc'd by man and aniingb,
the gelatinous part fupplys the Dutriment^ aad that this exi^
alike in vegetable^ aod animals*

'4$ AXIMAL FOOD KOT NATtJRAL. CHAF. !!•

the very ihape and figure of the body : for a
human body no way refembles thoie that are
born for rapine : it hath no hawk-bil ; no fharp
talon ; no roughnefs of teeth ; no fuch ftrength
of ftomach, or heat of digestion, as can be fuf-
ficient to convert or alter fuch heavy and flefliy
fare : but even from this, that is, the fmoothnefs
oflthe tongue, and the flowncfs of the ftomach to
digefl:, nature feems to disclaim all pretence to
flefhy victuals : but, if you wil contend that you
yourfelf was bom to an inclination to fuch food
as you have now a mind to eat *, do you, then,
yourfelf, kil what you would eat : but do it your
own felf, without the help of a cleaver, mallet
or ax ; as wolves, bears, and lions do, who kil
and eat at once. Rend an ox with thy teeth ;
^orry a hog with thy mouth ; tear a Iamb in
piecees ; and fall on and eat it alive as they do :
but, if thou had'ft rather ftay until what thou
eateft is become dead, dud art loth to force a
foul out of its body, why, then,do'ft thou,againft
nature, eat an animate thing ? Nay, there is no
pne ^hat is wiling tq eat even a ]ifelefs a»d a
dead thing as it is, but they boil it, and roaft it,
and alter it by fire and medicines, that the palate,
being thereby deceive'd, may admit of fuch un-
couth fare.*'*

Ofeatmgfiejh^ traft i,

(

• - «* OAe pro6f, that the tafte of mfeat is hot batu-
tal to the human palate, is the indifference which
tchilderen have fdf that kind of food, and the pr6*
Icrencc they give to Vegetable aliirients, fuch as
inilk-meats^ paftry, fruit, &c. It is of the ut-
tdoft confeq^ence not to vitiate this primitive
tadeinchildereii to nfiakethemcarnivorous. Wert
tven their health nottondi^rnM, it would be cx-
pedient, on account 6f thehr di$p6ntibh-ind cha*
Tftcter % forit is fnffidently clear from ekpetience^
that thofe people who are great eatersof meat, are,
iti general^ more ferocious and crud than other
men. This obfervation h6ld« good of all times
md all placees : the £hglei(h barbarity is wel
known,- whereas the Gaures [who abfltain from
flelh] are, on the contrary, the meekeft creatures
in the world. All iavagees are cruel ; and, as
their manners do not tend to ctuelty, it is plaui
it muft arifc from their aliments."*

" I have fometinlefe,*' fey s doctor Cheyne, *^ in-
^ulge'd a conjecture, that animal food, in the
original frame of bur nature, * was* not intended
for htimail creatures* They feem to me neither
to have thefe fttong and fit organs for digefting
it (at leaft, fuch as birds and beads of prey have

* that* live dn fleft) -, nor, naturally to have

iti^

«*■!»■

jt|^)/e fliabdficat pia$fia|9^, which ^0^4^ «'4feyty iMiKr
]%r t^^ IP ^ar a»d ddlTO]r tb^ feH(>w-frftr
Hare? > at Jes^, not i^ tlvs ftrft 9^ wriy tf€c|/*f

|»ft,,hB»i»R«a»df««K»gpfcyfti3^ ♦^ wbomAejr

?5^»ft JfSgWi<8 » «Pfiky kwfti and ? great i€gr<»
^ i^rjoiiHy ^d ftcocicy . I eauaot 6n4^'' ke ad»^
r ^jf 8^^ cti^&reitc^y o«t the iboc of fialurU
reafo^ aii4 t^juity pnely, bftveea feeding M h»
l^^a gefk, ^n4 fcedkig on bi^Qte animal fleib^
fxcept cii^iom aad exaiapk* 1 believe fon^
liatioaal crt'sfi^jft^ wo^ld fuffet lefs in beiog fairly
^usphfrd than a firong pf , or red deer ; aail^
in natural mora>uy aj»l |u^6» the degtcea of
p^|n ttore vB^t the esfenti^ difkrence-'^f

'»'' . ' . ' Ml .. I I II

^ Esifay cn health ff.c^i. He cnuft refer to »^fite ^ vt^
t\ire, as no beaft of prej U fo vrantonijr and malignan^tly cruel
as maih m (betetj, whether €hriftian or Mahometan y and
^t he hat aehber the teeth nor fattgs of a ttger, nor the beali
or ck^t^^ a Tultvre,

t E!f(f^^an,regliMnffi. 'io, Otsr muportal Sbabfpeaffr Wat

of the fame opinion :

— -^. ^jijj jjjg p^Qj. [jg^jg |rjj^| ^g tread upon

lo corpon^tfiiffaraope findi^ apaof^asgreat

As when a giant dyes *^ Meafurefor Meajwfi^

« M»

<f»A?, tU ANSM^E F0ai> NOf NATURAL $1

: ** Among other Armd^tA and disgufting
imagaes^ w^ich ciisftocn ^a^^feader^d famHiar, are
tkafe which arife horn enting ankial food ; he
who. has ever : turn'd with abhorrence from the
fteleto^ of a beait, whiah has been pick'd whole
by- birds or vermin, rauft cpnfefs that habit onely
Qould have enable'd bint to endure the fight of
the p^ogle'd bone^ and, H^fh of a dead carcafe,
ifrbich every day cover his . table : and he who
reflets on the number of lives that have been
fecrifice'd to fustain his own, (hould enquire by
^at the account has been balance'd, and whe-
t^r hig life is' become proportionablely of more
value by the exercife of virtue and piety, by the
fuperior hapynefs which he has communicateed
to reafonable beings, and by the glory which hi«;
intelled has afcribe'd to god,"*

, ^' The Indian philofophers called Brachmans/*
according to old doctor Moffet, *^ did never, a
great while after the flood, taft^#of any fcufible
creature : and though Nimrod, the great hunter,
flew many beafts, yet flefli was even th&n un-
tafleed of the Babyloniaxis, and many hundred
years after,, fay'th Herodotus : and veryly til gpd
would have it (o, who dare'd to touch with his .
lips the remnant of a dead carcafe ? or to-fet the

«•>

• * Note, by doctor Hawkcswortb, in his cdiUon^^rtE. Shrifts
'tif^rls* (Gjilli vers travels, -p. ^4..) ,>

52 ANIMAL FOOD NOT NATURAL? CHAP, Jti

prey of a ivolf, or the tneat of a felcon, upon hi$
table ? Who, i fay, durft feed upon thofe mem-
bers which lately did fee, go, bleat, low, feel,
andniove? Nay, tel me, can civil' and human
eyes yet abide the flaughter of an innocent beaft,
the cuting of his throat, the mauling him on the'
head, the flaying off his ikin, the quartering and
dismembering of his joints, the fprinklcing of his
blood, the riping up of his veins, the endureing'
of il favours, the hearing of heavy fighs, fobs,
and groans, the paslionate ftruggleing and pant-
ing for life, which only hard-hearted butchert
can endure to fee ? Is not the earth fufficient tQ
give us meat, but that we mufl: alfo rerid up the
bowels of beads, birds, and fiflies ? Yes, truely^
there is enough in the earth to give us meat ; yea,
very ly, and choice of meats, needing either none,
or no great preparation, which we may take
without fear, and cut down without trembleing,
which alfo we may mingle a hundred ways to
delight our tafte, and feed on fafely to fill our
bcllys.'**

The very fight of animal food is unnatural
and disgu^ing ; even the moft luxurious viands,
piace*d before the moft elegant asfemblage,
abounding with youth and beauty, remind the

itnpr^vemcntf 17^46, p. 100. The authour Ayt^A
in 1^4.

r .

CHAP. II. AKIMAL FOOD NOT KATURAL. 53

philofopher, or reflective individual, of a carrion
carcafe by the road fide devour*d by vultures, or
ravens ; or of a human body at a feaft of can<*
nibals. ** At Zwartkops river,'* fajs Sparrman,
** where we were now arrivc'd, and intended to
pafs the night, we found two farmers had got
in before us, who were come thither in order to
get fait and hunt. Indeed, they had ailready (hot
feverai heads of game, which they had hung up
in large (lips and (bred s on thebufiies, waggons
and fcncces, in order to dry it in the lun . . From
this flefli there was diffufe'd round about the
fpot, not only a crude and rank fmel, but, like-
wife, a putrid ftench, frptn fuch parts of it as
had arrive'd at the ftate of putrefaction ; and the
farmers wives and >childeren, together with the
Hottentots who had accompanyM them, were
employ'd, jTome in feafting upon it, others in
fleeping, and others again in fcareing away a great
number of birds of prey, which hover'd round
about them, and over tbeir hcad«, in order to
ileal away the fleib. This horrid fpe^tacle, of
fo many carnivorous human creatures, a^aken'd
in me a lively rememberance of th^:' cannibals in
New- Zealand,, and had very nearly t^keen away
our appetites for a meat fupper, fo that werefolve'd
to bear with gur hunger that night as wel as wc

54 ANIMAL FOOD NO^T NATURAL. «HAP. ITS

could.''* This, fibhy as it was, cptild not be
more fo than the festive entertain izi^ms of our
nobilky and great epicures, wliere, if you admiro
tastey eating, you have the high-flavour'd hogo of
(linking venifon, and the exquifite ftench of rot •
jBU and maggoty cheefe ; the elegant aadaccomr
plifli'd guefts wafbing, at the clofc, of their fa-
voury. repaft, their dirty inaw3, in pure water,
which, rendered fufficiently foul and filthy, they
fpurt back into blue or piirple clouded reeep-*
tacles, in order to conceal their nastynefs;
which outdoes, i^ delic^y, ^H yahoos of the
Houyhahms^

** See matter next, with various life cndue'4t
Prcfs to one cenire flil the general good.
See dyeing vegetables life fuetain^
See life disfolveing vegetate s^ain :
All forms that periih other formf fupply
(By turns we catch the vital breath and dye) •
Like bubbles on the f«a of matter born.
They rife, they breakf and to that fea return.
Nothing is foreign : parts relate to whole 5 ^

One all -extending, all-prefcrveing foul
Connefts each -being, grealcft with the leaft j
Made bead in aid of man^ and man of beaftj
' All ferve'd, all ferveing 1 nothing ftands alone.
The chain holds on, arid where it ends unknown.

■■'t'

•^

" * Foya^e io tie capi of Good-hofe, ii, 1 a.

eflTAn iu. MmnxML fodo not it atur^ih^ 55

<< Has god^ thou fool 1 workj| folely for thy good^
Thy joy, thy- pastims, th^ratcire, thy f#6d ?^
Who for thy taMe feedii thb wafiton fcwiav
For him ^ kimNy ^i«9d the fhMr'rf lawn.
^ Bit for thee the lark afcends and. fings? ^

Joy tunes his voice, joy «levates his wings;
Is it far thee th^ linnet poors* his throift I
Loves of his own and raptures fwel the note:
The bounding fieed, you pompously bedride.
Shares with his lord the pieafure and the pride :
Is thine alone the (eed that fhrews the plain }
The birds of heaven thai vindicate their grain :
Thine the ful barveft of the golden year ?
Part pays^ and juftly> the deferveing fleer :
The hog> that plows not nor obeys thy call,
Lives on the labours of this lord of all.

*' Know, Natures children all divide her care ;
The fur that warms a monarch, warm*d a bear.
While man exclaims, ^< See all things for my ufeV*
^* See man €ot mine \** replys a pamper'd goofe j
And juil as (horl of reafon he moft fall.
Who thinks all made for one, not one for all.

** Nortlunkiin Natuhes stats they blindly trod 5
The fete of nature was the reign of god :
Self-love and focial at her birth began*
Union the bond of all things, and of man.
Pride then was not i nor arts, that pride to aid;
Man walk'd with b^^ft, joint tenant of the ihade |
The fame his table, and the fame his bed ;
No murder dothe'd him, and no murder fed ... •
Ah ! how unlike the man of times to come I
Of half that live the butcher and the tomb 5
Who, foe to nature, hears the general groap.
Murders their fpecics, and betrays his own«

$6 ANIMAL ?00D NOT NATU&At. CHAf« lU

But juft di^eafa to luxi]|||r fucceedsy
And ever/ death its own avengeer breeds ;«
The fury-pasfions from that blopd began.
And turn*d on man a fiecceer fayage, man.*' *

* Popes J^fay on man, <P^• uij y. 1 1^ isf^p

I 57 ]

CHAP. in.

ANIMAL FOOD NOT KBCESSART FOR THB
PURPOSE OF STRENGTH OR COJUPULENCT.

J\mqng the many pretcncees to which men
are driveen to defend or palliate a practice at
y?hich human nature, when divcfted of the ha-
bits and prejudicees of fociety, would not fail
to revolt, it is not one of the Icaft trite and
hapkney'd, fhat, tq fuch as are compel'd or ac-
cystom'd to a latiorious or active life, animal
food is abfolutely necesfary, without which they
would be alltpofti if not alltogetl^er, unable to
discharge the dutys require 'd in their rcfpectivc
ftations. Tl^is, however, like the reft, is a
mere naked asfertionj for which, at leaft, the
on<rly argument that can be adduce'd is that men.
ufe'd to hard labour, or uncommon exertions,
require a greater proportion of food, and that,
pcrhap, of a more nutritive or fubftantial nature^!

5$ ANXMiLL FOOD ITOT KCCSSSAKT; CHAF. Ill*

than thofe who are not: which, though an indis-
putable fad, wil^ by no means^ prove what it is
brought to do.^

Evidence of a latisfactory and convinceing
nature has been allready adduce'd that, in what
ar^ caU*d the early a gees of mankind, the tiib
of aninnal fod4 was totally imknown ; and that^
in fome coyntrys, it remains fo to this day:
whence they are univerfally fuppofe^d to have
been, at that period, a more ftout, healthy, ro-
buft and active race, than has ever exiftcd fince

ahimal food was adopted,

• Ghittony, luxury, and prejudice, no doubt,
are not to be reafon'd with. It may; however,
be dcmonftratced, that a vegetable diet is, fb
fir from being Icfs, even much more, fiivorable
and conducive to ftrength and vigour than ani-
mal food. It is wel Icnown to be not the
quantity of any thing takceq into the ftomich,
but the degree of nutriment derive*d from it,
the quantity of chyle takeen up by the laiStcals,,
and thence transmited into the fystem^ to which
the body is indebted for ftrength and vigour.

r '

That fpccics of food, therefor, of which 2t givcen
quantity produce es the greateft proportion of
chyle, muft, ofcourfc, be the moft nutritious
and invigoratcing: and this appears to bo the

cafe with good wbeatsnrbread ; which t$ fo juftlf
term'd the ftaf oflife, as being fufficient for all
its purpofees. *^ Some," fays doctor Chcync,
^^ haTC affirmed, that nothing but folid food can
nouriih^ and that broths j ibups> mitk, and fucb
^ueous food, weaken, wafte and liquefy, the
conftitution ^nd habit : but thefc arc poor philo-
fophers; for, in truth and realty, no food can
nouriih, i. /. increafe the quantity of flefh an4
bloodi [and] ftipply the wafte of action and
livcing, and the nccesfary fecretions, but what
is liquid and extremely thin, and wbey wil
nouriffi more quickly than hef, though not fo
durerablely, as is known to every one who under*
ftands the animal ceconomy* Let one fwaHow
down what he wil, that part of it which
nourifb'd muft be thiner and more fluid than the
whey of aflcs milk s nay, posfiblely, as thin as
vapour, elfc it can never enter the lacteals (the*
onely pasfagees by which nourifhment or new
chyle can get into the blood), or, at leaft, pafs
through fome of the extremely minute canals,
much lefs than a hair : the reft oncly fcratches
[or tickks] the palate, and the organs of fenfe,
f nd poifons the world afterward."*

« < " ••tM

* Meiiod rf cure, p. a 3$.

6o AHIMAL FOOD NOT NECESSARY* CHAP. III.

Digestion is explained by doctor Arbuthnot
to be a fermencation begun, becaufe, he fays,
there arc all the reqaifijcs of luch a fermeiica-i
tion, becaufe that requires a greater time than
the continuance .of the aliment in the llomach.
Vegetable putrefaction, for the reafons he gives,
refembles very much animal digestion. By
mastication, faliva, the attrition of the iblid
parts, or inward coats, of the ftomach, the gall
or bile, the pancreatick juice, and the action of
a dirfolvcnt liquor, asfifted with heat, the ali-
ment is converted into a fort of chyle (a refem-
yance of milk or whey), and, pafsing through
the iDefcn^ery, is receive'd into the veins, by
ipeans of the thoracick du6tand the lacteals, be-
9omes finally blood, ^s the nutriment, there-
for, of the body depends entirely on the quantity
of chyle, animals^ which take a largeer portion
of aliment by the mojth, may be lefs nounfti'4
t)ian thofc which take a fmaller: for, according
to the force of the chylopoetick organs, a largeer
or lefs quantity of chyle may be octra^cd from
tjie fame quantity of food * There is, of courfc,
po csfential diffcrcpce in the quality of chyjc,

- ■> ' ■■■■■- - ^ — . — ^ — ^

* Esfay concerning aliments, p. i, 4, S, 19, ^c See, allfb,
doctor Cheynes 'Natvjral method of curing diseafesy p. 22. ^^.

CHAP»tIl. AKIMAL FOOD If OT.NEC£t56A&T; 6i

whether produce'd by the digestion of atiimal
fubftancees, or by that of vegetables, though
diercimaybe much in the quandty.^ All ani-
mals, rin ^dly are madet immediately or: me^
diateiy, jof vegetables, or of animals that are
&d OIL vegetables ; and vegetables, therefor^ are
proper enough to impair animals, as being nearly
of the &me ipecifick gravity with animal fub-
flanceSs, fpirit^ watery fak, oil, earth, f Animal
fiibftancees, doctor Arbuthnot obfcrves, are.morc
nouri(hing, and more eafeyly transmutable into
animal juicees, than .vegetable ; and, therefor, he
&ys, a vegetable diet is more proper for fomc
conftitutions, as being lefs nouriihing; though he
allows f6me vegetables, as carrots and turnips,
are fattening to animals which live onely on ve-
getabks: and, elfcwhere remarks, there may

• Afiimalfubfianceis differ from vegetables in two tbtngsi
firft» in that being reduce'd to afhes, they are perfe£tly in-
iipid: all animal falts, being volatile, flying ofif with great
heat : fecondly, in that there is no fincere acid in any animal
juice, (P. 64). Animal fut5flancees, therefor, arc>aU alka"
Icscent ; of vegetable fubftancecs, foine are acid, other alka-
ktcent, (P. 105).

t ii>h p. 4^* '

Be a ftrongcT Em>eh xnadt of^ vtg^uyes thai! aiiji^
gravy^foup,*

. Ia the memoirs of the rojral acadeitiir £br due
)Fear t'f^Oy M. GeoffrQy has glire,ea. a mcAai
hr d^t^fmiticlng the propotrnti of irotmllmient^
w trtie masser of the R^fk and bfebd^ conitttffd
in any fbrt of food. H^ cook a pound of xneafi
that had been free'd from the fstt>. boibes ami
cartilagees^ and boilM it for a dctcrmtite^d timty
b a clofe vesfcl> with three pirrts of wafer ^ thfttt,;
pouring off the liqtior, ho aded th^ fa^nr^e quaiKi^
of water, boiling it again for. the fadiejirnej.aftd:
this operation he repeated fix federal: tin>cs> ic$^
tkit the laft Hquor appeared, both m foiel, trial
3pd taftc, to be little diflferent from eoamioft
water* Then, putteg aU the liquor together^
2^ fihrat^ing, to Icpar^ the too grofs partidcsy^
he evaporateed it over a flow fire, til it was
brought to an extras of a pretty moderate con-^
fisience. This eirperiment wa& made upol^ ft-*
veral forts of food, the refiik of which is con-^
^ia'd in the following table :

* /^i, p. i8i, i8o- '

muAf. in. AmvLAt mod *<yr tmci^kkr. i^

• '*

««.

4r,

4»

•-

•5

^fe

•3.

••• *

12
8i

.*.

^* 4w

VI -

t +

A poynd pf beef • .

veal . .
mutton
lamb .
* chicken
pigBoa
pheafant;
partridge
calvcs-iect
carp
whey ,
bread • .

According to this table» the proportioiv of

nouriflimcnt contain d in thefe food^ wi) bf; «»

follows^: .

beef . .

veal . .

imotton •
. kiinb • *,

chicken •

pigeon .

pheafknt .

partridge

Calves-feet

carp • •

whey . .

bread • .

So that common houfehold bread has nearlv
fferec times the nutritive quantity of food abpvc
iriy other fpecies.

9
It

10
8

33-*

* " ' V V

•*' Doctor Ch^na Naturat meibo^§/^cuting distaff f p. Jif

j64 AkiMAL FOOD NOT NBCESSAHY. .tHAP.irjfi

The reflections of M. De Saint-Pierre, fc-
(peering the ufc of brcadi bctoilie of fuch abfo-^
lute neccsfiiy over all Europe, may be here fub-
join'd: ^* Who would believe/' he fays, " that
it is an aliment of luxury i Of alf thofe which
are fcrve'd up on the table of ftian, though it be
the mod comrtioh, and even when markets are

at the lowcft, there is none which cofts fo dear.
The grain of which it is made, is of all vege-*
table productions, that which demands mod cul-
ture, machinery and hatidleing. Before it is caft
intd the ground, there mull be ploughs to til the
giDund, harrows to break the clods, dUnghils to
manure it. When it begins to gtow, it muft be
weeded ; when Come to maturity, the fickle muft
be employed to cut it down i flails, fanners, bagS|
barns, to thrafh it out, to winnow it, and t6
ftore it up ; mils to reduce it to flour, to bolt it^
and to fift it 5 bake-Tioufees^ where it muft b(t
kneaded, Icaven'd, bake'd, and converted mtd
bread, Veryly man never couM have exifted on
the earth, had he been under the necesfity ot
deriveing his firft nutriment from the corn- plant*
It is no where found indigenous. Nay, its grain,
from the form and fize, appears much b^ttec
^daj^ted to the beak of granivorous birds than to
the mouth of man. Not fo much as the twentycth
part of mankind eats bread. - AUinoft aU the

fTHAP. in; XNIMAL FOOD NOT MICESSARY. 6^

people of Afia five on rice, more prolific^ than
fKt corn-plant, and which needs no other pre-
pai^tiofi But to be ftrip'd of its pellide, and
boil'd; AMca* lives on millet; Articrica oh tna:-
tfioc, pome's/ and dthfer roots. Even theft fiib-
fiancees Wfe not the pHmitive alifrient of mani
iNattrre prefcnted nb him at fii^ft his food aflready
drefs'd, in the fruits of trees ; fhc pface'd, priri-'
cipally/ fot d\is purpofc, between; tfte tropicks,
tlie banana arid the bread-fruit j in the tempe-'
fate zciiies/ th'e ever-green oak, arid cfpecially
the chcftntit-tree ; and, pcrhap, in the frigid
loni, the ^iiie, whofe kernels are eatable : but,
without quiring our own climates, the cheftnut-
t^ec fecms' t6 merit the particu&r JattentiontN^
our cultivatours. It producees, without giveing^
any further trouble, a great ded more fubftan-
tial fruit than a field of corn cX the fame extent
fiTs its branches j it affords, bcfide, in its incor-
ruptible timber, for carpenters work, the meani*
Of building durable habitations. **♦

Whether it be posfible for man, By ahy mean,'
eifhef of tempferance, medicine, or morality, to
fubfift without any, of, at feaft, wiA a coriipa-
riativcly infignificant quantity of food, fcems iiri-

^ m ti

* StilU&es (^nature (EngUIih'veVfioh), it!, 6j3«

66 ANIMAL POOD NOT NECESSAKt* CHJlL^. HU

certain j for, though .the famous elixir vita$ of
the alchcmitis, (which, by fupplying the fuc-
cesfive wafte of the matte r|aod fpirit of the ho-
iDan body, was calculatced u> render it per-*
petual^) fo long fought> has not yet been dis^:
cover'd, it is not at all imposdblc, that, in ^
more enlighteo'd age, and by the advancement
of fcicncc, or fomc fortunate experiment, this
invaluable medicine may be one day hit upon»
though nor, it may be, within a very fpcedy
period; it (hould be recollefled,. at the fam^
time,- that there are feveral inftancees, recorded
by veracious writeers, of perlbns who have fus^
tain'd exceedingly long faib. Not to mentioa
Sigieon Stiiitcs, who fubfifted forty days, at a
time, without food, in as much as his appetite is
generally fuppofe'd, at leaft by the pious be-,
lievecr, to have been duely tempcrkl by divine
miracle, we are not at a lo£, however, for morc^
recent and authentick examples.

In the thirty-firll of Edward the third (1354),
* there is a pardon of ^ execution of judgement
granted to one Cicely de Rygew^y, though in-
di£ked aad condemned for kiling her husband,
for that (he had fefted for forty days tog*b-
THER, in arctd prifond, without meat or drink.*

Plots Natural history of StaJjfor4fifir^, 2^1^

€HAF.€II. AKIMAL FOOD XOT NECESSARY. 6f

John Scot, a Scotilh man, being caft ip a fuit
of law, and knowing himfelf infolvcnt, took
fanctuary in the abbey of Holy roodhoufc, where,
out of a deep discontent, he abftain'd from all
meat and drink thirty or forty days together.
Publick rumour bringing this abroad, the king
himfelf refolve'd to have it put to trial : where*
upon he was (hut up, in a private room in the
castle 6f Edinburgh, whereunto no man had
accefs, and had a little bread and water iet by
him, which he was found not- to have tafteed in
thirty- two days. This proof of his abftinence
being giveen, he was fet at liberty, and went to
Rome, where he gave the like proof of it to
pope Clement the fcvcnth -, at Venice ; and, in
his return, at London ; where, inveighing againft
Henry the eighth, for his divorccing quicn Ca-
tharine, and his defection from the fee of Rome,
he was thruft into prifon, where he continue'd,
allfo, falling for fifty days together.*

** Neither of thcfe, however," fays Plot,
^ much exceeds the perpetual faft (as one may
call it) of one Mary Vaughton of Wigginton in
this county, who, from her cradle, live'd with
fo fmall a quantity both of meats and drinks^

* m, a86.

I .

6.8 AiriMAL FOOD NOT NECESSARY, CHAF. III^

that all people admrre'd how nature was thus fus-
tain'd without any fenfibte expanfion; (he nor
citing in a day a piece abo^ the fize of half 2^
crown in bread and butter; or if meat, not above
the quantity ofa pigeons leg at moft. She dranflc
neither wine, ale, nor beer ; but oncly water, or
mitk, or* both mix'd : and of either of thefc
fcajJce a fpoon&l in % day j. and yet flie was Zt
ibaiden of a fmih eomplexiQa, and* healthy
enough : bef|de, as was very wcl known, ta
many joeorthy perfons with whom fbc had Kve'd*
that aoy greater qiiantitys, or different liquors,
had allways made her fick/^*

In? the year 1 6031^ was pubHfti'd, by the. king^-
fpecial privilege, at London, by James Roberts^
'^. A true andadmirabk historic of a maydem
of Ccaafolens, in the province of Pokticrp, that^
fpr the fpacc of three years and more, hath lived,
and yet doth [live], without receiving cither
meat or drinke :- of whom his majesty, in per-
fOT, hath had* the view, gnd (by his command),
bis beft and and chicfidl] phifitians have tryed all
means to find whenh^r this faft or abftincncc be*
by deccipt or no. In this history is, alfo, dis*
courfed, whether a man can liv^ many dayes.

IMMMM
/

* JMyi^j.

m^AT. III. ANIMAL rOOD WOT NECESSART. 69

CiOBthes, or yearcs, without rcccmqg any fus-
tcnancc!'*

Katharine M*Lcod, daughter to Donald
M*Lcod, farmer, in Oaig^ in the parifli of
Kincardine, Rofsfliirc, an un marry 'd woman,
agc'd, in 1769, about thirty-five yearsii fix-
teen years before contra6ted a fever, after which
fhe became blind. She, afterward contraded an-
other lingering fever, of which fhe never reco-
ver'd perfedlly. Sometime, after this fever, her
jaws fcl, her eyelids clofc'd, ^nd ihe l^ft her ip-
pctite. Her parents declare*d that, for the
ipace of a year and three-quarters^ they eould
not fay that any meat or liquid went do\»n her
throat, bccaufc ihe had no evacuation 3 and
when they force'd open her jaws at one time,
^ad fomething down hec throat, fhe cough'd
and ftrain'd as if in danger to be ehoak'd. One
thing, dureing the time fhe ate aod dra^ik no-
things is remarkable, that her jav/s were, un-
Isck'd, and fhe recovered her fpcech, and re-
tained it for feveral days. Whatever liquid fhe
tpok, fhe immediately threw up again. Her fore-
head was contrafted and wrinkle 'd, her checks
ful red and blooming; fhe flcpt a great deal, and

^■■'r "

Atiieses Typograj>bical antijuliUs.

70 ANIMAL POOD NOT NECESSARY. CHAP. IltV

foundly ; pcrfpircM Ibmetimes ; and now and
then cmitcd large quantitys of blood at the
mouth. In the above year, (he was in a very
languid way, and ftil threw up what (he drank,*
Many additional inftancces, it is bclicve'd, arc
known to medical men, fome of which, if mid*

tipUcation had appeared necesfary, might have
been here adduce'd. t

Since a fingle fa£): wil out-weigh a number
of arguments or reafons, if it can be provc'd that
nations or individuals, who have forborn the u(e
of animal food have, in all refpefts, been as wel
adapted to the moft active or laborious life as
thofe who have derive'd from it their chief or
)ble nutriment, there can remain little doubt of
the fallacy of the above a&iertion.

The atbletae^ or wrcstlcers, who contended in
the publick games of Greece, before the time of
Gnatho Dipaeenfis^ the firft of them that ate ani-
mal food, were accustom'd to eat nothing but
(ig-chee(c.f •

If we go back, (kys M. D* Arnay, to the firft
agees of Rome, we (hal find that the Romans
live'd moftly upon roots and milk, or upon a

Pennants Tour in Sc<aland MDCCLXXII, part II.

c *

London, 17769410. Ap. Num. IV.
f Paafaniis, B. 6, C. 7.

tHAP. 111. AKlMAt POOD NOT NftCESSARY. 71

very coarfe kind of pottage caird pulmentumt
which fcrve'd them for bread 5 and that they ate
flefti* onely upon extraordinary occafions. Then,
fays Seneca, were fcen illuftrious old men co-
vered with glory and with laurels, firing by their
fire- fides, and makeing their repafls of the roots
wMch they thcmfelves had cultivateed, and ga-
ther'd in then* garden. Ignorant of the art of
ordering a feaft, they posfefs'd that of conquer-
ing their enemys in war, and of governing the
citizens in peace.*

If the ufe of animal food were abfoiutely re-
quifite to men in any fituation, it would be the
exercife and fatigue of a military life : but that
it is not esfential on this occafion wil be fuffi-
ciendy prove 'd,

^' As i pafs^d,'* %s Howell, in one of his
letters, " fomcof the Pyreney-hilk, i perceive *d
the poor Labrador s : fome of the country-people
live no better than brute animals in point of
food J for their ordinary commons is grafe and ^
waters onely they have, allways, within their
houfees, a bottle of vinegar, and anotiier of oil j
and, when dinner or fupper-timc comes, they

* The embasfadours of thp Samnites found M. Curius at
lits farm^ \^tb nothing for bis repa^ but fome roots, wbici|.
)ie ate by the corxijur of hb fire-fiidCf

7Z ANIMAL FOOD NOT NECES$ARY. HffA?. III.

go abroad and gather their herb^^ and fo ca^
vinegar and oil upon them > and wil paf^ thus
two or three days without bread or wifje : y^f
arc they strong, lusty men, and ^il stand

5TIFLY UNDER A MUSKET.'**

In one of the Engleifli regiments cmplqy'd in
iVmerica^ dureing the war, was a German foldier,
who bad, on fome account, conceive 'd an utter
averfion to flelh-mcat, of ^hichjic ufe*d to c:f,r
change his mefs with any of his coqirades £ot
bread. This man was healthy, active, and ^n^
dure'd the greateft fatigues of the campaign as
wel as any one in the regimen t.f

The following is a ftil more lingular inft^ci^ s
^^ One Patrick O'Ncalc, born in the year i $47,
marry'd his fevcnth wife in 1 760. K[c lcryc'4
in the dragopns, in the fevcnteenth year of the
reign of Charles IL, and in different regiment^
til 1740, when he obtain'd his discharge. Jle
h^d made all the campaigns of king Williaiq
and the duke of J\^arlborpug^« This extraordi^
nary perfon never drank any thing ftronger thaa
fmall beer, j^nd Uye'd upon vegetables. Not-
nirithftanding his great ag? (ads the account) he.

•« 1

* B. I, Ij. 23.

t From the parol information of the captain^ furnaQiQ'4
Mackenzie.

•

CHAP. III. ANIMAL FOOD KOT NECESSARY. 73

h wel in health, "f^lt^ without a crutch, is halrdljt
ever unemploy'd, and, every fupday, goes to his
parifti-church, ^ccompany'd by his childcren^
gramdchildcren, and great-grandchildercn," *

^^ The Ri^ffian grenadiers," ftys a ktter fron^
the Heldcr, " are the fineeft body of njen i ever
favr, not a man is under fi? feet high. Thei^
allowance confifts of eight pounds of black bread,
four pounds of oil, and one pound of fait, J^er
man, for eight day^ ; apd were you to fee thein,
you lyould be convince'd that they look as well as^
if they live'd on roaftbeef ^nd Englcilh pprter/'fr

The Saracens, who^ uncjer Mahomet, and his
immediate fuccesfours, fubduc'd a confidcrablc
part of the then known world, were remarkable
for a hardynefs of conftitution, and a firey fpirit,
which enable'd them to undergo the greateit fa-
tigues, and rendered them the terrour of their
enemys. Their chief drink was water; their
food confided, in a great meafure, of milk, rice,
and the fruits of the earthiij; Even the great
Omar, who was Mahomets contemporary, and

*■*■

4. -^ *

* Citeed by Kousfeau, from an Engleifii newspapefi in a
note to Emiliusy I> 48.
f Sun, Sep. 25, 1799.
J Ocklcys History ofth€ Safocens^ I> 3*%

74 ANIMAL FOOD NOT NECESSARY. CHAP. UX«

the fecond of his fucccsfours in the caliphate,
Bvc'd entirely on barley-bread, which he ufually
ate with a little ialt. His onely drink was water**
It is not likely that animal food would have
rendered fuch men more active, couragcojus or
robuft, though it, undoubtedly, might have
made them, like the bear in the notc,f more
favage and ferocious.

The Bedouins, or n)odern Arabs of the de-
fart, are a moft alert and military race, and yet,
** it is an undoubted faft, that the quantity of
food ufually confume'd by the greateft part of
them does not exceed fix ouncces a day. Six or
fcven dates, foak'4 in melted butter, Icrv? ^
man a whole day, and he efteems himfclf hapy,
when he can ad a linall quantity of coarfe flour^i
or a little ball of rice." f

Thofe, who exercife the laborious employment
of couriers in Barbary, travel on foot a journey
of three or four hundred miles a day, wifhou;
takeing any other nourifhment than a little brpad,
or a few fig?, and fomc -water, and have no
other fhelter at night than a tree : and yet it is

t Volheys TravelSf I, 351 j.

IJHAP. ill. ANIMAL /OOD NOTNECESSAKT. 7J

wonderful, with' what alacrity and pcrfcverancc,
thcfc people perform the moft fatigucing jour-
neys at all feafons of the year.*

" I wonder'd/' fays Busbequius, who, havcing
a mind to pafs through the fhambles of the;
Turkifh camp, that he might fee what flcfti was
fold there^ faw oncly four or five wethers at moft
hungup; they were the fhambles of the janizarys,
who were, at lead, 4000, ** fo little flcfli could
fuffice fo many ; and was anfwer'd, they ufe'd
but little fleih, but great part of their diet was
brought from Conftantinoplc. When i demanded
what that was, they Ihew'd me a janizary, near
at hand, who was lyeing down, and boiling tur-
nips, leeks, garlick, parfnips, and cucumbers*
He fcafbn'd them with fait and vinegar, and,
hunger being his beft fauce, ate them as heartily
as if they had been partridge or pheafant/' f

This temperance, as Grelot obfcrves, is of
great advantage to the Turks, efpecially in war.
For they never43urthen their camp with any other
provifions than rice^ butter, or fome few dry'd
fruits, &c. ; and, at home, a tun of rice^ with a
jQpall quantity of butter and dry'd fruits wil ferve

* Lempneres Tour to Morocco, p. 303.
t Travels in Turkey^ p. 196,

^6 ANIMAL FOOD NOT NECESSARY. CHAB. Ill*

a numerous family for a whok twelve«ionth.
J?or my paf t, he ads, i cannot attribute the
ftrength and plumf ncis of the Levantines to any
othfcr caufc than their temperance.*

The Tartars arc ftout, hardy, fpiritcd and
fearlefs ^ and no people can be more abflemiqus.
Millet and inares-m^l^ is their habitual foodj
afid yet they ajTC ei^ceedingly carnivorous. f The
Tartar ibldier, m^h his fifty days provifion, i(i
^ bag of roafled milleti endures^ without a mur<«
jpiur, the fevcritys of a long winter campaign,
Qf which the mild^fl and lead fatigueing day not
^Q the boai^ed beef and pudding of an Engleii^
dragoon would enable him to fupport. J

The Negros, it is wel known, arc a mod ftout
and vigorous r^ce : their food is, chjiefly, if nofi
whojcly, rice, millet, and other vegetables. |}

The Negro inhabitants of the Philippine-ilands„.
who are thought to be the abori^es pf the
country, are a ftrong and nervous people: the
fruits and roots they find in the woods are their

* Voyage to Conftantlnephy p. 241.

f Memoirs cf baron de Toity J, 66. That is, they arc ra-
venous devourers of a dead horfe^ but wil not, except on {q»
kmn occalions, kil one for the purpofe of food.

X UK 1, 166.

\\ Adanfoiis Foyagc to Senegal^

CHAP. UJ4 AWIMAL FCXOD WOT NECES^ART. 77

oncly food. Tte, Spaniards have attempted to
Feduce them to mt^mbn without cflc6l.* .

Tht Gentoos, indeed, who abftaki from anii*
ftial food, are, generally fpeaking, a weak, tU*
snorous, inactive people i but that this is cktf
cffeft of climate, and not of food, becom^ei^
evident when it is coftfidlSr'd that tfee Moguls or
Tartars and Ariabs, who live amoAgft them, zrc
neither ftron^r, xnore laborio<is> nor mon&
active: and yet, though <hey ekt' nbtfifirfg- but
ihilk, butter, arid ve^ables, t!hey are rather
l^t, and M. Toreen obferve'd Bramins tod Bis^'
nians^ with very prominent beJlys.
*: The Malteft, who, though rather fliort, are
tcry ftrong and nfervou?, think th^mleives •&«?
pcrlatively hapy if they can eat their fil of v^mti^
onions and garlick ; joy and contentmenl baiiig
their conftant companions.^

The mincers in Cornwall are remarkablely
ftrong, wel-made and laborious. Their chief
food is potatos.

^■' ■■'■ ' ' - — I — MMWI W ■■■■—■■ • I ■■^»« ■*■■■ —■■■1 I ■■■■■li|M| — ^—^M^

* Haynal iii, 74. " That men may live, and be flroag
to labour^ with little or ne animal food, is evince'd by the
^cld-negros' in tiic middle ftates of Norfch-A'merica^ wbo arc
a'hcalthy and hardy race of people 5 and whofc liabouf is eoiW^
flarrt and feyttt', allthough they are fed allmoft en^refy o»'
i^geiabU»" Srr F. M.-Edcns* Slateof the pwjlt, % 522^

t Ricdfels Travels through Sicily, p. 5Z.

fS ANiiycAL FoaB irof necessary, chap; nu

The common food of th6 i^ntry people on
the eaft coaft of Scotland is oatilbal^ milk and ve-
gctables, chiefly t"cd-cabbage in the winter- feafon,
and cole-worts for the fummer and ipring. At
teivor twelve miles distant from a town, flefli is
never feen in the houfee^ of the common farmers,
tJiccpt at a baptifm, a weding, Chrlftmas, or
Shrovetide. Yet arc they ** fttong and active^
flcep found, and live to a good old age.*' *

The native Irifh are allowed to be as ftrong^
lufty, hardy, and healthy people as any in the
world i they do nor tafte a mouthful of animal
food for, frequently, a whole year together, nor
do they riequire it, while they can get ^ny thing
cKc. They fubfift chiefly, and many of them
entirely, on butter-milk, potatos,| and fpring^
watcr.f

" It has fometimes hapen'd," fays the authour

* Douglases De/cr'^tion of the eaft coaft of Scotland: PaLi*
Icy» 1782. He gives *' a farmers bill of fare for a day,'*
which is curious, and does not contain a particle of animal
food.

f See Twifses Tour in Inland^ p« 30. ** It is a fad, and
one of the greateft inaportance, that pbtatos and water alone,
with common fait, can nourilh men completely* ' Report of
the hoard of agriculture* (Sir F. M, £dens State of the foor.

tHAP. tit. ANIMAL FOOD NOt NECESSAKT. ff

of a late journey throiigb Swcdea,* *' that i have
travcrd for four-and-twenty hours thtouglt woods
and rocks^ in which i have literally fccn no other
habitations than thofc* of the Chivcrgoors, a fet
pf peafant pod-masters, who live at the distance
of. two, three, and fometiijics of faur, leagues
from each other, in wooden cabias,. that hold
themlclves, their horfees, and their corn, place!d
in a fmall fquarc fpot of ground, in which
they plant hops. Thefe people fcarcely kopw
the ufe of herb$, and eat only bread diluteed with
milk or water; yet with -this ihey and their fa-
milys fecm cheerful and contented, and can
hardly conceive a hapyer mode of existence thaa
their own. They are good-nature'd and honeft
beyond example, and are very robuft and healthy,
cfpecially in Dalecadia,"

* A Dutch officer. Translateed from the French by tnUtcr
RadcliCe, London, 17 9> p. 25. To thia may be aded the
iestiihony of (^pctor Sj^arrman. ** I have fcen," fays he^
** a great number of Dalecarlikns, who wrought for a Icing
time together at a hard and laborious bufynefs, fubfitUng all-
mod entirely upon haftey-pudding and beer, without even a
morfel of bread ; neither was this in the- \ciA confider*d by
tbem as hard fare. I have all fo nxel with many poor cottageers
in Uplandia, who^ for a long time together, even wanted
bread, particularly for their children, fo that they were

•

oblige'd to bring them up upon pancakes and frumenty with-
out milk/* (P^oyage to the Cafe ofGwd Hope, II, 23 j.)

to ANTMAt FOOD KOT llEcissARY, CHAl^. lit.

1 am fure/* fays old Tryori, *^ that a man
may ftiake abetter mdal with, half a penny-worth
of whcat-flowcr made into pap, and half a penny-
worth of bread to eat with it, and a little fait,
and be as flirong, brifk, and able to perform any
hbotir, as he that makes the beft meal he can
with either flefh or fifli. So great is the igno-
rance, folly, birndnels, falfe opinion, and custoni
of thofe that call'themfelves the learned !"*

^^ The greateft part of mankind," according
to fir Hans Sloane, " have their chief fustenancc
frorn grains ; as wheat, rice, barley, oats, maize,
butk- wheat, zea, or ffelta, rye ; fonie froni
fhc feeds of a wild grafs call'd gratnen manme
in Poland, or from wild oats, or folk avoine^
growing ill the lakes of Canada, on which the
Indians feed 5 or from the feeds of the feveraf
forts of millet and pannkum. Some in Barbary
feed on palm-oil, others from that drawn from
wallnuts or fefamumy which laft is much ufe'd in.
^gypt and the Eaft-Indies i and in Engleland

* ' Mircellanea, p. 149. He eifewbere fays, from fome
other writcer, '* That a piece of bread and checfe, and a cup'
of good ale after it^ nouriiheth more than* fle(h^ and affords a*
firmer fubftahce^ and makes one ftronger^ than he that eati^
bread and fleih and drinks the fame liquor.*' (Waj to healih^
p.jt.)

eilAP. III. ANIMAL FOOD NOt KSCESSARr. it

the poorer ' fort have ftrong nourifhment from
milk-meats (on which feed the longeft livcers),
butter and chcefe. Many feed on pulfe, fffr.
Not to fpeak of acorns and beech-maft, the food
of our fore-fathers, dates, the food of many
people in Barbary and Arabia, figs, pistachios.
The Sevennois in France feed on cheftnuts, the
broth or fruit of which he had hear d is very
nourifliing/' *

"It may, indeed,'* fays doctor Adam Smith,
** be doubted whether butchers-meat is any where
d necesfary of life. Grain and other vegetables,
with the- help qf milk, chcefe, and butter, oroili
where butter is not to be had, it is known from
experience, ^ can, without any butchers-meat,
afford the moft plenty ful, the moft wholefome>
the moft nouriftiing, and the moft invigorate-
ing diet."'!'

It is, in faft> perfeftly ridiculous and abfurd
to pretend that animal food is abiblutely neces-
fary for the fupport of fo comparatively dimi-
nutive and feeble a being as man, while the
largeeft, ftrongeft, and moft powerful, which

Natural bistery of Jamaica^ I, xxi, xxii. He cnu-
meriltes allmoii eveiy ijpecies of vegetable that has been, or
may be ufe'd for food ; it has been call'd a curious bil of fart.

t Inquiry irifo ihi ivcahb of nations, HI, 341.

8l AKlfAAt F009 If 07 JTYCtSSikltY, ^HAKIIIV

ic<|uire fiistcnaiice in prnportion to tbeir bidfe
9nd vigour, the horfe, the bid, the camel, the
drinoceros, the diephanfj^ the Mppopoc^mus, arti
mpported endrely by vegetable fubftaocees/'

" There is no necesfity,'' iays Tryon, ^ for
mankind to opprefs, hurry and- kil the beafls,
Md eat their flefh and bloody as many ignarantly
afErm ; crying out. What fhal we do with them ?
They wil over-run us, and eat us op, if wc do
not kil them.^ But I aolV^, That there is no
fert of cattle btit is otherwife of ufe, befide to
be eaten; and horfees are not caten^ and yet
what natton compkios of having too many of

*^ The eating ol flcfli," he ads^ « and kilingof •
creatures for that purpofe^ was never begun, nor
is now condnue'd for w^it or ne^esfityj,, or for
the maintenance of health, but chiefly becaufc
the hi^, lofty, fpirit of wrath and fenfuality
had gpten the dominion in man, over the meek
k>ve> and innocent harmlefs nature^ Bipd being

* It is the (landing argument of the flefh-eaters, and, proba-
bleijy tikewife^of the Cannibals or Anibropofhagi^ at this daj.
Tbe former^ howerer^ cboofe to forget that tbej beted the
aninud for the purpofis of kiling it $ and would have to wait
along time before tbe bcrringi and other fifli wblob they catck
aty^tfi would. oTtr-run them on the Iwi^

guiiK tfi. Airnt All yeoD iro'r BinecMiAft v. %§

lb rampant^ could not be kdsffM enocpt it hftd
a proportionable food i and> of all others^ de^

k^s the gneatcft af&^iiy and) If gU mm wouki

re&ain eating of (ieS^, there would b« no caulo
for them to com^ain for want of food i for ihe
AUniightf has, in all particulars) been gracious
and bountyful unto all creatures, but more eipe*
ciailjr unto mankind, for whofn he has J^4 ^
plentyful table ; furnifliing the whole earth with a
great multitude or variety of herbs, fruits, grains,
and feeds, fit for food, which do aflS^rd a nourifli-
ment of a moil excellent fubftance, and &j*
beyond flcfli/'*

" Under an improve'd fystcm of cducarion
children wll be brought up to a vegetable regi-
men, as being the moft natural to man As

vegetable diet has a necesiary connection witb
many virtues, and excludes no one, it muft be
of importance to accustom young people to ir,
(eeing its influence is {o confiderable and fo hapy

on bcawy of pcrfon, and tranquility pf foul^

This regicnen prolongs infancy, and, of*confe»
qucnce, the duration of human life. I hav?

fcen an inftance of it in an Engkifh youti^ pf
fifteen, who had not the appnar^noe of b^ing &

V I n^ iii u ,j. i | ifc

Waj to Uahh, p. 267.

84 ANIMAL FOOD NOT NECESSAKT. CHAP. in# 1

muth as twelve. He was a moft intereiling
figure, pos&ls*d of health the mod vigorous^
and of a dispofition the mofl: gentle : he per-
form'd the longeft journeys on foot, artd never
loft temper whatever befel him. His father, ^
whofe name was Pigot, told me that he had
brought him up entirely under the Pythagorean,
regimen; the good cfFefts he had learn'd by his
owit experience.*'*

In Engleland, notwithftanding dxe produce
of the foil has been, of late, confiderablely
increafe'd, by the inclofure of waftcs, and the
adoption, in many placees, of a more fuccefsful
husbandry, yet we do not obferve a correfpond-
ing addition to the number of inhabitants ; the
reafon of which appears to me to be the more
general confumpdon of aiymal food amongft us.
Many ranks of people, whofe ordinary diet was,'
in the laft century, prcpare'd aUmoil endrely

* St. Pierre, Study s ofnaturet III, 577. This gentleman
was Robert Pigot, efquire, formerly of Chetwynd^ in Shrop*
(hire, who refideed at Genevti.; whither, according to the
Biographical anecdotes of the founders $fthe French republic,
London, I797> p« I54> the amiable and eccentrick marqiib
de Valadi made an excurfion in 1787, and there chance*d to
meet with this Engleifh Pythagorean, whofe dietetick fystem
be immediately adopted, and, for many years after/ never
tafleed aoimal food*

tHAP. UU AVIMAL FOOD KOT KECESSART. 85

from milk, roots and vegetables, now require,

every day, a confiderable portion of the flelh of

animals. Hence a great part of the richeft lands

of the country are converted to pasturage. Much,

allib, of the bread-corn, which went dirc<5Uy to

the nouri(hment of human bodys, now onely

, contributes to it, by fatening the flefli of {heep

. and oxen. The mafs and volume of provifions

^are hereby dimini(h*d; and what isgain'd in the

. melioration of the foil is lofl in the quality of

. the produce,*

• Paieys Princiflcsofnwral and political fbihfiffy, II, 361,

•'J*

96 Aviimft !Fe9D tn$ vmnat «im»^ rr«

CHAP, iv,

i ¥iA*t the Mfe (f ^iAifidl fcefd fffeptoRss !tt«fc ib
4im\ ifefl feratioii^ atltteni is a f^ft to Mirhkh tftfe
*^pcfrteftee ^ ageJfe ^es ampte tcSdAofiy . l%e
Sijyttt^hs, !tc5m dritoMng ifhe blocrd t)F ifcfeit tat-
tle, , proceeded to drink that of *t)reir: <*fte-
«iy«^* T^^ ^^e aad ^^ dispofitio a ^ -the
wild Arabs is fun{>ofed, chiefly, if nol, fofte^, to
proceed from iheir feeding upon the flefh of ca*
mels : f and, as the gentle dispofition of the na«
tivcs is probablely oweing, in a great degree, to
temperance, and a total abilinence from animal
food J fo the common nfc of this diet, in the
bulk of other nations, has, in the opinion of M.
Pages, exalted the natural tone of their pasfions j
and he can account, he fays, upon no other prin-
ciple for the firong harfli features of the Muful-
xnans and Chriflians, compare'd with the fmall
trait and placid afpeQ: of the Gentoos. J " VuU

* Hcrodotusi B. 45 Revelation examine* d, p. 21,
^ Ockley, 1,3.

^enkV. TV# OF aUELTY AND FEROCITY. B^

^r and ttmnfbnn'd men,*' it is obferve'd by
Smellie, " when pamper'd with a variety of
animal foodf are much more cholerick, fierce
and cruel in th^ir tempers than thofe who live
chiefly on vegetables/^ This affection is equally
perceptible . in otber animals : " An officer, in
the Rusfian fervice, had a bear, which he fed
with bread and oats, but never gave him flefli.
H9wever> a young hog hapening, one day, to
firoUtoo near his eel, he got hold of it, and
pul'd it in ; and, after he had once drawn blood,
^nd tafteed flefli, he grew fo fierce that he be-
came uamsuaageable, attacking every body that
came near him } fio that the owner was oblige'd
to kil him/'^ It was not, fays PorjAyry, from
thofe who Kve'd on vegetables, that robers or
-murderers, fycophants, or tyrants, have pro-
ceeded, but from flefh^eatere. f Prey being all-
mod the fole obje<9: of quarrel among carni-

»•■

* Memoirs of P. H, Brucn^ p. 144. A fimilar inftancc
has been relateed, to the cbmpilcer, of a mastif : all animals,
inihort, that feed upon blood, arc obfcrve'd to be much more
furious than others : wil any man, therefor, i9iy that mueh
^f his. own fury is not oweing to the fame food ? (^cvcJat^on
examined, p. ai.) "I have known/* fays doctor Arbutb-
not, ** more than one inftance of irafcible pasiions being much
fubdue'd by a vegetable diet.*', (Esfay, p. 1 ^6.)

t Mackcnzies History ofheaHb^ p. 190.

88 ANIMAL FOOD THE CAVSB QHAP. IV«

vorous^ animals, while the frugivorous live toge-
ther in conftant peace and harmony, it is evi-
dent that, if men were of this laft kind, they would
find it much more eafey to fubfiil in a {late of
nature, and have much lefs occafion to leavieic.^

The barbarous and unfeeling fports (as they
are call'd) of the Engleifli, their horfe-raceing,
hunting, ihooting, bul and bear-baiting, cock-
fighting, boxing-matches, and the like, all pro*
ceed from their immoderate addiction to animal
food. Their natural temper is thereby cor-
rupted, and they are in the habitual and hourly
. commisfion of crimes againil nature, justice, and
humanity, at v^hich a feeling and reflective
mind, unaccustom'd to fuch a' diet, would re-
volt ; but in which they profefs to take delight.
The kings of Englcland have from a remote pe-
riod been devot^ed to hunting j in which pur»-
fuit one of tbem, and the fon of. another, loft his
life. *' James the firft/' according to Scaliger,
*' was merciful, except at the chace, where he .
was cruel, was very angery when he could not
catch the flag : God, he fay'd, is enrage'd againft
me, fo it is that i (hall have him : . when he had
him, he would put his arm all entire into the
belly and entrails of the beaft.*' This anec^

Rousfe^u, Q/i the inequality of mankind, note 5.

CHA?. IV. OF CRUElfTY AND FEROCITY. '89

dote may beparallerd with the following, of one
of his fucccsfours : " The hunt on Tuefday laft**
(as ftateed in TJbe General Advertifer, March 4,
J 784) <^ commence'd near Sahhil, and afforded
a chace of upward of hfty miles. His majefty
was prefent ac the death of the chace near Tring,
in Hertford (hire. It is the fird deer that has
been run to death for many months; and^
when open'd^ its heart-flrings were found to be
quite rent, aS is.fuppofeM, with the force of rua-

ing:'* MMBHBHMllViMMt The

flave-trade, tha.t abominable violation of the
rights of nature, is, moft probablely, oweing to
the fame caufe ; as wet as- a variety of violent
afts, both national arid* perfonal, which are ufu-
ally atiributeed to other motives. In the fcs-
fions of parliament, 1802, a majority of the mem-
bers voteed for the continuance of bul-baiting^

* It has been pretended' that Charles IX. was the authonr

of a book upon' hunting. It is very likely that, if this prince

bad lefs cultivateed the art of kiling beads, and had not ac«

ffist quire'd in the forefis the habit of feeing blood run, Iheie

would have been more difficulty in geting from him the
order of Saint Bartholomew. The chace is one of the moft
Aire means for blunting in men the fentiment of pity for their
fellow-creatures 5 an effe^-fo much the more fatal, as thole
who are addicted to it, place'd in a more elevateed rank, have
more need of this bridle. ( Vpltaire, Oeuvres, LXXIIi 2 1 31 note«)

^ AWMAl. f OOD THE <:A^8K <!HATi IV.

4Kid iloQie of them had the ^ccmfidence to piead
,in fanrour of ft ! The unnatural and inhtmian
^behaviour cf fnan, -or rather of the ^ ngWfeman,
towwd Ws fellow-creatures, is wprefented, with
ffifqfolar energy, by William -Cowpcr^ in the fol-
lowiHg bcamyfial pasfage :

** Thus harmony and family accord
Were driv'n from Taradifc ; and in that hour
The feds of crtrclty, that fmcc iiavc fwdl'd
To iTttdi gigamic andcnotmoias gmwth^

Hence date the periccutionannnepa^^^^
That man inflifls on all inferior kinds^
ftegardlefs of their plaints. To make him fport,
To'gra'.ify the ffonzy of 4iis wrath^
rOr his bafe .gluttony* are caufes good
And juft, in his accounty v4iy bird and beafi
Should fuffcr torture, and the dreams be dyc'i
UVith blood of their inhabitants impjard*
^arfh groans beneath the bm-den of a war
Wage*d with defcncelefs innocence, ^hile he.
Not fatisfy'd to prey on all around,
A3ds tenfold bitternefe to deaths by pangs
Needlefs, and 6rfl torments ere he devoure*
Now bappieft they that occupy the fcenes
l^c ' moft remote from ?hi8 abbor*d refort . . . •
The wlldemefs Is theirs, with all its caves,
Its hollow glenns^ its thickets, and its plaint
Unvifited by man. There they ate free^
And howl and roar as likes them, Bficoiitrpul^>
Nor a{k his leave to flAimber or to play,
•Wee to the tyrant, if he dare. intrude

^be lion teHs 4inn-^I van taontmh^en^'*^
And if he fpure him^ fpares him on the tenUi
Of royal mercy, and through gen'rous fcora
To trmd % ^ctim tresiiibHag ttt ins ^wt.
In mearini&. as by foroe of inlRlliSk 4lW«n^
Or by necesiity ctm^nm^d, they Iwe
Dependent upon mm 4 thofem histtdiil^
Thefe at his crib, itrd foMK betitatb bisHtMlf^
They pnoinetoo often at iioftrctearanftie
He fells pvotectiofi. Wkfinefe, atiikiii#t
The fpnatel tlymg'for ibme fimrallMt^
Under flaftOrioitoftbc tootlttl feotirge ;
Witn^fs, the |>fltie9t on, ««llh tMpeiBKMl juKk
Priv'n to Ibe ttaughtier^ «gMde4li 4ie 4M»»
To madneft, -titl^etbe ivntgi «t bfs Im3«1s
Laughsvt i!b(f ii!ar»t«c )fiillferer^ ^Ittty fpdk
Upon the gilllrleik pwfimgtr d^MbflMMi.
He Wo hf^Amtik, tM\eto?mktimi^ ^

That wait on wm, t^^v^^pffrioum^ %cfl^fett
With unfufpeAiiig tMKn^ ht nOttB
His mufttVnr*«ri1f)^ bw^tind,^ti(h'Q aR{^^
'With bleodk^ ifidfeA, Md flinbt tbat ibtttvt 'Ibr 'ttfls.
To the far-dilrant gotAy vrtfivss imd^dies.
60 little meiey^iR>fiisi#ho4ieetlB fo^ntxch^
Does law, tb jta^ckAAa lAttzaxsk >e£iteMi^
Denounce no doom on the delinquent ? None.
lie^vest'atiA oVbrstrimmhig beaker bo^
f^ if >>itfbiMity were higfh'defert)
_ T-h* i ng l or i u us f c dt /and, clamo r ous fa ^ratfe
KJff^e poor'bTuftc, Itfoms wifely to fuppoTe
'The ^hoircwrs 6f 'his m^tclilefs horfe his own."*

• Tafi, B. 6. <« The king travelled witiiToitincai expeaiiioo to
Cheltenham^ that three hack-horfe» were killed on the road. Di-

$2 ANIMAL FOOD THB CAUSE OHAP. IV.

Thomfon, haveing flightly touched upon ** the
Iportsman's joy," or, ** rural game/' proceeds
with the following lines :

^* Thefe are not fubjeAs for the peacefol mvdk,
Nor will fhe (lain with fuch her fpotlefa fong;
Then mod delighted^ when ihe focial fees
The whole mixM animal creation round

Alive, and happy. 'Tis not jay to her.
This falfely-cheerful barbarous game of death;
This rage of pleafure, which the reftlefs youth
Awakes, impatient, with the gleaming morn ;
When beads of prey retire, that all night long,
Urg'd by necesfity^ had range'd the dark,
As if their conicious ravage ihun*d the light,
Aihame'd. Not fo the fteady tyrant man.
Who with the thoughtlefs infolence of power
Inflame'd, beyond the moil infuriate wrath
Of the word monfter that Verroam'd the wafie^
Tor ^rt alone purfues the cruel chace.
Amid the beamings of the gentle day*
Upbraid, ye ravening tribe, our wanton rage,
Ppr hunger kindles you, and lawlefs want j
But lavi(h fed, in nature's bounty roll'd,
To joy at anguilh, and delight in blood.
Is what your honsid bofoms never knew*'*

The chace of the hare and dag is no lefs elo-
quent and pathetick ; but is not likely to have

rections were given to the drivers to proceed with the utmoft expe>
dition, which they took as a hint not to fpare the bealiU, His majefty
paid for the horfes ; one of them coft thirty pounds*" (Marmng
Heral4i ]yx\y i^f ^^U.)

CHAP. U or CRUELTir AND FEROCITY^ ^$

much cffeft on the favage monfters devoted to
thofe purfuits.

It is indeed, obferves Plutarch, a hard and dif-
ficuk talk to undertake (as Cato once fay*d) to
dispute with mens belly s that have no ears..*
and it is no eafey taik to pul out the hook of flefli*
eating from the jaws of fuch as have gorge'd
themfelves with luxury, and are, as it weret
naird down with. it. It would, indeed, be a
good action, if, as the Aegyptians draw out the
ftomach of a dead body, and cut it open and
expofe it to the fun, as the onely caufe of all its
evil actions, fo we could by cuting out our
gluttony and blood-flieding, purify and cleanfe
thi remainder of our lives • . . But if this may
not be, and we are aQiame'd, by reafon of cus-
tom, to live unblameablely, let us, at leail, (in
with discretion : Let us eat fiefii, but let it be
for hunger, and not for wantonnefs. Let us kil
an animal, but let us do it with forrow and picy^
and not abufeing and tormenting it, as many
now-a-days are ufe'd to do, while fome run red
hot fpits through the bodys of fwine, that by the
tincture of the quench'd iron the blood may be
to that degree mortify'd, that it may fweeten and
foften the flefh in its circulation : and others
jump and ftamp upon the udders of fows that are
ready to pig, that fo the^ may take. off (Oh ! pia-

14 AlYtM At. tQOI» THE CAUSt C^Af. tt*

CDlar Ju|Siter l)yi]itlfc( vn ypwgsof deHverj^^ Uoodi^
milk^ and corruption,^ (deftroying tltd youag
ones hdide)) and ib eai the moft hufiame'd and
^caie'd part of the animal : others fow up xha
eye^ ^ oraaes and fwans, and fo fhut them up
in darknefs to be faten'd^ aad then fowce up thcif
fl^fliwithcertaiitmonftrous mixtures and^uckles.*
]iy aU which it i$ moft maaifeft> that it is not for
mooriihmentt or want, or any iMcesfity, but for
vierc gluttony, wantonner$, and expcnfivenefS|
th«L they make a pleafure of vUlaiay... Th*
begiaing of a vicious diet is prefently followed
by all forts of luxury and expenfiveaefs : and
what me$d is not expeafive, for which an animal
is put to death ? Shal we reckon a foul to be
a fmall expeace ? I wll not fay, perhap,, of a mo^
ther,or a father, or of (bme friead,as Empcdocles
did ; but one participateing of feeUng, of feeing,
of hearing, of imagination and of intellection,
which each of them hath received from nature
for the acquireing of what is agreeable to it,
aad the avoiding what is disagreeable. Do but
coafider with yourfelf, which fort of philofopbers
render us mod tame and civil, they who bid

* This wil, doobtlefsy be particularly disgudlng to the hu-
mane Engleifli reader, for whom iimilar crueltysjor othert^
at Uaft equally fliodLing, are every day commited.

feople to feed Oil their chUdrea, frieQd&, faibnt^
and wives, as if they were dead ; or Pythagprasi
and Empedocles, that accustom men to be juft
toward even tbe other members of the cre^^Aofu

You laugh at a man that wil not eat a fbcep ; bat
we (they'l fay again), when we iee you cuting off
the pans of your dead fkther, or motbier^ and
fending them to your abfent friends, and calling
upon and iaviteing your prefent friends to eat
tbe red freely and hearty ly, flial we not fmlle ?• • «
"Who then were the firft authors of this opini(^»
that we owe no justice to dumb animals i

Whofirji heat out accurfeid fteely

And made the laboring ex a knife to feeif

In the very fame manner oppresfors and ty-
rants began firft to fhed blood. For example,
the firft man that the Athenians put to death
ivas one Epitedius, the bafeeft of all knaves 3^
after him they put to death a fecond and a third ;,
after this, being now accustomed to blood, they
patiently faw Niceratus the fon of Nicias, and
their own general Theramenes, and Polemar-*
chus the philofopher, fuffer death. Even fo in
the begining fome wild and mischievous beaft
was kil'd and eaten, and then fome little bird
or fifh was entrap'd : and conqueft being firft ex-
perimented and exercifcM in thefe, at lafl pafs'd

9* 4NIMAL J^COD TftB CAUSB €HA^. IV,?

cren to the labouriitig ox, and the ffiecp that clothed
Bs, and to the poor cock that keeps the houfe i
until, by little and little, unfatiablenefs being
fti«igthen'd by ufe, men came to the flaughter
of men, to blood*(hed and wars.*

The following excellent obfervations arc an
cxtrad from The Guardian, No. 6i :

** I cannol think it extravagant to imagine^
that mankind are no lefs, in proportion^ ac-
countable for the il ufe of thdr dominion over
creatures of the lower rank of beings, than for
the exercife of tyranny over their own fpecies..*
Tis obferveable of thofe noxious animals, which
have qualitys mdft powerful to injure us, that
they naturally avoid mankind, and never hurt us,
unlefs provoke'd, or necesfitateed by hunger.
Man, on the other hand, feeks out and purfues
even the mofl inoffenfive animals onpurpofeto
perfecute and deftroy them. Montaigne thinks it
fome reflection upon human nature itsfclf, that
few people take delight in feeing beads carefs
or play together, but allmoft every one is pleafe*d
to fee them lacerate and worry one another. I
am forry this temper is become allmoft a distin*
guifliing character of our own nation, from the
obfervation which is made by foreigners of out

'^*-

* Of eating ofjlejb^ tra6l %.

^HAPn IV. OP CKUthTt AMD FEROCITY. 97

bclove'd pastimes, bear^bMiing, cock-Jighting^ and
the like. We fliould find it hard to vindicate
the deftroying of any thing that has life, merely
out of wantonnJs ; yet, in this principle, our
children are bred up, and one of the firft plea*
fures we allow them, is the licence of inflicting
pain upon poor animals : ailmoft as foon as we
are fenfible what life is ourfelves, we make it our
fport to take it from other creatures. I cannot
but believe a very good ufe might be made of
the fancy which children have for birds and in^
fe&s. Mifter Locke takes notice of a mother
who permited them to her children, but re^
warded or punifliM them as they treated them
wel or iL This was no other than entring
them betimes into a dayiy exercife of humamty,
and improveing their very diverfion to a virtue,*

« When we grow up to men, we have

another fuccesfion of fanguinary fports i in par-
ticular bunting. I dace not attack a diverfion
which has fuch authority mid custom to fupport
it, bfut mufl; have leave to be of opintt>n, that the
agitation of that exercife, with the example and

* There can be no doubt that children would be not lefa
kipt to learn humanity than cruelty 3 but the miKbief ii that,
the parents tbemfelves haveing little fenfe of thefbisaery Ihef
are only tnfiructe#or indulge*d in the latter^

s^*^

(

,98 ANIMAL POOD THE CAUSE CHAP. IV,

number of the chafeers, not a little ^ contributes *
to refift thofe checks^ which cotnpasfion would
naturally fuggeft in behalf of the animal purfue'd.
Nor fhal i fay, with monfieuri*'leurjr, that thig
fport is a remain of the Gotbick harbariiy ; but i
muft animadvert upon a certain custom yet in
ufe with us^ and barbarous enough to be derive'd
from the Goths, or even the Scythians ; I mean
that favage compliment our huntsmen pafs upon
ladys of quality, who are prefent at the death of
a (lag, when they put the knife in their bands to
cut the throat of a helplefs, trembleing and weep-
ing creature.*

* " But if our /ports are deftructive, our glut-
tony is more fo, and in a more inhuman manner.
Jjobjiers roajied alive^ pigs whip^d ta death, fowls
fevfd upj are testimonys of our outrageous
luxury. Thofe who (as Seneca expresfes it)
divide their lives betwixt an anxious confcience
and a naufeatced ftomach, have a juft reward of
their gluttony in the diseafees it brings with it :
for human •favagees, like other wild beafts, find

* The tender feelings of thefe elegant fair ones never in-
duce them, irfeems, to reject this delicate and humane office!
— ^Thcy contemplate, with equal fatisfaction, the poor heron
wifh its wings and legs brokeen, and its hi\ fluck in the
ground, a liveingprey to the favage hawk ! <* Ladiet of qua."
iitji^ quotha ? Gorgons and Furies ! •

iSHAP. IV. OF CRUELTY AND FEROCITY. 99

fnares and poyfon in the prbvifions of life, and
arc allure*d by their appetite to their deftruction.
i know nothing more (hocking or horrid, than
the profpicift of one of their kitchens covered with
bloody and fiPd with the crys of creatures ex-
pireing in tortures. It gives one an image of a
giants den in a romance, beftrow'd with the fcat-
ter'd heads and mangle'd limbs of thofe who were
flain by his cruelty.

*' History tek us of a \i ife and polite nation
that rejected a perfon of the firft quality, who
ftood for a judiciary office, onely becaufe
he had been obfer ve'd> in his youth, to take
pleafare in tearing and murdering of birds:*
and of another that expeFd a man out of the
fenate, for dafhing a bird againft the ground
which had takeen (helter in his bofom ....
Perhap that voice or cry fo nearly refembleing
the human, with which Providence has endue'd
fo many different animals, might purpofely be
giveen them to move our pity, and prevent thofe
crueltys we are too apt to inflidt on our fellow-
treatures.}

* The emperour Domitian began his favourite purfuit with
the murder of flys^ and ended it with that of men : a progres-
tion perfe^tljr natural.

f It may be fo ; but it is evident that Providence has not^

100 ANIMAL FOOD THE CAUSE tMAT. TT*

'^ To conclude, there is certainly a degree oi
gratitude oweiug to thofe animals that ferve us ; as
for fuch as are mortal or noxious^ we have a right
to deftroy tfaem; and fQr thpfe that are neither
of advantage ^ nor' prepidice to us» the commoxi;
enjoynioiit of Hit is what i cannot ikmk wr
otaght to deprive them of/ *

Man, who is every-whtre a tyrant ^or a Have,
delights to infiid; on each foifiiye being wkhin^
his power the treatment he receives from hh
own fuperiors : as the negro revengees the crudtf
of his owner upon the innocemt dog. Everj
animal, wild or tame, of which he becomes the
posfesfor, is his property, hi^ prilbiier,^his flave f
to be treated with caprice and cruelty, and put
to death at his pleafure. Hear, upon this fub*
]e6b, the poetical reflections of the amiable Thom»
fon:

**^ Bv not the Mufe affiame'cl> here to bemoan
Her brothers of the grove, by tyrant man
Inhuman caught, and in the narrow cage
From liberty confine'dy and boundldii air.
Bull are the pretty (lavca, their plumage dull»
Ragged, and all its brightening lustre loft ;
Nor is that fprightly witdnefs in their notes»

in this inftance, had- all the fbccefs (he intended. She woul^
have acted more wifely, when fhe was about it, to have in*
fiife'd a little humanity into the mind of her faiPOUtite.

4^AP. I^. OF CRUELTY AND FEUOCITV. iOi

Which/ clear and vigorous, warbles from the beech.
-O theoi ye friends of love and love-taught foog»
Spare the foft tribes, this barbarous art forbear i
If on your bofom innocence can win»
Mufic engage, or piety perfuade.'' *

The beaver, whofe tender plaintiTe accents,
and whofe flrikeing example, draw tears of ad*
miration and pity from the humane philofopher,
who contemplates his life and manners; this
harmlefs animalj which never hurts any Gveing
creature^ neither carnivorous nor fanguinary, is
become the objeft of mans mod earned porfuit^
and the one which the favagees hunt after with
the greaceft eagernefs and cruelty: a circum--
ftance oweing to the unmercy&l rapaciousne&
of the mod pdlifh*d nations of £urope.f

MMk

S^rmi. t Raynal, VI, 495.

lOZr ANIMAL-FOOD THE CAUSE GHAf. V«

eHAP. V.

ANIMAL POOD THE CAUSE OF HUMAN SACR^

FICEES.

pup^RSTiTiON is the mother of Ignorance and
Parbarity. Priefts began by perfuadeing people
of the exiftence of certain inyifible beings, whicih
they pretended to be the creatours of the world,
and the dispenfeers of good and evil ; and of
whpfe wils, in fine, they were the fole inter-
pretcrs^ Hence arofe the nece$fity of (acrificee?
%o appeafe the wrath or procure the favour of
imaginary gods, but, in reality, to gratify the
gluttonous and unnatural appetites of real dae-
mons. Domestick animals were the firft vic-
tims. Thefe were immediately under the eye
of the priefl, and he was pleafe'd with their tafte.
This fatisfyM for a time ; but he had eaten the
fame things fo repeatedly, that his luxurious ap*
petite caird for variety. He had devoifr'd the
fheep, and was now defirous to masticate the
fhepherd. The anger of the gods, testify 'd by
an opportune thunder-ftorm, was npt to be as-
fuage'd but by a facrifice of uncommon magni-
tude. The people tremble, and offer him their
enemys, their flaves, their parents, their children.

CHAP. V* OF HUMAN SACR.IFICEE9. I03

to obtain a clear flcy on a fummers day, or a
bright moon by night. When, or upon what
particular occafion, the firft hupjan creature was
made a facrifice is not known, nor is it of any
confequence to enquire. Goats and bullocks
had been offered up allready, and the transition
was eafey from the brute to the man. The prac-
tice, however, is of remote antiquity, and univer-
fal extent, there being fcarcely a country in the
world in which it has not, at fome time or
other, prevaiPd. The moft ancient facrificecs,
it muft be confefs'd, were, in all probability,
holocaufts, entirely deftroy'd by the fire, from
wjiich the priefts, of courfe, would receive no ad-
vantage : but, befide that thefe burnt offerings
coft them nothing, it might be their intereft to
have it believe'd that their god was partial to
animal food, and delighted in the pleafant favour
of roafting or broiling flefli.

The origin not onely of facrificees, but of
animal food, is related by Porphyry as follows :

** AUthough they report that the Syrians for-
merly abftain'd from animals, and, therefor, nei-
ther did they immolate to the gods : but after-
ward admited them in facrificees in order to
avert certain evils : they did not, however, ad-
mit the ufe of Sefli. But in procefs of time^ as

104 AKTlMAt t06r> THE CAUSE CHAr. V^

fayth Neanthes of Cyzicum, and Afclepiadcs the
Cyprian, about the age of Pygmalion, a Phoeni-
cian, tfuely» by^birth, who reignM over the Cy^
prians, the eating of flefh crept in by this fort of
prevarication. At firfl: indeed no anioi^al was
fecrificeM to the gods, neither was there any
law upon this fubjed, becaufe it was prohibited
by the law of nature* But 9 certain occafion
requireing life for life, the firft facrifice was made
of smimateed beings^ and thence, they fay, a whole
victim was confumed by fire. But, afterward,
as the lacrifice was burning z, imall part of the
flefli fel upon the ground, which the prieft took
up, and being burn d in touching it, he unad*
vife'dly put his fingers to his mouthyin order to
initigate the pain proceeding from the burn.
But wh^n he had tafteed the fat, he was enfiame'd
with the defire thereof, nor could he abftain,
but alifo gave part of it to his wife : which when
Pygmalion had hear'd of, he caufe*d the prieft
with his wife to be thrown down a rock, and
gave the priefts office to another, who, not long
after, celebrateing the fame facrifice, ate, in like
manner, the fieih^ and fel into the fame calamitys.
The thing, however, proceeding farther, and
men ufeing the fame facrifice, and not abftain-
ing through gluttony^ from tafteing fl^Qij the

CHA9« Itf OF HUMAK SAXSRIFICEE8.

105

|)ttni&mes|t b^ ceafeM : allthough the abfti^
nence from fifb lafted down (0 the times of Me^
nander the 4::Qmedian.*

*' Formerly, when men (as we have fs^y'd) fe-
crifice'd fruit to the gods, but not ammals, nor
ufeM them for fbod^ it is reported, that a pubHck
Sacrifice being cclebratced at Athene, one Dio«
ttios or Sopater, not a native, bpt a cultivator^
in Attica, when allready the cakes and other
things which were to be offered, were place'd
upon a table in the open air, that he might fa«
crifice them to the gods, thefe, a certain ox en*
tering the city after his labour, partly devourM,
and partly trample'd under-foot, that which ha4
hapen'd bearing in il wil, haveing fnatch'd up a
certain (harp ax, which lay at hand, kil'd the
ox* Therefor, tlie ox, being dead, and the
anger of Diomus now appeafe'd, he bethought
himfelf what an action he had perpetrateed. He
bury*d the qx : and takeing fpontaneous flight
as one guilty of impiety betook himfelf into
Crete. But a drought and prodigious fterility
of grain and fruit haveing arifeen, to thofe who,
with common confent, enquire'd of the god, the
prieftels anfwcr'd. The exile at Crete is to ex-
piate thefe things : and if they would iniSid

Porphyry, Qfahftinmee, B. 4, § 15.

106, ANIMAL FOOD THE CAUSE CHAP., V,

punlfliment on the kiler, and ere£k a ftatue of
the flain in the place where he fel, this would
profit as wel thofe who had tafteed, as thofe who
had not touched him : whence an enquiry being
made, and Sopater afterward found, he, think*
ing, as one who was allready in a ftate of expia-
tion, to drive off punifhment from himfelf, if all
in common would do this, told them who had
come to him, that it behove'd to flay an ox from
the city. Now thofe who flood around [afking]
who fliould kil the ox, he promife'd them to
do this office, upon condition he ihould be
made free of the city, and they with himfelf be
accomplicees in the flaughter : which being
granted, they returned to the city, where they fo
order'd the matter, as it even remains among
them to this day. They felected the virgins
who carry*d water : how thefe bring the water
to fharpen the hatchet and the fword : which
when they had fharpenM^ one deliver'd the
hatchet, another kil'd the ox, a third cut his
throat ; and, afterward, flaying him, all ate him*
Thefe things being transacted, they, fewing the
fkin of the ox, and ftuf ing it with hay, fct him
up, in thelike form which he had when alive, and
tye a plough to him as if he were to labour i^
the mil. Now a court of juflice being inflituteed
concerning the flaughter, the partakeers in it

fJHAP. V. or HUMAN SACRIPICEE9. lOj

were caird into judgement, that they might
fipologife for themfelves. When the bearers oF
water caft the blame upon thofe who fead
fharpen'd the ax, thofe allfo who had fharpen'd
the ax, upon him who deliver 'd it, but he, him
who cut the oxes throat, and he, who had done
this, accufe'd the weapon, the weapon, becaufe it
Could not fpeak, they found guilty of the mur-
der, and threw it into the fea.*'*

This fpecies of barbarity prevail'd before the
fiege of Troy, at which we find that human vic-
tims were of fer'd by Achilles at the funeral of
Patroclus 2

^* High an the top the manly corfe they lay^
And wel-fed flieep and fable oxen ilay.
^ Four fprlghtly courfeers, with a deadly groan,
Pour forth their lives, and on the pyre are thrown, .
Of nine large dogs, dprneflick at his board.
Fall two, felcfted to attend their lord.

* Idem, ihiy B. 2, § 29, 30. The bear, as we learn from
Afileys Voyagecs, is treated in a fimilar manner by a hord of
Tartars : -** As foon as they have kil'd the bead, they pui off
its (kin, and hang it, in prefence of their idol, on a very high
tree, and, afterward, revere it, and amufe themfclves with
doleful lamentations ; as if they repented of the impious
deed. They, ridiculously, plead that it was the arrow, not
they, that gave the lethal wound, and tha^t the feather ade4
^ings to its unh apy flight, ^c." (UI, 3 J5 .)

let AHIMAL FOOD THE CAUSE tf AF. V^

llien laft of all, and horrible to tell
Sadfacrificel tweWe Trojan captivea fel;
On thefe the rage of fire victorioui prejs^
. Involves and joint them in one common blaze.*'*

Menelaos, being arriTe*d at Memphis, io
fearch of Helen, was entertained by the Aegyp-
tian monarch with great affection, and had his
vife, and all his treafures reftore*d to him : fa«»
voars to which he made the mod ungrateful re«
turn : for^ being long detained in the country^
by contrary winds, he perpetrateed a moft impi-
ous action ; takeing two children, natives of the
country, and opening their bodys, in order to
confult their entrails concerning his departure.^

In the remoteer agees the blood of animals
was not fhed to prqpitiate the gods ; odours and
perfumes were alone ufe*d in facrificeSs. The
firfb Athenians, following the injunction of
Triptolemus, to regale the gods with fruits, of*
/er'd them onely the produce of the earth. Af*

* Homers Iliad, B. 23. The pioni Aeneai performs »
finular ceremony at the funeral of PalUa :

^ Four youths^ by Sulmoy four by Ufena bred,

TJnbapy victims \ 4e9tine'd to the dea4»

He feize'd alive^ tQ offer on the pyre^

And fprinkle with their blood the funeral fire/'

Yirgils ^/n^i B. 10^
f H<(rodottt9, Euterf$.

CHAP. V. OF HITMAK SACRiFICfiES; iO^

tcrward they offered animals, and the word
Bva-iutf which originally fignify'd to burn per*
fumes, was now a^^ly'd to the fheding of the
blood of vidtms.'* The animals which they (a«
crifice'd were the ox, the hogs the (heep, the
kid, the cock,* and the goofe :f but thefe were
not the onely on^s — they allfo offered up men«{

* Onoe in tlie jtM the under-facnficeer^ or rather the r»-
cred butcher, ready to immolate an ox, fled as feize'd with hor-
rour } to make men remember^ (bat, in times the moll wife and
noft faapj^ the gods were onely prefented with flowers and
froits, and that the barbarity of immdateing animals^ inno*
cent and ufeful^ waa not introdttced> til there were priefta^who
wifh'd to feed upon their bloody and live at the expence of
the people* Yoltairet Diction, fhilofo* (Bourbon.)

'f- Bofes AnttquitietifGreecg.

I ** As Themistdcles was facrificeing on the deck of the
admiral galley, three captives- were brought to him of un-
common beauty, elegantly Atttre'd, and fet off with golden
ornaments. They were fay*d to be the fons of Autavetua
and Sandace, fister to Xerxes. EuphrantideSi the foothfayer,
caftiog his eye upon them, and at the fame time obferveing
that a bright flame blaze'd out from the victims, while*
fneezeing was hear*d from the right [both fortunate omens},
took Themistoclea by the hand, and order'd that the three
youths ihould be coiifecrateed and facrifice'd to Bacchua
fhnettts *r ^or» by this means, the Greeks might be asfured not
onely of fafety, but victory. Themktocles was astonifli'd at
the flrangenefi and cruelty of the order $ but the multitude,,
who, in great and presfing di^ficultys, truft rather to ^bfurdr

ltd AMIMAL FOOD THE CAUSE CHAP; V(

That the ancient Perfians were addicted t6
this barbaroas practice, there can be ho question^
When Croefus was brought to Cyrus, the lattef
commanded him to be fetter'd and place'd on a
great pile of wood allready prepare'd, accbm-
pany'd by fourteen young Lydians, for a facri-
fite to fome god^as the firft-fruits of his victory.*

Xerxes, in his march toward Greece, haveing
come to a place, where bridgees were prepare'd
for his pasfage over the Stryriioti, call'd TAe nins
ways, the magi took nine of the fons and daugK-
f ters of the inhabitants/ and bury'd them alive,
as the manner of the Perfians was : on their ar-
tival, they offer'd a facrifice of white horfees to
the river. Amestrls, ^\{6 of Xerxes, haveing
attain'd to a confiderable age, caufe*d fourteen
children of the beft familys in Perfia to be in-
ter*d alive, for a facrifice to that god who, they
fay 'd, was beneath the earth. f

than raiiond, methods, mvokcM the god with oiie Voice, and;
leading the captivfes to the altar, infiftcd iipon their being of-
fcr*d up, as the foothfayer had diteftcd."" (Plutarchs Lffk
p/ Tbermflocles. ) Philarchus, according to Porphyry, rq)ortcd
that all the Greeks in common, before they marchM againft
their cnemys, facrifice'd men : and, eveti, at this day, fays
he, who knows not that, toward Megalopolis, in the feaft of
Jupiter Latianus, there is a man immolatced ?

* Herodotus, C/>V. f Herodotus, Polymma4

CKAF. V. CP HUMAN SACRIFICEK^. Ill

The Scythians thought no victim worthy of
the goddefs Diana, but a human one,* They
facrifice'd to Mars every hundredth man of their
prifoners.f At the funeral of their king a cer*
lain number of his mod beautiful horfees, and
favourite domesticks, were inter'd in, or facri*
fice'd upon, his grave.}

Nor were the Romans, even, free from this
barbarity, as we are exprefsly told, by Lactan-
tius, that they in his time worlhip'd Latialis
yupiier with human blood. ||

The citizens, according to Livy,«after the bat-
tle of Cannae, facrificeM a Gaulifh man and wo-
man ; a Grecian man and woman were, likewlfc,
let down alive in the bead-market into a vault
under the ground, ftone'dall about, a place afore-
time eipbrue'd and poUuteed with the blood of
mankind facrifice'd ; but not, he ads, according
to the ceremonys and religion of the Romans. §

* Lucian, of/acrjfices. See alfo, Euripides. Lactan. Dg
falja religione, c. 21. Eufebius, P. E. I, 4, c. 7,

f Herodotus, Melpomene.

X Ideittf ihim

H Divinae infil L. I ; DefaK reli, c. 2 r. " Even in Rome/*
fays Tcrtullian, " there refidcs a god thai delights to be re-
galed with human facrificees."

§ B. 22. Pliny asferts that in the 657th year after the
foundatiojn of Rome, in the confulfliip of Cn. Cornelius Lcpi-

ttt ANIMAL FOOD THE CAUSE CHAP« V#

The altar of Diana Orthia, at Lacedaemon,
was, by the exprefs conimand of. the oracle, to
be fprinkle'd with human blood. The custom,
at firft, was to facrifice a man by lot, which Ly-
curgus change*d to the fcourgeing of young men
with whips.*

The Arcadians, allfo, ufe*d to Ihed msffli^s
blood in their divine fervice ; and a ftory is pre-
ferve'd by Pliny, of one who, haveing tafleed
of the inwards of a child which had been kil'd
in a facrifice to Jupiter Lycaeus, was turn'd into a
wolfcf •

When Alexander drew nigh the city Pellion,
which Clytus, the fan of Bardyles, had feize'd,
the enemy, encamp'd upon the adjacent moun*
tains, offered three boys, three maids, and as
many black rams, for lacrifice.}

The high prieil of Albania, a country near
the Caspian fea, pamper'd a man dureing a whole
year ; and, having anointed him with precious

dus and P. Licinius CraBfus, there pafii'd a decree of the fenat^t
forblding exprefsly the kiling of mankind for facrifice*
(B. 30, c. I.)

* Paufanias, B. 3, c. i& The oracle, upon another ooca-
fion» order'd the inhabitants .of Potmae to facrifice to Bacchw
a boy in the flower of his youth« {Idem, B. 9> c. 8.)

f B. 8, c. 22.

X Arrian^ B. i| c. 6«

6ffAP; Ti OF HUMAK SACRIFICEBS^ t 1^

oil, hefactifice^a him, with other victims^ to thi
moohf who, it feexns, was their favourite goddefsi

StTMboy B. 2, p. 768i

The grand national facrificees of the Gauls,
and Btitons, at which the druids, or priefts, ptd-
fideed, were frequent and foiemn.* A numbef
of miferable wretches, frequently the moft vir-
tuous and innocent^ pamper'd for the purpofe^
wet« inclofe'd in a wicker idol, which, while it
\iras confumeing by fire, feem'd to utter the moft
dreadful crys, horrid asfemblage of the (hrieks
and groans of the iinhapy fuffJerers ! Xo the ex*
travagant joy of the furrounding multitude.
They practife'd other liiethods equally ingenious.
Such wdre the Britons I

" It is reported, that, in the time of building
Icolm kilyStXolumba receive'd divine intimation
to bury one of bis companions alive, as a facrifice
necesfary to the fuccefs of his undertaking. It
feems the lots doom'd Oran to fb dreadful a des-
tiny. Three ddys after, Columba open'd the
grave to fee what might be the fate of his friend*

* Gain Eftttn, atquu Teutateih bu^ano cruo¥e pJaceiani !
Lactan. Ditiinat inft't. L. I. Defalfa.uligione, c. 2 1 . " Celta^
V€To ad haee usque tempora &r occidentaliores fere omnes
homiddiofacrificabant.'' Eofcbius^ De fratpa, evan, L. IV.
c. 7.

Oran raife'd his fwiming eyes, and ixfd , * Hiare
is no wonder in death, and hel is not as it is re«
ported.' The fdtA was fo fhock'd by fuch fen-
timents^ that h« caU'd out in a great hurry^
*< Earth, earth, on the mouth of Oran ! that he
may not blab morel' (Gaeiic ftoveris^ £din«
J785, p. 66:)

Even the mild and benevolent Hindoos were^
at a now hapyly distant period, wont to ofSet
human facrificees to the deftructive quality df

the godeTs fihavanee> or Nature : They Ril offer
kids and bufftdos.*

Sec Wilkinses Notes to the Heettfades, pp. 314, 32^5,
326. The wife of a Hindoo, unlefs {he prefer a life of inf^my^
ftil burns faerfelf upon the pile of her deceafe*d hus{>and> and,
tccording to Bvrnier, is, in fomt parts, bury'd alive* There
can be no doobt that !h« ift,upoa thfts'occaiioa, a pTopttivtory
iacriEc«« Koger relates thsA, dttr«iiig liis re£dc»ce tit Paiiao-
cata, on the coad of Coromand^l, a j;entlenian,of the cbetree
or military caft, dye'd, leaveing no lefs than (ixty wives, all of
whom were btirn'd alive with his body. (PorU ouvertf, 1^70,
p. fa a.) See allJb Stru3r8es Voidgcs, 1684, pp. 230, 2j6. This
abominable fuperilition feems to prove that there is. not in the
whole world a (ingle body of priefts, which has not contribu-
ted to the iheding of humali blood. (Langles, FaUes it
eontei Indienst xix.) Upon tbeTc facri£oees the £o£leiih go*
vernoursi (without whofecoofent they caaaot, posfiblely, lake
place) officeers, and other natives, and^ moft probaUdy, alUb
£oglei(h priefts, are calm and earneft fpcctators !

in dafe ctf tlie temples of the Empire of Pcgil
they i)ring tip i number of virgins. One of
theie trnfs^rtundte creatures is annually facri-
fice'd at the feaft of the idol. The prieft, in
iris facerdbtal habits, ftrips her, ftraogles her^
puis out her hestrt, and cafts it in the face of the
idoU In other temples they only facrifice men.
A fkve, bought for the piirpofe, handfome, and ,
^el made, clothe*d in a white robe^ and wafh'd
for three fui:<:esfive mornings, is, afterward,
fliewn to the pfeople; On the fourth day the
J)riefts open feis bdly, tear out his heart, befmear
the Idol with his blood, and eat his flefli as fa^*
tred. ^* Itinocent blood," fay they, " ought t6
fiow, in order to ^xpbtc the fins of the nation;
fiefidc, it is highly neeesfary that fome one
•fliould gd ndw and then near the great godj to
J)Ut him in iiiind of his people.*' It is worth
tematkiflig, howeverj that the priefts never
charge thetnfelves with*the commisfion.^

This horrid fuperftition ilil prevails in fome
parts of Guinea. It is ufual, on the gold'ceaft^
fit the funeral-folemnity of any perfon of distinc-
Hk^ to kil and facrifice feveral of his flaves, in
order to ferve him in the other world : and, ac-
cording to Bosman, poor wretched men, who.

.*K**^

* Hclvctius, De Tefprit, I, i3p, n.

1 1 6 ANIMAL FOOD THE tAUfB CHAF. y«

through age or inability, are become incap^Ie
of labour, are fold on purpofe to be made vic-
tims in thefe accurfe'd offerings.* This writccr,
who is of good authority, faw eleven perfont
kird on fuch an occaiion in the moil barbarous
manner.f Captain Snelgrave, a very intelligent
. and refpectable authour, faw a young child about
ten months old, which had been facrifice'dy by
the advice of the priefts, for the recovery of the
king of Jabrua, hung up on the bough of a tree,
with a live cock tye'd near it^J

The fubjefts of the king of Dahome are fo
barbarous and favage as to offer human facrificees
whenever they gain a victory .§ In one place
captain Snelgrave faw, pile'd on two large
ftagees, the heads of 4000 of the Whidaws, who
had been facrifice'd by the Dahomes to their

.a*

* Defmption of the coqft of Guinea^ ^705, p. 231.

^ Ibi.

X Account of feme parts of Guinea, Introduction. " The
Busfou and Praha, the confidential man and favourite woman,
of every perfon of distinction, are ufually put to death and in-
terred with bim. . . Upon the death of a chief a great many
ilaves are facritice*d, which the Europeans find it imposfible to
prevent." {Report of the lords of council on the fUxve-trade^
1789, (ig. D. and L.) Confalt ailfo this part of the Report
pasjim.

§ i^/>p. 12.

CHAP. V. OP HUMAN SACRIPICBES. 117

god, as an acknowlegement for fome great con-
queft,*

The Giagues are anthropophagi, and eat their
cnemys. When the grain is ripe, the queen,
furrounded by her courtiers, isfues out of her
palace, and, cuting the throats of all who are
found in her route, gives them to be eaten by
her followers. *. Thefe facrificees, Ihe fays, are
necesfary to appeafe the manes of her ancestors,
who fee with regret, the vulgar enjoy a life of
whi^h they ^re deprive'd-, and this feeble cbn-
folation can alone engage them to.blefs the har-
veft.f

The Oran Idaan, or Maroots, a people uear
and upon the Ikirts of th« mountain of Keenee-
baloo, in the north of Borneo, believe the deity
to be pleafe'd with human victiqis. Each indi-
vidual muft, for once at leaft, have imbruc*d his
hands iq a fcllow^creatures blood. The rich are

• tth p. 3JI. Sec allib pp. 37, 41, 100 5 and at p« ,43, adc-
fcription of the ceremony, of which the authour was an eye-
witnefs, and which is too <hpcging tp be tranfcribe*d. Capt,
Snelgraves veracity is confirmed by Robert Norris, authourof
a curious work intiUe'd '* Memoirs of the reign ofBosfa Abadee,
hng ofBahomyr &c. London, 1789/of which fee pp, 87, 93,
JOG, no, 126.

t Helvctius, Derefpritf I| 141.

lift AlHMAL FOOiX THf CAV^Z CBTAT* V^

fay'd to do it often, Earning their houfce$ mth
fculs and teeth/to fbew how much they Jhave
bcnour'd their amhour, and.labour'd to avert his
chastifcment. Sever^l^ in low citcumftanceea,
wil club to buy a Bifayan Cwrxstian flavc,
or any one that i$ to be fold cheap^ that all naay
parcake the beniefit of the (sxecatipn. Sc^ at Ka*
lagany in Mindano^ i^hen the gocT of the beioiuIt
tain gives no brimftone^ they facrilipe ibme ol4
flave to appeafe his wrath."*

The Carthaginians,, a brave and pplifhfd pec^
pie, who rival'd the Romans in acn^^ and ex-
cel'd them in arts, facrifice*d their children tq
Satofrn ; fometimes iingltely upon the altat, in
confequence of a vow,* or for their private ad^
vantage; fonietimes in nun^bers, by throwing
them into a large fire, or iiiclbfeing them in ^
red-hot ftatue of their favourite d^ity, for the
general good. . The latter of thefe ufagees wa?
generally the fubjedl of a great and folemn festir
val ; drums and trumpets play'd dureing the ce-:
remony, and every thing wa$ conducted wrtl^
the ntmoft decorum. Thofe who had nd cbil*
dren themfelves, or who had any they were yn-j

* Forrcsta Vcyage to New^Guincaf p. 368.

OlAf r T« or HUMAN SACRIPtClEto f t9

wtKng to part with^ boBght^ borrcra'd, or ftolo
lhem» from oth«r&.f This laudabk practice
vat, likewtfe^ common to the Phoenicians azki
Canznaeans.

The ancient Peruvians facrlfice'df men and
women of all agecs, whom they had takeen in
war : and fome nations amongil them fb far ext
ceeded the reft in inhumanity that they ofier'd
not onely their enemys, but> on fiome occafions,
their very children to their idols. The manner
of thefe facrificees was to rip open the breafts of
Ac miferabie victims while they were yet alive,
and fo tear out their heart and lungs, with the
blood of which they fprinkJe'd the. jidol ; then^
ihey tnfpected the lungs and heart , to take an'

(

■*^

^ Dureing a fiege> two hundred of Ibve beft fsu»iljs in Cai?T
lltage .wer« facrifice'd in one daj, to a^peafe th< refentm«»t
<if the deity, iocur^d by thfi prortitution of borrowed cbUdrGH.^
upward of three hundred citbens, who had hecu guilty of thif
impioue firaud» at the jDune time offering themfelrea as expia*
tory victims. The fiatue of the god fometiines appear'd with
a fmileing; countenance^ to .>ncourage the children to truft
themfeives on his hand, whence they immediately fel through
an openingi into a deep firey furnace. In fgme parts of
Africa* as we learn from Min'viqius Fdix, mothers facrlfice*d
their own children j and*^ left they (hould off^d the compas-
fionate god with a mournful victim, ftop d their mouths with
kisfea and caresies. TertuUian fays the fame thing, obfervcr
tng that ^' even now thefe villainya are done inprivate«'*

119 A^TMAL POOD THS CA0SB CHAr. f^

omen of good or bad, and know whether the
facrifice were acceptable: they 'then burnt the
entrails, and ate the fleih '^ with great joy and
festivity/' though it were that of their own chiid^
or other relation.*

In the provinces of Paucura and Arma they
facrifice'd two men to the devil every Tuefday.f

Dc la Vega, RoyaJ com, of Feruy p. 7. Sec aUfo Ciezas
Tra*vehi pp. 13 1, 147. *•' When any of the lords of-tbefe vaU
Ijcys dye'd/' faj^ the latter^ *i thej were lamented for maoy
daysy their wives cut off t))eir hair, tl^e ^e(^ belov'd among
them kil*d themfelves, and they made a vail grave or tomb . • •
Within it was a vault in which they lay'd the dead bodjjr
and with it gold, and the arms he had; then m^keing his moft
beautiful wives, and fome boys that ferve'-d him, drank, tbqr
put them alive into the vault, where they left them, that their
lord might go to the devil with company." (p. 34.) Thi^
praettce, from other parts of Ciesas book (a curious and ia«
terefling performance), appciars to have been general. (See
pp. 113, 118, 131,137, 159.) Itftil prevails in Guinea. (See
Duquefnes Voyage to the E, Indies, p. 122; Smithes Foyag^p
p. 226 5 Norrises Memoirs of Bos/a Abadee, king of Dahomy,
p. 130.) At the funeral of a Yakout prince, his favourites
iiorfe, and another, the bed of hn ftud, have their throats cut
over the cocple. This bloody libation, lays our author, is
the homage pay'd to his attachment to thefe animals, who aro.
fuppofe'd to follow him into the other world, where it is
imagine'd he wil again be able to enjoy them. (Lesfeps,
Travels in Kamiscbatka, II, 311.) There can be little doubt
that bis wives and favourite Haves once bore them companj^

J Giesas Travels, p. 53.

(CHAP* T. OF HVMAV SAeHlFlGEBS. 121

Tbefe bloody rites of worihip appear to be
prevalent throughout all the wide excenfive^
ilands of the pacifick ocean.* ^' We were in-
fbrm'd/* lays captain Cooke, fpeaking of tha
inhabitants of Tongataboo, one of the Friendly-
lies, ^' that, in about three months, there would
be performed, on the fame account [i. e. the
^ngs fon being permited to eat with his father],
a hr more important and grander fokmnity {
on which occafion, not onely the tribute of Ton-
gatabob, but that of Hapaee, Vavaoo, and of all
the other ilands would be brought to the chief,
and confirmed more awfully, by facrificeing ten
human victims from amongft the inferior fort of
people, A horrid folemnity indeed!" exclaims
this great man, ^' and which is a mod fignificant
inftance of the influence of gloomy and ignorant
fuperftition, over the minds of one of the moft
benevolent and humane nations upon earth. On
incjuireing/* hp tels us, ^* into the reafon of fo
barbarous a practice, they onely fay'd, that it was
g necesfary part of the Natcbe; and that, if they
pmited it, the deity would certainly deftroy t^eir
)dng."t We have an account, frpm the fanie
authority^ of a human facrifice in Attahooroo,

'••'■r*^

<me of the Society^lfef , where the natives, next
day> fdcrifice'd a pig : It is pretty natch ^mst
fame. A few days after they bad another huci
man iacrifice» '^ Thi& feeond inftadce^ wlthim
the courie of a few day s^ was too mehacholy. ai
proofs how numerous the vktims of tkaf bloodT^
fupei:ftition are amongft, this [othervtfife] hnmaiiQ
peopte.*'* He " counted no lefa tfefw forty-
xune ikuto of former victims^ lyelog before the
nj9^ai, where ^he' faw one more aded to the num-
ber :'' andj from the fculs haveing fuffer'd little
change from the weather, infers ^ that no great,
length of tim£ had elapfe'd, fmccj at leaft^ this
confiderable number of unhapy wrenches had
been offer'd upon thi» altar of blood."-!- la
ihort, every appearance led our people to believe,
that this barbarous practice was very general;^ ;
and we find it to obtain univerfally amongd thcr
inhabitants of the Sandwich ilands^

«r

Tantnm Religio fctuU Juadcre mahfum P

Ihh n, SI. 57-

t Ibi, II, 41;

t Ihiy II, 303.

^ Ibii III* 132, i6i». See more on this fiibje^b in Por«
phjnys Treatife of ahjlinence, B. 2$ Cyril againil Julian, B. 4;
Lactantiusi B. I9 c« 21 3 Eufebius, De pra. evan» B. 4i c. 7 ;
mnd in Yoltaiita J^utrnttnair^ (hilofofiijtUf aitide Antbrofo^
fbages.

Who firft taught fouls enilave'd, and realms undone,
Th* enormous faith of many made for one 5
That proud exception to all Natures laws,
T' invert the world, and counter-work its caufe ?
' force firft made conqueft, and that coriqueftj law 5
Til fuperftition taught the tyrant awe.
Then fliare-d the tyranny, then lent it aid,
And gods of conqu'rors, (laves of fubje£ls made.
Slie 'mldf! the light^nings bla^e an^ jthuiiders hmi, /*
When rock'd the mtjuntains j and whaa gtoftli'd the groiNid^
j5hc taught the weak. to bend» the proud ip pray,.
To pow*r unfeen, and mightycr far than they ;
She, from the rending earth, and burfting Ikys,
S^w gcxis defoendr and fiends inUmsi rikz
Here fix-4. the dreadful, tkeno the bkft^d aihodc^;'
'Fear msM^e hier devib, and we^k hope her gods i

ft.

Oods partial, changeful, pasfionate, unjuft,, ,

Whofe attributes were rage, revenge or luft 5

Such ^ the fouls of cowards might conceive,

Aid^ &nn'4 ^ke tyrants, tyrants woiild believe.

j^eal th«p, not charity, became the guide,

^nd hel wa# bi»iit on fpite, and heaven on pride. •

Then facred feem'd th' aetberial vault no more |x

Altiars grew marble ^l^en, and reek'd with gore :

^Xheo firft the fibmen tafteed Kveing (bod ;

Hext his girtm idri fme^r'd with hnsiaa Hood ; : -*

With heavens own thunders (hook the world below,

And play 'd the god an epgine on his foe.* ^.

•••

mmmmm

* fopcs Es/aj on marij vcr. Ji4i> ^€»

Xl4 HtTMjLKrLESHTHEtOKSEQVSKCB' CH.TXi

CHAP. VI.

HUMAN FLESH THE CONSEGtUENCE OF ANIMAL

FOOD.

As hitman facrificees were a natural effe6l of
that fuperftitious cruelty which firft produce*d

the Qaughter of animals, fo is it equally natural
that thofe accustomed to eat the brute, {hould not
long abftain from the man : more efpecially as;
when toafted or broiFd on the altar, the appear- •
ance, favour, and tafte of both would be nearly,
if not entirely, the fame. But, from whatever
caufe it may be deduce'd, nothing can be mere
certain than that the eating of human flefh has
been a practice, in many parts of the world, from
a very remote period, and is fo, in fome, at this
day. That it is a confequence of the nfe of
animal food there can be no doubt, as it would
be imposiible to find an inftance of it among
people who were accustomed folely to a vege-
table diet. The progrefs of cruelty is rapid.
HaWt renders it fiamiliar, and hence it is deem'd
natural.

The man who, accustomM to live on roots and
vegetables, firft devoured the fleih of the fmallcft

€H. VI. OF ANIMAL FO0D« 1 25

aniinal^ commiced a greater violence to hU own
nature than the moit beautyful and delicate fe*
male, accustomed to animal food^ would feel in
feeding the blood of her fellow-creatures for
fustenance ; posfcfsM as they are of e^tquifite
feelings, a confiderable degree of intelligence, and
even^ according to her own religious fystem, of
a liveing foul.* That this is a principleinthefocial
dispofition of mankind is evident from the deli«
berate coolncfif with which feamen, when their
ordinary provifions are exhaufted, fit down to
devour fuch of their comrades as chance or con<^
triveance renders the victim of the moment : a
f a£| of which there are but too many, and thofe
too wel-authenticatced, inftancecs, f ^ Such a

* Genefis, I, 20, in the margin.

f See The melancholy narratwe of captain Harrison of thft
ilpop Peggy, p. 21, &c. 5 Narrative of the Jbip^preck of the
Nottingham galley , p» 19; Shipwreck and adventures of
P^ierre yiaud,p. 165 ;— Account of the lofa of the brig Maiy
and Ann of London, in The morning chronicle of Decern. 2i,
1791 ; Voyages and travel j of an Indian interpreter (J, Long),
p. 126* See allfo aii account of fome Ufipians in Tacituses
Life of/lgricola. In the old testament, and in the history of
Jofephas, at different fiegees of Jerufalem the Jcwilh women
ate their own children. (Sre II Kings^ vi, 26, and Whistops
Jofephus, p. 93 1 .) Tfce foldicrs of Cambyfes, in his frantlck
expedition againll the Aethiopians, fed upon herbs fo long 9s

they found any in the way 5 but When they arrive'd in the

ili6 HUMAN FJLCSK THE tXmSQlVCNCE HB. ^'

tjimct vrhich xio oeoesfity can justify, would
never enter the mind tif a ftarting Gentoo> nor^
indeed^ of any one that l^ad not been prevbosly
accustomed to animal food. Even among the
Bedoujfis^ or wandermg Arabs of the defert^ ac*
coidkg to the obfervation of the enli^ten'd
Vol^r» though they {o often cKperience the
e&tremity of hunger^ the practice of devouni^
human flcfli w^ never hear'd of. Content witfa
his milk and his dates, the Bedouin has not de-^
£re*d flefli; he has Aed no blood ; his hiinds
SiXe not accustom'4 to ilaughter, nor his ears to
the crys of fu£^iii|g creatures ; he has preferve'd

***■

»^fca»— 11 « ii « I II

fandy deferts, fome of them were gultty of a horrid section : for
tb^ caft lota anumg themialves, and ate -e v er y tenth -man.
(Herodotus, Tballa,) The Numan tines, accovding to Vale-^
riu8 Maximus, heing befiege'd by Scipio, were condrain'd id
feed upon mans fleih. But necesfity, fay's that authour, was
no excufe for this; for there was no necesfity for them tor
liTe, to whom it was fo lawful to dye. The horrid impiei^,
liowever, of the Calagurritans, it feems, exceeded the ohfll*
nacy of the former : who, being befiege'd by Pompey, and
liaveing devour*d all other creatures in the city, fcl to feaft
upon tlieir w'ives and children ; and, to the end the armed
youth might nouriih their bowels with tbehr own bowels
the longer, they were not afray'd to fait up the unfortunate
remains of the dead bodys. In comparifon of thefe, he ex**
claims, ferpents and wQd bejifls are gentle and merciful cr6a^
turn I (B. 7, c. 6.)

tH. rt» OF inifiWAL TObK iif

ft Jiumaoe aTid fetifible heam The habk of fh^^
tttg blood, he fays, and tearing his prey/ has fa^^
miiiaxife^d the iayage to the fight of death and
fufferi]igs« Tormented by hunger he has de^-
£re*d fleDi ; and finding it eafy to obtain that of
imfellow^creature, he could not long hefitate to
iM him, to fatisfy the craveings of his appetite.
The firft eKperiment made, this -cruelty degene-
rates into a habit ; he becomes a cannibal, fan^
guinary and atrocious, and his mind acquires
tiJl the infenfibility of his body.'*
, The Cyclops and Lacftrigons, in the Odysfey,
are devourers of human flefh, as are, likewife,
^cylla and the Syrens.

The Scythian drank the blood of the firft pri-
soner he took ; and made the (kin of his head
ferve him for a handkerchief^ and, ibmetimes,
the flkins of the entire bodys, for a coat. The
Melanchlaenians, allfo, a Scythian nation, fkA
upon human ikfli.f

The CuUaiii^ a nation of India, when alked
by Darius, for what fum they would confent to

^k*~**>^

* Travels, I, 409, 410'.

f Herodotus, Melpomene, The Scythians, according to
Pliny, were anthrofofhagi, or eaters of mans flefli > they ufe'd
\o drink out of mens fculs,and to wear the. fcalps, hair and all>
jkiftead of ftomachen. (B. 6| c. 17 ^ B. 7, c» i.)

J li nvUkn FLE«H THE GOKSEQtrENCE CfH. tfi

burn the dead bodys of thdr parents, were
ilruck with horror at the propofal ;— ^-they onely
atolbem.* The Padaeam, another Indian nation^
ate raw flefh ; and^ when any one of the commu«
nity was lick (or rather^ it may be^ founds plumpj
and in good plight), his beft friends prefently
dispatch'd him ; faying, he was in a wafteing
condition, and the diseafe would corrupt hit
body. If he deny'd he was fick, they had no
regard to his words, but kil'd him, and feafted
upon his fleih. A woman in the fame circum*
fi^cees was treated in the fame manner, by
other women.f

The Isfedons, whofe country adjoined to Sey-»
thia, prefer'd the fleih of a (hcep hafh'd with that
of a parent. I The Masfagetae, a Scythian na<^

* Idem, Tbalia. The Greek foldiers in the Ferfian Irm/

Justuned not a (hock when the above monarch, to (how the

force of custom, demanded for how much they would devour

the dead bodys of their parents, which they were accustom'd

to burn. Idem, ibi.

f Herodotus, Tbalia,

X Herodotus, Melpomene* This ceremony was obferve'd to
a late period by the Samojedes, a word fynonymous with Au"
ihrofofhagi, or man-eaters,' and who were probablely of Scy-
thian defcent, who nfe*d to eat the bodys of their dead friend^
with venifon. Sec A relation of three emhasfies performed bf
tie E. of Carltfte, p. 83.

CFT. Vr. OF ANIMAL FOOD; 1 2 J

tion, had a fimilar tafte. The relations of an in-
firm perfon ufe'd to asfemble, and haveing facri-
fice'd him, along with an ox, or fome other ani-*
nial, had' all the fleih boil'd together, and fat
down to it as to a feaft.* This method is ad-
tiiire'd by fdme as a hapy thought of at onc^e
giveing a n^n burial, and celebrateing his frnie-
ral rites.f They did not, however, obferve the
fame honours toward thofe who dye'd a natural
death : a distinction which^ in fome degree, is
preferve'd among pious Christians, — with re-
fpe3:, that is, to the afttendant animal Juvenal
fays of the Tentyrites,

*' Afpieifnus pafulost &c,*' ' ,

** An impious crew we have beheld^ whofe rage
Their enemys very life cou'd not asfwagc,

* Herodotus, Clio,

^ The Braiilians^ according to Dcllon, " don't «ven inter
their dead friends, but devour theia, even fometimes be-> ^ \

fore the breath is out df their, bodys. For, if they judge their »
friends pad all hopes of recovery, they kil them for fear they
Ibould grovir lean before they dye 3 and, becaufe they would
husband their dead friends to the bed advantage, they dry their
bones, which they beat to powder, and make up in a kind of
pap, and fo eat it. When the Europeans upbraid them with
their crueltys, they return us for anfwcr, that we are a com-
pany o( impious wretches, who fuffcr our friends and parents
to be confume'd in the earth by the vermin, when we might, • .

with more reafon, afford them our belly for their burying-
place,*' {J^oyage to the' E. Indies, p. 200.)

130 HUMAN FLESH THE CONSEQUENCE CH. VI.

Unlefs they banquet on the wretch they flew,

Devour the corps, and iick the blood they drew !

What, think you, wouM Pythagoras have fay'd

Of fuch a fcaft, or to what defart fled ?

Who flefli of animals refufc'd to cat.

Nor held all forts of pulfe for lawful moat ?»

Even, of late days, fays Pliny, to go no fur-
ther than to the other fide of the Alps, there be
thofe that kil men for facrlficc, after the manner
of thofe Scythian people, the Cyclops and Lyjiri-,
gonest of which he has been fpeaking, and that,
he ads, wants not much of chewing and eating
their flefh.-f This unnatural propenfity wasnot en-
tirely extin6l in that country at a' very late pe-
riod : a woman of the city of Chalons in Cham.
pagne ate her own fister ; another devoured her
husband ; and, a third, haveing murder'd her
children, faked their bodys, and ate of them
every day as a delicious morfeL|

* Satyraxy.

t B. 7, c. I. Plmy, m his purfuii of thcfe foreign anthropO'
^hagiy forgot that even in Rome (as wc are told by Tertullian)
Eellonasprieds regale*d all their votarys with human blood ;
and that in the Circen(ian games, thofe that had the falling
ficknefs fuck*d the blood of the wounded gladiators : that boars
and lions, fatten'd with human flefli, were the daintys on
which they Fed ; and that the entrails of a wild bead that had
jufl devour'd a man were very acceptable. {Apology for tbi:
Christians.)

I Ma7i a macbin$t p.'4i»

feH. Vli Ot ANtMAL FOOD. I3I

After the fiege of Leyden was raifeM, there
were certain Hollanders who found a Spaniard^
open'd him, caufe'd his heart to be drefs'd, and
ate it.*

The ancient Britons, like the other Gauls,
thought it criminal to take the life of a hare qx a
goofe^ but would facrifice (as we have feen), and
even eat,f a man with the iitmoftcompofure. They
would have fhudder'd with horrour at the pro-
fanenefs of a philofopher, who fliould have had
the courage to tel them that it was no lefs crimi-
nal to kil, for the purpofe of food, a man than a
goofe : pretty much, no doubt, as their more hu-
mane and polifh'd fucccsfors would do, at pre-
fent, on hearing it feriously maintained that they
had an equal right by nature to kil both*
' III . — — .. .. II. .. , . -_ -

* Scaligerana, p^ ^36.

f Diodorus Siculus relate!, that the Britons who inhabited
Iris (now Ireland) devour*d human flelh (B. 5) ; which is
corroborateed by Strabo (B. 4). The Gauls conduced by
Brennus into Greece did the fame. (Paufanias, Pbocicks.)

St. Jerome fays that he himfelf, when a boy, in Gaul, faw
the Scots, a Briiilh nation (/. €. in prefent Ireland), eat hu-
man flefli, and that when they found herds of fwine, or other
cattle, they ufeM to cut off the buttocks of the herdsmen, and
breads of the women, which they esteem*d the onely daintys.
{^Adverfus Jovinianum, C. 2.)

T hefe Iriih Scots, transported into the north of Britain, are
foy'd to have been antbrojsofhag'i even in the reign of William

132 HUMAN FLESH THE CONSEQUENCfi CH. VI*

There is a recent infta^ce of cannibaliAi^ in
'Etigleland. At the Cent asfizees for Chfe^tei*,

the conqueror, who punlfti'd them for it, {Monast'con AngTt^
C'lnunit 1, p. 72) : nor was the race quite exiinft, fdr fonrrc ccn-
turys lateer, as we arc in form 'd by two of their oWn historian^.
Thus Andrew of Wyntown, under the year 1339 ;

*' A karle, thai fay'd, wes het-e thare by,
That Wald f^t fettys comowtialy
Chyldyr and women for to fla,
And fwanys, that he mycht onrc-ta,
And etc thame all, that he get mycht j
Crystyne Kick tyl name he hycht.

• • - ^

That fary lyf contenwyd he,
^whilwaft but folk wcsthfe^'ciintre."

Thus, allfo, Robert Lindfay of Pitfcottie :— " About tlifs
time, under the year 1460, there was apprehended and takdn,
for a moft abominable and cruel abufe, a brigand, who
haunted and dwelt, with his whole family and houshold, out
of all mens company, in a place of Angus, called The fiends
den. This mlfchievous man had an execrable fadlion, to tak(5
all young men and children , that either he could ileal quietly,
or take away by any other moyen, without the knowledge of
the people, and bring them home and eat them ; and, the
more young they were, hp held ihem the more tender, and the
greater delicate. For the which damnable abufe he was
burnt, with his wife, bairns and family, except ayounglafs of
one year old, which was fave'd and brought to Dundee, where
fhc was fr-ster'd and brought up ; but, when (he came to wo-
rn an s years, (lie was condemned and burnt quick, for the fame
crime her father and mother were conviflfd of. It is fay'<f,'
That, when this young woman was com eing foirjth to the

fl. Yt. pf ANIMAI,. FOOD. 1 33

ip, 1777, one. Samuel Thorley^ a bu^cheks^
HOL.Low£ii> was try'dj for the milirdeE of Ann

place of execution, that there gather'd a great multitude of
people about her, and fpecially of women, curfeingand wary-
ing that (he was fo unhapy [i. /. hiischievous} to commit
fuch damnable deeds : to whom (he turn'd about, with a wood
[i. e. mad] and furious countenance, faying, Wherefore chide
ye with me, as i had commited an unworthy crime ? Give me
credit, and trow [i.^. believe] me, if ye had experience of eating^
mans and womans ileih, ye would think the fame lb deli-
cious, that ye would never forbear it again/* {^History of Scol^
Jandi p, 6j.) This young woman was by no means lingular
in the preference ihe gave to human flefh : the cannibals, ac-
cording to doctor MofFet, praifeing it above all other, as
Oforius writeeth : *' and Cambletes king of Lydia, haveing
eaten of his own wife^ fay'd he was forry to have been igno- .
rant fo long of fo good a diih." {Healths improvement,
p. 160-1.) " Dureinga dreadful famine in India,** fays J. de
Lonseiro, '* which deftroy'd more than a hundred thoufand
perfons, when the roads and flreets were cover'd with dead
bodys, i fawfeveral have the refolution to preferve their lives
by this disgufting food [human flefli] ; but fome of them,
though not many, found it fo delicious, that, when the fa-
mine was at an end, they retain'd fuch an irrcfistible propcn-
fity to human flefti, that they lay in wait for the liveing, in
order to devour theni :** ading, in particular, two inflancees,
of a mountaiincer and a woman. (Obfervations on the in-
ducements to eating htim^n flefh, Philofofbical magazine, for
Augull 1799.)

In 1 768 the ravagees of famine were fo great at Patna, a
large city in the kingdom of Bahar, that hundreds of Indians
pcriQfd dayly for want of food. The furvivecrs began even

. ' 5

■k

134 HUMAN FLHSH THE CONSEQUENCE CH. VJ.

Smith, a ballad-finger, about twenty-two years
of age. He decoy'd her, lay with her, murder'd

to attempt fatisfying their cravelng hunger with the flcfli of
the dead, in order to preferve their own exiftence. Stavorinus,
Voyages to ibe E. Indies^ I, 152. (This dreadful calamity,
he obferves, may chiefly be attributed to the monopoly whit h
the Engleilh had made of the rice.)

Moryfon, haveing made mention of the Engleifh army in
Ireland, " deftroying the rebels corn, and ufeing,** as he fays,
*' all meanes to famifh them," proceeds, by two or three exam-
ples, to fhew the miferable estate to which they were reduce 'd.
** Sir Arthur Chichester, 8irRich.Moryfon,and the other com-
ipanders of the forcees, fent againft Brian Macart, in their re-
turn homeward, faw a mod horrible fpectacle of three children
(whereof the eldeil was not above ten jears old), all eating and
gnawing with their teeth the entrails of their dead mother,
upon whofe fle(h they had fed twenty days pad. . . . Cap-
tain Trevor, and many honeft gentlemen, lying in the Newry,
can witnefs, that fome old women of thofe parts ufe*d to make
a fier in the fields, and divers little children driveing out the
cattel in the cold mornings, and comming thither to warm
them, were by them furprife'd, kil'd, and eaten.** {Itinerary,
Part 2, page 271.)

*' About the year 1652 and 1653 the plague and famine
had fo fwept away whole countrys, that a man might travel
twenty or thirty*ixiiles, and not fee a liveing creature, either
ipan, bead, or bird ;*' they being all dead, or haveing quitcd
thefe defolate placees. .."I have feen,'* fays the writeer,
*< thofe miferable creatures [ageed men, women, and children]
plucking (linking carrion out of a ditch, black and rotten ;
afid have been credibly inform'd, that they digged corpfesout
of the grave to cat. But the moft tragical ftory i ever hear'd

C H . VU OP ANIMAL FOOD. I35

her, cut her to piecees, and ate part of her. The
circumftancees were too (hocking to relate. He
was convidled [executed], and afterward hung,
in chains.*

The inhabitants of Dccba, in the province of
Guzerat, in India, according to Thevenot, were
formerly man-eaters, and **lt is not long fince,**
he fays, " that mans flefli was there publickly
fold in the markets ;*'f ^ as it is fay'd to have

was from an officer commanding a party of horfe, who, hunt-
ing for tories [^Irlih] in a dark nighty difcover'd a light : . . .
drawing near« they found it a ruin'd cabin, and befeting it
round, fome did alight and peep in at the window, where they
faw a great fire of wood, and a company of miferable old wo-
men and children fiting round about it, and betwixt them
and the fire a dead corpfe lay broiling, which, as the fire
roafied, they cut off coliops [from] and ' ate.'" (Colonel
Lawrences Intereft of Irelandy idi part, p. 86, 87, citeed
in Currys Review, 11, loj.) Such were the blcsfings of Ire-
land under the protection of £ngleifli humanity ! Unlefa
the royal army, and national militia, and Orange volunteers,
are much belye'd, the crueltys they coromited upon the mife*
rable Iriih rebels, of all agees, ranks, and {cTtSy were fcarcely
lefs than thofe allready defcribe*d. The compileer of thefe
pagees, as he was fiting at dinner in a gentlemans houfe,
bearM the colonel 0/ a regiment acknowlege, with borrour,
the wretches he had put to death, in cold blood (which he
jind others prefent, cannot fail to recoUe6l)*

* Annual register, for that year.

+ Travels, P^rt 3, page 7. China.

'-^

J 36 HUMAN Fl^ESH TH,E CQNjSfiQjUENCE CH- VI.

ipmetimes bcjeo, in tho£& ofCochin-Chljia^* Hu-*
|aain fleih is aXIlb, at this day, eaten, ia the iIa^
of Sumatra by the Bata peopk.f

Aroe Tancte, king of Soping and rfie Bougi-
nefky like the ancient inhabitants of Celebes, was
a cannibal, aotd renaarkabJ^ly fond of hum^n fl^fb,
fc tba,t he even u&'d to fa,teQ bis pnfoneirs, andt
cuting their heart out alive, ate h raw, wi-ih pep-
per and fait, esteeming it the lapft delicious mor^
felofaILt

The Andamants, a nation of ilanders in the
gulf of Bengal, are fuch barbarous favagees as
to kil all who are unhapy enough to be driv6en
upon their coaft, *' and eat them for food."§.

The Aniigues, a natioa of Afxica, efidue*d
with many temporal benefits, and abounding
with natures blesfings, delight in eating mans
flefli more than any other food, coveting evea
their friends, whom they embowel with a greedy
delight, laying, they can no way better exprefs.
true affection than to incorporate their deareft
friends and relations into themfelves, as in love

* Sir James Stauntons Account of the embasjy to Cbi^a,

f Marsdcns History of Sumatra, p. 298.

J Stavorinus, Voyage to the E.Indies, II, 221,

§ Duquefnes Foyage to the E» Indies, p. i2q.

CftsVl. Of ANIMJIL. FOOD. l^J

bjefoxe, UQW iijtbody, uniteing tu'o iRone. They^
have, allfo, Ihambles of men anu woro^ns flefli^
joiated and; cut in feveral pkcees,, ^^ fonxe,.
weary o£ life,, voluxitarily proffer therafelves tQ
the butcher,, and a,re accordingly fod, wd c^tw^^

The Zuakins, aAotber nation of this quarter,
ftiew a feeming humanity to fuch ftrangcrs as are
fhipwreck'd on their coaft, allowing them a coq-»
venient place to lodge in, with plenty of animal^
food to eat,, and fometimes entertain them witU
their mufick, — " and then deftroy the f^teft, ayi
they have occafion to feafl: on them/'f

The neg^ros,from the inland parts,are, allmoftj^^
without exception, <zw//^r^^(?^i'^^i, h^vea ierril;>le,u
tiger-like, fcarcely human afpefl:, and pointed or
jaged teeth, clofeing together like thofe of a ^>x,.
Moft of thefe are fo fierce and greedy after hu*
man flefli, that they bite large piecees out of the
arms or legs of their ' neighbours, and feltow-
OmoSy 'whkh they fwallow with greal ^yi^hy,.^

Robert Mor«, furgeoa of The Italian g^Uey^
being fent by his commander, captain Joha

* Hferberts TravaiUy 1634, p. 10.

t Hamihons Account of the B, Indusy I, 30. He ads- 4
(hocking inftance of the crew of a TurkiQi galley, half o^
which was, from time to time» put to the ipit.

J Sclutiensjrom literary journals, 1798, I, 45*5 cites- Oi«
dendorp, p. 285.

^t'

138 HUMAN FLESH THE CONSEQUEKCE CH. VI,

Dagge, to the king of Dahomeg camp, with
prefents for his majesty, faw many flrange things^
efpecially human fleih fold publickly in the great
market-place.* The Dahomes eat the bodys of
thofe that are facrifice'd, which they boil, and
look upon as holy food.f This is confirm'd by
a recent authority, in which we find that many
African nations are addicted to this unnatural
practice, and that, from the concurrent testi-
mony of thofe who have been at Bonny, it is wel
known that a Bonny man kils and eats an An-
dony man, and an Andony man treats a Bonny
man in the fame way, whenever he has an op-
portunity : and this in a familiar repad, and not
merely in favage triumph after a victory, J [or as
a religious facrifice].
The inhabitants of Gape Palmas on the coaft

* Snelgraves Acc$urd of Guinea, p. ^3* See allfo, p. 41,
»od p. i33» an extraordinary inftance of cruelty pr^ctife'd by
the Dahoroes upon Mr«Testeibletbe Engleifh governpur, which
concludes by their cuting his body in piecees, broiling them on
the coals^ and eating them. Some of thole that ate part of hit
fleih were, afterward, fo audacious as to tel feveral Portuguefe
geatlemen, who talk'd with them about it> ''That Enqleish

»IBF WAS VEEY good!"

t Smiths Voyage to Guinea^ p. i io« '
% Norrises Memoirs of BosfaAhadei kin^ ofDabomy, ^7^9^
p. lo.

CH. VI. OF ANIMAL FOOD. I39

of Guinea, though posfefs'd of a country which
affords them plenty of prbvifions, and wanting
nothing that is necesfary for the fupport of life,
delight in human flefli whenever they can come
;atit. ' «

The Hottentots eat any thing : they make no
difference whether their meat is kil'd, or dead with
any distemper, or whether it be mans flefh.*

The Gango negros, in Surinam, according to
Stedman, are fuppofe'd to be anthropophagi or
cannibals, like the Caribbee Indians, inftigateed
by habitual and implacable revenge. ** Amongft
the rebels of that tribe," he fays, " after the
takeing of Boucou, fome pots wei^e found on
the fire with human flesh \, which one of the
officers had the curiofity to tafie, and dec!are!d
it was not inferior to fome kinds of beef or

PORK."f

* Schcwitzcrs Voyage to the E, Indies , p. 239.

•f Narrative, 11, 367. ** I have been fincc asfureM/* he
ada, " by a mister VangUls, ah American, that haveing tm«
veled for a great number of miles inland in Africa, he^ at
length, came to a place where human legs, arms, and thighs,
hung upon wooden (hambles, and were expofe'd to fale, like
batchers meat in Leadenhall-market : and captain Joha
Keene, formerly of the Dolphin cutter, poiitively asfure'd me,
that when he, a few years fince, was on the coaft of Africa, a
capt. Dunnigen, with his whole crew, belonging to the Nasfau
fichooner> were cut in piecees^ falted^ and eaten, by the negros

f4<^ HUMAN F4,5SHl THE. CO liSKf^yENCE CH. VI#.

In fotac countrys of Peru, fays the inca Gair-
cilasfo de la Vega, th&y were fuch great Ipv^r^.
of ma^s flefh, that, whea they were kiling an l^n-
dlan, they would fuck his blood at the wounci
they had giveen hira; and when they qoftrtcr'dbi*.
l^dy, they would lick their fingers, that no.i one
drop of blood fhoul4 be wafteed : in their fltaoM
bles ihey coma^aly fold, oieous bodys^ makeipg
laufagees of their guts, fluff isj^ them wiiK flefli,
that nothing flight be lo.Ct. Fe-ter of Cie99> he
ads., IB the 26 th chapter of hjiabook, 4eclare& £>
much, and affirms that be faw it with hi& owa
^yes ; aud that fo far ch^ir gluttony provoke'd
them that they did not %are thofe very ckildrea
which they begot i^pon tt¥>fe women whom ^hey
had takeen captives 19 the war i but breedmg*
t|ien^ with fuch car< ^^d^ diet as might m^ke^
them fit, fo foon as they came to be twelve yea^%
of age,, and that they were plump and tender,,
they drefs'd them fyx their t^ible, and devoured
them wih their inptheitS. . . • Moreover to t^ofe
nea whom they took in (he war they gave wo-
men, and their breed they nourifti'd and fatenM,

of Great Drewin.'* The compilecr of this book was in form 'd,
by the late Francis Rusfell, efqulre, foltcitor to The hoard of
trade^ that a gentleman, who had been at Sumatra, aafure'd
bim that he had there feen this ibrt offle/b-markei.

^kh iritent *o 'eat ihcviir, " ks we i>d ^AteBs

fe*D CALVES.'^*

Thfe Fattcur^ttis iife*4 tdlhttt up their prifonert
ill ^oops aitd Jj^ns, ordermg then^ to be s^d fed-,
^d, tvtieiifat, took them out, dn festivals, tb
«*i open place before thteirlioufeSs, where, bdhg
fil'ft ftuaM by a blow <^ the neck, they werfe
Icird a^d devofur'd. Of this Cielsa had befen 8«i

eye-wicnefs.

The Chirihuanas, a nation of Peru, lohg'd fo
much for hiiiinanflefh, "that when they furprife'd

* Royal commeniarUs of Peru, p. 8, 9. And fee P. de
Ciezas Travels, pp. 30, 33, 41, c. 20, p. 53. *' When we dis-
cover'd tbofc countries," fays the tatt^r^ •• wc found fuch
numbers of heads of Indians before the doors of the priitte
men, that fhey look'd as if (hamUes of human fkih had been
kept before each of them." P. 34* The following anecdote
is curious : *' About 25 or 30 [Spanlfh] foldiers, going abroad
a marauding, or, to fpeak plain, to fteal what they could find,
lighted on iome people that fled, for fear of beisg feen «iid
takeen by us. There they found a great pot, full of boii'd
meat, and their hunger was fo great, that they thought of no-
thing but eating ; but when they were wel fatisfy'd, one of them
puird out a hand, with all its fingers and nails ; befides which
.they afterwards discovered pieces of feet, of two or three quar-
ters of men that were in it. The Spaniards, beholding that
fpectacle, were forry they had eaten of the meat, and their
ftomachs turn'd at the fight of the hands and fingers ; but
IT pass'd over with them, and thiy bbturn'd sa-
tisty'd, haveing Goir out huncery/' (P.43O

l4^ HUMAN FLESH THE CONSEQtJEKCE CH. rU

at any time (hepherds keeping their flocks of flieep^
or herdsmen watching their cattel, they would
forfake and negled the herds and droves> to take
and devour the flelh of the fhepherds.* A dis*
po(ition> it is posfible, they retain to this day^ as
the Spaniards ineffectually attempted to fubdue
them i and fo rooted does it appear to have been
that the author exprefsly declares that nothing
lefs than a miracle would reclaim them, f

The Guaicureans, a- people of Paraguay,
before they were civilifc'd by the misfionarys,
would not allow their women to paint til they
had tafteed human fleih ; and, therefor, when
they kil'd enemys, would divide them among'
the young ladys, or give them the corpfe of their
own dead.;^

The favage Indians of the Ladrone ilands are
fay*d to eat white men, if they can take them, and
drink their blood, devouring all they catch raw. |{

* DcU Vega, Royal commentaries, p. 279.

f Idem, ihi. De la Vega is an honeft and a fenfible writecV^
and of the firft authority. Some of the Peruvians^ be tets us,
ufe'd to eat their^ parents alive; and his defcriptioa of the An*
thropophaginian feafis of the natives of Ant is is too horrible
to repeat. That there are ftil cannibals in the inland coun« j
try, fee Condamines Voyage, p. 42,

X Woodes Rogerses Voyage round the world, 171 2, p, ^^9.

II C, Cookcs Voyage to the Soutb-fca, iji2, II, 17. The

CH. Vl» OF ANIMAL FOOD* I4J

The natives of New-Zealand and FeeteCj as
we learn from captain James Cook, eat thofe
they take or kil in battle. The people of the
Society-iles appear to have been formerly canni*
bak^* and thofe of the Sandwich-ilands, and
Nootka-found> are fo ilil.f

When the Caribbians brought home a pri-
foner of war from among the Arouagues^ he be-
longed of right to him who either feize'd on him
in the fight, or took him runing away, fo that
being come into his iland, after he had kept
him fading four or five days, he produce'd him
upon fome day of folemn debauch, to ferve for
a publick victim to the immortal hatred of his
countrymen toward that nation. If there were any
of their enemys dead upon the place, there they
ate them ere they left it. They had heretofore
tafteed of all the nations that frequented them,
and affirmed that the French were the moft deli-
cate, and the Spaniards of hardeft digestion.
They are now nearly extirpatced by the tlhris-
tians.^

iUnders of Java were cannibals in Le Blancs time, and To were
the Brafilians.

• Voyage to the Paetfick oeean^ 11, 44, 169.

\ Ibi^ II, 209,210, 271.

$ History of the Canhby-iJIandSf 1666, p, 526. The <?!»•

144 HUMAN FLESH TRt COMSfQUENCfi CHiiTU

TheNofth-Americanlhdkns^diotigh Am can-
•liibffls at prefent, appear, from ftrong cirtom-
4la'ncee&^ to have been fo at no very di^ant '^ettcd^
They ftil, however, drink the blood, anS even
occafionally eat the hearts of theft" prifoners.^

The Indians of Po:io, much the brafvteft of «(fl
the natives of Peru, were Tuch loveere of human
•fleffh that Cieza '^ one day faw them devout*
above an hundred Indian men and women they
had kird and taken in war/*f The Indians of

rious reader^ from the next page but one, may becdnne ac-
quainted with therr methods of cookiy. See alUb 'Edwtrdscs
History of the ff^. Indies, I, 31. When the Spaniards firft
landed in Guadalupe, an iland of the cannibals, " they founde
in theyr kytchens mans flefhe, duckes flefhe, and goofe fleihe,
al in one pot, and oth^r on the fpyts, ready to be layde to the
tyte, (Entrfng into their inner lodgynges, tbqr feunde faj;-
gottes of the bone« of mens armes and lej^ges, Which they re-
ferve to make heades for theyr arrowes ; the other bones th^y
cad away when they have eaten the fleHie* They founde,
lykewyfe, the head of a young man faftened to a pofte, iCnd
yet^leedyng. In theyr houfes they founde allfo «bove tfalrfie
children captives, which were referv'd to be eaten.'* (Edeos
History oftravaile^ 1577, fo. 12, b.)

* Sec Carvers Travels ^ Longs Voyages^ p. 77. It if
the general opinion of the fouthern Indians, ^ mce in ithb
neighbourhood of Hudfons bay, that when anyof •their'tFib:
have been drivecn to the necessity of eatiiig human 'fUfh, they
become fo fond of it that no perloQ is fafe in ^elr coinptny^
(^earnes Journey, p. 34.)

t C. 21, p. ^6.

CHAP. VI.

OF ANIMAL FOOD.

Picara likeM mans flefli as vel as thofe of Pozo ;
for, when the Spaniards were there the firft time,
above 4000 of the natives follow'd them, " and
fo order'd it^ that they kil'd and ate at leaft 300
Indians/**

* C. 22, p. 58. Some of the IndiaQS^ after eating the fle(h,
would ftuf the ikin with aihes, and make a wax face to the
fcu)^ fo as to give it the appearance of a Hveing man : " and
very often, when the people within were all afleep, at night,
the devil entered. into thofe bodys^ which were full of aj(hes,
and frighted the natives with fuch dreadful apparitions, that
fomc of them died for fear.*' (C. 28, p. 74.) Thefe deviia
were, probablely, Spaniards, the only daemons, it is belicvc'd,
wliich ever vilited that coun.iy.

148 HEALTH, ETC. PROMOTED CHAP. Vllt

CHAP- VHL

HEALTH, SPIRITS, AND QUICKNESS OF PERCEP-
TION PROMOTED BY A VEGETABLE DIET.

It Is furpriicing, fays Goldrmith, to whae a
,1?. great age the primitive christians of the eaft^

who rctire'd from pcrfecution in the dcfarts of
Arabia, continue'd to live in all the bloom of
health, and yet all the rigours ofabftemious dis-
cipline. Their common allowance, as we are
told, for fcur-and-twenty hours, was twelve
ouncees of bread, and nothing but water. On
this fimplc beverage St. Anthony is (ay'd to have
^ live'd a hundred and five years; James the

hermit, a hundred and four ; Arfenius, tutor to
the emperor Arcadius, a hundred and twenty ;
St. Epiphanius, a hundred and fifteen j Simeon,
a hundred and twelve s and Rombald, a hundred
and twenty. In this manner, he ads, did thefe
holy temperate men live to an extreme old age,'

CHAP. VIXI. BY A VE9ETABLE DIET. I49

kept cheerful by ftrong hopes, and healthful by
moderate labour,*

That the orientals live to a great age is chiefly
oweing to their abftinence from animal food and
ftrong liquors.f

Jofephus observes that the Esfcnes, a fort of
Jewilh monks, live'd commonly to a hundred
years, by reafon of the fimpHcity of their diet,
and regular life. J

The Priscillianifts, or followers of Priscillian,
the heretical bifliop c^^A^ila in Spain, who fuf-
fer*d under MaximyS|| mm 385, enjoin'd, or
recommended, a total ^IpAipence from ^U animal

" I marvell," fays Stubbcs, fpeaking of the
variety of meats in his time, " how our forc^
fathers lived, who eat little els but colde meatcs,
grofle, and hard of di^sture? yea, the mod of
them fead upon graine, corne, rootes, pulfe,
hearbes, weedcs, and fuch other baggage, and
yet lived longer then wee, were healthfuUer then
we, of better complection then we, and much
ftronger then we in every refpedl : wherfore i

* History of the earthy il, 132.
■f Nicbuhrs Travels, II, 375.
I Jofephus, Wars ofibi Jews*
\ Gibbgn, III, 7,j,

^
•■ %

150 HEALTHj ETC. PROM6TEi3 CHAP. Vlir.

can not perfwade myfelf otherwife, but that piir
niccneffe and curiousnefle in diet hath altered our
nature, distempered our bodies, and made us
fubject to millions of discrafies and discafcs,
more then ever were our forefathers fubjeft unto^,
and confequently of fhorter life then they."*
^* Who is ficklier/* he exclaims, "then thei
that fare deliriously every day ? who is corrupter ?
who belcheth more ? who looketh worfe ? who
is weaker and feebler then thei ? who hath more
filthie coUor, flegmc, and putrifaction (repleat
with grofle humours) then thei ? and to be
breefe, who dyeth fooner then thei? Doe wee
not/' continues he, "fee the poore man that
eateth browne bread (whereof fome is made of
rye, barlie, peafon, beanes, oates, and fuch other
grofle graines), and drinketh fmall drinke, yea,
fome tymes water, feedith upon milke, butter,
and chcefe, (i faie) doe wee not fee fuche a one
healthfuUer, ftronger, fairer-complectioned, and
longer livyng, then the other that fare daintilie
every daie ? and how fliould it be othcrwife ?f

It is wel known, according to Ovington, that
nothing contributes fo much^ to the fcurvy, as

' j "^

* Jnatomy of ahujes^ 1583, fig. I* v. h^
t Ibi^ fig, I, v. 3, h.

CHAP, Vm, BY A VEGETABLE DIET. I51

the eating of faltcd meat, or, to its cure, as the
eating of vegetables. Seamen, who have been
fo lamantablcly overrun with this diseafe as to be
unable either to walk or ftand upright, have had
their limbs, ftomachs, ^nd l6ft health reftore^d
by three days eating of purflain, and other herbs,
after they have once got afhore : and were thofe,
he ads, made more frequently the diet of thefe
that live on land, the fcorbutick humours, and
all that train of discafees that follows them, would
be lefs numerous and prevailing than they arc.*
Nothing elfe, in doctor Chcyncs opinion, than
a total abftinence from animal foods can totally
extirpate this diseafe. f A vegetable and milk
diet, he fays, is the proper and natural food of
thofe afflifted with fcrophulous complaints,, as
much as feeds arc that of fmall, birds :J ading,
that a total milk and feed diet, with frequent in-
terfperfed cmeticks, wil jnfalliblely cure hyste-
rick§, as well as confumprion, if any human

* Voyage io Suratt, p. 519*

+ Es/ay on haltb, p. 182. It is evident, fays doctor
^uchan, that if vegetables and milk were more ufe'd in diet,
we (hould have lefs fcurvy, and, likewife fewer putrid in*
^ammatory fevers.

I Method of cure 3 &c. p. i$8.

15a HEALTH, ETC. PROMOTED CHAP, VIH,

means posfibiely can.'^ Even bread and water
Wii be found beneficial in very ferious disorders^i
as, in the cafe of doctor Barwick, who, in the
civil wars, when under a phchifis, atrophy and
dyscrafy, was confine'd in a low room in the
Tower, and live*d on bread and water onely, for
feveral years; yet came out, at thp Rcftoration,
fleek, plump, and ga'y.f

Indeed, there are fome cafees, according to
doctor Cheyne, wherein a vegetable and milk
diet feems abfplutely neccsfary, as in fcvere and
habitual gouts, rheumatifms, cancerous, leprous,
, and fcrophulous diforders, extreme nervous co-
licks, epilcpfys, violent hysterick fits, melan-
choly, confumptions, and, toward the lafV
ftagees of all chronical distempers ; in fuch dis-
tempers, he fays, i have feldom feen fych a diet
fail of a good cffect.:|;

The prince of Condc, after haveing long fuf-
fcr'd, apd being quite overcome by the gout,
was advife'd by his phyficians, for the relief of
his pain, to enter upon a vegetable diet, and
a total abstinence from fifli, fiefh, and wine. It

* Jbi, p 187. Sec TTorc of the cures that may be pcr^
form'd by a milk-diet, 7'i, p. 263, fe*^.
f Jbi, p. 211.
J En£;HJb malady, p. 167.

CHAP. VIII. BY A VEGETABLE DIET* 153

fuccceded accordingly, his pains were relievc'd^
and THE GOUT overcome.*

Doctor Taylor, of Croydon, cure'd HiMSEi,F,
'iBNTiRELY and ABSOLUTELY, of the moft violent,
conftant, and habitual cpilcpfy, that, perhap,
ever was known, after havcing, in vain, try*d all
the methods and medicines advife'd by the moft
eminent phyficiaus of his time, by a total diet
of MILK, without 3READ, Or any other ve-
getable.-)-

Doctor Cheyne, fpeaking of the disorders, of
a discafe'd liver, fays, Were there any art or
medicine to turn or make choler (aduft, blacky
yellow, or green) an innocent, acid, active,
liquor onely (as it is in the animals that live onely
on vegetables), it would infalliblely cure thcfe
. disorders.^ *

" Tis v/ondcrful," he fays, " in what fpright-
Iynefs# ftrength, activity and freedom of fpirit.

* Dr. Cheynes Ksfay on the gout ^ p. 20.

t Idevii Engliih malacjy^ P* ^ S 3* ^^ ^^ ^^ entire chapter
** Of nervous cafes, requiring a ftri6l and total milk, fccd^
and vegetable diet/* in which he relates fome remarkable
cures (Ih'i^ p. 184) \ and mentions, throughout bis book,
many cafes of patients relieve*d from their complaints by ve-
getable food.

% Znglifb mfilad^y p. 187.

in 154 HEALTH, BTd.PlROMOTEB CHAP. Vlllt

d low (L e. vegetable) diet wil pnefcrve thofe
that have habituateed themfelves to it. My
worthy friend, mister Web, is'rfil alive. He,
by the quicknefs of the facultys of the mind, and
the activity of the organs of his body, flie ws the
^eat benefit of a low diet, liveing alltogether
on vegetable food and pure element/**

" Here is doctor Taylor," fays doctor Johii«-
fon, ^^ by a refolutc adherence to bread and
milk, with a better appearance of health than
he has had for a long time pafs'd/'f This doc-
K)r Taylor was a different pcrfon from the one
allready mentioned, being vicar of Afli burn, and
upward, at that time, of fourfcore.

" The milk of thofe women," fays Rousfeau^
'" who [nurfe children and] live chiefly on ve*
gctables, is more fweet and falutary than that of
carnivorous females. Formed out of fubftancees
•of a (imilar nature, it keeps longer, as it is lefs
fubjedt to putrefaction : and, with rcfpeft to its
quantity, every one knows that pulfe and ve-
getables increafe the quantity of blood more than
meat i and why n6t, therefor, that of the milk i
I canpot believe;'* ads he, ** that a child, who is
not wean'd too foon, or fhould be wean'd onely

■■■%

* Es/ay on bealtby p. 32.

t Letters to mistre/s Tbrale, II, Z24I

CHAPp VXlI. BY A VEGETABLE DIET* 155

with vegetable hutriment, and whofe nurfe, allfo,
fhould live entirely on vegetables, Would ^ver
be fubjeft to worms."*
. -^ Under their abftcmious mortifying diet, the
Bannians maintain as good a habit of body, arc
as comely and proportionable as other people,
and live to reckon as many years as thofe that
pity their fpare food. But, in their thbughts,
they are often more quick and nimble, by that
courfe of liveing they choofe to delight in, which
renders their fpirits more pure and fubtle, and
thereby greatly facilitates their comprehenfion of
things. In a word, they keep their organs clear,
their fpirits lively, and their conftitutions free
from' thofe diseafees, which a grofser diet is apt
to create in thefe warm climates. "f

The common diet of the Otaheiteans Is made
up of, at leaft, nine tenths of vegetable food ;
and it is, perhap, oweing to this temperate courfe
of life, that they have fo few disdafees.^ They

— V - ' H

* Emiliusy I, 54. '* Can it be fuppofe'd that a vegetable
diet fhould be the b^d adapted for a child^ and animal food
for its nurfe ? There is an evident contradiction in the lid*
tion." Ibi, 56. '*. Nor is this to be wonder*d at, fince animal
fubftancees, when putrefy'd, are covered with worms, in a man-
ner never cxperience'd in the fubftance of vegetables," Jbi, jj.

t Ovingtons Foyage to Suratt, p. 3 17.

J Cook's Voyages, II, 148.

l$6 HEALTH, ETC. PROMOTED CHAP. VIII.

fcldom eat flelh -, their children, and young girls,
never any ; and this, doubtlefs, ferves to keep
them free from all our diseafees.*

Nothing* in fad, is fo light and eafey to the
ftomach, moft certainly, as the farinaceous or
mealy vegetables j fuch as peafe, beans^ millet,
oats, barley, rye, wheac, fago, rice, potatos,
and the like ;f but bread, after all, is the lighteft
and propereft aliment for human bodys, J

That a vegetable diet promotes longevity is
inferable from feveral inftancees. The great Au-
rungzebe, from his ufurpation of the throne,
never taftced flcfh, fifli, nor ftrong liquors, und
live'd in good health to near a hundred years.
That of old Parr, who dyed at the age of 1 5a
years and 9 months, was old cheefe^ milk, coarfe
bread, fmall-bccr, and whey: and his historian
tels us, he might have live'd a good while longer,
if he had not change'd his diet and air.§ Old
Henry Welby, who live'd at his houfe, in Grub-
ftreet, forty-four years, unfeen by any, did not,
in all that fpace, tafte either flefli or filh* He
dye*d in 1636, aged 84.1 In July 1737, was

* Bougain Tallies Voyage,

t Cheyncs Esfay on health, p. 65.

% Dr. Arbuthnots Esfay concerning alimenth P» 5I<

§ Cheynes Esfay on health , p. 62.

II See Morgans Phoenix Britannieus^ p. 3,6q^

^UkP. Vllt. fiY A Ve6ETABL^ biET. t^f

liveing in St. Margarets work-houfe, Weft-
minfter, Mary Put ten, age*d 136 years/ whole/
onely food was milk.* On the 25th of De-
cember 1772, dye'd at Brusfels, age'd loi,
Elifabeth de Val, who never ate a bit of flefti,
or tafteed of any kind of broth or foup, darcing
the whole courfe of her Kfc.f A few years ago^
dye*d at Coombe in Northhumberland, Jofcph
Ekins, ageM 1 03 ; who never knew a weeks
ilncfs, and fubfifted entirely on bread, milk,
and vegetables, for the laft thirty years. J A
Ihepherd dye'd, not long fince, at Gompas, in
Hungary, in the 1 26th year of his age. His
manner of liveing was extremely fimple: he
never ate any meat, but fubfifted entirely on milk,
butter, and cheefe, and had never been il in his

Kfc.§

One great advantage, according to doctor
Cheyne, a vegetable diet has over an animal one,
is, that, in the weakeft digestions, and the moft
dangerous and obftinate distempers, the patient
may allways fil his belly, and fatisfy his hunger,
— • .

Gentlemans Magazine, VII, 449. The tnistees, it is
fay'd, had her picture painted, to fucceed her when ihe dye'd.
t Scots Magazine, XXXIV, 696.
t From a newspaper.
) Morning f oft, January 28, i8oo.

i58 HEALTH, ETC* PROMOTEtt CHAP. VilU

without fear, rcmorfe, orfuf^fcringj atlcaft, he
m^y do it to a great degree, til he comes to j^.
fer advance'd in years : and, if he fhould hapenf,
at any time, to exceed, he feek none of thofc
pungent and acute fymptoms, nor thofe dureablc
cffedtsjj and profound finkings, he would feel from

a full meal of high meats, and ftrong drinks

A plain, natural, and philofophical reafon, why
vegetable food, he fays, is preferable to all other,
is> that, abounding with few or no falts, being
foft and cool, and cpnfifting of parts that arc
cafeyly divideed and form'd into chyle, without
giveing any l^-bour to the digestive powers, it
has not that force to open the mouths of the
lacteals, to distend their orificees, and excite
them to an unnatural Activity, to let pafs too
great a quantity of hot and rank chyle into th^
blood, and fo overcharge, and inflame, the lym-
phaticks, and capillarys, which is the natural,
and ordinary, cffcfl: of animal food, and, therefor,
cannot fo readyly produce diseafees. Such food,
he continues, requires little or no force of di-
gestion, a little gpntle heat and motion being
fufficient to disfolve it into its integral particles,
and into a thin watery emulfion, fuch as is
chicken-water, afs*s milk, or thin broth, which
is all that is require'd for the purpofe of nutrition^

tJJti*. VIII* by: a vecetable diet. 155I

and all of the food that: can enter into the
lacteals..;..fo that no more being admited into
the blood than the expencees of livcing requires
life and health can never be endangered on a ve«
getable diet. But all the contrary hapens undef
a high animal diet.*

Havetng allready fay'd^ that real lunacy, mad-
nefsj and a disordered brain^ can posdblely be
accounted for from no other natural caufe but
a mal-regimen of diet j and that the beft phyfi*
cians have no other method of cureing fuch
diseafe&, but great, proper, and frequent eva-
cuations of all kinds, and then braccing by ve-
getables, astringents, or cold baths, all the reft
being but trifleing, he proceeds as follows : But
people think they cannot poffiblely fubfifl: on a
little meat, milk, and vegetables, or any low
diet,*and that they muft infalliblely perifli if they
be confine'd to water onelyj not confidering
that nine parts in ten of the Whole ihafs of man-
kind are necesfaryly * confine'd to this diet, or
pretty nearly to it; and yet live with the ufc of
their fenfees, limbs, and facultys, without
diseafees, or but few, and thofc from accidents
or epidemical caufces, and that there have bee^

• Natural meibod of cuning Useafis, p. 68.70.

tSti HEAitH, ETC. PROMOTED CHAP. Vllis

nadons, and now ate numbers of tribes, who vo-
liMitaryly confine themfclves to vegetables onely...
and there arc whole villagees in this kingdom
who fcarce eat animal food, or drink ferntented

Kquors a dozen times a year The onely con-

clufion, he fays, i would draw from thcfe histo-
rical k&Sy is, that a low diet, or livcing on
vegetables, wil not deftroy life or health, or
caufe nervous and cephalick distempers ; but, on
the contrary, cure them as far as they are curet

able But this i pretend to demonflrate from

thefe fads, that abstinence and a low diet is the
gre^t antidote and univerfal remedy of distem-
pers acquire'd by exeefs, intemperance, and a
mistakeen regimen of high meats and drinks 5
that it wil greatly alleviate, and render tolerable,
the original distempers derive'd from diseafe'd
parents j and that it is abfolutely necesfary for
the deep-thinking part of mankind, who would-
preferve their facultys, ripe and pregnant, to a
green old age, and to the laft dregs of life j and
that it is the true and real antidote andprefervative
from wrong-headednefs, irregular, and disorderly,
intellectual functions, from lofs of the rational
facultys, memory, and fenfees, and from all
nervous distempers, as far as the ends of pro-i

bHAP. Vllt. BY A VEGETABLE DIET. l6l

iHldeoce, and the condition of mortality, wil
allow.*

^^ Who is there that docs not know how great
a part cacao-beans make of the food of the inv
habitants in the country where they grow ; and
how foon people of wafteed and reduce'd confti-
tutions^ by means of them, recover their flclh
and ftrength ? Nay, we have an inftancc of a
fliips crew, which, for two months, had nothing^
but chocolate for their food, and were very
hearty and wel with it."t

" The utility of a diet cortfifting entirely of
vegetables in the bypochondriafiSy obftinate gouts,
and other ftubborn and pertinacious disorders, has
of late been place'd in a very clear light by doctor
W. Grant, in his ** Esfay on the atrabilious con-
ftitution," (p. 3,99, ^c.) in which inftancees are
givcen of its haveing not onely grcady improve'd
the patients health, and givcen them frefli ftrength
and vigour, but made them, as it were, younger
than before/'l

*^ The native Javanelc derive one advantage,
at leaft, from an atmofphcre not fubjeft to the

* Ibt, p. 90.

f Sparrmans Voyage, 11, 231.

% Ibi, 236.

l62 VEGETABLE J>IET. GHAP* VIII*

vicisiitudcs of temperature experience'd ip the
northern parts of Europe, where diseafees of the
teeth are chiefly prevalent i as they are at Ba-
tavia entirely exempt from fuch coniplaintg.
Their habic of liveing chiefly on vegetable food,
and of abftainirtg from fermented liquors^, no
doubt contributes to this exemption.'**

* Sir G. Staur>tons Account of an emhasjy to China, I,, 25 1.

[^ 163 1

GHAP. IX.

I^-ATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS SUBWSTING EN-
TIRELY ON VEGETABLE FOOD,

W HEN god, according to the book of Gene*
^j, createed man, in his own image, male and
female, he blesfed them and fay*d, •* Be fruitful,
and multiply, and replenifh the earth, and fub-
due (/. €. cultivate it) : and have dominion o?er
the fifli of the fea, and over the fowl of the air,
and over every livdng thing that movceth upon
tTie earth. Behold, i have giveea you every
herb bearing feed, which is upon the face of all
the earth, and every tree, in the which is the
fruit of a tree yielding feed : to you it Ihal be
for meat : and to every beaft of the earth, and
every fowl of the air, and to every thing that
creep^th upon the earth, wherein there is life^
[or, as in the Hebrew, a liveing foul], i have
giveen every green hterb for meat."* They were

* I, 27, &fr. The word dominion is every where, in the
•Id testament, ufe'd iov/overeignty.

)

(»

iS^ NATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS CHAP^ 1%.

to be lovereigns, therefor, over the eanh, and
its terrestrial, marine atad aerial inhabitz^nts ; not
for the purpofe of flaughter and food, (for when
does a good monarch devour his fubjefts ?) but
for the fake of authority, protection, and the
gracious officees of benevolence and humanity.
Their food was to be every herb bearing feed,
and every tree bearing fruit: the beafts and
fowls, allfo, and creeping things were to be con-
fine*d to a vegetable diet. Such, at leaftj if we
credit the Jewifh accounts, was the dietetick
law eftabliih'd, at the creation, for both man
and bead:. It is, indeed, abfolutely imposfible
that the allmighty creator fhould have defign'd
the latter as prc;y to the former j fince, as there
were but two of each fpecies, the whole race
muft have been fpecdyly extinguifli'd.* It is
alledge'd, however, that, after the deluge and
new eftablifliment, he gave Noab and his de-
fendants a licence to eat the fiefh of animals.

* " It is certain," as doctor Cheyne asfcrts, at the creation,
there could be no fuch thing as an indulgence for animal food,
if onely pairs of each animal were createed at firft." Esfq^
on regiment p. 75.) It is, at the fame time, difficult to con-
ceive, whatever was the primitive food of man, how the lion,
the tiger, and other beads of prey, could fubfid entirely upon
green herbs.

CHAP. IX. SUBSISTING ON VEGETABLES. 165

preferve'd by him, for that purpofe, in the ark :
a report apparently inconfiftent with the un-
changeable nature of the fupreme being. How-
ever this may be, we flial find, from fufficicnt
authority, that many nations, as wel in the mod
ancient, if not, the earlyeft times, to even down
to our own, have adhere'd to the divine primi-
tive ordinance, whether real or imaginary. The
moft eminent historians, phylicians, philofophers^
and poets of antiquity, agree, that the firft ge»
nerations of men did not eat flelh.*'* This golden
age (fir ft mentioned by Hefiod)f is more beau*
tifuUy defcribe'd by Ovid :

" The teeming earth, yet guiltlefs of the plough^
And.unprovoke'd, did fruitful (lores allow;

* Dr. Mackenzles Hifiory of healthy p. 50 ; where he cites
Pythagoras, £mpedocles> Plato, Porphyry, Plutarch, Diogenes
Laertius, and Pliny. It was the opinion of Hippocrates, he
fays, that, in the begining, man made ufe of the fame food
with the beafts ; and to this eflfe^t, likewife, quotes Lucretius :
** Volgivago vitam tractahant more fer arum '*
" Like beads they lay in every wood and cave.
Gathering the eaf<y food that Nature gave.'*

f " The fields as yet until M, their fruits afford.

And fil a fumptuous and unenvy'd bo^rd,"
It is the third age of which he fays :

*' On the crude fle(h of beads they feed alone.
Savage their nature and their hearts of done J

•s

l66 NATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS CHAP* IX.

Content with food, whidh Nature freely bred.
On wildings and on ftrawberrysf they fed j
Cornels and bramble-bcrrys gave the reft,
And faKing acorns furnifh'd out a fcaft :'**

or, as the inimitable Thomfon exprcfses it :

— •* The food of man,

While yet he live*d in innocence and tcM
A length of golden years ; unfleOi'd in blood|
A ftranger to the fayage arts of life»
• Death, rapine, carnage, furfeit and diseafe ;
The lord and not the tyrant of the world. '*t

The Chaldasan Ttiagi live'd entirely upon
herbs ;:^ upon which,' an.d cold water, fomc of
the Cynicks alltogether fubfifted.§ Zeno, the
philofopher, fed heartyly upon figs ; though, in
his diet, he was very fpareing ; and a fhort pit-

'X«»^ ' l^—JM^— ii^»»». I I- I I II — — 1—— ^»J1 I II I I .1 1 III I I I I— ^^.— i1».

"* B. I, V. 10 1. Kcearchuff, according to faint Jerome,
jrclateed, in his books of Grecian antiquitys, that, dureing
the reign of Saturn, when the earth, as yeti was fertile of
itsfelf, no man ate fle(h, but all lire'd upon the fruits and
pulfe which were naturally produce'd. (B. a, To Jovian,)
t Spring. The Lofopbi oi Homer wert
'* A hospitable race ;
Not prone to il, nor (Irange to foreign gueft,
They eat, they drink, and Nature gives the feaft j
The trees around them all their fruit produce,
Lolis the name, divine, nectareous juicet'*
X Diogenes Lacrtius, in his proem*
§ Idem, Life of Menedemus, B. (S,

CHAP. IX. SUBSISTING ON VEGETABliES. 167

tance of bread and honey, and a fmall draught
of fweet wine, fatisfy'd his hunger.* The inha-
bitants of Mount- Atlas, in the age of Herodo-
tus, neither ate the flefti of any animal, nor were
ever interrupted in their fleep by dreams.-}- Pe-
lasgus, in the mod ancient times, is fay*d to have
perfuadeed the inhabitants of Arcadia, who fed
on nothing but grafs, herbs and roots, fome of
which were pernicious, to prefer the produce of
the beech-tree. J

There were Indians, mention'd by Herodotus,
the ancestors, no doubt, of the prefent Hindoos,
who neither kil'd any animal, nor fow'd feed,
nor builded houfes, but contented themfelvcs
with what the earth freely afforded. § The an-
cient brachmans, or priefts of thefe Indians, as
we are told by Porphyry, ate nothing but fruit

Ji/^«, Life of Zeno^ B. 7.

t Melpomene. The laws of Draco and Triptolemus, the
moil ancient legislators of the Athenians, enjoln'd them to
** Honour their parents and kil neither man nor beaft.
(Diogenes Laertius, in his proem.)

+ Paufanias, B. 8, C. i. According to his accurate En -
gleilh translator, he pcrfuaded them " to feed on acorjis,
though not indiscriminately, but onely thofe which * grow
on the heecb'iree :'* as if one were to fay of a man that he ate
no apples but fuch as grow on a pear-ttee. Acorns arc pe-
culiar to the oak 5 the fruit of the leech is mqfi,

§ Tbalia.

l68 NATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS CHAP. IX,

and rice, and would have thought thcmfelvcs
guilty of the grcatcft impiety, if they had touch'd
any thing that had had life.* The ^Egyptians, a
mofl: ancient nation, feem to hayc abftain'd en-
tirely from animal food ; which was, probablely,
one reafon why they abominatecd the Jews, who
had continually their fingers in the flefti-pots ; the
pnely fubjeft of theirJamentation when banifti*d
out of the country.f Talk to an ^Egyptian,
fays Origen, til your heart ake, and your breath
fail you, yet he wil hfe fo fer from renouncein^
his religion, that Jic wil perfift in it, if it be
posfible, with greater obftinacy than before, and
rather dye tlian be guilty of fo horrid a profana-
tion, as he accounts it, as to cat and pollute the
facred flefti of animals.;|; Diodorus fays it was re-
ported that the -Sigyptians, in ancient times, fed
upon nothing but roots and herbs, and colewort
leaves, which grew in the fens and bogs ; but
above all, and moft commonly, upon the herb

* Of ahftinence,

•f " The children of Ifrael allfo wept again, and fay*d> Whoi
fhall give us flefh to cat ? We remember the fi(h which we
did cat in -/Egypt freely ; the cucumbers, and the melons,
and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick." {Nuvu
XI, 5.) The vegetables they ^Xi freely, the flefh by fiealtb,^

X Agairift Celfiu, B. i, C. 42.

CHA?. IX. SUBSISTING ON VEGETABJtES, 169

called agrostis, bccaufe it was fwcctcr than any-
other, and very nourifhing to mens bodys ; and
it is very certain, he ads, that the cattle much
covet it, and grow very fat with it.*

^^ The Hykpbages (wood-eaters), together with
their wives and children/' as is relateed by the
iame andent historian, ^^ go into the fields and
climb the trees, and &ed upon the buds and
tender branches; and, by conilant ufage and
practice, are fo nimble in geting up to the top
of the higheil branch that it feems allmoft in-^
credible. They Ikip from tree to tree, like fo
many birds, and mount up upon the flendereft
branches without the lead: hazard: for, being
very flender and light-body 'd people^ if their
feet fail, they catch hold with their hands ; nay,
if they fall down from the very top of the tree,
they are fo light, they get no harm. They.
eafeyly chew every juicey twig of the tree, and
as eafeyly concodt them. They allways go naked,
^od piake ufe of their wives promiscuously, and,
therefor, all their children they look upon to be
common amongft them. They fometimes quar-
rel one with another for placees of habitations.
Their arms are clubs, with which they both

* B. I, C. 4.

170 NATION'S AND INDIVIDUALS CHAP. IX.

defend themfelvcs, and pound in piccecs their
conquered enemy/'* This fcems to have been
a race of men in a ftarc of nature ; they very
much refembk the ourang-oucangs hereinbefore
defcribe'd.

Pythagoras, the.Samian philofopher, a man
of univcrfalknowlege, who fiourifh'd about 500
years before Ghrift, forbad to kil, much more
to eat, Jiveing creatures, that had the fame pre-
rogative of fouls with ourfctves c-f and ate
nothing himfelf that had had life. J The truth
is,, he enjorrt'd men not to cat of things that had
life, but to accustom riiemfclvca to meats that
were eafcyly prepare'd, quickly at hand, and foon
got ready without the help of fire j and that they
Ihould drink fair water; for* that from thfencc
proceeded the health of the body> and the acute-
nefs of the mind : for which reafon he [forbad.

i* B. S, C. 2.

f It is fuppofc'd by fome that he had learn d this in the
remains of Orpheus. Aristophanes, in his Frogs^ where he
would' give the fum of his fervicees, fays,

*' Op|>hcus our pray'rs prefcribc'd, and holy rites.
And abstinence from murder/* — "
*' The whole of human virtue/' he held, ^' may be redqce'd
to fpeaking the truth allways, and doing good to others."
{jElian, XII, 59.)

I Lucian, Auciion ef pblhfoplers.

CHAP. IX. SUBSISTING ON VEGETABLES, lyi

allfo, the offering of bloody facrificces to the
gods, faying that thofc altars onely where no
blood was flied were to be approached with
pious adoration; and] never worfhip'd before
any other altar than that of Apollo ^^»//(?r, behind
Creratinuraj becaufe there they offer'd onely
wheat and barley, and large cakes that had never
been bake'd by the fire. He is, likewife, fay'd
to have been the firft who was of opinion, that
the foul cxchange'd habitations from one liveing
creature to another, conftrain'd thereto by a certain
wheel of necesfity. For thefe tenets we have
the refpectable authority of Diogenes Laertius:*
They arc, allfo, confirna'd by Philoftratus t-f-
and the following beautiful account of this cele-
brateed philofophcr, his doctrines, and his opi-
nions, is giveen by Ovid, in the 1 5th book of
his Metamorphojis :

'* Vtrfult hiC ortu Samlus ; &c.

*' Here J dwel'd the man divine, whom Samos bore,
Eut now felf-banlfn'd from his native fhore.

<f wtm-

• * B. 8. Eudoxos, allfo, an ancient wrijteer, citeed by
Porphyry, fays that Pythagoras ufc'd fuch purity, and
therefor abhor'd all murder and murderers, fo as not onely
to abstain from animatecd beings, but would never come
jiear either cooks or hunters.

f • B. I, C. I. ', and fee R, 6, C. 6.
X At Crotona in Italy.

J^a NATIONS AND INDIVIDITALS CHAP, IX.

Becaufe be hatced tyrants^ nor cou'd bear

The chains, wbich none but fervile fduls wil wear.

He, though from heaven remote, to heaven could move.

With ftrepgth of mind, and tread th' abyfs above;

And penetrate, with his interior light,

Thofe uper depths, which Nature hid from fight :

And what he had obferve*d and learn'd from thence,

Love'd in familiar language to difpenfe.

He firft the tafte of flefh from tables drove^
And argue*d wel, if arguments could move*
O mortals, from your fellows blood abstain.
Nor taint your bodys with a food profane :
While corn and pulfe by nature are beRow*d,
And planted orchards bend their wiling load j
While labour'd gardens wholefome herbs produce^
And teeming vines afford their generous juice 5
Nor tardyer fruits of crudeer kind are loft.
But tamc'd with fire, or mellowed by the froft;
While kine to pails distended udders bring.
And bees their honey redolent of fpring.
While Earth not onely can your needs fupply,
But lavifli of her (lore, provides for luxury ;
A guiltlefs fead administers with eafe.
And without blood is prodigal to pleafe.
Wild beads their maws with their (lain bretheren fil j
And yet not all, for fome refufe to kil 5
Sheep, goats, and oxen, and the noble deed.
On browfe, and corn, and flow*ry meadows feed.
Bears, tigers, wolves, the lions angery brood.
Whom heaven endue'd with principles of blood.
He wifely funder'd from the red, to yel
In foreds, and- in lonely caves to dwel j
Where ftronger beads opprefs the weak by might.
And all in prey, and purple fcafts delight.

CHAP. IX. SUBSISTING ON VEGETABLES. 173

O impious ufe ! to natures laws oppofe'd^
Where bowels are in other bowels clofe'f^ 5
Where fatten*d by their fellows fat, they thrive j
Maintain'd by murder, and by death they live.
Tis then for nought, that mother Earth provides
The ilores of all ihe ihows, and all (he hides.
If men with flefliy morfels muft be fed.
And chaw with bloody teeth the breatheing bread ;
What elfe is this, but to devour our guefts.
And barb'rously renew Cyclopean feafls !
We, by dedroying life, our life fustain j
And gorge th' ungodly maw with meats oblcene.

Not fo the Golden Age, who fed on fruit.
Nor durd with bloody meals their mouths pollute.
Then birds in airy fpace might fafely move.
And tim'rous hares on heaths fecurely rove.
Nor needed fiifa the guileful hooks to fear.
For all was peaceful, and that peace fincere.
Whoever was the wretch (and curfc'd be he)
That envy^d firft our foods (implicity,
Th* esfay of bloody feafls on brutes began.
And after forgeM the fword to murder man.
Had he the iharpen'd fleel alone employ'd
On beafts of prey, that other beafts deftroy*d.
Or man invadeed with their fangs and paws.
This had been justify'd by natures laws.
And fclf-defence : But who did feaits begin
Of fle(h, he ftretch'd nccesfity to fin.
To kil man-kilers man has lawful pow'r.
But not th' extended licence to devour.

II habits gather by unfeen degrees.
As brooks make rivers, rivers run to feas.

}

174 NATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS CHAP. IX,

The fow, with her broad fnout, for rooting up

Th' intruded feed, was judge'd to fpoil the crop

And intercept the fwcating farmers hope :

The covetous churl of unforglveing kind,

Th' offender to the bloody prictt reiign'd :

Her hunger was no plea ; for that flie dye'd.

The goat came next in orde^r to be try^d :

T^e goat had crop'd the tendrils of the tine : -n ^

In vengeance laity and clergy join^ >

Where one had left his profit, one his wine. ^ .

Here was, at leaft, fome fliadow of offence.

The (beep was facrifice'd on no pretence,

But meek and unrtffiiHng innocence.

A patient, ufeful, creature,- born to bear

The warm, and wqoly fleece that clothe'd her murderer.

And dayly to give«down the mitk ihe bred,

A tribute for the grais on which fhe fed.

Liveing, both food and raiment ihe fuppUes,

And is of l«ail advantage when ihe dyes.

How did the toiling ox his death deferve,
A downright iimple drudge, and born to ferve ?
O tyrant ! with what justice can'ft thou hope
The promifc of the year, a^plenteoas crop.
When thou deftroy'ft the lab'ring fteer, who tilM,
And plough 'd with pains, thy elfe ungrateful field ?
From his yet reeking neck, to draw the yoke,
That neck, with which the furly clods he broke 5
And to the hatchet yield thy husbandnfian.
Who iinifti'd autumn, and the fpring began !

Nor this alone 1 but heaven itfelf to bribe.
We to the gods our impious a£ls afcribe ;
Fir ft recompenfe with d^ath their creatures toil ;
Then call the blefs'd above to ftiarc the fpoil : •

CHAP. IX. SVBSISTIN®. ON VKJGBTABLES. I75

The faireH victim muft the pow'rs appeals
(So fatal 'tis ibmettnies too much to pUaie) ;
A purple fiU«t' hU broad browts adoraS)
With flowery garland crown '4, ^dgikkd faoni3»
He hears the ^inrd'raus pray'r th/e .prieft preferd^
But underdands i;iot 'tis his doom h« htars :
Beholds the meal betwixt bis temples caO,
(The fruit andi>rpdu6ts of lib labours p^&j)
And in the St^atex vtew6 perhaps the knife.
Uplifted to deprive ijim of bis life 5
Then broken lip alive, his entrails ices
Torn out, for pHcds t'infpe^ tiie ^pda decrees, .

From .whence, o mortal man, tihis :ffi(k of blood '
Have j(m dcrive'd, atui interdtdked food ?
Be taught by me this dire delight to ihim,
Warn*d by my precepts, by my practice woa :
And wWtn you eat the wel-defetveing beaft.
Think, on the lab'rer of your field you feaft !

Then let not piety be put to flight,
- Topleafe the tafte of glutton appetite j
But fuffer inmate fouls fecure to dwel,
Left from their feats your parents you expel ;
With rabid hunger feed upon your kind,
Or from a beaft dislodge a brother's mind.

*Tis time my hard-mouth'd courfeers to controll.
Apt to run riot and transgrefs the goal ;
And therefor i conclude, whatever lies
In earth, or flits in air, or fils the Ikys,
All fuffer change j and we that are of foul
And body mix'd, arc inembers of the whole.

176 NATIONS AND INPIVIDITALS CHAP. 13f«

Then, when our (ires, or grandfires^ ihal forfake
The forms of men, and brutal figures take,
Thus houfe'd, fecurely let their fpirits reft.
Nor violate the father in the beaft,
Thy friend, thy brother^ any of thy kin— -
If none of thefe, yet there's a man within t
O fpare to make a Thy^tean meal ;
T'inclofe his body^ and his foul expeL

II customs by degrees to habit rife,
II habits foon become exalted vice ;
What more advance can mortals make in fin.
So near perfection, who with blood begin }
Deaf to the calf, that lyes beneath the knife.
Looks up, and firom her butcher begs her life :
Deaf to the harmleis kid, that ere he dyes
All methods ^o procure thy mercy trys.
And imitates in vain thy children's crys.
Where wil he ftop, who feeds with houfehold bread.
Then eats the poultry which before he fed ?
Let plough thy fieersj that, when they lofe their breath.
To nature, not to thee, they may impute their death.
Let goats for food their loaded udders lend.
And fiieep from winter-cold thy fides defend ;
But neither fprindges, nets, nor fnarcs, employ.
And be no more ingenious to defiroy.
Free as in air, let birds on earth remain.
Nor let infidious glue their wings confirain ;
Nor opening hounds the trembleing flag affrightj,
Nor purple feathers intercept his fiight :
Nor hooks conceal'd in baits for fifii prepare.
Nor lines to heave 'em twinkling up in air.

Take not away the life you cannot give.
For all things have an equal right to live.

}

CHAP. IX. SUBSISTIHG OK V£C£TABL£S. I77

Kil noxious creatures, where 'tis fin to fave ;
This onely juft prerogative we have :
But nourtfli life with vegetable food.
And (hun the facrilegious tafte of blood.*'*

The feeling Thomfon has revived the humane
priecepts of Pythagoras in the following beauty-
ful lines :

** And yet the wholefome herb neglected dies ;
Though with the pure exhilarateing foul
Of nutriment and health, and vital powen.
Beyond the learch of art, 'tis copious bleft.
For» with hot ravine iir'd, enfanguine'd man
Is now become the lion of the plain.
And worfe. The wolf, who from the nightly fold
Fierce-drags the bleating prey, ne'er drunk her milk.
Nor wore her warming fleece ; nor has the ftcer.
At whofe ftrong chefl the deadly tyger hangs,
E*er plow'd for him. They too arc tempered high,
With hunger ftung and wild necesfity.
Nor lodgees pity in their (haggy bread.
But Man, whom Nature form'd of milder clay,
With every kind emotion in his heart.
And taught alone to weep ; while from her lap
She pours tea thoufand delicacies, herbs.
And fruits, as numerous as the drops of rain.
Or beams that gave them birth : ihall he, fair form I
Who wears fweet fmiles, and looks ercA on heayen.
E'er floop to mingle with the prowling herd.
And dip his tongue in gore ? The beaft of prey.

1^ Afetamorfb$/is, B. 15, ycr. do.

t-'jH NATIONS AND:INPIfVlDUAlS CHAP. 1X#

Blood-ftatn'd^ dcferves to M<ed : but 7011, je ilock9»
What have ye clones yt peaceful people, what.
To merit death .^ ybv* who have given us milk
In luscious flreams, and lent us your own coat
Agftinft the winters cold } And the plain oz.
That harmlefsy honeft* guilelefs animal.
In what has he offended ? he, wbofe tolly
Patient and ever ready, clothes the land
With all the pomp of harveft -, (hall he bleed.
And ftruggting groan beneath the cruel hands
Even of the clown be feeds ? and that, perhaps^
To fwell the riot of th* autumnal fcaft.
Won by his labour ? Thus the feeling heart
Would tenderly fuggeft : but *tis enough.
In this late age, adventurous, to have touch*d
Light on the numbers of the Samian fage."*

Clement of Alexandria fays of faint Matthew,
that " he abstain'd from the catbg of ftcih, and
that his diet was fruits, roots and herbs."-}*

Apollonius Tyanaeus, a ftrift adhcreent to the
doctrines of Pythagoras, prohibited himfelf the
ufe of animal food.

Porphyry, a philofbpher of the Pythagorean
fchool, wrote a book, intitle'd Of abstinence from
the eafing of animals, four books *, ftil jcxtant, and
frequcndy publilh'd in Greek and Latin.

The Manicheans, a feft of Christians who

Spring. ; . i Patdago^ue, B. 9^ C. t,

CHAP. IX. SUBS1STIK0 ON VEGETABLES' 179

believeM in both a good and an evil principle,
religbusly abstained from all kinds of animal
food.

In the year 1287, according to the chronicleer
of the priory of Lancrcoft, in Cumberland, was,
amongft tfeem, William Gryncrig, who did eat
neither flefli nor fifh : of whom Henry de Burgh,
prior, lay'd,

• *' Vvverefuh *vefte non queras canomcati

Commum more qui nequis horior ali"*

*' I dp advi(e, you would not feek to live

Under the vefl canonical, who can*t

Be fed, like others, in the common form/*

Of the more modern nations of Europe we
may obfcrve that the peafantry of that part of
Spain through which mister Swinburne traveled,
feem'd very poor, and frugal in their diet; bread
fteep'd in oil, he fays, and occafionally feafon'd
with vinegar, " is the common food of the
country-people from Barcelona to Malaga."f
" We fometimes," fays major Jardine, *^ crofs'd
wild and defert hills, inhabited by the fhepherds.

• Chromcim di Lanercoft (Cotton MS. Claudius, D. Vll),
fo. 195.

t Trarcla through Spain (in 1775 and 1776)4 p. aio.

i8o Nations AKD iNDiv^iDUALS crap.: 2-

who had nothmg to offer u$ but gaspacbo, or bread
and water, feafon'd with a little pepper and oil/'^

The poor in Portugal^ according to the au-^
thour of Several years travels hy a gerUleman^f do
fare as bad as any people whatfoever. " I believe,""
he^ads, '^ many hundreds of familys, dureing the
courfe of their livcs> never tafte meat**'

A Minorquin family often dines on a mefi of
oil, water, and bread, ftew'd together. '^ Brown
wheaten bread is the principal nourUhment of the
poor. The general breakfaft is a piece of bread,
a bunch of grapes or raifins, and a draught of
water/'J

In France the monks of La. Trappc live'd
wholely on rice, millet, and vegetables ; beiides
which their fafts were numerous and fevere, and
they preferve'd a perpetual filence.

Descartes, at his table, in imitation of the

* Le'tteEs from Barbai7» iS^c. !!» i%6. " Gaspacbot** ac*
cording to Mr. Towfisend, << feems to fupply the place of
butter milk and whey among the peafarils^ who, dureiii^
(he heat of fummer, live chiefly on a mixture of bread, vin*
egar« and oil." Journey thro' Spain in 1786 and 1787,

U, 240.

f London, 1702, 8vo,

I Armdrongs History qf Minorca, p. 209.

OIHAP. IX. SUBSISTING ON ViCBTABLES. l8l

good-nature 'd Plutarch, always prefer'd fruits
and vegetables to the bleeding flelh of animals.*
The modem Greeks never eat beef; holding
k as a maxim, that the animal which tils the
ground^ which is the fervant of man, and the
companion of his noble labours, ought not to
be ufc'd for food.f

' . The common people in fome parts of Rusfia
live entirely upon fbur-crout and groats, and
Ukewife, upon four-bread, raw cucumbers, onions^
ialt, quajs^ and tradakna^ a di(h confiding of oat^
meal dryed in the oven, and mixed yp with
water: fo that out of thirty thoufand peafants
belonging to a certain nobleman who live'd on
the borders of Muscovy^ there were very few
who had the opportunity of tafteing either flelh
or fifh four times in the year.:|:

The Gentoos, of India, at leaft the Bramin
and Banyan cafts^ maintain the transmigration of
fouls, and, confequently, abstinence from the food
pi every liveing creature. § Roger pofitively

* Sfwardt Anecdote^ U» 171*

t Msiritt, Travels tM Cyprus, ^c. London^ i?9i* ^> 35«
% Sparrm^ns F(y^gff U$ 236.

§ Ovingtons Fey age to Surat, p. 283. See allfo Bernier^
111,145.
Tbe jaiAthoir of fi M^latton of an uiifortunaU voyage to Ben*

l82 NATIONS AND IKBITIDUALS CfiAP. IX4

asferts that the Bramins eat nothing that has had
life; ttktir food^ he fays, is milk^ vegetables^
and frmt,*

" The Brahmans," as we are told by a more
modern writeer, " fticd no blood, and eat no
flelh i their diet is rice and other vegetables^
pfepare'd with a kind of butter call'd ghee,
and with ginger and other fpicees; but they
confider milk as the pureed food, as comeing
from the cow, an animal for whole fpecies they
have a facred vcneraiion."t ** The Hindoos," in
general, according to Stavorinus, *^ cat no fifli,
flelh of animals, or any thing that has reccivc'd
life."4^ The firft, in fadt, and principal com-
mandment of the religion of Bramah is, not to
kil any liveing creature whatever. § It muft not,
however, be concealed diat a gentleman, who

galot p« 168, rpeaking of the Indian flavesy who eat nothing
endueed with life, ads '' their fuperftition is fuch, that how
great foever their hunger maj be, they choofe rather to dye
than to eat either fleih or £{h.''

Porte ouverte^ i6;o, C. l3.

Y Sketches chiefly relateing to the Hindoos, 1790, 8vo.
p. 1 1 1 . Porphyry and Clement of Alexandria, fptaking of
the ancient brachmans, fay, they drank no wine, nor ate
any animal food.

X Voyages to the E. Indies y I, 416. See allfo II, 485*

§ See Lords Disccverijf of the^ Banian religwn, 1630, p« 41*

CHAt. IX. SUBSISTING ON VEGETABLES. 183

■m m

has had the beft opportunitys of being acquainted
with the fad, asferts that the Brahmans are by no
means confine'd to a vegetable diet, as is gene«
rally fuppofe'd, allthough, like the Jews and
Mahometans, they are Ssfbiden to tafte of many
kinds of flcfh and fifti.* The Bramins, as priefts,
have, posfiblcly, emancipateed themfclves from
the ftridnefs oi the law, of which they are the
fole expofitors.

The Birman priefts, on their induction, are
enjmn'd mt to deprive any animal of life ; fuch
deeds, they are told, being unlawful and profane.
They are not to take away life even from the
fmalleft infeft, or the vileeft reptile. " Sooner,"
fays the C^mmuazara^ " Ihal the cleft rock unite
its fever'd fragments, and become whole, than
he who deftroys the vital principle in any animal
be readmited into our (acred inftitution. Avoid

* Notes to the Heetopades of Veelhnoo Sarmay publifh'd
by O. Wilkins, p. 318. Sec allfo Pages, Travels round the
world, 1791, Ily 23. But even among thofe cafb which are
allow'd to eat certain kinds of animal food, and who all-
ways do it fpareingly, to abstain from it is confider'd a virtue.
*' Thofe," fays the Heetopades ^ *' who have forfakccn the
kiling of all are in the way to heaven.*' Sketches, &c. 1 18,
281. In the fame work allfo «* Not to kil," is calKd ''a
iupre.me duty/' And even religion dcfinc'd " Compasfion
for all things which have life.*' (P, la.)

184 KATIOMS AND INDIVIDUAL CHAP. IX«

with caution/' he concludes, ^' this beiQous (rans-'
grcsfion.'**

The religion of Fo, or Fo-e, the moft com^
nion fe£b in China, confifts in not kiling any
liveing creature.f The people of thb. country,
for the mod: part, are accustomed to live on
herbs and rice onely. With flour, rice, wheat^
and plain beans, they prepare a multiplicity of
difhes, all difilerent from each other, both iqi
their appearance and taftc. J

The bonzes, or Japoneie priefts, abstain froni
animal foodi§ and fo do the talapoins, or priefts
of Siam -, at leaft they {hed no blood ; being
forbiden by their religion, which teaches the
transmigration of fouls : they make no fcruple,
however, to eat what others kil, or that whicl^
dyes of itsfelf.|| According to Kaemp^r, this
doctrine of Pythagoras being receive'd allmoft
univerfally, the natives of Japan eat no flelh-meat,
and liveing, as they do, chiefly upon vegetables,
they know how to improve the ground to much

* Symeses Embasjy to Ava^ III, 366*
t Osbccka Vt^ge,li 280.
% Grofien De/cripion of China, II, 2489 316.
§ Thevenots Travels, p. 219.

II Tavernier^ Indian travel, p. 191. Voyage toSiatn, p« $5*
See lUfo Lottberea Historical relation of Siam, p. 1 36.

CHAP. IX. SUBSISTING OK lUGETABLBS. 1 85

better advantage than by turning it into mea*
dows and pastures for the breeding of cattle :f
and though they have but few houfehold goods,
and are generally posfefs*d of many children
and great poverty, yet ^' with fome fmall pro*
portion of rice-planes and roots, they live content
and hapy/'f

The original inhabitants of Sumatra are
^ temperate and fober, being equally abitemi-
ous in meat and drink. The diet of the natives
is moftly vegetable; water is their only be*
yerage.'*!

The Armenian monks, whom Tavemier iaw
in the road between Nackfiwan and Zulfa,
live'd very auftere lives, feeding upon nothing but
herbs. || Thofe of the convent of Mount-Carmd
obferve*d a very fevere rule ; for, befide that they
were remove'd from all worldly con verfation, they
neither ate flefli, nor drank wine.§

At Aleppo^ the inhabitants chiefly fubfift
upon dates, which, together with various other

* History of Jafan, p. 124.

I Marsdens History of Sumatra, p. 17 z.
Jl Perjian travels, p. 17.
§ Thevenots Travdt^ p« 919.

l86 NATIONS AKX> INDIVIDUALS CHAP. IJt*

kinds of fruity they hare m great plenty axul per^
fcction.*

The peafants of modern ^gypt, as we learn
from Volney^ are bire*d labourers^ to whom no
more is left than barely fuf (icees to f astain life.
The rice and corn they gather are carry'd to the
table of their masters, and nothing referve'd for
them but dourray or Indian miiletj of which
they make a bread without leaven^ which is tafte-
lefs when cold* This bread is, with water and
raw onions, their onely food throughout the^
ye^r % and they esteem themfelves hapy if they
can fometimes procure a little honey, cheefe, four
milky and dates* Fleih meat, and fat, which
they are pasfionately fond of, make their appear-
ance onely on the great festivals, and among
thofe who are in the bed circumftancees.f '

The negros of Sierra^-leon, as defcribe*d by
Atkins, make cocoa- nuts, rice, yams, plantanes^
pine-apples, limes, orangees, papais, palm- nuts,
wild roots, and berrys, their common fustenance,
he being the greateft among them who can af*

* Plaisteds Journal from Calcutta to Busforah^ p. 2l#
t Travels in Egypt and Syrian I, 188. (E. tranf.) The
t:ommon food of the Egyptians is harley-fiour mix'd with
water. (Grangers Journey into Bgyft, p. 248.)

CHAP. IX. SUBSISTING OH VEGETABLW^ iS^

ford to eat ric^ all the year roand.* AdanfoA
was inviteed to dinner by the negro gorernor of
' Sor, a village and iland in Senegal. The feaft
conMed of ^^ a large wooden bowl full oicdus^
eous [couscoufous?]»athick grain'd pap mad^idf
two forts of millet^** which they eat after the mafi-
Iter of the Moors in fiarbary, thf uftiiig their
right hands into the di(h $ and> haveing been
accustomed to a more' favoury and laxorious
4liet,he was far from relifliing the temperance and
fimplicity of his hoft. However^ being ufe'd ^
little to the cmscom^ ^^ he found it afterward
Tery good."f 1 he Moors of this pdrt of Africa,
a very ancient rac6» distind from the negros, arc
no way inferior to them in frugality. . Their
ordinary foud is milk, either of camels^ cows,
goats, or fheep, with milkt \ and very often miili»-
and gum alone is their whole repaft, and iervet
^hem for meat and drink^

Conij and herbs^ and fpring-water are the
common food of the people of Malembai, on the
coaft of Africa. II The moft ufual food of the
Birians, a nation about twelve degrees north of

I » »•-

* Voyage to Guinea, p. 49.

t Voyage to Senegal, p. 55, 56.

X Ihi, p. 64. '

II Ovinjtotis Vojage to Suratj, p. 77^

l88 KATIOMS AVD INDIVIDUALS CRAP. IX^

the Cape of 6ood-<bope, is milk, millet, and a
kind of barley-mealy the laft being mixed with
four milk $ for they feldom eat meat.*

The Ahazorians, a mountainoas people be--
tween the lake of Zambre and the Atlantick^
ocean^ live on fruits and roots, neither haveing
huts, following agriculture^ nor breeding cattle.f .

The Moors in Barbary live a whole day very
well, without any other fustenance than a hand-
ful of barley*meal temper'd with a little water
in the palms of thdr hands.;}; In fome parts,
according to major Jardine, tbe inhabitants live
entirely on the milk of camels, with a few dates '. H
Nay, there are even confiderable multitudes who
do not fare fo wel, but are obliged to content
themfeves with a little bread and fruit. §
: The inhabitants of the Canary ilands fubfift
chiefly on gojfio^ a mixture of wheat or barley
flour toafted, which they mix with a little water,
and bring it to the confidence of dough, and
thus eat. Sometimes, by way of delicacy, they

* Dambergers Traviis^ London^ Longman and BeeSj^
1^1, I, 160.

X Historj of Muley Ismael, p. 218.
U Letters from Barbary, Sec. I, 30.
§ Lempricrea Tour to Tangier, p. 303*

-!>»•• * «,

CnAP. IX. StrBSISTINO Olt VKCEfABLES. 189

put the g(^oixi milky or dip it in honey, or me-
lasfes. jn fliort, one way or oth^r, it is thm

common food, and, according to the testimony
of a countryman of ours, ** a moft excellent
diOi."*

/ t

The Hottentots, or inhabitants of the Cape^
though they have cows> hogs, and flieep, fcarcely
eat of any of thefe, their chiefeft diet being milk
and butter, which for cleanlinefs fake they make
ta Iheep-fldns. They have a root allfo which
ferves them for bread.f The flaves and bolhies*
men, who are engaged in the fervice of fiutners,
are kept by their masters in good condition, all-
moft entirely with bread and other preparations
ofmeal and flour, t

The ordinary food of the poorer fort in the
iland of Madeira is little elfe in the time of the
vintage, but bread and grapes, which fimple
nourifhmeat, fays Ovington, affords fufficienc
pleafore and delight, when it meets with true
hunger, which never fiiils of cooking the mea:^
withagufto for the palate. H

The natives of the iland of Johanna live, in a

* Glufes History of the Canary Hands, p. 201, 208.

f Voyage to Siaoi, p. j.

X Sparrmans Fbyagi,^lJ, 231.

]t Voyage to Suratt, p. 13,

t^O KATlOirS AVP INDIVIDUALS CHAP, l^

gre^t meafure, vtpoa the cocoa-nut. A little rice
2^ this aut together, without any other food,
4o generally allay the hunger of the eommon
people.*

The Peruvians in the hot countrys^ which
were mod fruitful^ (ow'd liccle or nothing, but
contexXcd tbemfelves with herbs and roots , and
5K^ild frukli and with that which the earth pro**
dUice^d ofk&if; &r they^ requiretng no more
than natural fii^tenanee* liveM with little, and
xreateod no McMental necesfitys for the fupport
of jybk.f

The dumpk&^ are a plain and peaceable reli-
gious && of Germans in Pennfylvania* Their
common food coniifts wholely of vegetables, not
becaufe they think it is unlawful to eat any otiher,
but becaufe that kind of abstinence is looked
upon as more conformable to the fpirit of Chris-
tianity, wlu<^ has an averfion to blood. ;{;

The father of mistrefs Wright, fo wel known
"by her ingenious talent of modeling like-
hesfes in wax, was (for that part of America
where he live'd) esteem *d among his neighbours
to be a very rich, and a very honeft man } i. e.

mtmm

* Voyage to Snrat, p. iii.
t Dc la Vega, B- i, C. j,
X Raynal, VII, 196.

CHAP. XX* SUBSISTING ON VEGBTABLIS* I^I

lie had large tradls of land, houfeSs, horfees^
oxen, iheep, poultry, and, in (hort, every kind
of liveing thing, and earthly grain, which man
can really want, for the fupport and comfort of
life ; but, being one of that fed called Quakers,
he became fo Angularly confcientious, that he
could not bring himfelf to believe, that god per-
mited men to fpil the blood of animals for their
dayly food. He, therefor, neither ate flefh him*
felf, nor permited it to be eaten by any one
iwithin his gates. His ten children were twice
ten years old before they tafteed flefh.*

Vegetables and fifh, according to Bougainville,
are the principal food of the inhabitants of Ota-

heite. They feldom eat flefli, their children,
and young girk, never any ; and this, he fays,

doubtlefs ferves to keep them free from atlmoft

all our diseafes.'f'

To omit mentioning many other inftances, it

is wel :|uiown, that the people \k^o are con-

demn'd to work in the galleys, as well as many

* New pro/g Bath'gutde for i'j*^9 (by Philip Thicknefle,
^efquire)^ P- S7* ^^'^^ remarkable that the writeer, or com-
pileeo of the prefent book ceafe'd to tafte it^ from the fame
age.

- t Voyage (by Forstcr), p. 248. That this is ailfo the cafe
in other of the South-fea ilands, fee Spar^mans Voyage to th^
cafe of Go:d'hope^ II, 228, &c.

192 NATIONS AND INDiyiDirAX.S CHAF. tXi

Others^ can make fhift with a certain portion of

bread and water oncly; and, likewife, that the
inhabitants of the Apennine mountains live
allmoft entirely upon chesnuts."*^

The young favage of Aveyron^ when wild in
the foreil» fubfifted upon acorns, roots, raw ches-
nuts and potatos ; which laft, but boil'd (and>
frequently, by himfelf) have beenfince his prin*
cipal food. When tbirfty he disdains to take
vine^ and onely wifhes for water.f

In Engieland^ Wales, and Scotland, great
numbers of the inhabitants^ particularly the la-
bouring part of the communicy> live chiefly, and
ftil greater, foIeIy» on vegetable food.

The ufual diet of labourers, in the parilh <^
South-Tawron,DevQn(hire, is milk and potatos ;
barley or wheaten bread ; and, occafionally, a
little bacon. I

A labourer, in Leicesterfhire, fupports him-
felf, and five children, chiefly on bread; ufeing
little or no milk or potatos; feldom geting
any butter, nor ufeing any oatmeal ; but occa-i
(ionally buying a little cheefe, and haveing fome*

* Sparrmans Foyag^, II, 236.

t Mitards Account of a Javage man. See. p. ij, 30>45«
85> 104. •

X Sir F. M. Edens State o/ihe fOiTp p. 140.

CHAP. IX. svBSISTI^ro On vegetables. 193

times^ meat on a Sunday : bread being the chief
fupport of the family, which, however^ had far
from a fufficiency of thiit article, and would have
ufe'd much more if they could have procure'd
it**

At Monmouth a labourer has about three
pints of milk a day,, which, with a lit'le bread,
fcrves his children for breakfaft ; his wife drinks
tea: their dinmr is bread, potatos, and fait;
with, fometimes, a little fat or driping, if it can
be procure'd cheap : their fupper, generally,
bread or potatos.f

Bread and cheefc^ potatos and [milk-^ por-
ridge, and a thick flummery, made of coarfe
oat- meal, are the ufual diet of the labouring
people in Pembrokefhire.|

The breakfaft of the labouring part of the
community in the neighbourhood of Lancaster,
ufuallyconfiftsofmilk-pottage.orhaftey-pudding,
which is there call'd water-pottage : and dinner,
of potatos, with a little butter, and fait; fi(h,
bacon, or butchers- meat, being, however, aded,
according to the feafon, and circumftancce^ of
the family. II

The yeomanry and labouring poor throughout

■wi*"

• Uh p. 3^1- t'^^h 4^9' i ^^'h 898. II Ih't, 309*

194 NATIONS AKD INDIVIDUALS CHAP. tX.

the greater part of Weftmoreland and Cumber-
land live alltogether withoutanimal food. Even
{ubii2imh\Jiatesmcn^ as they are there call'd, who
cultivate their own land, do not fee a piece of
flefh-meat at their table for W/ceks or months
together. Their chief diet ispotatos, milk, and
oat-cakes ; wheaten-bread being allmoft as great
a rarity as beef or mutton. Of thiar the com-
pileer'was partly an eye-witncfsi ^nd partly
obtained information on the fpot.

The provifions ufe'd in the to wnfhipof Kirkby-
Lonsdale by the labouring poor, are, chiefly,
milk, oat-bread, haftey-pudding, onions, po-
tatos, and, now and then, a little butchqrs^
meat.*

Sir F. M. Eden has giveen the income of a
weavcer inKendal,with a wife and feven children :
their ptovifion is chiefly o^t-meal, potatos,. milk,
and butter : no animal food whatev^r.f

He has, likewife, ftateed the earnings and ex-
penditure of a poor woman in Cumberland, who
" feems perfeftly hapy, content, and cheerful,'*
wi^.h the confiderable income of 4I. if. yxd.
Her yearly charge for butchers-meat is if, 6d.

■i W ■! I

* State cf the poor, p. 771.
t Ib'h J6^.

CHAP. IX. SUBSISTING ON YEGETABLES. I95

for wheaten- bread if. Her diet is haftey-pud*
ding, milk^ butter> and potatos.*

1 he labouring clafses of the people^ he fays,
in many parts of the kingdom, live entirely on
brown bread.f

JVIany poor people, particularly in Scotland,
live, and that very comfortablcly, for months to-
gether, ;^upon oat-meal, and barley-meal, mix*d
with onely water and* fait, with no other variety
than the different degrees of thicknefs and thin-
nefs of bread, pottage, flummery, and gruel. If
they can afford, now and then, to convert a peck
of malt^ into beer [ale], they think themfelves
moft curiously provideed.f

Befide the inftancees allready adduce*d to dis* .
prove the necesfity of animal food, from 'the ex-
ample of nations and numbers, may be aded .
fome from that of individuals, lately or ftil
liveing.

A writeer who appeared in The gentlemans
magaxine, for Auguft 1787, under the fignature
« of Etonenjjs, in giveing a defcription of Moffat,
fays that *' the chalybeat fpring, perhap the
ilrongefl: in Britain, was discovered about 40
years ago j" to which he ads the following
note :

* ^h Ih 75. t ^h -yS. X Ib\ I, 503.

ipS NATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS CfiTAP, IXJ

*' This fpring was found out in 1748^ by one
of the moft original geniuses that ever exifted.
His namc^was John Williamfon, alias Pythago-
ras,- ////V?j Bramin, alias Hole-John, This laft
nick-name proceeded, i believe, from a farm he
rented : the two others from his Angular notions.
He was wel Ikird in natural philofophy, and
might be fay'd to have been a moral philofo-
pher, not in theory onely, but in ftridl and uni-
form practice. He was remarkablely hupaane
and charitable, and, though poor, was a bold
and avow'd enemy to every fpecies of oppresfion.
. . . Among others, the transmigration of fouls,
or metempfychofis of Pythagoras, was fay'd to
have been one of his favourite dogmas.* Cer-
tain it is, that he accounted the murder (as he
[juftly} caird it) of the meaneft animal, except
in fclf-defence, a v^ry criminal breach of the law
of nature, infifting, that the creator of all things
had conftituteed man, not the tyrant ^ but the law^

It was probablcly fo fay'd by ign6rant people^ who can-
not distinguifh justice or humanity from an abfurd and im-
posiible fystem. The <^ompileer pf the prefent book, }ike Py-
thagoras and John Willtamfon^ abstains from animal food ;
but he does not, neverthele(s> believe in the metempfychoiis,
and much doubts whether it ws^ the belief of either ot tboffi
philofoph^rs.

CHAP. IX. SUBSISTlKG ON VEGETABLBS. I97

fiil and liitntcd/dv^eign, of the inferior animals,*
"which, he contended, anfwer'd the ends of their
creation better than their little defpottck lord. . . .
He did not think it

^enough,

In this late zgc, adventVous to have touch'd
Light on the frecefts of the Samian fage |

for he aftcd in rigid conformity to them. Dure*
ing the laft 40 or 50 years of his life he totally
abstain'd from animal food, and was much of-
fended when any was offered to him. Ht in-
filled that, at hefty it ferve'd but to cloud the un-
derilanding, to blunt the feelings, and to inflame
every bad pasfion ; and that thofe nations who
eat little or no flefb, as the poor among the
Scotch and Irifli, were not inferior in fize,
ftrength, or courage to other men. His vege-
table and milk diet afforded him in particular
very fufficient nourifhment ; for, when i laft faw
^ him, he was flil a tall, robuft, and rather corpu-
lent man, though upward of fourfcore. Though
he allow'd, and even revere'd, the general autho-
rity of the fcriptures, yet he contended that the
text had been vitiatecd in thofe pasfagees which

He fcems to have takecn this idea from G^nefts I, 28.

198 NATIONS AND INBIVIBITALS CHAP. XX*

were repugnant to his fystem ;* and for this he
blame'd the pricfts and prieftcraft, the oneljr
ndmes he ufe'd for the clergy and their function.
...•He liveM a harmlefs, if not a ufeful life,
and dye'din 1768 or 1 769, age'd upward of 90,
pcrhap not fufficiently regreted, at the feat of
a refpectable gentleman, who admire'd our phi-
lofopher for his humaftity, and his independent
fpirit, though he laugh'd at his curious notions
[which, one may venture tofufpeft, he had nei^
ther candour to examine, noi^ fenfe to compre-
hend]. Agreeablely to his own defire, he was
inter'd in Moffat church-yard, in a deep grave,
iat a distance from the other burying-placees.
His worthy patron ereded a free-ftone obelifk
on the fpot, with an epitaph defcriptive of his vir-
tues, and particularly of his protection of the
aninial creation.

** Bene • • . fJactdeque quiescasy

Terraque fecurajti fuper esja levts.**

** John Oswald was a native of Edinburgh.
At an early iage he elope'd from his parents, and

* This is not credible j the biWe has evidently been writ*
en by perfons, whether pricfts or laicks, of a very different
way of tbinkmg from our refpectable phtlofopher^ who either
could not^ or dorft not openly^ in this inftance, dispel the
clouds of prejudice and bigotry with which his infaut mind
had been carefully cnvelope'd.

enllfted as a private foldier in the 36th regi«
tnent. As fooa as it was discoverM by his rela-
tions, an enfigncy was purchafe'd for him in the
42d regiment.

** In that capacity he went to the Eaii:*Indies»
\dureing the war before laft, and there distin*-
guifli'dhimfeif with great gallantry ; but, oweing
to a difference of Opinion with general Mac-
leod, then his commander in chief, he fold out>
and, after a peregrination of about two years,
among the brachmans of India, the Ferilans, &c.
he|arrive'd in£nglelajtid,fo change'd by the man-
ners and drefs he asfume'd, as to be unknown to
his friends^

<« He -became a convert fo much to the Hin-
doo faith, that the ferocity of the young foldier
i>{ fortune funk into the mild phiiofophick man-
ners of the Hindoo brachman. Dureing his
ftay in Engleland be, uniformly, abstained from
eating animal food : nay, fo great was his ab-
horrence of iM^ that, rather than pafs through*
a butchers market, he would go any distance
about. He brought up his children in the fame
way.

** In 179O) being a warm admireer of the
French revolution, he went to Paris, and there
asfociatecd with the leaders of the Jacobin club.
He was, however, a long time there without

ftOO ITATIOKS AND INDIVIDUALS CHAF. tXi

being distinguifliM by any thing but his violent
fpeeches. He live'd in a fmall but, a fliort distance
from Paris, and dureing his obfcurity he was
driveen to fuch distjefs, that it is fay'd, being
truely reduce'd to Jans culottes in their clotheing,
he turn'd out both his fons to feed on what they
could pick, up in the neighbouring gardens and
forefts, for they posfefs'd an equal ancipathy with
the father to animal food.

*^ Soon after this, Fortune fmile'd on hiin.
He propose'd to the convention to introduce
the ufe of the pike, not onely in the army, but
among the people. This propofal being accepted,
he had under tuition an immenfe concourfe of
hoih fexes, to inilrudt in the ufe of that inftru*
xnenc. He was appointed colonel-commanclant;
and thus he was fuddenly advance'd from the
greateft poverty to a ftate of affluence.

" In 1793 he is fayMtohave met his fate, for
he was kiPd, together with both his fons, in an
action with the advocates of royalty in La Ven-
dee."* The name of " colonel Oswald" oc-
curing in the campaign of 1796, this fad has
been disputeed ; but the officer intended may be
colonel Ebenezer Oswald, of America.

* Secret historj of the grein'Toem, London, I795> H, 22z
(a note).

CHAf, tX. SUBSISTING ON VBGBTABLBS^ aOI

The active and benevolent Howard utterly
discarded animal foods^ as wel as fermented and
fpirituous drinks^ from his diet : water and the
plaineft vegetables, fuf fleeing him.*

In the village of Weft-Harlfey, near North-i^
Allerton, lives a farmer, who is fay'd not to have
tafteed any kind of animal food from his cradle^
He is a very lufty, good-looking man, wel known
in Allerton- market.

Mister Richard Phillips, the publiflier of this
compilation) a lufty, healthy, active and weU
looking man, has defined from animal food
for upward of twenty years: and the compileqr
himfelfjinduce'd to ferious reflection, by thep^ru-
fal of MandeviUes Fable of the heeSy in the year
177a, being the 19th year of his age, has ever
fince, to the revifeal of this flieet, firmly adhere'd
to a milk and vegetable diet, haveing, at leail,
never tafteed, dureing the whole courfe of thofe
thirty years, a morfel of flcfii, fiih, or fowl, or
any thing, to his knowlege, prepare'd in or with
thofe fubftancees or any extraft thereof, uulefs,
on one bccafion, when tempted, by wet, cold
and hunger, in the fouth of Scotland, he ven-
ture'd to eat a ftw potatos, dreiVd under th«
road ; nothing, lefs repugnant to his feelings.

AJkins Fit%v of his char act ir^ &c. p. 12?.

ftOl NATIOi^S AND INDIVIDUALS CHAP. tSi

being to be had j or except by ignoratice orinl*
pofition ; unlefs^ it may be, in eating egs, which,
liowcver, deprives no animal of life, though it
may prevent feme from comeing into the world
to be murder'd and devoured by others*

It is the Icfs to be wonderM at that Chriftians
Ihould addid themfelves to animal food, as they
eaf blovd and things ft r angle' d in direft oppofition
to their own religion, and the exprefs prohi-
bition of god himfelf. After the flood, whcu^
he declares to Noah and his fons, " Every move-
ing thing that livecth fhal be meat for you ; even
as the green herb haVe i giveen you all things ;*'*
the'gift is upon this immediate condition: *^ But
flelh, with the life thereof, which is the blood
thereof, fhall you not eat.'* Again, in the law
dictatecd by god to Mofes, he fays, " It fhal
be a perpetual flatute for your generations,
throughout all your dwelings, that ye eat neither
fat nor blood/'f Again ; *' Moreover ye fhal
cat no manner of blood, whether it Be of fowl or
of beaft, in any of your dwelings. J * ** I wil
even,'* he declares, *^ fet my face again'ft that foul
that eateth blood ; and wil cut hi m off from among
his people : for the life of the flefh," he ads, ^' is

- I

^ Gitufis, IX, 3. t Leviticus, III, 17. { Ibi, VII, 2(5.

CHAI^. IX. SUBSISTING ON VIGETABLBS, SOj

in the blood, and i have giveen it to you upon
the altar, to make an atonement for your fouls/**
This prohibition, it is vrel known, the Jews
themfelves have all along obey*d and obferve'd
down to the prefent time. That fuch allfo was the
practice of the primitive or early Christians we
learn from The alls ; where they are told, in a
letter from the apostles, " For it feem'd good to
the holy gHoft, and to us, to lay upon you no
greater burden than thefe necesfary things;
That ye abstain. from meats offer'dto idol9>

and FROM BLOOD.*'f

** Wc Christians,** feys Octavius^ in Minucius
Felix, dread the thoughts of murder, and can-
not bear to look upon a carcafe.; and we fo ab-
hor human blood, that we abstain from that of
beads.*' ** We are fo cautious," fays Tertullian,
*^ of tafteing blood, that we abftain from things
ftrangle'd, and even fuffocateed beads ; and,
therefor, whett you have a mind to try whether
we be Christians, you offer us ^puddings duf 'd

Ibi, XVII, lo, II. (The original is Ii<v€s (as above,
the life of the flefti) not fouls, for the Jews of that period
did not know they had fouls, nor bc4ieve*d in their imnxor-
tality ) This injunction is repeated in two other verfeet
of the fame chapter 5 and^ again, in Deutetonomy j%il, i6f
23 ; and XV, 23.

f XV, 38, 29.

%04 -NATIONS AKD IlfDIVIDtJALS CHAP* iXi

^ith blood."* That this practice condnue'd in
the weftern church, to, at leaft, the middle of
the eleventh century (for it is ftil obferve'd in
the eaftern) is manifeft from the words of car-
dinal Humbert : " for retaining/' fays he, " the
ancient ufeage or tradition of our. ancestors, wc,
in like • manner, do abominate thefe things :
infomuch that a fevere penance is impofe'd on
thofe, who, without extreme peril of life, do at
any time feed on blood, or any animal dead of
itsfelf/'f The reverend doctor Grabe, an emi-
nent Engleifli divine, acknowlegces certain
*^ abufecs and defeds" to have crept into our
church, particularly baptifm by bare fprinkleing,
not mixing water with wine in the lords fupper,
and the eating of things ftrangle'd : all which

* Jfohgy, Thcfc, it is prefume'd, were what wc now
call hhch'puddings : a great luxury of modern Christians, at
Jeaft in this country, at the annivcrfary of the birth of
Chrift, who, by the way, would not have touched one hira-
felf,

••• Tohnds Nazarenus^ip, 44. " Kejt-tlfas hien Jingulitr^^
fays M. Boulanger, '' que hs Chretiens I'abstiennent de vU
andc [on fall-days], abstinence qui n^cft ordonnee nulle part
dans )c nouveau testament, tandis qu'ils ne s'absticnnent
point du fang, de boudin, et de la chair des animaux etouffes,
qui font ahfolumenl defendus par les apotres, & ausfi fevere-
ment que la fornication ?" Christ ianifme de voile, p, 176*

CHAF. IX. SUBSISTING OK VEGETABLES. SOfj

abufees, he fays, we are guilty of, in oppofition
to " the ancient church all- the world over/*^
and the plain testimonys of the fcriptures.* Let
the constftent Christian defend himfelf againfl:
this charge as he can.

* Prcfapc to Esfay on the doctrine of the afojlles, p. H.

406 HUMANITYt CHAP. Xt

CHAP. X,

HUMANITY.

As the ufe of animal food makes man cruel
and barbarous, and to take delight in pain and
torture, whence the fondnefs of the Romans for
the (hews of fighting gladiators, and wild- beads,
the Spaniards and Portuguefe, for their bul-
feafts, their inquifition, and auto da/e, the Nea*
politan for his festa di cocagna, and the Engleifh*
man for his bul- and bear-baitings, his cock-
lights, his boxing-niatches, his pleafures of the
chace,&f^. fo the abftinence from that habit has an
immediate tendency to foften the manners, and
dispofe the mind to receive uncommon fatisfac-
tion from the exercife of gentlenefs and huma-
nity toward the minuteeft objefts of creation. It
is not to be expected that a cannibal fhould pity
the tortures of a fubjefit of the holy inquifition ;
and as little emotion, perhap, wil the eater of
beef and mutton experience from the beai«yful
and affefting pictures repref(?nted in the follow-
ing anecdotes :

The philofopher Xenocrates, a fevere and
rigid moralift, gave numerous proofs of the be-

tbHAP. X.

HUMANITY.

407

nevolence and humanity of his' nature toward ^11
creatures. One inftance is particularly ivortby
of' notice. A fparrow, purfueM by a hawk, flew
to him for refuge : he Ihelter'd it in his bofom,
and releafe'd it as foon as the danger was over.'*^
It is allm6{t impoiiible that he could have de«
vour'd animal-food. No one, at the lame time,
feems to have carry'd his affection to animals fo
far as St. Francis of Asfife, who was wont to
addrefs hares^ Iambs, fwallows, and grafshopers
by the endearing appellations of brothers and
fisters* His charity extended itsfelf even toward
lice and worms, which he would not fuffer to be
kil'd, inasmuch as the pfalmift bath fay'd, ** I
am a worm."

Is not, asks Plutarch, the accustomeing of
onesfelf to mildnefs and a humane temper of
mind an admirable thing ? For who could wrong
or injure a man that is fo fweetly and humanely
dispofe*d with refpt^i to the ils of flrangers that
are not of his kind ? . I remember that three days
ago, as I was discourfeing,. i made mention' of a
faying of Xenocrates, and how the Athenians
gave judgement upon a certain perfon who had
flay'd a liveing ram. For my part i cannot

■'iM'^.

"^ Aelian, B. 13, C. 31.

t«

208 HUMANITY. CHAP, x/

think him'a worfe criminal that torments a poor
creature while liveing, than a man that ihal
take away its 4ife and murder it. '

Though the Mahometans, generally fpeaking,
be a cruel fe£t^ this proceeds chief ly, if not whole-
ly, from their religious tenets, and is principally
Ihewn in their facrificees, and toward thofe of a
different perfualion. So far as religion is out of
the question, the Turks, in particular, have the
character of a humane dispolition ; and indivi«
duals may be found among all nations which pro**
fefs the musfulman faith, who have.giveen the
ftrongeft proofs of a tender and feeling hearts
Such a one was Moulana Nafereddin Amer, one
of the moft venerable doctors of the court of
Timour (improperly call'd Tamerlane), who
could never confent fo much as to kil a fingla
flieep.* Doctor Smith found the Turks exces-»
fively pityful and goodnature'd toward dumb
creatures, foon puting them but of their pain, if
they were necesfitateed to kil them. Some; he
fays, buy birds on purpofe to let them fly away,
and return to the liberty of the woods and opeu
air.f

The Gentoos are fociable, humane, and hospi^

■*

History of Timur Bee t II, 54.
f Rsmarks u^on tbg Turh, p» 103.

CHAP. X. HUMANITY. 209

table, and dureing my refidence in their coun-
try^ fays M. de Pages, i never had occafion to
obferve a fihgle inftance of violence or dispute.
They rfear numerous herds of cattle ; but fuch
is their veneration for thefe animals, on account
of their ufeful and patient fervicees to man, that
to kil or even maim one of them is deem'd a
capital offence.*

Naufary, a fmall town, as we are told by the
fame traveler, has a fort, which belongs to the
Marattas, and is furrounded with pagodas, gar-
dens, and beautyful flower-plots'. The unufual
familiarity, common in this country, among all
the different tribes of animals, which fport before
us with the mod carelcfs indifference, is not a
little furprifcing to a flranger. The-birds of the
air, undismayed by our approach, perch upon
the trees, and fwarra among the branches, as if
they conceiveM man to be of a nature equally
quiet and inoffenfive with, themfelves ; while the
monkey and fquirrel climb the wall, gambol on
the houfe-top, and leap with confidence and
alacrity from one bough to another over our
heads. Even the moft formidable quadrupeds
feem to have loft their natural ferocity in the
fame harmlefe dispofitions ; and hence the ap^

^mmmm^^at^mmmmmmmm mm 1 1 n ■, 1 1 . m 1 1 1 1

* Travels thrci* the world^W, 27.

ftiO

HUMANITY,

CHAP, X.

prehenAons commonly occafion'd by the proxi^r
mity of fuch neighbours, no longer disquiet th^
minds of the natives, Hapy effefi of thofe mild
and innocent manners, whence have arifep peace
and protection to all the inferior animals,*

" The people of Cambaia," feys Pi^tro detfa
ValUy ^' are mod part gentile$, and here, more thaii
elfewhere, their vain fuperflitions are pbferve'd
with rigour : wherefor we caufc'd ourfelves to be
conducted to fee a famous hpfpical of bird) of all
forts, which, for beiqg fick, lam^j deprive'd of
their mates, or otherwife needing food aa4 cur^,
are kept and tended there with diligence ; the
men allfo who take care of them are maintaia'4
by the publick alms ; the Indian gei\tiles coQf
ceiveing it no lefs a work of charity to do gpojj
to beafts than to men. The mod curious th^g
i faw were certain little mice, which, being fQUA4
orphans without (ire or dam to tend them^ w^e
put into this hofpital ; and a venerable old ma^
with a white beard, keeping them in a box
amongd cTotton, very diligently tended them
with his fpectacles on his nofe, giveitlg thetn
milk to eat with a birds feather, becaufe they
were fo little as yet they could eat nothing elfe ;
and, as he told us, he intended, when they were

* Ibi, 22.

CHAP. X, HUMANITY. 211

grown up, to let theihgo free whither they
pleafe'd.*

*^ The next morning," continues this intelligent
traveler, going about the city, we faw. another
hofpital of goatSj kids, (heep, and wethers, either
fick or lame, and there were allfo fome cocks,
peacocks, and other animals, needing the'fame
help, and kept together quietly enough in a great
court ; nor wanted there men and women lodge'd
in little rooms of the fame hospital, who had the
care of them. In another place, we faw another
hospital of cows and calves. Among the beafts
there was allfo a Mahometan thief, who had
both his hands cut off. Moreover, without one
of the gates of the city, we faw aaotlier; great
troop of (:ows, calves, and goats, propel ly main*
tain'd at the publick charge.-f"

f P. 36; 37* See a further account of this hospital in Sta-
vorinuses P^oyage'es to the E. Indies j II> 488 3 and of others,
for the fame purpofc, in Ovingtons f^oyage to Surat, p. 300 ;
and Niebuhrs Travels, II, 405. <* Once a year/* ads the
former, ** the charitable banian prepares a fet banquet for
ail the fifs that are in his ho«fe, and fets down before them,
upon the floor or table, large (hallow diihes of fweet milk and
iugar fflixt together, the moft delicious fare of that liquorifh
little creature. At other times he extends his liberality to
the pismires, and walks, with a hag of rice vod^ his araa, two

212 HUMANITT* CHAP. X«

In the city of Amedabad, in the province of
Guzerat, according to M. Thevenot, was a hos-
pital for birds, wherein the gentiles lodge'd all
the lick birds they found, and fed them as long
as they live'd, if they were indispofe'd. Four-
footed beafls had theirs allfo. " 1 faw in it," fays
he, *' fcveral oxen, camels, horfees, and other
wounded beafts, who were look'd after, and wel
fed."*

" The bramins and banians, who religiously ob-
fervc the law, not to kil any thing which has life
and fenfation, wil make the moil: moveing peti*
tions, even in favour of loathfome vermin."f

The Gentoos never tafte the flefli of any thing
that has breathe'd the common air, nor pollute
themfelves with feeding on any thing .endue'd
with life ; and are ftruck with aftonifhment at

or three miles foreward into the countiy^ and flops, as be pro^
ceeds, at each ant-hili that he meets with^ to leave behind
him his benevolence, a handful or two of rice ftraw'd upon
the ground, which is the belove*d dainty on which the bun*
grey pismires feed, and their befl referve and llore in time of
need."

* Travels in the Indies, p. ii. See allfo in The voyage
andtravaiie of fir John Maundevihf c. 19, ** of the monket
that zeven here releef to babewynes, apes, and marmeiiettea,
and toother belles."

t Toreens Voyage to Surat.

CHAP. X, UUMANITY. 215

the vdracious appetites of the christians, who heap
whole bifks of fi(h upon their tables, and facri-^
fice whole hecatombs of animals to their glut-
tony. They cannbt be tempted, either by the
delicacy of the food, or for prevention of either
ficknefs or death, to fo enormous an offence as
the tafteing of flefli. Vegetable produfts, and
the milk of cattle, rice, and other forts of grain,
which nature affords in plenty, and th^y with
innocence can enjoy, is the lawful nourifliment
they delight in.*'*

** I alk'd the bramin," faysaDanilhmisfionary,
** if he thought it unlawful to eat fifli or flefh.
He reply'd that, " Nature has plentyfully pro-
videed us with other food, fo that we have no
need of eating our fellow-creatures ; and 'tis
writen in our law, that thefe very creatures, if
devoured by men in this,*wil be their tormentors
in the next world, biteing and tearing them with
their teeth or trampleing thenii under foot : and
bf caufe you Europeans drink ftrong liquors, and
kil and eat your fellow- creatures, endue'd with
five ft nfees as wel a.s your felves, i confefs, we
have an inbred averfion for you and all that be-
lo gs to you.''f

* Ovingtons Voyage to Swat>

+ T^hirty four confer encei, &c. p. 276: fee, ^Ifo p. igj.

Zl4 HUMANITY, <:HAP. X.'

The fins ftridly forbiden in the Malabarifli law
are murder and kiling any liveing creature*

** We/' fays a Malabarian, " neither kil
nor eat of any liveing creature, becaule we be-
lieve the transmigration of fouls, loaded with
fins, intobeafts. This opinion is ftriftly main-
tained among us, except onely by one feft whq
cat fifli and fowl ; and the poorer fort of them
feed on the flefli of cows and rats [for which
reafons they are confider'd by the reft of the na-
tion as unclean, and therefor oblige'd to keep at
a distance from other men].''|

" Some among us," it is a Malabarian who
fpeaks, '* eat nothing but marakari (or all forts
of garden- herbs and roots).^'. The other forts of
meat, are kird (a garden root very much in ufe
here), wareikai (or green figs . . . made into foup),
kadarikai (a fort of round fruit of a very agreea-
ble odour), pawakaiy (a fruit prickle'd without*
ful of kernels lijce beans), tnankai (a green fruit,
which, when boiTd, is good. for eating) j with fe^
veral other fruits, • which are eaten with milk,
and fometimes with butter, or in broth prepare'd
with feveral forts of herbs. We keep to thefe
fimple eatables becaufe they have been the food
of many agees pafs'd ; and we have a conftant

* Jcconnt of the Malaharians, p. 17.
f Ui, p. 19.

CMAP. X«, HUMANITY* tlS

tradition among us, that this manner of eating
is not onely wholefome to the body, but con-
tributes to attain everlafiing hapynefs : and, on
the contrary, they that make no difference be-
tween clesln and unclean food fhal be feverely
puniih'd in the other world* . • One of our poets
writes, that whoever abstains from the flefli of
liveing creatures, all men and all forts of liveing
creatures regard fuch a man with the profoundeft
refpefi;, and falute him with a thoufznd fcbalam ;
and it is a receive'd opinion among us, that fuch
^s kil and eat the flefh of any creature endue'd
with the five fenfees cannot obtain the hapynefs
of the other world j but his lot wil be to keep
company with Oltna dudakkol (the god of the dead
and king of hel)."*

India, in fhort, of all the regions of the earth,
is the onely publick theatre of justice and tender-
nefs to brutesj and all liveii^g creatures ; for,
not confineing murder to the kiling of a man, they
religiously abftain from takeing away the life of
the; meaneft animal, mite, or flea.f

* Ihi, p. 76.

t Ovingtons Voyage to Surat^ p. 296, Sec allfo The
voyages of John Struys, p. 275. *« Thafe," fay the bramins^
" who have forfakeen the kiling of all, arc in the way to
heaven." Again : «' Behold the difference bctMrecn the one

2l6 HITMAKITY. CHAP. X.

One of the grealeft charitys of the Si-
amefe is to give liberty to animals, which they
buy of thofe that have takeen them in the
fields.*

• The South- Americans are a humane and
amiable, but very indolent people. " Though the
Indian women breed fowl and other domestick
animals in their cottagees, they never eat them :
and even conceive fuch a fondnefs for them, that
, they wil not even fel them, much lefs kil them
with their own bands : fo that if a Spaniard,

who eateth fleih, and him to whom it belonged. The firft
hath a momentary enjoyment, while the latter is depriTc'd of
exiftence." Again : " A f«l!ow-creature (hould be fpare'd,
even by this analogy : the pain which a nan fuffereth wkien he
is at the point of death." They even' define rcUgionj " Com-
pasfion for all things which have life." The Gentoos wil
fcarcely look upon a mangle*d carcafe. A butcher with
them is little lefs than a murderer^ and of all vocations the
moft odious. (Ovington, p. 242.)

* Louberes History of Siam, p. 116. Their talapoins or
priefts cannot without (in kil any liveing creature, nay it is a
crime with them to go a-hunting, to Rrike a beai^, and to do
it hurt any manner of way. The reafon they give is, tha^
beads, haveing life as wel as we, are fenfibie of pain as wel
as we, and fince we are not wiling that any body ihould hurt
us, it is not reafonable that we (hould hurt them. Nay, they
accufe us of ingratitude, becaufe we put to death innocent
creatures, which have render*d us fo many fervices. Voyage
4o Siam hyfix JefuitSt p. 302.

' •

>*> ,

C«[AI>. X.

HUMANltTi

ti7

\vho is oblige'd to pafs the night in one of their
cottagecs, offer ever fo much money for a fowU
they refufe to part with it ; but this affectionate
humanity is loft upon the infolent and unfeeling
barbarian, who difpatches it himfelf, at which
his landlady ihrieks, disfolves in tears, and wrings
her hands, as if it had been an onely fon."*

f ' I have often thought," faysMandeville, ^*if it
was not for the tyranny which custom ufurps
over us, that men of any tolerable good- nature
could never be reconcile'd to the kiling of fo
many animals for their dayly food, as long as
the bountyful earth foplentyfully provides them
with varietys of vegetable daintys. I know that
reafon excites our compasfion but famtly, and,
therefor, i would not wonder how men fhould fo
little commiferate fuch imperfed: creature? as
cray-filh, oyfters, cockles, and, indeed, all fifli ia
general : as they are mute, and their inward for-
mation, as wel as outward figure, viftly different
from ours, they exprefs themfelves unintelligible-
}y to us, and therefor 'tis not ftrange that their
grief fliould not affedi: our undcrftanding, which
it cannot reach, for nothing ftirs us to pity fo
effectually as when thefymptotns of mifery ftrike
immediately upon our lenfees, and i have feen
people move'd at the noife a live lobfter makes

•^Tl

Juan 8c Uiloas Voyage to S, America, I, 4aj«

# •

' «

•

«I8 HUMANlTir. <5ttAl». X,

upon the fpit^ arid could have kilM b^If a do^en
fowls with pleafure.* But in fuch perfect ani-
mals as fheep and oxen, in whom the heart,
the brain, and nerves, differ fo little from ours,
and in whom th€ feparation of the fpirits from
the blood, the organs of fenfe, and, confequently,
feeling itfelf, are the fame as they are in human
creatures, i canrtot imagine how a man, not
hatdeft'd in blood and masficre, is able to fee a vio-
lent death, and the pangs of it, without concern •
** In anfwer to this,'* he continues, *' moft
people will think it fufficient to fay, that things
being allow'd to be made for the fervice of man,
there can be no cruelty in puting creatures to
the ufe they were defignM for jf but i have heard
men make this reply, while their nature within
them has reproach'd them with the falfehood of
the asfertion. There is of all the multitude not
one man in ten but what wil own (if he was not

* For this reafon^ pcradvcnture, thcfc very humane pcr-
fons would rather boil their live lobfters: Even *' the tender
mercys of the wicked are cruel.'* The cry or flirick of tbi^
animal, in its laft fufferings, is fay'd to refemble ftrongiy that
of a human creature, whofeagonys would not be greater, nor,
perhaps, different, in the fame fituation.

+ Thcjbeep is not fo much *« defignd " for the man, as the
man is for the tyger ; thif animal being naturally carnivorous,
which man is not : but nature and justice, or bumanltyi are
nott aliways, one and the l[ame thing.

CHAP< X# HUM AN ITT. ftl$

brotjght up in a . flaiighter-houfe) that of all
trades h« could never have been a butchir j and
i question wheiher ever any body fo much z%
kil'd a chicken vt^ithoot reluctaiicy the firft tittle*
Some people are not to be perfusdeed to tafte of
any creatures they have dayly feen and been ac-
quainted with, while they were alive ;^ others
extend their fcruple no further than to their own
poultry, and refufe to eat what they fed and took
care of themfelves ; yet all of them wil feed
heartyly and without retnorfe on beef, mutton,
and fowU, when they are bought ip the market.
In this behaviour, methinks, there appears fome-
thing like a confcio]Lisnefs of gujlt, it looks as if
they endeavoured to fave themfelves from the
imputation of a crime (which they know ilick^
fomewhere) by removeing the caufe of it as fa*
as they can from themfelves ) and i can discoVef
in it fomc ftrong marks of primitive pity and lii*
nocence, which all the arbitrary power of cus-
tom, and the violence of luxury, have not yet
been able to conquer.

" What i build upon," he fays, « fhal be
told is a folly that wife men are not guilty of;
i owtl it ; but while it proceeds from a real pas-**
fion inhereent in our nature, it is fufficient to de-^

* See a beautyful little anecdote to this cffeft in Berquini
Cblldr ens friend.

aio humanity; chai^. x.

monftrate.that we are born with a repugnancy
to the kiling, and, confequently, to the eating
of animals ; for it is imposfible that a natural
appetite (hould ever prompt us to aft, or defire
others to do, what we have an averfion to^ be it;
as foolifli as ic wil."*
It is wel obferve'd by Cowper,

'* The heart is bard in nature, and unfit

For human fellowlfaip, as being void

Of fympatby, and tbeiefpr dead alike

To love and friendihip both, that is notplease'd

With fight of animals enjoying life.

Nor feels their hapynefs increafe his own/*

** Confider,*' faysTryon, ''how unpleafeing it
would be to mod people, to behold the dead car-
cafees of beads cut into piecees, and mangle'd^
and all over bloody ? and how naufeous^ anc}
frightful, a thing it would be to think of puting
thofe begori^ d gobbets into our mouths, and feed-
ing ourfelves thereon, did not continual ufe and
custom make it familiar ? and bow difficult a
taik would it be for many people to kil the beads
for their own food, until a little action of that
kind and custom hardens them therein • How
quickly allfo wil the dead carcafecs putrefy ancj
ftink, defileing the elements, both earth and air !
How offenfive are the placees where flefli is kil'd

* Fable ofibe bees, I, 187, ^c.

CHAl*. X. HI/MANITY. 121

and fold ! How rude, cruel, fierce and violent
arc mod of thofe who are eimploy'd therein r
In a word, there is nothing that is pleafant, or
friendly, in the whole bufynefs, nor any one cir-
cumftance that is grateful to the innocent prin-
ciple in man ; nay, the tafte of moft forts of flefh
is ftrong, fulfome, and fmels of the original
cruelty to all thofe that have, for any time, fepa-
rateed themfelves from the eating thereof, or
havcing communication with it. . . . Is there any
comparifon to be made between a herb-marker,
^and a fldh->market ? In one a thoufand piecees of
the dead carcafees of various creatures lye ftink-
ing, the chanels runing with blood, and all the
placees ful of excrements, ordure, garbage, greafe,
and filthynefs, fending forth dismal, poifonous
fcents, enough to corrupt the very air. In the
other, you have delicate fruits of moft excellent
taftes, wholefome medicinal herbs, favour/
grains, and moft beautyful, fragrant flowers,
whofe various fcents, colours, &c. make at once

•

a banquet to all the fenfees, and refrefli the very
fouls of fuch * as' pafs through them, and per-
fume all the circumambient air with redolent
exhalations. This was the place, and food, or-
dain'd for mankind in the begining. The lord
planted a garden for him, replenifh'd with all
manner of ravifhing fruits and hcibs: there
* were * no flelh-markets nor (hambles talk'd of

222

HUMANITY,

CHAP, a^

in thepiimitiye times ; But eve^y green berby fruit,
imdjeed^jballbeforfoodto man^ fay'th the creator :
* and ' if it had been ftil obfcrve'd, man hacj
not contracted io many diseafees in hisbody^
and cruel vicee$ in his foul, by makeing his.
throat an open fepulchre, • wherein to ^tomb
the dead bodys of beafts ; nor ihpuld the x^\M
image of the deity have been thus iliam^ful}y dc^*
file'd with brutalitys."* . . .

*^ When M. Bougainville firft landed ,on the
Malouine, or Falklands-ilands^ the birds fqf-r
£er'd themfelves to be takeen with the hand, ^4
fome would come and fettle upon people that
dood (til I fo true it is th^t man dpes not bear 4
characteristick mark of ferocity, by which o^qre
indinft is capable of poimting out, to thefe weajk
;^Qimals, the being that lives upon their blood*
This confidence was not of long duration with
them ; for they foon learn'd to mistruft their
moft cruel enemy s."t

The principal quadrupeds which are addicted
by nature to vegetable food, are the elephant,
the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, the caraelo-
pard, the camel and dromedary ; the bul, the
buffalo } the horfe, the a , the zebra ; the
flieep, the goat, the deer, the antelope> the elk.

* JVay ta bealib, &c. p. 329*

f Voyagi round the worlds (hy ForfierJ, p. 39.

CHAP. X. HUMANITY. ±0,$

the hog, and many others. The chief birds of.
this defcription, are the ostrich, the eniu, the
casfowary, the goofe, &c. The frefli-water-
fifhes are partly giveen to prey upoti each other,
and partly fiibfift on weeds and vegetables : but
thofe which live in the fea are univcrfally pisci-
vorous : at leaft with a^ fmgle exception, that
of the BAs.B£i4, as we learn from the Halieupcks
of Oppian^ an ancient poet^ thus rendered in
Engleifli:

<^ Barbels, unlike the re0, are jufl and mild, i

No filh they harm^ by them no feafi are fpoil'4».

Nor on their own, nor different kinds they prey.

But equal laws of common right obey,

Undreaded they with guittlefe pleafore feed.

On (at'ning lUme, pr bite' the fea-grown weed. . .

The good and ju(t are heavens peculiar care:

All ravenous kinds the facred4>arbel (pare;

Npr wil, though hiyigery, feizc the gentle fry> . '

But giv£ the look, and, pitying, pafe them by." •

As a proof of the havock commited by man
upon his fellow-creatures, it i% fay'd that, at
Paris, there are four thoufand fiders of oyfters,
an4 that fifteen hundred large, oxen, and above
fixteen thoufand fbeep, calves, or hogs, befide
a prodigious quantity of poultry and wild fbwU,
are ^aten there every day.f la a dayly paper of

m,im

• B, 2. V. 1054.
f Saini'Evgremonla?ia, as quotecd by Baylc, who bid« hit

M4 humanitV. chap. xJ

^7^5f 1^ is alledge'd that the quantity of prdvi*
ffoiis confume'^d annually in London is as follows:

** Black cattle - - -. - 98,224
Sheep and lambs - - 7[o],xz5
Calves - ... - 194,760
Swine - . - . - 186,932
Pigs ..••-* 52,000

Poultry and wild-fowl innumerable* . ,
Mackarel fold at Billingsgate - I4574o>oo^
Oyfters, bufhels .-.--. 105^556
Small boats, with [turbot], cod,

haddock, whiteixxg, [herrings,]

befides great quantitys of river

andfalt-fifh - - - - • - • 113438"*

*^ With refpefl: to myfelf," fays Montaigne,
** i have never been able to fee, once, without
affliction, an innocent beaft, which is without
defence, and from which we receive no offence,
purfue^d and kil'd : and, as it commonly hapens,"
he ads, *^ that the ftag, feeling himfelf out of
breath and ftrength, haveing, moreover, no
other remedy, yields and renders himfelf to us

readers judge what mud be confume'd in thofe countrys where
tbcy eat more^ and feed more uponflefh. {Didionary, Ovid.)
* General advertifer, December 19th. This account, bov^
«vcr, IS certainly crconeoMi, and much uaderrateed*

CHAP. X. HUMANITY* 225

who purfue him, cravdng mercy of us by his
learsy

— questuque crucntui
Atque implorantl Jimilisy^

this has ever appear'd to me a very disagreeable
fight."J

*' I can remember," fays lord Chesterfield,
" when i was a young man at the unii^erfuy,
being fo much aftected with that very pathetick
fpeech, which Ovid has put into the mouth of
Pythagoras, againft eating the flefli of animals,
that i( was fome time before i could bring
myfelf to our college-mutton again, with fome
inward doubt, whether i was not mak^ing my-
felf an accomplice to a murder. My fcruplcs
remain'd unreconcile'dtothe comtnitlug [of] fo
horrid a meal, til, upon ferious reflection, i be-
came convince*d of iis legality, from the general
order of Nature, who has inftituteed the univerfal
preying [of the ftronger j upon the weaker as
one of her firft principles; though to me it has
ever appear d an incomprehenfible myftery, that

fhe who could not be reftrain'd by any want of

--■

§ Aeneid) L. 7* V« S'^**
^ ** Picrcc'd with the dj^rt, the bUcding fawn, in vain,
Fly» back for refuge to his home again ;
Complains with human tears, and human iighs,
And begs for aid, with unavailing crys.*'

X Eifaisf L» 2, C. 1 < .
9

226 HUlCANtTY, CHAF, X,

materials from fumifhing fupplys for the fup*
port of her various ofJTpring, fliould lay them
under tfie necesfity of devouring one s^iother.""^
I know not,"' he ads, '^ whether it i$ from the
clergys haveing lop^d upon this fubjeQ: as too
trivial for their notice, that we find them more
lilent upon it than could he wifli'd : for, as
flaughter is at prefent no branch of the prieft-
hood, Jt is to be prefume'd they have as much
compasfion as other men. The Spectator bas
exclaim^M againft the cjruehy of roafting lobfters
alive, and of whiping pigs to death : but the
misfortune is, the writeings of an Addifon are
feldom read by cooks and butchers. As to
the thinking part of mankind^ it has allways
been convinced, i believe, that, however con-
formable to the general rule of nature our de-
vouring animals may be, we are ' neverthelefs
under indelible obligations, to prevent their
fuffering any degree of painj^ more than is abfo-?
, lutely unavoidable^ But this conviction lyes in
fuch hands [his own for one], that i fear not one
poor creature in a million has ever farc'd the bet-
ter for it, and i believe never wil ; fince people
of condition, the only fgurce fronpi whence this
pity is to flow [^nd who have feldom more huma-

. * '* Who" IS this female perfonification, " Nature," wh^t
arc ^'hcr" principles, and whore dpes " flic"' refide?

CHAP. X. HUMANITY, 227

fiity than their neighbours], are fq far from in-
culcatcing it to thole beneath them, that a very
few years ago, they fufter'd thcnrifelves to be
cntertain'd at a publick theatre, by the per-^
formancees of an unhapy company of animals,
who could onely have been made actors by the
utmoft energy of whipcord and ftarveing. J

** Could the figure, inftinds, and qualitys of
birds, beafts, infeds, reptiles and fifli," fays fir
"William Jones, '* be ascertained, either on the
plan of Buffon, or on that of Linnaeus, without
giveing pain to the objects of our examination,
few ftudys would afford us more folid in*
ftruction, or more cxquifite delight ; but i never
could learn by what right, nor conceive with
what feelings, a naturaliH; can occafion the
mifery of an innocent bird, and leave its young,
perhap, to peri(h In a cold neft, becaufe it has
gay plumage, and has never been accurately
deh'neateed; of deprive even a butterfly of its
natural enjoyments, becaufe it has the misfor-
tune to be rare or beauty ful i nor fliall i ever
forget the couplet of Firdaufi, for which Sadi,
who cites it with applaufe, pours blefsings on
his^ departed fpirit:

" Ah! fparc yon cminct, rich in hoarded grain ;
He lives with pleafure, and he dyes with pain.*'*

% JforU, Num. 190.

22$ HUMANITY. CHAP. X.

" Man IS that link of the chain of univerfal
existence, by which fpirjtual and corporeal beings
are uniteed : as the numbers and variety of the
latter his inferiors are allmoft infinite, fo, pro-
bablely, are thofe of the former his fuperiors ;
and as we fee that the lives and hapynefs of thofe
below us are dependent on our wil$, we may
reafonablely conclude that our lives and hapy-
nefs are equally dependent on the wils of thofe
aboveus... Should this anology bewel founded,
how criminal wil our account appear, when
lay'd before the juft and impartial judge ! How
wil man, that fanguinary tyrant, be able to ex-
cufe himfelf from the charge of thofe innumera-
ble crueltys inflicted on his offending fubjefts
commited to his care, form'd for his benefit,
and pla^e'd under his. authority, by their com-
mon father ? whofe mercy is over all his works,
and who expects that this authority fliould be
exercife*d not onely with tendernefs and mercy,
but in conformity to the laws of justice and
gratitpde. But to what horrid deviations from
thefe benevolent intentions we are dayly wit-
nefses! No. f mall part of mankind derive their
chief amufements from the deaths and fufferr
ings of inferior aniniials ; a much greater, cgn-

-Xir

* Jfiaticrefearcbe^i IV, i:!.

CHAP. X. HUMANITY. 229

fider them onely as engines of wood or iron,
ufeful in their feveral occupations. The car-
man drives his horfe, and the carpenter his nail,
by repeated blows ; and fo long as thefe produce
the defire'd effed, and they both go, thcyneither
refleO: nor care whether either of them have, any
fcnfe of feeling. The butcher knocks down the
(lately ox with nomorccompasfion than the black-
fmith hammers a horfe-lhoe, and plungees his
knife into the throat of the innocent lamb, with
as little reluctance as the tailor flicks his needle
into the collar of a coat. If there are fome few,
who, formM in a fofter mould, view with pity
the fufferings of thefe defencelefs creatures, there
is fcarce one who entertains the lead idea, that
justice or gratitude can be due to their merits or
their fervicees. The focial and friendly dog is
hang'd without remorfe, if, by barking, in de-
fence of his masters perfon and property, he hap-
ens unknowingly todisturb his reft; the generous
horfe, who has carry 'd his ungrateful master f^r
many years, with eafc and fafety, worn out
with age and infirmitys contrafted in his feryice,
is by him condemned to end his miferable days in
a duft- cart, where the more he exerts his little re-
mains of fpirit, the more he is whlp'd. to fave
his flupid driveer the trouble of whiping fome
other, lefs obedient to the lafli. Sometimes,

230 HUMANITY. CHAP. X.

haveing been taught the practice of many un-
natural and ufelefs feats in a rideing-boufe^ he is^
at laft, turn'd out and cohfign'd to the dominion
of a hackney-coachman, by whom he i$ every
day corrected for performing thofe tricks vrhich
he has learn'd under fo long and fcvere a disci-
pline. The flugifh bear, in contradiction to
big nature, is taught to dance, for the diver-
fion of a malignant mob, by placeing red-hot
irons under his feet ; and the majestick bul is
forture'd by every mode which malice can invent,
for no offence but that he is gentle, And ua-
wiling to asfail his diabolical tormentors. Thefe,
and innumerable other afts of cruelty, injus-
tice, and ingratitude, are every day commited,
not onely with impunity, but without cenfure,.
and even without obfervation j but we may be
asfure'd that they cannot finally pafs away un-
notice'd and unretaliatecd. The law of felf-
defence undoubtedly justifys us in deftroying
thofe animals which would deftroy us, which in-
jure our propertys, or annoy our perfons ;* but
not even thefe, whenever their fituation incapa-
• cilates them from hurting us. I know of no

right which we have to fhoot a bear on an

" ■' ' II ^ . I. ^■- p . I — -— »

* However this may be, it is by no iticana probable or cor>-
^stent that the vermin or minute animah (exclulivc of worms)

CHAP. K. HUMANITY. ^^l

inaccesfible Hand , of ice, or an eagle on the
mountains lop, whofe lives cannot inji^re us,
nor deaths procure us any benefit.* We ate
unable to give life, and, therefor, owe not wan-
tonly to take it away from the meaneft infeft,
without fufficient reafon ; they all receive it
from the fame benevolent band as ourfelves, and
have, therefor, an equal right to enjoy it. God
has been pleafc'd to create numberlefs animaU
intended for our fustenance ; and that they are
fo intended, the agreeable flavour of their flefli
to our palates, and the wholefome nutriment
which it administers to our flomachs, are fuf-
ficient proofs : thefe, as they are form'd for our
ufe, propagateed by our culture, and fed by

our care, we have certainly a right to deprive of

* ' ' -■ , , | ., - ... . ■- ^

which nature has approprlateed to particular beads, birds,
and Sihes, and of which no lefs than three or four distinct
fpecies are peculiar to man, were intentionallj place'd in thoHs
refpective fituations merely to be deflroy'd by the creatures
lipon^bich ihey were fo destine'd ta feed. If god made
many or there be any intention in nature^ the life of the loyfe^
which is as natural to him as his frame of body, is equally
facred and inviolable with his own.

* If the benefit refulting from injustice or inhumanity be a
fufficient reafon or apology for its commisiion^ a man wii be
equally justifiable in takeing away the life of another, his
friend, parent, or child, as in the death, on that account, of
any inferior animal, and even the more in proportion as the
benefit altain'd was the greater.

23a HUMANITY. CHAP. X,

life, becaufe it is giveen and prcferve'd to them
on that condition ;* but this fhould allways be
perform'd with all the tendcrnefs and compas-
jRon which Co disagreeable an office wil permit ;
and no circumftancees owe to be omited, which
can render their executions as quick and eafey as
posfiblc .... but, if there are any whofe taftes
are fo vitiateed, and whof6 hearts are fo hardened,
as to delight in fuch inhuman facrificees, and to
partake of them without remorfe, ihey (hould
be look'd upon as daemons in human (liapes,
and expeft a retaliation of thofe tortures which
they have inflid^ed on the innocent, for the
gratification of their own deprave'd and unna-"
tural appetites. So violent are the pasfions of
anger and revenge in the human brealt, that it
is not wonderful that men fhould perfecute their
real ot imaginary enemys with cruelty and ma-
levolence ; but that there (hould cxift in nature

* This is mere fudge : there is neither evidence nor proba-
bility^ that any one animal is *' intended " for the " fuste-
nance of another^ more efpecialljr by the privation of its life.
The lamb is no more '' intended " to be devour'd by the
wolf, than the man by the tygcr or other beaft of prey, which
experience equally *' the agreeable tiavour of bis iie(h," and
** the wholefome nutriment it administers to their Homachs ;"
nor are many millions of animals ever tafleed by man : fuch
reafoning is perfe6llv ridiculous !

CHAP. X. HUMANITY. 233

a being who can receive plcafure from giveing
pain, would be totally incredible, if we were not
convinced, by melancholy experience, that there
are not onely many, but this unaccountable dis-
pofition is in fome manner inherent in the nature
of man;* for, as he cannot be taught by ex*
ample, nor led to it by temptation, nor prompted
to it by intereft, it muft be derive'd from his
native conftitution.f ...We fee children laughing
at the miferys which they inflift on every unfor-
tunate animal which comes within their power :
all favagees are ingenious in contriveing, and
hapy in executeing the moft exquifite tortures,
and f not alone] the common people of all coun-
trys are delighted with nothing fo much as
[horfe-racees , bul-baitings, prize-fightings,exc-
cutions, and all fpectacles of cryelty and horrour,
. • . i They arm cocks with artificial weapons,
which nature had kindly deny'd to their malevo-
lence, and with fliouts of applaufe and triumph,
fee them plunge them into each others hearts :
they view with delight the treaibleing deer, and

* That is in a ftate of fociety, influence'd by fuperflition,
pride, and a variety of prejudicees equally unnatural and ab-
furd.

•f The converfc of all this is true : he is certainly '' taught
by example, led by temptation," and ** prompted by £what
bethinks his] intereft." Man, in a ftate of nature, would,
at leaft, be as harmlefs as an our^ng-outang.

^34 HUMANITY. CHAP. X.

dcfencelefs hare, flying for hours m the utmoft
agonys of terrour. and defpair, and, at la(i»
finking under fatigue, devoured by their mercy-
Icfs purfuers : they fee, with joy, the beautyful
pbeafant, and harmlefs partridge, drop from their
flight, weltering in their blood, or perhap, pe-
rifliing with wounds and hunger, under the co-
ver of fome friendly thicket, to which they have
in vain retreated for fafety,* they triumph
over the unfufpefting fifh, which they have de-

There can be no rational doubt that thofc who now
take ddight in the wanton deftrtiction of innocent animals,
posfefsingi like man, in feme degree, intelle^ and ideas, and»
for the mpft part, an equal, or, in fome inftancees, it i^ cre-
dible, a much greater degree of fenfibility, with or than
himfelf, would^ in cafe there were no law which rendered
it a capital felony to kil a man, ihoot poor people for
their pleafere, without compunction, or even with ftil more
fatisfaction than they find in their prefent purfuits, inasmuch
as a man would appear of more confequence than a hare or a
partridge, and ** to bring him down" be regarded as a mailer-
piece of (kil. That this is the more posfible to take place
may be infer*d from its adoption in a foreign, but christian
country, lately under the EngleiOi governm<fnt. To oppofe
the Bosjesmans, a favage tribe of Hottentots, the Dutch farm-
ers, at the Cape of Good-hope, *^ generally crofs the defart
in partys, and ftrongly arm'd. The poor favage, driveen, by
imperious want, to carry off an ox or a (heep to his flarveing
family, who have no other abode than the caverns of the
mountains, often pays, in the attempt, the forfcijt of his life ;
bat it RARELY HAP ENS that any of the colonifta fall by his

CHAf. X* HUMANITY. ' ^31

coy'd^ by an infidious pretence of feeding, and

drag him from his native element by a hook

fix'd to, and tearing out, his entrails : and, to ad

r to all this, they fpare neither labour nor expence

to preferve and propagate thefe innocent animals^
for no other end but to multiply the obje&s of
their perfecution. What name (hould we beftov
on a SUPERIOR, being^ whofe whole endeavours
were employed, and whofe whole pleafure con-
iifled in terrifying, enfnareing, tormenting, and de-
ftroying mankind ? whofe superior faculty*
were exerted in fomenting animofitys amongft
them, in contriveing engines of deftruction, and
Inciteing them to ufe them in maiming and mur-
dering each other ? whofe power over them was
employed in asfifting the rapacious, deceiveing
the fimple, and oppreifing the innocent ? who»

hands : yet the name of Bosjesman is held in borrour and de*
testation ; and a farmer thinks he cannot proclaim a more
meritorious action than the murder of one of thefe people*
A hoor, from Graaf-Reynet, being afk'd, in the fecretarys
office, if the favagees were numerous or troublefome on the
road, reply 'd, he had onely sh6t. four, with as much com-
pofure and indifference as if he had been fpeaking of four
PARTRIDGEE8.'* " I myfclf," fays the refpectable authour,
*' have hear'd one of the humane colonists [then em-
GLEisH subjects] boaft of haveing deftroy'd, with his own
hands, near three hundred of these unfobtunatb
WRETCHES.** (Barrowi Travels, p. 8c.)

2 .

236

HUMANITY.

CHAP. X*

without provocation, or advantage, fhould con-
tinue from day to day, void of all pity and re-
morfe, thus to torment mankind for diverfion,
and, at the fame time, endeavour, wiih the ut-
moftcare, to preferve their lives, and to pro-
pagate their fpecies, in order to increafe the
number of victims devoteed to his malevolence^
and be delighted in proportion to the miferys
which he occafion^d ? 1 fay, what name detesta-
ble enough could we find for fuch a being ?
yet, if we impartially confider the cafe, and our
intermediate fituation, we mufl acknowlege,
that, with refpeft to, inferior animals, juft fuch
a being is a fportsman."*

* Soame Jenyns, Disqutfitton II. on cruelty to inferior
stmmals (Works, III, 186).—" Such a being is a fportsman P*
*'0, moftlame and impotent conclufion 1** but the ingenious
writcer cndfs his eclogue of The ]fjuire and the farfon, with
a fnnilar fubtcrfuge. .

THE END.

*^ This i have considered: but tigers
:pAT men; and the opinion of the world

IS HARD TO BE PEFEATEU/^

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