On this page

• Text (1)

  Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

  • 

    Untitled Article

• Transcript

  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    Untitled Article

    jk 0 f correspondence , we should have seen the truest respect given , by Mr . Top lady , to a great genius , and the nioral integrity of the man / 1 Without detaining vou with any farther preliminary observations , I beg to subscribe myself most sincerely , Your ' s , &c . S . G . I he Speech . Mr . President ,

    m m fe - » 1 Ml A ^ The humane tendency of the question reflects great honour oh the benevolence of the gentleman who proposed it ; and the manner in which it has been discussed , since I came into the room , does equal credit to the gentlemen who have spoken to it .

    However , I must own my dissent , in someparticulars , from the very worthy gentleman who gave his sentiments last : and , as he thought proper to make very free with the gentleman

    who spoke before him , I hope he will excuse me , if I make modestly free with him . And though the observation I intend to animadvert upon , was rather a deviation from the question , vet I shall follow him in tjie deviation ,

    for a while ; and the more willing ] y , as it may conduce , indirectly , to throw some light on the subject now under

    debate-That gentleman asserted peremptorily aud absolutely , that " -All things whatever , in and upon the terraqueous $ obe , were created purely and solely for the service of man /* Such an opinion may serve to gratify our vanity and wothe our pride- ; but how far it is founded on reality , will appear from examining into matter of fact

    We will suppose that a shi r * , on a foreign voyage , drops anchor on a foreign coast , A poor-sailor takes the opportunity of bathing in the sea . An hungry shark either scents or descries K darts forward to the unhappy victim , snaps him in two , and swal-« W 8 him m a couple of mouthful * . would afclfc—was the shark made for J tee ^ se of that man ? or was that man jaadeibr tha use of the shark ? So tonfo therefore , as there ai « not only uaeleas creatures in the world , ( useless ** to us , thottgh they doubtless an-¦** r some valuable purpose in the I *** schpme of creation ) but crca-****<» apparently noxious , and fatal , lSv tim ^ to our v ery lives j so long , _ Wftk » ftf demonstration curries any eviction , we mustgrantthatthorcarc

    Untitled Article

    some creatures not made for the service of man . But , to omit sharks , rattlesnakes and crocodiles , let us descend to creatures of a much low « er class . Will that gentleman seriously say , for instance , that London bugs ,

    fleas and some other reptiles I could mention , aretmade for Immati ' benefit ? -Ask any mendicant in the streets , what he thinks : he will tell you , that they seem rather made to tire our patience , and to mortify our pride . I allow , indeed , that man is the

    centre in which thfe generality of created good may be said to terminate : fcr which we ought to be thankful to the most wise aud gracious Creator of a / 1 things . But then it is , to me , equally evident , that the same adorable Being ;

    cottsulted , and does consult , the happiness of every individual creature to which he has given life : else why such various and so admirably-adapt eel accommodations for their - respective provision and welfare .

    I come now , directly to the question ; and , without hesitation or limitation , deliver it as my steadfast belief , that all wanton exercise of power over , and all / unnecessarv ^

    cruelty to , the brute creation , is truly and properly criminal . Several good reasons have been urged in proof of this , T > y some gentlemen who spoke before me : but , I own , there is one

    argument which has more weight with me than all that have yet been offered , and which I wonder no gerrtleman has hitherto mentioned . I firmly believe that beasts have souls ; ^ ottfe , trolly and pr&perly so called : which , if true , entitles them , not only to all due tenderness , but even to a

    higher degree of respect than is usually ahewn to them . I lay down two things , Mr , President , as data : 1 . that mere matter is incapable of thinking ; and , 2 , that there is no medium between matter and spirit .

    That brutes think , can hardly , I imagine , be questioned by any thinking man . Their not being able to carry their speculations so high as we do , is no objection to their cogitability . Even among men , some are more able reasoners than others . And

    we might , perhaps , reason no better than the meanest animal that breathes , if our souls were shut up iii bodies no bettor organised than their ' eu ' Nay , brute * not only think when they ar *

    Untitled Article

    Speech of 3 Ir . Toplady ' s , on Brutes having Soiik . 347

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1815, page 347, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1761/page/19/