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it , and take all the care you can of it for three days until it be well refreshed , and recover its strength , so as to be able to cross the sea ag * ain to its native home ! ' The monk obeyed , and the saint was thankful . 'For this act of
mercy and hospitality , may God command on thee his blessing" , my dear brother . ' ' What a beautiful picture / says the late editor of Adomnan , have we in this chapter of the benevolence of Columbal ' " * Another incident of a like nature occurs in the account which we have of the transactions of the saint's ( l ying * day . He had been to see and to bless the provision of his monks , from whom he was on that day to be taken away . On his return to the monastery , he sat down on the way to rest him . His old white horse , which used to carry the milk vessels betwixt the monastery and the fold , observed him , came where he was , reclined his head on his breast ,
and , as if sensible of his master ' s near departure , began to express his grief by groans and even tears . Dennit offered to turn him away , but the saint forbade : —Let him alone , said he , let him alone , for he loves me , and I will not hinder him on this occasion to drop his tears in my bosom , and shew the bitterness of his grief . To thee God hath given reason ; but see ( that they might not be despised ) he hath planted affection even in brutes ; and , in this , even something like a prescience of my departure . Now , my faithful anil affectionate friend , be gone , and may you be kindly cared for by Him who made you !'—Smith ' s Life of St . Columba , pp . 102 , 103 . "—Pp . 47 , 48 .
And now , dismissing Dr . Drummond ' s discourse with our hearty commendation to our readers , we shall add a few remarks on this topic in that peculiar point of view in which it connects itself with other topics , of far higher importance and interest—leading us to conclusions about human nature itself , conclusions which are a basis for reasonings on the Divine character , and which , by raising our view from the relation of beasts to man , to that of man to God , indicate truths belonging to the highest order of Christian doctrines , and claiming our firmest faith while they inspire our brightest hopes .
Let not man plead nature on behalf of cruelty , nor slander creation to palliate his own want of feeling . The constitution of nature supposes destruction and renovation ; but it avoids useless suffering ; and renders what is introduced subservient to the multiplication of life and enjoyment : it is certainly the destiny of many species to prey and be preyed upon , to devour and be devoured . It is idle to resolve this into the sin of man , and not the
plan of God . It was never otherwise here , save in the dreams of poets or the blunders of theologians . It was so in paradise itself , or else creation then was not half finished . Every thing shews it to have been the plan . Nor is it deficient in wisdom or benevolence . Unless animals lived on each other , scarcely one in a thousand ( perhaps much fewer ) could ever have lived at all- Vegetation could do but little for them compared with what they do for each other . As to each , death by violence is not worse , generally better ,
than by acute disease or gradual decay ; and as to the whole , it is a provision for the thousand-fold multiplication of existence and p leasurable sensation . Paley ' s chapter ( in his Natural Theology ) on the goodness of God , is well worth reading on this subject . As things are , the suffering is less than on on any other p lan , and it is the means of boundlessly-increased enjoyment . There is , tnen , no countenance to , the needless infliction of suffering in
the constitution of nature . Happiness greatly preponderates ; and the sacrifices which are made , are made to the general good . Whether there be such a thing as wanton cruelty , the superfluous infliction of pain , even with the moMt ferocious animals , is a question which on full investigation would probably be negatived . Generally , at least , when animals slay it is to eat .
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Humanity to Animals . 321
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VOL . IV . 2 A
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1830, page 321, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2584/page/33/
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