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Atheism , will be proved to be a foul disgrace to Christianity * such as neither Jews , uor any Heathen sect professing belief in a Supreme Beiup , could be supposed to countenance . This wanton and needless infliction of excruciating deaths on the animals given as for our daily
food , involving , as it does , such an immensity of animal suffering , will be particularly held up to view % nor shall our exertions be wanting to demonstrate , in a practical manner , the entire remedy for these evils , by the establishment of Abbatqirs , &c , with legislative regulations to-prevent all cruelty in
slaughtering . " Next in importance is the unrecorded and unexampled misery of the horse in the knacker ' s yard , when his former usefulness has expired ; devouring the manes and tails of his fellow-sufferers , from
hunger , until the knacker , from a deinand for the flesh , gives the order for the termination of all pain and suffering ) but their dying from absolute starvation is regarded , in these places , with the utmost indifference , as the trouble of slaugh * tering them is then saved .
" The good effect which a quarterly work is likely to produce , should be considered in regard to those numerous and dreadfully demoralizing instances of cruelty , which exist only because they have never been thus brought into public view : such are the bull-baits , now so frequent , and conducted with such extraordinary atrocity , in many of the manufacturing districts : —the annual Stamford
bullrunning—the pits , &c , &c , for the nightly diversions of bear-baiting , badger-baiting , and dog-fighting , in different parts of this metropolis , frequented by the most dissolute and abandoned characters of society . A direct channel for communications of this kind will be here
opeued for correspondents , from all parts of the kingdom ; and wheife , unfortunately , no law at present exists by which these demoralizing exhibitions may be suppressed , the publication of every authentic particular , with the names and residences of aa many as possible of the individuals concerned , will afford the best substitute . " The next in the scale of cruelty is the wretched condition of horses and
cattle , as aeen in our streets and public roads * > and it was on this point that legislation commenced in the year 1822 , by parsing the 3 rd George IV . c . 71 , to prevent the cruel treatment of cattle . The experience of eight years , however , baa fully proved an amendment to be absolutely required * even with regard to the
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class of animal * which the Legislature promised to protect by it ; and the wording is so vague that a conviction of the most aggravated cruelty depends more " oh the disposition of the magistrate than on the force of the Act . Notwithstanding the petitions that have been presented ,
and the efforts that have been made , no siutrere disposition has been manifested , hitherto , by Parliament , to grant such amendment . We shall therefore immediately submit , through this work , an amended , efficient Act , which the Legislature , we think , cannot consistently refuse to ratify .
** We wish this work to be considered in another point of view , viz . that of informing and awakening the public mind , as * well as exciting a benign influence on the moral character of the rising generation . The great mass of valuable materials on this subject that are buried in oblivion can hardly be conceived , many
of which present the noblest essays of the divine and the moralist , as well as the finest conceptions of the poet . These will be restored to their native splendour , and brought forward , in accordance with the original intention of tbeir illustrious authors , to aid the cause of practical reformation and improvement . The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals will have the opportunity of publishing its proceedings , and of submitting to the public its plans for the attainment of particular objects . At the same time the work will afford to its numerous supporters a desirable channel through which they may publish their
suggestions . But it is proper to state that , though many of the most efficient members of the Society , with other gentlemen , are co-operators in establishing and conducting this work , its publication will be entirely independent of the Society . "—Pp . 3—5 .
We are not partial to periodicals which confine themselves to a single subject , however extensive may be its ramifications . They limit the useful influence which is desired , as the very title warns off all readers who do not previously feel some considerable interest about that
particular topic . It is difficult to give them sufficient variety to ensure their being read . And they are very apt to > overdo the subject to which they restrict themselves . All these evils , which seem inseparable from the plan , we find in the publication before us . At the same time , much is atoned for by that goodness of intention which evidently characterizes both the conductors and contributors . The humane object which they content ^
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. Critical Notices . —Miscellaneous JMflf
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1831, page 547, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2600/page/43/
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