,transcribed from the #aiah ,john ,lane 
edition by ,david ,price1 email         
ccx#jgdpglaf4org            ,picture3   
,presentation slip from the edition     
transcribed                             
,,great ,,testimony                     
,,against ,,scientific ,,cruelty        
33 ,,collected ,,and ,,educed ,,by 33   
,,the ,,honble4 ,,stephen ,,coleridge   
,,with ,,eight ,,illustrations          
,,london3 ,,john ,,lane ,,the ,,bodley  
,,head                     ,,new ,,york3
 ,,john ,,lane ,,company ,,mcmxviii     
,picture3 ,thomas ,carlyle4  ,from a    
drawing by ,samuel ,laurence in the     
collection of ,john ,lane               
,,printed ,,by ,,william ,,brendon ,,and
 ,,son1 ,,ltd41 ,,plymouth1 ,,england   
,,preface      ,if the support of great 
and good men1 famous throughout         
,christendom1 will  avail to justify a  
cause1 then indeed we who would utterly 
abolish the  torture of animals by      
vivisection can never be put out of     
countenance4    ,difficult would it be  

indeed to bring together the authority  
of so many  resounding reputations      
against any other act of man1 since     
slavery was  abolished4    ,the poets1  
philosophers1 saints and seers of       
,england have united to  anathematise it
 as an abomination1 and as a deed only  
possible to a  craven4    ,it seems     
strange that in the face of such        
authentic condemnation the  horrid      
practice has not disappeared off the    
face of the civilised earth1  until it  
is observed that it has received the    
shameless support of  science1 which for
 two generations has usurped an         
authority over conduct  for which it    
possesses no credentials4  ,the modern  
prostration of mankind  before science  
is a vile idolatry4  ,in the realm of   
ethics science is not  constructive but 
destructive4  ,it exalts the ,tree of   
,knowledge and  depresses the ,tree of  
,life4    ,how is the character of man  
elevated or purified by all the         
maddening  inventions of science8  ,how 

indeed6  ,are we made better men by     
being  whirled about the globe by       
machinery1 by the increased             
opportunities for  limitless volubility1
 or by the ingenious devices for mutual 
destruction8  ,and how are we morally   
advantaged by the knowledge of the      
infinite depths  of space1 the          
composition of the stars and the motions
 of the planets8    ,the old ,persian1  
when his far-travelled offspring        
returned with these  wonders to tell1   
replied3 ,my son1 thou sayest that one  
star spinneth  about another star2 let  
it spin6    ,and ,ruskin once remarked3 
,newton explained why an apple fell1 but
 he  never thought of explaining the    
exactly correlative1 but infinitely more
  difficult question1 how the apple got 
up there4    ,the dead and dreary law of
 gravitation made it fall1 but the      
glorious law  of life1 known only to    
,god1 drew it up out of the earth and   
hung it in  all its inexplicable wonder 
high in the air4    ,and ,i think herein

 is a very good parable applicable to   
ourselves and our  age4    ,science has 
found out that everything in the        
,universe is falling towards  everything
 else1 or trying to do so1 and we are so
 absorbed in this  deciduous discovery  
that we have forgotten to look up and   
observe the  lovely things about us that
 by ,god's mercy have still escaped the 
withering touch of scientific knowledge4
    ,but ,science has now moved beyond  
the comparatively innocuous accumulation
  of mechanical discoveries1 and        
advancing into the domain of morals1 has
  emerged in the sinister aspect of the 
defender of cruelty4    ,this may yet   
prove an usurpation that will lead to   
its ultimate  deposition and ignominy4  
,a time is coming when mankind will have
 no ear  for the advocates of what all  
the great and good and wise have        
denounced  as wicked4    ,if ,science   
comes before the world declaring that   
cruelty is necessary for  its advance1  
the world will one day tell ,science    

that it can stop where  it is4    ,in   
the meanwhile that there can be no doubt
 in the mind of any man as to  how the  
greatest leaders of thought and loftiest
 teachers of conduct have  united in    
their condemnation of vivisection1 ,i   
have thought it timely to  bring them   
together1 a noble array1 in this book4  
,,chapter ,i3 ,,the ,,seventh ,,earl    
,,of ,,shaftesbury1 ,k4,g4  ,,first     
,,president ,,of ,,the ,,national       
,,anti-,,vivisection ,,society          
,picture3 ,the seventh ,earl of         
,shaftesbury1 ,k4,g4  ,from an engraving
 by ,w4                      ,j4        
,edwards after ,frederick ,sandys       
,the seventh ,earl of ,shaftesbury      
consecrated a long life1 and dedicated a
  great position to the service of the  
poor1 the weak and the lost4  ,his  life
 and work were one of the chief glories 
of the nineteenth century4  ,from early 
youth to venerable age his hand was     
outstretched to assuage  the miseries of
 the helpless and to deal a blow at     

cruelty and  selfishness wherever he    
discerned it4    ,by his efforts women  
were brought up out of coal mines where 
they dragged  trucks on all fours like  
brute beasts1 by his protests little    
boys were  saved from being forced to   
climb up inside chimneys risking their  
young  lives and limbs that others might
 profit thereby4    ,he placed himself  
at the head of the fight against all    
cruelty to  children and became the     
first ,president of the ,society to put 
it down1  which has now become great and
 powerful with officers in every town to
  guard child life and protect the      
helpless little things from all manner  
of nameless sufferings4    ,he          
championed the animal world and raised  
his voice against the  unspeakable      
doings of the vivisectors1 and the whole
 anti-vivisection  movement was started 
and built up under his wise and benign  
guidance1 as  first ,president of the   
,anti-,vivisection ,society4    ,he     
belonged to the period when those who   

worked in the field of  philanthropy    
were almost exclusively concerned in    
curing1 if they could1  the evils they  
perceived around them2 but he himself   
was a pioneer of the  later school who  
aim also at preventing those evils4     
,those who went  before him sought to   
assist the poor and helpless1 but while 
he  endeavoured to do this with all his 
heart1 he also strove to destroy the    
causes of pauperism4  ,he perceived that
 physical squalor inevitably  produces  
spiritual squalor1 and that if we are to
 make men think and live  cleanly we    
must enable them to possess decent and  
clean homes4    ,others of his family in
 the past had served the ,state with    
credit in the  great public offices that
 satisfy men's reputable pride and      
honourable  ambition1 but none before   
him had served his fellow creatures     
during a  long life with no other motive
 than to bind up their wounds and       
aggravate  the mercies of ,god4    ,his 
appearance when ,i had the happiness to 

know him intimately was noble  and      
memorable1 and he won his way less by   
commanding abilities than by  weight of 
character4  ,his large benignity        
repressed the expression of any  small  
or mean thought in his presence2 and his
 arrival was sufficient  without his    
saying a word to elevate the tone and   
manner of any  discussion in which he   
was expected to participate4  ,he was   
incapable of  asperity4    ,in the      
,house of ,lords there was conceded to  
him by universal courtesy a  special    
seat which he occupied independently of 
the change of parties1 a  tribute of    
respect to his unique and distinguished 
position which as far  as ,i am aware   
has at any rate in recent years been    
paid to no one else4    ,he was a       
survival of the times when rank more    
recognised its duties and  received more
 homage than in the present day2 for    
when ,i was young it was  still possible
 for the public to believe that peerages
 were only  conferred on men for serious

 and meritorious services to the        
country1 and  that those who succeeded  
to them by inheritance were trained to  
recognise  the large obligations of     
their station4    ,he lived in a great  
house on the west side of ,grosvenor    
,square1 tempering  his august          
surroundings with a personal austerity4 
,there he was easily  accessible to     
anyone who came to him for good counsel 
and not to waste  his own or his host's 
time4    ,every cabman and costermonger 
in ,london knew him by sight and would  
take  off his cap to him if he saw him  
in the streets1 and the poor in the     
,east  ,end knew his tall figure and    
distinguished countenance better than   
did  the men in the club windows in the 
,west4    ,the beautiful monument to his
 memory in ,regent ,circus records that 
he was  an example to his order1 and yet
 better than this stately panegyric is  
the happy accident1 if it be one1 that  
the poor flower girls of ,london  have  
pitched their camp upon the steps1 and  

have successfully defied all  the       
efforts of ,mr4 ,bumble to remove them4 
,,chapter ,,ii3 ,,miss ,,frances ,,power
 ,,cobbe      ,miss ,frances ,power     
,cobbe was the original organiser and   
founder in  ,december1 #ahge1 of the    
,national ,anti-,vivisection ,society   
which until #ahih  bore the ,title of   
the ,victoria ,street ,society for the  
protection of  animals from vivisection4
    ,many years before1 in #ahfc1 there 
lived at ,florence a man who trafficked 
in torture named ,schiff2 among the     
inferior professors of medical          
knowledge1 says ,dr4 ,johnson1 is a race
 of wretches1 whose lives are  only     
varied by varieties of cruelty1 and such
 an one was this miscreant4    ,miss    
,cobbe was then resident at ,florence   
and was the correspondent of the  ,daily
 ,news1 and in that paper she denounced 
the tortures inflicted on  animals by   
this dreadful man1 which so affected her
 generous heart that  for the rest of   
her life her chief preoccupation became 

the desire to put  an end to such       
abominations4    ,in #ahgd ,miss ,cobbe 
drew up a memorial to the ,council of   
the ,royal ,society  for the prevention 
of cruelty to animals urging upon them  
the immediate  adoption of such measures
 as may approve themselves to their     
judgment as  most suitable to promote   
the end in view1 namely1 the restriction
 of  vivisection4  ,and with            
indefatigable zeal she collected the    
signatures  to it of a very large number
 of the most distinguished men in       
,england2  among them were such names as
 those of ,thomas ,carlyle1 ,alfred     
,tennyson1  ,robert ,browning1 ,john    
,morley1 ,john ,bright1 ,leslie         
,stephen1 ,w4 ,lecky1 ,b4  ,jowett1     
,john ,ruskin1 ,dean ,stanley1 and      
,canon ,liddon4    ,in view of the      
fierce advocacy of vivisection to which 
the present ,lord  ,knutsford has       
committed himself it is interesting to  
record that his  father ,sir ,henry     
,holland's name appears among the       

signatories of this  memorial4    ,the  
,council of the ,r4,s4,p4,c4,a4 in #ahge
 displayed all the familiar             
characteristics of the ,council of      
to-day4  ,on receiving this notable     
memorial they adopted the device of     
promising to appoint a sub-committee  to
 consider the whole question of         
vivisection4  ,unlike the sub-committee 
appointed in #aijg to consider the whole
 question of sport which never  sat1 it 
seems that this sub-committee on        
vivisection really did sit once1  after 
which no more was heard of it4    ,mr4  
,colam the ,secretary was sent to call  
on the leading vivisectors to  ask them 
about their own proceedings2 and the    
,council appear to have  imagined that1 
having asked the persons whose conduct  
was impugned what  they thought about   
that conduct1 their function as         
representing the  ,society entrusted    
with the protection of animals from     
cruelty was  fulfilled4    ,miss ,cobbe1
 like many of us to-day1 really wanted  

cruelty to animals  stopped1 and she was
 not likely to be satisfied with such a 
farcical  evasion1 so she set to work   
and started the ,victoria ,street       
,society1 and  to her above all others  
therefore belongs the undying fame and  
glory of  first raising aloft the       
standard of the imperishable cause for  
which that  ,society exists and strives4
    ,in that memorable year of #ahge the
 great ,society in ,jermyn ,street1     
misrepresented by a collection of       
somnolent inefficients1 turned their    
backs on tortured animals and stopped   
their ears to their cries of agony2  and
 all the subsequent years are strewn    
with opportunities abandoned and  duties
 neglected which one by one have been   
undertaken by fresh ,societies  of      
earnest souls who would wait no more    
while the ,council in ,jermyn  ,street  
slept2 and that the record should be    
maintained intact we have  seen in the  
last three years the generous public    
subscribe an enormous  sum of money for 

the care and cure of our horses at the  
war1 only to  discover that the ,society
 is ready to acquiesce when those       
horses1 that  are worn out in our       
service1 are sold abroad to the highest 
bidders6    ,miss ,cobbe during her long
 combat against vivisection passed      
through  different phases of opinion as 
to the wisest parliamentary policy to   
pursue4  ,at one time she advocated     
restriction1 at another total           
abolition1 and ,i will not here revive  
the domestic discussions and            
differences that were the consequence of
 the diverse views entertained by       
equally reputable and earnest workers in
 the cause4  ,it is enough to  recognise
 and acclaim the fine courage and       
ability that ,miss ,cobbe  brought to   
the service of suffering animals1 and   
the splendid edifice of  the ,national  
,anti-,vivisection ,society that was    
built up from the ground  by her capable
 hands4    ,she suffered one cruel      
betrayal when she entrusted to another  

too ardent  controversialist the        
translation of some ,german account of a
 severe  vivisection1 and discovered1   
after the publication of the description
 in  ,english1 that her friend had      
suppressed in the translation the       
statement  in the original that         
anaesthetics had been employed4    ,the 
ferocious attacks made upon her on that 
occasion she bore with what  philosophy 
so exasperating a situation permitted4  
,miss ,cobbe was a remarkable person    
both in character and appearance1 her   
habiliments were quaint and practical1  
cut altogether shapelessly with  immense
 buttons symbolising the entire         
simplicity of her life and habits1  her 
hair was cut off short1 and her whole   
aspect suggested cheerfulness1          
robustness1 and magnanimity4  ,she was  
masterful in temperament1 not  always   
ready to listen with urbanity to        
opinions she did not share1 or to  admit
 that her conclusions could even        
conceivably have their foundations  in  

doubtful premises4  ,but these very     
human characteristics in no way         
diminished the personal affection she   
inspired in those among whom she  moved4
  ,she lived a fine courageous life1 and
 when she died1 by an  appropriate and  
beautiful coincidence1 a dog was the    
only witness of her  last breath4       
,,chapter ,,iii3 ,,cardinal ,,manning   
,,vice-,,president ,,of ,,the ,,national
 ,,anti-,,vivisection ,,society         
,cardinal ,manning was among the early  
supporters of the ,anti-,vivisection    
movement1 and was a ,vice-,president of 
the ,national ,anti-,vivisection        
,society till his death4    ,he         
occasionally attended meetings of the   
committee at my request to  assist the  
deliberations with his good counsel1 and
 ,i remember one  occasion when ,lord   
,shaftesbury came and took the chair1   
and both the  ,cardinal and my father   
and the ,bishop of ,oxford were present 
to assist in  an important decision4    
,i frequently went to the ,archbishop's 

house at ,westminster to consult  him2  
the sumptuous cathedral and palace had  
not then been built1 and the  house at  
the bottom of ,carlisle ,place had an   
air of cold austerity2 there  were no   
carpets on the stone staircase1 and the 
large room in which the  ,cardinal      
received his visitors had nothing in it 
but a bare table and a  few cushionless 
chairs4  ,he accepted invitations to    
dinner from my  father1 but although he 
was gracious and courtly1 he ate        
nothing1 and it  was understood that no 
attention was to be drawn to this       
abstinence4  ,he  cannot have eaten much
 anywhere1 for he was extremely         
emaciated4    ,he did a great service   
both to the cause of anti-vivisection   
and to his  ,church in #ahhb4  ,it had  
been spread abroad1 by whom1 and on what
  authority1 ,i know not1 that the      
,church of ,rome had declined to support
  those who desired to put down cruel   
experiments upon animals1 and had       
declared that animals might lawfully be 

treated like stocks and stones2  to this
 shocking suggestion the ,cardinal gave 
a decisive and  authoritative denial at 
a meeting at ,lord ,shaftesbury's ,house
 on the #bast  of ,june4    ,his words  
were as follows3--        ,i know that  
an impression has been made that those  
whom ,i represent      look1 if not with
 approbation1 at least with great       
indulgence1 on the      practice of     
vivisection4  ,i grieve to say that     
abroad there are a      great many 7whom
 ,i beg leave to say ,i do not          
represent7 who do      favour the       
practice2 but this ,i do protest1 that  
there is not a      religious instinct  
in nature1 nor a religion of nature1 nor
 is there      a word in revelation1    
either in the ,old ,testament or the    
,new      ,testament1 nor is there to be
 found in the great theology which ,i do
      represent1 no1 nor in any ,act of 
the ,church of which ,i am a member2    
no1 nor in the lives and utterances of  
any one of those great      servants of 

that ,church who stand as examples1 nor 
is there an      authoritative utterance
 anywhere to be found in favour of      
vivisection4    ,and later in the same  
speech he said3--        ,i do not      
believe this to be the way that the     
,all-wise and ,all-good      ,maker of  
us all has ordained for the discovery of
 the ,healing ,art      which is one of 
,his greatest gifts to man4    ,two     
years later at a ,meeting at ,prince's  
,hall on the #bfth of ,june1 #ahhd1     
with ,lord ,shaftesbury in the ,chair1  
the ,cardinal in a single pregnant      
sentence dissipated the vivisectors'    
constant careless confusion of the      
totally different moral acts of killing 
animals and torturing them4    ,it is   
clear1 he said1 that the words 'kill and
 eat1' and the dominion  which the      
beneficent ,maker of all things has     
given to man over the lower  creatures1 
does not justify the infliction of      
exquisite torment in the  name of       
,science4    ,at that time ,lord        

,shaftesbury was the greatest           
representative of the  ,church of       
,england and the ,cardinal the          
acknowledged head of the ,church of     
,rome in this country and as they       
earnestly agreed in condemning the      
practice of vivisection as wicked and   
abominable1 it becomes impossible  for  
those who support it to bring to its    
defence any authorities on  conduct at  
all comparable with that of these two   
great and good men4        ,the         
,cardinal gave the impression of a      
consciously eminent      ecclesiastic1  
who was determined to lift his ,church  
into greatness in      ,england by all  
lawful means in his power2 his          
appearance was ascetic1                 
distinguished1 and memorable2 he was    
manifestly a man of direct      nobility
 of life1 and most lofty purpose--a     
great statesman for his      ,church1   
leading an austere and detached life as 
an example in every      detail for the 
faithful in his community--a prince of  

the ,roman      ,church fulfilling his  
august function conspicuously and       
faultlessly      in full view of a      
critical public4 #af    ,his care for   
the poor and the noble simplicity of his
 life found its most  eloquent evidence 
at his death in the discovery that his  
entire worldly  possessions amounted to 
sixty-eight pounds4    ,he had laid up  
his treasure where no rust and moth doth
 corrupt4          ,,chapter ,,iv3      
,,robert ,,browning  ,,vice-,,president 
,,of ,,the ,,national                   
,,anti-,,vivisection ,,society  ,,died  
,,the #ab,,th ,,of ,,december1 #ahhi    
,picture3 ,robert ,browning4  ,from a   
painting by ,samuel ,laurence in the    
collection of ,john ,lane    ,towards   
the end of #ahgd1 as ,i have already    
remarked1 ,miss ,cobbe prepared  a      
petition to the ,royal ,society for the 
,prevention of ,cruelty to ,animals  of 
which the chief paragraph ran as        
follows3--        ,it is earnestly urged
 by your memorialists that the great and

      influential ,royal ,society for   
the ,prevention of ,cruelty to ,animals 
may see fit to undertake the task 7which
 appears strictly to fall      within   
its province7 of placing suitable       
restrictions on this rapidly            
increasing evil4  ,the vast benefit to  
the cause of humanity which the         
,society has in the past half century   
effected1 would1 in our humble          
estimation1 remain altogether one-sided 
and incomplete1 if1 while      brutal   
carters and ignorant costermongers are  
brought to punishment      for          
maltreating the animals under their     
charge1 learned and refined             
gentlemen should be left unquestioned to
 inflict far more exquisite      pain   
upon still more sensitive creatures2 as 
if the mere allegation      of a        
scientific purpose removed them above   
all legal or moral      responsibility4 
,miss ,cobbe1 confident of what         
,browning's reply would be1 sent him    
this  petition and asked him to return  

it with his signature if he approved of 
it4    ,his reply1 which ,i believe has 
never as yet been published1 redounds to
  his immortal fame as a man of         
fortitude and humaneness4    ,this is   
what he wrote3                          
#ai1 ,,warwick ,,crescent1 ,w4          
,december #bhth1 '#gd4        ,,dear    
,,miss ,,cobbe1        ,i return the    
petition1 unsigned for the one good     
reason--that ,i have      just signed   
its fellow forwarded to me by ,mr4      
,leslie ,stephen4        ,you have heard
 ,i take an equal interest with yourself
 in the effort      to suppress         
vivisection2 ,i dare not so honour my   
mere wishes and      prayers as to put  
them for a moment beside your noble     
acts2 but1 this      ,i know1 ,i would  
rather submit to the worst of the       
deaths1 so far as      pain goes1 than  
have a single dog or cat tortured on the
 pretence of      sparing me a twinge or
 two4  ,i return the paper1 because ,i  
shall be      probably shut up here for 

the next week or more1 and prevented    
from      seeing my friends3 whoever    
would refuse to sign would certainly not
      be of the number4                 
,ever truly--and gratefully yours1      
,,robert ,,browning4    ,five years     
later in the volume of ,dramatic ,idyls 
issued in #ahgi1 ,browning  published   
his poem entitled ,tray which extols the
 noble heroism of the  dog and leaves   
nothing to be desired in its biting     
scorn of the  vivisectors3        ',up  
he comes with the child1 see tight      
,in mouth1 alive too1 clutched from     
quite      ,a depth of ten feet--twelve 
,i bet6      ,good dog6  ,what off      
again8  ,there's yet      ,another child
 to save8  ,all right6        ',how     
strange we saw no other fall6      ,it's
 instinct in the animal4      ,good dog6
  ,but he's a long while under3      ,if
 he got drowned ,i should not wonder--  
,strong current1 that against the wall6 
',here he comes1 holds in mouth this    
time      --,what may the thing be8     

,well1 that's prime6      ,now did you  
ever8  ,reason reigns      ,in man      
alone1 since all ,tray's pains          
,have fished--the child's doll from the 
slime6'        ,and so1 amid the        
laughter gay1      ,trotted my hero     
off1--old ,tray1--      ,till somebody1 
prerogatived      ,with reason1         
reasoned3--',why he dived      ,his     
brain would show us1 ,i should say4     
',john go and catch--or1 if needs be    
,purchase--that animal for me6      ,by 
vivisection1 at expense      ,of half an
 hour and eighteen pence      ,how brain
 secretes dog's soul1 we'll see6'       
,here then is enough to show with what  
earnest conviction this poet of         
powerful mind and pure life condemned   
the practice of vivisection4  ,he  was a
 man who breasted the world with a      
cheerful philosophy which  permitted few
 external matters to disturb his        
habitual serenity4  ,but  vivisection   
was one of them1 and ,i have often heard
 him speak with fierce  detestation of  

what he called the coward ,science4     
,i do not think he ever addressed a     
public1 or even private1 meeting in  his
 life1 and that may have left the       
unlettered world unaware of his deep    
loathing of the cruelties of the        
laboratories2 but he was one of the     
earliest ,englishmen of unquestioned    
distinction to join the                 
anti-vivisection movement and to accept 
the office of ,vice-,president of  our  
,society4    ,i venture to think that in
 aftertimes his sanguine advocacy in    
this great  cause will not be the least 
of his claims to the gratitude of his   
fellow  men4          ,,chapter ,v3     
,,lord ,,coleridge  ,,chief ,,justice   
,,of ,,england  ,,vice-,,president ,,of 
,,the ,,national  ,,anti-,,vivisection  
,,society                 ,picture3     
,lord ,coleridge1 ,chief ,justice of    
,england    ,i hope that my inclusion of
 my father in these articles on the     
first  supporters of the                
anti-vivisection movement will not be   

thought  unbecoming4  ,i see no reason  
why ,i should not testify in these pages
 to  the unswerving adhesion he brought 
to the cause of humaneness both  towards
 men and women as well as towards       
animals1 and the wise counsel he        
afforded to the pioneers of the fight   
against vivisection4    ,it is perhaps  
now long forgotten that he initiated1   
drafted and carried  through the ,house 
of ,commons when he sat in that assembly
 as member for  ,exeter a ,bill         
emancipating married women from the     
cruel conditions of  servitude whereby  
their own earnings could legally be     
taken from them by  their husbands4     
,this was the first of a series of      
wide-minded ,acts of ,parliament which  
established the position of women as no 
longer the mere chattels of their  male 
relatives4    ,cruelty to animals of any
 kind roused in him a deep and abiding  
anger3 he  never allowed a bearing rein 
to be inflicted upon his horses either  
in  ,london or the country1 nor was     

there ever a tied-up dog in his stables4
    ,lord ,coleridge assisted in the    
efforts to get the ,anti-,vivisection   
,bill  of #ahgf passed without the      
wrecking amendments that were at the    
last  minute added to it2 after the     
,bill was passed in its mutilated state 
,miss  ,cobbe with a not unnatural      
impatience wrote to him and others      
saying that  the supporters of          
vivisection having refused to accept a  
reasonable  compromise or to permit any 
line to be drawn between morally        
justifiable  painless experiments and   
those which are heinously cruel and     
involve the  torture of the most        
sensitive animals she intended to       
endeavour to  induce the ,society to    
condemn the practice altogether as      
inseparably  bound up with criminal     
abuses2 and henceforth to adopt the     
principle of  uncompromising hostility  
to vivisection1 and she asked him to let
 her  know whether he would give his    
support to her proposals4  ,his reply   

was  what might have been expected from 
one who could not permit his  irritation
 at the fate of the ,bill to influence  
his parliamentary  attitude4        ,i  
am afraid he wrote my answer must be in 
a sense which you will      think       
unfavourable4  ,i could not commit      
myself out of ,parliament to      any   
view which ,i am not prepared to defend 
in it4  ,and the      unreasonableness  
and what ,i think wrongdoing of the     
,medical ,men would      not justify me 
as a legislator in voting for what ,i   
think wrong      merely in opposition to
 them or because ,i could not bring them
 to      terms which ,i think just and  
right4        ,i do not say that this is
 at all necessarily the rule for a      
person      out of ,parliament1 because 
so long as you do not agitate for what  
you      think wrong it is perfectly    
fair to agitate for more than you       
expect to get as a means of getting     
something of what you think      right4 
,so that ,i find no fault whatever with 

any one who takes the      view you     
take2 but my position is somewhat a     
peculiar one and ,i must      be        
cautious to an extent that some people  
may think coldness and      weakness4   
,i am not afraid of your judgment       
however4    ,six years later1 in #ahhb1 
he wrote an article in the ,fortnightly 
,review  in which he definitely though  
reluctantly gave his adhesion to total  
abolition as the goal to be aimed at1   
but of course he never at any time      
associated himself with the condemnation
 of all other measures for the          
mitigation of the cruelties of the      
laboratory or of the world at large     
that has since been pronounced by the   
more extreme protagonists on the        
anti-vivisection side of the            
controversy4    ,this article dealt in a
 pungent severity with attacks made upon
 him in  the ,nineteenth ,century by    
,sir ,james ,paget1 ,professor ,owen and
 ,dr4  ,wilks4  ,as far as ,i know none 
of them rejoined4  ,they had had enough6

    ,but the last passage of the article
 is of a quality that ,i think my       
readers will regard as fully justifying 
my reproducing it here1--,i hope  it    
will receive their endorsement--the hand
 that wrote it has long been  still1 but
 thirty-four years have not made one    
word of it less true or  less beautiful4
        ,there is one authority1        
conclusive1 no doubt1 only to those who 
admit      it1 conclusive only to those 
who believe that they can read it1 to   
which in conclusion ,i dare appeal4     
,when a bishop in the ,southern         
,states had been defending slavery1 he  
was asked what he thought our      ,lord
 would have said1 what looks ,he who    
turned and looked upon ,st4      ,peter 
would have cast upon a slave-mart in    
,new ,orleans1 where husband      was   
torn from wife1 child from parent1 and  
beautiful girls1 with      scarce a     
tinge of colour in them1 were sold into 
prostitution4  ,the      answer of the  
bishop is not known1 but ,i will venture

 on a kindred      question4  ,what     
would our ,lord have said1 what looks   
would ,he have      bent1 upon a chamber
 filled with the unoffending creatures  
which ,he      loves1 dying under       
torture deliberately and intentionally  
inflicted8      or kept alive to endure 
further torment1 in pursuit of          
knowledge8      ,men must answer this   
question according to their consciences2
 and for      any man to make himself in
 such a matter a rule for any other     
would      be1 ,i know1 unspeakable     
presumption4  ,but to anyone who        
recognises      the authority of our    
,lord1 and who persuades himself that he
 sees      which way that authority     
inclines1 the mind of ,christ must be   
the      guide of life4  ,shouldest thou
 not have had compassion upon these1    
even as ,i had pity on thee8  ,so ,he   
seems to me to say1 and ,i shall        
act accordingly4          ,,chapter     
,,vi3 ,,john ,,ruskin      ,no one who  
has ever read a line of ,ruskin could   

doubt on which side his  mind and heart 
would be ranged in the controversy over 
vivisection4    ,here was a lord of     
language who was also one of the great  
moral teachers  of the world4  ,to him  
the torture of a helpless animal for a  
scientific  purpose was a defiance of   
religion and an insult to ,god4  ,such  
pursuits  he declared were all carried  
on in defiance of what had hitherto been
  held to be compassion and pity1 and of
 the great link which bound  together   
the whole of creation from its ,maker to
 the lowest creature4         ,picture3 
,john ,ruskin4  ,from a drawing by      
,samuel ,laurence in the                
collection of ,john ,lane    ,he        
occupied the illustrious post of ,slade 
,professor of art at ,oxford when       
convocation voted to endow vivisection  
in the ,university and install ,dr4     
,burdon ,sanderson1 the smotherer of    
dogs1 in a laboratory set up for him4   
,in vain did ,ruskin protest against    
this horrible educational cancer being  

grafted on to the happiness1 peace1 and 
light of gracious ,oxford4  ,convocation
 preferred the blight of the coward     
,science to the cultivation  of all that
 was beautiful1 distinguished1 humane1  
and brave2 and they  reaped as they had 
sown1 they kept the dog smotherer and   
lost the radiant  spirit and uplifting  
eloquence of the inspired seer4  ,ruskin
 resigned and  ,oxford heard that voice 
of supreme nobility no more4    ,the    
,vice-,chancellor for very shame could  
not bring himself to read  ,ruskin's    
letter of resignation to convocation4   
,the editor of the  ,university ,gazette
 also had the effrontery to leave a     
letter from  ,ruskin1 giving the reasons
 for his resignation1 unpublished2 and  
the  ,pall ,mall ,gazette crowned the   
edifice of poltroonery by announcing    
that  he had resigned owing to his      
advancing years4    ,evil communications
 corrupt good manners1 and association  
with  vivisection led these dignitaries 
and editors to flout and insult a man   

whose shoe strings they were not worthy 
to tie4  ,time is merciful and  their   
very names are forgotten4    ,ruskin    
had1 a little time before these events1 
asked the ,university for a  grant to   
build a well-lighted room for the       
undergraduates apart from the  obscure  
and inconvenient ,ruskin school2 his    
request was instantly refused  on the   
plea that the ,university was in debt1  
yet in the very next year  this debt    
encumbered seat of learning and courtesy
 voted #aj1jjj pounds  for the erection 
of a laboratory for the vivisector and  
#b1jjj pounds more  towards fitting it  
up and maintaining it1--for troughs and 
gags and cages  and the rest of the     
horrible paraphernalia4    ,this must ,i
 should imagine be the most squalid page
 in the history of  modern ,oxford4     
,more than thirty years have passed     
since that ,university thus publicly    
preferred a dog smootherer to one of the
 noblest of teachers and  saintliest of 
men4    ,both are now long departed4    

,the one can no more block up the       
wind-pipes  of living dogs and watch    
their dying convulsions1 and the other  
can no  longer lead the minds of youths 
and maidens to seek and find beauty in  
the visible world about them and        
recognise in it the hand of ,god--but   
the  world has known which of these men 
led the youth of ,oxford to look up and 
which to look down1 and to-day a        
merciful oblivion covers the names and  
doings of this triumphant vivisector and
 his valiant supporters1 while to  the  
farthest inch of the ,english-speaking  
realms the writings of ,ruskin  are     
treasured in a million homes and his    
name acclaimed with grateful  reverence4
    ,,note4--,this chapter on ,ruskin   
having appeared as an article in ,the   
,animals' ,defender and ,zoophilist in  
,march1 #aiag1 and a copy of it having  
been sent to the ,vice-,chancellor of   
the ,university of ,oxford1 the         
following correspondence ensued3--      
,,christ ,,church1 ,,oxford1            

,march #crd1 #aiag4        ,,dear       
,,sir1--,i thank you for sending me the 
copy of ,the ,zoophilist4      ,may ,i  
point out that it is not customary for  
the ,vice-,chancellor to      read to   
,convocation the letters of ,professors 
who resign1 or to print      the letters
 in the ,gazette8                       
,yours very truly1                      
,t4 ,b4 ,,strong4        ,,hon4         
,,stephen ,,coleridge4                  
,,south ,,wales ,,circuit1              
,,assize ,,court1 ,,cardiff1            
,march #fth1 #aiag4        ,,dear       
,,sir1--,i have received your letter of 
the #crd of ,march informing      me    
that it is not customary for the        
,vice-,chancellor to read to            
,convocation the letters of professors  
who resign or to print such      letters
 in the ,university ,gazette1 but ,i do 
not understand from you      that the   
,vice-,chancellor is precluded by any   
rule of ,convocation from      reading  
such a letter1 or that the editor if    

there be one of the      ,university    
,gazette is unable by any rule of his   
office to admit such      a letter to   
his columns--and ,i therefore feel that 
,i was quite      entitled to make the  
comments ,i did in ,the ,animals'       
,defender and      ,zoophilist4  ,when  
such a man as ,ruskin desired the       
reasons for his      resignation to be  
made clear1 ,i take leave to think that 
the breach      of a custom that enabled
 the ,university to conceal those       
reasons and      even permit            
misapprehensions of those reasons to be 
given a wide      publicity1 would have 
been better than its observance4  ,and a
      ,university ,gazette that refuses 
to publish the letter of a              
world-famous professor of that          
,university1 must arrogate to itself a  
title to which it can justly make no    
claim4                                  
,very truly yours1                      
,,stephen ,,coleridge4        ,,the     
,,very ,,rev4 ,,the ,,dean ,,of ,,christ

 ,,church1 ,,vice-,,chancellor1         
,,oxford4    ,at this distance of time  
it is probable that the present ,dean of
 ,christ  ,church may not fully realise 
the sort of person ,professor           
,sanderson1 whom  the ,university       
preferred to ,ruskin1 was3 ,i therefore 
think he may like to  see a letter ,i   
wrote at the time to the papers which   
has fortunately been  preserved3        
,,sir1--,i hope you will find room for  
an answer to the remarkable      letter 
of ,professor ,acland in your issue of  
the #ith1 and to      ,f4,r4,s4's attack
 on ,miss ,cobbe in that of the #ajth of
 ,march4        ,professor ,acland      
says3--        ,i have to say to        
,english parents that everyone at home  
and abroad1      who knows anything of  
biological science in ,england1 will    
think them      fortunate if their      
children being students of medicine1    
fall under      the elevating influence 
of ,professor ,sanderson's scientific   
and      personal character4        ,and

 ,f4,r4,s4 says3--        ,i was a very 
constant attendant at ,dr4 ,sanderson's 
private      laboratory during the last 
ten years of his professorship at       
,university ,college1 and during the    
whole of that time ,i never             
witnessed a single operation involving  
pain4        ,now1 are we not justified 
in estimating ,professor ,sanderson's   
nobility of disposition by his books8   
,he was joint author and editor of the  
,handbook for the ,physiological        
,laboratory1 the publication in which of
 the tortures of animals      roused a  
feeling in the country that led to the  
appointment of the      ,royal          
,commission to inquire into these       
practices4  ,and is he not now      one 
of the editors of the ,journal of       
,physiology1 which continually          
details to the world experiments        
involving terrible torments8        ,in 
his ,handbook of ,physiology we find    
such descriptions as the                
following3--        ,page #cai4         

7#aji74--;,asphyxia by complete         
,occlusion of the      ,trachea4--,for  
this purpose a cannula must be fixed    
air-tight in the      trachea1 the mouth
 of which is of such form that it can be
 plugged      with a cork4 4 4 4 ,the   
phenomena as they present themselves in 
the      dog4 4 4 4  ,first minute4     
,excessive respiratory movements in     
which      at first the expansive       
efforts of the thoracic muscles1        
afterwards      the expulsive efforts of
 the abdominal wall1 are most violent4  
,towards the close of the first minute  
the animal becomes convulsed4           
,second minute4  ,early in the second   
minute the convulsions cease1      often
 suddenly2 simultaneously with the      
cessation the expiratory      efforts   
become indistinguishable4  ,the iris is 
now dilated to a rim2      the eye does 
not close when the cornea is touched1   
nor does the pupil      react to light2 
all reflex reaction to stimuli has      
ceased4  ,all the      muscles except   

those of inspiration are flaccid1 and   
the animal lies      in a state of      
tranquility which contrasts in the most 
striking way      with the storm which  
preceded it 4 4 4 ,third and fourth     
minute4  ,as      death approaches the  
thoracic and abdominal movements which  
are      entirely respiratory become    
slow and slower as well as shallower4 4 
4 4      ,in the spasms which accompany 
the final gasps of an asphyxiated       
animal the head is thrown back1 the     
trunk straightening or arched           
backwards1 and the limbs are extended   
while the mouth gapes and the           
nostrils dilate4  ,they are called by   
physiologists stretching                
convulsions4        ,page #cbj4         
7#aaj74--;,asphyxia by ,slow            
,suffocation4--,when an animal      is  
allowed to breathe the same quantity of 
air repeatedly and      continuously out
 of a bag1 the process being of much    
longer duration1      the phenomena can 
be studied with greater facility4       

,after this1 is it ill-natured or       
ill-mannered to think that parents      
will not be fortunate if their children 
fall under the elevating      influence 
of ,dr4 ,sanderson's scientific and     
personal character8        ,we want to  
know how medicine is advanced by the    
agonies of these      suffocated        
animals8        ,it may be true that    
,professor ,sanderson at present holds  
no      certificate1 nor does ,dr4      
,michael ,foster1 who occupies a similar
      position at ,cambridge1 but ,dr4  
,michael ,foster has assistants who     
hold from time to time certificates1 and
 quite lately1 under his      guidance1 
a lady1 ,miss ,emily ,nunn1 has been    
poisoning frogs till      their skin    
comes off4  ,there is nothing to prevent
 ,professor      ,sanderson from        
employing assistants4  ,the mind may be 
the mind of      ,professor ,sanderson1 
but the knife may be the knife of such a
 man as      ,dr4 ,klein1 who was his   
former assistant at the ,brown          

,institution1 and      who has publicly 
declared that he has no regard at all   
for the      sufferings of the animals4 
,your obedient servant1                 
,,stephen ,,coleridge4        #ab       
,,ovington ,,gardens1 ,,london1         
,march #acth1 #ahhe4    ,on the         
publication of this letter the ,dean of 
,christ ,church of that day1  ,dean     
,liddell1 wrote to me a long rambling   
letter which ,i could not then1  and    
cannot now1 publish because it concludes
 with these words3--        ,i have     
written this not for publication4  ,i   
will not engage in      newspaper       
controversy4  ,i write to you1 out of   
respect for the name      you bear1--not
 in anger but in sorrow4    ,to this ,i 
replied3        ,to my letter in the    
,press you have no word to offer4  ,in  
it ,i quote      verbatim ,professor    
,sanderson's own description of one of  
the many      wanton torments that he   
has inflicted upon the good creatures of
 ,god4      ,i ask how medicine is      

advanced by the agonies of the dogs he  
has      slowly suffocated1 and ,i get  
no answer 7though ,i have sent the      
letter      to him and some twenty other
 vivisectors7 but this expression from  
you of sorrow that the name ,i bear     
should be ranged on the side of         
this man's opponents4        ,sir1 ,i am
 a young man1 unskilled in polemics and 
unpractised in the      art of advocacy1
 no match for one of mature age1 ripe   
experience1 and      stored learning2   
but if an enthusiasm for mercy1 a belief
 that human      life itself is not     
fitly bought by the torturing of the    
helpless1 an      amazement that any    
,christian1 nay that any man should call
 one of      these tormentors friend1 be
 sentiments the holding of which by one 
of my name fills you with sorrow if not 
with anger1 it without doubt      is    
plain that our name is but a name to    
you1 and that your respect      for it  
should have been withdrawn when it first
 came into prominence4        ,i do not 

believe you know what things these men  
have done2 it is a      terrible task   
for any man to read their literature2 if
 you had done      so ,i do indeed      
believe that not your sorrow only but   
your anger would      be deeply roused1 
but--not against me4                    
,i remain1 ,sir1                        
,faithfully and ,respectfully yours1    
,,stephen ,,coleridge4    ,it gives me  
peculiar pleasure to bring up this      
letter from the now  distant past2      
thirty-two years have not made me wish  
to withdraw or  change a word of it4    
,,chapter ,,vii3 ,,dr4 ,,johnson        
,of all the ,masters of letters that    
have adorned and elevated the speech  of
 our race ,dr4 ,johnson is in many ways 
the most lovable4  ,the son of a  poor  
bookseller in ,lichfield #dj with an    
uncouth figure and an  undistinguished  
countenance1 he rose by the massive     
force of his  character and the tireless
 persistence of his industry to an      
unchallenged  supremacy in the literary 

world of his age1 displaying in his     
whole life  the truth of his own dictum 
that few things are impossible to       
diligence  and skill4  ,disdaining the  
common habit of the times he would owe  
nothing to the patronage of the great4  
,is not a patron1 he wrote to  ,lord    
,chesterfield1 one who looks with       
unconcern on a man struggling for  life 
in the water1 and when he has reached   
ground encumbers him with  help8        
,picture3 ,dr4 ,johnson4  ,from a       
contemporary etching published ,february
                                 #ajth1 
#aghj    ,he was not very patient with  
the stupid1 or merciful to the absurd1  
and  vanity never came into his presence
 without receiving swift and mortal     
blows2 but the chastisement of his      
caustic tongue never fell upon modest   
worth1 and there never lived a man who  
was a more faithful and  affectionate   
friend4    ,the style of his writing is 
always balanced and sonorous1 and       
everywhere  and always is he the friend 

of the wise and teacher of the good4    
,no man was more ready to give forcible 
expression to his amusing  prejudices1  
as when he exclaimed that the noblest   
prospect which a  ,scotchman ever sees  
is the high road that leads him to      
,england1 but to  be able to assert of  
any act of man that ,dr4 ,johnson in    
solemn  seriousness condemned it1 is for
 ever to arraign that act in the court  
of  human morals2 and so the judicious  
must concede that when his authority    
can be cited in fierce and glowing      
denunciation of vivisectors they are    
left in a demersed condition4    ,i took
 occasion when giving evidence before   
the last ,royal ,commission on          
,vivisection to rehearse ,dr4 ,johnson's
 philippic which ,i now reproduce       
below1 and the dejected and deflated    
aspect of the vivisectors on the        
commission when ,i had finished it      
caused that moment to be one of those ,i
  shall always recall with exhilaration6
  ,not a word had one of them to say    

while ,i waited for any comment they    
might adventure1 and after a  diverting 
and eloquent silence ,lord ,selby from  
the chair remarked1 ,that  leaves no    
doubt about ,dr4 ,johnson's view in his 
day4  ,it most certainly  does not6     
,the ,idlers that sport only with       
inanimate nature may claim some         
indulgence2 if they are useless1 they   
are still innocent2 but there      are  
others1 whom ,i know not how to mention 
without more emotion than      my love  
of quiet willingly admits4  ,among the  
inferior professors of      medical     
knowledge is a race of wretches whose   
lives are only varied      by varieties 
of cruelty2 whose favourite amusement is
 to nail dogs to      tables and open   
them alive2 to try how long life may be 
continued in      various degrees of    
mutilation1 or with the excision or     
laceration of      the vital parts2 to  
examine whether burning irons are felt  
more      acutely by the bone or tendon2
 and whether the more lasting agonies   

are produced by poison forced into the  
mouth1 or injected into the      veins1 
it is not without reluctance that ,i    
offend the sensibility of      the      
tender mind with images like these4  ,if
 such cruelties were not      practised 
it were to be desired that they should  
not be conceived2      but1 since they  
are published every day with            
ostentation1 let me be      allowed once
 to mention them1 since ,i mention them 
with abhorrence4      ,mead has         
invidiously remarked of ,woodward that  
he gathered shells      and stones1 and 
would pass for a philosopher4  ,with    
pretentions much      less reasonable   
the anatomical novice tears out the     
living bowels of      an animal and     
styles himself physician1 prepares      
himself by familiar      cruelty for    
that profession which he is to exercise 
upon the tender      and the helpless1  
upon feeble bodies and broken minds1 and
 by which      he has opportunities to  
extend his arts and torture1 and        

continue      those experiments upon    
infancy and age1 which he has hitherto  
tried      upon cats and dogs4  ,what is
 alleged in defence of these hateful    
practices everyone knows1 but the truth 
is that by knives1 fire1 and            
poisons1 knowledge is not always sought1
 and is very seldom attained4      ,i   
know not that by living dissections any 
discovery has been made by      which a 
single malady is more easily cured4     
,and if the knowledge of      physiology
 has been somewhat increased1 he surely 
buys knowledge dear      who learns the 
use of the lacteals at the expense of   
his own      humanity4  ,it is time that
 a universal resentment should arise    
against those horrid operations1 which  
tend to harden the heart and      make  
the physician more dreadful than the    
gout or the stone4          ,,chapter   
,,viii3 ,,thomas ,,carlyle              
,,vice-,,president ,,of ,,the ,,national
 ,,anti-,,vivisection ,,society         
,the world of letters and of ethics has 

hardly yet settled whether much of  the 
teaching of the ,sage of ,chelsea should
 be the subject of praise or  blame4    
,in the advocacy of fine principles of  
conduct set forth for us in  language of
 surpassing eloquence and earnest       
conviction in many a page of  ,sartor   
,resartus1 and scattered through        
innumerable pamphlets1 ,carlyle         
commands the fervent adhesion of the    
honest1 the brave1 and the good2  while 
in other parts of his writings his      
infatuated admiration of force1  however
 clothed with brutality1 and of         
strength1 however marred with           
mendacity1 are calculated as deeply to  
alienate the urbane man of the  world as
 the austere ,christian4    ,and this   
confusion in the estimate of ,carlyle   
and of his teaching suffers  an         
aggravation from the manifest malice of 
the biography of him  perpetrated by his
 friend ,james ,anthony ,froude4  ,a man
 who is entrusted  with the task of     
writing the life of a great man who was 

also his friend  need not adopt the     
language of continuous panegyric1 but to
 throw a  brilliant illumination upon   
the man's smaller domestic rugosities   
which  even the weakest charity would   
conceal and the feeblest generosity     
would  forget is a singularly spiteful  
betrayal4    ,when something was said to
 ,carlyle about the likelihood of the   
,dean of  ,westminster recognising his  
fame as justifying his interment in the 
,abbey1 the rugged old man exclaimed1   
,deliver me from that  body-snatcher4   
,it would have been more to the purpose 
if he had been  delivered from his      
intimate friend as his biographer6      
,that ,carlyle detested vivisection1    
however1 must ever remain a great       
tribute both to him and to our cause4   
,many circumstances of the man and  his 
teaching might have led the world to    
anticipate that he would very  likely be
 found indifferent on the subject4  ,his
 earnest adhesion to our  principles    
leaves those who politely call us old   

women of both sexes in a  foolish case1 
for nothing could be more divertingly   
absurd than so to  classify ,carlyle4   
,i think ,froude forgot to mention      
,carlyle's stern condemnation of        
vivisection in his biography1 which is  
more remarkable inasmuch as ,froude     
himself was a firm and outspoken        
supporter of our cause4    ,whether we  
can faithfully take to heart and follow 
all the teaching of  this old ,man      
eloquent will long remain a subject of  
debate1 but no one  can rise from his   
works without recognising a moral       
grandeur in him that  far out-tops the  
very human flaws that may even serve to 
make him more  penetrative to our own   
imperfect hearts4    ,there seems to be 
a law that compels all the truly great  
men of letters1  from ,shakespeare and  
,johnson down to our own day1 to abhor  
the torture of  animals for our supposed
 benefit1 and to that law ,thomas       
,carlyle starkly  adhered4              
,,chapter ,,ix3 ,,tennyson              

,,vice-,,president ,,of ,,the ,,national
 ,,anti-,,vivisection ,,society         
,picture3 ,tennyson4  ,from an          
unpublished photograph in the possession
 of                   ,charles ,bruce   
,locker ,tennyson1 ,c4 ,m4 ,g4          
,tennyson1 as was inevitable with a man 
of such nobility of mind and life1      
regarded the torture of animals for the 
sake of knowledge with the hate  of     
hate1 the scorn of scorn4    ,if        
authority be cited in great moral       
questions here is one that must  compel 
reverence from all but the poor trifler 
with his hollow smile and  frozen sneer4
    ,he looked modern ,science in the   
eye1 perceived whither its              
aggrandisement  of knowledge to a place 
supreme in human estimate1 above        
conduct1 must  inevitably lead mankind1 
and proclaimed1 in accents which can    
never die1  that it is impossible for   
man to acquiesce in a godless world4    
,he taught us that men's hearts can     
never be satisfied with a world         

explained and comprised by the cold     
changeless law of foreordained          
evolution and inevitable destiny4       
,knowledge comes1 said he1 but  wisdom  
lingers4    ,from the first1 then1      
,tennyson lent the weight of his        
splendid name to  the cause of mercy1   
and ,i find his signature to the        
original great  petition for the        
restriction of vivisection between those
 of ,leslie  ,stephen and ,robert       
,browning on the same sheet of paper--a 
sheet of paper  now one of the treasured
 possessions of the ,national           
,anti-,vivisection  ,society4    ,all   
the world knows the allusions in his    
works to those who carve the  living    
hound1 and to curare1 which he called   
the hellish oorali4  ,and  thus this    
greatest poet of the ,victorian age gave
 the weight of his  commanding authority
 for all time to a fierce condemnation  
of vivisection  as the most awful and   
monstrous of the offsprings of modern   
,science4    ,tennyson was religious in 

the widest and most inspiring sense4    
,almost the finest summing up of        
religion1 he wrote1 is 'to do justice1  
to love mercy1 and to walk humbly with  
,god4'    ,to love mercy6  ,that is the 
true sign of magnanimity in man4  ,all  
holy  men1 all brave men1 all great and 
knightly men have loved mercy4  ,it is  
an attribute to ,god ,himself4    ,time 
passes1 and succeeding races of mankind1
 like the leaves of autumn1  are blown  
away and perish1 but countless men of   
heroic mould1 reaching  back into the   
dim mists of legend and down through    
innumerable years  while the great world
 spins for ever down the ringing grooves
 of  change1 have one and all been      
gloriously crowned with the same shining
  diadem of mercy4          ,,chapter   
,x3 ,,cardinal ,,newman        ,picture3
 ,cardinal ,newman4  ,from the portrait 
by ,jane ,fortescue1 ,lady              
,coleridge    ,it is difficult perhaps  
for students of the younger generation  
to realise  the immense influence       

exercised among his contemporaries by   
,cardinal  ,newman1 nor will a study of 
his writings adequately explain it to   
them4    ,he has hardly survived as a   
standard author1 though he wrote a pure 
and  lucid prose4  ,those who leave the 
bulk of their literary work behind them 
in the form of sermons are inviting the 
world to neglect it4    ,moreover1      
though he was a past master of          
controversy1 the arena in which  he     
fought with such doughty prowess amid   
the excited plaudits and  dehortations  
of vast assemblies is now left solitary 
in echoing  emptiness1 and the crowds of
 to-day have passed away to abet the    
combatants1 on one side or the other1 in
 very different fields of  tourney4     
,here and there his writing ascends to a
 fine note of eloquence1 as in his      
great exclamatory passage on music that 
begins thus3--        ,there are seven  
notes in the scale2 make them fourteen3 
yet what a      slender outfit for so   
vast an enterprise6  ,what science      

brings so      much out of so little8   
,out of what poor elements does some    
great      master in it create his new  
world6    ,but all his writings1        
religious and controversial1 will not   
explain the  immense and dominating     
effect ,newman produced upon his        
contemporaries4  ,that effect was due to
 the irresistible magic of his          
personality4  ,he was  manifestly one of
 the ,saints of ,god1 and his presence  
brought with it  into any company a     
sense of mighty power gloved in         
stainless humility4  ,though habitually 
bearing an aspect of wistful gentleness1
 his entry into  a room crowded with    
distinguished people made them all seem 
to be  something less than they were    
before his arrival4    ,a man of such a 
character commands by his visible       
presence1 and those who  have not felt  
the spell of it do not comprehend the   
cause of his  authoritative influence   
among those who have4    ,the teaching  
of ,newman on the great question of     

man's relation to the  sentient         
creatures placed in his power in the    
world1 must come to us with  all the    
weight that is implicit in the utterance
 of one of such  unquestioned sanctity4 
,it would be difficult in all his       
voluminous works to discover anything   
more touching and moving than his       
reference to the sufferings of animals1 
who as he says have done no harm1 which 
is embedded in the seventh  volume of   
his ,parochial and ,plain ,sermons3--   
,first1 as to these sufferings1 you will
 observe that our ,lord is      called a
 ,lamb in the text2 that is1 ,he was as 
defenceless and as      innocent as a   
lamb is4  ,since then ,scripture        
compares ,him to this      inoffensive  
and unprotected animal1 we may1 without 
presumption or      irreverence1 take   
the image as a means of conveying to our
 minds      those feelings which our    
,lord's sufferings should excite in us4 
,i      mean1 consider how very horrible
 it is to read the accounts which       

sometimes meet us of cruelties exercised
 on brute animals4  ,does it      not   
sometimes make us shudder to hear tell  
of them1 or to read them      in some   
chance publication which we take up8    
,at one time it is the      wanton deed 
of barbarous and angry owners who       
ill-treat their cattle1      or beasts  
of burden2 and at another it is the     
cold-blooded and      calculating act of
 men of science1 who make experiments on
 brute      animals1 perhaps merely from
 a sort of curiosity4        ,i do not  
like to go into particulars1 for many   
reasons1 but one of      those instances
 which we read of as happening in this  
day1 and which      seems more shocking 
than the rest1 is when the poor dumb    
victim is      fastened against a wall1 
pierced1 gashed1 and so left to linger  
out      its life4  ,now1 do you not see
 that ,i have a reason for saying this1 
and am not using these distressing words
 for nothing8  ,for what was      this  
but the very cruelty inflicted upon our 

,lord8  ,he was gashed      with the    
scourge1 pierced through hands and feet1
 and so fastened to      the ,cross1 and
 there left1 and that as a spectacle4   
,now1 what is it      moves our very    
hearts and sickens us so much as cruelty
 shown to poor      brutes8  ,i suppose 
this first1 that they have done no harm2
 next1      that they have no power     
whatever of resistance2 it is the       
cowardice      and tyranny of which they
 are the victims which make their       
sufferings      so especially touching4 
,for instance1 if they were dangerous   
animals1 take the case of wild beasts at
 large1 able not only to      defend    
themselves1 but even to attack us2 much 
as we might dislike to      hear of     
their wounds and agony1 yet our feelings
 would be of a very      different kind1
 but there is something so very         
dreadful1 so satanic      in tormenting 
those who never have harmed us1 and who 
cannot defend      themselves1 who are  
utterly in our power1 who have weapons  

neither of      offence nor defence1    
that none but very hardened persons can 
endure      the thought of it4    ,let  
us listen with all our hearts to this   
beautiful appeal4  ,let us  reverence   
the saintly man who made it1 and who    
still speaks to us out of  the past4    
,let us remember that ,knowledge and the
 search for it may often  be cruel1 but 
that ,wisdom and those who follow it are
 always merciful4          ,,chapter    
,,xi3 ,,three ,,great ,,churchmen       
,i have already recorded in these pages 
the strenuous opposition to  vivisection
 displayed by the two greatest          
representatives of the ,church  of ,rome
 that arose in ,england in the last     
century2 and to all who adhere  to that 
,church the authority of the two        
illustrious ,cardinals ,newman and      
,manning must be decisive4    ,the most 
famous dignitaries of the ,english      
,church in the great ,victorian  age    
were also as firm in their condemnation 
of vivisection as were the  great       

,cardinals4    ,when ,i was a young man 
,dean ,stanley was the ,dean of         
,westminster1 ,dean  ,vaughan was the   
,master of the ,temple1 and ,liddon     
,canon of ,st4 ,paul's4  ,these were all
 men of world-wide distinction4  ,they  
were men who adorned  and made splendid 
the offices and dignities they occupied1
 their names  were familiar in every    
corner of the land1 they lent a lustre  
to the  ,church of ,england1 and each of
 them utterly condemned vivisection4    
,in these present times only a few      
people in the metropolis1 and hardly    
anybody out of it1 can tell without     
consulting some book of reference who   
may be the estimable persons who to-day 
fill the ,deanery of ,westminster  and  
the ,mastership of the ,temple1 nor has 
,canon ,liddon any successor that  the  
world acclaims1 and ,i can vouch for it 
that none of them has ever  extended to 
us a helping hand or publicly condemned 
the torture of  animals for scientific  
purposes4    ,it is always the loftiest 

names in literature and the most        
illustrious  authorities on ethics that 
are found ranged against the infliction 
of  suffering upon helpless animals for 
the enlargement of human knowledge4     
,those who support such inflictions are 
never in the first rank of  literature1 
art1 or moral teaching4  ,dean ,stanley 
left behind him a  reputation           
incomparably greater than any occupier  
of his ,deanery that has  succeeded him4
  ,the same must be conceded to ,dean   
,vaughan at the ,temple2  and the       
eloquence of ,canon ,liddon compelled   
the absorbed attention of  such         
congregations as are not now collected  
by the ,canons that have  followed him4 
,as far as ,i am aware1 none of the     
successors of these  great men have ever
 helped our cause at all4    ,no doubt  
whenever there shall arise in the       
ministry of the ,church of  ,england men
 of the commanding power1 distinguished 
character1 and potent  speech that these
 great men of the last generation       

displayed we shall  find them also      
espousing the cause of the helpless     
vivisected animals2 in  the meanwhile   
the occupiers of the most dignified     
positions in the  ,established ,church  
seem to have drifted into the somewhat  
ignoble  attitude of avoiding the       
disagreeable subject of vivisection     
altogether4  ,when we invite them to    
help us we receive either no reply at   
all1 or a  reply that is carefully      
evasive1 or we are damned with faint    
praise while  assured that the writer is
 too busy to give the subject the       
attention it  needs before any public   
utterance is possible upon it4  ,all of 
which  methods of dealing with the      
matter display much wisdom of the world 
and a  very human desire to avoid       
controversy and other uncomfortable     
mental and  epistolary disturbance1 but 
none of the spirit that led ,archbishop 
,temple  when he was ,bishop of ,exeter 
to stand unflinching on a temperance    
platform while the publicans pelted him 

with flour4          ,,chapter ,,xii3   
,,queen ,,victoria      ,queen ,victoria
 has given her name to a period which   
has no parallel in  magnificence since  
the days of the great ,elizabeth4       
,the galaxy of great poets1 teachers1   
and philosophers that flourished in  the
 ,victorian age cannot be matched in any
 similar series of years in all  the    
history of the modern world4    ,with   
her departure exhaustion seems to have  
come upon the world of  letters for a   
time1 and to the classic glories of the 
nineteenth century  there has succeeded 
an usurpation of journalists without the
 splendour of  genius or even the       
distinction of scholarship4    ,and     
although we may perhaps recognise in    
,lord ,beaconsfield's inclusive  use of 
the phrase to her of we authors1 ,madam 
something of the flattery  of the       
courtier1 yet assuredly in all her      
public addresses to her people  there is
 displayed a fine and biblical          
simplicity1 and a directness of  appeal 

indicative of a noble mind and a great  
heart4    ,the most penetrating         
criticism will fail to discover a fault 
either of  taste or diction or intent in
 any of these utterances4  ,they combine
 the  dignity appropriate to the words  
of the greatest ,sovereign of the       
,world1  with the intimate friendliness 
that proceeds from the wellsprings of a 
sweet woman's heart4    ,worthily then  
did she reign over the most splendid    
times of our history4    ,that she      
should from the day she ascended the    
throne to the day of her  death forward 
and abet all the enlargements of the    
spirit of mercy and  pity towards the   
suffering1 whether among man or animals1
 was inevitable  in a nature so         
benevolent4  ,and it may very well be   
that in far distant  times the rise of  
humaneness to man and beast will be     
regarded as one of  the noblest         
characteristics of her reign4    ,her   
position above controversies precluded  
her from participating in  them1 and    

made it difficult if not impossible for 
her publicly to espouse  the cause of   
the miserable creatures subjected to    
nameless sufferings in  the laboratories
 of the scientific4  ,but her sympathy  
with those who  strove and still strive 
to end those sufferings could not always
 be  concealed1 and on a memorable      
occasion she expressed her concurrence  
in  the efforts of those who desired to 
see the laws sanctioning such  suffering
 totally abolished and repealed4        
,very fitting therefore it is that among
 those who earnestly condemned          
vivisection we should include the august
 name and fame of ,queen ,victoria4     
,,chapter ,,xiii3 ,,compassed ,,about   
,,with ,,so ,,great ,a ,,cloud ,,of     
,,witnesses      ,among the eminent men 
and women of ,england whose names are   
not to be  regarded as world famous in  
the sense that applies to those dealt   
with in  the foregoing chapters1 but who
 nevertheless in their place and time   
were  recognised by their contemporaries

 and are still recognised by those now  
living as persons of authority and      
ability1 there can be cited a           
distinguished array who consistently    
condemned vivisection as permitted  and 
as practised in this country as immoral4
  ,among religious leaders may  be      
enumerated the following3--             
,archbishop ,mc,evilly1 of ,tuam2       
,archbishop ,crozier1 ,primate of       
,ireland2  ,archbishop ,bagshawe2       
,bishop ,westcott1 of ,durham2 ,bishop  
,moule1 of ,durham2  ,bishop ,harold    
,browne1 of ,winchester2 ,bishop ,lord  
,arthur ,hervey1 of ,bath  and ,wells2  
,bishop ,ryle1 of ,liverpool2 ,bishop   
,walsham ,how1 of ,wakefield2  ,bishop  
,ridding1 of ,southwell2 ,bishop        
,moorhouse1 of ,manchester2 ,bishop     
,mackarness1 of ,oxford2 ,bishop        
,chinnery-,haldane1 of ,argyll and the  
,isles2  ,bishop ,barry1 ,primate of    
,australia2 ,dean ,kichten4  ,archdeacon
  ,wilberforce2 ,father ,ignatius2      
,general ,booth1 the founder of the     

,salvation  ,army2 ,spurgeon2 ,hugh     
,price ,hughes2 ,newman ,hall2 ,james   
,martineau2 ,stopford  ,brooke4         
,among prominent teachers and scholars  
and philosophers and writers and        
artists and lawyers ,i find the         
following3--    ,alfred ,russel         
,wallace1 ,freeman1 ,froude1 ,leslie    
,stephen1 ,richard ,holt  ,hutton1 ,sir 
,henry ,taylor1 ,sir ,lewis ,morris1    
,george ,macdonald1 ,blackmore1  ,wilkie
 ,collins1 ,lewis ,carroll1 ,robert     
,buchanan1 ,justin ,mc,carthy1 ,sir     
,arthur ,arnold1 ,mrs4 ,somerville1     
,julia ,wedgwood1 ,sir ,edward          
,burne-,jones1  ,walter ,crane1 ,sir    
,henry ,irving1 ,lord ,brampton 7,mr4   
,justice ,hawkins71 and  ,lord ,chief   
,baron ,kelly4    ,i have made no       
research for great names in foreign     
countries1 but some of  the most        
illustrious stand prominently before the
 world representing the  three greatest 
continental races3    ,victor ,hugo1    
,wagner1 ,tolstoy1 ,voltaire1           

,schopenhauer1 ,rousseau4    ,here then 
,i have brought together a very glorious
 company justifying the  title ,i have  
affixed to this book4          ,,note   
,from this great cloud of witnesses ,i  
have omitted all those leaders of       
thought and morals1 friends of the wise 
and teachers of the good  supporters of 
this great cause who are living4  ,i    
followed a like reserve  in my          
,memories1 making in them none but      
passing allusions to famous  persons    
still alive4  ,i do not share the modern
 journalistic habit of  uninvited public
 intrusion upon living people who may   
very well be  unwilling at the moment to
 be dragged into controversy or exposed 
to  insult2 and every one knows that the
 vivisectors and their friends have  no 
manners1 and flout all the ,hague       
conventions of debate4          ,books  
by the ,hon4 ,stephen ,coleridge        
,,vivisection3  ,a ,,heartless ,,science
                             ,crown     
#hvo1 #es4 net4                         

,,some ,,press ,,opinions4              
,times4--,mr4 ,coleridge is a leading   
champion of the anti-vivisection  cause1
 and he here presents a reasoned        
indictment of the practice4  ,he is  a  
very able advocate1 who generally gets  
the better of his opponent in a         
dialectical bout1 and this book is      
written with great skill and force4     
,western ,mail4--,one cannot fail to be 
interested and impressed by the         
forensic power and ability in this book 
and by the humane spirit which  has led 
to its compilation4  ,mr4 ,coleridge    
brings all his power of wit1  irony1 and
 sarcasm to the aid of his scientific   
knowledge4    ,harrogate ,times4--,the  
book is an epitome of reasons why 'all  
humane  and thoughtful people' should   
disapprove of vivisection1 and the      
sinister  effects of the existence of   
this practice in our midst4  ,the       
statements  are cogent1 and will find a 
response in the heart of a wide         
constituency4                           

,,john ,,lane1 ,,the ,,bodley ,,head4   
,,songs ,,to ,,desideria                
,crown #hvo4 #cs4 #f;d4 net4    ,daily  
,news4--,these songs and poems are      
intensely and sincerely felt 4  4 4 they
 have the fine1 careful1 literary       
coldness of some of the lyrics  of      
,landor or of the more serious work of  
,peacock4  ,it is the poetry of a       
refined and knightly nature 4 4 4 and it
 deserves to be studied and  remembered 
4 4 4 its mood is austere and its temper
 noble4    ,globe4--,excellent verses1  
easy1 melodious1 and charming4          
,tribune4--,all lovers of poetry will be
 grateful for ,mr4 ,stephen             
,coleridge's volume4  ,dainty and       
finished in execution1 and instinct with
  a genuine human sympathy1 these lyrics
 betray the hand of a craftsman in      
verse4 4 4 4 ,verses of this quality    
should secure for ',songs to            
,desideria' a sincere welcome4          
,glasgow ,herald4--,the ,hon4 ,stephen  
,coleridge has already established  his 

position among the more tuneful writers 
of true lyric verse1 and into  all that 
he writes the poet puts delicacy and    
true emotion1 the former  never becomes 
mere phrase1 the latter never           
degenerates into wordy  passion4        
,south ,wales ,daily ,news4--,there is  
sometimes a depth of feeling in his     
passages for which one usually looks    
only in the great masters of ,english   
literature4                             
,,john ,,lane1 ,,the ,,bodley ,,head4   
,,memories            ,with ,twelve     
,illustrations4  ,demy #hvo4 #gs4 #f;d4 
net4    ,observer4--,mr4 ,coleridge has 
furnished ',the ,dictionary of ,national
  ,biography' 7or the ,victorian part of
 it7 with a supplement of wit and       
conversation4  ,and one hardly knows at 
which to marvel most1 the number  of    
celebrities he hauls up in his net1 of  
the number of laughs he gets  out of    
them4  ,his book is rich in fresh       
anecdote and the best light  elements of
 personality4    ,,mr4 ,,james ,,douglas

 in the ,star4--,the best book of       
reminiscences ,i have  read for a long  
time4  ,it teems with good stories about
 famous and  familiar names4    ,morning
 ,post4--,genuinely a record of the     
doings of others1 and full of  anecdote 
and incident4  ,mr4 ,coleridge has      
written a delightful book1 and  has told
 many interesting things of many famous 
men4    ,daily ,chronicle4--,now this is
 the right sort of memories to put into 
print2 memories that are fresh and      
bright1 piquant1 and yet never          
ill-natured1 crowded with personal      
lights and anecdotes2 in fine1 a  volume
 of which one says3 ',i would have liked
 to meet all those people  and write    
about them as ,mr4 ,coleridge has done4'
                           ,,john       
,,lane1 ,,the ,,bodley ,,head4          
,,an ,,evening ,,in ,,my ,,library      
,,among ,,the ,,english ,,poets         
,crown #hvo4 #cs4 #f;d4 net4            
,guardian4--,a charmingly desultory set 
of essays1 generous in  appreciation1   

and not afraid to explore comparatively 
unbeaten tracks4    ,quarterly          
,review4--,every moment is one of pure  
literature4  ,he quotes  his favourite  
poets freely1 giving us not a line or   
two but often a whole  poem4 4 4 4      
,there is many a racy criticism1 and the
 humanitarian peeps  out from not a few 
of them4  ,it is a volume full of lovely
 verse1 and one  that will not only give
 unalloyed pleasure1 but will cultivate 
a taste  for the sweetest and purest    
poetry4    ,daily ,mail4--,mr4          
,coleridge has written a very pleasant  
and readable  ramble among the poets4   
,it is an anthology with a skilled      
writer leading  one on from gem to gem  
with delightful comment4                
,,john ,,lane1 ,,the ,,bodley ,,head4   
,footnotes3      #af  ,my ,memories1 p4 
#fc    #dj  ,the book had ,leicester but
 this was crossed out and ,lichfield    
hand-printed in the margin4--,,dp4