Shakspere Weighed in an Even Balance (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1864 edition. Excerpt: ...111., v. 3. 1 Hebrews, i. 14. 2 Psalm ciii. 20. 3 Revelation, xix. 10. Let never day nor night unhallow'd pass, But still remember what the Lord hath done. King Henry VI., Part II., ii. 1. Heaven set ope thy everlasting gates To entertain my vows of thanks and praise.--iv. 9. There is a duty, on which the Holy Scriptures lay great stress; and we need not be surprised at this, when we consider that the God, by whose Spirit those sacred Books were inspired, is a God whose " tender mercies are over all His works;"1 over every creature, animate or inanimate, rational or irrational, which his hands have created; I mean the duty of showing kindness to the brute creation. " The eyes of all, both of man and of beast, wait upon God, and he giveth them their meat in due season.'"2 He openeth His bounteous hand and satisfieth the desire of every living thing. The Mosaic Law enjoined the strict and rigid observance of the Sabbath day, for the benefit not only of man, but also of the brute creation, that the ox and the ass might rest as well as their owner. " Thou shalt not see," says God, " thy brother's ass, or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them; thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again."3 Thus we see that the Benevolent Creator of all things has a care, not only for men, but for dumb animals; " He preserveth both man and beast." And here I may observe, that the cruelty which first shows itself in the torturing of brute creatures almost invariably proceeds to greater lengths, and finally issues in the display of ferocity towards man. The gradual development and progress of cruelty has been most faithfully delineated in the life-like sketches of Hogarth, who has effected with his...