Historical Literature on Humanity Against Cruelty to Animals, Timeline of Animal Rights History

Animal Rights History »» Rene Martin Pillet

1815 | View of England During a Residence of Ten Years, Six of Them as a Prisoner of War

Humanity to Animals

For twelve years in sucession, Lord Erskine presented at every of the House of Lords, a motion entitled Humanity to Animals. Its object was not the establishment of infirmaries or places for the reception of aged, sick or worn out domestic animals; its chief aim was to mitigate the treatment of brute animals, by sentencing those cruel beings to fines and penalties, who daily mutilate, maim, and deliberately, and for the sole pleasure of doing mischief, beat or starve to death poor animals, which render them important services, and against which they have no just complaint.

To induce the house of Lords to pass the bill which he solicits so unsuccessfully, and with such generous perserverance, Lord Erskine never fails to recapitulate the deliberate cruelties he has witnessed, or of which he has incontestible evidence. This picture is dreadful. I have seen several of the eloquent speeches delivered by Lord Erskine upon this subject, and if I could have preserved them I would here make some extracts which would convince the mind of every reader, that the English are a people essential cruel, cruel by nature as the tiger, that they must have blood, and blood is their delight.

The substance of all Lord Erskine's speeches is this; that by inducing men to be less cruel towards the brute creation, their dispositon towards each other would be softened, and probably the number of crimes which are the terro and disgrace of Great Britain, will diminish in proportion to the humanity exercised towards animals. (Rene Martin Pillet, Views of Engand [1815])

Mr. Brydone [in his twentieth letter] has a disertation humanity towards animals, in the style of Lord Erskine. (Rene Martin Pillet, Views of England [1815]

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Rene Martin Pillet, Views of England, During a Residence of Ten Years, Six of Them as a Prisoner of War, [First Edition: 1815] (Boston, 1818; Digitized by Google, 2007).

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