"
Amiel, a great French writer, said in his journal: "I have just picked
up on the stairs a little yellow kitten, very ugly and pitiable. Now,
rolled into a ball on a chair at my side, he seems perfectly happy and
asks for nothing more. He followed me from room to room as I went to and
fro. I have nothing for him to eat, but a look and caress satisfy him,
at least for the present.
"I have been told that weak and feeble creatures feel happy near me. I
know that this is true, but I take no credit for it. I know that it is a
gift. With a little encouragement the birds would nest in my beard.
"This is the true relation of man with the weaker creatures. He would be
heartily adored by the animals if he were not a tyrant... So that all
unnecessary murder and torture are not only cowardly actions, but
crimes. A useful service imposed on the animal world demands in return
protection and kindness. In a word, the animal has claims on man, and
the man has duties to the animal."
St. Francis of Assisi not only cared for the birds and the harmless
creatures of the fields and woods, but he is said to have fed a fierce
and hungry wolf until it followed him like a dog.
Some years ago, General David S. Stanley, of the United States Army, was
leading a force across the plains.
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