at the cruelties of the vivisectors. These, if any were present,
must have smiled sardonically at such inhuman humanitarians,
whose daily habits and fashionable amusements cause more
suffering in England in a week than all the vivisectors of Europe
do in a year. I made a very effective speech, not exclusively
against vivisection, but against cruelty; and I have never been
asked to speak since by that Society, nor do I expect to be, as I
should probably give such offence to its most affluent
subscribers that its attempts to suppress vivisection would be
seriously hindered. But that does not prevent the vivisectors
from freely using the "youre another" retort, and using it with
justice.

We must therefore give ourselves no airs of superiority when
denouncing the cruelties of vivisection. We all do just as
horrible things, with even less excuse. But in making that
admission we are also making short work of the virtuous airs with
which we are sometimes referred to the humanity of the medical
profession as a guarantee that vivisection is not abused--much as
if our burglars should assure us that they arc too honest to
abuse the practice of burgling. We are, as a matter of fact, a
cruel nation; and our habit of disguising our vices by giving
polite names to the offences we are determined to commit does
not, unfortunately for my own comfort, impose on me. Vivisectors
can hardly pretend to be better than the classes from which they
are drawn, or those above them; and if these classes are capable
of sacrificing animals in various cruel ways under cover of
sport, fashion, education, discipline, and even, when the cruel
sacrifices are human sacrifices, of political economy, it is idle
for the vivisector to pretend that he is incapable of practising