Richard Phillips

“ Because the human Stomach appears to be naturally so averse from receiving the remains of Animals, that few could partake of them if they were not disguised and flavoured by culinary Preparation; yet rational creatures ought to feel that the prepared substances are not the less what they truly are, and that no disguise of food, in itself loathsome, ought to delude the unsophisticated perceptions of a considerate mind. ”

“ Because custom has so misled men, and so hardened their hearts against sympathy for the sufferings of creatures in their power and unprotected by law, that killing and maiming is denominated sport, and skill in such practices placed even on a level with the liberal arts and sciences, insomuch that man is the terror of all other animals, and the merciless tyrant of the whole animated creation. ”

“ Because the stomachs of locomotive beings appear to have been provided for the purpose of conveying about, with the moving animal, nutritive substances, analogous in effect to the soil in which are fixed the roots of plants; and, consequently, nothing ought to be introduced into the stomach for digestion and for absorption by the lacteals, or roots of the animal system, but the natural bases of simple nutrition, as the saccharine, the oleaginous, and the farinaceous, matter of the vegetable kingdom. ”

“ Because the forty-seven Millions of acres in England and Wales would maintain in abundance as many human Inhabitants, if they lived wholly on grain, fruits, and vegetables; but they sustain only twelve millions scantily, while animal Food is made the Basis of human Subsistence.
XIII.
Because Animals do not present or contain the substance of food in mass, like Vegetables; every part of their Economy being subservient to their mere existence, and their entire frames being solely composed of Blood necessary for Life, of Bones for Strength, of Muscles for Motion, and of Nerves for Sensation. ”

“ Because the practices of savages, and of savage ancestry, in killing and eating animals, are not entitled to more respect among civilized men, than the practices of many nations, even at this day, in killing and eating either their enemies or their way-laid neighbours; and so forcible is custom, that the laws of civilization against murder appear to be insufficient in deterring the practice of cannibalism among some black tribes in the British colonies. ”

“ Because the Destruction of the mechanical organization of Vegetables inflicts no sensitive Suffering, nor violates any moral Feeling; while Vegetables serve to render his own Health, Strength, and Spirits, better than those of most carnivorous men.
VII.
Because during thirty-four years of rigid Abstinence from the flesh and juices of deceased sensitive Beings, he finds that he has not suffered a week's serious illness; that his animal Strength and Vigour have been equal, or superior to that of other men ”

“ Because, in the hope of emancipating himself from the sensual and selfish instincts which govern the human race, he yields to his moral and mental convictions, setting at defiance all those considerations about health and vigour which have been pressed upon him by the intellectual darkness and unfeeling assumptions of the medical and philosophical schools. ”

“ Because, observing that carnivorous propensities among animals are accompanied by a total want of sympathetic feelings and humane sentiments, as in the hyena, the tyger, the vulture, the eagle, the crocodile, and the shark; he conceives that the practices of those carnivorous brutes afford no worthy example for the imitation or justification of rational, reflecting, and conscientious, beings. ”

“ Because all such practices as hunting, shooting, fowling, fishing, badger-baiting, cock-fighting, bull-baiting, rook and gull shooting, &c. &c. deprive men of that sympathy and sense of mutual justice, which, in their intercourse with one another, ought to be as operative as law, and the energies of which are essential to the happiness of society. ”

“ Because he feels the same Abhorence against devouring Flesh in general, that he hears carnivorous persons express against eating Human Flesh, or the flesh of dogs, cats, horses, or other animals, which in some countries it is not customary for the carnivorous to devour. ”

“ Because, being mortal himself, and holding his life on the same uncertain and precarious tenure as all other sensitive beings, he does not feel himself justified, by any alleged superiority, or inequality of condition, in destroying the vital enjoyment of any other mortal, except in the necessary defence of his own life. ”

“ Because the desire of life is so paramount, and so affectingly cherished by all sensitive beings, that he cannot reconcile it to his feelings to destroy, or become a voluntary party in the destruction of, any living creature, however much in his power, or apparently insignificant. ”

“ Because the natural sentiments and sympathies of human beings, in regard to the killing of other animals, are generally so averse to the practice, that few men or women could devour the animals which they might be obliged themselves to kill ”

“ Because he observes that carnivorous men, unrestrained by reflection or sentiment, even refine on the cruel practices of the most savage animals; and apply their resources of mind and art to prolong the miseries of the victims of their appetites, skinning, roasting, and boiling, animals alive, and torturing them without reservation or remorse, if they add thereby to the variety or the delicacy of their carnivorous gluttonies. ”

“ Because in morals, universally, the moral sense governs practices without regard to possible inconveniences; while assumed inconveniences are not in any case admitted as justifications of practices either unjust or immoral. ”

“ Because he perceives in nature a gradation of existence, subordinate and successive, by which atoms form the granular and crystallized masses of inert matter, these forming vegetation, and vegetables forming animalization ”