THE CENTENARY OF "MARTIN'S ACT."
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]
Sis,—About this date one hundred years ago there was passed. on the initiative of Mr. Richard Martin, M.P. for Galway, an Act for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals within the British Realm. It was the first step of the kind by our legis- lators, and the occurrence amply deserves reference to-day. It has done untold good, and the hope may be expressed that still greater results may be achieved. Our British attitude as to how to treat the lower animals (so-called) is quite para- doxical. While, on the one hand, you have glaring and wide- spread instances of cruelty to animals, you have, on the other, notable deeds showing both heroism and deep-rooted interest for the welfare of the humbler creation. Use and wont go far to explain the former position; intelligence and love of human progress are, it is pleasant to notice, intimately associated with the latter. When three of our most popular and most able writers—Mr. Thomas Hardy, Mr. John Galsworthy, and Mr. John Masefield—have sided so grandly with the humanitarians, a lovelier world may yet be more than the poet's dream.—I
am, Sir, &c., WILLIAM BAYNE. Garth Hill, near Queensferry, Fife.
[Martin deserves all honour. But did not he get it in those fascinating lines of Moore:— " Or where Dick Martin rules a king, The pathless wilds of Connemara."
We confess to forgetting where the lines are to be found. Perhaps some reader will oblige.—En. Spectator.]
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