[TO THE F.Drrort OF THZ "SPECTATOR.') SIR, —Allow me a word
in regard to the noble stand you are making against Vivisection as now practised. The work is all the more difficult, owing to the intense, even virulent opposition of many professional men,—of some even from whom better things might have been expected.
In the face of this, legislation initiated by the Royal Humane Society would be hardly practicable. A wholesome, wider-spread public opinion needs first to be aroused. I believe a solemn duty rests upon the Church in this matter. Great discretion is needed to deal with the question temperately and justly, yet surely no clergyman, with a knowledge of the facts, is justified in excluding it from the list of the practical evils with which he is bound to deal.
One thing the defenders of Vivisection must lay to heart, —that should their opposition frustrate reasonable measures to restrain present abuses, it may become necessary, by an Association formed for the purpose, to lay the horrors of their secret torture- chambers before popular audiences. In such a case, a feeling will quickly be aroused in the country which will lead to far more drastic legislation than is now contemplated, under which the interests of true science might possibly suffer.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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