One hundred years ago
Professor Freeman writes an interest- ing letter to the Times of yesterday on the subject of vivisection; but we cannot see our way to agree with him in asserting that even great pain inflicted on animals for the immediate benefit of man is defensible, while great pain inflicted on animals for the purpose of widening the sphere of human know- ledge is indefensible. We hold that though animal life is utterly subordinate to human life, animal pain is not to be held utterly subordinate to the relief of man from pain; and that it would be just as wicked to purchase a return of health by inflicting torture on a senstive anim- al, as it would be to purchase the same advantage by inflicting torture on an equally sensitive man. The ultimate principle is, that any treatment of anim- als which tends to diminish the natural and proper sympathy between us and them, or to harden us towards them as if they were mere scapegoats for our sufferings, is immoral. But, of course, there are slighter pangs which we inflict without scruple, in order to render them more serviceable to us, and to make their co-operation with us more com- plete; just as we inflict the same kind of discipline for a similar purpose without scruple on children or on each other, and only strengthen the binding force of the social bond by so doing.
Spectator, 17 January 1985
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