Kindness to Animals Or, The Sin of Cruelty Exposed and Rebuked
Charlotte Elizabeth, 1790-1846Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019
Rating 2.7- Word count
- 93K words
- Chapters
- 10
Tags
English Originals Ethics Child EducationEnglish SocietyCompassionAnimal EthicsBenevolenceReligious SentimentSocial CritiqueMoral ExhortationMoral EssaysVictorian EraSummary
Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Kindness to Animals; Or, The Sin of Cruelty Exposed and RebukedAuthor: Charlotte Elizabeth, 1790-1846,Language: English, Class: HV: Social sciences: Social pathology, Social and Public Welfare, Release Date: Mar 10, 2006Editor's review
This is a polemical pamphlet on animal ethics by the nineteenth-century English writer Charlotte Elizabeth, arguing that cruelty to animals is a sin. Its value lies not in modern scientific arguments for animal welfare but in showing how the early modern English-speaking world sought sympathy for animals through religious and moral language, making it a primary text for the history of animal ethics. The prose is heavily sermonic and marked by its era—blunt, emotionally charged, and conveying the author's sincere indignation. For readers studying Victorian social attitudes, the religious pamphlet genre, or the early animal protection movement, this public-domain ebook is easy to search and cite and can serve as a primary source. General readers curious about early animal welfare discourse will find it worthwhile, though its mode of argument differs considerably from today's discussions.Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers studying the history of animal ethics and the early animal protection movement
- Scholars of nineteenth-century British religious and social history
- Literary researchers seeking public-domain English source texts for textual analysis
- Readers interested in the genre of moral exhortation pamphlets
Not a good fit for
- Those seeking modern scientific knowledge of animal welfare
- Readers who prefer systematic theoretical argument to sermonic preaching
- General readers who struggle with English and need a Chinese translation
- Readers expecting a full narrative or literary work
Reading tips
- Read the preface or opening paragraphs first to grasp the author's core argument and intended audience
- Treat it as a historical source rather than a treatise, noting its religious rhetoric and period assumptions as you read
- Read it alongside other animal protection texts of the era to observe continuities and changes in ideas
- Skim long passages of preaching and focus on the specific instances of cruelty the author cites
About the publisher
Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.
Contents
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- 10
FAQ
Is this book suitable as an introduction to modern animal welfare?
Not really. It is primarily religious and moral exhortation, grounded in nineteenth-century assumptions, and does not address modern animal behavior science, welfare standards, or legislation. For contemporary animal welfare knowledge, choose modern popular science or policy books; this is better read as primary material for intellectual history.What English level does this book require?
The original is nineteenth-century English with long sentences, heavy rhetoric, and religious terminology, making it harder than modern popular English. It suits readers with college-level English who can use a dictionary. To get the gist, read the opening and concluding sections first, then decide whether to read it in full.How long is the book, and how can I get it?
It is a public-domain ebook released by Project Gutenberg, available free, usually as plain text or ebook formats. As an exhortatory pamphlet it is not long and can be read in one or two sittings. Check the catalog page on that project for specific formats and download options.This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.
About the author
Charlotte Elizabeth, 1790-1846 Author · British · 1790–1846Charlotte Elizabeth (1790–1846) was a British Evangelical writer and poet whose work focused on the circumstances of women and the working class. Her writings are grounded in moral exhortation and religious concern. In Kindness to Animals Or, The Sin of Cruelty Exposed and Rebuked, she treats cruelty to animals as a sin to be exposed and rebuked, showing a clear ethical stance, while Personal Recollections belongs to the genre of personal memoir. Only two of her works are held here, and information on common categories is unavailable. Public sources are limited, so biographical details are difficult to set out; her writing, rooted in faith and addressed to ordinary readers, is direct and admonitory, leaving a noteworthy voice on animal ethics and care for the disadvantaged.