"No such sacrifices are ever offered up now by us Christians, and so
there are no more real VICTIMS now. But we still use the word, and
call any creature a victim who is ill-used, or hurt, or destroyed by
somebody else.
"If you, any of you, were to worry or kill the cat, for instance,
then the cat would be called THE VICTIM OF YOUR CRUELTY; and in the
same manner the eight little Victims I am going to tell you about
were the victims of the whims and cruel prejudices of those who had
the charge of them.
"And now, before I proceed any further, I am going to establish a
rule, that whenever I tell you anything very sad about the little
Victims, you shall all of you groan aloud together. So groan here,
if you please, now that you quite understand what a victim is."
Aunt Judy glanced round the circle, and they all groaned together to
order, led off by Nos. 3 and 4, who did not, it must be owned, look
in a very mournful state while they performed the ceremony.
It was wonderful what good that groan did them all! It seemed to
clear off half the troubles of the day, and at its conclusion a smile
was visible on every face.