"Did you ever see any deer?"--"No, did you!"--"Yes, I have a cousin
who keeps a great number of them; he has a nice large park for them to
live in, where they are quite happy. I like to see them there, but I
should not like to see one hunted."--"What! do they ever hunt the
stag?"--"Oh! yes, poor thing, and it runs as long as it has any
strength, and when it can run no longer, its heart breaks, and it
falls down and dies. I wonder how men can be so cruel."--"But are
there any men so cruel as to hunt the stag?"--"Yes, what did you
suppose them to be?"--"Why, dogs, or something of that kind, that have
no more sense. I could not for a moment have thought that men would be
so wicked: what motive can they have for so doing."--"My dear boy,
they think they find pleasure in the chase."--"Pleasure! then, indeed,
they do only think so, for I am sure there can be no real pleasure in
being cruel. Oh! when will that happy time come, when men will be
cruel no more, but will all walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ."
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