LADY PAGET

The half tone which is herewith presented of Lady Paget, was kiudly sent us by Mr. Oldfield of the Vegetarian, London, and is undoubtedly an excellent likeness of a lady whose character for devotion to what she believes to be just and right is well known on both sides of the .Atlantic. We propose, faowever, in this case to allow Lady Pagett's own words to form the groundwoik of her re- putation in this country as an eminent vegetarian. We quote from a paper written by herself and regret that we canuot publish it entire.

" I have all my life thought that me:tt eating was objectionable from the aesthetic point of view. Even as a child the fashion of banding around a huge gtosse piece on an enormous dish, revolted my sense of beauty ; and [ was delighted when, on luy first visit to England, a small and thin .tlice of beef was unobtrusively shown to me behind my left shoulder, to be accepted or rejected ab libitntn. I quite agree with Lord Byron, who said he wonid not marryaprettygirl because she had asked for two helps of lobster salad, though if beefsteak had been substituted I should under- stand it better still. The bijlek a tanglaise, which seems to be the only idea a foreign waiter ever has when he is asked to suggest something to eat to English-speaking travel- ers, is simply a piece of hot raw meat, far more fit for the Zoological Gardens than for human food ; for, despite of constant and some- times indignant disclaimers, it is generally believed on the Continent that it forms the staple food of the British nation — that tliestrong limbs of the young men, the lovely complexions of the girls, and the bright eyes of the children are entirely due to this nour- ishment, and anxious mothers of families

abroad are constantly impressini; upon their offspring and everybody else about theui the utility and necessity of this pan.icea, if they wish to be in good health and feel fit and strong. It is a curious fact that in places where this regimen of viande saignanU is followed anaemia is very frequent.

"I have been told, though I have not read it myself, that somebody has written a de- scription of a town where the whole population was vegetarian. Thechange this would make in all the sights and smellsisfar greater than we at fii'st imagine. The ghastly butchers' shops which meet one at every turn appear to me an incongruity, not to say more, in this civilized age ; they would disappear, as well as the fishmongers', which are hardly any better. Then there are the sausage shops, which, esj'ecially in southern countries, persecute one with their pungent odor. How often have I been driven away while admiring the facade of an old Palazzo or the portico of an ancient church, by the emanations of the terrible pixzickeria half-way down the street ! Another dread sight which meets our eyes abroad, especially in Germany and Austria, where luuch veal is eaten, are the slaughtered calves paraded about the streets, a dozen or two of them hanging over the sides of the cart. There can be little doubt, too, that our kitchens and dining-iooms would be far more sweet and attractive if no animal food was ever brought into them. The eyes certainly would be gainers, and onr olfactory senses too. In pictures and in poetry the tables are laid out with luscious fruit and sparkling winef, whenever charming and pleasant scenes are to be conjured np before our minds. When coarseness and discomfort are portrayed, ' men brought in whole hogs and quarter-

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beeves, and all the hall was dim with steam of flesh,' It is the difference between one of Giulio Romano's g^arden banquets, such as he painted in the vaulted chambers of the Palaz- zo del Te, and a pleasant orgy by Ostade or Teniers.

It is not, however, this aspect of the Py- thagorean regime which will make many converts, nor did it ever influence me for very long, as most doctors lay, or rather laid, about twenty years ago, so much strees upon the eating of sufficient meatand the anfemic tendency of this generation, that one naturally felt it one's fiist duty to prefer health to beauty. A more serions consideration, and one which grew upon me every year, was the sad and distasteful necessity of killing a liv- ing being in order to live one's self. The great mystery of pain in this world, which if it gets a hold upon the miud is so terribly difficult to shake off, often dimmed my great- est pleasures. But this feeling too I tried, but less successfully, to subordinate to what I considered right and reasonable. The first serious shock I experienced in this theory was when, a few years ago, one of the most eminent German professors from a great university dined at our table, and would not touch any- thing because he was a vegetarian. I looked over the bill of fare, and realized with con- sternation that everything down to the sweet was either meat or fish or fowl, that vegetables and fariuaceous food played the very smallest part in it, and even they were tainted with sauces not free from reproach. "I had the evening before listened to an

historical discourse delivered by Prof. O

to an audience of all that is most intelligent and distinguished in this city. I had been struck by his extraordinary vigor and clear- ness. The words dropped like pearls from his lips, and though the voice was scarcely raised it appeared lo search out the remote corners of the hall. Every- rounded -off sen- tence presented a vivid picture to the mind. The subject was the chancellor Prince Metter- nich, and we all felt when, after an hour and

a half. Prof. O ended apparently quite as

fresh and collected as wheu he began, that we

not only knew the prince personnlly, but that we understood his politics and theworkiags of his mind far better than his contemporaries had done. The thing which, however, im- pressed ine most was the sense of power held back, and to the good as it were, which the professor gave nie while speaking, and even after he had finished. When, therefore, the iiext day he told rae that he never touched animal food, I was very curious to hear his experiences.

" He told me that some years before he had been very ill, nigh unto death, and given up by all the doctors. Then came one who said he could cure bim. All the strong soups and t>eef jellies and raw minced meat were elimi- nated and replaced by fruit and light farina- cons food, but fruit especially, and he soon got well and strong — so well and strong, indeed, that he determined to go on with his simple f.ire, especially as he felt au unwonted ease and extraordinary lucidity of the intellect when working. His wife, he told me, soon followed his example, and also his daughters and sons-in-law. At last his servants came and said they would like to be vegetarians too, as it seemed to agree so well with their mas- ters. I felt that where so clever a man was so fully convinced of the expediency and efficiency of this diet that he carried his whole faintly and household with him, he must have gone into the question deeply, and have the very best reasons upon which to found his belief. I could not enter with him into further discussion, as he had to leave Vienna, but he .sent uie some books on the subject: These books were German, and they would be well worth translating, for their whole tone in tike a bracing mountain air. In every one of them vegetable diet is the foun- dation whereon is built an edifice of hygiene, which if we could or would but strictly follow might bring ns to a pinnacle of animal spirits and bodily vigor only lo be compared to the centaur of Henry de Guerin. Tothosewho have not read this charming fragment, let rae recommend it as a tonic on a day of languor and ptostration. The thorough enjoyment of life and strength in which the centaur re\els April,

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while careering over wind-swept plaine, down breezy m on ntaiii -sides, plunging into deep green forests with the scent of the earth and wood flowers in the air, is better than any dose of snl volatile or quinine. These little German books, for nor.e of them are very long, have mainly for their object to bring us back to a healthier and simpler mode of life. They are full of cold water and open windows by day and by night. Sun- baths and air-baths iu the woods and on the hills, swimming and gymnastics, everything iu the simplest and most economical lines, as they are mainly written for schools and the middle classes, where expensive adjuncts must be omitted. No medicines are tolerated by the strict v^etarian ; everything is cured by diet, exercise, water, hot or cold, or in the shape of steam.

"There are now all over Germany and Anstna a great number of what are called " Nature doctors," who cure on these princi- ples, though they need not necessarily be vegetarians. The poor prefer them, as they are often men well off, who have a vocation for this calling : the medicaments cost very little or nothing. Father Sebastian Kneipp, at Worichshofen in Swabia. belongs to this class, and the thousands he cures every year have made his name famous in all the German- speaking lands. He too deprecates the use of much meat. Everywhere baths and sana- toriums are springing up where cures with these simple means alone are effected, and medicines utterly discarded. The Hygeia, a publication founded by the well-known Dr. Paul Niemeycr, and edited at Munich by his disciple and successor, Dr. Gerster, is one of the many organs of the new and indepen- dent school ; many doctors and a few laymen write in it. It is interesting and amusing, full of unexpected icformation, and much read by the most intelligent section of the public. The German vegetarian books are full of a number of excellent recipes for dishes of all kinds, suited to every time of the jear and to different countries, which is most im- portant, for the new fledged vegetarian always ihinks he is going to die of hunger. In the

preparation of vegetables the German Pytha- goriansbearoff the piilm, and I am bound to say that even their puddings and sweets are better than those known to the meat-eater. From what I have heard of English vegeta- rianism, I fancy that the movement, which in many respects might prove so useful, is mvch impeded by the inadequate way in which vegetables are cooked, and until this defect is thoroughly remedied, end a greater variety is introduced into the vegetarian bill of fare, there is no prospect of an extention, which might prove so great a boon to the poorer classes.

" I do not think that anybody has the right to indulge in tastes which oblige others to follow a brutalizing occupation, ' which morally degrades the man who earns his bread by it. To call a man a butcher means that he is fond of bloodshed. Butchers often become murderers. I remember two cases in the papers last summer where butchers had been hired to murder individuals whom they did not even know. After this oomes the irrepressible thought, is it right to take life in order lo feed one's self, when there is plenty

"Having answered these questions to my own satisfaction, I plunged iit once into full- blown vegetarianism. I got very little to eat and that not very good, for neither I nor my cook was a la hauteur oi the situation. I had, however, one, end that a very great compen- sation— I felt superior to my fellow beings, treading on air, my head delightfully clear, and altogether lifted up above material things.

"I felt chilled and sleepy by day and night, so tired that I could hardly walk. The doctor said : ' Vou have no pulse at all, and must give in ; it does not suit yon.' The win- ter was icy cold and depressing and for the time I took the doctor's advice. With the first breath of spring, when all those delightful fruits and leaves and roots which Raphael did not disdain to paint as ornaments in his log- gias reappearon our tables, I mademy second methodical and successful attempt, elimina- ting week by week one kind of animal food. "

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.ARNOLD F. HILLS. The picture which adorus the latter part of the present number is a good representation of the person of Mr. A. F. Hills, who, of late years, has become very prominent in the Vegetarian movement in England, especially that portion of the movement which centers in London where Mr. Hills is well known in connection with the construction of the British Navy. Mr. Hills and his works occu- py a similar position in England as Mr. Cramp and his great shipyard in Philadelphia oct^py in the United States. Mr. Hills seeks to turn the advantages of his position to the benefit of his fellow creatures both animal and human. , The result is Mr. Hills has be- come the leading spirit in the Vegetarian movement.

As president of the Vegetarian Federal Union, he is a strong advocate of organiza- tion for effective work and his efforts combined with those of his staff of literary workers, aided by his liberal contributions to the funds, have placed the Vegetarian movement in the front rank of moral and religious agencies.

The V^etarian Messenger, Manchester, expresses regret that "the exigencies of politics" prevented Mr. Hills from contesting the Walthamstow Division, at a recent elec- tion of a member of the British Parliament. But as Mr: Hills is still young, his prospects of becoming a memberof Parliament are still good.

Although Mr. Hills employs able and accomplished editors and business managers inconnection with tbe periodicals, he occasion- ally finds time from his multitudinous engage- ments to write a leader.

His writings usually indicate a strong religions and humane sentiment as the basis of his advocacy of tbe Vegetarian principle. In starting out with the Vegetarian Review for 1897, he writes :

"With its first issue, in the jubilee year, the Vegetarian Review appears in what I hope will be considered a more attractive guise, and 1 take the opportunity of asking our Readers to use their best endeavors to make tliis

monthly organ of the Vegetarian Federal Union more widely known. There are so many ways in which the friends of a paper can promote its progress and prosperity. They can encourage the Editor with the appre- ciative recognition of what pleases them ; they can stimulate him with the suggestive indica- tion of what would please them ; they can Spare him the infliction of the dreary drip, drip, drip of desultory and destructive criti- cism ; they can show their interest in tbe paper first by buying it for themselves, and then, by presenting it to their friends and neighbors, saying, "Rejoice with us, for we bringyougood tidings of great joy." During tbe coming Jubilee year the V^etarian Review should find its way — at least into every Vege- tarian home — and if possible into every religious home in the land — for, indeed, there is no truth which will so co-ordinate and cor- relate all other truths as the message of mercy and purity and peace which the Vegetarian Gospel proclaims. Vegetarianism is in the best sense of the word aReligion, forit binds together and harmonizes all those divine prin- ciples of love, justice, and perfection which God has ordained for the governance of His universe. Therefore I say, that the Vegetarian Review should find its way during the coming year into every religious home, and the impulse of its injunction should be brought to bear upon every earnest heart. Who then shall be the messengers of this glorious dispen- sation f Wlio shall be the Heralds of the coming Golden Age ? Who shall hasten with exceeding great joy to publish peace to the warring discords of the land of tbe shadow of Death? Surely our readers will be eager to enroll themselves for this Jubilee crusade. The fields are white

Mr. Hills is cosmopolitan: be is as anxious for the prosperity of tbe movement in this country as in England and desires the Vege- tarian Federal Union to include the whole world in its operatious and beneficence. April,

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I received the Febniary issueof F., H. « G. I bavereadujoatof thearticlea. Ibelievethis is the best number I have seen. — Edward G. Schafier, El Passo, Ilia.

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I have studied this subject for the last four years and it has been the means of saving my life, I am very thankful to Providence that I have embraced this vegetarian system.— Geo. W, Brown, North Danville, N. Y,

A Berlin physician has made experiments which show that certain animals which we eat may swallow poisonous matter insufficient to till them, but sufficient if used as food to poison man or dogs.— PAt/a. Record.

Wc have just welcomed again our dear old friend Food, Home & Garden. We believe so mach in the Vegetarian movement because, being' considered from any point of view it is nlwaysfound to be wholesomeand salutary. — Fr. Louis Paroli, St Michael's Church, Annnn- ciation Square, New Orleans. La.

When the mind is enlightened, and the will properly directed, we can, through the exer- cise of conscience and the love of right, overcome felse habits and customs and learn to like and assimilate only that which is good for us. The ideal of vegetarianism is so broad- ened, that its cuisine is not only elaborated as to varied dishes, bnt made tempting as well as wholesome.— Martha J. Anderson, Mt. Lebanon, N. Y.

Humanity is on the thre.shold of a new life. Science, true daughter of Old Father Time, will unite with religion in altering ail things until theearth will be made new, and the pur- pose of the ages will be accomplished. There shall be no more curse. Declare the whole counsel of God, my brother, that yon may be clear of the blood of all. I often think of you and your work. Remember that time and space are absorbed in God.— Mary F. Selby, Richmond, Tud.

upper circle of N. Y. society of whom she is a great favorite. They are in fact Vegeta- rian banquets and are doing much to make vegetarianism fashionable.

STELLA. THE GYPSY QUREN. This beautiful and accomplished lady has been giving a series of entertainments to the '897

familV coming over.

My family has eaten less meat this year than any year since we began to decrease the allowance. My boys care very little for it. We make a fruit breakfast, a vegetable and lentil dinner and light supper. Personally I eat apples for breakfast, apples and nuts for lunch and a salad meal at 6 o'clock containing abundant supply of carbon, nitrogen and phosphate. — Chas. A. Hamilton, Boys' High School, Brooklyn, N. Y.

THE PHILADELPHIA VEGETARIAN S'Y. At the March meeting of the Phila. V. S'y there was a good attendance. A paper was read by Dr. J. Harvey Lovell on "Milk", Tbe same officers tliat served so welt during the past year were unamiously re-elected. (See advt) Prof. Doolittle author of "Man an Open Book," declared himself a convert to vegetarianism and consented to deliver an address at the next meeting and to illustrate the lecture by delineations of character of persons in the audience.

THE LOGIC OF VEGETARIANISM. I have led several friends into the pure diet system and they in turn are enlightening and benefitting others for the logic contained in true vegetarian argnmenta is beyond question and convincing to any mind that can hold facts together. The whole moral view of the question isclear, that slaughtering is unnec- essary, as the laws of nature regul.nte quantity of incarnations by conditions, and killing by flood, storm and famine. If people have to eat animals to get rid of them why don't they eatthose they want to get rid of, cats, dogs. snakes, lions, tigers, ftc ; why do they raise vegetarian animals for the express purpose of killing them ? Moreover if all vegetarian animals are purer, its a wonder they too would not like to be purer, by eating their food, uncorrupted by murder. — Alfred H. Howe, 149th St. ft Trinity ave., N. Y.

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