In this
particular case how speedy and effective has been the result will be seen
later on. Man destroys birds for sport, or in mere wantonness, and the
increasing myriads of insect hosts lay such toll upon his crops and the
fruit of the earth which by the exercise of high intelligence and noble
perseverance he has improved and made plentiful, that the national loss
is to be counted by hundreds of thousands. In this, as in all other
interferences with natural laws, we blunder unless we reckon
"With that
Fixed arithmic of the universe,
Which meteth good for good, ill for ill,
Measure for measure."
There may be a sort of satisfaction in the reflection, that for, perhaps,
every insectivorous bird wantonly killed, some proportion of its weight
in silver has to be paid indirectly by the country. But the satisfaction
is of no avail to the dead bird nor to the species, unless the taxpayer
feels the smart and becomes indignant. We want to save the lives of the
birds, and the silver, then to moralise; not kill the bird and be
compelled to spend the silver in destroying insects that the bird would
have delighted to consume, and moralise upon the destructiveness of some
hitherto insignificant bug or beetle, which has suddenly developed into a
national calamity.
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