The
other, regardless of the danger, opened a clasp knife that he had in his
pocket, and seizing the snake near the head, cut it apart, and so saved
his friend's life, who was well-nigh strangled by the tight folds of the
reptile, which was one of a very venomous species, the bite of which
generally proves fatal."
"What a brave little fellow!" said Lady Mary. "You do not think it was
cruel, nurse, to kill the snake?" she added, looking up in Mrs. Frazer's
face.
"No, Lady Mary, for he did it to save a fellow-creature from a painful
death; and we are taught by God's Word that the soul of man is precious in
the sight of his Creator. We should be cruel were we wantonly to inflict
pain upon the least of God's creatures, but to kill them in self-defence,
or for necessary food, is not cruel for when God made Adam, He gave him
dominion, or power, over the beasts of the field, and the fowls of the
air, and every creeping thing. It was an act of great courage and humanity
in the little boy, who perilled his own life to save that of his helpless
comrade, especially as he was not naturally a child of much courage, and
was very much afraid of snakes but love for his friend entirely overcame
all thoughts of his own personal danger. [Footnote: A fact related to me
by a gentleman from the State of Vermont, as an instance of impulsive
feeling overcoming natural timidity.
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