"The best friend
man has in the world may turn against him and become his worst enemy. His son,
or his daughter, that he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful.
Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness
and good name may become traitors to their faith. The money a man has he may
lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it most. A man's reputation
may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are
prone to fall on their knees when success is with us may be the first to throw
the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our head.
The one absolutely
unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never
deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog. A
man's dog stands by him in prosperity and poverty, in health and in sickness.
He will sleep on the cold ground when the wintry winds blow and the snow drives
fiercely, if only to be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has
no food to offer, he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounters
with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if
he were a prince.
When all other friends
desert, he remains. When riches take wing, and reputation falls to pieces, he
is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens.
If fortune dries his
master forth, an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful
dog asks no higher privilege that that of accompanying him against danger, to
fight against his enemies. And when that last scene comes, and death takes his
master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter
if all other friends pursue their way, there, by the graveside will the noble
dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad, but open in alert
watchfulness, faithful, and true, even in death."
(Senator Vest, speaking
to a jury about “Old Drum”, shot in 1869.)
No comments:
Post a Comment