Gentlemen of the Jury: The best friend a man has in the world
may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or 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
our good name may become traitors to their faith. The money that 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
to do us honor when success is with us, may be the first to throw the
stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads.
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 in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep
on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives
fiercely, if only he may 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 wings, and reputation
falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its
journey through the heavens.
If fortune drives the master forth, an outcast in the world,
friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege
than that of accompanying him, to guard him against danger, to fight
against his enemies. And when the last scene of all 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.
George Graham Vest - c. 1855