A CHAPTER ON DOGS. 



ply the result of thirst. Bewick, in his History of Quadrupeds, mentions a dog that for 

 three months committed havoc on every side, in defiance of the most strenuous exertions 

 to effect his destruction. His habit was to sit on a hill from whence he could command a 

 view of the surrounding roads, and have time to escape at the approach of danger. On 

 this watch-tower in which he placed his security, he was at last .shot. 



The true house-dog is more amiable, and equally efficient. It has been absurdly affirm- 

 ed that his value is proportioned to his timidity, because he is thereby rendered doubly 

 clamorous, from his anxiety to obtain protection for himself. But such a dog is of as lit- 

 tle service in indicating danger, as an alarm-bell would be that was rung unceasingly. 

 He barks at every thing — the wind and the moon, as well as the thief, and either keeps 

 you in perpetual terror, or teaches you to neglect his warnings altogether. Neither is 

 there no alternative between silence and cowardice. Every one that has had to do with 

 dogs, must be well aware that many breeds which give a loud alarm, are models of 

 bravery. In general, however, the quiet dog, like the quiet soldier, is the most deter- 

 mined. The house-dog is capable of being brought by education, to any degree of per- 

 fection. From his kennel in the court-yard, he distinguishes the habitual inmate from the 

 occasional visitor, the visitor from the stranger, the stranger from the thief, as is easily 

 gathered from his monitory bark. His hearing is probably the principal sense by Avhich 

 he conducts this delicate analysis, recognising the step of those who frequent the house, 

 and with others discerning the firm and honest tread of innocence from the doubtful, he- 

 sitating, stealthy pace of timid guilt. His temper is too often soured by his being con- 

 stantly chained, and then he becomes indiscriminate in his attacks, and is liable to fly upon 

 any body he can reach. But when judiciously treated, he is a rare combination of fidelity 

 to his master and humanity to others. It is no uncommon thing for him to attend the 

 thief through the premises, without on the one hand permitting him to touch a single ar- 

 ticle, or on the other, attempting to molest or detain him. Still, where the intention is 

 clearly criminal, the courtesy of the dog is by no means to be reckoned on; for if he for- 

 bears to bite, he is apt to drive the depredator into a corner, and keep him shivering with 

 fear and cold, till assistance is procured. When his master is in question, his courage 

 rises to a pitch of heroism. Petrarch had a dog that snatched a naked sword from the 

 hand of a villain who attacked him. Some thieves in France, laid one night a leg of mat- 

 ton on the road, to detain the dog of a traveller, whom, when he had got some distance 

 from his protector, they robbed and murdered. The dog arrived from his repast before 

 the thieves had escaped, and engaged them in battle. It was in vain they fired at him. He 

 continued to fight till he strangled one, and drove the other into a tree, at the foot of which 

 he steadfastly remained till the officers of justice relieved him of his prisoner on the fol- 

 lowing day. 



A long train of anecdotes attest the retentive memory of the dog for the assassin of his 

 master, and the vengeance he takes on him. The first is that related by Plutarch, in 

 which king Pyrrhus made his army defile before a dog, who for three days guarded a 

 murdered corpse, without eating or drinking, and who seized the culprit as he passed 

 along. The most notorious is the story of the dog of Montargis, who dragged his mas- 

 ter's friend to the spot where he was buried, flew on the assassin wherever he met him, 

 and finally overcame him in a single combat which took place by the orders of Louis VIII. 

 Benvenuto Cellini, who, notwithstanding that his vanity and superstition have often se- 

 duced him into the belief of absurdities, appears, nevertheless, not to have exaggerated 

 pressions, has given a graphic narrative of an incident which happened to h 



thief one night broke into his shop. The dog contended with the culprit, thou 



