THE DOG OF MONTARGIS. 189 



My next example of canine virtue, if the expression 

 may be allowed, is an historical record, and may have 

 reached you before : if it has not, it will give you plea- 

 sure to see how far the animal feelings can approach 

 to the moral virtue peculiar to rational and responsible 

 beings ; and what a union of the most affectionate 

 and the most hostile qualities can exist in the same 

 creature, both springing from a noble, generous dispo- 

 sition. " The fame of an English dog has been de- 

 servedly transmitted to posterity by a monument in 

 basso-relievo, which still remains on the chimney-piece 

 of the grand hall at the castle of Montargis, in France. 

 The sculpture, which represents a dog fighting with a 

 champion, is explained by the following narrative. 

 Aubri de Mondidier, a gentleman of family and for- 

 tune, travelling alone through the forest of Bondi, was 

 murdered, and buried under a tree. His dog, an 

 English bloodhound, would not quit his master's grave 

 for several days, till at length, compelled by hunger, 

 he proceeded to the house of an intimate friend of 

 his unfortunate master's at Paris, and, by his melan- 

 choly howling, seemed desirous of expressing the loss 

 they had both sustained. He repeated his cries, ran 

 to the door, looked back to see if any one followed him, 

 returned to his master's friend, pulled him by the 

 sleeve, and, with dumb eloquence, entreated him to go 

 with him. The singularity of the dog's behaviour, 



