DOGS. 45 



man, are attributes sufficiently high in their moral bearing to en- 

 title the possessor to this exalted position from among all other 

 animals. From the remotest ages of the world doMn to the 

 present time, we find the dog the intimate associate of man, the 

 protector of his habitation, the guardian of his flocks. No 

 neglect, no ill-treatment, can drive him from our doors ; he bears 

 everj oppression, forgives every blow, and obeys every command. 

 As from instinct, the dog abandons his own personal liberty, 

 shuns even the members of his own race, and associates himself 

 entirely with man as his dearest friend ; and no cause, however 

 great, is sufficient, in his estimation, to break asunder these volun- 

 tary ties or destroy this beloved connection. He asks but a trifle 

 for his proffered services : a kind word, an occasional smile, a 

 fragment of our abundance, or a mere mite of our poverty, is all 

 that he requires. The extremes of luxui-y or indigence are alike 

 the same to him, so that he enjoys the companionship and kind- 

 ness of his allotted master, let him be a prince or a beggar. For 

 his master alone he leaps for joy when spoken to ; on him alone 

 he fondles when caressed ; for him alone he grieves when absent ; 

 exults at his return, and even in the sadness of his heart pines 

 away over his deserted grave. 



"Dark green was the spot, 'mid the brown mountain heather, 



Where the pilgrim of nature lay stretched in decay ; 

 Like the corpse of an outcast, abandoned to weather, 



Till the mountain winds wasted the tenantless clay ; 

 Nor yet quite deserted, though lonely extended. 

 For, faithful in death, his mute favorite attended, 

 The much-loved remains of her master defended. 



And chased the hill-fox and the raven away. 

 How long didst thou think that his silence was slumber! 



When the wind waved his garments, how oft didst thou start ! 

 How many long days and long weeks didst thou number 



Ere he faded before thee, the friend of thy heart!"* 



* A young man lost his life by falling from one of the precipices of the Helvellyn 

 Mountains. Three months afterwards his remains were discovered at the bottom 

 of a ravine, and his faithful dog. almost a skeleton, still guarding them. Sir 

 Walter Scott beautifully describes the scene as above. — Youatt on the Dog. 



