The Bulldog. 225 



the upper classes, it was continued by the lower orders, who preserved 

 the pure breed of bulldogs. In the controversy that preceded the 

 passing of the Act of Parliament which made bull baiting illegal, the 

 ill-used bulldog (though it merely served the purposes of his more brutal 

 and degraded masters) was represented by its former admirers as the 

 incarnation of ferocity, " loving bloodshed and combat," &c. ; and to 

 be the cause rather than the instrument for perpetrating the cruelties 

 desired to be suppressed. Most modern authors who have expatiated on 

 dogs, unable to ignore the existence of the bulldog, and having no actual 

 knowledge of him from experience, have been reduced, as the only means 

 of covering their ignorance, to repeat the incorrect statements 



Of one whose hand, 



Like base Judean, threw a pearl away 

 Richer than all his tribe 



Such writers have declared the bulldog to be capable of no education, 

 and fitted for nothing but ferocity and combat, entirely deficient in the 

 virtues of the canine race, and, although belonging to the order canidce, 

 scarcely reclaimed from a wild state, never, under any circumstances, to 

 be trusted, and as dangerous as a fresh-caught tiger. The reverse of 

 such statements is truth, as may be proved by anyone who will but make 

 the experiment. Like that of the whole species, 



His nature is too noble for the world ; 



He would not natter Neptune for his trident 



Or Jove for his power to thunder. His heart's his mouth ; 



What his breast forges that his tongue must vent ; 



And, being angry, does forget that ever 



He heard the name of death. 



" Give a dog a bad name and hang him " is an old proverb which has 

 been, unfortunately, exemplified at the expense of the British bulldog. 

 " The virtues of the dog are his own, his vices those of his master." The 

 bulldog is, in fact, a dog neither more nor less, and as capable as any 

 other variety of dog of being " the companion and friend of man." 



A gentle dog; as mild as beauty's breath 



To win man's gratitude or 'bide his wrath; 

 Tame as a spirit fading into death, 



Or sunshine sleeping on a lion's path ; 

 Affectionate as Desdemona's love, 



Whose sweet endurance all its wrong withstood ; 

 A creature, dwelling on God's earth, to prove 



Bad men should blush to find a dog so good. 



