202 THE BULLDOG 



been much written up in consequence. But his praise 

 has not exceeded his deserts. One of the pleasantest 

 of my recollections in surveying the long list of 

 dogs which I have owned at one time or another 

 centres round a dear old brindle bitch named 

 " Sadie." She had a heart of gold and a dis- 

 cernment given to few. Although blest with but 

 few of the orthodox points, she was yet a treasured 

 possession, and it was a great grief to every one 

 when she died. " Sadie *' for some reason or other 

 never took kindly to any one who was not well 

 dressed, and if we had workmen about the place 

 it was necessary to put her under confinement, unless 

 I ^happened to be at home. When I was on the 

 premises, she was quite indifferent to gardeners and 

 others, but immediately; she heard the front door 

 close, she would seek an exit to go for the strangers. 

 In her old age she contracted pneumonia, and was 

 shut up in the stables, fenced in by iron railings 

 five feet high. As we were sitting in the garden 

 one afternoon, she cleared the railings, made her 

 final effort and reached us, only to die. It was 

 like losing a friend. 



The Bulldog is no modern upstart, but his nature 

 has changed considerably. No longer is he the 

 ferocious animal of the bad old bull-baiting and bear- 

 baiting days. A book on the dog in 1829 

 described him as the most ferocious and unrelenting 

 of the canine tribe, and added that he might be 

 courageous beyond every other creature in the 

 world, for Ke would attack any animal, whatever be 

 his magnitude. When so much of the history of 

 the dog is familiar, it is scarcely necessary to stir 

 up the dry bones, but I cannot refrain from giving 



