BVrFOX.] 



rOlt :\I0UNTA1X, F1ELJ>. AM) takm. 



[llUfFOy. 



offered, ho 13 not driven off by unkindncss ; he 

 still continues humble, submi.^sive, nnd im- 

 ploring; liis only hope to bo siTviceabli', liia 

 only torror to displease; he licks the liaiul that 

 has been just lilted to strike him, and at last 

 disarms resentment by submissive perse- 

 verance. 



" JMore docile than man, more obedient than 

 any other animal, he is not only instructed in 

 a short time, but he also conforms to the dis- 

 positions and the manners of those who com- 

 inand him. lie takes his tone from the house 

 he inhabits ; like the rest of the domestics, he 

 is disdainful among the proud, and churlish 

 among clowns. Always assiduous in serving 

 his master, and only a friend to his friends, he 

 is indifferent to all the rest, and declares him- 

 self openly against such as seem dependent 

 like himself. He knows a beggar by his 

 clothes, by his voice, or his gestures, and 

 forbids his approach. When at nii:;ht the 

 guard of the bouse is committed to his care, 

 he seems proud of the charge ; he continues a 

 watchful sentinel ; be goes his rounds, scents 

 strangers at a distance, and gives them warn- 

 ing of his being on duty. If they attempt to 

 break in upon his territories, he becomes more 

 fierce, flies at them, threatens, fights, and either 

 conquers alone, or alarms those who have most 

 interest in coming to his assistance. However, , 

 when he has conquered, he quickly reposes 

 upon the spoil, and abstains from what be has j 

 deterred others from abusing ; giving thus ! 

 at once a lesson of courage, temperance, and 

 fidelity. 



" From hence we see of what importance 

 this animal is to us in a state of nature. Sup- 

 posing, for a moment, that this species had 

 not existed, how could man, without the assis- 

 tance of the dog, have been able to conquer, 

 tame, and reduce to servitude every other 

 animal ? How could he discover, trace, and 

 destroy those that were noxious to him ? In 

 order to be secure, and become master of all 

 animated nature, it was necessary for him to 

 begin by making a friend of part of them ; 

 to attach such of them to himself, by kindness 

 and caresses, as seemed fittest lor obedience 



' and active pursuit. Thus the first art employed 

 by man was in conciliating the favour of tho 

 dog ; and the fruits of this art was tho con- 

 quest and peaceable possession of tho earth. 



"Tiio generality of animals have greater 

 agility, greater swiftness, and more formidablo 

 arms, from nature, than man ; their HciiHes, 

 antl particularly that of stnellmg, are far nioro 

 perfect : and having gained, therefore, a new 

 assistant, particularly one whose scent is ao 

 exquisite as that of the dog, was the gaining a 

 new sense, a new faculty, which before was 

 wanting. The machines and instruments 

 which we have imagined for perfecting the 

 rest of the senses, do not approach to that 

 already prepared by nature, by which we are 

 enabled to find out every animal though un- 

 seen, and thus destroy the noxious, and use 

 the serviceable. 



" The dog, thus useful in itself, taken into a 

 participation of empire, exerts a degree of 

 superiority over all animals that require human 

 protection. The flock and the herd obey his 

 voice more readily even than that of the 

 shepherd or the herdsman ; he conducts them, 

 guards them, keeps them from capriciously 

 seeking danger ; and their enemies he considers 

 as his own. Nor is he less useful in the pur- 

 suit ; when the sound of the horn, or the voice 

 of the huntsman, calls him to the field, he 

 testifies his pleasure by every little art, and 

 pursues with perseverance those animals which, 

 when taken, be must not expect to divide. 

 The desire of hunting is, indeed, natural to 

 him, as well as to his master, since war and 

 the chase are the only employ of savages. All 

 animals that live upon flesh hunt by nature. 

 The lion and the tiger, whose force is so great 

 that they are sure to conquer, hunt alone, and 

 without art. The wolf, the fox, and the wild 

 dog, hunt in packs, assist each other, and 

 divide the spoil. But, when education has 

 perfected this talent in the domestic dog — 

 when he has been taught by man to repress 

 his ardour, to measure his motions, and not to 

 exhaust his force by too sudden an exertion of 

 it, he then hunts with method, and always with 

 success." 



391 



