THE DOG. 3 



like himself. He knows a beggar by his clothes, by his voice, 

 or by his gestures, and forbids his approach. When at night 

 the guard of the house is committed to his care, he seems proud 

 of the charge : he continues a watchful sentinel, he goes his 

 rounds, scents strangers at a distance, and gives them warning of 

 his being upon duty. If they attempt to break in upon his ter- 

 ritories, he becomes more fierce, flies at them, threatens, fights, 

 and either conquers alone, or alarms those who have most inter- 

 est in coming to his assistance ; however, when he has con- 

 quered, he quietly reposes upon the spoil, and abstains from what 

 he has deterred others from abusing ; giving thus at once a les- 

 son of courage, temperance, and fidelity. 



The dog, thus useful in himself, taken into participation of 

 empire, exerts a degree of superiority over all animals that re- 

 quire 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 clanger, and their enemies he considers as his own. Nor 

 is he less useful in the pursuit ; 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, he must not expect to divide. The 

 desire of hunting is iradeed natural to him, as well as to his mas- 

 ter, since war and the chase are the only employments of sav- 

 ages. All animals that live upon flesh, hunt by nature ; the 

 lion and the tiger, w r hose 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 partake 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 sud- 

 den an exertion of it, he then hunts with method, and always 



with success, 



A2 



