INSTINCT IS IMMORTAL 161 



sincerity. Seeing suspense and pain in the agitated 

 features of the poor woman, he put his paws gently 

 upon her knees and began to lick her hands. The 

 Governor finished the papers and the petitioner 

 was about to speak, when the grim old soldier said, 

 ' It is not necessary, madam, the dog has spoken 

 for you,' and straightway signed the document 

 which was to release a dying man from prison and 

 enable him to go to his grave from his own home. 

 One touch of nature makes the whole world kin; 

 and it is hard to say which moves us the more, the 

 spectacle of that brave gentleman and soldier, 

 whom it was a delight and pride to hail as our 

 chief magistrate, stirred to the depth by the silent 

 eloquence of a dog, or the thought of that noble 

 brute, inspired by we know not what, to become an 

 irresistible pleader for mercy before the highest 

 court. The incident makes a seasonable text. In- 

 deed, there was as much of truth as sarcasm in the 

 observation of the cynic, who declared that the 

 more he saw of men the better he thought of dogs. 

 " The love of a dog has nothing sordid nor treach- 

 erous about it. The poor beast knows not how to 

 dissemble. Governor Buckner knew his son's dog 

 believed in him. And, when he saw the animal 



