THE NEWFOUNDLAND. 



75 



subject of his picture entitled, " A Distin- 

 guished Member of the Humane Society," 

 he was justified not only by the sentiment 

 attaching to this remarkable race of dogs, 

 but also by the deeds by which Newfound- 

 lands have made good their claim to such 

 great distinction, and the popular recog- 

 nition of this, no doubt, in some degree 

 added to the great esteem in which this 

 painting has always been held. 



Newfoundland character are passing away 

 it is to be hoped for good. The breed is 

 rapidly returning to the type which Land- 

 seer's picture represents a dog of great 

 beauty, dignity, and benevolence of 

 character, showing in its eyes an almost 

 human pathos. 



Going back six years before the picture, 

 Mr. J. McGregor, in 1832, in his history of 

 British North America, wrote as follows : 



A DISTINGUISHED MEMBER OF THE HUMANE SOCIETY. 



FROM THE PAINTING BY SIR EDWIN LANDSEER, R.A., IN THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF BRITISH ART. 



The picture was painted in 1838, and, as al- 

 most everyone knows, represents a white and 

 black Newfoundland. The dog portrayed 

 was typical of the breed, and now, after a 

 lapse of nearly seventy years, the painting 

 has the added value of enabling us to make 

 a comparison with specimens of the breed 

 as it exists to-day. Such a comparison 

 will show that among the best dogs now 

 living are some which might have been the 

 model for this picture. It is true, I think, 

 that in the interval the white and black 

 Newfoundlands have been coarser, heavier, 

 higher on the legs, with an expression 

 denoting excitability quite foreign to the 

 true breed, but these departures from 



" The Newfoundland dog is a celebrated 

 and useful animal well known. These 

 dogs are remarkably docile and obedient 

 to their masters ; they are very serviceable 

 in all the fishing plantations, and are yoked 

 in pairs and used to haul the winter fuel 

 home. They are gentle, faithful, good- 

 natured, and ever a friend to man, and 

 will at command leap into the water from 

 the highest precipice and in the coldest 

 weather. They are remarkably voracious, 

 but can endure hunger for a great length of 

 time, and they are usually fed upon the 

 worst of salted fish. 



" The true breed has become scarce and 

 difficult to be met with. They grow to a 



