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Eulogy on the Dog:
Gentlemen of the jury: The best friend a man has in this world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has reared with lovingcare may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to theirfaith. The money that a man has, he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it the most. A man's reputation may be sacrificed in a momentof ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malicewhen failure settles its cloud upon our heads. The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts himand the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog.
Gentleman of the jury: A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where thewintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick thewounds and sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all otherfriends desert, he remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through theheavens.
If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying himto guard against danger, to fight against his enemies, and when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its embrace and his body is laidaway in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, hiseyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death.
Gentlemen of the jury: The best friend a man has in this world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has reared with lovingcare may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to theirfaith. The money that a man has, he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it the most. A man's reputation may be sacrificed in a momentof ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malicewhen failure settles its cloud upon our heads. The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts himand the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog.
Gentleman of the jury: A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where thewintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick thewounds and sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all otherfriends desert, he remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through theheavens.
If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying himto guard against danger, to fight against his enemies, and when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its embrace and his body is laidaway in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, hiseyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death.
