A Eulogy to a
Dog. This was copied
& pasted from http://www.iag.net/~lakai/dogpoems.htm
We all know that dogs have
special qualities which make them unique
among all creatures on this earth.
Their devotion and loyalty to man,
have set them apart. One of the most
enduring eulogies to this affect
was presented by a Sedalia, Mo. lawyer by
name of George Graham Vest,
who was later to become a US Senator.. His speech
was in response to a
lawsuit on behalf of "Old Drum", a foxhound who was
viciously killed by
a human neighbor. His owner brought suit for damages.
Senator Vest
concluded his case with the following speech:
Gentlemen
of the jury, the best friend a man has in the world many turn
against him and
become his worst enemy. His son or daughter that he has
reared with loving
care 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
their faith. 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
moment of 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 malice when 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
him and 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 the wintry 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 the wounds 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 other friends 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 the heavens. 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 him to guard against danger, to fight against his
enemies
and when the last scene of all come, and death takes the master in
its
embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if
all
other friends pursue their way, there by his grave side will the
noble
dog be found. his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in
alert
watchfulness, faithful and true even to death.
Old Drum's master
won his suit, amidst a courtroom filled with tears,
and Senator Vest's
statement has been preserved as a classic statement
as presented
above.