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Gentlemen of
the Jury: The best friend a man has in the world may turn against him and
become his 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 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 man can have in this selfish world, the one
that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is
his dog. 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
him against danger, to fight against his enemies. And when the last scene of
all comes, and death takes his 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
the graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes
sad, but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even in death.
George
Graham Vest - c. 1855