"A friend of mine, who in the time of the war commanded the Sea
Fencibles, in the neighbourhood of Southend, possessed in those days a
magnificent Newfoundland dog, named Venture. This noble creature my
friend was accustomed to take with him in the pursuit of wild fowl.
One cold evening, after having tolerable sport, the dog was suddenly
missed; he had been last seen when in pursuit of a winged bird. As the
ice was floating in the river, and the dog was true to his name, and
would swim any distance for the recovery of wounded game, it was
feared he must have fallen a victim to the hazards of the sport, and
his owner returned home in consequence much dispirited. On his arrival
at his house, what was his extreme surprise, on entering the
drawing-room, to find his wife accompanied by the dog, and a fine
mallard lying on the table: the lady had, on her part, been
overwhelmed with anxiety by the dog's having returned alone some time
before, knowing the frequently perilous amusement in which her husband
had embarked. The dog had straight on his return rushed to the
drawing-room where the lady sat, and had laid the wild duck at her
feet, having brought it safely in his mouth several miles.
"A gentleman once sent a coat to the tailor to be mended--it was left
upon a counter in the shop. His dog had accompanied the servant to the
tailor's. The animal watched his opportunity, pulled the coat down
from the counter, and brought it home in triumph to his master.
"There is a tendency in the pride of man to deny the power of
reasoning in animals, while it is the belief of some that reason is
often a more sure guide to the brute beast, for the purposes designed
by Providence, than that of their detractors. The fact is, I think,
few persons who reflect deny the power, in a degree, to the less
gifted of Nature's works. Certainly not some of the wisest of our
race. Bishop Butler in his 'Analogy,' I think, assumes it; while the
following beautiful inscription, designed for the epitaph of a
favourite Newfoundland dog, was penned by no less a person than the
late wise and venerable Earl of Eldon: from it his views on this
subject may, I fancy, be easily discerned. They are published in the
life of him, written by Horace Twiss:--
'You who wander hither,
Pass not unheeded
The spot where poor Caesar
Is deposited.
* * * *
To his rank among created beings
The power of reasoning is denied!
Caesar manifested joy,
For days before his master
Arrived at Encombe;
Caesar manifested grief
For days before his master left it.
What name shall be given
To that faculty,
Which thus made expectation
A source of joy,
Which thus made expectation
A source of grief?'"
[Illustration]
[Illustration: THE COLLEY, OR SHEPHERD'S DOG.]