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 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.
Gentlemen 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 encounter 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 comes, 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
graveside 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.
One of the most famous speeches ever made by the late
Senator Vest, of Missouri, was made in the course of the
trial of a man who had wantonly shot a dog belonging to a
neighbor. Vest represented the plaintiff, who demanded two
hundred dollars' damages. When Vest finished speaking, the
jury, after two minutes' deliberation, awarded the plaintiff
five hundred dollars. The full text of the speech is printed
above.
Abou Ben Adhem.