The Dog | Page 3

abundance, and he is
content with the scantiest and most humble fare. He loves us while
living, and has been known to pine away on the grave of his master.
[It is stated that the favourite lap-dog of Mary, Queen of Scots, that
accompanied her to the scaffold, continued to caress the body after the
head was cut off, and refused to relinquish his post till forcibly
withdrawn, and afterwards died with grief in the course of a day or two.
The following account is also an authentic instance of the inconsolable
grief displayed by a small cur-dog at the death of his master:--A poor
tailor in the parish of St. Olave, having died, was attended to the grave
by his dog, who had expressed every token of sorrow from the instant
of his master's death, and seemed unwilling to quit the corpse even for
a moment. After the funeral had dispersed, the faithful animal took his
station upon the grave, and was with great difficulty driven by the
sexton from the church ground; on the following day he was again
observed lying on the grave of his master, and was a second time
expelled from the premises. Notwithstanding the harsh treatment
received on several succeeding days by the hands of the sexton, this
little creature would persist in occupying this position, and overcame
every difficulty to gain access to the spot where all he held most dear
was deposited. The minister of the parish, learning the circumstances of
the case, ordered the dog to be carried to his house, where he was
confined and fed for several days, in hopes of weaning him by kind
treatment to forget his sorrow occasioned by the loss of his master. But
all his benevolent efforts were of no utility, as the dog availed himself
of the first opportunity to escape, and immediately repaired to his
chosen spot over the grave.
This worthy clergyman now allowed him to follow the bent of his own

inclinations; and, as a recompense for true friendship and unfeigned
sorrow, had a house built for him over this hallowed spot, and daily
supplied him with food and water for the space of two years, during
which time he never wandered from his post, but, as a faithful guardian,
kept his lonely watch day and night, till death at last put an end to his
sufferings, and laid him by the side of his long-expected master.--L.]
As an animal of draught the dog is highly useful in some countries.
What would become of the inhabitants of the northern regions, if the
dog were not harnessed to the sledge, and the Laplander, and the
Greenlander, and the Kamtschatkan drawn, and not unfrequently at the
rate of nearly a hundred miles a day, over the snowy wastes? In
Newfoundland, the timber, one of the most important articles of
commerce, is drawn to the water-side by the docile but ill-used dog;
and we need only to cross the British Channel in order to see how
useful, and, generally speaking, how happy a beast of draught the dog
can be.
[Large mongrel dogs are very extensively used on the Continent in
pulling small vehicles adapted to various purposes. In fact, most of the
carts and wagons that enter Paris, or are employed in the city, have one
of these animals attached to them by a short strap hanging from the
axle-tree. This arrangement answers the double purpose of keeping off
all intruders in the temporary absence of the master, and, by pushing
himself forward in his collar, materially assists the horse in propelling a
heavy load up-hill, or of carrying one speedily over a plain surface. It is
quite astonishing to see how well broken to this work these dogs are,
and at the same time to witness with what vigour and perseverance they
labour in pushing before them, in that way, enormous weights.--L.]
Though, in our country, and to its great disgrace, this employment of
the dog has been accompanied by such wanton and shameful cruelty,
that the Legislature--somewhat hastily confounding the abuse of a thing
with its legitimate purpose--forbade the appearance of the dog-cart in
the metropolitan districts, and were inclined to extend this prohibition
through the whole kingdom, it is much to be desired that a kindlier and
better feeling may gradually prevail, and that this animal, humanely

treated, may return to the discharge of the services of which nature has
rendered him capable, and which prove the greatest source of happiness
to him while discharging them to the best of his power.
In another and very important particular,--as the preserver of human
life,--the history of the dog will be most interesting. The writer of this
work has seen a Newfoundland dog who, on five distinct occasions,
preserved the life of a