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, but open in alert watchfulness,
faithful and true even in death.
George
Graham Vest (1830-1904) served as U.S. Senator from Missouri from 1879 to
1903 and became one of the leading orators and debaters of his time. This speech
is from an earlier period in his life when he practiced law in a small
Missouri town.
It was given in court while representing a man who sued another for the killing
of his dog. During the trial, Vest ignored the testimony, but when his turn came
to present a summation to the jury, he made this speech and won the
case.